ten pounds of gold the place where such conuenticles were kept should be forfeited to the Emperors Exchequer And againe he saith thus Mâ—…rantur quia coÌ„mouentur potestates Christianae aduersus detestaÌ„dos dissipatores Ecclesiae Si noÌ„ ergo mouerentur quomodo redderent rationeÌ„ de Imperio suo Deo And much more he saith to this purpose FroÌ„ these few places of August we obserue First that in his time there was no doubt made among Catholicks but that the Magistrate should punish criminous Clarks by his coactiâ—…e power Otherwise they could not reÌ„der to God an account of their gouernment which standeth full against the doctrine of the present court of Rome 2. That they who first sought priuiledges exemptions from the sword of the Magistrate were Donatists wherein the Court of Rome succeedeth them taking other errours from other filthie heretiques and this from the Donatists 73. This was the auncient Doctrine but now at Rome they teach the contrary Bellarmine saith that such Clerkes as are within the Dominions of any King are not subiects to that King meaning that they are the Popes subiects and therefore not the Kings He saith also that Clerkes owe no obedience to Kings neither by Gods law nor mans Non sunt amplius Reges Clericorum superiores proinde non tenentur iure Diuino nec humano eis parere nisi quantum ad leges directinas That is Kings are not now any more Soueraignes of Clerkes and therefore Clerkes are not bound to obey them by Gods Lawe or mans law vnlesse it be in respect of lawes directiue What his meaning is by lawes directiue he expoundeth thus That Princes haue no coactiue power ouer the Clergie but onely power directiue If the Prince direct some things for the good of the Common-wealth Clerkes saith he are to obey such directions but he addeth Nec volumus dicere his legibus teneri Clericos obligatione coactiua sed solum directiua vt sunt leges principum quanquam ijsdem legibus vt ab Eeclesia approbantur rataehabentur etiam coactiua obligatione teneantur Wee graunt not saith he that Clerkes are bound by these lawes of Princes in a bond coactiue but onely directiue as they are lawes of Princes Albeit the same Lawes being approoued and ratified by the Church bindeth Clerkes in a bond coactiue By this new and admirable doctrine Princes hane no coactiue power ouer their Clergy but the Church hath coactiue power ouer them by the Church he meaneth the Pope here and therefore comparing the lawes of Princes with the Popes Canon lawes he saith Legi Canonicae etiam in causis criminalibus câ—…dere debet lex imperialis That is The imperiall law ought in matters criminall to giue place to the Canon law by which doctrine we finde that they tread the pathes and fil vp the measure of their forefathers the olde Friars maintaining that which Iohn Wiclife obserueth was first begunne by Friars that the King was not Lord of the Clergie but the Pope was their Lord. Thus a new King is raised vp ouer the Popes Clerkes and the Scripture is verified which saith And they haue a King ouer them which is the Angell of the bottomlesse pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greeke he is named Apollyon 74. The Laterane Councel was held in the yeare one thousand twoâ—…hundred and fifteene It is decreed in the same Councell That Heretickes being condemned should be deliuered ouer to the secular power from which time these pretended priuiledges haue growen so great and swollen vp so bigge that not being able to holde together they are burst in the midst hauing drawne vpon themselues the iust vengeance of God and of Magistrates so procuring their owne ruine But because Bellarmine cyteth a few testimonies to prooue the exemption of Clerks from secular iudgements we may first breefly examine them and so proceede Hee cyteth thus Concil Mileuitan Can. 13. Matiscon Can. 8. These places he quoteth producing no words He cyteth also other places thus Sulpitius lib. 2. Sacrae histor refert â—… Martinum aliquando dixisse nouum esse inauditum nefas vt causam Ecclesiae iudex saeculi iudicaret Item Ambrosius Epist. 78. ad Theophilum et August Epist. 