Peter I wil not build my selfe vpon thee but I will build thee vpon mee Asia and Affrica professing Christ as well as wee did not consent to the Bishop of Rome his Supremacie I confesse that the Eastern churches and Bishops for debates of matters of faith amongst themselues made suites to the Bishops of Rome but that was not for the superioritie of Iurisdiction that the See of Rome had ouer them but for the diuision that was within themselues by reason that the whole Easterne countries as well Bishops as others were much infected with the heresies of Arrius whereof the West was in a manner cleere So as amongst the Orients none were counted indifferent to decide those debates but all were suspect of affection for one cause or other wherefore they desired the opinions of the Bishops of the west as indifferēt not intangled with affections of anie of those parts vncorrupted of the Arrians Which appeareth by the Epistles of S. Basile written in all their names for that purpose wherein it is especially to be noted that their suit was not to the Bishop of Rome singularly by name but as the titles doe shew to the whole congregation of the BB. of Italy and France or of the whole West sometimes preferring the French BB. Gallis and Italis and neuer nameth the Romanes About the yeare of our Lord 610. Boniface 3 obtained of Phocas the wicked Emperor that slew his Mr. Mauricius his wife and children That hee the saide Pope might bee called the Prince of all Bishops Then the peoples deuotion to Religion and the beleefe which was setled in their minds of the power of the Keyes which were said to open and shut paradise to binde loose sinnes laid the foundatiō of the Popes greatnesse and authoritie Agatho B. of Rome writ to Constantine the 4. Most gratious Lord your sacred Letters encouraging vs to shew forth effectually our prompt diligent seruice for performing that which your Edict cōmanded for discharge of our duty c. And in a second Epistle All the Bishops of the North and West partes seruants of your Christiā Empire giue thākes to God for this your religious intēt in calling of a Councell A.D. 850 Leo the fourth Bish of Rome writ likewise to the Emperor As touching the chapters imperiall precepts of your Highnesse and the Princes your predecessors irrefragably to be kept and obeyed as much as in vs did or doth lie Wee by all meanes professe that wee will by Christs helpe now and for euer obserue the same Certainely the vaine Titles of the Pope as Vniuersall Bishop Prince of Priests supreame head of the vniuersall Church and Vicar of Christ here vpon earth likewise his vast pretended Iurisdiction came not into the Church altogether but with long working continuance of time by little little as occasions were giuen Partly by Boniface the third about the yere 610. partly by Pope Gregorie the seuenth called Hildebrād about the yere 1170. partly by Innocentius the third about the yeare of our Lord 1215. and finally by Pope Boniface the eight about the yere of our Lo 1300. Of which foure popes the first brought in a Title the second brought Iurisdiction the third pope Innocent with his Monkes and his Friers corrupted obscured the sinceritie of Christs doctrine and lastly pope Boniface the eight Clement the fift after him ouer and besides the Iurisdiction sufficiently aduanced before by pope Hildebrand added moreouer the tēporall Sword to be carried before him and that no Emperor were he neuer so well elected should be sufficiēt or lawfull without the popes admission A confident and high challenge differing so much from the obedience and humilitie of Christ of the Apostles of Christ of the good and holy Bishops of Rome which did speake write to the Emperors in a milder language full of acknowledgements and respects that men vnpartially affected neede not doubt it proceeded frō another spirit But whē pope Boniface came to make experiment of the possession of this challenge and how Christian princes would giue way vnto his claim Philip the Faire King of France returneth to the popes insolent demaund an answere swere full of royall magnanimitie as appeareth by their Letters ensuing Boniface B. seruant of the seruants of God to Philip King of Frenchmen feare God and obserue his cōmandements Wee will thee to vnderstand that thou art subiect to Vs both in spirituall and temporall things and that it belongs not to thee to giue any Prebend or Benefice If thou hast the keeping of any of them being vacant thou must reserue the profits of them to the successors if thou hast giuen anie Wee iudge thy gift to be void and doe reuoke all that hath beene done and whosoeuer beleeueth otherwise We iudge them heretickes Giuen at Latran the 4. of the Nones of Decemb the sixth yere of Our Popedome The King answereth him thus Philip by the grace of God King of France to Boniface calling himselfe Soueraigne B. little health or none at all Let thy great Fool-ship be aduertised that in temporall things Wee acknowledge no Superior but God that the gift of Prebendes being