Legate to Constance with a large Commission in which full power was granted him to lay down the Pontificate in his Name Whereupon the Legate putting on the Pontifical Robes and sitting in the Papal Chair as representing the Person of Gregory read his Commission publickly and resign'd the Papacy Benedict also being deserted by Ferdinand King of Arragon who had hitherto obey'd him by the Sentence of the Council was divested of the Popedom And that these Depositions of the Popes might appear to be lawful it was determin'd by a Decree of the Council that a General Council doth derive its Power immediately from Christ and that the Pope is subordinate to it After this they consulted about chusing a new Pope and it was agreed upon by the Council that six men out of each Nation should be deputed to go into the Conclave with the Cardinals and elect a Pope Now all things were manag'd in the Council by the Suffrages of five Nations the Germans the Italians the English the French and the Spaniards for it was in this Council that the English were first allow'd to be a Nation Out of them were chosen the Bishops of London Bath Worcester and Litchfield with the Abbot and Dean of York The third day after their entrance into the Conclave the Bishop of London leading the way with these words I Richard Bishop of London come to my Lord Cardinal Colonna all the rest follow'd his Example and chose Otho Colonna a Roman Prince and Cardinal of St. George of the Golden Fleece on the 11 th of November which being St. Martin's day the Pope took the Name of Martin the Fifth This Decree of the Council of Constance concerning the power of a General Council extreamly troubled the succeeding Popes insomuch that it was repealed by Leo the Tenth in the last Lateran Council since which a great many of the Canonists in their Commentaries and the Popish Divines in their long Disputations have disallow'd it either out of flattery to the Popes or else out of fear as having lost that liberty of speaking and writing which every one enjoy'd at the time of the Council of Constance when there was no Pope For Peter Ancharanus who was Advocate of the Council Baldus and Panormitanus gave it openly as their Opinion at that time That the Pope was subordinate to a Council and might be depos'd by it following herein the Authority of the Gloss of Archdiaconus and Geminianus who had deliver'd the same before in their Writings with whom Felinus and other more modern Authors do agree who approve the Council of Constance and maintain the same Opinion Nor is the Power of a Council restrain'd within such narrow limits that immediately upon the creation of a Pope it loses its Authority and can make no Decrees without the consent of the new Pope as Philip Decius imagined who is therefore deservedly censur'd by Charles Molinaeus and Panormitanus further adds That if the Pope dye or be depos'd in the time of a Council that then the power of Election is in the Council and not in the Cardinals alledging this Instance of the Council of Constance in which Martin the Fifth was chosen by the Cardinals and others to whom that Power was delegated by the Council But though this Decree was establish'd at that time in this Council of Constance yet it was afterwards of no force in the Council of Trent in which the Ambition of the Cardinals prevail'd who upon the death of Paul the Third who died in the time of the Council posted from Trent to Rome to create a new Pope But the Council of Constance by vertue of their Supream Authority in the beginning of their Session gave Commission under the Seals of the several Nations to Henry Bishop of Winchester and John Bishop of Litchfield to gather the Moneys due to the Chamber of Rome in England The Election of Martin the Fifth caus'd an incredible joy all over Christendom for every one thought that by this means the Peace of the Church would be re-establish'd The first notice of it in England was given by the Archbishop to the Synod and was presently divulged by Thanksgivings and solemn Processions This Synod was appointed by the Archbishop to be held at London on the 26 th of November upon a Command from the King by Letters out of France Thither came Thomas Bishop of Durham Lord Chancellour of England Thomas Beaufort Duke of Exeter Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland and Ralph Nevil Earl of Westmorland being sent from the Regent John Duke of Bedford to desire of the Clergy a supply of Money for the King who was then carrying on the War successfully in France which being seconded by the Request of the Archbishop they granted two Tenths In this Synod also Robert Gilbert Doctor of Divinity and Warden of Merton College in a long and eloquent Oration having first prais'd the University of Oxford laid before them the miserable Condition of the Students there who after many years spent in the study of the Sciences were not call'd thence to receive any reward of their Labours but were suffer'd to grow old in the University His Example was follow'd by Thomas Kington Doctor of Law and Advocate of the Arches who pleaded the same Cause for the University of Cambridge they both intreated in behalf of both Universities that by a Decree of the Synod some care might be taken to prefer them Whereupon it was decreed That all Livings whose yearly income amounted to sixty Marks should by the Patrons be given only to Doctors of Divinity Law or Physick those that were worth fifty Marks a year only to Licentiates in those Faculties or Batchelors of Divinity and those which did not exceed forty Marks yearly only to Masters of Arts or Batchelors of Law This related to those Benefices to which was annex'd the Cure of Souls The same Order almost was taken in those which are call'd Sinecures according to their respective Values It was further added That this Decree should not extend to those who had taken Degrees by some particular Grace But because it was provided by the Statutes of both Universities that the Students of Divinity should take no Degree in that Faculty till they had commenc'd Masters of Arts and that no Student of Canon Law should be created Doctor except he had studied the Civil Law this Condition was added to the Decree in favour of the Monks and Canon Lawyers that it should not be in force unless those Statutes were repeal'd For which purpose Thomas Felde Dean of Hereford and Thomas Lentwardyn Chancellor of St. Paul's in London were sent by the Synod to Oxford to treat about this Affair with the Masters of Arts by whose Suffrages the University is govern'd This was also signified to the Masters of Arts of Cambridge by Letters from the
the Virgin Mary of St. Thomas of Canterbury and King Edward the Confessor and plac'd in it Eight Chaplains or Fellows Four Clerks Six Choristers and over all these a Master who were to pray for the Souls of the deceased He also built a large Hospital for the maintenance of the Poor of that place both which Foundations he endowed with ample Revenues which were afterwards augmented with great Legacies which his Brothers Robert and William Chichele two Eminent Citizens of London left them in their Wills After his return from his visitation of the Diocess of Lincoln he held a Synod at London on the 12 th of October being sollicited by Letters from the King to demand a supply of Money of the Clergy for the War with France For after the death of Henry the Fifth and Charles the Sixth the Dauphin supposing that the Name of King would be of great advantage to him caus'd himself to be crown'd at Poictiers and took upon him the Title of Charles the Seventh King of France and a great many Princes and Governors of Towns coming in to him who still retain'd an affection for the Name of France he made preparations for War with greater vigour On the other side John Duke of Bedford who by his Brother's Will was appointed Regent of France having contracted a stricter League of amity with Philip Duke of Burgundy by marrying his Sister Ann attack'd the Dauphin in several parts of France and having divided the Forces betwixt himself and Philip Duke of Burgundy he sent Thomas Montacute Earl of Salisbury toward Sens with some choise Troops and desir'd of Humphrey Duke of Glocester Regent of England a fresh Supply of Men and Money Whereupon Henry Bishop of Winchester Lord Chancellor of England John Stafford Bishop of Bath Lord Treasurer Richard Earl of Warwick William Alnewyke Keeper of the Privy Seal Lewis Lord Bourchier and Ralph Lord Cromwell were sent from the Duke of Glocester to the Synod The Bishop of Winchester in a formal Speech having laid before them the present condition of Affairs in France exhorted and intreated them to bestow some part of their Revenues for subduing the remains of the Dauphin's Forces But then it plainly appear'd how much they were all affected with the loss of King Henry the Fifth For whereas they had granted Tenth's so frequently and so readily in former Synods as we have related before they now stuck at the very first demand of the new King thinking that all the hopes of conquering France depended upon Henry the Fifth and that nothing could succeed now he was gone For when the Proctors for the Clergy had debated the Matter several days William Lyndewood was deputed by them to return their Answer which was That the Estates of the Clergy were so drain'd by the continual expences of the War that they were hardly sufficient to maintain them and their Families handsomely that the value of a great many Livings was so fallen that there were not Priests to be sound who would supply the Cures and in short That in the Commissions of all the Proctors for the Clergy the power of granting Tenths was expresly taken away Upon this the Bishop of Winchester went to the Lower House and in a long and pressing Oration besought them to supply the Necessities of the Publick but when he could obtain nothing of them who excus'd themselves upon the narrowness of their Commissions The Synod was adjourn'd by the Archbishop to the 26 th of January following At which time the Bishop of Winchester with the rest of the Lords came thither again and having made a Speech to the Bishops Abbots and Priors of the Vpper House in the Name of the King they granted half a Tenth protesting withal that This Concession should not oblige them unless the Proctors for the Clergy would consent to it for that a division of the two Orders of the Clergy in the matter of granting Tenths being introduced by this Example would be of very pernicious consequence to Posterity But the Lower House persisting stiffly in their former Resolutions were not at all mov'd with the importunate Demands first made by the Bishop of Winchester and afterwards by the Archbishop and