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
Secundus Salutem Apostolicam benedictionem Charissimum in Christo filium nostrum Henricum Angliae Regem illustrem quem peculiari caritate complectimur aliquo insigni Apostolico munere in hoc regni sui primordio decorandum putantes mittimus nunc ad eum Rosam auream Sancto crismate delibutam odorifico musco aspersam nostrisque manibus de more Rom. Pontificum benedictam quam ei e tuâ fraternitate inter missarum Solemnia per te celebranda cum ceremoniis in notula alligata contentis dari volumus cum nostra Apostolica benedictione Datum Romae apud Sanctum Petrum sub annulo Piscatoris Die quinto Aprilis Anno Millesimo quingentesimo decimo Pontificatus nostri Septimo In the Irish rebellion in the raign of Queen Elizabeth Camâ— Eâ—â—zab the Pope as a token of favour sent to Desmond a principal Leader amongst the Rebels a gracious Agnus Dei and a hallowed Ring â—rom his own finger which Desmond wore about his neck as a charm or preservative against all dangers But his traitorous Consederates being beaten and dispers'd this pittiful deluded favourite wander'd a long time in the woods and bogs till at last almost starved he was found in a poor Cattage and notwithstanding his Defensative had his head cut off by a common Souldier Afterwards Speed Chronâ— in Elizâ—b in another rebellion in Ireland the Pope sent to Tir-Oen the grand Ringleader for his incouragement certain Indulgences and a precious Plume of Phoenix feathers for a Trophey of his victories but they proved but Icarus wings whereby he soared the higher to get the more miserable fall Sometimes again the Pope Bishop Carlton's Remem cap. 4. fo 39. Greg. 13. out of good Husbandry rewards or incourageth his Creatures with Titles of Honour as Thomas Stukeley an Arch Traitor to Queen Elizabeth was by the Pope Created Marquesse of Lagen Earl of Wexford and Caterloghe Vicount of Morough and Baron of Rosse all famous places in Ireland And it was the Pope's design if Stukeley's Rebellion had succeeded Boon Companion to have made his Son James Boncompagno King of Ireland CHAP. XI Collections COllections and Contributions set on foot and vigorously promoted for divers purposes was another means of draining great summs frequently out of the Kingdom And amongst these Contributions for relief of the Holy Land as well for the quantity of the summs as for the misimployment were very considerable but of that we will note more anon in a Chapter apart for that purpose And here we will take notice of some other occasions for which such Collections were made King John to gratifie the Pope granted license and safe Conduct to the Fryers of the Hospital of St. Maries in Rome to Preach and make Collections throughout England for the maintenance of their House built by the Pope as appears by his Letters Patents Pat. 15 Johan m. 7. nu 20. Rex omnibus suis fidelibus tam Clericis quam Laicis c. Salutem Sciatis quod concessimus fratribus Hospitalis S. Mariae in Saxia apud Romam licentiam praedicandi in regno nostro Angliae fideliâ—m eleemosynas caritative petendi accipiendi ad sustentationem pauperum praedicti Hospitalis secundum formam privilegii Apostolici quod inde habent c. Teste moipso apud Rading 10. Die Decembris Anregni nostri 15. In the seventh year of King Edward the first some counterfeit Fryers Bre. Reg. 7 Edw. 1. in Turri Lond. Pro fratribuâ— S. Antonii of the Order of St. Anthony of Vienna wandring abroad and Collecting Alms throughout England the King upon Complaint thereof issued out his writ for their apprehension The Abbots of the Cistercian and Praemonstratensian Orders beyond the Seas Bundel Inq. An. 26 Ed. 1. imposing subsidies Aides and Contributions on the Monasteries of their Orders in England then under them whereby much money wools and other Commodities were transported out of England to the great grievance and mischief of the Kingdom King Edward the first issued out writs to all the Sheriffs of England to inquire of those abuses and to stop the current of them As by the said writs still preserved upon Record it doth appear And afterwards to stop the like exportation of moneys and Goods for they would not be brought totally to give over the same King Pat. 27 Ed. 1. Pro Abbate de Gerendon by his special writ prohibited all of the Cistercian Order except one viz. the Abbot of Gerendon Com. Leic. who was of that Order to presume to go beyond the Seas on that account So the Abbot of Cluny sending his Proctors into England to demand and Collect great summs of money from the Monasteries and Priories of their Order here and on all Ecclesiastical persons on whom they had conferred Benefices without the King's license the King sent out his Writs as well to the said Proctors to inhibite their proceedings as also to the Warden of the Cinque Ports not to permit any Monk of that Order or any other Servant or Messenger to pass the Seas or carry over any moneys