him that King John wrote to the Pope the next year Matr. Paris in An. 1206. fo 214. Quod uberiores sibi fructus proveniant de regno Angliae quam de omnibus regionibus citra Alpes c. That the Pope had greater profits out of England than all other Countreys on this side the Alpes c. Nay and these Levys were continued sometimes for six years together as Thorn notes Thorn ut supr wherein the Kings themselves were wont to promote the business by being indulged by the Popes to go snips in the gains After the death of Pope Clement the 4th the See of Rome continued void two years and ten months Matt. Westm fo 352. Contin Matt. Paris fo 976. Tho. Walsingh by reason of the great discord and potent factions amongst the Cardinals And at last Theobald the Arch-deacon of Liege who had been comrade and fellow-souldier with our King Edw. 1. in the Holy Land was elected and took the name of Gregory the 10th whereupon was made these verses Papatum munus tenet Archidiaconus unus An. D. 1272. Quem Patrem Patrum fecit discordia fratrum The Papal Office one Archdeacon takes Whom Father of Fathers Brethren's discord makes King Edward the First coming out of the H. Land into England after the death of his Father King Henry the Third touch'd at Rome where he was nobly entertained and caressed by his old friend this then Pope Gregory the 10th and between them it was contrived to raise some great summs in England under pretence of aid and succour for the Holy Land and in pursuance thereof a special Nuntio was sent from the Pope Reimundus to compell all Ecclesiastical persons to pay Two years Dismes but so it happened that as the moneys came in the King and the Pope's Collectors scrambled for it but the Pope as was believed got the greatest share and the King wanting for his occasions of state was forced to borrow several summs of the Collectors on sufficient security given for repayment Pat. 20 Ed. 1. m. 10. as by the Bonds Securities Counter-bonds and Acquittances upon that occasion still extant amongst the Tower Records may be seen and by this token that at one time the King received of the Pope's Collectors 100000 marks but not one penny as I can learn employed for the use pretended And from this practice of the King and Popesgoing sharers in these and other summs gotten from the People when discovered grew that infamous Proverb Matt. Paris in An. 1255. fo 917. That the King and the Pope were the Lion and the Wolf as on the like distasted occasion these Satyrical Rhimes had also been made Ecclesiae navis titubat regni quia clavis Errat Flor. Hist An. 1306. Rex Papa facti sunt unica capa Hoc faciunt Do Des Pilatus hic alter Herodes The Church's ship in safety cannot home pass When the chief Pilot once mistakes his Compass When King and Pope are given both to plundring One Pilate proves the other Herod thundring Which trick of sharing with the Popes Arnold Ferron de reb Gall. was learned by the French Kings of ours but some of them grew so cunning at last as to put all that was raised that way into their own Pockets and so out-shot the Pope in his own Bow CHAP. XIV Croisado's CRoisado's and vowed expeditions to the Holy Land and against Turks and Infidels dispenced withall or commuted was another trick of the like nature and oftentimes brought great summs into the Pope's Exchequer For it being observed that the Turks ever warred against the Christians with great alacrity S. Hen. Blunts voiage into the Levanâ— upon a belief that if they were killed ipso facto they went into Mahomet's Paradise The Pope to beat the Turk at his own Weapon would oftentimes publish a Croisado that is invite persons to undertake expeditions against the Infidels upon promise of pardon of all their sins Gapitula apud Gaitintun Chron Gervas fo 1522. Temp. Hen. 2. Speln Concil Tom. 2. fo 117. Rad. de Diceto Coll. 707. Quicunque Clericus vel Laicus crucem acceperit ab omnibus peccatis suis auctoritate Dei beatorum Apost Petri Pauli summi Pontificis liberatus est absolutus as was declar'd in one of our Councils Upon which multitudes of all sorts as Kings Nobles and Common people according to the zeal and perswasion of those times would vow to go and list themselves for the Holy War and in token thereof continually afterwards wore upon their Backs Crouchbacks the sign or badge of a Red Cross as being to fight against the enemies of Christ's Cross Now the Pope being God's Lieutenant over these Troops for mony would absolve these of their vows or such of them as upon second thoughts desired to stay at home Will. Malmâ—â— lib. 4. cap. 2. Frequently would he also divert and turn their Arms to other uses as to subdue the Albigenses Waldenses and many others of the Popes private enemies Matt. Paris in An. 1250. fo 803. And Matt. Paris tells a story how once the Pope sold these crossed Pilgrims to others even for ready money as the Jews did their Sheep and their Doves in the Temple Besides when some great expedition was in hand and great contributions made to carry on the War the Pope must be made the Treasurer but never gave any account of his disbursements keeping or converting all or most of the money to his own use Also in absence of Princes upon those expeditions the Popes and their Officers took their full swings to the inriching themselves besides many other considerable advantages and acquists as by the Histories and Complaints of Christendom in that matter most fully and at large it doth appear CHAP. XV. Ambassadors Agents AMbassadors Leiger and Extraordinary Proctors and Agents constantly residing at Rome with their retinues and servants maintained there by our Kings drew as constantly great summs of money out of the Kingdom For Rome being the seat of Policy and the Popes making themselves concern'd and busie in the affairs of all Princes these took it as it was indeed their interest to have continually their respective Agents and Ambassadors there to sollicite for their Master's interest to oppose contrary Factions and to gain intelligences And for these and the like purposes our Kings always had two three or more at a time there from and to whom multitudes of Internuntio's Carryers and Messengers were continually posting and running with Letters Instructions and Dispatches all occasioning a vast expence And by these it was â— Ninotismo dâ— Roma that the Popes were courted and caressed their Nephews Cardinal Patrons and Favourites bribed and presented For the Popes are never without their Creatures and Privado's a Caesar Borgia a Donna Olympia or some such like who must be effectually dealt withall and by them way made to the Pope's ear and savour besides