the rest of the Bishops Whereupon the Archbishop presently dissolv'd the Synod and appointed another to be held two Months after on the 23 d of April thinking that by the Election of new Proctors the business would be more easily affected When this Synod was assembled the Archbishop first of all commanded the Lower House to chuse their Speaker who is commonly call'd the Prolocutor who pitch'd upon William Lyndewood of which he himself makes mention in his Commentaries After which the Lord Chancellor the Lord Treasurer William Alnewyke Keeper of the Privy Seal the Lord Scrope the Lord Cromwell with some others of the Privy Council came again to the Synod and the Lord Chancellor with his florid Speeches and the rest of the Lords engaging them severally by Flatteries Threats and Promises at length with much ado they obtain'd half a Tenth When this business was over one Robert Hoke and one Thomas Drayton both Priests one of the Diocess of Lincoln and the other of Canterbury were brought before the Synod and accus'd of Heresy It was alledg'd against them That they would not kneel before the Crucifix and that they had in their possession certain Books in which it was said that the Priest could not change the Host in the Sacrament into the Body of Christ that a Monastick Life and Auricular Confession were the Inventions of the Devil and that amongst Christians all things ought to be in common which Opinions they abjur'd publickly at Paul's Cross But the sharpest Accusation was brought against one William Russel of the Order of Minor Fryers for teaching the People in his Sermons That personal Tythes were not commanded by God but that it was lawful for all Christians to bestow them in charitable uses upon the Poor as they pleas'd themselves This extreamly troubled and perplex'd the Clergy who fear that if this Opinion should spread it self among the People they should lose this part of their Income by which the Wealth of their Order would be greatly diminish'd Wherefore he was order'd by the Synod on a day prefix'd to recant out of the Pulpit at Paul's Cross but before the time came he fled out of England whereupon he was pronounc'd contumacious by Edicts set forth against him and afterwards in open Court proclaim'd a Heretick and his Opinion was adjudg'd to be impious by the Decrees of both Vniversities which the University of Oxford presently signified by their Letters to the Archbishop and the Synod which are yet extant Shortly after the Synod being inform'd that he was at Rome sent Messengers to apprehend him and accuse him before the Pope who were allow'd a Farthing in the
There had been begun some time ago at Oxford by the Munificence chiefly of the Duke of Glocester a lofty and magnificent Structure the upper part of which was design'd for a Library and the lower for the publick Divinity Laid out a great Sum on the Structure begun by the Duke of Glocester Schools To this Work the Archbishop gave a great Sum of Money himself and was very earnest in solliciting all the Bishops and Peers who came to the Parliament at Westminster to contribute something toward it all which is gratefully acknowledg'd by the University in their t Epist Acad. Oxon. 26. Letters to him And Two hundred Marks to the publick Chest of the University He also gave Two hundred Marks to the publick Chest of the University which he order'd to be kept by three Masters of Arts two Regents and one Non-regent who were to be chosen yearly and were bound by an Oath to the faithful discharge of that Trust out With the Method of its disposal of which the University might borrow for the publick use Five Pounds every particular College Five Marks a Master of Arts Forty Shillings a Licentiate or Batchelour Two Marks and an Undergraduate One with this Condition That every one should deposite a sufficient Pawn which if the Money were not repaid within a Month was to be forfeited Besides the Decree mentioned concerning graduated Dignitaries He also did the University a signal piece of service by that Decree which we mention'd before concerning the bestowing Benefices upon those only that had taken Degrees which was made by the Synod at his intercession For they esteem'd it as a singular kindness and often u Epist Acad. Oxon 1. 124 125 143 144. in Archiu return'd him thanks upon this account with the highest expressions of gratitude for before this Constitution was made Men though they had attain'd to the knowledge of all Sciences spent their whole Life in the University These and many other Favours conferr'd by him upon the University are honourably mention'd by them in their Letters and that the memory of them might remain for ever it was ordain'd by a x Stat. cist Chich in Archiv publick Decree that his Name should be register'd His Name decreed to be Registred among the Benefactors of Oxford University among their Benefactors and read every Year in the Publick Schools by the Chaplain of the University and that a solemn Mass should be said for him on the Anniversary of his Death All this was justly due to him who had increas'd the glory of the University by Having founded two Colleges c. the soundation of two Colleges and by so many publick Benefactions beside his private Charities to many poor Students to whom he allow'd yearly Stipends as appears out of his private Accounts He adorned the Cathedral of Canterbury Repaired Christ's Church there building and furnishing a Library c. Beside this he very much adorn'd his Cathedral Church of Canterbury he there laid out a great deal of Money in repairing Christ's Church and building a Library and Steeple he also gave a great many Jewels and Ornaments to that Church and furnish'd the Library with many valuable Books in all kinds of Learning which are all reckon'd up in a publick Instrument made by the Prior and Monks of Canterbury and describ'd among the publick Acts of that Church in which they promise on their part that his Body should be laid in the Tomb that he had caus'd to be built on the North side of the Chancel and that no one beside should ever be buried in that place which they and their Successors would take care to see perform'd He also gave very liberally toward Gave liberally towards the building of Croydon Church and Rochester Bridge the building of Croydon Church and Rochester Bridge I omit the rest of his Benefactions lest the enumeration of every smaller Deed of Charity should seem to detract from the glory of his more Illustrious Actions Thus having left the Monuments of his Piety and Liberality in all Places being worn out with Age he departed this Life on the 12 th of April in the His Death Apr. 12. 1443. and magnificent Burial Year 1443. His Body was laid in the Tomb which he had built himself as we said before in the upper part of which is his Statue very handsomly cut in White Marble and on the side of it this Epitaph is written Hic jacet HENRICUS CHICHELE Legum Doctor quondam Cancellarius Sarum qui anno septimo Henrici IV. Regis ad Gregorium Papam XII in ambasciata transmissus in civitate Senensi per manus ejusdem Papae in Menevensem Episcopum consecratus est Hic etiam Henricus anno secundo Henrici quinti Regis in hac sancta Ecclesia in Archiepiscopum postulatus à Joanne Papa XXIII ad eandem translatus est qui obiit anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo quadragesimo tertio mensis Aprilis die XII Here lies HENRY CHICHELE Doctor of Laws and sometime Chancellor of Salisbury who in the Seventh Year of King Henry the Fourth was sent Ambassador to Pope Gregory the XIIth and was consecrated Bishop of S. David's by the hands of the Pope in the City of Siena The said Henry in the Second Year of King Henry the Fifth was demanded for Archbishop in this Holy Church and translated to it by Pope John the Twenty third He died in the Year of our Lord 1443. on the 12 th of April Soon after which a Fatal Change in England Soon after his death follow'd a very deplorable Turn in the State of this Kingdom For Queen Margaret a Woman of a Masculine Spirit by the assistance and Counsels of William Pole Duke of Suffolk got the Government of the King and the whole management Which came to be governed by Queen Margaret Whence the Kingdom was divided and the People oppressed The French also under a Female Revolt to King Charles Normandy then Aquitain lost after 300 years possession of the Kingdom into her own hands upon which the Nobility was divided into Factions and drew along with them the rest of the People who were oppress'd with Exactions The French also who were under the English Dominion being encouraged by our Divisions revolted to King Charles and first we lost Normandy and then all Aquitain which we had held ever since the time of King Henry the Second almost Three hundred years The Kingdom was embroil'd in Civil Dissentions within and labour'd under a Foreign War without For the Kentish men under Jack Cade Jack Cade 's Insurrection took Arms and rais'd an Insurrection the French invaded the Coast of Kent on one side and the Scots on the other ravaged the Northern Borders and to compleat all our Miseries the Family The French invade Kent and the Scots the Borders The Civil War from the House of York in which King Henry was imprison'd exil'd
