expoundeth against the old Testament the Apostles and Euangelists These Decrees Innocent the fourth made to be compiled into one volume by one Raymund a Iacobin Frier and wil haue them to be accounted authenticall and is that which is named Decretals The Councell of Lions promised a great reformation to the Church and here it is That Cardinals from thenceforth should weare red hats and scarlet cloakes and should ride through the citie on horses well caparisonned for the honour of their dignitie Thinke that Christendome was hereby wonderfully well restored And this is spoken to shew who haue beene inuentors of this pompe as also of the superstitious deuotions at this day held in so high accompt OPPOSITION Who will thinke it strange if no man dare resist a pride so inueterat a possession of so long time taken to rule the world at his pleasure to condemne to hell whosoeuer resisteth him And yet euen in this most desperat wicked age there hath not wanted some that haue opposed themselues against the exactions violences and corruptions of the Church of Rome In England they thought all things lawfull for them boasting themselues to be Soueraigne Lords thereof vnder colour of the Charter of king Iohn who had submitted himselfe to their homage There we shall see a piece of their gouernement wherby we may judge into what ruine they wold haue brought the church if they had bin left to their owne will The BB. of England were reuolted against their king at the Popes instigation So that peace being made betweene king S. Lewis and Henrie the third king of England they see themselues excluded they therefore haue recourse to the Pope to be restored Among these was Henrie Bishop of Lincolne of whom Honorius exacted a thousand markes of siluer and so of the rest according to that proportion Such saith the Author was the Spirituall dropsie of the Court of Rome He also calleth him Leonem feritate sanguisugum auaritia a Lion in fiercenesse a bloud-sucker in couetousnesse This Pope sendeth Otho his Legat into England who in full Councell produceth the Popes letters in which he is not ashamed to alledge the scandale of the holie Church of Rome and her most antient opprobrie namely the staine of concupiscence the root of all euils and in this chiefely that none can dispatch any businesse in the Court of Rome but with great expences of money and giuing of gifts And because saith he that pouertie is the cause of this infamie children of a good nature ought to helpe the necessitie of their mother And note the remedie that he bringeth for this That of all the Cathedrall Churches two prebends should be giuen him one of the Bishop another of the Chapiter and in like manner of Abbayes and Monasteries promising if this be graunted to doe them iustice without rewards The Clergie of England thereupon assemble and vpon the reading of the Popes letters looke one vpon another admiring the couetousnesse of the Romans who had not learned this morall distich Quòd virtus reddit non copia sufficientem Et non paupertas sed mentis hiatus egentem Vertue not plentie makes man rich indeed A greedie mind though rich is still in need But the king by the aduice of the Prelats and Nobles of the realme answered That this businesse concerned all Christendome in the vtmost skirts whereof hee was that like as he should see other Estates gouerne themselues erga tales exactiones towards such exactions the Pope should find him readie to follow their example And indeed our Frenchmen being assembled in Councell vpon the same matter at Bourges the king being present where sat Romanus the Popes Legat to whom they propounded so many reasons partly in refutation partly in derision of the proposition he made in the Popes behalfe and of the commoditie he promised the world thereby that he himselfe was euen ashamed therewith the conclusion was in these words So much wealth would make the Romans madde and so betweene the diuers kindreds among them would arise so many seditions of which now already they are not free as the ruine of the whole citie might iustly be feared This is not the meanes to drie vp the spring of couetousnesse that which they now doe by themselues they then would doe by others and would procure to giue more rewards to their partakers than now they doe After which the Archbishop of Lyons said My Lord wee will euer haue friends in the Court of Rome and therefore we haue need of aboundance of gifts But my Lord let the Zeale of the vniuersall Church moue you and of the holie See of Rome for if there were an vniuersall oppression of all there would be cause to feare ne immineret generalis discessio least a generall reuolt or Apostasie were at hand which God forbid That reuolt is foretold by the Apostle speaking of Antichrist 2. Thessal 2. Hee therefore protested that he had neuer consented thereunto and that hee had receiued commaundement of the Pope being now entred into France whereat he greatly grieued Gregorie is no sooner come to the Popedome but following the steps of his predecessors he sendeth into England his Nuntio and Chaplaine who being heard in the assemblie of Prelats produceth the Popes letters whereby he openly demaunded the tenths of all the moueable goods as well of the Clergie as of the Laitie for the extermination of Frederick The king who had alreadie by his solicitors engaged himselfe to Rome held his peace as being become a staffe of a reed to them that trusted in him But the Earles and Barons and all other lay persons absolutely declared That they would in no wise suffer that their Baronies and lay possessions should be in any sort obliged to the Church of Rome In like manner also the Prelats and whole Clergie who yet three dayes after waxed calmer fearing a sentence of excommunication which the Legat was found to haue in commission from the Pope and indeed hee imployed it against all them that made difficultie to obey and of thâ—se tenthes which he exacted with threats for feare of the excommunications hee agreed and made part with one Stephen Segraue a Counsellor of the king in so much that he tooke the tenth of the fruits of Autumne which was yet but in the blade and for to haue readie money he constrained the Churchmen to sell Chalices siluer pots and other vessels of the Altar the Land is filled with continuall but secret maledictions all people curse both the exactions and the exactors exactio suis nunquam exactoribus fiat fructuosa yea the Pope himselfe that it might neuer prosper with him And after that time England was no more seene without forraine vsurers from beyond the Alpes who vnder the name of Marchants made gainful vse of the extorsions of the Court of Rome Whereby in a short time after the subiects of the kingdom as well noble as ignoble were brought to that desperate extreamitie that to seeke
as for any confirmation sought for at Syluesters hands there is no mention at all made therein And farther that Epistle which we haue in the first tome of the Councels besides that it is most foolishly written is not Synodical but written as it is expressed in the title by Hosius Bishop of Corduba Macarius of Constantinople Vitus and Vincentius Priests of Rome whereas the Synodals carried alwayes the title Of the Sacred Councell and withall the names of some of the most famous Bishops and to what purpose the name of Macarius Bishop of Constantinople which was at that time scarce built Neither doth it mend the matter that Baronius in stead of Constantinople readeth Ierusalem Baron an 325. art 171. for why then should Hosias subscribe before him contrary to the order established in the Councell or why before Victor and Vincentius Lieutenants at that time for the Bishop of Rome and lastly why was not Eustathius Bishop of Antioch first named As for the confirmation it selfe of Syluester Baronius acknowledgeth that whole Epistle to be forged and proueth the falsitie thereof by the date Neither is there any greater reckoning to be made of the testimonie of Pope Felix as being a witnesse in his owne cause and liuing one hundred and sixtie yeares after this Councell and either abused himselfe or abusing others with that said counterfeit Epistle Euseb lib. 4. de vita Constant c. 41. Now there were sundrie nationall Synods held shortly after vnder the same Constantine for the confirmation of that first Nicene Councell as that of Tyre in the yeare 334 at Ierusalem An. 335 at Constantinople An. 336 Baronius quarels vs concerning the issues of them and of their confirmation But what can he say for the calling and assembling of them or can he shew that either Syluester or Marcus complained that the Emperour had done them wrong as encroaching vpon their liberties and medling with that which appertained not vnto him 5. PROGRESSION 1 That Marcus Bishop of Rome called himselfe the Vniuersall Bishop 2 That Iulius Bishop of Rome offered to restore certaine Bishops deposed by their Metropolitans 3 Of the Canon of the Councell of Sardica by which Bishops wrongfully deposed might flie to Iulius Bishop of Rome An. 337. 1 ABout the yeare 337 we haue in the first booke of the Councels an Epistle of Marcus Bishop of Rome successor vnto Syluester written to Athanasius and to the other Bishops of Aegypt wherein notwithstanding what hath beene alreadie said he taketh vpon him the name and title of Vniuersall Bishop Surely we may well imagine that this Epistle is of the same stampe with the rest There he furnisheth his cause with all the arguments which hee can deuise The Church of Rome hath alwayes continued immaculat and vndefiled by the prouidence of God and assistance of Saint Peter euer so to endure And againe The Lord in the Gospell spake vnto the Prince of his Apostles saying I haue prayed for thee that thy faith should not faile Socrat. l. 2. c. 11. Edit Lat. Sozom. l. 3. c. 7. 2 After which time we find in Socrates and Sozomene that Iulius successor vnto Marcus tooke vpon him by absolute authoritie to restore sundrie Bishops of the Easterne Churches deposed for diuers causes by their Synods Because saith he the care of all the Churches belonged to him by reason of his See therefore he wrot to the Bishops of the East telling them that they had done verie ill to determine and conclude any thing against those Bishops without his priuitie Where it is to bee noted that these last words without his priuitie are added in the Latine translation there being none such to be found in the originall it selfe And farther saith he Iulius commaunded them to send some of their companions to appeare before him vpon a day appoynted Epist Marci in 1. tomo Concil to giue a reason and to iustifie their proceedings against them And if this Epistle be all one with that which we find in the first to me of the Councels with this title In the behalfe of Athanasius and concerning certaine excesses against the Church of Rome then would he farther persuade them therein that the Fathers of the Nicene Councell decreed That no Bishop might bee judged but by his See no Synod called but by his authoritie and thence proceedeth to sharpe reproofes and reproachfull speeches concluding at last That whosoeuer shall attempt any thing against this doctrine is irreuocably damned and for euer deposed from his charge And farther That whosoeuer shall be deposed without his authoritie he will maintaine him in his place and addeth this reason For that euer since the times of the Apostles and lately by the decree of the Nicene Councell as much the one as the other all greater causes haue euer beene reserued to the hearing and finall determining of his See An. 347. 3 So likewise in the yeare 347 in the Councell of Sardica at the motion of Hosius there was a decree which passed to this purpose That Bishops deposed by their Metropolitans if they found themselues aggrieued might craue and haue a new hearing of their cause before Iulius Bishop of Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which his successors since that time from a particular case haue extended to all sorts of causes and from the person of Iulius to all succeeding Popes and we now come to examine what Oppositions were made against these attempts OPPOSITION First therefore as touching the Epistle of Marc Athanas in Orat. Vnum esse Christum col 104. Athanasius himselfe might well haue answered him as he sometime spake in a treatise of his Thou art Peter and vpon this stone will I build my Church This is a faithfull saying and varieth not The Church is a thing inuincible And if perhaps Marc would haue gone to restraine this answere to himselfe and to his See Athanasius might haue replyed that though indeed he defended him yet his successor Liberius did openly condemne him namely when he wrote vnto the Bishops of the East in this manner Epist Liberij ad Oriental apud Hilar. in fragment I cast off Athanasius from our Communion not daining so much as to receiue his letters I maintaine peace with you embracing the confession of the Syrmian Councell which is all one in effect as if he had in expresse words renounced the Councell of Nice Wherefore S. Hilarie who liued at that time cryed out Ibid. This is an Arrian trecherie Anathema to thee O Liberius and to all thy companions Athanas in epist ad solitar vitam agentes col 470. Hiero. in Catal. in Fortunatian Bellar. de Rom. Pontif. li. 4. c. 9. Anathema againe and againe vnto thee thou false hearted double dealing Liberius And this is that accursed and wretched testimonie which Athanasius also and Ierome giue of him And Bellarmine himselfe acknowledgeth as much by reason of certaine letters which he wrote to Constantius the Emperour and
and I will quickly make my selfe a Christian And that in Tertullians time also the Pagans were wont causlesly to blame the prodigalitie of the Christians You accuse saith Tertullian Tertul. Apoleget 39. our poore suppers of prodigalitie as if that saying of Diogenes might well fit vs The Megarenses feast to day as if they should dye to morrow And what of all this for were those Caenulae those little banquets which Tertullian speaketh of and these profuse feasts mentioned in Marcellinus all one And for whom were those suppers which Tertullian speaketh of prouided for euen poore and indigent people not for Consuls and Gouernours as Baronius reporteth And is not this falsely to alledge Authors But let vs see what Hierosme himselfe saith concerning these times OPPOSITION Hieron ad Marcell viduam Hierosme maketh Paula and Eustochium to write vnto Marcella in these words Read say they the Apocalyps of Saint Iohn and marke what is there said of the woman clothed in scarlet of blasphemies written in her forhead of the seuen mountaines c. There no doubt is the holie Church there are the trophies of the Apostles and Martyrs there is the confession of Iesus Christ But there is also saith he ambition and tyrannie which keepe men backe from doing good And in another place Luxurie of the bellie and of the throat seeke to ouerthrow the power of the Crosse And to the end that no man may say that he spake this of the Citie not of the Church of Rome in his Preface to that booke of Dydimus of the Holie Ghost hee expoundeth himselfe When I liued saith he in Babylon an inhabitant of that purple Whore liuing after the lawes and customes of the citizens of Rome I had a determination to write somewhat of the Holie Ghost and to dedicate the treatise to the Bishop of that Diocesse And behold that seething pot which Ieremie saw looking out of the North after the rod of the Almond tree began to boyle and the Senat of the Pharisies to crie out together neither was there so meane ascribe of that whole faction of ignorance who did not eagrely conspire against me As soone therefore as I was returned to Ierusalem as out of banishment and after that cottage of Romulus and those Lupercall sports saw againe that Inne of Marie and the caue of our Lord and Sauiour c. In these words therefore what doth he call Babel but the Clergie it selfe of Rome That Senat growne alreadie Pharasaicall and a verie faction and league of ignorance And now tell me whether he goeth not farther in this testimonie than Marcellinus doth As for the preheminence of Bishops according to the greatnesse of the cities If there be question saith he to Euagrius Orbis maior est vrbe Hieron in Epist ad Euagr. of authoritie the world is greater than the citie so called they Rome why doest thou then enthrall the whole Church to a few men And whence commeth this presumption For wheresoeuer there is a Bishop whether at Rome or at Eugubium whether at Constantinople or at Rhegium marke how he confoundeth the greater cities with the lesser he is of the same dignitie and Priesthood Riches and pouertie make not one lesse or greater than another for they are all successors of the Apostles And so are these words inserted into the decree And speaking in another place of Bishops in generall Hieron in Epist ad Heliodo to 1 It is no easie matter saith he to stand in the place of Paul and to maintaine the dignitie of Peter that is to be a Bishop reckoning all Bishops to be successors of Paul and Peter Basil Epist 55. speaking in the same sence in which Saint Basil spake when he said That Ambrose was called to the Apostolicall gouernement when hee was made Bishop of Milan And doe you thinke that this holie Father Basil can passe ouer with silence the pride of Rome or if he happily let flie some words shall we therefore condemne him as a Pagan So it was that in those lamentable combustions of the East he thought to haue found some comfort in the West but he quickly found himselfe in an errour For if the anger of God saith he continue still vpon vs what comfort will the pride of the West affoord vs who neither doe know neither yet will haue the patience to be rightly informed of the truth of things as lately appeared in the case of Marcellus being euer prepossessed with vaine surmises and idle iealousies For my owne part I was once minded to haue written a priuat letter to their Captaine meaning Damasus not concerning any Church affaires Coryphaeo Basil Epist 10. but onely to let him vnderstand That they neither rightly vnderstood the state of our cause nor tooke the course to bee duely informed of it In briefe That they ought not to bruise a broken reed nor oppresse those who were alreadie humbled by affliction nor yet reckon their pompe for honour seeing that that verie sinne is ynough alone to set a man at enmitie with God And this he wrot to that great personage Eusebius Samosatenus who carried on with an incredible zeale ran from countrey to countrey seeking to repaire the decayes and ruines of the Church whilest Athanasius and Basil trauelled in the East opposing themselues against the Arrians and praying in aid from the Churches of the West and from Damasus himselfe who hand in bosome lightly regarded them conceiting out of hare-brained humor which proceeded from his pride that Basil himselfe was an heretike and therefore would not forsooth vouchsafe him an answer Whereupon Basil and his fellowes sent letters to the Bishops of the West by name to those of Italie and France It being impossible say they Basil Epist 70. that they should be ignorant of our miserable estate so well knowne throughout the world and yet they receiued no comfort from them And farther they requested them not Damasus to joyne with them for the procuring of a lawfull and free Synod After this they redoubled their letters Idem Epist 78. coniuring them to informe the Emperour of these troubles in the East from whom and not from Damasus they hoped for redresse And by a third dispatch sent by Dorotheus a Priest Basil reproacheth them for their want of charitie in not daining to visit and to comfort them in their afflictions offering if any imputation lay vpon him to cleere himselfe when and wheresoeuer they should appoint him At last in a fourth letter he breaketh forth into these tearmes We haue saith he venerable brethren set our eyes vpon you Basil Epist in Addition Ep. 1. but our hope hath proued vaine so that we may now sing I haue looked for one that would sorrow with me but no man came vnto me for one to comfort me but I found none for our afflictions are such as that they which dwell euen in the vtmost borders of the West should in duetie ere this haue
letters at the suit of Leo they request Theodosius That vpon this Appeale in writing he would be pleased that Leo in a Synod of Bishops assembled out of all quarters of the world in some place within Italie might take knowledge of this matter And Galla in her letters plainely sheweth that this was the drift and purpose of Flauian Who saith she hath alreadie sent his libell to the See Apostolike and to all the Bishops of these quarters by them whom the Bishop of Rome had sent to the Councell at Ephesus This Appeale therefore was put in as well to them as to the Bishop of Rome saue onely that he was the more eminent person and was to be heard and determined by them all in the Councell which was to be assembled as Galla in her Epistle concludeth That the matter saith she may be ended in a Councell and by the See Apostolike So that all this was no legall and formall Appeale nor made vnto the Pope otherwise than as to a promoter and furtherer of the calling of this Councell And it is worth the remembrance that in these verie Epistles which Baronius maketh so much account of Valentinian speaking of the Bishop of Rome saith as hath beene alreadie alledged That Antiquitie was it which gaue him the Primacie or chiefe place among the Priests And Galla in her Epistle It is fit saith she that we reserue in all poynts that respect which is due vnto this citie as to the Ladie of all other cities And like tearmes vseth she vnto Pulcheria whence it followeth An. 451. that this Primacie was taken as founded vpon the positiue law of man and that the claime from S. Peter commeth but as accessarie to the principall And that Flauian had no other purpose appeareth by the proceeding of this cause for the yeare following at the suit of Leo Martian the Emperour appointed a generall Councell to be held at Chalcedon wherein are to bee seene the traces of the former Synod and the whole cause opened in a second hearing to the confusion of Eutyches and shame of all his partakers and abettors and to the iustifying of Flauian and of his memoriall after him in the presence of the Popes Legats who there saw the Church of Constantinople before their face equalled with that of Rome by an expresse Canon made in confirmation of that other of Constantinople And let our aduersaries now shew vs any one Appeale after this made from Constantinople to Rome Eightly Baronius is faine to make the best of a bad cause He now telleth vs Baron vol. 6. an 451. art 149. that this Canon was made vnder the correction and good leaue of Leo Grant it were so and that the Synod in their Epistle required his confirmation and thereupon after his manner maketh a great flourish Seest thou O Reader saith he how these six hundred Fathers thought this Canon though resolued on in two general Councels yet to be of no force and vertue without the authoritie of Leo and indeed a man not acquainted with his trickes might haply suffer himselfe to be lead away with his discourses but the Canon it selfe is too plaine and the continuall practise of the Church sheweth that the validitie of that Canon neuer depended of his confirmation True it is that they were willing to draw Leo to some reason by faire words and remonstrances which they made vnto him and this was the drift and purpose of that Epistle But as we haue often said tearmes of courtesie and of honour vsed to the Pope were euer by them drawne to some farther tye of seruice And yet this verie Epistle determineth and decideth the question in many places though Baronius who commonly spareth for no paper to set downe things in the largest size concealeth one part thereof but thus run the words of the inscription The holie Oecumenicall Synod assembled by the grace of God and by the commaundement of the most religious Emperours at Chalcedon to Leo Archbishop of the Romans Whence it appeareth that this Synod was not called by his authoritie neither was he accompted for Vniuersall Bishop by that Synod as Baronius would make the world to beleeue Baron ib. Confirmauimus and as for the prerogatiue of the Church of Constantinople the words vsed in that Canon are precise and formall We haue say they confirmed the Canon of 150 Bishops meaning of the second generall Councell and therefore after this confirmation of 600 Bishops Baronius should a little blush to bring such cold coniectures And againe We haue so defined say they thereby to cut off all confusion and to establish the order of the Church And in the end they vse these tearmes Vouchsafe holie Father to imbrace this our decree as is fit and seemly for the loue that ought to be between vs. And what reason then hath Baronius of a sentence definitiue to make an interlocutorie especially seeing that they so often repeat the same thing We beleeue say they that the honour of the See of Constantinople was confirmed in a generall Councell we now intreat you to honour our iudgement by your Decree to giue your consent and to hold your selfe content with that which we haue done And the cause why they sent him the Acts was this That he might thereby perceiue that they were led in all their consultations by diuine instinct which they neuer expected to be sent from Rome neither did they looke to haue their doings reformed there Martianus apud Palladium We read indeed that the Emperor by whose commaundement they were there assembled confirmed their Acts The things saith he Per nostra precepta stabilita sunt agreed vpon in the Councell of Chalcedon are established by our authoritie neither shall they goe vnpunished who shall in any point contemne this law And indeed after this time matters passed according to the tenor of this decree doe Leo what hee could to the contrarie who yet did openly beare out the Bishops of Antioch and Alexandria but in the Church men gouerne themselues by law not by example measuring their actions not after the long elne of one Bishops insolencie and pride but according to the true rule of order and discipline established in a lawful Synod Vol. 6. an 457. art 23. Ninthly and lastly Baronius saith That in the Epistle which the Clergie of Alexandria oppressed by Timotheus wrot to the Emperour Leo they request that his impieties might be made knowne to the Roman Pontife and to others But why doth he not speake plainely and say as indeed it is As to others for they make no distinction betweene him and others The words are these Vouchsafe we pray you to write to the Bishop of Rome also to the Bishops of Antioch of Ierusalem of Thessalonica of Ephesus and others as your Mightinesse shall thinke fit and they adde For our cause hath beene alreadie manifested to Anatolius Archbishop of this royall citie meaning Constantinople which they
erected within the Palace in the Oratorie of S. Caesarius the Martyr And what is this the way to expiat so horrible a murther Or can he which was so much offended with Gregorie his humble and lowly behauior towards Maurice be well pleased with this toward Phocas vnder colour that he complained that at his comming he found no Apocrisarius Gregor lib. 11. ep 43. for so they called him or Responsalis that is no Deputie or Solicitor for the Romane Church Lieger and resident at Constantinople Which were those Hincmar Rhemen ep 3. c. 13. as Hincmar describeth them who after the translation of the Imperiall Seat to Constantinople solicited the Church causes at the Emperours Court as well for the Church of Rome as for the other Prime Sees And therefore in this the Popes could not chalenge it as due from the Emperours neither had they in this anie prerogatiue aboue other Bishops But Gregorie goeth on What thankes saith he owe we to God that we are now come to sit vnder the pleasant shade of your gracious Empire and are brought from the day of sorrow and sadnesse into this time of libertie and gladnesse Poore Heathenish creature as thou wert Papinian O how shalt thou one day rise in judgement against this holie man But read a little farther Those saith he who heretofore feared to goe vnto the Court Ad vestra vestigia now run with ioy vnto thy feet meaning to reside there in qualitie of Deputie or Solicitor for him And seeing that Gregorie here vseth the same terme of submission vnto Phocas which before he vsed to Maurice will Baronius say as he did in hatred of Maurice that it was feare or that it was respect and reuerence which made him so to speake And yet this Phocas for whom this Saint summoneth the holie Angels to rejoice what was he but a drunkard a whoremaster bloudie cruell violent brutish and hereticall Cedren in Chron. and so was his wife also as Cedrenas reporteth of them and which is more he was the man vnder whom the Romane Empire suffered more calamities than euer it had done before The Aire grew pestilent the Earth became barren the Sea was frozen with yee with a generall mortalitie of men beasts and fishes When as therefore all Elements mourned and all creatures groaned vnder the burthen of such a monster was it well done of Gregorie to rejoice alone Thirdly Baronius deduceth this Decree of Phocas made in fauour of the See of Rome in this manner Gregorie saith he had done what he could to obtaine this Decree of Maurice but could not preuaile afterward vpon summons from Phocas he sent Boniface to reside in qualitie of Solicitor neere vnto the Emperours person This Boniface continued there vntill the death of Gregorie and became verie gracious with the Emperour so that when Sabinian happened also shortly after to die he thought good to put him in his place Now this Boniface made good vse of the hatred which Phocas bare vnto Cyriacus the Patriarch of Constantinople and made it serue for his owne aduancement to the title of Vniuersall Bishop But what was the ground of this hatred Theophanus and Cedrenus whom Baronius himselfe alledgeth tell us That one Scholasticus an Eunuch in the fourth yeare of the reigne of Phocas hauing saued the old Empresse Constantina and her three daughters and hid them secretly in the Church at the length Phocas hauing notice thereof sent some of his gard to make them away Cyriacus withstood them and before he would deliuer them tooke an oath of the Tyran so speake they that he should doe no violence to their persons who indeed for the present thrust them into a Monasterie but at the end of one yeare caused them all foure to be murthered Now what was this in Boniface but onely to abuse Phocas his tyrannicall passions to the quenching of that greedie thirst of his owne ambition And what reason then haue they to be offended with vs when we say that the first founder of their Vniuersalitie was a Parricide or rather a monster of all Parricides that euer were For whereas he saith That he gaue not this priuiledge to the Bishop of Rome but onely decided the controuersie betweene him and the Bishop of Constantinople when they contended for it besides that we haue alreadie shewed that all Historians say the contrarie where can be shew either Councell or other judiciall meeting where both parties came to hearing Or what was there in all that businesse to be seene but onely a practise of Boniface and an absolute commaund of Phocas But let vs now see a little farther what Baronius alledgeth for the Popes authoritie about this time An. 603. art 7. Gregor lib. 11. ep 10. First he produceth a certaine priuiledge graunted by Gregorie to the Hospitall of Authun wherein he deposeth euerie King or Prince which shall offer to infringe that priuiledge A priuiledge no doubt taken out of the same budget that that other of Saint Medard was For how could he who was so crouching to Kings and Princes all his life time be so audacious to depose them after his death Secondly he pretendeth Ib. ep 8. that Queene Brunchaut requested leaue of him to call a Synod in Fraunce But we haue alreadie shewed that our Kings of Fraunce knew well ynough how to call Synods of their owne authoritie and the place it selfe which he alledgeth out of S. Gregorie saith onely thus That she requested him to send some one in his behalfe into Fraunce Facta Synodo who in the Synod which should there be held might correct all which should be done contrarie to the Canons and himselfe sticketh not to tell vs that she did this onely to claw poll with him because the French had at that time occasion to vse his fauour toward the Emperour which maketh him to say as he doth Vtinam serio non per imaginem c. Moreouer Baron ibid. an 603. art 18. Baronius produceth a certaine Appeale made by Ianuarius Bishop of Malaga in Spaine and saith that Gregorie thereupon sent one Iohn to haue the hearing of the cause vpon the place it selfe Where by the way we must obserue that the question was not concerning anie sentence giuen against Ianuarius but onely of an outrage committed vpon his person by one Comitiolus a Lord of great authoritie in that countrey and that therefore this was no Appeale but onely a Refuge But he had forgotten to tell vs how in his Instructions Gregorie commaunded Iohn to haue alwaies before his eies the lawes of Iustinian to gouerne themselues thereby forthese are his words Concerning the person of the Bishop Ianuarius you must remember that this was done contrarie to the Law in that he pulled him by violence out of his Church Ib. ep 54. Which fact he saith ought to haue been punished as treason by the Constitution of Arcadius and Honorius alledging the Law it selfe all at large
the Archbishop was enforced to restore him againe with all his habiliments Here saith the Author Abbas Vrsperg in Chronico in this thing we are to consider the Prelats authoritie and the Popes humilitie whilest the one contended to defend the dignitie of his office the other though his dignitie were greater yet thought it fit to yeeld to a Metropolitan in his owne Diocesse Baron an 1052. art 16.17 Idem an 1053. art 53. se But Baronius growes into choller against the Abbot and censures him and in like manner against Petrus Damianus though verie jealous of that See because he did not allow that the Pope should intermeddle with matter of armes and likewise because he durst to say That an Emperour was to doe that which became an Emperour and a Pope that which was befitting a Pope Petrus Damianus in Epist ad Firmin For saith Damianus in his Epistle to Firminus as the sonne of God himselfe ouercame all the obstacles of this furious world not by a reuengefull and strict examination but by an inuincible maiestie of vndaunted patience so he teacheth vs rather willingly to beare the furious rage of this world than to raise armes and to answer wrongs with wrongs especially since betweene a Kingdome and a Priesthood their proper offices are distinguished a King must vse the arms of this world a Priest gird himselfe with the spirituall sword which is the word of God c. And to this purpose he alledgeth many places of Scripture with other reasons and examples yea he extendeth this law euen to the Pope and particularly to Leo himself If any man shall obiect against this I haue said saith he that Pope Leo doth often trouble himselfe with warlike affaires yet I affirme that which I say to be true because Peter obtained not the chiefe place among the Apostles because he denied Christ nor Dauid was therefore a Prophet because he defiled another mans bed for good and bad actions are not iudged according to the merit of the persons but their owne proper qualities Haue we euer read that Gregorie euer did this or by his letters taught it who endured so many wrongs and violences by the raging crueltie of the Lombards Did Ambrose make warre against the Arrians who cruelly vexed him and his Church Or haue we read of any of the holie Popes that haue risen vp in armes Let the lawes therfore decide all Ecclesiasticall causes or the Edicts of Councels least that which should be determined in place of iudgement being decided by warres turne to our greater shame and reproach What then saith Baronius Baron an 1053. art 14.15.16 sequent The Maximes of Damianus are contrarie to those of the Catholike Church which condemne those of Heresie who attribute not both swords to the Pope and so of a worthie Cardinall because he diued into this mysterie he makes him an Heretike but by what judges Gregorie the ninth and Boniface the eigth who were long after him than whom there was neuer more insolent tyrans who in their owne proper causes and the heat of their furie vomited out their Decrees against the Emperours He that knowes but the principles of Logicke will here presently obiect Principij petitionem He addeth againe That the vse of the Church approueth this doctrine What will he say if we replie Not the vse but the abuse the corruption And here hee alledgeth certaine places of S. Gregorie exciting those that were called to armes by the commaund and authoritie of the Emperour against the Lombards But did he make warre with his owne powers Did he proclaime warres Did he goe into the field in his owne person He replieth Neither did Pope Leo fight but was onely present at the warres and when they came to joyne battell he withdrew himselfe out of the field where with safetie he might attend the euent and so of this his Monarch he maketh a Trumpeter or an inciter vnto warre Here let the Reader note this mans impudencie who feared not to accuse Damian of the heresie of Tertullian who dissuaded Christians from warre or rather of Iulian the Apostata who commaunded Christians according to the Gospell to suffer all manner of wrong and violence without resistance Is therefore the vocation of all Christians one and the same By that argument a Captaine may be permitted to say Masse as well as a Priest by which it is made lawfull out of Baronius for the Prince of Priests to make warres or to be a Leader in the field But the state of the Court of Rome we may no where better learne than out of Damianus who in horrour of the abhominations thereof of a Cardinall became an Hermit and being drawne from thence vpon some pretence of seruice to be done to the Pope he seemes to be brought into hel againe and expostulats this great wrong done vnto him with the Pope and Hildebrand Writing therefore to Hildebrand though he tooke part with Alexander against Honorius But it may be saith he that this flattering tyran who with a Neronian pietie condoles my estate strokes me when he buffets me handles me gently with the talants of an Eagle that is to say the Pope that he might retaine him at Rome and get him thither againe will complainingly breake out into these speeches Behold how he seekes a lurking corner vnder colour of penance forsakes Rome he goes about to gaine idlenesse by his disobedience and whilest others run into the field to fight he seekes to hide himselfe in the darkenesse of a degenerat ignoble shadow c. And he protesteth to his holie Diuell for so he calls the Pope that he will euer be readie vpon all occasions to assist him against Honorius vpon condition that he may returne againe to his hermitage What then moued him hereunto Doubtlesse if we beleeue him the lasciuious life of the Clergie of Rome from which he did flie as from a pestilent infection that inuaded his bowels his heart his mind Petrus Damianus in Epist ad Alexand. Hildeb which he expresseth in all kind of actions and speeches vnworthie Church-men From which grieuous enormities saith he if we striue either for shame or feare to free our selues presently we are iudged to be rude and vnciuile descended from the tygres of Hircania but I stay my pen. And speaking of their excesse and superfluitie There are euerie day kinglie feasts daily preparations nuptiall banquets whilest the poore abroad dye for hunger c. And that which is worse than all the rest and more than diabolicall is that hauing spent their reuenues at the warre they lay their hands vpon the tithes and make them temporall too To conclude speaking of the generall corruption It is such saith he that the Spiritualtie is discerned from the Temporaltie by the shauing of their beards onely not the sanctitie of their actions neither doe they meditate vpon the sacred Scriptures but vpon the ciuile lawes and controuersies of temporall Courts The
Italie an enemie to the Church and those that tooke his part namely the Millanois and their adherents were excluded from the communion of the Church In the meane time Innocent died in the yeare 1216 and Otho in the yeare 1218 who as an argument of repentance left by testament the ensignes of the Empire to young Frederic Krantzius speaking of the causes of discord betweene Otho and Innocent although for the most part inclined towards the Popes Krantz l. â— c. 33. 34. saith That the Emperour demaunded through Italie the auntient rights of the Empire whereof long since some of them were transferred to the Church He also challenged that great inheritance of Mathilda a woman of great estate in Italie as appertaining vnto him by a double right for he seemed to be the heyre of his Aunt who descended from the Marquesses of Saxonie and also as falling to the Empire for want of heires And hereupon Innocent saith he exhorted the Princes Electors that forasmuch as he had cast off Otho first excommunicated and then deposed to chose vnto the Empire another Prince offering vnto them Frederic of the age of 20 yeares of whom although he had the administration of his Gardenship he couerted all to his owne profit for the Continuor of the holie warre saith Frederic being yet a child and a pupill Continuator belli sacri l. 3. c. 10. was depriued by Innocent his tutor of the inheritance of his Kingdome and beeing free was made tributorie without respect either of the prayers of Henrie his father or Constance his mother or his owne promise made vnto them Blond Decad. 2. l. 6. Blondus noteth two bold Decrees of this Pope the first so often as one Prince shall offend another that the correction shal belong to the Bishop of Rome The which was done vpon the difference betweene the Kings of Fraunce and England and is inserted into the Decretals The second That two striuing for the Empire hauing voyces alike Extra de election c. Venerabilem he whom the Pope alloweth shall be preferred which is there red and put in practise in fauour of Otho the fourth and ought to be receyued as lawfull by this meanes he was made the Arbitrator of the whole world But the Bookes especially written by himselfe doe testifie how much this mysterie did pricke him forward The Bishop of Rome saith he Innocentius 3. ser in festo Syluestri Papae vseth the Globe in signe of Empire the Globe is the signe of the Empire vseth the Mytre in signe of his Popedome But the Mytre he vseth alwayes and euerie where but the kingdome neyther euerie where nor alwayes because the Papall authoritie is both the first and the worthier and further spread than the imperial for among the people of God the Priesthood went before the kingdom when Aaron the first priest went before Saul the first king Jdem Serm. 1. in festo Gregorij Papae Noah also was before Nemroth when of him the Scripture saith That Babylon was the beginning of Nemroth but Noah built an altar to the Lord and offered sacrifice vpon it But speaking of the Priests and Kings he calleth the Priests Gods and the Kings Princes From the Gods he saith thou shalt not detract and the Prince of the people thou shalt not curse and when the Apostle spake of the King All humane creatures be yee subiect euen for Gods cause to your Kings as the most excellent or to you leaders as sent by him The Lord saith to Hieremie the Priest of the Priests of Anatoth I haue appointed thee ouer Nations and Kingdomes that thou maiest pull downe and destroy build and plant c. But to Peter especially he sayd Thou shalt be called Cephas that is to say head wherin the fulnesse of the senses consist Who did euer read such Diuinitie And yet behold there is worse When our Lord and Sauiour sayd vnto S. Peter Duc in altum Jdem in Serm. 2. de festo Sancti Petri. cast into the deepe this deepe Sea is Rome which obtayned and holdeth the prioritie and principalitie aboue all the world as if he sayd Goe to Rome and transport thy selfe with all thine to the Citie there cast thy nets abroad to take In another place The Church of Rome oweth not any reuerence to any person but the Pope who hath no superior but God But yet see here his companion and corriuall The Bishop of Rome saith he hath the Church of Rome his spouse and yet bringeth in other Churches subiect vnto him This is the first that I knew that hath gone so farre as to call himselfe the spouse of the Church arrogating to himselfe the true and incommunicable title of the Lord who is the true and onely spouse of the true Church and therefore the Church of Rome cannot be the true Church if the Pope be her spouse nor the Pope her spouse Bernard ad Eugen Epist 237. if the Church of Rome be the true spouse Let vs heare what S. Bernard saith writing to Pope Eugenius It remaines now that thou take care that the spouse of thy Lord who is committed to thee be made the better by thee If thou bee a friend of the spouse thou shalt not call his beloued My Princesse but Princesse challenging nothing to thy selfe in her vnlesse if occasion were to giue thy life for her If Christ haue sent thee thou must make account thou art sent to serue and not to be serued Can a man thinke that it is sufficiently excused by that poore distinction of Bellarmine Bellarmin de Romano Pontif l. 2. 31. of a principall or subalterne spouse I omit his comparison of the two lights which God hath placed in the firmament the Sunne and the Moone the Sunne hee compareth to the Pope the Moone to the Emperour for doubtlesse he that feareth not to violat the commaundements of Christ himselfe the King of kings wee may thinke he will little spare the Princes of the earth And truely vnder the pretence of this spirituall authoritie hee required at the same time the temporall homage of the kingdome of England for there being a controuersie betweene the Bishops Suffragans of the Archbishop of Canturburie and the Monkes touching the election of the Archbishop the Monkes pretending that they onely ought to chuse him and the Bishops saying they could not doe it without them Both of them comming to Rome Innocent persuaded the Procters of the Monkes to chuse Stephen Lanthon a Cardinall Priest his seruant and albeit they protested they could not doe it without the King and their Conuent being ouerborne with his threats of excommunication hee ouercame them and pronounced sentence for the Monkes against the Bishops giuing the Monkes likewise to vnderstand that he would excommunicat them if they obeyed not his Decree King Iohn who then raigned was much offended as well because Innocent had said Math. Paris in Johan p. 216. That it was
Christ had giuen to Peter of binding and loossing on earth And by this meanes these chapmen being fatted well returne vnto the citie with many faire horses and a decent familie and make an account of these their collections to Boniface c. which he most seuerely required of them and many taken in fraud he put to death Thus Vrban had sowed the yeare of Iubilie which in his stead Boniface reaped But the testimonie of Theodorick shall not be heard alone though without all exception the greater because his Secretarie Platina himselfe saith Indulgences yea plenarie Platina in Bonifacio 9. were sold euerie where in so much that the authoritie of the keyes and Apostolicall letters were in contempt c. and many wickednesses were done by simonie Krantzius in Metrop l. 11. c. 10. 12. And Krantzius Vnder his Popedome were made many and often translations of Bishops many and often giuings of Indulgences euen to the breeding of loathing in mens hearts Hee gaue graces and Indulgences vnheard of and what he easily gaue he as lightly reuoked stirring vp a report throughout all Christendome that he could not be filled with gold The Romans had hitherto retained the chiefest authoritie in the citie which was the cause that the Popes abhorred to abide there This Pope taking occasion by their discords dealt so with them that in the tenth yeare of his Popedome he got to himselfe alone the temporall domination in alto basso saith the Author high and low in all and through all and to maintaine the same he spared no subsidies nor tributes exacted from the Clergie He reedified the castle of S. Angelo and the Capitoll and therein placed a garrison And this truely hee obtained by a verie notable sacrilege He greatly desired the comming of the yeare 1400 An. 1400. to celebrat the great Iubilie notwithstanding the other that Vrban had interserted Boniface a little before departed to Assisium making a shew to stay there Whereupon the people fearing least by reason of his absence who should giue the blessing the Iubilie would not be celebrated at Rome with that solemnitie they come humbly with great pompe to entreat him to returne vnto them But he the more he is intreated the lesse he is moued and vpbraideth them of their euill behauiour towards him and seemeth to loath the citie That since the later yeares of Vrban they had not receiued any Senators from without but I know not what Conseruers of the chamber men vnsufficient who had suffered all things to be done at the pleasure of the Banderets Wherefore the Romans were brought to that passe being desirous of gaine by that faire that they bought his blessing with the price of their libertie consented that authoritie should bee taken away from the Banderets receiued from his hand a stranger Senator Malatesta de Pisaro admitted also for his safetie a garrison into the citie in which from thenceforth he ruled as absolute Lord all his life time And hereby taking more boldnesse he established the law of Annates in all nations which till then he had practised onely in Italie where he might That by the same saith Blondus hee might make the Roman Bishops his successors no lesse Lords of all Christendome than of Rome for in the law set forth he ordained That it should be lawfull for no man promoted to a benefice to possesse the same before he had payed so much money into the Popes treasurie as the first yeares reuenues thereof might amount vnto and the Englishmen alone obeyed the law in the Cathedrall Churches but in the smaller benefices they contemned the Popes commaund Now in this Iubilie he sold Indulgences to the most giuer as hee had done in the former and though the pestilence grew hot at Rome yet hee would not depart thence Theodor. Ã Nyem l. 1. c. 28. Yea for feare least he should lose in the meane time the temporall dominion of the citie he remained there also in the Sommer time neither gaue hee any almes to sicke pilgrims in that dangerous season although he then abounded in all things for he was accustomed to catch away and not to communicat any thing of his prey to the needie Now betweene the two Iubilies died the Antipope Clement at Auignion who in his obedience was in nothing lesse diligent than Vrban and Boniface To him succeeded Peter de Luna a Spaniard Benedict the thirteenth He being vrged by the king of France who by the aduise of the Vniuersitie of Paris had receiued him onely on condition That hee should indeuour the vnion of the Church sent his Nuntioes to Boniface and his Cardinalls to request him That they might meet together in some place safe to both parties for to take counsell for the concord of the Church This hee propounded indeed discreetly and diligently though as it thought fraudulently And thus also did the Cardinalls of Boniface seeme to take it But Boniface answered not verie gently affirming That he was Pope and the sayd Peter an Antipope and the like words making little or nothing to the cause Whereat the Nuntioes being angrie sayd in his presence That their Lord was not a Simoniack noting Boniface to be one At which words being greatly moued he commaunded them to depart the citie and when they answered That they had safeconduct from himselfe and from the people of Rome and had some time yet left vnexpired which they would enioy he was so immoderatly chafed with anger that his disease of the stone beginning to torment him he went to bed and the third day after dyed Krantzius Saxon l. 10. c. 13. Yet neuerthelesse saith Krantzius that hee might obtaine by the mediation of the mother of God the vnion of the Church hee published by his Buls the feast of the Visitation of Marie instituted by his predecessor Let the Reader judge with what faith in so wicked an intention Neither is it here to be omitted That Francis Pregnan the nephew of Vrban the sixt for whose aduancement he so much laboured when he had a long time beheld a dancing entred into his chamber and gaue himselfe many blowes with a sword and by them that ranne in at his crying out he was hindered of finishing his purpose But the judgement of God which pursued him stayed not long for whiles he was going to Venice with his mother his sonne his daughter and eighteene seruants men and maids his ship was cast away neere Brundusium And so saith the Author all the posteritie of Vrban the sixt was extinguished the waues of the sea requiring vengeance to wit for the Cardinals whom he so wretchedly had cast into the sea And thus are we come to the yeare 1404 when Boniface died for this schisme is longer than can be at once declared OPPOSITION The onely historie of these Antipopes described by such as were neere about them and inward with them the judgement also which they gaue the one against the other the one
vniuersall authoritie both of Councels and of the Church it selfe to the person of the Pope alone Eugenius in the Councell of Florence Pius the second in his eloquent bull on that matter and others afterward it followeth that the Pope is exalted aboue the holie Scriptures yea aboue God himselfe and is therfore to be accounted for him of whom the Apostle speaketh 2. Thes 2. He exalteth himselfe against all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he sitteth in the Temple of God as God who dare correct God alter the sence of his word after his owne pleasure commoditie And thus Reader thou seest how this Mysterie of Iniquitie still aduaunceth forward OPPOSITION The precedent progression is intermixed with so many and mightie oppositions that there seemeth to be no need of any other notwithstanding as sighes encrease according to the euill so in this place aboundeth vnto vs verie manie The Emperour Sigismund had framed certaine Articles of reformation to be exhibited to the Councell of Constance diuers others also in diuers Nations had conceiued also some patternes M. Peter de Alliaco Cardinal of Cambray is particularly commaunded to write these things for to shew them to the Councel in the yere 1415 An. 1415. the first of Nouember foure monthes after that Iohn the foure and twentieth had renounced the Popedome the Seat being vacant two yeres before Martin was chosen to succeed during which space this matter of reformation seemed fittest of all to be thought vpon The Preface of his discourse is by a place of S. Bernard vpon the Canticles Sermon 33. A rotten vlcer spreadeth it selfe at this day ouer all the bodie of the Church so much the more desperat by how much the more it is farre and wide extended and by how much the more it is inward so much the more it is dangerous For if an heretike enemie should openly arise he might be cast out and so wither if a violent enemie she might perhaps hide her selfe from him but now whom shal she cast out or from whom shall she hide her selfe All are friends and all enemies c. they are the minister of Christ and serue Antichrist c. The wound of the Church is inward and incurable therfore in peace her bitternesse is most bitter And this place haue we aboue alledged at length out of which he draweth this conclusion Seeing that the Church from henceforth was fallen from euill to worse vnlesse betimes it be looked to and preuented after the horrible darknesse of so many schismes much more horride things were in very few daies to be expected He prosecuteth afterwards by degrees those things that he thinketh doe belong to reformation of the vniuersall body of the Church First That it is necessarie there shold be eftsoons held generall and Prouinciall Councels for the correction of abuses especially generall which can with greater authoritie correct both all sorts of persons and all things Neither are we to expect remedie from the Church of Rome as if it were able to satisfie all cases that fall out Many saith he suspect that she hath dissembled these things and for this cause hath neglected the holding of Councels that she might the more fully beare dominion according to her owne lust and pleasure and vsurpe the more freely the rights and prerogatiues of other Churches That before the time of Constantine because the Church might not with free libertie hold Councels it hath fallen into diuers heresies therefore no maruell if in these later times through neglect of Councels it fall into diuers schismes and innumerable other euils ad haereses disponentia which dispose it to heresies That generall Councels are first of all necessary for the reformation of the body of the Church Dist 19. C. Anastas ibid. Glossa Archid dist 15. especially of the Roman which is de arduis pertinentibus ad fidem difficult in things pertaining to faith in as much as that which the Glosse saith That the Pope ought to require a Councel when matters of faith is debated is not to be referred onely to the articles of faith but to those things that belong to the state of the faithfull Church whereas otherwise it would be too dangerous a thing to commit our faith to the judgement and fancie of one man alone Lastly that now if euer was a fit opportunitie either to procure the vnion of the Greekes with the Latines or to represse the designements of the Turks who after they haue rent and torne in peeces the Empire will with all violence rush vpon the Church and so make way for Antichrist And already saith he many very godly deuout men not without cause doe feare praesentialiter presently both the one and the other ruine namely of the Empire by the Turks and of the Church by Antichrist 2. For the reformation of the Court of Rome That for the auoiding of schismes which proceed from the factions of the Cardinals it is sufficient to haue of euery each Prouince but one onely Cardinall Also that the Pope ought to prouide remedies cut off the grieuous burdens wherwith the Roman Church oppresseth other Churhces seeing that the Greeke Church is alienated from it because of her exactions excommunications and statutes and that to take away those exactions it were meet she should abate of her pompe of her excesse and of the number of the Cardinals Excommunications which after the example of the Primitiue Church for to make them the more to be feared ought not come forth but for graue and weightie causes whereas in these dayes they are thundered forth for verie light and for the most part temporall causes and the Anathemaes themselues whereupon they are growne into contempt with all men That there be a meane vsed in Statutes Canons and Decrees which oblige to mortall paines and of which may be said that of our Lord to the Pharisies They lay burdens on mens shoulders which they wold not touch with the top of the finger And this article reached very farre 3. For the Prelats That they should be chosen capable in doctrine exemplarie in manners resident in their charges moderat in diet and expence abstaining from corporall armes from secular affaires cutting off all simonie That it was necessarie to declare that many obseruations are of that kind that they are rather counsels than precepts He bringeth for example Lent to be moderated out of the circumstances the Seruice to be abridged to a deuout and entire breuitie the varietie of Images in Churches to be repressed a meane and bounds to be set in new Holidayes Churches and Saints on Sondayes and solemne feasts onely to abstaine from labour and out of the Diuine Seruice to banish and put forth all Apocripha Scriptures new prayers and to be short all nouelties 4. For religious persons That their great number and diuersitie is altogether pernitious whilest the one boasteth and is proud in his Rule against the other aboue all
common consent of the States George Prodebraccius a great captaine and a professor of their religion who restored the condition and sliding state of these Churches And as he constantly perseuered therein notwithstanding the threats of the Emperour and Pope hee was excommunicated by Paul the second and his Estate exposed to the first inuaders thereof Matthias king of Hungarie tooke vpon him the conquest of this Prouince by the instigation of Rodolfe the Popes Legat with the approbation of the Emperour Fredericke the third and by the fauour of many of the great men of the kingdome But after many battels fought with variable successe he could not bring his purpose to passe And in the meane time this valiant Prince was thereby hindered from the necessarie warre which he had prosperously made against the Turkes being accused of ingratitude for that he had set vpon George to whom he was verie notably obliged for hauing generously set him free out of prison without any ransome and also giuen him his daughter in mariage when he was chosen king of Hungarie In hatred of which fact euen after the death of George when Matthias was declared king by the Pope the States of the kingdome of Bohemia would neuer giue their consent vnto it but preferred before him Vladislaus sonne of Casimir king of Polonia who although he was oftentimes instigated by the Pope against George yet would neuer be persuaded to take armes against him judging it a thing vnworthy vnder pretence of the Catholike Faith to violat the faith giuen to each other And this bringeth vs to the yeare 1470. 64. PROGRESSION The Atheisme of Sixtus the fourth and his abhominable and wicked life whom Innocent the eighth succeeded both in the Popedome and in all impietie Of Alexander the sixt by what diuellish meanes he attained the Popedome and of his abhominable incestuous life and miserable death Charles the French king passeth into Italie with a mightie armie and of his valiant proceedings there NOw it was thought that the Popes were come to that height of impietie and tyrannie that they could hardly ascend to a higher step and yet by that which followeth we shall easily perceiue that they found meanes to adde both a ridge and pinnacles to that building It is beyond all beleefe especially we reporting it had we not their owne Authours to witnesse it against them In the yeare 1471 Francis de Rouere borne in Sauoy Generall of the Franciscans got the Popedome who was called Sixtus the fourth Of this man Onuphrius giues this testimonie That for his great learning as long as hee was Cardinall all questions that concerned matter of Faith were committed to him Where let the Reader note from that which followeth vpon whose faith the Catholike Faith depended At the first onset he made shew of calling a Councell at Lateran vnder a twofold pretence The reformation of the Church and The holie Warres The causes were both verie plausible both for the allaying of the grieuous gronings of good men and the freeing them of their feares But the place was not thought so fitting being that out of which there neuer came any thing profitable to the Church The Emperour Frederick desired that it might be in the borders of Germanie and at the instant request of the Archbishop of Carnie who gaue his best assistance to forward the Reformation the Emperour and Princes called an assemblie of many Bishops at Basil But Sixtus hearing thereof Stumfius in Histor Heluetia sent Angelus the Bishop of Suesse to the Senat of the citie threatening to interdict them if they sent not the Archbishop to Rome bound hand and foot accounted not the rest of the Bishops that were with him for excōmunicat persons But the Senat of Basil not enduring that so great a wrong shold be offred vnto them in a free city the Legat excommunicating them departed in choler Frederic neuerthelesse persisted in his purpose but yet the better to pacifie Sixtus he desired that the Councel might be called at Vtina in Friuli a countrey in Italie but that pleased him not neither This difficultie so soone as he saw he had ouercome withall established his seat with the mutuall Legations of Princes hee bent all his endeuours to the encrease of the honour and greatnesse of his friends and kindred Volateran Onuphr Volateran and Onuphrius say in expresse tearmes That he was accounted by the iudgement of all verie louing and indulgent towards his kindred for whose sakes hee had done and granted many things praeter fas jusque against all lawes humane and diuine Hee created therefore two Cardinals and that not without a mysterie Peter Riere whom hee had brought vp from a child with his brother Ieronimo and Iulian his brothers sonne who was afterward Iulius the second Peter being in a short time strangely inriched became so sumptuous that he seemed to be borne to spend money for he consumed in those two yeares wherein he liued a Cardinall two hundred thousand crownes in his ordinarie houshold expence left fortie thousand crownes in debts and other infinit riches and mouable goods He died weakened and worne out with pleasures But neuerthelesse a Legat a mad choyce it was in Italie It is he whose prodigious prodigalitie Baptista Fulgosius describeth to be such Baptista Fulg. dict factor memorab l. 9. Baptista Mantuanus in Alphonso l. 4. that hee vsually gaue to Tiresia his harlot pantofles wrought all ouer with pearle of whom likewise Baptista Mantua writeth these verses wherein Iupiter thus saluteth him in hell At tu implume caput cui tanta licentia quondam Foemineos fuit in coitus tua furta putabas Hic quoque praetextu mitrae impunita relinquit Sic meruit tua foeda Venus c. But thou O Bauld-pate who once mightest freely Glut thy desires with womens companie Thinkst thou thy Myter can here thy thefts defend Such hath the desert of thy leacheries been c. To the reproach and ignominie both of Pope Sixtus and himselfe Of Iulian we shall speake hereafter in his place Hauing prouided for these two that were neerest vnto him both in bloud and affection he bent his endeuours to the promotion of the rest of his kindred He made therefore his brother Ieronimo brought vp with him the Prince of Forlie and Imola whether by right or wrong hee regarded not whom he maried to Catherina the bastard daughter of the Duke of Milan hauing first bestowed a hat vpon Ascanius the Dukes sonne to get his fathers consent Presently after he raised Leonard his brothers sonne whom he maried to a bastard of king Ferdinands and made him Gouernour of Rome He made Iohn also the sonne of Cardinall Iulian Prince of Soria and Senogallia who maried Ioan the daughter of Frederick of Montefeltro Duke of Vrbin from whom came Franciscus Maria who his vncle dying without heires male obtained the dukedome and in this manner did he exalt diuers others He was so liberall say
thou dissemblest it These Iuglers in the meane time are nor ashamed to tell vs in bookes printed to that purpose That Antichrist is borne at Babylon with the teeth of a Cat with rowling eyes growen to his full stature in an instant made knowen by his miracles and presently marching towards vs with a huge armie What opinion haue these men either of your sottishnesse or their owne sufficiencie that they should thinke to blind you with these fooleries How long shall they with their brazen faces goe scotfree or you euen with the losse of your owne soules with your leaden minds Shall they alwaies lull you asleepe with these fables and will you neuer find a time to awaken neuer haue vnderstanding to discerne them Let me therefore speake vnto you O ye people why doe ye still make delaies Being so often deluded why doe ye not obey the voyce of God thundering from heauen Apoc. 18. v. 4. 9. Goe out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sinnes and that ye receiue not of her plagues And O ye kings so long made drunken why stand ye at a gaze not executing the counsell of the Almightie which cannot be made frustrat nay which in a manner is alreadie fulfilled why doe ye not rather make that beast desolat and naked Apoc. 17. v. 16. and eating her flesh burne her with fire In danger otherwise to lament before her to be partakers of hir punishment her ruine since you haue so long enioyed her pleasures and committed fornication with her But thou O my Sauiour in the middest of this cunctation or rather carelesse securitie awaken and rise vp and come downe and behold the sinnes of this spirituall Sodome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they are now consummat and come to their ful height Tread the wine presse alone though none of the people none of the kings ioyne with thee Esay 63.3 Gird thy sword vnto thee euen thy two edged sword wherewith that man of sinne shal be slaine the spirit of thy mouth thy holie word And let the wicked at the last cry out standing a farre off for feare of her tormonts Alas alas the great citie Babylon Apoc. 18. v. 10. the mightie citie for in one houre is thy iudgement come Let the godlie sing together and let them repeat it againe and againe Halleluiah Saluation and glorie and honour Apoc. 19. v. 2. and power be to the Lord our God for true and righteous are his iudgements for he hath condemned the great Whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath auenged the bloud of his seruants shed by her hand And let me O Lord sing with old Symion being wearie of this world full of yeres and thirsting after thee Luk. 2. v. 29.30 Now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes haue seene thy saluation The saluation and deliuerance of thy Church from the hands of her enemies the Lambe victorious and triumphant shortly celebrating the mariage of thine elect with the immaculat Lambe Christ Iesus to whom with the Father and the holie Ghost be all honour and glorie for euer and euer Amen ⧠To the Reader POpe Paule the fift caused himselfe to be pourtrayed in the first page of diuers Bookes dedicated vnto him printed at Rome and at Bolognia as hath beene sayd in the Preface The first words of the Latine inscription are PAVLO V. VICEDEO take the numerall letters and you shall find the number of the Beast Apocal. c. 13. v. 18. PAV 5. L 50. O V 5. V 5. I 1. C 100. ED 500. EO 5. 50. 5. 5. 1. 100. 500. 666. THE MYSTERIE OF INIQVITIE That is to say The Historie of the Papacie Declaring by what degrees it is now mounted to this heigth and what oppositions the better sort from time to time haue made against it THE PREFACE Of the person of Antichrist of the time when and of the place where he was to be reuealed THe Mysterie whose proceedings we here intend to set downe in writing is none other than that which was foretold by S. Paule in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians and the second chapter and more particularly by circumstances and signes described by S. Iohn in the thirteenth fourteenth seuenteenth and eighteenth chapters of his Reuelation which Mysterie time it selfe from age to age hath euer interpreted by euents till now at length all prophesies fulfilled we see it clearely reuealed in these our dayes 2. Thess cap. 2. S. Paule therefore telleth vs That that day of Christ meaning that glorious day of his last comming shall not come vnlesse there first come that Apostasie and notable reuolt that is vnlesse some great part of the Church first fall away from the pure and vndefiled seruice of Christ and vnlesse that man of sinne be first reuealed that sonne of perdition which shall be ringleader and chiefe director in this desperate reuolt lost in himselfe and cause of perdition vnto others and is therefore called by S. Iohn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say a Destroyer Apocal. 9. vers 11. And to the end that none should take offence when these things should come to passe he forewarneth vs of the greatnesse of this reuolt by representing it to our vnderstanding vnder the name of Babylon and of an Horrible confusion comparing him who was to haue the chiefe direction and commaund in this worke Apocal. 17. vers 3. to a woman sitting vpon a Beast of scarlet colour eminent and in euerie respect glorious and consequently admired of all those who should behold her Ibid. vers 8. saue onely those whose names are written in the booke of life insomuch that euen Kings those I meane whom she shall make drunke with the wine of her abhominations shall giue her their authoritie and power to helpe warre vpon the Saints and that Peoples and Nations shall serue her for a seat to sit vpon Ibid. vers 13. The waters sayth he on which she sitteth are Peoples and Multitudes and Nations and Tongues So that that Apostasie and that man of sinne make both together a kind of Estate or Kingdome whereof the Apostasie is the Bodie euen the Papacie which hath long since degenerated from the true doctrine of Christ drenching the world with Idolatrie and Superstition and that Man of sinne is the Head euen the Pope or Romane Bishop in whose person all this power and authoritie is combined and in his name executed Apocal. ca. 13. vers 12. And for this cause maketh S. Paule mention of an Apostasie and of a man of sinne and S. Iohn of a second Beast and of a Whore By which second Beast which exerciseth the authoritie of the first what can be meant but the Romane Hierarchie which hath deriued vpon her selfe all the authoritie of that ancient Commonwealth making the earth to adore the first Beast in the second that is the old