without his special license the writ to the Warden of the 5. Ports was thus Rex dilecto fideli suo Roberto de Burghersh Custodi Quinque Portuum suorum Claus 28 Ed. 1. m. 14. Salutem Datum est nobis intelligi quod Abbas Cluniacensis quosdam ex suis Monachis in Angliam specialiter destinavit ad petendum levandum c. reciting the occasion at large Ideo vobis mandamus firmiter injungentes quod nullum Monachum Ordinis praedicti vailettum seu alium nuncium quemcunque pecuniam deferentem ad partes transmarinas transire permittatis sine nostra licentia speciali Teste Rege apud Blidam c. The like mandate went out afterwards to the Constable of Dover Claus 29 Ed. 1. m. 8. dorso and Warden of the Cinque Ports not to permit any Canon Valet or other Messenger of the Order of the Praemonstratenses to carry any moneys or to pass out of England without the King 's special license as was done before for Cluny But yet so prevalent were these begging Fryers by their importunities and favourers that the Monastery of Cluny having sustained great losses and being deeply in debt as was suggested the King notwithstanding his former Prohibitions was perswaded to grant to the Abbot thereof and his Agents to come and collect an Aid and relief from all the Cells and Monasteries here subject to that Order and from all their Tenants within his Dominions with full protection and incouragement so to do Cl. 34 Ed. 1. Pro Abbate Cluniacensi as by his Patent for that purpose remaining upon Record and too long to be here inserted it doth appear And upon such and the like occasions it was that sometimes privately and at other times openly and with the King's license Collections and Contributions were fet on foot and carryed on throughout
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
the tenth and afterwards Pope himself by the name of Clement the seventh Hieronymus de Nugutiis upon the resignation of Jul. Medices injoyed it many years And such prevalence had the Popes and Cardinals in this matter that once King Edw. 1. having promised the Cardinal-Bishop of Sabine at his instance to present one Nivianus an Italian his Chamberlain to a Benefice in Licolnshire then in his gift by the death of another Italian the Popes Chaplain and forgetting his promise presented his own Clark thereunto but being reminded thereof to make good his promse Pâ—t 5 E. 1. m. 16. De praesemation pro M Aptonio de Niviano he revoked his first Presentation and Presented Nivianus to it as appears by his Patent for that purpose still preserved amongst our Records At such time as Rubeus Mar. Paris in An. 1240. fo 540 and Ruffinus two of the Pope's Factors were very busie here in England in Collecting money for the Pope one Mumelinus comes from Rome with Four and twenty Italians with orders that they should be admitted to so many of the best Benefices that should next fall void Mâ—â—t Pâ—jâ—â— codem anno And in the same year it was that the Pope made agreement with the People of Rome that if they would effectually aid him against Frederick the Emperour their Children should be put into all the vacant Benefices in England And thereupon order was sent to Edmund Arch-bishop of Cant. the Bishops of Lincoln and Salisbury that Provision should be made for Three hundred Romans Children to be served of the next Benefices that should fall unde stupor magnus corda haec audientium occupavit timebaturque quod in abyssum desperationis talia audiens mergeretur as the Historian hath it But this made such an impression upon the Archbishop being a tender man to see the Church in that manner wounded and so much evil in his days that he disposed of his affairs and retired into France where for a little while he lived Godw. in vita ejus bewailing the deplorable state of his Country and of grief dyed at Pontiniac CHAP. XVII Priories-Alien PRiories-Alien were another cause or means of carrying great summs for a long time out of the Kingdom And these were of this Original viz. according to the devotion of the times many forraign Monasteries and Religious Houses were endowed with possessions here in England and then the Monks beyond Sea partly to propagate more of their own Rule and Order and partly to place Stewards as it were to transmit a good proportion of the Rents and profits of these their new acquir'd possessions at so great a distance would either by themselves or the assistance of others build a Cell or competent and convenient reception for some small Covent to which they sent over from time to time such numbers as they thought fit and constituted Priors over them successively as occasion required and thereupon they were called Priories-Aliens because they were Cells to some Monasteries beyond the Seas And these Foundations became frequent after the Conquest So as in the raign of King Edward the third they were increased to the number of one hundred and ten in England With some proportion or allowance out of the