shortly cesse and vanysshe away ¶ An other cause of this dyuysion The .xii. Chapyter AN other cause of this dyuysyon hathe bene by reason of dyuers lawes and constitutyons whiche haue bene made by the churche sometyme by the Pope somtyme by Legates / or by Metropolitanes in theyr prouince wherin they haue many times exceded theyr auctoritie and attempted in many thynges agaynste the lawe of the realme And yet neuertheles many priestes haue giuen full credence to them / for they haue thought that the makers therof whiche were the heedes of the churche wolde nat make any lawe but by good and sufficieÌ„t auctoritie And thervppon it hathe folowed / that whan any doubte or question hath rysen vpon the sayd lawes all spiritual men in maner wolde stycke fast to the lawes and many temporall men by reason of a comen vse and custome that they haue sene to the contrarie haue resisted them whervppon haue rysen in many places great stryfe varyaunces great expences in the spirituall lawe Wherby many temporall men haue thought that spirituall courtes be rather vsed for maintenaunce of couetise thaÌ„ for ministracioÌ„ of iustice And thoughe with the mercye of oure lorde the trouthe is nat so vniuersally yet some diligence wolde be taken to remoue that iudgement fro the people ¶ And of these lawes is the constitution of Bonyface the Archebysshoppe of Canterbury / wherby it is decreed that he that letteth a woman couerte to make her wyll or that letteth it to be proued is accursed and the lawe of the realme is that a woman couerte hathe no goodes that she may make any wyll of excepte it be of a thynge in action or that she were executrix before And if she were so than with licence of her husbande she may make an executour to the intent he may leuye the dette or fulfyll the fyrst wyll An other lyke law is of the decree of the ryghte reuerende father in god Roberte Wynchelsye / late archebysshop of Canterbury made against the comen custom of the realme for tithe of wood aboue .xx. yere nat to be payde / whiche custome was confermed by the statute made in the .xiv. yere of king E. the .iii. that is commenly called the statute of Silua cedua By reason of whiche decree great sutes variances expenses haue ensued and wyl ensue if it be suffered wherfore the sayde estatute wolde be throughly sene And yf hit be good than nat to suffre any decree to stande agaynste it / and els clerely to breke it Other lyke lawes be the lawes that be made by the churche that executoures shall nat vppon payne of cursynge administre tyll they haue proued the testament where the lawe of the realme is / that they may so reason wold that they shulde be for els the goodes of the testatour myght be enbeselled lost for euer And that lay meÌ„ may nat put clerkes to answer before theÌ„ specially in criminal causes And for the streÌ„gth of tho lawes many spiritual meÌ„ haue reportid openly that somtyme in open sermoÌ„s that such puttyng to answer of pristes before lay men is prohibited by the law of god / wherupon me thynketh ar greatly to be noted these pointes / that is to say that if it be as they say / that it is ayenst the lawe of god / that than great defaut is in them that they haue done no more to refourme it than they haue done for clering the conscieÌ„ce of so many people as than daily offend therby And if it be â—at as they say / than they mainteyn an vntruth which is a great offeÌ„ce in men of such grauite ê‘fectioÌ„ as they be And they also be therby bouÌ„den to restitutioÌ„ as the temporal princis which ought to haue theyr fynes amerciamentes vpoÌ„ suche sutes as shulde be taken agaynst preestes in theyr courtes wherof they or many tymes excluded by reson of the said pretensed priuilege And if it could be sufficiently proued that it is ayenste the law of god to put pristes to answer before lay men than degrading of them could nat helpe For nat withstandyng the disgradyng the caracter abideth / so he is a prest styl as he was before And I suppose verily that thaÌ„ the kinges ê“genitors wold in time past haue asseÌ„ted to it And that the kyngê grace all his realme wolde with good wyll also conforme them self to it / but that was neuer sufficiently proued as farre as I haue herde And to that that some spyrytuall men say that it is an auncient custome and a custome approued that priestes in felonies / murthers treasons shulde nat be put to aunswere before laye men and that by reason of that olde custome they oughte to be pryuyleged in that behalf / though it can nat be proued directly by the lawe of god to that it maye be answered that there was neuer yet suche custom in this realm approued For priestes haue ben arrained alway for treson and felony before the kynges Iustyces And for treson it hath ben sene that they haue ben put in execution / as it appereth by a complaynt made by the clergy in the parlyament holden in the .xxv. yere of kynge Edwarde the thyrde pro Clero / where the clergye complayned that prestes monkes religious were contrarye to the liberties of the churche as they sayde put to dethe and vppon that complaynt it was enacted that all maner clerkes as well secular as religious that shulde fro thens forthe be conuicte before any Iustice secular for any maner of tresoÌ„ or felony / touchyng other persons / than the kyng or his royal maiestie shulde haue fro thens forthe freely the pryuylege of holye churche and be withoute lette or delaye delyuered to the ordinarie them demaundyng And it semeth that by that terme Clerke in that statute pro Clero is vnderstond as well clerkes that be within orders as clerkes that can rede as clerkes and yet be nat within orders for they shall haue theyr clergy in petyte treason / whiche be commenly taken to be suche treasons / as be recited in the later ende of the declaracioÌ„ of treason made in the sayde .xxv. yere of Ed. the .iii. whereof the eschete belongeth to the lordes of the fee. But in the other treasons that be recited in the sayd declaracion / whereof the forfayture is onely to the kynge none shall haue his clergye by the comon lawe / clerke within orders nor lay man that can rede / nethere is nat any remedy prouyded for no maner of clerkes in tho tresons / for they touche the kyng and his royal maiestie And therfore they be excepted in the sayd statute ê“ Clero as before apereth be comonly called hygh treasoÌ„s of that nature of treasoÌ„ is now wasshyng / clippyng fylyng of money for the statute made aÌ„no .ii. H. v. is that it shal be tresoÌ„ to the kynge to the realme And therefore no clerk can there haue his clergy
