Rome Our Archbishops did not purchase their Palls there neither had the Pope the Investiture of any of our Bishopricks For it is to be observed that as under the Temporal Monarchy of Rome Britany was one of the last Provinces that was wone and one of the first that was lost again so under the Spiritual Monarchy of the Pope of Rome England was one of the last Countries of Christendom that received his yoke and was again one of the first that did reject and cast it off And truly as in this so in divers other points the course of this Spiritual Monarchy of the Pope may be aptly compared with the course of the Temporal Monarchies of the world For as the Temporal Monarchies were first raised by intrusion upon other Princes and Commonweals so did this Spiritual Prince as they now style him grow to his greatness by usurping upon other States and Churches As the Temporal Monarchies following the course of the Sun did rise in the East and settle in the West so did the Hierarchy or government of the Church Of the four Temporal Monarchies the first two were in Asia the latter two in Europe but the Roman Monarchy did surpass and suppress them all So were there four great Patriarchs or Ecclesiastical Hierarchies two in the East and two in the West but the Roman Patriarch exalted himself and usurped a Supremacy above them all And as the rising of the Roman Empire was most opposed by the State of Carthage in Africa aemula Romae Carthago so the Council of Carthage and the African Bishops did first forbid Appeals to Rome and opposed the Supremacy of the Pope And doth not Daniel's Image whose head was of gold and legs and feet of iron and clay represent this Spiritual Monarchy as well as the Temporal whereas the first Bishops of Rome were golden Priests though they had but wooden Chalices and that the Popes of later times have been for the most part worldly and earthly-minded And as the Northern Nations first revolted from the Roman Monarchy and at last brake it in pieces have not the North and North-west Nations first fallen away from the Papacy and are they not like in the end to bring it to ruine But to return to our purpose The Bishop of Rome before the first Norman Conquest had no jurisdiction in the Realm of England neither in the time of the Britans nor in the time of the Saxons Eleutherius the Pope within less then 200 years after Christ writes to Lucius the British King and calls him God's Vicar within his Kingdom which title he would not have given to that King if himself under pretence of being God's Vicar-generall in earth had claimed jurisdiction overall Christian Kingdoms Pelagius the Monk of Bangor about the year 400 being cited to Rome refused to appear upon the Pope's citation affirming that Britain was neither within his Diocese nor his Province After that about the year 600 Augustine the Monk was sent by Gregory the Great into England to convert the Saxons to Christian Religion the British Bishops then remaining in Wales regarded not his Commission nor his doctrine as not owing any duty nor having any dependency on the Court of Rome but still retained their ceremonies and traditions which they received from the East Church upon the first plantation of the Faith in that Island being divers and contrary to those of the Church of Rome which Augustine did endeavour to impose upon them The like doth Beda write of the Irish Priests and Bishops For in the year 660. he reporteth that a Convocation of the Clergy being called by King Oswif there rose a disputation between Colman one of our Irish Saints then present in that Synod and Wilfrid a Saxon Priest touching the observation of Easter wherein the British and Irish Churches did then differ from the Church of Rome Colman for the celebration of Easter used in Ireland affirmed it was the same quod beatus Evangelâ—stâ— Joannes discipulus specialiter à Domino dilectus in omnibus quibus praeerat Ecclesiis eelebrâsse legitur On the other part Wilfrid alledged that all the Churches of Christendom did then celebrate Easter after the Roman manner except the Churches of the Britans and Picts qui contra totum orbem said he stulto labore pugnant Whereunto Colman replied Miror quare stultum laborem appellas in quo tanti Apostoli qui super pectus Domini recumbere dignus fuit exempla sectamur Numquid reverendissimum patrem nostrum Columbam ejus successores viros à Deo dilectos divinis paginis contraria sapuisse aut egisse credendum est In this disputation or dialogue two things may be observed first that at this time the authority of the Bishop of Rome was of no estimation in these Islands next that the Primitive Churches of Britany and Ireland were instituted according to the form and discipline of the East Churches and not of the West and planted by the Disciples of John and not of Peter Thus much for the time of the Britans For the Saxons though King Ina gave the Peter-pence to the Pope partly as Almes and partly in recompence of a house erected in Rome for entertainment of English pilgrims yet it is certain that Alfred and Athelstane Edgar and Edmund Canutus and Edward the Confessor and divers other Kings of the Saxon race did give all the Bishopricks in England per annulum baculum without any other ceremony as the Emperour and the French King and other Christian Princes were wont to doe They made also several Laws for the government of the Church Among others Saint Edward begins his Laws with this protestation that it is his Princely charge ut populum Domini super omnia sanctam Ecclesiam regat gubernet Aud King Edgar in his Oration to his English Clergy Ego saith he Constantinis vos Petri gladium habetis jungamus dextras gladium gladio copulemus ut ejiciantur extra castra leprosi purgetur sanctuarium Domini So as the Kings of England with their own Clergy did govern the Church and therein sought no aid of the Court of Rome And the troth is that though the Pope had then long hands yet he did not extend them so far as England because they were full of business nearer home in drawing the Emperour and the French King under his yoke But upon the Conquest made by the Norman he apprehended the first occasion to usurp upon the Liberties of the Crown of England For the Conquerour came in with the Pope's Banner and under it wone the battel which got him the garland and therefore the Pope presumed he might boldly pluck some flowers from it being partly gained by his countenance and blessing Hereupon he sent two Legates into England which were admitted and received by the Conquerour With them he called a Synod of the Clergy and deposed old Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury because he had
