beaten by them and the other speaks ignorantly or partially because he was an Officer under Vespasian in France then a little after upon the beginning of Trajans Raign the Emperour Nerva being newly gone out of the World a matter of a hundred yeers after the Incarnation he scribbled a Book De moriâ—…u Germanorum of the manners of the Germans But Caesar himselfe saw onely the Skirts of the Countrey whence he was repelld he never entred into the bowells of the Land and what he delivers he took up in trust by confused rumors But if either of these liv'd now they wold sing another note they wold stand astonish'd that Germany should have so many florishing Provinces so many noble and opulent Cities so many pleasant Villages such fruitfull Orchards fragrant Gardens and fart Fields such Mines of Gold Silver Lead Iron with all other Mettalls such martiall people so many Universities so many Archdukes Princes Marquises Landgraves Earls Barons Knights with a world of Noble Families that can exactly draw their Pedigree thousands of yeeres pass'd I say if Caesar or Tacitus liv'd now they wold be more enlightned and cry out We Romans in many things were too credulous in beleeving what was spoken of our Enemies and in some things we injur'd them to shew our wits but our owne senses do convince us now and tell us that Germany is another thing We were Trojans once but all our glory hes buried in the dust of our Nephewes and Posterity having with sloth idlenesse and foulnesse of vice soyld all our Heroik exploits But the Germans continu still great Heroes both in respect of their own Vertues and their Progenâ—…tors They are still magnanimous most just Religious fortunat and so bless'd that there you cannot discover any decay at all in the age of the World If Virgiâ—… were reviv'd and again upon earth leaving the barren theme of praysing Augustus he wold break out into the admiration of our German Emperour and having got so rich and divine an Argument to rowse up his Muse he wold sing Ille ego qui quondam gracili modulatus avena Carmen effudi laudes magnae Urbis in Orbem Gratum opus Augustis at nunc horrentia Martis Arma Virosque cano Romae quae moenia primi Aequavere solo superatis Alpibus amplos Et de Fortuna tandem duxerâ—… triumphos c. In lieu of the Romanes he would extoll the Germanes who first ransack'd and ruin'd Rome But most Princely Auditors let us not examine as much what our Predecessors did but how we follow their steps and how neer our vigilance vertue and valour comes to theirs It is the practise of Providence and the rule of divine Majesty not to powr down all his benedictions at once but to reserve some of them for future ages And Homer as blinde as he was could discern this when he sings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Gods do not showre down all their blessings at once upon man-kinde But how mightily have we profitted what huge advantages have we now of our Fore-fathers T is true wee were once without God because without Christ as all Gentiles were but now by his ineffable grace and immense goodnesse we are his Domestiques we are coopled and admitted to enjoy the priviledges and rights of Children of his Chosen therefore t is fitting that every Christian heart when he falls into the contemplation of this high Prerogative shold with pious ejaculations cry out Sanctus sanctus sanctus Dominus Deus exercituum plena est omnis terra glâ—…ria ejus Holy holy holy is the Lord God of Hosts all the Earth is full of his glory Now as there be som Rivers that presently as soon almost as they are derivd from their Fountains encrease and flow with such a force that they can bear Shipps of burden and drive Mills as Blavius in this Countrey and the little Loire in France hard by Orleans which within almost a flight shott from the Source swells to such a stupendous fulnesse and depth that ther 's a Bridg with diverse arches over her so the glorious light of the Gospell darted from above did irradiat all Germany as it were in a moment it dispelld all the clowds of Paganisme and with its powerfull beams it did melt the hearts of the most frozen and remotest parts with admirable celerity For presently there were such pious contentions who shold exceed one another in devotion and acts of Charity that a world of Schooles Hospitalls Temples Monasteries and Religious Houses were built and endow'd with plentifull revenues soon after And such was the height and excesse of piety among our Ancestors that they were forcd to enact Lawes to restrain the disposing of Legacies for Ecclesiasticall uses There were som Emperours and German Princes that bequeathd to the holy Church whole Provinces and Territories Bishops became equall to Kings and Prelats fellowes to Princes and Abbots to Barons both in authority and dignity in extern pomp power and riches No Nation hath bin more munificent to the Church of Rome and no Countrey endowd her own Churches with larger demains Among others I will instance in one Abbot and his greatnesse whereby you may make a conjecture of the rest and he is the Abbot of Fuldo who as Lipsius hath it supplyed the Emperour at one time with threescore thousand fighting men And for the nomber of Monachicall persons you may make a guesse what a huge nomber ther is of them when in lower Germany alone ther are seven thousand Nunns But as in a most delectable Garden ther are somtimes beyond the expectation of the Gardiner Weeds and noxious Herbs that grow up as Tares among the best Wheat so where God builds his Church Satan commonly putts up his Chappell superstition mingles with devotion and men grew greedy after innovations and changes such deformities crepd into the German Church that it might be well termd an Augaean Stable Purgatory Exorcismes Idolatry Indulgences and other things in derogation of the merits of the Messias were introduc'd The