déede that wise Prince king Henry the viii turned the Church that is in England away from many Romish superstitions that were very fowle And what offended he therin Nay rather he deserued prayse and his fallyng away is counted among wise men a vertue and not a vyce Moreouer the renowme of this Prince is so famous among all good and godly men as it can not be defaced by the raylinges of these rascals of the Romish sink He was of singular learnyng of notable wisedome and experience of excellent corage and adorned with all heroicall vertues and feates méete for a Prince And it is not I alone that thinke thus of this Kyng there be other graue personages which haue commended the same thinges in hym This Prince departyng blessedly out of this lyfe in the xxxviii yeare of his reigne about the end of Ianuary in the yeare of our Lord .1547 and hauyng erst by his will intayled the succession of his Crowne first vnto his sonne Edward a young child of ix yeares of age and successiuely after hym vnto his daughters Marie and Elizabeth was succeded by the sayd Edward the vi of that name whose ample commendations that notable Historiographer Sleidan hath comprised in few wordes in the xxv booke of his Comentaries saying Edward the vi the kyng of England doutlesse a Prince of singular towardnesse departed out of this lyfe the vi day of Iuly in the yeare of our Lord. 1553. beyng about the age of xvi yeares truly to the grief of all godly men For after his decease there folowed a very great alteration of thinges in England Surely Europe hath not had any kyng of so great hope now these certein hundred yeares Beyng very well trayned vp in godlinesse and instructed in learnyng euen from his tender yeares he was séene not onely in the Latin toung but also in the Gréeke the Frēch tounges and he had an earnest loue to the doctrine of the Gospell and gaue interteinement and defence to all learned men Germaines Italiās Frenchmen Scottes Spanyardes and Polonians Thus much saith he furthermore Iohn Bale Byshop of Ossoria in Ireland reporteth that this King did also exercise himselfe in writing and among other thinges wrate a Comedie of the whore of Babylon Concernyng the gouernaunce of Quéene Mary and her bringyng of the Church backe agayne to the Sea of Rome I will say nothing at this present bycause the declaration therof would be very sorowfull and lamentable and to say truth it sticketh yet still more fresher is all mēs myndes thou that it néedeth to be ripped vp agayne This onely will I say further that the Bishops of Rome were euen then also heauie frendes to the Realme of England as they had ben oft afore accordyng as they had alwayes wrought mischief vnto other kingdomes also in Christendome for these fiue hūdred yeares and more But God will iudge them when he séeth tyme. After Quéene Marie succeded Quéene Elizabeth in the kyngdome not a thrall of wickednesse as the Popes rayling mouth doth slaunderously reuile her but the seruaunt yea and the faithful seruaunt of Iesus Christ our redemer and Lord as by him set at libertie from the thraldome of sinne and made his fréewomā so as she is now the daughter of God and an enemie of all wickednesse yea euē of the Popes for their wickednesse sake For she cleaueth entierly to her onely Redemer Christ to him onely doth she with singular faithfulnesse and diligence indeuer to knit the people of her Realme and the subiectes that be vnder her charge Her owne selfe liueth a lyfe beséemyng a Christian princesse commendyng holy and honest conuersation to all folkes through her Realme and as much as in her lyeth forbidding restreining all wickednesse Which thing truly is not to draw backe her subiectes to destructiō but to plucke them from destruction and to restore them to assured saluation They that know this Quéene know also that I feyne nothing here to curry fauour And I touche these things the more sparely least I may séeme to purpose in any wise to flatter Neither hath her maiestie any néede of my defence considering that her owne godlinesse and innocencie defend her Surely her Maiestie like as also her brother of most blessed memorie Kyng Edward the vi did opened a Sanctuarie to outlawes I meane mē that fled their countryes and banished men that is to wit which were driuen out of the Popish common weales not for committyng wicked crymes but for castyng away of Idolatrie and for professing the healthfull Gospell of Iesu Christ. I graunt that these folke are enemyes or angry in their hartes howbeit not against Christ and his most holy Gospell but against the Pope and his most lewde practises cursed superstitions I graūt that the pope termeth these mē