not purchased his Pall in the Court of Rome he displaced many Bishops and Abbots to place his Normans in their rooms And amongst the rest it is to be noted that the King having earnestly moved Wolstan Bishop of Worcester being then very aged to give up his Staff his answer was that he would give up his Staff onely to him of whom he first received the same And so the old man went to Saint Edward's Tomb and there offered up his Staff and Ring with these words Of thee O holy Edward I received my Staff and my Ring and to thee I do now surrender the same again Which proves that before the Norman Conquest the King did invest his Bishops per annulum baculum as I said before Thus we see by the admission of the Pope's Legates the first step or entry made into his usurped jurisdiction in England Albeit the King still retained the absolute power of investing Bishops and seemed onely to use the advice and assistance of the Legates in Ecclesiastical matters for that no Decree passed or was put in execution without his Royal assent thereunto Besides how far forth he submitted himself to the Pope it appeareth by a short Epistle which he wrote to Gregory the 7. in this form Excellentissimo Sanctae Ecclesiae Pastori Gregorio gratiâ Dei Anglorum Rex Dux Normannorum Willielmus salutem cum amicitia Hubertus Legatus tuus Religiose Pater ad me veniens ex tua parte me admonuit ut tibi successoribus tuis fidelitatem facerem de pecunia quam antecessores mei ad Romanam Ecclesiam mittere solebant melius cogitarem Vnum admisi alterum non admisi fidelitatem facere nolui nec volo quia nec ego promisi nec antecessores meos antecessoribus tuis id fecisse comperio Pecunia tribus ferè annis in Galliis me agente negligenter collecta est nunc vero divinâ misericordiâ me in Regnum meum reverso quod collectum est per praefatum Legatum mittetur quod reliquum est per Legatos Lanfranci Archiepiscopi fidelis nostri cum opportunum fuerit transmittetur c. But in the time of his next Successour King William Rufus they attempted to pass one degree farther that is to draw Appeals to the Court of Rome For Anselme being made Archbishop of Canterbury and being at some difference with the King besought his leave to goe to Rome under pretence of fetching his Pall. The King knowing he would appeal to the Pope denied him leave to goe and withall told him That none of his Bishops ought to be subject to the Pope but the Pope himself ought to be subject to the Emperour and that the King of England had the same absolute liberties in his Dominions as the Emperour had in the Empire and that it was an ancient custome and law in England used time out of mind before the Conquest that none might appeal to the Pope without the King's leave and that he that breaketh this law or custome doth violate the Crown and dignity Royal and he that violates my Crown saith he is mine enemy and a traitour How answer you this quoth the King Christ himself answers you saith the Archbishop Tu es Petrus super hanc petram c. Wherewith the King was nothing satisfied And thereupon Anselme departing out of the Realm without licence the King seized his Temporalties and became so exasperate and implacable towards the Bishop as he kept him in perpetual exile during his Reign albeit great intercession were made for his return as well by the Pope as the King of France In the time of the next King Hen. 1. though he were a learned and a prudent Prince yet they sought to gain a farther point upon him and to pluck a flower from his Crown of greater value namely the Patronage and Donation of Bishopricks and all other Benefices Ecclesiasticall For Anselme being revok'd and re-established in the See of Canterbury the Bishopricks of Salisbury and Hereford fell void which the King bestowed on two of his Chaplains But Anselme their Metropolitan did refuse to consecrate them so as the Archbishop of York was fain to perform that Office who with the chief of the English Clergie stood with the King and withstood Anselme Hereupon the King requires him to doe his homage the Bishop denies it The King demands of him whether the patronage and investiture of all Bishopricks were not his rightfull inheritance the Bishop said it was not his right because Pope Vrban had lately made a Decree that no Lay person should give any Ecclesiasticall Benefice This was the first question that ever was made touching the King of England's right of patronage and donation of Bishopricks within his dominions This new question caused many messages and embassages to Rome At last the King writes plainly to the Pope Notum habeat Sanctitas vestra quod me vivente Deo auxiliante dignitates usus regni nostri non minuentur si ego quod absit in tanta me directione ponerem magnates mei imo totius Angliae populus id nullo modo pateretur Besides William de Warrenast the King's procurator in the Court of Rome told the Pope that the King would rather lose his Kingdome then he would lose the donation of Bishopricks The Pope answered Know you precisely Sir I speak it before God that for the redemption of my head I would not suffer him to enjoy it After this Anselme being received into the King's favour in a Synod of the English Clergie holden at London in the year 1107. a Decree was made Cui annuit Rex Henricus saith Matth. Paris that from thenceforth nunquam per donationem Baculi Pastoralis vel Annuli quisquam de Episcopatu vel Abbathia per Regem vel quamlibet laicam manum invâ—stiretur in Anglia In recompence whereof the Pope yielded this favour to the King that thenceforth no Legate should be sent from the Pope's side into England unless the King required it and that the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being should be for ever Legatus natus and Anselme for the honour of his See obtained that the Archbishop of Canterbury should in all generall Councils sit at the Pope's foot tanquam alterius orbis Papa Notwithstanding as the succeeding Popes kept not their promise touching the sending of Legates so this self-same King after the death of Anselme broke the Decree touching the investiture of the Bishops For he gave the Archbishoprick of Canterbury to Rodolph Bishop of London saith Matth. Paris Et illum per Annulum Pastoralem Baculum investivit as before he had invested Willielmum Gifford in the Bâ—shoprick of Winchester contra novi Concilii statuta as the same Authour reporteth The times of the next succeeding King Stephen were full of Civil dissensions which made the land well-nigh waste so as Saint Peter's Successour could not take any fish in such troubled
as any other in Christendome his subjects should be judged by them in Ecclesiasticall matters and should not need to run out of their own country to beg Justice at the hands of strangers But what followed upon this The Pope after a sharp reply sendeth forth a Bull of Malediction against the King and of Interdiction against the Realm whereby all the Churches in England were shut up the Priests and Religious persons were forbidden to use any Liturgies or Divine service to marry to bury or to perform any Christian duty among the people This put the King into such a rage that he on the other part seized the Temporalties of all Bishops and Abbots and confiscated the goods of all the Clergie Then doth the Pope by a solemn sentence at Rome depose the King and by a Bull sent into England dischargeth his subjects of their allegeance and by a Legate sent to the King of France gave the Kingdome of England to him and his successours for ever These things brought such confusion and miserie to all estates and degrees of people in England as the King became odious to all his subjects as well to the Laietie as to the Clergie For as the Bishops and religious people cursed him abroad so the Barons took arms against him at home till with much bloudshed they forced him by granting the Great Charter to restore King Edward's Laws containing the ancient Liberties of the subjects of England The Pope being a spectator of this Tragedy and seeing the King in so weak and desperate estate sent a Legate to comfort him and to make a reasonable motion unto him to wit that he should surrender and give up his Crown and Kingdome to the Pope which should be re-granted unto him again to hold in Fee-farm and Vassalage of the Church of Rome And that thereupon the Pope would blesse him and his Realm again and curse his rebells and enemies in such sort as he should be better establisht in his Kingdome then he was before In a word this motion was presently embraced by that miserable King so as with