162. These places are cyted or quoted by Bellarmine barely without the Authours wordes We answere in a word All this toucheth nothing our question of exempting criminous Clerkes from temporall Courts for these places speake not one word of this thing 75. The first place Concil Mileuit can 13. to preuent such busie fellowes of the Clergy which caried their causes to Rome as then some did ordeyned that euery Clerke should be gouerned by his owne Superiour What is this to the purpose This is all which that Canon saith The next Canon of the Matiscon Councell saith that if one Clerke had a matter against another Clerke he should not complaine to the secular Iudge but to the Bishoppe This maketh as little to the purpose Afterward he citeth for exemption from punishment these places 〈◊〉 Chalced. can 9. Si Clericus aduersus Clericum habet negotium non relinquat EpiscopuÌ„ suum ad saecularia iuaicia non recâ—…rrat c. Concil Agathens can 32. Clericum nullus praesumat apud saecularem iudicem Episcopo non permittente pulsare c. Concil Carthag 3 can 9. â—…oletan 3. can 13. Matiscon cap. 8. These testimonies speake as little for him as the other The 9. Canon of the Chalced. Councell speaketh not of the immunities of criminous Clerkes but onely prescribeth how one Clerke should accuse another before the Bishoppe and not before the ciuill Iudge And this is the purpose of all the other places cytâ—…d out of Concil Agathens Cartbag Toletan and Matiscon all speake of one thing Onely here one part of their knowne knauery is to be opened for he cyteth Concil Agathens can 32. thus Clericum nullus praesumat apudsaecularem iudicem Episcopo non permittente pulsare Marke good Reader a worke of darkenesse an example of Romish impudency by true sound and vnsuspected Recordes these priuiledges which now are in question betweene vs cannot be proued to haue beene established of old or to haue any testimonie of antiquity but by vertue of their expurgatoriall tables they are able to shew vs this auncient Canon of the Councell of Agatha corrupted by themselues For the Canon which Bellarmine cyteth of this Councell and the masked Romish Catholicke Diuine taketh from Bellarmine in some later Editions hath these wordes as they are cyted by him but in the first incorrupt Edition of Councels set forth by Peter Crab the wordes of that Canon are thus set downe Clericus nec quenquam praesumat apud saecularem iudicem Episcopo non permitente pulsare And thus it is read by them that aunciently cyte the same Now this agreeth well with the ninth Canon of the Chalced Councell which ordeyneth that if one Clerke will accuse another
inoleuerat tanta heresis That is Whom Dominicke did speedily ouercome by the helpe of Simon Monford for there was not so much neede of disputation as of armes that heresie was so rooted Then we vnderstand the end why Friars were instituted by their first and chiefe imployment they were founded in blood in treacherous practises against Princes for the seruice of the Pope Wherein wee behold the endes of such Councels as the Pope calleth and wherein he is President as the Councell of Lateran and the Councell of Trent For as vpon the time of holding the Lateran Councell the first Friars were ordained and allowed by the Pope so vpon the time of the Councell of Trent were the Iesuites confirmed to be an order by Pope Paul the third after both Councels great warres and bloodshed followed through Christendome wherein the Friars were the Popes instruments and the procurators of the warres at both times and euer since 27. As these first orders of Friars increased in number swarming like Locusts vnder the Popes protection he like an experienced Captaine prouidently ordered his troupes and set them to their seuerall taskes some to writing of books some to the practises of state against Princes By those that were set to write as Aquinas Scotus and such like the alterations of doctrines were brought into the Church of Rome first so that herein appeareth their full finall end in raising vp rebellions first against God and corrupting of the truth and then against Princes by impugning their soueraigne authoritie and Iurisdiction In both which practises the Friars take continuall direction from the Pope by whose power they were created by whose authoritie they stand from whose spirit they breath and for whose seruice they are deuoted and resolued to spend their breath and blood In these practises the Iesuites being the last brood striue to surpasse all other for their audacious corrupting of the truth and outragious interprises against the liues of Princes For which in the end they will vndoubtedly drawe vpon themselues the anger of God and of the Princes of Christendome I haue stayed the longer in these descriptions for the honour of the Iesuits that their descent and progenie may be knowen that we may behold the aduancers of the Popes Iurisdiction which Iurisdiction will the better appeare if the first and chiefe aduancers of it might be well knowen §. III. Of Oathes exacted by the Pope 28. ANother especiall meanes of aduauncing this Iurisdiction was practised by exacting Oathes which is also much practised now because by experience they finde great vse of it an Oath being the greatest bond of humane societie and the fittest meanes to ingage men throughly in any cause the first exacting of Oathes was from Archbishops and Bishops by which meanes their Allegeance was strangely withdrawen from their Soueraigne Princes Whereas then first princes for their owne safetie and for the safetie of their