one of the Monks in the name of the rest to the People who were assembled in the Church in great numbers expecting the Election of a new Archbishop Now he could not be elected to the Archbishoprick but must only be demanded according to the Rules of the Canon-Law in which a Bishop is said to contract marriage with his Church and cannot part from it without the Pope's leave so that a Bishop being engag'd to his See is not elected to another but is demanded and is said not to be promoted to a second Bishoprick but translated from the first all which was introduc'd by the Ambition of the Popes who by this Device got the disposal of most of the Bishopricks in Christendom into their own hands The same day two of the Monks of that Society William Molesh and John Moland were appointed Proxies for the rest who on the 15 th of March waited upon the Bishop at London and acquainted him with the desires of the Prior and Monks humbly intreating him in their name to take upon him the government of the Church of Canterbury At that time he answer'd only that for the present he could determine nothing positively in a matter of so great concern but desir'd a day's time to consider of it The next day when they came to him again in the Bishop of Norwich's House in the presence of Edward Duke of York and several other Persons of the greatest Quality he told them in express words that he could not gratify their desires because it was not lawful for him to lay down his Bishoprick of St. David's without leave from the Pope however that he was not wholly averse from accepting their offer if the Pope would consent to it and therefore he referr'd their Petition to his Arbitrement Whereupon the Prior and Monks by their Proxies sent to Rome humbly requested of Pope John the Twenty third that he would confirm their Petion of Henry Bishop of St. David's to the vacant See of Canterbury and at the same time King Henry signified by Letters to the Pope that he had granted leave to the Prior and Monks of Canterbury to elect an Archbishop that upon their request of the Bishop of St. David's he had given his assent to their Petition that the Bishop was a Person of eminent Note and had deserv'd this Dignity by his Virtue and that nothing now remain'd but that he would do his part in this Affair Now the Merits of the Bishop were well enough known to the Pope first in the Court of Gregory the Twelfth with whom he sided when he was Cardinal and after that in the Council of Pisa where he was also present so that the Proctors for the Chapter of Canterbury soon obtain'd of the Pope who was then at Bologna on the 27 th of April that by his Bull he would absolve the Bishop from the Bond by which he was tied to the Church of St. David's and translate him to the See of Canterbury in which notwithstanding he did not confirm the Demand of the Monks but promoted him to the Archbishoprick by way of Provisor that so he might not depart from the received Custom of the Popes in assuming to themselves a right of donation of Bishopricks and Livings he added moreover this Restriction That he should not enter upon the exercise of his Archiepiscopal Function till he had taken an Oath of Fidelity to him and the Church of Rome before the Bishops of Winchester and Norwich and lastly by several Bulls sent to the Prior and Monks of Canterbury to the Bishops of that Province to the Prelates and Vassals of the Church and to all the People he commanded them to obey Henry Archbishop of Canterbury and to pay him all the reverence honour obedience and other Services due to his Function But beside the Petition of the Chapter and the Pope's Bull there yet remain'd the Pall which was an Ornament taken from the Body of St. Peter who is buried at Rome and was worn only by Patriarchs and Archbishops and some Bishops to whom it was granted by a particular Privilege to denote that full power that they have over the inferior Bishops and that only in the Churches of their own Province and upon Holidays appointed by the Pope and till they had receiv'd it it was accounted unlawful for them to call a Synod to make holy Water to confer Orders to consecrate Churches or to exercise any part of their Function This he obtain'd of the Pope by the means of Robert Apilton Canon of York whom he sent to Bologna for that purpose which afterwards the Bishops of Winchester and Norwich by a Power delegated to them by the Pope's Bull deliver'd to him with great solemnity in the King's Palace of Sutton in the presence of the King himself Humfry Duke of Glocester Richard Earl of Warwick George Earl of March and many other of the Nobility and there he took an Oath of Obedience and Fidelity to the Pope without which they could not deliver him the Pall in these words I Henry Archbishop of Canterbury will be faithful and obedient to St. Peter to the holy Apostolical Church of Rome and to my Lord John the Twenty third and his Successors that shall be canonically elected I will not consent to nor engage in any Design against their Life Limbs or Liberty The Secrets that they shall entrust me with either by themselves by their Legates or by Letters I will not willingly reveal to any one to their prejudice I will assist them in maintaining and defending the Papacy and the Rights of St. Peter against all persons whatsoever as far as it consists with my Order I will honourably attend the Legate of the Apostolick See both at his coming and return and will supply him in his necessities When I am call'd to a Council I will come except I shall be hinder'd by some lawful Impediment I will visit the Apostolical Palace every three years either in my own person or by my Deputy except I shall be excus'd by leave from the Pope The Possessions belonging to my Archiepiscopal See I will not sell nor give away nor mortgage nor grant any new Infeoffments of them nor any other way alienate without the consent of the Pope So help me God and his holy Gospel But though he had obtain'd a power in Ecclesiastical Affairs from the Pope yet he could not meddle with the Lands and Revenues of the Church without the King's Authority Wherefore he went to the King at Leicester where he was put in possession of them on the 30 th of May after he had sworn Allegiance to the King and had expresly renounc'd all those Clauses in the Pope's Bull for his Translation which might prejudice the King or derogate from his Royal Prerogative after which the whole Revenue of the Archbishoprick which
War lest he who the last Year was Conqueror in the Battel of Agincourt should now upon the account of his late Losses seem not to give but to receive Conditions of Peace Wherefore having setled his Affairs in France he return'd soon after into England and held a Parliament at Westminster of which he easily obtain'd a supply of Men and Money for the service of the War with France the next Year At the same time the Archbishop came back from Calais and by the King's Command call'd a Synod at London on the 9 th of November in which at the request of Henry Beaufort Bishop of Winchester the Earl Marshal and Henry Ware who from Chancellor of Canterbury had some time before been made Keeper of the Privy Seal who for that purpose were sent thither by the King he prevail'd with them to grant the King two Tenths for his Expedition into France There was nothing else done in that Synod but on the Days of John of Beverley and of Crispin and Crispinian Martyrs on which the Battel of Agincourt hapned were made Holidays The King having commanded the Nobility to attend him and having levied a choice Army and equip't his Fleet sail'd over into Normandy on the 1 st of August 1417. leaving John Duke of Bedford to govern the Kingdom in his absence When he was gone the Archbishop commanded all the Bishops of his Province to cause solemn Processions to be made to all Churches and Chappels for the safety of the King and the success of his Arms. The same Year by a signal Example of his Justice and Courage he shew'd how much all People whatsoever in that Age stood in awe of the Authority of the Church For on Easterday the Lord Strange with the Lady Elizabeth his Wife and a great Train of Servants attending them coming to St. Dunstan's Church to Vespers and meeting Sir John Trussel there with whom he had an ancient Quarrel his Servants drew their Swords in the Church wounded Sir John his Son and some others of his Family and kill'd one Thomas Petwardy a Citizen of London who to accommodate the matter between them had thrust himself into the Scuffle The Matter being brought before the Archbishop he interdicted the Church which had been polluted with Blood the Authors and Accomplices of the Crime were publickly excommunicated and curs'd before the People at Paul's Cross and the Archbishop sitting as Judge in St. Paul's Church after he had examined into the Fact impos'd this Penance on the Lord Strange and his Lady who fell on their knees before him and humbly begg'd pardon of the Church That their Servants in their Shirts and Drawers only and he and his Wife with Tapers in their hands should go through the great Street of the City from St. Paul's to St. Dunstan's all which was accordingly perform'd with great solemnity and when the Archbishop purified St. Dunstan's Church the Lady Strange fill'd the Vessels with Water they were also commanded to offer each of them a Pyx and Altarcloath In the mean time the matter was hotly debated in the Council of Constance about taking away the Schism in the Church by the creation of a new Pope and restraining those Persons who with a great deal of liberty inveigh'd against the Pride of the Popes the Luxury of the Clergy the lazy Lives of the Monks and the innumerable Corruptions of the Church of Rome Of these John Wickliff was accounted the chief who in the Reign of Edward the Third and Richard the Second by his publick Lectures at Oxford and afterwards by his Books which he put out drew to his Party a great many not only of the Students of that University but also of the Nobility and common People By him the Seeds of sound Doctrine were dispers'd among other Christian Nations and particularly among the Bohemians who embrac'd his Tenets so readily that they had already in a manner renounced the Pope To put a stop to their progress John Wickliff was pronounced a Heretick by a Decree of the Council and it was further ordained that his Memory should be accurs'd that his Bones should be taken out of his Grave and burnt and that all those who maintain'd his Opinions should be prosecuted as guilty of Heresy Then they proceeded to the Bohemians and having likewise condemned their Opinions John Huss and Hierome of Prague were adjudg'd Arch-hereticks and condemn'd to the Flames The death of these two Persons brought a great deal of infamy upon the Emperor Sigismond and the whole Council for being cited to Constance they came thither under the security of the publick Faith which Sigismond had engag'd to Ladislaus King of Bohemia for their safe return Which being so shamefully violated the Bohemians were so incens'd that having made John Zisca a valiant Commander their General they afterwards brought the Emperor into very great Straits But the Council to take away the infamy of this Action decreed that Faith was not to be kept with Hereticks having first consulted Panormitanus and Ludovicus Romanus two Lawyers of great repute who deliver'd this as their Opinion as did also some others whom the Fathers of the Council could sway by their Authority Notwithstanding the more Modern Lawyers were of a contrary Opinion and the Papists themselves were so asham'd of this Decree that they did not offer to violate the publick Faith given to Luther at the Dyet of Worms and afterwards to the Protestants which came to the Council of Trent For what can be more absurd or indeed more impious than that Christians should make no account of their word which was always esteem'd sacred even by the Heathens themselves After these things the Council was wholly intent upon composing the Differences between the Popes For when the Emperor Sigismond was return'd out of England several hainous Crimes were alledg'd against John the Twenty third because he had not laid down the Papacy as he had solemnly promis'd whereupon he fled privately and in disguise from Constance into Austria but being pursued by the Emperor he was taken in the Habit of a Fencer or a Huntsman and brought before the Council by whom he was committed to Prison and some of the chief Men out of every Nation there present being deputed to examine into his Actions he was accused before them of Adultery Incest Witchcraft Murther and other horrid Crimes particularly of Simony that being first made Cardinal and afterwards Pope through Bribery he had set to sale Livings Dignities Bishopricks and Cardinalships Orders Indulgences and all other things belonging to the Church all which being prov'd by Witnesses by the Sentence of the Council he was divested of the Papacy and condemned to Imprisonment There remain'd yet Gregory the Twelfth and Benedict the Thirteenth Gregory when he saw that he must submit sent Charles Malatesta Prince of Ariminum as his