revenues of these the Prior and Monks sent over were maintained and the residue transmitted to the Houses to which they were allyed to the great damage of the Kingdom and inriching of strangers In time the Foundations of these Priories-Alien became very numerous being spread all over the Kingdom Lamb. Peram of Kent Weav Fun. Mon. One John Norbury erected two the one at Greenwich the other at Lewsham in Kent both belonging to the Abby of Gaunt in Flanders At Wolston in Warwick-shire a Cell W. Dugd. Warw. in Wolston or Religious House was founded subordinate to the Abby of St. Peter Super Dinam in France Another at Monks-Kirby in the same County Id. fo 50. founded by Geffry Wirce of Little Brittain in France appropriated to the Monastery of Angiers the principal City of Anjou And another at Wotton Wawen in the same County Id. fo 604. a Cell of Benedictin Monks belonging to Conchis in Normandy of all which Mr. Dugdale hath several remarks of Antiquity At Hinckley in Leicester-shire Burton Descrip of Leic. fo 134. a Priory of Canons Aliens was founded by Robert Blanchmains Earl of Leicester or as some say by Hugh Grandmeisnell Baron of Hinckley belonging to the Abby of Lira in Normandy and this of a very good value Roger de Poictiers founded a cell for Monks-Aliens at Lancaster Cambd. Brit. in Lancast Edward the Confessor Id. in Glocest fo 362. by his Testament assign'd the religious place at Deochirst in the County of Gloucester and the Government thereof to the Monastery of St. Denis near Paris in France in this remarkable that it will be hard to given another instance of such an assignation before the Norman Conquest King Henry the third once gave licence to the Jews Stow Survey in Broadst Ward Lindwood Constit lib. 3. Tit. 20. at their great charge to build a Synagogue in London which when they had finished he order'd should be dedicated to the Virgin Mary and then made it a Cell to St. Anthony's in Vienna And near unto Charing-Cross there was another Stow Survey in Westm fo 495. annexed to the Lady of Runciavall in Navarre in the Diocess of Pampelone founded in the fifteenth year of King Edward 4. At Sion Cambd. in Midd. fo 420. in Middlesex there was antiently a Monastery for Monks-Aliens Mr. Cambden tells us when they were expuls'd and how it was converted into a Nunnery for Virgins to the honour of our Saviour the Virgin Mary and St. Briget of Syon But Lindwood tells us Lindwoed l. 3. Tit. 20. that the Superior House to which at first it belonged not mentioned by Mr. Cambden was at Wastena in the Kingdom of Sweden of the Rule of St. Austin But the richest of all for annual revenue Harpsfield Catalog Ae l. Rel. fo 762. was that which Yvo Talbois built at Spalding in Lincoln-shire giving it to the Monks of Angiers in France the yearly revenue whereof was valued at 878 l. 18 s. 3 d. per annum Instances might be made of a multitude more of the like Foundations all tending to carry money out of the Kingdom and most commonly to the King's Enemies beyond the Seas Which mischief being apprehended Rot. Parl. 50 E 3. nu 128. and great complaints thereof frequently made in Parliament these Priories-Alien became oftentimes seised into the King's hands and the revenues thereof sequestred to the King's use and then restitutions made and seisures again as occasion required untill the fourth year of King Henry the fourth Claus 4 Hâ—n 4. nu 30. when a new consideration was had in Parliament about these Priories-Alien and resolved that all should again be seised into the King's hands
something he got out of them as I remember about 3000 l. of which no doubt but he gave a good account At another time this Otho came to Oxford where he was entertain'd with good respect Ypod. Neustr fo 59 Knighton Coll. 2432 Polychron l. 7. c. 35. and the Schollers after dinner coming to give him a visite the rude Porter at the Gate gave them an uncivil repulse which with throwing scalding water in one of their faces and in revenge thereof the death of the Master Cook such a hubbub was raised that the Legate was glad for safety to get into the Steeple where sculking he might hear the rabble ranging about searching for him and crying out where is that Usurer that Simoniack that piller and poller and filcher of our money who perverting the King and subverting the Kingdom inricheth strangers with our spoils But in the dead of the night out he creeps and with some difficulty got over the River running to the King not far off to whom he tells a pittiful story with his hazards beseeching his protection for those of his Company in great danger left behind Whereupon the King presently sends a Company of armed men who apprehended thirty Schollers ingaged in the Riot which they carryed in Carts to Wallingford Castle and thence to London who being brought barefoot to the Legate's dore upon great intreaty of the Bishops and their penitent submission all were pardoned and the University