an Apostolicall tradition the other an obseruation receiued from Saint Iohn the Apostle in Ephesus and so continued vnto their dayes This was a difference about a thing in it selfe indifferent and therefore not worthie to disturbe that happie quietnesse and to dissolue the vnion of the Church Polycrates B. of Ephesus in Asia defended his cause by a certaine Epistle registred in Eusebius grounded as he saith vpon holie Scriptures vpon the example of S. Iohn and many other renowned martyrs as also vpon the long continued and vniforme obseruation of the Churches of all Asia It would haue troubled Victor as it shold seeme to haue answered the reasons of this Epistle what doth he therfore Victor saith Eusebius Euseb Hist Ecclesiast lib. 5. edit Latin c. 22.23.24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who was then President of the Church of Rome went at one blow to cut off from that common vnion the Parishes of all Asia with the neighbouring Churches as men of a different opinion in religion setting them by his Epistles as it were vpon a scaffold to the view of all the world and proclaiming excommunicated all the brethren which there inhabited OPPOSITION But this saith Eusebius this attempt of Victor pleased not all the Bishops as if he had said That he did this rather of his owne head and fancie than by authoritie of the Synod wherein it was decreed nay rather they exhorted him Ruffinus translateth it inhibebant they commaunded him to seeke the peace loue and vnitie of his brethren The sayings of sundrie Bishops vttered vpon this occasion saith Eusebius are yet rife in mens remembrance whereby they sharpely reproued Victor Among the rest that of Ireneus writing to him in the name of the Churches which he gouerned in France to this effect That true it was the mysterie of our Lords resurrection ought not to be celebrated but on the Sunday and so are they at a point with him about the thing in question but that for the obseruance of a tradition or auncient custome Victor in duetie ought not to cut off whole Churches condemning thereby the abuse of his authoritie And note here that the interpreter of Eusebius maketh Ireneus to say That Victor should not cut off whole Churches from the bodie of Christs vniuersall Church as if Ireneus had held the Church of Rome for such Whereas in Eusebius it is onely thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. whole Churches of God And his drift herein is cleere by the whole tenor of that Epistle The Priests saith he vnto Victor which before Soter presided in that Church which you now gouerne namely Anicetus Pius Higinus Telesphorus and Xystus neither obserued that day themselues nor suffered others to obserue it yet maintained they peace with those which came vnto them from the Parishes and Churches where it was obserued neither did they euer reiect anie by occasion of this formalitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the Priests which were before you sent vnto them the Eucharist and communicated with them in Sacrament So fared it betweene Polycarpus and Anicetus Priest i. Bishop of Rome whom though Anicetus could not persuade to depart from that which he had euer before obserued as being a disciple of S. Iohn yet parted they in peace and all the Church continued in good accord as well they which did obserue the foureteenth day as they which obserued it not And in this manner wrote Ireneus not onely to Victor but also to sundrie Bishops of other Churches Yet Bellarmine telleth vs Bellarm. lib. 2. cap. 19. de Rom. Pontif. that Victor did well and wisely in so doing to preuent Iudaisme but Ireneus by his leaue shall weigh heauier in the scales with vs than he so also shall our Churches of France who concurring with Victor in the matter yet condemned the manner of his proceedings so shall Eusebius who hauing no part in the brawle yet affirmeth that Ireneus justly reproued Victor And Wicelius in our time sayth boldly See Wicelius That in the Bishops before Victor the spirit abounded but in those which came after him the flesh began to haue the vpper hand and Ireneus himselfe seemeth to touch vpon this string where he speaketh of those Qui Principalis consessionis tumore elati sunt Lib. 4. cap. 4. i. who swell with the pride of the Principall or Prime See from whom we ought to seperate our selues But here Baronius maketh himselfe ridiculous in his Historie whiles he would persuade vs Baronius tom 2. An. 198. art 2 3 4 5 9. that Theophilus bishop of Caesarea assembled the Councell in Palestina which was held vpon this occasion by commission from Victor Bishop of Rome alledging for his author Beda in his booke of the Vernall Equinox written seuen hundred yeres after Iudge the reader what credit this ought to haue in prejudice of Ireneus Polycarpus and Eusebius himselfe Euseb li. 5. c. 25. Histor Eccles who sayth plainely in this manner speaking of that Synod At this day there is extant a certaine writing of the Bishops then called together in Palestina among whom Theophilus presided 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also another writing of those of Rome mentioning Victor their Bishop where we find no trace of anie prerogatiue at all Neither sticketh he to tell vs as much of the Synod of Asia as if Polycrates had held it in qualitie of Pope Victors Legat because forsooth he telleth him in his Epistle that he had called together those Bishops Euseb lib. 5. ca. 21. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Baron to 2. an 198. art 2 3 4. which he entreated him to assemble as if Popes prayers and requests were to be construed and interpreted for commaunds absolute and proceeding from a soueraigne authoritie All which is founded vpon an idle supposall that the bishop of Rome was euen in those dayes reputed and generally taken as vniuersall Bishop and Pontifex Maximus i. High Priest or Pontife Let vs therefore now see the grounds of this supposall and the proofes of this assertion First then Baronius alledgeth a certaine Epistle of Sixtus the first wherein he calleth himselfe the vniuersall Bishop of the Apostolicke Church But who knoweth not that the most learned euen among themselues haue euer discarded these Epistles as false and counterfeit But aboue all this hath the markes of the forge where it was hammered bad Latine not answerable to the puritie of those times and ill befitting a Bishop of the Latines with a false date of the Consuls Adrianus and Verus who raigned long after in the yeare 137 which might well make this grand Annalist to blush for shame We could as well crie quittance with him and for our purpose alledge an Epistle decretall of Pope Eleutherius to the Bishops of France Onuphrius in Fastis Pontif. where he telleth them That the vniuersall Church of Christ is committed to their charge this being an Epistle of as good pistoll proofe as
the Churches Editio Parisien Epist 18. Pa. mel 55. but Cyprian complained thereof vnto Cornelius as of a wrong and in barre of such proceedings pleaded the lawes and constitutions of holie Church These fellowes saith he after all this presume to passe the sea c. For seeing sayth he that by vs all it hath beene alreadie ordained according to rules of equitie and iustice That euerie ones cause should be heard in the place of the fact committed and that to euerie Pastor should be allotted his proper portion of the flocke which he was to ouersee and for which he should stand answerable vnto God it is not fit that those ouer whom we are set should run from place to place to make the Bishops who are at vnitie among themselues to square and fall foule one of another for example Cornelius and Cyprian but that euerie one answere for himselfe in the place where the defendant may haue both accusers and witnesses face to face vnlesse perhaps these few desperate companions thinke the authoritie of the Bishops of Africa who haue condemned them to be lesse meaning lesse than that of Cornelius to whom they fled By all which it euidently appeares that it was the least part of Cyprians thought to acknowledge anie right of appeale to the See of Rome Bellarm. de Pontif. Rom. lib. 2. cap. 33. Wherefore when Bellarmine sayth that the constitution alledged by S. Cyprian That euerie cause should be heard in the place of the fact committed is to be vnderstood onely of the first instance the words themselues and those which follow are too too cleere against him The cause sayth Cyprian hath beene heard sentence is passed it is not fit that a censure of Priests or Bishops should be retracted as rash and vnaduised And as friuolous is that which he sayth that the word lesse is not spoken in comparison of the Pope but of the cause for those words vnlesse they thinke the authoritie of the Bishops of Afrike to be Lesse must necessarily be vnderstood in comparison of them with other Bishops of those against whom they complained with him to whom they sayled that is vnto Cornelius And all this suiteth with the veine of Cyprian as also doth that in his Treatise of the vnitie of the Church The other Apostles sayth he were the same that S. Peter was of like honour of equall authoritie and power but the beginning proceedeth from vnitie to shew that the Church is one where yet to bolster out this pretended Primacie one or other hath corrupted the text in sundrie places contrarie to the truth of manuscripts acknowledged in the Paris edition by the learned Turnebus For betweene these words Pasce oues meas and Et quamuis either Pamelius or some other before him hath inserted these Super vnum illum aedificat ecclesiam suam illi pascendas mandat oues suas that is He hath built his Church vpon him alone i. S. Peter and him hath he commaunded to feed his sheepe And whereas Turnebus readeth Tamen vt vnitatem manifestaret vnitatis eiusdem originem ab vno incipientem sua authoritate disposuit i. yet that he meaning Christ might declare this vnitie he hath declared by his authoritie that this vnitie should take her beginning from one alone Pamelius with like honestie as before betweene these words manifestaret and vnius hath thrust in these Vnam Cathedram constituit i. he hath established one Chaire Likewise after those words before mentioned The Apostles were all the same that Peter was c. after the word proficiscite he addeth Primatus Petro datur The Primacie is giuen vnto Peter And againe vnto these words vt vna Christi ecclesia monstretur he addeth Cathedra vna i. and one Chaire And to conclude where S. Cyprian sayth Qui ecclesiae renititur resistit in ecclesia se esse confidit i. He which resisteth the Church can he hope that he is in the Church Pamelius betweene these words resistit and in ecclesia foisteth in these Qui Cathedram Petri super quam ecclesia fundata est deserit i. he which forsaketh the Chaire of Peter vpon which the Church is builded And the like doth he in manie other places of this Treatise which additions how incompatible are they with the sence and scope of the text it selfe where it is said The Lord hath giuen after his resurrection equall power to his Apostles and againe They were all the same that Peter was as also with that Nullitie pronounced elsewhere against appeales made ouer the sea Cyprian in Concil Carthagin siue de sentent Episcop 73. editio Parisiens Cyprian de Alâ—ator and diuers other places of the same Author None of vs sayth he hath made himselfe a Bishop of Bishops through feare and tyrannie to force his Collegues to his obedience The heauenlie goodnesse hath bestowed vpon vs the ordering of the Apostleship and hath by his heauenlie fauour dignified the Vicars seat of the Lord Christ said to all the Apostles and in them to all Bishops which should succeed them in their Vicariall ordination He which heareth you heareth me Idem ad Puppien Epist 66. editio Parisien so that sayth he one of vs may not iudge another but we attend he excepteth none the iudgement of our Lord Iesus who alone hath power Vnus solus to ordaine vs to the gouernment of his Church and to iudge our doings Thus farre Cyprian immediately vpon whose death the Church of Afrike to cut off all claime of this pretended jurisdiction decreed That the Bishop of the first See should not be called Prince of Priests or chiefe Bishop Idem in Concil Carthag siue de sentent Episcop epist 73. Concil Afric art 6. Capitu. Carol. Magn. li 7. c. 17. Bochell Decret Ecclesiae Gallic li. 5. tit 5. cap. 1. or by any other like name Which decree our French Church heretofore vnderstood expressely of the See of Rome And now let the indifferent Reader judge which edition that of Pamelius or this of Turnebus sorteth and suiteth better with these sayings of Cyprian and consequently whether these are not Harpyes clawes which thus defile the pure foord of the Fathers writings to our hands and what they haue done in this Epistle who can warrant vs that they haue not done in the other writings of the same Father and of all other Fathers But here may we see as in a glasse the audaciousnesse of Baronius Baron to 1. an 33. art 21 an 34. art 203. passim who would make vs beleeue that the meaning of S. Cyprian was cleane contrarie for first he sayth That S. Cyprian acknowledged S. Peters Chaire as supreme Iudge ouer all Churches in the world grounding himselfe vpon the Epistle before rehearsed and so notoriously corrupted which yet he is not ashamed so often to repeat as if it were as true as Gospell and who cannot make his owne cause seeme good if he may be
suffered to doe thus Secondly he sayth That in that decree against Iudgements giuen beyond the seas the Church of Rome was still excepted whereas indeed it was enacted directly against that Church and against no other but for proofe he alledgeth a certaine decretall Epistle of Fabianus In 1. vol. Concil Epist Decret Fabian ad Hilar. 3. Bishop of Rome written to Hilarius with these words Salua in omnibus Apostolica authoritate i. sauing alwayes the authoritie of the See Apostolike as if he had said sauing the case for which the Canon was principally made than which what can be more ridiculously absurd Now as touching all those Epistles which are inserted into the Councels vntill the time of Syricius it is agreed of on all hands that they are of no credit and though they were yet were it reason that Fabianus should be credited in his owne cause But besides the sottishnesse of the stile of this Epistle the verie date which it beareth Baron an 55. art 21. Africano Decio Coss bewrayeth the stampe for they can shew vs no such date either in their Fasti or in Onuphrius himselfe And it is noted in the margent of the first volume of the Councels vpon this Epistle that the greatest part thereof is found word for word in the decree of Sixtus the third which was but as yesterday to speake of a professed Annalist should not so doe Thirdly that notwithstanding all this yet Cyprian did aduow the authoritie of the Church of Rome For sayth he in that Epistle which he wrote to the Clergie of Rome vpon the death of Fabianus he tearmeth him Collegue in regard of his function but Praepositum in respect of his place and dignitie a meere tricke not fitting anie simple scholler much lesse a learned Diuine and Cardinall for what must Praepositus needs signifie a Pope Doth he not in the same Epistle call him a Bishop and doth he not tearme him Praepositus in regard of those to whom he wrote and not of himselfe Or doth he not giue the same style to other Bishops and to himselfe also when as in his seuenth Epistle to Rogatian his Deacon in the Church of Carthage Cyprian epist 7. ad Rogatian editio Pamel congratulating him for the firme and stedfast confession of his Clergie he vseth these words The glorie of the Church is the glorie Praepositi i. of him that is set ouer it meaning himselfe as Bishop as appeareth by the next precedent clause In this common ioy the portion of the Bishop is the greatest Idem epist 11. ad Marty confesso editio Pamel And in the eleuenth Epistle we read Praepositorum est i. It is the part of them which are set ouer the Church to instruct the hastie and ignorant that of Pastors they become not butchers of the flocke to wit in suffering them which had fainted in the confession of Christ to come ouer hastily to the Communion where he expoundeth this word Praepositos by Pastors so likewise in the 13 15 23 27 Epistles as Pamelius himselfe cannot denie But as you see a little stuffe will serue this Cardinall to make the Pope a coat Fourthly he sayth That all questions of heresie were referred to the judgement of the Bishops of Rome exclusiuely to all other at least that others came but onely to stand as cyphers alledging the example of Origen who when he was accused of heresie sent sayth he his confession first of all to Fabian Bishop of Rome as to the Bishop of all the Catholike Church and to this purpose citeth Eusebius but Eusebius joyneth Fabian with others He wrote sayth he to Fabian and to manie other Gouernours of the Church concerning his true profession and so runs the Latine translation and who doubts but that among them all such a man as Fabian Bishop of the imperiall Citie should be respected and written to with the first Fifthly and lastly he saith That Fabian being dead the Clergie of Rome he should haue said the Colledge of Cardinals tooke vpon them the care of all the Churches Baron an 245. ex Euseb lib. 6. c. 8. Grae. ad his proofes in this point are like the rest for sayth he The Clergie of Rome aduertised S. Cyprian of the death of Fabian as appeareth by his third Epistle and knowing that S. Cyprian had withdrawne himselfe from Carthage wrote vnto his Clergie exhorting them to take heed that none went astray Cyprian epist 3. edit Pamel And this they did sayth he Vice Pastoris i. doing as Fabian should haue done if he had liued sending vnto all Churches copies of the order taken at Rome in Lapsorum negotio i. touching their case which had fallen in persecution And what must these mutuall offices of care and loue this interchangeable aduising one another be taken for an argument of soueraigntie and power Cannot one Church consult another but with losse of her libertie nor take counsaile but with prejudice to her freedome or must counsaile serue the giuer for a claime of homage and the taker for a yoke of thrall and bondage Those golden Epistles of S. Cyprian written whether to the Pope or whether to the Clergie of Rome vpon so manie points of great importance wherein he instructs exhorts and sometimes sharpely reproues them shall they serue for so manie presidents to his successors in the Church of Carthage of superioritie and vsurpation ouer other Churches and ouer the Church of Rome it selfe See here Reader the course of their impostures and withall remember which Baronius wittingly suppresseth That this third Epistle of the Clergie of Rome to the Clergie of Carthage on which he grounds himselfe In notis ad epist 3. is not to be found either in the edition of Manutius or in anie manuscript as Pamelius himselfe acknowledgeth 3. PROGRESSION Of the variance which arose betweene S. Cyprian and Stephen Bishop of Rome touching those which had beene baptized by heretikes An. 258. ANother question arose not long after Whether those which had bin baptized by heretikes if afterward they returned to the true Church should be rebaptized or no Stephen held that no Cyprian that they should Stephens cause no doubt was the better had he carried the matter with discretion and sobrietie and had he stood as much vpon ground of argument and reason as he did vpon his authoritie for vnto a letter which was sent vnto him from a Councell consisting of 71 Bishops his answer for all was this Whatsoeuer the heresie be let the partie come to vs let nothing be innouated or changed onely as it hath beene deliuered to vs from hand to hand let them receiue imposition of hands in penance Seeking by authoritie to make the rest of the Churches dance after him and because they would not he excommunicated first the Churches of Africke and then all the Churches of the East which joyned with them OPPOSITION But neither Cyprian nor yet the Churches suffered themselues to
chaires and forsaking their flockes to goe a gadding and roming into other countries haunting Marts and Faires for filthie lucres sake and little caring to feed and releeue their hungrie and staruing brethren so that themselues might haue money at their will getting lands by fraud and money by griping vsurie and what did we not An. 253. saith he deserue for these ill doings This was after the yeare 253. And as bad weeds grow apace in the Church if God from time to time crop them not so Eusebius imputeth that succeeding persecution of Dioclesian to the same causes as before An. 302. Euseb lib. 8. c. 1. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There was saith he among vs nought else but cursed speakings and continualliarres of Prelats falling out with Prelats and congregations with congregations They also which seemed to be Pastors casting off the law and rule of pietie kindled contentions betweene themselues seeking onely to encrease debates threats iealousies heart-burnings and reuenge with an immoderat desire to commaund and sway as in a Tyrannie And therefore lesse wonder is it if afterward taking their ease vnder Constantine the Great many of them became fit instruments some more some lesse to aduance the Mysterie whereof we speake An. 310. 2 Constantine therefore affecting the Christian religion about the yeare 310 set himselfe to bestow huge largesses vpon the Christian Churches especially vpon that of Rome as chiefe citie of the Empire and the place where his person most vsually resided largesses I say and heritages of great reuenewes with sumptuous ornaments all inuentaried in the life of Syluester Lib. 4. de Episc Cler. in Co. Theod. Damasus Anastas in Syluestro written by Damasus Bishop of Rome and by Anastasius surnamed Bibliothecarius and his greatest princes becomming conuerts after his example did the like both by deeds of gift and legacies which Constantine ratified and authorised by law expresse And the more to win credit and to inure his people to Christianitie about the yeare 330 as he pulled downe Idolatry so he applied the reuenewes of their temples to the maintenance of the Christian Churches so that in short time the Roman Church grew exceeding rich All which and euerie particular thereof appeareth in the said life of Syluester and by Cedrenus in his historie where he saith Cedrenus pag. 243. That in the 26 and 27 yeares of his Empire Constantine laboured to pull downe the Idols with their Temples and to conuey their rents and reuenewes to the Churches of God And herewithall went forward still and encreased that pretence of the Bishops of Rome vnto the Primacie whereof we find too many markes in their Epistles euen in those of Syluester himselfe but I make a conscience to alledge them because the more learned sort and Cardinall Casanus himselfe hold them all or the most part for counterfeit vntill the time of Pope Syricius which was the yere 400 as we haue elsewhere declared 3 Neither doe we here speake of that pretended donation of Constantine made vnto the Church of Rome in the person of Syluester as well of the citie of Rome as of a great part of Italie as being a thing contrarie and repugnant to the whole course of histories for that we find no fourth Consulship of Constantine the son and Gallicanus which yet is the date of that donation Because Damasus Bishop of Rome in the life of Syluester so particularly by him described maketh no such mention and Anastasius as little Because all Italie and Rome it selfe came afterwards in partage among the sonnes of Constantine as Eusebius Victor Zozimus Euseb lib. 4. c. 51 Idem de vita Constant lib. 4. c. 49. 50. 51. Zozimus lib. 2. Victor in Constantin Zonaras to 3. Agaâ—â—n Epist ad â—â—â—stant Pogâ—â—â—t in Actis 6. Synod and Zonaras report Because Isidore Burchard and Iuo judging it Apocryphal haue omitted it in their seuerall Collections of decrees Because Pope Agatho himselfe writing many yeares after to Constantine Pogonatus calleth Rome Vrbem Imperatoris seruilem i. The seruile towne or citie of the Emperour Because the most reputed men of the Roman Church haue refuted and reiected it namely a Anton. Archiep part 1. tit 8. c. 2. § sic inquit Antonine Archbishop of Florence b Volaterra in vita Constantin Raphael Volaterranus c Hieron Catalan in practica Cancella Apostol Hieronimus Catalanus Chamberlaine to Pope Alexander the sixt d Otho Frisingens in Annal. Otho Frisingensis e Cardin. Cusanus in concord Cathol lib. 3. Cardinall Casanus f Laurent Valla de ficta donatione Laurentius Valla Senator of Rome g Franciscus Guicciard in locis duobus de Papa Francis Guicciardine and others euerie one of them famous in their seuerall generations Aeneas Syluius himselfe afterward Pope Pius the second in a particular treatise cited by the foresaid Catalanus Because Platina the Popes Historian is ashamed to mention it to be short Because that in the pretended originall it selfe kept in the Vatican and written in letters of gold the scribe which wrot it hath added at the foot thereof in false Latine Quam fabulam longi temporis mendacia finxit i. Which fable a lye of long continuance hath forged And forged indeed with monstrous impudencie when it is there said That Constantine the fourth day after his baptisme gaue this priuiledge also to the Bishop of Rome That all the Priests throughout the Empire should acknowledge him for their head as Iudges acknowledge their King Surely it should seeme that this good Emperour was not well instructed by Syluester in the rights and priuiledges of the Bishops of Rome since it appeareth that he knew not that they came from heauen nor Syluester himselfe well learned in this point since he chose to hold them as from the Emperour rather than from Saint Peter And againe it is there said That Constantine gaue to Syluester and to his successors the Primacy ouer the Sees of Alexandria Antioch Hierusalem Constantinople and all other Churches of the world Doubtlesse Syluester had neuer gone to schoole with the Iesuites where he might haue learned That it belonged properly to him to haue giuen the Empire vnto Constantine as for himselfe that this Primacie and preheminence ouer all other Churches was giuen him in the Gospell And farther it is there said That of purpose to make roome for the Pope the Emperour built Constantinople It being vnfit as it is there said that where the Empire of Priests should be there the earthlie Emperour should intermeddle or haue any thing to doe Yet is it euident that afterward Constantine allotted Rome to one of his sonnes and that many Emperours after him made that their ordinarie dwelling And to conclude this priuiledge was to endure to the end of the world with Crowne and Mantle and other Imperiall robes and he by Constantine damned to the pit of hell without hope of remission that should offer
to impeach or oppose against it And who now can haue any good opinion of the decrees of Gratian reformed in our dayes since Gregorie the thirteenth which vndertooke to reforme them was not ashamed to let stand for good I will not say this Palea or chaffe but this vnsauorie and filthie ordure And wee haue just cause to wonder at the impudencie of Baronius who trippeth ouer this matter as one would doe ouer fire lightly for feare of burning leauing it as a judged case no longer to be questioned Baron to 3. an 324. art 117. We saith he say nothing hereof because we can say nothing but what hath beene often said alreadie and it were bootlesse and troublesome to repeat it Whereas poore soule how many matters of farre lesse importance handled by infinit numbers of Authors doth he there repeat And the whole volumes of his Annales what are they else but heapes of idle and needlesse repetitions Well I wot that things were not at this time come vnto that height neither could they climbe so high but by degrees which we purpose to deduce euerie one of them in their order in the meane time this is cleere that together with their plentie came in corruption not onely in life and manners but also in religion which then began to degenerate by admistion of Heathenish superstitions Baron an 44. to 1. art 86. sequent Idem passim and this is that which Baronius meaneth where he saith That men at that time hallowed Heathenish rites and ceremonies by bringing them into the Christian Churches OPPOSITION This great aboundance and plenty of wealth falling by heaps vpon the Church caused many deuout and well disposed persons to forecast cruell things The Legend of Syluester saith Legenda B. Syluest That there was at that time a voice heard from heauen saying Hodiè effusum est venenum in Ecclesiā i. This day is there a poison powred forth vpon the Church But what euer the wealth of the Roman Church was this one thing is cleere as touching their authoritie That when there was question about Donatus who stood an heretike condemned by the Churches of Afrike Constantine left him not to be judged by Miltiades Bishop of Rome but appointed Delegats for the hearing of his cause namely Maternus Rheticus Marinus Bishops of Collen Optat. cont Parmen li. 1. August Epist 162. 166. Authun and Arles as Optatus Augustine report with whom he joyned afterwards in commission for the same cause the said Miltiades And when Donatus refused to stand vnto their judgement he assigned him the Councel of Arles which himselfe had formerly assembled to judge of his appeale and at last gaue sentence vpon him himselfe in person at Milan so that the Bishops of Rome of Authun and the rest were all equall in this commission without any colour of prioritie Neither needed Constantine any great intreatie vpon the difference and controuersie of Arrius himselfe to call the Nicene Councell Theodor. lib. 1. Histor Eccles cap. 7. and there to preside in person witnesse Eusebius Socrates Theodoret Sozomene Gelasius and the whole companie of Fathers assembled in that Councell by their Synodall Epistles which Fathers tooke vpon them to order the Bishop of Rome and did order him by speciall Canon which Canon because it is cauilled and contradicted by some deserueth more narrowly to be scanned and more particularly to be considered The sixt Canon therefore of the first Nicene Councell about the yeare 325 An. 325. concerning the ranking and ordering of Bishops euerie one in his place Canones Graec. Concil Nicen. 1. can 6. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is read in these words Let the auncient customes be obserued which are in Aegypt Lybia and Pentapolis so that the Bishop which is in Alexandria haue authoritie ouer all these because such also is the manner or custome of the Bishop of Rome where the Greeke word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a thing vsed by custome by which appeareth that it was a matter onely of custome not of law much lesse an ordinance or decree of God Likewise in Antioch and in other Prouinces let euerie Church retaine her due honour And in the seuenth Canon is like prouision made for the Church of Hierusalem and the same reason added Because such hath beene the custome and the ancient tradition to honour the Church of Aelia for so was Hierusalem called after that Adrian had rebuilt it in another place let her also haue her honour next after the other with reseruation alwayes of due honour to the Metropolitane Church And so is this Canon read in Gelasius Cyzicenus in the Acts of this Councell taken out of the Vatican Gelas Cyzicen in Act. Syno Nice 1. pag. 61. where we may obserue that this Councell foundeth them all alike vpon custome which it calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a manner wont or custome placing the Bishop of Rome betweene those of Alexandria and of Antioch vnto whom it assigneth their proper portions in euerie respect equall to him of Rome Of this custome we read in Epiphanius in expresse tearmes The custome sayth he is such Epiphan her 68. in princi that the Bishop of Alexandria hath ecclesiasticall cure and charge ouer all Aegypt Thebaida Mareotis Lybia Ammonia Mareotida and Pentapolis And Ruffinus Ruffin lib. 1. cap. 6. who liued in the same time with S. Ierome about 60. yeares after this Councell citeth the Canons thereof and among the rest this sixt Canon to the effect of the Canon before rehearsed In Alexandria sayth he and in the Citie of Rome let the ancient custome be obserued to wit that the one should take care of the Churches of Aegypt and the other suburbicariarum that is of the Churches neere vnto the Citie meaning Rome And the truth is that at this time doe he what he could he could not extend the limits of his jurisdiction so farre as vnto Milan or Rauenna whereof there is a type and figure remaining at this day at Rome which witnesseth as much wherein the Church of Lateran is expressed to be a Patriarchall Church vnto which there are seuen Bishops assigned to celebrate before the Pope vpon high daies or to assist the Pope if he pleased to celebrate himselfe Onuphri de Episcop titulis Diacon Cardinal to wit the Bishops as saith Onuphrius of the adioyning Cities namely Ostia Porto Sylua candida Sabini Praeneste Tusculum and Alba which Ruffin here seemeth to call Suburbicarias which yet perhaps comprised somewhat more as the countries of Marca and Tuscanie as we may collect out of the Theodosian Code True it is that Balsamon expounding the Greeke Canon extendeth the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome ouer all the West because that in his time which was about the yeare 800 he had stretched his wings a little farther Balsamon in Ca. Nice Synod cap. 6. 7. and Balsamon thought it ynough to exempt the
East from his authoritie not caring in the meane time what became of our Churches of the West But this one thing is euident that Gratian long since entred this Canon in his collection of decrees in the same sence which we alledge it and in more forcible tearmes than we doe cite them namely thus Distinct 65. Can. 6. Nichola in Ep. ad Michael Imperator Let the old custome continue in Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis since the Bishop of Rome hath the like custome For to interprete this Canon after Nicholas the first who liued fiue hundred yeares since that Councell as Gregorie the thirteenth and Bellarmine doe saying That the Councell of Nice knew well ynough that our Lord had giuen all to the Church of Rome and therefore could haue no meaning to order her but others by her example were first to make him judge in his owne cause and secondly to presuppose the thing in question which is an apparant fallax But Bellarmine hath yet one crochet farther of his owne braine he telleth vs That in the vulgar copies there are wanting in the beginning of this Canon these words The Church of Rome hath euer had the Primacie yet let the old custome stand c. But I wonder which are those which he calleth the vulgar copies or whence is it that he would haue these Canons taken if not out of the Greeke Councels out of Ruffin Balsamon Patriarch of Antioch out of Gratians decrees canonized by themselues or out of Cyzicenus who tooke them out of their owne Librarie and lastly if not out of the old Romane Code it selfe Codex canonem vetus ecclesiae Roman edit Paris An. 1609. where this Canon beginneth with these words Antiquae consuetudines seruentur c. Let old customes be kept hauing this summarie ouer head Of priuiledges belonging to certaine Cities joyning Rome as you see with other cities What copie can Bellarmine produce vnto vs more authenticall than these Concil Chalced. Can. 16. Peraduenture he will say the Councell of Chalcedon where it is so read as he alledgeth Action 16. But what if we reply that the Greeke copie of this Councell hath no such matter That Balsamon neuer heard thereof What will he rejoyne especially seeing that this Councell was held in the Greeke Church And put case it were not must we seeke the Canons of the Nicene Councell among those of Chalcedon rather than in the Nicene Councell it selfe Moreouer seeing that Bellarmine sticketh not to tell vs that it was Paschasin Legate of Pope Leo which proposed it in this manner in the Councell of Chalcedon what securitie will he giue vs that this Paschasin dealt more honestly now than did he which afterwards falsified this verie Canon in the open face of the Councell of Carthage But this is not all for Bellarmine himselfe corrupteth Paschasin for whereas he proposeth those words Quod ecclesia Romana c. as a title onely or summarie to the Canon Bellarmine alledgeth them as part of the text and decision it selfe saying Ecclesia Romana semper habuit Principatum inuerting quite the sence and meaning of the Fathers Moreouer true it is that Paschasin alledged those words in manner as we haue said but Bellarmine concealeth that when Aetius Archdeacon of Constantinople had deliuered the booke of Canons to Constantine Secretarie to the Synode Constantine read the sayd sixt Canon as we now doe beginning with those words Antiquae consuetudines seruentur Can. 3. and not with those other Quod ecclesia Romana c. And the decree of the Councell thereupon followed Can. 28. That the Bishop of Constantinople should hold the first place or primacie after the Bishop of Rome because she was new Rome Neither is it the quarrell betweene vs which of these two hath the prioritie but we say that it was so decreed Propter principalitatem vrbis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not by ordinance from Christ not by anie authoritie deriued from S. Peter neither yet by anie graunt from Constantine or act of the Nicene Councell but that it was here so ordered Propter primatum vrbis i. because Rome was the chiefe citie and so as that Constantinople which had none of these fond claimes to make ijsdem primatibus honoris ijsdem priuilegijs vtatur should enjoy the same primacie of honour and equall priuiledges for no other reason but because she was Nona Roma new Rome Now if those pretended priuiledges of the Church of Rome came from the Gospell or from the prerogatiue of S. Peter how could these be made equall with them And if these be equall then is it euident that those other came not from the Gospell or prerogatiue of S. Peter and why then should these men so abuse the name of the Gospell Truth it is that the morrow after Lucentius the Popes Legate protested against this decree requiring it to be retracted and an Act to be made of such his Protestation But his Protestation was rejected by the Emperours Delegates themselues who pronounced in this manner as is there expressed The honourable Iudges said what we haue pronounced all the Synod hath approued namely touching the Canon against which they protested So farre was it from that which Bellarmine would haue Bellarm. de Roman Pontif. lib. 2. cap. 13. That the Fathers of that Councell held themselues satisfied with the remonstrations of Paschasin and this is the truth and sinceritie which they euer vse in alledging Councels As for his finall answere to which he holds himselfe it is more than ridiculous The true exposition and meaning of that Canon sayth he is that the Bishop of Alexandria should gouerne those Prouinces because the Bishop of Rome was so wont to doe that is was wont before anie definition of the Councels to suffer the Bishop of Alexandria to gouerne them But let him tell me in conscience can these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Quia Romanus Episcopus ita consueuit alias Quia Romano Episcopo pardis mos est that is Because this is the manner or custome of the Bishop of Rome can I say these words be thus vnderstood without violencing and wresting all sort of languages Or can this exposition anie wayes suit with the opinion of Ruffinus Or can Bellarmine but blush at the remembrance of this euen in his secret chamber Adde we hereunto that in that celebrious and renowmed Councell of Nice the deputies of the Bishop of Rome presided not but contented themselues with the fourth roome So that Cardinall Cusanus hauing expounded this sixt Canon as we now doe had reason to say as he doth De concordant Cathol lib. 2. cap. 12. Hence we may see saith he how much the Bishop of Rome hath at this time gotten onely by vse and custome of subiectionall obedience beyond that which the old customes of the Church afforded him This then is the naked truth according to that which we find in Histories which yet Baronius would
to affect a soueraignetie ouer the Church of God But be it Iulius assembled a Synod at Rome at the request as well of Athanasius as of the Eusebians his Antagonists what then Was it to judge of the difference betweene them by way of Appeale or was it rather to compose matters betweene them as an indifferent friend The verie words of Athanasius are these The Eusebians sayth he write vnto Iulius and thinking to affray vs request him to call a Synod and himselfe to be Iudge if he would where the Latine Interpreter rendreth it Arbitrator and Baronius vseth the same word Now I would know whether men vse to speake in this manner of a soueraigne Iudge And indeed the Eusebians seeing Athanasius come to Rome drew backe and made Athanasius wait there a whole yeare and a halfe vntill in the end vpon their non apparance Iulius examined the cause of Athanasius and finding him innocent receiued him to the Communion of the Church Neither did Iulius himselfe in the carriage of this businesse vse anie of this absolute or as they tearme it of this coactiue power neither did his proceedings anie whit at all sauor either of the pretended authoritie of a Pope or of the lawfull power of a generall Councell his words are these Though sayth he I haue written alone yet is not this my opinion onely but of all the Italians and Bishops hereabout Whereby it appeareth that this was no generall Councell but onely a Synode within Italie and therefore hath Baronius no colour to conclude from hence a Power in the Pope to call generall Councels Moreouer in his letters to the Easterne Churches he pretendeth nothing but loue vnto them He that wrote vnto you out of loue sayth he should haue beene answered againe in loue But a little after when he attempted to restore the Bishops whom they had deposed they presently assembled in Synod at Antioch where being there present a farre greater number of Orthodox Fathers than of Arrians as Baronius himselfe confesseth by common voice and consent they reproued his insolencie scoffing at him and bidding him to meddle with what he had to doe Here againe Baronius as his manner is beginneth to juggle with vs Baron to 3. an 341. art 56. and to dazzle our eyes by telling vs that this Epistle was written by the Eusebians when as yet it appeareth to haue beene written and sent by the generall consent of all this being no point of faith and doctrine to distract them but onely of Church gouernment Socrates speaking of this Epistle Socrat. l. 2. c. 11. They wrote saith he all by common consent Now of ninetie Bishops there assembled there were not in all aboue thirtie six Eusebians or Arrians and they not willing to acknowledge that name neither So likewise speaketh Sozomen of this Epistle Sozom. l. 3. c. 7. the points whereof what they are alreadie hath beene declared But what saith Iulius to all this doth he alledge for himselfe that either by vertue of his succession to S. Peter or of the Nicene Councell they ought to appeale to Rome no such matter his words are onely these The Fathers of Nice ordained and that not without the counsell of God that the Acts of one Councell should be examined in another whereby there appeareth no greater power giuen to the Bishop of Rome ouer Alexandria than to the Bishop of Alexandria ouer Rome As for the grieuance whereof he complaineth it is onely this that contrarie to the custome they had not written first of all vnto him concerning the difference fallen out in Alexandria to haue his aduice for the composing thereof as being Bishop of the first See as also that manie Synods had beene held in the East concerning points of faith and doctrine without giuing him notice thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contrarie to the Rule and Canon of the Church wherein is contained that none might impose anie law vpon the Churches without the aduice of the Bishop of Rome which was but reason considering the place he held But it followeth not therefore either that he alone might make Canons or that they his aduice once heard might not otherwise determine if they saw cause As for those Epistles of Iulius which we find inserted in the bodie of the Councels they speake in a higher straine nothing there but of Appeales to the See of Rome and of reseruations of all greater causes all founded vpon Scriptures Traditions and the Councell of Nice in all which no one word is to be found tending to that purpose But the verie date of Felicianus and Maximianus Consuls giueth them the lye there being no such Consuls names or anie like vnto them to be found in all that age no not in Onuphrius himselfe and which is the greater wonder Baronius himselfe our grand Annalist is ashamed of them Now come we to examine that famous Councell of Sardica which as Baronius and his fellowes thinke and not without some colour and shew of reason much aduanceth the cause of the Bishop of Rome Baron to 3. an 346. art 5. To begin therefore first I aske who called it That Iulius Bishop of Rome sayth Baronius was the first Author thereof appeareth partly by that which hath beene alreadie spoken and partly by Sozomene who seemeth plainely to insinuate as much But what is this to the purpose The question is Who called it and he for answere telleth vs That the Bishop of Rome was the first Author and aduiser of it whereas the one argueth an authoritie the other onely a care which had beene verie little if in that great combustion he would not haue sought some meanes of pacification But how doth Sozomene seeme to insinuate as much Sozom. l. 3. c. 10. his words are these It seemed good in the minds of the Emperours that the Bishops of either part should at a day appointed meet at Sardica a Citie in Illyria now called Triadizza These are the words of solemnitie and absolute authoritie of the Emperours And Socrates speaking of the same Councell sayth Socrat. l. 2. c. 16. Graec. edit c. 20. That the one Emperour requested it by his letters and the other readily accorded thereunto Also the Synodall Epistle of the Fathers there assembled reported by Theodoret speaketh in this manner The Emperours beloued of God haue assembled vs out of diuers prouinces and countries Theodoret. l. 2. c. 8. and haue giuen vs leaue to hold this holie Synod in this Citie of Sardica And Athanasius a man of all others most interessed in this Councell Athanas Apolog 2. Balsamon in praefat Synod Sardicens By the commaund sayth he of the most religious Emperours Constans and Constantius c. And Balsamon in his preface to this Councell By the commaundement sayth he of these two brothers were assembled 341 Bishops at Sardica And now tell me what are become of Baronius his ghesses Likewise Liberius himselfe successor vnto Iulius sent Lucifer a
Iulius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which onely permitteth him to take knowledge of the cause anew which in the fift Canon is qualified with this Particle as if say they the Bishop deposed As appealing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall flie for refuge to the Bishop of Rome and as the third Canon so this in the decision concludeth onely for a reuiew of the former sentence so little was this matter of formall Appeales meant or vnderstood in this Councell And this fellow which standeth so much vpon his knowledge of Antiquitie and hath written so manie volumes of it should in all reason haue produced some Canon of the Apostles some Constitution of Clement or of some precedent Councell or some example out of the Historie of the Church and not haue grounded himselfe wholly vpon a certaine Appeale made de facto by Martian Valentinian Fortunatus or some such like heretike and make that his onely title to claime by especially considering that the Councell of Nice setteth downe another order in expresse tearmes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Nicen. can 4. Concil Antioch can 4. sequ namely this that the power of ratifying for so doth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there vsed signifie in good Greeke should belong to the Metropolitan in euerie Prouince where there is no superiour appointed ouer the Metropolitan no not the Patriarch himselfe at that time and yet was the question at that time properly concerning the ordination of Bishops And the Councell of Antioch which was held but a little before that of Sardica giueth to a Bishop deposed by his own Synod no other remedie but onely a reuiew in another Synod And farther all Antiquitie forbiddeth euerie Bishop or Metropolitan to receiue anie Bishop or Priest deposed without those solemne letters certificatorie called Formatae from his owne Metropolitan or Bishop which absolute and generall Law were to little purpose if this Law of Appeales did stand in force And hence came the vse of those Formata which were of so great weight and moment and were neuer granted forth but vpon mature aduise and long deliberation Fifthly here may we see how Baronius abuseth a certaine place of Theodoret Theodor. l. 5. c. 9. where he sayth That Iulius hauing receiued letters from Eusebius the Arrian of Nicomedia who made him Iudge following the Law or Ordinance of the Church commaunded him to come to Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and cited Athanasius to appeare there also that is saith Baronius a Canon of the Nicene Councell now lost whereby it was enacted that men might from all parts appeale to Rome so small a piece of ground will serue their turne to found the tyrannie of the Pope vpon for what likelyhood thereof doe they find in anie Historie Wherefore it is more probable to say that seeing this was before that Canon of the Councell of Sardica it was meant rather of the common practise of the Church in those dayes when one Bishop oppressed was wont to flie for reliefe to some other of greater dignitie to cleare himselfe before him who thereupon vsed to call his aduersarie and to heare the cause betweene them according to that vniuersall Bishopricke whereof as sayth S. Cyprian euerie one did administer his portion by himselfe yet so as that no man neglected the whole Bodie or any particular member thereof the Church being a Bodie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sozom. l. 8. c. 13. i. which liued but by one and the selfesame breath As appeareth in the example of Ammonius and Isidore who finding themselues wronged by Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria fled to Chrysostome who receiued them and examined their cause and finding them to haue a right and Orthodox opinion concerning the Deitie wrote to Theophilus to receiue them to Communion if not and that he would yet draw the cause to a farther hearing that then he should send some one or other to make himselfe a partie in it The like was in Athanasius flying to Pope Iulius And yet did not Chrysostome hereupon ground anie pretence either ouer Theophilus in person or ouer the dioces of Alexandria The like was also in Liberius whom the Churches of the East assembled in the Syrmian Councell recommended to Pope Felix and to the Clergie of Rome requiring them to admit him as Collegue in that See which also they obtained And thus you see what that pretended Appeale was Baron an 349. art 6. vnlesse yet perhaps some man may thinke that foolerie of Baronius worth the answering where he sayth that Athanasius calleth the Church of Rome The Church Athanas Apolog 2. idem ad solitarios by excellencie without addition The words of Athanasius are these The Emperour sayth he sent me letters hauing receiued them I went vp to Rome with purpose to visit the Bishop and Church there Who seeth not that this word Rome was omitted in this last place onely to auoid an vnnecessarie repetition of what was necessarily implied Now if we would vrge a saying of the same Father where he calleth Milan the Metropolis of all Italie what rejoinder would he make Nay we may say farther that this Councell had beene ill aduised to draw all to one mans authoritie seeing that Hosius the proposer of this Canon a while after fell away from the true and Orthodox doctrine and that Liberius next successor to Iulius fell vnto Arrianisme excommunicating Athanasius and being therefore himselfe without regard to his pretended supremacie excommunicated by our S. Hilarie Baron an 347. art 25. an 352. art 14. to 3. Baronius seeing the consequence which this Historie draweth with it would faine make it trauersable and sometimes flatly denieth it to be true and which is more enrolleth him in the Catalogue of Saints as he did afterwards the good Hildebrand called Gregorie the seuenth But leaue we him to debate this question with Athanasius and Hilarie with Liberius himselfe whose Epistles Nicholas Faber his trustie friend lately published with the fragments of Hilarie with Bellarmine who as hath beene alreadie shewed so clearely condemneth him and lastly with himselfe for as much as he vseth these fragments of Hilarie so farre forth as they serue his own turne for from thence taketh he a Synodicall Epistle Baron an 357. art 26. written to Iulius from the Councell of Sardica and therefore ought in reason to admit also of that Epistle of Liberius found in the same volume but we need no argument in a thing which himselfe affirmeth so plainely as he doth Baron vol. 4. an 365. art 1 2 3 4 5 sequent By all these things saith he taken partly out of histories partly out of the writing of the Fathers partly out of his owne letters it is impossible to free Liberius from that imputation of communicating with Arrius and of ratifying the sentence by them giuen against Athanasius And if saith he there were no other proofe his owne letters are sufficient to put
it out of question But shall wee therefore call him heretike minimè gentium And why not good sir since many a man hath beene so called vpon farre lesse occasion vnlesse a Pope holding opinion with Arrius by vertue of his Popedome be neither Arrian nor heretike An. 362. Now Athanasius in the yeare 362 held a verie famous Councell in Alexandria whither he inuited the Bishops out of all parts to helpe reestablish the true doctrine of the Church Our Annalist would needs persuade vs that hee did it by order from Liberius and that Liberius confirmed the acts of this Councell Which Baron to 4. an 362. art 208. saith he he plainely expresseth in his Epistle to Ruffinian But let who will read this Epistle and then say whether there be in it any one word tending to that purpose Nazianz. in Athanas At least Gregorie Nazianzene vnderstood it otherwise when as alluding to this Synod assembled by Athanasius he speaketh in this maner He prescribed lawes to all the world and drew euerie mans eyes vpon himselfe And vpon that question Whether and how farre forth such as had fallen were to bee restored he saith That the same courses were taken in all the Synods which had beene assembled In the presence saith he of the Bishops of all forreine Prouinces as also of Greece and of Spaine but of Italie or Rome no one word spoken Likewise in the yeare 364 Sozom. lib. 5. c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there was another Synod held in Lampsacus where the Orthodoxe of Bythinia and Hellespont saith Sozomene sent Hypatianus Bishop of Heraclea to Valentinian the Emperour to intreat leaue to assemble themselues in councell The Emperour wearied with so many Councels called in the time of his predecessor Constans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to so little good purpose made answer That it was not lawfull for him being a lay man to meddle with the matters of the Church Whence Baronius concludeth That he thereby resigned all authoritie he had or could pretend in Church causes But the Emperour addeth farther Let the Church-men assemble themselues where they will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which words they tooke for leaue and thereupon assembled themselues And in the end that fell out which the Emperour foresaw which was that being ouerborne by the aduerse faction they could not hold themselues to the Nicene Creed Here againe Baronius taketh aduantage because they sent three Legats to Liberius Bishop of Rome with a Synodall Epistle True but these Legats comming to him salute him onely by the name of Collegue and brother and to begin withall tell him That they had brought letters to his Benignitie and to all the other Bishops of Italie and of all the regions of the West Who consequently were associated with him in the same letter And what I pray you hath Baronius now gotten Last of all and for an vpshot let vs not forget a good saying of Baronius who Optat. lib. 3. contra Parmen to shew the pride of Donatus alledgeth a saying of Optatus Seeing saith he that there is none aboue the Emperour but God which made him hee therein passed the state of men esteeming himselfe now no longer a man but a God Which was onely for that he refused to accept the almes and offerings of the Emperour with whom he held not communion Let Baronius lay his hand vpon his heart and tell me truely what Optatus would haue said of our Pope of Rome now adayes seeing that he so much lifteth himselfe vp aboue the Emperour both in his decrees and in his actions but onely this That of a trueth he is that man of sinne foretold vnto vs which lifteth himselfe vp aboue God and causeth himselfe to be adored in the Temple of God 6. PROGRESSION What ambition was vsed in aspiring to the Popedome and what was the cause thereof IN the yeare 366 in the election of Damasus successor to Liberius An. 366. appeared plainely with what ambition and violence men aspired to the See of Rome The booke of the Popes saith That Damasus got it by hauing the stronger faction And Ruffin who liued at that time saith That about the choyce arose so great a tumult Liber Pontificalis quia fortior plurima multitudo erat Ruffin l. 1. c. 10. Marcellin l. 27 or rather an open warre whiles some maintained Damasus and others Vrsicin that the houses of prayer that is the churches floated with mans bloud But Ammianus Marcellinus telleth vs both the historie it selfe and also the cause thereof Damasus saith he and Vrsicin enraged with a desire of that Episcopall See drew the people into factions who thereupon grew first to blowes and afterward to murders So that Viuentius finding himselfe too weake either to represse or to appease them withdrew himselfe out of the citie in which conflict Damasus had the vpper hand and it is certaine that in the Church of Sicininus where the Christians vsed to meet at seruice there were left in one day 137 dead bodies and a hard matter it was for a long time after to assuage this enraged populace And thence it was that Ruffin called it an open warre And Marcellinus adding the cause For my owne part saith he I doe not wonder considering the brauerie of that citie if men ambitious of that place set vp their rest for the purchasing thereof for hauing once aspired thereunto they are sure to be enriched with the offerings of gentlewomen and ladies and to be carried in their coaches sumptuously attired and so magnificent in their feasts as passeth any kings table Whereas they might indeed bee truely happie if not regarding the greatnesse of the citie they would order their liues after the manner of other meaner Bishops who approue themselues to the immortall God and to his true worshippers by puritie of life by modestie of behauiour by temperance in meat and drinke poore apparell and lowlie eyes Whence the reader may perceiue and judge wherein consisted the difference betweene the Pope and other Bishops in those dayes yet Baronius glorieth in this pompe and pride of the Popes and taketh great pleasure in these feasts as one delighting to hold his nose ouer the pot Baron to 4. an 367. art 8. 9. Rex Sacrificulus Marcellinus saith he was a Heathen and therefore enuied to see our Soueraigne Pontife to surpasse their High Priest in pompe and glorie But he should haue remembred That this is a question not yet decided among the learned Whether he were a Pagan or a Christian and by his words it should seeme that he was a Christian Hieron Epist 61 The modester sort of Bishops saith he approue themselues to the immortal God and his true worshippers c. What now saith Baronius to all this Hierosme saith he in a certaine Epistle of his telleth vs of one Protextatus then Consull designed who was wont to say vnto Damasus Make thou me Bishop of Rome
yeelded all due reuerence to the See Apostolike Onuphr in Fast an 382. And lastly Onuphrius obserueth That two yeares after he approued it in open Synod at Rome as an Oicumenicall or Generall Councell though neither the Pope in person nor anie for or from him assisted at it whereas that other at Rome where Damasus himselfe presided is scarcely accounted in the number of prouinciall Synods And now let the reader judge where this pretended Primacie of the Popes was in those dayes But now let vs see what newes with Baronius First he sayth That this Councell of Constantinople was called jointly by Theodosius and Damasus Bishops of Rome and who saith he can doubt hereof May it please him Baron vol. 4. an 381. art 20. it should seeme that Socrates and Sozomene doubted of it when they tell vs Socrat. l. 5. c. 10. Sozom. l. 7. c. 7. That the Emperour without delay laboured as much as in him was to assemble a Councell of all sorts So also as it seemeth did the Fathers themselues of that Councell who in their Synodall Epistle say in this manner Wee here assembled by his commaundement Epist Synod in to 1. Concil c. meaning the Emperour And in that other Epistle of theirs which they wrote the Summer following to Damasus Britto Ambrose and other Bishops of the West where they shew that they of the East were not called to the Synod of Rome it selfe which was at the same time readie to meet by letters from Damasus Theodor. l. 5. c. 8. 9. Socrat. l. 5. c. 10. Sozom l. 7. c. 12. but from the Emperour So likewise doe all the Church Histories which tell vs that the Emperour hauing heard the resolution of the Orthodox Fathers in the Synod of Rome much desired to assemble another of all sects hoping by that means to make them fall to some agreement not borrowing anie authoritie from Rome And to conclude the practise of all auncient times seemeth to doubt hereof seeing that in that verie yeare a Councell was called at Aquileia by the Emperor Gratian Concil Aquil. in ep ad Gratian. Valent. Theodos in 1. Vol Concil Theodor. l. 5. c. 9. Sozom. l. 7. c. 9. where Ambrose himselfe was present and the deputies of the Churches of France and Afrike as he affirmeth and seeing also that Damasus himselfe became an humble suiter to the Emperours Theodosius and Gratian to graunt a warrant for the calling of a Councell the yeare following at Rome being much offended that Flauianus had succeeded Paulinus in the Church of Antioch for how could he grant leaue to others who asked for himselfe And of this verie Councell it is that S. Hierosme speaketh in his Epistle to Eustochium When the imperiall letters sayth he had assembled at Rome the Bishops of the East and West Hieron ad Eustoch ep 27. she then saw verie admirable personages Bishops of Christ Paulinus Bishop of Antioch and Epiphanius Bishop of Salamis And now let Baronius tell me whether a man may not haue reason to doubt thereof Well sayth Baronius yet the best is To. 1. Concil that Damasus did at least confirme this Councell And we must see whether he did or no and how he confirmed it whether to authorise it or else to submit himselfe vnto it For the first we haue a Synodall Epistle directed to Theodosius with the Acts of that Synod annexed thereunto wherein as called together by his commaund they jointly yeelded him an account of what they had there enacted requesting him by his seale and sentence to confirme and ratifie their decrees Baronius telleth vs Baron to 4. an 381. art 38. that this they did onely in policie to engage Theodosius in the maintenance of their profession And what need seeing the world taketh notice that he was as zealous for religion as was the best of them And for Damasus that he approued indeed this Councell but that he did it likewise for a purpose which was to make the Greeke Church sure against the heresie of Macedonius and I would faine know where it is that he findeth it All a matter sayth Baronius but so it is that he did confirme it for Photius hath it in his booke of seuen Synods Surely this man did well and wisely not to quote the place for feare his jugling should be discouered The words of Photius are these And a little after saith he they vnderstood that Damasus also Bishop of Rome had confirmed them as being of the same opinion with them meaning with the Fathers of Constantinople And doth this proue that they required his authoritie to confirme their Acts or rather that he confirmed them onely by yeelding assent and submitting himselfe vnto them And yet such is his madnesse as to say that he confirmed it fraudulently and for a purpose onely not to auow the Canon there made for the place and dignitie of the Bishop and Church of Constantinople making his dreames and idle fancies to stand in ballance against the soliditie and weight of all Histories by vs alledged and going to persuade vs that by vertue of a Councell shortly after assembled at Rome Paulinus borne out by Damasus was restored to his See and Flauian who was there placed by the Councell of Constantinople dispossessed and all this without either argument or Author other than his owne fantasticall assertion Thirdly Baronius verie stiffely maintaineth Baron to 4. an 382. art 18. that notwithstanding this Canon of the Councell of Constantinople yet still causes of weight and importance were reserued to the See of Rome such as were Heresie and Schisme deposing of Bishops and the like and that these causes were brought to him by way of Appeale And surely for heresie and schisme we cannot denie that scarcely euer was there anie heretike or schismatike condemned by his owne Church which presently had not recourse to Rome and that manie of them haue beene fostered and supported there That the Popes themselues through an vsuall natiue greedinesse of drawing moulture to their mill and causes to their Consistorie were oftentimes deceiued herein But this we denie that these causes went to him by Appeale which is alwayes made from the sentence of an inferior judge to the finall decree of a superior and that not so much as the name of an Appeale much lesse the thing it selfe is to be found either in the Historie or in the Practise of the Church no not in this age which we now speake of though this pretended Monarchie at this time aduanced her selfe the most she could Bellarmine yet deriueth it from verie farre and from the time of Marcion the heretike who being excommunicated in Pontus came to Rome But this I aske whether Ireneus or Tertullian doth affirme that he came by way of Appeale or doth not Epiphanius say that they sent him backe againe with these tearmes Epiph. cont Marcion here 42. We may not receiue thee without the permission
