persons which by the law of God may lawfully marry So there 75. And now who so will paralell this parlament with M. Halls sacred Councell of Trullum The decrees of the CouÌ„cell and parlameÌ„t paralelled shall soone see how short the one commeth of the other the Synod I meane of the Statute for that in the former is only leaue giuen to Priests to keep their wiues which they had marryed before their ordination and in the Parlament is an absolute leaue giuen to all and that whether they were marryed before or after In that Councell Bishops were to put their wiues far from them heer they are permitted to keep them at home or if they had none to seeke and marry them there the second marriage or els the taking of a widdow made men incapable of holy orders heere no multitude of wiues or widdows do hinder at all there to haue known a Nunne was sacriledge heere if she list to marry there is open freedome and no prohibition there euen in M. Halls Canon Subdeacons Deacons and Priests that did serue by course in the Church where to forbeare their wiues for the tyme of their attendance heere is no more restraint for that tyme then for any other there it was a constitution of the Apostles not to marry after they were in holy orders heer wher all things went out of order Gods law is to the contrary in fine this reuerseth all that was ordeyned in that Councel against the Protestants and therefore in the behalfe of the marriage of their Clergy men this is without comparison far more full and absolute then that 76. And as for peremptorines that was heer very singular for what could be more peremptory The Parlament in K. Edwards dayes very peremptory and resolute then for a few Sectaryes of a little Iland to sit vpon all Councells Canons Constitutions and all Ecclesiasticall lawes made and allowed by the whole Christian Church a few loose Grecians excepted and without all controle practised for so many ages togeather and to proclaime them all inualide of none effect and further to call them though defyned againe and againe in neuer so many Councells Generall Prouinciall National as after shall be shewed to be the Lawes Canons Constitutions and ordinances made by authority of man only as if the authority of the whole Church were but the authority of man which is subiect to errour and had not the warrant of Christ for her direction and infalibility and as though that Parlament had had more authority then of a man only to wit either Angelical or Diuine when as many therein assembled were not Angels God wot the chiefe dealers in this broken matter were scant honest men and as for diuine authority it was inough for them to name the law of God which righly vnderstood made as much for them as the lawes or our land doe for theeues murtherers and other malefactours 77. Which desperate attempt was somewhat Iacke Straw in the tyme of K. Richard the second like the proceeding of Iacke Straw VVat Tiler Iohn Bull c. in the tyme of Richard the 2. when without authority they sate in Councell to suppresse al the nobility Bishops Canons c to kill all the lawyers and burne the lawes of the realme and of the Clergy to leaue none aliue but only begging Fryers for as that attempt of subiects was seditious treasonable because done against the authority dignity person of the King and lawes of the land so was this of â— few schismaticall Bishops and other lay men who stil haue beene striuing to meddle in Ecclesiasticall affayres â—o lesse rebellious schismatical and hereticall against the Church of Christ for they who sat in this Councell had no authority ouer the Church but were subiect to her lawes as members thereof and such Pastours as were present in the same were subordinate to others of higher calling without whose consent authority and approbation they could not conclude any Ecclesiastical new law preiudiciall to the former more then Iacke Straw his consorts against the Ciuill much lesse could they ouerthrow a law by diuers Synods so often confirmed and still in vse from the first planting of the The Parlament only a ciuill Court fayth in the Iland that also being no tribunall to decide Ecclesiasticall but temporall and Ciuill for which only all nationall Parlaments are summoned a Parlament may confirme by decree what the Bishops in Synod haue defyned for the better execution of Ecclesiasticall lawes but make laws or define matters of that nature being only a Ciuill Court it cannot 78. Wherefore to end this matter hauing shewed the large difference that is between these two different decrees which is as much as I did vndertake to do against M. Hall or els to be cast in this cause it resteth now that out of these premises his owne graunt I conclud against him and say as our Sauiour sayd to the wicked seruant in the Ghospell ex ore tuo te iudico serue nequam I iudge thee wicked seruant out of thyne owne mouth for thus if you remember he sayd If any Protestant Church in Christendom can make a more M. Hall coÌ„cluded to be faithles peremptory more full and absolute more cautelous decree then the 13. of the Trullan Synod for the marriage of Ecclesiasticall persons let me be cond 〈…〉 ed as saythles to which maior or first proposition set downe in his owne wordes I add this minor bue the statutes of Edward sixt are more peremptory more full more absolute more cautelous for they take away all scruple and remorse then that decree the conclusion wâ—ll necessarily follow ergo he is to be condemned as faythles or els he must shew wherin this syllogisme either for matter forme or figure doth faile which he shal neuer be able to do 79. The Apostle amongst other notes of an heretike putteth this for one that he is proprio iudicio Tit. 3. condemnatus condemned by his owne iudgment or a S. Cyprian in diuers places conforme Heretikes condemned by theÌ„selues to the Greeke readeth à semetipso is condemned by himselfe which may very fitly be applyed to M. Hâ—ll who is taken as you see in his own turne and condemned by himselfe and that either to want honesty if King Edwards lawes be more ful absolute c. then the other which he alleadgeth or els to be deuoyd of all shame if he stand in denyall of that which euery one perceaueth to be so manifest and notorious He shal neuer be able so to direct his barke though he were neuer so skillfull a Pilot as to passe between this Scylla and Carybdis without falling into the gulfe and perishing in the froth of his owne precipitate folly and in case this of King Edward were not full inough as it is too full and runneth ouer yet may the Protestant Churches deuise a fuller so he no lesse then now remaine faithles