Sons of Females a L. Si ex patronis 10. sect Julianus ff de bonis libert l. Divi fratres 17. ff de jure patr l. 1. sect si filius ff de suis legit haered l. cum dotem 57 ff ad leg Falcid l. 2. sect nullum ff de decurion l. in servitutem 16. sect si patroni filius ff de bonis libert l. si vellem 4. sect si deportatus ff eod tit l. 1. sect filium ff de bon poss contr tab b Sect. néque Authent de trient sereniss d. l. maximum vitium c. de liber praeter Bald. ad l. 2. n. 7. c. quae sit long consuet Bald. ad l. si defunctus n. 8. C. de suis legit Anchor ad c. Canonum statuta n. 311. de Constit Alex. Cons 16. vol. 1. Bart. ad l. cunctos populos n. 33. C. de sum Trinit c L. Curials C. de praed decur lib. 10 l. filius fam 7. sect sed meminisse ff de donat l. maritum 42. ff sol matr l. si vero 64. sect si vero ff eod d L. Si ita scriptum 45. in princ ff de leg 2. Rebuff ad l. 1. ff de verb. sign e L. Prospexit 12. sect 1. ff qui à quib manum l. commodissim 10. ff de lib. posthum l. si cum dotem 22. in princ ff sol matr And is to be taken in the most favourable sense The Archbishop asserts the King's Call as well as Right to France f C. Statutum 22. de Elect. in 6. With other great Encouragements to the Expedition Success a Good Sign in the Vertuous and Brave But the Earl of Westmorland advises a War with the Scots From the Roman Example to begin with the lesser Enemy And the readiness of Provisions for the latter With the easiness of the Victory The justice and necessary of the War The Earl Answered by Jo. Duke of Exeter That the Scot's Strength lying in the French ought to be first attaqued France once conquer'd the Scots will be helpless Advised to hinder the Scots Attempts in the King's absence Which Opinion highly applauded And War with France was the Cry of the House The Archbishop's renowned for the wisdom of his Counsel The King provides Army and Navy Sends Ambassadors to demand France The Army's Rendezvouz at Southampton The French Ambassadors in Answer offer the French King's Daughter in Marriage Their Conditions not thought honourable by the King The Archbishop's more full Answer That the French King had not answered King Henry's Demand Who insisted only on the Dominions his Ancestors had enjoyed Which Answer the King confirms The French Ambassadors remanded The King sets sail Takes Harflew Deseats the French at Agincourt Of whom Ten thousand are slain g Paul Aemyl in Carol. 6. And many Noble Prisoners In the King's absence the Archbishop arms the Clergy in Kent Calls a Synod ☞ In which two Tenths are granted for the War h C. Ineffabilis de feriis Lyndw. Another Synod Christendom divided between Three Popes By two of whom the Council of Pisa refused A General Council appointed by the Third The Archbishop appears at Constance by Proxy Their Charges 2 d. per l. out of the Clergy's Revenues The Emperor comes to England as Mediator Whereupon the Delegates are press'd to Constance Where a Decree pass'd about Wills and Administration That 5 s. shall be paid for a Probate And that the Clergy shall bring in the Tenth six Months sooner The Mediation in vain between the Two Kingdoms Harfleu being besieg'd and Four hundred English slain by the French Wherefore the King sends his Brother the Duke of Bedford to Normandy Presents the Emperor with the Garter And conducts him to Calais The Emperor goes to Constance The Archbishop goes to France Ambassadors from the French to King Henry at Calais Who returning got a Supply from the Parliament And Two Tenths from the Synod i C. Anglicanae de feriis The King setting sail left the Duke of Bedford Vicegerent The Archbishop interdicts the Church of St. Dunstans Excommunicates the Criminals viz. Lord Strange Lady and Servants The two former with Tapers and all in their Shirts and Drawers only did processional Pennance from St. Paul's to St. Dunstan's for purification of which The Lady fill'd the Vessels with water At Constance they dispute about a new Pope And against John Wickliff By whom the Seeds of sound Doctrine had been dispersed Particularly among the Bohemians Wickliff pronounc'd Heretick And decreed that his Bones be taken up and burnt And his Followers be prosecuted as Hereticks John Huss and Jerom of Prague condemn'd to Flames Whose death made the Emperor and Council infamous The publick Faith being shamefully violated The Bohemians revenge it The Council decreed Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks k Concil Const Sess 15. l Mar. Salomon ad l 2. sect exactis ff de orig jur Petr. Plac. lib. 1. Epit. delict c. 37. n Menoch lib. 2. de Arbit Jud. Cent. 4. Cas 336. Farrinac in prac Crim. tit de carcerib carcerat q. 20. Menoch Cons 100. Of which the Papists ashamed kept it to Luther and others o Bodin lib 5. de repub cap. 6. p Petr. Aerod de ord Judic par 4. n. 15. Pope John the Twenty third charg'd for not leaving the Papacy And accused before the Council of Adultery Incest Witchcraft c. Gregory by Proxy resigns the Chair as did also Benedict ☞ q Sess 4 5. At Constance a Council is decreed superior to the Pope Five Nations compos'd the Council Martin the elected Pope r Sess 12. The D cree of the Council's Power repeal'd by Leo the Tenth s Canonist ad c. si Papa Dist 40. c. significasti de elect t Bellarm. lib. 2. de Concil Author cap. 14. Sander lib. 7. de visib monar u Ancharan Cons 181. x Bald. ad c. olim n. 32. de rescript y Abb. ad c. quia diligentia n. 2. de Elect. ad c. significasti n. 4. eod tit ad c. fraternitatis n. 1. 2. de haeret z Gl. ad c. si Papa dist 40. a Archidiac Gemin ad c. in fidei favorem de haeret in 6. b Felin ad c. super literis n. 21. de rescript Dec. in Consil pro Authoritate Concilii supra Papam late Cardinal Jacobat lib. 3. de Concil art 1. n. 11. Jo. Royas de haeret n. 18. A Council not to be restrain'd by a new Pope c Decius ad c. Osius n. 2. de Elect. d In notis ad Decium ded c. Osius e Abb. ad c. licet de vitanda n. 8. de elect And that on the Pope's death a new Election belongs to the Council f Sess 19. Yet during that of Trent the Cardinals chose Paul the Third g Thuâ—n lib. 4. histor That of Constance gave order about the Money due by England to Rome The Election of Pope Martin was mightily liked London Synod grants
THE LIFE OF HENRY CHICHELE Archbishop of Canterbury Who lived in the Times of HENRY the V. and VI. Kings of England Written in Latin by ARTH. DUCK LLD. Now made English And a Table of CONTENTS Annexed LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCXCIX The most Reverend D r. HENRY CHICHELE Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury MBurghers delin et sculp To the most Reverend Father in God THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan My Lord WHILE the World is so fond of Voyages and the Discoveries of Unknown Countries I hope it will not be unacceptable to bring into view one of the best Lives of one of the Greatest Prelates of this Church writ in Latin with great Judgment by a Man very eminent in his Profession If this Prelate had lived in happier Times he would probably have exerted those great Talents which he carried far in so dark an Age in Services of a high nature He had a true Judgment and firm Courage with a generous Temper and was a great Patron and Promoter of Learning He despised Wealth was free from aspiring and asserted the Rights of the Crown and the Liberties of this Church against Papal Usurpations These were great Qualities and so much the greater because the Corruptions of the Clergy from the Papacy down to the Begging Orders were then to an insupportable degree In any other Age the publishing a Life which has so great a Relation to the most Glorious part of our History might have lookt like a reproach of the Time in which it came out But the Present Age may well bear it in which if we have not carried our Conquest into France as was then done yet we see a GREAT PRINCE who has far out-done the Performances of that time Then a Feeble King and divided Court made the Work as easy in it self as it looks great in History But we have seen a Mighty and United Power managed by Wise Counsels flush'd with a long course of Success that gave Law to All about it stopt in its full career by a King born to be a Blessing to the present Age and a Wonder to all Succeeding ones to Whose Reign the most renouned Pieces of our History are but foiles to set it off and make it shine the brighter My Lord I could not be long in suspence for the choice of a proper Patron to my small Interest in this Work which is only the care of the Translation of it into English The See that you do now govern with so Apostolical a Temper and in none of the easiest Times is not the chief reason of my addressing to Your Grace the Life of one of the most Eminent of all Your Predecessors I could give many more Reasons for the choice that relate immediately to Your Self but I will rather leave it to the Reader to find out than offer a thing so ingrateful to Your Lordship I pay Your Grace so profound a Reverence that I will not venture on that which I know will offend You for I am with the truest Zeal and the highest Respect possible My Lord Your Grace's most Humble and most Obedient Servant THE LIFE OF HENRY CHICHELE Archbishop of CANTERBURY HENRY CHICHELE was Born at Higham-Ferrars an ancient Town in Northamptonshire so call'd from the Ferrars who were formerly Lords of it His Father's Name was Thomas Chichele his Mother 's Agnes The Family was but mean and obscure but through his Virtue it became illustrious in after-ages In his Youth he applied himself to the Study of the Civil and Canon Law at Oxford being made Fellow of New-College by William Wyckam then Bishop of Winchester who had lately at a vast Charge founded and endow'd with large Revenues two stately Colleges one at Oxford and the other