of the Church the schisme of Donatus and the heresie of Pelagius where both were condemned and Pelagius concerning whose doctrine Pope Innocent thought fit to suspend his judgement was excommunicated And all this done without consulting the Bishop of Rome onely sentence being alreadie passed he was entreated to joyne his authoritie and voyce with theirs for so goe the words of those Fathers in a letter which they sent vnto him reported by S. Augustine We haue say they Concil Carth. ad Innocent to 1. pa. 469. August Epist 90 by common consent pronounced Pelagius and Caelestius to be excommunicated c. for the amendment if not of them yet of those whom they haue seduced Which done we haue thought good deere brother to signifie so much vnto thee to the end that vnto this ordinance of our mediocritie thou shouldest ioyne the authoritie of the See Apostolike So that here we see a sentence plainely and absolutely giuen and yet vnder these tearmes of humilitie there is no disparagement or inequalitie to be obserued In like sort the Fathers of the Mileuitan Councell Concil Mileuit in Epist ad Innocent to 1. Concil apud August Epist 92. Concil Mileuit c. 3. Seeing say they that the Lord of his speciall grace hath placed thee in that Apostolike See being such a one as that our negligence would be condemned if we should conceale anything from thee which maketh for the good of the Church rather than our feare excused as if we doubted of thy good acceptance we therefore entreat thee to vse thy Pastorall care and diligence in these so great perils and dangers of the members of Christ c. Their meaning was that hee should doe in these cases of heresie within the limits of his jurisdiction in the West as they had alreadie done in the East But when they saw that vpon their round dealing with them in the East he was the rather inclined to absolue them in the West they made short worke and passed this decree in full Synod Whosoeuer shall say that the grace of God in which we are iustified by Iesus Christ is auailable onely for the remission of sinnes past and that it is no helpe to vs against sinne hereafter let him bee Anathema And thereupon adde they farther This errour and impietie which hath euerie where so many followers and abettors ought also to be Anathematised and condemned by the See Apostolike As if they should haue said It is high time Innocent that now you shew your selfe and doe your duetie All which Innocent as one not willing to breake with them passed ouer and seemed not to vnderstand but as if they had fled to him as to their superiour frameth them an answer onely to futher his owne ambition Apud August Epist 90. to 1 Concil apud August Epist 91 You haue saith he well obserued the ordinances of the ancient Fathers and not troden vnder foot that which they not in humane wisedome but by diuine order haue established namely that whatsoeuer is done in places though neuer so remote should for finall conclusion be referred to the audience of the See of Rome And againe You haue Apud August Epist 92. saith he had due regard of the Apostolike honour I say of him which hath the charge and care of all other Churches in asking aduise of him in these perplexities and intricate causes Following herein the ancient Canon which you as well as my selfe know to haue beene obserued in all the world And where I pray you good Innocent and when was it so obserued for saw you not the contrarie in Afrike it selfe and in these two last Councels practised But let vs see whether they vse him any better in his matter of Appeales The Fathers of the Mileuitan Councell spake plainely Concil Mileuit Can. 22. It hath beene say they thought fit in the case of Priests Deacons and other inferiour Clergie men if in their causes they complaine of the wrongfull iudgement of the Bishop that then the next adioyning Bishops shall heare and end their cause by the consent of their owne Bishop And if they thinke fit to appeale from them also yet that they appeale not but onely to the Councels of Afrike or to the Primate of the Prouince But if any shall presume to appeale beyond the seas that no man presume to receiue that man to his communion And it is verie probable that the like decrees were made in other Churches of the West howsoeuer Gratian 2. q. 6. c. 35. to saue the Popes jurisdiction addeth these words Vnlesse saith he they appeale to the See of Rome whereas it was properly against that See that they raised this countermure and bulwarke of defence Bellarmine yet goeth more finely to worke and saith That this Canon concerneth only the inferior Orders But the Canon next precedent which properly prouideth for the cases of Bishops is linked with this as wel in reason as in order the conclusion is general Whosoeuer shall offer to appeale beyond the sea c. without any distinction betweene Priest and Bishop Concil Carthag apud Balsam Can. 31. ex Concil African and in the margent there is noted this diuers lection Aliàs That they appeale not beyond the sea but to the Primates of their Prouinces as it hath often beene ordained in case of Bishops and so are all sorts of Clergie men comprised And in like manner is this Canon read in the Greeke copies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And to conclude this point we may not forget that Saint Augustine himselfe was present at this Councell All these things standing as they doe let vs now see what arguments Baronius hence draweth to the preiudice of the Churches of Spaine and Afrike in fauour of the Pope And first saith he in the third Councell of Carthage Baron to 5. an 497. art 55. can 48. it is decreed That concerning the baptisme of the Donatists Syricius Bishop of Rome and Simplicianus of Milan should be consulted The one saith he as head of the Church the other for the worthinesse of his person whereas the Fathers themselues make no such difference but say they we haue thought good to consult our brethren and fellow Priests Syricius and Simplicianus and no maruell seeing that Aurelius Bishop of Carthage wanting fit ministers to furnish his Churches wrot ioyntly to Anastasius Bishop of Rome and to Venerius Bishop of Milan to supplie his want calling them Holie Brethren Secondly Concil Carthag 3. ca. 26. Distinct 99. ca. primae sedis he taketh on because we alledge the Canon Primae sedis That the Bishop of the first See should not be called Prince or the Chiefe of Priests or High Priest or by any such like name And I would know whether these are not the verie words of the Canon it selfe or are they not so reported by Gratian in the Decrees Yea but he wil not that we should extend them to Rome especially
those last words viz. Baron an 397. to 5. art 48. That the Bishop of Rome himselfe shall not be called the Vniuersall Bishop For what likelihood saith he that Afrike would presume to prescribe titles to the Bishop of Rome adding farther That out of doubt they are Gratians owne words and that they are not found in the Canon it selfe which he alledgeth Nay rather say we seeing that they are in Gratian Concil Carthag prouincial 4 in Praesat Concil African who will warrant vs their honestie and that they themselues are not the men which haue torne it out of the Councels And why is it vnlikely that those poore Africans should vse those words more than these which they cannot denie That no man should appeale beyond the sea that is to Rome For though it be true Concil Carthag can 33. that these Africans could not as Baronius saith dispose of what was done at Rome yet might they wel take order against his vsurpation and encroaching vpon their Church and liberties at home and cause that no man there should attribute to him those titles of insolencie and ambition Thirdly because Aurelius Bishop of Carthage Baron to 5. an 401. art 9. at the opening of the Councell of Carthage caused a certaine letter of Anastasius to be there openly read wherein he forewarned them to beware of the cunning sleights of the Donatists he therefore concludeth That this Councell was assembled and held by order from Anastasius and that Aurelius acknowledgeth him for no lesse than a Father and consequently for a Head But why did he not rather obserue that he calleth him also Brother and fellow Priest must his aduise giuen be induced to proue his mastership The Synod of Afrike in the yeare 407 seeing a fell contention risen betweene Innocentius of Rome and Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria made a decree in manner following It seemeth good to vs Concil Afric 68. that as touching the dissention now fallen betweene the two Churches of Rome and Alexandria we write to the holie Father Innocentius to admonish him that either Church keepe that peace which the Lord commaunded Shall now this brotherlie admonition of theirs be interpreted to proceed from a right of jurisdiction or of soueraigne commaund Fourthly in the cause of the Priscillianists of Spaine Such as were fallen saith the Councell of Toledo if they come to penance shall not be receiued vnlesse the See Apostolike write in their behalfe And thereby saith he you may plainely perceiue Acta Concil 1. Tolet. Baron an 405. art 52. vol. 5. that no man might communicat with one which had fallen vnlesse the See of Rome had first approued of his reduction and communicated with him But why should he put vs to read the acts of this Councell seeing that he himselfe in other cases refuseth to admit of them They tell vs indeed That the Churches of Spaine much infested with this heresie sent to be aduised by Saint Ambrose and that they gouerned themselues by his directions which he denieth not but saith that Ambrose himselfe medled not but by expresse order from Syricius for saith he the words are We had great patience hoping that according to the letters of Saint Ambrose of blessed memorie if we condemned that which they had done amisse and observed the condition specified in his letters they would returne to peace Added hereunto what Syricius of blessed memorie had aduised vs to doe And must then this accessarie carrie with it the principal or this Parenthesis be interpreted for a Commission directed to S. Ambrose Let them rather take the paines and read a little farther where they shall find it said in this manner Concil Taurin can 5. We expect say they what the Pope and Simplician Bishop of Milan and other Bishops of the Churches will write in answer to our letters much after the manner of the Councell of Turin in the same cause Aut Romanae Ecclesiae Sacerdotis According say they to the letters of the venerable Bishop Ambrose or of the Priest of the Church of Rome What would or rather what would not Baronius say if he had the like aduantage 10. PROGRESSION Pope Zozimus seeketh to draw all causes to Rome by vertue of a Canon of the Nicene Councell BVt Zozimus successor vnto Innocent would not be so answered wherefore at the sixt Councell of Carthage An. 417. which was held the yeare 417 and where were assembled 227 Bishops of Afrike whereupon also Saint Augustine calleth it a full and a grand Councell Zozimus sent thither Faustus Bishop of Potentia Plenarium Concilium August Ep. 47. Ep. Concil African ad Bonifac. in to 1. Concil pa. 519. a. Faustin in Commonit ad Can. 1. Synod Carchag apud Balsam ex editio Herueti pag. 305. and Philippus and Asellus Priests of Rome qualified as Legats from him to require in precise tearmes That the Bishops of Afrike should appeale to the Bishop of Rome which matter they proposed to the Councell in these words Those who in the Nicene Synod gaue their sentence concerning the Appeales of Bishops said in this manner If a Bishop shall be accused and the Bishops of his owne Prouince shall therevpon condemne and degrade him and if he thinke fit to appeale and thereupon flie to the most holie Bishop of Rome and he be pleased to haue a new hearing and examination of the cause the said Bishop of Rome shall be pleased to write to certaine Bishops next adioyning to the end that they may informe themselues aright of the cause and then do as reason and equitie shall require Wherefore if any be desirous to haue his cause new heard and by way of request shall moue the Bishop of Rome to send his Legat à Latere that it be at his pleasure to doe what he will and as he in his iudgement shall thinke fittest to bee done OPPOSITION Ibid. This matter so proposed by the Legats Alyppius Bishop of Theagast protesting openly That he intended to hold himselfe in all poynts to the Nicene Councell began to make question of this pretended Canon We haue saith he alreadie promised to maintaine the Canons of the Nicene Councell but this is that which troubleth me that when we come to consult the Greeke copies I know not how it should come to passe but we find no such Canon there In Can. 135. sub fin And againe We haue seene diuers copies and yet could neuer find this Canon in any of them no not in the Roman copies neither yet in the Greeke copies sent vnto vs from the Apostolicall Sees Whereupon Aurelius Bishop of Carthage and President of that Councell notwithstanding that the Popes Legats were there present pronounced That they would forthwith dispatch messengers and letters to the Bishops of Constantinople Alexandria and Antioch with request That they would be pleased to transmit vnto them the acts of the Nicene Councell fast closed and sealed vp thereby to take
which fled vnto them for protection And this is that which the Fathers call Typhum seculi in Ecclesiam Christi inducere Typho isto to bring in worldlie pride and arrogancie into the Church of Christ which they doubted not to speake vnto Boniface himselfe saying We beleeue that seeing thou sittest in the Romane Church we shall no longer be oppressed with this vaine pride calling him alwaies Domine frater For whereas they triumph in this word Sanctitati vestrae i. your Holinesse they must vnderstand that the Popes themselues vsed the same stile and gaue the same title to them and to all other Bishops as Zozimus writing to these verie Africans We are persuaded sayth he that your Holinesse hath beene informed touching the proofe and triall which we haue made of Caelestius his absolute and sound faith and so likewise to others Against this maine wall of truth and veritie Baronius opposeth the brittle glasse of his owne fancie seeking to darken this cleare light with the smoake of his vaine discourse howbeit like a bird in a net the more he striueth the more he is intangled and the reader may easily obserue that he spendeth himselfe in vaine talke and sophistrie And first it much offendeth his patience that we say that those three Popes produced the Canon of Sardica vnder the name of the Councell of Nice for if it were done by error where is their infallibilitie if of malice where is then their sanctitie But saith he it may be that the text was corrupted Baron vol. 5. an 419. art 70. sequ and this word Nicene put for Sardican and I am forced to beleeue that these acts are not reported truly and as they ought to be Tell me reader whosoeuer thou art will such a shift serue in a matter of this importance Idem ib. art 87. Secondly saith he what aduantage was there to be gotten in alledging the one for the other for was not the Sardican Councell as good as the Nicene or are they not both Generall Councels and we haue alreadie proued that the Sardican Synod was neuer reckoned among the Generall neither did Innocent euer plead for himselfe other than the Canon of Nice vnder colour of this glorious name to dazzle the eyes of men and to abuse the world Thirdly saith he what likelihood that the Africans would withstand these Appeales seeing they had beene vsed from all antiquitie the onely thing which they misliked was the forme What need of answere to this argument more than the bare recitall of the argument it selfe and who doubteth of their presumption and arrogancie Or who knoweth not that euill manners giue commonly occasion of good lawes that vsurpations cause orderings and that if injustice were not we should not need the knowledge of the lawes Thou tellest vs that Celestius a companion and an abettor of the heretike Pelagius was condemned in Afrike August contra duas Pelagij ep l. 2. c. 3. Epistola Zosim ad Aurel. Carthag episcop that he appealed from this sentence to Zozimus Bishop of Rome that he admitted of the appeale and that this was but the yeare before true and Baronius you may perceiue that this proceeded of that Papall humor to admit of all plaintifes suffering themselues with flatterie and faire words to be abused oft times by the most dangerous heretikes But say I pray you what followeth Is it not that the Africanes complained of these wrongs that Zozimus carried it not farre that he was regulated and ordered the next yere following Augustin epist 261. edit Plantin Yea but saith he Doe you not see so and so manie examples of these Appeales mentioned in S. Augustine and thereupon alledgeth his 261 Epistle all at large Annalist would be as he is Doth he not see that all these examples were before the law was made and that they were the proper occasion and cause of this Decree and doe men in Commonwealths matters ground themselues vpon abuses or rather vpon Lawes vpon that which de facto is done or rather vpon that which of right ought to be done The truth of the cause is this Anthonie Bishop of Foussall in Afrike being deposed by the Bishops of his owne Prouince got letters of commendation from the Primat of Nicomedia to Zozimus Bishop of Rome by meanes whereof he found accesse to Zozimus and after him to his successor Celestin who bad man as he was went about to restore him by force of armes Whereupon S. Augustine who was present at his condemnation wrote to Celestin in this manner We are threatened saith he with a Posse comitatus and force of armes to put the sentence of the Apostolike See in execution and so shall we poore Christians stand in greater feare of a Catholike Bishop than the heretikes themselues doe of a Catholike Emperour Let not these things so be I doe coniure thee by the blood of Christ and by the memorie of the Apostle S. Peter who warneth those which are set ouer the Christian assemblies not to dominiere with violence ouer their brethren What could this holie Bishop doe more to stay the course of his rage and madnesse but in that great Synod of Carthage he with a multitude of other worthie persons layed the axe to the verie root of his pretended soueraignetie by their sentence there pronounced against him Now tell me whereas Baronius in this cause of Antonie Bishop of Foussall crieth out O admirabilem Dei prouidentiam c. O the wonderfull prouidence of God Ib. art 76. in matters concerning the Catholike Church at that verie time when controuersie was betweene the Fathers of Afrike concerning the Canon of Nice God would haue it that a cause should fall out by occasion whereof Saint Augustine himselfe who was present at that Councell was euen compelled to record vnto posteritie so manie examples of those who had recourse and did appeale to the Church of Rome Tell me I say whether we haue not farre greater cause to prayse his goodnesse in that out of these enormities and abuses he was pleased to direct this Councell to set downe a rule and a certaine order by which the Churches of Afrike might from that time forward for euer be directed Baron vol. 5. an 419. art 92. Fourthly will you see saith he how much they attribute and yeeld to the Church of Rome When they went about to set downe a certaine Canon of the Bible they consulted Boniface thereupon requesting him to confirme it and what likelyhood that they would not vse the like submission in the rest of their Canons But the verie reading of that Canon is a refuting of this assertion Concil Carthag Can. 47. It seemeth good vnto vs say the Fathers in that Canon that nothing be read in the Churches but onely the holie Scriptures which are these Genesis Exodus Leuiticus c. Wherefore their resolution and decree was absolute without anie reseruation both that the Scriptures onely should
be read and also which bookes they are which ought to be accounted for Canonicall onely for correspondencies sake they adde farther in these words We will also that this be signified to our companion in Priesthood Bonifacius and others to the end that they may confirme it for so haue we receiued from the Fathers that these onely ought to be read in Churches Now if the Popes authoritie alone had beene necessarie to the validitie of this Canon what needed they to signifie it vnto others This therefore was nought else but a testimonie of their mutuall loue and charitie Baronius here stormeth because we say That by occasion of that forenamed Canon the whole Church of Afrike was cut off from the Communion of the Church of Rome because it thence followeth that S. Augustine and such a multitude of other holie Fathers died out of the Communion of the Church of Rome and excommunicated by the Pope and thereupon seeketh by all meanes to discredit that Epistle of Bonifacius the second which testifieth that they were not reunited till a full hundred yeares after I confesse that whereas it is there said Vnder the reigne of Iustin the mistake was easier of Iustin for Iustinian than that of Nicene for Sardican and the inconuenience thence arising is verie great for what then shall become of so manie Martyrs put to death during those hundred yeares vnder the persecution and tyrannie of the Vandales But they themselues must looke to that Sure I am that this is none of their greatest cares witnesse the poore Grecians in these dayes who haue now lyen groning vnder the yoke of the Turks so manie yeares And if this Epistle was not written by Bonifacius they may thanke themselues who haue inserted it in the bodie of the Councels Bellarm. de Bontif Rom. l. 2. c. 24. Let the reader now judge what reason Bellarmine had to say that those Fathers neuer intended to forbid their Bishops to appeale to Rome seeing they name Bishops in expresse tearmes and ordaine that all causes should be determined within the same Prouince Or what conscience when he saith that S. Augustine vnderstood that Councell otherwise in his 262 Epistle August ep 262. because he there saith that Caecilian needed not to care for the conspiracie of his aduersaries seeing himselfe ioyned in Communion with the Church of Rome and with all other countries whence the Gospell first came into Afrike where he would be alwayes readie to plead his cause if his aduersaries should seeke to alienate those Churches from him For what can he gather from thence but onely this that it was no hard matter for him to purge himselfe vnto those Churches in case he had been traduced for if he thence conclude That therefore he might appeale to Rome as much may be said and concluded of all other places But he was wise not to quote the place for there is nothing and he knew it well ynough which maketh for his purpose And farther here obserue that S. Augustine was present at this Councell as appeareth by his 207 Epistle Also we read An. 431. that about the yeare 431 the Generall Councell of Ephesus was assembled against Nestorius where we find not this pretended Primacie in anie sort acknowledged For as touching the calling thereof Socrat. l. 7. c. 3. the Bishops saith Socrates assembled themselues together out of all quarters vnto Ephesus by order from the Emperour And Euagrius and Nicephorus say Euagr. l. 1. c. 3. Nicephor l. 14. c. 34. that they were assembled by the letters of the Emperour directed to the Bishops of all places And the Synod it selfe in more than twentie seuerall places vseth these words By the will of the most religious Kings meaning Theodosius and Valentinian Acta Concil Ephesin in 1. to Concil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 1. to 2. cap. 17 18 19. passim Ib. pa. 99. 177. 201 202. Bellarm. l. 1. de Concil c. 19. Acta Concil Ephes c. 17. And the Acts all along speake in this and the like manner Whom your Maiesties commaunded to come to Ephesus c. and Their letters commanded vs so c. and By vertue of the Edict of the most religious Emperors c. And so likewise wrote Theodosius vnto Cyrill that he had appointed the Bishops to assemble at Ephesus out of all parts at Easter And Caelestin Bishop of Rome writing to Theodosius Wee yeeld saith he our presence in the Synod which you haue commaunded by those whom we haue sent As for the Presidencie in that Synod it is a matter questionlesse and not denied by our aduersaries That Cyrill Bishop of Alexandria presided onely they say that he was Vicegerent to Pope Caelestin hauing no other colour for their assertion but this That the Pope requested him to execute his sentence giuen in the Synod at Rome against Nestorius But the Synodall Epistle to the Emperour euidently sheweth that that was done long before this Counsell at Ephesus was called And the truth is that the Popes Legats there present were neuer called to preside which yet they should haue beene had they beene collegues with Cyrill but at a pinch a forgerie must helpe A certaine moderne Writer in his abridgement of the Councels sayth That in this Councell presided the blessed Cyrill Bishop of Alexandria Isidor Decret Paris impres an 1524. pa. 79. To. 1. Concil in Concil Ephes Colon. an 1551. Which sentence he tooke out of Isidore but he addeth of his owne head these words In the place of Pope Calestin which are not to be found in Isidore and Bellarmine himselfe is more than halfe ashamed of it Now let vs see what aduantages Baronius here taketh and first Nestor epist ad Caelestin ex Co. Anto. August apud Baron to 5. an 430. art 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epist Cyrilli ad Calest in Act. Graec. pa. 141. Baron vol. 5. an 430. art 11. When Nestorius Bishop of Constantinople had broached his heresie against the vnion of two natures in Christ Cyrill Bishop of Alexandria tooke him to taske and then they went each of them to make his partie the strongest and to haue a Bishop of Rome on his side was thought no small aduantage therefore they both wrote vnto him Nestorius was the first Fraternas nobis inuicem debemus colloquutiones c. We owe saith he each to other brotherlie communications and Cyrill much after the same manner The auncient customes of the Church aduise and counsell vs to take instruction one of another c. And hence it is that Baronius concludeth That no matter of Faith could be questioned without the Bishop of Rome yet how manie heretikes haue we alreadie seene condemned sometimes without him and sometimes in despight of him Secondly Caelestin vpon this alarme giuen him by Cyrill called a Synod at Rome and from thence wrot a long Epistle to Nestorius willing him to hold fast the faith of the Church of Rome of
which ensued shortly after Leo made instant suit for it and was earnest to see the Acts where he found it thus written Constantine a reuerend Deacon sayth Extant in Concil Chalced. Act. 1. Eutyches when his condemnation was read vnto him appealed to the Councell of the Bishops of Rome of Egypt and of Ierusalem and of Thessalonica I would aske now Whether this Appeale seemeth to haue beene made to the Bishop of Rome or to a Generall Councell and it followeth Florens said The assemblie being broken vp in the middest of the prease he told me in my eare that he appealed to the Councell of Rome of Egypt and of Ierusalem Basil Bishop of Seleucia addeth farther Eutyches the Abbot while the companie was yet sitting said That if the Fathers of Rome and of Alexandria should tell him that he ought to confesse that there were two natures in Christ inseperable though not confounded no not after the vnion then he will confesse it but he spake not these words by way of Appeale But this is it which I would know Whether by vertue of this surmised Appeale the Bishop of Alexandria might not also take as much vpon him and yet Leo himselfe as he confesseth in his Epistles was almost surprised by this stratageme Sixtly Theodosius the Emperour by occasion of this trouble in the Church assembled another Councell at Ephesus he called thither Leo Bishop of Rome Vol. 6. an 449. art 65 66 67 68. Knowing well saith Baronius that a Generall Councell could not be assembled without his authoritie a thing saith he deepely to be grauen in the readers memorie But now what proofe Leo saith he in the beginning of his Epistle to the Synod of Ephesus telleth them in this manner The religious Emperour hath yeelded this respect and reuerence to the diuine ordinances to vse the authoritie of the Apostolike See for the bringing of his holie intents and purposes to passe All which I confesse was fit and requisit to be done but is there no difference whether the Emperour call Leo to the Councell or Leo him or whether the Emperor by his authoritie call a Councell And he addeth these words As if the Emperor had beene desirous to have that now declared by Peter himselfe which was once so highly commended in his confession and thereupon he falleth to ruffling with his Tu es Petrus as if these words had beene spoken not by Leo but by the Emperor himselfe But see the frothinesse and vanitie of this man who neuer considereth that this verie Theodosius wrot in like manner to Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria and to all other Bishops threatning them That for default in appearance they should not be held excused either before God or him In Concil Chalced art 1. because no man could now absent himselfe but such as was wounded with a guiltie conscience Neither doth he regard that the Emperor was purposed to make Dioscorus himselfe President of that Councell We saith the Emperour according to the Canons of the holie Fathers do giue and grant vnto him the authoritie and Primacie c. The reason was because he thought as well he might that the Bishop of Rome would not be there in person no more than he had beene in the former Synods and held Flauian Bishop of Constantinople as a partie in this quarrell Wherein saith Baronius the Emperor vsurped the authoritie of the Pope seeing that Hosius presided in the Councell of Nice and Cyrill at Ephesus both of them as Legats from the Pope All which are meere surmises and as we call them demands of Principals Petitio principij taking those things for granted which are principally in question and most contradicted But where was shame when he aduentured thus to abuse vnto his owne purpose the graue and religious proceedings of the Emperor in this Councell Seuenthly in this Councell which was no doubt packed in fauour of Eutyches the Popes Legats were by Eutyches chalenged and refused as partakers with Flauian Bishop of Constantinople Whereby Leo first began to haue his eyes opened and to perceiue the tricke that Eutyches had put vpon him And Flauian himselfe was there condemned and degraded as a man set vpon by a companie of rogues and theeues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore was this Councell afterward called an Assemblie of Theeues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In this extremitie Flauian Appealed from them and this is the first place where we read this word vsed properly and as a tearme of law And hereupon Baronius groundeth himselfe Liberat. in Breuia c. 12. and saith That he Appealed to the Bishop of Rome and voucheth for his author Liberatus Archdeacon of Carthage who saith That hee Appealed in writing to the See Apostolike an author whose estimation Baronius himselfe hath cried downe in so many places Adde hereunto That the Councell of Chalcedon wherein the acts of this Synod are repeated reporteth That he said onely Appello à te i. I Appeale from thee without specifying to whom And Hilarie a Deacon of the Roman Church saith onely That vpon the sentence giuen contradicitur that is It was gainsaid meaning that he appealed from that roguish companie to a more lawful Synod which he entreated Leo to obtaine of the Emperour for the justifying both of his cause and person And to speake a troth there was none other now left to whom he might addresse himselfe the Bishops of Alexandria and Ierusalem being his professed enemies and he of Antioch deposed Now what became of this appeale no man can tell for as one mischiefe lightly commeth not without a fellow Flauian was outragiously beaten and shortly after partly of griefe partly of his wounds dyed And euen such was that Appeale also of Theodoret vnheard and yet condemned who in his Epistle to Leo vseth these words Helpe me saith he who do Appeale vnto your Holinesse and command me to appeare before you that I may yeeld an account of my faith vnto you Now whether he spake this properly and as a tearme of law or onely by a metaphor wee should better discerne if we had the Greeke though the Greeke word it selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he not alwayes taken in this rigor For when the Fathers in the Councel of Aegypt vpon the banishment of Athanasius in their Synodal Epistle request all Bishops to receiue him vnto their communion they vse these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epist Synod ad omnes Episcopos that is We Appeale you or call vpon you as reuengers of such iniustice In which sence this word is found in many other places Wherefore when it is said That he Appealed to Leo the meaning is that he had recourse vnto him hoping by his meanes to procure a more lawfull Synod And in effect the letters of Valentinian the Emperour Extant in Concil Chalced. act 1. who at that time resided at Rome and of Galla Placidia to her sonne Theodosius testifie the same In which
did by vertue of that Canon of Chalcedon Extat inter Epist Illustr Concil Chalced. And the truth is that this Anatolius in the Epistle which hee wrot to the Emperour Leo vpon this occasion brandeth Pope Leo with the marke of an heretike and censureth him to be vnworthie of the Priesthood 12. PROGRESSION Of sundrie variances which fell out betweene the Churches of Rome and Constantinople by occasion of the Canon of Chalcedon AFter this Canon of Chalcedon there was euer debate continuing betweene the two Churches of Rome and Constantinople the one refusing a superiour the other not admitting of an equall the one seeking to stretch the wings of his authoritie and jurisdiction ouer the East the other ouer all And this was the cause why the Bishops of Antioch and of Alexandria seeking to crosse the attempts of the Bishop of Constantinople who was lately start vp to this authoritie and was therefore the more obnoxious to hate and enuie had recourse oftentimes to him of Rome and as it had beene in despight of the one subiected themselues to the tyrannie of the other Baron vol. 6. an 482. art 1. Whence the Pope himselfe and Baronius his champion for him take no small aduantage for if we will beleeue them Simplicius hereupon gaue confirmation to Calendinus Bishop of Antioch Simplicius Epist 14. hauing no other proofe or ground than this That Simplicius in a certaine Epistle of his to Acatius Bishop of Constantinople saith That he had receiued vnder the wing of the See Apostolike Euagrius li. 3. c. 10. the Priesthood of Calendius But Euagrius an Historian of that time saith simply without any reference vnto any That Calendius vndertooke the sterne of that See and persuaded all which came vnto him to pronounce Anathema against Timotheus as against one which troubled the Church of Alexandria and whose predecessor Stephen was notoriously installed by Acatius as Baronius himselfe affirmeth but he addeth farther That Simplicius had made Acatius his Vicar generall in the East His reason is for that Simplicius vpon the troubles of the Church of Alexandria Simplic Epist 17 Delegatum tibi munus attendes sensus tuos prudenter attolle complaineth to him That he had not aduertised him therof willing him to behaue himselfe wisely in the charge which was delegated vnto him Committed then it was but by whom must we needs vnderstand that by him and why not as well either by the Church or by the people seeing nothing is expressed And farther these are Simplicius his own words And if he did delegate such a charge vnto him yet where shal we find that the other accepted of it as from him Acatius in Epist ad Simplic And I would know whether in his Epistle to Simplicius he euer calleth him by any higher Title than the Archbishop of Rome and in the cause of Timotheus he professeth That as for his so great a dignitie he held it onely from Christ the Prince of Priests And a man may easily perceiue by the complaint which Simplicius made vnto him Simplic Epist 1. that if euer he did make him offer of such an office hee made but little reckoning of his kindnesse And the like may be said when he offered to make Zeno Bishop of Seuile his Vicar in those parts Simplicius also in his Epistle to Acatius speaking of one Iohn who was elected in the roome of the said Timotheus It remained only saith he that after our thanksgiuing vnto God he should by the assent of the See Apostolike receiue his desired confirmation Whereupon Baronius setteth his marke in the margent Baron an 482. vol. 6. art 14. with these words It belongeth to the Bishop of Rome to confirme the Patriarches and doest thou see O Reader saith he that the ancient custome was that the election neither of the Bishop of Alexandria neither yet of Antioch was held for good without the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome and yet he produceth no one Canon to this purpose or any one case wherein it was so practised Nay we find that when Acatius made light of his commaund and when he was willed by the Emperour Zeno to beare out Petrus Moggus against Iohn who was an Orthodox Bishop he qualified his stile with faire words and reasons It was reason saith he that one condemned by publike decree meaning this Petrus Moggus should also be acquited in a common assemblie Where was then this omnipotencie of the Pope when he spake in this manner Yea but in the end saith Baronius when this Iohn was deposed be appealed to the Bishop of Rome as Athanasius had done before him and for proofe hereof voucheth Liberatus the Archdeacon Liberatus in Breuia c. 18. who dwelt too farre off to be a good witnesse in this cause But if his appeale was no other than was that of Athanasius we are at an accord for we haue alreadie proued that Athanasius did not appeale in forme of law as we commonly call Appeales but had onely recourse vnto him and so Euagrius expoundeth it vnto vs Iohn saith he as Zacharie reporteth Euagr. Histor Eccle. c. 12. 15 hauing giuen a summe of money contrarie to his oath taken to the Emperour was chosen Bishop of Alexandria whence the Emperour commaunded him to be banished who flying thence went vnto old Rome where he made much trouble saying that for obseruing the decrees of Leo and the Canons of Chalcedon he had beene deposed from his See Where you see there is no mention of any appeale or of judiciall proceeding For saith he Simplicius moued with these words wrot vnto Zeno thereupon who sent him word againe That he was deposed indeed but that it was for periurie And shortly after Simplicius died and Iohn withdrew himselfe into Italie where the Bishopricke of Nola was conferred vpon him And Liberatus also saith That Acatius by his letters required the See of Rome That if any of his Clergie fled vnto him Ad eundem confugerint he would be pleased not to receiue them which are the proper tearms vsed in these and the like cases OPPOSITION All these contentions about jurisdiction proceeded from that Canon of Chalcedon An. 472. to which the Popes would by no meanes stand and yet they neuer talke vnto vs but of Councels especially of those foure first generall Synods which they vse commonly to paralell with the holie Scriptures But in the meane time came forth a certaine Edict from Leo the Emperor Leo Imperat. li. 16. c. de Saâ—ros Eccles in this maner We decree and ordain That the holie Church of this most religious citie Mother of our pietie and of all Christians whatsoeuer of the Orthodox religion and the most holie See of this royall citie meaning Constantinople in regard that she is the royall citie shall haue all priuiledges and honours concerning the creation of Bishops and taking of place before all others and all other poynts whatsoeuer which they now
to be preferred he maketh them worthie so soone as they are preferred Gregorie in our time tooke the paine to reuiew the Canon Law and taking especiall notice of this Canon is bold to equall it with the Apostolike Decrees And I feare that ere it be long a man may more truly say that this See hath this especiall prerogatiue and priuiledge That either it admitteth of none but knaues or maketh them such so soone as they are admitted But what will Symmachus say to Gratian who speaking of Anastasius the second D. 19. c. Anastasius his predecessor saith of him That he was strucken by the iudgement of God because he communicated with Photinus the Deacon a disciple of that master heretike Acatius Anastas Biblioth in Pontific which is auerred also by Anastasius Bibliothecarius in his life OPPOSITION An. 472. Odoacer therefore Captaine of the Rugians hauing made himselfe King of all Italie about the yeare 472 for preuention of tumults which might ensue if Simplicius should happen to die made a Law and published it by Basilius in the open Vatican and before the Bishops there assembled That in case Simplicius should happen to die for the auoidance of trouble and hurt both in Church and Citie none should be elected without his priuitie Baron vol. 6. an 476. art 1 2 3. Which Odoacer hath at least this commendation from Antiquitie That he was neuer offensiue or troublesome to the Catholike Church in matters belonging to Religion though himselfe were a professed Arrian Cassiodor in Chron. and farther is reported to haue beene of so good a temper that in thirteene yeares space which he held Italie vnder his commaund he neuer tooke vnto him either the title or the robe of the Emperour who all barbarian as he was shall yet one day rise in judgement against these mens insolencie and pride True it is that Sigonius reporteth that this law was made by the aduise of Simplicius himselfe Sigon de Occident Imperio l. 15. 16. Synod Roma 3. sub Symmacho an 498. but what author hath he for it For the third Synod of Rome which was held vnder Symmachus sayth no such thing but tearmeth it in precise tearmes The Law of Odoacer And there was good vse to be made of this Law about the yeare 498 at the election of a Bishop after the death of Anastasius the second For by reason that Anastasius the Emperour had filled the fists of a great part of the Clergie of Rome to this end that he might haue alwaies a Pope at his owne deuotion it came to passe that one part set vp and named Symmachus Theodor. Collectan l. 2. and the other Lawrence and each faction kept quarter apart vntill in the end some being wiser than some the matter was referred to Theodoric King of the Ostrogothes who at that time reigned in Italie and he preferred Symmachus who not long after in a Synod at Rome abrogated this verie law as Sigonius reporteth And we doubt not of the mans good will but yet we find that this Law stood in force vntill the time of Benedict the second whom the Emperour Constantine Pâ—goratus Synod Roma 3. sub Symmach about the yeare 68â— absolued from the obseruance of this Law as Onuphrius himselfe acknowledgeth But these matters stayed not here For foure yeares after this wound began to bleed afresh Lawrence was called home to Rome where the factions fairely â—â—ll to blowes whereat Theodoric tooke great offence and deposing them both he placed Peter Paul Diacon l. 15. Nicephor l. 16. c. 35. Bishop of Alâ—in in the roome Paulus Diaconus and Nicephorus speaking of this accident report That there were infinit spoiles and murders committed by either partie the greater part of the Priests manie Clerkes and a multitude of the Citizens were there slaine Sabell Eun. 8. l. 2. and the holie virgins themselues as Sabellicus writeth were not spared in those seditions Yet must all this passe for zeale towards the Church Ennod. in Epist ad Faustum insomuch that one Ennodius a Writer of that time maketh them all Martyrs who died in the cause of Symmachus Their bloud there shed sayth he enrolled them in the Register Booke of the Court of Heauen And Baronius is of the same opinion and for proofe he voucheth a saying of that great Denis Bishop of Alexandria but see his honestie for the case standeth thus Denis wrote to the schismatike Nouatus who would haue made him beleeue that he was taken by force and made Bishop whether he would or no whereupon Denis told him That it had beene better for him to haue suffered anie mischiefe Euseb Histor Eccles l. 6. c. 37. than to haue broken the vnitie of the Church and that it had beene as glorious a martyrdome vnto him as if he suffered for not offering vnto Idols True if rather than thou wouldest be made a Bishop in a Schisme thou wouldest suffer thy selfe to be killed But the case is altered if thou puttest thy selfe in danger or causest either thy selfe or others to be slaine not to auoid but to obtaine a Bishopricke And such was the case of those which died in Symmachus his quarrell And we must remember that the fourth Synod which was held at Rome vnder Symmachus Iornandes de Robus Gothicis Synod Roma 4. sub Symmacho where the greatest part of the Bishops of all Italie were assembled was called by Theodoric True it is that at the first the Bishops began to remonstrate to him That the calling of the Synod belonged to the Pope but Theodoric produced Symmachus his owne letters wherein he requested him to assigne the place and Symmachus himselfe in open Synod gaue him humbly thankes for so assigning it Here Baronius putteth on his brazen face Vol. 6. an 501. art 2. He knew well saith he that to assemble a Synod of Orthodox Bishops appertained not to him and therefore treading the steps of his predecessors he assembled it by the authoritie of Pope Symmachus and the verie Acts of the Councell testifie as much And then falleth he to his accustomed acclamations A memorable matter saith he that a Prince a Barbarian a Goth by nation a stranger an heretike and an Arrian do the schismatikes what they could by importuning him to the contrarie should yet yeeld such respect and reuerence to the See Apostolike But what if the whole proceedings and the Acts themselues of this Synod shew the contrarie It is therefore to be vnderstood that the yeare before Theodoric at the instance of the aduerse part had sent Peter Bishop of Altin to Rome in qualitie of a Visitor to informe himselfe of the crimes which were layed to Symmachus his charge And so it seemeth that Theodoric and Ennodius were not both of the same mind when Ennodius saith That the Pope is accountable to none but vnto Heauen Afterward Theodoric gaue order that this difference should be taken vp Ennod.
in Apelog in l. 20. l. Concil or ended in a lawfull Synod which Synod was held the yeare following at Rome in the Acts whereof we find it thus written Synod Roma 4. Palmaria dicta The Synod here assembled out of diuers countries by the commandement of the most religious King Theodorie c. And againe The Royall authoritie hauing so commaunded that the Bishops should assemble here at Rome out of diuers Prouinces c. The reason is for that one Metropolitan hath no power ouer another and therefore when Bishops of diuers Prouinces had occasion to assemble themselues in a Synod it could not be done without the Kings authoritie and in this Synod were present the Bishops of Liguria Emilia and Venice to decide this cause wherein the Bishop of Rome was defendant Yea but saith Baronius the Bishops told him that it belonged not vnto him true but read on and you shall find that he replied That the Pope himselfe had by his letters declared his will touching the calling of this Synod which was that Theodoric should call it and thereupon thanketh him for so doing as hauing thereby giuen him the meanes to justifie and to cleare himselfe And it followeth afterward That this Synod presumed not to decree anie thing without making the King first acquainted therewith And againe it is there said That Symmachus was forced by the Emperour to enter the lists against his aduersaries and that before the Fathers assembled in this Synod as before his lawfull Delegates or Commissioners Nunquam commisisset For saith he he would neuer haue committed this cause to them as a new cause had he held him as alreadie conuict Then follow the Acts themselues Whiles they were in deliberation what was fit to be done Symmachus came and offered to plead his cause And hauing expressed the violences which his aduersaries had vsed towards him the Fathers spake and said That they must yet againe flie to the iustice of the Prince c. who declared there openly That the knowledge and ordering of Church matters belonged vnto them that he brought nothing but reuerence with him when he came to the hearing of such causes and that he committed it to the power of the Bishops to heare or not to heare it and to dispose thereof at their discretion prouided that by the care and wisedome of the Councell the Christians might haue peace within the Citie By all which it appeareth that he did not put off his authoritie from himselfe to conferre it vpon the Bishop of Rome In the end these Fathers proceeding according to the commaundement of the Prince resolued in this intricate cause to arbitrate and to compose the variance rather than as Iudges to decide it and for the peace of the Church to cloake offences rather than to expose them to the view of the world and therefore commaunded they the people to receiue Symmachus againe leauing the judgement to God of those things which could not sufficiently be proued by men And let the reader note these words of the Fathers According to the commaund of the Prince which giueth vs this power But we restore all Ecclesiasticall power to him againe as well within the Citie as without And who will say that by these words they acknowledged the Pope for Bishop of all the world or that Theodoric called this Councell by the Popes authoritie especially seeing that we find at the same time An. 509. That the Councell at Agda in Languedoc of Orthodox Bishops was assembled and held by the authoritie of Alaric an Arrian by profession and a Goth by nation which yet the Fathers themselues acknowledge in the verie beginning of that Councell Acta Concil Agath This Synod assembled say they in the name of the Lord in this Citie of Agda by the permission of King Alaric and therefore they ordained prayers and supplications to be made for his prosperitie And seeing also we read that shortly after whiles the same Symmachus was yet Pope the first Councell of Orleans was held whereof Hincmar speaking in the life of S. Rhemigius saith That by the aduise of S. Rhemigius An. 512. Acta Concil Aurelian 1. in 1. to Concilior Clouis called a Synod of Bishops at Orleans where were manie good things ordained And the Fathers themselues of that Councell in their Synodall Epistle to King Clouis speake in this manner We say they whom you haue commaunded to come vnto this Synod here to treat of necessarie matters c. Which things they desire afterward to be confirmed by his rightfull iudgement though in his Patent directed to them he speaketh with as much respect to them as he could haue done to the Bishop of Rome himselfe King Clouis saith he to our holie Lords the Bishops most worthie of the Apostolike See c. and at the foot thereof Pray ye for me my holie Lords Popes most worthie of the Apostolike See This good King had neuer yet learned this lesson though instructed by S. Rhemigius that there were no more Popes but one no other Apostolike See but that of Rome All which we haue beene faine to deduce at large to right the Historie of that wrong which our great Annalist hath done vnto it 14. PROGRESSION Of sundrie opportunities and meanes which the Popes about the yeare 500 had to raise themselues to their pretended Primacie IN this age which came to close vp the first fiue hundred yeares manie opportunities offered themselues to open the passage to the Popes ambition First the absence of the Emperors who now resided wholly at Constantinople and yet to maintaine their authoritie in the West thought it fit to make faire weather alwaies with Popes of Rome who neuer let slip anie opportunitie which might serue to encrease their Estate Secondly the comming downe of the Northerne nations who one after another assayled Italie and spoyled it at their pleasure all which were faine to sooth and to flatter the Popes onely to haue their fauour and furtherance at their need Thirdly diuerse Heresies which then sprung vp both in the East and also in the South from whence the heretikes when they were condemned at home fled presently to Rome whether by Appeale or whether by way onely of Reuiew to haue their cause heard againe before his pretended Primacie Adde we hereunto that in all places men were willing to hold correspondencie with the Bishop of the first See who resided in the chiefe Citie of the Empire and who was held for the source and fountaine of all good and found aduise in matters of importance the greater part of the world in the meane time not obseruing how the Popes by little and little made their aduises to stand for lawes and interpreted all requests made vnto them for consultations how they turned their mediations into Commissions and that being chosen for arbitrators they euer made themselues Iudges And note withall to the end you may discerne how their doctrines crept into the
Church to that of Rome or rather to make them equall each to other For whereas the Countie Iustinian tearmeth the Bishop of Rome Arch Pontife which importeth no more as Baronius himselfe confesseth than Archbishop this argueth not any superioritie but onely a Primacie of this See Neither doe those words in the letters of Pompeius Archbishop of the Vniuersall Church make any thing at all for Baronius his cause as if the Popes had at that time beene taken for Vniuersall Bishops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For it is in the Greeke onely of the Catholike Church a Title long before giuen as alreadie hath bin declared vnto Basil and to Athanasius and to sundrie other Bishops Because as Saint Cyprian saith the Church is but one of which euerie Bishop gouerneth his part or portion alone without a consorts and the Bishop of Rome had at that time a great part vnder him For I would know when Pope Agepete consecrated Mennas by the name of Vniuersall Bishop whether he purposed to make him Pope or no and Dorotheus Bishop of Thessalonica though inferiour in degree to the Patriarches yet calleth he the Bishop of Rome Father and fellow Minister and Companion in seruice Fourthly wee shall best judge of the cause by casting our eye vpon the effects It sell out therefore that one of Horâ—isda his Legats had been foulely outraged at Thessalonica Dorotheus which had euer much fauoured them before was accused as author of that outrage Whereupon Hormisda sent vnto his Legats That they should be instant with the Emperour that Dorotheus might be deposed and banished into some farre countrey or otherwise sent to Rome vnder sure and sufficient gard and withall that one Aristides who was supposed to haue had a finger in that businesse should not succeed him The Emperour his answer was That there was no reason why he should be sent to Rome to be heard there where they might easily acquit themselves for want of an accuser And so all his punishment was to be sent for a few dayes to Heraclea and then was he restored to his See againe How farre are these proceedings from that power which the Pope pretendeth And yet haue we no more of all this matter than we find in an Epistle of one of those Legats to Hormisda Here Baronius Baron vol. 7. an â—19 art 140. as his manner is crieth out Is it possible that Iustice vnder an Emperor who taketh his name from Iustice should be thus forestalled through money in the cause of the holie Father for that was the imputation which Iohn one of the Legats laied vpon the Emperour But if somewhat staieth Baronius his stomacke that the Emperour shortly after consulted the Pope vpon certaine points of faith And what of that for his place considered what more vsuall or what would he inferre thereupon Moreouer he pleaseth himselfe much in a certaine sentences taken out of a certaine letter which he wrot vnto Hormisda which sentence hee causeth to bee printed in great letters Ib. art 98. We beleeue and hold for Catholike that which was intimated to vs by your religious answer O how dangerous a thing it is to deale fairely with this kind of people And what shall we oppose this faire dealing against all those proceedings formerly by vs declared And yet he cutteth off this sentence with an c. whereas commonly he is no niggard in reciting whole Epistles and therefore we haue reason to suspect that something followeth which if it were knowne would maâ—e his cause especially considering that these Epistles are taken out of the Vatican and the greater part of them as yet remaine vnprinted Fiftly and lastly he maketh much of one Possessor a Bishop of Afrike who sent a certaine commentarie which he had composed vpon the Epistles of Saint Paul vnto Hormisda and complaineth that he could receiue no answer The reason was saith he Ib. an 52â— art 12 13 14. because hee well knew that the Catholike Church admitteth of no interpretation of holie Scriptures but onely such as were first approued by the Apostolike See And where I pray you can he shew vs that Saint Cyprian Hilarie Ambrose Augustine Ierome Chrysostome and others euer sent their bookes to him for his approbation or what should they haue done to haue gotten their bookes approued when Pope Marcellinus sacrificed vnto Idols and when Liberius became an Arrian and when many of the rest turned Heretikes To what purpose therefore serueth all this discourse of Baronius but onely to busie and to abuse mens thoughts with childish vanities 16. PROGRESSION That Iohn Bishop of Rome was sent embassador from Theodoric to the Emperour Iustine and what honour the Emperour there did vnto him An. 524. ABout the yeare 524 when Iustine the Emperour had depriued the Arrians of those Churches which they had in Constantinople Theodoric then king of Italie and a professed Arrian tooke offence thereat and sent Iohn Bishop of Rome his embassadour vnto him The Popes now vse to send kings in their errands assisted with certaine Senators to intreat him to restore them to their Churches if not to tell him That he purposed to serue the Catholikes throughout Italie with the same sauce Liber Pontif. in Iohan. 1. And the Pontificall booke saith That they entreated the Emperour with many salt teares and that in the end they obtained their request Which he repeateth two seuerall times howsoeuer Baronius would faine disguise the matter And Nicephorus reporteth That when Iohn Bishop of Rome was brought to an equall seat where Epiphanius Bishop of Constantinople was to sit side by side with him for he neuer contested with him for the precedencie he was not therewith content but required to bee placed vp aboue Epiphanius in a throne by himselfe which perhaps was granted vnto him in regard of his qualitie of embassadour And Marcellinus speaking hereof saith That dexter dextero Ecclesiae assedit solio â—eaning that Epiphanius gaue him the right hand which if we will credit Baronius in many places of his booke is the lesse honourable place But the Pontificall booke maketh sure worke and saith That the Emperour Iustine in honour vnto God prostrated himselfe before the Pope and adored him OPPOSITION Theodoric though an Arrian yet much commended for his great moderation whether it was because he could not endure this pride or whether he had beene informed that he had suffered himselfe to be led away by those extraordinarie honours which Iustine had done vnto him immediatly vpon his returne to Rauenna chipt him vp in prison where he continued to his dying day Which made the Popes for a while after not to carrie themselues so briâ—kly as before Yet persuaded they the common people Paul Diac. l. 25. that a certaine good man had seene the soule of Theodorie caried betweene this Iohn and Symmachus the chiefe Senator whose head he had taken off into the isle of Lipara by Sicilie there to be cast headlong into
to the Communion of the Church Which Church of Carthage the Popes had excommunicated long before for that those 227 Fathers of Afrike assembled in the sixt Councell of Carthage had decreed as hath beene alreadie declared That they had no need of their Legats à Latere nor yet of Appeales to Rome and that they were able ynough by the grace of God and by the assistance of his holie Spirit to decide their owne controuersies by themselues at home For saith he Aurelius Bishop of Carthage that was he which presided in the said sixt Councell of Carthage with his Collegues so many great personages as there were and among them Saint Augustine himselfe by the instigation of the diuell in the time of our predecessors Boniface and Caelestine began to exalt themselues against the Church of Rome But Eulalius now Bishop of Carthage seeing himselfe through the sin of Aurelius to stand separated from the communion of the Roman Church hath repented him therof intreating to be receiued to peace and communion with her And by a certaine writing signed by himselfe and his Collegues hath condemned by the Apostolike authoritie all and euery such books written by what spirit soeuer against the priuiledges of the Church of Rome This poore Eulalius brought to this extremitie by the eagre pursuit of these holie Fathers of Rome who would neuer let goe their hold but tooke their aduantage of the miserable estate which those poore Churches were in being spoyled by the Vandals and oppressed by the Arrians so that they were neuer after able to hold vp their head Bellarmine therefore Bellar. de Rom. Pontif. l. 2. c. 25. who would needs persuade vs that the variance betweene those Popes and these poore Africans was not such as the world taketh it to haue bin let him tell me seeing that by occasion of that variance Rome did excommunicat them whether they could esteeme it as a light occasion and if it were or if they so esteemed of it what conscience then to excommunicat them for it such multitudes of people so many worthie Bishops and Saint Augustine himselfe being all dead in state of excommunication which was thundered our against them in a time when they were alreadie vexed with the heresie of the Pelagians and oppressed with the schisme of the Donatists and wholly ouerrun with that inundation and deluge of the Hunnes and Vandals and other barbarous nations Baronius to saue themselues from this scandal of excommunicating Saint Augustine condemneth this Epistle as forged and consequently staineth the credit of him which compiled all their Councels his reason is onely this That it is directed to Eulalius Bishop of Alexandria whereas Timotheus was at that time Bishop of that See and not Eulalius But Harding one of his strongest pillars Harding de prima Papae sect 28. answereth for vs That it was directed to Eulalius at that time Bishop of Thessalonica Wherefore let them agree among themselues as they will it is ynough for vs that wee haue it from them though indeed to justifie this Epistle we may farther say That it is taken in among their owne Decrees and standeth for good in the late edition of Gregorie the thirteenth ca. Ad hoc 7. with these words This chapter is read word for word in the Epistles of Boniface to Eulalius then Bishop of Thessalonica which may serue for an answer to all these friuolous coniectures of Baronius Moreouer Baronius thinketh that he hath gotten a great catch in that the Emperor Iustine and after him Iustinian sent vnto the Pope a confession of their faith which was a custome vsed by the Emperours vpon their installation in the Empire and not onely to the Pope but also to sundrie other Bishops of the better sort to the end that they should publish to the people That they were of the Orthodox faith because there had beene many Arrian Nestorian and Eutychian Emperors elected who had caused no small trouble in the Church OPPOSITION But that the Emperors meaning was not thereby to acknowledge him as Vniuersall Bishop besides that they did the like to other Patriarches An. 533. appeareth moreouer in this that they speake alwayes with reference to the Councell of Chalcedon which we haue heretofore spoken of as it is euident both out of their confessions and also by the Nouell Constitution 131. But to come to the matter Nouell 131. no law could be a bridle strong ynough to hold in that head-strong and vnrulie ambition of the Popes We haue alreadie scene the lawes of Odoacer and of Theodoric and Athalaric who succeeded after Theodoric was faine to doe the like For when as vpon the death of Boniface there went an open and a violent canuasse throughout the citie wherein some were neither ashame nor afraid to offer the Senators themselues money for their voyces the Seâ—at tooke high displeasure at these proceedings and thereupon they passed a certaine Decree which wee read in Cassiodorus in these tearmes Whosoeuer for the obtaining of a Bishopricke Cassiod li. 9. Epist 15. shall either by himselfe or by any other person be found to haue promised any thing that contract shall be deemed and held as execrable He that shall be found to haue beene partaker in this wicked act shall haue no voyce in the election but shall be accounted a sacrilegious person and shall be forced by course of law to make restitution of it Moreouer the Senat complained of this great abuse to the king Athalaric and the Defendor of the Roman Church joined in petition with them to the king who ratified their Decree by an ordinance of his owne directed to Pope Iohn The Defendor saith he of the Roman Church came lately to vs weeping and shewed vnto vs that in the late election of a Bishop of Rome some men making their benefit of the necessitie of the time by an vngodlie practise had so surcharged the meanes of the poore by extorted promises that the verie vessels of the Church was by that occasion set to sale But the more cruell and vngodlie this act is the more religious and holie is our purpose to cut it off by due course of law And a little after hauing mentioned the aboue named decree he addeth For this cause all that which is contained in that decree we commaund to be obserued and kept to all effects and purposes against all persons which either by themselues or others shall haue anie part or portion in those execrable bargaines What a pitie was it that the Defendor of the Church should be constrained to lay open this filthie nakednesse of the Church vnto an Arrian Baron vol. 7. an 533. art 32. seq But Baronius to make the best of a bad cause sayth That he did it by the exhortation of Pope Iohn but the Reader may obserue that neither in the Historie neither yet in the ordinance it selfe there is anie such mention made The conclusion is as followeth Our will and
of Vniuersall Patriarch which place Holoander for feare of the Popes displeasure hath translated Patriarch of all that quarter whereas the word there vsed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth all the habitable earth Wherefore it is to be vnderstood that all those Patriarchall Sees are sundrie times called Oecumenicall without prejudice of each to other because the Bishops of those Churches being placed in the middest of the enemies of Christianitie were alwaies taken as watchmen ouer the whole Church who were to looke euerie man not to his owne peculiar charge onely but to all in generall that Sathan by schismes and heresies infected not the bodie of the Church like vnto fellow tutors who though by consent they administer euerie one his portion of the pupils goods apart yet is euerie one of them answerable for the whole Wherefore we see that sometimes these Patriarchs without blame put their sickles into each others corne and vpon the first alarme giuen by anie of these they all sought presently to procure an Oecumenicall Councell which was then so esteemed and called when they all or the greatest part of them with their inferior Bishops met in Synod and as Rome for the honour of the Citie held alwaies the first roome in dignitie so the Church there for the grace which God had giuen her to keepe herselfe more cleane from heresies than anie other was most respected and the Bishop also of that Citie tooke place before the other Patriarchs and in causes which arose was euer consulted with much respect and reuerence whereof Iustinian yeelded the cause which was for that saith he we haue sundrie times beene reformed by the Church of old Rome L. 7. Co. de sum Trinitat But so soone as either the Pope or anie other Patriarch began to abuse this honour and to encroach thereby vpon the liberties of their fellowes euerie man began presently to crie out of tyrannie and oppression 18. PROGRESSION 1 That the Gothish Kings vsed their authoritie in the election and creation of the Popes 2 That Belisarius by the commaund of the Empresse thrust out Syluerius and placed Vigilius in the Popedome 3 That Vigilius condemned the Councell of Chalcedon and confirmed the Heresie of the Eutychians 4 Baronius his censure of Vigilius 1 IT cannot be denied that the Popes of this age were sharpely set vpon this desire of soueraigntie and dominion but they met commonly with one or other who knew well how to prouide a Martingall for a jade and so much the rather because men began now to grow jealous of their authoritie and power as they saw them to vse it in fauour of one or other Wherefore these Gothish Kings vsed ordinarily to beare a hand in their elections which were carried otherwise after a fashion more befitting rogues and theeues than ingenuous competitors And Agapete was no sooner elected Pope Anastas in Agapete but Theodatus immediatly sent him as embassador to Iustinian the Emperour of Constantinople to excuse him of the death of Amalasuntha his wife daughter to Theodoric and by him recommended to the Emperors protection a fit commission for a Pope And the same Theodatus vpon the death of Agapete placed Syluerius in his roome being the naturall and lawfull sonne of Pope Hormisda Siâ—e deliberatione Decreti An. 536. The Pontificall Booke saith That it was done without anie deliberation of the Decree and he made manie Priests to subscribe thereto by force and feare How then can these men who boast so much of their Mission justifie this calling with sundrie actions ensuing thereupon Syluerius accepted of his kindnesse but Vigilius whom Boniface had formerly nominated to the See by solicitation of the Empresse put in now againe for his interest And here the Reader may well obserue an apparent progresse and proceeding of the iniquitie of this See the relation therefore of Liberatus Archdeacon of Carthage is as followeth 2 Liberatus in Bretuario c. 22. The Empresse Theodora who was of the Eutychian Heresie called vnto her Vigilius sometime Deacon to Pope Agapete requiring him to promise her vnder hand That if he were made Pope of Rome he would abrogate the Councell meaning that of Chalcedon and that he would write his letter to Theodosius Anthymius and Seuerus heretikes of the same profession and therein ratifie and confirme their faith promising him to send her commaund to Belisariuâ— that he should set him in the See and withall to giue him seuen hundred markes of gold Centenaria septem This Vigilius what for loue of the gold what for desire of the Popedome accepted of the offer and thereupon came to Rome where he found Syluerius alreadie created Pope wherefore he went to Belisarius who then lay at Rauenna to whom he deliuered his message from the Empresse and of those seuen promised him two hundred markes if he would thrust out Syluerius and put him in his place Belisarius thereupon returned to Rome and called Syluerius before him into the palace layed to his charge that he had entertained secret intelligence with the Gothes to surprise the Citie and it is reported that one Marcus a scholer and Iulian one of the gard had forged certaine letters as from Syluerius to the King of the Gothes whereby he was conuicted of conspiracie against the Citie And yet in the meane time did Belisarius and his wife deale priuily with Syluerius to satisfie the Empresse by cancelling and disannulling the Councell of Chalcedon and by writing to authorise and to confirme the faith of the heretikes But he was no sooner gone out of the place but hauing had conference with his Councell he withdrew himselfe into the Temple of S. Sabina from whence vpon assurance giuen vnto him by one Photis sonne to the Ladie Antonina he was againe sent for to come into the Palace his friends aduised him not to aduenture his person vpon the tickle faith and promise of those Grecians yet he came into the Palace from whence in regard of their oath and promise they suffered him to returne safely vnto the Temple of S. Sabina But when Belisarius sent for him a second time seeing a mischiefe readie to fall vpon him he recommended his cause to God and went vnto the Palace where he entred all alone and after that was neuer seene by anie of his friends The day following Belisarius called together all the Priests Deacons and Clerkes commaunding them to proceed to the election of a new Pope who after some little variance agreed in the end vpon Vigilius whom they chose in fauour of Belisarius and Syluerius was then banished vnto Patara a Citie of Lycia 3 Belisarius immediatly vpon the installation of Vigilius demaunded performance of promises which Vigilius had made vnto the Empresse and the two hundred markes which he had promised vnto him but he what for feare what for auarice refused to performe his promises Syluerius in the meane time arriued at Patara and the Bishop of that Citie went and