voide belongs to Vs by Our Royall Prerogatiue and the fruites that growe thereby the which Wee will defend by the Sword against all them that shall seeke to hinder Our possession esteeming them fooles and without iudgement that shall thinke otherwise The Realme of England certainely was neuer by Lawes or long submission subiect to the Popes authority For when the Bishops of Affrica prayed Innocentius either to send for Pelagius the Britaine or to deale with him by Letters to shew the meaning of his lewd speeches tending to the derogation of Gods grace the B. of Rome made answer When will he commit himselfe to our iudgemēt write what letters I will when as he knoweth he shall bee condemned And if hee were to bee sent for they may better doe it that are neerer to him and not so farre distant from him as I am Jnnocentius 400. yeres after Christ confesseth that hee had no sufficient authoritie to call one poore Britaine out of this realme And 200. yeres after that the Bishops of Britaine would yeelde no subiection to Austine the Moncke neither did they accept him for their Archbishop Indeede their maner of Baptizing obseruing Easter and other Ecclesiasticall constitutions contrary to the rites and customes of the Church of Rome as Augustin then obiected vnto them make manifest proofe that they were neuer vnder the Iurisdiction of the B. of Rome Take a view of the Kings of England you shall finde that from the Conqueror vnto this day most of them haue either resisted or abated the Ecclesiastical iurisdiction which the Pope claimed in this land by right of the Crowne A.D. 1067 William the Conqueror said in a Parliament For asmuch as the King is the Vicar of the High King hee is therefore appointed to that purpose
giuen to Kings and none sorteth better with the intent end of their office which is as Aristotle admonisheth king Alexander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paul expresseth it in good English Hee is the Minister of God for thy good Tu regem patremque geras tu consule cunctis You haue heard how the Lord that is annoynted honoureth the Lords annoynted with Supremacie in his Iurisdiction with Maiestie in his Stile and Titles It is our dueties to wish him good lucke with his Honour Peace be within his Wals plenteousnesse within his Palaces for my Brethren Companions sake I will wish him prosperitie yea because of the house of the Lord J will pray for his good Now let vs see the last passage what interest the Apostles and their successors haue in this matter of Supremacie and Titles of Maiestie Our Sauiour takes it from them Positiuely Vos autem non sic You that are Apostles shall haue no such power Our Masters of the Church of Rome drawes it to them crookedly whether will ye beleeue him that was indifferent and without respect of persons or these that are partiall him in the trueth or these in their pride the Sonne of God or the Brethren of the Conclaue Amongst many differences that be betweene them this may be reckoned for one That we beleeue the Sauiour of mankinde vpon his word Jpse dixit is sufficient But the other must attend for no further credit from vs then they can winne by the euidence of their proofes And these are either Blasphemous or Triuiall They now say that wee must conceiue a secret implyed Oath in our Baptisme to yeelde obedience to the Pope A proofe full of horrible blasphemie true Christians will detest to sweare into the Popes wordes and to ioyne him in their Baptisme as a Consort with the three Persons of the holy and vndiuided Trinitie Hearest thou not this O Christ at the right hand of God How the Aduersaries for their owne greatnesse would euacuate and violate thy holy Baptisme The other proofes Feede my sheepe and Vnto thee will I giue the keyes for I reade no more in the writhen Diuine are ouerworne triuiall proofes vnbeseeming the cause which is now made one of the principall Articles of Faith as if none could be faithfull vnlesse he beleeue in the Pope vnfitting the person that alleageth them from whom the world did looke for Oracles and behold nothing but that which euery triobolour Papist can tel As to the former Paul in his farewell tould the Elders of Ephesus that The holy Ghost had made them ouerseers to feed the Church of God Wherein I note two things First the Office of Elders did consist in feeding Secondly that the Church of God which they must feede is of equipollent and of as large compasse as the sheepe of CHRIST Therefore if there bee any force in the words of our Sauiour vnto Peter for feeding his sheepe because they are indefinite There must needs bee the same in these of Paul to the Priests of Ephesus because they are equiualent And so euerie inferior Minister should hould a kinde of Soueraignetie in their places which peraduenture our Aduersaries may intend though it bee not expressed for they conceale many things till opportunitie serue But if the Pope by feeding of Christs sheepe may exercise authoritie ouer Kings be well assured that his inferior Ministers