inferred the contrary conclusion for he sayth that this authority doth not perswade vs to beget children in priesthood Habentem enim dixit filios non facientem S. Paul sayth the Bishop that hath children not he who begets them as our English Bishops and Ministers do 36. With the Fathers now mentioned others conspire whome I might also if it were needfull alleadge who all acknowledge in the 1. Tim. 3. 1. Tit. 1. Apostles words a permissiue dispensation not any positiue command and that also at such a tyme when amongst the Heathens conuerted vnto the fayth there could not be found so many single men as the Clergy required which both S. Epiphanius S. Hierome and Theodoret do Epiphan haeres 59. Hier. l. 1. in louin cap. 19. Theod. in comment Chrysosto commâ—nâ—s in 1. ad Titum obserue and truely if he had meant to haue left this matter free there had beene no need of this restrictiue limitation to the husband I meane of one wife but that as S. Chrysostome wel noteth Castigat impudicos dum non eos permittit post secundas nuptias ad Ecclesiae regimen dignitaetemque Pastoris assumi He checketh the incontinent whiles he permitteth them not after their second marriages to be preferred to the gouernment of the Church and dignity of Pastour So he And that this was only for that tyme and out of the errour thereof he further in another place confirmeth saying Voluit orbis Pastores constituere c. S. Paul went about to place Pastours ouer the Chrys ho. 2. in Iob. world and for that vertues were rarely found ordeyning Bishops he sayth to Titus make Bishops as I haue disposed the husbaÌ„d of one wife not to that end that this should now be obserserued in the Church for a Priest ought to be adorned with all chastity And after Non quod id legis loco posuerit sed quod errori ignoscebat Not that he made a law that euery one should marry as M. Hall interprets him but that he condescended to the errour to wit of those tymes 37. I will only adioyne one more whom M. Hall citeth for himselfe and is very eager in defence of his wordes as after you shall see so as his authority must needs be without exception on his behalfe to wit S. Isidore Bishop of Seuill who thus conforme to the other Fathers and truth also expoundeth the former words Isidor dâ— officiâ—s Eccles l. â— cap. 5. Vnius vxoris virum the husband of one wife thus Sacerdotium quaerit Ecclesia aut de Monogamia ordinatum aut de virginitate sanctum Digamus autem haud fertur agere sacerdotium The Church seeketh for priesthood either decent from single marriage or holy from virginity he that hath been twice marryed is not to be Priest So he so others so all And by this any may see who agree with No disagreement betweene S. Ambrose and S. Chrysostome though one do graunt a law in S. Paules wordes the other deny it because they do speake of different lawes the Fathers and who leaue them who interpret the Scriptures out of their owne spirit and who follow the beaten path of the Churches doctrine who antiquity who nouelty who truth who errour which point I might further dilate if the lawes of a letter restrayned me not to a more contracted breuity 38. If M. Hall say that S. Ambrose by me cited acknowledgeth in the Apostles wordes a law and S. Chrysostom denyeth any law to be in them but only a dispensation for that tyme and occasion I answere that both of them speake properly both truly S. Ambrose speaketh vpon supposition that a marryed man is to be made Priest or Bishop and then sayth that there is a law prescribed by the Apostle that he haue beene marryed but once so as this law is negatiue to wit none is to be ordered who hath twice been marryed but S. Chrysostome speaketh absolutly of a positiue law and affirmeth that the Apostle by no such law doth bynd euery Priest of Bishop to marry which I call positiue because it must runne in this tenour Euery Priest or Bishop ought at least once to be marryed for neither doth S. Ambrose graunt this law or S. Chrysostome deny the other but both iointly agree that none heereby is bound to marry and he that Tertull. exhort ad castitateÌ„ cap. 7. Concil Valentin cap. 1. Carthag 4. cap. 69. Toletan 1. cap. 4. Concil Aratisican cap. 25. Arelat 3. cap. 3. Roman sub Hilar. cap. 2. Agath cap. 1. Epaun. c. 2. Gerund cap. 8. Aurel. 3. c. 6. c. Bezal de diuortijs hath beene twice marryed is not to be ordered 39. With this doctrine concurreth the practise in all ages for Tertullian neere the Apostles tymes thus out of his own knowledge writeth Apud nos pleniùs atque strictiùs praescribitur c. Among vs it is more fully and straitly ordained that such alone be chosen to be made Priests who haue beene but once marryed in so much as my selfe remember certaine who were twice marryed to haue been deposed So he And in the 4. Councell of Carthage it is defined that if any Bishop should wittingly order any who had marryed a widdow taken againe his wife whome he had left or taken a second that he should be depriued of all authority of ordering any more And the same was appointed in diuers other Councells heere by me noted and their wordes are alleadged by Coccius in his rich treasure of the Catholike truth Which assertion of ours is so cleare euident as Beza himselfe could not deny it but in his book of Diuorces doth confesse it as he who reads him will confesse that he is the vndoubted scholler of Antichrist Digamos sayth he id est eos qui plures successiuè vxores vel etiam vnam eam viduam duxerant c. So far did most men in tymes past esteeme those who were Digami that is those who had taken more wiues one after the other or els had marryed but one and she a widdow to be vnworthy of the sacred ministery that they did not only exclude them from holy orders to wit of being Bishop Priest Deacon or Subdeacon but once also they excluded them euen from the very Clergy Let this be neuer so ancient notwithstanding I affirme it to be most wicked and not tolerable in the Church So he Giuing at one clap as you see the checke-mate to all Fathers Councells Churches antiquity and whatsoeuer yea if all the Fathers haue not in their commentaryes erred to the very Apostle himselfe so sharp are these men set to defend their wiues as they affect rather as it should seem to be kind husbands then sincere Christians 40. For M. Hall also euen in this very epistle maketh his chiefe plea for his owne and his M. Hall seemeth to set more by his wife then by his Religion fellow ministers trulls out of the Councell of
which is yet more then I need that he hath by this example euinced his cause and will neuer any more mention his diuorce 11. But if in this passage he cog notoriously if he affirme the quite contrary to that which is in his author if as before out of Origen he cut off three wordes with an c. so heer he do add one word which quite altereth the sense then I hope his friends will bethinke them well how they trust such iugglers who with the Aegyptians looke them in the face whiles their fingers be in their purse and I wish that with his falsehood he did but picke their purses and not seduce their soules bought ransomed with the deere price of the precious bloud of the sonne of God And that there be no mistaking betweene What M. Hall doth affirme out of S. Cyprian and I do deny vs remember I pray what M. Hall doth affirme to wit that Numidicus was a marryed Priest and that S. Cyprian auoucheth so much I on the other side deny both the one and the other and say that he was neuer a marryed Priest and that S. Cyprian neuer sayd any such thing but the quite contrary that he was made priest after his wiues death Let S. Cyprian decide the doubt betweene vs. 12. This Numidicus then being a marryed man was by the persecutours carryed togeather with his wife and others to be martyred the rest When Numidicus was made Priest were put to death before him with them he cheerefully saw his wife burned making no other account but to drinke of the same cup and to follow her into the flames he dyd so was left for dead Ipse sayth S. Cyprian semiustulatus Epist 35. iuxta Pamelum alias l. 4. ep vltim lapidibus obrutus pro mortuo derelictus c. He halfe burned couered with stones and left for dead whiles his daughter out of filiall duety sought his body he was found not to be fully departed and being taken out and by carefull attendance somewhat refreshed he remayned against his will after his companions whome he had sent before him to heauen Sed remanendi vt videmus haec fuit causa vt eum Clero nostro Dominus adiungeret But this as we see was the cause why he remayned behind that God might make him of our Clergy and adorne the number of our priesthood made small by the fall of some with glorious Priests Thus far S. Cyprian whose wordes are so plaine as they need not explication for he plainely