his own hands he gave up the Crown to the Pope's Legat and by an Instrument or Charter sealed with a Bull or Seal of gold he granted to God and the Church of Rome the Apostles Peter and Paul and to Pope Innocent the third and his successours the whole Kingdome of England and the whole Kingdome of Ireland and took back an estate thereof by an Instrument sealed with Lead yielding yearly to the Church of Rome over and above the Peter-pence a thousand marks sterling viz. seven hundred marks for England and three hundred marks for Ireland with a flattering saving of all his Liberties and Royalties The Pope had no sooner gotten this conveiance though it were void in law but he excommunicateth the Barons and repeals the Great Charter affirming that it contained liberties too great for his subjects calls the King his Vassall and these Kingdomes Saint Peter's Patrimony grants a general Bull of Provision for the bestowing of all Ecclesiasticall Benefices and takes upon him to be absolute and immediate Lord of all And thus under colour of exercising Jurisdiction within these Kingdomes the Pope by degrees got the very Kingdomes themselves And so would he doe at this day if the King would give way to his Jurisdiction But what use did the Pope make of this grant and surrender of the Crown unto him what did he gain by it if our Kings retained the profits of their Kingdomes to their own use Indeed we do not find that the Fee-farm of a thousand marks was ever pay'd but that it is all run in arrear till this present day For the troth is the Court of Rome did scorn to accept so poor a revenue as a thousand marks per annum out of two Kingdomes But after the death of King John during all the reign of Hen. 3. his son the Pope did not claim a Seignioury or a Rent out of England and Ireland but did endeavour to convert all the profits of both Lands to his own use as if he had been seized of all in demesne For whosoever will reade Matth. Paris his story of the time of King Hen. 3. will say these things spoken of before were but the beginnings of evils For the exactions and oppressions of the Court of Rome were so continuall and intolerable as that poor Monk who lived in those times though otherwise he adored the Pope doth call England Baalam's Asse loaden beaten and enforced to speak doth call the Court of Rome Charybdis and barathrum avaritiae the Pope's Collectors Harpyes and the Pope himself a Stepfather and the Church of Rome a Stepmother He sheweth that two third parts of the Land being then in the hands of Church-men the entire profits thereof were exported to enrich the Pope and the Court of Rome which was done for the most part by these two ways and means First by conferring the best Ecclesiasticall Benefices upon Italians and other Strangers resident in that Court whose farmers and factors in England took the profits turned them into money and returned the money to Rome Secondly by imposing continuall taxes and tallages worse then Irish cuttings being sometimes the tenth sometimes the fifteenth sometimes the third sometimes the moietie of all the goods both of the Clergie and Laietie under colour of maintaining the Pope's holy wars against the Emperour and the Greek Church who were then said to be in rebellion against their Lady and mistresse the Church of Rome Besides for the speedy levying and safe return of these moneys the Pope had his Lombards and other Italian Bankers and Usurers resident in London and other parts of the Realm who offered to lend and disburse the moneys taxed and return the same by exchange to Rome taking such penal Bands the form whereof is set down in Matth. Paris and such excessive Usury as the poor Religious houses ware fain to sell their Chalices and Copes and the rest of the Clergie and Laiety had their backs bowed and their estates broken under the burthen Besides the Pope took for perquisites and casualties the goods of all Clerks that died intestate the goods of all Usurers and all goods given to charitable uses Moreover he had a swarm of Friers the first corrupters of Religion in England who perswaded the Nobility and Gentrie to put on the sign of the Crosse and to vow themselves to the Holy wars which they had no sooner done but they were again perswaded to receive dispensations of their vows and to give mony for the same to the Church of Rome I omit divers other policies then used by the Pope's Collectors to exhaust the wealth of the Realm which they affirmed they might take with as good a conscience as the Hebrews took the Jewells of the Egyptians Briefly whereas the King had scarce means to maintain his Royall family they received out of England seventy thousand pounds sterling at least yearly
which amounteth to two hundred and ten thousand pounds sterling of the moneys currant at this day Besides they exported six thousand marks out of Ireland at one time which the Emperour Frederick intercepted Lastly the King himself was so much dejected as at a Royal Feast be placed the Pope's Legate in his own Chair of State himself sitting on his right hand and the Bishop of York on his left non sine multorum obliquantibus oculis saith Matth. Paris Thus we see the effect of the Pope's pretended Jurisdiction within the dominions of the King of England We see to what calamity and servitude it then reduced both the Prince and people Was it not therefore high time to meet and oppose those inconveniences Assuredly if King Edw. 1. who was the Son and heir of Hen. 3. had inherited the weakness of his Father and had not resisted this Usurpation and insolencie of the Court of Rome the Pope had been proprietor of both these Ilands and there had been no King of England at this day But King Edward 1. may well be styled vindex Anglicae libertatis the Moses that delivered his people from slavery and oppression and as he was a brave and victorious Prince so was he the best Pater patriae that ever reigned in England since the Norman Conquest till the Coronation of our gracious Sovereign At the time of the death of his father he was absent in the war of the Holy land being a principal Commander of the Christian Armie there so as he returned not before the second year of his reign But he was no sooner returned and crowned but the first work he did was to shake off the yoke of the Bishop of Rome For the Pope having then summoned a generall Council before he would licence his Bishops to repair unto it he took of them a solemn oath that they should not receive the Pope's blessing Again the Pope forbids the King to war against Scotland the King regards not his prohibition he demands the First-fruits of Ecclesiasticall Livings the King forbids the payment thereof unto him The Pope sendeth forth a general Bull prohibiting the Clergie to pay subsidies or tributes to Temporal Princes A Tenth was granted to the King in Parliament the Clergie refused to pay it the King seizeth their Temporalties for their contempt and got payment notwithstanding the Pope's Bull. After this he made the Statute of Mortmain whereby he brake the Pope's chief net which within an Age or two more would have drawn to the Church all the temporall possessions of the Kingdome c. Again one of the King's subjects brought a Bull of Excommunication against another the King commandeth he should be executed as a traitour according to the ancient Law But because that Law had not of long time been put in execution the Chancellour and Treasurer kneeled before the King and obtained grace for him so as he was onely banished out of the Realm And as he judged it treason to bring in Bulls of Excommunication so he held