at Winchester In these Studies of the Law he improv'd his good natural Parts by his great Industry and commenc'd Doctor in that Faculty He left the University at the instance of Robert Medeford Bishop of Salisbury who took him first into his House and Family and afterwards communicated also to him his most private and important Concerns with whom he ever after preserv'd a strict and intimate Friendship He was preferr'd by him to the Archdeaconry of Salisbury which was his first step to Ecclesiastical Promotions But one Walter Fitzpers a Priest commenc'd a Suit against him for this Dignity claiming it by vertue of a Grant from King Henry the Fourth under the Great Seal The Cause being brought by Appeal before Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury the Archdeaconry was adjudg'd to Henry Chichele by the Auditor of the Archbishop's Court who was deputed with full Power to determine this affair This was about the Years 1402 and 1403 in the Reign of King Henry the Fourth He held this Dignity for about two years and with great diligence perform'd the Duty of his Office after which he was made Chancellor of Salisbury For Walter Medeford the Bishop's Brother who enjoy'd that Place made an exchange with him which was allow'd to be lawful according to the Constitutions of the Canon Law and having both quitted their several Dignities Henry was made Chancellor by the Bishop and Walter Archdeacon There was annexed to the Chancellorship the Parsonage of Odyham in the Diocess of Winchester which was then void and was given to him by the Bishop and he was immediately put in possession of it by the Custos Rotulorum of the See of Winchester which was then vacant by the Death of William Wyckam who on the 27 th of September chang'd a Life which he had spent very gloriously in the Service of that Church for Immortality These Preferments he obtain'd by the favour of the Bishop of Salisbury who always highly esteem'd him and when he died which was about three years after made very honourable mention of him in his Will and left him a golden Cup with a Cover and made him the Chief of his Executors which were named in the same Will His eminent Qualifications began now to be generally taken notice of and particularly by King Henry the Fourth who afterwards employ'd him in many Negotiations For besides his extraordinary Learning he had a sharp and piercing Wit which with his Experience and Skill in Civil Affairs rendred him very dextrous in the management of Business The first publick Employment that he had beside those Affairs which he dispatch'd for the King here at home with great Commendation was in an extraordinary Embassy which was sent by the King to Pope Gregory the Twelfth to Congratulate his late Advancement to the Papacy or to reconcile him to Benedict the Thirteenth who assumed the Pontifical Dignity at Avignon The Ambassadors arriving in Italy took their Journey towards Rome but in their way thither they met with the Pope at Siena which is a very pleasant and noble City of Tuscany at that time
but came to no conclusion For the French shew'd up and down the Picture of Catharine King Charles's Daughter very curiously drawn whom they propos'd in Marriage to King Henry but the English demanding for her Dowry a Million of Crowns together with Normandy Aquitain and the County of Ponthieu independent of the Sovereignty of France the French at length openly refus'd all Terms of accord conceiving that King Charles was not capable of transacting any thing having lately lost his Senses nor the Dauphin who acted in right of another and not for himself nor the Duke of Burgundy who had no power to alienate the Dominions of the Kingdom of France All this while the People of Roan held out very obstinately though they were reduc'd to the greatest Extremities For after six Months siege in which Six thousand Men perished partly by the Sword and partly by Famine those that remain'd were forc'd to feed upon the most loathsome Animals as Dogs Horses and Mice and they were reduc'd to so great a scarcity of all things that as it is reported an Apple was sold for Three Shillings and a Dog for Ten nor could they any longer hope for Relief for King Charles was not well in his Wits and the Princes were engag'd in a Civil War in which all France was involv'd being divided between Charles the Dauphin and John Duke of Burgundy Wherefore two of the Nobility two of the Clergy and two of the Citizens with a Herald were sent out of the Town who falling down at the King's Feet humbly sued for Peace The King sent them to the Archbishop's Tent to whom he had given power together with the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury the Lord Fitz-hugh Sir Walter Hungerford Sir Gilbert Vmfrevil and Sir John Robsert to treat with the Besieged about the Conditions of Surrender The Articles being agreed on which were That the Inhabitants should be safe both in their Persons and their Fortunes and that they should pay 365000 Crowns they deliver'd up the Town This was in the beginning of the Year 1419. and on the 19 th of January the King entred the Town with his Army in a triumphant manner and having fortified it with some new Works he setled there his Exchequer and the principal Court of Judicature for all matters relating to the Province of Normandy After this he conquer'd the rest of Normandy in a little time For first he took Meudon and then Pontoise by storm The other Towns being terrified by the example of that of Roan surrender'd of their own accord The Archbishop of Canterbury staid some time with the King at Roan being entertain'd in a Convent of Preaching Fryers there and afterwards attended him in his Camp at Meudon and Pontoise serving him both in the quality of a Confessor and a Counsellor and did not leave him till the end of August At which time he return d into England that he might hold a Synod and take care of the Government of his Province This Synod was appointed to be held at London on the 30 th of October that the Clergy might consult about granting a supply of Money to the King who was carrying on the War in France with success which the King had given in charge to the Archbishop at his departure out of France and again very lately by Letters The Synod granted half a Tenth upon all Livings and it was also agreed that those that held Chappels or Chantries or that receiv'd Stipends for saying Mass should pay to the King 6 s. 8 d. each but withal a publick Protestation was made by William Lyndewood in the name of the Proctors for the Clergy that this Concession should be no prejudice to them hereafter nor be made a Precedent for succeeding Ages There was brought before this Synod one Richard Walker a Priest in the Diocess of Worcester who was accus'd of Witchcraft and several Books Waxen Images Stones and other Instruments of Charms and Conjuration were produc'd which were afterwards own'd by him and burnt at Paul's Cross John Welles Bishop of Landaff preaching a Sermon upon the Occasion He himself having done solemn Penance in a publick Procession abjur'd that wicked Art After this some Persons were accus'd before the Synod for embracing the Tenets of John Wicklyff who were forc'd to recant and thus the Synod broke up The Archbishop afterwards order'd Processions to be made to all Churches for the King's success in France who at this time by the Providence of God began to conceive some hopes of reducing the Kingdom of France without bloodshed through the Divisions of the French For Philip Duke of Burgundy in revenge of his Father's death whom Charles the Dauphin had treacherously slain at Montereau under pretence of conserring with him made a private League with King Henry by his Ambassadors and promis'd him the Lady Catharine in marriage with all other assistances for the prosecution of his Conquests He only desir'd him to come in person to Troyes and there conclude a Peace publickly with King Charles The Duke of Burgundy had at that time in his power King Charles Queen Isabel and their Daughter Catharine with Paris the chief City of the Kingdom and the whole management of the Government for Isabel who hated the Dauphin had put him by and advanc'd the Duke of Burgundy to the Regency The King that he might not let slip so fair an opportunity of managing all things to his own advantage and being much taken with the great Beauty of the Lady Catharine came with all speed to Troyes where he receiv'd her in marriage at the hands of Charles and Isabel upon these Terms That King Henry during the life of Charles his Father-in-law should have the Government of France with the Title of Regent after whose death he or his Children begotten of the Lady Catharine should succeed in the Kingdom and that the Dauphin should be look'd upon as disinherited and a publick Enemy To these Conditions the Princes and Nobles of France who were there present in great number gave their assent and with the Duke of Burgundy who first took the Oath swore Allegiance to King Henry for they conceiv'd a greater esteem of his Wisdom and Courage when they saw him present amongst them than they had done before from the bare admiration of his Actions at a distance It was toward the end of May 1420. when the Nuptials were solemnized at Troyes the News of which being brought into England the excess of joy wherewith it was universally receiv'd almost lessen'd the belief of the truth of it The Archbishop of Canterbury having left the Office of Vicar general to John Prior of Canterbury and that of Auditor to William Lyndewood on the 10 th of June took shipping at Winchelsea and sail'd over into France to congratulate the King upon his late Marriage and by his Counsels to confirm his new Government He arriv'd
