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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68090	An apology or defence for the Christians of Frau[n]ce which are of the eua[n]gelicall or reformed religion for the satisfiing of such as wil not liue in peace and concord with them. Whereby the purenes of the same religion in the chiefe poyntes that are in variance, is euidently shewed, not onely by the holy scriptures, and by reason: but also by the Popes owne canons. Written to the king of Nauarre and translated out of french into English by Sir Iherom Bowes Knight.; Apologie ou défense pour les chretiens de France de la religion reformée. English	Gentillet, Innocent, ca. 1535-ca. 1595.; Bowes, Jerome, Sir, d. 1616.	1579 (1579)	STC 11742; ESTC S103023	118,829	284

Augustine who in expounding the texte of S. Paule where it is said that he which resisteth the Prince resisteth the ordinance of God speaketh in these termes He that resisteth the higher power doth resist the ordinance of god Yea but what if he commaund vnlawfull thinges truly in that case thou must not obay him Consider the degrees euen of mens lawes If the ordinary iudge commaund a thing he ough to be obayed but not if the gouernour command the contrary And in this case thou despisest not the inferior maiestrate but of the two thou chosest rather to obay the superior wher in the inferior maiestrate ought not too find himselfe greued for that his superior is preferred before him Moreouer If the gouernour commaunde one thing and the Prince an other or rather if the Prince commaund one thing and God commaund the contrary what will you say to that God is the highest power O my soueraine Lord I beseech you to pardon me you may cause me to bee put in prison but god hath power to put me in hell fire In this case thou must arme thy selfe with the buckler of fayth whereby thou shalt be able to beat back all the firy dartes of the deuill Now then these Canons maynetaine the doctrine of the Protestants which affirme that next vnder God we ought to yeeld all obedience to the Prince yea although he were an Infidell or a Runeagate as Iulian the Apostata was of whom the canō speaketh thus Albeit that Iulian the Emperour was an Apostota or backslider yet had he christen souldiers that serued vnder him whom whensoeuer he commāded to march forward in battaile for the defence of the common weale they obayed him But when he commaunded them to marche agaynst the Christians thē they acknowledged the Emperour of heauen And in good soothe so little is the Pope in abled by the auncient Canons to bereaue kinges and princes of their Realmes and principalities that he cannot so much as geue away a Bishopricke in any Realme without the consent of the pruste vnder whose dominion the same is as it appeareth by an Epistle of Pope Leo the fourth sent to the Emperours Lotharius and Lewes by the which he doth intreat thē to consent to bestow the Bishopricke of Rets vpon one named Colon. These be the very wordes of the Canon Seing the church of Rets hath bene so lōg tyme without a Shepheard it is requisite that it should bee ayded by your maiesties authority and maintained by the power of your gouernement Wherfore after our most hūble salutatiō vnto you we beseech your clemency to vouchsafe to graunt the gouernement of the sayed church vnto Colon your humble deacon that by your maiesties licence we may with Gods helpe consecrate him Byshop of the same And if it stād not with your liking that he should be Bishop of that church then we beseech your highnesse that he may haue the Churche of Tusculan which is now vacant so that being by vs consecrated Byshop he may geue thankes to almighty God and to your jmperiall maiesty And it is not to be doubted but the both in the time of the same Pope Leo and before his tyme also it was the ordinary custome not to receiue any Byshop without the consent of the prince vnder whose dominion the bishoprick was According whereunto it is sayd thus in an other canon speaking of the same matter in these termes Forasmuch as we know that the church of God cannot be maintained without Shepheardes we beseech your maiestye as we are bound to do to vouchsafe of your imperiall wisedome according to the custome in all auncient time obserued to geue vs licēce by your maiesties letters patentes to prouide one and we will therein obay your will and by Gods helpe consecrate him that shal be chosen To be short not onely these foresayd canons but also many others do witnes vnto vs that nother any Byshoprick nor yet the Papacy it selfe may be geuen to any without consent of the Prince so farre off is the Pope frō hauing authority aboue the Prince And whosoeuer will read S. Gregory especially in the Epistle which hee wrote to Mawrice the Emperoure shall finde that he doth often tymes geue the Emperoure thanks for prouiding such such a church of a good and meete shepheard and how he declareth in diuers places that hee is and will be obedient to the lawes and cōmaundementes of the Emperoure as we haue towched here before ❧ Of the authoritie of the Pope and of the succession and discipline in the order of the cleargy The xi Chapter