effecte shulde folowe of it as before appereth Wherfore it semeth that he shuld than haue auctorytie in his parlyamente to breake that custome as a thynge agaynst the peace and quyetenes of his people And he that hath auctoritie to aduoyde suche thynges as breake his peace hath also auctoryte to preuent and deuoyde suche thynges as maye gyue occasion to the breking of his peace as that custome shulde do yf the sayde effecte shulde folowe of it And certayne hit is that it hurtethe no more a good preste that an euyl preeste is punisshed than it hurteth a lay man that he is punysshed ne no more than it hurtethe a good lay man or woman that an nother is euyll and is punysshed for it And I suppose verily that this diuision wil neuer be perfytely appeased tylle preestes and religious wyl be as lothe to here of any defaute in a lay man or lay woman / as in a preste or in a relygious person And that wyll neuer be as longe as the great confederacies and singularite cōtinueth amonge prestes and amonge religious persons as it dothe now The good lay men and women must paciently beare the euyll reporte of other laye men and women that be of the same condycyon as they be / and so they shall be taught by spiritual mē / that they ought to do but they wyl not do so them selfe In so moche that I suppose veryly that many a preest religious wold grudge more ayenste an euyll reporte made of a prest or religious / that in dede were giltie in pryde / couetyse angre / malice glotony lecherye or suche other than they wolde be ayenst a lyke euyl report made of a laye manne or a laye woman that were not gyltie ¶ Dyuers other lawes there be / that be made by the churche that many menne thynke the churche hadde no power to make As it is / that no benefice shal be let to a lay man / but a spiritual man be ioyned with hym Or that it shall not be let aboue .iii. yeres And also the constitucion of a dimission noble suche other that were to longe to reherse nowe For these suffise to shew that by such lawes made by the churche / that they hadde no power to make any lawe of / hath rysen one speciall cause of this diuision ¶ An other occasion of this diuision The .xiii. Chapiter AN other occasion of this diuision hath rysen by reason of feyned visitacions vsed in tymes paste by ordinaries and other that haue hadde power to visyte howses of religion and churches in the countrey For there is a cōmen opinion in maner vniuersally rysen amonge the people that suche visitacions / after the maner as they be vsed / do litel good and rather encrece vice than vertue And verilie the more pytie is it semeth to be true as they sey For it is vsed / that at suche visitacions visitours take of the houses of religyon that they vysite / somme certeyne pencyon And for visitacion of churches they haue of some certayne churche / mete and drynke where they visite / and than they gather somme certayne duetie of all the churches within a certeyn circute ī that contrey And neuer the les / as the comen opynyon gothe / comenlye they reforme nothynge / but as they fynde it so they leue it / and neyther cōforte they vertue / ne punysshe vice / but many tymes the contrarie by some worldlie demeanour or euyll example that the people see in them And thus when the people haue sene that offenders as well spiritual as temporall / contynue after the visitacion as they dydde before they haue coniectured / that the ordinaries and visitours do visite more rather for theyr pencions / than for any good order or reformacion And this / through a longe cōtinuaunce hath brought the people to iudge great couetice in such visitours / whiche commenly be of the greattest reulers of the spiritualtie wherby the peole by lyttell and lytell haue fallen into a dispraysyng of such visitations / and into a mislykynge of theyr rulers spiritual and of suche pompe and worldly behauour as is shewed by them at suche visitations And than whan such visitours and spirituall rulers haue perceyued that the people haue misliked theyr visitations they haue disdayned it and haue contynued styl as they dyd before and so hath the grudge betwene them contynued secretely of long tyme. And surely it is to be moche meruayled that visitours wil attempte to take at theyr visitatiōs any pension or imposition of them that they visite contrarye to the good lawes that be made in the .vi. boke ti de censibus ca. romana et exigit Wherin great penalties be set vppon them that take any pension at theyr visitations / contrary to the sayd lawes / as in the same doth appere And but there be any secret dispensation in that behalfe many be suspended / that dayly ministre And if there be any suche secrete dispensation hit is to doute that the graunte therof proceded not of charite but of some couetyse and singularite yf the very grounde therof were throughly serched Wherfore hit were ryght expedient / that suche visitations were set in suche order as well by spirituall auctoritie / as by temporal auctoritie that good men hereafter myght therby be comforted / and euyll men corrected reformed to the good example of all other that shulde here of it ¶ An other cause of this dyuysion The .xiiii. Chapiter AN nother cause of the sayd diuision hathe rysen by occasion of the greate multitude of lycences and dispensations that haue benne made for money by popes and busshops in tyme paste / contrary to dyuers good lawes made by the churche as of pluralites ayenst the law that no man shulde haue but one benefice / and of lycence to curates to be non resident of capacities to men of religyon and that none shall take orders ne be promoted afore a certayne age and suche other whiche lycences dispensacions haue bene so accustomably graunted for money without cause reasonable that great inconuenyences haue folowed vppon it to the great grudge and murmour and euyll example of all the people ¶ An other cause of the sayde dyuysion The .xv. Chapiter AN other occasyon of the sayde diuisyon hathe rysen by a greate larnes and lybertye of lyuynge / that the people haue sene in many religious mē For they say that though religious men professe obedience pouerty / yet many of them haue wil haue theyr owne wil with pleynty delicate fedynge in such abundance that no obedience nor pouertie appereth in them And therfore many haue sayde and yet say to this day that religious men haue the most plesant delicate lyfe that any men haue And truly if we behold the holynes blessed exāples of holy fathers of many religious persons that haue bene ī tyme past / and of many religious persons that be now in these dayes
hole ne sounde And therfore if it were asked / where is now the deuocion and obedience of the inferiours the defence of knyghtes the peace of Christen prynces / to the ende that they beynge at a concorde myght resyst and feight against sismatikes and infidels recouerynge agayne regions whiche they haue nowe taken fro christen men peruerted them It myght be answered / that they be gone throughe brekynge of suche lawes ¶ Many of these sayenges and dyuces other here omytted be the sayenges of IohnÌ„ Gerson chaÌ„celler of Paris in a tretice that is called in latyne Declaratio defectuuÌ„ virorum ecclesiasticorum In whiche treatyse he recyteth also dyuers abusyons / whereof I shall recyte parte vnder the maner of questyons for shortnes as he doth as well coÌ„cernyng other countreys as this / that they may the rather be knowen and auoyded ¶ Fyrst he asketh this question What it auayleth / or what profiteth the church the superfluous pompe of prelates and cardynalles and what meaneth it ¶ Also that one man hathe .iiii. v. vi or viii benefices whereof he is nat percase worthy to haue one wherwith .viii. persons might be susteined that giue them self to lernyng / prayer to the seruice of god Here saythe he take hede Whether hors dogges byrdes and the superfluous company of men of the churche shulde rather eate the patrimonie of the churche than the poore menne of Christ / or that it be expended in the seruice of god and to the conuersion of infidels or in suche other werkes of mercye and pietie O howe many places saythe he ordeyned for the seruice of god in Rome or elles where / be nowe through the negligence of the prelates desolate and distroyed O howe is hit that the swerde of holye churche / that is the sentence of Excommunication to her owne dispite and reproofe is so lyghtly drawen out and for so lyttell a thynge as sometyme for dette is so cruelly executed vpon poore men What is it also that one cause vppon a smalle thynge shall contynue so many yeres and why is not that lengthe of tyme / whiche is the spoyler and robber of poore men in somme conuenient maner cutte away why is it not rather mercifully appoynted to the Iewes conuerted somme reasonable lyuynge of theyr owne goodes rather than by extreme necessite to compelle them to forsake the fayth agayne / and to reproue christen men / that they be cruelle and haue no pitie Iudge ye also sayth he whether so great varietie of ymages pictures be expedient and whether they do not peruert som symple ê‘sons to ydolatrie But here it is to be nooted / that IohnÌ„ Gerson fyndeth not defaulte in settynge vp of ymages / for he commendeth it in many places of his werkes but he fyndeth defaulte at the varietie of them in theyr peyntyng and garnysshyng with golde / syluer precious stones and suche other / with so great ryches about them / that some symple persons myght lyghtly be enduced to beleue som special workyng to be in the ymages / that is not in them in dede And so he fyndeth defaute at the abuse of ymages and not at the settyng vppe of ymages Discusse also sayth the sayde IohnÌ„ Gerson whether so large exempcions as some haue / be expedient and whether it be profitable so to lede them fro theyr ordinaryes Serche also saythe he if there be not some apocrifate wrytynges or prayers / or hymnes by processe of tyme / some of purpose som by negligence brought vp to the hurte of the fayth but than he asketh whether al prelates and prestes be gyltie in the articles aboue rehersed and he saythe our lorde forbede it For lyke as Helyas whan he had went that all the people of Israell hadde bene fallen to ydolatrie / herde our lorde saye I haue yet reserued seuen thousand meÌ„ / that neuer bowed theyr knees before Baale ryght so it maye be sayde that nowe in these dayes our lorde hath reserued ryghte many good menne bothe spirituall and temporalle / that be not gyltie in any of the sayde articles ne yet partie in any maner to the sayde diuysyon whiche through helpe of grace and with the fauour of the superiours / shall be ryghte well able to brynge the other to good accorde ¶ An other occasyon of this dyuysyon The thyrde Chapiter THere be many lawes and decrees made by the churche wherin it is recited ê™ laici sunt clericis infesti that is to saye that laye men be cruell to clerkes / and therfore the churche hath therupon made dyuers lawes to opresse that crueltie / as in them appereth And therupon hath folowed that whan prestes haue red the lawes / they haue iuged therby that theyr reulers haue knowen some great crueltie in laye men agaynst clerkes For elles they wolde not haue put tho wordes in to theyr lawes and that hath caused many spyrytuall men to adiuge the more lyghtly that suche thynges as laye men haue done concernynge them hath rather ben done of malice and cruelte than otherwise and that iudgement in processe of tyme hath caused them to confedre them selfe togider to resiste that malice / whiche they many tymes by occasion of the sayde wordes haue iudged to be greatter than it was and haue many tymes recited the wordes / affermynge them to be true and therfore they haue extended all lawes / that be made agaynst laye men the more extremely agaynste them Whereby the people in many countreys haue ben so ofte greued and oppressed that they haue grutched marueyllously at it And whan laye men haue redde tho wordes they haue takeÌ„ therby that the makers of tho lawes / whiche represent in them the estate of al spyrytuall men haue iudged that the makers therof thoughte that lay men were cruelle agaynst them and where cruelte is iudged to be / there is no loue For like as nothyng helpeth more to norysshe loue in a man / thaÌ„ that he maye knowe that the other louethe hym though he neuer receyued any profyte by hym so nothynge nouryssheth more dyuysion and discorde than that a man know that another loueth him not / though percase he knowe / that he neuer dyd hym hurte / ne entendeth not to do And therfore whan lay men haue by tho wordes taken occasyon to thynke / that spyrytuall men haue adiuged crueltie in them they haue anon iudged that spyritual men loue them not and that hath in theyr hartes broken the charitable loue and obedyence / that they ought to haue to spyrytuall reulers and thoughe the occasion of this article be not vniuersally for al lay men haue not sene tho wordes yet the reporte of tho wordes hath come to the knowlege of many lay men as well by spyrytuall men as by temporall men that haue redde them whiche by longe contynuance hath norysshed one great branche of this diuisyon / whiche I suppose veryly wylle neuer fullye be appeysed tyll the spyrytuall gouernours wil be as dilygeÌ„t to