fift booke they proue nothing but this That Iohn vpon the wrong which was done vnto him had recourse to Gregorie who made his cause to be reuiewed in a Synod and his confession being there found Orthodox Gregorie requested the Patriarch of Constantinople to receiue him againe with fauour as one which had beene abused and wronged by such as he had put in trust with the examination of his cause and intreated the Emperour to assist him therein all which sauoureth not of the nature of an Appeale but onely of that ancient recourse which the oppressed vsed to make to the chiefe Sees and which the Bishop of Rome vsed commonly to draw to a consequence of Soueraigntie and Dominion The like is to be said of the case of Adrian Bishop of Thebes whose processe as hee saith Gregorie read ouer for the Appeale there spoken of vpon the accusation which was mixt and partly Ciuile partly Ecclesiasticall belonged properly to the Ciuile Court in the point for which the Emperour in the first instance committed it to Iohn Bishop of Iustineana Prima and secondarily to the Ecclesiasticall Court in that which concerned his deposition And Gregorie there speaketh in verie proper tearmes when he saith That Adrian being wronged by his brethren and fellow Bishop as by his enemies fled to the citie of Rome And againe He is saith he Confugit come to Rome to complaine with teares And in like sort doth Baronius abuse the other examples which he alledgeth Fiftly he saith That Gregorie dealt about his Palls amongst the Archbishops of the East also making vs beleeue that this custome is as ancient as Christianitie is old And wheresoeuer the Bishop of Rome writing to any Bishop saith vnto him Vices tibi meas committo i. I make you my Vicar he inferreth presently That he sent him the Mantle or Pall withall which he bringeth in as if it had now suddenly sprung out of the ground it being a thing which former ages neuer heard of But let vs see vpon what credit though wee now come to enter into an age which was wholly set vpon new fangles and deuises For proofe hereof therefore hee citeth the 55 Epistle of Gregorie lib. 4. whence he collecteth That he bestowed this Mantle or Pall vpon Iohn Bishop of Corinth whereas yet his words are onely these You know saith he that heretofore this Pall was giuen for money but we haue taken a strict order in a Synod Pallium pro Commodo that neither this or any other order shall hereafter be disposed of either by money or by fauour And I see no reason but that by the same argument he might haue said That hee sent him his Orders also True it is that the two Bishops of Rome and of Constantinople pulled who could pull hardest to get all jurisdiction into their hands as if the Church had beene a prey betweene them two and this was the cause that Gregories letters slew so thicke as they did into Greece And so much bee said of the power which he chalenged ouer the Church As for the Emperour Maurice Baronius taketh pepper in nose against him a man otherwise well reported of and much commended by Historians His grieuance is onely this That according to the law of his predecessors he tooke vpon him to confirme Gregorie in his Popedome and is scarce friends with Gregorie himselfe for suffering it In the end he saith That the Emperour was a Tyran Baron vol. 8. an 590. art 2 3 4 sequent and Gregorie forced to doe what he did and that it was of this Maurice that he meant when vpon the fift Penitentiall Psalme he vsed these words That he is no King who maketh the Church a Chamber-maid whom God appointed to be free and Mistresse of the house if so then was Gregorie a notorious hypocrite neither is there any trusting of him seeing that he said one thing and meant another in all the dealings which he had with Maurice For doe but read the Epistle which he wrot vnto Maurice concerning that law which he had made to this effect That no souldier vntill he were dismissed no accomptant without his discharge first had and obtained should take the Frocke vpon him and enter into religion and then tell me whether it be possible for a man to vse greater submission than he there vseth He is answerable saith he for it before Almightie God whosoeuer is either in word or deed found faultie against his gracious Lords And so were I your most vnworthie seruant if in this case I should hold my peace c. Greg. li. 2. Epist 62. 65. Thou wert my good Lord before such time as thou wert Lord of all c. And when I thus presume to speake vnto my Lords what am I but dust and a verie worme of the earth c. Power is giuen from heauen vnto my Lords ouer all men c. and Christ shall one day speake vnto thee saying To thee haue I committed my Priests or Bishops c. And in the end I haue saith hee Meos Sacerdotes now in euerie poynt fulfilled my duetie seeing that I haue yeelded my obedience to the Emperour and haue not kept silence in that which was of my knowledge Who can read this and thinke him a Pope which wrot it And in like manner speaketh he to Theodore the Emperors Physitian My tongue saith he is vnable to expresse the good which I haue receiued of the Almightie and of my Lord the Emperour and what shall I giue againe for all this good but onely this Vestigia pure amare i. To loue the ground he goeth on in the same sence in which he elsewhere often saith Greg. li. 2. Epist 64. ad Dominorum vestigia transmisi i. I haue sent it to the feet of my Lords And at the foot of that Epistle he saith God hath not giuen him power to rule ouer souldiers onely Idem Epist 52. but also ouer Bishops where hee vseth the word Sacerdotibus meaning thereby All men of the Church And shall then Baronius his plea be admitted Baron an 593. art 15. when he saith That Gregorie spake as one which liued vnder a Nero or a Dioclesian especially when he maketh such open protestation That he speaketh the truth wholly without all reseruation and thereupon is so bold in the same Epistle as to say vnto him What wilt thou answer before the iudgement seat of God when he shall say vnto thee at that day Of Notarie I made thee Captaine of the gard of the Captaine of the gard Caesar of Caesar Emperour Was it feare or duetie which drew these words from him But if you will take a true view of the judgement which this man had of the Emperour then read the Epistle which he wrot without all passion to Anastasius Bishop of Antioch Whereas saith he men which are Orthodox in the faith are daily preferred to holie Orders wee haue great cause to render
to famble with children but ought not to be drawne in consequence of doctrine in the Church That in such matters euerie one might abound in his owne sence and to conclude That he was just of opinion with Sergius that is to say a pure Monothelite Yet Bellarmine Onuphrius and others of that whet seeke to justifie him but alas they cannot vnlesse they will first condemne this Councell If they say that the copies were corrupted by the Greekes we answere that we take them as we find them in the Latine where we farther find that the copies of his letter were compared with the Originall it selfe taken out of the Librarie of Constantinople and the sentence passed vpon that letter saith That it swarued from the doctrines of the Apostles and holie Synods and that they contained hereticall positions and as such are worthie of execration That they execrated and accursed the authors of all such doctrines and cast their names out of the Church and for that cause they there pronounce Anathema against Honorius as following in euerie point the drifts and purposes of Sergius Cyrus and other complices in this Heresie all which is to be seene more at large in the Bodie of that Councell But which is more Honorius for this verie Heresie was afterward againe excommunicated in the seuenth Generall Councell and last Action Synod Nicen. 2. act vlt. 3. Synod Constant 8. Vniuers act 7. 3. 6. Beda de sex aetatib Liber Pontific in vita Leonis Psellus de septem Synodis and in the eight by Pope Adrian the second himselfe and by diuers others And of this Beda and the Pontificall Booke for the Westerne Churches and for those of the East Psellus and for these later times Melchier Canus though our aduersarie beareth record and is all this so easily puffed off by saying That the Greekes perhaps did corrupt the copies or that I know not who hath thrust these words into Beda Had Pope Agatho known the contrarie or had the least doubt therof what conscience had he had to hold his peace Is it ynough to say that he did it to auoid farther brable Or should not the zeale of his See rather haue moued him to speake For whereas they tell vs a tale of one Maximus out of the Popes Librarie we answere That such a domesticke witnesse ought not to be admitted without better caution for his honestie no more may Nicholas the first who liued two whole ages after this time and is a Pope produced for a Pope neither yet Emanuel Galleca who liued no lesse than 500 yeares after And by the way it is to be obserued That the Legats of Pope Agatho assisted at the condemnation of Honorius with 289 other Bishops Concil Tolet. 4. Can. 16. as also that at this verie time the fourth Councell of Toledo decreed That the Apocalyps should be read in time of Masse that is of full seruice betweene Easter and Whitsunday with Anathema to him which should faile herein as wel perceiuing that the time now approached when all men had need to arme themselues against that Antichrist who is in that booke plainly foretold and by many circumstances most graphically described which gaue life to the Beast which was dead that is to the Roman Empire in that downfall of the temporall Estate as S. Gregorie himselfe had mentioned An. 633. 680. art 17. Here Baronius grindeth his teeth contesting violently That Honorius was not an Heretike he turneth and windeth new casteth and mouldeth the words to saue him thereby from this imputation For what likelihood saith he seeing that the Councels held vnder Martin at Rome make no such mention and seeing that Pope Agatho himselfe pronounceth so peremptorily That it was neuer knowne that the See of Rome did erre c. But what shall we hearken to those forced interpretations which Baronius maketh of his words rather than to those which two generall Councels made of them when all matters were either present to their view or at least fresh in memorie vnto them or because the Pope said That they neuer erred must we therefore needs beleeue them contrarie to the authoritie of generall Councels and contrarie also to some of themselues And when Pope Agatho by his Legats condemned him and his memorial after him in the sixt generall Councell shall it be ynough for them to say That the Greekes added this parcell and the two Sessions following and thus to put off whatsoeuer they are not able to defend or may not we rather thinke and say That those other passed it ouer with silence because they had not what to say in excuse thereof Giue way to this and what Councell can stand for good In the end he telleth vs That one Theodorus Bishop of Constantinople Ib. art 17. an 680. being himselfe an Heretike and one of those which should haue beene condemned in the same sentence giuen by the Synod caused Honorius his name to be put into the scedule in stead of his owne Base shift for where doth he find Theodorus so much as named in all that Session or must so many authorities so many pregnant proofes giue place to his bare coniecture what printed author what manuscript doth he alledge But the truth is Gratulabor mihi tibique this man desireth not to be releeued but vpon almes Reader saith he if thou wilt accept of this I shall be glad that I haue not lost my paines if not neuerthelesse Honorius shall be still a good Catholike And this is all the fruit of 50 pages which he had spent vpon this argument Now after Honorius succeeded Seuerin the first At that time saith Blondus the manner was Blond li. 9. Deca 1. That the Pope elected was not crowned till the Exarch would come from Rauenna to confirme him And Isaac who was Exarch at that time deferred his comming to Rome one whole yeare and a halfe Platina in Seuerino and so also saith Platina Here Beronius obserueth That the decree of Phocas was obserued in certaine places And we denie not that this Mysterie had his proceedings for one Sergius Archbishop of Cyprus writing vnto Pope Theodore inscribeth his letter To Theodorus the Vniuersall Pope and so much the rather because he was at variance with the Bishop of Constantinople Summo omnium Praesulum Pontifici So likewise a genernll Synod of Afrike writing to Pope Martin inscribeth their Epistle To the Soueraigne Pontife ouer all Bishops though they might peraduenture meane it onely as to the chiefe Patriarch and consequently a Contutor in the gouernement of the Vniuersall Church as wee haue said before But Victor Bishop of Carthage a man much renowmed in that Synod when vpon his election he sent his confession to Theodorus kept the old stile and wrot onely To the most blessed Lord and our honourable holie brother Pope Theodore beginning his Epistle with these words The good workes of your holie Fraternitie c. and so
may appeare out of the letters of Vitalian by which hee retracteth the sentence giuen in that Synod against him absolueth and as much as in him lay restoreth him to his See and for execution of this his sentence vsed his credit in the Emperours Court. So likewise at the gates of Rome it selfe the Archbishop of Rauenna would not acknowledge him where after the decease of Bonus Maurus being canonically elected and consecrated by his Suffragan Bishops refused both the Pall and the consecration at the Popes hands and himselfe also consecrated his owne Suffragans without him and when the Pope excommunicated him he excommunicated the Pope againe And in this state continued the Church of Rauenna vntill the time of Pope Domnus which was in the yeare 680 all the time of Pope Martin the first Eugenius the first Vitalian and Adeodate Whereupon they called her Hereticall and tearmed this her Heresie by the name of Autocephalia meaning thereby That she should be her owne Head And we be sure that had they knowne worse by her worse they would haue spoken of her And Anastasius saith plainely That it was for the Primacie Causa primatus As for the Pope himselfe he stood all this while obliged to aske and to receiue confirmation of the Emperour paying therefore a certaine summe of money Lib. Pontif. in Vitalian Domno in regard of such demaines as he held without which he could not be reputed as Bishop But the sixt generall Councell held about this time at Constantinople can best informe vs of the opinion which the Church then held concerning that constitution of Phocas made in fauour of the Pope and with what limitations they receiued it 25. PROGRESSION Pope Agatho his assertions concerning the Decrees of the See of Rome and of the infallibilitie of S. Peters chaire AGatho a Sicilian borne being made Pope pronounced openly D. 19. c. sic omnes 2. That all Decrees made by the See Apostolike ought to be receiued as if they had proceeded from S. Peters owne mouth And bearing himselfe as Head of all the Churches directed his letters To all Bishops Which Canon was taken by Iuo into his Decrete Iuo c. 4. pa. 122. and afterward canonized by Gratian and farther lately authorised by Gregorie in his last Edition notwithstanding that pretended reformation And not without cause Concil 6. vniuers Sess 4. Concil 6. vniuers Act. 18. in Exempla Iussio diuinae Dom. Constant c. if wee will be so mad as to beleeue that which he doubteth not to say in his Epistle to Constantine Barbatus That vnto that day the Church of Rome had neuer beene stained with any errour neither yet would be by reason of that promise heretofore made by our Sauiour vnto Saint Peter But easily may he fall into the foulest errour who is most confident that he cannot erre And the Emperour out of his honestie seemeth to applaud him saying in answer to his letters That hee admired all which he had said as the verie voyce of S. Peter But notwithstanding all this wee must now see what the sixt generall Councell which was holden vnder Constantine Barbatus said did and ordained of this matter OPPOSITION First then we must vnderstand that this sixt generall Councell assembled for the rooting out of the Heresie of the Monothelites Zonar to 3. in Const 4. C. Habeo librum Can. sexta Synod Dist 16. Lib. Pontif. in Agatho Concil vniuers 6. Action 18. Epist Leo. 2. ad Constant was assigned by the Emperour so speaketh Zonaras The Emperour saith he for the vnitie of the Churches assigned a Councell at Constantinople And Gratian in his booke of Decrees The Emperour saith he assembled it and it was held by his care and prouidence and hee assisted there in person And the Pontificall booke saith That Pope Agatho receiued the sacred commandement of the Princes Constantine Heraclius and Tiberius Emperors who requested and exhorted him to send his deputies to Constantinople And Pope Leo the second in his confirmation of the Acts of this Synod This Councell saith he lately assembled by the Emperours commaund in the royall citie c. And Agatho himselfe in his answer to the Emperours letter I offer saith he my readie obedience to what is commaunded to me by your sacred Patent which was to seeke out persons fit to be sent vnto the Synod which the Emperour had called Act. 2.4 among all the Bishops of his jurisdiction and others all which he there calleth by the name of his Fellow seruants Confamulos suos and that as he saith for the discharge of his duetie and seruice causing them to make all the hast they could to the Emperours feet as well from Rome which he tearmeth the seruile citie of the Emperour as of the places thereabout Speaking all along in that Epistle of the most religious commaunds of their clemencies and of the duetie which he owed vnto them And to conclude hee requesteth them to accept of such as he had sent vnto the Synod though small scholers and little skilled in the Scriptures not dissembling that if he had occasion to vse a man which was well seene in knowledge of Diuinitie so terrible was the desolation which the barbarous people had made among them he must bee faine to send as farre as England for one Flexo mentis poplite And a little after he falleth to such submission as to say That he intreated him vpon the knee of his heart Such was the stile of this Agatho in those dayes and such also was that of the Synod it selfe of Rome in their answer to the Emperours letter Moreouer the Synodall Epistle it selfe written to Pope Agatho alledged by Baronius declareth That their assemblie was caused by the religious ordinance of the Emperour endorsing it To Agatho Pope of the old Rome and within calling him onely The Bishop of the first See of the Vniuersall Church not Vniuersall Bishop or Bishop of the Vniuersall Church And now tell me how all this standeth with that pretended superioritie or rather Monarchie of the Church of Rome Secondly the Emperour sent vnto all the Patriarches and amongst the rest to him of Rome willing them and euerie of them to assemble the Bishops of his Apostolike See and jurisdiction in a Synod and to make choise of some of the fittest among them to deliuer in the Councell at Constantinople what was done and agreed vpon in euerie one of their Synods which also the Pope obserued to a haire sending thither some to represent his owne person and others in the name of the Synod of the Apostolike Roman See In which Synod we find none subscribed but onely the Bishops of Italie By all which it appereth that the Emperour called all the Patriarches indifferently as so many fellow Tutors of the Church against the Heresie then on foot though one of them tooke place before another This we may obserue out of the whole course of this Synod
owne swords when as by approuing them they rather cut the throat of their owne cause What speake I of their approuing hereof when they receiue it as one of the six sacred Synods and that in these words This picture meaning of the Lambe is receiued by the Canons of the sixt Synod published by humane and diuine ordinance c. As for that which he sayth That Anastasius in his translation of the seuenth Synod testifieth That none of the Patriarchall Sees receiued them besides his proper qualitie as vassall to the Popes this author maketh himselfe otherwise too too much suspect in this businesse when in his Epistle Dedicatorie to Iohn he sticketh not to say That in this Synod meaning the second of Nice there are manie things of the Canons of the Apostles and of the sixt Generall Councell found which with vs saith he are not found either interpreted or receiued of so good dealing were the ministers of this See euen in those dayes to leaue out whatsoeuer might make against them 26. PROGRESSION That Aripert King of the Lumbards bestowed the Cottian Alpes vpon the Pope and that Iustinian the Emperour sent for Pope Constantine to come to Constantinople An. 705. THe greatnesse of the Bishop of Rome at this time was such that the Emperours residing in the East being harassed what with the inuasions of the barbarous abroad what with ciuile dissentions and rebellions at home had need of their fauour to maintaine their credit in the West So had the Exarchs in Italie to make their partie good against the Lumbards And the Lumbards themselues were faine vpon occasion to speake them faire and the Popes as children of this world and wise in their generation made vse of the times for their owne aduancement Anastas in Joh. 7. Paul Diacon l. 6. c. 28. Blond Dec. 1. l. 10. In the yeare therefore 705 Iohn the seuenth entred vpon his See Aripert King of the Lumbards gaue him as Paulus Diaconus reporteth the inheritance of the Cottian Alpes Blondus and Platina say that he gaue him all betweene Turin and Gennes and from thence as farre as France and this they call Giuing to Saint Peter and he made no great difficultie to be liberall of another mans Paulus saith Sigon de Reg. Jtal. l. 2. That all this did formerly belong to the See Apostolike meaning by that pretended donation of Constantine the Great and that they were taken away by the Lumbards and that he sent the Act of the donation in letters of gold to Aripert But Platina marreth all when he sayth Plat. in Ioh. 7. That this is reported without an author and that seeing there is no certainetie of the donation it selfe and that the Canonists reckon it as a Palea or chaffe without corne or substance in it how can the confirmation hold for good Wherefore this was either a meere deuice of the Popes to encroach vpon it or else a humor of Aripert thereby to redeeme the manie enormious cruelties by him committed and mentioned by Sigonius according to the common error of the times but he shortly after pursued by his enemie was drowned in the passing of a riuer On the other part Iustinian the second wearied with his homebred trauerses being now at length restored to the Empire which he had lost purposing to be reuenged of his enemies thought good first to gratifie the Pope and therefore sent him the Acts of the fixt Councell by two Metropolitans exhorting him to receiue them Anastasius the Popes Librarie keeper sayth it was with request to strike out what he thought fit But Platina their Historian sayth That it was absolutely to haue him subscribe vnto them but both of them agree in this that he sent them backe againe as wanting courage to contradict or censure them An. 708. But in the yeare 708 Pope Constantine made better vse of the times for Iustinian hauing made away the chiefe of the aduerse faction and hauing pulled out Callinicus the Patriach of Constantinople his eyes sent him prisoner to Rome thinking thereby to doe the Pope no little pleasure and thereupon sent to him to come into the East with purpose to vse his aduice in matters and to oblige him to himselfe with honors which he means to doe vnto him The Historie sayth That he gaue order to haue him receiued in all places as his owne person That he fell at his feet and kissed them with his diademe vpon his head Paul Diaco de gest Longobard l. 6. c. 31. but withall it letteth vs vnderstand that he vsed his authoritie to make him come Paulus Diaconus saith That he commaunded the Pope Constantine to come vnto him not as Sigonius an author of these dayes that he beseeched him And Anastasius himselfe sayth That he sent his sacred Patent by which he commaunded him to come vp to the royall Citie and that he with all readinesse to obey the Emperours behests Anastas in Constanti caused shipping to be prouided and these are the authors who liued neerer vnto the times so that Baronius is idle when he interpreteth his commaunds to be but prayers and requests Wherefore the rest that the Emperour did was in deuotion and compunction and not in dutie or obedience And indeed Paulus Diaconus reporteth That the Emperour renewed vnto him all the former priuiledges of his Church so that he was to hold them from him in time to come And Anastasius giueth the cause Requesting him saith he to pray for his sinnes for these were the satisfactions which those times required and so saith he the Emperour dismissed him to returne to Rome Who durst speake thus in these daies But Platina after all Iustinian saith he for all these calamities changed nothing of his former life onely he had the Apostolike See in a greater awe and reuerence than before and so long as good friends as might be OPPOSITION Notwithstanding this strong support yet were there alwaies some or other who would not endure this Tyrannie The Church of Rauenna was but lately come to the yoke and that by the commaund of the Emperours Wherefore Felix succeeding vnto Damian came and presented himselfe vnto Pope Constantine to be by him approued and consecrated at Rome but sayth Anastasius he would not enter caution according to the custome that is Anastas Plat. in Constanti Blond lib. 10. Dec. 1. as Platina and Blondus more ingenuously deliuer would not oblige himselfe to a set forme of obedience and to send a certaine summe of money to Rome wherein the magistrats themselues of Rome assisted him The tale goeth that his Caution being layed by the Pope vpon the holie confession of S. Peter that is vpon his Relikes it was found shortly after all blacke and as if it had beene burnt with fire These were the pettie miracles of those times to put to children but the matter stayed not here Blond ib. The Archbishop being thus repulsed by the Pope returned to Rauenna
in an abridgement of the historie Author Coaetaneus apud Vigner pa. 214. saith in expresse words That after many mischiefes done vpon the people of Rome they made them sweare fealtie to the Emperour and confirmed Sergius in his See againe as not holding his Title of the Popedome for good before much lesse of the Seigneurie of Rome And Anastasius doth not sticke to tell vs That the Popes authoritie was then and there questioned and debated for saith he Drogo Archbishop of Metz and other Archbishops and Bishops gathered together against this Vniuersall Church and Head of all other Churches without the leaue of their Metropolitan and did euerie day make new quarels against our most holie Pope and his Bishops And if you aske who they were that joyned with Drogo he telleth you That they were Gregorie Archbishop of Rauenna Anguilbert of Milan Ioseph Bishop of Iuree Agin of Verona Almaric of Coma Norchauld of Verseils Saufredus of Rhegium Toringar of Concorda Odelbert of Aqui Ambrose of Luques Iohn of Pisa Peter of Volaterra Gauspran of Pistoria Cancio of Sienna Lupus of Textina Sisimond of Aprusia Pico of Scolana Fratellus of Camerin Gisus of Ferma Racipert of Nocera Amadis of Pinna Donate of Frisoli and others and with them the Counts Boso Adelgisus Iohn Guido Vernard Wifrid Maurinus and others that is the better part of the Bishops of all Italie Insomuch that Anguilbert Archbishop of Milan separated himselfe wholly from the Roman Church which one of his predecessors had newly acknowledged some sixty yeres before And this separation dured as the sequell of this historie will declare two hundred yeres Sigonius obserueth this separation but concealeth the cause which was the pride of that See Simonie other disorders there vsed in the time of Sergius Besides that Theodorus Abbot of Fulden reporteth of this Anguilbert That he was much affectioned to the memorie of good S. Ambrose whose liturgie continued in the Church of Milan at that day and long after To go on with the time Baronius vpon the yere 839 produceth out of the Vatican a certaine Epistle of Gregorie the fourth An. 839. written to the Bishops of France Germanie of Europe and of all Prouinces he might haue made shorter work and haue written to all the world wherein vpon the complaint of Aldric Bishop of Mans made of the wrongs done vnto him by the other Bishops he giueth them to vnderstand That according to the ancient Canons an Appeale from them lay to Rome or to his Legat à Latere exhorting them in all hast to take horse and come away to him This pretence of the Popes was no newes to them and wee haue said alreadie That Charlemaigne was content to sooth the Popes in their humor But Baronius telleth vs not what became of this letter or whether the Bishops of France gaue way to this Appeale or no and it is verie likely that no for had there beene any thing for his purpose or not something against it we should haue beene sure to haue heard of it Baronius told vs before That Charlemaigne disposed not of the Empire as properly depending of the Popes election and we there shewed the contrarie Loe now Lewis surnamed the Courteous Charlemaines sonne he from whom they claime that goodlie donation who disposeth absolutely of the Empire and of Rome it selfe Thegan de gest Ludouici as we haue alreadie declared And farther Theganus saith That he named his sonne Lotharins after his decease to receiue all the kingdomes which God had giuen him by the hands of his father Nomen Imperium Nitard li. 1. and to haue both the name and Empire of their father which the other sonnes much stormed at And Nitard saith That he diuided his whole Empire among his sonnes in such sort that Pepin should haue Gascoine Lewis Bauiere but Lotharius after his decease should haue the whole Empire and suffered him in his life time to beare with him the name of Emperour And when the brothers after many hot bickerings Helmold l. 1. c. 4 came at last to an agreement In the end saith Helmoldus by the mediation of Pope Sergius this discord was appeased and the realme diuided into foure parts in such sort that Lotharius had Rome with Italie Lorraine and Burgundie for his part Lewis the riuer of Rhine and all Germanie Charles France and Pepin all Guiene both which were writers of that time or not long after 30. PROGRESSION That Leo the fourth was consecrated without the Emperours leaue and how the matter was excused An. 847. WHen Lewis was returned into France Pope Sergius the second dyed in the yeare 847 and the same day was elected Leo the fourth and presently consecrated contrarie to the law and without expecting the pleasure of the Prince The people excused their doing by reason of the Sarasens who at that time pressed sore vpon them and Leo his sufferance as being forced thereunto by the people Anastas in Leo. 4. who yet as Anastasius reporteth liued in feare of Lewis his second returne to Rome vpon the like occasion as feeling their wounds yet bleeding of his first being there And farther he obserueth That they carried him to the Patriarches Palace of Lateran and there after the ancient custome kissed his feet And yet all the antiquitie of this custome was but since the time of Valentine who as himselfe reporteth was the first author of it and liued some thirtie yeares past And for the rest this was that Leo which walled and fortified the Vatican against the Sarasens OPPOSITION An. 854. Leo about the yeare 854 cried for helpe to Lotharius against the Sarasens who presently sent his sonne Lewis with an armie into Italie but withall because he was informed That the discipline as well of the Church as Estate of Italie established heretofore by his father and grandfather was much fallen to decay he commanded him as soone as the warres would giue him leaue to call together the Bishops and the chiefe men of Italie to aduise of some course for the restoring thereof Lewis hauing assembled them at Pauia and calling vnto him Anguilbert Archbishop of Milan he who as we haue alreadie said separated himselfe from the Roman Church judge Reader by that which followeth how farre the regall authoritie then reached and Andrew Patriarch of Aquileia signified vnto them That his pleasure was to take a particular account of the liues and dueties of the Bishops and the rest of the Clergie of their sermons of the repâ—â—ation of Churches and Hospitals of the regularitie of Monkes of the jurisdiction of the Counties De Iurisdictione Comitum and to reforme in euerie person and degree what he could find amisse commaunding those two to make relation of what he had said vnto the other Bishops who were so farre from declining his jurisdiction that they yeelded him a particular account vpon euerie of the said articles humbly requesting him to grant such as
had beene faultie and negligent sometime to amend their manners confessing that sermons had been a long time omitted Sigon de Reg. Ital. lib. 5. through the negligence partly of the Prelats partly of the people who by hauing priuat chappels adioyning to their houses neglected the frequentation of the publike Churches with many other matters of like nature all which he tooke order to redresse as to him seemed best sitting in his palace and by the aduise of his priuie Counsel And whereas there was one Gratian a Master of the campe and a man of great credit and authoritie who sought to sow discord betweene the Temporall Estate and the Clergie practising vnder hand to translate the whole Empire backe vnto Greece againe Lotharius hearing hereof sent to his sonne Lewis to march immediatly vnto Rome and there to preuent such inconuenience And Platina reporteth That Leo the Pope was accused as partie in this conspiracie But in the end Lewis hauing hanged one Daniel who had falsely accused him Pope Leo wrot to Lotharius That he did and euer would obserue the behests and commaundements of his progenitors Requesting him withall That the Roman law might still take place as now and heretofore And we haue the extract of that letter in the Decret of Gratian in these words De Capitulis vel praeceptis imperialibus vestris D. 10. c. 19. vestrorumque Pontificum praedecessorum irrefragabilitèr custodiendis quantum valuimus valemus Christo propitio nunc in aeuum modis omnibus nos conseruaturos profitemur Et si fortasse quilibet vobis alitèr dixerit vel dicturus fuerit scias eum pro certò mendacem Where Baronius after Isidore in stead of vestrorumque Pontificum readeth nostrorumque Baron an 853. art 17. contrarie to the credit of all copies and glosses onely to auoid Leo his tying himselfe to the obseruation of such Edicts and Iniunctions as our kings shall make in the assemblies of their Bishops in their dominions Capitularibus And how farre kings of those dayes proceeded in matters of this nature we can learne no whence better than from the Decrees and ordinances of Charles and Lewis Capitulos and those which we haue also of the Synod of Soissons alledged by Baronius himselfe and called Capitula Charoli Calui The Iniunctions of Charles the Bauld which concerned the whole policie and discipline of the Church And the same Leo in another Epistle speaketh to the Emperour as humbly as in the former In the proceedings of this cause saith he we haue done some things incompetently not obseruing in your subiects causes the ordinarie course of law we are readie to reforme what euer is amisse as you and your Commissioners shall thinke fit c. Wherefore we earnestly intreat your clemencie and greatnesse That you would send some such into these parts to take knowledge of these matters c. and of all matters great or small which any man hath informed you of concerning vs c. By which we may easily perceiue what hand the Emperor in those dayes bare ouer the Bishops of Rome Yet Baronius contesteth That Leo withstood Lotharius and Lewis the Emperors in the claime which they made to their right of confirmation vpon the election of Popes and that hee preuailed so farre that the election from that time should be made according to the Canons meaning that Canon by which they pretend That Lewis the first Emperor renounced all right in the election But for proofe he alledgeth naught but a Palea of the Decret which is vnable to stand against the current of all Histories besides And yet the words of that Palea import but this That betweene the Emperours and the Pope it was accorded That the election and consecration of the Bishop of Rome in time to come should not be made but iustly and canonically which no Logicke can wrest to proue what he intendeth And these words are noted for a Palea in the verie edition of Gregorie the thirteenth Hincmar Epist ad Charol Caâ—n de Episc Syluanectensi Idem ad populuÌ„ Bellouacensem Liberam Regularem Electionem This Leo as he could not keepe himselfe from encroaching so met hee sometimes with rubs in his way Charles the Bauld raigned at that time in France The order was when a Bishopricke fell void that the Clergie and people joyned in petition to the king to grant them leaue to make a free and a regular election and that he would send thither according to the holie Canons a Visitor to assist at the election And thereupon did the king signifie to the Metropolitan which of his Bishops he would haue to assist as Visitor to see the election in all points canonically made yet so as without any preiudice of his owne Canons By which it was ordained That in euerie such election the consent of Clergie and people should concurre it being the principall cause why the Prince would haue a Visitor to assist to see his Canons duely and carefully obserued All which we may learne out of sundrie Epistles of Hincmar Archbishop of Reims but especially out of that which he wrot to Charles the Bauld touching the vacancie of the Bishopricke of Senlis himselfe being chosen Archbishop in a Synod held at Beauuais in the place of Hebo which rebelled against the Emperor Lewis And though there be one which writeth That at the entreatie of Lotharius he receiued the Pall at Leo his hands to weare euerie day a priuiledge which the Pope said he would neuer grant to any other yet Hincmar himselfe holding this Pal for a badge of honour Idem ad Cler. pleb Cameracensem Idem ad Laudunenses c. 6. rather than for a marke of subiection spareth not to say openly That it was not lawfull for the inferiour Bishops vpon any publike or generall occasion to consult the Pope vnlesse they had first aduised thereof with their owne Archbishops and yet the question was onely of consulting That it was needlesse for Archbishops to expect resolutions from the See of Rome concerning such things as were alreadie sentenced in the holie Scriptures in the Councels in Canons and Decrees of the Church And thereupon inhibiteth his nephew Hincmar Bishop of Laon to Appeale to Rome declaring the letters monitorie Ib. c. 34. by which the Pope warned him to appeare before him to be void and of none effect forbidding him to obey his summons and expounding these words Tues Petrus c. in this manner Vpon this sure and solide confession of faith which thou hast made will I build my Church And as touching the power of binding and loossing he spareth not to write to the Pope himselfe Idem in Epist ad Hadrian 2. telling him out of the writings of Leo the first That that power was passed and deriued from Saint Peter and from the rest of the Apostles to all the chiefe Heads of the Church meaning to all Bishops and consequently to
himselfe as well as to the Pope of Rome And that Saint Peters priuiledge taketh place onely where men iudge according to the equitie of Saint Peter and is of force wheresoeuer that equitie is vsed no more at Rome than at Reimes no lesse at Reimes than at Rome in euerie place alike according as the Bishops doe or doe not their duetie So likewise when this Leo presuming vpon the pretended Apostleship of Boniface encroached vpon the Churches of Germanie more than reason was he should Luithpert Archbishop of Mence writing to Lewis king of Germanie Luithpertus Episc Moguntinens spareth him not The cause saith he will not suffer me to keepe silence for I were inexcusable before God and your Highnesse if seeing with my eyes the imminent danger of the Church I should dissemble my knowledge as an hired seruant and no longer a true Pastor of my sheepe The Primacie therefore and the dignitie thereof now shaketh and is growne infamous in the verie chaire of Saint Peter for after a secret and vnheard kind of persecution she is wronged not by those who know not God but by such as ought to be conductors and leaders of the people of God which make more account of earthlie trash than they doe of heauenlie treasure And this ache of the head if speedie remedie bee not applied In Capite will quickly distill vpon the members c. You know the danger wherein the people of God standeth euerie man seeth it and the verie elements tremble at it to see how the gouernours and conductors thereof whose duetie is to seeke to saue the weake forsake themselues the way of saluation and run headlong to their downfall drawing those which follow them into the like pit of perdition Wherefore I exhort your wisedome which loueth veritie and iustice that according to the knowledge giuen you by God you would aduise with such as know the Law and are louers of equitie and iustice how peace and vnitie may be restored to the Church c. For the whole bodie of the Church is not hurt though the Head being wounded all the members are weakened thereby Wherefore the sound parts must helpe the sick at least if they will take the medicine if not then cut them off according to the precept of that true Physitian least all the bodie perish with them Wherefore I thinke it necessarie that Charles your brother and a religious Prince should be requested by your letters and embassadour to come to a conference with you concerning this matter as soone as may be to the end that he and the Bishops of his kingdome who are yet cleane from those pollutions may ioyne with you and your Bishops and all together take vpon you this common care to reforme by the assistance of God the peace and concord of the Catholike and Apostolike Church This Luitpert was a man much esteemed for his integritie wisedome and sanctitie of life and conuersation and for this cause of so great authoritie in the world that the two kings of Germanie and France made him arbitrator betweene them in differences of their kingdomes And yet saw he euen then corruption so farre growne in that pretended Head that hee could hope for redresse and remedie from none but from these two great Princes For that hee meant the Pope no man can doubt who knoweth the Historie of the times and the contentions which they had at that time with Germanie and France Neither may we here forget before we passe any farther that we haue a certaine Canon of this Leo his making Leo. 4. ad Epist Britan. by which he taketh away all authoritie from all Decretall Epistles of Popes vntill the times of Syluester and Syricius and so blotteth out with one dash of a pen all those which are attributed to them D. 2. ca. de Libellis during the three or foure first ages which yet our aduersaries at this day vse as good authoritie against vs. And the Roman Code seemeth to point hereat seeing that it neuer vseth any before that time Here now are we to obserue shall I say a Proceeding or rather a headlong stumble of this Mysterie of Rome that prodigious accident and monster of this time A stumble indeed and a fall withall it should haue beene if either the Church of Rome had had any forehead or the people eyes I meane that which fell out in the yeare 854 after the death of Leo the fourth An. 854. which yet I had rather set downe in Platina his words Plat. in Iohan. 8. as we find them in his Historie which he dedicated to Pope Sixtus the fourth A woman or rather a wench sitting in the See of Rome saying Masse creating Bishops offering her foot to bee kissed by Princes and people As if God purposed to expose to the view of the world in this liuing picture that mother of fornications foretold in the Apocalyps Iohannes Anglicus therefore saith Platina borne at Mence aspired to the Papacie as it is said by euill practises For being a Female and dissembling her sex she went with her paramour a learned man to Athens and there grew so expert in the liberall Sciences that comming afterward to Rome she found there few equall none superiour to her selfe And what by lecturing what with disputing both wittily and learnedly withall grew so farre in grace and fauour with all men that vpon the death of Leo as saith Martinus by a generall consent she was chosen Pope in his roome But not long after being great with child by her seruant hauing for a while hid her great bellie in the end going to Latran betweene the Theatre which they call the Colosse of Nero and S. Clements falling into her throwes she was there deliuered and died in the place hauing sat Pope two yeres one month and foure daies and was buried without honor Some write that vpon this occasion the Pope when he goeth to Latran shunneth this street of purpose and that to preuent the like inconuenience in time to come when the Pope first sitteth in S. Peters Chaire wherein is a hole made for this purpose the punie Deacon is to handle his priuities I will not denie the first to be true for the second I suppose that the Chaire is so pierced to the end that he which shall be set in so high a place may know that he is a man and no God and subiect to like necessities of nature as other men are and therefore it is called Sedes Stercoraria we in English may call it by a more cleanelie name a close-stoole But Platina for feare no doubt of the hole or dungeon where he had long lyen in the time of Paule the second after all this addeth that which followeth That saith he which I haue said is a common bruit the authors thereof vncertaine and of no great name which yet I thought good briefely and nakedly to set downe that I might not seeme wilfully to omit a
little he got by his Excommunication bolted out against the Archbishop of Rauenna The Iniunction also which he laid vpon him to come once in euerie two yeares to Rome turned to his losse for he saw indeed the Archbishop at Rome oftner than he was willing because he was euer borne out and maintained by the Emperour But aboue all it troubled the Popes conscience to see so great an authoritie so neere at hand ouershadowing his own as lesse offensiue when it was farther off For saith the same Author whose verie simplicitie is warrant ynough for his truth and honestie this Emperour because hee resided still in Italie made himselfe alwayes a neere neighbour to Rome and exercised his authoritie to the full being assisted by the chiefe of the citie who knew themselues and gaue also the Emperour to vnderstand the ancient customes of the Empire persuading him to resume into his owne hands the Soueraigntie and commaund which in alder times belonged to the Emperours Which no doubt he would haue done but for the reuerence which he bore to the holie Apostles which reuerence yet was such as that it pleased not the Popes For saith he whiles these matters so passed the Bishops of Rome sent embassadors with letters to Charles the Bauld king of France requesting him vnder hand to make a iourney into Italie and because he was in some sort a Philosopher they requested him to lend a helping hand to S. Peter and to deliuer his Church from bondage as if it had beene oppressed by some forreine enemie As for his proceedings against Lotharius we will not here enter into the merits of the cause it selfe but you shall see the letters which Gontier Archbishop of Collen and Thietgaud of Treuers wrot to this Nicholas wherin they complaine of his tyrannicall behauiours The Bishops our Fathers and our Brethren and fellow Bishops sent vs vnto thee and we of our owne accord went willingly to Rome and presented thee with the Acts of the whole processe requesting thee as a good Father to reforme what thou foundest amisse in them c. And thou madest vs dance attendance twentie dayes before euer we could heare one word from thee much lesse be admitted to thy presence After a whole monethes attendance thou sentest for vs we came in all hast without feare of harme and thou causedst vs to bee vsed like a companie of theeues for so soone as we were entred within thy gates they were presently shut vpon vs and we beset with a companie of rascals there saw we our selues destitute of all helpe Paganorum and thou causedst vs to be debarred the vse of all things both holy and humane There contrarie to all law contrarie to the decrees and customes of our ancestors without calling any assemblie of Ecclesiastikes no Bishop no Archbishop there present not so much as thy selfe discoursing vpon our errour either by way of argument or by testimonie of witnesse or out of any writing hauing no bodie to sit by thee but onely the Monke Anastasius a man long since conuicted and condemned for a common wrangler thou diddest abruptly read out of thy paper against vs an vniust a rash and a wicked sentence repugnant to all Christian religion and diddest insolently in thy words taunt and reuile thy brethren fellow seruants The euer-liuing Emperour of all hath set an incorruptible border of gold about the head of his Spouse the Church he hath honoured her with an euerlasting dowrie with a diademe and scepter of immortalitie hath giuen her authoritie to consecrate Saints to assure them of heauen to make them of mortall immortall creatures All which prerogatiues Robber as thou art thou hast violently reft and taken from the Church to appropriat them vnto thy selfe Thou art a Wolfe vnto the Sheepe a murderer of the liuing and one which thrustest men into hell couering thy sword all ouer with honie so farre is it that by thy helpe the dead may liue againe Thou bearest the shew of a Pontife but art a verie Tyran thou art in habit a Pastor in heart a Wolfe Thy Title promiseth vs a Father Et tu te factis Iouem ostentas but in thy deeds thou carriest thy selfe as a god thou callest thy selfe a Seruant of Seruants and seekest by all means to become a Lord of Lords and consequently according to the doctrine of our Sauiour thou art the least of all the Ministers of Gods Church who yet in thy ambition runnest headlong to perdition thinking euerie thing lawfull to be done which it lusteth thee to doe Fucusque factus es Christianis and art become a Wâ—spe vnto the Christians What could these men haue said more vnlesse in plaine tearmes they should haue called him Antichrist seeing that they plainely allude to that place in the Epistle to the Thessalonians Shewing himselfe as if he were God But for conclusion of all they adde yet farther For these causes say they we and our Collegues set not by thy commaunds we care not for thy words we feare not thy Bulls nor yet thy thunders Thou damnest all men as impious which obey not thy Decrees and forbiddest them to sacrifice But wee returne thy sword into thy owne throat thou which spittest in the face of our Lord Gods commaundement and decree thou which breakest the vnitie and peace of our Christian societie the verie badge and cognisance of the Prince of Heauen After this they come to his pretended Primacie The Holie Ghost say they is the author of all Churches in euerie corner of the world The Citie of our God of which we are free denizens reaching to euerie point of heauen and is greater than that Babylon foretold by the Prophets which vsurpeth vpon the Truth maketh it selfe equall with heauen boasteth it selfe to be eternall as if she were God falsely glorying that she neuer erred nor can erre This Epistle related by an Annalist of these dayes in the same sence though somewhat different in words with this conclusion in expresse tearmes We care not for thy sentence as being a curse vnaduisedly pronounced we will not communicate with thee who doest communicate with the excommunicate sufficeth it vs to communicate with the whole Church which thou despisest Annal. incerti Author per Pet. Pythaeum in vulgus editi whilest thou exaltest thy selfe about it Et elationis tumore the verie word long before vsed by S. Gregorie and by thy swelling pride and insolencie hast made thy selfe vnworthie of her and hast distracted thy selfe from her Communion c. And know farther that we are not thy Clerks as thou braggest ouer vs but thou shouldest take and account of vs as of thy brethren and fellow Bishops Si elatio permitteret if thy pride would giue thee leaue They should haue said Thy pride which is vnseparable from the person of him whom thou representest at this day in the Church And for the matter it selfe we may not omit that this Nicholas in his letter which we
the old fashion that he shall be deposed for a whole yeare if the Prince be cause of his so liuing that he be excommunicated for two yeares And the 17 Canon forbiddeth Princes and Emperours to be present at Synods vnlesse it be at generall Councels And the 22 disableth them and all Laies whomsoeuer to be present at the election or promotion of anie Patriarch Metropolitan or Bishop vnder paine of excommunication whereby no doubt the Popes Legats thought they had shut the Emperours of the West cleane out of their Conclaues vsing one Emperour as a rod alwaies to scourge the other As for the point of Appeales to Rome they could not effect it for the 26 Canon is plaine That who so findeth himselfe aggrieued with his Bishop shall appeale to his Metropolitan and from the Metropolitan to the Patriarch à quo litibus finis imponatur who shall make a full end of the controuersie and therefore meant not to run to Rome as Nicholas would haue had them And it was euen at the instant when the Articles were offered them to subscribe that they made their protestation against them In this Synod there appeared yet another notable ambition of the Popes for the Bulgarians being formerly Painims receiued Christianitie in the time of Nicholas who sent them Bishops for their instruction Michael their Prince sent his embassadors to the Synod who comming before them That we may not say they seeme to erre in our owne opinions we desire to be informed by you which supplie the places of the Great Patriarches to what Church we are to belong The Popes Legats replied presently That they ought to belong to the Roman Church The Bulgarians requested That the matter might be resolued and agreed vpon with the Legats of other Patriarches there present The Romanists replied That there was no more to be done with them and therefore without euer putting it to the Synod pronounced absolutely That they must belong to Rome The Easterne Bishops put this question to the Bulgarians When you first tooke the countrey said they from whom tooke ye it and the Priests which you found there were they Greekes or Latines They answered That they tooke the countrey from the Grecians and that they found there none but Greeke Bishops Whereuppn the Easterne Bishops inferred That they were doubtlesse ordained at Constantinople and so consequently should belong to that Church Thereupon the Legats replied That Churches were not bounded by the diuersitie of tongues That kingdomes and Sees differed in their jurisdictions That they had the presumption on their side who had giuen them their first Bishops That all Epirus Thassalie and Dardania had bin euer belonging to their jurisdiction The Easterne Bishops on the contrarie demaunded vpon which of these they would principally stand In the end the violence and pride of the Roman Legats ouerswayed who told the Synod That the Church of Rome held not that Councel for a competent Iudge of her controuersies who was her selfe by speciall prerogatiue to iudge of all other Churches That decree they what them lusted it should be as little regarded as it was lightly enacted That from this present time they by the authoritie of the holie Ghost pronounced a nullitie in whatsoeuer they should decree vntill the See of Rome had determined thereof And so the holie Ghost who was to Preside in the Councell Resided onely in their persons And they farther adiured the Patriarch Ignatius by the authoritie of the Apostles and of Adrian who had restored him to his See not to suffer Bulgaria to be taken from them Who made them a doubtfull answer telling them That he was neither so young as to be lightly deceiued neither yet so verie a dotard as to do that himselfe which he found fault withall in others And there rested this contestation betweene them being questionlesse a great scandall to the consciences of these poore conuerts who saw at first that these men sought not the enlargement of Christs kingdome but of their owne jurisdiction and iniurious to the Emperour who offended with these proceedings though dissembling it tooke no order for their passe and safe-conduct into their countrey So that hauing been certaine dayes at sea they fell into the hands of the Sclauons who stript them of all that euer they had took away the original of the Councell with the subscriptions of the Bishops and left them nothing but the copie of Athanasius and had peraduenture lost their liues but that some of their companie escaping the Sclauons feared the matter might come to light and they one day receiue the like measure The issue of all was That doe Adrian what he could the Bulgarians put out the Latine Priests and sent for others in their roomes to Constantinople and so remained they in obedience to that Church Whereupon they grew so odious to the Popes that they called that sinne condemned from heauen after their name Bulgarie thereby to make them odious and abhominable to all men And this was the end of Adrians enterprises in the East 33. PROGRESSION Of the attempts of Pope Adrian both vpon the Clergie and also vpon the kings of France LEt vs now see whether he sped any better in the West Hincmar Bishop of Laon nephew vnto Hincmar Archbishop of Reimes the most learned Bishop of France had surrendred certaine Church goods into the hands of Charles the Bauld to bestow them vpon a certaine Norman captaine Aimon li. 5. c. 24 from whom he would needs shortly after take them away againe and because the Norman would not resigne them but into the hands of the king from whom he had them therefore Hincmar excommunicated him for which in a Synod held at Vernons he was reproued and sharpely censured he thereupon appealed to Rome but they refused to grant him any letters dimissorie yet he continued still in his stubbornnesse vntill at length there was assembled another Councel at Attigni consisting often Prouinces where he was againe condemned and thereupon promised to submit himselfe to the good pleasure of the king and of Hincmar his Metropolitan and vncle and yet vnder hand signified the matter vnto the Pope procuring him to euocate the whole cause to Rome and himselfe to be serued with Processe to appeare there at a day making the best of his owne cause to Adrian Whereupon Adrian wrot vnto king Charles who yet would not license the other to goe to Rome and then did Adrian write him that bloudie letter calling him Tyran periured perfidious and a spoyler of the Church goods and what not And for conclusion as well to him as to Hincmar the Metropolitan We saith he by authoritie Apostolike will and commaund That thou cause Hincmar of Laon and his accusers to come before our Clemencie to the end that we may pronounce our sentence of his cause And wee shall see anone how well he was obeyed But not long after he made a farre more violent attempt vpon him The Emperour Lewis hauing as
that Hincmar of Laon appeare before our clemencie and that his accuser appeare also with him c. a stile not vsed heretofore by our predecessors when they wrot to ours And although we perceiue that you goe about to bring into the Church of God instead of the cleere light of simplicitie and humilitie the thicke mist of the pride of this world yet will we haue a better opinion of your will and meaning considering that a man as a man may doe that in hast which vpon better consideration â—â— would wish vndone againe But where doth your Secretarie find That the Apostolike See may commaund a king who by his office is a correcter of the faultie a chastiser of offenders and by all law both Ecclesiasticall and Temporall a reuenger of crimes committed to send an offendor to Rome condemned alreadie by due course of law and according to the Canons for his disorders and one who before his depriuing was conuicted before three seuerall Synods to haue endeuoured the disturbance of the common peace and tranquilitie and since his depriuing hath persisted in his obstinacie by himselfe and others c. Know therefore saith he as we haue alreadie written vnto you That we Kings of France and of royall ofspring Non Vicedomini sed terrae domini are not to be reckoned as Vidames and Vicegerents of Bishops but Lords of the Earth And so goeth hee on to proue by the testimonies of holie Scriptures out of the mouth of our Sauiour and his Apostles and by the sayings of Augustine Leo and of the Synod of Rome it selfe what is due from all men and from Bishops themselues to the royall dignitie And saith he if you search your offices you shall find that our auncestors neuer receiued any such commaunds from your predecessors not Theodoric and Theodobert from Saint Gregorie when he wrot for Vrcism of Turin But if saith he it be true to wit that he was deposed contrarie to the Canons we intreat you that of your owne accord in reuerence of the Church and regard of equitie you would be pleased to grant our request Neither vsed he any other stile when he wrot to the Exâ—rch who yet was inferiour to our ranke in the cause of Blondus Bishop of Ortona whom the Exâ—rch held prisoner at Rauenna We cannot beleeue saith he that your Excellencie holdeth him there without some probable cause and therefore it is fit his cause should be heard in a Synod to see whether his fault be such as may deserue depriuation to the end we may put another in place Thus spake he of Bishops not yet deposed for their crimes and therefore iudge Whether in the case of one which hath beene legallie and orderlie depriued for his enormities by the iudgement of a Synod he would haue commaunded vs as you haue done Vt eum nostra fretum potentia RomaÌ„ mittamus That by our power we should send him to Rome Saint Augustine saith vnto Ianuarius All these things which are not contained in the holie Scriptures nor ordained in the Councels of Bishops nor confirmed by generall custome I thinke fit they should be taken away Where then did your Scribe find this law which neither the Lord hath written with his owne finger nor inspired to bee written which he neuer ordained in the hand of a Mediator which no Painim euer commaunded no Christian euer proposed nor any Church-man hath decreed by which he commaundeth me to be a fauourer of a man condemned and excommunicated by the Church Me I say a King established by God girt with a two-edged sword a reuenger of the wicked and defender of the good when he bids me send Hincmar to Rome one that hath broken the lawes disgraced the Priesthood and wronged the Royall Dignitie a troubler of the State a periured person a mutiner a scourge of his Church sacrilegious scandalous to the countrey wherein he liueth not caring to crosse one of his deeds with another nor to doe contrarie to his owne hand writing and who seeth not that this law was vomited out of the bottome of hell it selfe c. But the holie Scriptures chalke vs out the way which we must walke against such lawes Christ the power and wisedome of God saith By me Kings raigne and by me Princes decree iust things The holie Councels also shew what is to bee done namely that of Afrike c. Likewise the Emperours Valens Gratian Valentinian Iustinian and others Which lawes ought to be obserued not onely by other Bishops but also by the Popes themselues Which Leo the Pope writing to Leo the Emperour well acknowledged so did Gelasius to Anastasius as by their words may and doth appeare And therefore saith he we hold vs to that for the Lord telleth vs by his Prophet That the lips of the Priest shall preserue knowledge and men shall seeke the law at his mouth And therefore you may not suffer any man in your name to write that to vs which is not contained either in the holie Scriptures indited by the wisedome of God or at least in the holie Canons published by his spirit For the Prophet saith to the Priest which commandeth Thou shalt declare to them that which thou hast heard of me Of me saith he not of thy selfe and they are blamed who speake of their owne mind because he that speaketh of himselfe seeketh his owne glorie Let no man in your name write vnto vs visions threats of excommunications contrarie to the beaten way of the Scriptures the writings of the Fathers the sacred Lawes and holie Canons For you know and so doe we that whatsoeuer is repugnant to this is void and of none effect It was said to S. Peter saith S. Leo To thee will I giue the keyes c. The right of this power passed to all the Apostles and this decree to all the chiefe of the Church c. and consequently this prerogatiue of Saint Peter is common to euerie one which iudgeth according to the equitie of Saint Peter For when it is said Vbicunque as no place it excepted so likewise is no Bishop which iudgeth according to the equitie of Saint Peter As on the contrarie no Bishop is commended which iudgeth contrarie to the same He should haue said no not the Bishops themselues of Rome And whereas the Pope gaue order That together with Hincmar should come a competent accuser to haue the whole cause reuiewed in his presence Although saith he this be grounded vpon no reason yet if you thinke Hincmar to be lawlesse and if your Emperour my nephew will be content that I shall passe through Italie to Rome I will not faile to be there so soone as by the grace of God I shall be able to set my realme in some good order against the Painims And because my selfe accused him in open Synod I will be there in person a competent accuser against him in many causes and we will bring so many and so great accusers of all sorts
with vs that we will very sufficiently proue that he was lawfully and orderly accused and conuicted To conclude because you haue ouershot your selfe in what is alreadie past we now entreat you for the honour of God and in reuerence to the holie Apostles that from hence forward you send no such mandats either to vs or to our Prelats or to the great men of our kingdome least we be enforced to dishonour them and those which bring them Which we tell you of beforehand for the honour of your priuiledge because we desire to be obedient vnto you in all things that are fitting as vnto the Vicar of Saint Peter But you must also take heed that you driue vs not to take that course which is both approued and commended in the fift generall Councell concerning the Apostolike authoritie and in the Synodall Epistle of Saint Gregorie to the foure Patriarches and the foure precedent Epistles all which treat of the ordering and limiting of Ecclesiasticall powers and jurisdictions which we would not insert into these our letters till we might see whether we may bend you to mitigat the rigour of your commaunds For looke what is sent vnto vs in the name of the See Apostolike according to the holie Scriptures and the preachings of our auncestors and the Decrees of the Orthodox Fathers we know we ought to follow But what euer commeth besides come it from whom it will we know how to reiect and to controll it Last of all if in this answer there be any thing misbeseeming me or you you haue forced me thereunto Such were the letters which passed betweene king Charles the Bauld and Adrian the second though he had giuen him not long before some hope to make him Emperour though any other would giue him bushels of gold Baron vol. 10. an 871. art 79. offering him indeed an Empire but as he did in the desart vpon condition That he would fall down and worship him And this Charles was he which a few yeares before An. 853. first made a breach vpon the liberties of the French Synods when about the yeare 853 hauing held a Synod at Soissons two or three yeares after he sent the Acts thereof to Benedict the third thinking onely to gratifie him and neuer considering vnto what consequence his successors might draw the same Our French Bishops wrot much after the same maner vpon the same argument vnto Adrian being assembled in Synod at Dousy wherein they call him Primae Sedis Papam complaining That they were vtterly mistaken and casting the fault vpon his multitude of other businesses that he had not more maturely considered of their Acts which were in all points agreeing with the holie Canons As for the Excommunication which Adrian thundered out against this Charls we could wish we had his owne Epistle in answer to it but Hincmars the Archbishop of Reimes we haue who receiued command from the Pope to pronounce it and we will here produce the principall clauses thereof And first of all hauing complained of many grieuous reproofes and menaces receiued he declareth vnto him That he had imparted the tenor of his letters to the great ones and Prelats of the kingdome and which was more had caused them to be openly read in an assemblie of Bishops of France and Lorraine and had shewed Lewis king of Germanie the aboue mentioned letter wherein he was commaunded by Adrian to excommunicat by his authoritie all those who attempted any thing vpon the kingdome of Lotharius deceased I vnderstand saith he Qui de regno eius estis that like letters haue beene sent to the glorious king Lewis and to the great ones and Bishops of his kingdome which you who are his naturall borne subiect should best know But comming afterwards to the matter he letteth him to vnderstand That he is informed by diuers that the two kings had agreed to diuide this kingdome equally betweene them without which the people had long ere this beene vp in armes That therefore hee knoweth not what to doe seeing he must either disobey his commaund or disallow of the treatie and accord made betweene the two kings That whereas he saith That no man better than himselfe knoweth the great wrong which Charles doth herein he plainely telleth him That in case he did know yet would hee not thereupon doe any thing seeing that Charles confesseth no such matter of himselfe neither standeth he legally or canonically conuict thereof But rather protesteth and many there are which beare him witnesse That this part of the kingdome of Lorraine was by the consent and assent as well of the Bishops as of the great ones of the Empire giuen him by his father Lewis and confirmed to him by oath by his brother Lotharius That therefore he taketh that Canon of the Councell of Afrike to be spoken to him as well as to all other Bishops whereby men are forbidden to lay a crime to a mans charge which he is not able to euict by proofes because as S. Augustine who was there present saith Manie things are true which yet a Iudge may not beleeue without sufficient proofes That he hath no power to put anie man from the Communion for a crime neither confessed by the defendant nor proued by the informer That otherwise they should make themselues both judges and accusers which were not lawfull alledging for his authoritie the rule of the Apostle and the practise of the Church with sundrie places out of Augustin Gelasius Boniface and others And whereas he is charged by him as a partaker or rather author of this vnjust inuasion because he held his peace and stirred not as he was commaunded his answere is That Adrian should remember that it was written The cause which I vnderstood not I searched out with diligence and that Gregorie sayth That God to whose eyes all things are open yet in the verie case of Sodome sayth Descendum videbo I will goe downe and see to teach vs to be well informed before we beleeue a fault And whereas he commaundeth him to seperate himselfe from Charles and not to bid him so much as Good morrow whereas yet he desireth to be receiued to the Communion of Adrian that this toucheth him to the heart and that manie men of great sort both secular and Clergie now met at Rheimes hauing heard this commaund say that the like was neuer heard of to be sent from Rome though in their dayes there had beene warres before this time not onely betweene confederat Kings but also betweene the brothers and betweene the father and the sonnes That for his owne part he must needs thinke that this displeasure is befallen him for his other sinnes seeing it fareth better with some others who haue not doubted to call Charles into the kingdome of Lorraine That for the rest the Parliament of that kingdome sayth That Popes and Bishops excommunications are no titles to claime kingdomes by That the Scripture teacheth that