Church now required another Hercules to clense her and shee found one a true one not a fabulous one such as the Poets sing of who strangled Gyants killd the Erimanthaean Bore choakd the two Snakes sent by Iuno drive away the Stymphalian monstrous Birds slew Busiris took Cerberus by the throat killd the Nemaean Lyon suppressd the many headed Hydra But our Hercules did more for he overthrew Antichrist and with a Goose Quill did more then Hercules did with his Iron Clubb and Germany alone was worthy of such a Champion I meane Martin Luther an Augustin Monk who though a man of mean birth and meanes otherwise observing the exorbitances â—…nd excesse of Churchmen and the Marchandise that was made of Indulgences could indure it no longer but armd himself to subvert the Babylonish Empire he rusheth against the Pope spitts in his face and hath shaken his Kingdom ever since very shrewdly This happend when the Bishop of Rome
Emperours And when Zenobia was Empresse ther were reckon'd 30. at one time In our Germany how many Interregnums have we had by this way of Election How many yeers did she appeer as a Monster without a head after the death of Frederic the second What a world of confusion and exorbitances of fraud and depraedations did she fall into What a base plot had Charles the fourth as also Vuenceslaus who would have prostituted the Empire for money They did so deplume the Eagle that she became contemptible to all other Creatures These were they whom Maximilian the first call'd the stepfathers or rather the two pests of the Empire The same Maximilian also in the Councel of Constance protested that he had rais'd 100. tonnes of gold out of his own patrimonial demeanes to support the sacred Roman Empire and all that while he had not receiv'd from the States of the Empire 40000. florins Now because my discourse hath transported me so far I cannot but extremely groan and deplore the state of the Empire and to what a pitiful low ebb 't is fallen unto For wheras in the time of Frederic the first and the strength of the Empire was then much attenuated the annual revenues came to 60000. tonnes of gold which amounts to about 6. millions sterling the exility of the rents of Caesar which he gets by the Empire are scarce able as Schneiderin a famous Civil Lawyer doth assert to maintain the domestic expences of the Imperial Court nor those neither unlesse Caesar did contribut much therunto out of his own patrimonial inheritances which made Cardinal Granvil to affirm aloud in the time of Charles the 5. ex Imperio ne tantillum Emolumenti habere Caesarem that Caesar had no Emolument at all from the Empire and we know no King in Christendom was reduc'd to that tenuity But France is not subject to those Comitial diseases or Diets of the Empire being secure by the succession and prerogatives of her Kings who have a transcendent and absolut authority not derived at all from their subjects wherby Caesar himself may be sayed to be inferior in point of power though not in precedence to Caesar himself though as Bartolus averrs Haeretici sunt pronunciandi quicunque Imperatorem Germanicum universi terrarum Orbis Dominum esse negant They are to be pronounc'd Heretiques who deny the Rom. German Emperour to be Lord Paramount of all the Univers And he grounds this right upon the answer of the Emperour Antoninus to Eudaemon of Nicodemia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ego quidem Mundi Dominus lex autem maris I am Lord of the World and the Law of the Sea He urgeth also another argument from the words of the holy Evangelist when he sayeth Ther issued forth a Decree from Augustus that the whole world shold be taxed But France acknowledgeth no such superiority for when L. Madrutius was employed by Ferdinand the Emperour to Francis the second for the restitution of Toul and Verdun with other feathers which he had pluck'd from the Eagle Franciscus Olivarius the Chancelor answer'd that they deserv'd capital punishment who wold advise the King to such a surrendry or held that the most Christian King and first son of the Church was any wayes inferior to Caesar Herupon we know that the doctrine of the Imperial Lawes are prohibited in Paris by this Edict and Caveat Ne quis publicè profiteretur Romanas leges in Academia Parisiensi neve quem Scholasticos ejus disciplinâ ad gradus auderet provehere That none shold make profession of the Roman Lawes in the University of Paris or dare to advance the Students therof to any degree of dignity Herupon Hospitalius Charles the ninth's Chancelor in presence of the King himself and the assembly of the three Estates procur'd it to be enacted that the Kings of France the very same moment that they entred into the 14th yeer of their age shold be pronounc'd capable to raign and to be out of his minority and so govern inchoativè Now for the Imperial Lawes their reason and equity may be haply made use of in other Dominions but not their authority and sanction No more could the Romans in times past be sayed to be any way under the Greeks because they borrowed and made use of som Lawes of theirs No more can the Turks be sayed to be any way subject to the Romans because they have the Iustinian Code translated into their vulgar language and that their Cadies make use of them to rectifie somtimes natural reason Furthermore the supereminent royalties of the Kings of France appeer manifestly in that they have the sole power to indict war or establish peace to make leagues and confederacies to enact Lawes to creat Magistrates of the gown and the sword to give pardon for lives to stamp money to give letters of denization to impose taxes and make pecuniary levies at pleasure Now the Kingdom of France is like a most fertile and florishing medow wheron infinit flocks of sheep do feed and bear golden fleeces which may be shorn when the shepherd pleaseth yet I will