make lawes that shal brynge in mekenes among spirytuall men and that may enduce them charytablye to suffre some tyme them that offende them as they haue bene in tyme past to make lawes to set spyrytuall men in suche case that they may correcte all them and kepe them vnder that wyll any thynge resyste them And lyke as many spirituall men haue mysordred them selfe agaynste laye men not onely in suche thynges as be partely touched before but also in wordes / affermynge somtyme that lay men loue not prestes so in likewise some lay mē misordre thē selfe in wordes agaynst prestes and wil say that there is no good preste or that all prestes be nought and some as it is sayde / wyll call them somtyme horeson prestes And if all these wordes were prohybyte on bothe sydes vpon greate paines / I thynke it wold do great good in this behalfe ¶ An other cause of this dyuysion The fourth Chapyter THe harde extreme lawes that are made for layenge violent handes vpon clerkes and suche other spyrytuall persones / hath ben an other cause of this diuision For they be very parcyalle / as to the reders wylle appere and they be also so generalle that nether kynge nor lorde be not excepted in them but that they shulde goo to the pope to be assoyled And the sayde lawes be .xvii. q. iiii si quis suadente diabolo et ex de sētenc excōmunicac ca. Non dubiū et Ca. mulieris et Ca. peruenit et ca. ea noscitur in many other chapiters there / et ex de sentenc excommunicac li. vi ca. religioso And these lawes be suche / that if a manne in violence lay his hande only vpon a clerke / that he is accoursed but thoughe a clerke beate a laye manne wrongfully / and with violence he is not accoursed And this parcialyte hathe done greatte hurte ¶ An other occasion of this dyuysion The fyft Chapiter THoughe there be dyuers good and reasonable articles ordeyned by the church to be redde openlye to the people at certain dayes by the churche therto assygned / which commenly is called the general sentence yet manye curates and theyr parysh prestes sometyme rede onely parte of the artycles / and omytte parte therof / eyther for shortnes of tyme / or els to take such artycles as serue moste to theyr purpose And somtyme as it is sayd / they adde other excōmunicaciōs after their mynde that be not putte in to the sayde general sentence And whan the artycles be so chosen out / they sounde to so great parcialite and fauour for spiritual men eyther for payemēt of tythes offerynges mortuaries / and suche other duetyes to the churche or for the mayntenaunce of that they calle the liberties of the churche as that no preeste nor clerke c. shal not be put to answere before lay mē specyallye where theyr bodyes shuld be arrested or that no imposicions shulde be layde vpon the churche by temporall power or agaynst them that with violence lay handes vpon preest or clerk / or suche other that the people be greatly offended therby and thynke great parcialite in them and iuge them rather to be made of a pryde and couetyse of the churche than of any charite to the people wherby many doo rather dyspyse them than obeye them And I suppose veryly that this diuisyon wyl neuer be perfitely and charitably refourmed and brought to good accorde tyll the people come to this poynt / that they shall greatlye feare and drede to ronne in to the leeste censure of the churche And that wyll neuer be tyll the heedes spyrytuall wyll refourme them selfe and shewe a fatherlye loue vnto the people and not extende the sentences of the churche vppon so lyghte causes and vppon suche parcialytie as they haue doone in tyme paste And if they wyll refourme these poyntes before rehersed and somme other hereafter folowynge I suppose verylye the people wylle gladdely here them and folowe them For than as the gospelle saythe they be theyr verye shepardes Wherfore yf it were ordeyned as well by auctorytie of parlyamente as of conuocation / that suche artycles shulde be deuysed and putte in to the generalle sentence that shulde styrre as well spyrytualle menne as temporalle menne to loue vertue / and flee vyces / to loue trouth and plainnes and to flee falshod and doublenes / and that none vpon a payne shulde adde or dyminysshe any thynge concernynge the sayde articles I thynke it wolde helpe moche to make a good agremēt of this diuision and to contynue the same with loue and drede betwexte the reulers spirituall and the people as there oughte to be And yf lyke artycles were deuised to refrayne spyrytuall men fro gyuynge hereafter any ferther occasion to this diuision or any other lyke and they to be redde at visitations / Seenes suche other lyke places / wher prestes assēble by cōmandement of theyr ordinaries / with certayne paynes to be appoynted by parlyamēt conuocacion I thynke it wolde bryng many thynges in to good order / and helpe moche to a good reformation of this diuision ¶ An other occasion of this diuision The syxt Chapiter AN other occasion of this diuysion hathe partely rysen by temporal men that haue desyred moche to haue the famyliaritie of preestes in theyr games and disportes and haue vsed to make moche more of them that were compenable thanne of them that were not so and haue called them good felowes and good companyons And many also wolde haue chapleyns whiche they wolde not onlye suffre / but also cōmaunde to go on huntyng haukyng / and suche other vayne disportes And some wolde lette them lye among other laye seruauntes where they coulde neyther vse prayer nor contemplation ¶ And some of them wolde suffre them to go in lyueries not conuenyent in colour for a preste to were and wolde also many tymes set them to worldely offyces as to be bayliffes receiuours / or stewardes and than whan they haue by suche occasyon bene moche beten / and greatly exercysed in suche worldely busynes / so that the inwarde deuocyon of the harte hath ben in them as colde and as weke in maner as in laye men yet yf any benefyce haue fallen voyde of theyr gyft they wolde preferre them to it / eyther as in recompens of theyr busynes and labours or for that they were good companyons rather thā another good deuoute man / that percase is lerned and kepeth hym selfe fro suche worldely vanyties and ydle company or that is dysposed somtyme to admonysshe charytably suche as he is in company with of suche defautes as he seeth or hereth of them / and that few men do loue to here And therfore wyll they preferre them / that wyl let them alone And yet whan they haue so done they wyl anone speke euyl of prestes / and reporte great lyghtnes in them and lyghtly noote one prest with an nother prestes defaute and that whan they