heretikes howbeit wrongfully for in very déede they be right Catholikes abhorryng all heresie fightyng agaynst it He that receiueth these receiueth Christ accordyng as Christ himselfe witnesseth who also promiseth most ample reward to such as giue enterteinemēt to his outcastes Therfore let that gracious Quéene reioyce let her reioyce I say in openyng refuge to the miserable outcastes that are driuen out of their countrie for the true Religion for she shall assuredly receiue those most ample rewardes at the Lordes hand And let not her Maiestie passe at all for that abhominable barbarousnesse and crueltie of Rome which both persecuteth the innocentes most outrageously it selfe and also cruelly commaundeth others to persecute oppresse and murther them That these men should so do S. Peter hath foretold in his Epistle where he matcheth them with wyld beastes Let that vertuous Quéene then shunne these cruell and beastly examples and let her rather hearken to Esay the holy Prophet of God speaking in the name of his God and saying Set thy shadow as a night in the midday hyde the chased and bewray not them that be fled Let my banished people dwell with thée Moab be thou their refuge agaynst the destroyer To impeach the right of hospitalitie hath alwayes ben reputed as one of the heynousest crymes that could be euen among the heathen But to giue harbrough to the afflicted and to the Church of Christ it hath alwayes and specially in Christes Church bene reckened among the cheefest vertues and allowed of all good men ¶ That it is no monstruousnesse at all for the Queene of England to be called supreme head of the Realme of England vpon earth ANone after among the haynous offences neuer able to be purged with any sacrifice and which most of all moueth the choler that boyleth inwardly in the brest of the vniuersal bishop and souerein Lord as he him selfe will séeme to be as well in cases spirituall as temporall bycause that power can abyde no partnershyp the foresayd thyng is bitterly recited in the Bull euen in these wordes Which will haue her selfe acknowledged alone for souerein Lady in cases spirituall and tēporall by
good and thou shalt receaue prayse of him for he is Gods minister for thy welfare but if thou do the thing that is euyll then be affrayde for he beareth not the sworde in vaine for he is the minister of God to take vengeance on them that do euyll Why then did not these men well whome the Bull bewayleth for so should they doubtlesse haue receyued both prayse reward at the Quéenes hand being a gracious and bountifull prince The Quéene hath done nothing in this behalf which God hath not commaūded to be done afore in his law yea and also which is not ordayned in the lawes of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius L. Quicunque C. concerning Bishops and clerkes as hath bene sayd heretofore Yet will I not here sing the prayses of those that are set vp in the places of them that be deposed by Gods grace do their seruice at this day to the Churches of England peaceably and healthfully Their owne vertue commendeth them sufficiently so as they haue no néed of my prayse ¶ That the Queene of England hath not chosen mens opinions for herself and hir realme to follow but Gods pure word hertofore sought out and receyued by King Edward the sixth nor yet sette foorth bookes of heresie or forced her realme to receiue them THe goodly Bull a Gods name proceedeth on still to lay together the rest of the articles of his accusation against the Quéenes Maiestie in these wordes She hath sayth he commaunded hir subiectes to obserue the wicked misteries and ordinaunces which she hir selfe hath taken vp and obserued according to Caluins setting forth Also she hath set out bookes to hir whole Realme contayning manifest heresie But the lying and slaunderous Bull shooteth wide al the féeld ouer Perchance the Romish sort measure al men by themselues and because they them selues hang wholy vpon men in so much as there be many thousandes to be found among them which both will be called haue a plesure to be called Benedictines of Benet Franciscanes of Frauncis and diuersly and sunderly after many others and will both séeme to séeme to liue and glorie to liue according to these mens ordinances rules or appointmentes therefore they imagine that we also woulde be called Lutherans of Luther Zuinglians of Zuinglius and Caluinistes of Caluine and that we hang wholy vpon these mens ordinaunces but it is not so Paule the Apostle of Christ hath forbidden any such thing to be done in the Church saying to the Corrinthians Euery of you sayth I hold of Apollo I of Cephas and I of christ Is Christ deuided was Paule crucifyed for you or were you baptized in Paules name And againe when one sayth I hold of Paule and an other I holde of Apollo are ye not fleshly Therefore the true Christians will be named but onely after christ As for the names of men be they neuer so excellent we acknowledge them not in this case neither do we regard or receyue theyr ordinances furtherfoorth then they agree in all poyntes with Gods woorde and when we receiue them we receiue thē not for their sakes but for Gods wordes sake And the Quéene of Englands Maiestie neuer receiued of Caluin or of any other excellent and well learned men any ordinaunces to follow nor neuer regarded them and yet by the way if any of them haue taught any thing out of Gods pure woord no godly man can take scorn of for the Quéene in that reformation of hirs had an eye onely to the liuely woord of God deliuered vnto vs by the holy scriptures and so she setled all matters of religion vppon the very woord of God and not vpon any men Dauid speaking of Gods woord sayth in the 119. Psalme Thy woord O Lord endureth for euer in heauen Thy woord is a lanterne to my féet and a light vnto my paths Lord thou art righteous and thy iudgement is rightfull Princes sit together and rayle vpon me because thy seruaunt talketh of thy statutes and because thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors Princes haue persecuted me without cause but my hart standeth in awe of thy woord And Lord seing I stick to thy testimonies bring me not to shame c. That godly prince of blessed memorie and woorthy of immortall glorie King Edward the sixth folowing the examples of Iosias and Constantine the great two of the excellentest princes that euer were in the world began the reformation of the English church For like as Iosias calling a parlament or Couusell of his noble men Priestes and Commons did first cause the law of God to be read openly before them and then obediently refourmed hys whole realme woord for word according to the law that was read And like as Constantine summoned a generall counsell of the teachers and Ministers of the Churches through the whole worlde and sitting downe among them sayd The bookes of the Gospelles and the Apostles together with the oracles of the auncient Prophets do plainly entruct vs of Gods meaning and will and therefore laying aside all enemylike discord let vs take the exposition of our questions out of the sayinges of the Holie Ghost Euen so King Edward summoning a parlament at London of all the Nobilitie Bishoppes and notablest learned men through hys whole realme admitting also the famousest clarkes of other realmes being Gods seruauntes commaunded them to shew by the holy scriptures what was to be followed of him and his realme in so great diuersity of opinions And they executing faythfully the charge which the King had enioyned them did the same time with one consent and according to Gods woord agrée vpon certaine articles which the King did both receiue and publish without delay wyth this title set afore them Articles agréeed vpon by the Bishops and other learned men in the Parlament holden at London in the yeare of our Lord 1552. for the taking away of the diuersitie of opinions and the stablishing of consente in the true religion published by authoritie of the Kinges maiestie Therefore by the labour and endeuor of that godly prince King Edward the English Church was refourmed according to the rule and appointment of the holy scriptures After King Edwardes decease Quéene Marie repealing the same reformation abrogated it for a time And Queene Elizabeth hauing receiued it againe by Gods grace hath eftsoones set it vp in perfect estate And therefore nothing els hath she receiued and deliuered to be kept of hir whole Realme then that hir brother of blessed memorie King Edward héertofore most godlily and wisely thought méet to be receiued and beleued of himself and to be conueighed ouer to his subiectes out of the liuely woord of God as hath bene sayd already whereby it appeareth now most manifestly that the thinges are false and forged which the lying Bull hath bruted concerning wicked misteries with spightfull interlacing the name of Caluine receyued by the Quéenes Maiestie and enioyned to the Realme of England
