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A11297 An answere to a letter cum priuilegio. Saint German, Christopher, 1460?-1540. 1535 (1535) STC 21558.5; ESTC S100189 35,044 126

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¶ An answere to a letter ❧ ♣ Cum priuilegio ¶ Here begynneth the answer I Haue receyued youre letter wherby I perceiue that syth your returnyng ī to your contrey Ye haue herde that there is yet here in London moche cōmunycation great dyuersytie of opynions vpon suche articles as were spokē of whā ye were here And ye haue also written to me at a good lēgth all the articles that be noysed ther in your countrey to go yet abrode here in the cytie And thervpon ye desyre me to write vnto you my cōceyt / what I thynke is to be holdē in those articles surely that is a right great request for me to accōplishe For though I entende to speke the truthe therin / do so in dede yet paraduenture some men wyll be offēded with it / nat take it playnly after my meanyng but neuertheles / trustyng that the most parte of the people be nowe ī these dayes enclyned to take all thīges to the best I wyll nat for the opynyon of a fewe / fully deny your req̄st therī / but shall shewe you with good wyll my conceyt to all your articles / for I trust charitie hath moued you to that desyre And I wyll nat recyte here your artycles perticulerly togither / but wyll answere to them after the same order as they stande in your letter And so / euery man that shall happen to rede this answere shall knowe the order of the articles ī your letter And fyrst ye saye / that many in your coūtrey reporte that there shuld be a sayeng here about London / that the kyng hath many newe authorites gyuen hym / by that he is recognysed to be the supreme hed vpō erth vnder god of the church of Englāde / ye desyre me to shewe you my conceyt what I thīke therin / I wyll fyrst with good will say sō what to it to satisfye your desyre ¶ Whether the kynge by that he is recognysed to be supreme heed vnder god vpon erth of the church of Englāde / haue therby any new power giuen hī ouer his subiectes that he had nat before The first cha THe kyng / by that he is recognysed by the parliamente to be the supreme heed vnder god vpon erth / of the church of Englande / hath as I take it no newe power gyuen hī in any thīge but that lyke as before that recognisyon made / he had all such power ouer his subiectes spirytuall and temporall / as to a kyng belōgeth by the lawe of god so after the seyde recognisyon / he had the same power without alteration / none other but that And therfore he maye nat as I suppose by reasō of that recognisyon / take vpon hī any auctority that our lorde gaue only to his apostels or discyples / ī spirytuall ministratyon to the people And though he may nat / yet the recognisyon was nat to al intētes voyde / for by reason therof the power of the kyng is more euydētly knowen than it was before that recognisyon made for before that recognisyon / the clergye had gretly defaced the power of kingꝭ in this realme And for a more playne declaration of this mater / it is to be consydered / that there are some thynges that are called mere spirytuall / and that be so in dede And ther be some that haue bē called mere spirituall / whiche neuerthelesse perteygne to the power of kynges and princes The thynges mere spirituall be these The consecration of the sacrament of the auter / the makynge of absolucyons / the gyuyng of orders / the ministratyon that saynt Paul speke of ad Corin. iiii Whan he sayd of hīself of other Apostels discyples of Christ thus / Let euery man esteme vs as ministers of Christ / as dispēsatours of the misteryes of god / wherby he vnderstode princypally the ministratyō of the sacramentes And suche ministration the kynge may nat take vpon him / ne he intendeth it nat I knowe well that a kynge maye be a prest yea / a bysshop also / thā might he lawfully minister al such spūall thīges if he lyst but I wolde nat thynke that it were an incresynge of his honour to do so for the honoure of a kynge stādeth specyally ī doyng iustyce vnto his people / as it appereth Ps xcviii where it is sayd The honour of a kyng loueth iustyce And one poīt of iustyce is / to se the ministers vnder hī do their duty And therfore if bysshoppes were neglygente in doynge their ministration to the people / the kyng might cōmaūde them to do it that were more honour to him than do it hī selfe And though as it appeareth ii Par. xix Kyng Iosaphat ordeyned iugꝭ in all the cyties of Iuda and that in Ierusalem he ordeyned Leuytes prestes / princes of famelyes that they shuld iuge the iugement and cause of our lorde c. Yet it appereth nat that he made them prestes no more than he made Amaryas a preest for thoughe he appoynted Amaryas to be cheife