seeing that the thing can no wayes belong to mee in what sort soeuer Furthermore Bellarmine by this distinction hath no meaning to contradict the Popes whom we haue produced who speake of Kings as of their subiects and terme themselues Soueraignes in temporall affaires so that this commeth all to one It bootes not to dispute of the excellency of the spirituall power aboue the Ciuil by comparing as did Innocent the third the Pope to the Sunne and the Emperour to the Moone for albeit this were so yet doth not the excellency of one thing aboue another necessarily import that one must therefore gouerne another for if I say that the faculty of Diuinity is more noble and more excellent then the care and custody of the Kings Treasure must it needes therefore follow that Diuines and Clergy men must sway the Kings Exchequer And as litle to the purpose is it to alleadge that the temporall power is subiect to the spirituall for the question is not whether it be simply subiect vnto it but whether it be subiect to it in temporall things and with what punishments the Pastor of the Church may punish the Magistrate when he forgetteth his duety Foüiller en sa bourse to wit whether by depriuing him of his estates or by fingering his purse this is the point of the question which Bellarmine was to proue and not to suppose For what authority soeuer God hath giuen to faithfull Pastors ouer the Magistrates as they are Christians yet doe they not let for all that to be subiect to the Magistrates as they are Citizens and make a part of the Common-wealth A king that is sicke is for the time subiect to the gouernement of his Physitians and yet they neuertheles remaine his subiects As then the Temporall gouernement doth not impose spirituall punishments so the spirituall gouernement cannot impose temporall punishments vnlesse it be sometimes by miracle as S. Peter did vpon Ananias and Sapphira for ordinary power he hath none to doe it neyther doth the word of God giue him any Now if the Pope by vertue of his keyes of which he so much boasteth could dispossesse a King of his Kingdome for any fault whether it be true or pretended it should thence follow that he hath a greater power ouer Kings then oner priuate and particular men from whom he cannot by way of Penance plucke away their lands or houses to giue them to their neighbours for if it were so the Pope should be the direct Lord of all the lands and possessions of Christendome And seeing it is generally confessed that the Heathen Emperours were not subiect to the Bishops in temporall matters can it stand with reason that Princes by being become Christians should become lesse Soueraignes then they were before and that the faith of Iesus Christ should diminish their Empire I am not ignorant that the Prince ought so to administer temporall things that the spirituall administration be not thereby impeached I know also that if Princes offend God it belongeth to the Pastors not to be silent but to oppose themselues against that euil by al those wayes means which God hath permitted which are courses ful of all respect and farre from any rebellion and sedition The faithfull Pastor that shall least of all flatter the Magistrate in his vices is the man that shall carefully retaine the people in their obedience towards the Magistrate and shall keepe that golden meane which is betweene flattery and sedition As he must not be a dumbe dogge so must he not be a furious beast that had neede to be tyed vp And to the end that you may know that these two kindes of subiection doe not iustle or shoulder each other as incompatible I say that the Princes and the Pastors in a State are as the will and vnderstanding in the soule of a man The will commandeth the vnderstanding with an absolute commaund which the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Lord-like inioyning it to study or to learne this or that thing But the vnderstanding on the other side leadeth on the will by suggestion without commaund the one is done by authority the other by perswasion So Princes command Pastors Pastors sollicite and intreate Princes The respect which Princes owe vnto them is not to their persons but to their charge and calling and to the word or message which they bring for they be not the candle it selfe but onely the Candlesticke on which it is set Ioh. 1. ver 8. sent as our Sauiour saith of S. Iohn not to be the light but to beare witnesse of the light Howbeit this comparison taken from the vnderstanding and the will doth halt in more then one point for the will cannot constraine the vnderstanding but Princes may compell Pastors to obey their lawes and to punish them corporally when they doe amisse Againe the vnderstanding is to guide the will in al things but the Prince in an infinite of businesse may do well enough without the helpe and counsell of his Clergy especially in affaires that are temporall and meerely ciuill Againe the will doth neuer teach the vnderstanding for it consisteth wholly in motion and action but many Princes haue reformed their Pastors and brought them back to their dueties as did Constantine who in the Councell of Nice stifeled and smothered vp all quarrels among the Bishops by casting their diffamatorie libels into the fire as did Dauid who erected new orders in the Temple and as did Salomon who deposed Abiathar from the Priesthood being attainted of conspiracy against him And likewise Ezechias and Ichosaphat who clensed the Temple and set vp the purity of Gods seruice againe In this sense a Synodall Epistle written to Lewes the Courteous calleth him Rectorem Ecclesiae gouernor of the Church And Lewes his young sonne being at Pauia tooke an account of the liues of the Bishops and of their diligence in their charge as Sigonius witnesseth in the yeare 855. The same Authour saith in his seuenth booke that Adrian conferred vpon Charlemaigne the honour of gouerneing the Church and of choosing the Bishoppe of Rome not that he might change the doctrine of the Church at his pleasure but only to hold a strait hand for the execution of the things which were enioyned by the word of God But Bellarmine addeth for a second reason That if the Church that is to say the Pope had not the power to dispose of temporall things it could neuer attaine to perfection but should want necessary power to arriue at her intended end For saith he wicked Princes might without feare of punishment intertaine heretickes to the ouerthrow of Religion This is a reason without reason and full of impiety for it accuseth the Church which was in the Apostles times of imperfection which then had no power at all ouer the Temporalty all things being then in the handes of Infidels Add hereunto that Kings might vse the same reason and say that their power could not
