Christi conficiendum surgere cum eodem die corpus Christi confecisset cū meretrice post vesperam interceptus est Res apertissima negari non potuit celari non debuit Summus honor vbique habitus in summum dedecus versus est Repedauit igitur in sua dei iudicio confusus inglorius At Easter Ihon Cremensis Cardinall of Rome came doune into Englande and makyng his progresses through Busshoprickes and Abbatées not without greate rewardes aboute the Natiuitée of our Ladie helde a solemne Counsaile at London But because Moises Goddes secretarie in the holie storie as he wrote the vertues so did he also the vices yea of his owne parentes that is to saie the outrage of Lothe the abhomination of Ruben the treason of Symeon and Leuy the vnnaturalnesse of the brethren of Ioseph euen so it becometh vs to followe the true Lawe of storie bothe of good and euill But if it shall displease any Romaniste or Prelate saieth he I reade hym to holde his peace and be still leste it will be demed that he desired to folowe Ihon Cremensis in woordes and deedes He therefore when he had made greuous processe in that Counsaile against Priestes wiues saiyng that it was a foule synne and a greate to rise frō a strumpettes side to make Christes body when he hym self the same very daie had saied Masse was taken with a strumpet after Euensong the facte beyng moste open could not bee denied nor ought to bee hidden That high honour had euery where to hym before was tourned to high shame and rebuke Whereuppon he trudged home againe by Goddes iuste iudgemente confounded to his greate dishonestee Thus farre Henry Huntyngton a manne liuyng at that age Here you se master Martin an auncient writer no heretike Archdeacon of Huntyngton foure hundred yeres paste and an halfe to haue tolde this storie of this good holy ympe of Rome Church beyng warned yet afore by Pope Honorius whose letters to hym and others Symon of Duresme doeth recite in his booke wherin he nameth hym Praesbiterum Cardinalem prieste Cardinall and praieth hym as beyng sent before into England by his next predecessor Calixtus that he would behaue hymself in his Legation as a wise a discrete childe of the Rome church and as may appartaine to the honour of God and the honestie of the Apostolike See The same Honorius writyng to the Archebusshops Busshops Abbattes and nobles suppressyng yet the kynges name charged thus we praie you admonishe you and commaūde you that you would reuerently receaue hym as the vicar of holy S. Peter humblie to heare hym and at his call to hold solemnely with hym conuocations so that by his and your diligence all thinges may bee reformed in your realme whiche are to be amended and those thinges whiche are to be stablished may by the inspiration of the holy ghost be confirmed emongest the Canons of which holy Counsaill priestes be plaine separated from their wiues vnder paine of losse of their Order and Mariages either of consanguinitée or affinitée contracted within the seuenth generation be commaunded to bee seperated Now if neitheir Secular Prieste nor religious Monkes testimonie will serue Maister Martin Roger Houeden a secular man in courte with the kyng Henry seconde in greate estimation and credit writyng in his storie saieth that there fell a marueilous misfortune to this Cardinall beyng so hotte in his Coūsell against priestes mariage and agreeth fully with the forsaied testimonie of the saied Henry in the same If yet you will haue more testimonies Polydore in his stories the tenthe booke how craftely soeuer for the honour of Rome Churche he suppresseth his name as belike you would haue the laye people to take it for a lye to saue the honor of your wiueles church how leude soeuer it be notoriously knowen reporteth of the same cardinall that after his solempne sermon inueighyng against lawfull mariages he was so priuely waited that within a while after he was taken with an harlotte in companie vnlawfull Furthermore Sir this matter semeth so little counterfeited that other writers affirme the same as Fabian somtime Citezen and Sheriffe of Lōdon in his Chronicle saieth that this dissimuled doctor tooke so great feruencie in the correction of the priestes of England that in the euenyng folowing after that he had so lewdly blowne his borne saiyng that it was a detestable sinne to ryse from the side of a strumpet to sacre the bodie of Christe he was taken with a strumpette Lib. 7. Cap. 16 Anno. 1125. to his open shame and rebuke From whose testimony differeth not Ranulph of Chichester in his Polichronicō Further Matheus westmonasteriensis otherwise named Florilegus writyng of the saied Ihon Cardinall thus saieth Dictus Ioannes qui in concilio omnes concubinarios Sacerdotes maximè damnauerat in eodem vitio deprehensus est The saied Ihon whiche in his counsell had verie greatly blamed Priestes that vsed concubines was taken hymself in the same crime Also Mathew Parise in his Chronicle in that verie yere recordeth the same storie of this holy and chaste Cardinal of Rome who came into England with great honour but packe home againe with worthie shame Loe suche commonlye are the slaunderers of true matrimonie in others most shamefully abusing themselues with harlottes pretendyng and exaltyng their Churche chastitie in hypocrisie but hate it in their whole practise of their life as stories fullie make mention of suche beyng the very successors of Hierax an heretike of whom Epiphanius writeth in his story of whom some mention is made before And if yet none of all these will serue to discharge Ihon Bale to make hym the firste aucthor therof or to disproue it to be a forged or counterfet story ye maie looke further in other histories bothe in Frenche and Latine and finde almoste all that write of those daies to speake of the same Cardinall to like effecte And therfore M. Martine is it reason that ye write that it was some heretike that forged this tale as ye would make the world beleue Is it not a shame for you to boste of so muche vniuersal and absolute knowledge in al stories both Ecclesiasticall and prophane of al countries in Christendome and out of Christēdome and to be blind and bare at home in the stories of your owne countrey beyng so many written by mē bothe of great credite and of notable learnyng life And dare you pronounce all these in your bolde arrogante spirite to bee heretikes none of them all woorthie credite with you of so diuers vocations as thei are Some Seculer Priestes of worship some reguler Monkes in profession some seculer lay menne in place of credit and estimation some liuyng at that very tyme and members of that holy Synode I do but meruaile what confidence you had in other mens credites to write so impudently not castyng with your self to what commendable ende your gaye bolstered booke would come vnto when it were once examined by
great parte of them were made against priestes that liued in adultery and fornication without wiues The fourth Then in processe of his boke he extendeth his witte to charge al maried priestes without all exception of heresie lecherie inceste and treason to make them odiouse and to endauÌ„ger them to the rulers and people And vseth no moderation to any of them all but pronounceth depriuation to be the leste that thei all deserue And other whyles in hote zeale semeth to desire an vniuersall destruction of them Sometyme notyng them by the multiplication of their children to pestre the realme whereby the inhabitantes should bee in perill of hunger for lacke of foode as though the lande were not able to geue sustenaunce to suche encrease The fifte He in the perusing of the canons lawes euer forceth the rigor of theÌ„ against maried priestes and euer willeth the self same Canons to be reuiued for open fornicators in other priestes nor for any other offence punishable by depriuation and other paynes so that he semeth to giue them an immunitie contrary to the old canons The sixte We maie also note iustlie his inconstrancie for other whiles to make for his purpose he contendeth that the rules and traditions of the primatiue churche be of moste aucthoritie and must be obeied before all other ordinaunces And at an other time he wil haue it stand for a ground that the latter lawes and councels derogate the first and so ought to waie in the discussement of this cause The seuenth His probations and confutations whiche he bringeth in bee seldome out of god his worde except it be contorted but altogether of humain aucthoritie of writers doctors canoÌ„s and decrées and that commonly wher thei write furthest dissonant from god his worde and other good writers and some tymes from them selues And therevpon he is here confuted and answered by the selfe same men in other places of their woorkes and by other of like aucthoritie for reason as saincte Hierome saieth it is Quod ex verbo dei non habet authoritatem eadem facilitate reijciatur qua probatur SupÌ„er Mat. cap. xxiii That whiche hath not aucthoritie of the worde of god may as easely be reiected as receiued The eight And in the meane tyme till this doctour can conciliate their saiynges and writynges either with the scriptures or betwixte them selues I aduise thee gentle reader to folowe the counsell of Saincte Ciprian Si in aliquo mutauerit vacillauerit veritas ad originem dominicam euangelicam apostolicam traditionem reuertamur Ad Pompalianum inde surgat actus nostri ratio vnde ordo origo surrexit That is If the truthe should be in doubte or stagger in any matter then lette vs returne to the Lordes originall to that whiche is deliuered to vs by the euangelistes and apostles and let the reason of our doyng rise thence whence rose bothe ordre and oryginall Super cap. â—x â–ª Hie. For as S. Hierome saieth Nec parentum nec maiorum error sequendus est sed athoritas scripturaruÌ„ dei docentis imperium We should not followe the ouersight of our parentes or yet of our elders but the aucthoritie of scriptures and supreme rule of god his doctrine If euer it was nedefull and necessarie to resorte to Chrisostomes rule writyng vpon this place of Mathewe the xxiiij chapiter Tune qui in iudea sunt fugiant ad montes then thei whiche be in Iurie let theim flee to the mountaines it is more then necessarie now perceauyng antichriste his hooste and armie of mennes Lawes and Canons so faste mustre together to deface and debell Christe his doctrine and veritie whiche notable discourse good learned reader I desire thee to reade and to note the contentes And if sainct Augustine did any seruice to the Churche of Christ when he did write his notable booke de vnitate Ecclesie againste the Donatistes who onely chalenged the catholike Churche to be with them so may he doe now moste profitable seruice against these apishe catholikes that resemble sorilie the true catholiques in face onely and els in neuer a parte beside The ninthe Remember this also good reader that we doe not deny but that virginitie is an excellent vertue and that pure chastitie and single life without hypocrisie is more to be wished to priests and ministers in the churche then is matrimonie considering bothe states in them selues But the question is whether to them that cannot containe mariage were not more méete to be graunted And whether a priest in chast matrimonie maie not do the office of a prieste as the scripture requireth of hym The tenthe Knowe this that howsoeuer chastitie is annexed or dependyng vpon the ordre of priesthode yet it is meerly and intierly by the constitution of the churche and by positiue lawe disspeÌ„sable And moreouer it is to be iustified that seculer Priestes of Englande be no votaries nether in their orderyng any vowe inioyned them nor required at their handes nor thet makyng any suche vowe as by the Englishe poÌ„tificall is to bée proued and as in open conuocation was exactly so debated concluded and subscribed by the handes of them that were present and so presented to the whole Parliament house The eleuenth Expende furthermore that we be not ignorant but that the first councels and canons for the moste part geue no libertie to a prieste or a Bishoppe once consecrated to mary And that the latter councelles forbidde a prieste maried before his orders to kepe companie with his wife And that the aucthoures of the Latten Churche require suche ministers in the moste part of their writynges But then againe it muste be considered that the same Councels and writers require a chaste clargie in deede and maketh more gréeuous paynes of suche Priestes whiche abuseth other mennes wiues and maidens then vpon those priestes that haue their owne wiues and vse them And if the saied aucthores had perceiued the experience of these latter daies thei would not so rigorouslie haue forced suche lawes but rather mitigated theÌ„ as diuerse of them did in suche cases as shal be declared The twelft Right so we do not deme but that vowes aduisedly made to god with suche circumstaunces as the old fathers require in a vowe be to be obserued and that it is not lawfull for anie man of his owne hedde to breake suche vowes and that thei offend god that rashely breake them But whether suche vowes be vndispensable by mans aucthoritie and whether vowes suche as haue been moste commonly of late made of votaries binde them to the perfourmance yea or noe And if either of these vowes bee relinquished whether matrimonie succedyng is to bee dissolued againe to the perill of breakyng gods commaundemente for the obseruation of mannes traditions These notes aforesaied bee to be discussed and considered ¶ An expostulation with certaine of the Clergie Here I might ceasse of further excityng any other states of the common
domine deus quia ipsi sunt in persequutione tua primi Sermonede cōuersione Pauli Et sup Cantic serm 33. qui videntur in ecclesia tua primatum diligere gerere principatum Misera eorum conuersatio plebis tuae miserabilis subuersio est Copiosissimae siquidem pietatis inueniuntur in accipiēda animarum cura de animarum salute nouissima cogitatio est And again Paucos habemus heu pastores multos autem excommunicatores vtinam sufficeret vobis lana lac sititis enim sanguinem Quapropter vae generationi huic a fermēto Phariseorum quod est hypochrisis si tamen hypochrisis dici debet quae iam latere prae abundantia non valet prae impudētia non quaerit parum est nostris pastoribus quod non seruant nos nisi perdant c. ad Eugenium Alas alas O Lorde God saieth Barnard thei be the firste in persecutyng thee whiche be seen to loue the firste roomes in the Churche and to chalenge the primacie Their miserable conuersation is the miserable ruine of thy people Thei be of a very large deuotion to take cure of soules but as for the healthe of soules is furthest from their thought Alacke fewe Pastours we haue but many excommunicators and would to God that the Wolle and the Milke would satisfie you for you thirste bloude Wherefore wo to this generation for their Pharisaicall leuen which is hypocrisy if at the least waie it maie be called hypocrisie whiche for the abundaunce thereof cannot be hidden and for impudēcie seeketh not to be hidden It is a small matter for our Pastours that thei doe not saue vs except thei destroye vs. Thei bee ministers of Christe saieth he but thei serue Antichrist Honourably thei go in the giftes of the lorde but to geue the lorde his due honor that thei will not To haue glorious tables saieth he to eate and to drinke to haue their purses full c. For these thynges desire thei to be and so thei be saieth he in deede Prouostes of Colleges Deanes Archedeacons Bishops and Archebishops To suche surely maie we impute it we be in perpetual contention of doctrine and neuer at a staie to liue that wee beleue ad Tit. ca. ◠and wee doe saieth saincte Hierome not for the loue of the truthe but onely for the boste of glorie to bee coumpted learned of theim that heare vs or els by suche brutes wee followe and hauke after our filthie gaine and lucre These will be onely called the catholike members and pillers of the Churche and whō thei pronounce heretikes so muste thei bee taken But in the meane ceason as Theophilact writeth thei are but praecursores antichristi in Mat. 24. quia multiplicabitur iniquitas per imposturas antichristi exasperabuntur efferi erunt homines ita vt neque cū familiarissimis seruent charitatis vinculum sed mutuò se tradent Thei be forerunners of Antichrist and because wickednes shal bee multiplied by the subtell deceiptes of Antichriste men shal bee made vengeable and tourned out of kinde to bee made brute in suche wise that thei shall not keepe the bonde of charitie no not with their moste familiars saieth he but shal betraie one an other Contra auxentium What a Churche saieth Hillarius is this that is terrible