released of Interdiction Petrus Rubeus comes next in play Pet. Rubeus for the understanding of whose Negotiation and Artifices I will give you only one Paragraph of Matthew Paris Matt. Paris in An. 1240. fo 533. Flor. Hist An. 1240. viz. Per eosdem dies venit in Angliam nova quaedam pecuniae exactio omnibus saeculis inaudita execrabilis Misit enim Papa pater noster Sanctus quendam exactorem in Angliam Petrum Rubeum qui excogitata muscipulatione infinitam pecuniam a miseris Anglicis edoctus erat emungere Intravit enim Religiosorum Capitula cogens seducens eos ad persolvendum exemplo aliorum Praelatorum quos mentitus asserebat gratanter persolvisse Dixit enim ille Episcopus ille ille Abbas ille jam libens satisfecit quidnam vos ignavi tam moramini ut grates cum muneribus amittatis Fecit enim praedictus Impostor jurare ut hoc genus pecuniam extorquendi nulli hominum infra dimidium anni facerent manifestum quasi eliciens hoc ex singulorum primitiva professione cum tantum de honestis sit Consilium Papale celandum Hoc faciendo more praedonum domesticorum qui fidem ab expoliatis extorquent ut nulli pandant nomina spoliantium Sed etiam si homines silerent lapides Ecclesiarum contra grassatores clamorem levarent Nec potuit hoc maleficium latere sub tenebris quomodo enim possent Praelati à suis sibi subjectis pecuniam exigere nisi causa exactionis exprimeretur To all which being so plain and notorious although there needs neither Translation nor Comment yet the English Reader may please to know the import of it to be this An D. 1240. That about that time came into England an abhominable way of exacting money never heard of before For our Holy Father the Pope sent a notable fellow Peter Rubeus by name who with a cunning mouse-trap trick wip'd the poor English of infinite summs of money For he would come amongst the Ecclesiasticks when they were met together in their Chapters and perswade and compel them to promise and pay certain summs telling them lies that many others had given freely That this Bishop and that this Abbot and that had given such and such summs and upbraiding them for their slackness Then the Impostor would make them swear that they would not discover to any one within half a year what they had given telling them that was the antient way of keeping the Popes secrets according to their Oath or promise at their first profession Therein doing like Thieves that extort Oaths from them they rob not to discover their names But here if men should hold their peace the very stones of the Churches would cry out against these robbers c. Contemporary with Rubeus Ruffious Mumelinus were Ruffinus and Mumelinus who acted their parts also in this Tragedy and of whom something before Stephanus Stephanus An. D. 1249. another of the Pope's Legates took his turn also to the great profit of his Master and the universal damage of the Kingdom For the Pope being at difference with the Emperour Frederick this Stephanus was sent to demand and collect the Tenths of all moveables of all the Clergy and Laity both in England Ireland and Wales on which occasion the Argument was apply'd That Rome being the Mother of all Churches ought to be relieved by her Children which was done very dutifully at that time Walo another Legat Walo must not be forgotten and his Province was to gather Procurations throughout all England of all Cathedrals Churches and Religious Houses which he managed strenuously William de Testa was another of the Pope's Legates and Collectors W. de Testa Flor. Hist An. 1307. Tho. Walsin fo 64. Ypod. Neust 97 98. Matthew Westminster and Thomas Walsingham end the raign of King Edward the first with the general Complaints of the Nobles Commons and Clergy of England against the grievances and exactions of this William de Testa and one Peter Hispan the Pope's Legat à Latere in the Parliament held at Carlile The Petitions and address to the King Ryley Placit Parliamentaria fo 376 377. Albertus c. for remedie of those grievances are very remarkable still preserved amongst our Records and lately exhibited to publick view Albertus Alexander Johannes Anglicus Johannes de Diva Ferentinus Martinus Rustandus Petrus Enguelbanck Gasper Pons Pol. Vergil and a multitude more might here be remembred but our Histories being generally fraught with their Acts and devices the curious are referred thither for more satisfaction if they please Besides these Legates Collectors Caursins Lombards and Factors there was another sort of men came over into England much instrumental in improving An. D. 1235. and transmitting the Pope's moneys And these were called Caursins and Lombards Mart. Paris in Hen. 3. fo 417. Italians by Country and terming themselves the Pope's Merchants these drove the trade of letting out of money of which they had great Banks and were esteemed far more severe and merciless than the Jews Matthew Paris gives this Etymology of the name Caursini quasi Capientes ursini because they worryed men like Bears Now because the Pope's Legates and Collectors were all for ready money when any summ by Levy First Fruits Tenths Dispensations c. became due and payable to the Pope by any Prelate Covent Priest or Lay person these Caursins would furnish them with present Cash upon their entring into some solemn Bond or