libertie of the Church as an occasion to plucke the soueraintie to themselues and to oppresse Christian libertie Beleue me I speake of experience they will not cease till they haue gotten all into their owne handes The Pope imagineth new deuises in his brest to the intent he may stablish his owne Empyre he altereth lawes he stablisheth his owne he defileth he filtheth he spoyleth he defraudeth he killeth That lost man whom men are wont to call Antichrist in whose forehead is written a name of blasphemy that is to wit I am God and I cannot erre euen that lost soule I say sitteth in Gods temple and raigneth far and wide These and many other thinges like these did that holy byshop discourse with great boldnesse and constancie Neither was this Prelate altogether a vayne Prophet considering that within thréescore yeares after Boniface the eight of that name a most filthy and vngracious wight is reported to haue bene puffed vp into so diuelish and brasenfaste pride that openly in the Iubilie which he himselfe first inuented and ordayned contrary to the Christian fayth he durst vaunt himselfe as highest byshop and chiefe Emperour before a great assembly and prease of people of all nacions vnder heauen For the first day he came forth in hys byshoplike apparell and gaue the foolishe people his Apostolike blissing as they terme it And the next day wearing an imperiall crowne and being clothed in robes of estate he commaunded a naked sword to be borne before hym and sittyng downe in a throne cryed out Behold here be the two swordes And being not satisfied with this Luciferlike gaze he durst yet further at the same time most spitefully reiect the Ambassadours of the Princes Electors which gaue him to vnderstand that they had chosen Albert Prince of Habspurge and Austrich the sonne of king Rodolphus to be king of Romanes yea and also to make a lawe in all respectes tyrannicall and Antichristian which is extant in the extrauagantes in the booke of maioritie obedience beginning with vnam Sanctam c. In that lawe after he hath attributed all power both spirituall temporall to the Pope in the end he concludeth the same and saith moreouer we declare auouch determine and geue sentence that it is vtterly of necessitie of saluation that all men be subiect to the byshop of Rome Whereas there is commonly blazed abroad of the same byshop this commendation of his that he entred as a Fox raigned as a woolfe others haue as a Lion and dyed as a dogge And whereas Phillip the fayre king of Fraunce appeached him of heresie murther simonie and all maner of most heynous crimes yet are not the Papistes ashamed to alledge still the sayd stinking lawe of this rancke varlet for the maintenaunce of their monarchy Hereunto perteineth it that the Bull of Iohn the xxij published agaynst Lewes the 4. Emperour of that name which Bull Auentine rehearseth whole in his vii booke of Chronicles sayth among other thinges When the chief Empire happeneth to be without a head the souerein power of it is in the handes of the highest Bishop whole benefite the same is c. This durst he write the yeare of our Lord. 323. So greatly were their corages increased since Boniface dyed in prison which was within xxiij yeares space But the Emperour Lewes aunswereth the Bull at large by a proclamation which is to be read copyed whole by the same Auentine into his booke of histories In the same proclamation among other thinges The Byshop sayth he meaning Iohn the xxij thristeth after Christian bloud and soweth euery where the mischief of discord and seditions among Christians Neither can the Christians kéepe the peace giuen them of God by reason of this Antichrist So great is the madnesse of that man or rather of that féend that he preacheth his owne wicked doynges as if they were good déedes in open audience When Christian Princes sayth he are at variance one with an other then is the Romish Priest the hyghest Byshop in déede then reigneth he then is he in his ruffe And so the debate and discord of the Germanes is meate and drinke to the Byshops of Rome Therfore it standes the high prelate in hand to weaken the Empire of the Almaines And a little after the Emperour sayth Looke who soeuer kéepe their allegeance to the Emperour and to Christ our Sauiour which commaundeth them to obey Them for so doyng and for none other cause doth he brond with the marke of heresie What soeuer he listeth he déemeth it lawfull How shall I therfore deale with him He mindeth not to execute or to know any right any equitie any good He séeth nothyng he doth nothyng but what he listeth himselfe He taketh to him the spirit of Sathan and maketh himselfe like the highest He suffereth himselfe to be worshipped which thing a certaine aungell forbade Iohn to do vnto him and his féete to bée kissed after the maner of the most cruel tyrantes Diocletian and Alexander whereas Christ our Lord and kyng washed the féete of his Disciples beyng but fishermen to the intent that his messengers should do the same agayne to those that they were sent to so