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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
head_n	church_n	member_n	mystical_a	3,558	5	10.4248	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01507	A newyeares gifte dedicated to the Popes Holinesse, and all Catholikes addicted to the Sea of Rome: preferred the first day of Ianuarie, in the yeare of our Lorde God, after the course and computation of the Romanistes, one thousand, fiue hundreth, seauentie and nine, by B.G. citizen of London: in recompence of diuers singular and inestimable reliques, of late sent by the said Popes Holinesse into England, the true figures and representations whereof, are heereafter in their places dilated.	B. G. (Bernard Garter); Tunstall, Cuthbert, 1474-1559. Letter written by Cutbert Tunstall late Byshop of Duresme, and Iohn Stokesley somtime Byshop of London.; Stokesley, John, 1475?-1539.; Googe, Barnabe, 1540-1594.	1579 (1579)	STC 11629; ESTC S102867	65,066	113

past by his predecessour Agatho to the Emperour Constantine Heraclius and Tiberius in his Epistle written to them in his name and in the name of all the Synods which he thought to bée vnder the sea Apostolique wherein soone after the beginning of the Epistle he comprehendeth them all vnder the name of the Bishops dwelling in the North and West parts of their Empire So that ther in his owne Epistle he confesseth all his subiects or obedienciaries to hée onely of the North and West so appeareth euidently by his owne confession that neither by Gods law nor mans lawe he had to do with any person of the East or the South And this his high souereintie ouer all challenged as you and others say by Scripture as by his owne confession quailed and brought to a little strayght angle And this Agatho was not a man vnlearned as appeareth by the Actes of the sixt Synode Constantinopolitane in the iiij acte wherein is written at large and expressed the sayde epistle and confession And afore the Primacie of Peter which auncient Doctors speake off that was onely in preaching and teaching the fayth of Christ which he first among all the Apostles and first of all mortall men did expresse with his mouth That Primacie did so adhere to his owne person that it was neuer deriued neither to any successour nor to other Apostle but chiefely to himselfe for all other professing after the same speake it after him who had professed it before Moreouer all the Apostles as Saint Iohn sayth be fundaments in the heauenly Ierusalem not Peter only Moreouer Cyprian affirmeth as is aforesayd that all the Apostles were of equall dignitie and power which all auncient authors lykewise doe affirme For Christ gaue the Apostles lyke power in the Gospell saying Ite docete omnes Gentes baptizantes eos c. Go and teach all Nations baptizing them c. And Saint Paul as is sayd before knewe no other Primacie giuen to Peter to preach in any place but among the Iewes as he himselfe had among the Gentiles as he writeth to the Galathians where Saint Ambrose as is aforesayd affirmeth the same And that the mother of all Churches is Ierusalem as afore is sayd and not Rome the Scripture is playne both in the Prophet Esay De Syon exibit lex verbum Domini de Ierusalem Out of Syon shall the law procéede and the worde of the Lord out of Ierusalem Upon the which place Saint Hierome saythe In Ierusalem primùm fundata Ecclesia totius orbis Ecclesias seminauit Out of the Church first found in Ierusalem sprong all other Churches of the whole world And also in the Gospell which Christ before his ascension commaunded his Apostles to preach ouer all the worlde beginning first at Ierusalem so that the Bishops of Rome vniuersall power by him claymed ouer all cannot by any Scripture ●e iustified as if ye haue red the auncient Fathers expositions of the sayd Scriptures as we suppose you haue sith your letters sent hether concerning this matter and would giue more credence to their humble and playne speaking than to the latter contentious and ambitious writers of that high and aboue the Ideas of Plato his subtilytie which passeth as ye write the lawyers learning and capacitiy we doubt not but that ye perceiue and thinke the same And where ye thincke that the king cannot be taken as supreme heade of the Churche bicause he cannot exercise the chiefe office of the Church in preaching and ministring of Sacraments it is not requisite in euery body naturall that the head shall exercise eyther all manner of offices of the body or the chiefe office of the same For albeit the head is the highest and chiefe member of the naturall body yet the distribution of lyfe to all the members of the body aswell to the head as to other members commeth from the heart and is minister of lyfe to the whole bodye as the chiefe acte of the body This simlitude yet hath not his full place in a mysticall body although the