preest / yet it appereth that he was a prest before And also though kyng Dauid appoynted the prestes and leuytes to their offyces / as appereth .i. Par. xxiii xxiiii Yet it appereth nat that he made any of them preestes Also trouth it is / that euery kyng is bounden to minister iustyce vnto his people / accordyng to the lawes of his realme And may therfore to that intent be called a minister but yet that ministration is all in a nother maner / than is the ministration of the successours of the apostels for the ministration of a kynge / is the ministration of power / iustyce souerayntie and to it ar necessary great possessyōs / honour and ryches / to maynteyne his estate And the ministratyon of the other standeth in spirytuall seruyce to the people / in mekenes / ghostly counsell / preachynge and teachynge in all charyte in somoche that none shulde be mery in god / but they shulde be mery with him none shulde be in heuynesse / but they shulde sorowe with him and to these ministers is necessary suffysaunce without abundaunce and honest pouerty is nat directly agaynst that ministration they ought alway to haue a contynuall desyre that the people shulde lyue in such brotherly loue quyetnes that there shulde nede no ministration of iustice by the high powers to be vsed amongest them And if any suche happened to come / they shuld feare gretly that it might happen to come through some defaute in them And surely whā any gret variaunce trouble ryse among the people / it is nat vnlyke but that some parte of the occasyon therof rose fyrste through the defautes neglygence of some of the clergye Than syth it is right highly expedyēt for the ministration of a price to haue habundāce of possessyons as is sayde before / howe maye he take any other ministration vpon him
of place and power of prechyng / if they lyst before any there bysshops yet neuerthelesse they made emperours kynges their people beleue that they had suche power / and brought theym in belefe also / that they were bounden to gyue credence to the clergye in all spirytuall maters / and that to doute at the popes power was heresy so through pusyllanimitie and wylful ignoraunce of princes and their people / and throughe a confederacy of Bysshoppes / they were therin right gretly deceyued but whan the parliament in the said xxvi yere c. recognysed the kyng to be the supreme heed in erth vnder god of the churche of Englāde they vnderstode by the terme churche / the hole cōgregation of all the people within this realme / aswell of the clergy as of the lay people that the kynge is the heed of them all / as he is in dede for it had ben a recognisyon of small effecte / to haue recognysed hī hed of the clergye only / that was before heed ouer his subiectes spūall temporall And so by that recognisyō the kynge hath none other auctoritye ouer his subiectꝭ but as he had before so that he maye nat vse any power mere spūall / that our lorde gaue onely to his apostels discyples as to consecrate or make absolucions / ne any other lyke / as is sayde before And if percase the parlyamente conuocacyon also had expressely graunted to the kīg with the seyd name of the supreme heed such spūal auctorityes / it is no dout / but that the graunt had bē voyde for they haue no auctorite to chaunge the lawe of god And if this be trewe / it wyll be very harde to tell what auctorite or power is taken by the seyde recognisyon fro the bysshop of Rome that he had before the seyd recognision made for the extorte powers that he toke vpon him by occasyon of that name in this realmeꝭ were taken fro him before by the statutes made in the sessone holden in the seyd .xxv. yere c. But that name of heed of all bysshops remayneth yet vnto hī nat taken away bi any statute / that maye appere in this maner The seid statute of .xxvi. is only that the kyng shall be supreme hed vnder god vpō erth / of the churche of Englāde / wherby is vnderstāde that he ought to haue suche power ī this realme ouer his subiectes spūal temporal / as to a kyng belongeth by the lawe of god / as is sayd before with that it may well stāde / that one may be hed bisshop minister in thynges mere spūall ouer the same people but than admyt that he be so / yet what power he ought to haue therbi ouer other bisshops is to be sene / and to gyue other occasyon to treate more thorowly of that mater I shall somwhat shewe my cōceite therī And that is / that it shulde seme that he shulde thereby haue this preemynence / to haue the hyghest seate aboue all other bysshoppes And if he wolde preache / that he ought to haue the place before all other / as is sayd before / these preemynences other lyke remayneth yet vnto hī / if he cam into this realme for ought that the ꝑliament hath don if any mā wyll say that he ought therby to haue vse