forth I haue rehearsed these things to the end that the manifest record and iudgement not onely of a famous Byshop but also of a most glorious kyng or Emperour concernyng this latter vnhappy and vngracious Bishops might remaine in record In the same tyme of Lewes the iiij about the yeare of our Lord .1330 that is to say two hundred and forty yeares ago florished the renowmed and sage Lawyer Marsilius of Padua who wrate a singular booke for the Emperour Lewes the 4. agaynst the Byshops of Rome and intitled it the defence of peace In the same booke Dict. 2. Chap. 4. he sheweth by many and those most euident reasons that neither the Byshop of Rome no nor any other Byshop or Priest hath any souereintie ouer any man either clerks or layman and that by the example of Christ if any such be offered them they ought to refuse it and that all Byshops and Churchmen ought to be subiect to the souerein that ruleth them Agayne the same man in Dict. 2. Cap. 25 sayth thus They haue taken to them the title which they make their boast of namely The fulnesse of power which they say that Christ gaue peculiarly vnto them in the person of S. Peter as to the successors of the same Apostle they indeuer to make it the instrument of this naughtinesse By which cursed title by sophisticall spéech they labour to bring all Princes people and persons politike and seuerall in bondage to them And agayne Although the Euangelist sayd trew in auouchyng Christ to be kyng of kynges and Lord of Lordes yet notwithstandyng he that hath auouched any power of souereintie at all much lesse any full power to be graūted to the Bishop of Rome or to any other Bishop in the persō of S.
thinges to kéepe your faith plighted to your gracious souereine Lady by othe and to obey her faithfully to mainteine the peace of the Realme and to abhorre eschew the trechrie and traiterousnesse leawdly wound in or rather wickedly commaūded by the father of sedition the Bishop of Rome that sinnefull man to the intent you may also eschew the sore punishmentes of God. ¶ How great calamities and how great mischieues the Bishop of Rome hath brought vpō kyngdomes and nations in Christendome these foure hundred yeares and more in putting downe kinges and remouyng kingdomes and discharging subiectes of theyr dew fealtie and allegeance by the fulnesse of their power a brief historicall declaration or wyndyng vp VPon occasion of the fore mentioned storie of Gregorie the vij and kyng Rafe I will procede from the tyme of the said Gregorie almost vnto our age by the space of foure hundred yeares and odde briefly compyling and knitting together how great calamities and how great mischieues the Bishops of Rome haue wrought to kingdomes and nations in Christēdome these foure hundred yeares and more in deposing kings transposing kingdomes and discharging subiectes from their faith and allegeance by the fulnesse of their power to the intent that euē by this horrible butcherie and confusion of all thinges and the sorowfull rehearsall of most lamentable aduentures all people in Christendome may learne to know in déede what the Bishops of Rome be whom they still honour and with all aduisednesse and constancie to beware of those Romish Prelates as of a dispatching plague both to kingdomes and common weales the poyson of peace and welfare the authors and firebrandes of treasons warres ciuill slaughters and all most miserable calamities and worthely hated of God and all good men In the yeare of our Lord .1045 there arose a very great and noysome schisme in the Citie of Rome betwene thrée Bishops Benet the ix Siluester the iij. and Gregorie the vj. which turmoyled the Church of Rome very daungerously and outrageously Of this schisme Otho Frisingensis writeth thus About this tyme there was a shamefull confusion of the Church of God in the Citie of Rome by reason of three Intruders that sealed vpō that sea at once who as I my selfe being in the Citie haue heard the Romanes report led there a beastly and shamefull life And Beno the Cardinall in the life of Hildebrand the Church saith he by these mēs meanes meaning the iij. Bishops was torne a sunder with a sore schisme mortall warres and vnmeasurable slaughters and almost choked with horrible heresies by giuing men poyson to drinke vnder colour of hony And Platina in the life of Siluester the iij. sayth The Bishoprike was come to that point that who soeuer could do most by bryberie and ambition I say not by holinesse and doctrine he onely obteined the state of dignitie the good mē beyng borne downe and reiected and the rest that is written fréely inough agaynst the most corrupt maners of the Court of Rome But the