Priests the lewdest are made Cardinals and of the Cardinals the worst are chosen Popes But the most famous that sprung up there of the English growth of both sorts take as follows Pope Joan shall lead the dance Pope Joan. Plaâ—ina in vita J. han 8. Jo. Bale in vita ejus Et Godw. Alex. Cook of Pope Jour of whom much might be said but let it suffice here to be known That all writers agree her to be English by Parentage though some say she was born at Mentz in Germany others that she was born in England When she came to ripe age she ran away in man's apparel with a Monk of Fulda and studied in many famous Academies both of the Greeks and Latins especially Athens where her Paramour dyed and then she came to Rome where in Disputations and Scholastick exercises An. Dom. 855. she got such a fame that after the death of Leo the fourth she was elected Pope which office she exercised two years Contulit sacros ordines promovit Episcopos ministravit sacramenta caeteraque Rom. Pont. exercuit munera Cor. Agrip. de Van. scient cap. 62. de fact monast O Lucina fer opem five months and three days celebrating Mass giving Orders and acting in all things her part as a compleat Pope only wanting the Masculine Gender But so it proved that in the time of her Papacy she was gotten with Child and going to the Lateran between Colosses and St. Clements she fell in â—â—bour but wanting a Mid-wife and other accommodations requisite in that case she there dyed and for the scandal thereof her successors in all their Processional pomps have ever since avoided that way and to prevent the like to come the Porphyry Chair was devised Sabellic lib. 1. Aenead 9. thus described by Sabellicus Spectatur adhuc in Pontificia domo marmorea sella circa medium inanis qua novus Pontifex residat ut sedentis genitalia ab ultimo Diacono attrectentur A marble Chair with a hole in the seat wherein the new Pope fitting the junior Deacon may handle his Genitals This story of Pope Joan the modern Pontificians do not like though related by all these Writers and who were all Romanists Marianus Scotus Sigebertus Gemblacencis Martinus Polonus Sabellicus Mantuanus Johan Parisiensis Antoninus Nauclerus Fascic Temp. Author Fulgosus Theodoric à Nyem Ravisius Textor Laonicas Chalcondylas Fran. Petrarcha Johannes Boccacius Ranulph Cestrensis Johan Lunidus Alph. de Cartagena Jo. Tritemius Palmerius Valatteranus Canstantin Phrygio Christ Masseus Anselm Rid. Supplem Chron. Author Chronic. Chronicorum Gotefridus Viterbiensis And for them all Platina the famous writer of the Popeâ—s lives who tells all the story at large concluding thus Platina in vita Johan 8. Quae ideo ponere breviter nude institui ne obstinate nimium pertinaciter videar omisisse quod fere omnes affirmant that is He would not omit the relation because almost all men then believ'd it to be true Nicholas Breakspear Adrian 4. An. D. 1154. born at Langley near to St. Alban's in the County of Hartford acquir'd the Popedom by the name of Adrian the fourth This man suffered Frederick the Emperour to hold his stirrop as he alighted from his Horse and then checkt him for not shewing himself an expert Groom and after excommunicates him for standing upon his right and writing his name before the Popes but not therewithal sufficiently revenged and with his Cardinals conspiring to ruine the Emperour sending a Counterfeit to stab him and an Arabian to poyson him he was choak'd with a Fly that got into his Throat verifying what he used often to say That none can be more unfortunate than to be made Pope William Grisant Urban 5. An. D. 1362. Tho. Walsingh Hist fo 172. an Englishman obtain'd the Papacy by the name of Vrban the fifth Of this man Thomas Walsingham tells this story That he waiting long in the Court of Rome for preferment and none coming he complain'd to his friend that he verily thought in his heart if all the Churches in the world should fall yet none would fall upon his head but when he was Crowned Pope his friend remembred him of what he had said and told him he had now gotten on his Head all the Churches in the world But the vertue of them all could not preserve him from poyson Balaeus in vita ejus of which he dyed at Marseils in his return as is said into Italy Geffry of Monmouth Geffry of Monmouth Pontic Virun Ciacon Magdeburgens the famous Historian is affirmed by some to have been a Cardinal But the very learned Bishop Godwin in the Lives of the Bishops of St. Asaph of which this Geffry was one much doubts it I think it not worth the while now to examine the business or seasonable to animadvert upon the fabulosity of his History only there comes to mind a story that Roger Hoveden tells of him Rog. Hovedâ—n pars posterior Hen. 2. fo 544. how once he was slurr'd both of his Bishoprick of St. Asaph and the Abbacy of Abingdon when he cunningly designed to have held both The story is thus In a Council then held the Clergy of St. Asaph beseeched the Archbishop of Canterbury that out of the