and unacquainted and half forgotten Suppliants poor Prisoners of God the silly Souls in Purgatory here abiding and induring the grievous pains and hote clensing fire c. But yet not trusting to the uncertain Charity of others most persons strained to the utmost and many most excessively their fortunes considered to leave some provision behind them for that purpose and most commonly by their last Wills and Testaments which were accounted sacred and carrying an Obligation more than ordinary for all persons concern'd to see them performed and thereby or by Acts executed in their life-time it was not rare for many men though they had many Children to provide for or many debts to pay to post-pone all relations and considerations to this concern of the Soul and to appoint and take Order for Masses Satisfactory Anniversaries Obits Requiems Dirges Placebo's Trentalls Lamps Lights and other offices to be performed daily weekly monethly or yearly as far as the summs destin'd would afford for the ease and help of the Testator's Soul Masses satisfactory Masses were the Romish service appointed to be said or sung at a certain time or times and at an appointed place at such an Altar or in such a Chappel with special reference to or remembrance of such a Soul or Souls tormented in Purgatory An Anniversary Anniversaâ—y was the appointment and performance of Prayers at such or such a time once a year for the souls of deceased persons Commonly upon the day of the death of the party who appointed it and this in imitation of the old Anniversary dayes whereon the Martyrdom or deaths of Saints were celebrated An Obit Obit was a funeral Office performed for the dead and for his Soul's health at certain times and place appointed A Requiem Requiem was on Office or Mass commonly sung for the dead so called from those words in it Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine A Dirge Dirge quasi dirige was an office of the same nature for Souls in Purgatory so called from the first word of the first Antiphone in the Office Dirige c. A Placebo Placebo was another such like Office or Service performed for the health and good Estate of some Soul or Souls so called from the word Placebo being the first word of the Office A Trental from the French Trente Trental was a service of thirty Masses said or sung for the dead or a service performed thirty dayes after their death Lamps and Lights Lamps Lights were by many ordered to be continually burning before some certain Altan Image or place or over some Sepulcher so hallowed as conceived to afford some ease or benefit to Souls in Purgatory The revenues that were given and setled for the maintenance of these and such like devices which were very considerable throughout the Kingdom were by the Stat. 1 Edward the sixth Cap. 14. Stat. 1 Ed. 6. Cap. 14. given to the King and they as vain and Superstitious inventions quite nulled What an esteem was formerly had of the vertue and efficacy of these Masses c. may partly appear by a memorable Record still extant viz. Alianor Consort of King Edward the first dying Pat. 19 E. 1. m. 11. Litera supplicatoria de orando pro regina defuncta the King sent out a writ to all the religious Houses and Monks of Cluny in England to sing Masses and make Prayers for her Soul and to câ—rtifie him the number of the Masses they should perform on that behalf that proportionably he might shew his gratitude to them So in the year 1290. Chron. W. Thorn Coll. 1958. Dominus Thomas Prior of Christs Church in Canterbury concessit Domino Regi in festa translationis beati Edvarâ—i Quinquaginta Psalteria Duo Millia CCCL Missas pro animabus Progenitorum suorum Reginarum Angliae as an Extraordinary liberality and spiritual Alms. As is related by W. Thorn And about the same time also it was Bundel Brev An. 19 Ed. 1. in Turt Lond. that Arnald Otho Abbot of Condam sent a certificate to the King to inform him what Prayers Masses and Anniversarys he and his Monastery had ordered for the speedy translation of his deceased Queen to the heavenly joys From all this now may easily be apprehended the force of vitiated and depraved Imaginations when men's Intellectua's are first blinded with ignorance and then led by Superstition being affrighted with uncouth relations of Apparitions Miracles and the horrours of an imaginary Purgatory what will they not do or undertake to alleviate and mitigate in tanto if not in toto those approaching torments and for that purpose suffer themselves to be haled and pulled sometimes one way by guides as blind as themselves and sometimes another by