Pound out of all Ecclesiastical Preferments The Examination of this Matter being referr'd by the Pope to Branda Cardinal of Placenza he was condemn'd to perpetual Imprisonment unless he repented of his Error but afterwards escaping out of Prison he return'd into England and having preach'd a Sermon at Paul's Cross he abjur'd his Error with a formal Oath The Archbishop also by his Mandate enjoin'd the Franciscans that as often as they preach'd to the People they should teach them that personal Tythes were commanded to be paid both by the Laws of God and the Constitutions of the Holy Fathers The same Year after the Synod was ended the Archbishop by his Prudence dispell'd a dreadful Storm that threatned the Kingdom which was rais'd by the Dissentions of the Nobility For Henry Beaufort Son to John Duke of Lancaster by Catharine Swinford his third Wife being puff d up with the nobility of his Birth and the great Wealth which he had got together out of the Bishoprick of Winchester and not brooking the Rule of Humphry Duke of Glocester the Lord Protector he began to maintain an open enemity against him the Quarrel being afterwards more enflam'd on both Sides and many of the Nobility and others engaging in either Party they both went Arm'd and attended with their Servants and Adherents and a great number of Profligate and Seditious Persons wearing Arms by their Example went about the Streets of London and their Number was so great that the Citizens shut up their Shops and left off their Trades and were forc'd to keep Guard Day and Night in all the Streets of the City to repress the Insolence of these Mutineers Upon this the Archbishop accompanied with Peter Duke of Conimbra Son to the King of Portugal who was lately come into England to visit the King his Cousin rid through the City eight times in one Day betwixt the Duke's and the Bishop's Palaces and prevail'd so far upon them both by his Authority and Intreaties that they laid down their Arms and Matters were compos'd for a time But the Bishop though he had quitted his Arms had not yet relinquish'd his Hatred for soon after by Letters sent into France to the Duke of Bedford he accus'd the Duke of Glocester desiring the Duke of Bedford to come over into England with all speed if he tender'd the Safety of the King and the Peace of the Kingdom which otherwise must of necessity be involv'd in Blood and the devastations of a Civil War The Duke though the War went on succesfully in France by the surrender of a great many strong Towns and the defeat of a great Army of the French in a pitcht Battel at Vernoil yet esteeming the success of Affairs in France to depend upon the Peace of England immediately upon the receit of these Letters he committed the Administration of his Office to Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick and came with all speed into England in the beginning of the Year 1426. and having call'd a Parliament at Leicester he examin'd the Quarrel between his Brother and the Bishop When they had both shew'd the causes of their discontent and from arguing began to break out into greater heats at the Duke of Bedford's entreaty they agreed to refer all Differences on both Sides to the determination of Arbitrators of whom Henry Archbishop of Canterbury was nam'd first after him Thomas Duke of Exeter John Duke of Norfolk Thomas Bishop of Durham Philip Bishop of Winchester John Bishop of Bath Humphry Earl of Stafford William Alnewyke Keeper of the Privy Seal and Ralph Cromwell who order'd them to join hands and in a set form of words to be repeated by them both to forgive all Injuries on both Sides and be friends with one another which Reconciliation was confirm'd by the Votes of the whole Parliament In this Session a supply of Money was granted for levying Soldiers for which end also about this time the Archbishop assembled a Synod at London on the 15 th of April Thither came John Kempe Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England with Walter Hungerford Lord Treasurer and the Lord Chancellor having extoll'd the great pains and diligence of the Duke of Bedford in an Eloquent Oration the Synod granted the King half a Tenth The Bishop of Winchester who was created Cardinal thsi Year by Pope Martin the next Year went over with the Duke of Bedford into France and at Calais in the great Church of that Place he put on the Cap and other Ensigns of that Dignity with great solemnity on Candlemas-day He had sought this Honor with great earnestnss eight years before in the time of King Henry the Fifth and had obtain'd a Promise of it of Pope John the Twenty third who design'd to promote him very speedily and to appoint him his Legate à latere in England with a very large Authority But the Archbishop perceiving his Ambition at that time interpos'd with the King who was then in France by Letters which he wrote to him in a grave and modest style in which he shew'd That the Power of the Pope's Legates did derogate very much from the Dignity of the King from the Laws of the Land and from the Privileges of the Church of England A Copy of this Letter the Original of which is yet to be seen written with the Archbishop's own Hand we have here subjoin'd Sovereyn Lord as your humble Prest and debout Bedeman I recommand me to your Hygnesse desyreing evermore to heare and knowe of your gracious speed he le of body and of soule also my Lordys your brethren and all your royal hoste And as hertly as I can or may thanke Almightie God and Lord of all strengths and hostes that so graciously hath continued his mygty hond upon you sythen the time of your beginning hedirtoward into your most worship your Leige menys most hertly gladnesse and abating of the hy pride of your enemies And besech God both day and night with all your subgetts both spirituel and temporel so continue his hy Grace upon you and yowre that the mow come to the effect of your hy labor pees of both your regmes after your hertly desires Gracious Lord like it to remember you that be your moost worthie letters written at your towne of Caen rrb. day of September you charged me that be the abys of my Lord your brother of Bedford and of your Chaunceler sholde be ordeygned that all maner of men of your subgets wat astaat or condicion that thei were should abstyne letter of wrytes or pursuit making to the Pope after his election till the time that he have writen to you and ye againe to him as it hath be acustumed of honeste of your lond for the which cause neither I nor non odir man as ferforth as it may be knowe hath yit written nor sent ne no leve hath of passage to the
Pope in behalf of the Archbishop who had incurr'd his displeasure for opposing the excessive Power of the Court of Rome And indeed it was but reasonable that he who for promoting the common good of all and maintaining the Honour of the Kingdom so little dreaded the Pope's Anger should be defended by the publick Authority But the Bishop of Winchester beside his Title of Cardinal had the power of Legate in England conferr'd upon him by the Pope with a very large Commission or as they commonly term'd it a Faculty which Power he exercis'd with so great Avarice and got together such a prodigious Wealth that he was generally styl'd the Rich Cardinal The Year after this he return'd into England and having open'd his Commission in the presence of Humphry Duke of Glocester the Protector and many of the Bishops and Nobility Richard Caudray who was appointed Proctor for the King by the Duke of Glocester and the Privy Council expresly declar'd That by a particular Prerogative of the Kings of England which they had enjoy'd ever since the memory of man no Legate from the Pope could come into England without the King's leave and therefore if the Cardinal of Winchester by vertue of his Legantine Office should act any thing contrary to this Right of the King 's that he in the King's Name did interpose and disown all his Authority Whereupon the Cardinal promis'd openly before the Duke of Glocester and all that were present that he would not exercise his Office of Legate without the King's leave and that he would act nothing in it that might any ways infringe or derogate from the Rights Immunities and Privileges of the King or Kingdom Now upon his being made Cardinal and Legate he was oblig'd to lay down his Place of Lord Chancellor Laid down the Office of Chancellor as obliged which he did the Year before in the Parliament at Westminster he ought also to have been removed from the Privy Council but in respect of the Nobility of his Birth and his near alliance to the King by a particular favour he was allow'd to keep his Place there except when any But kept his Place in the Council with exception matter was to be debated between the King and the Pope for then it was expresly concluded that he should not be present which Limitation was confirm'd y Rot. Parliam ann 8 H. 6. the next Year by Act of Parliament and order'd to be entred in the Journals of the Privy Council Now the chief Reason that mov'd the Pope to create the Bishop of Winchester a Cardinal was that he might employ him in the War that he design'd The Pope rais'd imm against the Bohemians Who had pull'd down the Monasteries c. against the Bohemians who having embrac'd the Doctrine of Wickliff had pull'd down the Monasteries and Images and having abolished almost all the Rites and Ceremonies of the Romish Church had openly revolted from the Government of the Pope He therefore The Cardinal made General in the Bohemian War c. made him his General in the Bohemain War and appointed him Legate in Hungary Bohemia and all Germany with a far larger Commission by which He could pardon Rapes on Nuns c. he was impower'd to pardon Rapes committed upon Nuns to dispense with Marriages contracted within the fourth degree of Consanguinity with the Age of Persons to be admitted to Orders and Benefices with Interdicts and many other things which were contrary to the Constitutions of the Canon Law He was to demand a Tenth of the English Clergy for the War he was also order'd to demand a Tenth of the English Clergy for the Service of this War For this cause the Archbishop being sollicited by the Pope's Bull and being also press'd by Letters from the King to consider of raising Money for carrying on the War in France call'd a Synod at London which began on the 5 th of July In their first Session at the request of the Archbishop of York Lord Chancellor and Walter Hungerford Lord Treasurer they granted the King half In the next Synod half a Tenth is given the King a Tenth The Synod was afterwards prorogu'd by reason of the excessive heat of the Summer to St. Martin's day in November following and then again to the 29 th of October the next Year at which time the Archbishop of York was sent to them again from the King together with the Duke of Norfolk the Earls of Warwick Stafford and Salisbury th e Lords Cromwell Tiptoft and Hungerford at whose desire a Tenth and a half And in another a Tenth and an half was granted and solemn Processions were order'd to be made for the success of the Duke of Bedford who went on Duke of Bedford had besieg'd Orleans prosperously and had now besieg'd Orleans a noble City upon the River Loyre These Concessions of Tenths which were granted so readily by the z 8 H. 6. c. 1. Synod were rewarded by an Act made in the Parliament holden at this time at Westminster by which The same Priviledge was granted to the Clergy which the Members of the House of Commons do enjoy when they are chosen to serve in Parliament For those Grants the Members of the Synod c. were freed from Arrests which was that neither they nor their Servants should be arrested while they were assembled in Convocation nor in their journy thither But Conzo Zuolanus the Pope's Nuntio came often to the Synod and pleaded in behalf of the Pope but to no purpose The Pope's Nuntio prevail'd not in the Synod When he could not obtain of them a Supply for the War with the Bohemians which he had sollicited in a long and pressing Oration he produc'd the For shewing his Letters for a Tenth Pope's Letters before the Synod in which he signified that he had impos'd a Tenth upon the Kingdom of England for the support of the Bohemian War which so incensed the whole Synod that they absolutely denied to grant a Tenth However at the importunity of the Pope He was denied but got 8 d. per Mark from Livings With a Salvâ praerogativâ Regiâ they gave him Eight pence in every Mark out of all Benefices according to their respective values provided that this grant were not contrary to the King's Prerogative and the Laws of the Land After this John Jourdelay John Galle Robert Heggley Ralph Mungyn Thomas Garenter all men in Orders with several others were brought before the Synod who were accus'd of Heresy for holding divers corrupt Opinions concerning the Sacrament of the Altar the Adoration of Images Religious Pilgrimages and the Invocation of Saints for maintaining that the Pope was Antichrist and not God's Heresy in holding the Pope to be Antichrist c. Vicegerent that the Divine Oracles were contain'd only in the Scriptures and not in the Legends or Lives of the