except here the province of Languedoc wher the King cannot exact any subsidiary contributions without the expresse consentment of the three Estates of that Countrey For administration of Civil Justice France comes short of no other Region whose charge it is to preserve the Kings prerogatives as well as the priviledg of the subject To which end ther be 8. Courts of Parlement whose names are known to any that have travel'd France Among these that of Paris is the most praedominant in regard the Parlament of Peers is alwayes there residing which high Court useth to verifie not confirm all the Kings Edicts to make them the more plausible and for form sake only Now as France is the beauty of Europe so that Parlement is the eye of France and the Parlement of Peers is the apple of that eye Nor do ther want examples how other Forren Kings and Princes have refer'd themselves to this Court of Parlement as a high consistory of reason and Justice as being Astrea's noblest tribunal The Emperour Frederick the second refer'd the controversies 'twixt him and Pope Innocent the fourth touching the Kingdom of Naples to the decision of this Court So the Count of Namur in a difference 'twixt Charles of Valois and him touching the County of Namur put himself upon the verdict of this Court and he therby carried his businesse Philip Prince of Tarentum overcame the Duke of Burgundy in this Court touching som expences made in recovering the Greek Empire The Dukes of Lorain have in divers things refer'd themselves to the judgment of this Court They of Cambray who are a free peeple have bin willing to be tryed by it The confederacy also 'twixt the Kingdom of Castile and Portugal were confirm'd by this Court Nor is ther any admitted to this Soverain Court but persons either priviledg'd by their birth or men of exquisit knowledg
and a hundred and twenty thousand granados of all sorts The Fleet stood the King in every day thirty thousand Duckets insomuch that Bernardin Mendoza the Spanish Ambassadour in France being in a private conference one day with King Henry the fourth assured him that viis modis that Fleet had stood his Master in above tenne Millions first and last from the time that she set sayl from Lisbon This Fleet look'd like a huge Forrest at Sea as she made her way Good Lord how notably did that Masculine Queen bestirre her self in viewing her Armies in visiting her Men of Warre and Ships Royall in having her Castles and Ports well fortified in riding about and in the head of the Army her self in discharging the Office of a true Pallas wearing a Hat and Feather in lieu of a Helmet Henry the fourth of France sent her seasonable notice hereof so that most of the Roman Catholiques up and down were commanded to retire to the I le of Ely a fenney place and others were secured in Bishops houses till this horrid cloud which did threaten the destruction of England should be overblown But this prodigious Fleet being come to the British seas how did the little English vessels pelt those huge Gigantick Galeons of Spain whereof those few which were left for all the rest perisht were forc'd to fetch a compass almost as far as Norway in 62. degrees and so got to Spain to bring the sad tidings what became of the rest There were Triumphs for this not onely in England but all the United Provinces over where a Medal was coyn'd bearing this Inscription on the one side Classis Hispanica The Spanish Fleet on the other side Venit â—…vit fuit She came she went she was But had the Duke of Parma come out of Flanders with his Land Army then it might have prov'd a black day to England and herein Holland did a peece of Knight-service to England for she kept him from comming forth with a squadron of Men of Warre How gallantly did the English take Cales the Key of Spain and brought home such rich plunder How did they infest the Indies and what a masse of Treasure did Drake that English Dragon bring home thence he made his Sailes of Silk and his Anchors of Silver Most noble Princes you have heard something though not the tyth that might be said of the early Piety and Devotion of the exquisite Knowledge and Learning of the Manhood and Prowesse of Great Britain but these praises that I give her is but a bucket of water cast into her Seas Now touching both King and people it is observ'd that there is such a reciprocation of love betwixt them that it is wonderfull the one swayes the other submits obeyes and contributes to the necessities and preservation of the honour and majesty of the King for which he receives protection and security Touching the Regall Authority and absolute Power and Prerogatives of the Kings of Great Britain it is as high and supreame as any Monarchs upon Earth They acknowledge no Superior but God himself they are not feudetary or homageable to any they admit no forraign jurisdiction within the bounds of their Kingdomes and herein they have the advantage of the Kings of France and Spaine yea of the Emperour himself who is in a kind of vassalage to the Pope and may be said to divide authority with him in their own Dominions No they have long time shaken off that servitude and manumitted the Crown from those immense sums which were erogated and ported from England to pay for First fruits for Indulgences for Appeales Palls and Dispensations and such merchandises of Rome How many hundred of years did England pay Tribute though it went under the name of Peter-pence to Rome think you no less than near upon a thousand from the reign of King Inas the Saxon to Henry the eighth From the Power of the Kings of Great Britain let us goe to their Justice let us descend from the Throne to the Tribunall Now such is the Divinitie of the Kings of Great Britain that they cannot doe any Injustice it is a Canon of their Common Law that the King can doe no wrong if any be done it is the Kings Minister the