plenitude of his power he would command Geffry their Bishop to return to his Cure and charge or send them another in his stead for that he had withdrawn himself from them and being come into England King Henry had given him the Abbacy of Abingdon then voidâ—â— whereupon the Archb. convented Geffry before the Council and injoined him either presently to return to his charge or to resign it and stand to favour in hope whereof he resigns into the hands of the Archbishop by delivering up his Ring and Pastoral staff But the consequence was that thereby he became strip'd of both for the King presently gave the Bishoprick to one Adam a Welchman and the Abbacy to a certain Monk Boso Boso An. D. 1155. Balaeus an Englishman was made a Cardinal of whom nothing is left memorable but that by his vehement stickling he prov'd mainly instrumental in the Election of Alexander the third to the Popedom against the strong factions of Victor Innocentius Paschalis and Calixtus who all stood for the place and thereupon came to participate of the alternate fortunes of his Master in his bickerings with the Emperour at that time Stephen Langton was created Cardinal of St. Steph. Largton An. D. 1206. Matr. Paris Antiquit Britt in Steph. Langt Godw. in vita Chrysogon and the Archbishoprick of Canterbury falling void by the death of Hubert the Monks chose Reginald the Sub-Prior with great secrecy and injoined him silence till he could get his confirmation at Rome But he being big of his Honour could not forbear tattling insomuch as King John then raigning dealt with the Monks to elect John Gray Bishop of Norwich upon which the two Elects appeal to
Scot who runs presently to Rome for confirmation and the King presently sends after him the Bishop of Lichfield and the Prior of Lanthony to sollicite against Scot but after a long tugging and expence of all their money on both sides it was determined that a third man viz. Richard Poor should have the Bishoprick After the death of Stephen Langton Matt. Paris in An. 1228. fo 350. 355. Anâ—quit Brit. in viti Richard Maâ— Archbishop of Canterbury the Monks made choice of Walter de Hempsham to succede him at which the King then being displeased Walter hasts away to Rome as the use then was for his confirmation and the King presently sends after him as his Proctors the Bishops of Coventry and Rochester who appearing before the Pope complained grievously of the misdemeanor of the Monks in making choice of that man as being of no experience suitable to that Dignity but of mean learning one of a debauched and scandalous life having gotten several Bastards upon a Nun and for his extraction his Father had bin condemn'd and hang'd for Theft as himself had also deserv'd having bin a Ringleader amongst Rebels and Traitors But all this would not satisfie the Pope to set him aside Polychron 1.7 cap. 34. until the King ingaged the Pope should have a Disme or the Tenth part of all the moveable goods both of Clergy and Laity throughout England and Ireland which granted the election of Walter Hempsham was declared null and Richard Wethershed promoted to the place The next Successor to Richard Wethershed was Edmund between whom Antic Brit. Godw. in vita Edmundi and the Monks of Rochester a great contest happen'd about the election of one Richard Wendover to be their Bishop whereupon the Bishop goes to Rome and the Covent send their Proctors and these carrying the most money got the cause and Edmund condemn'd by the Pope in 1000. Marks The Bishoprick of Chichester being once void Matt. Paris iâ— Hen. 3. the Canons there elected one Robert Passelew to gratifie the King who had a great kindness for the man but others stemaching him means was made at Rome to have his election quashed and one Richard de la Wich to have the place and thereupon all parties run to Rome with money Bribes complaints and recriminations all which being heard and the money taken the King's man was fob'd off and Wich setled in the See The story is at large in Matthew Paris and a multitude more of like nature might here be exhibited but these shall suffice with this averrement that seldom any election went so cleverly off but something extraordinary came to the Pope besides what was certain by the first Fruits From which we proceed to payments of other natures CHAP. III. Legatine Levies THE Statute of 25 Henry 8. Stat. 25 Hen. 8. cap. 21. Providing that no more summs of money shall be pay'd to the Bishop of Rome begins with recital how the subjects of this realm had for many years been greatly decayed and impoverished by intolerable exactions of great summs of money taken and claimed by the Bishop of Rome called the Pope and the See of Rome as well in Pensions Censes Peter-pence Procurations Fruits suits for Provisions and Expeditions of Bulls for Archbishopricks and Bishopricks and for Delegacies and Rescripts in Causes of Contentions and Appeals Jurisdictions Legantine Dispensations Licences Faculties Grants Relaxations Writs of perinde valere Rehabilitations Abolitions and other infinite sorts c. as the words of the Statute are I cannot now pretend to enumerate or specifie them all when the Statute declares them to be infinite and therefore we shall content our selves to point but at some of them beginning with the Legatine Levies as I may call them Vid. Matthew Westm Flor. Hist in An. 1245 1246. c. Mart. Paris Polychron c. And these were summs of money exacted and levyed upon the King's Subjects throughout the whole Kingdom by Legats and Officers for that purpose deputed by the Pope And these were called for as often as the Popes pretended a need of them for the Court of Rome did inculcate and would have the world to believe Matth. Paris An. 1226. fo 328. That being a Mother she ought to be relieved by her Children Now the first