it a high contempt against the Crown to bring in Bulls of Provision or Briefs of Citation and accordingly the Law was so declared in Parliament 25 Edw. 1. which was the first Statute made against Provisors the execution of which Law during the life of King Edw. 1. did well-nigh abolish the usurped Jurisdiction of the Court of Rome and did revive and restore again the ancient and absolute Sovereignty of the King and Crown of England His Successour K. Edw. 2. being but a weak Prince the Pope attempted to usurp upon him again but the Peers and people withstood his Usurpation And when that unhappy King was to be deposed amongst many Articles framed against him by his enemies this was one of the most hainous that he had given allowance to the Bope's Bulls Again during the minority of King Edw. 3. and after that in the heat of the wars in France the Pope sent many Briefs and Bulls into England and at last presumed so far as that he gave an Italian the title of a Cardinall in England and withall by his Bull gave him power to bestow all Ecclesiasticall promotions as they should fall void from time to time This moved the King and the Nobility to write to the Pope to this effect We and our ancestours have richly endowed the Church of England and have founded Abbeys and other Religious houses for the jurisdiction of our people for maintenance of hospitalitie and for the advancement of our countrymen and kinsmen Now you provide and place strangers in our Benefices that come not to keep residence thereupon and if they come understand not our language and some of them are subjects to our mortal enemies by reason whereof our people are not instructed hospitalitie is not kept our Scholars are unpreferred and the Treasure of the Realm is exported The Pope returneth answer That the Emperour had lately submitted himself to the Church of Rome in all points and was become the Pope's great friend and in menacing manner advised the King of England to doe the like The King replies That if the Emperour and French King both should take his part he was ready to give battell to both in defence of the liberties of his Crown Hereupon the severall Statutes against Provisors before recited were put in execution so severely as the King and his subjects enjoyed their right of patronage clearly and their exemption of Clerks took no place at all for that the Abbot of Waltham and Bishop of Winchester were both attainted of high contempts and the Bishop of Ely of a capital offence as appeareth in the Records of this King's reign Yet during the nonage of Richard 2. they began once again to encroach upon the Crown by sending Legates and Bulls and Briefs into England whereof the people were so sensible and impatient as that at their special prayer this Law of 16 Rich. 2. whereupon our Indictment is framed was enacted being more sharp and penall then all the former Statutes against Provisors And yet against this King as against Edw. 2. it was objected at the time of his Deprivation that he had allowed the Pope's Bulls to the enthralling of the Crown After this in the weak time of King Hen. 6. they made one attempt more to revive their usurped Jurisdiction by this policy The Commons had denied the King a Subsidy when he stood in great want of moneys The Archbishop of Canterbury and the rest of the Bishops offered the King a large supply of his wants if he would consent that all the Laws against Provisors and specially this Law of 16 Rich. 2. might be repealed But Humphrey Duke of Gloucester who had lately before cast the Pope's Bull into the fire did likewise cause this motion to be rejected So as by special providence these Laws have stood in force even till this day in both these Kingdomes Then the Atturney generall descended to the evidence whereby he
Britanniae Anglorum Regem Monarcham By which it appeareth that the King by his Charter made in Parliament for it appeareth to be made by the counsell and consent of his Bishops and Senators of his Kingdome which were assembled in Parliament did discharge and exempt the said Abbot from the Jurisdiction of the Bishop c. and by the same Charter did grant to the said Abbot Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction within his said Abbey which Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction being derived from the Crown continued untill the Dissolution of the said Abbey in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth In the Reign of King Edward the Confessor THe King who is the Vicar of the Highest King is ordained to this end that he should govern and rule the Kingdome and people of the Land and above all things the Holy Church and that he defend the same from wrong-doers and destroy and root out workers of mischief And this shall suffice for many before the Conquest In the Reign of King William the First IT is agreed that no man can make any Appropriation of any Church having Cure of Souls being a thing Ecclesiastical and to be made to some person Ecclesiastical but he that hath Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction But William the First of himself without any other as King of England made Appropriation of Churches with Cure to Ecclesiastical persons Wherefore it followeth that he had Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction In the Reign of King Henry the First HEnry by the Grace of God King of England Duke of Normans To all Archbishops Bishops Abbots Earls Barons and to all Christians as well present as to come c. We do ordain as well in regard of Ecclesiasticall as Royall power that whensoever the Abbot of Reading shall die that all the possession of the Monastery wheresoever it is do remain entire and free with all the rights and customs thereof in the hands and disposition of the Prior and Monks of the Chapter of Reading We do therefore ordain and establish this Ordinance to be observed for ever because the Abbot of Reading hath no Revenues proper and peculiar to himself but common with his brethren whosoever by God's will shall be appointed Abbot in this place by Canonicall election may not dispend the Alms of the Abbey by ill usage with his secular kinsmen or any other but in entertaining the poor Pilgrims and Strangers and that he have a care not to give out the Rent-lands in fee neither that he make any Servitors or Souldiers but in the Sacred garment of Christ wherein let him be advisedly provident he entertain not young ones but that he entertain men of ripe age or discreet as well Clerks as Lay-men In the Reign of King Henry the Third IN all the time of H. 3. and his Progenitors Kings of England and ever fithence if any man did sue afore any Judge Ecclesiasticall within the Realm for any thing whereof that Court by allowance and custome had not lawful conusance the King did ever by his Writ under his great Seal prohibit them to proceed And if the suggestion made to the King whereupon the Prohibition was grounded were after found untrue then the King by his Writ of Consultation under his great Seal did allow and permit them to proceed Also in all the Reign of H. 3. and his Progenitors King of England and ever fithence if any issue were joyned â—pon the loyalty of Marriage general Bastardy or such like the King did ever write to the Bishop of that Diocese as mediate Officer and Minister to his Court to certifie the loyalty of Marriage Bastardy or such like all which do apparently prove that those Ecclesiastical Courts were under the King's Jurisdiction and commandment and that one of the Courts wure so necessarily incident to the other as the one without the other could not