also the power of a bisshop in mere spūall thingꝭ as in gyuyng ordres / makynge of prestꝭ / makyng of excoīcaciōs absolutiōs / such other in all places wher he shuld come / aswell wtout his owne dyocyse as within to that it may be answered / that if the generall counsell whereby Rome was made hed of al other churches / had entēded that the bisshop of rome shuld haue had the power of a bisshop vniuersally in all other bysshops diocyses through cristēdome / that than the seyd general coūsel wold haue expressed openly that power / and wold also haue reuoked the counsell on Nycene / which appoynted the bisshop of Rome to his diocise and that in all other prouynces / the honoure shulde be kepte to euery church But forasmuch as the seid generall counsell dyd nat so / it semeth that it intēded that the counsell of Nycene shulde stande in effecte that the bysshop of Rome shuld styll kepe him to his diocise as he dyd before / hauynge only by that name such preemynence at the generall metynge of bysshops / as before appereth in whose diocyse soeuer they mette neuer the lesse I wyll nothynge speke determynatly in this mater but remytte it to them that haue auctoritye And than if it be thought by the kynge and his parlyament that no hurte can come hereafter to the comenwelth / though the bisshop of Rome be suffred to kepe styll his name of the heed bysshop of crystendome / bycause the kynge natwithstandynge that name maye enioye the name of supreme heed vnder god vpō erth of the church of Englād they may suffre it contynue but if they se lykelyhodꝭ / that if the name be suffred to cōtynewe / that than by colour of that name / he wyll pretende hereafter to haue power aboue kynges princes / as his predecessours haue done in time past than maye the parlyamente repell that name as to this realme for euer it wyll be a very good dede to do it for the mayntenance of the whole comen welthe But as yet it is nat auoyded / bycause bothe names may stande togyther to seueral intentes as before appereth How may any man than resyst the seyd statutes but he resyst god or how may any man say that if he agreed to the statute / that he shulde fal therby fro the vnyte of christes church / syth the vnyte therof standeth nat in that poynte / whether Rome be heed churche of all other churches or nat But thā some mē say in this mater / that the parlyament dyd nat wel to recognyse the kynge to be supreme heed in erthe vnder god of the churche of Englande where saynt Paule sayth ad Ephe. v. Man is the hed of the woman / as Christ of the church also he sayth ad Colos i. He is the heed of the body of the churche that is to say Christ and thā it is said i. Corin. xi The heed of Christ is god so say they / the parlyament shulde haue holden lyke ordre / as s Paul dyd haue recognysed that the kyng was supreme heed vpon erth vnder Christe / to whom god was heed / that the parlyamente erred in that they kept nat the ordre that s Paule did And truly this is a daungerouse sayeng for if the ꝑlyament erred therin / than were no man bounden to obey the ꝑlyamēt in that behalfe for the ꝑliament may nothīge do against the lawe of god neuerthelesse it is apparant that the ꝑlem̄t dyd well varyed no thinge fro s Paule for it sayth that the kyng
is the supreme heed vpon erth vnder god / and that is true that he is vnder god And yet in that it saythe / that the kynge is supreme heedde vnder god / is nat Christ excluded for god is Christ and Christ is god / and the whole Trinitie is in Christe And so he that is vnder god / is vnder christ so Christe is God / and so God and Christ is all one But if the ꝑliamēt had recognised the kyng to be supreme heed vpon erthe vnder god / of the churchc of Englande / but nat vnder Christe than had they erred in dede / no man had ben bounden to haue taken the kyng vnder that maner as supreme heed c. But here it is nothing so And I dare wel afferme that it was neuer the intēt of the ꝑliamēt / to make any distynctyon or dyuersytie betwyxt god christ ne to exclude Christe fro the heedshyp of the church if the ꝑliamēt had sayde expressely that the kyng was supreme heed c. vnder god and Christ / than noman wold haue taken any exception to it And statute is nowe of the same effecte and syth it is now a lawe of the realme / it must be iudged accordynge to the groundes and rules of the lawe of the realme / and vndoutedly they wyll iuge the statute to be of such effecte as I haue sayde before that that was the very meanyng of the makers therof / for the wordes therof proue suffycyently that it was so though they do so / yet is that iugement no thynge agaynst saynte Paule for with that it standeth verye well / that Christ is the heed of the churche / that god is also the heed of Christ / as saynte Paule sayth ¶ Also whan Rome was made