Scripture speaking of king Saul sayth Cum esses paruulus in oculis tuis coustitui te caput in tribubus Israel When thou wert but of small reputacion in thine owne eyes I made thée head amongst the tribes of Israel And if a king amongst the Iewes were Caput in tribubus Israel hoc est hominum videntium Deum per vmbram tempore legis multò magis Princeps Christianus caput est in tribubus Israel hoc est verè per fidem videntium Christum qui est finis legis The heade in the tribes of Israel that is of men which sée God by a shadowe in the time of the law much more is a Christian king head in the tribes of spirituall Israel that is of such which by true fayth sée Christ which is the ende of the law The office deputed to the Bishops in the misticall body is to be as eyes to the whole bodye as almightie God sayth to the Prophet Ezechiel Speculatorem te dedi domui Israel I haue made thée an ouerseer ouer the house of Israel And what Bishop soeuer refuseth to vse the office of an eye in the mysticall body to shew vnto the body the right way of lyuing which appertayneth to the spirituall eye to doe shall shew himselfe to be a blinde eye and if he shall take other office in hande than appertayneth to the right eye shall make a confusion in the body taking vppon him an other office then is giuen to him of god Wherefore if the eye will take vpon him the office of the whole head it may be aunswered vnto it It cannot so do for it lacketh brayne And examples sheweth lykewise that it is not necessarie alwayes that the heade should haue the facultie or chiefe office of administration you may sée in a Nauy by Sea wher the Admiral who is captaine ouer all doth not meddle with stering or gouerning of euery ship but euery Maister perticular must direct the ship to passe the Sea in breaking the waues by his stering and gouernance which the Admirall the head of all doth not himselfe nor yet hath the facultie to doe but commaundeth the Maisters of the ship to doe it And likewise many a captaine of great armyes which is not able nor neuer coulde peraduenture shoote or breake a speare by his owne strength yet by his wisedome and commaundement onely he atchieueth the warres and attayneth the victory And where ye thinke that vnitie standeth not onely in the agréeing in one fayth and doctrine of the Church ▪ but also in agreeing in one head if ye meane the very and onely head ouer all the Churche our Sauiour Christ Quem pater dedit caput super omnem Ecclesiam quae est corpus eius Whome the father hath set ouer all the Church which is his bodye wherein all good Christian men doe agrée ye say truth And if ye meane of any

one mortall man to be heade ouer all the Church and that to be the Bishoppe of Rome we doe not agrée wyth you For you doe there erre in the true vnderstanding of Scripture or els yée must saye that the sayd counsell of Nyce other most auncient dyd erre which deuided the administration of Churches the Orient from the Occident and the South from the North as is before expressed And that Christ the vniuersall head is present in euery Church the Gospell sheweth Vbi duo vel tres congregati fuerint in nomine meo ego in medio eorum sum Where two or thrée be gathered together in my name there I am in the midst of them And in an other place Ecce ego vobiscum sum vsque ad consummationem seculi Beholde I am with you vntill the ende of the world By which it may appeare Christ the vniuersall heade euery where to be with his misticall body the Church who by his spirite worketh in all places how far soeuer they be distaunt the vnitie and concorde of the same And as for any other one vniuersall head to be ouer all then Christ himselfe Scripture prooueth not as it is shewed before And yet of a farther proofe to take away the scruples that peraduenture doe to your appearaunce rise of certeyne wordes in some auncient authours and especially in Saint Cyprians Epistles as the vnitie of the Church stoode in the vnitie with the Bishop of Rome though they neuer call him supreme head if you precisely weygh and conferre all their sayings together yée shall perceiue that they neyther spake nor ment other thing but when the Bishop of Rome was once lawfully elected and intronizate if then any other would by faction might force or otherwise the other lyuing and doeyng his office enterprise to put him downe and vsurpe the same Bishopricke or exercise the others office himselfe As Nouatianus did attempt in the time of Cornelius that then the sayd Fathers reconed them good Catholiques that did communicate with him that was so lawfully elected and the custome was one Primacie to haue adoe one with an other by congratulatory letters soone after the certeintie of their election was knowne to kéepe the vnitie of the Church And they that did take parte or maintaine that other vsurper to be Shismatiques bicause that vsurper