treacherous and dangerous designers Yet in the darkest of these times there wanted not some that could discern that all was not right and that they were gotten into a very uncertain and dangerous road and in as much danger from their guides as the enemy which they would avoid Some of these in a more serious way protesting and advising both against the Errour and the danger of it had their mouths soon stopp'd when others more jocular between jest and earnest as it were made bold with the corruptions and abuses of the times witness the wits and Satyrists of their respective times Rob. of Glocester John Harding Jeffrey Chancer John Gower Rob. Longland alià s Piers Plowman Lydgate and many more whose dull rimes carryed a cutting sence with them Indeed though the Lashes of a Satyrist seldom or never produce amendment of Epidemical vices and Errors yet in this they have their fruit that thereby posterity is oftentimes more truly informed of the manners and genius of times than by the professed Historian who rarely touches that string And by these the abuses and cheats of Priests Monks and Fryers in their Masses Confessions Shrifts Penances Pardons Indulgences Miracles Reliques c. all serving to fill the people's brains with vain and terrible apprehensions and to empty their purses were according to the wit of their respective Ages to the warning of this notably and smartly detected arraigned and condemned A multitude more of instances might be given of the Chargeableness and expensiveness of Popery whereby the People were daily abused and improverished to the inriching of others with their spoils whose natural office and duty was to feed and not to fleece the flock Hence hath bin noted the ready tendency of degenerate Religion when it throws off its spiritual temper at the same time to grasp at Temporal Power and Temporal Riches How that Power was usurp'd we have in part seen in the first Tract and how the Riches were ingross'd we have endeavoured to make some discovery in this and amongst all the Arts used for that purpose none proved more effectual than this device of Purgatory this was the fire that alwayes kept the Pope's Kitchin warm and gave life
Sero recusat ferre quod subiit jugum But notwithstanding the infinite subtle arts and mighty efforts for that purpose the Papacy found it at any time a most difficult thing to carry any thing here by a high hand and to bring the Ecclesiastical State of this Nation to depend on Rome For our Princes never did doubt but they had the same Authority within their own Dominions as Constantine had in the Empire and our Bishops the same as St. Peter's Successors in the Church Ego Constantini Ailred Rival Coll. 361.16 Vos Petri gladium habetis in manibus said King Edgar in an eminent Speech unto his Clergy And what Power in the Church our Kings took themselves anciently to have appears by their Laws and Edicts published by themselves Leg. Edv. confess cap. 17. fo 142. Leg. Canut Inae apud Jornal Mart. Paris w. 2. and acknowledged by their subjects All speaking thus That the ordering and disposition of all Ecclesiastical Affairs within their own Dominions was their sole and undoubted Right the Foundation thereof being that Power which the Divine wisdom hath invested the Secular Magistrate withal for the defence and preservation of his Church and People against all attempts whatsoever And all our Laws and Lawyers concurring in this Rex sub nullo nisi tantum sub Deo Bracton Leg. Sanct. Edw. cap. 19.17 That the King of England is subject to no Power on Earth but to God only and in King Edwards Laws he is called Vicarius summi Regis as also in Bracton that being the Cognomen as it were given by Pope Eleutherius long ago to King Lucius here as not being under the power of any other And this in effect acknowledged by the whole Body of the English Clergy Reg. Hoveden in Hen. 2. pa. post fo 510. in a Letter of the Bishops of the Province of Canterbury to Tho. Becket An. D. 1167. as it stands recorded at large by Roger Hoveden To this it will be but seasonable and pertinent to add the Historical Instances and evidences some of them as occurr demonstrating as the continual claim and when they could the exercise of this Right by the Kings of this Island so the worthy resistances as from time to time have been made against all forraign usurpations and incroachments upon the same sufficient to shew that our Princes did not command the Ecclesiasticks here who made up so great a part of their subjects according to the will and pleasure of any forrain Potentate nor that they were only lookers on whilest others governed the English Church Therefore we may observe All Councils and Convocations Eadmer fo 25.5.11 Florent Wigorn An. 1070. fo 434. Stat. 25 H. 8.19 assembled at the King's appointment and by the King 's Writt Jubente praesente Rege as one says and that upon the same Authority as the Emperour Constantine had long