of bindeing and loosing in the mouth of the Pastors are inlocutorie Decrees which God doth ratifie in heauen till that himselfe in the last day pronounce the Definitiue sentence They be the keyes which depend vpon the word of God and are annexed to the Gospell Keyes which open the Kingdome of heauen that is open to the penitent sinner an entrance into the Church which in an hundred places in the Gospell is called the Kingdome of heauen Keyes which the Pope hath not at all seeing he hath not that whereupon they depend to wit the true benefites of Iesus Christ contayned in the Gospell and if he had them yet can they not serue his turne seeing he hath changed the lockes and hath made other gates to enter into the kingdome of God Being then sufficiently cleared in this point touching the Popes pretences and Coeffeteaus intention it were nor amisse a little to heare their reasons Euery man knoweth that in the yeare 1301. Nicholas Giles Pope Boniface the eight wrote very arrogant letters to Philip the faire contayning these words I will that thou know that thou art subiect to me in temporall things they that maintaine the contrary we hold them madmen we know also how this vigilant and couragious King handled the Pope This Pope hath made an authenticke Bull which is amongst the extrauagants and beginneth with V nam Sanctam wherein he reproueth the Popes Souerainty both ouer the Spiritualty and Temporalty by certaine passages of Scripture brought in by such an extrauagant by as that we should thinke it ridiculous were it not the Pope that speaketh it who hath all law in the Chest of his breast Licet Romanus Pontifex qui iura omnia in scrinio pectoris sui censetur habere In hac Ecclesia eiusque potostate duos esse gladios spiritualeÌ„ videlicet temporale Euangelicis dictis instruimur Nam dicentibê° Apostolis Ecce gladij duo hic in Ecclesia scilicet cum Apostoli loquerentur non respondit Dominê° nimis esse sed satis Certe qui in potestate Petri temporalem gladâ—um esse negat male verbum attendit Domini dicentis Conuerte gladium tuuÌ„ in vaginam Cum dicat Apostolus non est potestas nisi a Deo quae autem sunt a Deo ordinata sunt non autem ordinata essent nisi gladius esset subgladio De Ecclesiastica potestate verificatur vaticiniuÌ„ Ieremiae Ecce constitui te hodie super gentes regna Si suprema potestas deuiat a solo Deo non ab homine potest iudicari testante Apostolo Spiritalis homo iudicat omnia c. Nisi duo sicut Manichaeus fin gat esse principia quod falsum haereticum iudicamus quia testante Moyse non in principijs sed in principio coelum Deus creauit terram as himselfe saith cap. Licet De Constitutionibus in 6. These then be his Texts and Quotations I beseech the Reader to lend his attention 1. The Apostles said to Iesus Christ Here are two Swordes and Iesus Christ did not answere that is too much but that is enough Therefore the Pope hath the Spirituall and the Temporall Sword 2. Iesus Christ said to S. Peter Put vp thy sword into thy sheath 3. S. Paul Rom. 13. sayth that there is no power but is ordained of God It must needes then be that the Temporall sword be subiect to the spirituall 4. God sending the Prophet Ieremy to preach and prophesie to diuers people and nations saith vnto him cap. 1. I haue set thee this day ouer people and Nations This is a prophesie if wee beleeue this Bontface which giueth to the Pope power ouer the Temporalty of Kings 5 S. Paul 1 Cor. 2.15 speaking of all the faithfull whom he calleth spirituall to oppose them to the Carnall man of whom he speaketh in the former verse he saith that the spiritual man iudgeth and discerneth all things and he is not iudged of any This spirituall man is the Pope the soueraigne Iudge and who cannot be iudged 6. Iesus Christ said to S. Peter Whatsoeuer thou shalt binde in earth shall be bound in heauen Therefore the Pope is cheefe ouer the Temporaltie 7. He addeth that to acknowledge two Soueraigne powers is to be a Manichee 8. That there can be but one beginning and one cheefe Soueraigne because Moses saith in the beginning of Genesis not In the beginnings but in the Beginning God created the heauen and the earth By all these Scientificall Demonstrations hee proueth that the Pope is cheefe ouer the Temporaltie as well as ouer the Spiritualty and thereuppon admiring himselfe in his own plumes he concludeth by a new Article of faith We declare affirm define and pronounce that it is altogether necessary to saluation to be subiect to the Bishop of Rome I would refute each of these reasons were it not that I am perswaded that the Pope did but mocke when he thus spake and had no meaning to be beleeued For surely Shamgars goade or Gedeons bottels may as well prooue the Popes Empire ouer Kings as any of the former places And indeede Bellarmine who commendeth this Bull in generall as holy and good hath beene ashamed to produce these goodly reasons in speciall and by retaile it is confutation enough for them onely to haue proposed them For to dispute by Scripture against them were to vnsheath the sword of the Gospell against a filthy dung-hil Such reasons be fit to be proposed but with the sword in hand for they are not receiued farther then he that proposeth them is feared And to very good purpose the King doth here apply the Fable that when the Lyon would haue the Asses eares to be hornes the other beasts were bound to beleeue it So these fooleries must passe for verities because his Holinesse will haue it so Such a like May-game do we find in Bellarmine and in all their late Diuines who willing to cloake this their foule fact haue inuented new termes to expresse the same thing They say that the Pope as Pope hath not this power ouer the Temporalty directly but indirectly and so farre forth as it is auaileable for the spirituall good But a King dispoyled of his Throne cannot take a few distinctions for a sufficient payment for what is it to him whether he be deposed directly or indirectly seeing that he looseth his Kingdome be it in what sort soeuer it is as if a man should comfort one vpon the scaffold going to his execution telling him thou shalt not be beheaded with a sword but with a Fauchin And indeed who doth not see that this distinction is but a meere contradiction For that which is in it selfe euill being done by a direct course cannot be done iustly by an indirect course If a subiect be forbidden to wrong his Prince directly shall it be lawfull for him to hurt him indirectly Surely that which I ought not to take away directly I may not filtch away indirectly and by wrongfull dealing