was a Schismatique for that Quia non sit fas in eadem Ecclesia duos simul esse episcopos nec priorem legittimum Episcopum sine sua culpa deponi That it is not lawfull for two Bishoppes to bée at once together in one Church Nor that the former Bishop béeing lawfull ought to be deposed guiltlesse without his fault bee proued And this is not a prerogatiue of Rome Church more than of any other cathedrall speciall patriarchall or metropoliticall Church as appeareth in the third Epistle of the first booke and in the eight of the second and of the fourth booke of S. Cypriane to Cornelius Whose woordes and reasons all that peraduenture might séeme to conclude the vnitie of the Church in the vnitie of the Biship of Rome bicause they were all written to him in his owne case may as wel be written to and of any other Bishop lawfully chosen possessed who percase should bée likewise disturbed by any factions of ambitious heretickes as the Bishops of Rome then were And where ye thinke the name of Supreame head vnder Christ giuen attributed to the kings Maiestie maketh an innouation in the church perturbation of the order of the same it cannot be any innouation or trouble to the church to vse the roume that God hath called him too which good Christiā Princes did vse in the beginning when faith was most pure as Sainct Augustine ad Gloriam Eleusium saith Ait enim quidam Non debuit Episcopus pro consulari iudicio purgari quasi verò ipse sibi hoc comparauerit ac non Imperator ita quaeri iusserit ad cuius curam de qua rationē Deo redditurus esset res illa maximè pertinebat One ther is which saith that a Bishop ought not to haue bene put to his purgation before the iudgement seate of the deputie as though he himselfe procured it and not rather the Empeyour himselfe caused this inquirie to bée made to whose iurisdiction for the which he must aunswere to God that cause did especially perteine Chisostome writeth of that imperiall authoritie thus Laesus est qui non habet parem vllum super terram summitas caput est omnium hominum super terram Hée is offended that hath no péere at all vpon the earth for he is the highest potentate and the heade of all men vpon earth And Tertulianus ad Scapulum saith Colimus ergo imperatorem sic quo modo nobis licet ipsi expedit vt nominē à Deo secundū quicquid est à Deo cōsequntū solo Deo minorem hoc enim ipse volet sic enim omnibus maior est dum solo vero Deo minor est Idē in Apologetico de Imperatoribus capite 30. loquēs ait Sciunt quis illis dederit imperium sciunt qui homines qui animas sentiunt eum Deū esse solum in cuius solius potestate sunt à quo sunt secundi post quē primi ante omnes super omnes Deos. We so honour reuerence the Emperour in such wise as is lawfull to vs expedient to him that is to say as a man next the second to God of whom is deriued all the power he hath but yet inferiour to God alone for so is it his pleasure to haue it For thus is he greater thā all men while hée is inferiour but to God alonely And the sayd Tertulianus in his booke Apologetical speaking of Emperours They knowe who hath giuen to thē their gouernement they know what men they be themselues vnderstanding they haue of mans soules but so that they perceiue that God is he alone vnder whose onely power they be take themselues as second to God after whom they bée the chiefe before other aboue all the Gods Theophilactus ad Romanos super ilud Omnis onima potestatibus sublimioribus subdita sit Ait apostolū hic vniuersos erudire siue sacerdos sit ille siue Monachus siue Apostolus vt se principibus subdat Let euery soule be subiect to the higher powers Hoc est Etiam si Apostolus sis Etiam si Euangelista etiā si Propheta aut quisquis postremò fueris Non enim subuertit pietatem haec ●ubiectio Et non simpliciter Parcat inquit sed subdita sit That is ▪ although thou art an Apostle although an Euangelist although a Prophet or whatsoeuer thou art be subiect for this subiection ouerthroweth no godlinesse And he saith not onely let him obey but let him bée subiect And if the Apostles be subiect to princes much more al bishops

auntiente house of Westmerlande and the deathe of the Earle of Northumberlande and manye other as Norton Markamvielde and others whyche haue steyned themselues with Treason and vndone their houses for euer There were also at that time many Bayliffes and Constables to the number of thrée hundred or vpwarde hanged whiche well deserued it in that they commaunded menne in the Quéenes name to goe to that Campe the Camp where the Rebels lay But Northerne men may say that euill is that camping where the Gallowes winnes the Goale These thyngs will not be forgotten in the North partes these hundreth yeares And therefore take héede Papistes and thinke that Northerne men will not Rebell for they haue payde for their learning You maye not vaunt as you were wont to doe saying you