Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	absolve_v	according_a	acknowledge_v	210	4	7.9230	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A04285	Triplici nodo, triplex cuneus. Or An apologie for the Oath of allegiance against the two breues of Pope Paulus Quintus, and the late letter of Cardinal Bellarmine to G. Blackvvel the Arch-priest. Authoritate regiâ.	James I, King of England, 1566-1625.; Paul V, Pope, 1552-1621.; Bellarmino, Roberto Francesco Romolo, Saint, 1542-1621.	1607 (1607)	STC 14400; ESTC S121305	37,662	98

put any of his Subiects to a needlesse extremitie might haue bene contented in some sort to haue reformed or interpreted those wordes With his owne Catholikes Either if his Maiestie had so done they had bene thereby fully eased in that businesse Or at least if his Maiestie would not haue condescended to haue altered any thing in the said Oath yet would thereby some appearance or shadow of excuse haue bene left vnto them for refusing the same not as seeming thereby to swarue from their Obedience and Allegiance vnto his Maiestie but onely being stayed from taking the same vpon the scrupulous tendernesse of their Consciences in regard of those particular words which the Pope had noted and condemned therein And now let vs heare the wordes of his Thunder POPE PAVLVS the fifth to the English Catholikes WElbeloued sonnes Salutation The Pope his first Breue and Apostolicall Benediction The tribulations and calamities which ye haue continually susteined for the keeping of the Catholike Faith haue alwayes afflicted vs with great griefe of minde But for as much as we vnderstand that at this time all things are more grieuous our affliction hereby is wonderfully increased For we haue heard how you are compelled by most grieuous punishments set before you to goe to the Churches of Heretikes to frequent their Assemblies to be present at their Sermons Truely wee doe vndoubtedly beleeue that they which with so great constancie and fortitude haue hither to indured almost infinite and most cruel persecutions that they may walke without spot in the Law of the Lord will neuer suffer themselues to bee defiled with the communion of those that haue forsaken the diuine Law Yet notwithstanding being compelled by the zeale of our Pastorall Office and by our Fatherly care which we doe continually take for the saluation of your soules we are inforced to admonish and desire you that by no meanes you come vnto the Churches of the Heretikes or heare their Sermons or communicate with them in their Rites lest you incurre the wrath of God For these things may yee not doe without indamaging the worship of God and your owne saluation As likewise you cannot without most euident and grieuous wronging of Gods Honour binde your selues by the Oath which in like maner we haue heard with very great griefe of our heart is administred vnto you of the tenor vnder written viz. I A. B. doe truely and sincerely acknowledge The Oath professe testifie and declare in my conscience before God and the world That our Soueraigne Lord King IAMES is lawfull King of this Realme and of all other his Maiesties Dominions and Countreys And that the Pope neither of himselfe nor by any authoritie of the Church or Sea of Rome or by any other meanes with any other hath any power or authoritie to depose the King or to dispose any of his Maiesties Kingdomes or Dominions or to authorize any forraigne Prince to inuade or annoy him or his Countreys or to discharge any of his Subiects of their Allegiance and obedience to his Maiestie or to giue Licence or leaue to any of them to beare Armes raise tumults or to offer any violence or hurt to his Maiesties Royall person State or Gouernement or to any of his Maiesties Subiects within his Maiesties Dominions Also I doe sweare from my heart that notwithstanding any declaration or sentence of Excommunication or depriuation made or granted or to be made or granted by the Pope or his successors or by any Authoritie deriued or pretended to be deriued from him or his Sea against the said King his Heires or Successors or any Absolution of the said subiects from their Obedience I wil beare faith and true Allegiance to his Maiestie his Heires and Successors and him and them will defend to the vttermost of my power against all Conspiracies and Attempts whatsoeuer which shal be made against his or their Persons their Crowne and dignitie by reason or colour of any such Sentence or declaration or otherwise and will doe my best endeuour to disclose and make knowen vnto his Maiestie his Heires and Successors all Treasons and traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know or heare of to be against him or any of them And I doe further sweare That I doe from my heart abhorre detest and abiure as impious and Hereticall this damnable doctrine and Position That Princes which be Excommunicated or depriued by the Pope may be deposed or murthered by their Subiects or any other whatsoeuer And I doe beleeue and in conscience am resolued that neither the Pope nor any person whatsoeuer hath power to absolue me of this Oath or any part thereof which I acknowledge by good and full Authoritie to be lawfully ministred vnto me and doe renounce all