Peter pascere oues and also what a cloude of witnesses there is both of Auncients and euen of late Popish writers yea diuers Cardinals that doe all agree that both these speeches vsed to Peter were meant to all the Apostles represented in his person Otherwise how could Paul diâ—ect the Church of Corinth 1. Cor. 5.4 to excommunicate the incestuous person cu spiritum suo whereas he should then haue said cumspiritu Petri And how could all the Apostles haue otherwise vsed all their censures onely in Christs name and neuer a word of his Vicar Peter wee reade did in all the Apostles meetings sit amongst them as one of their number And when chosen men were sent to Antiochia from that great Apostolike Councell at Ierusalem Acts 15. The text saith Act. 15.22 23. It seemed good to the Apostles and Elders with the whole Church to send chosen men but no mention made of the Head thereof and so in their Letters no mention is made of Peter but onely of the Apostles Elders and Brethren And it is a wonder why Paul rebuketh the Church of Corinth for making exceptions of persons because some followed Paul some Apollos some Cephas if Peter was their visible Head 1. Cor. 1.12 for then those that followed not Peter or Cephas renounced the Catholik faith But it appeareth well that Paul knew little of our new doctrine Galat. 2. since he handleth Peter so rudely as he not only compareth but preferreth himselfe vnto him But our Cardinall prooues Peters superiority Gal. 1.18 by Pauls going to visite him Indeede Paul saith he went to Ierusalem to visite Peter and conferre with him but he should haue added and to kisse his feete To conclude then The truth is that Peter was both in age and in the time of Christs calling him one of the first of the Apostles in order the principall of the first twelue and one of the three whom Christ for order sake preferred to all the rest And no further did the Bishop of Rome claime for three hundreth years after Christ subiect they were to the generall Councels and euen but of late did the Councell of Constance depose three Popes and set vp the fourth And vntill Phocas dayes that murthered his master were they subiect to Emperours But how they are now come to be Christs Vicars nay Gods on earth triple crowned Kings of Heauen earth and hell Iudges of all the world and none to iudge them Heads of the faith Absolute deciders of all Controuersies by the infallibility of their spirite hauing all power both Spirituall and Temporall in their handes the high Bishoppes Monarches of the whole earth Superiours to all Emperours and Kings yea Supreame Vice-gods who whether they will or not cannot erre how they are now become I say to that toppe of greatnes I know not but sure I am Wee that are Kings haue greatest neede to looke vnto it As for me Paul and Peter I know but these men I know not And yet to doubt of this is to denie the Catholique faith Nay the world it selfe must bee turned vpside downe and the order of Nature inuerted making the left hand to haue the place before the right Bellar. de Rom. Pont. lib. 1. c. 17. and the last named to be the first in honour that this primacy may be maintained Thus haue I now made a free Confession of my Faith And J hope I haue fully cleared my selfe from being an Apostate and as farre from being an Hereticke as one may be that beleeueth the Scriptures and the three Creedes and acknowledgeth the foure first generall Councels If J be loath to beleeue too much especially of Nouelties men of greater knowledge may well pitie my weakenesse but J am sure none will condemne me for an hereticke saue such as make the Pope their God and thinke him such a speaking Scripture as they can define heresie no otherwise but to be whatsoeuer Opinion is maintained against the Popes definition of faith And I will sincerely promise that when euer any point of the Religion I professe shall be proued to be new and not Auncient Catholike and Apostolike I meane for matter of Faith I will as soone renounce it closing vp this head with the maxime of Vincentius Lirinensis Libello aduersus haereses that I will neuer refuse to imbrace any opinion in Diuinity necessary to saluation which the whole Catholike Church with an vnanim consent haue constantly taught and beleeued euen from the Apostles daies for the space of many ages thereafter without interruption This discourse beeing nothing else Fol. 74. but a rich piece of tyssue wrought full of Demonstrations and the very language of truth in the mouth of a King deserued an exact answer But M. Coeffeteau not daring to confront the King to his face doth treacherously assaile â—im side-wise for in stead of satisfying his proofes drawne out of holy Scripture hee entrencheth himselfe in his hold of custome and produceth some testimonies of men He saith then that Basil writing to Athanasius aduiseth him to aduertise the Church of Rome of certaine schismes that happened in his countrey Epist 32. to the end that hee by interposing his authority might send learned and able men to extinguish those diuisions which troubled the East But withal he should haue added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Basil doth not intreat him to shew forth his power in punishing the obstinate and refractarie but onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to reprehend and admonish the froward men of our countrey For as touching the title of Head of the Church S. Basil in the same Epistle doth so qualifie not the Bishop of Rome but Athanasius Patriarcke of Alexandria in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we thought that we could not better giue entrance to our affaires then by hauing recourse to your perfection as to him who is the vniuersall Head and by winning you to be counsellour and conductour of our Actions Now he thus speaketh not because Alexandria was the first Sea but because there was not then any Bishop who did not willingly giue precedence to Athanasius because of his vertue As for the priority of the Bishops-sea it appeareth by his 50. Epistle that S. Basill thought it due to Antioch when he exhorteth Athanasius to adioyne himselfe to Miletius Patriarcke of Antioch of whome hee saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it is he who as we may so say sitteth as ruler ouer the whole Church And saith also He so calleth the Bishop of Rome that the Bishops of the West giue consent thereunto it is a thing remarke-able aboue the rest that S. Basill purposing to addresse himselfe to the Bishop of Rome that he should lend his helpe to pacifie some differences stirred vp in Asia confesseth in one of his Epistles that men are deceiued to hope for any succour from thence and taking offence at his pride he accounteth all such deputations idle and