Fathers and for keeping privately by them several Books of John Wickliff and others concerning matters of Religion written in the Vulgar Tongue All which Opinions Some recanted others were imprison'd some of them recanted before the Synod and the rest were committed to Prison After them one Joan Dertford Joan Dertford by means of her Answer acquitted being question'd about the same Tenets clear'd her self of the Accusation by an uncertain Answer saying That she had learnt only the Creed and Ten Commandments and never durst meddle with the profound Mysteries of Religion upon which she was committed to the Bishop of Winchester's Vicar general to be instructed by him The Ordinaries also The Ordinaries charg'd to persecute the Wicklevists and Lollards of every place were commanded vigorously to prosecute those that dissented from the Church of Rome whom they call'd by the invidious Names of Wiclevists and Lollards and whose number daily increas'd and William Lyndewood Official and Thomas Brown Chancellor of Canterbury with some other Lawyers And Process ordered to be form'd against them both Canonists and Civilians were order'd to draw up a Form of the Process against them Pope Martin troubled that he obtain'd not the Tenths But Pope Martin was very much troubled to see the Power of the Keys decrease daily in England both by the denial of a Tenth for his War with the Bohemians and several other Affronts that he pretended to have lately receiv'd For some years before this having by his Bull of Provision translated Richard Flemming Bishop of Lincoln to the See of York which was then vacant by the That his Bull was opposed at York death of the Archbishop the Dean and Chapter of York oppos'd his entrance into their Church so that the Pope was forc'd by a contrary Bull to transfer him back again to the See of Lincoln The That his Legate was imprisoned Year after John Opizanus the Pope's Legate was imprison'd for presuming by vertue of that Office to gather the Money due to the Pope's Treasury contrary He expostulated with the Duke of Bedford to the King's Command which Matter the Pope by his Letters sharply expostulated with the Duke of Bedford He would certainly have call'd to mind all these things if he had not been diverted by the more important Concerns of the Council of Basil which The Pope is diverted with the prospect of the Council of Basil was now to be call'd For the time prefix'd for the assembling of it was now at hand the seventh Year being almost expir'd since the end of the last Council for which cause the Archbishop of Canterbury call'd another Synod at London in the beginning of the next Year on the 19 th of February in which Delegates Wherefore Delegates are chosen in a Synod at London with 2 d. per l. Charges were chosen to be sent to Basil and Two pence in the Pound was allow'd them out of all the Revenues of the Clergy Their Instructions were To desire in the name of the Church of England Their Instructions did run Against Pluralities And Non residence c. That a stop might be put to that vast number of Dispensations which were daily granted by which some were permitted to hold two Livings beside Dignities others had leave to be absent from their Cures and some who were scarce at Age were admitted to the highest Offices in the Church and that no Vnions of Churches might be made but where there were Convents within the bounds of the Parish The Synod gave the King a Tenth The Synod also granted the King a whole Tenth at the sollicitation of John Kempe Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England who in a long Oration told them That the Siege of For the Siege of Orleans Orleans was rais'd by the death of the Earl of Salisbury a Renown'd Commander Many other Towns revolted that Troyes Beauvais Rhemes and many other Towns had revolted to King Charles that a great number And many English slain at Patau of our Men were lately slain in a Battel at Patau and that all France would soon come under the obedience of Charles unless Supplies of Money were rais'd in England that for this cause he with several others of the Privy Council were sent to them from the King The Synod also made an Order which concerned the general good of the Kingdom The Synod decreed just Weights That Tradesmen should be oblig'd to sell their Goods by a full weight and prohibited any one under pain of Excommunication to make use of a certain deceitful Weight with which they cheated their Customers But Pope Martin though it were Popes generally afraid of Councils with great reluctancy that he had call'd the Council at Basil fearing lest his Life and Actions should be inquir'd into for which cause also the a Fr. Guicciard lib. 9. Paul Jov. lib. 2. succeeding Popes were always very averse from calling a General Council yet because this was the Place and Time appointed both by his own Edicts and the determination of the Fathers assembled first at Constance and then at Pavia that he might not seem to equivocate in the opinion of all Christendom appointed Julianus Caesarinus Cardinal of S. Angelo to preside in his Name at the Council Martin appoints a President who at that time was his Legate in the Bohemian War against the Followers of Hus the Cardinal of Winchester being lately recall'd from that Post But before his journy to Basil in the beginning of the next Year Pope Martin died at Rome and Gabriel Condelmarius who The Pope dies before he took his Place was created Cardinal at Lucca by Gregory the Twelfth as is before related was chosen into his room on the 3 d of March and chang'd his Name for that of Eugenius the Fourth by whom also Eugenius the Fourth succeeds him and continues the President who was his Legate Caesarinus being continued in the Office of Legate he went to Basil and open'd the Council there in the beginning of December In which the matter was hotly debated concerning the Power of the Pope and on the 15 th of February it was Determined That a General Council doth derive its Authority immediately from Sess 2. Christ and that the Pope is subject to it The Pope adjudged subject to the Council c. that he hath no power to remove or prorogue it that if the Pope die in the time of their Session the right of erecting a new one is in the Council and that the supreme Sess 4. Government of the Church is committed to a Council and not to the Pope and by vertue of this supreme Authority they constituted By their susupreme Authority the Council makes a Legate of Avignon c. The Pope alarm'd removes the Council to Bologne Is opposed Alfonsus Cardinal of S. Eustace Legate of Avignon and forbad Eugenius to make any
new Cardinals before the end of the Council The Pope being alarmed at these Decrees by his Edict remov'd the Council from Basil to Bologna which Translation the Fathers by a contrary Edict disanull'd and both of them by their Letters cited the Archbishop of Canterbury one to Basil and the other to Bologna Upon this the Archbishop call'd a Delegates from London Synod to the Council of Basil and others to the Pope Synod at London on the 15 th of September and advis'd with the Bishops and Prelates what course was to be taken in the Dissention between the Council and the Pope who unanimously concluded To send Delegates to the Fathers at Basil and others to Pope Eugenius to compose the Differences on both sides to whom they voted a Penny in the Pound out of all the Profits of the Clergy besides the Two pence granted in the former Synod They also gave the King half a Tenth Half a Tenth given the King which was demanded of them in an Eloquent Speech by John Stafford Bishop of Bath and Lord Chancellor of England with whom came also to the Synod William Lyndewood who was lately made Keeper of the Privy Seal This William Lyndewood was esteemed one of the Wisest and most Learned Men of that Age he was very much belov'd by the Archbishop who remov'd him first from the Chancellorship of Salisbury to that of Canterbury afterwards he made him Official at the Court of Arches and gave him several rich Livings he also recommended him to both the Kings Henry the Fifth and Sixth the first of which sent him Ambassador into Spain and afterwards into Portugal and now under Henry the Sixth he was made Keeper of the Privy William Lyndewood Keeper of the Privy Seal Seal and soon after Bishop of St. David's Amongst b Jo. Balae de scriptor Angl. Cent 7. other of his Works which are now lost he got a great deal of reputation with Posterity by his learned Writ excellent Commentaries â—n the English Constitutions And was stiled the Light of the Law Complaint in the Synod against the Vicars General c. Commentaries upon the English Constitutions which Work he dedicated to the Archbishop whom for his c In Epist Dedic great knowledge in both Laws he stil'd the light of the Law In This Synod the Clergy of the Lower House complain'd to the Bishops that their Vicars General Commissaries and Officials were for the most part ignorant both in the Civil and Canon Law and that they had never taken any degree in the Universities whereupon Decreed that a Judge of a Spiritual Court must have some degree of the Law it was Decreed That no one should be made a Judge in any of the Spiritual Courts unless he had taken some degree in Law After which the Synod broke up In