pardons and dispensations to the contrary And all these things I doe plainely and sincerely acknowledge and sweare according to these expresse wordes by me spoken and according to the plaine and common sense and vnderstanding of the same words without any Aequiuocation or mentall euasion or secret reseruation whatsoeuer And I doe make this Recognition and acknowledgement heartily willingly and truely vpon the true Faith of a Christian So helpe me GOD. Which things since they are thus it must euidently appeare vnto you by the words themselues That such an Oath cannot be taken without hurting of the Catholique Faith and the Saluation of your Soules seeing it conteines many things which are flat contrary to Faith and Saluation Wherefore wee doe admonish you that you doe vtterly abstaine from taking this and the like Oathes which thing we doe the more earnestly require of you because we haue experience of the Constancie of your Faith which is tried like Gold in the fire of perpetuall Tribulation We doe well knowe that you will cheerefully vnder-goe all kinde of cruell Torments whatsoeuer yea and constantly endure death it selfe rather then you wil any thing offend the Maiestie of God And this our Confidence is confirmed by those things which are dayly reported vnto vs of the singular vertue valour and fortitude which in these last times doeth no lesse shine in your Martyrs then it did in the first beginnings of the Church Stand therefore your Loynes being girt about with Veritie and hauing on the Brest-plate of Righteousnesse taking the Shielde of Faith be ye strong in the Lord and in the power of his might And let nothing hinder you He which will crowne you and doeth in Heauen beholde your Conflicts will finish the good worke which he hath begun in you You knowe how he hath promised his Disciples that hee will neuer leaue them Orphanes for hee is faithfull which hath promised Hold fast therefore his correction that is being rooted and grounded in Charitie Whatsoeuer ye doe whatsoeuer ye indeuour doe it with one accord in simplicity of Heart in meekenesse of Spirit without murmuring or doubting For by this doe all men knowe that we are the Disciples of Christ if we haue Loue

Christian Kingdomes it is altogether idle as all that haue any vnderstanding may easily perceiue For it was neuer heard of from the Churches infancie vntill this day that euer any Pope did command that any Prince though an Heretike though an Ethnike though a Persecuter should be murdered or did approue of the fact when it was done by any other And why I pray you doeth onely the King of England feare that which none of all other the Princes in Christendome either doeth feare or euer did feare But as I sayd these vaine pretexts are but the Trappes and Stratagemes of Sathan Of which kind I could produce not a few out of ancient Stories if I went about to write a booke and not an Epistle One only for example sake I will call to your memory S. Gregorius Nazianzenus in his first Oration against Iulian the Emperour reporteth That he the more easily to beguile the simple Christians did insert the Images of the false gods into the pictures of the Emperor which the Romanes did vse to bow downe vnto with a ciuill kind of reuerence so that no man could doe reuerence to the Emperours picture but withall he must adore the Images of the false gods Whereupon it came to passe that many were deceiued And if there were any that found out the Emperours craft and refused to worship his picture those were most grieuously punished as men that had contemned the Emperour in his Image Some such like thing me thinkes I see in the Oath that is offered to you which is so craftily composed that no man can detest Treason against the King and make profession of his Ciuill subiection but he must be constrayned perfidiously to denie the Primacie of the Apostolike Sea But the seruants of Christ and especially the chiefe Priests of the Lord ought to be so farre from taking an vnlawfull Oath where they may indamage their Faith that they ought to beware that ry the Great hath written in his 42. Epistle of his 11. booke Let not the Reuerence due to the Apostolique Sea bee troubled by any mans presumption for then the state of the members doeth remaine entire when the head of the faith is not bruised by any iniurie Therefore by S. Gregories testimonie when they are busie about disturbing or diminishing or taking away of the Primacie of the Apostolique Sea then are they busie about cutting off the very head of the faith and dissoluing of the state of the whole body and of all the members Which selfe same thing S. Leo doeth confirme in his third Sermon of his Assumption to the Pope-dome when he saith Our Lord had a speciall care of Peter and prayed properly for Peters faith as though the state of others were more stable when their Princes minde was not to be ouercome Whereupon himselfe in his Epistle to the Bishop of Vienna doth not doubt to affirme That he is not partaker of the Diuine Mysterie that dare depart from the soliditie of Peter who also saith That hee who thinketh the Primacie to bee denied to that Sea hee can in no sort lessen the Authoritie of it but by being puft vp with the spirit of pride doeth