deliver Justice to the parties as well in these particular cases as in a number of cases before specified whereof the King 's Ecclesiasticall Court hath Jurisdiction Now to command and to be obeyed belong to Sovereign and Supreme Government By the ancient Canons and Decrees of the Church of Rome the issue born before solemnization of marriage is as lawfully inheritable marriage following as the issue born after marriage But this was never allowed or appointed in England and therefore was never of any force here And this appeareth by the Statute of Merton made in the 20. year of King Henry the 3. To the King 's Writ of Bastardy whether one being born afore matrimony may inherit in like manner as he that is born after matrimony all the Bishops answered that they would not nor could not answer to it because it was directly against the common order of the Church And all the Bishops instanted the Lords that they would consent that all such as were born afore matrimony should be legitimate as well as they that be born within matrimony as to the succession of inheritance forsomuch as the Church accepteth such to be legitimate And all the Earls and Barons with one voice answered We will not change the Laws of England which hitherto have been used and approved In the Reign of King Edward the First IN the Reign of King Edward the First a Subject brought in a Bull of Excommunication against another Subject of this Realm and published it to the Lord Treasurer of England and this was by the ancient Common Law of England adjudged Treason against the King his Crown and Dignity for the which the offendor should have been drawn and hanged but at the great instance of the Chancellour and Treasurer he was onely abjured the Realm for ever The said King Edward the 1. presented his Clerk to a Benefice within the Province of York who was refused by the Archbishop for that the Pope by way of Provision had conferred it on another The King thereupon brought a Quare non admisit The Archbishop pleaded that the Bishop of Rome had long time before provided to the said Church as one having supreme Authority in that case and that he durst not nor had power to put him out which was by the Pope's Bull in possession For which his high Contempt against the King his Crown and Dignity in refusing to execute his Sovereign's Commandment fearing to doe it against the Pope's Provision by judgement of the Common Law the Lands of his whole Bishoprick were seized into the King's hands and lost during his life Which Judgement was before any Statute or Act of Parliament was made in that case And there it is said that for the like offence the Archbishop of Canterbury had been in worse case by the judgement of the Sages of the Law then to be punished for a Contempt if the King had not extended grace and favour to him Concerning men twice married called Bigamy whom the Bishop of Rome by a Constitution made at the Council of Lions hath excluded from all priviledge of Clergy whereupon certain Prelates
such Bulls so purchased or any such Balls to be purchased in time to come upon the pain of a Premunire as by the said Act appeareth In the Reign of King Henry the Fifth IN an Act of Parliament made in the third year of King H. 5. it is declared That whereas in the time of King H. 4. Father to the said King in the 7. year of his Reign to eschew many discords and debates and divers other mischiefs which were likely to arise and happen because of many Provisions then made or to be made by the Pope and also of Licence thereupon granted by the said late King amongst other things it was ordained and established That no such Licence or Pardon so granted before the same Ordinance or afterwards to be granted should be available to any Benefice full of any Incumbent at the day of the date of such Licence or Pardon granted Nevertheless divers persons having Provisions of the Pope of divers Benefices in England and elsewhere and Licences Royall to execute the same Provisions have by colour of the same Provisions Licences and Acceptations of the said Benefices subtilly excluded divers persons of their Benefices in which they had been Incumbents by a long season of the collation of the very Patrons Spiritual to them duely made to their intent to the final destruction and enervation of the states of the same Incumbents The King willing to void such mischiefs hath ordained and established That all the Incumbents of every Benefice of Holy Church of the Patronage Collation or Presentation of Spirituall Patrons might quietly and peaceably enjoy their said Benefices without being inquieted molested or any ways grieved by any colour of such Provisions Licences abd Acceptations And that all the Licences and Pardons upon and by such Provisions made in any manner should be void and of no value And if any feel himself grieved molested or inquieted in any wise from thenceforth by any by colour of such Provisions Licences Pardons or Acceptations that the same molestors grievors or inquietors and every of them have and incurre the pains and punishments contained in the Statutes of Provisors before that time made as by the said Act appeareth A Statute was made for extirpation of Heresie and Lollardry whereby full power and authority was given to the Justices of Peace and Justices of Assise to inquire of those that hold Errours Heresies or Lollardry and of their maintainers c. And that the Sheriffe or other Officer c. may arrest and apprehend them The King by consent of Parliament giveth power to Ordinaries to enquire of the foundation erection and governance of Hospitals other then such as be of the King's foundation and thereupon to make correction and reformation according to the Ecclesiasticall Law In the Reign of King Henry the Sixth EXcommunication made and certified by the Pope is of no force to disable any man within England And this is by the ancient Common Laws before any Statute was made concerning forrein Jurisdiction The King onely may grant or licence to found a Spiritual Incorporation In the Reign of King Henry the 6. the Pope writ Letters in derogation of the King and his Regalty and the Church-men durst not speak against them But Humfrey Duke of Gloucester for their safe keeping put them into the fire In the Reign of King Edward the Fourth IN the Reign of King Edward the Fourth the Pope granted to the Prior of Saint Johns to have Sanctuary within his Priory and this was pleaded and claimed by the Prior But it was resolved by the Judges that the Pope had no power to grant any Sanctuary within this Realm and therefore by judgement of the Law the same was disallowed There it appeareth that the opinion of the King's Bench had been oftentimes that if one Spiritual person sue another Spiritual man in the Court of Rome for a matter spiritual where he might have remedy before his Ordinary that is the Bishop of that Diocese within the Realm quia trahit ipsum in placitum extra regnum incurreth the danger of a Premunire a hainous offence it being contra legiantiae suae debitum in contemptum Domini Regis contra Coronam dignitatem suas By which it appeareth how grievous an offence it was against the King his Crown and Dignity if any subject although both the persons and cause were Spirituall did seek for justice out of the Realm as though either there wanted Jurisdiction or Justice was not executed in the Ecclesiastical Courts within the same which as it hath been said was an high offence contra Regem Coronam dignitatem suas In the King's Courts of Record where Felonies are determined the Bishop or his Deputy ought to give his attendance to