answere boldly saith he By the goodnesse and mercie of our Lord Iesus Christ that the Rest of eternall life is prouided for them If so what need then of so manie Suffrages of Saints Requiems and oblations euer since And he proueth what he had said by the example of the theefe vpon the Crosse which went streight to Paradise and yet to make the world beholding vnto him concludeth in this manner We saith he by the intercession of Saint Peter the Apostle who hath power to bind and to lose in heauen and in earth Quantum fas est so farre forth as we may by law doe absolue them and commend them to God by our prayers The mischiefe was that whosoeuer would not doe whatsoeuer he would haue them was censured to be disobedient to the Church and consequently a Heathen man and a Publican and therefore all Martyrs whosoeuer happened to die in their quarrell against such Christian Princes or States whatsoeuer and so did he meane it of all those who assisted him against the Earles of Tusculana And this is the point wherein Baronius should haue noted the wisedome of the flesh in Iohn by reason whereof he sayth that he was punished of God and forsaken of all the Princes whom he had flattered or rather as we say abused OPPOSITION Pope Iohn during his abode in France produced a certain Patent as of a donation made by Charles the Bauld to the Pope of the Abbie of S. Denis which was thought to haue beene forged by the Bishops Frotharius and Adalgarius to take the said Abbie by this meanes out of the hand of Gausselin But saith the Author Hoc argumentum sicut factio non ratio Aimon l. 5. c. 37 imperfectum remansit i. This claime as sauouring more of faction than of reason remained in the suds neither was any thing effected therein notwithstanding the authoritie and presence of the Pope Likewise when it came to our Bishops eares that the Pope there present had giuen his consent That blind Hincmar Bishop of Laon in despight of Hincmar Archbishop of Reimes should sing Masse that is should be restored to his charge presently the Metropolitans and Bishops of other Prouinces to shew that he was not to hold his restitution as from the Pope came suddenly and brought him into the Popes presence without expecting any order from him attired in his Priestlie robes and ornaments and thence carried him singing to the Church and there made him giue his benediction to the people and all in a full Synod This was the end of that variance and strife betweene the two Hincmars the vncle and the nephew he of Laon appealing to the Pope from his deposition the other refusing to admit of such Appeale borne out a while by our kings in the defence of our Church liberties forsaken afterward by Charles the Bauld and his sonne both stooping at the lure of the Empire and yet he still persisting in his cause with the other Bishops euen to this last Act. Which yet Baronius vseth for an argument to proue his purpose and maketh a myracle thereof Here he runneth out vpon Hincmar of Reimes filling whole pages with this discourse and yet poore man what euill had he done onely this That he would not saith Baronius accept of the Popes Decretals farther than they agreed with the holie Councels Which is as he saith Profiteri paritèr diffiteri i. To sup and blow all in a breath Would God there were no greater sinne in the world And what I pray you hath our Colledge of Sorbona taught else now so many yeares Yet Baronius afterward giuing his judgement of him If saith he we will weigh him in an indifferent ballance for his knowledge in the Canons Planè dixeris eruditissimum You would say he was exactly skilfull in them although sometimes he fauour them too much in preferring them before the Decretall Epistles of the See Apostolike And what wonder if a Councell be preferred before a single man And as touching his knowledge in Diuinitie saith he we find him to haue beene most exquisitly learned therein as may appeare by that which he wrot against the Heretike Godescalcus concerning Predestination And thus much for our Westerne part of the world In the East Nicholas the first and Adrian the second laboured to make their market of that treacherous murder of Basilius by deposing Photius and restoring Ignatius all to gratifie and to content the Emperour in so much that Adrian what with blowes what with money got in the end Appeales to be made from thence to Rome though the Synod neuer assented thereunto But Iohn who succeeded them by an act of his vnawares dashed all which they had done Ignatius restored to his See gaue not that content to all as was expected the Emperor Basilius also sound him not so pliant to his humor as he hoped neither yet Pope Iohn because he would not let goe the Churches of Bulgaria as he desired whereupon he menaced him with a flash of Excommunication Ignatius happening shortly after to decease Basilius affected to restore Photius and because he was deposed by authoritie from Rome sent vnto Iohn to restore him to the communion of the Church and consequently to his See and the rather to moue him proposed to him great reasons and no lesse promises withall That by this meane he should make a finall end of quarels in the East That the Bishops themselues which were ordered by Ignatius and his faction thought it fit and necessarie That otherwise new troubles would daily arise in the Church That if he would giue way thereto he would furnish him with a nauie to gard the coasts of Tuscanie and Campania from the Sarasens and would make Photius surrender the Churches of Bulgaria into his hands Ambition or rather because Baronius will haue it so Baron vol. 10. an 878. art 4. 5. the wisdome of the flesh enemie to God carried away this good Prelat in such sort that contrarie to his owne oath contrarie to the judgement and sentence giuen by two of his predecessors namely of Nicholas the first whom they call another Elias he restored Photius whom they had stiled Lucifer and set him vpon his throne who yet as he affirmeth since his deposition had shewed no token of repentance many of desperat rebellion in despight of the Synod erecting altar against altar and both made and maintained a rent and schisme openly in the Church So indifferent is euerie point vnto these men so it serue for their priuat interest And by reason of this weakenesse saith Baronius was this Iohn called a woman and a she Pope thinking by this meanes to make vs take Iohn for Ione of whom we haue alreadie spoken Photius was no sooner set in his See but presently he called a generall Councell at Constantinople he produced certaine letters of Iohn true or false Baronius saith they were false and counterfeit by which he disannulled the former called the eighth
and gaue vnto him tribute and obedience and the Popes forces consisted in his holie execrations which the Christian kings did then greatly feare What thing then is more plaine than this to giue vs to vnderstand That the authoritie of the Pope consists onely in matters spirituall After Iohn succeeded Benedict the sixt by the verie same law of Leo the eigth and authoritie of Otho But Otho being dead and his sonne much troubled in the warres of Germanie and France the Romans returned to their former naturall conditions and vpon the death of Benedict strangled as is said by Cardinall Boniface being incouraged by one Cincius a citizen of Rome they created Donus the second for successor presently Boniface the seuenth the murderer of Benedict corruptis comitijs as the Author saith whom Benedict the seuenth thrusts out of the seat through the fauour of the Tusculan Earles So much was this seat swayed by theft and corruption Wherefore Otho the second came into Italie and vsed extraordinarie seueritie to represse these inconueniences and yet there wants not those that would persuade vs that they were Martyrs Fascicul tempo but the author of Fasciculus temporum maketh a fit distinction of them They were slaine saith he as in the Primitiue Church but they were no Martyrs the punishment all one but the cause different Otho died and not long after Benedict and Peter Bishop of Paula succeeded who was saith Platina Iohn the fifteenth who being scarce warme in his seat Boniface the seuenth before expeld through the helpe of a great masse of money which by sacriledge he had gathered together cast him into prison there died he of famine or otherwise within eight moneths following into the possession of whose vacant chaire he was admitted by the Romans who neuerthelesse left it soone after through sudden death to Iohn the sixteenth the sonne of a Priest and this Iohn the sixteenth left it to Iohn the seuenteenth that the saying of Platina may here be found true That to the great good of the Christian Commonwealth these monsters while mutually they banded one against another they liued not long Boniface the seuenth is noted by him malarum artium to attaine to the Popedome by wicked meanes sacriledge corruption and tyrannie and also Iohn the sixteenth to be prodigall to his kindred and friends of all things both diuine and humane without any respect of the seruice of God or the honour of the dignitie of the See of Rome Which errour saith Platina he hath so left by tradition to his posteritie that it continueth euen to our time insomuch that the Clergie of this age desire not the Popedome for the seruice and worship of God but that they may satisfie the gluttonie and auarice of their brethren kindred and familiars And so of the rest At length one Crescentius a citizen of Rome Otho the third being farre distant dared to attempt the gouernment of the citie the people distasting a strange Empire Iohn who loued better a Lord farre off than neere at hand rather forraine than domesticall inuiteth Otho who was afterward the third to come into Italie and promised to crowne him Emperor But Iohn dying before Otho arriued at Rome Otho by his authoritie created at Rauenna Bruno Pope of the house of Saxonie his kinsman then in his companie and sent him to be created at Rome This was Gregorie the fift who likewise in the yeare 996 receiued him An. 996. and crowned him with Marie his wife in the citie of Rome But so soone as Otho was returned into Germanie Crescentius made chiefe Consul taking courage to himselfe expeld Gregorie as not chosen by the people but by the onely authoritie of the Emperour and created a certaine Greeke Bishop of Plaisance with the consent both of the Clergie and people no lesse rich saith Platina than learned whose name hath beene concealed because hee was vnlawfully created Whereupon Gregorie flyeth to Otho who from Germanie returneth with his armie into Italie entreth Rome and assayleth Crescentius in the castle taketh this Iohn the eighteenth putteth out his eyes and reestablisheth Gregorie This Gregorie saith Martin Platina in Gregor 5. and after him Platine who in fauour of him established a law to continue for euer That it should onely appertaine to the Germanes to chuse the Prince who is called Caesar and King of the Romanes but yet not held for Emperour till he were crowned and confirmed by the Bishop of Rome But Onuphrius sheweth by good arguments that they are deceiued attributing to Gregorie the fift that which belongeth to the tenth Baron an 996. art 71. And Baronius after a long disputation comes to this That the Electors of the Empire create him not but that the Emperours should be chosen by the Princes of Germanie without anie necessitie to goe to Rome to consult thereon And these matters reach to the yeare 998. As for the affaires of Rome and Italie An. 998. euerie man may judge what their miserie might be among these frequent mutations of Popes being neuer almost without murther sedition ciuile warres and forreine forces Baronius notwithstanding attesting and detesting all these disorders the cause whereof he could neither dissemble nor ouerslip the Historie could not endure that the Emperor in a solemne Synod of the Church wherof Luitprand describeth all the circumstances should bring matters to a better state but thought it more tollerable that the Church should sticke in the depth of all filthinesse and gluttonie than to be drawne forth by the hands of a lawfull Prince This Synod sayth he held at Rome vnder the authoritie of the Emperour Otho the first in the yere 963 to depose this execrable Iohn the thirteenth whom he tearmeth a monster was a false Synod Baron an 963. art 31 32. if euer were anie wherein the Ecclesiasticall law was neuer more wronged more Canons violated nor pernitious traditions and iustice prostrate trodden vnder foot and oppressed with greater shame But how forsooth Because saith he that they hauing once acknowledged him for Pope be it right be it wrong by freewill or by force as he hath said before that nothing was lawfully acted in his election they could assemble no Councell against the Pope without his consent And hereupon he groweth verie testie and cholericke a Priest fit to adore Antichrist in the Church and carrie his traine after him Now then after he had apparantly demeaned himselfe as a Tyran and a ruffian in the Church doest thou doubt whether he will be a suppresser of brothel-houses or a supporter of them or that he will recall those by whom he hath beene expelled or be brought into order by Parliaments And all that which besides he alledgeth is nothing but pedantrie And the same sayth he of the Councell of Lateran held after the death of this miserable Iohn the thirteenth that is they that were subrogated Popes in a solemne manner after such a monster were all vnlawfull
succession of the Bishops of Rome which they so much boast of may be defended We must not forget that Baronius reprehendeth our Historiographer Glaber in one poynt wherein neuerthelesse hee expresseth to the life the beleefe of our French Church The Earle Foulke of Anjou hauing built a Church went himselfe to Rome with a great summe of money which he deliuered to Iohn the seuenteenth to the end he would send a Legat to consecrate the place Whereunto he agreed and sent thither a Cardinall with direction to doe whatsoeuer Foulk should commaund But saith Glaber the Prelats of France hearing thereof Glaber Historiar lib. 2. c. 4. Baron to 10. an 996. art 21. 22. 23. 24. iudged it to be sacrilegious presumption proceeding from blind ambition c. being a thing too vndecent that he that ruled the See Apostolike should be the first that did transgresse the Apostolicall and Canonical order especially being aunciently confirmed by many authorities Multiplici authoritate that not any Bishop should presume to exercise any such power in anothers Diocesse except it were at the request or by the permission of him to whom it appertained yea not excepting the Bishop of Rome himselfe whose Diocesse they held not to be the whole world But thus he proceedeth An innumerable multitude of people being gathered together in a cleere and quiet day to see the dedication of this Temple a sudden tempest arose out of the South which in a moment beat downe the Temple to the ground Which strange accident being spread abroad through the whole countrey there was no man that doubted that the insolent boldnesse of this presumption had made vaine the vow of Foulk and was a manifest warning to all that were present and to come neuer to attempt the like For though the Bishop of Rome for the dignitie of the Apostolike See was had in greater reuerence than all other in the world yet it was neuer permitted that he should transgresse in any thing the order of the Canonical gouernment For as euerie Bishop and spouse of the true Church hath some vniformitie in his seat with the Image of our Sauiour so generally it becommeth no man to doe any thing ouer boldly in the Diocesse of another Now from the opinion of this Monke let vs know what the judgement of our Church should be 39. PROGRESSION Of Inchantments and the art of Nigromancie practised by the Popes to attaine the Popedome and vsed by them for other wicked and vnlawfull purposes How the diuill deceiued Syluester the second touching the time and place of his death Of Benedict the ninth his sacrifices to the diuell who in the end strangled him in the forest and of his strange apparitions after his death THe Age that followeth mends but a little and therefore a Carthusian noteth That in the yeare 1000 we enter into a monstrous time infamous for Magicke artes and all maner of wickednesse his words are these and not without cause There began about the yeare of our Lord 1000 an effeminat time Fascicul Tempor An. 1000. wherein the Christian Faith began much to decline from her first virilitie as appeareth in the prophesie of S. Hildegard c. men betaking themselues to sorceries and inchantments and the Priest was as the people After Iohn the seuenteenth succeeded Gregorie the fift by countrey a Saxon created by the Emperour Otho the third and chosen out of his companie at Rauenna who being sent to Rome to be consecrated the Emperour not long after receiued the Crowne from his hands But he had no sooner turned his face towards Germanie but that Crescens a Consull constrained him to leaue the citie and set vp against him another Pope in such sort that at the request of Gregorie Otho was enforced to returne to Rome where he vsed much seueritie in punishing the authors of that sedition But shortly after Gregorie being dead Otho the Clergie and people being assembled together chose for his successor that Gerbert of whom we haue spoken so much before who in his youth was his tutor and was called Siluester the second A man as appeareth by many of his owne writings still kept in diuers Libraries that had penetrated euen the depth of all profound learning especially the Mathematikes but yet blamed by many Authors for eleuated spirits neuer keepe a measure in any thing for that his studies extended to Nigromancie it selfe by helpe whereof he made his way to the Popedome A matter so little doubted of by those that were best acquainted with the secrets of those times that they constantly beleeued that whosoeuer affected the Popedome in those dayes made profession of this art and thereby attained thereunto Martinus in Chron. Galfridus in supplement Sigiberti Malmesburiensis l. 2. Hist Angl. Anton. Archiep. tit 16. part 2. sect 18. Vincent l. 24. c. 98. Henric. Erford in Chron. Plat. in Siluestr Iohannes Stella ibid. I should be ashamed to alledge it but that Martinus Polonus Vincent of Beauvois Malmesburiensis Anthonie the Archbishop Henrie of Herford Carthusianus Platina Stella and others goe before me and the most part of them doe absolutely affirme That Gerbert had learnt this art in a booke which he stole from Seuille in Spaine that he did homage to the diuill and had in his closet a brasen head by which the diuell gaue him answers With whom consulting about the time of his continuance in that See answer was giuen him That hee should not die vntill he had celebrated Masse in Hierusalem a voyage farre from his thought to haue euer vndertaken and therefore he promised to himselfe a long life But falling sicke of an ague at Rome in the church of the holie Crosse called Hierusalem whilest he was celebrating Masse in Lent by a strange noyse of diuels he perceiued his death was at hand and began to see the doubtfull meaning of the Oracle Whereupon being moued with the horror of his sinnes he discouered it to some of the Cardinals and desired them that for a satisfaction his carkasse after his death should be put into a chariot drawne with two horses and there buried where the horses of their owne accord should draw him Which desire of his being performed it fell out that the horses carried him to the church of S. Lateran where the Cardinals buried him And his sepulchre say they by the noyse and ratling of the bones and the sweating of the sepulchre did presage a long time after the death of the Popes This historie neuerthelesse by some in these dayes is called into doubt and especially by Baronius because there is no mention made of any such matter by Glaber and Dithmarus but quite contrarie he is commended by them for his almes-deeds and charitie towards the poore But the Monke of Malmesburie speakes thereof as of a matter beyond all controuersie and describeth all the circumstances yea he affirmeth That he had an auncient book by him wherin the names of all the Popes were registred
herein than the rest That oath which he made Richard Prince of Capua to take Gregor 7. in Epist post 21. l. 1. l. 8. post Epist 10. is verie notable I Richard by the grace of God and Saint Peter Prince of Capua by what diuinitie doth he couple the creature and the Creator together from this houre and euer hereafter will be faithfull to the holie Church of Rome and to the Apostolike See and to thee a helper to hold obtaine and defend the royalties of Saint Peter and his possessions with a true faith against all men and I will giue my best assistance that thou maist securely and honourably hold the Popedome of Rome and the dominions of S. Peter These clauses according to his owne interpretation goe farre And I will neither seeke to inuade or obtaine thy principalities nor presume to rob or wast them without the leaue and licence of thee and thy successors that to the honor of S. Peter shall enter What other words could he vse to a captaine of theeues But to King Henrie when I shall be admonished by thee or thy successors I will sweare alleageance reseruing still my fidelitie to the holie Church of Rome These things fell out about the yeare 1073. And the same oath tooke Robert for Apulia and Calabria doing his homage Gregor l. 2. Epist 71. And if we may beleeue the Epistle of Gregorie the seuenth in the yeare 1073 there came to Rome in pilgrimage the sonne of Demetrius king of Russia whom he inuested into his kingdome in the name of S. Peter Vndoubtedly affirming that this his petition should be ratified and confirmed by the consent of his father if he should possesse his kingdome by the gift of the See of Rome Thus abusing as it appeareth by the stile the sottish deuotion of this young man In like manner in the yeare 1081 was the Earle Bernard besotted who gaue for the remission of his sinnes the earldome of Prouence As for the donation of the Countesse Mathilda we shall speake thereof in his due place But it is worthie the consideration from what ground it should arise that he writes to Philip K. of France daring to promise him remission of his sinnes if he would take part with him We will An. 1080. saith he and in the name of the Apostle we commaund that thou hinder not in any sort that election which the people and Clergie of the Church of Rheimes are to make whereby it may be thought lesse canonicall but if any man shall goe about by any endeuor whatsoeuer to hinder it thou shalt giue thy best helpe to withstand him Goe forward therefore that we may not be thought in vaine to haue spared the sinnes of thy youth and to haue expected thy amendment but especially endeuour to make S. Peter thy debtor that is Hildebrand who makes himselfe Peters successor in whose power is thy kingdome and thy soule who can bind and loosse thee in heauen and in earth by which thy diligence and execution of iustice thou maiest deserue his eternall grace and fauour Here I may aske who discernes not the voyce of the diuell tempting our Sauiour in the Gospell But the Aphorismes which they call the Popes Dictats published by him about the yeare 1076 lay him open to the view of euerie man That the Church of Rome hath no other foundation but from God Why then alledge they Peter That the Bishop of Rome onely is by right called Vniuersall and therefore he alone hath right according to S. Gregorie the Great to be either the forerunner of Antichrist or Antichrist himselfe That he alone may depose and restore Bishops what then shall we say of so many Bishops that in the Church for so many yeares and ages in so many countries haue beene lawfully by good and worthie lawes without any respect of him nay in despight of him placed and displaced That his Legat though otherwise inferiour in degree must take place aboue all other Bishops in Councels and may denounce the sentence of deposition against them The reuerend generall Councels therefore in which diuers Bishops haue beene Presidents and taken the vpper place and pronounced sentence in the presence of his Legats yea many times against them too whither are they now gone That the Pope may depose such as are absent And this saith Baronius is to cut off occasions and excuses from our aduersaries yea the Emperor himselfe who being absent he had excommunicated why then doe they so much wonder that he should vse the same law against him That we must not remaine in the same house with such as he hath excōmunicated What is this but like the Pagan high Priests to interdict fire and water Greg. l. 2. Epist 37. But how happie is it for Christendome that few beleeue it To conclude That it is lawfull for him onely according to the necessitie of the time to make new lawes to ordaine colonies of a religious house to make an Abbie and contrarily to diuide a rich Bishopricke and to vnite the poorer That he onely may vse the Imperiall ensignes That all Princes are to kisse the feet of the Pope onely That his name onely is to be recited in Churches That no generall Synod is to be called without his commaund That no booke may be accounted canonicall without his authoritie That all causes of greatest importance of what Church soeuer must be referred to him That he may absolue subiects of their allegeance towards their Prince That he can iudge of all men and no man can iudge of him And all this because the Church of Rome hath neuer erred nor as the Scripture witnesseth shall euer erre That the Pope of Rome if he be canonically ordained is vndoubtedly made holy by the merits of S. Peter That there is but one onely name in the world that is the Pope he had almost said that which the Apostle speaks of our Sauiour A name aboue euery name Phil. 2.9 Acts 12.4 the onely name vnder heauen whereby we must be saued Now gentle Reader what doest thou expect but that ouer and aboue all this he should adde Because the Pope is Christ he is Antichrist himselfe But before we come to the chiefe Oppositions we are to note some particular things not to be contemned Leo the ninth saith the Abbot of Vrsperg being at Menze and the Archbishop himselfe celebrating Masse An. 1052. it fell out that a certaine Deacon called Hunibert read a lesson that made not for the Pope Leo being admonished hereof by one of his friends commaunded him twice or thrice to bee silent who neuerthelesse proceeded The lesson being ended he called him before him and presently degraded him Wherewith the Archbishop being offended and much moued protested That neither he nor any man else should end the seruice at that time except his Deacon were restored vnto him in the same state he was in before in so much that the Pope to satisfie
he absolues men not of their sinnes but the Law of Christ Iesus and his Sacraments he weakneth the peace and pietie of our Religion stirres vp warres and seditions He giues himselfe to whoredome murder periurie treacheries rapines burnings And the better to hide his ambition he doth not onely find out new fables corrupt the Annales alter the Histories but he likewise adulterateth the heauenlie Oracles giues false interpretations of the Scriptures making them to serue his turne he teares in pieces the sacred Historie and amongst women discourseth of holie writ whatsoeuer he saith he will haue it to be thought the Law of God he seekes testimonies that are too weake to defend his auarice and wrests the Scriptures to his owne will against the true sence He sauours too much of the pride of the Pharisies in that he makes men beleeue that he bindes and loosseth as he pleaseth whereas with God it is not the sentence of the Priest but the life of the man that is required Moreouer Hildebrand oppugneth the Diuine maiestie resisteth the most Christian Prince ordayned from aboue and inaugurated by God himselfe To this end tend all his endeauours that the captaine of the flocke being oppressed and brought into order he might the more freely exercise his tyrannie against the poore sheepe destitute of the Emperours protection If all power be of God much more the imperiall and greatest of all other Christ Iesus when the people would haue crowned him and made him gouernour refused it and those two that were at variance for the inheritance and would haue chosen him for their Iudge he sent to Caesar to whom the Empire of the whole world was committed So likewise he commaunded the chiefe Priests of the Iewes to giue vnto Caesar those things that did belong vnto Caesar to whom they payed their customes their tribute their subsidies S. Peter teacheth vs the same Feare God honour the King The precept of Saint Paul is To keepe faith to the King c. To this man and such as are like him belongs that saying of our Sauiour to Saint Peter Goe behind me Satan thou art an offence vnto me And againe He that striketh with the sword shall perish with the sword Here let euerie man imagine what opinion all Christendome had of this pretended Apostle They in the meane time in Germanie that tooke part with Gregorie gaue him to vnderstand That these his violent proceedings had got him many enemies wherupon hiding the crueltie of his mind he writ a more moderat Epistle to those that tooke part with the Emperour the summe whereof was That if he would become a new man he should find that what he had hitherto done he had done for his good and that all former matters being vtterly forgotten which he ernestly protested he would receiue him into the Church Henrie therefore being now brought into great danger of the losse of his kingdome to the end he might take away the cause of all these euils accepteth of the condition and is content to vndergoe any manner of submission so he may pacifie the anger of Gregorie and reconcile himselfe vnto him Departing therefore from Spire with a small traine came to Bezanson passed the Alpes so came downe into Lombardie And notwithstanding all the Bishops and Prelats that tooke part with him vpon just suspition did giue him warning of that he did in the meane time neuerthelesse seeking their owne grace with the Pope yet he proceedeth in his purpose to appease the wrath of Gregorie and came neere to Canuse where the Pope was with the Countesse Mathilda who as the Authors of those times affirme did seldome part from his side There he earnestly intreateth Mathilda Azo Marquesse of Este and the Abbot of Clugni and some others whom he knew to be in the grace and fauor of Gregorie to be intercessors for him That first he might be absolued and receiued into the Church and so into the grace of Gregorie To which their earnest supplications Gregorie at the last answereth If he repent from the bottome of his heart let him deliuer vnto me in token thereof his Crowne and other ensignes of his kingdome and confesse himselfe after this his great contumacie vnworthie the name and honour of a King To which they replying that it was too heauie a sentence Let him come then saith he and purge that sinne which he hath committed against the Apostolike See by obeying the Decrees thereof And hauing obtained thus much at his hands they thought they had brought the matter to a good passe This wretched man Henrie therefore came as he was commaunded neere vnto him and being receiued within the second wall for the citie had three all his companie left without and disrobing himselfe of his princely attire bare footed in the coldest time of Winter and fasting vntill the euening he expected his answer of Gregorie William of Malmesburie addes That he came barefooted with a paire of sizzers and a scourge in his hands to signifie that he was there readie to be polled and whipped There he gaue him leaue to attend his answer within that second wall vntill the euening but had it not He came againe the second and third day and he handles him in the same manner At the last the fourth time partly moued with his constancie partly fearing he should be blamed by euerie man for his rigor he admits him to his presence The resolution was this that Henrie at a day and place appointed by Gregorie should appeare in a common assemblie of the German Princes and there answering to such crimes as should be obiected by the Pope should stand to his judgement In the meane time he should lay aside all the ornaments belonging to his princelie dignitie nor intermeddle with matteers of State hee should remoue from him the Bishop of Bamberge Vlrick of Cosheim and the rest whose counsell he had formerly followed and absolue all those that had sworne faith and allegeance vnto him all which when hee had solemnly bound himselfe by oath to performe he receiued him into the Church Neither did Henrie all this while thinke but that he had made a good market But he had no sooner trampled this Prince vnder his feet but according to the proportion of his humilitie his pride increased and the more submisse the Emperour became the more perfidious was he He dispatched therefore to his associats in Germanie especially the Saxons Bernard a Cardinall of Rome and the Abbot of Marselles to let them to vnderstand That he would not haue them to rest themselues vpon that which he had concluded with Henrie For though he were reconciled to the court of heauen yet not to his kingdome His confederats therefore joyning with his Legats An. 1077. assembled themselues at Forchame in March 1077 and by a generall consent chose Rodolph Duke of Sueuia and Burgondie and brother in law to Henrie King vpon condition That he should renounce all right to the creation
a place in Councels to Mathilda Doubtlesse the Monke Godfrey saith plainely That being circumuented by the Pope she gaue vnto S. Peter without the knowledge of the Magistrats and rulers the Marquisat of Ancona But as touching his publike life and gouernement Gerochus his follower Gerochus in vita Hildebrand who writ the historie of his life describes him to be verie obstinat and proud in his own conceit The Romans saith he vsurpe a diuine honour they will giue no reason of their actions neither can they endure it should be said vnto them Why doest thou this and they haue alwayes in their mouthes these Satyricall words Sic volo sic iubeo sit pro ratione voluntas So I will so I command For reason my will shall stand And that indeed was his humor according to the description of all writers Sigebert who writ of those times saith That by his example and by reason of his new decrees many things were done in the Church against all lawes diuine and humane and there arose in the Church by this occasiō Pseudomagistri false Doctors who by their prophane nouelties had diuerted the people from the discipline of the Church and that he excommunicated the Emperour for this very cause that the Peeres of the Realme should withstand their King being for iust cause excommunicated Againe that the Pope meeting the Emperour in Lumbardie vnder a false shew of peace absolued him For all they who had first abiured Hildebrand adding periurie to periurie abiure the Emperour and appoint Rodolph Duke of Burgundie their King the crowne being sent vnto him by the Pope Hereby we may easily gather what opinion he had of him Another saith He receiued for accusation of the King the writings of his enemies and thereupon excommunicated him Histor Saxonica in literis Henrici ad Hildebrand Benno Cardin. in vita Hildebrand And with what furie he was caried appeareth by that his Apothegme I will either die or take from thee thy life and kingdome But Cardinall Benno noteth the manifest iudgement of God As saith he he rose from his chaire to excommunicate the Emperour then newly made of strong timber by the sudden hand of God it was strangely torn into diuers peeces to giue all men to vnderstand how many horrible schismes by that dangerous excommunication and presumption he that sate in that chaire should sowe both against the Church of Christ and the Sea of S. Peter how cruelly he should dissipate the chaire of Christ trampling the lawes of the Church vnder his feet and bearing rule with power and austeritie And another saith From hence there arose a more than ciuile warre without respect of God or man the Diuine and humane lawes were corrupted without which neither the Church of God nor common-wealth could stand and the publike and Catholike faith is violated And if you aske them where the fault was they tell you speaking of the extraordinarie submission of Henrie to Gregorie Apologia Henrici that hee omitted nothing that might mollifie the heart of Gregorie and regaine his grace and fauour insomuch that at the last for a testimonie of his reconciliation he receiued the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ Iesus at the hands of the Pope sits at table with him and so is sent backe in peace But the author addeth That peace which Iudas dissembled not which Christ left Insomuch that Leo Bishop of Ostia Leo Ostiens li. 3. Chron. Cassinen c. 48. who then flourished saith The businesse being brought to an end the Pope by the counsel of Mathilda sent one of his ouer the mountains with the crowne of the Empire to Rodolph persuading him to rebell against the Emperour And the letters whereby he incited him are yet to be read in the Historie of Saxonie Historia Saxonica Apologia Henrici yea some repeat his owne words Trouble not your selues saith he I restore him vnto you more faultie than before for the person of the King shal be more contemptible in his kingdome if satisfying he lay aside the ensignes of his kingdome and if without permission he resume his regal ornaments I shall haue the iuster cause to excommunicate him But of both the kings this is his iudgement Henry born brought vp in the kingdome by the ordinance of God succeeded his progenitors in the kingdome c. But Rodolph saith he was obedient to the Pope who had discharged him of his faith and allegiance and assured him that bearing armes against Henrie he could be no way condemned of periurie and disloialtie because being excommunicated he could be no longer King it being the dutie of all the faithfull in the Church to persecute and kill all those who fauouring Henrie the King excommunicated refuse to forsake him This was a new Doctrine saith the Authour neuer heard of before there being no other sword permitted in the Church Helmold in Historia Sclauorū c. 28. 29. 30. than that of the spirit which is the word of God But the iudgement of God acknowledged by Rodolph himselfe giues better satisfaction who being neere his end vsed this speech to some of his familiar friends You see heere my right hand wounded with this right hand I sware to my Lord Henrie that I would neuer hurt him or hinder his glorie but the commaund of the Pope and request of the Bishops haue brought me to this that laying aside all respect of mine oath I should vsurpe an honour that was none of mine But what comes of it you now see In that hand which hath violated mine oath I am wounded to death Let those therefore consider hereof that haue prouoked vs hereunto how they haue led vs least perhaps we fall into the bottomlesse pit of eternall damnation And so with these wounds and great anguish of heart he departed this life The same author addeth that the Saxons gathering heart againe chose one Herman surnamed Cluffloch king who had conquered Henrie in the field Who by the iust iudgement of God entring victoriously into a Citie the Gate fell off the hinges and killed him and diuers others Whereupon the Saxons seeing their purposes frustrated they gaue ouer the creating of a new King or to beare armes any more against Henrie manifestly perceiuing that the kingdome was reserued vnto him by the approbation and permission of God himselfe What now remaineth but that we adde the confession of Gregorie himselfe alledged before by Sigebert and confirmed by Mathew Paris That by the instigation of the Diuell he had stirred vp wrath and reuenge against mankind I willingly here omit the contradictorie writing of this age with the replications and duplications of those that tooke part with Gregorie to maintaine his excommunication who say that a Pope excommunicated Chilperick King of Fraunce for his idlenesse and vnprofitable gouernement onely and established Pepin in his place That Kings are not lesse subiect to the key of Rome then the rest of his subiects for
attempts his fortitude in the middest of dangers his incredible courage patience in labours counsell answerable to his magnanimitie and his diligence as farre forth as his age is capable in militarie affaires his knowledge of diuine and humane lawes an euerlasting desire of peace care of religion bountie towards the poore clemencie towards the vanquished benignitie towards his friends beneuolence towards souldiers in all which he hath excelled all the German and Roman Princes that euer were And if he had beene a wicked tyran yet it had beene our dueties to haue obeyed him not to rebell against him and all humane lawes and the decrees of our forefathers doe forbid a mans aduersaries his enemies to be his accusers witnesses and Iudges The Emperour made peace with Hildebrand in Italie whilest by the perfidious treacherie of a few Saxonie fell from him A traiterous tyran who receiued due punishment for his treacherie contemning all oathes and promises and all affinitie and kindred inuaded him At the last he concludeth No man may proceed or pronounce sentence against a man that is depriued vntill he be restored to his former estate See the booke and read the law and so he deliuered it to Wesilus Archbishop of Mence Guebhard Bishop of Saltzbourge being for his age eloquence and learning chosen Prolocutor by the Bishops that tooke part with Hildebrand was mute and answered not a word From that time forward many of the Bishops and Princes of Saxonie abiure the sect of Hildebrand that name they retained in the time of Vrban and repenting themselues of what they had done came to the Emperour Onely foureteene persist obstinat therein who being assigned to appeare the moneth following at Mence at their day of appearance came not There the rest of the Bishops of Germanie being present with the Legats of the Bishops of France and Italie by the common consent of all the sect of Hildebrand is judged to be contrarie to Christian pietie Otho called Vrban being conuicted of sacriledge and irreligion was excommunicated and those foureteene being condemned of rebellion periurie murder were deposed Moreouer Historiographers doe obserue that in one yeare all the Bishops and Princes died that had kindled those ciuile warres wherewith the whole Empire for the space of seuenteene yeares had beene set on fire and they recite them by name which was in the yeare 1090. An. 1090. Waltram in Epist ad Ludouic Comitem It was at this time that Waltram Bishop of Magdeburge writ an Epistle to the Earle Lodowick whom hee calls a glorious Prince wherein he proues out of the Scriptures that obedience is due to lawfull Kings and Princes to the end he might arme him against the imposters of that age who to women and the vulgar sort of people preached contrary doctrines setting likewise before his eyes the judgements of God vpon Rodolph Hildebrand the Marquesse Egbert and diuers other Princes who bare armes for the Pope against the Emperour Sigebert in Chron. At which time likewise Sigebert speaking of Vrban chosen against Clement and of those things that followed thereupon From hence saith he grew scandalls in the Church and diuisions in the State the one disagreeing from the other the Kingdom from the Priesthood one excommunicating another the one contemning the excommunications of the other either out of a preiudicat opinion of the cause or the person and whilest the one abuseth the authoritie of excommunicating against the other by doing it rather according to his owne lusts than with any respect of iustice he that gaue the power of binding and loossing is altogether contemned Doubtlesse this noueltie that I may not say heresie did not till now appeare in the world That his Priests who causeth the hypocrite to raigne for the sinnes of the people should teach the people That they owe no subiection to wicked Kings and though by oath they bind themselues vnto him yet they owe him no fidelitie neither are they to be accounted periured persons who resist the King but rather to be accounted an excommunicat person that obeyes the King and that man to be absolued from all iniustice and periurie that opposeth himselfe against him Others speake more confidently Then did there arise false Prophets Apostles Priests who deceiued the people with a false religion doing great signes and wonders and of some he makes instance who began to sit in the Temple of God and to be extolled aboue all that is worshipped and whilest they goe about to establish their owne power they extinguish all charitie and Christian simplicitie c. As if the decree of the immortall God kept not alwayes one course That no periured persons shall inherit the kingdome of heauen The most part of the best sort of men such as were iust and honest and ingenuous and simple haue left in writing That at that time they foresaw the Empire of Antichrist to be beginning and those things to come to passe that our Sauiour Christ Iesus had long before foretold Sigebert and Auentine after diuers others doe note Auent l. 5. That the prodigious wonders that were obserued in those times did astonish the minds of most men The heauens saith he seene many times to burne the Sunne and Moone to lose their light the starres to fall from heauen to the earth burning torches fierie darts flying through the ayre new starres neuer seene before Sigebert in Chron. Auent l. 5. pitched pauillions and armies in the ayre encountring one another and innumerable the like whereby the people were confirmed in their opininion But especially when they saw the sonne to conspire against the state and life of his father Conrade against Henrie who had appointed him to be his successor An. 1095. and that by the persuasion compulsion and approbation of Pope Vrban instigated or rather bewitched by the cunning of Mathilda his father in the meane time leauing nothing vndone that might regaine him to his duetie obedience who preuailing nothing by his just gentle exhortations was enforced in the Councels and solemne assemblies of the Empire to beg vengeance from heauen and earth euen with teares in his eyes All this in the meane time was couered vnder a pretence of that sacred and plausible expedition to Hierusalem the mysterie whereof William of Malmesburie opened before vnto vs That by that meanes Vrban might recouer his authoritie at Rome or rather diuert the minds of men imployed about remote affaires from those more necessarie businesses that touched them more neerely at home That whilest they bended all their endeuors abroad to persecute the Infidels they might neglect Antichrist freely wasting all at home in the Church Neither wanted he in that impure and darke world a bait whereby to win and allure the simple people to that war which was an absolute absolution from all their sinnes without any penance What greater encitement could there be to men who were to inuade a countrey wherein all things were left to the
and thy souldiers to doe in remission of your sinnes c. Here I know not what I should say or whether to turne my selfe For if I should turne ouer the whole volume of the old and new Testament and all the auntient expositers that writ thereupon I should neuer find any example of this Apostolike commaund Only Pope Hildebrand hath offered violence to the sacred Canons whom we read commaunded the Marquesse Mathilda in remission of her sinnes to make warre against Henrie the Emperour And so hauing discoursed out of the Scriptures and some places of Gregorie of the true manner and meanes of the remission of sinnes and shewing to a sinner his sinnes and making him to confesse them to feele the burthen of them to bee sorie for them to seeke the remedie by a liuelie faith in Christ Iesus the church of Liege concludeth in these words This manner of binding and loossing thou hast heretofore held and taught vs O my mother the Church of Rome From whence then comes this new authoritie by which there is offered to offendours without confession or repentance an immunitie from all sinnes past and a dispensation for sinnes to come what a window of wickednesse doest thou hereby set open to men The Lord deliuer thee ô mother from all euill Let Iesus be the doore vnto thee let him be the Porter that no man enter into thee but to whom be shall open He deliuer thee I say and thy Bishop from those who as the Prophet Michah speaketh seduce the people of God that bite with their teeth and yet preach peace This was the letter of the church and Clergie of Liege to Pope Paschal the second fortified with the testimonies of the holie Scriptures and authorities of the Fathers Neither need we doubt that such in those times was the voyce of the greatest part of the Churches of Christendome who consequently acknowledged Satan to be let loose wasting the Church of God in the person of Antichrist sitting in his Throne which the Emperour Henrie instructed by his Prelats spake plainely in his Epistle to the Christian Princes exhorting them to haue regard to their posteritie the royall Maiestie Auent l. 5. and the saluation of all Christian people because saith he the Pope vnder the honest title of Christ goeth about to oppresse the publike libertie of all Christian people whom Christ hath bought with his bloud and indeauoureth day and night to bring vpon all Christians a slauish seruitude except the Kings and Princes of the earth preuent it neither will he cease to doe it vntill like Antichrist he sit in the Temple of God and be worshipped of all as if he were God These and the like letters saith Auentine are to be found in many antient Libraries written to the kings of France Denmarke England and to other Kings and Princes of Christendome who neuerthelesse became not the more strange vnto him but being rather sorie for this his condition detested the author An. 1104. It was at this time that Yuo Bishop of Chartres writ a letter to Richard Bishop of Alba the Popes Legat who would censure his Clegie of simonie whom he openly giueth to vnderstand that he had done his best endeauors to mend that fault but all in vayne because they maintained it by the custome of the Church of Rome You Epist 133. If the Deane saith he and Chapter or other officers doe exact any thing of those that are made Canons my selfe forbidding it and persecuting the fault they defend themselues by the custome of the Church of Rome wherein they say the Chamberlaines and other officers of the Palace doe exact much of such Bishops and Abbots as are consecrated which they couer vnder the name of oblations or benedictions for there they say neither penne nor paper will be had without money and with this collop they stop my mouth not hauing any other word to answer them but that of the Gospell Doe that which they say that is to say the Pharisies and not that which they doe If therefore I cannot pluck vp this plague by the root impute it not onely to my weakenesse because from the first growth of the Church of God the Church of Rome hath been sicke of this disease nor to this houre cannot free herselfe of those that seeke their owne gaine Moreouer the same man being much molested by the Clergie at Rome makes a grieuous complaint vnto Paschal against the Appeales to Rome which are the cause of much disorder rebellions in the Clergie against their superiours whom abusing that libertie they slaunder at Rome Epist 75. he neuerthelesse not long before in the cause of Godfrey appealed to Rome whose place by the authority of the Pope he supplied out of the selfesame humor as aboue acknowledging reason and justice when it made for their owne purposes 43. PROGRESSION Of the turbulent estate of the Church and Common-wealth through the factious pride of Pope Paschal NOw to follow againe the course of our Historie Auentine concealeth not ratiunculas some smal reasons as he calleth thē why these Popes since Hildebrand pretended a right to deiect from their Throne vel potentissimum Imperatorem any Emperor how mightie soeuer That all power had been giuen of God to Christ and from Christ vnto S. Peter and to the Bishops of Rome his successors vnto whom by Religion of oath all Christians were bound perpetually to obey and to other Princes onely a limited time and vnder condition so long as it shold please them That therefore it was lawfull for the Pope if the Emperour disobeyed him who represented Christ on earth to excommunicate and depose him no lesse than any other Christian insomuch as he raigneth but by precarie right and holdeth the Empire in homage of him That in case he should rebell he might root him out of the Common-wealth as a Tyran by any meanes whatsoeuer And the people saith he bewitched by Hildebrand with such reasons as they are subiect to let themselues be carried away with euerie wind of doctrine Fraunce Italie and Germanie were pierced to the heart for the space of three and thirtie yeares Namely Paschal following from point to point this instruction who seeing his enemie dead reenforced the rigor of his Decrees and will not receiue to absolution the inhabitants of Liege till they had taken him out of the Sepulcre where they had layed him when Henrie also his sonne demaunded permission of him to giue him buriall he flatly refused him saying that the authoritie of holie Scriptures and of diuine miracles and of the Martyrs receyued vp into heauen repugned thereunto This writeth Peter the Deacon l. 4. ca. 38. And Auentine noteth expresly that till that time the Bishops of Rome had accustomed to date their Bulls Epistles and other affaires from the yeres of the Emperours raigne which he first ceased to doe and began to date from the yeare of his Popedome He was also the first that gaue
consecrated contrarie to auncient custome But when he thought he had appeased them by the meanes of S. Bernard returned to Rome but soone after was constrained to depart againe and from thence vnder shew of renewing the warre of the Holie Land passeth into France persuading himselfe that by feeling the hurt of his absence they would become more tractable But they being nothing grieued at it he returned into Italie and died in the yeare 1153 at Tiuoli as if the drift of the Romans had beene to shew that they could be without a Pope and of Eugenius that he could be without Rome And yet in these dayes on the contrarie we heare of nothing more than the Pope sitting at the Vatican of the chaire of S. Peter eternally appointed at Rome And this is that which then passed in Italie In France notwithstanding the good offices that Innocent had there receiued he letted not to attempt against the liberties of the French Church neither wanted he there such as resisted him For the Archbishopricke of Bourges being vacant by the death of Alberick the Pope without attending the presentation of young king Lewis by full power ordained Archbishop one Peter the sonne of Emerick his Chancellor The historie saith that the king thereat was so much moued That in the presence of many Propositis publicè sacrosanctis reliquijs Mathew Paris in Stephan He publikely sware vpon the holie reliques That this Archbishop so long as he liued should not enter into the citie of Bourges Whereupon Innocent proceeded to excommunicat the king so that into whatsoeuer citie or towne he entred diuine seruice was presently suspended And this dured for the space of three yeares Here againe in the meane time commeth S. Bernard and because there was a great contention betweene the king and him for that Rodulph Earle of Vermandois hauing put away his wife had with his priuitie maried Petronilla the Queene his wiues sister he addeth one quarell to another and notwithstanding that solemne oath of the king which he called Herodianum iuramentum the oath of Herod not to be performed and kept he maketh him consent to receiue the said Peter S. Bernard truely being noted by many to haue beene too liberall in giuing those things that were ours to the Popes which was either because he feared their vnbridled obstinacie the cause of so many troubles before or for that our Princes sometimes abused their power in giuing Ecclesiasticall things at their pleasures Here followeth that which himselfe speaketh in his Epistle to the foure Roman Bishops after hee had warned them of the danger of schismes Bernard Epist 219. Which is worse saith he humane affaires are come to that euill passe that neither the guiltie will humble themselues nor the Iudges haue pitie We say to the wicked Doe not wickedly and to transgressors Lift not vp your horne and they heare vs not because it is a house heardened We intreat them whose part it is to rebuke sinnes to preserue sinners that they breake not the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax and it is then with a more vehement wind they break the ships of Tharsis c. Scarcely is the wound of the Church healed vp when behold it festereth and is opened againe And thus oftentimes the most obstinat is fauoured at the cost of the more tractable Yet it appeareth plainely out of many places that he was not content neither with the Church of Rome nor with Innocent himselfe In the Epistle 178 writing to the same Innocent he saith Bernard Epist. 178. It is the voyce of all the faithfull among vs that exercise their charge ouer people with a faithfull care That iustice is perished in the Church that the keyes of the Church are come to nothing the authoritie of Bishops wholly debased whilest none of the Bishops hath power in his hand to reuenge the iniuries done to God it is not lawfull for any to chastise euen in his owne Parish any vnlawfull thing The cause of this is laid vpon you and vpon the Court of Rome Ye destroy the things say they that they haue well done and establish the things that they haue iustly destroyed Yet more boldly in the 176 Epistle going before written by an Archbishop of Treues to the Pope wherein the stile of Bernard euidently appeareth for he is not afraid to threaten him that the Church was able to consist without Rome Know saith he that our Church on this side the mountaines Idem Epist 1â—â— as well in our realme as in the realme of France is strong in faith peaceable in vnitie deuout in your obedience readie to serue The losse of Beneuent nor of Capua nor of Rome it selfe will in no sort astonish vs God so iudging it knowing that the state of the Church is not to be esteemed by armes but by merits In the matter of diuorce of Rodulph Earle of Vermandois dispensed with by Innocent he writeth to him thus Bernard Epâ—â— 216. ad Innoâ—â— God had conioyned Earle Rodulph and his wife by the Ministers of the Church and the Church by God who hath giuen such power vnto men how hath the chamber namely of the Pope seperated that which God hath ioyned together in which fact it is manifestly forescene that these workes of darkenesse are done in darkenesse In that same also which he wrot to the Cardinall of Hostia he describeth vnto him in the person of Cardinall Iordan the actions and behauiours of the Popes Legats Your Legats saith he haue trauersed from nation to nation Epist 299. and from people to people leauing filthie and horrible traces of their steps eueriewhere from the foot of the Alpes and the kingdome of Germanie passing through almost all the Churches of France and Normandie vnto Rouan this Apostolike man hath filled all not with the Gospell but with sacriledge alluding to the journey of Saint Paul who had filled all with the Gospell from Hierusalem to Illiricum It is reported that he committed in all places dishonest things carried away the spoyles of the Churches promoted where he might formosulos pueros faire boyes to Ecclesiasticall honours and would haue done it where he could not Many haue redeemed themselues that hee might not come vnto them Of them that he could not come to he exacted and extorted by his deputies In scholes in Courts in highwayes hee made himselfe a mocking stocke to the world Seculars and religious persons all spake euill of him the poore Monks and Clerks complaine of him But for the Popes in generall It seemeth saith he oh good Iesus that all Christendome hath conspired against thee Apud Hagonem in postilla super Johann and they are the chiefest in persecuting thee that seeme to hold primacie in the Church and to haue principalitie according as it is written He that did eat my bread magnified vpon me supplantation made it a brauerie to supplant me transferring to the Pope that which the Apostle expounded of
and Lotharius prostrat at his knees receiuing the Imperiall Crowne and when he was returned into Germanie the Pope by two Cardinalls sent him the Epistle aboue mentioned Therefore all the Princes of the Empire which assisted him were greatly offended hereat and as some of them complained of so insolent a Legation one of the Popes Legats Quasi gladium igni addens as it were adding the sword to fire replied for to take away all ambiguitie Of whom then doth the Emperour hold the Empire if not of my Lord the Pope At which words Otho Count Palatine set his hand to his sword and would haue slaine him had not the Emperour withheld him who also without any other answer sent away the Legats in safetie to Rome by the neerest way for feare least they should goe vp and downe suborning the people In the meane time Frederick writeth to all the States of the Empire complaining of this insolencie and sent them a copie of the letters obseruing vnto them the clauses abouesaid Flowing saith he from the Mammon of Iniquitie that puffeth him vp with a heape of pride of hautinesse of arrogancie and of execrable loftinesse elatione of heart notwithstanding that he held the Empire by the election of the Princes and from God alone That the Apostle S. Peter himselfe had instructed the world in these words Feare God honour the King So that whosoeuer shall say he holdeth the Imperiall Crowne by the benefit of the Pope is contrarie to diuine institution to the doctrine of S. Peter and conuicted of lying To this he added moreouer That he was resolute as he had begun to warrant the libertie of the Churches from the hands of the Aegyptians to wit from the Pope as from a Pharaoh exhorting them to lend him their helping hands And it is not to be forgotten that he found about the Legats many blankes signed and sealed to be filled at their discretion for to sow their venime of iniquitie through the Churches of Germanie to despoyle the Altars carrie away the vessels of the house of God cruces excoriare to slea or fleece the crosses that is to say to plucke off the gold and siluer that couered them which was the cause that he made them take the neerest way that hee might câ—â— off such practises The Legats being come to the Pope who besides was in contention with the Romans resolued vpon their answer to write to the Bishops of Germanie complaining that Frederick had misconstrued the good meaning of his letters and namely these words Insigne beneficium tibi contulimus Radeuicus l. 1. c. 15. 16. We haue giuen thee this notable benefit of the Crowne And much harder were the words in his letters He requested them to pacifie his mind and to induce him to make such satisfaction of the speeches to his Legats as that all men might be edified thereby So doing they should doe a good seruice to Saint Peter But the Bishops and Prelats of Germanie being vpon this Legation assembled together doe answer him That all the Commonwealth of the Empire was moued at the clauses contained in his letters that the eares of the Emperour could not patiently heare them nor of the Princes endure them that themselues for that sinister ambiguitie could not approue them being vnusuall and neuer before heard of till then Radeuicus l. 1. c. 16. That in consequence of his letters they had admonished the Emperour From whom thankes be to God say they we haue receiued such an answer as became a Catholike Prince Note here his words as followeth There are two things saith he whereby our Empire ought to be gouerned the holie lawes of Emperours and the good custome of our Fathers and predecessors These bounds of the Church we neither will nor can transgresse neither admit any thing that departeth from them We willingly yeeld to the Pope his due reuerence but we hold the free Crowne of our Empire onely from God and his diuine bountie The first voyce of election we acknowledge is from the Archbishop of Mentz and then of other Princes euerie one in his order the royall vnction from the Bishop of Cologne the last which is the Imperiall vnction from the Pope Whatsoeuer is more than this ex abundanti est à malo is superfluous and from that wicked one c. Wee haue not neither will we by Edict stop the entrance and passage of Italie from them that goe to Rome be it for voyage or other reasonable causes hauing the testimonie of their Bishops and Prelats but we haue an intention to remedie the abuses wherewith all the Churches of our realme are grieued and almost all cloisterall disciplines dead and buried In time past God exalted the Church by the Empire now the Church not by God as we beleeue ruinateth the Empire They began by a picture from that they came to writing and now writing endeuoureth to passe into authoritie We will not endure it we will not suffer it we will rather for goe our Crowne than consent that by vs it shall fall into decay Let them deface the pictures let them withdraw these writings that there remaine not an eternall memorie of enmitie betweene the Kingdome and the Priesthood In these tearmes represented they to Adrian the resolution of Frederick concluding with a supplication That he would mitigat the former writings by other more mild for to appease the magnanimitie of the Emperour And in the mean time the Emperour sent into Italie Otho of Witelsbach Palatine and Renold Earle of Assell his Chauncellor great personages for to keepe all men in obedience Sigon de regno Jtal. l. 12. and to receiue the oath of the Lords Bishops and Comminalties the forme whereof was this I promise that from henceforth I will be faithfull to Frederick the Emperour of the Romans my Lord against all men c. namely I will not take away from him his royalties of such a Countie or Bishopricke c. Radeuicus l. 1. c. 18.19 I will execute all his commaundements that he shall commaund me by himselfe or by letter or his embassadour to doe iustice c. So that Adrian seeing the commission of these forerunners of the Emperour prosperously to goe forward and perceiuing him about to passe into Italie with an armie he sent vnto him two Legats Henrie and Iacinth Cardinals with letters wherein he correcteth his plea Which Legats saith the Author reuerently with an humble countenance Radeuicus de gestis Frederic l 1. c. 11. and a modest voyce began their Legation in these words Praesul Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae the Bishop of the holie Church of Rome and most deuout Father of your Excellencie in Christ saluteth you as his most deere and speciall sonne of Saint Peter Our venerable brethren your Clerkes all the Cardinalls doe also most humbly salute you as Lord and Emperour vrbis orbis of the citie of Rome and of the world How different is this stile