Countrey vsed to exact an Oath of Allegeance aswell of the Ecclesiasticall as Temporall subiects The Popes began to withdraw the Clergie from this obedience and Allegeance and so farre they preuailed that the Friars taught that the King of England was not lord of the Clergie but that the Pope was their lord as we haue declared from Ioh. Wiclife And now the Pope beginneth in these desperate dayes to forbidde them of the laity to take the Oath of Allegeance to their Soueraigne whereby as they began to steale away the hearts of the Clergie first from the true and lawfull obedience of their Soueraignes so now proceeding in the same course with the laity what will they leaue to Kings in the end And because this containeth an especiall mysterie of Iurisdiction therefore we thinke it needfull to be plainely opened 29. That Kings did out of dutie and Allegeance exact an Oath of their subiects euen of Bishops and had the same yeelded as a due homage to them and confirmed also by decrees of Councels it is well and worthily obserued of late by that booke written most learnedly and exactly intituled Tripliei nodo triplex cuneus Where this vse is confirmed from the practise of the fourth Toletan Councell held in the yeere sixe hundred and thirtie and from the fift Toletan Councell held about the same time And from the sixt Toletan Councell held in the yeere sixe hundred seuentie and sixe And from the tenth Toletan Councell gathered in the yeere sixe hundred ninetie and soure as also from the Councel of Aquisgrane in the yere eight hundred thirtie and sixe We may adde though it be needlesse some fewe and small obseruations thereto It appeareth that this practise of taking an Oath of Allegeance of subiects is drawen from the law of nature as necessary for the preseruation of States and it seemeth to be as auncient as the gouernement of States For Lycurgus the first founder of the State of Lacedemon hauing once well ordered that State by good lawes tooke an Oath of them all that they should preserue those orders till his returne from the Oracle that is alwayes If any thinke that this was not an Oath of Allegeance to the State I suppose it will be hard to distinguish betweene an Oath to preserue the lawes or to be true to the lawes and an Oath to be true to the State For it is certaine that the State of Lacedemon was preserued by those lawes in great honour and felicitie for the space of fiue hundred yeeres as the same Author reporteth Or as hee saith in another place for sixe hundred yeeres and vpon the breach of those lawes came in the ruine of that State as the same Author doth often obserue This declareth the antiquitie of this Oath as proceeding from the law of nature which yeeldeth this helpe to States for the necessarie preseruation of themselues For which cause it hath bene practised whensoeuer the State thought it needful for after the kings were driuen out of Rome L. Brutus and Collatinus Tarquinius being chosen Consuls Valerius Publicola grew so offended because himselfe was not respected in that choise that he retired from the Senate from all publick action to a priuate life This thing drewe the Senate into some suspicion of his Allegeance Wherfore Brutus the Consul called all the Senate to a solemne Oath of Allegance which Oath Valerius first of al others took most cheerefully Thus in the danger of the State they had recourse to this practise as the most lawfull and assured helpe of States And Scipio Africanus is much commended in the Romane stories for vsing this practise in the danger of that State for when hee vnderstood that some had a purpose to forsake the State hee caused them to take an Oath to bee true to the State and not to forsake it After the same manner was this Oath of Allegeance yeelded by the Church of the Iewes of old For Iosephus reporteth that Augustus Caesar required an Oath of Allegeance which Oath saith he all the
tents for as then the Church was in tents Sem hauing the birthright confirmed by his fathers blessing as Iacob had by the blessing of Isaack afterward hath consequently all those priuiledges confirmed to him which followe the birthright The priuiledges which in the time of the law of nature followed the birthright were these The gouernement or principalitie the Priesthood and a portion answerable to maintaine both these dignities the two former were principall prerogatiues the third followed as an adherent to them a double portion answerable to a double dignitie The princedome and double portion are generally acknowledged to belong to the birthright but the priesthood is not so much manifested and would therefore somewhat more be opened I will here briefly collect the reasons which proue the priesthood to belong to the birthright as wel as the princedome and double portion 2. First from reason it is deduced thus