cast himselfe headlong into hell These and many other of this kinde I am very sure are most familiar to you who besides many other bookes haue diligently read ouer the visible Monarchie of your owne Saunders a most diligent writer and one who hath worthily deserued of the Church of England Neither can you be ignorant that most holy and learned men Iohn Bishop of Rochester and Thomas More within our memorie for this one most weightie head of doctrine ledde the way to Martyrdome to many others to the exceeding glory of the English Nation But I would put you in remembrance that you should take heart and considering the weightinesse of the cause not to trust too much to your owne iudgement neither be wise aboue that is meete to bee wise And if peraduenture your fall haue proceeded not vpon want of consideration but through humane infirmitie and for feare of punishment and imprisonment yet doe not preferre a temporall libertie to the libertie of the glory of the Sonnes of God neither for escaping a light and momentanie tribulation loose an eternall waight world to wonder with me at the committing of so grosse an Errour by so learned a man as that hee should haue pained himselfe to haue set downe so elaborate a Letter for the refutation of a quite mistaken Question For it appeareth that our English Fugitiues of whose inward societie with him he so greatly vaunteth haue so fast hammered in his head the Oath of Supremacie which hath euer bene so great a Scarre vnto them as hee thinking by his Letter to haue refuted the last Oath hath in place thereof onely payd the Oath of Supremacie which was most in his head As a man that being earnestly caried in his thoughts vpon another matter then hee is presently in doing will often name the matter or person hee is thinking of in place of the other thing hee hath at that time in hand For as the Oath of Supremacy was deuised for putting a difference betweene Papists and them of our profession So was this Oath which hee would seeme to impugne The difference betweene the Oath of Supremacie and this of Allegiance ordained for making a difference betweene the Ciuilly obedient Papists and the peruerse Disciples of the Powder-Treason Yet doth all his Letter runne vpon an Inuectiue against the compulsion of Catholikes to denie the authoritie of Saint Peters successors and in place thereof to acknowledge the successors of King Henry the eight For in King Henry the eights time was the Oath of Supremacie first made By him were Thomas Moore and Roffensis put to death partly for refusing of it From his time till now haue all our Princes professing this Religion successiuely in effect mainteined the same And in that Oath only is conteined the Kings absolute power to bee Iudge ouer all persons aswell Ciuill as Ecclesiasticall excluding all forreigne Powers and Potentates to be Iudges within his Dominions Whereas this last made Oath containeth no such matter onely medling with the Ciuill Obedience of Subiects to their Soueraigne in meere Temporall causes And that it may the better appeare that whereas by name hee seemeth to condemne the last Oath yet indeede his whole letter runneth vpon nothing but vpon the some other authority of the Church and Sea of Rome yet by other meanes with others helpe he may depose our King That the Pope may dispose of his Maiesties Kingdomes and Dominions That the Pope may giue authoritie to some Forrein Prince to inuade his Maiesties Dominions That the Pope may discharge his Subiects of their Allegiance and Obedience to his Maiestie That the Pope may giue Licence to one or more of his Maiesties Subiects to beare Armes against his Maiestie That the Pope may giue leaue to the King his Subiects to offer violence

to his Maiesties sacred person or to his Gouernement or to some of his Subiects That if the Pope shall by Sentence Excommunicate or depose our King his Subiects are not to beare Faith and Allegiance to his Maiestie If the Pope shall by Sentence Excommunicate or depose his Maiesty his Subiects are not bound to defend with all their power his Maiesties Person and Crowne If the Pope shall giue out any Sentence of Excommunication or Depriuation against the King the Subiects by reason of that Sentence are not bound to reueile all Conspiracies Treasons against the King which shal come to their hearing and knowledge That it is not Hereticall and detestable to holde that Princes being Excommunicated by the Pope may be either deposed or killed by their Subiects or any other That the Pope hath power to absolue his Maiesties Subiects from this oath or from some part thereof That this oath is not administred to his Maiesties Subiects by a full and lawfull Authoritie That this oath is to be taken with Equiuocation mentall euasion or secret reseruation and not with the heart and good will sincerely in the true faith of a Christian man These are the true and naturall branches of the body of this Oath The affirmatiue of all which Negatiues doe neither concerne in any case the Popes Supremacie in spirituall causes nor yet were euer concluded and defined by any complete generall Councell to Touching the pretended councell of Later See Plat. In vita innocen 3. belong to the Popes Authoritie and their owne