THe Romish Catholickes hold opinion that the Pope is the supreme head chiefe Shepheard and vniuersall gouernor of all the churches of Chistendome as vicar generall of our Lord Iesus Christ And this doctrine they build vpon a likelihood of great conueniency that Iesus Christ which is in heauen should haue a liuetenant here below vpon earth to pardon the sinnes of the repentant to prouide Curats and Shepheardes for the perticuler churches when they happen to be vacant and to make lawes and Canons to rule all christēdome in matters of religion ecclesiastical pollicy They say also that this authority ouer all the churches of the world was geuē to S. Peter the first pope of Rome and so consequently to to his successors for because our Lord Iesus Christ sayd vnto him Thou art Peeter and vpon this rocke will I build my church and the gates of hell shall haue no power agaynst it And I will geue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen and whom soeuer thou bindest vpon earth he shall bee bound in heauen and whomsoeuer thou losest vpon earth shabbe losed in heauen But contrarywise the Protestants affirme that Iesus Christ alone is the supreme head chiefe shepheard and vniuersall gouernor of the vniuersall Church whiche is disparsed throughout the world and that when he went vp into heauē he did not appoint any vickar or liuetennant to keepe his place nother in deede was it needefull For he that is absēt himselfe hath need of a liuetenant but as for him he is neuer absent from his church but is and alwayes will be with it by his spirite deuine power vnto the end of the world So as to say that Christ hath neede of a liuetēnaunt vpō yearth as though he could not execute his office vpon yearth for all his being in heauen is as much as to bereue him of his Godhead which of it owne nature hath no lesse power and abilitie on earth and in hell then in heauen where his manhode is resident Wherof it inseweth according to our first maxime that the doctrine of the Protestantes in this poynte is better thē the doctrine of the Romish Catholicke because the honor that belongeth to Iesus Christ is better yelded vnto him by that then by the other Lykewise the doctrine of the protestantes is much better grounded vpon the

in the vniuersities procured not the vtter defacing dissanulling of all the auncient Canons there gathered together seing they be so derectly contrary to the doctrine and authority of the popes But it was the prouidence and will of God that it should so be Now then you must first of all vnderstand that the auncient doctors of the church do oftē vse this name of pope which signifyeth a father and in aunciēt time was indifferently vsed to all Bishoppes aswell meane as great But in the end the Boshop of Rome appropriated the same to himselfe alone and from that tyme forth this name of pope hath euer bene taken as it is still in these dayes not for a father but for a supreme head and vniuersall Bishop of all the Christian churches of the world which title of vniuersall is reproued by all the auncient Canons so consequently the estate which the pope of Rome doth take vpon him at this present is condemned For it is well knowne that he nameth himselfe the vniuersall Shepheard or Bishop and that he chalengeth authority ouer all churches and councels Now harken to the very words of a Canō which putteth him to his neck-verse Let no Patriarke at any tyme vse the name of vniuersall For the Patriarke which nameth himselfe vniuersall taketh the name of Patriarke away from all others But Godforbid that any of the faythfull should chalendge honor to himselfe to the derogation of his brethren be it neuer so little Wherefore we besech you of your charity let none of you from henceforth in his letters geue the title of vniuersall to any man any more least ye take away the title due vnto your selues by attributing the same vnduely vnto orhers The next Canon following doth sing the same song which ought to be of so much the more force among the Romish Catholicks for that it is taken out of an Epistle of S. Gregory sēt to the patriark of Allexandria Thus therefore doth he say in expresse wordes Behold euen in the very preface of your letters which you wrote vnto me you go about to cast the proud name of vniuersal pope vpon me euen vpon me I say who haue forbiddē other men to vse it Wherefore I besech your holines euen of your curtesy to do so no more for you take from your selfe to geue to an other without cause why I seek not to aduaunce my selfe in tytles but in manners neither thinke I that I ought to purchase honour to my selfe with the losse of the honour of my brothers for my honor is to honor the vniuersall church and to behaue my selfe vprightly towardes my brethren And I thinke my selfe then most honored whē euery of them hath his due honour yelded vnto him But if your holines name me the vniuersall pope then in attributing the whole vnto me ther is nothing left to others which God forbid wherefore let vs driue away these termes farre from vs which inflame vs with vanity and hurt charity The reason of these Canons is very euident namely for that it is impossible for one man to