which haue the same power of feeding may and will practise the like vpon you that are Subiects Is it possible that any Subiects should bee in better Condition then their Soueraigne Doe not deceiue your selues my good Brethren friends the seruant is no better then his Master That which is good in the head of the Church against the heads of Kingdomes will alwayes be of validitie in the Members of the Church against the Subiects of kingdomes Therefore beware of them beloued They that dare attempt against the Maiestie and Persons of Kingdomes will much sooner attempt against your lands and liues goods Nothing shall be left vnviolable nothing remaine free in any part of the Common-wealth all must bee at the pleasure and mercie of the Pope his Priests You see how he is not content to sheare but will skin his sheepe so as no man hath cause to be sorie that hee is not of his fould Now looke vpon his Keyes if they bee as powerfull as the feeding of sheepe The keyes of the kingdome of heauen is a perspicuous exposition of the Gospel teaching men what way they may goe to Heauen and how to be saued This Key was not cōmitted to Peter alone but vnto all the rest of the Apostles Hoc dictum Tibi dabo Claves regni Coelorum caeteris quoque commune est Et quae sequuntur velut ad Petrum dicta sunt omnium cōmunia This sentence of Christ Vnto thee will I giue the keyes of the kingdome of Heauen is spoken to the other Apostles too and the wordes that follow which seeme to bee deliuered vnto Peter are common to all the rest Then if wee maruaile that they which are designed to the charge of expounding of the Gospel and opening Heauen vndertake other things by the power of their keyes as Kingdomes and Gouernments of the Earth wee doe it not without the warrant of Scripture Heere is a Patterne that our Sauiour leaueth to his Apostles in my Text Soueraignetie is interdicted and a Ministerie is enioyned them Bernard writ to as great a Pope as Paul the fift Quid vos alienos fines invaditis What doe you meane to enter vpon other mens rights Disce tibi Sarculo opus esse nō Sceptro vt opus Prophetae facias Vnderstand that an Hooke to weede withall is fitter for you then a Scepter to doe the office of a Prophet Esto vt quacunque alia ratione hoc tibi vendices non tamen Apostolico iure By what other right soeuer you can challenge this thing it is certaine you may not doe it by any right deriued from the Apostles Nec illud tibi dare Petrus potuit quod non habuit For that which Peter had not himself he could neuer conuey to the Pope And so hee concludeth I ergo tu tibi vsurpare aude aut dominans Apostolatum aut Apostolicus dominatum Goe too then vsurpe if you dare either a Lord-like Apostleship or an Apostolicall Lordship Planè ab alterutro prohiberis You are cleerely forbidden the one of the two Si vtrumque similiter habere voles vtrumque perdes If you will needes haue them both together you must needes loose them both Well then are not the Keyes sometimes a Cognisance of absolute Authoritie yes verily but that is Dauids Keye not Peters I but CHRIST had that keye too It is true but he did not communicate it to Peter or to any of the Apostles This saith he that hath the keye of Dauid then he had it he hath it still hee
Circuites Precincts appointed in such sort as one of them should not meddle within anothers Iurisdiction to confound their authorities The cause why the Fathers assembled in Councell gaue the first place to the See of olde Rome was not for that either Christ or his Apostle Peter had so appointed but that the Citie of Rome was the most noble Citie and of greatest renowne in all the World as appeareth in the Councell of Calcedon which writeth That the Fathers in the Councell of Nice did worthily giue the chiefetie to the See of olde Rome because that Citie had the Soueraignetie ouer others Saint Ambrose speaking of himselfe and other Bishops which were at the Councell of Aquileia saith thus Wee are met together at Aquileia by the commaundement of the Emperour About the yeare of our Lord. 383 In the Councell of Constantinople the Bishops wrote thus vnto Theodosius the Emperour Wee are come to Constantinople by your Maiesties Commission And afterward at the end of that Councell We beseech your Maiestie that as you haue honoured the Church by your Letters wherewith you haue called vs together so it may please you to Confirme the finall Conclusion of our Decrees with your sentence and with your Seale About 420 To the Councell of Carthage where S. Augustine was present Sozimus B. of Rome sendeth Legats Faustinus Philippus and Asellus in fauour of Apiarius a Priest that fled to Rome for ayde against Vrbanus his Diocesan who had depriued him both of his function the Cōmunion for his lewdnesse To these Legates the Pope gaue charge to claime this Priuiledge for him his See That if anie Bishoppes were accused or deposed which appealed to Rome the Bishoppe of Rome might eyther write to the next Prouince to determine the matter or send some to represent his