heed of all other churches / as Platyne sayth it was yet it is vncertayne what princes were warned to be at that counsell / what nat And if any Prince or Countrey were nat warned to be there / than that coūsell bounde nat that prīce / and no man can iuge for certayne that the kynge of this realme that tyme beynge had suche warnynge for it was in the tyme whan there were many kynges in this realme and whiche of them were warned and whiche nat / no man can tell And if this realme were nat bounde by the seyde generall counsell to accepte Rhome as hedde of all churches bycause it had no warnynge but hath by custome assented to it / than is that custome the thynge that shuld bynde this realme to it / and nat the generall counsell / and than it is no doute if the parlyamente see a hurte folowe to the comen welthe / by that custome but that they maye yea / and are bounde of iustyce to redresse it Also / though it were admytted that this realme hadde warnynge and were therefore bounde by the seyd generall coūsell as other realmes were yet for as moche as a generall councell shulde be holden at certayne tymes appoynted by the lawe to redresse wronges done to the people And it is well knowen throughe christendome that popes in tyme paste haue delayed suche generall counseyls / further than the lawe wold this many yeres Therfore if the wronges done by popes / shulde nat be reformed before a generall counsell / the people mighte be longe greued / and haue no helpe of longe tyme and there is no reason why they shuld susteyne wronge any one daye specyally by him that dyffereth the meanes whereby they might haue remedye And therefore the parlyament hath good auctoritye to remoue such wronges ī this realme and so haue all other Realmes that be in lyke maner greued as this realme was ¶ Also though it were nat the intente of the sayde Phocas to take any power fro princes / but onely to make Rome the hedde of other churches yet neuerthelesse the popes haue by occasyon therof taken great power fro princes / as whan they pretended to gyue all spirituall promocyons thorowe all christendome / and to do dyuers other thynges vnder the pretence that they were thynges mere spirituall as in the fyrst chapiter of this answere appereth And whan they pretended to make personall cytacions to whom they wolde cause them vpon payne of cursynge / to appere at Rome aswell bysshops as other / that all appelles shulde be made to Rome / fro all bysshops of crystendome / that all bisshoppes shulde be sworne to them And that they myghte prohybyt what bokes preachers they wolde by their owne auctorite And certayn it is that they optayned all these powers more thorough the sufferaunce of princes / rather than by the lawe of god Also many of the sayd pretences made by the bysshops of Rome / dyuers other nat here remembred were dyrectly agaynst the power of other bysshops / that they had receyued of the immedyate gyfte of god And bysshops coulde nat haue ben compelled to haue suffred suche vyolence if they wolde haue resysted it And therfore great defaute offence of conscyence was in them / that they wolde wylfully suffre suche wronges nat onely to their owne hurte but also in maner to a whole confoundynge of al truth / and of al good comen welth in many countreys ¶ Also / for as moche as the bysshop of Rome / natwithstandyng the seyde statutes And also natwithstandynge any other statute made in this present parlyamente shall haue as moche auctoritye in this realme as his predecessours had at the sayd coūsell of Nycene no man may say that they that obserue those statutes declyne fro the vnytye of Christes churche or fro the gospel but he sey also that the sayd coūsell of Nycene dyd so like wyse and that no man wyll saye as I suppose ¶ Of prayenge to sayntes and worshyppynge of them The thirde cha THis is a good prayer lord I besech the in the honour of our blessed lady of all the graces vertues that thou gauest vnto her for the which gracyous giftes I al other ar specially boūde to honour loue both the and her / that thou to thy honoure to hers graunt me that I aske if thou know it expediēt for me if nat thy wyll by done nat myne And I suppose verily that they that made the Letani entended none other wyse but that all the prayers that be made therin to our lady to other sayntes shuld be takē as prayers vnto our lorde that he for al the graces that he gaue to them gyue vs his grace help vs in all our necessyties But no man ought to aske any peticiō of our lady as thought she of her self hath power to graūt it there be many also that wil say ferther that oure ladye of her owne power dyd neuer yet any myracle but that our lorde only of his power to shew that he had accepted approued her vertue / wherby other might be encouraged to labour to haue lyke