Samuell the holynes of Dauyd such other examples of blessed men and he hym selfe be vnmeke vnpacient vnmercyfull and not holy it is to fere that al those examples shal lytel profyte And therfore prelates that in tyme passed haue bene the verye trewe shepeherdes though they hadde theyr bodyes here of the erthe yet neuer the lesse they fed the flockes of our lorde to them commytted with heuenly fode and vsed not to preache to them theyr owne wyll but the wylle of god And one man saythe of prelates this Whan I saythe he beholde the heyght of the honour of prelacy forthe with I drede the peryll and daunger of it And whan I considre the degree I drede the ruine I considre the heyghte of the dignitie / and I beholde forthwith the mouthe of Helle open euen at hande For there is no doubt but that theyr administracion is more perillous than is the ministracion of any other But yet neuerthelesse yf they administre wel they shal get thē selfe therby an hyghe degree in heuen / they shal receyue the gretter abundance more ful measure of peace for their good trauaylle for euer And I beseche almyghty god to sende these .iiii. thynges habundantly in to the worlde and that moste specially amonge prelates and spirituell reulers that is to saye / zele of soules pitie / good doctrine and deuout prayour And than vndoubtedly a new lyghte of grace and of Tractabilitye shall shortely shewe and shyne amonge the people ¶ Thus endeth this Treatyse concernynge the diuision betwene the spiritualtie the temporaltie TABVLA FYrste that the dyuysyon amonge spyrituall men them selfe hath bene one cause of the diuysyon / that is nowe bytwene the spyrytualtye temporalty in this realme The firste Chapiter ¶ That the omyttynge of dyuers good lawes / with certaine defautes and disorder in men of the church / whiche among other be recited and declared by Iohn Gerson haue bene an other occasion of this diuision The seconde Chapiter ¶ That certayne lawes made by the churche wherin it is recited quod laici sunt clericis infesti that is to saye that laye men be cruell to clerkes hath bene an other cause of this dyuysion The thyrde Chapiter ¶ That the extreme lawes made by the church for leyenge violent handes vpon clerkes / haue bene an other cause of this dyuysyon The fourth Chapiter ¶ That the disorderynge of the generall sentence / hath bene an other occasyon of the sayde diuision The fyfte Chapiter ¶ That an other occasion of this diuision hath partly rysen by temporal men through disordrynge of theyr chapleyns and chauntrye preestes The syxte Chapiter ¶ That sutes taken in the spiritual courtes ex officio haue ben an nother occasion of this diuision The seuenth Chapiter ¶ That though after the determination of doctours / a man is not an heretyke for that only that he erreth but for that he opinatyfely defendeth his errour and that neuer the lesse the spiritualtie as a commen voyce gothe amonge the people haue in tyme paste punysshed many for heresie vpon lyght causes and offences wherupon many people haue grudged / and that grudge hath ben an other occasyon of this diuysion The eyght Chapiter ¶ That the parcialite that hath benne shewed vpon sutes taken in the spirituall courte by spirituall men hathe bene an other cause of this diuision The nynthe Chapiter ¶ That the extreme and couetous demeanour of some curates with theyr parysshens hath ben an other cause of this diuision The tenthe Chapiter ¶ That the grauntyng of pardons for money as it were to some charitable vse that hath not after folowed hathe raysed an other grudge amonge the people whiche hath ben an other occasion of this diuision The leuenth Chapiter ¶ That the makynge of lawes by the churche whiche they hadde none auctoritie to make / hathe bene an other occasion of this diuision The twelthe Chapiter ¶ That lacke of good visitacions hath bene an other occasion of this diuision The thyrtene Chapiter ¶ That the great multitude of lycences and dispensacions made by spiritual rulers for money vpon lyght suggestions hath ben an other cause of this diuision The fourtene Chapiter ¶ That the great laxnes and worldely pleasures of religious persons / wherby the people hath benne greatly offended / hath bene an other occasion of this diuision The fyftetene Chapiter ¶ Than for a cōclusion of this treatise it is som what touched howe good it is to haue a zele of soules and howe perillous it is to do any thynge / wherby they myght be hurted And that if zele of soules pitie good doctrine deuoute pray our / were abundauntly in this worlde moost specially in prelates spirituall rulers that than a newe lyght of grace and tractabilite wolde shortely shewe and shyne amonge the people The .xvi. Chapiter  ¶ Imprynted at London in Fletestrete next vnto sayncte Dunstones churche by Robert Redman