by imprisonyng of others where the true Churche was imprisoned them selues that will chase awaie the Priestes and Ministers which would gladly haue liued in their naturall coūtries without offendyng of Lawes but yet for the quarrellyng captious extremitie and ragyng of diuers are compelled to cast theim selues to extreme perilles as out lawes I can not saieth S. Hierome by the searche of all stories that I haue reade finde any other to haue deuided the Churche or that haue seduced the people out of Goddes house beside them whiche were set of God as Priestes and Prophetes These be thei whiche be turned into captious snares and stumbling blockes in all places Liuyng as Daniell Prophesied of theim in lustes Ca. 11. Iudae burnyng in concupiscentes of women ragyng waues of the sea and by manifeste fruites of their liues fomyng out their owne shame whiche maner of counterfettes because thei of all men can not abide to heare what thei deserue especially of suche as thei will esteme me I desire them to geue eare yet to saincte Paule where he desireth them Ephe. 4. Omnis amarulentia tumor ira vociferatio maledicentia tollatur a vobis cum omni malitia Let all bitternesse and fearsnesse and wrathe and roryng and cursed speakyng be put awaie from you with all maliciousnes And yet for their further instruction I will sende them to a sermon of sainct Augustines makyng sent to the holie brethren that liued in holy chaiste life in wildernesse and chalenged de condigno of iuste worthinesse to haue the name emong the people And leste thei might bee deceiued to take one for an other lette them beare in mynde that the Sermon is the .xlvij. and not the .xxxvij. for this maketh not for them For in this thei maie reade that fornicatiō is farre more forbidden to a Prieste then is mariage and there should thei reade that Priestes had somewhere wiues and yet in suche an abstinence as saincte Augustine writeth that if these aforesaid chaste Prelates went no ofter to their harlottes then thei did to their wiues their faire ladies would not bee halfe so glad of the ouerthrowe of Priestes mariages as thei be Well that thei maie bee sure of that Sermon I will tell theim how it beginneth by S. Augustine Audite nonfratres charissimi sed principes Sodomitarum percipite auribus legem dei vestri populus Gomorrae Audite auditum facite filijs vestris O gens plena peccato grauis īiquitate semen nequà m filij scelerati Eccè dereliquistis deū blasphemastis sanctum Israel alienati estis retrorsum A planta pedis vsque ad verticem non est in vobis sanitas Ideo terra vestra deserta ciuitates vestrae succēduntur igni Regionem vestram coram vobis alieni deuorant desolabitur ciuitas sicut in vastitate hostili Harken O ye not sweete brethren but Sodomiticall Princes heare the lawe of your God ye people of Gomorra heare ye and make knowen also vnto your children O ye people loden with iniquitie and full of synne ye vngratious seede and abhominable children Loe ye haue forsaken God and blasphemed the holie one of Israell and haue turned backe From the sole of the foote vnto the toppe of the head there is no soundnes in you Therefore is your lande become a wildernesse your cities burned vp with fire Your countrey doe straungers deuoure before your face and your lande is laied waste as with the enemies inuasion And thus to make a shorte lesson with you Latine men I will conclude with a Latine Tu autem Apoca. 22. and to all men in generall thus will I
ledde saied to her O wife remember the Lorde Suche were the mariages saieth the storie of holy persones so perfecte was the loue and affection of these blessed folkes And Druthmarus an olde aucthour writyng vpon saincte Matthewes Gospell affirmeth of him thus Cap. xix Quod Christus beatum Petrum coniugatum praeposuit omnibus ordinibus ne virgines superbirent aut coniugati disperarent non posse peruenire ad illum perfectionem quas virgines essequebantur That is Christ made Peter in his mariage head ouer all orders and degrees leste that virgines should bee proude and maried folkes should despaire to attaine to that perfection whiche the virgines had obtained Moreouer if suche priestes as practise mariage be heretiques disciples why did that holy confessor Paphnutius in Nicene couÌ„sail which yet neither had hymself the experieÌ„ce of Matrimonie pronounce with the assent of three hundred Bushops and more of whiche Bushops Nicephorus writeth that some were Maried though at the firste the moste parte were otherwise purposed that maried priestes ought not to be diuorsed or yet separated from their wiues affirmyng that wedlocke was honourable and that it was chastitie the man to coÌ„panie with his wife and so counsailed theim not to make any suche Lawe saiyng that els there were greate cause geuen whiche might be occasion of fornication either to them selues or to their wiues And thus greuously reprouyng them willed them to beware lest by to sharpe a lawe the Churche should bee muche oppressed euery man not beyng able to bears suche austeritie of life and to bee voide from all lustes and affections wherevpon the whole counsaile with one voice did agree to this sentence In confirmation of whiche sentence of Paphnutius the Lawe of Honorius and Theodosius was written A A.L. eum qui. C. de episcopis clericis whiche is at this daie in the East Churche yet obserued But here it wil be obiected paraduenture of this writer or of some other that the Appostles lefte their wiues after thei were called to be Apostles as not meete to be with them in progresse when thei went in preaching into diuerse partes of the worlde and farther thei maie looke to haue it resolued whether priestes alreadie consecrated without wiues maie marrie after their orders or no either by Goddes lawe or by mannes dispensation and whether there haue been anie examples in this realme of Englande that Priestes or Deacons had attempted to marrie after their orders and whether that the fruicte coming of suche mariages were legittimate or no. Untill we come to aunswere suche obiections whether Priestes consecrated vnmaried maie marie after let vs beare in minde that it is affirmed and proued already by the testimonie of auncient Doctoures of the churche that Peter and the moste part of the Appostles had wiues Now whether thei left theÌ„ by mutuall consent after their apostleship or whether thei ought so to do by reason of their vocation vntill this writer can iustlie proue that thei did so by scripture storie or probable reason able to conteruaile scripture storie and reason that maie be brought in to the contrarie we shall geue hym leasure to séeke In the meane time we will further go on to prosecute that wee haue begon that is to expende how proueablie and truely this Ciuilian hath written in this controuersie how boldlie so euer he set a good countenaunce on his matter and as though he had alreadie the victorie And here wée purpose to examine the substaunce of the firste Chapiter of his shameles booke But to folowe on particularlie all his vntruthes were to tedeous for the hearer And therefore wee will deale the more briefly with some of his matter in this Chapiter wherein he confidently affirmeth that heresie and lechery be commonly ioined together and in the fourth leafe of his boke he saieth that heresie misseth not to kepe lecherie coÌ„panie ¶ The examination of doctor Martins first Chapiter and answere to the chief poinctes of the same IN this shameles liyng bookes first chapiter Martine confidently affirmeth that heresie and lecherie bée commonly ioyned together and farther saith that heresie misseth not to kéepe lecherie coÌ„panie whereto maie be added this minor or meane proposition but the Papistes bee heretiques as hath been at large otherwhere fullie proued In Doctor Ponnettes Apologie and firste answer to Martines boke and the rest of his coÌ„plices that thei haue taken parte in the moste principall partes with al the heretiques that haue corrupted the true religioÌ„ of Christ Ergo the papistes be lechours Lo it is often tymes séen he that will be busie to casâ—e stones vp into the aire may haue them light again vpon his owne pate For els to what purpose doeth he speake of Simon Magus Basilides Carpocrates and such other heretiques if it were not to giue hym occasion that should confute his folishnes to searche how the opinions and lies of the Papistes theirs agrée together If it were to declare that because thei were heretiques thei must also be lechours the same induction being now brought against hym and his felowes muste bee no lesse able to proue him and all other Papistes lechours seyng thei do so well agree with the maners of heretiques If it were to proue that priestes which be maried are heretiques because thei faine with their liyng tongues them to bee Lechers then it should followe that all whores of the stewes and whoremoÌ„gers as many of theÌ„ selues be were heretiques whiche I am sure the Papistes dare not so saie for feare of inquisitio hereticae prauitatis that is now entred into Englande and like with the Spaniardes to destroye the libertie of Thenglishe nation wherby no doubt shortlie the noses of the nobilitie shal be holden to the grindestone the neckes of the commons tied vnder the priestes girdles from whiche miserie I beseche Iesus Christ saue so many as fauor from the botome of their harte Christ and the noble realme of England Amen But it maie be that ye sought some occasion in the beginning of your boke to deuise a quarel by colour of your Retorique called canina eloquentia .i. Dogges eloquence Martines weake kinde of reasonyng wherby to bring maried priestes into hatred in alledging that the first maried priestes in Spaine in Rome in France in Italie and so forth wher ye will were heretiques And yet if ye had minded that proofe ye should haue named no heretiques but suche as were maried priestes But seyng al these heretiques whom ye name were vnmaried as it is euident by their opinions condeÌ„pnyng mariage Your argumente is tourned against your self for that thei were heretiques and lechers as you holde and vnmaried virgin priestes as your papistes be And what would ye conclude thereof if it were true Would ye by this define that al maried priestes be heretiques That kinde of reasonyng is not vnlike to this The first borne childe that Adam had Gene. iiii Sam. xv Titus Liuiê° dec i. lib.
into Asia and Affrica and bryng in Panim priestes to set out the matter There is nothyng in your booke written or vnwritten deuised by your owne braine or surmised by heare saie but ye make strong argumentes for your owne vaine and feble cause But briefly to answere this wittie deuise of the difference of the tyme till a â—uller debatemente of that poincte I shall answere as once sainct Hierom was answered in a matter of Priestes and Bisshoppes wiuyng and orderyng by a certaine disputer who defended the constitution of the churche as it was then and as it is at this daie where S. Hierome is on the contrary part holdyng that to haue one wife before Baptisme and a seconde wife after was not therefore an impedimente to be admitted to Priesthode Epistola ad Oceanum or to a Busshoppes office Nonne legisti ab Apostolo vnius vxoris virum assumi in sacerdotium rem noÌ„ tempora definiri that t s Doest thou not reade saieth he that by the Apostles aucthoritie the husbande of one wife is to bee chosen into Priesthode and that the cause and matter is thereby defined and not the tyme If this catholike disputer would haue the saiyng of S. Paule to bee weighed in the nature of the order and mariage rather then drawen to the circumstaunce of tyme and that he must bée the husbande but of one wife either before or after Baptisme at the tyme of his orderyng and therefore maie be eligible to be a priest or bushoppe And as sainct Hierom hym self writeth afterward that it is rather loked for in a priest or Busshop what he is for the tyme presente then what he hath been why not as well maie sainct Paules text and aucthoritie serue for a prieste and a busshoppe to be lawfully qualefied if he be the husbande but of one wife whether he had his wife in the tyme he was no prieste or he take a wife in the tyme after he bée in his priesthode So he be as it is said the husbande of one wife yea successiuely Wherewith ye maie quarell by aucthoritie of some expositours though not with the manifest woorde of God But to be the husbande onely of one wife before order and after order once for all as ye saie the Greeke Churche vseth to doe ye can not quarell rightly by Goddes worde nor yet by reasonable aucthoritie of mannes Lawe or Canon in suche necessitie as ye force and inferre of their saiynges As for the other peece of Nicene Canon where it is saied that accordyng to thauncient tradition of the Churche suche as were not as yet maried and were partakers of holy order should from thence for the contracte no mariage And as for the Canon of the Apostles whiche ye stande so strongly to or yet for the saiyng of sainct Augustine immediatly folowyng the place whiche is here before alledged leste ye should cauill as ye doe that I lefte out the pithe of the matter and would slide sleightly ouer the whole place of the aucthoritie and bryng theim in by patche meales with violent wrestyng as ye vse to doe I will heareafter bryng them put them all together to the iudgement of the reader to geue sentence betwixt vs how farre thei weye in this cause Yet in the meane tyme to make some insinuation to you of sainct Augustines question note ye well his woordes not as a subtile Lawier but like a Diuine and wreste not sainct Augustines licet Cap. 4. haÌ„ E. ii a. Vt notatur ca. â—i Christus de IureturaÌ„â—o and non licet out of their nature as ye doe Quaedam illicita sunt in sui natura quaedam ciuiliter .i. iure positiuo vel consuetudinario quaedam sunt simoniaca quia prohibita quaedam sunt prohibita quia simoniaca Quid autem liceat aut quid non liceat pleni sunt libri scripturarum August in Psa. 147 qui confirmat vectes portarum c. Some thynges are vnlawfull of their owne nature and some by Ciuile constitution that is by positiue lawe Some thynges are Simonicall because thei are forbiddeÌ„ and some are forbidden because thei are Simonical but what is lawfull and what not lawfull is fully set out in the bookes of scripture And then againe note if S. Augustine openeth not his mynde by the like licet and non licet Saiyng AntequaÌ„ Ecclesiasticus quis sit licet ei negotiari facto iam non licet That is Before one hath taken vpon hym the state of an Ecclesiasticall persone he maie geue hym self to worldly affaires but afterward he maie not In like maner Consilium Aurelianense saieth Episcopum presbyterum aut diaconum canes ad venandum aut accipitres NoÌ„ licet 〈◊〉 negotiari intâ—resse ludis c. Distinct. 88 per totum aut huiusmodi res habere non licet It is not lawfull for a Busshop Priest or Deacon to haue houndes haukes or suche like Now call to your remembraunce how your Lawe qualifieth this licet and non licet till we tell you more in this matter In your expendyng if ye take not quid pro quo ye shall doe the better But because the reader maie further heare what saith S. Hierome in the defence of his opinion as is spread in the processe of his saied Epistle and that the prudent reader maie expeÌ„de whether his Rhetorike might not bee applied againste the aduersaries of this cause as well as he vsed it in the like cause I will reporte his woordes what he writeth further there and leste ye should mistake the Epistle I will shewe you how it beginneth Thus therfore he writeth Nunquam fili Oceane fore putabam vt indulgentia principis calumniam sustinerer reorum de car ceribus exeuntes post sordes ac vestigia cathenarum dolereÌ„t alios relaxatos In EuaÌ„gelio audit inuidus salutis alienae Amice si ego bonus quare oculus tuus nequam est Conclusit deus omnia sub peccato vt omnibus misereatur vt vbi abundauit peccatum superabundet gratia Caesa sunt Aegypti primogenita ne iumentum quidem Israeliticum iÌ„ Aegypto derelictum est consurgit mihi Caina haeresis atque olim emortua vipera contritum caput leuat Quae non ex parte vt ante consueuerat sed totum Christi subruit Sacramentum c. Dicit enim esse aliqua peccata quae Christus non possit purgare sanguine suo tam profundas scelerum pristinoruÌ„ inherere corporibus atque animis cicatrices vt medicina illius attenuari noÌ„ queant quid aliud agit nisi vt Christus frustrà mortuus sit c. A paraphrasis of the same By swéete sainct Mary and good sainct Martine to I would neuer haue thought gentle master Martine that it would euer haue come to passe that the graunte and concession of that moste Christian Prince kyng Edward in his high Courte of Parliamente grounded vpon Goddes almightie woorde should euer haue been