before assembled the Council of Nice Some appointed by the King to sit in those Councils and supervise their actions Matt. Paris ad An. 1237. fo 447. ne ibi contra regiam coronam dignitatem aliquid statuere attentarent And Mat. Paris gives us the names of the Commissioners for that purpose in one of the Councils held in the time of King Hen. 3. And when any did otherwise he was forced to retract such Constitutions as did Peckham or they were but in paucis servatae Lyâ—dw de soro competent cap. 1. as were those of Boniface as Lyndwood ingenuously doth acknowledge No Synodical Decree suffered to be of force but by the King's allowance Eadmer fo 6.29 and confirmation In hoc concilio ad emendationem Ecclesiae Anglicanae assensu Domini Regis Gervas Dorobern An. 1175. fo 1429. Mat. Paris Hen. Huntingd Eadm passim Pat. 8 9 Johan R. m. 5.8 primorum omnium regni haec subscripta promulgata sunt capitula as Gervasius Dorobern informs us No Legate suffered to enter into England but by the King's leave and swearing to do nothing prejudicial to the King and his Crown All matters of Episcopacy determined by the King himself Eadmer 115.23 inconsulto Romano Pontifice No Appeals to Rome permitted None to receive Letters from the Pope Thorn Coll. 2152. Coke 3. Instit cap. 54.10.127 Hoveden Hen. 2. fo 496. without shewing them to the King who caused all words prejudicial to him or his Crown to be renounced and dis-avowed by the bringers or receivers of such Letters Permitted no Bishops to Excommunicate Eadmer fo 6.31 or inflict any Ecclesiastical censure on any Peer nisi ejus praecepto Caused the Bishops to appear in their Courts Addit Mat. Paris fo 200 to give account why they excommunicated a subject Bestowed Bishopricks on such as they approved Forent Wigorn An. 1070. fo 536. and translated Bishops from one See to another Erected new Bishopricks Godwin de Praef. Angl. So did King Hen. 1. An. 1109. Ely taking it out of Lincoln Carlile 1133. out of York or rather Durham Commanded by Writ Coke 2. Instit 625. Addit Mat. Paris fo 200. nu 6. the Bishops to Residency Placed by a Lay hand Clerks in Prebendary or Parochial Churches Ordinariis penitus irrequisitis as it is phrased in Matt. Paris By these and many other instances of the like nature exercised by our Kings it appears that the English ever took the outward Policy of this Church or Government of it in foro exteriori to depend on the King And therefore the writs of Summoning all Parliaments express the calling of them to be Pro quibusdam arduis urgentibus negotiis nos statum defensionem Regni nostri Angliae Ecclesiae Anglicanae concernentibus c. In the Reign of King Edward the first Broâ—k Tit. Praemunire pl. 10. 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 which the Offendor should have bin drawn and hang'd but at the great instance of the Chancellor and Treasurer he only abjur'd the Realm King Edw. Trin. 19 Ed. 3. Fitzh Quare non admisit pl. 7. presented his Clark to a Benefice within the Province of York who was refused by the Arch-bishop for that the Pope by way of Provision had conferred it on another The King thereupon brought a Quare non admisit the Archbishop to it Pleaded that the Bishop of Rome had long time before Provided to the said Church as one having Supream Authority in that case and that he durst not nor had power to put him out who was possessed by the Pope's Bull. But for this high contempt against the King his Crown and Dignity in refusing to execute his Soveraign's commands against the Pope's Provision by Judgement of the Common Law the Lands of his whole Bishoprick were seized
or Scottish Bishop happening into their Company he would neither eat with them nor under the same roof where they were as Mellitus Laurentius and Justus complained in an Epistle of theirs to the Scots Bishops For the Saxons though King Ina Larga Reg is Benignitas or some other gave the Peter-pence partly as Alms and partly in recompence of a house erected in Rome for entertainment of English Pilgrims Yet it is certain that Alfred Athelstan Edgar Edmund Canutus Edward the Confessor so called and divers other Kings of the Saxon race gave all the Bishopricks of England per annulum baculum without any other Ceremony or any application to Rome as was usual by the Emperour the French King and other Christian Princes so to do as also in all their Laws for the Government of the Church here they consulted only with their own Clergy without any regard to the Authority of Rome But under the Norman Conquest the Papal usurpation march'd in for as the Conquerour came in with the Pope's Banner So either by the way of complemental gratitude or surprize the Pope presently layd hold upon part of the purchase as boasting all was gain'd by his aid and blessing And thereupon he sent two Legats into England favourably received by the Norman by whom a Synod of the Clergy was convened Will. Malm. de gest Ponâ—if Angl. lib. 1. fo 