testifyeth that he was made Priest after his wiues death and for that cause to haue beene preserued aliue and he sayth not as you see Numidicus presbyter vxorem suam concrematam c. Numidicus the Priest saw his wife burned but only Numidicus saw his wife burned A foule corruption the word Priest is added both in the English text and Latin margent by M. Hall and that as you see for his aduantage cleane contrary to the mind of his authour 13. For without that word what doth this testimony auaile him what doth it proue will he reason thus Numidicus after his wife was burned was made Priest therfore he was a marryed Pbesbyter and his example proueth the marriage of all Priests to be lawfull these extremes are too far asunder to meet in one syllogisme and he shall neuer be able to find a medius terminus that can knit them togeather I wish that I were neere M. Hall when some or other would shew him this imposture to see what face he would make thereon whether he would confesse his errour or persist in his folly for I see not but turne him which way he list he must be condemned Protestāt◠neuer write against Catholikes but they corrupt Authors for a falsifyer I know not what fatall destiny followes these men that whatsoeuer they treat of in any controuersy betweene vs them they cannot but shew legier-du-mayne fraud and collusion and yet notwithstanding pretend all candour and simplicity for heer on the word Priest standeth all the force of M. Halls argument and that is foysted in by himselfe not to be found conioyned with the wordes he cyteth in S. Cyprian 14. If M. Hall say which is all he can say that in the beginning of the epistle S. Cyprian hath these wordes Numidicus presbyter ascribatur presbyterorum Carthaginensium numero nobiscum sedeat in Clero c. Let Numidicus the Priest be numbred amongst the Priests of Carthage and let him sit with vs in the Clergy then goeth on with the description of his merits of the courage he shewed in seeing his wife dye c. this plaister cannot salue the soare for this epistle S. Cyprian wrote after he had ordered him Priest and his ordination as there he declareth and you haue now heard was after his wiues death Numidicus himselfe giuing by his rare constancy his so resolutely offering himselfe to dy for Christ occasion of his promotion yea of further preferment for in the end of the same letter S. Cyprian sayth that at his returne to Carthage he meant to make him Bishop as Pamelius doth rightly interpret him So as there is no euasion left for M. Hall to escape 15. I haue purposely transposed the fact of Paphnutius in the Councell of Neece the authority The fact of Paphnutius in the Nicen Councell is discussed whereof although it be more ancient then S. Athanasius who therein albeit present was not Bishop but Deacon yet are the Authors who recount the same much more moderne and all the credit lying on their relation no writer more ancient so much as mentioning any such matter the Councell if selfe disclayming from it these Authors in other things being found vnsincere fabulous I thought it not worth the answering but seeing that M. Hall notwithstanding he saw it fully answered in Bellarmine and others will needs bring it in againe as though nothing had euer beene sayd thereunto Answered by Bellarmine l. ◠de Clericis cap. 20. §. argumentum 5. vltimum and out of his wonted folly and vanity insert heere and there his Greeke words which haue no more force and emphasis then the English with this conclusion in the end His arguments wone assent he spake and preuailed so this liberty was still continued and confirmed I will briefly deliuer what hath beene answered thereunto if first I shew what legier-du-maine is vsed by this Epistler in setting it down with aduantage to make it serue his purpose the better 16. For whereas Socrates recounteth the fact Socrates l. 1. cap. 8. S zom l. 1. cap. 22. of Paphnutius in a particuler matter touching the wiues of such Priests only as were ordered whē they were marryed men whether such should be debarred from their wiues bound to continency as the rest this man from the particuler draweth it vnto the generall from only marryed Priests to
a reason heeroâ— because that marriage was euery where lawfull to the Clergy before the prohibition which must needs be late and in the Easterne Church to this day is allowed and I answere that the glosse as ingenuously altogeather much more truly reiecteth this opinion with an id verò minimè ita esse there was no such matter in another distinctioÌ„ excuseth Gratian The name of Priest extended by Canon lawyers to all that are in holy orders as taking the word Priest in a larger significatioÌ„ as including all in holy Orders and meaning therby Subdeacons only and not Priests which acception is familiar with Canon Lawyers founded euen in the Canon it selfe where it is sayd Si quispiam Sacerdotum id est Presbyter Diaconus vel Subdiaconus c. If any of the Priests that is to say a Priest Deacon or Subdeacon c. in Dist 31. iniâ— can 1. q. 1. Si quispiam in glossa dist 33. cap. 1. dist 81. c. si quispiam Dist 31. Greg. l. 1. epist 42. which sense we may graunt that the tyme was when some who were marryed were made Subdeacons which is further confirmed because in another distinctioÌ„ before Gratian putting down the title Nondum erat institutum vt Sacerdotes continentiam seruarent It was not yet ordeyned that Priests should conteyne from their wiues he presently cyteth a place of S. Gregory touching Subdeacons of which we shall speake in the next Paragraffe 44. But whatsoeuer he meant we are not Bellar. l. de script Eccles in Gratian. Baron in annis 341 774. 865. 876 964. Posseuin in apparatu §. de Gratiano id scienduÌ„ ist eum saepe errasse c. bound to follow him as an infallible wryter but may with free liberty reiect whome so many graue Writers vpon diuers occasions haue so sharply censured that he gathered so many laws decrees Canons togeather argueth great learning great labour in so large a matter coÌ„ used heape of different authorities to be mistaken is no meruaile wherin he did wel we prayse him where otherwise we pitty the errours but follow them not if therefore he were of opinion as is wordes seeme to sound that Priests were first permitted to marry and were after restayned from that liberty we follow the glosse not the Text because al Authors of credit mainteyne the contrary and as for the commentary Gratian of no infallible authority of M. Hall that this prohibition must needs be very late I must needs tell him that it is another vntruth that also refuted by Gratian himselfe throughout all his 31. Distinction which falsity because I shall touch after againe in due place I heere forbeare further to stand vpon and from Gratian come to the mayne bul warke and fortresse of M. Halls defence I meane the sixth Councell as he calls it of Constantinople in answering of which The authority of the I rullaÌ„ Synod cyted and most insisted in by M. Hall at large refuted because he relyeth so much thereon I will be more particuler 45. And for that M. Hall in vrging this Councell is no lesse eager in charging vs then resolute in affirming that marriage of al Clergy men to be decreed therein and the testimony not to be lyable to any exception as of a generall Councell as he stileth it I will first touch the authority of this Councel then what he sayth for himselfe against vs out of the same and last of al what as well by generall as prouincial Councels hath beene defined against the marriage of Clergy men by which I hope it shall appeare what little cause there was of triumph before the conquest how much our poore aduersaryes make of a little who like petty Pedlars lay open