gouerne the vniuersall church and to be Byshop of the whole world seeing that euen they which are best able do finde themselues greatly combred in the gouerning of one onely Byshoprick well Besides this the title of vniuersal Bishop is to stately and proud to be matched with the true Shepheardes of gods church which ought to walke in humility voyd of al pride and ambition The same thing is verified by a canō in these expres words Whosoeuer desireth supremacy vpon earth shall finde confusion in heauen And he that speaketh of primacie shall not be nūbred amongest the seruātes of god Let euery body therefore study not how he may seem greater thē others but by what means he may most imbase himselfe For hee is not the most righteous which amongst men is most honored but he is most honorable which is most righteous Hereunto agreeth well the Canon which sayth that all churches are equall in authoritye and that the church of Rome hath no superiority ouer other churches This Canon is takē out of S. Ierom and sayth thus We ought not to think that there is any ods between the church of rome the churches of any other place of the world In Fraunce England Affrik Persia the East and the Indies and all the Barbarous nations do honor Christ and obserue one rule of truth If regard bee to bee had of authority the world is greater then the City of Rome Wheresoeuer there is a Byshop be it at Rome be it at Eugubiū be it at Constantinople be it at Rhegium be it at Allexādria be it at Thebes or be it at Garmace it is all of one worthines of one selfsame degree of priesthood The greatnes of Riches or the meanesse of pouerty setteth not a Bishop in higher or lower degree To bee short all of them be the successors of the Apostles Now then it appeareth plainly by these Canons that the pope who in all his bulles doth name himselfe the Bishop of Rome is no greater than another meane Bishop that neither he nor the Church of Rome can claime to themselues any authoritie ouer other Bishops and Churches otherwise than by tiranny and vsurpation And truely besides the forealleaged Canons taken out of S. Gregory who so will reade his epistle shal find that he vtterly detested this title of vniuersall Shepheard or Bishop from his hart as a wicked title not meete for any but for Antichrist or for his forerunner In one of his Epistles he complaineth greatly to the Emperor Maurice that Iohn Bishop of Constantinople did trouble the Church of God by seeking to vsurpe the title of vniuersall Bishop For to the intent ye may vnderstand the very roote and originall beginning of this discourse you must consider that in those daies and long time before Constantinople was called new Rome and the other in Italy was called olde Rome And because the Emperor of Rome did most commonly keep his residence at new Rome and olde Rome was at that time greatly vexed with the barbarous Gothes Lumbards which warred vpon Italy and destroyed it without doubt the new Rome was then a more flourishing Citie and in higher estimation than olde Rome or any other Citie in all the wholl Empire Wherupon the said Bishop Iohn being of an ambitious dispositiō and minding to aduance himselfe by the dignitie of the Citie whereof he was bishop began to preach and persuade the people and diuers of the bishops that like as the Emperor extended his dominion ouer all the prouinces and countreys of the Empire euen so the Bishoppe of Rome that is to say of new Rome which was then in more estimation than old Rome ought to extend his power and autooritie ouer all the prouinces and countreys of Christendome And truly this Bishop Iohn did so much by his continuall trauell that he caused him selfe

the Imperiall Crown of pure golde inriched with precious stones his Scepter his mantell of Purple and his other Imperiall Robes and the Imperiall dignitie of commaunding the men of warre with all other things concerning the glory maiestie of the Empire Geuing also to others of the Romain Cleargie the dignitie preheminēce and authoritie of Senators Lords of the Empire and Consuls willing them to ride on horseback with white footeclothes apparrayled like Senators to the end that the Cleargie should be furnished with the like titles of honor in all poynts as the Lordes and men of warre of the Imperiall Court were Also they make the same Emperor to acknowledge himself to be Pope Siluestars Footeman or Lackay in holding his stirrop and his bridle when he moūted on horseback And moreouer to declare that he would remoue his Imperial seate to the Citie of Bizance which he was thē purposed to builde and to name it after his own name that is to say Constantinople to geue place to the Pope because it was vnmeet that where the seate of the Priestly kingdome and of the supreme head of christen Religion was set by the Emperor of heauen there also should be set the seate of the Emperor of the earth And therfore that he willed and commaunded that the same donation should stand in force and be inuiolablye obserued vntill the ende of the world beseeching and adiuring all the Emperors Lords of estate Princes Senators and People that should come after him euen before the dreadfull iudgement seate