a fornicator with many then to be twise maried Montanus and suche as folowe the scisme of Nouatus say that thei haue takeÌ„ presumptuously vpon them the name of chastitie whiche thinketh that seconde mariages oughte to bee forbidden from the Churches Communion Wher the Apostle charged this thing of Bushops and Priestes and released it to other not that he moueth to seconde mariage but geueth pardon to the necessitie of the fleashe And surely to be a Bushop of Priest without blame and to haue one wife is in our power thus far S. Hierome And here againe maie wee learne what it is to fight in controuersies with mans reasons humaine aucthoritie yea though thei bee not craftely couched together contorted as the bragge of this mans booke standeth wholy vpon that poincte and to exclude the scripture or els to bring in the sciâ—iptures for a countenaunce but yet with violent gloses to drawe them against the heere to applie them to that sentence that is satteled in his head alreadie before he coÌ„meth to theim as it is this mannes greate grace in his whole booke And againe here wee maie expende howe circumspectly the Canonistes of Rome affirme that the writynges of the doctors and holie menne of the Churche muste bee holden to the vttermoste ynche Yea thei bee nowe commaunded to bee holden saie thei in all that thei write to the vttermost title Distinct. 9. Nolâ— For so thei speake in the booke of the decrées If this bee true then let Hierome be holden in this pointe or els let them rather force no further mans saiynges and aucthority then of right the authors themselues would be taken and red and as thei themselues vsed to take other mennes writings of what antiquitie aucthoritie soeuer thei were There is a great difference saith S. Augustine betwixt thaucthoritie of the Canonicall scriptures and the writynges of Bushops whether it be of our owne or of Hyllarius or Ciprian or any other And therfore saith he to Vincentius the Donatiste Epistola 41. stirre vp no quarel of their writynges for thei be not so to be redde that in suche wise their testimonies be brought in as though it weere not lawfull to iudge and thinke contrarie if perhappes thei thought otherwise then the truthe required These are his wordes Noli ergò frater colligere velle calumnias ex episcoporum scriptis siue nostrorum siue Hillarij siue Cipriani quiá hoc genus literarum ab authoritate Canonis distinguendum est Non enim sic leguntur tà nquam ex eis testimonium proferatur vt contrà sentire non liceat si fortè alitèr sapuerint quam veritas postulat And in an other book of his de peccatorum meritis Libro primo Caâ—itulo 22. he saieth cedamus consentiamus authoritati scripturae sanctae quae nescit falli néc fallere hominum est labi hallucinari falli fallere decipi decipere Paulo dicente Videte nèquis vos decipiat c. diuinae auÌ„t scripturae robur nullum eiusmodi defectum admittit Lette vs geue place and geue our assente to the aucthoritie of holy Scripture whiche can not bee deceaued nor deceiue It is naturall to menne to slide to bee blynded Collossians 2. to be deceaued and to deceiue to erre and to induce to erroure as sainct Paule saieth take heede leste any man deceiue you by philosophie and wittie reason and by vaine subtilitie accordyng to mennes traditions accordyng to the elementes and ordinaunces of the worlde and not after Christ. As for the stabilitie of the scripture is not subiect to suche defaute And therefore saieth Cyrill Ad Reginas de recta fide Necessarium nobis est diuinas sequi literas in nullo ab earum praescripto discedere It is necessarie for vs to folowe the holy scriptures and in no point to shrincke from that thei do prescribe Yea let vs reade sainct Hierom and all other with that same rule as hymself redde other For in his Epistle to Mynerius and Alexander he saieth Non praeiudicata doctoris opinio sed doctrinae ratio ponderanda est sciat me illud apostoli libentèr audire omnia probate quod bonum est tenete c. Meum propositum est antiquos legere probare singula retinere quae bona sunt a fide Ecclesiae catholicae non recedere It is not the opinion of a writer in his iudgement so before declared that must be weighed so muche as the reason of his doctrine For I am glad saieth he to followe sainct Paules precept proue all thinges and holde that is good And also to giue heade to the wordes of our sauioure saiyng be ye wise and approued triars that if any Coyne be fourged and haue not the figure of Caesar nor is not striken lyke the currant Mony let it be reproued and that whiche clearly beareth the face and Image of Christe lette that bee laied vp in the purse of oure harte for further saieth S. Hierom I professe this as well in my youth as in my age that Origen and Eusebius weere very great learned menne but yet did erre in the trueth of doctrine In the ende he saieth it is my constant vse and purpose to reade the olde wryters to examine euery thyng to holde fast that is good and not to recede from the saieth of the catholike Churche But heâ—re leste this wryter shoulde take aduauntage by these wordes from the faieth of the catholike Curche it is not his minde to enclude the faieth of the Catholike Churche in suche notes persons and places as now men forceth on vs the faieth of the Catholike Churche For the aucthorities writinges of the Clergie in his tyme was not taken of hym to be the catholike churche for his saied opinion was clearly against the constitutions of the Bushoppes in his tyme. And as he saieth in a certen place ad Heliodorum â— q 7. Non omnes Episcopi sunt Episcopi attende Petrum sed Iudam considera c. Non est facile stare in loco Petri Pauli scilicêt tenere locum iam cum Christo regnantium c. Al be not Bushops that haue the name of Busshoppes marke Peter consider Iudas it is no easie thyng to stande in the place of Peter and Paule that is to holde the cheare of them that reigneth with Christe Thei be not the childreÌ„ of the sainctes whiche occupieth the place of the saintes but thei whiche perfourme their woorkes Infatuatum sal ad nihilum prodest nisi vt proijciatur forà s a porcis conculcetur The salt that is vnsauery is good for nothyng but to bee cast forth out of the doores and to be troden vnder foote And sainct Augustine saieth Non omnis qui dicit pax vobis quasi columba audiendus est Corui de morte pascuntur Hoc Columba non habet c. Not euerie one that saieth pax vobis must be hard as a Doue for Rauens féede of carreine the
as thei call vs and laie to our charge wee can not refuse to bee reproued and beaten backe with suche woordes of the holie scriptures So that the proofe and triall of all the matter resteth not in the abused name and appellation but in exteriour actes and doynges the fruites whereby do iudge the trees Moreouer it can not helpe them to alledge sainct Augustine and other suche olde aucthours in the exposition of these wordes prohibentes nubere where sainct Augustine saieth Manichei abhorrebant nuptias tanquam malas etiam propagationis causa damnant creaturas ciborum ê™ natura malae immundae sint Coâ—â—ra faustuÌ„ Mâ—niche li. 3. Ideo ij dicuntur prohibere non qui huic bono aliud melius anteponit The Manichees did abhorre Matrimonie as euil euen in respecte of procreation and that thei condempne the creatures of meates as euill and vncleane of their owne nature and therefore suche are to bee saied to forbidde mariages not those whiche preferre to this good thyng an other better Now I appeale to all the counterfete Catholikes wheresoeuer thei dwell Doe thei so preferre single life and virginitée in priestes that thei call not yet their mariages no mariages that be so already paste and maried or rather doe not thei pronounce suche mariages to bee adulteries and inceste cleane contrary to sainct Augustines doctrine Li. 1. Ca. iii. Iraeneus aduersus hereses A Saturnino Marcione qui vocantur continentes abstinentiam a nuptijs annunciauerunt frustrantes antiquam plasmationem dei obliquè accusantes eum qui masculum foeminam ad generationem hominum fecit The continentes so called of Saturnine and Marcion hath Preached the absteinyng from mariage so makyng voide the creation of God and by a subtile fetche thei accuse hym whiche made man and woman for the generation of menne Where Ireneus hath obliquê Eusebius hath subtiliter accusantes illum â–ª craftely not with open condempnation but by a craftie deuise not apperyng to euery maÌ„nes eyes Is it not all one to condempne Matrimonie as the Maniches do by lawes to forbidde it as Papistes doe Sainct Paule speaketh of forbidders to Mary and of suche as shall be in the latter daies But iâ— this doctor will saie that he followeth neither Martian nor Tartian but good S. Hierome whose saiynges he bryngeth in verie ofte without choise and discretion in good faithe I beleue hym well that he doeth so in deede as the moste parte of all that sect And how farre he and thei differ in praisyng of virginitie condempnyng or forbiddyng Matrimonie ye shall haue a little tast of his opinion writyng against Iouinian where in some places he writeth thus Iubet Apostolus vt semper oremus si semper orandum est nunquam ergo coniugio seruiendum QuomaÌ„ quotiescunque vxori debitum reddo orare non possum Againe puto ê™ nuptiaruÌ„ finis mors sit fructus coÌ„tinentiae vita aeterna Again Nuptiae per se non sunt bonae comparantur incendio Qui in carne sunt deo placere non possunt Againe Nullum periculum ne pereant nuptiae etiam si multos cohortemur ad virginitatem stultorum enim semper infinitus erit numerus Againe Ex quo ostenditur virginitatem non mori nec â—ordes nuptiarum ablui cruore martyrij And contra Heluidium Non negamus maritatas sanctas mulieres inueniri sed quae vxores esse desierunt c. The Apostle geueth a precepte that we should alwaie praie if praier must alwaie bee had ergo wedlocke is not to bee vsed for so ofte as I render due beneuolence to my wife I can not praie Also I iudge that th ende of mariage is death but the fruit of continencie is eternall life Also Wedlocke for it self is not good and is compared to a fire Againe thei that be in the fleshe can not please GOD. Also there is no daunger that Marriage should bee lefte though wee exhorte many to continencie For of fooles the number shall be euer infinite Also comparyng Ihon a virgine and Peter a maried manne he saieth whereby is declared that virginitée shall neuer dye but as for the filthinesse of mariage can not bee wasshed awaie with the blood of martyrdome Also writyng against Heluidius thus he pronounceth we doe not deny saieth he but that it is possible to finde maried wiues holy women but suche saieth he whiche ceasse to be wiues Of whiche place Erasmus could gather no other but that he should meane that mariage is not to be alowed no not for fruites sake And suche other saiynges innumerable hath S. Hierom whom this manne reporteth with suche aucthoritie But in the next parte of this treatise all suche causes shall bée more fully expended to see whether the fained Catholiques of these dayes bee not farre fallen from the true Catholiques of fiue hundreth yeres next after Christ and be not relapsed into the plaine heresies of the Tatianes Manichees and suche other how soeuer thei couer theim selues close as thei imagine Sed omnia dum produntur in lucem manifesta fient But all thynges when thei are shewed at the light be made manifest Furthermore I woulde wishe to haue some considerations more to be waied of this gentle and courteous Ciuilian how he coulde be so rigorous and extreme without any moderation or indifferent equitie so sore to charge Bushops and Priestes for mariyng in this realme with suche ineuitable necessitie and with so vndispensable a boÌ„de to conteine vnder paine of eternall dampnation And further so highly to magnifie this late doyng against them that thei bee gently depriued of all their whole liuynges and that not for fiue or tenne yeres as the equitie of some Canons prescribeth but for euer And to saie that thei bee driuen fauourably out of their ministrations Specially where he maie reade what indifferencie and tolleration is graunted in some counsailes and decrées yea in other christian realmes and dominions and standyng the assertion of so many learned Diuines and Canonistes of the old auncient writers in the church I saie that he could so passe awaie in his readyng and collectyng all their moderations and onely waie the most extreme rigoure he coulde finde in any of them all against the saied mariage of Priestes here in Englande so maried by lawe as thei be Where he readeth I am sure how tenderly and fauorably his Canonistes expounde and glose the hard lawes and canons that be written against Priestes liuyng in open aduoutrie and manifest fornication And yet could not sprinkle some droppes of suche holy water to ease the heate of the hoote zeales and stomakes of some certen of the Clergie whiche for pure honesties sake in respect of their faint liues dare not once touche any of the poluted benefices and promotions that the vncleane maried Priestes haue so longe defiled with their wiues vnworthie as thei be once to be saied aue vnto in salutation And furthermore moste vnworthie
where Ciuilians and Canonistes by suche iontly and commonly procedyng in degrée together and therfore haue greate agréemente and affinitie together and that of this Ciuilian it cannot be saied that he is ouer seen in the lawe Cannone But maie bee called Can all And then againe hath suche a pleasure to bryng in his Tolet counsailes out of Spaine so oft and so thicke that thei beare the greateste rule in his greate mustre of his strounge lawes and great Canons because he would not flater as ye may be suer that he would not yet bring some of these lawes gloses and deuine Canons where by yet he mought haue declared howe throughly and vniuersally seene he is in the Canon lawe and expositours of the same But peraduenture he meaneth the aduauncement again of the Church to restore the old puritie and chastitie of the Clergie as hath been practised And therefore would haue all the world beleue that maried priestes be the most vnlearned priestes in the world most slouthfull and negligent in ministration and that it is most impossible for them to bee oft in the pulpit or visiting the sicke in the night as he saith not keping hospitalitie in the daie nor be at home resideÌ„t and that thei be moste couetous to gleane and scrape for their wiues and children and therefore keepe no howses at their benefices and that thei bee most vncarefull and vnnaturall for their neuewes and that thei dooe nothyng els but sitte by their wiues side and daunce them on ther lappes all the daie longe and that thei cannot be well iudged in any thyng that thei do but are to be suspected in all the towne beside for their experience and are to bee iudged that thei can not bee contented with one woman alone Now on the other side he would haue good catholike menne brought again to good belief to thauncient faithe of the churche to the good opinioÌ„ that thei haue had of the clergie before tyme to suppose well of all their doynges not to suspect them in any case because thei looke so sainctly thei speake soe deuoutly and carpe so catholikely not to feare them though their wiues cal for them oâ—te in their sickenesse to be visited in the night and to be confessed and though thei knowe by Lente confession for whom thei shall praie for al the yere folowyng not to iudge their doynges but to presume alwaie well of theim And therefore he would haue the worlde wonne againe to the Articles that bee in their holy Canon lawe Where it is written by thaucthoritie of Pope Antherius â—i q. 3. Absit Absit vt quicquam sinistrum de his arbitremur qui Apostolico gradui succedentes Christi corpus sacro ore coficiuÌ„t per quos Christiani sumus Qui claues regni coelorum habentes ante iudicij diem iudicant c. God forbid that we should thinke any thyng sinisterally of theim whiche beyng the successours of the Apostles in degree make the bodie of Christe with their holie mouthe By whose meanes wée bee Christen people For thei haue the keyes of the kyngdome of heauen and doe iudge before the daie of iudgement In the old lawe saith he who soeuer had not obeied the priestes either he was cast out of the hoste and stoned of the people or els had his head strikeÌ„ of with a sworde and so the contempte reuenged by his blood But now saieth he the disobedient is cutte a sunder by spirituall execution or els is he caste forthe of the Churche and is rente in péeces with the rauenous teethe of the deuill The glose noteth therevpon Clericus amplectens mulierem presumitur bene agere Si ergo