the end that if any that is indicted and arraigned for Felony do demand the benefit of his Clergy that the Ordinary may inform the Court of his sufficiency or insufficiency that is whether he can reade as a Clerk or not whereof notwithstanding the Ordinary is not to judge but is a minister to the King's Court and the Judges of that Court are to judge of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the party whatsoever the Ordinary doth inform them and upon due examination of the party may give judgement against the Ordinarie's information for the King's Judges are Judges of the cause The Pope's Excommunication is of no force within the Realm of England In the Reign of King Edward the Fourth a Legate from the Pope came to Calice to have come into England but the King and his Council would not suffer him to come within England until he had taken an oath that he should attempt nothing against the King or his Crown and so the like was done in his Reign to another of the Pope's Legates And this is so reported in 1 Henrici 7. fol. 10. In the Reign of King Richard the Third IT is resolved by the Judges That a Judgement or Excommunication in the Court of Rome should not bind or prejudice any man within England at the Common Law In the Reign of King Henry the Seventh IN the Reign of King Henry the 7. the Pope had excommunicated all such persons whatsoever as had bought Allum of the Florentines And it was resolved by all the Judges of England that the Pope's Excommunication ought not to be obeyed or to be put in execution within the Realm of England In a Parliament holden in the first year of King Henry the Seventh for the more sure and likely reformation of Priests Clerks and Religious men culpable or by their demerits openly noised of incontinent living in their bodies contrary to their Order it was enacted ordained and established by the advice and assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in the said Parliament assembled and by authority of the same That it be lawful to all Archbishops and Bishops
Ordinance Customes Constitutions or any other matter or cause whatsoever to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And it was then also established and enacted by the Authority of that Parliament That such Jurisdictions Priviledges Superiorities and Preheminences Spiritual and Ecclesiastical as by any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical power or authority had heretofore been or might lawfully be exercised or used for the visitation of the Ecclesiastical state and persons and for reformation order and correction of the same and of all manner Errours Heresies Schisms Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities should for ever by Authority of that Parliament be united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm And that the Queen her Heirs and Successors Kings or Queens of this Realm should have full power and authority by virtue of that Act by Letters Patents under the great Seal of England to assign name and authorize when and as often as the Queen her Heirs or Successors should think meet and convenient and for such and so long time as should please the Queen her Heirs or Successors such person or persons being natural-born Subjects to the Queen her Heirs or Successors as the said Queen her Heirs or Successors should think meet to exercise use occupy and execute under the said Queen her Heirs or Successors all manner of Jurisdictions Priviledges and Preheminences in any wise touching or concerning any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction within these Realms of England and Ireland or any other her dominions and countries and to visit reform redress order correct and amend all such Errours Heresies Schisms Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities whatsoever which by any manner Spiritual or Ecclesiasticall power authority or jurisdiction could or might lawfully be reformed ordered redressed corrected restrained or amended to the pleasure of Almighty God the encrease of vertue and the conservation of the peace and the unity of this Realm And that such person or persons so to be named assigned authorized and appointed by the said Queen her Heirs or Successors after the said Letters Patents to him or them made and delivered as is aforesaid should have full power and authority by virtue of that Act and of the said Letters Patents under the said Queen her Heirs or Successors to exercise use and execute all the premisses according to the tenour and effect of the said Letters Patents any matter or cause to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding as by the said Act also appeareth It was adjudged in the Court of Common Pleas by Sir James Dyer Weston and the whole Court that a Dean or any other Ecclesiasticall person may resign to the Crown as divers did to King Edward the 6. for that he had the Authority of the supreme Ordinary From the 1. untill the 11. year of Queen Elizabeth's Reign no person of what perswation of Christian Religion soever at any time refused to come to the publick Divine Service celebrated in the Church of England being evidently grounded upon the Sacred and infallible Word of Almighty God and established by publick Authority within this Realm But after the Bull of Pius Quintus was published against her Majesty in the 11. year of her Reign containing amongst other things too long to be repeated for this purpose these words Pius Bishop Servant of God's servants c She Queen Elizabeth hath clean put away the Sacrifice of the Mass Prayers Fastings Choice or difference of meats and Single life She possessing the Kingdome and by usurping the place of the Supreme Head of the Church in all England and the chief Authority and Jurisdiction of the same hath again brought the said Realm into miserable destruction Unto her all such as are the worst of the people resort and are by her received into safe protection c. We make it known that the said Elizabeth and as many as stand on her side in the matter above named have run into the danger of our Curse We make it also known that we have deprived her from that right she pretended to have in the Kingdome aforesaid and also from all and every her Authority Dignity and Priviledge We charge and forbid all and every the Nobles Subjects and people and others aforesaid that they be not so hardy as to obey her or her Admonitions Commandments or Laws upon pain of the like accurse upon them We pronounce that all whosoever by any occasion have taken their Oath unto her are for ever discharged of such their Oath and also from all Fealty and Service which was due to her by reason of her Government c. as by the said Bull more at large appeareth After this Bull all they that depended on the Pope obeyed the Bull disobeyed their gracious and natural Sovereign and upon this occasion refused to come to the Church The publishing of this Bull by a subject against his Sovereign as appeareth by that which hath been oftentimes said was Treason in the highest degree by the ancient Common Laws of England For if it were Treason to publish a Bull of Excommunication within this Realm against a Subject thereof as it was adjudged in the Reign of King Edward the 1. Ã fortiori it is Treason in the highest degree to publish such a Bull against the Sovereign and Monarch her self After this Bull many Bulls of Absolution and Reconciliation to the Church of Rome were published and dispersed amongst her Majestie 's subjects to withdraw them from their natural Loyalty and Allegeance to their Sovereign whereupon no small inconveniences