¶ A treatise concernynge the diuision betwene the spirytualtie and temporaltie ⧠This lyttell booke declareth dyuers causes wherby diuision hath rysen betwene the spiritualtie and temporaltie and partly sheweth howe they maye be brought to a vnite And if they that may do moost good towarde the sayd vnitie wyll take the artycles of this treatise as lyttel tytlinges to bring som weyghtier thynges to theyr mynde concernyng the same and thanne by theyr wysdomes wyll adde them here vnto and as they shall thynke necessarie to see them all put in due execucion I thynke veryly that in shorte tyme they shall brynge this matter to good effecte to the honoure of god to the comon welth and quietnes of all the kynges subiectes ¶ Dyuers articles ' whiche haue bene a speciall cause of the diuision that is betwyxt the spiritualtie and the temporaltie in this realme The fyrst Chapiter WHo may remembre the state of this realme nowe in these dayes without great heuynes and sorow of herte For there as in tymes past hath reygned charite mekenes concorde and peace reygneth nowe enuye pryde diuision and stryfe that nat only betwene lay men and lay men but also betwene religious and religious / and betwene preestes and relygyous and that is yet more to be lamented also betwene preestes and preestes Whiche diuision hath ben so vniuersal / that it hath ben a great vnquietnes and a great breache of charitie through all the realme and part of it hathe rysen by reason of a great singularite / that religious ê‘sons and prestes haue hadde to theyr estate of lyuynge whereby many of theym haue thoughte theyr estate most perfyte before al other And some of them haue thereby exalted them selfe in theyr owne syght so hyghe that they haue rysen into suche a goostly pryde that they haue in maner disdayned and dyspysed other that haue nat lyued in suche perfection as they thynke they doo And of this hathe folowed that some of theym haue hadde vnsyttyng wordes of the other callynge them flatterers dissimulers and hypocrites And they haue called the other agayne proude persons couetous vayne gloryous and louers of worldely delytes and suche other ¶ And an other parte of this dyuysyon hath rysen by dyuersities of opynyons that haue ben vpon the auctorities powers and iurisdiction of spirituall men amonge them selfe And vpon these dyuysions some lay men haue in tyme past fauored the one parte and some the other whereby the people haue greately ben inquyeted But I wote nat fully by what occasyon it is that nowe of late the great multytude of all the laye people haue founde defaute as well at prestes as relygyouse / so ferfurthe that it is nowe in maner noted through all the realme / that there is a greate dyuysyon bytwene the spyritualtie and the temporaltie And verylie it is great pitie that suche a noyse shulde sprynge and goo abrode And some alledge dyuers causes why it is so noysed Fyrste they saye that neyther prestes nor religious kepe nat the perfeccyon of theyr ordre to the honour of god and good example of the people as they shulde do but that som of them procure theyr owne honour and call it the honour of god and rather couet to haue rule ouer the people than to profyte the people And that some couet theyr bodyly ease and worldely welthe in meate and drynke and suche other / more than commenly any temporal man doeth And that some serue god for a worldly laude and to be magnified therfore more than for the pure loue of god And some laye men saye farther / that though religious men haue varied with religious / and that som prestes haue varyed also with religious in som pointes concernynge the preeminence of theyr perfection as is said before that yet in suche thynges as perteyne to the mayntenaunce of the worldely honour of the churche and of spirituall men whiche they call the honour of god and in such thynges as perteyn to the encrece of the riches of spiritual meÌ„ religious or seculer they say they agree all in one And therfore they say that all spiritual men as to the multitude / be more diligent to enduce the people to suche thynges as shall brynge riches to the churche as to gyue money to trentals and to founde chaunteries and obites and to obteyne pardons to go vpon pylgremages / and suche other than they be to enduce them to the payment of theyr dettes / to make restitutions for such wronges as they haue done / or to doo the werkes of mercye to theyr neyghboures that be poore and nedye / and that somtyme be also in right extreme necessite ¶ And for as moche as it is most commonly sene / that amonge a great multitude there be many that worke rather vpon wyll than vpon reason And that though they haue a good zele / yet many tymes they lacke good ordre and discretion whiche is the mother of al vertue Therfore some persons thynkynge that worldely honoure and ryches lettethe greatly deuocion so moche that as they thynke they canne not stande togyther haue holden opinion that it is not lawfull to the churche to haue any possessions And some takynge a more meane waye therin haue sayde / that as they thynke it is lawfull and also expedient that the churche haue possessions but they thynke / that the great haboundance that is in the churche / doth great hurt / induceth in many of them a loue to worldely thynges and letteth and in maner strangleth the loue of god And therfore they thynke that it were good to take awaye that is to moche / and to leue that is sufficient And some also as of a policie to pulle ryches fro the churche haue inueyed ayenste all suche thynges as brynge ryches to the churche And because great ryches haue comme to the churche for prayenge for soules in purgatorie haue by wordes affyrmed that there is no purgatorie And that grauntynge of pardons riseth of couetyse of the churche and profyteth nat the people / and that pylgremages be of no effecte / and that the churche may make no lawes / and suche other thynges / as foundynge of chaunteries making of brotherhedes and many mo Wherein they shewe outwardly to ryse agaynst all the thynges before rehersed and to dispyse them and yet they knowe and beleue in theyr hertes that all these thynges be of them selfe ryght good and profytable as they be in dede yf they were ordered as they shulde be And somme persones there be that throughe grace fynde defaute onely at the abusion and mysse order of suche thynges and speke nothyng against the thinges selfe neither of purgatory / pylgremages / settynge vppe of ymages / or suche oher For they knowe well they be ordeyned of god and that the mysorder rysethe only of man for couetyse singularitie or some other suche lyke defaute throughe perswasyon and dysceyte of the goostly enemye And thoughe some men haue