were sure that all the North would take your partes for if you make your reckning so you recken without your hoste for neyther Lordes nor Lurdeynes can rayse them withoute commaundemente from the Prince Therefore good Subiectes vouchsafe to reade this little Booke whereby you may learne to obey the Quéenes Highnesse truely and to detest the Popes fayned holynesse vtterly Thys little Booke or Letter was written in Anno 1537. and in the thirtith yeare of the Raigne of our late Soueraigne Lorde of famous memorie Kyng HENRYE the eyght at what time Reginalde Poole was made Cardinall for Cosma and Damian by Paule the third Bishop of Rome so as the Papistes can not mislike it for the noueltie for it carieth some antiquitie and was written aboue fortie yeares sithence Thus for my part I fare like hym whiche hathe founde a Purse or Capcace of another mans and then like a playne true dealing man maketh enquirie who is the owner of it Euen so doe I cause thys little Booke to bée newe Printed that the right owners may be knowen And sithence they be dead long agoe that the Quéenes good Subiectes maye haue it amongst them as the authoures meante it in their lyfe time And thus I ende praying God to endue hir Maiestie with perfecte health and all felicitie long and triumphantly to raigne and rule ouer vs and to turne the heartes of Papistes and to make them all good Subiects to the glorie of God and strength of the Realme Amen w. w. The Argument of the foresayde Booke or Letter commended vnto thee TH' aspiring mind causd Reynold Poole to swarue And to become a Traytor to the King Troth tryes it out and law and iustice bring Vnto his mates such death as they deserue He quakes for feare and through the Seas doth carue To Rome and there is by the holy Pope Made Cardnall and obteynes a larger scope With might and mayne Poole then the Pope doth serue And sayth the King may not be supreme head Two learned men which do lament his fall Send him this Booke that follie to forbid Yet he God wot regards it not at all But like an Asse doth for a Scarlet hatte Forsake his God his King and Countrey flatte B.G. B. G. To the Reader THou séest right gentle Reader in the fourtéene short lines last before written the argumente of the Booke or Letter whiche was written to Cardinall Poole which my right Worshipfull and approued good friend when he had perused and ioyed to sée and reade desired greately to perticipate his benefite vnto thée chiefly bycause the wéede whiche at that time choked the minds of the subiects of the triumphant King of immortal memorie Henry the eyght our late Soueraigne Lorde touching the Supremacie now eftsoones breaketh forth to the intollerable annoy of the déere and louing subiects of our most dread naturall and soueraigne Lady Elizabeth by the grace of God Quéene of Englande France and Irelande defendor of the faith and in earthe of the Church of England and Ireland next and immediately vnder Christ the sole and alonely supreme head the daughter and vndoubted heire of hir saide late father King Henry the eyght But what haue I said Supreme head in earth of the Church of England and Ireland next vnder Christ Yea forsooth what make you then of the Popes holynesse may be your demaund I aunswere that I make of the Bishop of Rome so farre forthe as he be a Christian and the seruaunt of God the like and as large accompt for his circuit though not with so great dutie bycause I am an Englishman and not of his Dioces as I make of any Bishop in Englande within his iurisdictiō vnder oure sayde Soueraigne Lady so long as the same Bishop of Rome kéepeth him within his compasse and acknowledgeth himselfe subiect to the King of that Territorie but so farre forth as he standeth harlot like vpon the type of hys worldly pompe I take him to be that Antechrist whiche Paule calleth the man of Sinne and child of perditiō You may further aske me howe if the Pope himselfe be King there I answere that how if with how if not for if Christ whose Uicar on earth the Pope claymeth to be sayth Iohn 18. My Kingdome is not of this world the Pope if he be not Antechrist can not haue kingdome in this world Me thinkes I sée the Papist smile in his sléeue for in déede he is a smooth faced fellowe at this my simple conuersion saying that I haue framed a goodly argument that is bycause the Kingdome of Christ is not of the world therefore the Popes holynesse may not be a King in Christendome as if it should be said bycause the Kingdome of HENRYE the eyght reached not ouer Europe therfore ELIZABETH his right heire may not be Quéene of England and Ireland Let me smile wyth him againe I pray you for I will yéelde him that Kingdome in Christendome which Christ did weare the earthlie Crowne of let him likewise yéelde to euery King royaltie in his owne Kingdome That I will yéelde it the Papist laugheth agayne and so must I to