It cannot by reason be imagined but that God hauing a purpose to call a Church out of this world did set vp the gouernment and meanes wherby the Church might be instituted in the true knowledge and wor◅hip of God therefore this gouernment and those meanes were set vp in the law of nature in those principalities which then stood The fir◅t principalitie that was set vp to rule many families was a kingdome as the first simply was in the gouernment of a family for before there could be a common-wealth there must be a citie or the collection of many families into the lawfull right of one societie and before there could be a citie there must bee particular houses and families so that the first gouernment that was in the world among men was the gouernment of a family now in the gouerment of a family it is absurd to thinke and impossible to prooue that the power of gouernment was in the multitude This I obserue the rather because some of the Popes flatterers of late as others also to open a wide gappe to rebellions haue written that the power of gouernment by the law of nature is in the multitude but euery man of reason carrieth thus much light and vnderstanding about him as to iudge of this thing without errour Because no man can conceiue in the first beginning any other gouernment of a family then by one whom God and nature made Patrem familias the father of the familie Now come from the gouerment of one familie to the gouernment of diuers when many families were gathered together the first gouernment that was erected among them was that with which they were first and best acquainted for as in families so in the collection of diuerse families one was in gouerment as the father of the family was in his famiile And what is a King by nature but the father of a great family and what is the father of a familie by nature but a little King and therefore the first gouernement of states by the lawe of nature was by Kings These principalities were first erected for the good of Gods Church to minister as nourcing fathers to the Church Thus were Kings erected not onely by their authoritie to see that Gods seruice were established but by the law of nature to performe that seruice in their owne persons And therefore as Adam had this care first so it is testified of Seth to whom the birthright pertained after Cain was reiected that in his time men began to call vpon the name of the Lord which declareth that he established the true worship of God in his dayes 3. Another reason may be drawen from this blessing which Noah gaue to Sem blessed be the Lord God of Sem and let Canaan bee his seruant God perswade Iaphet that hee may dwell in the tents of Sem and let Canaan be his seruant In which words three priuiledges of Sem are manifested First that God is called the Lord God of Sem Secondly that Canaan shal be his seruant Thirdly that Iaphet shall repaire to his tents The first and last are confirmations of the priesthood the second a proofe of the primogeniture then the priesthood is annexed to the birthright Another reason is from the example of Melchisedeck who was both King and Priest In which example we consider that by the law of nature before there was a positiue law to distinguish and separate these offices both did naturally concurre in one person for in this we vnderstand the ordinary course held in the law of nature If wicked Kings neglected this godly order it was because they were wicked and had shaked off the feare of God and as much as in them was extinguished the light of nature Another reason may be drawen from the testimony of Moses who witnesseth that the Lord tooke the Leuites to minister in place of the first borne I haue taken the Leuites from among the children of Israel And the Leuits shall be mine because all the first borne are mine Vpon which wordes Lyra reporting the receiued iudgements of the best interpretors saith Ante legē datam ad primogenitos pertinebat offerre sacrificia and a little after Leuitae successerunt loco eorum and againe to the same purpose Cultus diuinus ante legem datam pertinebat ad primogenitos Israel and againe Sacerdotium suit annexum primogeniturae vsque a◅ legem datam per Mosen 4. By all which thus much appeareth that by the law of nature the first borne stood in the ministerie seruice of God to preach the knowledge of God to others and to execute his ordinances and sacrifices And as the first borne in families were thus to instruct and informe the whole familie so the first borne in a nationall principalitie or kingdome were bound not onely to cominaund as ciuill magistrates but to execute the holy ordinances of God as the chiefe Priests of that nation as is euident by these reasons and by the example of Melchisedeck The same light may appeare though much darkened in the ancient gouernment of the heathen for euen