Judge Magistrate or Officer doth doe it and so is punishable accordingly such a high regard the English have of the honour of their King and such a speciall care the Kings of England have us'd to take for punishing of Injustice and corruption such a care as King Edgar had to free the Iland from Wolves and corrupt Officers are no better than Wolves which he did by a Tribute that he impos'd upon a Welsh Prince for his ranson which was to bring him in three hundred skinnes of Wolves every year this produced â—…o good effects that the whole race of Wolves was extirpated in a short time so that it is as rare a thing to see a Wolf now in England as a Horse in Venice Touching the care that the Kings of England us'd to have to enrich their subjects hath been us'd to be very great and to improve the common stock Edward the third that Gallorum malleus the hammer of the French he quell'd them so was the first who introduced the art of making of Cloth into England whereby the Exchequer with the publique and private wealth of the Kingdome did receive a mighty increment for Wooll is the Golden Fleece of England and the prime Staple-commodity which is the cause that by an old custome the Judges Masters of the Rolls and Secretaries of State in Parliament time doe use to sit upon Woolsacks in the House that commodum lanarum ovium non negligendum esse Parliamentum moneatur that they put the Parliament in mind that the commodity of Wool and Sheep be not neglected The Swede the Dane the Pole the German the Russe the Turk and indeed all Nations doe highly esteem the English cloth The time was that Antwerp her self did buy and vend two hundred thousand English cloths yearly as Camden hath it And great and antient are the priviledges that the English have in Belgium for since the year 1338 which is above three hundred yeares agoe when Lewis Malan Earl of Flanders gave them very ample immunities in the Town of Bruges since which time it is incredible how all kind of commerce and merchantile affaire did flourish among the Flemins for which they were first obliged to the English for the English Wooll hath been a Golden Fleece also to the Flemins as well as the English themselves because it was one of the principal causes of enlarging their Trade whereunto the Duke of Burgundy related when he established the order of the Golden Fleece Guicciardin makes a computation that the Traffique and Intercourse betwixt England and Flanders amounted to twelve millions yearly where of five was for woollen manufactures What an Heroique incomparable Princesse was Queen Elizabeth who wore the English Crown and
neither King nor Kingdom but it is a kind of confus'd Oligarchycall kind of Government which made the Lady Christina Caesars Daughter and Wife to Uladislaus the 5. so say summum illud jus authoritatem Monarchiae in Polonia esse vmbratilem That the highest power and authority of the Polish Monarchy is meerly umbraticall 't is but a shadow of a power for neither in the OEconomicall Government of his domestick family nor in choosing himself a Wife much lesse in the senate hath he any power of free will Therefore most excellent and judicious Princes for to make Poland to have a precedence of the rest of the Provinces of Europe is the same as when the Bramble according to the holy text was made the King of Trees Dixi. THE ORATION OF Prince HENRY ALBERTUS Baron of LIMBURG c. Hereditary Lord BUTLER of the Sacred Roman Empire and Allwaies free for HUNGARY Most Excellent President and Prince WHile we are in so serious a debate touching the Kingdomes of Europe and which of them may deserve the principality truly me thinks that we are ingratefull to Hungary that we have deferr'd so long to speak of the stoutest people that march under the standard of the Crosse and by whose valour the peace and incolumity of the Christian World hath hitherto stood We should have been more mindfull of the memory of our Benefactors But as the Roman Respublique is oftentimes tax'd to have sinn'd against her best and most devoted Cittizens as when Camillus was ostracis'd and banish'd Scipio dismiss'd Cicero after Catiline undervalued Rutilius hurried over to Smyrna Cato was denied the Praetorship Vatinius the basest of men being preferr'd before him so truly it may be said that we have misdemean'd our selves towards Hungary Now if Hungary could transplant her self hither before us she would sharply rebuke us for this preterition and neglect but because that cannot be I will adventure to be Advocate for that most Noble Kingdom But as in a vast Forrest full of Trees one intending to fell down one for Timber and building but having such choise about him is puzzled which to single out so am I at a stand being entred into this large Forrest of matter where or how to begin Will an inestimable treasure of all Wealth delight you I pray where hath nature endeavoured with more industry to enrich a Country If the amaenity of soyl the marvellous clemencie of the air the faecundity of ground can ennoble a Country I pray hath not Hungary all these qualities such is the fertility of fields there that grain growes no where so kindly and copiously as there There are such Vineyards up and down that you will hardly find any where such generous and strong Wines The Medows are there so luxurious that one Cart cannot see one another though at a small distance For numerous heards of Cattle where can we find the like How many thousand heads of fat cattell doe the Graziers fetch thence for the supply of all the neighbouring Provinces Vienna her self the Caesarean Court spends above 80. thousand of them Such is the felicity of Woods and Groves that they are full of fruit trees as well as timber as Chessnuts Walnuts Acrons Plumms and Apples besides they abound with wild beasts and Foul as Boares Hares Pheasans Partridges which is the familiar