and the other Monarchy And in the Chapter Venerabilem de Electione Innocent the third maintayneth that it is in him to aduance to the Empire whom he pleaseth Apostolica sedes Romanum Jmperium à Graecis transtulit in Germanos and that it was the Apostolique Sea that translated the Empire from the Greekes to the Germanes And that we may spare to produce the clauses of Sixtus Quintus his Bull Anno 1585. which was the first thunder-clap that caused all the confusions in these later times and which speake more arrogantly and insolently then all this that hath beene said Let vs appeale to Cardinall Bellarmine for Iudge These are his wordes De Rom. Pontif. li. 5. c. 6. § Quartum Papa potest mutare regna vni auferre atque alteri conferre tanquaÌ„ summus princeps spiritualis si id necessarium sit ad animaruâ—â— salutem The Pope can change Kingdomes he can take them from one and giue them to another as a Soueraigne spirituall Prince when it shall be necessary for the saluation of soules Of which necessity he will haue the Pope also to be Iudge Consonant whereto one Alexander Pesantius a Doctor of the Citie of Rome hath written a booke of the immunities of Ecclesiasticall persons and of the power of the Pope dedicated to the now-Pope Paul the fift where he saith p. 45. The Soueraine Bishop hath by Diuine right a most full power ouer all the earth as well in causes Ecclesiasticall as Ciuill adding in the margent Papa iure diuino est directe Dominus orbis The Pope by diuine right is directly Lord of the world Yea within these few dayes there haue beene certaine Theses printed and defended at Naples in which were figured the Turkes Turbanes the Imperiall and Regall Crownes Le Cornet Paulo 5. Vice-Deo Christiani orbis Monarchae Pontificiae omnipotentiae assertori c. and the Coronet of the Dukes of Venice to hang in labels from the Popes Miter and wherein the Pope is styled Vice-God Monarch of the Christian world and defender of the PAPALL OMNIPOTENCY where the Pope hath accepted the bargaine which our Sauior refused at the Diuels hands Mat 4.9 Which was to become Monarch ouer all the Kingdomes of the earth Thus is the Church become an Hierarchie and the spirituall kingdome conuerted into a temporall Monarchy In witnesse whereof the Popes triple Crowne is called by no other name then Il regno the Kingdome And the last Lateran Councell calleth the Pope in the first Session Prince of the whole world in the third Session Priest and King and in the ninth and tenth Session his charge is called His Holinesse Empire Who will now make any doubt but that Coeffeteau pleadeth the Popes cause vpon good warrant and approbation And he goeth about to teach them more modesty in speach then they are willing to learne vnlesse that perhaps to tumble downe a Prince from the height of his Empire with flashes of lightning or to skimme away the whole wealth of his Countrey be not to be termed a touching of their temporalties And indeede there is some reason for that for temporall goods when they come into his Holinesse handes they become spirituall according to the stile which this witty age vseth who by a Bishops spiritualties vnderstandeth the rents and reuenues of his Bishoppricke The misery of Princes in this case is that if the Pope for their sinnes impose this penance vpon them to lay down their Crownes and to giue place to another yet this Penance once done is neuer followed with Absolution for he that seizeth vpon their place by a right of conueniency Droit de bienseance doth neuer quit or forgoe it but by force There be steppes and degrees indeede to clymbe vp to a kingdome but there is no other discent then a headlong downe-fall It is a thing seldome seene that a Prince should suruiue his kingdome or that he should saue life or liberty after he is diuested of Maiesty And that which is more Coeffeteau hauing taken from the Pope the power of disposing of the temporalties of Kings pag. 13. Doth he not in the next leaf following restore it to him againe in these wordes If Kings depart from their Duty and in stead of defending the faith seeke to ruine it then it is in the Popes power to reclaime them being in errour and to bring forth his iust censures to the end to turne away the mischiefe which threatneth Religion Now these censures are the degrading of the Prince the absoluing his subiects from their Oath of Alleageance and interdicting his Kingdome And to shew that hee ought to proceede forcibly and by way of fact Coeffeteau addeth That the Pope ought to oppose himselfe herein euen to the perill of his life And if we will exactly weigh the wordes of this Doctrine fol. 7. we shall easily finde that where he saith that the Pope doth not pretend any thing ouer the temporalties of Princes hee meaneth all the while Romish Catholicke Princes who obey the Pope that is to say that if they bee not such as are now a dayes called Catholicks the Pope may depriue them of their Kingdomes True it is that he reporteth vpon vs by way of recrimination Pag. 15. That those Princes who haue shaken off the yoake of the spirituall power of the Church that is of the Pope see themselues exposed to the rigour of their Ministers whom by way of honor he calleth Tyrans I looked all the while when hee would produce examples of Ministers who had eyther degraded or murthered their Kings or who had beene trumpets of rebellion or fire-brands of sedition or who had skummed a Countrey of their money or punished sinnes by the purse Or who after the example of Innocent the third This is found in the Bull of Innocent 3. at the end of the Lateran CouÌ„sell Salutis aeternae pollicemur augmentum Ad Scapulum cap. 2. Nunquam Albiniani nec Nigriani nec Cassiani inueniri potuerunt Christiani sed ijdem ipsi qui per genios Imperatorum iurauerant haue giuen to those who haue armed themselues at their commaundement a degree of honour in Paradise aboue others who haue nothing for their reward but bare life euerlasting But of all this he could alleadge no one example For vnto vs agreeth that commendation which Tertullian giueth to the Christians we neuer were saith he of the league and conspiracy of Albinius Niger or Cassius but those rather who sware by the life and Genius of the Emperour The faithfull Pastors hauing stripped themselues of all this tyrannicall pride haue only reserued to themselues the censuring of mens manners by publicke and priuate reprehensions and in case men stand out and rebell against the word of God after many rebukes they haue reserued onely the power of excluding them out of the Church as Pagans and Publicans vntill such time as by true humiliation they haue made their repentance to appeare These sentences