as hereafter appeareth followed And therefore at a Parliament holden in The 13. year of her Reign it was declared by the whole Body of the Realm That divers seditious and very ill-disposed people minding very seditiously and unnaturally not onely to bring this Realm and the Imperial Crown thereof being in very deed of it self most free again into the thraldome and subjection of the forrein usurped and unlawful Jurisdiction Preheminence and Authority claimed by the said See of Rome but also to estrange and alienate the minds and hearts of sundry the Queen's subjects from their dutiful Obedience and to raise and stir Sedition and Rebellion within this Realm did then lately procure and obtain to themselves from the said Bishop of Rome and his said See divers Bulls and Writings the effect whereof had been and then was to absolve and reconcile all those that would be contented to forsake their due Obedience to the Queen and to yield and subject themselves to the said feigned unlawful and usurped Authority and by colour of the said Bulls and Writings the said persons very secretly and most seditiously in such parts of this Realm where the people for want of good instruction were most weak simple and ignorant and thereby farthest from the good understanding of their duties towards God and the Queen did by their lewd and subtil practices and perswasions so far forth work that sundry simple and ignorant persons had been contented to be
ENGLAND'S INDEPENDENCY Upon the Papal Power Historically and Judicially Stated By Sr. JOHN DAVIS Attorney Generall in Ireland And by Sr. EDWARD COKE Lord Chief Justice in England In Two REPORTS Selected from their greater Volumes For the Convincing of our English Romanists and Confirming of those who are yet unperverted to the Court or Church of ROME With a Preface written by Sir JOHN PETTUS Knight LONDON Printed by E. Flesher I. Streater and H. Twyford Assigns of Richard Atkins and Edward Atkins Esquires And are to be sold by severall Book-sellers in Fleetstreet and Holborn MDCLXXIV To the Right Honourable JAMES Earle of SUFFOLK Lord Lieutenant of that County c. MY LORD I Have the honour of being one of your Deputies in the County of Suffolk which I hope will admit me to the freedome of placing your Lordship in the Front of Two Reports cull'd out from the many other Reports of two as Learned persons in our Laws as that Age did afford I have perswaded the Stationer to reprint them as fit at this time to be generally perus'd For Sr. John Davis in his Report of Lalor's Case gives an Historicall Account of the Pope's Invasions upon us from Edward the Confessor's time in matters Civil and the Lord Chief Justice Coke gives also a full and clear Account of the Pope's Intrusions upon us in matters Ecclesiasticall Neither of them do meddle with the Cavills of Religion between us and the Papal Power but what concerns their State and ours and that deduced from Antiquity how we ought to pay our single Obedience both to Church and State as our Predecessors have done or endeavour'd to doe for many Ages to their respective Kings And though there have been many Invasions or Intrusions upon us by the Power and Policy of the Pope and his Agents yet we were alwaies struggling to get out Sometimes we mastered them and sometimes we were mastered by them according to the Resolution or Weakness of those our former Kings who were to maintain their inherent Interests And however some Papal Pretences seem to be yet we may clearly see when they got the upper hand what Subjection they intended to impose upon us as they did on King John and they nick'd the time when he was imbroyl'd and even totally immerged in the Distempers of his untruly Subjects and inraged Forreiners and then by the opportunity of those Factions and Forreiners they did subjugate this Kingdome to his Principality in Italy and made it its Vassall more then ever any Emperour of Rome did pretend to or could accomplish And though after King John there were various Contests by our successive Kings yet none did so effectually rout the Papal Interest here as Henry the VIII for which the Romanists do rip up all his Vices to make him as odious to the world as possible and among other things they affirm that He was the man that rebell'd from their Church Whenas their Historie and ours tell us and them that he lived and died a Roman Catholick And they farther say that it was He that brought in our Religion which they now call Heresie and is but a Reformation of theirs and even that Reformation was begun and prosecuted though but in parcells by former Ages but not establisht till Henry the VIII had first broke their Civil Interest here and then it went on with ease by King Henry's Successours But by their Railings on Henry the VIII Luther Calvin and I know not whom whose Doctrines we do not altogether follow the Papal Agents do most wonderfully deceive the unfixt and wavering minds of men who do not know the true Foundation of our Church and State here in England clearly and through all Antiquity independent upon any Church or State but its own or on any person but the Monarch thereof as is most fully set forth in these excellent Reports wherein your Lordship and others by an hour 's reading may see what is our Right and how it hath been maintain'd and lost and regain'd by that most resolute Prince then owning the whole Body of the Papal Doctrine but not the Pope's Superiority or power to establish any thing in these Kingdomes It is true this Prince had Discontents and was crost in his Designs which it may be did either provoke him or upon this it is likely he did take occasion to pick a quarrel that he might the more speciously accomplish what his Predecessours could not effect However God doth often produce good Events by such as we call evill Mediums as the Beams of the Sun make their way through Darknesse and Vapours which now again begin to spread over our heads like thick Clouds contracted by long Exhalations ready to break and send forth Lightning Thunder and Storms upon this Nation And thus I apprehend their contraction When Henry the VIII had thus restor'd us to our Liberties and ancient Rights and disbanded the Papall Power and Interest here it was time for the Pope to contrive some other Stratagems and therefore what he could not doe by the power of Bulls c. he tries to effect by a long and continued Art And first he infuseth into his Catholick King of Spain how fit a person he was to be Universal Monarch of Christendome which the King of Spain's Ambition readilie embraced the whole Design whereof may be read in Campanella the Jesuite in his Discourse of the Spanish Monarchy About the same time the Pope also inveigles his most Christian King Henry the IV. of France telling him also how fit a person he was to be Universal Moderator of Christendome which Bait this King's Ambition did also readily embrace the whole Modell and Platform whereâ—f is also set down by the Bishop of Rhodes in his History of the said Henry the IV. And in all this time while both these Kings were driving on these Designs it is observable by the Confession of those Historians that neither of them were privy to each other's Intentions the business was so cunningly managed by the Pope whose great Art it was to keep their Designs secret and put both their Wheels in motion at once yet to keep his Spoak in that Wheel which turned most to his advantage In both these cited Books of Rhodes and Campanella your Lordship will find that their chief aims and directions were to weaken the English and therein they say in these words That there was no better way then by causing Divisions and Dissensions among the English and by continuall keeping up the same and that as for their Religion it could not be easily rooted out unless there were some certain Schools erected in Flanders c. by the Scholars whereof there should be scattered abroad the seeds for Divisions in the Natural and Theologicall Sciences which would distract and discompose their opinions and judgments and that the English being of a nature still desirous of Novelties and Changes are easily wrought over to any thing Now that this hath been put in practice