food of the Peasans For stately deep Rivers Europe hath not greater and more commodious and navigable for commerce and the easie conveyance of all necessaries to and fro They are quickned with abundance of Fish great and small insomuch that the River Tibisco is said by a proverb of the circumiacent Inhabitants to have two parts water and the third fish so that Wernherus affirmes that 100. Carpes taken out Tibisco were sold for one Hungary ducket What shall I say of the Richnesse of Mines up and down wherein there are precious ores of Gold and Silver the purest that is in the World In a mine of Dalmatia which is no ignoble part of the Hungarian Empire there have been digg'd out 500. pound of Gold in one day out of a Mine in the Principality of Nero as they call it There be some Rivers in Transylâ—…ania wherein ingots of Gold have been found half a pound weight as Bonfinius reports There is a very credible report that Sigismund Chanzares Bishop of the five Churches was so rich in Gold in the memory of man that he could entertain an army upon his own pay Hereupon when Albertus the Pole challeng'd the Kingdom of Hungaria from his brother Uladislaus he us'd to heighten the courage of his souldiers by puting them in mind of the exuberant riches of the Country saying Hanc esse Illam Regionem quam mediam Danubius tot fluviorum consiuxu incolis percommodus intersecat quae universi paenè orbis faelicitatem complectitur Hanc esse Illam optimdrum for acissimam fructuum vinetis specio fissimam equis caeteris animalibus affâ—…im abuudantâ—…m Auri atque argenti multorumque praeterea metallorum ditissimam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ribns quae non modo ad vitae usum spectant sed luxum possit ministrare instructissimam This was that Region which the Danube with the conflux of other Rivers doth cut up and down with many intersections a Country which hath the â—…aelicity of the Universe This is she that abounds with such variety of fruit with fair Vineyards with plenty of generous Horses and other animalls of all kind She is enrich'd with Mines of Gold and Silver with many other sorts of mettalls In sum this is that Kingdome which is furnished with all things that appertain to humane life either for use or pleasure Yet Hungary doth not measure these splendid gifts of nature according to the common opinion and wish of man but she proportions them according to the necessity and use And the Inhabitants must labour for them accordingly Without doubt industry is a high and indefatigable vertue idlenesse and voluptuousnesse is a servile slothfull weak and degenerous thing her station is commonly in stoves and taphouses in baths and hot houses or such places When we find the other in the field in the Market in the Mines or standing in defence of a Town with hard callous hands If Vertue and industry can be found no where else you are sure to find them embracing each other in Pannonia now Hungary What brave masculine births hath she produc'd what grave and learned Doctors for the Church as the most eminent B. Martin a pious Bishop a pure Apostolicall man Then she had Saint Hierom who for his sanctity and learning is reckon'd and with good reason among the holy Confessors and Doctors of the Church Then you have Andrew 〈◊〉 an admired student of Ciceronian Eloquence who writ thrice with his own hand all Cicero's works that are instant But at last leaving the Papaciâ—… the miter the sublime honors of the Court and all worldly Pomp he be took himself to a private
difficulties as the danger of those vast unknown Seas the murmuring humor of the Spaniards that went with him yet he brought his ends home to his aim and return'd with an Olive branch or rather a leaf of Gold home in his mouth Thus as providence would have Columba a Dove first to discover dry Earth after the Deluge so Columbus first discover'd this new peece of Earth to the Inhabitants of the old World In so much that this Italian may be said to have laid the first foundation of the greatnesse which Spain is mounted unto at this time But Columbus chancing to be one time unkown among some Spaniards who discoursing of this discovery and slighting it saying it might have beeen feasable by any Navigator he calls for an Egge and laying a wager that none could make that Egge to stand at an end upon a smooth table the Spaniards trying many wayes to doe it and missing Columbo took the egge and bâ—…uising the shell at one end made it stand upright then every one could doe it after him whereupon he told them just so when an Italian had shewed you the way 't was easie for you Spaniards to goe to the new World Yet that brave Queen Isabella and Ferdinand with their Successors did nobly reward Columbo though Genoa his own native town was ingratefull unto him for having left her a mighty Legacy at his death she did not raise any monument much lesse any brass Statue to his memoey which he so much deserved But herein Genoa carried her self towards Columbo as London in England did towards Cavalier Middleton who fell upon a brave wholsome invention of bringing a fresh River fifty miles about to runne through her streets to her infinite advantage for many uses Touching the noble virtue of Friendship she reigns no where so strongly as among the Italians who are naturally of a most humane and mansuete disposition not onely among themselves but to strangers There was a notable example thereof in Alostio Priuli a Gentleman who had contracted a strict league of love with Cardinal Pole an English man which lasted many years so that there was much notice taken at Rome of that conformity of manners reciprocation of affection and sweet sympathy which were between them This friendship continued in the same strain of strength for twenty six years all which time Priuli could not be wrought upon to enter into the Colledge of Cardinals