Extraordinary Contribution raised for the Pope in this Kingdom of this kind appears to have bin about the year 1183. when Pope Lucius the third having some quarrel with the Citizens of Rome Rog. Hovedeâ— P. Postenor fo 622. sent to King Henry the second postulans ab co à clericatu Angliae auxilium requiring Aid from him and his Clergy whereupon Consuluit Rex Episcopos suos Clerum Angliae de petitione Summi Pontificis Cui Episcopi Cleri consuluerunt ut ipse secundum voluntatem suam honorem faceret auxilium D. Papae tam pro seipso quam pro illis quia tolerabilius esset plus placeret eis quod D. Rex si vellet accepisset ab eis auxilii recompensationem quam si permisisset Nuncios D. Papae in Angliam venire ad capiendum de eis auxilium quia si aliter fieret posset verti in consuetudinem ad regni sui detrimentum Adquievit Rex consilio suorum fecit auxilium magnum D. Papae in auro argento The King consulted the Bishops and Clergy about the Popes request to whom the Bishops and Clergy returned That the King might if he so pleased and for his honor send aid to the Pope as well for himself as for them because it would be more tolerable and more acceptable to them for his Majesty if he pleased to take a Compensation from them for his Aid than that he should permit the Pope's Officers to come into England to receive it of them which might turn to a custom detrimental to the Kingdom To this counsel the King adher'd and sent a great Aid to the Pope in Gold and Silver as Rog. Hoveden hath at large related the Carriage of that business In which several passages are very remarkable as that the King did in matters that concern'd the Pope consult with the English Church and follow'd their advice and then the care and circumspection of the Clergy to avoid mischievous consequences for the future and that not without very good cause for the Popes were so prone to be busie and tampering in this matter of money that afterward in the time King Edward the first Papa miâ—it bullas inhibitatorias quod nulla persona Ecclesiastica daret seculari personae contributionem ullam absque licentia specialita Romana curia concessa in hac parte Henry de Knighton Coll. 2489. he prohibited the Clergy from giving any thing to the King without his leave first obtained and that under pain of the great excommunication a great presumption this but without any considerable effect to the purpose intended But notwithwanding the before mention'd caution the Popes gained
never come empty handed and this was very frequently injoined to others in such or the like cases Now for the particulars of these Appeals I could produce a multitude of instances and Cases but designing brevity I had rather refer you to Mat. Paris and others who are not sparing therein I shall only upon this Head further note that not only many particular persons were ruin'd and undone by reason of the great expenses they were put unto upon this account at Rome but also many religious Houses and Covents became by that means so impoverished that they would certainly have been utterly broken and dissolved if some extraordinary courses had not been taken for their support as once the Abbot Par. 3 Ed. 1. m. 13. Pre Abbate Conventu de Fevâ—â—sham and Covent of Feversham being greatly indebted to Merchants Usurers and others by reason of their vast ex ences at Rome the King by his Soveraign Authority to preserve them and their House from ruine took them with all their Possessions Fulco Peyforer Hamon Doges Lands Goods and Chattles into his special protection and committed them to the management of certain persons for the discharge of their debts and their necessary support as appears by the Patent for that purpose yet to be seen but too large to be here inserted Lambert Peromb in Feversham Note it was the Monks of this Abby of Feversham that once contended in a Controversie with King John both by way of Appeal to Rome and by force of Arms against the Sheriff and the Posse Comitatus but had the ill fortune to be worsted at every turn The like Protection and Provision in the same form and for the same reason was granted and made by King Ed. 1. to the Abbots and Covents of Bordesley and Bynedon And also to the Prior and Covent of Thornholm but the custody of them their Lands and Goods were granted to other persons CHAP. VI. Dispensations DIspensations Vid. Centum gravamina Gâ—rm An. D. 1521. and Absolutions from cases reserved and Faculties were other great means of drawing vast summs of money hence to Rome And for the managing and dispencing of these the Popes had their Ministers Officers and Courts ready to make out and grant these Dispensations to such as had occasion or to whom it would be a convenience to purchase them and that in a multitude of cases As to Dispence with one man to hold two Bishopricks or a Plurality of Benefices To make Infants capable of Benefices and Offices To Legitimate Bastards To qualifie persons to marry within the degrees prohibited by the Canons or by God's Law To lay aside Habits of Professions Regular to revert to a secular State To give liberty to live without Rules Order and Discipline which had bin entered into For liberty not to keep rash or prejudicial Oaths To eat Flesh at times ordinarily forbidden To wave the performance of Vows To rescind contracts marriages and covenants And innumerable other the like cases in which exact care was taken that the party purchaser should be served to the height of his ability and the benefit of the Dispensation King Henry the third Matt. Paris in Hen. 3. swore to maintain Magna Charta and Charta de Foresta with other liberties of the People and for that had a great Subsidy given him but for money the Pope Dispenced with his Oath and then he would perform nothing Simon Montford Id. An. 1238. fo 471. Earl of Leicester