for in déede for me to yéeld to the Pope a terrestiall Crowne in earth and for the Pope to yéeld vnto me a celestiall Crowne in Heauen haue both like warrant and like follie and may be equally laughed at if damnable things include iest for I without treason to my Prince can not thinke the one nor he without Treason to Christ grant the other for Christ hathe reserued the Spirituall Supremacie of his vniuersall Churche vnto himselfe and the terrestiall gouernement of his people to earthly Princes vnder whome they are gouerned and tryed as golde in the furnace and happie is that lande and people whyche haue a godly Prince on earthe to beare the sway and haue Supremacie héere nexte vnder God and amongst the happyest we Englishmen most happie in our gracious Quéene ELIZABETH whose lyfe and Supreme gouernemente I beséeche the almighty Lorde long to continue ouer vs And the same God for hys Chrystes sake hathe bestowed that supremacie on oure Quéene within hyr owne Realmes whiche the Pope falsely chalengeth through all Christian Regions For there is no

Patriarches yea the bishops of Rome all other And it is written in the Cronicles Dixit Dauid Salamoni Ecce diuisiones Sacerdotum Leuitarum in omne ministeriū domus Domini assistent tibi parati erunt Et Dauid constituit principem ad confitendū Domino Asaph fratres eius Et Constituit Iosaphat in Ierusalem Leuitas Sacerdotes principes familiarum ex Israëll vt iudicium causam Domini iudicarent habitatoribus eius praecepitque eis dicens Sic agetis in timore Domini fideliter corde perfecto c. Dauid saith to Salomon Behold the Priests and Leuits deuided in companies to do all manner of seruice that perteineth to the house of God shal assist thée and be ready And in the xvj Chapter Dauid dyd appoint chiefly to thanke the Lord Asaph and his brethren c. And Iosaphat the king did constitute Leuits and Priests the auncient heades of Israel that they should iudge the iudgement the causes of the Lord towards all the inhabitants of the earth And he charged them saying Thus shall ye doe in the feare of the Lord faithfully in a perfect heart Rex constituit turmas Sacerdotales Leuiticas vnumquēque in officio suo Et sequitur Ezechias praecepit populo vt darent part●s Sacerdotibus qui dedit consequenter decimas Et sequitur quod ad regem cum Azaria Sacerdote pertinet omnis dispensatio domus Domini eorum qui ad eam attinent Et in fine Fecit ergo Ezechias vniuersa quae diximus in omni Iuda operatusque est bonum rectum verum coram Domino Deo suo in vniuersa cultura ministerij domus Domini iuxta legem ceremonias volens requirere deum suum in toto corde suo fecitque prosperatus est Iosias quoque constituit Sacerdotes in officijs suis mandauitque plurima c. Furthermore Ezechias did appoint the Priests the Leuites in their order to waite by course euery man according to his office whether Priest or Leuit for the burnt offerings peace offerings to minister to thank to pray in the gates of the lodge of the lord And Ezechias gaue commaundement to the people dwelling in Hierusalem that they should giue their portions to the Priestes and Leuites that they might attende on the lawe of the lord And that by the precepte of Ezechias the king and of Azarias the Bishop of the house of the Lord all things were done to whom perteined all the dispensation of the house of the lord And in the ende it is said Ezechias did all those things in all Iury he wrought that which was good right and true before his Lord God in all the furniture of the ministerie of the house of the Lord according to the lawe and ceremonies desirous to séeke his Lord God withall his heart as he did and prospered therein Iosias also did ordeine Priestes in their offices and commaunded many things By al which it may appeare that Christian Kings be souereigns ouer the Priestes as ouer all other their subiects and maye commaund the Priestes to doe their offices as well as they doe other And ought by their supreme office to sée that all men of all degrées doe their dueties wherevnto they he called either by God or by the king And those kings that so doe chiefly doe execute well their office So that the kings highnesse taking vpon him as supreme head of the Church of England to sée that as well spirituall men as temporal do their duties doth neither make innouation in the Churche nor yet trouble the order thereoff But doth as the chiefe and the best of the kinges of Israll did and as all good Christian kings ought to doe Which office good Christian Emperours alwaies tooke vpon them in calling the vniuersall counsels of all countries in one place and at one time to assemble to the intent all heresies troubling the Church might be there extyrped calling commaunding as well the Byshop of Rome as other Patriarches and all Primats aswel of the East as of the West of the South and of the North to come to the sayde