though often invited by Iulius the third Cardinal Pole falling at last sick of a lingring disease Signior Priuli never stirred from his side all the while at last the Physitians telling him he had not long to live he sent for a Notary and made Priuli Heire of all he had but such was the generosity of the Venetian that he made not a penny benefit of it but gave it all among his English kindred being twenty moneths in perpetual agitation for the recovering of the estate Nor are there any people so naturally addicted to Charity as the Italians Cardinal Atestino was a great example hereof of whom there was a kind of Proverb in Rome That his House was an Exchequer to the rich an Hospitall to the poor his Person was the splendour of the sacred Colledge and an ornament to the Roman Court. I passe now to the Nobility of Italy which is very numerous there is no clime under Heaven where Virtue is more rewarded good qualities more pryed into and Industry higher advanced Rome is the Common-countrey of all Nations it is the rendevous of all Ingenious spirits and its impossible for any person of Merit to be there long but he is sought after and advanced This makes Italy so abound with Nobles of all Nations For the generous exercise of riding great Horses they goe beyond all and it is wonderfull to see what a docible creature they bring those fiery mettall'd animals to be they use to make them dance and keep touch with the musique by a rare art and do strange feats besides What a famous Master in this art was Sigismondo Locatello of Ferrara Grisonio was no lesse rare in point of Horsmanship Among other compleat and gallant spirits which Italy produced these latter Ages Cosmo de Medici was one of the most admired all the world over 'T was He that did first found the grandeur of the Medicean Family 't was He brought his Hetruscan Countrey to such a civility 't was He who taught Soveraigne Princes first to look to the encroaching power of their Neighbours and to keep them in aequilibrio therefore Apollo made fit choice of him to hold the Balance when all the Kingdoms and States of Europe were weighed before him at Delphos He was a man of an exquisite temper in his behaviour of a notable reach of understanding of a marvailous forecasting head a subtile cleare brain quick apprehension and profound judgement He was munificent to strangers liberal to his domestiques and extreamly charitable to the poor a mighty restaurator of Gods Houses In all these acts he was equal to Kings he exceeded ordinary Princes and went far beyond all private men Now although out of the largeness of his heart and piety of his soul he had expended a Kings Ransom in Hospitals Monasteries and Churches yet he was used to say Non potuisse se in suis accepti expensi codicibus unquam reperire Deum Debitorem When he went to look into his Leger book of Account what moneys he had received and issued he could never find God his Debter Yet this mighty man was when Auditor Cossa did audit his expenses 't was found that he had spent forty millions in publique and private Fabriques and tenne millions in private acts of munificence and charity He was such a Lover of his Country so mighty a Patriot that having lived above seventy yeares this modest but well merited Epitaph was engraven upon his tomb Cosmus Medâ—…ces heic situs est Decreto publico pater patriae Cosmo of Medici lyes here Father of his Country by publique Decree And now that I am in Toscany I will visit Pisa who I finde was in former times a Commonwealth of great authority by land and power by sea she did subjugate Sardinia and Carthage also bringing her king captive to the Pope by whom he was converted she also made her self mistris of Majorica Panormo and Salerno she was once at that cumble of wealth and greatness that a hundred Gentlemen of Pisa were us'd to build and maintain upon their own charge every one his Galley to scowre and secure the Ligustic sea What shall I say of the state of Genoa who among the Records of her Triumphs can glory that she took and possessed once Sardinia Cyprus Lesbos and Chio as also Pera opposite to Constantinople on the Asian shore she was also mistris of Theodosia or Caffa insomuch that her dominions extended as far as the banks of Tanais And to this day there be some Christian Rites and Italian Families in that
contented only that the Vassall kisse their hands or hem of their Garment Nor doth the Pope return reverence to any other potentate by rising up bowing his head or uncovering his head to any onely to the Emperor after he hath kiss'd his feet he is afterwards admitted to kisse his hand and then he riseth a little and giveth him a mutuall kisse of Charity with an Embracement There is a cloud of examples how diver Emperors and Kings came to Rome to do their filial duty to the Holy Father and to have their Coronations confirm'd by him Iustinian did so to Constantine Pipin to Stephen the second Charles the Great to Leo the 3. Lodovicus pins of France to Sergius the 2. the Emperor Henry the forth to Paschall the 2. Frederic the first to Adrian the 4. But that was a notable Signal reverence which Lewis of France and Henry the second of England did to Alexander the 3. Who came both together and jointly attended the Pope a good way to his lodging he being on horsback and they both a foot Now it is one of the high Tenets of the Catholiques That the Pope is the only Free independent Prince upon Earth not accountable to any for his actions but unto Christ himself whose Vicegerent he is He cannot onely command but make Kings at least confirm them The King of Spain did not hold himself perfectly established King of the West-Indies till the Holy Father pleas'd to allow of it and confirm him Now touching the Title of Emperor there is a notable letter upon record which Adrian the 4. writ to the three Ecclesiastic Electors of