clericus amplectitur mulierem interpretabitur ê™ causa benedicendi eam hoc faciat vt Dist. 96. In scripturis quamuis CanoÌ„ solam coÌ„fabulationem interpretatur in deteriorem partem c. A Clerke embrasyng a woman-muste bee presumed that he doeth well Some old peuishe Canon of the Apostles or of the primatiue Churche If therefore a Clerke take a woman by the middle it must be interpreted ê™ he that he doeth it to geue her his blessyng as in the .96 Distinction Ca. In scripturis although saith he the Canon will interprete the onely talkyng with her into the worste parte Yea S. Peter is brought in in the same distinction to speake when he ordeined Clement to be his successor Dist. 96. ca. quicunque Quicunque contristauerit doctorem veritatis peccat in Christum patrem omniuÌ„ exacerbat deum propter quod vita carebit aeterna What soeuer he be that will molest and make sadde a doctor of the truth he offendeth against Christe and doeth prouoke God the father of all for whiche cause he shall also want eternall life Thus thei would haue the people brought againe to their olde faithe and credulitie and not to bee to suspitious of them that professe virginitie But of the maried Priestes let theim thinke as euill as thei can deuise for he so desirâ—th it and to muche punishment is to little for theim And yet theim selues stande in doubte some tyme whether thei maie performe this common catholike faithe one of them to an other In so muche that in respecte of their holy chastitie 24 q. â— Quis vidâ—â— belike wherof thei neuer haue hartie repentaunce their owne Canonistes saie Quis vidit dignè sacerdotem poenitenteÌ„ Who euer sawe a prieste worthely sory for his offence And therefore sainct Hierom in that distinction searching the old stories saith I can not finde any other to haue rent the churche and that haue deceiued the people but onely those whiche are set of God to be the Priestes and Prophetes thâ—se be thei which be turned to craftie snares in all places geuyng slaunder Chrysostome agreeth to hym de poenitentia Dist. i. Quis aliquando vidit clericum citò poenitentiam agentem si depraehensus humiliauerit se non ideo dolet quòd peccauit sed ideo coÌ„funditur quia perdidit gloriam suam Who euer sawe the spirituall man tourning from his faute For though he be taken and humbleth him self yet he is not heauie for that he hath offended but for this cause he his confounded for that he hath lost his estimation And in deede there bee some misteries in doctrine in this matter that priestes committyng fornications with twentie women and so liue all their life long bee not yet halfe so euill as Priestes that haue wiues Whiche wholsome doctrine a man maie some tyme heare not onely of meane learned men but of some of the hiest learnyng that holdeth so Which secret mischief me thinke this man Marten should haue in his head by the maner of his writyng For where he laboureth with greate trauaill of his witte to proue secular Priestes votaries that the Priestes vowe standeth in this point sc neuer to marrie that is to abiure mariage and to conteine from mariyng which vowe some Lawiers and Deuines to do call
votum negatiuum Now saie thei the priest if he Marrie he surely breaketh his vowe and is in great daunger but if he committe but adulterie or fornication he breaketh no vowe for he vowed but the abiuration of Mariage and no refusall of fornication though peraduenture Chastitee maie bee thought to be annexed to his order by some scrupulous Pope-holy obseruation But yet in greate disputation emong theim whether single fornication be sinne or no and greate argumentes pro contra and long occupied in the Schooles yet at the worste he breaketh no vowe nor is any heretique as the Prieste that taketh a wife Suche conclusions beyng so openly expressed in summarie bookes it is no maruaile though thei repente so seldome and though thei them selues can not trust well one an other of chaste liuyng For Nicholas Panormitan beyng an head Lawier and in chief aucthoritie emong them sawe so little cause by his experience to bee out of suspition towarde the Clergie that he geueth a rule to spirituall iudges in this cause saiyng that an othe maie neuer be geuen to hym of whom maie bee taken a vehement suspicion that he will breake it and there vpon geueth a greate charge to the Ordinarie that he compell not the Clergie to sweare to forsake their Concubines the Iudge synneth deadly saieth he to offer and exacte suche othes And Alexander the third Extra de cohab cleri mulie prescribeth it as a Lawe that the Clergie ought not to bee compelled to abiure their concubines Thei bothe sawe what presumptions might be taken that thei would neuer forsake them yea there is nothyng more earnestly restrained in their Canons then that any Priestes should haue any womeÌ„ in their houses where at the tyme of Nicene Counsaile and in Ciprians daâ—es thei were yet contented that priestes had in their houses their mothers their doughters or sisters or their wiues but yet no maide beside So in the latter daies it was decréed in a Counsaile at Magunce that thei should haue neither sister aunte nor mother in their companie For saieth the Counsaile it is well knowen that by the instigation of the Deuill abhomination hath been committed with theim Thus though theim selues were neuer of that belief for thei sawe by inuincible experience alwaie the contrary so that thei could not truste thereto them selues yet the laitie muste beleue their chastitée to be of the old auncient faithe of the churche that thei maie not bee euill thought of and so commaunded by Nicholas the first in his rescriptes Tit. 14. de presbyteri distinct 28 consulenduÌ„ de presbyteris Vobis qui laici estis nec iudicandum est nec de vita eorum quicquam inuestigandum Of the priestes you that be laye people maie not once iudge of theim nor yet to make any serche of their liues And to proue that it was the common faithe many hundreth yeres ago and so accepted by the examples of the higheste potentates of the worlde as of one of the moste and firste Christian Emperours that euer was or euer shall bee thus it is there written what he would dooe if he sawe a Busshoppe lye in bedde with an other mannes wife as Nicephorus telleth the storie In scripturis narratur Constantinum Imperatorem dixisse Vere si vidissem proprijs oculis sacerdotem dei c. peccantem chlamidem meam expoliarem cooperirem eum ne ab aliquo videretur c. It is tolde in the scriptures that Constantine the Emperor said thus Truely if I should see with myne owne eyes Goddes Prieste or any of those that bee in the habite of Religion to sinne I would doe of my clocke or purple Robe and would couer hym that no man should se him Lo this ConstaÌ„tine was our countrie man the rather should Englishe menne be good to Priestes Concubines I thinke it would be a greate while ere this holy Martin of his Ciuilitée would extende his charitee so farre as to cast to poore maried priestes any parte of his cloke to couer their lawfull Matrimonie from the eyes of enuious and ignoraunt people as this Emperour of his charitée would couer the Priestes harlottes But it maketh no matter seyng that Elie the Prophet hath caste downe the cloke of Gods woorde to defende the maried Priestes from the colde frosen hartes of wicked ignoraunte Lawiers and captious Sophisters Thei neede care the lesse to come vnder his patched beggars Cloke But let vs heare what is more saied to the aduauncemente of the catholike faithe The self same Constantine beyng presidente in the holie Counsaile of Nice when he heard that there should be brought to hym coÌ„plaintes of certaine Bushoppes saied openly Vos a nemine diiudicari potestis quia ad dei solius iudiciuÌ„ reseruamini Ys maie not be iudged of any man for ye bée reserued to the iudgemente of God a lone which catholike saiyng sainct Gregorie reporteth to Maurice the Emperoure with some further circumstaunce thus The Ecclesiasticall storie saieth he witnesseth that when there were presented certaine libelles of accusation againste certaine Busshoppes to Constantine of Godlie memorie he tooke them in his handes Not the Bushoppes but the Lâ—bels and he called the self same bushoppes before hym and castyng them into the fire saied goe ye and order your owne Counsailes emong your selues Ego vos non iudicabo a quibus debeam ipse iudicari I will not geue iudgemente ouer you of whom I ought in myne owne persone to be iudged For it besemeth not our worthinesse that we should iudge Gods In whiche senteÌ„ce saith Gregorie he wrought hym self more honor by his humilitée then he did to theim to whom he shewed suche reuerence Although yet my Lorde of Winchester write quam vocem presentis reuerentia virtutis non potestatis aliquaÌ„do expresserat whiche saiyng declared more the humilitée of his preseÌ„t vertue then expressed the truthe of his aucthoritie The vtteryng of whiche his affection ought not so to be forced saieth my lorde that ye should mocke out or defeate the charge committed by God to the Princes aucthoritie Dioretus lib. i. cap. xx reporteth an other maner of saiyng by hym spoken whereof thei liâ—â—e to make no greate boste to the Bushoppes of Nicomedia Si habemus Episcopos castos orthodoxos humanos gaudemus si quis audacter inconsulteque ad memoriam ac laudem pestiuÌ„ illarum exarserit illius statim audatia ministri dei hoc est mea executione coercebitur If we finde the Bushops chaste catholique and curteous we will be glad but it any will boldly and rashely reuiue again by his furiousnesse the pernicious examples that be paste his presumption shall bee restrained by iuste execution of my self that am Goddes minister But these saiynges bee nothyng so pleasaunt nor so often vttered of Emperours and kynges as that other whiche Pope Paule the thirde in his admonition to Charles Emperour that now is could repeate again as his predecessours hath alwaies been wonte
either dried by the smoke or sodain by fier And if he leste to eate it rawe it must be doen after Easter Now whether S. Augustine maie meane of suche constitutions let M. Martine expende But to returne it maie chaunce that this Ciuilian to aduouche his other saiyng will outface the matter with the Spanishe stories or counsailes in Spaine to proue the maried Priestes in England to bee like the Apostatas and Heretikes in Spaine And then ye knowe he hath soore charged theim with an hainous name beside the note of dissolute contempt of good and auncient orders in the church and saie that of verie like crafte and subtiltie belike thei put awaie their crownes as other Heretikes and Scismatiques put forthe laye mennes bokes out of churches by whiche thei might haue read many a good Catholike lesson if thei had remained still And euen so might the Laye people by beholdyng the priestes shauen crownes haue had a faire letter thereof to haue red there that thei had vowed chastitee For what els might thei say doeth that faire wéekely shorne marke and circle declare so well looked vpon that at euery sacryng of the Masse it is as sone and as well espied as the Sacramente the whiche some poore simple purblynde people doe some tyme mistake the one for the other and in stede of their wheatē God worship a baulde crowne And if it were not a signe of the holy vowe of their chastitée ye maie bee sure that that holy Pope Anicetus .xiij. yea full .xiiij. hundreth yere agoe so nye Christes tyme that he was the tenth as sainct Hierome recordeth or the eleuenth Bushoppe of Rome at the furthest in succession to Peter He I saie would neuer haue ordained that a clarke should in no case suffer his héere to grow contrary to the precept of the Apostle as Platina writeth and so to haue a crowne fashioned like a little circle as Petrus de Natalibus writeth and Cronica Martini aduoucheth the same If there had been no misterie in the matter The priestes of the Catholike Churche would not so ofte in their Masses haue crossed it and blessed it with the self same parte of the paten of the Chalesse where with a little before thei had touched the Masse cake whiche thei call the bodie of Christe If it were not an holier token then master Polidore maketh of it to bee but a signe of the paryng awaie of the affection of worldely possessions and that their affectiōs should be set on high vp to heauenward And thus ye see maie this Catholike Ciuilian saie how craftely the heretikes meant to blotte out suche letters of credence whiche were signes of their vowe of Chaslitée and so remoued the olde markes and dooles whiche the fathers before them did laye whiche full many an holy man hath vsed tyme out of minde in al ages and in all countries euen from Anicetus daies who died a glorious martyre and not like to dye for trifles Good reader if I should make no answere to this weightie conference but stande mute or if I should stily slide and steale awaie with a by matter with a craftie figure called lieger du Mayne this aucthoure beyng so well skilled in this trope and figure I should bee espied For it is hard haltyng before a crepell thei saie for then straight waie should the victorie bee proclaimed againste the cause And therefore I must saie somewhat First I answere that this Ciuilian shamefully slaundereth the maried priestes to resemble them like to the hereticall priestes of Spaine that will weare no crownes nor put on gownes And againe it is as vntrue that the Englishe crowned priestes be like the Catholike priestes that of olde tyme were in Spain For what storie or Chronicle he followeth I call not tell nor it forceth not muche though I neuer knewe But I reade in a Counsaile of Spaine euen at Tolet the fourth Counsaile and fourtie Canon thus Omnes clerici vel lectores sicut Leuitae sacerdotes detonso superius capite toto inferius solam circuli coronam relinquant Catholike priestes in England bee like Heretike priestes in Spaine Non sicut hucusque in Gallitiae partibus facere lectores videntur qui prolixis vt laici comis solo capitis apice modicum circulū tondent Ritus enim iste in Hispanijs hucusque hereticorum fuit Vndè oportet vt pro amputando ab ecclesiis scandalo hoc signum dedecoris auferatur Et sit vna tonsura vel habitus sicut totius Hispaniae est vsus Qui autem hoc non custodierit fidei catholicae reus erit Let all Clarkes or readers aswell the Leuites as Priestes shaue of the vpper parte of their whole heade and leaue but onely a crowne of a little circle beneathe not as the readers bee seen to doe to this daie in the partes of Gallitia whiche doe but shaue a little circle in the onely tippe of their heades and haue beside longe heere as Laye menne haue For this rite and custome in Spaine to this daie is the heretikes guise and token Wherefore it is necessary for the abholishyng of this slaunder from the churche that this signe or shame be taken awaie and that there bee one rasure and apparell as is the guise of all Spaine And whatsoeuer he bée that will not obserue this he shall bee guiltée against the catholike faith Thus farre the Spanishe Counsaile Now reade the woordes of this Ciuilian and compare his truthe and remember againe his owne Lawe Qui semel malus semper praesumitur malus in eodem genere mali He that once is euill is supposed euer to be naught in that kinde of naughtines And then lette hym recken on the winnyng to see what he hath wōne to him self and what the maried priestes haue lost therby Ye maie also spie good catholike shorne priestes in England in the high tippe of your heades what ye haue wonne also how ye be honested by your marke For this Spanishe Counsaile affirmeth by the instincte of the holy Ghost whiche was president in the Counsaile and therfore could not erre that it is the marke of shame and dishonour it is the token of Spanishe heretikes it is a slaunderous signe to bee abolished out of the Churche it is the rite of suche Priestes as bee guiltie of the Catholike faithe Hath not this youre Proctour and prolocutour thincke ye dooen you muche pleasure so sodenly to come out of Fraunce to sette his penne post hast to the booke to make you Spanishe Heretiques Scismatikes and vncatholikes Heere I would wishe the Commenter of the decrées and decretals with al his distinctiōs to take this matter to glose to make it whole and sound But maruell not good reader though if he appere not much to care though he bee taken Taken Nay taken onely will not suffice Or els that he thinketh that he can not bee reproued in that thing whiche to searche for in the triall of it must cost you