counsels As Marlianus the Emperour did in calling the great counsaile of Calcedon one of the foure chiefe and first generall counsailes commaunding Leo then Bishoppe of Rome to come thereto And albeit Leo neither lyked the time whiche hée woulde for a season shoulde haue bene deferred nor yet the place which he woulde haue had in Italy where the Emperour by his owne commaundement had called it to Calchis in Asia yet he aunswered the Emperour that he would gladly obey his commaundement and sent thether his agents to appeare ther for him As doth appeare in the Epistles of Leo to Martian the Emperor xli.xlvii.xlviii and in the xlix epistle to Pulcheria Empresse And lykewise desireth Theodosius the Emperour to commaund a councel of Bishops to be called in Italy for taking away such contentions and troubles as at that time troubled the quietnesse of the Churches And in many moe Epistles of the same Leo it doth manifestly appeare that the Emperours alwayes assembled generall councells by their commaundements And in the sixte councell generall it appeareth very playnly that at that time the Bishops of Rome made no clayme nor vsed title to cal them selfe heads vniuersal ouer all the Catholique church as ther doth apere In subscriptione seu saluatione synodica suggestionis antedictae which is thus ad verbum Pijssimis Dominis serenissimis victoribus triūphatoribus dilectis filijs Dei Domini nostri Iesu Christi Constantino Magno Imperatori Heraclio Tiberio Augustis Agatho Episcopus seruus seruorum Dei cum vniuersis synodis subiacentibus concilio Apostolicae sedis In the superscription or salutacion of the aforesayd synodicall preamble which is thus word for word To the most godly Lords most noble victors conquerours the welbeloued children of God and of our Lord Iesu Christ to Constantine the great Emperour to Eraclius and Tiberius Caesars Bishop Agatho the seruaunt of the seruauntes of God with all the conuocations subiect to the counsell of the Sea Apostolique sendeth gréetings and sayth expressing what countries he reckned and comprehended in that superscription or salutacion It followeth that these were vnder his assembly which were in the North and East parts So that at that time the Bishop of Rome made no suche pretence to be ouer and aboue all as hée now doth by vsurpation vendicating to himselfe the spirituall kingdome of Christ by which he reigneth in the hearts of all faythfull people and then chaungeth it to a temporall kingdome ouer and aboue all kings to depose them for his pleasure preaching therby Carnē pro spiritu terrenum regnum pro coelesti in damnationem nisi resipiscat suam The flesh for the spirite an earthly kingdome for an heauenly to his owne damnation if he repent not Where he ought

he established with effect This notable Hypocrite vnder pretence of Religion and godlinesse committed euery kind of vniuste detestable wicked villanies He accused his Lord Master Alexander the secōd for that he soughte the aide of Caesar againste his enimies saying in dirision It is méete forsooth that he according to the Cannons shoulde holde the Pontificall dignitie which contrarie to the same lawes desireth succoure from a prophane Prince and therefore vppon his owne aucthoritie he not onely depriued the Pope of his Papacie but caste him into prison and there secreatly murdered him and vsurped his place before he was buryed He imparted both his substaunce and secreat aduise as Benno sayth vnto Brasutus and one Iudeus his familiar friendes throughe whose meanes and persuasion many men wincked at hys wickednesse For those bribed persons before Alexander the late Pope was in his graue euen trumpet-like sounded abroade that Peter the Apostle had chosen Heldebrande therevpon inthronized him Pope by the name of Gregorie the seauenth And this was done 1000. yeares after the destruction of Hierusalem in the whiche time these Uicars of Sathan beganne openly to chalenge to themselues the name of God and the office and vertues of Christe Iesus very God and very man For in this yere in the declaration and election of this Gregorie it was proclaymed that the true Uicar of Christe was created Pope And thys Gregorie also tooke vpon him those things which are written of Christ in the second Psalme He changed the lawes of Christ and the omnipotente God the Father in forbydding the mariage of Priests and spoiling Princes of their kingdomes This Gregorie was originall of the discorde and battell betwixt Gog and Magog mentioned Apoc. 20. than the which was neuer any conflict more pernicious or wicked whose example Vrbanus one of his familiars dyd follow Of this Gregory Benno further declareth the hystorie ensuing Upon a time sayth he when Gregory came from Albania to Rome he forgat to bring with him his vsuall and accustomed Booke of the blacke arte withoute the which Booke he seldome or neuer