speaking of This Synod we made mention of John Stafford Bishop of Bath who was made Chancellor in the room of John Kempe Archbishop of York who being lately advanc'd to the Purple with the Title of Cardinal of S. Balbina had laid down that Office Between him and the Archbishop of Canterbury there arose a very sharp Dispute about Priority For in the Parliament holden shortly after at Westminster the Archbishop of York in respect of his Cardinal's Archbishop of York as Cardinal claim'd precedence of Canterbury Dignity claim'd precedence of the Archbishop of Canterbury which he on the other side rightly maintain'd to belong to him by the ancient Prerogative of his See The Archbishop of Canterbury on the contrary by ancient Prerogative Referred to the Pope The cognizance of this Affair through their mutual Contentions being referr'd to the Pope the Archbishop of Canterbury pleaded his Cause himself by Letters and appointed Antony de Capharellis his Proctor at the Court of Rome who in his Name maintain'd that the Archbishop of Canterbury was within his The Arguments for Canterbury urgent own Jurisdiction in which it was fit that he should take place of every one and that in the Province of Canterbury no respect ought to be had to the Dignity of Cardinal possess'd by my Lord of York who being remov'd from the Pope's presence was depriv'd of the brightness of those Raies whose splendor he receiv'd by communication from his Holiness and that even a Bishop d Abb. ad c. sane n. 4. de for comp while he is in another Bishop's Diocess is look'd upon but as a private Person and not as a Bishop But the Pope out of his desire to maintain the Honour of the See of Rome and of the Cardinals his Brethren being more enclin'd to favour the Archbishop of York writ back to the Archbishop of Overborn in the Cardinal's favour Canterbury That the first Degree in the Church next to the Papacy belonged to the Cardinals that they were those venerable Priests mention'd by Moses in the Seventeenth Chapter of Deuteronomy that they were afterwards instituted by St. Peter and were to be accounted as Members of the Pope's Body and that the whole Church did turn upon them as upon its Hinges Seeing therefore that it hath obtain'd by the Customs and Constitutions of particular Churches that in the same Province a Priest should take place of a Deacon a Bishop of a Priest and an Archbishop of a Bishop that much more the Laws of the Catholick Church ought to be universally observ'd for as every Archbishop presides in his own Province so the Cardinals are set over the Universal Church by the Pope Lastly He exhorted and intreated the Archbishop to submit to the Customs of the Church of Rome and give place to the Cardinal promising both him and the whole See of Canterbury all the kindnesses that could be expected from a most affectionate Father This Letter is inserted at length by Cardinal Jacobatius in his e Lib. 1. de concil art 12. Book of Councils when he comes to discourse about the degrees of Cardinals and Patriarchs By this it plainly appear'd to Posterity how strenuously the Archbishop desended the Dignity of the Church of England against the Pope whose displeasure he had incurr'd as we said before for maintaining the King's Authority The Differences betwixt Eugenius and the Council of Basil gave occasion to the calling another Synod the next A Synod call'd at London on occasion of the difference between the Pope and Council Year For after that Eugenius had remov'd the Council from Basil to Bologna and had been urg'd in vain by the Fathers at Basil to revoke his Decree they commanded him by their Edict to submit to the Council and repair to Basil The Pope is summoned to Basil within sixty days otherwise they declar'd that they would proceed against him as contumacious and devest him of the Papacy Whereupon in a Synod begun at London the 7 th of November the Archbishop commanded the Proctors for the Clergy and all the Prelates of the Of which London Synod
first to be sworn to the Infallible Chair Ib. The Pall denoting full power over the other Bishops 41 Delivered him in the King's Palace of Sutton 42 Where he took the Oath of Obedience Ib. The Pope gave the Church but the King could only give the Land 43 Which was done after renouncing of the Clauses derogatory to the King's Power Ib. For his Patent he paid Six hundred Marks 44 Secur'd the Church from the Envy of the two Houses Ib. Being formerly voted to supply King Henry the Fourth by the Church's Wealth Ib. Whilst the Church paid Tenths oftener than the Laity did Fifteenths c. 45 Which Consideration but chiefly the Intercession of his Predecessor with the King had then averted the storm Ib. Another Address of the Commons against the Clergy Ib. Which was design'd as the then Bishop alledg'd for the enriching themselves 46 King of France said he has not a Noble now of the Revenues of the Monasteris that were brought to the Exchequer Ib. The Petition rejected Ib. Henry the Fourth averse to Wickliff's Doctrine abetted by the Petitioners 47 In Henry the Fifth's time the Address renew'd Ib. To avoid which the Clergy resolv'd to give the King Money for a War with France Ib. For which a Synod is call'd at London 48 The Title of the Kings of England to France Ib. Claim'd by Edward the Third Ib. Whose Competitor was Philip de Valois Ib. King Edward claiming by 's Mother rejected under pretence of the Salick Law assumed the Title 49 Successfully invaded France and entail'd the Quarrel Ib. Richard the Second waved the Quarrel Ib. Henry the Fourth was diverted by Intestine Commotions Ib. But the happy Juncture was in Henry the Fifth's time Ib. As Chichele thought for a more glorious Diversion Ib. His Speech to the King for that purpose 50 Accommodates himself to the King 's Heroic Temper Ib. Thinks France no less than the Envy of the World 51 Represents the King's Right Ib. And insinuates the Injuries done his French Provinces Ib. The Salick Law an Obtrusion 52 And a Cheat to debar the Female-Line Ib. Not made by Pharamond as pretended Ib. Put Four hundred years after him and in Germany 53 If it obliges the French it relates to private Inheritances only for Ib. In dispute one French King never us'd it against another for Ib. Pepin claimed by a Female 54 And so did Hugh Capet Ib. And by the like Lewis the Tenth confirm'd his Right Ib. This Law made a Bugbear to Foreigners contemned by themselves 55 'T is contrary to the Civil Law and Ib. The Constitutions of most Nations Ib. And to the Divine Law 56 Jesus Christ the Lawful Heir by his Mother of the Jewish Kingdom Ib. The French rather deny the Bible than submit to a Foreign Prince 57 The Salick Law literally excludes not the Sons of Females 58 And is to be taken in the most favourable sense 60 The Archbishop asserts the King's Call as well as Right to France Ib. With other great Encouragements to the Expedition Ib. Success a Good Sign in the Vertuous and Brave 61 But the Earl of Westmorland advises a War with the Scots Ib. From the Roman Example to begin with the lesser Enemy Ib. And the readiness of Provisions for the latter 62 With the easiness of the Victory Ib. The justice and necessity of the War Ib. The Earl Answered by Jo. Duke of Exeter 63 That the Scot's Strength lying in the French ought to be first attaqued Ib. France once conquer'd the Scots will be helpless Ib. Advised to hinder the Scots Attempts in the King's absence Ib. Which Opinion highly applauded Ib. And War with France was the Cry of the House 64 The Archbishop's renowned for the wisdom of his Counsel 65 The King provides an Army and Navy Ib. Sends Ambassadors to demand France Ib. The Army's Rendezvouz at Southampton 66 The French Ambassadors in Answer offer the French King's Daughter in Marriage Ib. Their Conditions not thought honourable by the King The Archbishop s more full Answer 67 That the French King had not answered King Henry's Demand Ib. Who insisted only on the Dominions his Ancestors had enjoyed 68 Which Answer the King confirms Ib. The French Ambassadors remanded Ib. The King sets sail 69 Takes Harflew Ib. Defeats the French at Agincourt Ib. Of whom Ten thousand are slain Ib. And many Noble Prisoners Ib. In the King's absence the Archbishop arms the Clergy in Kent Ib. Calls a Synod 70 In which two Tenths are granted for the War Ib. Another Synod 71 Christendom divided between Three Popes Ib. By two of whom the Council of Pisa refused Ib. A General Council appointed by the Third Ib. The Archbishop appears at Constance by Proxy 72 Their Charges 2 d. per l. out of the Clergy's Revenues Ib. The Emperor comes to England as Mediator 73 Whereupon the Delegates are press'd to Constance Ib. Where a Decree pass'd about Wills and Administration Ib. That 5 s. shall be paid for a Probate Ib. And that the Clergy shall bring in the Tenth six Months sooner Ib. The Mediation in vain between the Two Kingdoms 74 Harfleu being besieg'd and Four hundred English slain by the French Ib. Wherefore the King sends his Brother the Duke of Bedford to Normandy Ib. Presents the Emperor with the Garter Ib. And conducts him to Calais Ib. The Emperor goes to Constance Ib. The Archbishop goes to France 75 Ambassadors from the French to King Henry at Calais Ib. Who returning got a Supply from the Parliament Ib. And Two Tenths from the Synod 76 The King setting sail left the Duke of Bedford Vicegerent Ib. The Archbishop interdicts the Church of St. Dunstans 77 Excommunicates the Criminals viz. Ib. Lord Strange Lady and Servants Ib. The two former with Tapers and all in their Shirts and Drawers only did processional Pennance from St. Paul's to St. Dunstan's for purification of which the Lady fill'd the Vessels with water 77 78 At Constance they dispute about a new Pope Ib. And against John Wickliff Ib. By whom the Seeds of sound Doctrine had been dispersed Ib. Particularly among the Bohemians Ib. Wickliff pronounc'd Heretick 79 And decreed that his Bones be taken up and burnt Ib. And his Followers be prosecuted as Hereticks Ib. John Huss and Jerom of Prague condemn'd to Flames Ib. Whose death made the Emperor and Council infamous Ib. The publick Faith being shamefully violated the Bohemians revenge it Ib. The Council decreed Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks 80 Of which the Papists ashamed kept it to Luther and others Ib. Pope John the Twenty third charg'd for not leaving the Papacy 81 And accused before the Council of Adultery Incest Witchcraft c. Ib. Gregory by Proxy resign's the Chair as did also Benedict 82 At Constance a Council is decreed superior to the Pope Ib. Five Nations compos'd the Council Ib. Martin V th elected Pope 83 The Decree of the Council's Power repeal'd by Leo the Tenth Ib. A Council