Countrée as he wente by his greate power that he had with hym without resistaunce And neuerthelesse aboute that same very tyme the kyng hymself in his owne persone weÌ„t into Fraunce and there did what it liked him In whiche passetyme it was brought hym woorde that the Scottishe kyng was stollen into his Realme and had wonne Barwicke and that he made daiely assaulte to winne the Castle there Wherevpon the saied kyng Edwarde retourned againe and recouered the saied towne of Barwicke and went further into Scotlande and pursued the Scottishe kyng so narrowlie that he compelled hym to submitte hym self to the kynges grace as prisoner and resigned his power into the kynges handes And whiles this was in doyng the saied prince Edward his sonne warred vpon the Frenche men and lastly came to Burdeaux with many riche prisoners and Pillagies to his great honor In whiche said passage although the earles of Armenacke of Foyz of Poyters and Cleremount with sir Iames de Burbon and many other knightes were in the same countries yet went he through without battaill In whiche season to declare that immediatlie after the saied greate mortalitie the realme wanted no people the duke of Lancaster had an other armie and entred the Countrie of Constantine And if this master Martin would looke in the Chronicles he should espie how prosperously this saied Duke did in that viage and on the other side how valiantly the saied Prince Edwarde achiued his iourney beyng in suche confidence of victorie and honoure that would ensue that he would not bee induced or intreated to any peace how oft and how diligently soeuer that good InnoceÌ„t the .vi. then Bushop of Rome sent his Cardinals to that same effect I name hym good for he decreed vnder paine of eternall curse that euerie prelate should bée resident vpon their benefices and for that he brought his familie to a lesse number chosed them out of the best But the saied Prince Edward I saie notwithstandyng passed fourth to Poyters where was a wonderfull battaill fought and wonne by hym In whiche were slaine of the frenche part diuerse Dukes and menne of warre to the number of eight hundreth and of Baronets liiij beside Knightes and other meaner menne of warre And were there taken prisoners Iohn the Kyng Philip his fourth sonne with other Archbushops Bushops and men of name to the numbre of xv hundreth and aboue If this accouÌ„ter would therefore take his counters and laie the likelihoodes of these matters together peraduenture he might be brought in doubt whether that this smaller parte of the Clergie whose multiplication he so muche feareth and therfore would so faine haue them stopped and yet that greater part of the Clergie too whom by the collection of his writyng he enfraunchiseth very liberallie to be rouers without daunger where thei will at there pleasure how fast soeuer thei plied them selues should yet come to shorte a greate deale to make the realme comparable with that numbre that God in those daies fedde and maintained with lesse succour of foren thinges brought into the realme then is vsed at this daie Marie peraduenture not so much stolen then out of this realme by some suche priuate lurching Cormarantes as now be spoken to be abrode But as concernynge suche records of the plentie of the people ouer that it is now whiche hath been before tyme in England notwithstaÌ„ging yet this faithfull charitable manne is in suche wanhope that if Priests mariages should be suffered the realme could not with all the increase that might growe therin sustaine the multitude Noe not once able to comprehende them and therfore should of force be compelled to practise Turkes deuices and Souldiars policie for debating and for foreseiyng of this high policie in tyme. I maruell if he haue not some frendes to aduaunce hym to bée of the counsaill for ye maie be suâ—r he hath highlie deserued it I beseche almightie God kéepe all suche clawbackes suche hoote spurres from Princes Counsailes God sende vs slowe Iudges spedie Batliffes Not so hastie maisters of the Chauncerie the Courte of Conscience Againe to note youre sinceritie how you handle that proposition of sainct Paule propter fornicationem vitandam vnusquisquè vxorem suam habeat vnaqueque suum virum For auoidyng fornication let euerie man haue his wife and euery woman her husband Ye saie that D. Ponet falsely bringeth in to proue thereby that all menne haue libertie to marie for the auoidyng of fornication for ye saie and that by thaucthoritie of sainct Hierome Cap. xi x.1 b. that all the question of sainct Paule standeth in this poinct whether the Corinthians should now after thei had receiued the faieth of Christe put a way their wiues that thei had maried in thier paganisme And further ye saie if in this poinct and nothing els was the summe of all the whole questioÌ„ as Hierome affirmeth that it was than hath D. Ponet and all the sectes of Germanie most shamefully alledged this place of S. Paule for their purpose to inferre and proue there that al men and women without exception either ought to marie or may marie Cap. xi v.4 a And these be your owne wordes And further ye say that to disproue this ye will cite thre or four of the most auncient writers with this further assurance of credite and warrantise that ther shall not be found any some of the olde fathers or auncient writers of the Churche that dissenteth from them And then ye recite Tertulian Chrisostome Ambrose and Hierom Now in this point of your warantise and credite let vs trie youre trueth But firste before we shall recite you some of the olde fathers how thei haue vsed this place in that sense that ye deny sainct Paule ment therin and that al the question was but in one poinct nothing els we shall alledge to you one that is a diligent although but a late expositour whiche vpon deliberate expendyng of the purpose there propouÌ„ded perceiued more questions answeres then ye liste for the hate of the cause ye haue in hande to see and spie Faber stapulensis expendeth that there were xiiij seueral answeres and doctrines set forth by S. Paule orderly written to the questions of the Corinthians Firste if a man be not ioyned to a wife it wer good if he did not couple hym self to a wife and vtterly not to touche any woman at all Secondly leste some occasion of fornication might steale in vpon a man then it were lawfull to euery manne to haue his peculiar wife and to euerie woman her proper and peculiar husbande For a proper and peculiar man is saieth he a lawfull husband Thirdly he that hath a wife maie not without his wiues consent containe but render to his wife due beneuolence and so on the other side the wife to the husbande the cause is declared for that the husbande hath not power of his owne body nor the wife power of her owne bodie The fourthe whether
and an auncient writer in the Churche whiche if he be then be you a yong fonde and a newe starte vp wrangeler But because ye be a Lawier I shall reporte you a Counsaile and a Lawe to that vseth this propositioÌ„ vniuersally and not within suche narrowe limittes as ye driue it vp euen a counsaile of Spaine holden at Tollet the seconde Counsaile the firste Chapiter in the v. yere of their kyng Amalrike and aboute the tyme of Pope Ihon the seconde whiche is a reasonable Canon in respecte bothe for the age of him that is receiued to order also for the libertie that is geueÌ„ either to abide or to recede froÌ„ his purpose of subdeacoÌ„ship or deaconship Hijs auÌ„t quibus voluntas propria interrogationis tempore desiderium nubeÌ„di persuaserit coÌ„cessam ab Apostolo licentiam i. Cor. vii auferre non possumus But as from those who by their owne proper will are perswaded and haue a desire to marrie at the tyme of their examination we caÌ„ not take awaie from theim that libertée that is graunted theim by the Apostle I praie you what other sentence or license is concluded in the seuenth Chapiter in the section a but this propter fornicationem autem vnusquisque vxorem suam habeat c. For the aduoydyng of fornication let euery man haue his wife And in the Lawe ye shal finde the self same againe reported Dist. 28. de hijs where the gloser saieth thus vpon the verie place Quod ergò de iure coÌ„muni competit negandum non est The benefite of the common lawe maie be taken awaie from no man Moreouer Chrysostome vpoÌ„ that place Bonum est homini mulierem non tangere it were good for a manne not to touche a woman Where as he saieth some would haue it applied perticularly vpon Priestes he saith vpon the consideration of the circumstaunce of the place that it is not so particularly to bee taken but vniuersally and concludeth non ergo sacerdoti dum taxat hoc dicitur this is not spokeÌ„ to the priestes onely Which discourse foloweth immediatly vpoÌ„ that place brought in by the saied maister Martin vpon whiche wordes Theophilact writeth thus Bonum eximia res est cuiuis mortalium nec soli sacerdoti promde ac nonnulli malè intelligunt mulierem non attingere sed virginem permanere Tutior autem nostramque plurimum imbecillitateÌ„ adiuuans est matrimoninij res Et postea quia si se non continent nubant vides sapientiam Pauli quomodo meliorem moÌ„stret esse continentiaÌ„ nec interim tamen cogat si quis non possit vt ne peius flagitium committatur Si enim multam inquit vim sustinet vstionem magna enim concupiscentiae tyrannis est discede a laboribus istis ne quando subuertaris It is a good and an excellent thyng to euery man in the worlde not to touche a woman but to continue a virgine and that not onely to the Prieste as many men doe euill vnderstande it Notwithstandyng the matter of Matrimonie is more sure for it helpeth verie muche our weakenes And vpon that place if thei conteine not lette them marrie the said Theophilact noteth thou seest the wisedome of Paule how he sheweth that continencie is better and yet notwithstanding he compelleth not thereto if any manne can not and that leaste worse inconuenience should bee committed For if he suffereth muche violence saiethe he and brennyng for surely the tyranny of concupiscence is greate recede from those labours least thou beest ouerthrowen at any time Then maister Martin vpoÌ„ these two old writers saiynges I argue If Paule did write this matter aswell to priestes as to Laie men then either must ye grauÌ„t that sainct Paule would priestes then maried for feare of fornication should retaine still their wiues whiche thei had married already or els that priestes vnmaried muste for auoidyng fornication get them wiues Whiche whether soeuer ye graunte is the subuersion of the moste parte of all your whole booke In chroni abb vrspergensis But will ye heare what Huldaricus Bushoppe of Augusta writeth to Nicholas the firste of whom ye maie here your name He reciteth the text Propter fornicationem dixit Vnusquisque suam vxorem habeat ê™ specialiter ad laicos pertinere mentiuntur hypocritae qui licet in quouis sanctissimo ordine constituti alienis reuerav xoribus non dubitant abuti ê™ flentes cernimus omnes in supradictis saeuiunt sceleribus Hi nimirum noÌ„ rectè scripturam intellexerunt cuius maxillam quia durius pressere sanguinem pro lacte biberunt For fornication he said let euery man haue his wife Which saiyng and confession to perteine specialy and onely to the laye folke is a plaine lye of the Hypocrites which in what holy order soeuer thei be set yet without boubt thei force not to abuse other mennes wiues And these be thei whiche doe rage in the forsaied crimes sc of abusing their fathers wiues to vse the filthie occupiyng of mankinde and of brute bestes which filthines we can not beholde saieth he but with weeping teares These bee thei whiche doe not vnderstand the scriptures aright whose breastes whiles thei presse so harde thei sucke out cruell blood in the stede of sweete milke And further in the ende of his Epistle chargeth theim with the crime of heresie that inioyne suche constrained Chastitée where ye affirme Chap. ix.q.x. that thei were all heretikes that did continue with their wiues whiche thei had maried before their orders And here to preuente your cauilation where ye might saie that I should haue gone a litle further with this bushops writyng for sooth I answere I would all the whole were written in Englishe that laye menne might see how it maketh for you that would haue Priestes diuorsed For the whole Epistle is an vtter confutation of youre booke But sir till hereafter stande vpon that whiche followeth as strongly as ye can and yet shal ye neuer be able to extende that saiyng vpon seculer priestes ordered in England who haue made no profession or vow of perpetuall chastitie But ye will replie vpon occasion of Chrysostome Theoqhilact saiynges before rehearsed that this former text Bonum est mulierem non tangere it is good for a man not to touche a woman to belong aswell to the laye man as to the priest But this saiyng for avoidyng fornication let euery man haue his wife to pertaine to laie menne onely whiche yet Huldarichus sheweth the contrarie Sir if ye bee so harde for nigardshippe to holde the priestes to the straite of the first sentence and not to giue them the libertie of the sentence followyng I weene ye will be answered of the priestes maried and vnmaried as seruanntes in the countrie will answere their nigard maisters that will ioygne them to fast on the vigils in haye seile and haruest That is if we be compelled to fast in the vigill precedyng we will suerly make
to expende and to expound the lawes of the realme in suche preiudiciall maner as he doth I would faine knowe how he can glose that Acte of Parliamente made in the .xxxij. yere of that noble Kyng Henry the eighte whiche is not as yet repealed but confirmed a newe for some parte thereof concernyng the prohibitions of the Leuiticall Lawe and standeth in sure force at this very daie wherein is plainly expressed that no reseruation or prohibition Goddes Lawe except shall trouble or empeche any mariage without the saied Leuiticall degrees And that all suche bee lawfull persones to contracte whiche bee not prohibited by Gods lawe to marrie I thinke this man can not saye that priestes mariages bee within suche degrees Ergo thei ought not to be troubled or impeched as this Lawe commaundeth And where this doctor writeth in th ende of his .ix. Chapiter full learnedly bee ye suer R. ij specially for a greate maister of the Chauncerie that the two actes in Kyng Edwardes daies aucthorisyng priestes mariages doeth not take a waie the penalties of the Canon lawe whiche assertion for the like how far it may be extended let wise menne iudge But if thei did he saieth yet could not the priestes take any aduauntage by them longer then thei did continue And he addeth his reason because saith he the auncient lawes of the churche as sone as the saied two statutes were taken awaie came straight in force againe Further saieth he for that thei were neuer extinguished but only for a time shadowed and brought a slepe And this he saieth is the opinion of the chief Doctors of the Ciuill lawe Now Master Ciuilian if ye had alledged this opinion as of suche as be learned and beareth good hartes to their owne naturall lawe of the realme your saiyng had been better proued in my conceite And I doubt muche whether it bee true that ye saie that the beste Ciuilians agréeth with you I thinke if it were searched there might be found as good Ciuilians comparable with those whom ye note to bee the chief Doctors of the Ciuill that bee not in your iudgemente in this your gaye booke And whether ye haue any manne learned in the temporall lawe that will ioyne in this opinion with your chief doctors in the Ciuill Lawe I would yet wishe euâ—n those though ye haue craftly trained them into suche opinion by the odiousnes of this cause of the poore priestes yet to aduise theÌ„ well for suche causes might arise to them selues in compasse of seuen yeares in the like cases that peraduenture thei would wishe not to haue it so vniuersally concluded as ye conclude it But sir yet let me aske you a question by the occasion offred of that Lawe of Kyng Henrie Anno. xxcij where it is determined in lawe wherof I thinke ye cannot shewe the like in this realme since Brute came first into England and ye knowe that it is a great wonder to your wit for thinges to come in law that fewe menne hath seen the like example before tymes I meane I saie for the nature of precontractes whiche by that statute bee vtterly voide if a second contract followeth and bee consummated with bodely knowledge Ye knowe that this acte for precontractes is repealed againe Anno secundo Edwardi sexti and restored to that force as once it was and so long before continued many hundreth yeres What do ye entend with such mariages as at this daie be a great meiny in Englande which began and were aduailable by force of that act seyng this act is now repealed Whether maie ye dissolue suche marriages and pronounce them nought