marryed the Daughter of King John named Elianor who was professed in Religion at which King Henry the third and others being offended the Earl posts to Rome and there effusa promissa infinita pecunia as the Historian hath it he obtained of the Pope to give Order to his Legate Otho to give sentence for the marriage John of Gaunt Tho. Walsing in E. 3. An. 1359. Cambd. An. Eliz. fo 2. Sr. Fr. Bacon Hist Hen. 7. fo 199. by a like Dispensation marryed his Cousin Blanch. King Hen. 8. Marryed his Brothers Widdow by such a Dispensation not cheaply obtained for a noble Author sayes the Pope was very difficil in granting it not for want of power I suppose but to scrue the more money out of the Royal Purchaser It was Pope Julius the Second that gave this Dispensation But asterwards the validity of the Marriage upon such a Dispensation being questioned as being directly against the Scripture Pope Clement 7. at the instance of King Henry Hist Cont. Trid lib. 1. fâ— 68. Camb. Speed c. sent Cardinal Campeggio into England framing a Bull or Breve to dissolve the King's marriage with Queen Catharine to be published when some few proofs were passed which were made ready and to give liberty to the King to marry another But afterwards the Pope conceiving it would disgust the Emperour who was Katharines near Kinsman he sent another Nuntio to Campeggio with order to burn the Bull and to proceed slowly in the cause Resolving like his Predecessor to make the best advantages he could of the plenitude of his power But the King perceiving the juggling went another way to work and how he procured his marriage to be vacated our Histories and Records testifie Also Charls the fifth Emperour procured a marriage between Philip his Son and Mary Queen of England by a Dispensation from Pope Julius the third because they were allyed in the third degree and that Charls himself had contracted to marry her when he was under age Camb. Annal. Eliz. And after her death King Philip desirous to keep his interest in England treated seriously of a marriage with Queen Elizabeth his late wives sister with promise to obtain a special Dispensation from the Pope which the French King laboured secretly to hinder but the Queen gave him a repulse By vertue of these Dispensations it is Sr. Edw. Sâ—nds Earop Spec. 〈◊〉 that the House of Austria for some reasons of State marry all amongst themselves so continuing all of the same family or as limbs of the same body Whereby Philip the second of Spain might have called the Archduke Albert both Brother Cousin Nephew and Son for he was so either by blood or affinity being Uncle to himself Cousin-german to his Father Husband to his Sister and Father to his Wife And it so hapned that by reason of the multitude of Canons as were put forth by divers Popes of restrictions and limitations very few Princely Families in Europe could at any time intermarry without Dispensations from such or such a Canon and then let the Pope alone for setting his own rates and prices upon his own Instruments As great summs of money came thus to the Popes upon their Dispensations in point of marriage So frequently they made their advantages by dispensing with promises Vows and Oaths How King Henry the third obtained a Dispensation about Magna-Charta we have touched before And that power claimed and exercised by the Popes made
Faction one Petrus de Luna was set up at Avignion as Antipope against him between these was great strugling and holding till the death of Innocent but the Faction dyed not with him Petâ—r Moon for the Cardinals chose Gregory the twelfth between whom and Peter de Luna who called himself Benedict the thirteenth the schism continued with great sury whereby such mischief and disturbance grew in the world that to appease the matter there was no other remedy but to depose them both which was done in a Council at Pisa and a third man Alexander the fifth chosen in their rooms the two disbanded Popes sneaking away to their Friends But this Alexander soon dying as not injoying his dignity above eight moneths A Neapolitan Balthasar Cossa was chosen in his stead who took the name of John the twenty-fourth and then the two discarded Popes peep out and begin to stir again with many abetters on all sides To compose all which there being now three Popes on foot at once a Council was call'd at Constance where all these three were deposed in which transaction the King of England had a great stroke as Platina expresly sayes but long it was In vita Johan 24. and with much ado before all would submit to Martin the fifth who was then chosen Gregory the twelfth dyed soon of grief upon it Peter de Luna betakes himself to a strong Castle and stands upon his guard and justification having many friends and particularly the Scots as is specially remembred but all would not do his party was run down and he from that time vanished The third that is John 24. took his heels and ran for 't in a disguise but being discovered and apprehended by the Count Palatin he was kept several years a Prisoner Platina sayes in the Castle of Heidelberg Camerar Hist meditat l. 4. cap 7. but Camerarius hath it in the Castle of Mansheim where sayes he they use to shew the Chamber in which he was imprisoned and where at his Exit he left these verses of his own making bewailing the lubricity of fortune the vanity of the world and his own Captivity Qui modo summus eram gaudens nomine Praesul Tristis abjectus nunc mea fata gemo Excelsus Solio nuper versabar in alto Cunctaque gens pedibus oscula prona dabat Nunc ego poenarum fundo devolvor in imo Vultum deformem quemque videre piget Omnibus e terris aurum mihi sponte ferebant Sed nec gaza juvat nec quis amicus adest Sic varians fortuna vices adversa secundis Subdit ambiguo nomine ludit atrox Papa fecit I who of late