204. Rog. Hoveden pa. prior fo 453. and old Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury deposed because he had not purchased his Pall in the Court of Rome and many other Bishops and Abbots displaced on supposal for the like reasons of the invalidity of their Titles but speciously to place the Normans in their rooms or rather ultimately to introduce the Papal authority in cases of the Church Amongst these is to be noted that the King having earnestly moved the old Bishop of Worcester Matt. Paris Hist in Will 2. fo 20. Wulstan to give up his Staff his answer was that he would only give it up to him of whom he first receiv'd the same and so the old man went to St. Edwards Tombe and there offer'd up his Staff and Ring with these words Of thee O holy Edward I received my Staff and Ring and to thee I now Surrender the same again not acknowledging any authority in the Pope or in any other on his behalf to receive or dispose them as Matthew Paris relates the story at large And though the Conqueror did thus Complement the Pope in the admission of his Legates and some other small matters yet how far he really submitted himself appears by an Epistle to Gregory the seventh by him wrote thus Excellentissimo S. Eccl. Pastori Gregorio Gratia Dei Anglorum Rex Dux Normannorum Willielmus Salutem cum amicitia Hubertus tuus Legatus 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 unum admisi alterum non admisi fidelitatem facere nolui nec volo quia nec ego promisi nec antessores mees antecessoribus tuis id fecisse comperio Pecunia tribus fere annis in Gallia me agente negligenter collecta est nunc vero divina misericordia me in regnum meum reverso quod collectum est per praefatum Legatum mittetur quod reliquum est per Legatos Lanfranci Archiep. fidelis nostri cum opportunum fuerit transmittetur c. But in the time of his next successor K. Will. Rufus a further attempt was made that is to draw Appeals to the Court of Rome and that appears in the noted transactions with Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury at large reported in our stories And afterwards in the time of King Henry the first another step was made viz. to gain to the Pope the Patronage and Donations of Bishopricks and other Benefices Ecclesiastical at which the King taking courage writes roundly to the Pope thus Notum habeat Sanctitas vestra Hist Jorvall Coll. 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 Notwithstanding which upon the regress or restoring of Anselme and some difficulties that pressed the King in reference to his elder Brother Robert Matt. Paris in Hen. 1. fo 63. in a Synod held by Anselme at London in the year 1107. a Decree passed Cui annuit Rex Henricus statuit as Matthew Paris saith ut ab eo tempore in reliquum nunquam per donationem baculi pastoralis vel annuli quisquam de Episcopatu vel Abbatiaper Regem vel quamlibet laicam manum investiretur in Anglia But yet with this clause of salvo Sr. H. Spelâ— Concil Tom. 2. fo 28. Suis tantum juribus regalibus sepositis exceptis as appears in the Exemplification of the Acts of that Synod by the learned Collector of our English Councils In recompence whereof the Pope that there might be quid pro quo yielded to the King that thenceforth no Legate should be sent into England without the King's leave and that the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being should be for ever Legatus natus and for the honour of the See it was obtained that the Archbishop of Canterbury should in all General Councils sit at the Pope's foot tanquam alterius orbis Papa But this agreement was soon broken on both sides the Pope sending his Legates and the King resuming the Investiture of Bishops Matr. Paris fo 65. as the same Historian relates in divers instances In the next troublesome raign of King Stephen it was won clearly that Appeals should be made to the Court of Rome established in a Synod at London Speim Concil Tom. 2. fo 44. held by Henry Bishop of Winchester the Pope's Legat for before that time In Anglia namque Appellationes in usu non erant as un unquestionable Historian hath it donec eas Henricus Wintoniensis dum Legatus esset Hen Huntingdon lib. 8. fo 395. malo suo crudeliter intrusit in eodem namque Concilio ad Romani Pontificis audientiam ter appellatus est And in the raign of King Henry the second began the claime and usage of exempting Clarks from the secular Power whatever their crimes were And from this root sprang the famous contention between this King and his Archbishop Thomas Becket together with the Constitutions of Clarendon for the rectifying that abuse at large to be read and observed in the Historians of those times To all this it will be but pertinent to subjoine some brief disquisition touching the Canon Law how and by whom compiled and when introduced into this Iland under which where admitted no small part of the Papal authority was neatly and artificially drawn in For which