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A11327
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A treatyse concerni[n]ge the power of the clergye and the lawes of the realme. Cu[m] priuilegio regali.
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Saint German, Christopher, 1460?-1540.
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1535
(1535)
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STC 21588; ESTC S108136
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38,782
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136
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auctoritie to his appostles discyples to make lawes / that shulde take any power fro kynges For it is sayde Psal ii Et nunc reges intelligite erudimini qui iudicatis terram That is to saye O ye kinges vnderstaÌ„de ye and be lerned that iuge the worlde by whiche wordes it appereth that kynges iuge the worlde And howe coulde that be trewe if the appostles discyples of Christ their successoures shuld haue auctorite to make lawes generally to bynde priÌ„ces and their people And scripture is alway true Also it is written Sapienc .vi. Rex sapiens populi stabilimentum est That is to saye A wyse kynge is the stablenesse of his people By which wordes it semeth that it must of necessyte folowe that kynges haue also power and auctorite to stable their people For wysdome withoute power can nat stable the people But how can any kynge either by power or wysdome stable his people / if the clergy haue power to make lawes to bynde him and his people / onles that he shuld be taken as iudge ouer those lawes wherfore we thinke that lyke as kiÌ„ges and prynces before they were cristened / had power to order their people after the lawe that they than were of / and had power to auoyde all suche thinges as might bringe any vnquyetnesse amonge their people / that so the same princes after they were conuerted to the chrysten faythe / hadde as full power to kepe their people in peace and quyetnes as they had before they were cristened And that they maye auoyde althyngê that might breke their peace or bringe vnquietnesse amonge their people / by what occasyoÌ„ so euer it shulde happen to ryse / so that they offeÌ„de nat the crysten faith that they haue receyued ¶ The seuenth question the tenth Chapiter IF a kinge that is an infydele wolde offre to be conuerted to the christeÌ„ fayth / and to receyue al the artycles of it / with all his people But he wyll nat that his Subiectes shulde be bounde to breke their laboure / ne to kepe any holy dayes but onely the Sonday / Ne that hys subiectes shulde be be bounde to any lawes made after their conuercyon / but onely by such lawes as shulde be made after the ordre and custom of his realme whether he oughte to be receyued to the fayth with those condicyons or nat The tenth chapiter ¶ The answer to the .vii. questioÌ„ THe answere that is made to the syxte questyon / sheweth suffyciently playnly ynough how this seuenth question may be answered For if the Clergie haue auctoryte by the lawe of god to make holydayes / and also to make lawes to bynde princes and their people / thaÌ„ there maye be none that wyll be of christes fayth that shal refuse them / For euery christen man must specyally ê“fesse to obserue and kepe the lawe of god But if the clergy haue made holydayes and lawes by a fre consente and agrement of princes of the people / or by graunte of princes / nat by the lawe of god ThaÌ„ maye suche a kynge that is vncrystened / and desyreth to be crystened refuse all those holydaies lawes For they be nat made by the immedyat auctorite of the lawe of god / But the Sondaye / all crysten men be boude to kepe holi by example of our lorde / which in the seuenth day rested frome all workes that he had made As it appereth Gene. ii And yet we suppose that the Sondaye that is now vsed amonge crysten men / might be chaunged to another daye in the weke by princes and their people / so that one day in the weke be kepte as a daye of rest / for prayer and contemplacyon For it is but by the lawe ordynaunce of man that the Sondaye is kepte on this daye as it is nowe kepte amonge christen men / for among the iewes it was kepte on the saturday Neuerthelesse our meanyng is nat that it were good to haue the Sonday alteryde to any other day in the weke / for the day that it is nowe kept on semeth to be the most conuenient daye that can be appoynted for it But our intent is to shewe how the Sondaye is by the lawe of god / howe it is by the lawe of man And as for all other holye dayes they be but ceremonyals brought vp by the deuotyon of the people / thorowe the good ensample of their bysshoppes and prestes / whiche vndoutedly lyued a blessed lyfe / in fastynge / prayenge / and contemplacyon / in the bygynnynge of the church / more purely than lay meÌ„ dyd / so farforth that princes seyng the grace and vertue that was in them / were contented to suffre them to do many thynges concernynge the good ordre of the people / which they might haue done themselfe if they hadde lyste but princes haue nat al way accompted ceremonyes concernynge the orderynge of the people / to be of suche weyght as they haue ben in dede but haue holden them as small matters which haue ben very weyghty and therfore they haue suffred the Clergye to ordre them whyles they haue benne busyed in weyghtyer matters for the comoÌ„ welth as they haue thought / though it haue natte alway ben so for many ceremonyes be ryÈt moch to be regarded many persones haue benne punysshed for brekyng of them as greuously as yf they had offended agaynst the lawe of god and somtyme more / and ther vpon in proces of tyme the people haue thought that the clergye haue ordered suche ceremonyes and made lawes theruppon by their owne power and by the immedyat auctorytye of the lawe of god / where it hath nat ben alway so in dede / but they ought in manye cases to haue put the princes and their people in mynde to haue done it / and that is the very dutye of a watchmaÌ„ to put the rulers of the cyte in minde what thinges be lyke to be dangerous vnto the cytie / and therupon to be callers on that remedy may be prouyded before the dauÌ„ger come But the clergye by such sufferaÌ„ce as before appereth haue takeÌ„ vpon theÌ„ to ordre suche thynges as by their owne auctorite / that hath caused moche people to drede them their lawes more than their princes / wherby the power of princes to theÌ„ gyuen by god / hath greatly decayed and ben but lytel regarded / and by this sufferaunce the clergye haue extended their power vpon the people verye greuously where vpon great grudges haue rysen in manye places amonge the people wherfore nowe that such grudges be knowen princes be bounden to knowe their own power and omyttynge other thiÌ„ges that be nat for the tyme so necessary for the comen welth / ar bounde also to put to their handes for reformacyon / and nat to cesse tyll they haue brought such maters to a good qÌ„etnesse And as for other holydayes / if the multytude of theÌ„ be thoughte hurtfull to the