haue ben partly occasioners to theyr offences them selfe as it is sayd before And this demenour hath thrugh a longe contynuaunce norysshed some parte of this dyuysion and so wyll it do as long as it coÌ„tinueth And also where by the lawe / preestes ought to be at the churche on sondayes holy dayes and help forth the seruice of god in the quere and oughte also whan they be there to be ordered by the curate yet neuer the lesse many men that haue chapleynes wyll not suffre them to come in the parysshe churche and whan they be there they wyll not haue them ordered by the curate but after them selfe ne see them be in the quere but sendeth them many tymes on other errandes and that in worldly matters as customably as they do other seruauntes and many suche chapleynes shewe them selfe euydently by theyr diligence in that behalfe / to be better contente to do that busynes than to be in the quere / and that maketh the curates and the neyghbours bothe to thynke a great lyghtnes in them and do discoÌ„mende them for it and whan they here of it they be also discontented and theyr maysters bothe and saye the other haue no thynge to do with it and commenly other chapleynes wyll take parte in suche matters wherupon dyuers grudges and variances haue risen in many places / that haue done greatte hurte in this behalf And as it is in this case of chapleynes and seruyng prestes so it is also of chantry prestes brotherhoode prestes in many places And as it semethe these articles myght be holpen thus that is to say / that it be prohibyted vpon a payne that no preeste shall hereafter customablye vse huntynge / hawkynge cardes / dyce / nor suche other games vnsyttynge for a preeste though percase he maye as for a recreacion vse some honest disportes for a tyme ne customably vse the ale house or tauerne And if any preste vse any such vnlawful games or other demenour not conuenient for a preest so moche that the people be offended by it and fynde defaut at it that than yf he be warned therof by an abbot and a Iustyce of the peace of the shire / where he is dwellynge and yet he do not reforme hymselfe that than besyde the sayde payne he be by conuocation suspended fro ministryng the sacramentes and be disabled to take any seruyce tyll he be enhabled agayne by the kynge and the ordinarie And that it be ferther enacted / that no man shall haue a chapleyne hereafter / but he haue a stondynge house / and that onely in his stondyng house and none to haue a rydyng chapleyne vnder the degree of a baron / and that he that hath a stondyng house and hathe also a chapleyne shall vppon a payn prouide for his chapleyn a secret lodgyng with locke key / that he maye lodge fro the commen recourse of the laye seruantes and vse hym selfe therin conueniently in redynge / prayer or contemplatyon / or suche other labours and busynes as be conuenyent for a preeste to vse ¶ An other cause of the sayd dyuysion The seuenth Chapyter AN other occasion of the said dyuysion hath bene / by reason of dyuers sutes that haue ben taken in the spiritual courtes of offyce that is called in latyn ex officio so that the ê‘ties haue not knoweÌ„ who hath accused them therupoÌ„ they haue somtyme ben caused to abiure in causes of heresies somtyme to do penauÌ„ce or to pay great sommes of money for redemynge therof whiche vexacion charges the parties haue thought haue come to them by the iudges and the offycers of the spyrytuall courte / for they haue knowen none other accusers / and that hath caused moche people in diuers partyes of this realme to thynke great malice and parcialytie in the spiritual iudges And yf a man be ex officio brought before the ordynarye for heresy / yf he be notably suspected of heresye he muste pourge hym selfe after the wyl of the ordinary / or be accursed and that is by the lawe extra de hereticis Ca. Ad abolendam And that is thoughte by many to be a very harde lawe for a man may be suspected and nat gyltie and so be dryuen to a purgacioÌ„ without profe or with out offence in hym or be accursed and it appereth de hereticis .li. vi in the chapiter In fidei fauorem that they that be accursed and also partyes to the same offens may be wytnes in heresie and in the chapiter accusatus pag. licet it appereth that yf a man be sworne to saye the trouthe concernynge heresie as well of hym selfe as of other / and he fyrste confesseth nothynge and after contrarye to his fyrst sayenge he appeleth bothe hym selfe and other yf it appere by manyfest tokens that he doeth it nat of lyghtnes of mynde ne of hatred / nor for corruption of moneye that than his wytnes in fauoure of the faythe shall stonde as well agaynste hym selfe as agaynste other and yet hit appereth euidentlye in the same courte and in the same matter that he is a periured persone This is a daungerous lawe and more lyke to cause vntrewe and vnlawfulle men to condempne innocentes than to condempne offenders And it helpeth lyttell that if there be tokens / that it is nat done of hatred / nor for corruption of money that it shulde be taken for some tyme a wolfe may shew hym selfe in the apparelle of a lambe And yf the iudge be parcyall suche tokens may be soner accepted than truely shewed And in the chapiter there that begynneth Statuta quedam / it is decreed that yf the Bysshoppe or other enquerours of heresy se that any greate daunger myghte come to the accusours or wytnes of heresie by the great power of them that be accused that than they maye commaunde that the names of the accusoures or wytnesse shall nat be shewed but to the bysshop or enquerours / or suche other lerned men as be called to them and that shall suffice thoughe they be nat shewed to the partie And for the more indempnitie of the sayde accusoures and wytnesse it is there decreed that the bysshoppe or inqueroures maye enioyne suche as they haue shewed the names of suche wytnes vnto to kepe them close vpon payn of excommunication for disclosyng that secrete without theyr lycens And surely this is a sore lawe / that a manne shall be condempned and nat knowe the names of them that be causers therof ¶ And though the sayd lawe seme to be made vpon a good consideracion for the indempnitie of the accusours and wytnes yet it semeth that that consyderacyon can nat suffyce to proue the lawe reasonable For it semeth that the accusoures and wytnes myghte be saued fro daunger by another way / and that is by this way If the bysshop or inquerours drede that the accusoures and wytnes might take hurt as is sayd before than myght they shewe it to the kynge and to his