their pynnes and poynts obtruding copper for gold and peeces of glasse for pretious stones 46. This Councell then heere cyted is not See Baron in ann 692. the sixth Councell which made no Canons at â—â— but another Conuenticle made some ten years after the sixth was ended that at the procurement of Iustinian the yonger none of the best Emperours The Councell of TrulluÌ„ not the 6. Councell God wot who calling togeather certaine Greeke Bishops made them sit in a place of his pallace called TrulluÌ„ because it was made round and vaulted and there to gather Canons out of the fift and sixth Synodes which indeed they pretended to do but with many erroneous additions of their own and because it made the collection out of these two Councels it was called Quinisextum as much to say as of the fift and sixth the chiefe suggester of this seditious meeting was Callinicus Patriarke of Constantinople and that for extreme hatred of the Westerne Church by which we see which in many historyes we obserue that it is easy for a Prince who intendeth to be naught to find some one or other Clergy man of the same disposition to second him Iustinian had his Callinicus the fourth Henry Emperour his Benno and our King Henry the 8. his Crammer and others the like 47. And further we see all the circumstances occurring in this Councel to demonstrate it rather to haue beene a seditious conspiracy then The Trullan Synod no lawful Councell but a seditious conspiracy any lawful sinod for iâ— had no forme of a Councell no legats of the Pope no inuiting of the Latin Bishops no authority but imperiall no lawfull conuocation and in fine did out of arrogant presumption that which appertayned not vnto it to do for if in the Councell of Chalcedon after the last session was ended when presently Anatolius to further the better without contradiction his ambitious claime ouer the other Patriarches the Patriarch of Alexandria Dioscorus who should haue withstood him being then newly deposed gathered the Greeke Bishops to make another Decree the same as not done in Councell was annulled what is to be thought of this meeting when not one day but ten yeares after a general Councel was ended these men who were but one part and that the least and lesse sincere without calling the rest or being lawfully called themselues layd hands on two generall Councells at once cut out Canons chopped changed added and altered at their pleasures 48. And how generall this Councell was and how generally accepted euen in the Greeke Church where it was held Anastasius Bibliothecarius Anastasius Bibliothecarius will testify in his dedicatory epistle vnto Iohn the eight before the seauenth Councell which he translated into Latin where after he had sayd that all these Canons were vnknowne in the Latin Church he addeth Sed nec in caeterarum Patriarchalium sedium licet Graeca vtantur lingua reperiuntur archtuis c. Nor yet are they found in the treasuries or places where publike charters or records are kept of the other Patriarchall Seas The Trullan Synod not admitted by the other Patriarks because none of these Patriarks did promulgate
cōsent or was present when they were set forth notwithstanding the Grecians report those patriarches to haue promulgated them but this they cannot proue by any certayne arguments So Anastasius So as the credit and authority of this Councell was confined like our Catholikes in England to their fiue miles I meane within very narrow bounds and was euen in the very birth like a base brat branded in the forehead with shame both of the matter and makers 49. And this is further euicted by two graue Authors of that age whereof one to wit Venerable Bede was then liuing and Paulus Diaconus the other not long after who both write of it as of It was presently cōdemned by Pope Sergius a scismaticall and no true Councell and that Sergius the Pope condemned it for which cause the furious Emperour sent Zacharias his Embassadour to Rome to bring the Pope prisoner to Constantinople which had byn effected if the souldiers of Rauenna had not resisted and forced the Embassadour not without shame and feare also of his life to returne backe without him Hic beatae Beda l. de sex aetat in lustin iuniore memoriae Pontificem Romanae Ecclesia Sergium c. Iustinian the yonger sayth Bede commanded Sergius Bishop of Rome of blessed memory to be carryed to Constantinople because he would not fauour and subcribe vnto his erring Councell erraticae Synodo which he had caused there to be made sending for that purpose Zacharias his chiefe captaine but the garryson of the Citty of Rauenna and soldiers of the places adioyning reiected the wicked command of the Prince and made the sayd Zachary not without reproach iniuries to recoyle So S. Bede And the same in the same words Paulus Diaconus and so far was Sergius from approuing it as he sayth of him that Iustinian The rare constancy of Pope Sergius in another embassage before that now recounted had sent vnto the Pope as to the head of all Priests the sayd Councel written out in six tomes to be subscribed vnto Qui beatissimus Pontifex penitus eidem Iustiniano Augusto non acquieuit c. Which most holy Pope yielded not a iote to the Emperour Iustinian neither would he vouchsafe to take or read them Moreouer he reiected them as of no force and cast them away choosing rather to dye then to yield to the errours of these noueltyes So Paulus Diaconus who also recounteth how the same Emperour taking afterwards a contrary resolution sent two of his Metropolitans to Rome to Pope Iohn to confirme or correct these Canons but neither the one or other was done 50. In fine after much wrestling in this matter for Constantin the Pope with Gregory who succeeded him then a priuate man went to Constantinople disputed answered refelled the errours Gods iust reuenge vpon Iustiniā the Emperour and Callinicus the Patriarke declared the truth when notwithstanding the Emperour still persisted God shewed at last which part pleased him best for the first Author or instigatour Callinicus had both his eyes pulled out by the Emperours command was banished to Rome where he knew full well what his intertainement would be and the Emperour himselfe hauing first lost his nose then his Empyre last of all lost also his life hauing first his sonne Tiberius butchered and then his own head cut off by one of his rebell souldiers and sent to Philippus his mortall enemy and successour in the Empyre so as we see iust reuenge sooner or later ouertakes them who are to busy in laying their hands on the sacred Arke of Ecclesiasticall affayres and out of their arrogancy will teach direct those of whome they are themselues to be taught directed for in matters of this nature Bishops or Pastours haue alwayes taught Kings and no Christian Kings in the Primitiue Church haue prescribed vnto Bishops vnles such alone as with their scepters haue violently ouer swayde all reason and Religion togeather 51. This is the true narration of this bastard Councell which of purpose I haue exactly promised and that both for the better perspicuity of the thing it selfe and my answers which depend thereon as also for that you may the better know the vaine humours of our Aduersaryes how they can face out a matter when they intend to deceaue or are not able to shew what they would pretend to proue for heer M. Hall tells vs what this Counsaile sayth To the confusion of all replyers in spight of all contradiction that Singular impudency in facing out matters vpon so small proofe the Catholiks seeing themselues pressed with so flat a decree confirmed by authority of Emperours as would abide no denyall c. And againe that this one authority is inough to weigh