arising in the Church of Rome through the dissention of two Popes it is our duetie to call both parties and according to equitie and iustice to decide the controuersie The day therefore being come he ordayned fasting and publike prayers for the good successe of this Councel then declared he first vnto them That albeit the conuocation of Councels rightly appertayned vnto him For so saith he haue Constantine and Theodosius and also Iustinian besides those of later time Charles the great and Otho Emperours done Neuerthelesse the authoritie of defining and deciding this great and important businesse he thought fit to commit to their wisedome and iudgement Radeuicus l. 2. cap. 64.65 For since it pleased God to ordaine them Priests in those things that belonged vnto God It is not saith he our parts to iudge of you to whom God hath giuen power to iudge of vs Onely we exhort you saith he that you so carrie your selues in this businesse as you will answer the matter at the iudgement seat of God This done he retired himselfe from the Councell leauing the examination thereof to the Church and Ecclesiasticall persons that is to say to fiftie Archbishops and Bishops and Abbots without number besides Embassadours from diuers Prouinces who promised they would stand to whatsoeuer should be decreed in this Synode So the Bishops and all the Clergie continued in the canuasing of this cause the space of seuen daies at length the lot fell to Octanian called Victor the fourth the Councell or rather the Court giuing their sentence for him and condemned Roxland called Alexander the third who being lawfully summoned proudly refused to appeare Blondus and Sigonius say his reason was That he that ought to iudge all men ought not to be iudged of any man But Radeuicus in his narration seriously admonisheth the Reader that in the inquisition of the veritie of this act a man respect not his words but the writings that came to his owne hands which are inserted into this worke and will not seeme tedious to the Reader But first he produced an Epistle of the Chanons of S. Peter of Rome to Frederick Jdem l. 2. c. 66. wherein after they had bewailed the corruption of Rome as the Prophets before deplored the state of Ierusalem in these words For the sinnes of the Prophets and the iniquitie of the Priests they haue wandered like blindmen in the streets for the face of the Lord was turned from them They declare that in the time of Adrian one Boson whom they call the first borne of Satan possest the sorts and holds of S. Peter by corrupting the gard who were inforst by oth to giue their faith vnto him But Rowland seeing the lawfull election to fall vpon Octauian without any contradiction ascended the same fort and there lurked with his associats in a hollow vault of Neroes I say the same vault whereinto the Romane Nero fled through feare of the Romans yet could he neuer afterward attaine the pontificall Mantle for all the care and diligence of his followers Radeuic l. 2. c. 66.67.68.69.70.71.72.73.74.75.76 And heere let the Reader note a peece of strange diuinitie that from a mantle cast vpon the shoulders of a man whether by right or by wrong by freewill or by force an argument should be drawne of a lawfull or vnlawfull election especially his that is accounted the chiefe Bishop of the Christian Church They come afterward to the act of the Councell which being plainely and simply propounded by the Author by all circumstances iustifieth the election of Victor and weakeneth and disableth that of Alexander But yet it is continually a question An immantatus Rolandus nec ne which is perpetually denied by all Then was made a catalogue of all those that had giuen their consent with Victor and Rowland himself said to his partakers De me non facietis ridiculum â—bi est Papa ite ad eum obedite Make not me your laughing-stocke the Pope is there goe to him and obey him The Councell therefore being led by these and the like proofes pronounced sentence which was likewise ratified by the Emperour being presented vnto him The Presidents of the Councell writ into diuers parts of the world that for these causes aforesaid they had chosen Victor and abandoned Rowland whom they had curst with booke and candle to the Deuill himselfe because in the life of Adrian he would haue made a confederacie that none but of the number of the confederats should be chosen Pope and these Synodall letters were signed by Pâ—regrinus Patriarch of Aquileia with his suffragans Arnaldus of Menze Artenicus of Breâ—e Hellinus of Treuers Renaldus of Collen Wickman of Magdeburge for Germanie with their followers For France the Archbishops of Bizanson Arles Lion Vienna with their suffragans The Embassadors of the Kings of England Hungarie Denmarke grounding themselues vpon the commaunds and letters of their Lords and an infinite number of Bishops Abbots and Prelates of Italy and Lords of the Empire as well within as without Italy did likewise subscribe thereunto And the Embassadours that were sent from the Councell to worke a quiet approbation of what was done in that Councell was the Bishop of Collen into France of Verdune into Spaine of Prague into Hungarie Which to this end be it spoken that it might plainely appeare how justly and vprightly Frederick carried himselfe in that Councell against the practises that were afterward made in diuers parts by Alexander The Abbot of Vrsperge made a short abridgement of all this businesse There is law ynough saithe he that the election of Rowland being disproued Octauian should be iudged the right and lawfull Bishop of Rome c. And Rome continued in confusion through conspiracies that that might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet They that rise vp against me shall be confounded and againe My seruant shall be replenished with ioy c. Alexander had no sooner vnderstood these things but he was the more eagre and forward to excommunicat Victor and Frederick but first he sent to Milan the Cardinall of Anaigne who excommunicated all those cities that fauoured Frederick and joyned in a firme league with his enemies But doubting it would not fall out well for his aduantage to hold a Councell in Italie resolued with himselfe at the Spring of the yeare 1162 to passe into France An. 1162. being the bolder because Lewis the younger and Henrie the second King of England were yet wauering and doubtfully affected the one towards the other and that those of the Order of the Cistertienses who then bare great sway in France would be readie to take his part He arriued at Montpellier about Easter where he was receiued in the Kings name by Theobald Abbot of S. Germaine neere Paris from whence departing within some few dayes he held a Councell at Claramont in Auergne where he cursed and excommunicated Victor Frederick and all that tooke their part Frederick in
belong to that Court that vseth to commaund both Emperours and Kings And Baronius hath set downe this excellent Apothegme in great letters Baron an 1169. art 11. By the pride of the seruant we may iudge the modestie of the Master Doubtlesse the wisest of this world judge otherwise of the power and authoritie of the Pope Otho Bishop of Frisinghen saith Otho Frisingens in prologo l. 4. Chron. Two persons are constituted in the Church by God the Priestlie and the Princelie the one hath the administration of the Sacraments of Christ and to exercise Ecclesiasticall descipline with the spirituall sword the other carieth the materiall sword against the enemies of the Church defending the poore and the Churches of God from the oppression of the wicked punishing euill doers and exercising secular iudgement These are the two swords whereof we read in the Passion of our Sauiour but Peter is said to vse but onely one Therefore euen as to the spirituall sword spirituall possession belong that is to say the tithes the oblations of the faithfull and others of like sort so to the materiall are subiect all worldlie dignities as Duke domes Earle-domes and the like Now God would that these things should be in his Church orderly and not confusedly that is to say not in one person alone but diuided betweene two as I haue formerly named Euen as these persons therefore that carrie the materiall sword are not to meddle with those things that are spirituall so is it not fit for the spiritual to vsurp the other And to make good this saying many testimonies of the Scriptures and of our Lord himselfe besides the example of Saints may be alledged as that Gospell that saith Giue vnto Caesar the things that belong vnto Caesar and vnto God the things that are Gods That which our Lord Iesus Christ had deliuered in words he declared also by effects when yeelding tribute to whom tribute belonged he gaue tribute for himselfe and Peter And S. Paul acknowledged that we ought to yeeld honour to whom honour belongeth considering that all power is from God who being brought to iudgement did not appeale to Saint Peter who then possest the chaire at Rome but to Nero a most impious and a wicked man ordained by the will of God King of the whole world And thus much touching the honour of Kings But he goeth about to defend the Pope by some poore weake reasons but in the end concludeth I confesse I know no other refage but this that we haue known holie men both of Apostolike faith and merit as Syluester Gregorie Vlric Boniface Lampert Gothard and diuers others that haue had these things but for my selfe to speake my owne opinion I doubt whether this exalting of the Church in these dayes be more acceptable to God than the humilitie of former times Verily it seemeth that state was the better this the happier Neuerthelesse I agree with with the Church of Rome c. That is to say to be rather temporally happie with the one than spiritually happie with the Apostles and the holie Fathers and shortly after he hides not from vs vpon what foundation he groundeth his reason That all scruple saith he of that controuersie being resolued by his authoritie and example is againe secretly signified by that which was sayd to S. Peter Duc in altum lanch into the deepe and cast your nets to take fish Luke 5. yea it is so secret that for the space of 500 of the first and best yeres none of the auntient Doctors could perceiue this mysterie Jdem l. 3. Chron. 1.3 But the same authour speakes more openly in another place After the donation of Constantine the Church of Rome affirmeth that all Realmes of the West belonged to it by the gift of Constantine this he refuteth himselfe In token whereof it doubted not to exact tribute euen to this present of all those except the two Kingdomeâ— of the French that is to say the Gaules and the Germans which hee would gladly draw into his Net if they would suffer him But in our France at the verie same time they that were called Waldenses or Albienses earnestly set against the Church of Rome condemning all the traditions thereof rejecting the ceremonies and declaring it in expresse words to be that Babylon in the Apocalyps the mother of fornications and the Pope verie Antichrist the man of sin foretold by the holie Scriptures These people maintayned the puritie veritie and simplicitie of the Christian Religion in all the Countries both on the mountaines and vallies of Daulphine Prouence Languedoc and Guyan where the corruptions and papall inuentions could not so easily penetrat no otherwise than as we see the Tongues customes and habits of nations to be preserued in Countries more remote against the inundation and mingling of the people as the originall Tongue of Spaine in the mountaines of Biscay and the auntient Tongue of the Brittons in Wales with their manners and customes also and so likewise of others For that so great a multitude of people spread from the Alpes euen to the Pirence by the instruction of Waldo had beene as it were hatcht vp in one day exceedeth all beliefe all reason Contrariwise he that would retire himselfe from the world seriously to contemplate his owne saluation it is likely he rather learned it of them and afterward taught at Lyon where for the renowne of the citie they that were his followers or affected his doctrine were called Waldenses as they who preached in the citie of Alba ware called Albienses and not many yeres before Peter Bruitzius Henrie his disciple publiquely teaching at Tholouse were called Tholousians and so likewise were they called at the Councell of Lateran held vnder Alexander the third Of this antiquitie to the end we need not doubt thereof the aduersaries themselues auouch the truth amongst whom Frier Rainerius who writ about the yeare of our Lord 1250 Among all the sects that are saith he or euer will be none can be more pernitious to the Church of God than that of Lyons An. 1250. Frater Rainerius de Waldensibus for three causes the first because it hath continued a longer time than any some say that it hath beene euer since the time of Syluester others say from the time of the Apostles that is to say inasmuch as integritie euer went before corruption and the same maintayned by them as it is said of the true Church in the Apocalyps that it was preserued euen in the desart The second because it is more generall for there is not almost any Countrie where into this sect hath not crept whereas in the meane time they aske vs where our Church then was The Third because all the other procure horrour by their blasphemies against God this of the Lionists hath a great apparence of pietie in as much as they liue vprightly before men and put their trust in God in all things and obserue all the Articles
commended by all Histories for his pietie vertue clemencie forgetfulnesse of all iniuries whereby he left a desire in all men of his continuance yet no man euer endured greater more vnjust dealings by the Popes Through his death arose many molestations to his son Henrie as well in Germanie as in Italie But the thing that most troubled him was to get into his possession the kingdome of Sicilie in the right of Constance his wife by the death of William the which Pope Clement for want of an heire male challenged to belong to the church and had sent his forces to inuade it if the States and gouernours thereof had not opposed against him one Tancred the Bastard son of Roger by which meanes the inuasion of Clement being delayed Henrie had the better opportunitie to prouide for himself Thus did he obserue the promise made by his predecessor to those that went into the holie Land to defend and protect their estates and rights in that state they should leaue them Platina in Clement 3. Frederic being dead in this expedition his sonne Henrie besides the griefe for the losse of his father through so extraordinarie and vnexpected an accident was no lesse diuersly disquieted and disturbed in the kingdome of Germanie But Clement while he was endeauouring to put by Henrie from the imperiall Diademe died in Aprill in the yeare 1191 whom Cardinall Iacynthus succeeded a Citizen in Rome and was called Celestine the third By this change Henrie sped the better and with all diligence came to Rome where he was crowned by Celestine whom hee had before bound vnto him Naucler vol. 2. Gener. 40. by restoring into his hands the citie of Tusculus which had been deliuered into his protection a meanes for Celestine to gratifie the Romans because that for the space of 50 yeares before it had beene either the cause or pretence of many dissentions and brawles betweene them and the Popes Vignier ex Chron. Germā manuscr Baro an 1191. Sect 1. 10. ex Rogero authore Coaetaneo parte posteriore in Richardo primo But as soone as hee had restored it vnto them hee refrained not any kind of crueltie that he might practise against those miserable people But the manner of his coronation is worthie to bee noted After the Emperour had taken his oath to defend the Church and the patrimonie of Saint Peter and to restore whatsoeuer belonged to the Church whole and entire if any thing were withheld or detayned from it the Emperour and the Empresse are brought into the Church by the Pope and Masse being solemnely celebrated by him he annoynteth first the Emperour with words instituted to that purpose and afterward the Empresse Then sitting downe in his pontificall Chaire holdeth the imperiall Crowne betweene his feet and the Emperour bowing downe his head and likewise the Empresse receiue it from his feet And after this immediatly the Pope striking the Crowne with his foot kickes it from his head to the ground in token hee hath power if his merits so deserue to depose him then the Cardinals standing round about receiue the same Crowne and reuerently puts it vpon the heads of the Emperour and the Empresse Baronius himselfe is the Author and likewise Ranulph in the same words Ranulph in Polycr l. 7. ca. 26. Thus this proud mysterie did still rise by degrees Now by the death of the Bastard Tancred it was the easier for Henrie to make his peace with the kingdome of Sicilia But Celestine was now readie to excommunicate Henrie and also his brother Philip if his death had not preuented it by an auntient pretence wherby he had vsurped the possessions of the Countesse Mathilda though before to the end that Henrie should ruinate and destroy Tancred whom hee saw now established by the States hee had inuested the sayd Henrie into these dominions as his feudatarie But Henrie dying in the yeare 1197 left onely a sonne by Constance his wife of the age of one yeare and the troubles that euerie-where rise about the succession gaue Celestine meanes or rather a fit opportunitie to his successour Innocent the third to doe whatsoeuer they would in prejudice of the Empire For as Philip the brother of Henrie and Otho Duke of Saxonie striued for the Kingdome of Germanie Innocent taking an oath of faithfull homage of the Gouernour of the Citie of Rome inuadeth the Dukedome of Tuscane which Henrie had giuen to Philip his brother and sending to the Bishoppes of Germanie commaundeth them to deliuer the hostages which Henrie had brought out of Sicilia with him namely Sibilla the widow of Tancred his children and the Archbishoppe of Salerne Butt if Vezilus de Berco their keeper should refuse to deliuer them then they should excommunicate him by which meanes he seemed to haue composed the businesse of Sicilia to his owne desires The verie same way partly by force and partly by excommunication hee chased away Marcoaldus out of Romania and Conradus out of the Dukedome of Spoleto whom Henrie had inuested and interdicted all the Cities that any whit fauoured them and strengthened and confirmed the Cities of Lombardie in their societie to remayne free in such sort that the Emperours who afterward came into Italie found they had no authoritie left vnto them Furthermore hee enforced Constantia the widow of Henrie to take an oath to hold of him and his successours in homage Apulia and Calabria paying yearely sixe hundred squifats and for the Countrie of Mercia foure hundred vpon condition that her sonne comming to age shall take the same oath And as Constancia not long after chaunced to dye hee tooke vpon him to bee the Tutor and Gardian of the child who was Frederic the second and by these cunning sleights hath made himselfe Arbiter of the Kingdome Againe in Germanie he refused the election of Philip brother of Henrie as excommunicated by him and approued that of Otho Duke of Saxonie thereby taking from his pupill the support and helpe of the Vncle neither doth hee dissemble it that what hee did was in hatred of his predecesours who had opposed themselues against due See of Rome that is to say for defending the rights of their Empire And here the Reader may see the care they had of the affaires of the East that whilest they were bent wholly to the care of themselues all things went to ruine And here we make an end of the twelfth age OPPOSITION I willingly omit those frequent contentions betweene the Emperours and the Popes in these times contenting my selfe to haue noted here what the better sort haue thought of the Church of Rome Clement the third solicited the kings of Fraunce and England to the voyage of the holie Land who for the differences that grew betweene them thought it not fit and conuenient for them to go forward into a strange Countrie vnlesse the cause of the discord were first taken away and it seemed to Clement that Philip the second our king was
thither and declared that hee would giue no safe conduct to such as should vndertake that journey especially for that he had vnderstood that the Pope hauing had aduertisement that his Agents had collected great summes of money in England and in Fraunce was resolued to breake truce with him Here it is good to heare the same Author speake Matth. Paris in Henrico 3. Cardinall Iohn Columna hauing beene author of the truce Gregorie receiueth letters from the Legat That in Fraunce alone hee had gathered alreadie so much money as whereby hee might bee vndoubtedly able to wage warre against the Emperour for a whole yeare Whereupon repenting and grieuing that hee had accepted the truce called for the excellent Cardinals Iohn de Columna and Raymund mediatours of the same I am ashamed in my selfe saith he to them that I granted truce to Frederic the enemie of the Church Goe then in hast thou speaking to Columna which wast the spokesman betwixt vs and tell him boldly that I will not hold it and that I will be his enemie and doe defie him God forbid answered Columna that in the mouth of so great a man such light words should be reported to so great a prince especially by vs which are of no common ranke for I cannot consent to this counsell of instabilitie and vnfaithfulnesse but doe constantly contradict the same To whom the Pope replied And I hold thee not henceforth for Cardinall Nor I thee for Pope sayd Columna and so departed and of a friend became his aduersarie But it verie fitly fell out addeth the author that the French king Lewis hauing intelligence of it made to be stayed in his kingdome all that money which had bin gleaned from the clergie by his permission Mellitis sermonibus fellitis comminationibus By honied speeches and bitter threatnings That by this meanes the Pope who is called Christs vicar on earth might be found faithfull though against his will Now it so fel out that Frederic was not vnarmed or vnprepared against him for he had at that verie time fiue armies a foot the first before Fayenza which he himselfe in person commaunded the second on the Tuscane Sea vnder Hencius king of Sardinia against the Genowayes the third vpon the frontiers of Germanie against the Tartarians vnder the conduct of Conrade king of Germanie the fourth in the Marca de Ancona and vallie of Spoletum the fift in Palestina vnder Rodolph Marshall of the Empire for to defend the kingdome of Hierusalem which he did notwithstanding the trauerses and hinderances of the Pope for the space of fifteene yeares The warre then continuing the siege of Fayenza dured a long time neither had he little cause to reuenge himselfe of the inhabitants who some time before hauing shut the gates of their citie before and behind vpon him violently assailed him and wickedly slew another disguised like vnto him in imperiall armour thinking it had been their Lord. Yet notwithstanding they imploring his mercie he gaue them their citie and the like libertie as to other cities of the empire which be spoken to them that accuse him of being prone to reuenge The Legats also returned accompanied with many Bishops for the Councell them he requested to turne towards him and promised them all safe-conduct desirous only to make knowne the justice of his cause vnto them Now they refusing it and chusing rather to commit themselues to the safegard of the Genowayes his enemies Hencius who watched to surprise them tooke them at sea and led them prisoners to Naples Collenucius l. 4. At which successe and others prosperously performed in the Marca de Ancona and in Romania Gregorie the ninth conceiued so great discontent being withall verie auntient that for griefe thereof he died It is not in the mean time to be forgotten that the Popes to colour their affaires the better had euer sounding in their mouthes the holie land that when vnder Honorius the third king Iohn of Brenna had taken the famous citie of Damieta Cardinall Pelagius the Popes Legat pretended that he was to haue the chief commaund ouer the armie whereat the king incensed retired himselfe through despite to Ptolomais whereby were lost the best opportunities to doe good and in the end after many bad successes Damieta was forsaken Againe when as vnder Gregorie the ninth Richard earle of Cornewall the king of Englands brother was bent to the holie wars with an armie at his instance for recouerie of these losses and was come to S. Giles in Languedock readie to embarke himselfe there came a Legat to him from Gregorie with the Archbishop of Arles commanding in his name that he should not passe the Seas All which was to despite Frederic wherat this prince much offended said vnto them I thought there had beene firmenesse of truth in the Apostolike words and in the preachers that he sent vnto me and now I am readie to enter on shipboord this Pope whom they call the successor and Vicar of Iesus Christ who neuer failed of his word forbiddeth me to march forward in his seruice And neuerthelesse resolued Detestans Romanae Ecclesiae duplicitatem Detesting the double dealing of the Church of Rome with great bitternesse of mind to goe imbarke himselfe at Marseille giuing the Emperor to vnderstand by Robert Tuing Knight and other his embassadours Papalem muscipulationem The iuglings of the Pope and his Legats The same had he done a little before to the crossed souldiers in France and other nations who being come to Lyons that from thence they might take their journey into the Holie Land found there the Popes Legat who made them the like prohibition and deliuered a commaundement in writing That euerie man should returne backe to his owne home This gaue occasion to exclaime Vnde haec in Romana Curia in Papa multiplicitas Whence commeth this varietie in the Court of Rome and in the Pope Is not this here both the time and place prefixed and appointed by his Legats and preaching Friers vpon their promises wee haue set forward our iourney haue sold and engaged our houses bidden our friends farewell sent our mony before c. And little wanted they from laying violent hands vpon the Legat if the discretion of some Prelats had not restrained the furie of the people To prouide for the election of a successor to Gregorie there remained but tenne Cardinals at Rome they therefore intreated Frederick to permit them two whom he kept prisoners to come to them and to be present at the election which he graciously granted vnto them yet on condition they should both returne except one of them were created Pope Now there was nominated Godfrey Bishop of the Sabins called Celestine the fourth who died seuenteene dayes after before he was consecrated The Cardinals assembled againe and as they were diuided some for the Church others for the Empire that they could not agree the two prisoners to performe their promise giuen returned till at
be the better aided of the Pope for the strengthening of his new Empire and there rested onely to agree the controuersies of religion Therefore Germane Patriarch of Constantinople writeth vnto Gregorie That he desired nothing more than to enter into conference about them being readie old as hee was to resort to any place where need should be to that effect But saith he because no man euer can see the spots of his owne face vnlesse hee looke himselfe in a glasse or be certified by some other whether his face be spotted or not so we haue many great and shining myrrors namely the Gospell of Christ the Epistles of the Apostles and the bookes of the Fathers let vs looke into them they will shew vs how euerie man beleeueth siue nothè siue legitimè falsely or truely The same also to the Cardinals but that he passeth further There is a scruple of offence bred in our minds that gaping onely after earthlie possessions yee gather together the gold and the siluer that yee can from any place extort yet say yee are the disciples of him to wit Peter that said Siluer and gold haue I none Yee make kingdomes tributarie vnto you yee multiplie moneyes by negotiations yee vnteach by your actions that which yee teach with your mouth Let temperance moderat you that yee may be to vs and to all the world an example and paterne c. But Gregorie answereth him with his Tu es Petrus thinking to put him downe with the onely name of Primacie And indeed Germane said vnto them The diuision of our vnitie proceeded from the tyrannie of your oppression and of the exactions of the Church of Rome which of a mother is become a stepdame To this Gregorie answereth That to him alone belongeth the decision of the questions of faith moreouer that to the Pope of Rome belongeth both the swords materiall and spirituall by the testimonie of the Gospell where it is said Ecce duo gladij behold two swords consider I pray you what a goodly course he taketh to conuert the Greeks These admonitions being heard but not yeelded to the Grecians submitted not themselues to the Church of Rome Fortè saith the Author tyrannidem auaritiam ejus pertimescentes Fearing perhaps the tyrannie and couetousnesse thereof the Pope and Cardinalls hauing a diligent treatie thereupon they resolue to turne the whole armie of crossed souldiers against them And a publication thereof being made many are crossed to goe against the Greekes and chiefely them of Constantinople He addeth This was the seed of schisme betweene the Roman and the Greeke Church A certaine Archbishop canonically chosen to a noble Archbishopricke in Greece went to Rome to be confirmed but could not obtaine it vnlesse he would promise infinitum aurum aboundance of money for the same But hee without doing any thing returned detesting the simonie of the Court and told it to all the Nobilitie of Greece And others that had beene at Rome witnessed the like and worse actions and so all in that Gregories time departed from the subiection of the Church of Rome Hereupon the Authour giueth his judgement The Greeke Church hauing seene so much malice and oppression rise vp against the Roman and expelling their Emperour obeyed onely their Archbishop Germane of Constantinople Not long after the Patriarch of Antioch also followed the same steps and proceeded so farre as to excommunicat Gregorie Solemnely preaching That he and his Church in time and dignitie was to be preferred before the Pope and the Church of Rome and that it was more excellent than the Roman Church because the Apostle Peter had first gouerned with great honour the Church of Antioch the space of seuen yeeres and there was receiued with all due reuerence and likewise established in the Chaire whereas at Rome he was manifoldly vexed with many iniuries and reproaches and at length suffered vnder the Emperour Nero a cruell death with his fellow Apostle S. Paul the speciall Doctor of the Gentiles The power of binding and loossing he rather bestowed on the Greeke than on the Roman Church which is now manifestly defamed with the spots of simonie vsurie couetousnesse and other enormities And these things passed in the East What shall we say then if the Romans themselues haue not been able to hold their peace When Gregorie went about to excommunicat them they spake against him maintaining That for no cause the citie ought to be subiect to his interdict And the Pope replied That he was lesse than God but greater than any man whatsoeuer therefore greater than any citizen yea than any King or Emperour Secondly the Magistrats and Senators exacted a yearely tribute of the Roman Church which they of new and auncient right were euer in perpetuall possession of vntill Gregories time He answered That this was a free gift which the Church vnder persecution was woont to giue for to redeeme their peace which ought not grow into a custome seeing for so many ages there had beene no persecution at Rome but that which the Popes themselues vsed against others If this right had had none other foundation who can doubt but that many ages afore that they would haue exclaimed against it and abolished it Thirdly the Romans extended their countie or bounds of their jurisdiction so that they included therin Viterbe Montalto and other towns castles which were pretended to belong to the Church He answered That this was to vsurpe another mans right and that Christ on the crosse by his bloud had made the citie of Rome so free that the gates of hell could nothing preuaile against it Note gentle Reader the pleasant diuinitie of this Pope For these causes therefore contentions being debated betweene the Pope and the Romans he with his Cardinals depart the citie and withdraw themselues to Perousa thence he thundereth forth an excommunication against them whence came as the same Author saith warres and many conflicts and great effusion of Christian bloud for many yeares And for this cause Innocent his successor set no firme footing at Rome but assigned a Councell at Lyons and also by his Embassadors requested Henrie the third king of England That he might with his good leaue soiourne at Bourdeaux because the brethren of king S. Lewis being prisoner among the Infidels did vehemently presse him to make peace with Frederick But the wisest men of England saith Mathew feared such a guest Because from thence he might soone passe by ship into England and by his presence make it worse and defile it And this is that which Cardinall Iohn the Cistertian Monke said in his admonition to Innocent aboue recited We are in exile chased from the Papall seat from Rome it selfe yea and from Italie But as in Germanie their venome did chiefly spread it selfe so it is worthie our obseruation to see what strong resistance the force of nature made against that strange force And Gregorie the ninth as we haue seene had taken vpon him to
one of Philip king of Fraunce sonne of S. Lewis writen to the Cardinals of the Church of Rome the Sea vacant who by reason of the ambition of parts in chusing the Pope could not agree out of which may easily be gathered what judgemēt the French church had then of the Roman though otherwise not verie fauourable to the Emperor Frederic or his cause Behold saith he the noble Citie of Rome liueth without an head Epist 35. l. 1. which hath bin the head of others But what hath prouoked them to discord the couetousnes of gold and ambition of dignities For they consider not what is expedient but what is their own will They prefer their own particular profit before the general vnduely prefer profit before honestie How then will they gouerne others that cannot gouerne themselues who doe good to their enemies and hurt themselues and doe nothing profitable for themselues The Court of Rome was wont in times past to shine in honestie knowledge good manners and vertue and was not moued with the treats of fortune because they placed their refuge more firmely in vertue than in chaunce But now they are beaten downe in aduersitie and exalted in prosperitie and it may be called non curia sed cura marcam desiderans plus quam Marcum more desirous of a marke of siluer than of Saint Marke of the Gospell or of taking a Salmon than of reading Salomon Then declaring vnto them how great wisedome was necessarie in this election But saith he we may not forget that wisedome is for euill when they which desire honour doe shun the burthen of it desire to be chiefe rulers and neglect the profit of their subiects flie care and labour and giue themselues to sleepe and lust and are delighted with playes and bankets Such Pastors truely are not Pastours but may be called most impious Wolues by whose perfidious dealing our holie mother Church is trodden vnder foot faith consumed hope taken away and charitie rooted out Wherefore he concludeth Keepe the truth feare God resisting naughtinesse manfully whereunto yee ouer much submit your necks vltra and more yet but we will not say it least perhaps we arrogantly seeme to set our mouth against heauen c. Thus spake our Philip. In the same Authour is also read an Epistle in which the Sacerdotal Order complaineth of the Friers Preachers who were in that time crept in We are constrained to lay open by a lamentable complaint the disordered Order which hath beene brought in in contempt of vs and to the scandall of all whereby in making beleeue that the force of faith groweth errour ariseth and matter of dissention is propagated Then he declareth How the Predicant Friers and Minorites hauing conceiued a hatred and rancour against them haue depraued their life and wicked conuersation by preaching and haue diminished their rights in so much that they are alreadie brought to nothing and they which in times past haue gouerned kings in regard of their office are now in opprobrie and derision and their most famouss praise is turned into a fable to all flesh Then by what meanes the said Friers thrusting their hands by little and little into other mens haruest haue supplanted the Clergie in euerie dignitie and haue tyed to themselues all the force and authoritie of Clericall ministerie so that these cannot liue being depriued of their due tythes and offerings vnlesse they betake themselues to some worke or to mechanick arts or else to vnlawfull gaines What remaineth but that their Churches builded to the honour of God and the Saints vtterly go to ruine in which resteth nothing for seruice or ornament but some little bell and old Image soiled ouer with dust But these Preachers and Minorites saith he yea rather our Prelats and betters began with cottages but since haue erected Princelie Palaces of curious workemanship the expences whereof should haue beene imployed for the poore And they which in their first rising and beginning of their religion hauing laid aside pride seemed to tread vnder feet the glorie of the world now take againe Pride and embrace the glorie they had formerly troden on These men whiles they haue nothing possesse all things and wanting riches are richer than the rich and we which are said to haue something are beggers And they conclude with this supplication to the Emperour That hee would remedie the same the soonest that might be least say they the streame of hatred increasing betweene vs and the said Friers faith suffer thereby shipwracke whence it is thought to take growth Neither wanted there of all nations diuers excellent persons which obserued the same things William Bishop of Paris in his booke of the Collation of benefices speaking of the Clergie of his time In them saith he appeareth neither piety nor learning but rather diuellish vncleannesse monstrousnesse of all filthinesse vices their sinnes are not simply sinnes but most horrible monsters of sins They are not the Church but Babylon Aegypt and Sodome Prelats that build not the Church but destroy it and mocke God and with other Priests they prophane and pollute the bodie of Christ Prelats that honour with Ecclesiasticall dignities the members of the diuell and enemies of God they restore Lucifer into the heauen of the Church of Christ. He often particularly noteth That among the Papists that is the Popes parasites are some such industrious fowlers of benefices that one man hath caught to himselfe to the number of an hundred either Prebends or Canonries and there was found one that had seuen hundred Caesaris in Dialogr distinct 10. Caesarius also telleth vs of another William surnamed Goldsmith who in that same time made a treatise wherein he proued the Pope to bee Antichrist the Prelats to be his members and Rome to be Babylon And in England Robert Bishop of Lincolne is commended for a man of great pietie and learning famous also for his knowledge of the tongues Matth. Paris in Compend Historiae Angl. An. 1250. Hee went to Rome for to bring the Monkes of his diocesse to a better discipline To that Court saith Mathew which as a gulfe hath power and custome to swallow vp the reuenues and almost all things whatsoeuer the Bishops and Abbots possesse for they obtaine of the Pope whatsoeeuer they will for money This Bishop therefore complaineth to the Pope of it I thought my Lord saith he by your counsell and helpe to chastise all them that I haue complained of and to bring them backe from their errour but they proh dolor for money haue redeemed themselues The Pope answereth Brother thou hast deliuered thy soule what is my grace to thee We haue giuen them grace And so being returned into England he opposeth himselfe against the Popes extortions in England for which he is excommunicated and dyeth in excommunication disputing euen to his last gaspe That the Pope straying from justice and truth is worse than Lucifer and Antichrist and appealeth from the Popes
complaint against the Mendicants was reuiued they informing That these men supplanted all ordinarie Priests the Vniuersitie of Paris joyning with them herein but especially the Colledge of Sorbon Now let but the Reader judge what equitie or conscience one might expect in this Pope transported with such a violent ambition of perpetuating the Papacie in his Order Wherefore foure Archbishops and twentie Bishops together with the Rector faculties and supposists of the Vniuersitie assembled together in the Bishop of Paris hall before whom the Archbishop of Burges a profound Clerke sayth our Author generally reputed made an Oration of charitie in these words At this day charitie is waxen cold and Order Ecclesiasticall wholly confounded seeing many put their sickles into other mens corne so as the Church may now truely bee tearmed a monster For euen as in a naturall bodie we count it monstrous when one member dischargeth anothers office euen so is it in a bodie spirituall that is in the Church when the learned and prudent Friers I meane the Maiorites and Minorites vsurpe the place and office especially committed to vs though most vniustly in that no man should assume vnto himselfe this honour except like Aaron hee were called thereunto by the Lord. Because therefore we haue many times cited for this cause the Monkes personally before the king as also by the mouthes of diuers other of the Nobilitie entreated them to desist from intruding into our office yet haue they not done it but preached throughout all our diocesses against our wills and heard confessions warranting themselues herein by the Popes priuiledges We come vnto you before whom we are present hauing letters of ratification from all the Bishops in France to make complaint vnto you of the Friers great insolencie because what we are yee are one day like to be For I suppose there is not one Prelate amongst vs which was not called to his place out of this Vniuersitie After this the Bishop of Amiens rose vp who declared by many reasons how it was no wayes probable the Popes mind was that the priuiledges granted to the Mendicants should be prejudiciall to other members of the Church especially in that Decretall of Innocent the third Omnis vtriusque sexus he intreating the Vniuersitie to joyne themselues in this cause with the Prelats who were resolued to repell this iniurie though it were with the losse of their liues Exhorting likewise the Friers Mendicants to repayre to Rome for a solution of these doubts and difficulties The Mendicants by one of their societie made answer That the same Bishop of Amiens was at Rome when these priuiledges were granted them as also that the Prelats had then there both procurers and sollicitors who spared no labour nor endeuour and yet the Pope absolutely denounced Placet it pleaseth me And therefore said they what hath authentically beene granted vs wee haue no reason now to debate or call in question againe because we are no members of any Vniuersitie The day following the festiuitie of the Virgine Maries conception was celebrated at the Minorites when one of the Majorites the Dominicans I meane applied his whole sermon to this poynt There the Scripture was fulfilled which sayd That day Herod and Pylat were made friends for concerning her conception the difference was betwixt them At length in an assemblie following held at the Bernardines on Saint Thomas eue the Bishop of Amiens againe rose vp and expounding that place Propè est Dominus inuocantibus eum in veritate according to a certaine Glosse of the Decretals hee made three kindes of truthes The truth of Life the truth of Doctrine and the truth of Iustice shewing by many authorities both in Diuinitie the Canons and the Lawes as also by euident effects That there neither concurred with the Friers trueth of Life because they are conuicted of manifest hypocrisie nor veritie of Doctrine because their mouthes preach honie and their hearts harbour gall neither any trueth of Equitie and Iustice because they vsurpe and take vnto themselues other mens functions And so comming to a conclusion hee caused the said priuiledges to bee once more read with the said Constitution Thus much Godefridus de Fontibus Godefrid de Fontib in Quodlibet Sorbona who was then a Sorbon Doctor reports But Germanie neglecting the branches put her hatchet to the veâ—â—e root of the Tree For Nicholas had commaunded the Archbishops of Germanie euerie one in his seuerall Prouince to call a Councell where vnder pretext of recouering the holie-Land he demaunded againe the tenths which had so often afore bin abusiuely exacted and employed and the Bishop of Saltzburg to this end conuocated his Suffragans and Diocesans who perceiuing the Roman auarice to aime againe at the tenthes some few in behalfe of the whole assemblie made aunswer How it was an hard matter to be graunted and that with extraordinarie tribute and taxations they had beene wonderfully worne and wasted and therefore it were much more necessarie to debate of an head for the Christian Common wealth and then to reduce the Princes to loue and amitie for without their authoritie nothing could be decreed In the same Councell by the Popes commaund Meynard Count of Tyroll was excommunicated out of the Church for two causes first because he detained certaine holds within the Bishoprick of Trent by maine force and then in that vexing Henrie the Bishop with continuall warre he enforced him at last to giue ouer his Bishoprick but when he was dead Nicholas gaue this Bishoprick to Philip of Manton by whose instigation he had excommunicated Meynard He therefore protested against the injurie done vnto him by the Fathers by a publique Apologie Auent l. 7. made a defence of himselfe Vndoubtedly saith he I doe not raise but repell a warre for there was neuer any thing more deare vnto me than to maintaine peace with euerie man especially with the Bishops but that these good Fathers being corrupted with too great abundance as other men are haue cut of a disordinate desire of rule taken vp armes against vs altogether vndeseruedly and laboured to driue vs out of our hereditarie Lands Then indeed I betooke my selfe to armes recouered certaine Castles from the enemies of my Countrie that so I and my people might enioy peace without the tumult and disturbance of warre But if any man would be a securitie or pledge that I might not stand in feare of these Wolues and their treacheries and that the like outrage shall neuer be committed vpon vs by these proud and puffed vp Archisynagoguists for I doubt whether I may name them Pastours I would forthwith surrender all things againe but otherwise I neuer meane to shew my selfe so foolish to suffer my sleeue to be ript off my arme or witting to expose both me and mine for a scorne and laughing stocke to these effeminate Antichrists and prodigious Eunuches For who infringe Christian concord more than they not giuing their minds to interpret or teach
to goe personally to the Court of Rome to release those that were innocent and guiltlesse out of their prisons Whereunto we may annex That the same Nogaretes father Paulus Aemilius in Philippo Pulchro Guido Perpinian de Haeresib Blondus Decad. 2. l. 9. Gulielmus de Nangiaco Nicholaus Emericus l. 1. Jnquisitionum who by Philip the Fairs iniunction tooke Pope Boniface was burnt in Languedoc for the opinions of the Waldenses for these Waldenses did not only persist and go forward in France but euen out of the bloud which the Inquisitors daily shed their steps and impressions grew more frequent famous ouer all Italia and Germanie In Italie where Boniface with all rigor seueritie rooted out those whom he called Fratricellos The brethren whose principal Doctors were Gerardus disciple to Sagarellus of Parma Dulcinus disciple to one Nouarius Hermannus who while he liued being in Italie esteemed for a Saint was afterwards by Pope Boniface his commandement digged out of his graue at Ferrara whom notwithstanding after their manner they accused of sixe hundred seuerall foule crimes now plainely conuinced to bee false and vntrue because they seriously did inculcat and aboue all other things beat vpon this point the aduersaries themselues bearing witnesse That the Pope was Antichrist the Church of Rome the Apocalypticall Babylon and that they who would faine seeme and appeare to be spirituall were reiected of God And no man will presume there was any just cause why they should vndergoe such impietie and crueltie from Boniface a most vnconscionable and prophane Pope yet we see that at the same time we find them to haue beene in Germanie Hereunto we will annexe That vnder Nicholas the fourth Guido Perpinianus de Haeresibus Peter the sonne of Iohn de Besiers a Franciscan made the Postille vpon the Apocalyps wherein he refers all those speciall places to the Roman Church the which he calls a carnall Church the Synagogue of Sathan and the Pope mysticall Antichrist as also his Prelats Antichrist members For which cause he was condemned of heresie by the Inquisitors and because they could not come by him when he was aliue they pluckt him out of his graue being dead And also Peter Cassiodorus an Italian who writ that vehement and persuasiue Epistile to the English Church Bernard de Lutzemburg de Haeresibus Nicholaus Emericus l. 1. Inquisitionum Super Cathedram Mosis sedent Scribae Pharisaei cuinam illos aequiparabo c. Wherein he exhorts them to shake off the yoke of Antichrist with his vniust and continuall exactions And these things fitly lead vs vnto the fourteenth Age. 56. PROGRESSION Benedict the eleuenth succeeds Boniface he is poysoned and Clement the fifth a French man obtaines his place Henrie sonne to the Count of Lutzemburg going into Italie to be crowned Emperor was poysoned in receiuing the Hoast Clement dyes in the way betwixt Vienna and Bourdeaux BEnedict the eleuenth a Tuscan of the Dominican Order succeeded Boniface being elected by the Cardinals at Perugia whither they were retired vpon Boniface his ouerthrow At his first entrie he excommunicated Nogarete and the inhabitants of Anagnia which assisted his enterprise but so he restored both Iohn and Iames Colonna to be cardinals and yet they were commaunded for a time to refraine wearing of the hat King Philip he absolutely released of all censures restoring to him all those priuiledges that Boniface had taken from him but in the ninth moneth of his Papacie as many write being killed with a poysoned fig he dyed Thomas Walsingham in Chronico Leandro Alber. An. 1305. Wherefore in the yeare 1305 after ten moneths altercation the Cardinalls chose Raymond Goth a Gascoine Archbishop of Bourdeaux who was absent who tooke vpon him the name of Clement the fifth He vnderstanding of his owne election commanded presently all the Cardinals to repaire to Lyons who forthwith obey and he determining to transferre the Papall See into France made choyce for that end of the citie of Auignion which also liked the Cardinals so well as there it continued for seuentie foure yeares Some say the cause was in that there they might more freely wallow in their delights than in another place though this no doubt they might haue done in Italie but this seemes to bee the more solide reason Because at Rome through the supreme authoritie power of the Senators and Nobilitie they were kept within due bounds being oftentimes driuen with their whole Court to remoue to Perugia Viterbe Oruietto Anagnia and Assisia And his predecessors hauing in diuers voyages into France met with a more open courteous conuersation hauing here greater reuerence vouchsafed them than at Rome as not being there yet so plainely discouered and looked into These men also hoped they should more peaceably raigne in Auignion and from hence with lesse opposition extend their authoritie and power ouer other nations Doubtlesse Herman and Occan Friers Minorites who were renowmed Diuines in this contentious age of the Church lay vpon this Pope the notes of wonderfull ambition auarice and sensualitie but more particularly Villanus and Antoninus who peremptorily write That he kept a concubine publikely in Auignion who was daughter to the Count de Foix Moreouer That all the vices crimes sinnes impieties and flagitions which formerly possessed the Roman Church vnder a vale and cloke of vertue and pietie did openly and most impudently in this man habituat and grow shamelesse And hereupon our whole countrey of France brought forth little better fruits Nicholaus Clemangis in l. de corrupto Eccleclesiae statu if you consider loosse and lasciuious liberties for Clemangis Archdeacon of Baieux sayes That Rome might cleerely herein discerne the imminency of her own ruine ouerthrow because leauing that citie for her odious abhominable fornications she fled into Auignion where the more freely the more openly shamelessely she discouered the courses of her simonies and wicked prostitutions and so brought strange and corrupt manners into our France which were the introductors of many other calamities As also for forensiall delayes and trauerses because they taught vs all the wiles and subtilties of the Roman Court and the verie stile and forme of the Rota which vtterly extinguished our naturall simplicitie so as we could neuer afterwards be repurged of these corruptions Neither shall you read of any man who alledged That Rome was S. Peters seat or that wee must goe thither where the holie Ghost had his residence Out of question Auignion which liked and pleased them well was then to them no lesse the same than the other whereas now at this day they referre the vniuersal Church to Rome onely as also onely to Rome this seat and chaire When the Cardinals came to Lyons they crowned Clement with a wonderfull concourse of nobilie from all parts King Philip and his brother Charles were present which Charles was lately returned out of Italie and had not faintly furthered
spirited man to see the places infernall and a Palace wherein was a firie bed on which this the Popes nephew lay All which being related to the Pope he was neuer after seene to be merie but within a while departed Whose bodie being layd in a certaine Church with many lights about it in the night the Church was burnt with fire and his bodie from the loynes downe to the feet Clement l. 2. tit 11. de sententia re iuditata C. Pastoralis And yet this is he which in his Clementine Pastoralis We as well out of the superioritie which vndoubtedly we haue ouer the Empire as out of the power by which in the Empires vacancie we are to succeed the Emperour but more especially out of the fulnesse of that power which hath pleased Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords in the person of blessed S. Peter to conferre vpon vs c. doe decree and ordaine May we not rather beleeue by the poynts aboue mentioned that hee tooke his power from him that sayd to the Lord I will giue thee all these kingdomes if falling downe thou wilt worship me This is he also that commaunded Corpus Christi day to be kept holie of all men in a Councell at Vienna which was first instituted by Vrban the fourth and then afterwards came to be neglected againe and therefore he granted new Indulgences which is to say Lib. 3. Clementinarum tit 16. de reliquijs veneratione sanctor To all saith he penitents and confessed which shall be present at the Matines of this feast in the same Church where it is celebrated shall haue 100 and he that is present at Masse as many as also they that were present at the first beginning of Euen-song of the same feast 100 and they that were at the second as many and they that were present at the offices of the first third sixt and ninth houres and at those completorie for each of the houres he had graunted fortie Indulgences And to him that was present at the Matines of the Octaues of that feast and the Masses of the foresayd houres he obtained an hundred for euery day of those Octaues And trusting the mercies of God we release him of all enioyned penances Can we better judge of these inuentions than by the inuentors themselues who made but laughter and scorne of these things whether in life or death And yet abusing the reuerence falsly by them vsurped they dare presumptuously vpon any occasion offered most vnworthily dare and prouoke Princes and Emperors This was the Pope amongst others who being angrie with the Venetians for taking of Ferrara exposed them all both in generall and particular to bootie and spoyle so as they might haue beene brought vnder slauerie and seruitude To be redeemed from which miserie they sending Francis Dandulo to require absolution in their names after many detractions delayes the matter was thus concluded That he lying prostituted at his feet so long as the Popes pleasure was to obtaine the same he was enforst with a coller of yron about his necke by way of penance like a dog to lye under his table and therefore amongst his countrymen he was tearmed Canis a Dog And yet Baronius would needs excuse the crueltie of Alexander the third against Frederick the first Because saith he to be true it digresseth too much from the accustomed clemencie of the Popes OPPOSITION When Clement published the Councell of Vienna to giue some hope of Church reformation he commanded Durandus Auditor of the Rota and Bishop of Mende a French man vulgarly called the Visitor or Examiner to digest certaine principall heads thereunto tending to bee propounded in this Councell There is a treatise yet extant whose title is The celebrating of a Councell printed at Paris Anno 1545 this booke began with a sharpe reprehension of the Roman Clergie with an intention if he might haue beene heard or beleeued not to haue spared them a iot They follow saith he the way of Balaam of Bosor who loued the reward of iniquitie and bore the chastisement of his owne madnesse for a dumb she Asse speaking to him in a mans voyce discouered the Prophets follie and impietie The same happens amongst vs at this day seeing so many foolish and dissolute parts are played in the Church of God by the sayd Ecclesiastical persons who should be a light vnto others as candles set on candlestickes according to that which the Lord sayth as that they dull and amaze the sence both of Iewes and Pagans yea and they who are altogether depriued of the vnderstanding of diuine wisedome doe detest their follie and their by and digressing steps from Gods pathes they correct and conuince by a sounder vnderstanding And therefore he briefly sets downe what course must be held to effect a reformation Tit. 2. By a sacred Councell saith he both Kings and Popes ioyning their hands together we must haue recourse First to the Law to the Gospell and to the Councels approued and confirmed by the instinct of the holie Ghost as also to good and wholesome humane lawes And whatsoeuer we find to the contrarie to haue beene attempted in worldlie gouernement let it be reformed and amended as well as may be and the contrarie no wayes permitted to escape vnpunished Let all abuses customes dispensations priuiledges liberties and exemptions which are opposit to the same reformation be remoued being to be reputed but meere deprauations and corruptions Tit. 2. Secondly Let the Popes themselues conforme their words and deeds both to diuine and humane lawes submitting themselues thereunto for imitation sake and setting forth examples of those things to be performed in themselues for their followers and subiects to imitate and behold but otherwise if they themselues swarue and digresse from lawes and precepts desiring rather to ouerrule and commaund than to aduise and counsell their subiects Their honour will swell vp into pride and what was ordained for concord will turne to offence and discord Thirdly It cannot be denied but that the Roman Church hath in many things declined from the Institutions of the sacred Primitiue Church and from the sentences and approbations of the holie Fathers Councels and Decrees So as it appeares to haue vtterly forgotten the first Institutions although wee should prefer the truth of the holie Scriptures before any custome how auncient soeuer Fourthly That the Popes should not easily permit causes and controuersies to be transferred out of their Prouinces to be decreed in the Court of Rome That Ecclesiasticall gouernement was manifestly confounded when the Popes place benefices depending on the Bishops yea and that before their vacation so as it is to bee feared that the Roman Church hooking all to her selfe will giue an occasion to verifie the prouerbe Qui vult totum perdit totum All craue nothing haue And here he inueyed against the promotion of strangers whose voice the subiects could not heare they neither vnderstanding the people
the execrable blasphemie For the Lord should not else haue beene discreet that so I may speake with his reuerence except he had left such an onely Vicar behind him Bald. in cap. Cum super de causis propr possess Jn ExtrauagaÌ„t Comm. l. 1. de maiorit Et obedientia C. vnam sanctaÌ„ ibi Glossa Et additio Petri Bertrandi in iure Canonic Editionis Gregorianae Lugdunens C. Fundamenta de Electione in 6. that could doe all these things now Peter was his Vicar and so the same may bee affirmed of Peters successors But because many Canonists of those times were ashamed of such words in certaine editions they were quite rased out and Gregorie the thirteenth vnder colour of reformation restored them againe The Glosse vpon the chapter Fundamenta electionibus sexto pronounces flatly That the Pope is not a man and in a little verse it is said Thou greatest of all ehings thou art neither God nor man but some intermediant power whereupon he surnames the Pope Admibilis Admirable by which name Christ is called in the 9 of Esay it was a wonder omitted the attribute following Emanuel God be with vs. That Glosse vpon the Extrauagants of Iohn the two and twentieth titulo 14 sayes Non est purus homo Glossa in proemium Clementinar but yet that of the chapter Cum inter nonnullos titulo 14 speakes as it were infuriated To beleeue that our Lord the Pope could not so or so decree is merely heretical Now judge by all precedent inferences Ius Canonicum impressum Lutetiae an 1â—20 apud Claudium Cheualonium in sole aureo Ius Canonicum Gregorij 1â— impressum Lugduni postrâ—me Editionis apud Rouillium in Extrauag Iohan 22. C. cum inter nonnullos Tit. 14. ni verbo declaramus circa finem what reformation is to be expected from these men when Gregorie the thirteenth perusing the whole Canon law left this Glosse absolute and entire and being formerly rased out by others precisely renewed the same such an heart-griefe it is vnto them howsoeuer they may faine and dissemble to abridge the least title of Antichristian priuiledges But as Antichrist augments and multiplies his blasphemous names and titles so does God daily excite and stir vp men in the world to detect and point him out with their finger which we shall better obserue in the sequel of these relations OPPOSITION Lewis the fourth Emperour suppressed his competitor Frederick and fortified himselfe by the king of Englands affinitie whose wifes sister hee maried being daughter to the Count of Holland and therefore Pope Iohn thought to rayse a verie dangerous conspiracie against him either to detaine him still in Germanie or to make all enterprises more difficult to him in Italie He therefore entred into a league with Charles the Faire king of France and Robert king of Sicilie enjoyning further Leopald Duke of Austria and brother to Frederick to take vp armes he made the Duke of Poland a king vpon condition that hee should war against him and further he commaunded the Teutonian Knights to make peace with the Lituanians who were yet Pagans to inuade the Marquisat of Brandenberg which belonged to Lewis his sonne When he saw that in all likelihood he would not leaue Germanie he sent Philip de Valois into Italie with Cardinall Bertrand a Dominican in his companie to open a way for him and he excommunicated all those whosoeuer that were of Lodouikes partialitie Lodouikes partakers cried out vnto him in these distresses requesting his aid He notwithstanding to claime his right fairely sent an embassadour to Iohn yea to his Legat to treat of a peace who being entertained with threats and contumelies returned backe againe Iohn still reiterates his thundering excommunications so as all other affaires layd apart Lewis must needs enter Italie with an armie Auent l. 7. In Auentine Iohns Bull against Lewis is to be read taken out of the ancient Libraries of Bauaria the which it will be verie requisit here to insert absolute and entire After saith he that the Roman Empire transferred by our predecessors from the Greeks to the Germans was committed to the custodie and protection of Charles the Great this soueraigne honor was woont to be the benefit and prerogatiue of the highest Priest For it was then decreed That if the Almans at any time made choyce of a king this election should be of no vigor nor force except the Pope of Rome Father and Prince of Christendome did ratifie the same and he so assigned by the Princes and States of the Empire could neither gouerne nor take vpon him royall Title before the Pope Gods Legat authorized and approued him suo numine with his diuinitie And further the Empire being destitute of an head the absolute power and prerogatiue lay in the Pope whose see it manifestly is And wee haue seene throughout all precedent discourse what strife hath beene about this word Benefice or Fee as also how much bloud was shed in all parts of Italie In like manner when the seuen Electors are diuided neither the one nor the other of the elected can be king And so the Roman Bishop as the common parent to all men is to manage at his owne will the Roman Empire being by such a dissention destitute of an head And as the mind commaunds the bodie to serue by whose benefit it onely liues so no man can denie but that then the Christian affaires goe best forward when things fraile yeeld to those eternall prophane to sacred and those corporall to the other spirituall Which then comes to passe when the Pope at his discretion gouernes both dignities for both the the Church is gouerned and all other power is reduced vnder his lawes and obedience And the Emperour by oath is bound vnto him who by a Vicegerencie vnder the celestiall Emperour swayes and rules the earth For this cause it is that two after Henrie the seuenths death hauing beene nominated Emperours Frederick and Lewis both the one and the other were incapable of this soueraigne dignitie and so consequently the Christian Commonwealth came to be dissipated and abandoned and therefore in all right was to be directed and gouerned by vs. As also Lodouike to his owne great hurt and preiudice and no lesse detriment to the Roman Church before he was thought worthie by vs to rule out of his owne head tooke vpon him the royall Titles rashly vsurping the authoritie and power of Emperour which still he holds both in Italie and Germanie For hee hath giuen into his sonnes hands the Principalitie of Brandenburg contrarie to all lawes And notwithstanding our opposition he succoured Galeazzo and his hrethren who were condemned of heresie And this is continually for such an heresie as neither the Apostles nor the Fathers euer made mention of We therefore according to the authoritie deriued to vs from heauen peremptorily commaund Lewis within the space of three moneths to abiure all royal Title and absolutly to
before his consecration at Rome might execute all his authoritie and prerogatiues and whosoeuer thought otherwise were traitors and heretikes Of which kind also that information is De nullitate processu Iohan. 22 whether Marsilius Patauinus or Ockam be Authour thereof Wherein Lodouike appeales from a Citation vnduely made in Auignion vnto a generall Councell conuocated in some safe and secure place with due forme and according to the sacred Canons and after a lawfull Appeale hee auerres that no place remaines for any Excommunication or Interdict And thus it was enacted against Iohn the two and twentieth or according to Platina the three and twentieth Furthermore Trithemius in Chronic. Hirsaugiens the Diuines and Ciuilians of these times argued this question by way of Thesis De potestate Imperiali Papali earumque distinctione Of the Emperours and Popes power and their seuerall distinction For to omit what Vldarick the Emperour Lewis his Chancellor Apologia Ludovic 4. contra Ioh. 22. publicē proposita wrot to Iohn in certaine letters directed to him in his Masters name wherein amongst other things he calls him Bestiam illam de mari ascendentem That beast arising out of the sea of which mention is made in the Apocalyps an Apologie was publisht in Lodouikes behalfe by the Diuines whereby they stifly affirme Quod nullus Papa potestatis plenitudinem in temporalia sibi arrogare potest That no Pope could arrogate to himselfe any plenarie power in temporall things much lesse in the Empire and yet much more lesse such an one as Iohn a man most vnworthie of the Papall chaire as also that the Pope swaruing from the Faith might haue a superiour on earth which is the whole Church represented in a generall Councell which out of their authoritie may judge him and to which for this cause it was lawfull to appeale And the same we read printed at this day But beyond all others out of doubt William Ockam a Franciscan an Englishman borne being a verie wittie and learned Doctor assayles him verie stoutly Defend me Caesar saith he with thy sword against the Popes iniuries and I will by word writing and irrefragable reasons maintaine thee against him the which indeed he performed while he liued hee constantly auerring That the Pope was an heretike and schismatike whose censures were nothing at all to be esteemed From hence came those Dialogues of his Pro Ludouici defensione Liber nonaginta trium dierum pro Michaele Caesennate Generall of the Franciscans excommunicated for the same cause Errores Iohannis 22 Dialogus inter Clericum militem and other such like In which he debates this poynt with so vnanswerable arguments as no man need to call his opinion into doubt or question The principall heads were these That the Pope ex iure diuino hath no Primacie That Peter neuer had nor neuer sat at Rome and therefore the Pope cannot haue it That the Pope may erre yea and the whole Roman Church and therefore ought to be liable to a Councell Concerning the controuersie betwixt the Pope and the Emperour he discusseth eight seuerall questions First Whether the Imperiall and Pontificiall dignities might be joyntly discharged in one man Secondly Whether Caesar onely receiued his authoritie from God or from the Pope of Rome also Thirdly Whether by any authoritie from Christ the Pope and Church of Rome haue power to confirme Caesar and other kings in the exercise of royall jurisdiction Fourthly Whether Caesar being elected hath at the same instant absolute right to gouerne the Commonwealth Fiftly Whether other kings besides Caesar and the king of Romans being consecrated by Bishops receiue any authoritie from them Sixtly Whether such kings are in any sort subiect to those which consecrated them Seuenthly Whether if they should vse any other rite or solemnitie or assume another Diademe they lost in so doing their royall title and prerogatiue Eightly Whether the seuen Electors conferre as much right vpon the Emperour elected as other Kings and Princes haue by lawfull succession All which questions he arguing on both sides he determines in the greatest part for the ciuile Magistrat I meane for Kings and Princes vtterly ouerthrowing by the way the Extrauagants of Iohn the two and twentieth as false hereticall and by many condemned Whosoeuer thinke otherwise they may be numbred amongst them of those times whereof the Apostle to Timothie admonisheth vs 2. ad Timoth. c. 3. v. 3. 4. The time will be when they shall not giue eare to sound doctrine but according to their owne lusts they shall seeke out for teachers that may delight their eares which themselues shall stop against all truth and open wide vnto fables For this is the state of the present time that all men in a manner enquire not what was the doctrine of Christ of the Apostles or of the Fathers but onely they listen what the Pope wills and commaunds them Ascentius in his Preface sayes That he writ six other Tractats which he wittingly omitted because they were somewhat too sharpe and bitter against the Pope of Rome Editus Basiliae Marsilius Patauinus the Author of that golden Treatise whose title was Defensor Pacis of the authoritie of the Emperour and of the Pope writes much out of the same veine where out of the holie Scriptures the Lawes the Canons and both the sacred and ciuile historie he affirmes and auerres these propositions ensuing That Christ was the onely head and foundation of the Church and not Peter That he constituted none of the Apostles no not Peter himselfe Vniuersall Vicar and head of the Church and that by as good right any one else may vsurpe to himselfe this title That Peter was neuer Christs generall Vicar neither did Christ appoynt the other Apostles to be subiect vnto Peter How it was most probable that Peter was neuer at Rome much lesse that there hee held his seat who as the rest of the Apostles had no peculiar seat That the Pope labouring to confirme his Primacie by succession hath no right at all and therefore it is not validious That he hath no greater authoritie than other Bishops no not in that which appertaines to Indulgence and remission of sinnes and that otherwise by diuine right all men are equall with him the Bishops of Magunce Collen and Treuer are Primats as well as he That the plenarie power attributed to him was a manifest lye an execrable title and the verie originall of all euils and the vse thereof was to be interdicted the Popes by some good generall Councell But concerning temporall things Christ whose Vicar he would be thought to be neuer exercised any temporall authoritie vpon earth but contrariwise both himselfe and the Apostles submitted themselues to the ciuile Magistrat and after his ascention into heauen they both obeyed Princes and enioyned their disciples to this obedience and therefore that no temporall jurisdiction did any wayes belong to the Pope ouer any man much lesse ouer Princes