Emperour Henry the third of that name surnamed the Blacke a godly and stout Prince gathered a chosen armye in Germanye and enteryng into Rome called a Councell and deposed those three Byshops placing in their roome one Swigger the Byshop of Bamberg whom they call Clement the second Hereunto Cardinall Beno addeth Which thinges beyng stoutly accomplished the Emperour Henry condemned Gregorie the sixth and his disciple Hildebrand who afterward was Byshop of Rome by the name of Gregorie the seuenth and would not forsake his master but folowed him euen in his vttermost aduersitie to be banished into the partes of Dutcheland Notwithstandyng beyng deceiued with ouermuch gentlenesse and by meanes therof looking neither to the Church nor to himselfe nor to mankind he gaue the new Idolaters to much scope whom he ought rather to haue shet vp in continuall prison that they might not haue infected men nor neuer bene heard of any more But after the sayd Gregorie the sixth was dead in exile Hildebrand became his heyre as well of his wickednesse as also of his money Thus much saith Beno But Hildebrand beyng vnthankfull the Emperour for his deliueraunce kept still the hatred which he had once conceiued agaynst him in Germanie For after he had by violence and euill slightes thrust himselfe into the Bishoprike by the name of Gregorie the vij he bent himselfe wholly to oppresse Henry the fourth the sonne of Henry the third of purpose to reuēge the carying away of his maister Gregorie the sixth and of himselfe into Germanie and to confirme and stablish the souerein power of his Bishops sea that the Popes might not hence forth stand in feare of the Emperours And truly Henry the third is reported to be the last Emperour that was able to bridle the Romane Byshops and to kéepe them vnder coram For although there succeded many noble and valyant Emperours in the Empyre which did set themselues stoutly against the Bishops and cast some of them downe from their seate yet had none of them so good lucke in bridlyng them as had Hēry the third For the rebellion that was begon by this Gregorie the vij and anone after continued by his scholers and stubbornely increased by their successours did so breake through by mayne force that the Emperours were able to do litle were they neuer so earnest and stoute Yea and the time was now come that the foresayinges of the Prophetes and Apostles must be fulfilled Therfore Gregorie the vij hauing inuaded the seate trusting that occasion was giuen him to oppresse the Emperour Hēry the iiij and to bring to passe the thing that he had purposed in his minde now many yeares afore first putteth forth a Bull against the Emperour wherein he layeth sore to his charge burtheneth him with greuous crimes by spreading those letters of his ouer all Italie Germanie Fraunce Also he assayth to besotte the mindes of certeine Princes of Germanie and to draw them to his side Which thing folowed his hand a litle to luckely Afterward becomming more bold by reason of the fauour of the Princes he aduentureth to excommunicate the Emperour to giue sentēce agaynst him the he should be deposed frō his Empyre or kingdome and to discharge all his subiectes of their faith obedience that they ought vnto him He had learned this not of the Prophetes or Apostles nor yet out of the holy Scriptures but of his predecessors Zacharie the first Steuen the second Adrian the first and Leo the third Furthermore he cōmaundeth the Princes to chose another kyng in stede of Hēry that was excommunicated least they might not know whom he would haue chosen he sendes them a crowne with this Antichristly verse ingrauen in it As Christ the Rocke the Crowne to Peter gaue So Peter would that Rafe the same should haue Certeine princes therfore which had conspired among thēselues chose Rafe of Rhynefild duke of Sweueland that
a Frier of the same order in his beadroll of heretikes sayth thus At such time as S. Dominike with xij Abbotes of the order of Cistertiū preached the Croysie against the heretikes of Albigia the Catholikes that is to say the Crossed papists slew a hundred thousand of them Of whom one hundred foure score continewing in their stubbornesse agaynst the Church of Rome chose to be burned rather then to abiure their heresie Which thing was also done And S. Dominik abode x. yeares in those quarters in the office of preaching and weeding out of heresie when all the rest returned home to their owne Thus reporteth he of his owne founder of that butcherie Wherby it appeareth that the pope had good cause afterward to canonize him and make hym one of his Saintes Neither is it without cause that Dominikes mother being