downe an hundred petty Conuenticles and many legions if there had beene many of priuate contradictions And what will you say to this pedlar who thus pratleth of his small wares If he had any argument against vs as he hath none how would he vaunt do these men speake out of conscience or knowledge trow you or els ad populum phaleras to entertaine tyme and deceaue their Readers in my iudgment this is impudency in the superlatiue degree and for this alone he deserueth for euer to be discredited seeing he could not but know what we had answered to this Synod and that himself was not able therunto to make any reply but this his tallent of shameles dealing will better appeare in all the other particulers which I will now in order discusse 52. First then he sayth that this was a generall Councell and so he still tearmeth it the sixt generall Councell but this we haue now shewed The Trullan Conuenticle no general Councell to be false for it was neither the sixth nor yet generall as not called by the Bishop of Rome but by him who had no authority no Bishop Priest or Deacon sent from the Sea Apostolike was there which in no generall Councel lawfully assembled was euer wanting none of the rest of the Patriarches of the East were present none of the West inuited and the Canons by supreme authority at their first appearance condemned which things cannot agree to a true generall Councell and if it were Prouinciall as M. Hall shall neuer make more of it if he make so much then can it not make lawes to bind the whole Church but that particuler prouince wherein it was made and if these also by higher power be condemned as in this case it happeneth then doth it not bind that neither or any place els but is to be refused of all as was the Councell of Carthage called by S. Cyprian which allowed the rebaptizing of infāts which had beene christened by heretickes which M. Hall might as well haue vrged against vs as this of Constantinople and better also for that S. Cyprian is of a greater authority more antiquity sanctity and learning then Callinicus was for he dyed a renowned Martyr and the other
orders because now in England there are no Subdeacons and the Latin word atque doth not signify or but and and so he should haue sayd Deacons and Subdeacons and not haue confounded them togeather as he doth besides this peccadillo there are three other mayne vntruthes in these wordes and all the ground whereon it relyeth is false For where he sayth that Catholikes saw themselues pressed with so flat a decree The first vntruth in M. Hals wordes confirmed by authority of Emperours as would abide no denyall we haue before made it abide a denyall and to be so far from a flat decree of any Councel which bindeth all to imbrace it as that hitherto it hath neuer beene receaued in that kind for flat or round and that by authority of such as then liued as S. Bede or not long after as Paulus Diaconus and Anastasius and for the confirmation of Emperours the matter is smal vnles it had first had another confirmation which could not be gotten but was flatly denyed Councells take not their authority from Emperours but Emperours second Councels with their power that all vnder them may obey what they who are in spiritual authority ouer them haue decreed and M. Halls Emperours in particuler to wit Iustinian the yonger Philippicus c. being such as they were we will not much enuy M. Hall their confirmations whose liues and actions were such as they were staynes to Christianity and their deaths so disasterous as well sheweth by whose heauy hand and indignation they were chastized 86. And if M. Hall will haue all Councells confirmed by Emperours to be lawful and their decrees Canonical theÌ„ let him imbrace another Councell of Constantinople called soone after the Touching the confirmation of Councells by Emperours former by Philippicus Bardanes the Emperour wherein the heresy of the Monothelites who will haue our Sauiour not to haue had any humane will was defyned and the true sixth Synod of Constantinople condemned and as well may M. Hall pleade for himselfe out of this Councel as of the former for in this was the authority of the Emperour who called who confirmed it there was Iohn Patriarch of Constantinople and far more Bishops then in the Trullan Conuenticle wherfore in the doctrine of this man the decree is flat confirmed by the authority of the Emperours admits no denyall The Monothelite heretiks will thanke you M. Hall and remaine your debtour How much the Church hath gotten by Imperiall Synods too lamentable experience hath taught vs as well in these as in diuers others whereof one was within few yeares after this of Philippicus called by Leo the Iconoclast who with our Protestants condemned defaced razed pulled downe abused and burned all sacred images of our Sauiour and his Saints and to omit others in the later tymes as the Conuenticles of Henry the fourth against Gregory the seauenth c. it is not the authority of Emperours when we speake of Councells which makes them so firme as they can abide no denyall but the promise assistance of the holy Ghost with the Pastours of the Church without any reference to the ciuill magistrate or els the first Apostolicall Councell had beene void and of none effect when notwithstanding they sayd visum est Spiritui sancto Act. 15. nobis it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and vs the scepter in this must yield to the myter the sheep to the Pastours the ciuill Magistrate to the Ecclesiasticall Kings and Princes vnto Bishops and Prelates The causes are different and the Courts diuers The second vntruth is that Pope Steuen granted that the Clergy of the East might marry which after shall in due place be refuted 87. The last vntruth is touching Steuen the seconds decree for whereas in Gratian there is The vntruth of M. Halls touching Pope Steuen no number of second or third or any els M. Hall as none are more bold then such as know least without more ado resolutly affirmes it to be the second Steuen but truth so reclaimes against it or rather ouerbeareth it so violently as it cannot subsist for the second Steuen liuing but three Gratian. distin 31. can aliter dayes Pope or foure at the most had no leasure to call a Councell or make decrees and that this was done in Councell Gratian witnesseth who sayth that he made the decree in a Councell held in the Lateran Church and three dayes being too short a tyme euen for the very intimation the falshood of this charge doth refute it selfe and demonstratiuely shew this decree not to haue beene made by this Steuen 88. If M. Hall to help himselfe will take the third for the second as some do who by reason of the short life of the second Steuen do not number him among the Popes that will also as little auaile him for in all his tyme there was no Councell held in the Lateran Church or any where els for such were the troubles of those tempestuous tymes Aistulphui raging in the West and the furious firebrands of the Iconoclasts or image-breakers being in perpetuall care trauell from one place to another to compose all seditious tumults and to cancell the decree of another Councell gathered by the Emperours What manner of Councels heretikes do bring for confirmation of their heresies authority to wit Constantinus your friend M. Hall though scant sweet for suppressing of images and called the seauenth Oecumenicall but with as good reason as your TrullaÌ„ was called the sixth for no other Patriarch was present none of the West inuited no Legat of the Popes or authority required no law or forme of a true CouÌ„cel obserued al went by force fury and faction such commonly â—re the Councells you bring for confirmation