helpe made no such great account of vs nor we of him but that these amities brust forth many times into open warre and contention Those of the kings Councell and of the bodie of the Parliament shewed him how diuersly the Pope and his adherents sought to infringe and cut off his prerogatiues The kings officers complaine that all iurisdiction was transferred from the royall tribunal to sacred decisions That many more temporall causes and controuersies betweene temporall men were heard and adiudged by the Bishops and other Priests than by the kings officers and Iudges Whosoeuer in any thing stood not to the censure of the Prelats he was expelled the Church remoued from communicating with the godlie and it was come to that passe as euen for debt when the partie was altogether vnable he was interdicted water fire Wherfore the deputies of the Prelats and Clergie were commaunded to appeare in the moneth of December at Bois de Vincennes neere Paris there Master Peter de Cugnieres the kings Atturney defended his Soueraignes cause and producing those words of our Sauiour in Saint Mathew Giue to Caesar that which is Caesars and to God that which is Gods he argued the distinction betwixt the jurisdiction spirituall and temporall verie worthie of obseruation of which the one belonged to the ciuile Magistrat the other to the Church which could not interpose her selfe in matters temporall without mingling heauen and earth together and entangling the whole earth in an vtter confusion His speech hee also confirmed by many apt and well applied places out of the Scriptures and the sacred Canons and insisting much vpon that text of the 22 of the Prouerbes Exceed not the auncient bounds and limits which thy fathers layed Because saith he if any customes were introduced contrarie to the same they could be of no worth nay rather they should be corruptions and Prescription can take no place against the kings royall prerogatiue neither can the king himselfe renounce these lawes and iurisdictions as may be proued by many chapters which are in the tenth Distinction If therefore saith he the king is sworne at his coronation no wayes to alienate the lawes of the kingdome and to reuoke againe those alienated so if they should be supprest or vsurpt by the Church or any other he is bound to renew and reuiue them againe And with that he brought forth a scedule comprehending sixtie six particulars wherein were expressed such aggrauations and oppressions for which the Clergie was to make satisfaction Bertram then Bishop of Hutum being to speake in behalfe of the Clergie hee ript vp the memorie of Charles the Great Lewis the Godlie and S. Lewis and other Pinces who in times past had endowed and immunified the Churches aduancing highly their glorie who had augmented Church liberties and so by many examples exaggerating their reproach and infamie who had preiudiced and impaired the same and this cause being referred for a day of hearing euen to the verie feastiuall of S. Thomas of Canturburie might fitly put the king in mind that this Thomas as on that day shed his bloud for the liberties and immunities of the Church and yet wee formerly obserued that the Diuines of Paris disputed how this Thomas was more probably to be supposed condemned because he suffered death for his rebellion But the king plainely made answer That he would haue a speciall care of all things to come Bertram vrgeth further for the better explication of himselfe when the king replied I would rather haue the liberties of the Church augmented than diminished I meane the true immunities and liberties but not vsurpations And therefore he consulted with them about the preseruation of royall rights and jurisdictions in hatred of which fact they endeuoured to depraue the memorie of Peter de Cognieres This is he who in a corner of our Ladies Church in Paris is commonly called Master Peter de Cogniet An Epistle of Lucifer to the Pope and Roman Church fel fit with these times Epist Luciferi ad Papam Some thinke it was written vnder Philip the Faire but because in some exemplaries it is said to be dated in the yeare of his Palace ouerthrowne 1351 Here seemes in the originall to be some error in computation of the yeares about the yeare from Christs birth 1318 it is referred to that yeare Lucifer is in it brought in discoursing How in times past Christs vicar preaching the word in pouertie of life the world was so conuerted that Erebus was turned into Eremum Hell into Hermitage but he had caried the matter so wisely as to suborne in their places those that should with both their clookes lay hold of worldlie kingdomes which Christ heretofore refused being offered him that therefore they should not now teach as he and his Apostles did Reddite Caesari quae sunt Caesaris c. Subiecti estote Principibus but seising both on spirituall and temporall things they should assume vnto themselues both swords endeuoring proudly to beare rule ouer Princes themselues And hereupon came in all excesse pride wantonnesse wicked deuises and simonie which carried that sway as he plentifully laid open that what aunciently in times past had beene forespoken by the Prophets was completely fulfilled The Church of Rome is become the Synagogue of Sathan The purpled harlot hath committed fornication with the kings of the earth Of a mother she is become a stepmother and of a Bride an adulteresse forgetting her originall charitie and chastitie and principally ruinating the Christian Faith which before she built vp and erected Then hee exhorts the Pope vehemently to perseuere in these offices Because saith he we are about to send forth Antichrist for whom all these treasures are to be reserued in the meane while we would haue you to be our Vicars c. They that spake so broadly in generall of the Roman Church what thought they suppose you of many her particular abuses Hereunto we may adde That Iohn Mandeuil an English man a writer verie neere to those times said Pope Iohn sent to the Grecians exhorting them to bee vnited to him and the Roman Church for the knowne and accustomed reasons of that plenarie power graunted vnto him ouer all the Church in the person of Saint Peter But they answered him laconically We vndoubtedly beleeue thy Soueraigne power ouer those that are subiect to thee but wee cannot endure thy extreame pride nor are we able to satisfie thy greedie auarice The diuell be with thee for God is with vs. 58. PROGRESSION Benedict the twelfth succeeded Iohn He holds the See while the yeare 1342 when as Clement the sixt came to the chaire after him Lewis the Emperour dyes and after some opposition Charles sonne to the king of Bohemia obtaines the Diademe Imperiall BEnedict the twelfth succeeded Iohn the Cardinalls hauing been sixteene daies in the Conclaue before they could agree vpon an election at last they resolued either for enuie or in despight one of another to
the nomination of the Occidentall Babylon Know saith he in briefe Petrarch Epist 8. that neither mine nor Ciceroes penne himselfe if he were aliue would suffice to decypher it Whatsoeuer we read of the Aegiptian or Assyrian Babylon whatsoeuer of the foure Laberinths of the mouth of Auerne of the groues infernall or of the marish of Sodome being paralelled with this hell they are all but fables and bables Here is tower-topping and blaspheming Nemrod Here is Symiramis and her quiuer Here inexorable Minos and Radamant Here is all-deuouring Cerberus Pasiphae prostituted to a Bull and here is the mixed kinds and prodigious progenie of Minotaurus Here are the execrable delineations of variable and wicked Venus To conclude whatsoeuer confused hideous or horrible forme was euer poetically imagined and fained may here be really seene and discerned Surely thou hast heretofore beene happie for thy vertues but now thou art much more happie in thy absence and remotion Take you this to be the same citie that you saw it sometimes heretofore to be Fie no it is sure another farre vnlike to the same Questionlesse that then was verie bad and those times most defiled and polluted but this moderne Rome is not a citie it is an habitation for spirits and diuells and to speake in a word the sinke of all sinne and licentiousnesse and that same hell and gulph of the liuing described by the mouth of Dauid so long time before it was founded or knowne Ah how often doe I call to mind that same fatherlie voyce and healthfull admonition when vpon my departure thou saydst vnto me Whither goest thou What doest thou intend What headlong ambition makes thee so vnmindfull of thine owne safetie Questionlesse hee that hee writ to whom he calls Father must needs be a man of some eminent note in those times In his ninth Epistle to the same partie he subscribes himselfe an exile from Ierusalem amongst and vpon the riuers of Babylon Epist 9. alluding to the hundred thirtie and seuenth Psalme where the Psalmist deplores the state of the Church and his own condition in the Babylonian captiuitie And in his tenth Epistle he layes open his reason You maruell saith he at the subscriptions of my letters and not without cause in that you haue onely read of two Babylons one in times past amongst the Assyrians where Symiramis liued with so great renowme and another amongst the Aegiptians which flourisheth still in this our age But cease to admire saith he for this part of the earth hath also her Babylon Auignion for where I pray you may the citie of confusion be better seated than in the quarters of the West By whom it was built is verie vncertaine but by whom it is inhabited is manifestly knowne by people certainely who in all right may giue her this name And if you please beleeue me Here dwells puissant Nemrod on earth the strong and mightie Hunter conspiring against the Lord and with his ayrie towers aspiring vnto heauen Here also abides a more furious Cambyses than he of the East nay than the Turke himselfe Doe but consult with Catholike Authors but especially with Saint Augustine and you shall find what this name of Babylon meanes which hauing read you will then say it belongs no lesse to Rodanus than to the riuers of Euphrates and Nilus You may also peraduenture greatly wonder at the fiue Labyrinthes when amongst other writers you find no mention made but of foure this fift being the worst and most inextricable whether it then were not or as yet was not knowne Whosoeuer would truely view and peruse it let him come hither here wants no horrour of imprisonment no errour of palpable darkenesse no fatall Vrnes shuffling together the lots and destinies of mankind and to conclude no Imperious Minos no tearing Minotaures nor lasciuious pourtraitors of damned Venus are rare and scarce All hope of saluation lyes in gold the cruell king with gold is pacified the prodigious monster by gold is subdued for gold the web of saluation is wouen onely for gold the hard thresholds of this gate are showne for gold barres and stones are broken with gold the grizlie Porters mouth is stopt for gold heauen lyes open and what needs many words Christ himselfe for gold is sold And in the eleuenth Epistle protesting what danger hung ouer his head for speaking truth Epist 11. Euen as saith he without the kingdome of vertue veritie was alwaies feeble and weake being destitute of any aid or helpe what must needs happen doe you suppose where vertue lyes cleane extinguished and deepely buried There veritie no question is a most capitall crime and onely of it selfe sufficient to acquire many mens hatred where one mans loue shal be sought with many obsequies flatteries c. Where no faith no charitie no pietie remaines but rage enuie excesse and auarice raigne with all their artes and falsifiers where euerie bad man is exalted the greatest thiefe extolled to heauen and the iust poore man flatly oppressed Where simplicitie is called madnesse and malice sapience Where God is contemned and money adored lawes troden vnder foot and good men laught at so as now there are almost no more left for them to laugh at I would willingly exempt one from this deluge of impietietie and I confesse he would well deserue it but then me thinkes it would be ridiculous to cut off so solid and generall a rule for one nownes exception And therefore here no Noah nor no Deucalion shall float vpon the water and suppose that Pyrrha made no more happie nauigation and escape than the rest for a mightie floud of obscene sensualities did ouerflow the citie a wonderfull rage and tide-gate of feminine delights together with a foule and vncleane shipwracke of chastitie without any exception at all of virginitie and modestie This little of a great deale more Truth dares relate Then he concludes To this Epistle I haue neither set to my hand nor my seale neither time nor place you know where I remaine and can vnderstand mee well ynough by my words Then in his twelfth complaining in his heart to God for the miseries of the time Epist 12.13 in the thirteenth he does particularize the same That renowmed Court of Christ saith he that famous Propugnacle of diuine worship in times past our sinnes being the occasion thereof being now destitute of heauenlie aid and potection is become a denne of vncleane theeues And the originall of all these euills proceeds from one onely fountaine though many other lesser heads and springs rise out of the same from whence a raging floudgate of all manner of miseries breakes in wherein we cannot but perish and be ouerwhelmed in the surges of extreamest mischiefes and if the mercie of heauen preuent not humane transgression and enormitie the Church doubtlesse is like to suffer a most lamentable and fearefull shipwracke How different are liues and manners and how discrepant the minds of some that build and
tops and Doues on dung-hils Wolues at libertie and Lambes in bonds and in briefe Christ an exile Antichrist a Lord and Belzebub a Iudge I am reuoked to these spectacles but I will not heare I can neither humor them nor they me O cruell and wicked sect of men louing nothing nor anybodie but themselues and that most peruersly and wickedly Who shall releeue the oppressed world Who will redeeme the afflicted citie Who will reforme manners corrupted Who shall call together the dispersed sheepe Who will correct erronious shepheards Who shall reduce and bring them backe againe vnto their proper seats Will there be no meane of the licentiousnesse of sin Shal the holie Ghost thunder out in vaine by the Prophet These things thou didst and yet I held my peace thou wicked wretch supposing that I was like vnto thee but I will conuince thee and set my face and countenance against thee c. These poynts Petrarch roundly touched to his familiar friends from whence we may collect that many were of the same opinion being terrified with the horrour of those monsters and some there wanted not who were euen ouercome with zeale An. 1351. Albertus Argent in Chronic. as Albertus Argentinensis in his Chronicle anno 1351 A certaine preaching Carmelite making a Sermon vpon the Popes Masse so reprehended both him and the Cardinalls of their enormious vices that all who were present were wonderfully astonished and for this he was disgraded He also addes A closed letter was fastened on a Cardinals doore directed to the Pope and Cardinalls which being opened they found there written That Leuiathan the Prince of darkenesse saluted the Pope his Vicar and the Cardinalls his seruants by whose endeuour he hoped to ouercome Christ labouring to exalt the poore and humble against the Commonwealth of this world and so bringing in the Prophets he sets them forth with all vices Afterwards And your mother Pride and your sisters Auarice and Luxurie salute you c. who reioyced that by their assistance they were verie well With many other things And it was subscribed Giuen in the infernall Centre before a multitude of diuels And the Pope being mightily stirred vp with this Pasquill laboured what he could to find out the Author but presently vpon it he fell into a daungerous infirmitie whereof notwithstanding he recouered but the writer of this letter could neuer come to be knowne Albert it seemes had reference to that Epistle of Lucifers a little before mentioned but that seemes to haue beene written at Paris and that with the consent of the better and more learned sort because it was printed together with that Tractat of William of Paris De Beneficiorum Collatione And many writings of this nature came forth at the same time Not long before which in the yeare 1345 An. 1345. Haiabalus a Franciscan preached publikely many times at Auignion and plainely said That he was commaunded from God to declare the Roman Church to be the Babylonian Harlot the Pope and his Cardinalls to be true Antichrist and that Benedict and Iohn his predecessors were damned with many other things pertaining to this purpose Henr. Eâ—ford in Chron. And being brought before the Pope he constantly euerred That this was expresly commaunded him by God in a vision and that out of office and duetie he was bound to preach it And here the Author doth not cleerely set downe what was decreed of him For matters of doctrine though we haue spoken more copiously hereof in another place yet by the way let vs here note That the article of Free justification through faith in Christ the principall Base and foundation of Christian religion began in these times to rise as it were out of darkenesse For Thomas Brandwardine who was vulgarly called The profound Doctor taught the same in his publike Lectures not onely in England but also in the Vniuersitie of Paris And there is yet extant a booke written by himselfe of this subiect at the intreatie and persuasion of many godlie men diuided into three parts Wherein he complaines That the same had happened to him which sometimes fell out with Elias when the eight hundred and fiftie Prophets of Baal rose vp against him in this cause How many O Lord saith he contend with Pelagius at this day for Free will against free grace and against Paul the spirituall champion of grace How many at this day reiect free grace and onely declare free will to be sufficient vnto saluation Or if they make any vse of grace they speake of it but for forme sake onely And so he extends himselfe at large in the explication of this doctrine agreeing herein with Augustine Ierome Fulgentius Prosperus Bernardus and many other auncient writers In such a conflict saith he not being lightly afraid I was long time perplexed but with my whole heart I had refuge to diuine ayd and so being presently comforted with the spirit of fortitude I grew to haue great hope for it was not my cause nor my warre but the cause of the God and Lord of science of armies and of powers but vnder him I maintaine his right Whose countenances or high lookes need I therefore to feare or whose rage and furie being garded and enuironed with the safe protection of so mightie a Patron Whosoeuer therefore belongs to the Lord let him ioyne with me or rather let vs both be ioyned to the Lord let vs stand stoutly to it for who can be against vs For I know the man with whom the Lord is will be able to sustaine the charge of a thousand enemies and twelue thousand he shall profligate These things he properly deliuered against the scholers of those times he preaching also vnto his disciples That the dayes would come and they were not now farre off when their false doctrine should be plainely detected and themselues contemned amongst all the godlie But I would not willingly range beyond the bounds of our historie Raphael Volterranus and Iohn Picus Mirandola who had perused his bookes make mention of him with singular prayse and commendation also Gregorius Ariminensis of the Order Heremeticall a man of great fame among scholers who flourished at this time in Paris in his Commentaries vpon the sentences calls all them that thought otherwise Semie pelagians Thomas Scotus and others There backed him in this his opinion Iohn Buridanus and Andreas de Castello men at that instant of great renowme This was the first poynt wherein the Church was likely to haue recouered her former state And yet Conradus Hager of Wirtzberg proceeded somewhat further and taught That the Masse was in no sort a sacrifice neither profitable for the liuing or for the dead and therefore not at all to be celebrated That money bequeathed by men on their death-bed for Masses could not be receiued without sacriledge And many in that diocesse for the space of foure and twentie yeares he had confirmed in that doctrine Wherefore being cast into prison by
That with a good conscience and without the damnation of his soule he could not consent to the vnion The old Cardinals laboured to get away from him but he chargeth them vnder most grieuous paynes that they should not depart yea if the regent of Luca had not by his wisedome prouided for them their persons had bin in no safetie But the Cardinall of Liege a man of a great spirit in disguise escaped from Luca and got to Pisa yet being discouered by some seruants of Gregorie he continued there not without great danger of his life In like manner all the rest by little and litle steale away being moued neither with his promises nor threats from which they publiquely appeale and solemnely signifie the same vnto him sitting in consistorie amiddest his new Cardinals The Cardinall of Liege first maketh knowne to the world by his Letters Cap. 33. 34. That God ought rather to be obeyed for if saith he the Pope commaund or would constraine to such things as tend to the destruction of soules it is most manifest that he ought not be obeyed neither by diuine nor humane right yea and that man meriteth who for not obaying in such a case doth suffer his seuere censures And thus haue wee now a two-fold Schisme of Benedict against Gregorie and of Gregorie against his owne Cardinals Now vpon this departure of the Cardinals from Gregorie Benedict making vse of this occasion objecteth vnto him his craftie sleights which at length hath burst forth into so euill an issue Whereupon hee withdrew himselfe into the countrie of Arragon where he was borne seeing there was no more hope of the vnion But Gregorie seeing him departed and being not yet wearie of deceiuing assigneth a Councell at Aquileia and to strengthen the same createth againe new Cardinals whilest on the other side Benedict appointeth likewise his Councel in Arragon Both of them euer vnder pretence of vnion but which neither of both desireth both laboring to assure thereby the Popedome to himselfe alone Which part of the Cardinals of Benedict perceiuing they find meanes to escape away from him and come to Pisa There the Cardinals of both sides ioyned together and by the consent of the Florentines Lords of Pisa determined to hold there a Councell Thither are both after a solemne manner cited to be present either personally or by their proxie hauing fit and due commission Both do testifie That it belongeth not to them to call a Councell The Cardinals on the contrarie maintaine that seeing the Popedome is doubtfull and diuided neither of the striuers for it could call a Councell because it would be a particular and not an vniuersall one where a part onely should be present Cap. 36. 37. 38. Wherefore they passe further and entreat the Emperour and Princes of the Empire the Kings of Fraunce England Hungarie Arragon Polonia and others that they would be present by their Embassadors which the greatest part agreed vnto Then after many Sessions when neither they themselues nor any in their name appeared all things well and duely examined Cap. 44. they all with one voyce pronounce That Benedict and Gregorie damnably contending for their Popedome are pronounced truly and notoriously in a petition presented and exhibited to the sacred and vniuersall Synod That they haue bin and are verie Schismatikes nourishers defenders fauourers approuers and obstinat maintainers of an old Schisme heretikes strayed from the faith ensnared with notorious crimes and enormous periuries notoriously scandalizing the vniuersall holie Church of God with incorrigibilitie contumacie and obstinacie in notorious euident and manifest crimes and for these and other causes haue made themselues vnworthie of all honour and dignitie and also of the Papall they and each of them besides the foresaid iniquities crimes and excesses committed that they might raigne commaund and beare sway are ipso facto cast away and depriued of God and of the sacred canons and also cut off from the Church c. Moreouer all Christians of all sorts yea Emperours Kings and others in any dignitie are declared for euer absolued from their obedience forbidding the faithfull of Christ in no wise to obey or intend to obey the foresayd striuers for the Popedome or either of them neither shall they yeeld them either counsaile helpe or fauour or receiue them or repaire vnto them vnder paine of excommunication c. Moreouer all and singular proceedings and sentences of excommunication suspension or other censure and payne of priuation also of orders and dignities c. giuen and thundered forth haue beene and are disanulled reuoked voyd of no strength efficacie or moment Moreouer promotions or rather profaâ—ations made of any whomsoeuer to be Cardinals by the said contenders for the Popedome and either of them to wit by the sayd Angelus from the third day of May and by the foresaid Peter from the fiftenth of Iune of the yeare past 1408 haue beene and are disadnulled An. 1408. reuoked and made void Which when Benedict vnderstood swelling with choler he createth twelue Cardinals in Arragon Gregorie as many in Germanie but some of the wiser of them refused the hats And for an vpshot of his deceitfull slights he feareth not to publish That all difficulties remoued he was readie to repaire to what place the Emperour Robert Sigismund king of Hungarie and Ladislaus king of Sicilie should like of Cap. 46. 47. 48. But seeing saith the Authour that there were manifestly so many enimities and rancours for the causes aforesayd betweene Robert Sigismund and Ladislaus it seemeth vnpossible by any reason or humane wisedome that they should be able to agree together how to make a vnion in the Church I would we could haue as good a witnesse of the craftie wiles of Benedict though this man doth in many places liuely enough represent them whence it is apparant that they stroue to excell each other in wickednesse But it was needfull that the guiles of Gregorie should bee more exactly shewed as him whom they doe rather approue and enregister in the Catalogue of Popes Theodor. Ã Niem l. 2. c. 33. Furthermore he at length hauing suffered many troubles from his countriemen the Venetians whom he vsed no better than others he getteth him to the coast of the Abruzzo and flying for refuge to Caieta committeth himselfe to the protection of king Ladislaus who commaundeth him to be obeyed in his jurisdictions In the meane time the Cardinals of both obediences chose Pope Peter Philargas of Candie by Nation a Greeke a Franciscan Frier and named Alexander the fifth he that was woont to say That he had bin a rich bishop a poore Cardinall Cap. 51. 52. and a beggarly Pope A man saith the Authour liuing delicately and drinking of strong wines who wholly gouerned himselfe by the counsailes of Balthasar Cossa Cardinal Deacon who was afterward Iohn the three and twentieth the most wicked among all the Popes Therefore saith Theodorick he was no sooner come
the support of Ladislaus king of Sicilie Charles Malatesta his Proctor appeared in Councell hauing on him the Pontificall robes which in token of renunciation he put off before all the assemblie But Benedict hauing beene verie oftentimes cited in vaine by sentence of the Councell is declared to be a periurer Session 11. a scandalizer of the Church a fautor and entermedler of schisme an heretike straying out of the way of faith and for these causes is depriued of his Papall dignitie and cut off from the Church as a withered and dried member forbiddeth all men therefore from obeying him vnder paine of excommunication And though he were almost of all men forsaken yet he continued still in obstinacie Idolum cum idolis suis Cardinalibus saith Krantzius An Idoll with the Idols his Cardinalls Krantzius in Metrop l. 9. c. 1. An. 1414. Yea being at poynt of death in the yeare 1414 he adiureth the Cardinals which remained with him in the castle of Paniscola that they should incontinently chuse him a successor which was Giles Munion Canon of Barcelon by them called Clement the eighth who the fourth yeare after renounced his charge Of this Benedict was that saying of Gerson verie often repeated in Councell There will be no peace to the Churches till Luna be taken away So much did Luna darken the Sunne so much also had these good Popes their hearts set on the vnion of the Church It was meet that impietie of doctrine should grow after the measure of the abuse of power Paulus Aemilius in Carolo 6. Therefore we read that this Benedict the thirteenth was the first that instituted That the Sacrament of the bodie of Christ should be carried before him for the safegard of his bodie that so he might seeme to haue a protector against his aduersaries on earth whom he beleeued to be none in heauen which without doubt he had inuented by the example of the kings of Persia who made their god be caried before them Alexander the fift also because he was a Minorite that he might gratifie the Friers of that Order Theodor. Ã Nyem l. 3. c. vltim who wonderfully reioycing at his creation ran about the streets euerie day verie many in troupes together as if they had beene mad men made a law That all Christians should be bound to beleeue the wounds of S. Francis and in veneration also of those wounds instituted a feast These things as we haue said before although they are judged doubtful yet are found in their owne Histories of those times So Iohn the foure and twentieth Waldensin Fasciculo for that Wicklif had translated the holie Scriptures into the English Tongue would needs haue that translation of the Bible into the vulgar Tongue to be heresie in England But our wise king Charles the fift was of another mind when a little before he commaunded that the sacred Bible should bee translated into the French Tongue for his owne and his peoples vse And let the Reader judge of the inuentions by the pietie and honestie of the deuisors In the meane time the Councell of Constance it selfe whilest it arrogateth power aboue the Pope doth not withall omit in emulation of Popes to extoll it selfe aboue the Lord Christ For when many nations complained vnto them That against the expresse institution of Christ in the participation of the Eucharist the cup of the Lord was taken away from them the Fathers of this Councell feared not to publish a Decree commaunding it seuerely to be excuted which was conceiued in these execrable words Concil Constant Session 13. Although Christ after supper hath instituted and administred to his Disciples this venerable Sacrament vnder both kinds of bread and wine yet notwithstanding the authoritie of the sacred Canons the laudable and approued custome of the Church hath obserued and doth obserue that this Sacrament ought not to be finished after supper c. And seeing that this custome hath beene according to reason brought in and a long time obserued by the Church and holie Fathers it is to be held for a law In which words this clause Non obstante notwithstanding so odious as we haue seene to the Church in former ages for that by it added to the Popes Bulls no lawes so holy but were reuoked now by the authoritie of this Synod manifestly abrogateth not only the vse of the Primitiue Church but the expresse commandement of the Lord himselfe in instituting a Sacrament of so great moment And these things extend to the yeare 1417. An. 1417. OPPOSITION Let vs now consider what the Christian Church thought hereof being distracted and as it were torne in peeces by two sometimes three Popes openly warring one against the other We haue alreadie noted something out of the historie of Theodorick Theodor. Ã Nyem l. 1. c. 7 8. who was successiuely Secretarie to Vrban Boniface Innocent Gregorie and Alexander Neither doth he conceale from vs the murmure and distraction of minds that then was in the whole world whilest some take part with one others content with the conduct of their owne Bishops hold with neither from whence in the meane time this benefit did arise vnto vs in this so great mischiefe That by occasion of this schisme there was a way made vnto the truth and the mouth thereof in diuers things opened And therefore he confesseth ingeniously that it is agreeable vnto reason that the Roman Emperour with the Prelats and Christian people as the spirituall sonne of the Church whose power is immediatly from God should by his authoritie appease these troubles and that they are fooles and flatterers that say That the Pope or Church hath two swords the temporall and the spirituall which great errour being brought into the Christian Church they raise a perpetuall emulation and discord betweene the Pope and the Emperour trampling vnder their feet the Imperiall authoritie to the great hurt of the whole Commonwealth That it appeareth out of the Decrees themselues that whensoeuer any schisme shall arise in the Church that the Emperors are bound and by law haue power to prouide a remedie Which he likewise proueth by the example of Theodoricus the king taken out of the Decree it selfe and is much offended that the Emperor Robert did so flatter and gently intreat Gregorie the twelfth who should haue compelled both parts to haue restored the peace of the Church D. 17. C. Consilia Theud l. 3. c. 9. 10. That the power of the Emperour doth especially tend to the repressing of a wicked and incorrigible Pope scandalizing the Church as it appeareth out of the acts of the Roman Emperours and kings where he alledgeth the example of Otho the first who came out of Germanie to Rome to chasten the disorderly stubborne behauior of Iohn the 13 whom by the authoritie of the Councell notwithstanding he were vpheld by his kindred and friends at Rome he deposed For saith he in those daies the
not so much as the people of Liege but they resolued to forsake Boniface at Rome and to embrace this neutralitie to whom the better to retaine them in their faith and obedience hee sent a Legat but he not daring to passe any farther stayed at Cologne and from thence by a carrier sent letters who was forbid to returne to the Legat except he loued to be cast into the riuer Mosa Thus was the miserable state of the Church knowne to the whole world And this brings vs to the yeare 1399. An. 1399. There passed many yeares in these contentions betwixt these Popes either of them intending vnion whilest neither of them embraced it and both of them in their owne jurisdictions amongst whom they were obeyed laying exactions burthens and exercising tyrannie vpon the Churches violently exacting likewise certain annuities brought in by the inuention of Boniface wheresoeuer their power did extend Whereupon there followed a Decree of our Parliament assisted by the great Councell dated the eleuenth of September in the yeare 1406 An. 1406. the Vniuersitie of Paris requesting the same by which it was forbidden to be payd to the Pope or any of his Cardinals and if afterwards they shall request it not to receiue any thing from him or to haue ought to doe with him In the narration whereof the Vniuersitie feared not to say that it is written Withdraw your selues from euerie brother that walketh inordinatly presently adding that of the Apostle I know that after my departure shal grieuous Wolues enter in amongst you Arrestum Curiae an 1406. impressum cum Nicholao Clemangis not sparing the flocke and that of the Prophet Because my flocke was spoyled and my sheepe were deuoured of the beasts of the field hauing no shepheard neither did my shepheards feed my sheep but the shepheards feed themselues and feed not my sheep therefore sayth the Lord I will cause them to cease from feeding the sheepe neither shall the shepheards feed themselues any more for I will deliuer my sheepe from their mouthes and they shall no more deuour them Which words the Vniuersitie applies to Benedict shewing likewise that Rome receiued the preheminence of her See from Constantine but yet had not therefore any power to command or to impose any thing vpon others There followeth the Edict of Charles the sixt then raigning dated the eighteenth of Februarie in the yeare 1406 whereby both his annuities and his baser seruices as they call them and innumerable the like grieuances and oppressions which are there particularly expressed are vtterly made voyd as being dangerous to the Church and Commonweale causes of pouertie amongst the people and perdition to a million of poore soules that by that meanes are destitute both of corporall and spirituall nourishment The occasion of this Edict was because the later moderne Popes being often admonished made no account thereof but hardened themselues and stopped their eares against all complaints Another cause was because the regall power for the establishing of the Church is ordained of God in so much that the celestiall kingdome may be amended by the terrestriall when the Church is destroyed by them who hold the highest places therein and are to be repressed by the seueritie of Princes to whom in such cases we are only to flie since by their oath made vnto God they are to prouide for the good of the Church otherwise to yeeld an account In this case especially wherein all the Doctors teach That we are to denie obedience to the Pope himselfe And this whole Edict is yet to be read much differing from that their axiome That the Pope hath the chiefest commaund both in heauen and on earth These things fell out in the time of Innocent the seuenth one of the competitors Gregorie his successor thought good at the first to flatter vs and by his Legat sent a Bull to the king wherein he promiseth in good earnest to doe his best endeuour to procure a vnion vpon those conditions before mentioned It bare date the eleuenth of December 1406 and is to be had in Monstrelet Whereupon the king and the Vniuersitie of Paris the matter being deliberated with the chiefe of the Clergie and Councell sent embassadours to Benedict the Patriarch of Alexandria the Bishops of Cambray and Beauvais the Abbots of S. Denis and Mount S. Michael and certaine Doctors of the Vniuersitie who should let him vnderstand That except he would doe his office and come to some reason that the king and the Dolphine would withdraw themselues from his obedience and refuse his Bulls Benedict continuing obstinat in his purposes entertained the embassadours with fayre words and in the meane time without the knowledge of his Cardinals made a constitution which he sent by speciall messengers to the king and Vniuersitie threatening grieuous punishment to all those that should withdraw themselues from the obedience of himselfe and his successors Monstrelet vol. 1. c. 33. And afterwards with doubtfull speeches sent away the Embassadours The king and his Councell began now to perceiue that these Popes abused the world both the one and the other but yet are nothing terrified therewith But the yeare following they sent Iohn de Castro morando and Iohn de Courseno Jdem 1. Cap. â—0 knights to Benedict to let him know That if the vnion were not restored to the Church by Ascention day that he the Clergie Nobles and people of his kingdome and Dolphine would no longer obey him nor his aduersarie To whom he answered without delay That he would send an answer by a speciall messenger who was a certaine man I know not who that came into the palace of S. Paul where the kings Court then was and entring into the kings Oratorie at the beginning of Masse deliuered Benedict his letters and presently departed The letters were read which contained an excommunication against the king and his subiects but the messenger vanished Wherefore the king by the counsell of his Princes and the persuasion of the Vniuersitie of Paris forsooke the Pope and withdrew himselfe from his obedience The letters are to be read in the same Authour wherein the Pope complaineth That the subiects of his kingdome rebell against the Church of Rome in appealing from him against the canonicall constitutions and that the king permitted diuers errours to be sowed therein contrarie to the puritie of the law So he calleth the reprehension of his exactions Furthermore that the vnion which he dreames of is properly a sinne and a perseuerance in a Schisme and that such as exhort him thereunto doe but abuse him Concluding that if he continue in this vaine errour besides those punishments and sentences pronounced in the law he will send constitutions comprehended in his Bull by the tenor whereof both he and all other that shall offend shal be punished These letters neuerthelesse are intermingled with some flatterie but the Bull marres all We excommunicat all those that shall appeale from vs or our
iust Abel whom carnall Kaine murdered it hath euer beene and will be to the worlds end These are they who for temporall commodities flie to the Church and liuing like secular men couet and scrape and rob desiring to beare rule but not to serue glorying in their superioritie oppressing their inferiours reioycing in their owne pride and luxurie They account gaine godlinesse and are alwayes readie to doe and endure whatsoeuer for the encrease of their temporalties howsoeuer they are gotten scorning and laughing at those that are willing to liue iustly holily chastly innocently spiritually To be briefe they thinke none other learned men to be profitable to the Church but such as haue learnt profitable sciences With such the Church at this day is full that almost in euerie Chapter and Colledge none other can hardly be found Since therefore no other are accounted in these dayes wise in the Church but these temporall persons and all things are swayed according to their disposition if any are to be sent either to the Court of Rome or of any other secular Princes or to the Councell in hope of greater preferment after which they gape by fauours and intercessions with great importunitie they labour to be sent For what doe these temporall men but seeke for temporall things thinke of temporall gaine Can we thinke that such will endeuour the reformation of the Church in manners and discipline and honestie of life who thinke that reformation their greatest calamitie and desire nothing so much as that it may be lawful for them to doe whatsoeuer pleaseth them freely without feare of punishment c. And here hee describe them at large But what concludes he hereupon Truely since the Prophet saith Vpon whom shall my spirit rest but vpon the humble and him that trembleth at my words wee must not looke that these Councels should be ruled by the spirit of God where the Decrees depend vpon voyces where for the most part carnall ambitious contentious persons puffed vp with vaine knowledge where subiects ill prepared to receiue the spirit of God where the workes of the flesh contentions emulations clamors beare sway since it is sayd quite contrarie The eyes of the Lord are vpon the righteous Yea since our auncient Fathers when they went about to celebrat a Councell to the end they might the better obtain the assistance of Gods spirit therein prepared themselues with prayer fasting teares contrition of heart humilitie of spirit searching and inquiring into the verie inward parts of their selues least they should offend any way therein that might auert his presence and whereby he should not speake more in them than they themselues If saith he they had by experience found that they could not be deceiued in those matters for which they were assembled what need was there of such diligence c. Since therefore the whole congregation assembled doth many times depend vpon the voyce and opinion of one man why as that one man may be deceiued in his iudgement may not likewise the whole multitude especially if out of humane presumption or any other grieuous crime it deserue to be deceiued Is it not onely proper vnto God to doe all things rightly and neuer to be deceiued But thou repliest saith he That in that the Councell cannot erre it proceedeth not from humane infirmitie but the power of the holie Ghost Doe thou tell me againe how thou knowest that the holie Ghost will alwayes giue his asststance to the greatest part c. especially since the greatest part is commonly the worse c. In the Councell of Achab the holie Prophet of the Lord Micha was present who without feare spake that which the spirit of God suggested vnto him but yet could persuade nothing with the king and the rest of the false Prophets who spake out of their own spirit and vnderstanding c. Read in the Prophesie of Ieremiah what the Lord spake of his Temple against those who falsely persuaded themselues that God would neuer forsake it for their iniquities Trust not in lying words saying It is the Temple of the Lord c. Therefore this house is made a denne of theeues whereupon my name is called before your eyes Behold what I did to Shilo for the wickednesse of my people Now therefore because ye haue done all these workes and haue not heard me I will doe vnto this house wherein ye trust as I haue done vnto Shilo and I will cast you out of my sight c. Now what is the Temple of the Lord but the Church of God For notwithstanding these things were spoken to the Iewes and written for them yet according to the Apostolicall tradition in a figure they are spoken to Christians But perhaps thou wilt yet say That promises of God can neuer faile where he hath bound himselfe to bee with his Church to the end of the world I confesse indeed that God can neuer faile of his promise but where and with whom he is by grace in his Church it is not for vs but for him to know God knoweth saith the Apostle who are his but we how should we know it The Church by grace may remaine in one simple woman as it is sayd to be in the Virgine onely at the time of the Passion Hath a Councell of Bishops in these times a greater authoritie and prerogatiue than the congregation of the Apostles who all declined and went astray Nay hath it a greater prerogatiue than the whole militant Church which S. Augustine sayth cannot accomplish that which the Apostle saith Offer it selfe a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle but onely in the celestiall Ierusalem where that shall be true that is written They are without spot before the throne of God What other cause can wee thinke there was why those foure Councels the Nicene Constantinopolitan first Ephesine and that of Chalcedon are accounted more holy and had a greater veneration than the rest but because they were assemblies of holie men and such as came thither were so accounted and therefore in them and by them God manifested his holie will c. Such the spirit of God assembleth such he assisteth and is in the middest of them At the last to shew that such euents must not be looked for from contrarie persons he reciteth the historie related by vs in the former Progression of the Owle that in the Councell at Rome celebrated by Iohn the foure and twentieth appeared after the inuocation of the holie Ghost Thus did Clemangis write to this Scholeman who was present at the Councell of Constance To conclude in his Epistles hee calls the Church of Rome a house of theeues no otherwise to be purged than with a whip as the Temple once was for what doth he differ from a theefe who being entred by the breaches and ruines to steale brings others in by the same way meaning the Pope Truely the Church at this day is made a shop of ambition trafficke theft The Sacraments Orders yea
cause banished their countrey Theodor. Ã Nyem de schismate l. 3. who repaired to Iohn Hâ—s who as Aeneas Siluius saith gaue him great light in many principall poynts In Italie it selfe Nicholas Lucensis a Carmelite and Doctor of Diuinitie was not afraid out of the pulpet at Lucca in the presence of Gregorie the twelfth to preach against his and the Papall tyrannie whereupon he was cast into prison and hardly got out againe notwithstanding that fauour and helpe he had from the gouernour and from thence forward he was put to silence Besides infinit numbers of all estates and conditions whom euerie where with exquisit torments they put to death in France England and elsewhere some shut vp in barrels some hanged on gibbets some burnt whose memorie remaines in the bookes of their aduersaries themselues Thom. Waldens in Fasciculo Zizoniorum Baptista Panaetius in Chron. in sermon Thom. Walsing in Chron. Thom. Walsing an 1413. in Henr. 5. Waldensis Baptista Panetius Walsingham and others Amongst whom we must not forget Iohn Oldcastle a nobleman of England heire by right of his wife to the Lord Cobham A man saith Walsingham Regi propter probitatem charus acceptus in great fauour with king Henrie the fift for his honestie and likewise renowmed for his valour and great knowledge in feats of armes who in the yeare 1413 is in the historie called the Protector and defender of the Lollards for that name or title was giuen to all those who protested against the corruptions of the Church who sent into the Diocesses of London Rochester Hereford some to publish the truth of the Gospell without the leaue and license of the Ordinaries who were especially in their sermons to confute the doctrine of Transubstantiation the Sacrament of Penitence Perigrinations the worshipping of Images the Keyes vsurped by the Church of Rome For these speciall heads the Authour reciteth Hee therefore reporteth That Oldcastle being by the authoritie of the king committed to the Tower of London and being brought before the Archbishop of Canturburie hee tooke out of his bosome a copie of the confession of his Faith and deliuered it vnto him to read which the Archbishop hauing read said That it contained in it much good and Catholike matter but yet he must satisfie him touching other poynts that is to say the abouenamed but especially that that concerned the power of the Pope and Cardinals and the Roman Hierarchie which Oldcastle refused not to doe but ingeniously professed withall That the Pope was true Antichrist that is his head the Archbishops Bishops and other Prelats his members the Friers his tayle And as touching the other poynts Idem in Ypodigmate Neustriae an 1413. They are ordinances sayth he of the Church of Rome made against the Scriptures after that it grew rich and the poyson had dispersed it selfe therein and not before The place it selfe is worthie the reading that we may acknowledge the agreement of their doctrine with ours against which no man can cauill Wherefore the Archbishop pronounced Oldcastle an heretike and excommunicated him requiring the secular power for the putting of him to death But the king proceeding slowly and vnwillingly in this businesse he escaped out of prison to whom there gathered a great multitude to haue freed him from that danger who were almost all put to the sword and such amongst them as were taken prisoners as well Clergie as Lay vnder a pretence of heresie were put to death whose constancie appeares in these words That the greatest part of them nec quidem poenitere curabant tooke no care to repent If wee may credit Walsingham there were not then lesse than an hundred thousand who made publike profession of this doctrine Another Annalist in few words sayth Iohannes Capgrauius l. 2 de Nobilibus Henricis That Oldcastle was not afraid in the Parliament to say That England would neuer be at peace vntill the Popes power were banished beyond the seas And learned and eloquent as he was he caused many bookes to be scattered in the streets against the inuocation of Saints auricular confession the single life of Priests Transubstantiation and other abuses of the Church of Rome for which cause being led prisoner to London at the last he was burnt But there comes now vpon the stage euen with open faces Iohn Hus and Hierome of Prage men by the testimonies of their aduersaries themselues renowmed for their learning and godlie conuersation who being called to publike charge in the Church did publikely preach against the abuses of the Church of Rome euen those that we in these dayes detest and abiure namely against the tyrannie of the Pope whom as their owne Iudges doe testifie they called Antichrist Aeneas Siluius in historia Bohemia c. 35. Aeneas Siluius himselfe who was afterwards Pope Pius the second sayth With the sound of their voyce the spirit of God assisting the word of God thundering in them the people were awakened out of their dead sleepe ran by flockes to this great light enuiting likewise their neighbours from diuers parts And whereas about that verie time Pope Iohn the foure and twentieth had granted a full remission of sinnes to all that would beare armes in defence of the Church of Rome against Ladislans king of Naples Certaine mecanicall persons saith Pius the second hearing this published with a lowd voyce Pope Iohn to be Antichrist bearing the crosse against Christians These good Fathers in the meane time assembled at the Councell of Constance for the reformation as they sayd of the Church as well in the head as in the members who should haue beene stirred vp thereunto by the sound of these Heraulds vnder a pretence of fidelitie as much as in them lay supprest and opprest them Being therefore called to the Councell vnder the trust of a safeconduct granted by the Emperour Sigismond who had called that Councell there to giue a reason of their doctrine they willingly came but presently they were cast into prison declared heretikes and in the end burnt aliue Iohn Hus first and Hierome about a yeare after Cap. 35. These Fathers leauing this Decree for an example and law to all posteritie Haereticis non seruandam fidem That we are not to keepe faith to Heretikes For such they accounted all those as we haue seene that withstood their opinions euen in matters meerely ciuile and that not without an apparent purpose to cut off all hope of a reformation of the Church by a free and lawfull Councell Siluius telleth vs That they were admonished not to thinke themselues more wise than the Church and that it would be easie for them to obtaine an honourable place in the Church if they would renounce their opinions In which meanes of conuerting we may easily note the stile of that auncient Doctor tempting our Sauiour in the desart Cap. 36. But they answer saith Pius That they teach the truth being the disciples of Christ directing themselues
seene they betooke themselues to a most shamefull flight Iulian wondreth whence this feare rose what reason might persuade such an armie to flie He went about suing to the Captaines and exhorting them to take armes to set themselues in battaile aray and couragiously to expect the enemie That they did not now contend for the glorie of the kingdome or for the possession of some countrey but waged warre for their liues religion for the honour of Christ and saluation of soules That it was a shamefull thing for the Germans whose nobilitie and vertue was famous throughout all the world to flie out of battaile that better were it to die then to giue place to the enemies before they see them But truely here might Pius haue said more to purpose that from the death of Zischa Here is the finger of God But whatsoeuer Iulian could vpbraid them of or set before their eies all is in vaine so much had feare ouercome shaâ—â— The ensignes are suddenly snatched vp and as if there were no Generall in the armie euery man tumultuously without staying for commandement without saluting his fellow also some casting away their armes make hast to flight running as fast as they could no otherwise than if the enemie had bene hard at their backes and the Cardinall will he nill he is faine to accompany them Aeneas Syluius Histor Bohem. c. 48. 49. A while after the enemy emboldened by their feare come and seise vpon their baggage and get a great bootie Wherefore the Emperor and the Pope despairing that they should euer by force bring them vnder speeches are cast forth of calling another Councell at Basil whither the Cardinall went to take courage and heart againe after the flight Monstrelet Monstrelet vol. c. 1.258 though ill affected towards the Bohemians saith They feared no martyrdome no torments their verie women took armes and fought and the dead bodies of many were found among the slain in battels So that here if we respect the cause and reason of this war it may seeme to be compared to that of the Machabees Pope Martin with Antiochus both in their Councels and in their successes warring in time past against the people of God which Antiochus also is set forth vnto vs for a figure of Antichrist Sigismund had giuen hope to the complaints of the people from all parts That hee would prouide in the Councell of Constance for the reformation of the Church and therefore as well the Vniuersities as many nations themselues had exhibited by their embassadors to the Councel verie many articles tending to reformation namely of Paris by M. Iohn Gerson Chancelor of the same and M. Peter de Aliaco Cardinall which to this day are read yet they were appointed to be examined after order was taken for the schisme When therfore Sigismund saw all things finished that seemed should goe before Concilium Constantiens Sess 12.14 17.39 Sess 15. 21. That Iohn the foure and twentieth was deposed That Gregorie the xij had renounced That sentence was giuen against Benedict the xiij and order taken as it was thought to preuent schismes to come and moreouer Iohn Hus and Hierome of Prague condemned and punished he thought now the time was come wherein he might seriously solicite the Fathers to take in hand a Reformation and that so much the rather for that there was not yet any Head chosen the Councel might both more safely with greater authoritie and with lesse contradiction ordaine for reforming the Head and constraining him into order and he which was to be chosen Pope would the more willingly accept of the law prescribed to him for hee knowing not of his owne election he himselfe would consent to the reformation of the future Pope Therefore in the fortieth Session Sess 40. in which sat chiefe the Cardinall of Ostia William Cardinall of S. Marke read certaine Decrees of which he required the Councell to giue sentence that they might be published by the future Pope before the dissolution of the Councell yet were they but matters superficiall as the number qualitie nation of Cardinals reseruations Annates common and mean seruices collations and graces expectatiue confirmations causes to be reserued to the Court of Rome or which are not to be reserued Appeales Rules of Chancelrie and Penetenciaries commenda's alienations of the goods of the Romish Church extirpation of simonie dispensations indulgences tithes also the causes for which the Pope may be corrected deposed All which neuerthelesse are put off to be ended after the Popes election that a law might be made of them in Councel by his authority by the aduise of the nations Without doubt because that word galled them that scaped from Sigismund who to some that said reformation shold be begun à minoritis with the meaner sort answered yea rather a matoritis with the greatest meaning the Pope and Cardinals For he himself had instituted a forme of reformation which is yet read printed at Ausbourg in the yeare 1484. Wherefore Cardinall Colonne being elected Pope called Martin the fift on S. Martins day 1417 and Sigismund vrging him earnestly to a reformation he declareth That this long sojourning at Constance had bin a discommoditie to all the Churches That so great a businesse needed mature deliberation That euerie Prouince as saith Hierome hath their peculiar manners and opinions which without trouble could not be soone taken away and by his cunning deuises hee preuailed so much that he obtayned the dissolution of the Councell on condition that another Councell should be held fiue yeares after then another seuen yeares after that and from thenceforth from ten yeares to ten yeares in which they should treat of matters pertaining to Faith and to the Common weale And to make them beleeue that hee meant good earnest he presently ordaineth that the next should be held within fiue yeares at Pauia And then in the fiue and fortieth Session Concilium Constantiens Sess 45. Platina in Martino 5. Cardinall Winbald by the Popes commaundement pronounceth Dominiâ—ite in pace My Lords depart in peace with which words they were dismissed Sublato saith Platina omnium consensu maximè verò Imperatoris without the consent of all yea of the Emperour Who entreating him that he would yet sojourne but a verie little while longer in Germanie Martin excused himselfe vpon the necessitie of returning to Rome for that the Chappels of the Saints by the Popes absence went to ruine Wherefore saith Volateran he departed against the will and liking of Sigismund What fit excuse when there were propounded to him the diseases of the Church fretting away her most inward bowels yea threatning an vtter ruine at hand Martin then passeth into Italie triumphing without doubt that he had by his diligence escaped this daungerous rocke of reformation which he so much feared and now wholly bendeth his mind to settle and strengthen himselfe in the Popedome Balihasar Cossa called Iohn the foure and twentieth or according to
Legats of the other Easterne Patriarches of the Archbishops and Prelats euerie one in his order And hence may the Reader discerne what the Patriarch might judge of the pride of the Latine Bishop But what may we say of Baronius who in diuers places contesteth That the left hand in Councels was euer the more honourable As touching the matter it selfe for the concluding of the controuersies of the Latine and Greeke Churches is made an instrument of a vnion Laetentur coeli wherein they agree on both sides That the holie Ghost proceedeth from the Father and the Sonne That the Sacrament may be indifferently made of leauened or vnleauened bread That the soules of the faithfull that haue not yet satisfied for their sinnes goe to Purgatorie That the Pope of Rome is Head of the vniuersall Christian Church All which articles the Greeke Emperor causeth to be approued by the most part of his hoping he should haue assistance against the Turkes But Michael Bishop of Ephesus with some others doth euer withstand the same reiecting especially the two later Which is more when Ioseph Archbishop of Constantinople was dead Eugenius would haue them proceed before him to the chusing of another promising against his disposition to ordaine him without money yea to giue them some if need were and to depose him that did obtaine with him the place of Patriarch which he would not doe if they deferred his election till they came into their countrey The Greekes perceiuing whereto he tended namely that he might enter possession of the supreme power in the Church by that meanes and that with their consent answer him with one accord That their Patriarch cannot bee by their laws chosen any where else than at Constantinople That it is their custom he should be chosen and consecrated in his owne Church That the Emperour who was not ignorant of these ceremonies would not suffer it to bee otherwise Which the Pope vnderstanding Concisium Florent Sess vltim though much against his mind with gracious words he let them depart Now they were no sooner returned into their countrey but they were reiected of their Churches in this especially that they had admitted the supreme authoritie of the Pope of Rome whose pride being more neerely looked into they at last refute it in their writings published notwithstanding that he had endeuoured to bind vnto him some of the best learned as Isidore Bishop of Russia and Bessarion Bishop of Nicea to whom he had giuen a Cardinalls hat which he chose rather to weare in Italie than in Greece And from that time forth were by the Popes neglected the affaires of Greece and abandoned to the furie of Infidels But it is in no wise here to be omitted That during the time that Eugenius held his Councell partly at Ferrara and partly at Florence hee published diuers writings against that Decree of Basil That a Councell is aboue the Pope in which he did not sticke to affirme That so farre was it off that he ought to obey generall Councels that then he most merited when he contemned the Decrees of the Councell and which is more he declareth this proposition to be hereticall The Councell is aboue the Pope although both then and euer since it was held and affirmed by all the Vniuersities of Christendome Whence it came that whilest the Roman Church sayd she is superior to all other Churches and the Roman Bishop to all other bishops by this decree of Eugenius should the Bishop of Rome be made superiour or of higher authoritie than the Vniuersall Church and consequently that pretended infallibilitie of the Church shold be deriued not now to the Romish Church but to one onely man which is the highest degree of Antichrist in the Church according to that of S. Augustine in his booke of the citie of God August de Ciuitate Dei l. 18. cap. 2. That Antichrist should not onely sit in Templo Dei in the Temple of God but as Saint Paule hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Templum into the Temple as if he himselfe were the Temple it selfe he alone the Church In the meane time let the Reader judge of that Infallabilitie of the Church represented in a Councel by these Councels which at one same time and in one same matter doe decree things directly contrarie As touching the affaires of the Bohemians for which particularly the Empeperour Sigismund had so instantly requested the Councell the most part of the Churches terrified with the perfidious treacherie vsed towards Iohn Hus and Hierome of Prague refused to send any one thither but the principall of the Nobilitie ouer-ruled the matter that some should appeare for to render a reason of the innouation in religion imputed vnto them So soone as they came thither they were receiued verie curteously by Cardinall Iulian the Legat who was not yet called backe Then in the Councell he maketh an Oration wherein he bringing in the Church of Rome speaking to them in his words and attributing to it selfe alone all that is spoken in holie Scripture concerning the Church the Spouse of Christ and presupposing that which is chiefely in question flattereth himselfe in this perpetual Elenche Sheweth that in her power are the keyes of the kingdome of heauen That she is without spot or wrinkle That whosoeuer departed from her was an Heathen and a Publican That the decrees of Councels are her decrees which are no lesse to be beleeued than the Gospels seeing they giue authoritie to the Scriptures To this the Bohemians in few words That they despised neither the Church nor Councels that they had beene condemned at Constance without being heard Oratio Iulian. Cardinal Legati in Append. Concilij Basiliens notwithstanding that they affirmed nothing but by the holie Scriptures and then they propound their Articles And on both sides were chosen such as shold enter into conference The disputation lasted fiftie dayes and after many spent on this side and on that it was thought best to leaue Theologicall questions and prouide for the Common wealth and to send some thither who hauing made search how matters stood might compound with them Here was the policie To permit the Communiō vnder both kinds to such as in other things would submit themselues to the Councell and proceeded with all rigour to the rest that embraced not the same condition These were the auntient Waldenses and their Disciples who requested that the Church might be reformed in most of the Articles which are conteined in their and our confessions who for this cause suffered much both by the warres that Sigismund made vpon them and by the diuision and back-sliding of their companions Yet doe we see their Churches outliue so many miseries vntill these times consist and continue most flourishing and largely propagated As touching the Fathers of the Councell of Basill they seeme to be somewhat ashamed of that Decreee of Constance concerning the Communion vnder both kinds And whereas they of