Germany Romanum Imperium a Graecis translatum est ad Alemannos ut Rex Teutonicorum non ante quam ab Apostolica manu coronaretur Imperator vocaretur ante consecrationem Rex post Imperator Unde igitur habet Imperium nisi a nobis ex electione principum suorum habet nomen Regis ex consecratione nostra habet nomen Imperatoris Augusti Caesaris Ergo per nos imperat c. Imperator quod habet totum a nobis habet Ecce in potestate nostra est ut demâ—…s illud cui volumus propterea constituti a deo super gentes Regna ut destruamus evellamus ut aedificemus plantemus The Roman Empire saith Adrian the 4. was transferr'd from Greece to Germany therefore the King of the Teutons cannot be call'd Emperor till he be apostolically Crown'd before his consecration he is but King and Emperor afterward Whence therefore hath he the Empire but from us by the Election of his Princes he hath the name of King but he hath the Title of Emperor of Augustus and Caesar by our consecration Therefore he is Imperial by us c. that which he hath of Emperor he hath wholly from us behold it is in our power to give the Title to whom we please therefore are we constituted by God himself over Nations and Kings that we may destroy and pluck up build and plant c. Nor doth the Papall power extend to give Titles to Emperors but to make Kings It is upon record how Pope Leo made Pipin King of Italy Sergius made Stephen King of Hungary Pope Iohn made Wenceslaus King of Poland Alphonso King of Portugal was made by Eugenius the 3d. Edgar was made King of Scotland by Urban the 2d. Iohn de Brenna was made King of Ierusalem by Innocent the third Pope Pius the 5. gave Cosmo de Medici the Title of Gran-Duke of Tâ—…scany notwithstanding the opposition of Maximilian the 2d. and Philip the 2d. of Spain I saw in the Archives of Rome the names of those Kings who are Vassalls to the Pope and they are rank'd in this order and Bodins Cataloge agrees with it Reges Neapolis Siciliae Arragoniae Sardiniae Hierolosymorum Angliae Hiberniae Hungariae all these are or should be at least feudetary and hommageable to the Bishop of Rome Nor can the Holy Father entitle Emperors and make Kings and Gran-Dukes but he can as he alledgeth depose them if they degenerate to Tyrants or Heretiques he can absolve their subjects from all ties of allegeance As among other examples Innocent the 3. did to Iohn King of England and Sixtus quintus did to Queen Elizabeth Innocent the 1. did not onely thrust Arcadius out of his Throne but out of the society of Christians Anastasius the Emperor was excommunicated by Anastasius the 2. Pope Constantine anathematiz'd the Emperor Philippicus Gregory the third delivered over to Satan Pope Leo Isaurus and took from him all Italy Gregory the 7. excommunicated the Emperor Henry the 3. and Boleslaus King of Poland The Emperor Lewis the 4. was barr'd to come to Church by Benedict the 12. Otho by Innocent the 3. Frederic the 2. by Innocent the 4. and Peter King of Castile was quite thrust out both of his Throne and the holy Church by Vrban the 5. who made Henry the bastard capable to succeed him by a bull of legitimation and indeed that Peter was a hatefull Tyrant having murtherd many of his own Subjects and his Queen or the house of Bourbon with his own hands There is another high prerogative which the Roman Bishop claimes which is to summon Generall Councells which Montanus who was president of the Councell of Trent from the Pope did avouch in open assembly upon a design of removing the Councell to Bolonia where he among other things did positively assert and pronounce Caesarem nempe non Dominum aâ—…t Magistrum esse sed Ecclesiae filium esse se verò Collegas qui adsint Romane sedis Legatos esse penes quos ordinandi transferendi concilii jus erat Caesar was not Lord nor Master but Sonne of the Holy Church But he and his Colleagues there present were Legats of the Roman See whose right it was to ordain and transferre General Councells Moreover the Bishop of Rome hath a great stroake in preserving the Universal peace of Christendom and keeping Earthly Potentates from clashing one with another In so much that the Pope may be compar'd to that Isthmos of land which runns twixt the Ionian and Aegaean Seas keeping their waters from jusling one with another Nor is the Bishop of Rome thus powerfull only by his spirituall Authority by vertue whereof besides Patriarkâ—… Archbishops and a world of Bishops he hath 70. Cardinalls who are accounted equal to Princes and who as they are all of his making so are they at his devotion which number of 70. was limited by a solomn diploma or Bull of Sixtus Quintus and the election to be alwaies in December so many daies before Christmas which is a general Jubile of rejoycing for the Nativity of our Saviour And as these Cardinals are Princes Companions so have they revenues accordingly from the Common aerarium or Treasury of the Church which is an unknown thing and inexhaustible For as long as men have soules within them and believe there is a Heaven or Hell the