of your heresy 89. I confesse that Steuen the 4. held there a Councell but that was only called for the deposing of the false Pope Constantine and deposing of such as were ordered by him in that schisme and preuenting the like inconuenience of chosing a lay man to be Pope againe for such was this Constantine chosen by popular tumult without all order or forme of Canonicall election by the seditious and tyrannicall procurement of his brother Toto then in Rome whose power and violence at that tyme none could withstand last of all it disannulled the decree of the false Synod of Constantinople against holy images but of Priests wiues either in the East or West there is no mention nor yet in any Author of these tymesym When M. Hall is more particuler in his charge he shall haue a more particuler answere in the meane tyme I say with Bellarmin that Canon perhaps to be of no authority but an error of the collectours and that for the reasons alleadged and the cause is poorely defended that is grounded on the errours or mistakings of others 90. And in case we graunted all the words which M. Hall bringeth out of this Canon nothing Gratians Canon
incōtinent Clergy men of Germany though liuing in the same age yet neuer mentioned S. Vdalricks epistle beene concealed but againe and againe beene produced insisted on and vrged to the vttermost 30. Or in case there had then been so smal intercourse betweene England and Germany as in more then ten or twelue yeares a matter of this brute and fame should be written in one Countrey and nothing thereof heard of or known in the other our Kings at that tyme being of the Saxon race yet how came it to passe that in the tyme of Henry the fourth Emperour when this practise was by him permitted and the Priests no lesse insolent then against the impugners of their incontinency then our Ministers are eager now for their wiues in two Synods one at Erphorde 1074. and the other the next yeare after at Mentz to omit other combats against Gregory the seauenth all which happened within the compasse of one age after S. Vdalricke how came it I say to passe that none of these Germā Priests could find this letter or so much as giue any notice therof especially Auspurg it self being taken by that wicked Emperour rifeled by the souldiers and razed to the ground No man there is which seeth not what aduantage they had gotten thereby and the thing hapning in their owne Countrey could not but haue beene knowne to some or other if not to all of that incontinent company and so many fauourers of theirs writing for them against the Pope some one or other had registred it in their behalfe which yet hitherto was neuer done and the Emperour would haue been most glad to haue had such a record to haue vexed the Pope withall and checked his decree in case any such had beene knowne or heard of in his dayes In the tyme of S. Vdalricke there was no controuersy in Germany about the marriage of Priests 31. Againe in all the tyme that S. Vdalricke was Bishop no Pope euer had any occasion to deale or treat of this point in Germany and nothing was euer done therin by any vnder whom he liued which were diuers for he was Bishop fifty yeares and many Popes in that time liued but two or three some not so much but one yeare only so as there was no cause why any such decree should be made or thought vpon or that such a letter should be written for all the variance that was in his tyme about the marriage of Priests was in England only where three yeares before the Saints death a Councell was held and the decrees which were made against the incontinent by all the Bishops of the whol land assembled about the same were after sent vnto Pope Iohn the 13. who confirmed them wherof the chiefest was that either they should put their women from them or themselues be put from their Ecclesiasticall possessions which nothing concerned S. Vdalricke and by all likely hood he neuer so much as heard thereof and if on this occasion he had written this letter to Nicholas the first it had byn of a very stale date to wit of more then a hundred years after that Pope his death 32. And as these things demonstrate S. Huldericke not to haue beene the writer so if we a little examine what is written the contents I S. Huldericks letter against the Protestants meane of this letter we shall find how far it is from all learning wit and truth as no man would offer to be cast in his cause therein vnles it be some out-cast indeed that careth for neither cause credit or conscience at all for to omit Supemacy that this letter acknowledgeth the Popes Supremacy against all Protestants and band of obseruing the vows of such as haue vowed continency against M. Hall for of the first the Authour sayth I doubted what the members of the body should do their head being so greatly out of frame for what can be more grieuous or more to be lamented touching the state of the Church then for you being the Bishop of the principall Sea to whome appertayneth the regiment of the whole Church to swarue neuer so little out of the right way So he And yet this now in England is treason by Parlament to say I meane that the Bishop of Rome is head Vowes of chastity to be obserued supreme Gouernour of the whole Church which heere as you see by this graue and learned authour as M. Fox calleth him is so plainly confessed of the other also thus truth it selfe speaking of continency not of one only but of all togeather the number only excepted of them which haue professed continency sayth he that can take let him take Which exception ouer throweth M. Hals impossible necessity togeather with the doctrin of their Church where the practical exposition of the former words is the Fryer or Priest that can take a Nunne to his wife let him take her and that without any exception at all 33. To omit this I say what a grosse and palpable vntruth is that which the Authour auerreth against such as vrged the testimony of A notorious lye in the counterfeit epistle of S. Huldrick S. Gregory for the continency of Clergy men when he sayth whose temerity I laugh at and ignorance I lament for they know not being ignorantly deceaued how dangerously the decree of this heresy was being made of S. Gregory who afterwards well reuoked the same with condigne fruit of repentance But this reuocatory decree this repentance or that the continency of Priests was an heresy in S. Gregoryes opinion are no lesse monstrous then malicious assertions neuer knowne or heard of til this letter came forth or recorded by any for the space of more then nyne hundred yeares after S. Gregoryes death that euer we can read of and so much being written of his life by Ioannes Diaconus by S. Bede Ado Freculphus and others that this by them al should be forgotten which hapned vpon so remarkable an occasion as neuer the like before or since hath euer hapned is a thing that exceeds my capacity to conceaue or any man els of iudgment to imagine and if such rotten rags may be once admitted for solid arguments there is no ground so sure but will soone be shaken and all proofs from authority will be quite taken away for any light head may soone frame more of these fictions then there are heads feigned to haue beene found in S. Gregoryes pond 34. And wheras the Councell of Rome before S. Gregory still vrged the continency of the Clergy cyted was held not long before his death in which it is decreed that if any Priest or Deacon marry a wise he be accursed And of Subdeacons he so often had determined that they should not marry nor be marryed when they were made and that no women should dwell with Priests but such as the Canons allow it well sheweth Greg. l. 1. ep 42. l. 3. ep 5. 34. l. 7. ep 112.