Constance sayd Although Christ hath instituted the holie Supper vnder both kinds c. Yet notwithstanding c. These of Basill say hauing well examined the Diuine Scriptures and the doctrines of the holie Fathers That the faithfull of the Laitie or of the Clergie communicating are not bound by the commaundement of the Lord to receiue the Sacrament of the Eucharist vnder both kinds of bread and wine altering and wresting the decision beside the purpose whereas indeed the Bohemians complayned not that they were constrained to a whole Communion by the Romish Church but that they were excluded from it And what greater necessitie can there be to a Christian man than to sticke vnto the precept and prescript rule of his Sauiour These are euer their subtile deceits Lastly this Councel of Basil had forbidden to exact or pay Annates vnder pain of Simonie Eugenius who willingly wold loose nothing complaineth as of an iniurie done to the Church That this could not neither ought to haue beene done without hauing first consulted with Eugenius and his Colledge of Cardinals Respons factae per Domin Anton Auditorem pro parte Eugenij If any pretended abuses in them they ought to haue prouided against them without priuation of the substance that so Iustice and peace might meet each other euidently abusing the Scriptures For said he whence shall the Apostolike See defray charges in prouiding for the necessities and commodities of the vniuersal Church and for those things that belong vnto peace and the extirpation of heresies and errors And with the same reason ouerthroweth he that which they had ordained concerning indulgences election causes and vacations of Scribes and Abbreuiators of the Court of Rome and other like pillages And this was not the least cause why he would dissolue the Councell An Authour of those times not to be suspected saith That he was so prodigall of Indulgences that the Englishmen Thomas Gascoigne in Dictionario Theologico who perceiued it commonly sayd Rome commeth now to our gates The church of Rome is a great harlot for now she prostituteth herselfe to euerie one that offereth money And all being full of pardons the Popes negotiators at length gaue indulgences for a supper for a lodging for a draught of wine or beere for tennis play and sometime for brothelrie or leacherie We are not to omit that Eugenius who from the time of Martin his predecessour had accustomed himselfe to warfare and all the time of his Popedome had beene entangled in warre made such a wound in Christendome as hath bled euer since Vladislaus king of Hungarie had made peace with the Turke Eugenius sendeth vnto him Cardinall Iulian who promising vnto him some succours and a Nauie at Sea to stay and incumber the enemies persuadeth him to breake that peace seeing that it could not subsist with the enemies of Christ without his commaundement whereupon ensueth a bloudie battaile in which the Turkes had the victorie Aeneas Syluius l. 1. Epist 81. for to shew vs saith Aeneas Siluius after Pope Pius the second That oaths ought to be kept not onely with the domestick friends of faith but also with the enemies thereof In that battaile was slaine king Vladislaus a patterne of singular valour and of renowned Nobilitie Cardinall Iulian was wounded and in his retiring is slayne of the Christians themselues as Author of this miserable discomfiture by the desloyaltie of which he was instrument And from this misfortune arose others without end and without number so daungerous is it for any to enterprise any thing against faithfulnesse and beyond his vocation Memorable against perfidious persons Bonfinij Hist Hungar. Dec. 1. lib. 6. is that which we read in the Hungarian Historie When Amurath beheld his armie put to flight by king Vladislaus not without great slaughter pulling forth of his bosome the Articles of peace solemnely sworne vnfoldeth it and lifting vp his eyes stedfastly vnto heauen saith These are O Iesu Christ the couenants of peace which thy Christians haue made with me they haue holily sworne by thy Diuine Maiestie and haue violated the faith giuen in thy name they haue perfidiously denied their God Now O Christ if thou be God I beseech the reuenge here these thine iniuries mine and to them that as yet acknowledge not thy name shew the punishment of violated faith Scarcely had he said these words who expected the last of extremities against himselfe when the battell which before had beene doubtfull enclined towards his side c. This happened in the yeare 1444 An. 1444. from which time the state of Christendome could neuer well recouer it selfe More our the Councell of Basill or at leastwise they which in their name wrot against the Bohemians on their part set forward the progresse of abomination For when those Churches had determined not to admit any doctrine that was not grounded on holie Scripture Cardinal Cusan was charged by letters to confound them with this Axiome which they were not ashamed to maintaine That the Scriptures can by no meanes be of the essence of the Church either begun or continued but onely of the seemely order thereof Item That the Church is not knowne by the Gospell but the Gospell by the Church Item That so much the more worthily is the word of God giuen of God by how much the farther off it is from all Scripture yea and from all vocall word That by this reason he might reduce all things to the Church which they call Catholike from the Catholike to the Roman and at last draw them from the Roman to their Councell And when those Churches replied That that was not the mind nor voyce of the auntient Church which had otherwise celebrated the holie Eucharist and had in another sence interpreted the Scripture than now in these dayes it is Cardinal Cusanus Epist 2 3. ad Bohemos Let not this moue thee saith he that in diuers times diuerse are the ceremonies of Priests and that the Scriptures be found applied to the time and diuersly vnderstood so that in one time they be expounded according to the vniuersall ceremonie then currant but the ceremonie being changed the sence thereof again is changed Wherfore although of the same precept of the Gospel the interpretation of the Church be other than in times past yet this sence now currant in vse inspired for the gouernement of the Church ought to be receiued as befitting the time and as the way to saluation The reason followeth because the iudgement of the Church being changed the iudgement also of God is changed And by this accoūt whether it be their Church or their Councell it is not onely extolled aboue the holie Scripture but also aboue God himselfe who is held if we beleeue them to change his counsell after their pleasure of which doctrine truely euen the Iewes in their Thalmud and the Turkes in their Alcoran would be ashamed And when afterwards the Popes haue reduced the
consent to the dissolution of the Councell of Basill And if any be moued at it that they are readie to aunswer actum est ne agas That hee hath that promise from the Chauncellour of Fraunce that they had heard that the kings Embassadours allured with certaine promotions made great shew that the king would consent to the dismission of the Councell but that they had resolued to resist him to his face And there we haue a Treatise concerning that matter written in the yeare 1434 by Iohn Patriarch of Antioch An. 1434. which he caused publiquely to be pronounced in the great hall of the Couent of Franciscan Friers in Basill That a generall Councell is aboue the Pope It beginneth Ad ostendendum Where out of the Fathers and by the Decrees he bringeth it to this In 3. vol. Concil in Append. Concil Basiliens ad ostendend That the Pope is the seruant of the Church to be chastised by it if he doe his duetie amisse and confuteth at large whatsoeuer is alledged to the contrarie Let the Reader see the booke it selfe in the Councels At the same time whilest the Popes boasted that the Greekes did acknowledge obedience vnto them are published two bookes of Nilus Archbishop of Thessalonica against the Primacie of the bishop of Rome In the first booke he sheweth Nilus Archiepisc Thessalon de Primatu That the principall controuersies between the Greeke and Latin Church proceed from this that the Pope will not be judged by an vniuersal Councell but contrariwise as a master among his disciples will be Iudge in his owne cause whereas he ought to be ruled by the prescriptions of the Councel and contain himselfe within the Decrees of the Fathers That the bishop of Rome hath not the same power ouer other bishops as a bishop hath ouer his Diocesans but hath onely the prerogatiue of the first seat to be higher than other And here hee enlargeth himselfe to shew the commoditie and authortie of Councels In the second book he teacheh That the bishop of Rome hath not the right of Primacie from Christ nor yet from S. Peter nor from the Apostles but that the Fathers for some causes haue giuen vnto him the first seat That he is not the successour of S. Peter but inasmuch as he is a bishop by which reason also all other bishops are his successors That he is not an Apostle much lesse prince of the Apostles That in those things which pertain to the rules of faith they may haue often erred That he hath no right to alledge his Tu es Petrus because that promise respecteth the Church of Christ and not S. Peter and much lesse him whom they would haue to be his successours That though we yeeld him to be first in order yet he is not therfore to beare domination ouer others this Primacie not inferring an order aboue others but a co-ordination with others Moreouer he rejected these presumtions of the Bishop of Rome That he is the Iudge of all to be judged of none That he is not bishop of a certaine place but absolutely bishop That he alone by his owne right ought to assigne an vniuersal Councell and the like seeing that the Primacie or rather first Seat was granted to him onely propter vrbis principatum because Rome was the first or chiefest in order among cities We need not here repeat how openly and as they speake formally the greatest part of the kingdome of Bohemia opposed themselues earnestly desiring reformation of the Church according to the holie Scriptures exhibiting to this end a confession of their Faith to their King to the Emperour and to the Councell and preaching the same publikely in the Temples which by publike authoritie were then granted vnto them Also after faith was broken with Iohn Hus how stoutly they defended it by just and necessarie armes God from heauen fighting for the safegard of that poore people vtterly frustrating all the endeuours of the Emperour and of the Popes against them as we haue aboue shewed out of Aeneas Syluius for they haue continued without interruption vntill these our times But it is worth the adding That those Waldenses who some ages before had brought this light of the Gospell into Bohemia abode still in the mountaines of Languedoc and Prouence and in many places within the Alpes and there kept themselues safe from the persecution of Popes and Papists In Lombardie also as witnesseth Antonine vnder the name of Fratricelli were some knowne to the time of Eugenius But in England especially the seed of Wickliffe was largely propagated where without repeating any thing of Sir Iohn Oldeastle of whom wee haue before spoken we read of verie many to haue suffered martyrdome for the same doctrine William Taylour Priest and professor of Artes in the Vniuersitie of Oxford An. 1422. An. 1428. in the yeare 1422 and William White in the yeare 1428 Author of many Treatises vpon matters controuerted in that time was burned for thirtie articles which by word and writing he had defended He taught among other things That the Roman Church was that withered fig tree which the Lord had cursed for barrennesse of faith That the Monkes and Friers were the annoynted and shauen souldiers of infernall Lucifer That against these the Bridegroome when he shall come will shut the gate for that their lampes are out With the same mind also Alexander Fabritius in his Treatise intituled Destructorium vitiorum wrot many excellent things against the corruptions of the Romish Church against the antiquitie of which he opposed this saying of S. Cyprian If Christ alone saith he ought to bee heard we are not to attend what men before vs haue thought fit to bee done but what Christ first before all hath done If Christ had knowne that man might more easily get eternall life by the lawes of Iustinian than by the law of God he would haue taught them vs with his owne mouth and would haue let goe the law of God till another time which notwithstanding he hath taught with great diligence and wherein is contained all the doctrine requisit to saluation Againe He is a betrayer of the truth who openly speaketh a lye for the truth and he which doth not freely pronounce the truth the Pastors of the Church which refuse to pronounce the truth of the Gospell and by their euill examples slay such as be vnder them are traytors and most manifest Antichrists The Pastors and Prelats of the Church take great paines in these dayes for the obtaining of dignities one in the kings kitchin another in the Bishops Court another in seruice of his Lord but none in the Court of the Law of God Proud Priests and Prelats against the doctrine and example of Iesus Christ doe beare dominion as the kings of the Gentiles Being vniust they oppresse theirs with superfluous traditions vniust constitutions These moderne Priests doe whatsoeuer flesh and bloud reuealeth vnto them therefore are they cursed
him aboue all Whether he had not written to the Emperor or to some Prince either for to raise a schisme or procure a Councel for this was it that principally stucke to his heart and presently againe renewed the tortures At length Paul being wearie that hee could wring out nothing with all those exquisit torments commaundeth Christopher de Verona his Physitian to tell the poore men that they should bee of good courage for they should straight be deliuered who notwithstanding as he was a a man of a free spirit plainely said to him in the presence of many That this could not so soone be done least the Pope should be argued of lightnesse and crueltie so soone to let goe as innocent them whom he had taken and tortured with so great tumult Some time therefore passed that he might not seeme to haue done any thing rashly and without cause In the meane time he himselfe came to visit them in the castle and when all other accusations failed him he chargeth them with heresie That they had disputed of the immortalitie of the soule out of the opinion of Plato which Saint Augustine affirmed to come neerest to the opinion of a Christian and for that they praysed the auncient Accademie and condemned the new he pronounced them heretikes which either in earnest or in ieast should from thenceforth any more make mention of the name of an Accademie So that if Laelius de Valla a Roman citizen and an Aduocat in the Consistorie had not taken their cause in hand they had vndergone the punishment of heresie At length wearied with the entreaties of the Cardinals he setteth them at libertie but yet in such a sort as that hee euer watched ouer their steps so that they judged not themselues to be free til after his death Death which tooke him by an Apoplexie when he had ordained that the Iubilie should be celebrated euerie twentie fiue yeares which falling in the yeare 1475 filled his mind with hope of excessiue gaine There be some which say That hee was in the night by the diuell strangled in the verie act of venerie And Platina noteth Gaspar Pencerus That he hated and contemned so the studies of humanitie that he called the students thereof by the name of Heretikes For this cause he exhorted the Romans not to suffer their sonnes be any longer at the studies of learning that it was ynough if they had learned to write and read Chronic. Genebr part 2. Therefore Genebrard calleth him The enemie of vertue and learning Fearing without doubt that if learning once came to be restored the abuses lying hid vnder the mists of ignorance would bee discouered And thus much aboundantly sufficeth to make knowne both his conscience and his knowledge Moreouer all offices generally were set to sale in his time neither was he woont to bestow Bishoprickes saue onely on them that possessed other offices by the sale of which they might come by money to giue to him As also this was he that extended the Bull of cases to be reserued to the Pope so farre as might be Bulla cuius initium Ineffabilis prouidentia in Summa Constitut reseruing to himselfe thereby so much the larger pretence of drawing money to himselfe from all parts The most memorable thing that he did for the good of the Church was That he bought at any price whatsoeuer all the most exquisit precious stones hee could get for to enrich the Papall Myter and tooke a pleasure to bee looked on and admired of all men in that brauerie for this cause he sometime retained strangers in the citie omitting the custome of shewing the Sudarium that he might be seene of more people at once Moreover he commaunded by publike Decree vnder a penaltie That none should weare scarlet caps but Cardinals and the first yeare of his Popedome he gaue them cloth of the same colour wherewith to couer the horses and mules when they rode that the Church of Rome might at length be brought to the perfect similitude of that Whore described vnto vs in the Apocalyps And Platina of this Paul in the life of Hadrian the first saith Platina in Hadriano primo in Vetustioribus Editionibus Vide eam quae prima omnium prodijt Coloniae Ann. 1479. Typis Iohannis de Colonia Iohannis Martien de Gheretzem He was so delighted with these effeminat delicacies hauing bought at a high rate precious stones from all parts and almost emptied the treasurie of the Roman Church so that whensoeuer he went forth in publike he seemed some Phrygian Cybele with turrets on his head rather than a myter Hence I thinke came through the sweat of his very fat bodie and the weight of the precious stones that Apoplexie whereof hee so suddenly dyed Which hee had noted also before to haue happened to Leo Augustus the sonne of Constantine Copronymus But all this hath Onuphrius rased out which in the oldest editions are read at large The like things we read also in Iames Cardinall of Pauia in his second booke of Commentaries And here Platina endeth his historie of Popes There is extant an Epigram of him made by Iohn Pannonius Bishop and Poet of those times Pontificis Pauli testes ne Roma requiras Filia quam genuit sat docet esse marem Pope Paule's a male Rome need no further triall He gat a daughter makes it past deniall And indeed Stephen Orichouius Bishop of Russia telleth vs when shee was knowne of all men to bee his daughter he often detested single life whereby hee could not see without shame her whom he might haue lawfully begotten But which is worse there want not some that accuse him both of Magicke and Sodomie which I here willingly omit OPPOSITION Pius the second as we haue seene hauing ouerthrowne his first and best writings was the first that decreed That the Pope is aboue a Councell and that it is not lawfull to appeale from him to a Councell against the Decrees both of Constance and Basil which had beene with so great solemnitie both determined and published but notwithstanding his retractation he was not presently beleeued Contrariwise the Vniuersities of Paris Colonia Prague Cracouia Oxford and others the most famous of Christendome constantly retained the Decrees of the said Councels and not without cause seeing that as Bellarmine witnesseth they had beene confirmed by the Suffrages of a thousand Fathers among whom at Constance were three hundred Bishops at Basil also by the testimonie of Pius the second in his Retraction with the consent of all the Vniuersities and with the applause of all which spake publikely of Nicholas Panormitan and Lewis Pontanus who saith he were accounted the two starres of the world Aeneas Syluius in Bulla Retract or the two chiefe and most famous lights of the Canon and Ciuile Law Yet neuerthelesse they approued by words and writings the Acts of the Councell condemned the doings of Eugenius neither was there any which either would
or durst confute their sayings although as he himselfe witnesseth they were well affected towards the person of Eugenius On the contrarie All saith he with one voyce preferred the Councell before Eugenius and it was held for a crime of heresie once to mutter any thing against the dignitie of the Councell Now in the time of Nicholas and Calixtus after the neutralitie of Germanie was taken away by the meanes of Aeneas Syluius for which good seruice hee had beene first made Bishop and after Cardinall the Germans were offended that the conditions agreed vpon with the Emperour were not obserued Wherefore by the authoritie and conduct of Diether Archbishop of Mentz they had instituted a certaine Pragmaticall sanction whereby they would prouide for themselues against the grieuances of the Roman Church and partly decreed of the election of Prelats collation of benefices hearing of causes granting of Indulgences exaction of tenthes and the like partly they defended themselues also by way of Appeale against the Pope if he ordained any thing against them and moreouer fortified this with a strict league of the Princes Hence it is that Syluius is so vehemently moued in his Epistle of the maners of Germanie which he wrot in answer to Martin Mayer Chauncellour of the Archbishop of Mentz for note hee was newly made Cardinall of Sienna This Mayer was a man famous in that age euen by the testimonie of Syluius himselfe and had complained in his Lords behalfe That the Decrees of Constance and of Basil were not obserued That Calixtus as if he were not tied to the couenants of his predecessor exhausted and soaked Germanie euer and anon reiected the election of Prelats and reserued the benefices and dignities of whatsoeuer kind for his Cardinals and Protonotaries For said he expectatiue graces are granted without number Annates or first fruits are exacted without any delay of time openly also extorting more than is due The gouernement of Churches are not committed to them that deserue best but to such as offer most and new Indulgences are daily granted for to rake in money Exactions of tenthes vnder colour of the Turkes are commaunded to be made without taking aduise of our Prelats Causes which had beene handled and determined in the countrey are confusedly drawne to the Apostolicall Seat and a thousand new meanes are inuented whereby with a subtill wit to draw money from vs as from Barbarians And you vnder this forme hitherto vnusuall and vnheard of haue obtained reseruation to three Prouinces of Germanie And in conclusion That the Princes being awaked out of their sleepe were resolued to shake off that yoke and to take againe their former libertie not without great dammage to the Court of Rome Wherefore though hee congratulated with him his new dignitie yet he tooke it ill that these euils happened in his time and seriously exhorted him to procure a remedie betimes But it may be saith he the mind of God is otherwise and his sentence will preuaile Giuing vs in these few words more to thinke of than he expresseth What then doth here the new Cardinall You may see he hath straight changed his stile so that to a friend writing friendly at the verie beginning in an angrie manner he saith Thou hast mixed amara rancida vnsauorie and bitter things in thy letters So much was his tast then alreadie altered for afterwards there was nothing so vniust which he defended not nothing so absurd which he vttered not neither feared hee to establish the Popes tyrannie by those verie places which before he had proued to be wrested into a wrong sence To conclude nothing was with him more execrable than the Pragmaticall sanction which before he had pronounced to be sacred and Canonicall He vpbraided the Germans That they were too rich and ingratefull to the Church of Rome which of Heathens had made them Christians of Barbarians Latines Whereas indeed the Germans had Christian Churches which S. Ireneus commendeth for their notable constancie before the name of Pope of Rome was once knowne when they which ruled the Church were onely called Priests Neither had hee any mind to seeke so farre seeing hee could not conceale That before the Councell of Nice sibi quisque vinebat euerie Bishop liued to himselfe that is to say gouerned his Church without taking law from Rome to the great dammage of the Church saith he who on the contrarie ought to haue added That by the Decree of that Councell the Bishop of Rome had no right of superintendencie ouer any other Churches but only in suburbicarias ouer the neighbour Churches about Rome About this verie time flourished Gregorie de Heimburg Aeneas Syluius commentat l. 3. Wimphel in Prostesi ad illustres viros Germ. Trithemij Antililogia excusa Basiliae an 1551 vbi appellatio vtraque Krantzius l. 10. Wandal c. 24. Epist 400. ad Norimbergens Trithem Chronic vol. 2. sub annum 1460. Doctour of the ciuile and Canon law a man of great estimation euen at Venice Siluius calleth him the chiefest of the Germans When Pius entred into the Popedome he excommunicated Sigismund Duke of Austria for that hee could not endure the sawcinesse of his Legat but he by the aduise of Gregorie de Heimburg appealed to the Councell and published his Appeale at Rome wherof Pius vnderstanding that Heimburg was the Authour he likewise communicated him And because hee dwelt at Norimberg being Syndicke or Aduocat of the citie he writeth an Epistle to the Burg-master and Senat in which he calleth this forme of appealing from the Pope to a Councell A new heresie and inspiration of the Diuell seeing that men appeale friuolously and by way of mockerie to a Councell or to that which is no where and which they purpose to auoyd and hinder by all meanes possible Hee therefore signified vnto them that hee had excommunicated Heimburg as guiltie of high treason and heresie and commaundeth them that they should expell him the citie confiscat his goods moueable and vnmoueable and inflict vpon him all the punishments appointed for heretikes But from this excommunication also Heimburg againe appealed to a Councell yet is constrained to depart into Bohemia where he married a wife and made his abode vntill Diether Archbishop of Mentz of the familie of Heimburg being vexed by the Pope called him vnto him whereby we may gather that Diether did not greatly dislike his doctrine In the appeale of Sigismund that he framed after hee had layed open the equitie of his cause against the vnjust proceedings of the Pope he appealed not from the Pope ill informed to the Pope better informed because he knew his eares to bee stopped but eyther to his successour or to a generall Councell to be celebrated according to the Decrees of Constance and Basill and in default thereof to Iesus Christ Sauiour of the world In his owne also when Pius the second had excommunicated him he protested the verie same but moreouer examining his Bull and his
the other and both alike And what credit ought in reason to be giuen to Sixtus in a cause so neerely concerning himselfe especially when in the next precedent Epistle he contenteth himselfe with the title of Archbishop Secondly he produceth a certaine place out of Tertullian in his booke of Chastitie Lib. de Pudicit c. 1. where he taxeth a certaine Edict of Victor by which he receiueth adulterers vnto penance and whereof he baffleth the inscription I heare talke saith Tertullian of an Edict and that a peremptorie one to Pontifex Maximus i. The high Pontife the Bishop of Bishops saith I remit sinnes to adulterers and whoremasters which come to penance True it is that after that attempt of his vpon all Asia any thing may seeme credible of that mans insolencie and pride But who seeth not that Tertullian frumpeth only and jeasteth at him as also he doth at that other decree of Pope Zepherin For where saith he shall this liberalitie of his be proposed if in the Church how so seeing she is a virgine But a little after in the same booke he driueth this naile a little closer If saith he because our Lord said to Saint Peter Vpon this stone I will build my Church and To thee will I giue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen thou doest therefore presume that the power of binding and loossing is deriued vpon thee what art thou that crossest the purpose and intention of our Sauiour who collated it onely vpon Saint Peters person And consequently not vpon you Victor nor vpon you Zepherin farther than you represent Peter not in shadow onely as Baronius would haue it but in truth and veritie But grant we that he did call himselfe Vniuersall Bishop might not euerie Bishop haue done the same in regard of his charge yes verily and many of them vpon better reason considering the worth and dignitie of their persons But would the Pope trow you suffer their successors now to ground any thing thereupon in prejudice of himselfe Saint Clement whom commonly they thrust vpon vs as next successor vnto Saint Peter had not be like well perused and vnderstood his euidences Clement Constitut lib. 6. c. 14. when in his Constitutions he spake in this manner Wee haue written to you this Catholike and vniuersall doctrine to confirme you you I say to whom the Vniuersall Bishopricke is committed Jgnatius in Epistola ad Philadelph And Ignatius speaking of a Bishop of Philadelphia of his time saith That he was called of God to vndertake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the ministerie of the common Church as Baronius himselfe rendreth it Nazianz. in laudem Cypriani And Nazianzene saith of Saint Cyprian That he presided not onely ouer the Church of Carthage and Africke but also ouer all the East all the West ouer all the North Idem in laudem Athanas and all the South And of Athanasius That he presided ouer the Church of Alexandria nay ouer the whole world But he expoundeth himselfe in both of the first he addeth wheresoeuer the admiration of his name came and of the other That he gouerned the Church of Alexandria in such sort that the Vniuersall Church was benefited by him And would God the Bishops of Rome had done the like we neuer would haue enuied them the like honourable title Euseb in vita Constantin lib. 5. c. 57. Also the Emperour Constantine himselfe writing to Eusebius vpon the refusall which he made of the Bishopricke of Antiochia when it was offered vnto him You are saith he a most happie man in this That you are thought worthie in the opinion of all to rule the Vniuersall Church taking this word in that sence which Saint Cyprian doth when he saith That there is but one Bishopricke of which euerie Bishop holdeth his part in solid Cyprian de vnitat Eccles Baron to 2. an 216. artic 9. 10. As for the title of High Priest or Pontife Baronius alledgeth no other proofe but onely the imitation of the old Iewish law where there was a High Priest and of Paganisme which had Pontificem Maximum i. a High Pontife and groundeth himselfe especially vpon this later He saith he which was most eminent in iudiciall authoritie aboue all the rest was onely Pontifex Maximus Soueraigne Pontife among the Pagans Whence Festus saith that it was he who was reputed Iudge in all matters diuine and humane And to this purpose alledgeth this Cardinall all that which is spoken in holie writ of the royall Priesthood of our Lord Iesus O how weake a foundation is this for so huge a building Why did he not rather ground himselfe vpon their Rex Sacrificulus who according to his owne author Festus seemeth to be the greatest among the Priests after him Dialis the Priest of Iupiter then Martialis of Mars afterwards Quirinalis the Priest of Romulus and last of all Pontifex Maximus the High Pontife all which you shall find in Festus in the word Ordo whence we learne by the way that this word Orders was anciently taken from the Heathen 2. PROGRESSION Pope Stephen attempteth to restore two Bishops of Spaine deposed by their Metropolitan ABout the yeare 250 Stephen Bishop of Rome made the like attempt against the Bishops of Spaine and Africke In Spaine Basilides Bishop of Asturia and Martialis Bishop of Merida in time of persecution sacrificed vnto Idols and were therefore deposed from their charges Whereupon they had secret recourse vnto the said Stephen hoping to be restored by his authoritie which hee attempted to effect and thereupon wrot to the Bishops which were in Spaine OPPOSITION But this matter rested not there for the Churches of Spaine gaue notice of this attempt vnto those of Africke and presently assembled themselues in Synod The Synodall Epistle is yet whole to bee read in Cyprian the summe and effect whereof is In editio Turneb Epist 35. Pamelij 68. That the law of God suffereth them not to readmit such persons to their charge in holie Church That where the ordinances of God are in question there ought to be no acceptance of persons no relaxation in fauour of any man That their running to Rome or to Stephen might not cause the ordination of Sabinus to be reuersed he being there placed by due course of law and the other remaining incapable of restitution That Basilides might deceiue Stephen by wrong information but God he could not That they ought to hold themselues to that which themselues and all Bishops throughout the world and Cornelius himselfe their Collegue had formerly decreed namely That such persons might well be receiued vnto penance but neuer to Priestly dignitie in the Church In the whole course of which Epistle they euer call Cornelius and Stephen Bishops of Rome their Collegues Not vnlike vnto this was that attempt of Cornelius not long before vpon the Bishops of Afrike in the case of certaine false Bishops which fled vnto him against the censures of
may lye open before vs. Well then saith Baronius by this it appeareth that he acknowledged his Presidencie Which poynt deserueth to be handled somewhat more at large And first we must see who called it Baronius runneth to his old shifts and saith That the Emperour decreed it to be called by the Pope Vigilius his aduise Ib. art 20 21 22 23 24. Euagr. li. 2. c. 37 being loath to speake plainely and to confesse that he called it and thereupon he citeth Euagrius where he saith That Vigilius consented by his letters to the Councell which he sent from Chalcedon whither he had withdrawne himselfe at that present but himselfe would not be at it And why then will he not as well beleeue him when he saith That Iustinian called the fift Councell or if Vigilius had called it while hee was present at the place why did he afterward refuse to be present at it The best is that the Histories make this matter cleere ynough Nicephorus saith Nicephor li. 17. ca. 27. That the Emperour Iustinian called the fifth generall Councell and summoned the Bishops out of all quarters And the Emperour himselfe vnto the Fathers of the Councell Wee haue saith he assembled you in this regall citie And the Fathers themselues We say they here assembled according to the commaundement of the deuout Iustinian And Baronius in that writing which he alledgeth vnto vs out of the Vatican teacheth vs That Vigilius did what lay in him to haue this Councell held in Sicilie as a more in different place for the Bishops of the East and West to meet in and yet he could not obtaine it As for the Presidencie it is euident that at the first Mennas Bishop of Constantinople presided in it and there gaue sentence against Anthymus and other Heretikes which sentence is yet to be seene in the bodie of the Councels And after Mennas his death Bellarmine cannot denie Synod Constant quin. vniuersa actio 4. Bellar. li. ◠de Concil ca. 19. but that Eutychius who succeeded him in the See succeeded likewise in the Presidencie and the whole course of the Acts shew as much But saith he Vigilius might haue presided if it had pleased him It should seeme by his leaue that Nicephorus was of another opinion when he saith When Eutychius was by the Emperour put in the roome of Mennas late deceased Vigilius though agreeing with him in poynts of doctrine yet refused to sit by him which was no doubt because he affected a higher seat and thereupon though he was at that time in the citie yet would he not stay at the Councell pretending that there was but a small number of the Westerne Bishops there whereas the true cause was because hee saw his predominant omnipotencie neglected Bellarmine replieth out of Zonaras Zonar to 3. pa. 55. 74. That Vigilius was chiefe of this Synod How chiefe if he were not there at all But that place of Zonaras answereth for it selfe There were saith hee 165 Fathers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quorum princeps fuit saith the Latine translation that is of whom was chiefe Vigilius Pope of Rome and Eutychius and Apollinaris of Alexandria where we see that this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is referred to all three as Heads of these three Patriarchall Churches So likewise he speaketh in another place of the sixt generall Councell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. of which were chiefe or Captaines and Leaders the Vicars of Agatho Pope of Rome George of Constantinople and Theophanes of Antioch where the translator rendreth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Principes fuere and so are they vsually tearmed as well the one as the other Explanatio Sanctor venerabil Conciliorum c. an 1553. There is a booke intitled The Explanation of the Holie Councels taken out of the kings Librarie this booke speaking of the Councell of Nice In that Councell saith he were Heads and Presidents Syluester Bishop of Rome Alexander of Alexandria and Macarius of Ierusalem And againe speaking of the second generall Councell The Presidents there were Damasus Bishop of Rome Nectarius Bishop of Constantinople Timothie of Alexandria Cyril of Ierusalem Miletius of Antioch all which were Patriarches But he addeth afterwards Great Gregorie the Diuine Gregorie of Nissa and Amphilochius of Iconium by reason of their great learning Zonar to 3. pa. 30. where Zonaras vseth a higher straine and saith That among all these Gregorie the Great and Gregorie of Nissa and the sacred Amphilochius in all encounters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. were chiefe and principall which word vsed in the singular number by the Author is by the Interpreter referred to all three as was also that other word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 referred to Vigilius Eutychius and Apollinaris And this same booke speaking of the Councell of Ephesus saith in like manner In this Councell presided Calestin Bishop of Rome Cyril of Alexandria Iuvenal of Ierusalem Memnon of Ephesus And so likewise of other generall Councels of Chalcedon Constantinople the second Nicene and the rest where the Greek words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latine Interpreter rendreth it Huic Concillo praefuerunt i. They were chiefe in this Councell naming alwayes the Pope for companie among the rest and that most commonly when himselfe was not there in person and sometimes no man for him as namely in the Councell which we now speake of Bellarmine yet vrgeth out of that Epistle which Baronius alledgeth That Eutychius Bishop of Constantinople writing to Vigilius saith vnto him We desire to treat and to confer of these poynts together Praesidente nobis vestra beatitudinè that is Vnder your blessed Presidencie But this is to grate too farre vpon the plaine speaking of these letters contrarie to all course of historie And it is not improbable which a learned man hath obserued that this place is corrupted Iuni. Controuers 4. pa. 186. and Praesidente written in stead of Residente that is While you are here abiding with vs as we find this word vsed vpon like occasion in many other Councels Concil Matisco 2. passim Residentibus Prisco Euantio Praetextato c. that is Assisting in the Councell For at the first sitting of this Synod Vigilius was in the citie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and if we should read Praesidente yet there is a large difference betweene Preseancie which importeth onely a prioritie of place and Presidencie which implieth a superioritie But more than this a great part of that action is spent only in requesting him to be present at the Synod and in the end they protest against him Concil Canstant 5. art 5. and openly reproach him That he is an offence and scandall both to the Emperour and also to the Churches as one which nought regarded the curse pronounced by our Sauiour against those who offend euen little ones Yet he stirred not onely he sent them word
That they should receiue his aduise in writing Now what can a man imagine to haue beene the cause of this his tergiuersation but onely this That he saw his pretended Presidencie neglected and himselfe called thither not to commaund but onely to conferre not to make shew of his omnipotencie but of his learning So that in the end for such his contempt against the authoritie both of the Emperour and of the Councel he was cast into banishment and hauing afterward by the meanes of Narses gotten leaue to returne home againe he died by the way in Sicilie And thus we see that the calling of the generall Councels was not as yet deuolued nor did belong to the Bishop of Rome no not so much as the calling of Nationall Synods seeing that wee find the second Councell of Orleans which was held about this time speaking in this manner We say the Fathers being now to deliberat concerning the obseruation of the Catholike law by the commaundement of the most glorious King c. and that other of Auvergne That they were there assembled by the consent of our most renowmed Lord the King Theodebert and so of others And which is more Iustinian himselfe whose fauour toward them they do so much magnifie and extoll made no difficultie to create a Pope by his owne authoritie which appeareth in that which Anastasius reporteth and Baronius cannot denie it That he put the citizens of Rome to their choise Whether they would receiue Vigilius againe or take Pelagius his Archdeacon to be their Bishop Neither was this a matter of fact onely but a lawfull right For Onuphrius Onuphr in Pelag 10.2 a man of their owne saith and groundeth his saying vpon the authoritie of Vigilius That when the Gothes were turned out of Italie by Narses and both Italie and Rome were now annexed to the Easterne Empire vnder the Emperour Iustinian by the authoritie of Vigilius there was brought in a new fashion to be obserued in the creation of Popes which was In Comitijs Pontificalibus That so soone as the Pope was deceased the Clergie Senat and People should presently fall to the choise of another after the custome of their forefathers More maiorum But the Pope so elected by them might not be consecrated by the Bishops vntill his election were first confirmed by the Emperour of Constantinople and his pleasure herein signified by his letters patents for the authorising him in the execution of his Pontificall iurisdiction for which licence the Pope elect was to send the Emperour a certaine summe of money How farre is this from that pretended donation which done he was then consecrated and took vpon him the administration of that See Whereas before that time he was euer elected and consecrated all in a day And it is certaine that either Iustinian himselfe or Vigilius by his authoritie brought in this fashion to the end that the Emperour might stand alwayes assured of the Popes inclination towards him because his authoritie was growne great in Italie since the time that the Emperors seated themselues in Greece and the feare was least that if a Pope should happen to be chosen either of a factious and turbulent disposition or peraduenture ill affected to the Emperour he might by his authoritie draw Italie from his alleageance in fauour of the Gothes a thing once before attempted by Syluerius at least the Emperour was so persuaded And this custome as he saith and citeth many authors for it dured till the dayes of Benedict the second 19. PROGRESSION That Pelagius the first caused the fift generall Councell of Constantinople to be receiued in Italie AFter the death of Vigilius who deceased in Sicilie as he returned from Constantinople Pelagius the first who succceded him in that See neuer consulting vpon the matter but onely seeking to gratifie the Emperour who had named him to the place went about to make the Bishops of Italie to receiue the fift generall Councell held at Constantinople whereas there were verie few Bishops of the West and not one Metropolitan of Italie which was present at it OPPOSITION The Bishops of Italie fearing some attempt against the Councell of Chalcedon and purposing to be better informed of the matter refuse to admit of that other of Constantinople at that present especially those of Liguria Venetia Sigon de Imper. Occident l. 20. and Istria and among them Macedonius Bishop of Aquileia Honoratus of Milan and Maximinian of Rauenna all which presently assembled in Synod at Aquileia to deliberat of the admittance or refusall of that Councell which Pelagius sought to thrust vpon them at which time Macedonius Archbishop of Aquileia fell sicke and died and Honoratus Archbishop of Milan consecrated Paulinus in his roome and all with one consent reiected the Councell vnder colour of certaine chapters therein contained which pleased them not and farther drew their neckes from vnder the yoke of the Roman Church Pelagius then thought it high time to run to Narses whom he requested by his letters to send the chiefe of those Bishops prisoners to Constantinople and to represse the rest by rigour of law and his own authoritie Where we may obserue that he alledgeth not his owne interest in that Paulinus was ordained Archbishop of Aquileia without receiuing the Pall from him but onely the interest of the Emperour Seeing saith he that euen then when Totilas possessed and held all this countrey in his subiection he would neuer suffer a Bishop of Milan to be consecrated vnlesse he had first acquainted the Prince with his election and obtained leaue in writing from him That therefore Narses should make no scruple to vse his authoritie vpon these fellowes because such persons were by order of the Canons to be excommunicated to be ordered by rigour if reason could not rule them Narses hereupon grew so violent that he drew an excommunication from the Bishops vpon his owne head Pelagius egged him on still by his letters which we find recorded in the Councels and reported by Sigonius and Baronius and importuned him againe to send Honoratus and Paulinus prisones to Constantinople vntill at length Narses apprehended some of them made others to flie the countrey among the rest Vitalis Bishop of Altin fled to Meuce in Germanie And hence it is that some writers hold opinion That this Pelagius was the first which decreed to pray in aid of the secular power against such as stood condemned for schisme or heresie An. 556. Neither was he any thing better respected or obeyed in Tuscanie which yet lieth euen at Rome gates witnesse his owne letters which he wrot vnto Gaudentius Baron vol. 7. an 556. art 31. Maximilian Gerontius Iustus Terentius Vitalis and Laurence his beloued brethren as he tearmeth them throughout Tuscanie where he complaineth That they had separated themselues from him and consequently from the communion of all the world in not mentioning his name in the ordinarie seruice of the Church All which Bishops
all thankes therefore to the Almightie and daily to pray for the life of our most religious and Christian Lord the Emperour and of his gracious consort and of his courteous progenie in whose times the mouthes of the Heretikes are stopped for though their hearts boyle with peruerse and froward thoughts yet vnder a Catholike Emperor they dare not to vtter their mischieuous imaginations And in like maner writeth he to Isicius Bishop of Ierusalem Greg. li. 7. Epist 11. and to sundrie others But the conclusion of all was this That the law of Maurice stood still in force and Gregorie himselfe was faine to publish it by his letter directed to the Metropolitans and to the Bishops of the chiefe Sees in whiche he calleth him Most religious and most clement Emperour Baron to 8. an 593. art 22. 23. But yet Baronius like a man that would saile with euerie wind telleth vs That Gregorie corrected this law before the publication therof and that thereby he declared that his Apostolike power was aboue the Emperours law But who so shall take the paines to read this Epistle all along Baron ib. art 49 shall find that hee doth nothing therein but onely declare the intention of the Emperour to put it in execution and to justifie this law rather than to reproue it 22. PROGRESSION Of the murder of the Emperour Maurice by Phocas What flatterie Gregorie vsed vnto Phocas and that Boniface the third of Rome got to be called Vniuersall Bishop WE haue alreadie seene the controuersie which was betweene Gregorie of Rome and Iohn of Constantinople it remaineth that wee now come to the issue thereof The Emperour Maurice vnto whom Saint Gregorie had written so many letters Zonor li. 3. pa. 64 65. sequent came to fall into dislike and hatred of souldiers and one Phocas a Centurian made himselfe captaine of the mutiners and was afterwards for his paines by them proclaimed Emperour Maurice seeing that fled away with his wife and children and presently was Phocas crowned by the Patriarch and forthwith he pursued after Maurice and when he had ouertaken him Paul Aquileg 1. li. 17. slew his wife and children before his eyes not sparing the little one which hung at the breast and afterward caused his throat to be cut likewise Maurice had sent away his sonne Theodosius to reserue himselfe to better fortunes with Cosroë king of Persia but he was also taken brought backe and murdered so was the Empresse Constantina also with her three daughters And the Historians know not well which of the two they should most condemne in him his Treason or his Crueltie Phocas therefore was no sooner chosen Emperour but Gregorie presently wrot vnto him and that with abhominable adulation and flatterie He beginneth his Epistle with Gloria Deo in excelsis which is the song of the Angels at the Natiuity of our Sauior Greg. Epist 36. li. 11. Glorie be to God on high saith he which changeth the times and translateth kingdomes who some times in his iustice sendeth Princes to afflict his people and other times in his mercie those which shall lift them vp againe For which cause wee reioyce that thou art come vnto the Empire Let the heauens reioyce and let the earth leape for ioy and let all the people be glad thereof c. Epist 44. And to Leontia the Empresse he writeth in this manner What tongue can speake what heart can conceiue the thankes which we owe to God for the happinesse of your Empire Let the Angels giue glorie vnto God euen the Creator which is in heauen aboue and let all men giue thankes here in earth beneath c. But the conclusion of this Epistle is this That they would take the Church of Rome into their protection and alwayes continue mindfull of Tuâ—es Petrus assuring them that for their paines Saint Peter would not be vnmindfull of them nor faile to vndertake the protection of their Empires All tending no doubt to the establishing of his owne authoritie But he happening to dye shortly after and Sabinian his successor suruiuing but a little time An. 605. Boniface 3 in the yeare 605 who also liued not aboue eight monethes and some odde daies to effect that which his predecessors had proiected tooke his aduantage seeing the Emperour Phocas on the one side displeased with Cyriacus Patriarch of Constantinople because hee would not approue of such his murders and on the other jealous least the hatred of his dealings might haply cause Italie to reuolt from vnder him and thereupon he asked and by the profers which he made of his good seruice obtained of him That the Church of Rome should thence forward bee the Head of all other Churches and the Bishop of Rome should be called the Soueraigne and Vniuersall Bishop And thereupon he published that Imperious ordinance in a Synod at Rome consisting of 62 Bishops and from that time forward vsed euer in his Mandats these words Volumus iubemus i. We will and commaund and that in the Prouisions of Bishops whom though they were elected by consent of Clergie and people yet would he not suffer to be either called or accounted as Bishops but by vertue of his letters patents with that clause of Volumus iubemus in them and so saith Platina in plaine tearmes Which pretentions of his Platina in Bonifaciâ— though sometimes they found some crossings yet were they the beginning of that schisme betweene the Greeke Church and the Latine a schisme which continueth euen vnto these our dayes OPPOSITION Suppose we now that Gregorie himselfe had risen againe from the dead and seene his successor vsing that Title which hee before hand had so formally condemned in his Epistles how could he haue saued him from this so necessarie a conclusion drawne from the propositions of his owne words and so oftentimes by him repeated Whosoeuer will be called Vniuersall Bishop is the forerunner of Antichrist Boniface the third willeth and requireth and ordaineth himselfe to be so called therefore it followeth that he was the forerunner of Antichrist if not Antichrist himselfe Bellarmine here findeth out two creepeholes The one is concerning the fact Bellar. de Rom. Pontif. l. 2. c. 17. Non instituendo sed asserendo Lib. 4. de Gest Longobard c. 37. where he sayth That Phocas did not ordaine this by way of a new Institution but onely of declaration of a thing euer before acknowledged in the Church But let him read the Historie it selfe Paulus Diaconus who liued not farre off from these times speaketh after another manner Phocas sayth he at the suit of Pope Boniface ordained That the See of the Romane Apostolike Church should be the Head of all other Churches because the Church of Constantinople wrote her selfe The first of all other Churches And so testifie all the Historians which came after him namely Freculphus Rhegino Anastasius Hermannus Contractus Marianus Scotus Sabellicus Blondus Pomponius Laetus
with manie others by which the cognisance of such causes is committed to the Ciuile magistrat And now what maketh all this for that absolute authoritie of the Pope Moreouer the Councell of Toledo which was held vnder King Gondemar in the time of Pope Boniface the third and that after that Decree of Phocas declareth that of Toledo to be the first See Concil Tolet. sub Rege Gondemaro not so much by vertue of anie new graunt as by the Synodall Decree of the auncient Fathers commanding all Bishops to vaile bonnet vnto him vnder paine of Anathema Which Decree of the Synod was also confirmed by the King Gondemar As for the Pope in all that long Epistle we find no one word spoken of him Baron an 610. art 14. and yet Baronius is not ashamed to auerre That the Church of Toledo had this priuiledge from Rome when as yet the Pope was not absolute Monarch in Italie itselfe for the Bishops of Istria and Venetia vnder their Patriarchs stood oâ—â— against them so also did the Bishops of Lumbardie as appeareth by that Epistle of Gregorie to Constantius Bishop of Milan Brixia ep 37. lib. 3. whom a certaine Bishop of Bresse would not acknowledge because it seemed that he as well as the Bishop of Rome derogated from the authoritie of the Chalcedon Councell But vnder his successor Sabinian the matter went a little farther Baron an 605. art 2 3 4. For we may learne out of a certaine Councell held at Mantua for which we are beholding to Baronius his Librarie That when as there was question about the choice of a new Patriarch of Aquileia and Agilulphaâ— the King of the Lumbards had caused one Iohn to be elected the Exarch of Rauenna to gratifie the Pope set vp against him one Candidian at Grado and so were there for a long time two Patriarchs of which he which sat at Aquileia would neuer acknowledge the Popes authoritie 23. PROGRESSION Of the attempt of Honorius against the Bishops beyond the Po. THe Lumbards at that time lying heauie vpon Italie on the one side and the Exarchs of Rauenna for the Emperour on the other caused the Popes to pull in their hornes and to make little vse or shew of their new title purchased from Phocas though in the meane time their ambitious humor and desire of soueraignetie and power neuer ceased to put forth vpon all occasions Honorius therefore Bishop of Rome about the yeare 623 tooke his aduantage vpon a lamentable and wretched accident The Bishops of Istria Venetia and Lumbardie as we haue alreadie said held no good correspondencie with the Bishop of Rome and it came to passe that Adelwaldus fift King of Lumbards fell somewhat distracted in mind whether by force of a poyson which is said to haue beene giuen him by Eusebius the Emperours embassador Sigonius de Reg. Ital. lib. 2. at his comming out of the Bath or otherwise it is a thing hard to say but in this case he made away twelue of the most principall men of charge in the kingdome and grew dangerous to the rest The Lumbards to preuent a mischiefe called a Councell and deposed him placing Adoaldus his brother in law in his roome yet was the kingdome hereupon drawne into factions some holding for the old King some for the new and among others they beyond the Po held for the new election as well clerkes as lay men Which Honorius perceiuing tooke presently part with the aduerse faction and dealt with the Exarch to reestablish Adelwaldus but aboue all to apprehend those Bishops and to send them safe to Rome to answere there for their offences to the end saith he that this their wickednesse may not escape vnpunished But the worst was that the Exarch was too weake a partie and not able to performe what he vndertooke and thereupon those Bishops persisted in their former resolution being now more incensed against him than before OPPOSITION If that Decree of Phocas made in fauour of Boniface the third found such opposition at home we may easily conceiue what light regard was had thereof in more remote Prouinces and Churches especially in that point which Boniface so much enforced That no prouision of a Bishop was good in law without his authoritie for the fourth and sixt Councels of Toledo at also the first and second of Bracara which were all held vnder Honorius make open shew thereof seeing that the Bishops assembled in these Councels openly professe that they were assembled by the care and industrie of Sisinandus their King Eius imperijs et iussia commoniti Chintillae salutaribus hortamentis who roused them vp by his commands to the due handling of matters concerning the discipline of the Church as likewise speake the fift and sixt By the wholesome exhortations of King Chintilla and the first of Bracara By the commaundement of King Arimire Moreouer we find the Chapter of the Greeke Synods translated by Martin Bishop of Bracara as we find them in the second Tome of the Councels authorised in that Synod for the Bishops are there prouided in full Synod by their Metropolitan who yet did nothing without the aduice of the other Bishops As for running to Rome for Buls or Pals not a word there to be found if the Pope sent it to anie it was his kindnesse but no man was bound of necessitie to accept it and if it happened vpon the accusation of anie Bishop that the Synod could not agree they neuer sent to Rome for a resolution but for a finall definition say they of this dissention this holie Synod hath thought fit that another Metropolitan of some bordering Prouince should be sent for to confirme and ratifie that opinion which he should thinke most agreeable to the Canons But here is to be noted that not long after this ordinance of Phocas made in fauour of the See of Rome the Church might plainely see in the person of this Honorius whom we now speake of how dangerous a thing it was that she should depend of one man Which Gregorie well foresaw when he said That if there should be one Vniuersall Bishop and he should happen to fall the whole Church must needs vnto the ground For the heresie of the Monothelites then rising in the Church Honorius with the first fell into it and was conuicted thereof by his owne hand writing which he had sent to Sergius Bishop of Constantinople neither was this a small heresie or of anie meane consequence for that not to acknowledge two wils in Christ is consequently to denie two natures in him also His letters were produced in the sixt Generall Councell Action 12. 13. 2. To. Concil Act. 12. 13. Concil Vniuers 6. and were there by generall consent condemned to the fire the summe of them was this That neither Gospell nor Epistle neither yet the Synods did euer teach vs these two faculties or powers in Christ That these were words inuented by some
haue in the Decrete sayth That he tooke knowledge of this cause of Lotharius which gaue occasion to all these stirres as an arbitrator by consent of parties and consequently not as a judge founded in right of law or nature And Lotharius himselfe in his letters to Pope Adrian who succeeded Nicholas saith That he committed this cause to him Ad tempus in parte and therefore not to vse his absolute authoritie herein but onely such as was committed by way of delegacie vnto him As for the attempts which Pope Nicholas made vpon our Bishops in restoring so farre as he could Rothard Bishop of Soissons deposed before by his Metropolitanes in the presence and with the assent of his fellow Bishops Hincmar Archbishop of Rheimes telleth him his owne Ep. Hincmari Archiepiscopi Rhemen ad Nicolaum apud Flodoardum Whereas sayth he your Benignitie hath willed me to assemble the whole companie of our brethren and there according to the tenor of your letters to reintegrate Rothard Bishop of Soissons in his former place your Paternitie must know that I could not so doe for manie sundrie reasons namely because he cannot be replaced but by the consent of those by whom he was deposed of which a great part say they will not meddle with his restitution because they find not in him either life or learning or zeale fit for that ministration and that whereas it was expected that at least he should haue beene somewhat ashamed of his deposing he was on the contrarie growne more refractarie against the holie constitutions the regall dignitie and the priuiledges of the Metropolitans and liuing now more scandalously than before meaning since he had felt the support and tasted the ayre of Rome And whereas Nicholas alledged to him the Canon of Sardica he remonstrated vnto him That by vertue of that verie Canon the Bishop of the first See ought not to restore a Bishop of another Prouince deposed if he came vnto him to haue his cause reuiewed but that he should send him backe againe to his owne Prouince to haue his cause reuiewed there if the cause so required for that as in the Councell of Carthage was contained the matter can no where be so well examined as in the place where the crimes objected were said to haue beene committed That if anie other course than this should be held in the restoring of Rothard the censures of Bishops would be vilified and contemned both by the Clergie and by the people who alreadie begin to speake hardly of the Popes authoritie and in a word that he could not doe this thing without wrong not onely to the priuiledge of Metropolitanes but also of all Ecclesiasticall constitutions Neither was there anie stronger beleefe in Germanie of the Popes not erring than you haue heard in France as appeared when he went about to establish his Decree of Single life For hauing directed it to Vldaric Bishop of Ausbourg with charge to put it in execution not to rehearse what he said of the question it selfe which we haue elsewhere set downe more at large he telleth him in plaine tearmes That he was deuoid of reason vniust and insupportable That hardly could the members of the bodie continue sound seeing the Head was so ill affected so farre estranged from true discretion contrarie to the Euangelicall Institution contrarie to the foretelling of the holie Spirit to the examples of manie holie men and the common aduise of the wiser sort exhorting him to remoue this Pharisaicall scandalous and pestilent doctrine from the flocke of Christ and the verie stile it selfe of this Epistle is a sufficient warrant against all forgerie to those who know what belongeth to it This Pope Nicholas went yet farther for Michael Bardas vncle to the Emperour Michael succeeding in the Empire had diuorced his wife and was married to his daughter in law Ignatius Patriarch of Constantinople cut him off for this sinne from the vnion of the Church Bardas offended herewith assembled a Synod deposed Ignatius and put one Photius in his place whereupon arose a mutinie in Constantinople some holding for Photius others for Ignatius The Emperour to stint this strife requested the Pope to send his Legats thither who presently dispatched away Rodoald Bishop of Port and Zacharie of Anagnia giuing them instructions withall to set vp Images againe and aboue all to get in if they could his old patrimonie of Sicile and Calabria These Legats contrarie to his imagination woon as it should seeme by the Emperour ratified the deposition of Ignatius and installation of Photius Nicholas frustrate of his desire which was vpon this occasion to oblige Ignatius to himselfe disauowed his Legats and for exceeding the bounds of their commission degraded them Now in the declaration of this matter we are especially to obserue the answere which he made vnto the Emperour who in his letters to him had sufficiently made knowne vnto him That he desired not his helpe as to judge of a cause alreadie sentenced but onely for the more easie execution of the sentence giuen and for the more speedie pacifying of the troubles ensuing thereupon and it is great pitie that we haue not his letter at large but must be content with so much of it as the Pope is pleased to alledge vnto vs. But we may by Nicholas his answeres easily perceiue that Bardas spake mainely against his Primacie because he is so earnest in the defence thereof For saith he if they which sit in Moses chaire ought to be heard Nicol. ep ad Michael Imperator to 2. Concilior how much more they who sit in the chaire of S. Peter and will not see that a man may denie him the ground on which his argument is founded And againe he telleth him That neuer anie Bishop of Constantinople was deposed without the consent of the Pope How hard a matter had it beene for him to haue proued this assertion For what consent was euer required of them other than as they were deposed in Councels where peraduenture the Popes Legats had their place as other Bishops had Or should he not rather haue shewed that at least some one Archbishop of Constantinople had beene ordained by them Thirdly he alledgeth the Councell of Chalcedon where it is said saith he in this manner If a Clergie man hath a controuersie either against his owne Bishop or against anie other let the cause be heard in a Prouinciall Synod if a Bishop or a Clerke complaine against a Metropolitan of the same Prouince let him repaire to the Primat of the Dioces or to the See of Constantinople Who would haue thought that the Pope had had such Logicke in store to proue by these words that men ought to appeale from Constantinople to Rome Yet he concludeth What could the Synod saith he meane by the Primat of the Dioces but the Vicar of the chiefe Apostle Now the Canon which he meaneth is the ninth Canon of this Councell where it is said
and bound to the holie Scriptures Gerson de examine doctrinar consid 5. tom 1. Neither is it saith he in the power of the Pope or Councell to change traditions giuen by the Euangelists and Paul as some doe dote Yea we are to giue more credit in a case of doctrine to the assertion of a simple man learned in the Scriptures than the declaration of the Pope For it is manifest that we are rather to beleeue the Gospell than the Pope In so much that any such learned man being present at the Councell ought to oppose himselfe against him if hee shall perceiue the greater part against the Gospell either by malice or ignorancee to decline from the truth And touceing that place of Augustine I would not beleeue the Gospell but that the authoritie of the Church moueth mee thereunto He meaneth sayth he the Primitiue congregation of the faithfull who had seene and heard Christ and were witnesses vnto him Neither is it in the power of Pope or Bishop of a proposition not hereticall or not Catholike to make it hereticall or Catholike All which Theses destroy the tyrannie of the Pope and the Church of Rome with those inuentions likewise and vsurpations which vnder the cloke of his pretended authoritie they brought into the Church Let the Reader here note Vide Tractatū de Ecclesia That this was then the doctrine of the Vniuersitie of Paris yea the Sorbonists themselues We haue elsewhere quoted many places by which it may appeare how much they despaired of the reformation of the Church by reason of the malignitie of the Popes and Prelats Touching Indulgences he saith Iohan. Gerson in Tractat. de Indulgentijs Christ is the onely Pope that can grant those Indulgences for a thousand thousand dayes and yeares c. Againe Perhaps such enormous graunts haue beene inuented by wicked men who seeke their owne gaine And againe The graunt of Indulgences will hardly be taken away c. since it is most certaine that Purgatorie ends with the world Idem de absolutione sacramentali consequently the daies of their punishments Again Those institutions of Indulgences for twentie thousand yeares and the like to him that shall say fiue Pater nosters before such an Image c. are sottish and supersitious and contrarie to the truth c. At these fooleries all men in those dayes began to bend their browes But in this sermon intituled Of the ruines of the Church he manifestly proueth the fearefull judgement of God to be then at hand The signes which he setteth downe are these First 2. Thessalonians 2. The dissipation of the Roman Empire betwixt which and the persecutions of Antichrist following therein S. Hierome he setteth downe no distance of time And now saith he the state of the vniuersall Church is so doubtfull that it knoweth not on which side the See of Rome is except perhaps God should reueale it to some one or the iudgement of Salomon touching the diuiding of the infant into two parts giue vs to vnderstand who is the true mother Secondly Impudencie wherein as touching maners it is worse than the Synagogue when the ruine thereof approached for that permitted Pigeons to be sold in the Temple and this sells Spirituall charges for money that honoured God but with the lips onely this dishonours God both in word and deed taking no care at all to couer her owne shame Thirdly Inequalitie or rather Iniquitie the like whereof was neuer amongst the ministers of the Church the vnworthie being exalted the worthie trod vnder foot some set aboue Princes others more contemptible than the basest of the people And from hence arise schismes in the Church Fourthly The pride of the Prelats which purchaseth rather hatred than reuerence And from hence arise schismes in the Church Fiftly The tyrannie of those that beare rule who feed not the flocke but themselues they deuour the flesh and plucke off the skinne Sixtly The troubles of Princes and commotion of the people which we haue experience of in so many kingdomes and Prouinces Seuenthly The refusal of correction in the Principall of the Clergie who detest those that reprehend them hold the Scriptures for a fable and those that meditate thereupon for fantasticall persons Eightly Noueltie of opinions from whence arise heresies schismes are defended and being defended take root c. And this he applies to those that accommodat the Scriptures to their owne affections make them speake according to that loue or hatred hope of aduancement or reuenge wherewith they are carried And some of them vpon euerie light occasion call them heretikes whom they neuer knew to be tainted with heresie All which signes he rehearseth Gerson de signis ruinae Ecclesiae and compareth them with others of former times which being confirmed by the examples of his age and the threats of the auncient Prophets he applieth to the present state of the Church Of the same opinion were diuers others in diuers parts of the world In Germanie Theodoricus Vrias an Augustine in his worke of the consolation of the Church especially in his third book Theodor. Vrias in consolatione Ecclesiae lib. 3. Idem apud Paulum Langium in Chron. Citizensi where inueying against the wickednesse thereof the whoredome simonie ambition contempt of the word of God neglect of the saluation of mankind he pronounceth the Pope to be the forerunner of Antichrist Yea wee haue his verses recited by Paulus Langius in his Chronicle not vnworthie the reading in number eighteene whereof these are the first Papa stupor mundi cecidit secumque ruêre Coelica templa Dei membra simulque caput c. The Pope the worlds astonishment is dead With him are falne Gods house members and head c. Wherein he describeth how the Pope hath drawne the whole Church with himself into ruine supplying the place of Simon Magus not Simon Peter That the Churches vnder his gouernment were fairs of treacherie wherin the Sacraments and all holie things were put to open sale That the Church of Rome grew euerie day worse worse of a golden Church was become a siluer of a siluer an yron of an yron an earthly durtie Church in so much that nothing now remained but that it wold likewise turne into a stinking dung-hill And yet such a Church it was at that time when neuerthelesse it made a beautiful a glorious shew There was likewise another Theodor. Minorita in prophetia vna cum pluribus alijs rithmicis impressa one Theodoricus a Minorite Bishop of Croatia who foretold in a certaine prophesie written in verse That this See polluted with so much corruption should shortly come to naught and the Pope be vtterly ouerthrowne euen by those that had extolled him and that contrarily the Church and in her true pietie should recouer her pristinat beautie more than before Petrus Dresdensis likewise and Iacobus Misnensis the Disciples of the auncient Waldenses were for this