be perfect vnlesse they had the meanes to dispose of spirituall things for that otherwise wicked Bishops might without feare of punishment be vitious mutinous Necromancers and firebrands of sedition against Princes of all which enormities the Sea of the Bishop of Rome can alone furnish a multitude of examples yea after Baronius Coeffeteau himselfe doth confesse Coeffeteau in his booke entituled A Refutation of falshoods fol. 68. pag. 1. that many monsters haue sitten vpon that seate The Churches perfection doth not consist in a strength able by force to defend it selfe but in the purity of prescribing the wholsome meanes of saluation No otherwise then the perfection of Philosophy dooth not consist in hauing a strong house or a good sword able to represse those that should hinder her from being taught and professed but rather in the certainty perspicuity and sufficiency of her Demonstrations God who hath neuer suffered that his Church should be extinguished by false teachers which infect the soules will not permit that it shall be abolished by wicked Princes which offer violence to the bodies for whatsoeuer necessity any man can alleadge why he should plucke the Crowne from a lawfull Princes head yet can there be no necessity of doing any thing contrary to the will of God as there is no necessity that doth binde a man to bee disloyall there can be no dispensing with the law of God God sayth by the mouth of his Apostle Rom. 13.1 That euery person ought to be subiect to superior powers for there is no power but of God Where it is cleare that he speaketh of Princes and temporall Lords because he addeth that they beare the sword as being the Ministers of God ordeyned for iustice And a little after he commaundeth to pay them tribute and customes Now at the time when the Apostle spake this neyther the Bishoppe of Rome nor any other did eyther carry the sword or receiue any tribute Who is he then that can dispense with so precise a commaundement Or what thing can be more necessary then to obey God And note moreouer that if the Pope be the Iudge of this case of necessity for which Princes ought to be dispossest it will bee easie for him at any time to say that it is necessary that this or that King be degraded to the end to make himselfe by that means King of Kings and disposer of their Crownes Howbeit let vs a little weigh and consider what this necessity may be which carrieth on the Pope to plucke from a King his Scepter and to giue his Crowne to another Bellarmine alleadgeth but one to wit if it be necessary to saluation As in case a King be an Hereticke an Infidell or a persecutor of the Church or a fauourer and vpholder of errour But he would faine hide and conceale from vs that the Pope doth aswell intrude himselfe to dispossesse Kings that are of his Religion and no way in fault So in the Decrees of the Romish Church in the 15. Cause Quaest. 6. in the Canon which beginneth Alius Romanus Pontifex Zacharias scil Regem Fran corum non tam pro suis iniquitatibus quà m pro coquod tantae potestati erat inutilis à regno deposuit c. And the Canonists who haue made the Glosse dispute vpoÌ„ that place whether a man ought to pay his debts to one excommunicated Probabiliter dici potest quod excommunicato non sit soluendii cum nemo debeat participate cum en Lib. 5 cap. 7. §. Tertia Non licet Christianis tolerare Regem infidâ—leÌ„ aut hereticum c. the Pope speaketh in this manner Zachary the Bishop of Rome hath deposed the French King not so much for his iniquities as for that he is not fit for nor capable of so great a power and hath set vp Pippin the faher of Charles Emperour in his place and hath discharged all the French-men from their Oath of fidelity 〈◊〉 Iulius the second could not accuse Lewes the twelfth nor Iohn King of Nauarre of heresie nor yet Sixtus the fift the late king Henry the third who notwithstanding were by the Popes thundering Bulles declared to haue beene fallen from their kingdomes I freely indeede confesse that in an Electiue kingdome when question is made of choosing a new king they to whom that charge belongeth ought in no wise to chuse a king that is an Infidell or an Idolater But it is one thing to speake of a king who is chosen by his subiects and another of a king who is a lawfull inheritour and who is beholding to his birth for his Crowne and to whom ouer and aboue his subiects haue taken the Oath of Alleageance And therefore the Argument which Bellarmine draweth from the one to the other to proue that Subiects are at no hand to endure a king that is an Heretick or an Infidel doth not follow vpon good consequence It auayleth not to say that the danger is like both in the one and the other for it may so fall out that two things may be alike dangerous whereof the one may be bad and the other not as for example for a man to receiue in his body the shot of an harquebuse from one that did aime to hit him from another that did it by chance is alike dangerous but not alike wicked And indeede euen in humane pollicy and without any relation to the commandements of God it is not expedient that subiects should shake off the yoake of their Prince which is of a different Religion for this were the next way to estrange Princes and Monarches from Christian Religion and to make them to haue it in detestation as that which counselleth and perswadeth to rebellion and maketh piety the cause of mutiny Moreouer the question here is not of the danger but of the duety nor yet what may arriue but what ought to be done we must not do euill that good may come of it Many things are lawfull which are not expedient but there is nothing expedient which is not lawfull When we haue done what we ought to doe then God will doe what pleaseth him and he will doe nothing but for the good of his Church which he cherisheth as the apple of his eye he hath bought it too deare that he should be of the minde to destroy it Now if this rule of the Cardinall be necessary that it is not permitted to Christians to suffer a King that is an Hereticke or an Infidell Saint Paul was very much mistaken in giuing commaundement to obey Nero an Infidell and a persecutor and the Christians then did not as they ought to haue done in that they did not stabbe him or make a myne of powder vnder his house Bellarmine answereth that they might iustly haue done it but that they wanted forces that is to say Lib. 5. de Rom. Pontif. cap. 7. §. Quod si Christiani olim non deposuerunt Neronem c. Id fuit quia deeraÌ„t vires