true as is reported that there shulde be so great a desyre in some spyrytuall men to haue men abiured or haue the extreme punysshement for heresie / as it is sayde there is For as some haue reported yf any woll wytnes that a man hath spoken any thynge that is heresie though he speke it onely of an ignoraunce or of a passyon or if he canne by interrogatoryes and questions be dryuen to confesse any thynge / that is prohybyted by the churche anone they wyll dryue hym to abiure or holde hym atteynted without examining the intent or cause of his sayenge or whether he had a mynde to be refourmed or nat and that is a verye soore way our lorde be more mercyfull to our soules than so greuously to punysshe vs for euery lyght defaut And here some saye that bycause there is so greate a desyre in spyrytuall men to haue menne abiure / and to be noted with heresye / and that some as it were of a polycye do noyse it that the royaulme is full of heretyckes more than it is in dede that it is very peryllous that spyrytuall men shulde haue auctorytie to arrest a man for euery lyght suspection or complaynte of heresye tyll that desyre of punysshement in spyrytuall men be ceassed and goone but that they shulde make processe agaynst them to brynge theym in vppon payne of cursynge and thanne yf they tary fourty dayes the kynges lawes to brynge them in by a wrytte De excommunicato capiendo and so to be broughte fourthe oute of the kynges Gaole to aunswere But surely as it is somewhat touched before in the .vii. chap. it semeth that the church in tyme past hath don what they coulde to brynge about that they might punysshe heresie of them selfe / without callynge for any helpe therin of the seculer power ¶ And therefore they haue made lawes that heretykes myghte be arrested and put in pryson / and stockes yf nede were / as appereth Clementinis de hereticis Ca. multorum querela And after at the speciall callyng on of the spiritualtie / it was enacted by parlyament that ordynaries myght arrest men for heresie for summe men thynke that the sayde Clementyne was nat of effect in the kynges lawe to arrest any man for heresie But if a man were openly and notably suspected of heresie / and that there were sufficient recorde and wytnes agaynst hym / there were also a doubte that he wolde flee and nat appere wherby he myghte enfecte other it semeth conuenient that he be arested by the body but nat vpon euery lyght complaynt that full lightly may be vntrewe And it wyll be ryghte expedient that the kynges highnes and his counsaylle loke specyally vpon this matter and nat to ceasse / tylle hit be brought to more quietnes than it is yet and to se with great diligēce that pride couetise nor worldly loue be no iudges nor innocentes be punysshed ne yet that wylfull offenders go nat without dewe correction ¶ An other cause of this diuision ¶ The .ix. Chapiter AN other occasion of this diuision hath risen by the extremities that haue ben shewed in sutes taken in the spyrytuall courtes by spyrytuall men for there hath therby risen an opiniō among moche people / that a man were as good or better to let a spyrytuall man haue at the begynnyng all that he demaūdeth as to stryue with hym in the spyrytuall lawe for it In so moche / that as it is sayde suche extremities haue bene vsed in the spirituall lawe for tythes that no prescription / custome cōposition nor other plee shall be admytted in the spyrytuall lawe agaynst them And surely yf that be trewe it is a great parcyalyte and a great denyeng of Iustyce And therfore it wolde be refourmed And as for mortuaries they be adnulled all redy by statute But yet begynnethe to ryse oone thynge to maynteyne the fyrst dyuysion concernynge suche mortuaryes yf it be suffered to contynue and that is / that many curates / nat regardynge the kynges statute in that behalfe perswade theyr parysshens whan they be sycke to beleue that they can nat be saued but they restore them as moche as the olde mortuarie wolde haue amounted to And surelye the Curates that by that meanes get any recompence by gyfte or by quest are bounde in conscience to restytucyon For he is deceyued in his gyfte or bequest For it procedeth nat of a free libertie / but vppon that vntrue infourmacyon And lyke as a contracte wherby a man is deceiued in that thyng that is solde holdeth nat in conscience as yf a manne selle copper for golde or wyne myxte with water for pure wyne and so it is whan a man maketh a gyfte or a bequeste vpon an vntrue surmyse And that no man is bounden in conscyence to restore for his mortuarye nowe sythe the statute of Mortuaryes was made / it maye appere thus It is holden by them that be lerned in the lawe of this realme that the parlyamente hathe an absolute power as to the possessyon of all temporall thynges within thys realme in whose handes so euer they be / spyrytualle or temporalle / to take theym from one manne and gyue theym to an other / wythoute any cause or consyderacyon For yf they doo it it byndeth in the lawe And yf there be a consideracion / that hit byndethe in lawe and conscience And certayne it is that all suche Mortuaryes were temporalle goodes / thoughe they were claymed by spyrytualle menne And the cause why they were taken awaye was for as moche as there were fewe thynges within this realme that caused more varyaunce among the people than they dyd / whan they were suffered for they were taken so farre agaynst the order of the kynges lawes and against Iustyce and ryght as shall hereafter appere Fyrste they were taken nat onely after the dethe of the husbande but also after the dethe of the wyfe whiche after the lawes of the realme had no goodes but that it was taken of the husbandes goodes / and they were taken also of seruauntes and chyldren as well infantes as other And if a man died by the waye and had an housholde in an other place he shulde paye mortuaries in bothe places And some tyme whan the parson / and vicar of a church appropried / varied for the mortuaries the people as it hath ben reported haue ben enforced er they coulde sytte in reste / to pay in some places mortuaries to them bothe And somtyme the curates wolde prohybyte pore men to sell theyr goodes in tyme of theyr sicknes if they were suche goodes as were lyke to be theyr mortuaries for they wolde say it was done in defraude of the churche And yf the quyck goodes were better than the deed goodes they wolde in some places take the quycke And yf the deade goodes were better than the quycke they wolde take the dead And the mortuaryes muste be delyuered furthewith or elles the bodye shulde nat be buryed