of God neuer to breake the same vpon payne of euerlasting damnation And to haue both S. Peter and S. Paule their enemies both in this world and in the world to come and to be burned and consumed in the deepe pit of hell amongst the deuils and the vngodly folke And the date of this pretensed donation is this Geuen at Rome the third of the Kalends of April in the yere of the fourth Consulship of Constantine Augustus And also in the fourth Consulship ot Gallicanus This in few words is the whole sūme of the pretended donation made by the Emperor to the Pope and to the Cleargie of Rome Wherupō the doctors of the Ciuill Law take maruailous paines in discussing whether it be auaileable or not and whether Constantine might so greatly diminish the Empire seeing that say they the title of Augustus is geuen vnto him to the intent he should increase and not diminish the Empire And whether he could geue greater authoritie to the Pope than he himselfe had seeing that by the rules of the law no mā can graunt to another more right than he hath in himselfe And whether he could force or constraine his successors to obserue this donation considering that by the Ciuill Law like against like hath no power These doctors say I haue taken great paynes to resolue this question and diuers such like vpon that matter but all in vaine for it ought first to be prooued that there was such a gifte made before they disputed whether it be lawfull and auaileable or not But we may easely gather by the histories that it is but a surmised and a forged graunt and that there was neuer any such But the holy order of the Cleargie hath alwayes taken it to be a holy kinde of fraude to enter vpon the goods of the lay people by such meanes Therfore to resolue the sayd dout by the history you must vnderstand that this donation is reported to haue beene graunted in the time of Constantines fourth Consulship after his baptisme as if they had been both at one time when as those times were farre asunder For his fourth Consulship was in the yeare of our Lord three hundred and eighteene and his baptisme was more than twenty yeares after and therfore the diuersitie of the times doth discouer the falsenes of the donation Besides this it could not be done in any of both those times for afore the time of his baptisme Pope Siluester was already dead as the histories do well proue which doe witnesse that for the great desire which Constantine had to be baptised in the Riuer of Iordaine in Iury he deferred his Christning by reason of the great affayres wherwith he was continually kepte occupied vntill the latter ende of his life at which time perceiuing himselfe to be very ill at ease out of all hope of being able to trauaile into Iury to be baptised in the Riuer of Iordaine he caused himselfe to be christened in Nicomedia And therfore this pretended graūt could not be made by constantine after his Baptisme as the donation it selfe doth beare men in hand to pope Siluester who was dead before that tyme Neither could it be done in the tyme of constantines fourth consulship For at that tyme and moe than ten yeres after he had a fellow in the Empire named Licinius who held the East part of the Empire and Constantine himselfe held the west partes according to the custome of the Romain Empire then receiued which was to haue two Emperors at once as were Dioclesian and Maximian and also Galerius Maximinus and Constantius Chorus the one commaunding in the East parts and the other in the West And therof as some thinke did grow the custome of paynting the Imperiall Eagle with two heads Now then in asmuch as Licinius remayning at that time in the East countreys as in his own parte of gouernement was a Heathen man and a deadly enemy to Constantine who was a Christian It followeth in reason that if Constantine should haue geuen vp the Empire of the West to the Pope he could not haue made his account to haue remoued his Imperiall seate by and by into the East for he had reckned without his hoast but it would haue behooued him first to haue put down Licinius ere he could assure himselfe of the Empire of the East as in deed he did afterward by force of armes But that was more than ten yeares after his fourth Consulshippe But who would thinke Constantine to haue been such a foole as to spoyl himselfe of the West Empire to geue it to the Pope and to content himselfe with the East Empire which he had not nor could assure himselfe to haue considering how vncertaine the issue of waar is Moreouer about the same time of Constantines fourth Consulship there was Ciuill warres in Rome betwixt Constantine himself and Maxentius who had set vp himselfe as an vsurper in the Citie of Rome through the ayde of the Pretorian Soldiars By reason whereof considering that Maxentius was a great enemy to the Christians and had on his side an infinite number of the greatest men within the Citie It doth well appeare that that time was vtterly vnmeet for Constantine to aduance Pope Siluester and the Romaine Clergie so greatly as this pretended donation would make vs beleeue And truely in the very same yeres of this fourth Consulship the Senate of Rome did canonise and inrowle