seyng ye saie the â—orce of the olde Canons yea the force of a statute lawe too is in strength againe and debarryng euery man to vse that kinde of second contractyng for hereafter When ye haue well answered this one question I thinke suche as bée learned in the law could deuise more of suche kinde to set your gaie witte on worke And if ye list ye maie read that suche equitie was prouided for in the first yere of Kyng Edwarde the sixte in the .xj. Chapiter concernyng the peaceable enioiyng of mennes interestes geuen by acte before though afterward followeth a repeale by the Kynges letters patentes of the saied actes the parties might pleade the said actes repealed for there grauntes so enioyed by lawe I praie you coÌ„sider whether these rules of the lawes folowing might not haue place in this cause where it is saied Factum legitimum retractari non debet licét casus postea eueniat quo noÌ„ potuit inchoari A facte that was once lawfull ought not to bee called into question againe although afterwardes there happen somethyng that myght hinder the beginnyng of it Et multa prohibentur fieri que facta tamen tenent Many thynges are prohibited to be doen whiche when thei once bée doone must yet stand Indultum a iure beneficium non est alicui auferendum A benefite graunted by law must be taken from no man If any cause might be reduced to the equitie of these lawes I thinke the cause of Matrimonie beyng Gods ordinaunce ought to bée indissoluble and not to be retracted Moreouer if these mariages aforesaied ought not to bee dissolued but muste enioye the benefite of that statute when it so stode though it be repealed for hereafterward why should that act of repeale made in the first yere of our soueraigne Ladie the Quéenes maiestie Quéene Marie takyng a waye only but the libertie for Priestes to marrie for hereafter impeache or hinder those lawfull mariages of priestes before aucthorised by as good lawe and as often tymes before these daies seen more then king Edwardes repeale caÌ„ or ought molest these mariages for their maner of contractyng Furthermore if vpon repeale of actes as ye do saie your slepyng Canons should therby be straight waie in force watching and wakyng to shewe their face to byte and barke as the ordinaries in some places would haue them I doubt whether al the Quéenes highnes subiectes should haue so quiet reste in their beddes as thei would wishe and as their forefathers before tyme prouided for them selues by kepyng this slepyng tye dogge in his kenell not to come to farre a broode for bityng And because this Ciuilian deliteth to skoure his wit in lawest I desire his resolution in one doubt rising by occasion of his forsaied determination whiche is that all Ecclesiasticall persons lieth open to the old Canons of the Churche by reason of this acte of repeale Kyng Edwarde in his first yere made a statute repealyng all maner actes before his tyme made for punishement of Heresies as well the acte of King Richarde the seconde made in his first yere the act of Henrie the .v. made in his second yere the actes of Kyng Henrie the eight made in his xxv yere the act of .vj. articles made in the .xxxj. yere one other act made in the .xxxv. yere concernyng qualification of the
chastitee is no otherwise conceiued of our priestes then as it is propounded to them by the Busshoppe in suche proposition Then I reason thus The Busshoppe propoundeth not this propositioÌ„ to our priestes in Englande Ergo there is no vowe in them conceiued so none begotten or brought to birth Ergo Englishe priestes be no votaries by your owne coÌ„cession Your thirde argumente hangeth thus Priestes crounes in their heades signifie a vowe Ergo Englishe Priestes bee votaries Now I haue proued that matter to bee farre vnlike that their crounes should bee signes of any vowe but rather of other thynges And that ye bee fondly deceiued as I trust ye doe perceiue by this tyme and then I argue thus The priestes crounes signifie no suche vowe Ergo by that signe Englishe Priestes be no votaries Or thus The NazareaÌ„s shaued of their heere wheÌ„ their vowe was doen and paste the Priestes bee like the Nazareans as ye saie Ergo by the shauyng of their crounes thei bee paste their vowe and not vnder their vowe Your fourthe argument of Taciturnitie holdeth thus Priestes Ordered by the Romane pontificall kepyng their silence at the Bushoppes proposicion binde them selues by their Taciturnitie to a vowe of continencie Ergo Englishe Priestes ordered by their owne potificall wherein no suche proposition is spoken bee vâ—taries Furthermore your owne difinition is of a vowe that it should bée a deliberate or aduised promise made to God for a better entente and purpose And further ye saie that by reason of the Priestes profession and vowe annexed he is a votarie can not Marrie Then thus I argue Englishe Priestes make no suche promise or profession nor the Busshoppe requireth any suche promise nor any proposition doe include suche profession or promise Ergo by the maner of their orderyng Englishe Priestes be no votaries and therefore without let of any vowe maie Marrie And Ioannes Genesius saith that there is no greater impedimeÌ„t against their mariage then their vowe suche as it is And then standyng that no suche vowe is made by them it foloweth that the greatest impedimente is by his aucthoritee well wiped awaie And all these argumentes made for the negatiue holde as well as all those whiche he bryngeth in for his affirmatiue Thus ye see what doctrine he hath vttered to Ecclesiasticall Iudges to leane to for their hastie proceadynges of diuorsyng suche persones maried And therefore if either in his blindnesse or malice or yet ignorauÌ„ce he geueth the occasion to vnlearned Ordinaries their Commissaries to attempt wilfully that thyng whiche neither Gods worde nor mans worde can approue or beare I would not be in his coote for suche threates of Christ Ve homini per quem offendiculuÌ„ venit bonuÌ„ erat illi sinatus noÌ„ fuisset homo ille Wo be to that man by whom offeÌ„ce commeth and it were better for that manne if he neuer had been borne for all the gaines he shal haue in the Chauncerie as long as he liueth He maie haue a zeale peraduenture as other good menne maie haue but let hym consider etiam atque etiam ne sit non secundum scientiam leste it be not accordyng to knowlege leste cruelly crucified Christe and poore stoned Stephen bee not without remedy compelled to saie and crie once againe Nesciunt enim quid faciunt for thei knowe not what thei dooe Deus conterat satanam sub pedibus nostris breui vt cognoscamus in terra viam suam The Lorde treade Satan doune shortly vnder our féete and graunt that we maie knowe his waie vpoÌ„ yearth O Anglia si lumen quod est in te tenebrae sint ipsae tenebrae quaÌ„tae Sed olim vobis O patres dicet dominus Reddite rationem villicationis vestrae Venite ad iudicium O Englande if the light that is within thee is become darkenesse how greate then is the darkenesse it self But the Lorde in tyme to come shall saie vnto you O fathers geue an accoÌ„pte of your Stewardshippe Come ye vnto the iudgement How can this doctor of the Ciuill Lawe plaister vp these matters to proue hym self either learned wise or sincere excepte he bee skilled in suche kinde of glosyng to salue his â—iles as the Doctours of the Lawe Canon be that can saue all that euer thei reade or speake how contradictoriously so euer it be that thei saie so ye will geue them leaue to expounde their owne saiynges and admitte their owne gloses and distinctions Truely me thinke this mannes witte should bee as fitte to glose the Decrees and Decretalles as he was that is the common approued groser And so of many Lawiers anâ— Diuines oft alledged for aucthoritée Precipimus saieth he id est permittimus Statuimus id est abrogamus Dist. 4. Statuimus Vxores ducere id est retinere In deede this Lawier can in suche sorte glose S. Paules wordes when he saieth vnusquisquè pâ—opter fornicationem vitandam suam vxorem habeat Habeat gloseth he id est retineat But how truely wee haue in parte before brought in bothe his Doctours and Counsailes to trye this truthe Praedicare Euangelium saieth the saied gloser id est Legere vir inuita vxore non debet orare id est peregrinari with infinite suche wherein he wandereth so farre from the texte that many tymes he destroieth the very texte it self And therevpon the Deuines of Paris in articulis condemnatis after the maister of Sentence detecteth this gloser as a corruptor of the texte self with his peruerse gloses and biddeth beware of him and all suche Lawiers and gloses yet the pretense of this gloser is to saue all the olde Lawes Ca. 9. R. ij Canons and Counsailes Marie when thei be to good to pure and to plaine to cauils awaie then he runneth to this mannes shift to saie that the first Canons be abrogated by the later that is the better by a great deale the worse For he forceth all his witte and laboure as this manne doeth euen the same to frustrate the woorde of God to make it of no effecte that the traditions of manne maie come in the place thereof And doeth euacuate all olde good Lawes and Decrees of the fathers to stablishe the Lawes presente to temper all our religion in faithe and maners to the present state of the Churche as it is now and hath been so corrupte this fiue or sixe hundreth yere as a sorte of Cardinalles not long ago moste manifestly did acknowledge diuerse corruptions in the churche to Paule the thirde in their supplication But commonly it is seen that the more parte euer ouercommeth the better so that there came no profite therof For the others would not haue the state or the honor of the churche altered in any wise or decaied And this is the onely marke I feare me that this aucthour shoteth at in all his tragicall doynges neither Goddes holy honour truely ment neither the pure immaculate spouse of our sauiour Christ his true Churche regarded but
an other Churche more glorious in outwarde shewes more gainfull in goodes and possessions Not the true Priestly chastitee and godly state of sober liuyng sought for to the like commendations in the Bushoppes and Priestes as diuerse of the old holy Bushoppes and Priestes liued in but an other maner Clergie and Churche of other maner notes and tokens then to bee vna sancta catholica Apostolica Ecclesia That is one holy catholike Apostolike church God geue grace that the booke of Sapience proue them not one daie Insipientes Sapi. 12. saiyng haec cogitauerunt errauerunt execauit enim eos malitia eorum Et nescierunt sacramenta dei neque mercedem sperauerunt iustitiae nec iudicauerunt honorem animarum sanctarum Suche thynges dooe the vngodly imagine and wāder out of the waie for their owne wickednesse hath blinded them As for the misteries of God thei vnderstand them not Thei neither hope for the rewarde of righteousnesse nor regarde the worship and honour that holy soules shall haue Alas what shall it auaile to winne the stinkyng glorie of the worlde and loose oure soules Geue eare therefore ye that drawe the multitude after you ye that haue Landes Rentes and Possessions ye that sitte in the place of aucthoritee and power occupiyng the Benches of right and iustice your power is geuen you of God who shall examine your hartes and actes For when ye shoulde haue been Ministers of his Kyngdome ye iudged not aright nor kept the law of righteousnes nor worked not after the will of God c. to late shall it be to say with the forgetfull vnwise we fooles thought their life verie madnes Sap. ◠and their ende to bee without honor Therefore we haue erred from the waie of truth the light of righteousnes hath not shined vnto vs and the sunne of vnderstandyng rose not vpon vs. We haue weried our selues in the waie of wickednes and destruction Tedious waies haue we gone but as for the waie of the Lorde we haue not knowen What good hath our pride doen vnto vs Or what profitte hath the pompe of riches brought vs All these thynges are passed awaie like a shadowe c. suche wordes saieth the wise man shall thei that haue erred speake in hell Good reader iudge not that I vtter these thynges of stomake or euill wil but of pure cōscience before God howsoeuer it shall be derided of carnall Epicures belye worldlynges seruyng the turne of the tyme. God forbid I should defame the true catholike churche to be a mēbre wherof is so my study that els I looke not to be saued ▪ I meane Peters ship not Iudas Carricke I meane not Peters person but Peters confession against which not his coūterfetted successors not al the gates of hell shal euer preuaile The stone is laied the rocke is suer ipse fundauit eam altissimus He that is the most higest hathe founded her Lyes may muster and the trueth may bee put out of countinaunce Sed Dominns custodit veritatem in saeculū seculi The Lorde doeth maintaine the trueth for euer and euer I enuie not nor doe maligne at the aucthoritee of Busshops and the spirituall fathers of the realme but muche lament that the true preachyng fatherlie procedyng in their vocations is no better emong some exersised and regarded Wisshyng them no lesse iurisdiction and estimation in discipline and aucthoritie becomming them then was in Ambrose towarde Theodocius And wishyng for noe lesse obedient Princes Nobles and Commons and no lesse liberalitée in them neither then is reported by themselues to haue been in Cōstantine Theodocius Iustinus or Iustinianus and suche other So that thei againe were Ambrosis in most thinges and Siluester in many thynges reported to bee doone by them for in all God alone muste haue that promise reserued to hymself Furthermore I speake nothyng of grudge against this writer but geue God thankes for the excellent gift of witte and readyng which he declareth to haue in him offeryng him to God in my praiers that his tallentes bee bestowed to Gods glorie and not to his owne and so inconclusion to his owne confusion to the conseruation of this commō wealth and not to the ruine therof to the helpyng of his poore countree menne and not so vncharitably to raise vp wonders and slaunders against them and most vnmercifully to endaunger them to the Queenesse highnes her Magistrates Nobles and Commons in suche sorte as he doeth with suche a glose of witte and circumstaunce as is able to bewitch the wise of the worlde if he be not weighed and expended If he would haue shewed his learnyng in such a cause could he not haue otherwise handeled it but to vtter his owne corrupt stomacke so detestably Could not he haue so entreated the question but that his aduersaries peraduenture his best frendes to Godward must be thus imperilled by his vnbridled language It is pitie that witte and youth should be knit together and that witte and learnyng should take so euill a part Marie if he had aucthoritie how farre would he goe God saue the realme from suche hotte spirites But yet God is strong inough to aunswere hym 1. Cor. 1. He can make foolishe the witte of the wise of the worlde he threateneth to destroy the wisedome of the wise and reproue the vnderstandyng of the learned that no fleshe shoulde glorie in his sight As for the entent of this man I iudge by his handlyng of the cause by the trade of his doing that he could haue made an other maner of booke euen in the contrarie part specially if he would haue armed hymself with suche stuffe and weapons as he dothe in his booke for the maintenaunce of this opinion Or if he had been therto hyred or if he had loked to haue had so greate thanke of that beggerly sort as he trusteth he hath deserued and wonne otherwhere by this his labour he could haue saied somewhat Prauum prauum est cor hominis saieth Hierome quis scrutabitur illud Wicked wicked I say is the hart of man and who shall searche it to the bottome Well there is a God that can searche Furthermore good reader my labour tendeth not to this end that I would expresse onely a grieffe and doloure in compassion of the straunge handlyng of the busshops and priestes so ordered as thei be although I thinke that offendyng in mercie is soner pardoned and amended and more borne with to then offendyng in extremitée and rigour in al reasonable comon wealthes Nor yet I meane not to iustifie the vniuersal sort of the maried Busshoppes and Priestes in all their light and dissolute behauyour whatsoeuer it hath been in any of them from the hiest to the lowest But I would that spirituall fathers put on suche affection toward the people of England be thei lay fee be thei of the clergie that God bee not angrie with them If thei forgette what he laieth to their charge speaking