vntil the thirtieth day I cannot see how this can serue to giue vnto the Pope power of deposing Princes For if Theodosius would not haue followed the counsell of Ambrose there had beene no harme done But this good Emperour did of his owne accord yeeld vnto it After him followeth Gregory the first at the end of whose Epistles is found a priuiledge graunted to the Abbey of S. Medard which hath this clause for the burthen of the Song If any King Prelate Iudge or secular person what soeuer shall violate the Decrees of this Apostolicall authority and of our commandement be he of what dignity or greatnes soeuer he may be let him be depriued of his honour I might say that this is onely an imprecation against Kings and not a Decree of deposition But we neede not busie our selues about the sense seeing that the Epistle is false It is a priuiledge indeed vnto which the name of Gregory is put to winne the greater credite and authority The falshood of it appeareth first in the Barbarisme of the style for men did neuer call neyther at Rome nor in Italy farmes or possessions by the name of Mansos It is a word which is found in the Chapter of Charles the great and of Lewes which sheweth that this priuiledge was first composed in France and not written at Rome Which thing also appeareth in this that he vseth these wordes Tusiacum Mortinetum fiscos regios To call the lands of the Kings Demaines Fiscos regios is a Barbarisme that may easily befall some French monke but at Rome this would not haue beene vnderstood and you espye the French vaine in these wordes very often repeated Dominus Medardus Monsieur S. Medard Adde hereunto that this priuiledge is absurd and vniust for it forbiddes to depose the Abbot of S. Medard howsoeuer attainted with crime vnlesse it be after the Popes pleasure known and after a Councel assembled wherein there shall bee found a dousen witnesses besides the accusers Now to breake this goodly priueledge is thought to bee a crime for which a King ought to loose his Kingdome The cheef poynt is that the humor of this Gregorie the first who called himselfe seruant of seruants doth very much disagree with these so arrogant terms which cut after the stile of an earthly Monarch For writing to Mauricius the Emperor in his third booke and sixt Epistle But I the vnworthy seruant of your goodnesse Ego autem indignus pietatis tuae seruus Ego vero haec dominis meis loquens quid sum nisi puluis vermis And a little after Now I speaking these things to you my Lords what am I but dust and a very worme And the King of great Britayne hath wisely obserued in his first booke that the Emperour Mauricius had commaunded this Gregory to publish a law which Gregory himselfe condemned as vniust and yet to obey his Master he published it I sayth he as one subiect to your commaundement haue sent these same lawes into diuers Countries and because they do not agree with God Almighty I haue by these my letters signified it to my Lords and Masters How well this Gregory knew to keepe his rancke and could not finde the way to draw this temporal sword which yet stucke fast in the scabbard For an vpshot of falshoods so at the end of this goodly priuiledge the subscriptions of the Bishops of Alexandria and Carthage who neuer knew the Abbey of S. Medard especially the Bishop of Alexandria who neuer saw Gregory and who beside that signeth his name very low among the thronge of ordinary witnesses albeit he neuer thought himselfe inferiour in any thing to the Bishop of Rome After all signeth King Theodoret as inferiour to all the Bishops After this Gregory wee are brought downe to Gregory the second the great puller downe of Images If we may beleeue Cedrenus and Zonaras great adorers of Images this Gregory went about to hinder the Italians from paying their tributes to Leo Isauricus who had demolished Images But Platina who hath most carefully searched out the story of Popes witnesseth the contrary and sayth in the life of this Gregory that vpon order giuen from the Emperour for the breaking downe of Images The people of Italy were so much moued Qua cohortatione adeo animati sunt Italiae populivt Paulum abfuerit quin sibi alium Imperatorē deligerent Quo minus a id fieret authoritate sua obstare Gregorius amicusest that it wanted but little but that they had chosen themselues another Emperour but Gregory employed his authority to hinder that matter Nay further he neuer for all that declared Leo fallen from the Empire he did not translate his Scepter to another he did not dispense with his subiects for their Oath of Alleageance And yet the Emperour at that time did onely hold a third part of Italy which was a very small portion of the Empire so that his tributes of Italy were vnto him of very little value As for Pope Zacharie when they report in the yeare 750 to haue taken from Childeriche the Kingdome of Fraunce to giue vnto Pipin and likewise Pope Leo the third whom men say to haue translated the Empire of the Greekes to the French by giuing the Empire to Charlemaine I could conuince all this of falshood and shew that the practise and custome of Popes is to giue vnto some one that thing which he cannot take from him Or after hauing incyted some one to inuade the possessions of his neighbour to vaunt afterward and to reproach him that what he got by rapine he now holdeth by his Holinesse liberality or as if in the Sacring of the Emperour because he hath put the Crowne on his head he should say that he hath giuen him the Empire as if in the sacring of a King he that hath inaugurated him by performing the Ceremony should bragge that he hath giuen him the Kingdome By this reason the Bishop of Ostias who hath had for a long time the right of consecrating the Pope should haue bin aboue the Popes and the Bishop of Millan should giue the Kingdome of Italy to the Emperour because from him he is to receiue a Crowne of Iron but this belongeth to another discourse neyther is the proofe of it necessary to this purpose For had these Bishops done much worse then this yet could not their example serue for a rule vnlesse it be shewed where and when God gaue them this power For is it credible that the Bishops of Rome could haue had in their hands this power neare eight hundred yeares together without enploying it or that they suffered this temporall sworde to hang rusting on a pinne without euer making vse of it vntill that after many ages this Zachary bethought himselfe of putting it to seruice in an action which the Church of Rome it selfe confesseth to bevniust Seeing that the Canon Alius before aleadged sayth that Childericke was not deposed for any