heathen Kings are witnessed in old times to haue bene Priests of such gods as they serued which auncient combining of these two offices in one person came from the ancient practise in the time of the lawe of nature and from the light of nature which was receiued among the heathen 5. But here a question may be moued If Kings by the law of nature were Priests and the lawe of nature stand alwayes in force not abrogated why then are not Kings now Priests For aunswere first we say that it was altered by a positiue lawe of God as hereafter we shall declare and therefore the same authoritie that instituted this thing hath also altered it But it may be replied that the positiue law of God which hath altered this thing was partly ceremoniall partly iudiciall for these two dignities of the princedome and priesthood which vnder the law of nature were combined in one person were diuided vnder the law of Moses and
and Kings by their office must call Councâ—…ls Secondly that their office is likewise by coactiue power to see the things maintained and obserued which are defined in general Councels 12. Hitherto then haue we found the Soueraigne Iurisdiction alwayes in Christian Magistrates and neuer in the Bishop of Rome How then commeth the Bishop of Rome to this practise of Iurisdiction which now he claimeth Let vs here consider one Pageant of theirs which will declare the first claime and beginning of Iurisdiction which they haue so much increased since The first attempt was to winne Iurisdiction ouer Bishops the second was to get the same power ouer Kings and by that meanes ouer all These we meane to open with as much breuitie as we can and the matter will beare First then to bring Bishops of other Nations vnder their power a shamelesse deuise was plotted by the Bishop of Rome discried and reiected by the auncient Fathers that then liued but yet so closely followed afterward by the Popes that in the end it preuailed I will declare the storie as it is deliuered by their owne writers who haue collected the tomes of the Councels 13. The sixt Councell of Carthage was gathered in the yeere of our Lord foure hundred and twentie against the heresie of Pelagius it lasted sixe yeeres and more In it were gathered two hundred and seuenteene Bishops among whom was that worthy Father Saint Augustine and others of famous note as Prosper Orosius and diuers other of great vertue and learning Aurelius Bishop of Carthage Metropolitan of Affrica was chiefe In the time of this Councell three Bishops of Rome succeeding one another mooued great contention and quarell with the Fathers of this Councell for Iurisdiction which the Popes then began to claime affirming that they had Iurisdiction ouer the Church of Affrica which thing these Fathers of this Councell vtterly denied the contention began vpon this occasion 14. Apiarius a Priest of the Church of Sicca in Affrica was for his infamous and scandalous life excommunicated not onely by Vrbanus Bishop of Sicca but by a whole Synode of Bishops met together This fellow thus censured in Affrica fled to Zozimus Bishop of Rome to him he complained of wrong that the Bishops of Affrica had done him as he said Zozâ—…mus without examination of the cause vndertooke to maintaine him and admitted him to the Communion After this vnderstanding that the Bishops of Affrica were gathered in their Synode he sendeth to them Faustinus Bishop of Potentia and with him two Priests Philip and Asellus Them hee chargeth to defend the cause of Apiarius to cause the Synode of Affrica to recciue him to their Communion to excoÌ„municate Vrbanus Bishop of Sicca or else to call him to Rome vnlesse hee will reforme that is vndoe all that he had done against Apiarius Further he commaundeth them to draw the Councell to yeeld to the Iurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome and to acknowledge it lawfull for any Bishop or Priest to appeale from the sentence of their Metropolitan to Rome he commaundeth them also to signifie that he sent his Legate into Affrica who might vnderstand the causes of appellants that were grieued To effect this thing the better he chargeth them to declare that the Nicen Councell hath giuen this Iurisdiction to the Bishops of Rome for proofe hereof he deliuereth vnto them in writing a counterfeited Canon of the Nicen Councell 15. Faustinus comming to Affrica with these instructions and being admitted into the Councell declared that he had from Zozimus a Commission which he called Commonitorium and withall he declared the Iurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome confirmed by a Canon of the Nicen Councell Aurelius Prosident of the Councel answered let this Commission first be read which our brethren haue brought hereupon Daniel the notary reade and recited the Commission thus Zozimus Bishop of Rome to our