wēt forth to any place which thing whē in his iourneying he had called to memorie euen at his entrāce into the gate called Lateranensis he half amazed called hastely to him a couple of his most familiar friends and the accustomed and faithfull ministers of hys mischiefs those he straytely charged to fetch him the same Booke with all spéede possible vrging them extreamely that they shoulde not presume to open that Booke by the way nor séeke to discouer the secretes therof by any deuise This streight charge so much repugned their affections as how much the more strongly he forbad them so muche the more their desire kindled to searche the mysteries of the same Boke They go and in their returne they vnclasped the same and diligently perused the detestable preceptes of that diuelish arte and therevpon the pretie knaues and ofspring of Sathan came suddaynely aboute them in horrible multitude whiche when the two yong men almost out of their wittes perceyued with much ado at last they reuiue agayne and as they themselues did afterward declare the euill sprightes were very instant vpon thē saying To what purpose did you call vs vp Wherefore did you trouble vs command vs quickly what we shall doe or else will we extend our violence againste your selues if you deteyne vs héere any longer whiche when one of the yong men with no small feare heard he sayd Cast downe to the ground spéedily those walles poynting with his hande to the high walles of Rome not farre distāt from them which the wicked Sprites in a momente perfourmed The Nouesse Coniurers making manye Crosses in sundry places of their bodies trembling and shaking with horrible feare were so sore astonyed as hardly they could finde the way to Rome vnto the Arch●oniurer their maister Thus much of that matter writeth Benno His Papacie also scarcely yet begunne he practized euen in his entraunce thereof to rack and wrest the Cannons whiche other Popes his predicessours by his owne politike counsell had before ordayned concerning Simonie and single life not to the end that hée might abolishe the wicked sale of spirituall benefices but that vnder pretence of honestie he might take from princes their autoritie in the bestowing of Ecclesiastical lyuings and that thereby al Bishoppes should be brought vnder the seruitude of the Sea of Rome which concerning the right of their election were more subiecte to the Prince than to the Pope And for y Henry the Emperour was then the mightiest of all Princes this proude varlet déemed it beste at the very first to assay the first fruite of his Tirannical exercise vppon him And therefore called a counsell togither at Rome in Larino Laterino I woulde saye touching those matters But Caesar occupyed in the warres coulde not be present at the contentions of the Synode the Pope therefore notwithstāding the ineuitable let of this renoumed Emperor so stomaked his absence as he neyther spared treason nor murder stil stirring vp ciuil battels in many places with other innumerable kindes of calamities But chiefly laying snares for the Emperours life he put in practise diuers his cunningest meanes howe to destroy him and amongst the rest concluded vppon this pernicious determination to bée accomplished in the Temple it selfe euen at the time of publike prayer Cardinall Benno thus expresseth the Historie The vertuous Emperour sayeth he did often tymes vse to goe vnto Sainte Maries Churche whyche standeth vpon the hill called Auentyne ●to praye Thys viperous Heldebrande being fully perswaded by his wicked espials of the Emperoures accustomed order therein commaundeth good view to be taken of the place where the Emperour commonly vsed to stand sitte or knéele in his deuotions That knowen he allured for money a certayne villayne a holy counsell of a Pope secretely to place stones of huge weight in the windbeames of the Churche directly ouer the Emperoures head that by that meanes and the direction of the traytor they mighte euen in the middest of the Emperours Prayers fall vpon him and dash out hys braynes But God who in miraculous sort defendeth hys people and when him pleaseth conuerteth the treason to the subuersion of the Traytor thus finished this tragedie The vagabond varlet hireling is nimbly occupyed aboute the accomplishment of his businesse and placeth the murthering stones as best séemed to him to serue the purpose and bycause he would be sure to haue such stuffe as shoulde perfourme his practise he loadeth himselfe with one stone of more weight than he could wel gouerne and farre greater than the séeling of the Churche coulde beare by reason whereof before he could bring the same to his appoynted place the waynescot brake and so the stone with the miserable Traytor fell downe to the pauements of the Church and was with the same stone crushed in péeces from top to toe a wonderfull example of Gods iust