of inflicting corporall punishment vpon them but of this we haue spoken at large before Thence doth Coeffeteau proceede to the Example of Henry the fourth which he saith cannot be alleadged because the times were then troublesome but the example suits very well to our purpose for that the Popes were the onely instruments of raising those troubles to exempt themselues from the Emperours subiection and to subiect the Emperours to themselues euen in seruices more seruile then seuuitude it selfe stirring vp the sonne to seeke the life and Crowne of Henry his father who died being depriued of his Imperiall dignity by his sonne the Popes instrument therein who vouchsafed not his father so much fauour See Helmoldus in the Chronicles of Sclauonia Naucl. 39. genera Baronius de vitis Pontificum and many others as to cause his body to be buried Fredericke Barbarossa being come soone after into Italy to be Crowned Emperour the Pope enforced him to hold his stirrope when he tooke horse But this Emperour little-skil'd in these seruices putting himselfe forward to hold the left in stead of the right stirrop was adiudged to practise the same submission the day following and howbeit he performed it very mannerly yet in conclusion the Pope sought to pull his Crowne from him And in the same degree of pride did Alexander the third treade vpon the said Frederickes necke vpon the staires of S. Markes Church in Venice the History is reported by many writers and alleadged by the King of great Britaine in his confutation of Bellarmine about the end of the booke and it is paynted at Venice in the hall of del Scrutinio del grand Constiglio the Maps and Tables thereof are reckoned vp and expounded by Girolam Bardi in a booke expresly written of that argument In the sequel of his discourse Coeffeteau fals into that wretchlesse negligence that he accuseth the King of mistaking the History not alleadging so much as one passage for his confutation And sure it is not Platina that doth alone record the deposition of these three Popes by Henry the fourth for Stella a Venetian Monke who hath written the liues of the Popes hath the same in these wordes Henricus Caesar habita Synodo Benedictum praedictum Syluestrum hunc Gregorium abdicare se Pontificatu coegit His Maiesty of England alleadgeth to the same purpose the example of Philip le bel K. of France that wrote with liberty enough vnto Boniface the eight who first inuented the Iubile Platina Stella in these wordes Let your great folleship vnderstand that in in temporall matters we are not subiect to any man c. And he it was that surprised the aforesaid Pope at Anagnia and committed him to prison at Rome where for griefe hee died An. 1303. To the example of Lewes the ninth King of Fraunce that established the law called Pragmatica sanctio against the pillaging and merchandizing of the Court of Rome he ioyneth the example of Lewes the eleauenth who being vrged by Pius the second to repeale that Sanction remitted his Legates to the faculty of the Diuines of Sorbone Iohannes Maierius libra de schismat Concil who made it good against the Pope with whom Iohannes Romanus the Kings Aduocate was ioyned that opposed them so farre with his conclusions that the Court appealed to the next Councell as indeeede they did The said King saith farther that the facultie of Sorbone came to maintaine this point that if the Pope should offer violence to our King the French Church had authority to establish a Patriarch and seuer themselues from the See of Rome And that Gerson Chaunceller of the Vniuersitie of Paris was so farre from defending this pretended temporall power of the Popes that he wrote a booke De auferibilitate Papae ab Ecclesia that is Of the possibility of forsaking the Pope and remoueing him from the Church How much more did hee beleeue then that the temporall power of Kings might be free from the insulting of Papall authority To this doth Coeffeteau make no other answere but that these contentions were onely for temporall matters and that Philip or Lewes or the faculty of Sorbonne or the Kings Aduocate desired not to preiudice the Popes authority in any regard as he is head of the Church so that here he answeres well to the King of Englands question whose ayme is onely vnto matters temporall and to the vsurpation of Popes ouer Monarches Touching the title of Head of the Church which is an abuse more intollerable hee reserues that for an after-discourse Now if so be the dissention betweene Philip and the See of Rome continued not many yeares as Coeffeteau obserueth Fol. 22 pag 2 it was because the Pope gaue way vnto him and Benedict the eleuenth was very glad to giue Philip absolution Platina Stella which he graunted of his owne accord because the other might haue beene well without it That we may close vp this point the King of great Britaine drawes many examples out of Matthew Paris and out of the Records of his Kingdom to this purpose as William Gifford whom King Henry the first inuested with his Bishopricke and Rodulphus whom the same King inuested with the Archbishopricke of Canterbury by his Ring and Crosier-staffe and Thurstan nominated to the Archbishopricke of Yorke depriued by the King of his temporalties for corrupting with bribes the Popes agents in the Councell of Rhemes The said King alleadgeth many examples of Abbots Bishops and Deanes in England that haue eyther against the Popes will yeelded obedience to their Soueraignes or haue beene degraded censured and imprisoned by their Princes for their disobedience in adhaering to the Popes And which is more considerable these are late examples such as haue happened while the Papacy domineered most How stood the case then when the Bishoppe of Rome had nothing to doe in England with matters eyther temporall or spirituall The Kingdome of Fraunce doth furnish vs with examples of more pregnancy The Synode of Fraunce is of speciall note to this purpose which is to be found in the third Tome of the Councels of the Colleyn Edition pag. 39. where Carolomanus qualifying himselfe as Duke and Prince of Fraunce vseth this speach By the aduise of my Clergie and others of principall esteeme of the Realme Ordinauimus Episcopos We haue ordayned Bishops in the Cities and haue established Boniface Archbishop ouer them The Councell of Maurice holden vnder Charlemaine Anno 813. beginneth thus Carolo Augusto verae religionis rectori ac defensori sanctae Dei Ecclesie and the first Councell of Mayence vnder Lewes le Debonaire Ludouico verae relligionis serenissimo rectori And these I trow should haue been accounted irreligious Titles now-a-dayes And here let it be principally noted that Coeffeteau trusts more to his heeles then to his hands for he buckles onely with the first of these examples and all his answere is that Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury opposed this