in the Civil Magistrate and so in right it remaineth at this day and though it be derived from him it remaineth in him as in the fountain For every Christian Monarch as well as the godly Kings of Juda is custos utriusque Tabulae and consequently hath power to punish not onely Treason Murther Theft and all manner of Force and Fraud but Incest Adultery Usury Perjury Simony Sorcery Idolatry Blasphemy Neither are these Causes in respect of their own quality and nature to be distinguished one from another by the names of Spirituall or Temporall For why is Adultery a Spirituall cause rather then Murther when they are both offences alike against the Second Table or Idolatry rather then Perjury being both offences likewise against the First Table And indeed if we consider the natures of these Causes it will seem somewhat absurd that they are distinguished by the name of Spirituall and Temporall for to speak properly that which is opposed to Spirituall should be termed Carnall and that which is opposed to Temporall should be called Eternall And therefore if things were called by their proper names Adultery should not be called a spirituall offence but a carnall But shall I expresse plainly and briefly why these Causes were first denominated some Spirituall or Ecclesiasticall and others Temporall and Civil Truly they were so called not from the nature of the Causes as I said before but from the quality of the persons whom the Prince had made Judges in those Causes The Clergie did study spirituall things and did professe to live secundum spiritum and were called spirituall men and therefore they called the Causes wherein Princes had given them jurisdiction spirituall causes after their own name and quality But because the Lay-magistrates were said to intend the things of this world which are temporall and transitory the Clergie called them secular or temporall men and the Causes wherein they were Judges temporall causes This distinction began first in the Court of Rome where the Clergie having by this Jurisdiction gotten great wealth their wealth begot pride their pride begot ingratitude towards Princes who first gave them their Jurisdiction and then according to the nature of all ungratefull persons they went about to extinguish the memory of the benefit for whereas their Jurisdiction was first derived from Caesar in the execution whereof they were Caesar's Judges so as both their Courts and Causes ought still to have born Caesar's image and superscription as belonging unto Caesar they blotted Caesar's name out of the style of their Courts and called them Courts Christian as if the Courts holden by other Magistrates had been in comparison but Courts of Ethnicks and the Causes which in their nature were meerly Civil they called Spirituall and Ecclesiasticall So as if the Emperour should challenge his Courts and Causes again and say Reddite Caesariquae sunt Caesaris they would all cry out on the contrary part and say Date Deo quae sunt Dei our Courts bear the name and title of Christ the superscription of Caesar is quite worn out and not to be found upon them And this point of their policy is worth the observing that when they found their jurisdiction in Matrimoniall causes to be the most sweet and gainfull of all other for of Matrimony they made matter of money indeed to the end that Caesar might never resume so rich a perquisite of their Spirituall jurisdiction they reduced Matrimony into the number of the 7 Sacraments after which time it had been Sacriledge if the Civil Magistrate had intermeddled with the least matter that had relation to Matrimonie or any dependencie thereupon So then it appeareth that all Causes whereof Ecclesiasticall or Spirituall persons have cognisance or jurisdiction by the grants or permission of Princes are called Ecclesiasticall or Spirituall causes And as all their Courts are called Spirituall Courts so all Causes determinable in those Courts are called Spirituall Causes And therefore where Mr. Lalor hath acknowledged the King's Majestie to be Supreme Governour in all Ecclesiasticall causes he hath therein acknowledged the King's Supremacie in all Spirituall causes wherein he hath but rendered to Caesar that which is Caesar's and hath given unto his Majestie no more then all the Bishops of England have yielded to his Predecessours not onely in this latter Age but also in former times both before and since the Conquest as hath been before at large expressed Here the day being far spent the Court demanded of the prisoner if he had any more to say for himself His answer was That he did willingly renounce his office of Vicar-generall and did humbly crave his Majestie 's grace and pardon And to that end he desired the Court to move the L. Deputy to be favourable unto him Then the Jury departed from the Bar and returning within half an hour found the prisoner guiltie of the Contempts whereof he was indicted Whereupon the Solicitor generall moved the Court to proceed to Judgement And Sir Dominick Sarsfield Knight one of the Justices of his Majestie 's chief place gave Judgement according to the form of the Statute whereupon the Indictment was framed OF THE KING' 's Ecclesiasticall Law IN the Term of S. Hillary in the 33. year of the Reign of Q. Elizabeth Rotulo 340. Robert Caudrey Clerk brought an action of Trespasse against George Atton for breaking of his Close at North-Luffenham in the County of Rutland the 7. day of August in the 31. year of the Reign of the said Queen The Defendant pleaded not guilty and the Jury returned and sworn for triall of this issue gave a speciall Verdict that is they found the truth of the Case at large referring the same for the Law to the judgment of the Court to this effect They found that the Plaintif before the Trespasse supposed to be done was Parson of the Rectory of South-Luffenham in the County aforesaid whereof the place wherein the Trespass is alledged was parcell and found the Statute made in the first year of the said Queen's Reign by which in effect it is enacted That such Jurisdiction Ecclesiasticall as by any Spirituall or Ecclesiasticall power hath heretofore been or may lawfully be exercised for the Visitation of the Ecclesiasticall estate and persons and for reformation order and correction of the same and of all manner of Errors Heresies Schisms Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities within this Realm should for ever be united and annexed to the Imperiall Crown of this Realm And that her Highnesse her Heirs and Successors should have full power and authority by virtue of that Act by Letters Patents under the great Seal of England to assign nominate and authorize such persons being natural-born Subjects as her Highness her Heirs or Successors should think meet to exercise and execute under her Highnesse her Heirs and Successors all and all manner of Jurisdiction Priviledges and Preheminences in any wise touching or concerning any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction within this