in a few lines for first it is an vntruth to say that such as misliked or rather condemned the decreee of Pope Gregory were the better sort for then the best of them I meane VVilliam Bishop of Mastrick in Flanders had neuer come to that disastrous end as the historyes do mention that he did for none was more earnest for the Emperour none more eager against the Pope none a greater enemy to al order The wickednes of William Bishop of Mastrick none dealt more none so much in that Councell of VVormes as he for he forced Adalbert Bishop of Herbipolis or VVirtzburg and Herimanus Bishop of Mets to subscribe against the Pope was as Baronius out of Lambertus and others hold him the only Authour of that schisme the Emperour doing nothing without his counsaile direction and when by the Pope afterwards as well he as the Emperour were both excommunicated for the same he being at Mastricke when the newes therof was brought him the Emperour being also there at the tyme of Masse according to his wont he preached vnto the people taught them to contemne the Popes excommunication laughed and made sport at the sentence and being eloquent in speach vsed all the art he could to make light all Ecclesiastical censures to extenuate the Popes authority to complaine of the wrong done him and to canuase part by part the iudiciall sentence made against him which to that wicked Emperour and his light Courtiers made good pastime 68. But these mery sermons ended not so merily for after the holy dayes of Easter ended the Emperour departed this Bishop still Bruno in histor belli Saxonici Lambertus in Chron. aâ—j continuing on his wonted veyne of iesting rayling and contemning all authority euen in the pulpit within lesse then two moneths after the Councell of VVormes he fell sicke went home and the disease increasing there stood by him one of the Emperours family who ready to depart after the Emperour asked what he would command him to his Maister mary quoth the Bishop I send him this message Quod ipse ego omnes cius iniquitati sauentes damnati sumus in A heauy message perpetuum That he and I and all such as fauour his wickednes are damned for euer this was the last message he sent his ghostly child Henry the Desperation fourth and being rebuked by some of his Clergy who were about him for his desperate speach he answered them I can say no otherwise then I see and find for the Diuels enuiron my bed round about that they may take my soule as soone as it is separated from the body therefore when I shall be dead I request you all faithfull people that you trouble not your selues in praying for my soule So this most miserable man the authour and inciter of this tragedy departed this life Who whether he were of the better sort needs no declaration for God giuing the sentence who neuer in such matters forsaketh his friends the matter is out of all doubt or controuersy 69. And the Authour I follow hauing set downe this narration with some more particulers Bruno in hist belli Saxonici which I let passe thus further discourseth Et cur eum solum dico miserabiliter obijsse cum manifestum sit omnes ferè Henrici familiares fideles aequè miseras mortes incurrisse cos miseriores qui fuerant illi fideliores quòd fides illa verè erat perfidia And why do The followers of Henry the 4. M. Halls better sort of men dyed miserably I recouÌ„t this man alone to haue dyed miserably when as it is euident almost all the faythfull friends of Henry to haue had the like miserable ends and those more miserable who were more faythfull vnto him because that fidelity was nothing els but plaine perfidiousnes So he And then setteth down many particulers of the ends of the chiefest Authours instigatours and followers of the Emperour in all his bad courses which were very strange disastrous and lamentable The Patriark who sent from the Pope by seduction adhered after vnto Henry togeather with fifty other of his retinew dyed sodainly the same hapned to Vdo Bishop of Treuirs Eppo another Bishop riding ouer a riuer so shallow as one might wade it ouer on foot without danger was therein no lesse miserably then miraculously drowned and not to insist on other particulers there related the end of the Emperour himselfe was such as well shewed how pleasing vnto God how gratefull vnto men or rather to friendes and enemyes yea euen to his owne children how base and abominable his actions were 70. For after a long rebellion against the chiefe Pastour his spirituall Father and Superiour as he was a disobedient child to his mother The vnfortunate end of Henry the fourth the Church so were his children no lesse rebellious vnto him it falling out with him as it did with our second Henry vpon the like occasion with his Primate S. Thomas after whose death his owne children Henry Richard and Iohn were in continuall reuolt and conspiracy against him euen till his dying day so likewise the Emperour hauing two sonnes Conrade and Henry the first being made King of Germany and thereby declared heir apparent of the Empire because he would not obey his Father in a most filthy action as Dodechinus and Helmoldus relate and out of them Sigonius left his Father tooke Lombardy from him and what els he had in Italy for which the crowne of Germany was taken from him by his Father though otherwise he were a worthy Prince of goodly personage and excellent gifts of mind which made him beloued and admired of all and bestowed it on his yonger brother Henry who more like his Father then Conrade neuer left to prosecute his sayd Father by armes till he had put him from the Empyre ouerthrowne him in the field got him as Sigonius sayth after the discomfiture susteyned in the wars into his hands wher he forced or as some wil haue it famished him to death and then left his body for fiue yeares vnburyed at the towne of Spira in Germany and this Henry prouing no better an Emperour then the Father whome he had deposed God not permitting that wicked race to run on further ended the same in this Henry his person translated the Empire vnto the Saxons of all other most hated by the two former Emperours as he did the like in our King Henry the eight his children who all dyed without issue 71. Another vntruth it is that the Churches did ech where ring of him for Antichrist which is as false as any thing can be imagined for although in Germany such as followed the Emperour might vse many insolent termes yet they neuer that Pope Gregory the 7. neuer by his enemies branded with the name of Antichrist I haue read vsed this so far were all Churchs from vsing the like liberty of