sacerdotibus Anglorum antea non prohibitas quod quibusdam mundissimum visum est Li. 7. Chro. Iorenalli Nicho. Trucet quibusdaÌ„ periculosum nè dum munditias viribus maiores appeterent in immunditias horribiles ad Christiani nominis summum dedecus inciderent That is Anselmus Archbusshoppe at the feast of S. Michael helde a Counsaile at London in the whiche he forbade priestes to haue wiues which were neuer before forbidden the whiche thyng semed to some to be moste pure to some others daungerous leaste that whiles thei seeke puritee more then strength is able to beare thei fall into horrible impuritee to the greate dishonor of their Christian name Loe thus writeth Huntyngton of Anselmus Counsaile a Busshop more seuere superstitious in this poincte then became his learnyng and peraduenture in some other poinctes also Anno domini 1502. ColaÌ„tes culiâ—â—â—â— Cameliâ—n de glutien if it be true that WillyaÌ„ of Malmesburie writeth of hym sc that he neuer vttered any woorde the remembraunce whereof did greue his conscience where yet he remembryng that aboute supper tyme he did eate a rawe Herryng he knocked hymself on the breast and bewailed his synne for that he had taken rawe meate against the Lawe Well this good father in his hotte zeale against mariage chastitee gaue great aduenture to induce libertee of Sodomiticall vice for whiche he was compelled in the self same very Counsaile to prouide by Canon chargyng that crime with excommunication vntill the offenders and continuers therein by coÌ„fessioÌ„ and penaunce should deserue absolution where the Clergie for mariyng continuyng in the same should neuer bee absolued by confession or penaunce In deede Dunstane before the Conqueste with Ethelwolde of Winchester and Oswolde of Worcester all three Monkishe Busshoppes expelled Secular maried Priestes out of Cathedrall Churches but condempned not their mariages nor separated them Yea the stories reporte that thei expelled secular priestes bothe maried vnmaried except suche as would by coÌ„uersion be made Monkes Of whiche three Ranulph saieth of Ethelwolde beyng commonly called the father of Monkes that he was a good manne in other deedes though he were badde in that dooyng Li. 7. and broughte thereto by counsaile of whisperers and titifilles And certainly it could bee no greate good deede of charitee so muche to iniurie the Secular priestes and to aduaunce the Monkes suche as thei wer in those daies de Pontificibus as Willyam of Malmesburie writeth De pontificibus whose woordes be these Monachi Cantuarienses sicut oeÌ„s tunc temporis in Anglia secularibus haud absimiles erant nisi quod pudicitiam noÌ„ facile proderent canum cursibus auocari auium praedam raptu aliorumque volucrum per mane sequi Spumantiâ— equi tergum promere tesseras quatere potibus indulgere delicatiori victu accuratiori cultu frugalitatem nescire parsimoniam abnuere caetera id genus vt magis illos CoÌ„sules quaÌ„ Monachos frequentia famulantium diceres That is The MoÌ„kes of Canterburie as also at that tyme all the rest in England were not vnlike to the Secular menne sauyng that thei would not lightly lose their Chastitee thei were sone called from their religious contemplations to see the runnyng of their houndes thei followed earely in the Mornyng their praie in haukyng of birdes and other wilde foule thei ride abrode on their fomyng Palfraies thei plaie at the dice thei geue them selues vp to drinkyng and quaffyng and by their more delicate fedyng and their more nise apparellyng thei had no knowledge of frugalitee and contemned temperancie and suche other of that kynde that a man might haue called them rather Consulles then Monkes by the greate traine of their waityng men Whiche thyng saith the storie Lanfrancke the Archbusshoppe beholdyng held his pacience for a tyme and would not vtterly discharge their daintée myndes with any sharpe discipline For he knewe as he was moste skilfull in the arte of artes that is in gouernyng of soule that long custome is halfe an other Nature and that by sodaine tourne of maners the tender myndes might sone bee exasperated Wherfore with gentle monitioÌ„s as occasion of tyme would serue abatyng sometyme one vice sometyme an other he did whette their myndes to goodnesse with the Whetstone of vertues and so forthe in the storie Thus maister Martin ye maye not onely see prudente moderation of this auncient father in his gouernaunce cleane contrary to your disposition but also ye maie note how truely Polidore writeth in this greate matter of expeliyng Secular Priestes out of their churches That is as it is afore rehearsed expellyng euill priestes and brought in worse Monkes But to retourne againe to our former matter To alledge more writers in so manifest a matter were to tedious and therefore in this allegation your owne reproofe may be well retorted against your self MendaceÌ„ memorem esse oportet A liar had neede to haue a good remembraunce Now sir because you would hold your penne still in slaunderyng immediately after you fall to an other slaunderous lye where you bee not ashamed to saie that the tale written of Ioannes Cremensis Presbyter Cardinalis is forged of some heretike and that it is like to be one of Bales counterfette stories in his booke of votaries whiche ye call a filthie and scouldyng booke Litera KK a. hauyng more lyes then liues Wherein ye saie is neither honestie of woordes nor truthe in matter O maister Martin if your self and those whiche framed your boke had seen so muche in historie as Ihon Bale had doen ye would neither haue slaundered his writyng neither belyed historicall antiquitée Ye would rather haue inwardly lamented for suche monstrous filthines to be charged by storie vpon suche as ought to bee lightes and Lanthornes vnto all other in godlines and puritee of life and would rather haue remedied that vnspeakable vnclennesse by them to openly vsed with Goddes holy institution of Matrimonie But sir where you attribute this storie of Ihon Cremensis to some heretike ye make many fatte heretikes and where you saie it is but a tale forged and one of Bales counterfette stories Lib. 7. ye shall heare what Henry Huntington recordeth thereof Ad Pascha Cremensis Cardinalis Romanus descendit in Angliam peregrinatusque per episcopatus abbatias non sine magnis muneribus ad natiuitateÌ„ sanctae Mariae celebrauit concilium solenne apud LondoniaÌ„ c. Sed quià Moses dei secretarius in historia sancta parentum etiam suorum vt virtutes ità vitia scilicet facinus Loth scelus Ruben proditionem SymeoÌ„ Leui inhumanitatem fratrum Ioseph nos quoque veram historiae legem de bonis malis sequi dignum est Quòd si alicui Romano vel praelato displicuerit taceat tamen ne Ioannem Cremensem sequi velle videatur Cum igitur in concilio seuerissimè de vxoribus sacerdotum tractasset dicens summum scelus esse à latere meretricis ad corpus
by their solempne profession betwixt an inclusiue and an open vowe betwixte Priestes and Monkes Thus farre doctor Martin I report this note good reader but to thyne owne iudgemente whether thou maiest not marke a notable poincte of folie ignoraunce or wilfulnesse in this fonde Ciuilian thus to wrest and drawe the woordes of his aucthoritees â—xtra de voto quod voti reâ—emptione so farre against the heere as though bothe al mennes reasons were not against his note and as though the Lawe it self saied not ê™ alia est causa monachi alia clerici â–ª And further there is written ê™ plura profitendo promittit Monachus quaÌ„ recipiendo sacrum ordinem clericus And for diffrence it is written in the Extrau of Ihon the .xxij. Chapiter Antiquae Coniugatus ante copulam sacrum ordineÌ„ suscipiens cogitur ne ad coÌ„iugem sed habitum monachi suscipiens Exâ—t de coÌ„uers comugas Cap. verum â—â—vobas qui transgredimi mandatum Dei propter traditioneâ— vestram Math. potest inuita vxore ire ad religionem cogendus ibi manere vinculum coniugii inefficax redditur The maried manne that vndertaketh holy orders before carnal knowledge of his wife is inforced to go to his wife but he that becometh a Monke maie against his wiues wil goe forwarde to his Religious profession and ought to bee compelled therein to remain and so the band of mariage to be without force or strength Cardinall Caietane writeth whiche Thomas also .2.2 affirmeth Quòd votum per se solemne est indespensabile per illud decretale cum ad Monaste Quod est regularium sed votum per accidens quod est annexum ordini sacro quod est secularium est dispensabile .4o. sententiarum Ergo alia est causa Monachi alia Presbyteri That a vowe whiche of it self is solempne is not to bee dispensed with if it bee of Regulers But a vowe of a secular not annexed to his holy order called a vowe per accidens maie bee dispensed with well inough and therefore the condition of the Monke and of the Prieste bee diuerse Whervnto bothe Antonine in Summa part .iii. and Bonauâ—nture .iiii. sententiarum Distin .xxxvii. doe agrée WhervpoÌ„ your thrée notable poinctes beyng well waied are not worthe three agglettes It is a true lawe to bee verified of hym self that he reporteth in his fifth Chapiter Lâ—aÌ„ G .iiij. Semel malus semper presumitur malus in eodem genere mali If it be true that your self pronounce in your tenth Chapiter that it is the nature of heretikes euer to take a peece of the aucthours woordes and not the whole sentence I would desire the indifferent reader by expendyng your reporting of your Doctors and Counsailes after this maner to iudge of what complexion ye be of Seing therefore to borowe some of his owne woordes this Doctor Martin coyneth suche notes and argumentes whereof some of them be false in forme and some false in matter saiyng in his obiections he depraueth scripture misconstrueth his aucthours misreporteth stories misnameth his doctors seinyng Ambrose to be Augustine and Cirill Origen and yet corrupteth them all all to this ende that he mighte frame a probable argumente in an vnprobable matter I truste good reader thou wilte credite no further his stoute bolde assertions and glorious processes then the truthe of the matter will beare his cause But because I will not be ouer tedious I lette diuerse other suche foule shamelesse lyes and deprauynges vntouched But as for the aucthoritée of sainct Augustine de bono viduitatis where he proueth the mariages good euen of votaries though their promise breaking be condempned he toke the next waie to corrupt the text For he saw plainly it could not be otherwise shifted of with all the gloses he can deuise it is so manifest And though it hath béen wonderfully drawen racked of diuerse suche wittes 17. q. 1. Nuptiarum bonum In glosa as doctor Martin hath yet to the indifferent reader that will expend the very text in S â–ª Augustine and the processe he goeth about it must nedes purge it self of al the drosse thei can cast vpon it though Pighius falsifieth the text and Petrus Lombardus leaueth out the woordes of the moste pithe to blinde the reader And some there be that to plaie it a waie expound all the whole treatise of sainct Augustine in that poynct to be ment of a simple vowe and not of a solempne vowe Some glosers affirme the first part of the processe to be ment of simple vowers and the latter parte sc plane non dubitauerim dicere c. to bee ment of solempne vowers And these two shiftes hath this doctor Martin of those glosers beside his owne peculiar deuise of mangling and manifest corruptyng the texte Some glosers affirme it to bee wholly ment of solempne vowers and some glosers are so bolde to deny sainct Augustine and affirme that here he slept and that he did not well reason in this matter As the common gloser of the decrées Gardineâ—us contra BuceruÌ„ Lib 3. And some shifteth of the matter after a newe sort and saie that sainct Augustine did write this his opinion before the churche had otherwise defined this cause vz. that mariages after the vowe should be no mariages wherby he meaneth that sainct Augustine speaketh of solempne vowes For the church at these daies doeth not yet decree that mariages after simple vowes be no mariages or that thei ought to bee dissolued Whiche saiyng if it bee true then I put it to the indifferent reader to expends whether the mariages of votaries after their vowes beyng thought good and not to be dissolued from the Apostles daies â—â—l sainct Augustines age and so in his tyme thought good how nought soeuer thei were to breake their aduised vowes whether we may not better sticke to sainct Augustines aucthoritée and to the common faith that was before his tyme rather then to that definition whiche hath been made since contrarie to the faithe of those writers Specially seyng the Busshops of England many of them yet liuyng at this daie in their booke of institution of a christian man teache plainly that it apperteineth to christen kinges and Princes in the discharge of their duetie to God to reforme and to reduce againe the lawes to their old Limittes and pristine state of their power and iurisdiction whiche was giuen theim by Christe and vsed in the primatiue Churche For it is saie thei out of all doubt that Christes faithe was then moste firme and pure and the scriptures of God were then best vnderstand and vertue did then most abound and excell And therfore the customes and ordinaunces then vsed and made must nedes be more conforme and agreable vnto the true doctrine of Christ and more conducyng to the edifiyng and benefite of the Churche of Christ then any Custome or Lawes vsed or made since that tyme. And so forth in their exposition of
for continencie Therfore leste he should driue the state into a narrow strayght if he had prescribed most exact vertue therfore he chose rather to moderate his counsell lest els vpon mistrust that menne might haue to reache to so hie vertue the churche should be without Busshops Thus farre Chrysostome If suche fathers as were head and moste excellent pastours of the churche were expended M. Martin in their writinges in their moderations and if true chastitee of the clergie in deede were sought as is pretended yea if it were left to euery mannes libertée freely as Epiphanius saieth that in Thessalia no man was compelled but of their owne will thei performed that chastitee ye should haue an other maner Clergie in Englande shortly to Goddes glory and honour and wealth of the realme then ye be like this waie do the best you can with all the straint ye can vse I tel you M. Martin the world is to farre past the calling of your pipe If ye feare that insolencie and dissolute behauiour should deface the Clergie if this were suffered why Master Martin wherefore serue your Synodes your Busshoppes and archdeacons visitations onely but to gather vp their mony why might not the old Godly Canons be reduced again to expell thē out of the Clergie that are incorrigible To depose Haukers Hunters Dycers Cardars Dronkerds Byers and Sellers Horehunters Usurers and Symoniackes Let these Canons be reuiued if euer ye will haue your Clergie of good fame before God and of good name before man Yea with lesse lawe of compelled chastitée peraduenture ye might haue the more numbre of true chaste Priestes in deede But be as bée maye But now M. doctor wher ye make it a great matter for priestes to mary after their order because ye haue seen no example nor yet can not reade it written in any record or Chronicle I shall answere you with the wordes of a very new writer Genesius de ritu nuptiarum Hic enim non quid factum sit fiat ve querimus sed omnino quid fieri possit in tam varia tamque inconstante rerum humanarum natura And with the like wordes of an other newe writer Non est scriptum Ergo non est factum Non est factū Ergo non licet facere Vt factum sit vel non factum hominum facta non debent praeiudicare verbo dei ▪ quid si destitueremur exemplo hominum cum habeamus verbum dei That is to saie Our question is not in this poinct what hath been doen but determinatlie what maie bee doen specially standyng the variable and inconstant nature of thinges that parteine to man For what argumente is it It was neuer written Ergo it was neuer doen It was neuer doen Ergo it is not lawfull to bee doen Howsoeuer it hath been doen or vndoen mennes doyngs maie not preiudice Gods saiynges And what if we lacke mannes example so we haue for vs the word of God And if we could bring no example is it therefore intollerable I praie you Master doctor of the Chauncerie answere your learnyng Is the lacke of a president a preiudice to the law and right Were he not a wise lawier that would brable on this fashion against the Queenes maiesties title for beyng supreme gouernour of this realme because we haue not had many examples of the lyke before tyme And saie when was it euer seen in the realme since Christes faithe toke place here since Christe was knowen in deed that a ladie woman in her owne title should be