brother Faustinus Bishop to our fons Philip Asellus Priests this businesse you know you are to doe all things as if our presence were with you nay because it is with you and the rather seeing you haue both our expresse commaund and the words of the Canons which for more full assurance we haue added to this Commission For thus most beloued brethren it is decreed in the Councell of Nice concerning the appellation of Bishops And then forsooth the forged Canon os the Councell of Nice followeth thus Placuit autem vt si Episcopus accusatus fuerit iudicauerint congregati Episcopi regionis ipsius de gradu suo deiecerint eum appellasse Episcopus videatur confugerit ad beatissimum Ecclesiae Romanae Episcopum valuerit audiri iustum putauerit vt reuocetur examen sâ—…ribere his Episcopis dignetur qui infinitima propinqua prouincia sunt vt ipsi diligentur omnia requirant iuxta fideÌ„ veritatis definiant Quoâ—… si is qui râ—…gat causam suam iterum audiri deprecatione sua mouerit Episcopum Romaâ—…uÌ„ vt è Latere suo presbyterum mittat erit in potestate Episcopi Romani quid velit quid existimet si decreuerit mittendos esse qui presentes cum Episcopis iudicent habentes authoritatem eius à quo destinati sunt erit in suo arbitrio Si vero crediderit sufficere Episcopos vt neggtio terminum imponant faciot quod sapientissimo consilio suo iudicauerit That is We thought good that if a Bishop be accused and the Bishops of that Prouince haue giuen sentence and deposed him if this Bishop seeme to appeale and flie to the most blessed Bishop of Rome and desire to be heard â—…f he thinke good to reuoke the sentence it may please him to write to those Bishops which are in that Prouince that they may diligently search the matter and iudge it truely But if he that moueth his cause may be heard againe shall by his petition intreat the Bishop of Rome to send a Legat from his side it shall be in the power of the Bishop of Rome to doe what hee thinketh best And if he decree to send some who with the Bishops of the Prouince may be present to iudge hauing authoritie from him from whom they are sent it shall be in his pleasure And if he thinke that the Bishops of that Prouince may suffice to end the businesse let him doe whatsoeuer in his most wise Councell he iudgeth best Before I proceed in this narration let some things of note bee obserued First the Bishops of Rome were now growen from the honest and godly conuersation of their Auncestours to admirable impudency that durst suborne a Canon of the Nicen Councell and publish their owne shame in the sight of the Church then and leaue an eternall monument thereof to the world for euer extant in publike Councels Secondly the ground of the Iurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome is forgerie famously attempted and famously conâ—…icted at that present time And yet this practise
and sixe Pope from Peter as Caranza noteth Then we say that whatsoeuer Gregorâ—…e hath written against Iohn Bishop of Constantinople all standeth strong against Boniface the third and all the Popes after him For he first obtained this Antichâ—…istian name and all the rest haue enioyed it much encreased both titles of pride and power answerable to those ticles 5. But because Bellarmine would salue vp the wound that Gregory hath giuen to all Popâ—… after Boniface let vs briefly consider his shifts and so proceede First he saith that by Gregory his words the Pope should not be Antichrist but onely praecursor Antichristâ—… the fore-runner of Antichrist Nam praecursor saith he non debet esse idem cum eo quem praecurrit sed longe minor Si ergopraecursor Antichristi est ille qui se facit Episâ—…pum vniuersalem ipse Antichristus verus non hoâ—…se faciet sed aliquid maius We answer Boniface the third who first obtained this title in the Church of Rome was the fore runner of Antichrist and began to his successours but his successours encreased that dominion which Boniface began For they were not onely vniuersall Bishops that is Lords of Bishops but they were also Lords of Kings that is more then Boniface was and therefore wee yeeld that the fore-runner is lesse then Antichrist in his height and yet we say that Gregory his words stand both against the one and the other vnanswered by Bellarminâ—… Another testimony of Gregory he would shift thus Pariratione saith Bellarmine cum ait Gregorius Sacerdotum ei praeparâ—…tur exercitus non vult dicere Sacerdotes vt Sacerdotes ad exercitum Antichristi pertinere sic enim seipsum etiam in illo exercitu collocasset sed Sacerdotes vt superbos Antichristo exercitum praeparare Graunting all true that Bellarmine saith the wound is not cured which Gregory hath giuen to the proud Popes and to their proud and luxurious Priests these falues of Bellarmine are so farre from curing of the sore that they make it much worse Moreouer