jure suffragiorum beneficio Electorum atque populi quisque imperat Haec verissima esse convenit inter omnes annalium rerum humanarum divinarumque peritos atque jam saepius utriusque juris Caesarei atque Pontificii coelestis thesauri testimoniis comprobatum est Nonnulli quidem sanctuli praeter fas contra naturae legem docere non erubescunt pastoris beneficiarium esse Dominum neque ante principem principum esse aut nominari oportere quà m ille servus servorum Author fiat dignum judicârit qui regnet sed haec cum maxima Christianae Reipub. pernicie intollerabili populi Christiani imperatoriae Majestatis jacturâ nec sine gravissimo Tetrarcharum Dynastarum Clientium imperii detrimentâ—… instigante Stygio principe domino hujus mundi commenta esse eventus docet exitus probat Quare decernimus perpetuò sancimus Edicto nimirùm ex solo Electionis beneficio omnem potestatem imperiumque proficisci nec ullo pacto pontificis Romani in hac re sanctimonia flaminio authoritate consensu opus esse Quicunque aliter docuerit senserit â—…actitarit crimine laesae Majestatis reus hostis reipub atque proscriptus esto capite paenas solvito bona ejus publica sunto praedia infiscentur The most holy Empire being the highest power upon earth is the gift of heaven For the Emperour is first before all and second after God Almighty by whom the eternall Majesty does bestow Lawes Rights and Kingdomes to mankind and so great a name is onely given by God to whom onely he is accountable for the administration of the Commonwealth By the election of the Heptarchicall Electors according to the custome of our Ancestors and by the Law of Nations he is King and call'd so For him to send Ambassadours to the Priest of Rome that he would authorize him and give him leave to administer is against the Majesty of the Empire but to binde himself unto him by oath and seek of him the use of the royal Diadem is Religion The Pastor hath no right to any of these things who is servant to his sheep and serves the flock in consecrating the Lord For by right of suffrage by the benefit of the Electors and people every one reignes That these things are true is well known to all those that are vers'd in Antiquity never so little where they shall finde this Doctrine confirm'd not onely by Caesarean but Pontificial testimonies themselves Yet neverthelesse some Sciolists or little modern Saints doe not blush to teach the contrary viz. That the Lord is a Beneficiary to the Shepheard and that the Emperour may not be call'd Prince of Princes till he receive his authority from servus servorum from the servant of servants as the Pope stiles himself to be But this cannot be without much mischief to the Christian Commonwealth and without the utter overthrow of the Imperial Majesty on which so many Princes and Potentates depend Therefore it may be called a Doctrin suggested by the Stygian Prince and belched forth out of hell Therefore we decree and divulge it for an everlasting Sanction that the Caesarean Majesty is derived from the power of Election and not from any sanctimony consent or confirmation of Pontificall authority And whosoever shall maintain publish or teach otherwise we pronounce him criminall of High Treason a professed Enemy to the Imperial Commonwealth and worthy of capitall punishment or Proscription that the property of his goods be altered and confiscated Yet notwithstanding this solemn Sanction how hath the Papal power encreas'd upon the Imperial of late times Caesar was us'd to summon universal Councells It was Constantine the Great who call'd the Nicene Counsel Theodosius the Constantinopolitan Theodosius Iunior the Ephesian Martianus that of Chalcedon which four Councels are next in authority to the 4. Evangelists they are like the 4. Rivers that ran through Paradis Besides how many other General Councels were indicted by Emperors Besides it was their Prerogative to institute Popes Henry the 3. created Clement the 2. Damasus the 2. Leo 9. and Victor the 2. Nay Caesar was us'd to punish the contumacies and exorbitances of the Pope So did Otto the 1. chastice Pope Iohn and Benedict Henry the 3. Sylvester and Gregory Henry the 5. depos'd Pope Paschal There is a cloud of examples to prove this The summons of Henry the 4. to Gregory Hildebrand that Satanical St. as Damianus stiles him are very remarkable Tu Hildebrande non jam Apostolice sed false Monache descende vendicatam tibi sedem Apostolicam relinque Alius sedem B. Petri ascendet qui nulla violentiam Religione palliet sed Beati Petri doctrinam doceat Ego Henricus Rex dei gratiâ cum omnibus Episcopis nostris tibi dicimus descende descende Thou Hildebrand who art no apostolical but a false Monk descend leave the Apostolical seat which thou claimst another shall ascend blessed Peters Throne who will not palliate violence with Religion but teach Peters pure Doctrine I Henry by the grace of God King with all our Bishops do tell thee descend descend I do not see but the Emperor is Caesar still and endow'd with the same power Now touching the oth which the Pope exhibits to the Emperor it is not an Oth of alleageance or fidelity but that Oth relates to the protection and defence which he is bound thereby to give the Holy Church which Lords use to promise ordinarily to their Vassalls and temporal Princes to their subjects And whereas of old the Emperor out of a pious reverence to the Church did use to calculate the time of his reign from the day of his Coronation by the Pope we know well that that custom is grown obsolet and antiquated by a long desuetude In so much that the German or Electorian Coronation is now as valid as the other And I pray how many Emperors have omitted the Papal Coronation and neglected those superfluous formalities and ceremonies The Emperor Henricus Auceps being invited by the Pope to be crown'd at Rome answered It was sufficient for him to be King of the Romans by Gods Grace and so oblig'd to protect Germany from the incursion of infidells Rodolph the 1. gave such an other answer being advis'd to go to Rome to be crown'd Italy said he I know hath consum'd many Alman Kings I will not to Rome I am already King I am already an Emperor and I hope I shall be able to act for the Christian Common-wealth as if I had perform'd that ceremony at Rome The Canonists whose main endeavours are to elevate the Popes Miter above the Imperial Majesty would have it that when Caesar dies the Right is devolv'd to the Pope till a new Election But we well know most noble Princes that by our Golden bull it is ordain'd otherwise that during the Vacancy of the Empire the right of Administration appertains to the Electors of the Rhine and Saxony It is well known how Paul the 4. would have