the light in putting out his eyes A medicine is not applyed by poyson How then shall a free pardon in Iesus Christ be applyed by punishment and torture How shal the soueraigne testimony of Gods mercy be applied by the execution of his iustice How shall the acquittance of our debt discharged by Iesus Christ be applied vnto vs in making vs pay it our selues 2. Adde hereunto that for proofe of a matter of such importance as is the meane of applying vnto vs the merites of Iesus Christ at least some passage of Scripture should be alleadged 3. As also a Playster is not applyed by a Playster so one satisfaction is not applyable by another 4. Faith the Word Baptisme and the holy Supper are the meanes appointed in the holy Scripture Ioh. 14.23 Eph 3.17 Gal. 3.27 1. Cor. 10.26 to apply Iesus Christ vnto vs but the application of him by satisfactorie punishments is not any where mentioned 1 But aboue all we desire to know who hath put the sufferings of Saints into the Popes Treasurie 2. When this distribution had this beginning 3. How we may bee secured that God will rest satisfied with this payment 4. Whether the Pope hath also stored vp in the Treasurie of the Church the afflictions and trauels of Noah of Abraham of Iacob c. 5. And why the high Priests made no diuision of them to the faithfull in their times 6. Where the superaboundant satisfaction of the Patriarches hath so long time lay hidden without any employment 7. Especially how it comes to passe that neyther Christ nor his Apostles nor their Disciples nor the auncient Church for many ages haue spoken any word of this Treasure nor distributed by Indulgences the remainder of humane satisfactions nor celebrated any Iubile For we must obserue that Cardinal Caietan in the beginnlng of his booke of Indulgences acknowledgeth that in the whole course of Antiquity there is not any thing found concerning Indulgences Gabriel Biel in the seuen and fiftieth Lecture vpon the Canon of the Masse affirmeth the same and enquiring the reason why they are so common now a daies answers himselfe well to the purpose with the wordes of Christ Act. 4. It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his owne power So he learnes vs to be sober Durandus Anthony and Roffensis affirme the same S. Cyprian indeed in his Serm. de Lapsis and Tertullian in his booke of Chastity and c. 1. of his book Ad Martyres speakes of Martyrs held in durance for the Gospell at whose intercession the Bishop receiued excommunicate and repentant persons into the Church But 1. These Martyrs were liuing and 2. did imploy their meditation to the Bishop not their superaboundant satisfactions vnto God 3. The Pope did not rake their sufferings into his Store-house 4. And then euery Bishop inflicted or released penalties and excommunications among those of his own flocke without expecting any directories from the Bishop of Rome 5. And yet this custome of releasing penance enioyned to offendors at the instance of Christians imprisoned for the Gospell Cypriau Serm. de Lapsis Mandant aliquid Martyres fieri Si insta Si licita c. Nemo fratres dilectissimi infamet Martyrum dignitatem is condemned by S. Cyprian in his Sermon De lapsis He willeth that none giue way to the requests of Martyrs if their demaunds be vniust and saith that this recourse had vnto them did turne to their discredite Tertullian goes farther for in the two and twentieth Chapter of his booke of Chastity hee complaines that many did of purpose cause themselues to be committed that so they might haue meanes to become intercessors for some one or other of their friends or rather * Violantur viri faeminae in tenebris planè ex vsu tibidimum notes Et pacem ab his quaerunt paenitentes qui de sua pericletantur Suf ficit Martyri propria deâ—icta purgasse Ingrati velsuperbi est in al os quóque Spargere quod pro magno fuerit consecutus Quis alienam mortem sua soluit nisi so lus Dei filius to play the wantons with such women as were prisoners in the same Ward and in the end makes this conclusion That it is enough for a Martyr to haue purged his owne sinnes It is a signe of ingratitude or of pride to diuide among others that which hath beene bestowed vpon himselfe as o great fauor Who hath made his own death the price of auother mans life but onely the Sonne of God Now to the end that euery one may know how iniurious these sufferings and satisfactions of men imaginarily heaped into this Treasure are vnto Iesus Christ and his benefites we must vnderstand that Pope Clement the sixth in the extrauagant Vnigenitus speaking of the merites of Iesus Christ in the Treasury of the Church saith * Ad cuins thesauri cumulum beatae genetricis omnium electorum merita adminiculum praestare noscuntur that The merites of the mother of God and of all the elect doe serue as helpes to encrease this Treasure As if the merites of men did so assist the merites of Iesus Christ that this Treasurie could not be filled if the merites of men were detectiue Bellarmine makes the case worse for in consideration of these satisfactory sufferings of Saints which he saith are allowed vnto vs and which the Pope turneth to the forgiuing of our sinnes he affirmeth that the Saints are after a sort our Redeemers in the first booke of Indulgences the fourth chapter Touching our owne satisfactions his speech driues to this point That besides our owne there is no actuall Satisfaction and that Christ hath not actually satisfied for vs but only hath giuen power to our satisfactions This is to affirme that the Apostle is deceiued in saying that Iesus Christ is giuen a ransom for vs 1. Tim. 2. seeing he doth only enable vs to pay our ransome and make our owne peace so in the second booke of Indulgences Si quis post gratiam reconciliationis adeptam adbuc sit reus luendae paenae temporatis is non ne essario egetur meritis Christi Et poteret nou requirere tantem liberalitatem contentus ipse laboribus suis the first ch although he attribute some power to the death of Iesus Christ yet he saith That if after a man hath obtained the grace of reconciliation he haue not yet satisfied for temporall punishment such as is the torment of Purgatory that such a one doth not necessarily want the merite of Iesus and that he may forbeare to seeke so great a largesse at Gods hands but content himselfe with the merite of his owne ende uours As if he should say vnto God thou wouldest acquit me but I will not haue it so for my owne troubles and afflictions shall make thee satisfaction These men haue courage in them indeede they dare neglect euen Christ himselfe for it is