Bellarmine sometimes would shift it thus as if Iohn Bishop of Conftantinople when hee sought to be Occumenicall Bishop did not meane to be the chiefe of all Bifhops as the Pope is but to be the onely Bishop that there should be no other Bishop in the world but himselfe so that he would inferre that the thing which 〈◊〉 obtained was not the very thing which Gregory so lately before and so hainously had condemned Wee will therefore out of approued Histories briefly shew that the honour which Boniface obtained was no other thing then that dishonorable title which Iohn Bishop of Constantinople sought to get and which Gregory so much reproued abhorred 6 And certaine it is that the thing which Gregory so sharply reproued was that which Iohn 〈◊〉 Now that Boniface obtained the same thing they who write thereof beare sufficient witnesse Paulus Diaconus saith thus Hic Phocaâ—… roganâ—…e Papa Bonifacâ—…o statuit sedem Romanae Ecclesiae vt capâ—…t esseâ—… omnium Ecclestarâ—…m quia Ecclesia Constantinopolitana primam se omnium Ecclesiarum scribebat That is This man at the suit of Boniface ordained that the sea of Rome should be head of all Churches because the Church of Constantinople wrote her selfe the chiefe of all Churches Then by this testimony wee finde that Boniface obtained no other thing of Phocas then that which Iohn Bishop of Constantinople had sought before Abbas Vspergensis saith Post â—…abinianum Bonifacius cligitur ad Pontisicatum cuius rogatu Phocas constituit se dcm Romanae et Apostolicâ—… Ecclesia caput esse omnium Ecclesiarum nam antea Constantinopolitana â—…e scrit â—…bat primam omnium That is After Sabmian Bonifau was chosen Pope at whose suit Phocas ordained that the sea of thâ—… Romane Apostolike Church should be thâ—… head of all Churches for before this the Church of Constantinople had writ her selfe the chiefe of all Then this thing was graunted by Phocâ—…s at the suit of Boniface and what was granted no other thing then Iohn of Constantinople had sought before Platina witnesseth the same thing Boâ—…ifacius à Phoca imperatore obtinuit magna tamen contentione vt sedes beati Petri Apostoli quae caput est omnium Ecclesiarum ita diceretur haberetur abomâ—…bus quem quidem locum Ecclesia Constantinopolitana sibi vendicare conabatur That is Boniface obtained of Phocaâ—… but with great suit that S. Peters sea which is the head of all Churches so should be called and accounted of all Which place the Church of Constantinople sought to take to her selfe Then this was gotten by the importunate suit of Boniface and he obtained nothing but that which Iohn Bishop of Constantinople had sought before And thus the Writers that make any mention of this thing witnesse without question that Boniface by importune suit and great contention obtained no other thing then that which the Bishop of Constantinople had so lately sought and which Gregory the first Pope had so peremptorily condemned as a thing blasphemous 〈◊〉 preiudiciall to the gouernment of Christes Church 〈◊〉 Christ downe and raising Antichrist vp and therfore vtterly vnlawfull for any Bishop to seeke or to hold For that herein was included that principality ouer Bishops which Gregory also so much condemned no man maketh question Blondus saith ad huius Bonifacij petitionem Phocas antistitem Rom. principem Episcoporum omnium dixit That is At the suit of Boniface Phoâ—…as appointed the Bishop of Rome to be the Prince of all Bishops And Nauclerus saith Bonifacius insolentiam Patriarchae Constantinopolitani 〈◊〉 se appellantis compescuit Phocas enim Pontisicis suasione publica ac ad â—…niuersum orbem dimissa sanctione constituit vt Rom. Ecclesiae Romanoque Pontisici omnes orbis Ecclesiae obedrent That is Boniface repressed the insolence of the Patriark of Constantinople calling himselfe Oecumenicall For Phocas at the suit of the Pope ordained by a publique decree published ouer he world that all that Churches in the world should obey the Church of Rome and the Bishop of Rome Then this matter is sâ—… euident the no shift can help it no cloake can hide the shame so that either Gregories workes should haue beene burned for Heresie or this title of Oecumenicall Bishop should not haue beene taken vp by the Popes 7. And hence is the originall of the Popes Iurisdiction ouer all Bishops he had once as much Iurisdiction ouer Bishops as Phocas could giue him But who gaue him Iurisdiction ouer Princes That part of Iurisdiction was not then knowen in the world But after this it crept in the occasion thereof grewe thus When the Empire was vtterly decayed in the West and so weake in the East as not able to keepe Italy in obedience though for a time rather by the bare name and opinion of auncient gouernement then by any present strength they kept some commaund in Italie by their Exarches abiding at Rauenna Grâ—…gorie