Hier. l. 1. in Iouin sayth Vnius vxoris virunt qui vnam vxorem habuerit non habeat The husband of one wife who hath had one wife not he that hath her that is none is to be made Bishop who hath beene twice marryed or who yet vseth his wife in matrimony but he who hauing beene once marryed purposeth to liue in perpetuall continency Episcopi sayth he Presbyteri Diaconi aut Virgines eliguntur aut vidui aut certè post sacerdotium Apologia ad Pammach in fine in eternum pudiâ—i Bishops Priests Deacons are either chosen virgins or widdowers or certes after their priesthood such as for euer are continent So he 32. Againe he sayth Non enim dicit eligatur Episcopus qui vnam ducat vxorem sed qui vnam habuerit vxorem S. Paul sayth not let a Bishop be chosen who may marry one wife but who hath had one wife and this for the cleanes required in the Episcopall and Priestly functions as els where he declareth saying Si indignè accipiunt mariti non mihi irascantur sed Scripturis sanctis c. Apol. ad Pammach If marryed folkes take it ill that I preferre virgins so much before them let them not be angry with me but with the holy Scriptures yea with the Bishops Priests and Deacons with all the priestly and leuiticall quier who know that they cannot offer vp sacrifices if they attend to the duty of marriage So S. Hierome Hieron in Vigilant And against Vigilantius as though he had seene as it were in that roote the progeny of our marryed Bishops in England and ordering of Ministers who should charge all the parish Churches with their plentifull offspring he cryeth out Prohnefas Episcopos sui sceleris dicitur habere consortes c. O villany Vigilantius is sayd to haue Bishops partakers of his wickednes if they be to be named Bishops who order not their Deacons till they haue marryed wiues mistrusting the chastity of single men or rather shewing of Note this M. Hall what holines they are themselues who suspect ill of all and minister not the Sacraments of Christ till they see the wiues of Clergy men great with child and yong babes crying in their armes So he speaking in the person of Vigilantius to all our English Clergy who suspect that none can liue chast and therefore will haue all to marry to auoyd forsooth this idle impossibility 33. With S. Hierome agree in this exposition S. Augustine and S. Epiphanius and assigne also the same reason to wit the purity required De boro coniugali cap. 18. in Priests Clergy men Non absurdè est sayth S. Augustine eum qui excessit vxorum numerum singularem c. Not without cause hath it beene esteemed that he who hath exceeded the singular number of wiues should not therby be thought to haue committed any sinne but to haue lost a certayne dâ—cency required to the Sacrament not necessary to the merit of good life but to the Epiphan haeres 59. It is against the ancient Canons that Priests should marry seale of Ecclesiasticall ordination So he with more to the same effect And S. Epiphanius non suscipit sancta Dei praedicatio post Christi aduentum eos c. The holy doctrine of God after the comming of Christ admitteth not those who after one marriage death of their wiues do marry againe and that for the excellent honour and dignity of Priesthood and this the holy Church of God receaueth with all sincerity yea she doth not receaue the once marryed person that yet vseth his wife and begetteth children but only such a one she taketh to be a Deacon Priest Bishop or Subdeacon as abstayneth from his wife or is a widdower specially where the holy Canons are sincerely kept So he and I see not how possibly he could haue spoken more plainely for vs or we for our selues 34. S. Ambrose both in his commentary els where is no lesse cleare and resolute in this point then the former quamuis secundam habere vxorem c. although sayth he it be not forbidden Ambr. in 2. ad Tim. 3. to marry the second wife yet that one may be worthy to be a Bishop he must leaue his lawfull wife for the excellency of that order because he must be better then others who desire that dignity So he And in another place refelling as it were of purpose the opinion of S. Hierome who held that marriage before Baptisme Hier. ep ad Ocean did not hinder but that if a man tooke another wife after as Carterius whom he defendeth did he might notwithstanding his wife marryed after baptisme being also dead be made Priest restrayning bigamy to the second marriage Ambros l. 3. ep 25. edit Vaticanae ad Ecclesiam Vercellensem idem habetur l. 1. officioruÌ„â— vltimo of the faithful only S. Ambrose hereunto replyeth Quisine crimine est vnius vxoris vir teneatur ad legem sacerdotij suscipiendi c. Let him be preferred to priesthood who is without fault the husband of one wife he that hath marryed the second tyme hath no fault by which he is defiled but he is excluded from the prerogatiue of a Priest So he and addeth the Fathers in the Nicen Councell to haue decreed none to be admitted at al into the Clergy after the second marriage 35. And because S. Hierome vrged that all faults by the force and vertue of Baptisme were remitted and so the first marriage by the same either to be taken away if it were a sinne or cleansed if impure he answereth heereunto Culpa lauacro non lex soluitur c. The fault is forgiuen in baptisme the law not dissolued there is no fault in wedlocke but there is a law for priesthood the law is not remitted as a fault but remaines as a law therefore the Apostle made a law saying if any be faultes the husband of one wife So S Ambrose demanding in the same place this question which I likewise demand of M. Hall and all his marryed bretheren in England Quid interesset inter populum Sacerdotem The liues of Priests ought to be more pure then the liues of secular men si ijsdem adstringerentur legibus What difference should there be between Priest people if they should follow the same lawes if both should marry and both liue a like truly none at al and yet as this Father sayth Debet praeponderare vita Sacerdotis sicut praeponderat gratia The life of the Priest ought to be more eminent as his calling is more high and M. Hall as though he acknowledged no purity out of wedlocke or as though all that preferred continency were impure addeth after this testimony of the Apostle that one Ibidem word alone shall confirme me against all impure mouthes but if S. Ambrose had beene his Bishop he would haue taught him better to haue vnderstood the Apostle and to haue