injoy'd the highest place Now all forlorn bewail my wretched case I lately wore the glorious Triple Crown All kiss'd my feet with humbly-falling down But now I 'me thrown into a pit of woe And my abhorred face dare hardly show From all parts treasure flowed in to me But now or Gold or Friend I cannot see Thus Fortune's rolling wheel pursues its scope Sometimes she smiles and then deludes our hope By the Pope But up his exauctoration or reducement one made this Distich Balthasar imprimis vovitabar inde Johannes Depositus rursus Balthasar ipse vocor First Balthasar and then Pope John I was But now depos'd for Balthasar must pass Neither was all this labouring tugging and canvassing for that supream dignity of the Popedom only but proportionably as great endeavours and expences were had for the obtaining of the intermediate promotions of Priorys Abbacys Bishopricks and Cardinalships all being as mediate steps whereby to mount at last the Pontifical Throne And this matter of promotion and preferment continually carryed great summs to Rome from private and particular persons who aimed to climb as high as money would carry them and without that the greatest merit or endeavours were but to little purpose Ambition is rooted in the nature of all men and scarce ever any took Orders but he design'd to arrive at the highest dignity his Order was capable off hence all that holding thrusting and striving for all those improveable and growing preferments here from the Priest to the Bishop and all that appealing and running to Rome for Confirmation and after that all the sollicitations bribing and driving of interests for a Cardinalship and never any rest till they arrive at St. Peter's Chair or the Grave In the raign of King Henry the Fifth Spâ—ed Chron. in Hen. 5. what a vast summ of money was amassed by H. Beaufort Bishop of Winchester of which at one time he lent the King 20000 l. and took his Crown to pawn for it with part of this he obtain'd a Cardinalship but lived not to finish with the rest his design'd purchase of the Papacy In the raign of King Henry the Eight Lo. Herb. Hist Hen. 8. the great and rich Woolsey was never quiet but alwayes caressing and presenting with great summs sometimes the Emperour sometimes the K. of France and at all times some leading Cardinals for their interest and favour for his Election to the Popedom and thereupon after the death of Pope Leo the tenth he renews his sollicitations to the Emperour and French King and sends Doctor Pace his Agent with good summs to the Cardinals at Rome but Adrian the sixth was chosen before the heavy sollicitor came to the end of his journey But then again after the death of this Adrian Woolsey puts hard for it again with all that wooing intreaty and money could do but such an ill Planer reign'd over his projects that he was gull'd of his money and baffled once again Julio de Medici by the name of Clement the seventh carrying it clear from him but a little to comfort our repulsed Cardinal upon his earnest request this Pope Clement condescended that the Legantine power which Adrian before had granted only for five years and so from five years to five years should now be conferr'd â—on Woolsey for term of life whereby he might injoy a kind of Papal authority in England which he missed at Rome but this Cordial proved too strong for him to digest and utterly ruin'd his constitution as by the series of his story doth appear And now these mighty endeavours and expenses for those promotions in the Court and Church of Rome to Cardinalships and the Papacy makes me conceive it not altogether impertinent here to make a little enquiry what Countrymen of ours attained those dignities and whether the pains and cost expended was answered by the preferment I confess not many of our Countrymen have reached those high dignities of Pope and Cardinal though always some or other of them have been gaping and aspiring that way the Pontifical Chair and the steps to it having been mostly possest by Italians intimated by that noted Observation in Italy it self That of the Romans Sr. Edw. Sands Eâ—rop specal 10.91 the Priests are the most wicked And of the
would not touch one of such a Character made him a Cardinal but the policy fail'd and it rather hastned his death for by that time his Hat was come to Callis his Head was struck off at Tower-Hill Reginald Pool Regin Pool An. D. 1536. Sleidan Câ—m Charls 5. Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal being beyond the Seas about the beginning of the Reformation wrote a Book for the Pope's Supremacy against the King and therein incited the Emperour preparing against the Turk to bend his forces against his natural Soveraign and native Country-men as being worse than Turks This Book writ by a natural born subject of the King of England was then adjudged a sufficient overt act within the Stat. 25. Edward the third De proditionibus and therefore High Treason Cook Pl. Coron fo 14. Brook Treason Tit. 24. Antiq. Brit. in vita Poli. and Pool attainted thereupon But he keeping out of the reach of Justice after the death of P. Paul the third was just upon point of being elected Pope but his own stupidity Act. Mon. fo 1774. with the imputation of incontinency slurr'd him of the dignity In the raign of Queen Mary over he comes and what he did both to the Living and Dead our Historians abundantly testifie and that the next day after the Queen dyed Cardinal Pool Et sic exit Papismus in Anglia Peter Petow Peter Petow Cambd. Britt in Warw. made Cardinal and Legaâ— Ã Latere by P. Paul the third in time of Queen Mary was coming over in pursuance of his Legatine power But the wary Queen suspecting he might act something derogatory to her regality forbad his entrance which the Cardinal took so to heart that he dyed presently after