the ruler and head of the land Yes how many yeres before Christes birth was there seen suche an example And will ye see He might saie The very auncient Lawes themselues of the realme renneth all in the name of the kinge neuer of a Queene The prerogatiue roiall all inuestured in the persons of a kynge as forseeyng suche example should or could neuer followe in vre c. Were not this mannes reasonyng yea foolishe cauillation thinke you a substaunciall processe to disproue a title for lacke of an example When God nature lawe testament publike consent all concurreth together of the lawfulnesse thereof And yet if this Ciuilian would so faine knowe where to see or read some examples of suche as maried after their orders and vowe I will tell hym at this tyme leste he should lose his calfe of fower in good storie till an other time that we shall be able to shewe hym .xxiiij. and that written I will shewe hym of twoo of my saied fower in Ecclesiasticall storie And the other in other credible Historiographers And at these laste twoo I will begin Master Martin if ye list to resorte to Volateranus Lib. 4. Geograph because I wil sende you no further there ye maie reade that one Nicholaus Iustinianus a Mōke maried Anne to wife whiche was the daughter of Vitalis Duke of the Uenetians And Munster in his Cosmographie writeth that Ramirus Monke and Priest was taken out of his Monkrie and Priesthode and for lacke of issue of his twoo brethren Peter and Alfonsus was made kyng of Aragon and Spaine and called Ramirus the fourthe of that name And because wee haue made mention of Spaine ye maie resorte to a late Spanishe writer Ioannes Genesius and he will be my witnesse for one of these twoo that I haue rehearsed And for that ye shall thinke your labour well bestowed to searche it out of hym he will tell you of a third votarie called Constantia daughter of Rogerus kyng of Naples or Cicile as some writers saie whiche was taken out of her Monasterie to be maried to Henry Emperour the firste of that name and that after she had made a solēne vowe And yet her constauncie not flaundered by this facte at al. For it was doen by the dispensation of Pope Celestine the .iij. highly blessed and it was as highly rewarded And if we should iudge the facte by Platina his storie the dispēsation was not geuen neither in respecte of soule health nor common wealth but euen with as couert wordes bought and solde as any was said Quid vultis mihi dare c. but because we haue named you a noble woman that was taken out of her Abbeye after her vowe and that a kynges daughter we shall name emong our nation a kynges sonne to matche her and was heire apparant to kyng Constantine the seconde about the yere of our Lorde 444 who was in like maner no more charged with inconstancie for forsakyng his vowe as she forsoke hers then he differeth from her in name For he was called Constantius and was Monke in the Monasterie of sainct Amphibolus at Winchester which of late was called sainct Swithunes and hath now the holy Trinitee for patron whiche I trust shall kepe still his possession doubting nothyng that either Amphibolus or Swithune will take vpon them to intrude thē selues againe As for this Constantius that was taken out of his Abbeye and made
feceris quod postulo ab hac te fidei sponsione absoluam I am in the apostles sea and yf thou wylt do that which I request I wyl absolue thee from this promise of thy fidelitie Well sayth the kyng I wyll entreate of this hereafter and shortly sent vnto hym his messengers to signifie that it is not for the kynges honour to consent to such absolutions agaynst a mans fayth And farther sayde that except Thurstone woulde make his profession to the sea of Canterburie he shoulde neuer sit in the Churche at Yorke whyles he was kyng of Englande by compulsion of any edict from the pope whatsoeuer this haue I promised and this sayth he wyll I obserue But it may be thought peraduenture vnlike to be true that the pope would come so farre as to Gisors aforesaid his owne person to speake with the kyng it may so be obiected by some Romanistes who labour so hye to aduaunce his deitie but to such as be indifferently read in storie it is not incredible For Matthewe Paris reporteth howe that pope Innocent vsed his craftie deuice by his Cardinals towardes kyng Henrie the third in the .xxix. yere of his raigne Which Cardinals only louers of money craftyly sent to the kyng vnder the colour of great frendshyp their counsell which they auouched to be both holsome honorable glorious to the Realme and very profitable that was that he shoulde sue by his messengers to the popes holynes to come personally into his Realme which say they shoulde be honor most excellent to Englande and immortall glorie that in your dayes the lorde pope whiche is knowen to be the father of all fathers shoulde appeare personallye within the coast of the Englyshe nation For say they we remember well that hym selfe hath sayde whereof we reioyce that he would very gladly see the daintie sightes of Westmonasterie and the riches of London When this was knowen to the kyng he was very glad and woulde easelye haue bowed to this subtyll councell except he hadde ben holden vp by the contrary counsayles of his subiectes learned to gaynesay it or dissent to satisfie this his desire Qui dicebant quòd satis imo nimiū iam suorum caursinorum vsuris Romanorum ac Italicorum rapinis simoniis Angliae puritas maculatur quamuis non presentialiter bona ecclesiae regni dissipet predetur Which sayde that the puritie of the Realme of Englande was alredy enough yea to much defyled by the vsuries of his cormorantes and by the extortions and simonies of the Romanistes and Italians though that he do not by his presence waste and robbe the goodes of the Churche and of the Realme And farther they sayde for that the sayde pope was denyed any entrie into the Realme of Fraunce though that he required the same by his solempne ambassadours so his entrie was denyed to enter into the realme of Aragon For saith the writer Infamia enim curiae papalis id promeruerat cuius fetor vsque ad nubes fumā teterrimā exhalabat The infamie of the papall court had deserued this repulse the stinche whereof dyd breathe out euen vp to the cloudes a most detestable fume Edm. lib. 6. And as concernyng any commyng of any legate into the Realme he woulde neuer admit one as long as he lyued And though that pope Calixt sent into the Realme afterwarde his moste solempne legate Petrus Romanus monachus Cluniacensis commyng in a more portly glorie then euer any dyd before the kyng so disposed the matter that after he was come into Englande wylled that he shoulde neither visite churche nor monasterie commaunded that he shoulde be brought to be at hoast with him for he sayde his Realme of Englande was free from the iurisdiction of any legate and so shoulde be duryng his lyfe for so had Calixtus promised hym Wherevpon after some liberalitie bestowed vpō him on the kynges behalfe the king sēt him ouer againe the way he came out of England though his cōmyng was to haue exercised his office of legatship thorough the hole Realme If the reader wyl know the cause why that Thurstone fell into the kinges displeasure was for that he askyng licence of the kyng to go to this councell of the bishop of Rome and coulde not possiblie obteyne the same before he made his promise vpon his allegiance that hè would do nothyng with the pope in preiudice of Canterb. churche nor woulde by any mans perswasion receaue his episcopall consecration at his handes which so faythfull a promise to the kyng he contemptuously brake notwithstandyng wherat both the kyng and the nobilitie dyd much maruell for such infidelitie But suche was the obedience in those dayes to their princes for the more fauour they bare to this forrayne vsurper that is in playner tearmes falsely forsworne to the kyng their liege lorde and enemie to the Realme so farre as it myght stande to the aduauncement of the popes iurisdiction whose creatures they were and so reioyced in common speache to call them selues and as it myght with the satisfiyng of their owne gaynes dignities and pleasures Thus farre out of the common written stories haue ben alleaged the rather by the occasion of entreatyng of byshop Anselmes tumultuous doynges who was the firste that euer in England toke vpon hym to diuorce lawfull matrimonies in all priestes so many hundred yeres vsed in quiet possession in the Realme and many of them stablyshed by Lanfranckes constitution and as he the first so the most extreme agaynst all ryght and conscience vntyll the raigne of Quene Marie in whose dayes Hildibrandes spirite was raysed vp agayne and Anselmes whot Munckyshe zeale in lyke sorte prosecuted as it was in his tyme. If any man be offended with so much in particularitie vttered let hym vnderstande these matters to be fetcht out of the bokes of such stories most written by munckes who both in wordes deede and wrytyng professed the state of perfection expressyng all charitie therfore can not be thought to rayle in the writing of their stories which saith both Matth. Paris and Henrie huntyngton muste be perfourmed in all trueth without any parcialitie eyther of personages for honour and holynes nor maye not be transgressed for loue of kyn or frendes whatsoeuer After Anselme archbyshop folowed Rodulph a seuere muncke in profession also Rodulph first an Abbot in Normandie after that byshop of Rochester and in conclusion archbyshop of Canterburie of whose dayes no great recorde is extant of makyng or forcyng any decrees or constitutions agaynst maryed priestes although it is reported of Edmer that he was very seuere agaynst the said Henrie the first Ioannes Hagustaldensis beyng a prince of such godlynes that one Cronicle writeth so much to his cōmendation that he saith Post quem princeps non surrexit alius qui sic iniustas regni exactiones interdiceret subditos in pacae modestia sapientius disponeret c. After whose death there folowed no
in Iure ecclesiastico accordyng to the ecclesiasticall lawe If ye wyll nowe knowe in what state the priestes were in that lande it may be vnderstande of a canon of the councell kepte there by certaine bishoppes Lib. Sinodal Ecclesie VVigoruÌ„ vnder the names of Patricius Auxilius Iserninus and this dyd they constitute Quicunque clericus ab hostiario vsque ad sacerdotem sine tunica visus fuerit atque turpitudinem ventris nuditatem non tegat si non more romano capilli eius tonsi sint vxor eius sine velato capite ambulauerit pariter a laicis contemnantur et ab ecclesia separentur What clarke soeuer from the dore keper to the prieste be seene without a coate and doth not couer the vnseemly partes and nakednes of his body and againe yf his heares be not shorne after the romane fashion and yf his wyfe shall walke abrode without any couer vppon her head let them be both contempned of the laitie and sequestred from the churche Lo thus as Iohn Auentine saith priestes had at that tyme wyues publiquely Lib. 5. as other christian men had and dyd procreate chyldren as I do fynde saith he in certaine deedes of gyftes which they made to temples and to professed munckes in which instrument their wyues be rehearsed by name as witnesses with their husbandes be called by an honest appellation in latine Presbyterissae Thus priestes were not forbydden so they had but one wife at once and not many no yf they had diuers one after another and free to them by saint Paules graunt so they mary in the Lorde Vnius vxoris vir Tim. iii. Nor saint Ambrose hym selfe doth denie this trueth but playnely affirmeth that it is lawfull and not prohibited no not for bishoppes to haue a seconde wyfe after the death of the first Although saith he that he may be woorthy to be a bishop he must refuse those thynges whiche be lawfull for the dignitie of his order Which holy Ambrose bishop of Millane dyd permit in his churche priestes freely to be maryed and so testified by Barnardinus Corius in his chronicle sub anno 1387. and so aduouched by Iohannes Neuisanus professor of lawe in his booke entituled Silua nuptialis Thus was mariages free at al seasons for a priest to haue one only wyfe at once was neither then woorthy blame nor was a great whyle after in the Saxons time forbydden as in bookes of rules and canons set out for the gouernyng of the seculer priestes it may appeare De regulis clericorum which be testified in these olde English wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let them also do their endeuâ—uâ— that they holde with perpetuall diligence their chastitie in an vnspotted body or els verely be they coupled with the bonde of one matrimonie But to stande in rehearsall of suche recordes what haue ben vsed by the auncient good fathers of the churche to set out their iudgementes so practised in diuers olde churches who consideryng the infirmitie of man would not kepe that libertie in bondage which God had made free wherby they had the more continent persons a great number If therefore suche compulsions of constrayned chastitie were abolished and the estimation of Goddes institution more reuerenced then it is commonlye it is not vnlyke but that we shoulde haue lesse cause to make lawes vpon lawes agaynst concubinaries whiche before the prohibition of maryage was seldome hearde of in the churche though agaynst Sodomiticall vices raignyng amongst the religious there hath ben from tyme to tyme lawes and decrees multiplied one vpon another and yet coulde the rage be neuer refourmed as they that be of age and haue any experience can well testifie of their doynges And such auster lawe makers do not only impel men and women to vnspeakable fedities but also do receede muche from the auncient fathers that haue ben in the churche before as Socrates saith Cuncti qui abstinent a coniugibus spontanea voluntate Tripart li. 3. cap. 38. non aliqua necessitate etiam episcopi seipsos abstinent plurimi eorum etiam episcopatus tempore ex legittima vxore filios habuerunt All ecclesiasticall persons in the east church do absteine from wiues by free consent not by any constraint or necessitie yea bishoppes do so forbeare yet very many of them saith he in the tyme of their bishoppricke haue chyldren by their lawfull wyues Thus farre Socrates Which libertie yf it shoulde be restrayned vnder pretence of religious holynesse myght not a man iustly crye out agaynst suche forced chastitie De virg li. 1. as once Ambrose dyd crye out against the painims religion for their vestall virgins and Pallas priestes O misteria o mores vbi necessitas imponitur castitate authoritas datur libidini O maruelous misteries O straunge maners where necessitie by vowes is imposed vpon chastitie authoritie by lawes immunities is geuen to lecherie Therefore saith he she is not chaste which is compelled by feare nor honest whiche is induced by hyre and rewarde Which kynde of constrained professed chastitie to satisfie the eyes of the worlde many tymes proueth not aunswerablie as it well was seene in that bishop Genebaldus he maryed the neece of Remigius who made hym byshop of Laudune This Remigius was chosen archbishop when he was but xxij yeres olde But this saide bishop and his wyfe professed outwardly a conuersion religionis causa Remigius monachâ—s claruit 880. saith the booke and therfore contrarie to the Apostles vi canon yea though they discharged one another from mutuall companie ad nolens volens so that this man myght well saye that he coulde neither lyue with her nor without her yet they had suche mutuall resort together vnder pretence of her instruction that secretely she was with chylde by hym Whervpon she detectyng the matter to hym Antoninus lib. 2. tit 11. cap. 18. In Chron. Vincentius in speculo hist. he wylled that the chylde shoulde be named Latro because saith he he was begotten in stealth Which Latro afterwarde proued an holy man and succeeded his father in his bishopricke saith the archbishop Antonine Nowe he dyd permit his wyfe to resorte to hym as before lest els thereby myght rise abrode some suspection And therafter folowed that she was againe with childe brought foorth a gyrle whom he coÌ„maunded to be called Vulpecula belike for the craftie and slye handelyng of the matter Then Genebaldus remembryng hym selfe went to archbishop Remigius her vncle and fell at his feete and woulde haue resigned vp his habite and profession but Remigius would not permit hym so to do and hearyng the case he dyd comforte hym very amiablie saith the storie but kept hym in a cell for vij yeres together and in the meane tyme dyd gouerne his bishopricke tyll an angell from heauen appeared to fetche him out commaundyng hym to come foorth who told him that his offence was