Person and to sit in iudgement with the Bishoppes And to proue his desire lawfull he alleaged in writing vnder his hand a Canon of the Councell of Nice tending to that purpose The godly Fathers assembling themselues out of all Affricke to the number of 217 finding no such Canon in their Bookes either Greeke or Latin writ to the Patriaches of Alexandria Constantinople Antioch for true and authenticke Copies of the Nicene Councell finding their owne Copies agree word for word with those that were brought and no such prerogatiue to bee seene in anie Canon there First by their Decree they cut off all appeales to Rome viz. That Priests Deacons and inferior Clerkes if they complained of the iudgement of their Diocesians should be heard by the Bishops adioyning and if they thinke to appeale from them also let them not appeale but to the Councells of Africa or to the Primates of their owne Prouince and hee that aduentureth to appeale ouer the Sea let him be receiued of no man within Africa vnto the Communion After this Decree with which they had withstood three Bishops of Rome Sozimus Boniface and Celestinus to the last when the Bishops of Affrica had gotten Copies of the Nicene Councell they writ on this wise Wee writ earnestly prayed you that hereafter you would not lightly giue audience to those that come from hence to you neither any more receiue such to the Communion as wee haue excommunicated because your Reuerence shall easily perceiue the order taken by the Nicene Councell For if there appeare a prouiso for inferior Clerks or Laymen how much more would the Synode haue the same obserued in Bishops that being excommunicated in their owne Prouince they should not sodainely hastily or vnduly be restored to the Communion by your holinesse And likewise your holynesse must repell these wicked refuges of Priests and other Cleargie men as becommeth you for that by no determination of the Fathers this is derogated from the Church of Africa and the Nicene Canons doe most euidently commit both inferior Clergie men and the Bishops themselues to their owne Metropolitans No doubt they most wisely and rightly prouided that all matters should bee ended in the places where they did first arise Neither will the graces of the Holy Ghost bee wanting to any Prouince by which equitie may bee grauely weighed and stoutly followed by the Priests of Christ especially where euerie man hath libertie if he mislike the iudgement of those that heare his cause to appeale to the iudgement of his own Prouince or to a generall Councell Or how can the iudgements ouer Seas bee good whereto the necessary persons of witnesses either for sexe or for age or sundrie other impediments cannot be brought For that any should bee sent from your Holinesse side wee finde decreed by no Synod of the Fathers That which you sent vs hither by Faustinus as a part of the Nicene Councell in the truer Copies which wee haue receiued from holy Cirill B. of Alexandria and Reuerend Atticus Bishop of Constantinople taken out of the Originalls which also we sent to Boniface your predecessor Jn them we say we could finde no such thing As for your Agents or Messengers send them not at euery mans request least wee seeme to bring the smokie pride of the world into the Church of Christ c. Marke how many wayes the Bishops of Affrica withstood the Bishop of Rome Appeales to Rome which Sozimus claimed by the Councell of Nice they cōfute by the same Councell impugne them by other graue pithie reasons Legates à latere they reiect as neuer spoken of in any Coūcell though hee claimed them Running to Rome they call a wicked refuge and sending Messengers from Rome a smokie pride of the World The corrupting of the Nicene Canons by Sozimus they disproue by Copies that were true authenticke Appiarius whom the B. of Rome had harboured to the Church the second time they banished from the Church of Christ What would those men haue done if Sozimus had claimed to be head of the Church or Vice-God vpon Earth by Christs appointment If any Scripture had sounded that way neither the B. of Rome would haue left that certaine proofe trusted only to the testimonie of a Canon in a Councell which could not bee found but in his owne Librarie nor yet Augustine with his holy learned companie would haue resisted this demaund if it had either been grounded vpon Scripture or determined in the Nicene or other Councell or had stood with equitie good order or reason So the Church of Affrica continued vntill Boniface the second came to bee Bishop of Rome Hee by communications threatnings and allurements brought Eulalius the. Metropolitane of Carthage certaine other Bishops of Affrica to submit themselues to the Bishop of Rome and to anathematise the sixt Councell of Carthage where S. Augustine was present A.D. 440 Polychronius Bishop of Jerusalem would haue had his See first greatest because it was the holy Citie which God had chosen of olde because Christ taught there suffered there rose againe there gaue the Holy Ghost there Peter