Allen Will. Allen. the last Cardinal Englishman in the raign of Queen Elizabeth appears a Herald before the Spanish Armado in 88. and by a Book dispersed over England stirs up the Nobles Sp. fo 1177. B. Carlton Remembr 141. and People to joyn with the Spaniard in execution of the Pope's sentence of deposition of the Queen But all coming to nothing our Cardinal dyed an exile at Rome An. D. 1594. Godw. in vita Bishop Godwin takes farewel of him with this character He was last of our England Cardinals in time and worst in wickedness deserving not to be reckon'd amongst Englishmen as like another Herostratus to get himself a name endeavoring to fire the English Church without envy be it spoke the noblest in the world so that his memory deserves oblivion Et sic exit Cardinalismus Several others are reckon'd in the Cataeogues of England Cardinals but because it is doubtful whether some of them were English and others whether ever Cardinals and little memorable left of most of them these already mentioned shall suffice to testifie that the Italian promotions were generally more fatal than fortunate to our Countrymen and that the pains and cost was not recompensed by the acquist And so we pass from these highest dignities on Earth to such coelestial Honour as was and is to be purchased in the Church of Rome CHAP. XX. Canonizations c. CAnonization and Sainting of Men Women and Boyes was another way whereby great summs were often brought unto the Popes And that was when any person lived more austerely or devoutly than ordinary or being fam'd for any miracles pretended to have been done by him in his life time or by his Reliques or at his Tomb after his death or that he dyed for or in defence of the truth or the Church's cause Then if his Surviving friends or relations made application to the Pope upon payment of good summs according to the abilities and qualities of the persons solliciting for sentences fees Orders references and others things requisite in such case the party by a kind of Apotheosis was made a Saint and a place assign'd him in the Calender Of this extraction were the famous St. Cuthbert St. Guthlac St. Dunstan St. William St. Swithun St. Tibba St. Thomas of Canterbury St. Thomas of Lancaster St. Winisniâ—d St. Hugh and infinite more who for money had their names put into the rolls of Glory and their fames and merit celebrated and supplicated here on Earth I find that great endeavours were used to have Robert Grosthead the renowned Bishop of Lincoln sainted and particularly King Edward the first laboured it by an express unto the Pope for that purpose Rot. Rom. An. 34 Ed. 1. but nothing could prevail in regard he had so signalized himself against the corruptions of the Church and times then when as Becket Anselme Hugh of Lincoln and multitudes more were Canonized for money or something they had done signally and meritorious for the Papacy But this King had better success in his sollicitation to the Pope for the Cononization of Thomas de Cantelupe Bishop of Hereford then deceased famed for a multitude of miracles as was suggested Tho. Walsing in Ed. 1. fo 11. Thomas Walsingham abounds in the celebration of him and his miracles Mart. Westm in Ed. 1. but more modestly than the Monk of Westminster who ascribes to him no less then 163 miracles and others many more too many in all conscience to be believed or here remembred in particular But of such esteem it seems he was Godw. in vita ejus that this King Edward the first to obtain the benefit of his Prayers and intercession in Heaven for himself and his Realm according to the perswasion prevailing in those ignorant times sent his Letter of request to Pope John 22. to have him a Canonized Saint to which the Pope after some dealing withal for that purpose was at last wrought But for the King's Letter being still preserv'd amongst our Records and which we conceive may be acceptable to some to peruse we will take the liberty to transcribe Sanctissimo in Christo Patri Domino Divina Providentia Sacrosanctae Romanae ac universalis Ecclesâ—ae Summo Pontifici Claus 33 Ed. 1. m. 3. dorso De translatione S. Thomae de Hereford Edwardus eadem gratia Rex Angliae c. devota pedum oscula beatorum Pium justum esse censetur ut sicut gloriosus Deus in Sanctis suis in Majestate mirabilis Ministros fideles suos magnificat altis decorat honoribus coelestis efficit beatitudinis possessores in coelis Sic Sacrosancta Romana Ecelesia vestigia ipsius prosequens eos ad quorum memorias ipse Deus suae virtutis potentiam manifestat signa ac prodigia faciens pro eisdem digno venerationis offlcio laudari glorificari studiis sollicitis honorari efficiat in terris ut per hot fides catholica roboretur idem altissimus qui laudabilis est in saecula glorificetuâ— amplius laudetur ac ex hoc salutis nostre causam miserecordius miseribilius operari dignetur Cum itaque Thomas dictus de Cantilupo Ecclesiae Herefordensis Antistes qui nobili