schoole Doctours are at irreconcilable oddes and iarres about them And that the world may yet farther see his Maiesties and whole States setting downe of this oath did not proceed from any new inuention of theirs but as it is warranted by the word of God so doth it take the example The oath of Allegiance confirmed by the authoritie of Councels from an oath of Allegiance decreed a thousand yeeres agone which a famous Councel then together with diuers other Councels were so farre from condemning as the Pope now hath done this oath as I haue thought good to set down their owne words here in that purpose wherby it may appeare that his Maiestie craueth nothing now of his Subiects in this Oath which was not expresly and carefully commanded then by the Councels to be obeyed without exception of persons Nay not in the very particular poynt of Equiuocation which his Maiestie in this oath is so carefull to haue eschewed but you shall here see the said Councels in their The ancient Councels prouided for Equiuocation decrees as careful to prouide for the eschewing of the same so as almost euery poynt of that Action and this of ours shall be found to haue relation and agreeance one with the other saue onely in this that those olde Councels were carefull and strait in commaunding The difference between the ancient Councels and the Popes counselling of the Catholikes the taking of the same wheras by the contrary hee that now vaunteth himselfe to be head of all Councels is as carefull and strait in the prohibition of all men from the taking of this Oath of Allegiance The wordes of the Councell bee these Heare our Sentence Whosoeuer of vs or of all the people thorowout Concil Toletan 4. can 74. all Spaine shall violate the Oath of his fidelitie which he hath giuen for the preseruation of his Countrey or of the Kings Person or shall go about by any Conspiracy or endeuour to touch the life of the King or shall vsurpe by any power or Tyrannicall presumption the Soueraigntie of the Kingdome let him be accursed in the sight of God the Father and of his Angels and be holden an Alien from the Catholike Church which he hath profaned by his periury together with all Fidelitie in their mouthes when they holde an impious perfidiousnesse in their mindes And f Concil Tolc 4. Cap. 75. againe They sweare to their Kings that thereupon they may preuaricate in the fidelitie which they haue promised Neither doe they feare the volume of Gods Iudgement in the which the curse of God is threatned vpon them which doe sweare in the Name of God deceitfully To the like effect spake they in the Councell of a Concil Aquisgran sub Ludou Pio Greg. 4. can 12. anno 836. Aquisgran That whosoeuer from the highest to the lowest of the Cleargie shall make defection from the Orthodoxe Emperour Lodowicke or shall violate the Oath of Fidelitie made vnto him or shall adhere to his Enemies let him bee depriued of all Honour and Dignitie And now to come to a particular answere of his Letter First as concerning the sweet memorie hee hath of his old acquaintance with the Arch-priest it may indeed be pleasing for him to recount But sure I am his acquaintance with him and the rest of his societie our Fugitiues whereof he also vanteth himselfe in his preface to the reader in his booke of Controuersies hath prooued sowre to vs and our State For some of such Priests and Iesuites as were the greatest Traitours and Fomenters of the greatest Conspiracies against her late Maiestie gaue vp Father Robert b Campion Hart. See the conference in the Tower Bellarmine for one of their greatest authorities and oracles And therfore I doe not enuie the great honour hee can winne by his vaunt of his inward familiaritie with an other Princes Traitours and Fugitiues whom vnto if he teach no better maners then hitherto he hath done I thinke his Fellowship are little beholding vnto him And for desiring him to remember him in his prayers at the altar of the Lord If the Arch priests prayers proue no more profitable to his soule then Bellarmines counsell is like to proue profitable both to the soule and body of Blackwell if he would followe it the authour of this letter might very well be without his prayers Now the first messenger that I can finde which brought ioyfull newes of the Arch-priest to Bellarmine was he that brought the newes of the Arch-priestes taking and first appearance of Martyrdome A great signe surely of the Cardinals mortification that he was so reioyced to heare of the apprehension imprisonment and appearance of putting to death of so old and deare a friend of his But yet apparantly he should first haue bene sure that he was onely to be punished for cause of Religion before hee had so triumphed vpon the expectation of his Martyrdome For first by what rule of Charitie was The Cardinals charitie it lawfull for him to iudge the King our Soueraigne a Persecutour before proofe had bene made of it by the saide Arch-priestes condemnation and death What could hee know That the said Arch-priest was not taken vpon suspition of his guiltinesse in the Powder-treason What certaine information had he then receiued vpon the particulars whereupon he was to be accused And last of all by what inspiration could he foretell