Guardians and Chiefs without framing or proposing any more doubts subtilties or scruples With all this contained in a very fair Bull the Delegates and Agents returned home And the Guardians and Chiefs of the Order in pursuance thereof applyed themselves to order and settle these matters But then besides the differences that arose amongst themselves when ever they agreed on any thing those Fryers against whose Opinion it was carryed would quarrel insolently at it and would be so far from yielding conformity that they did not spare to revile their Superiours calling them Fools and Dunces for no better understanding the Text of St. Francis his Rule And in this disorder they continued a long time untill In the year 1323. in the time of Pope John the 22. who resided at Avignion the Guardians and superiours of the Order went to complain once more to his Holiness that the Fryers would not obey the Orders they had agreed upon by vertue of the Bull of Pope Clement and humbly prayed his Holiness further directions and aid therein Whereupon the Pope sent Summons to all those Fryers who refused to obey their Superior's Decrees in all those controverted points that they should either personally or by writing certifie the Reasons of their obstinacy and when these were come in the Pope assembled all his Cardinals in Conclave where the Allegations for and against the Fryer's disobedience were all canvassed and debated at large and many offers and proposals made for a final conclusion of all but nothing of that nature was accepted and no agreement there was like to be except the Pope would juridically and openly and plainly give his Sentence in the case And thereupon the Pope gave Order for his definitive Bull to be drawn up wherein in the first place he highly extolled the Bulls of his Predecessors the Popes Nicholas and Clement wondring why men should decline the import and â—enor of them and then for himself he ordained and declared That the vilitie of Habits should be measured by the custom of every Country and after gave power and Commission to the Guardians and Superiors of the Order as did Pope Clement to make a Rule for the longitude latitude colour thickness fashion substance and vility as well of the Tunics as the Hood and upon all other circumstances accidents and dependances upon the same commanding all the Fryers to obey the Rules that should be made without any more Objections Arguments or Contradictions But neither would this Third Bull do the business for men esteemed it in effect no more than what had bin order'd before without any fruit And so the heats and disputes continued amongst the Fryers as high as ever Nay some spared not to reflect on the Pope himself saying that he did not rightly understand the points in controversie Others that he used too many Councellors and that one honest Tailor if the Pope could have found him would better have inform'd how to stitch up these rents than the whole Conclave and the greatest Scandal was that if the Pope the Vice-deus the Oracle of Truth the unerring Head the infallible Guide could not settle and put an end to differences of such inferiour nature how could he did many say infallibly judge and determine in matters of Faith and the more sublime points of Religion about which there were such differences in the world But at last these heats amongst the Fryers were somewhat allayed and cool'd with time and the generality of the Order betook thmeselves to the White and Black Colours as they come purely from the Beast and thence the denomination to the white and black Fryers and some of them intermingled the two Colours and made a third and from them came the Grey Fryers And for the Garments and Hoods they came to wear them long and large only the difference about the Sleeves was never yet accorded for some wear strait and little Sleeves and others wear large and wide for some conveniences and of this sort was that Fryer who when he was Preaching against stealing had all the time a Goose in his Sleeve And thus though their Infallible Judge could not or would not put an end to these differences amongst his own Creatures with all his Decretals and Extravagants as those Bulls were called yet at this time we shall here to them all put a FINIS An Essay of the Supremacy of the King of England within his Majesty's Realms and Dominions IN our view of the resplendent Majesty of our Soveraign Lord the King of England it must needs fare with us as with a curious eye that looks on the Sun in its full luster thereby discovering its own weakness sooner than the nature of that Glorious Body being dazell'd if it gaze too long and scorched Excellens objectum destruit sensum if it approach too near such a refulgent and disproportion'd Object And therefore that I may proceed with Truth and safety in this affair I must make use of the Instruments of Law and the skreen of Authorities to direct and defend me in my intended progress therein In the first place therefore we are to know That the King of England hath two capacities in him viz. One as a natural Body being descended of the Blood Royal of this Realm and this Body is of the same nature with his Subjects Plowd Comment seig Barkly's Case fo 234. Id. Case de Duchy fo 213. and subject to Infirmity Death and the like The other as a Politick Body or Capacity so called because it is framed by the Policy of man and in this Capacity the King is esteemed to be Immortal not subject to Infirmity Death Nonage c. And therefore when a King of England dyes the Lawyers have a peculiar way of expressing the same not saying the Death of the King but the King's demise Demise le Roy. And therefore in respect of this Politick Capacity it is often said That the King of England never dyes and by the Law of England there can be no Interregnum for upon the King's Demise his lawful Successor is ipso facto King without any essential Ceremony or Act ex post facto to be done For the coronation is but a Royal ornament Calvin's Case fo 10 11. and solemnization of the Royal Descent but no part of the Title And all this may be collected from the Resolutions of all the Judges in the case of Watson and Clark Seminary Priests who with others Hill An. 1 Jac. Cok. Pl. Coron 7. entered into Treason against King James before his coronation So King Henry the sixth was not crowned untill the eighth year of his Raign and yet several men before his Coronation were Attaint of Treason and Felony as by the Records thereof it doth appear The Reasons and causes wherefore by the Policy of the Law the King of England is thus a Body Politick are three viz. First Causa Masestatis The King cannot give or take Calvin's Case fo