great with child of him dreamed that she bare in her wombe a dog or as other say a wolfe with a firebrand in his mouth wherewith he did set the whole world on fire c. But I will returne to my matter Therfore at the Popes preaching of the Croysie the Lantgraue of Thuring addressed himselfe to the warres Againe there is running to weapon on both sides agayne wretched Germanie is by the Popes incēsing rent a sunder wounded with her owne weapons and slayne with ciuill encounters Conradus Duke of Sweueland the sonne of Friderike proclaimed king of Romanes encoūtering the Lantgraue of Thuring vanquisheth chaseth and sleaeth all his hoste for all their being marked with the Crosse. The same yeare the Lantgraue dyed of a wound The princes of Germanie that tooke the popes part being not yet made the wiser by their so great miseries but fauoring the Pope more then their owne countrey set vp another king against Friderike and his sonne Conrade For Pope Innocent sent his Legate Cardinall Peter Capuce into Germanie who calling the princes together to Colon caused them to chuse Williā Earle of Holland king agaynst Friderike Conrade Which thing wrought new broyles in the Empyre And forasmuch as Pope Innocent had excōmunicated king Conrade also He ceased not to persecute his sonne Corradine the rightfull heyre of Puell and Sicilie likewise and to dispossesse him of his fathers heritage In which matter Alexāder the fourth Vrbane the fourth and Clement the fourth which succeded next shewed themselues no flothfull folowers of Innocentes steppes Wherof Corradine set forth a publike proclamation wherin he lamentably reckeneth vp the sore wronges which those Bishops did vnto him And first he declareth how Innocent the fourth anoyed him being yet an innocent and fatherlesse yea and committed to the wardship of the Church by beréeuing him of his kingdome and dealing it among his owne graundchildren and kinsmē After whom folowed Alexander and he allured another mā to take his kingdome from him by force And Vrbane also shewing small vrbanitie towardes him called Charles king of Fraunce out of his owne Realme to take possession of the kingdome which was due to the sayd Corradine by descent from his father And Clement voyde of all clemencie set vp the sayd Charles as counterking agaiust Corradine and so most wrongfully spoyled the right heyre of his inheritance By meanes whereof he was compelled to séeke his right by rightfull force of armes which was wrongfully withheld him by the wrongfull demeanor of the Bishops These thinges are to be read in the Chronicles of Nauclerus Duryng this broyle Pope Clement the fourth hearing how Corradine was raysing a power in Germanie did put forth a Bull wherby he forbade all faithfull Christiās to call Corradine king of Sicill or to giue him any Councell or ayde agaynst Charles whom he had crowned king of Sicill for a péece of money Thus the pope blowes vp the trumpet the Christians fall together by the eares again It commes to hand strokes at the first the Germanes get the better hand and the Frenchmen are put to flight But when the Germanes brake their aray and fell more gréedely to the riffeling of the baggage of their enemyes thē was méete for them the Frenchmen fallyng againe in order of battell gaue a fresh charge vpon them vnwares and sleaing them down as they were escattered obteined the victorie There were taken two Princes Corradine king of Sicile and Duke of Sweueland and Fridericke Duke of Austriche who had takē part with Corradine to ayde him Also there were other Lordes and noblemen taken who were all caryed prisoners to Naples there kept in very streyt ward It is reported that Charles wrate to the Pope for his aduise what he would haue done with the prisoners and that the Pope amōg others aunswered The life of Corradine is the death of Charles and the death of Corradine is the life of Charles But Robert Earle of Flaunders the sonne in law of Charles by whose aduise he had gotten the victorie remembring the state of mens affaires counseled Charles to make peace and to bynd vnto him by bond of alyance these two young Princes of excellent towardnesse borne of the noblest houses in Germanie and the ofspryng of Emperors wishing that Corradine should haue Charles his daughter and Frederike his néere But whyle the tyme was prolonged in these consultations Robert returned home and then the bloud royall was condemned to death And so the xxix of October beyng Monday in the yeare of our Lord. 1268. a place was couered with purple there was Fridericke first beheaded with an axe Whose head Corradine taking vp and kissing it with teares lamentably bewayled the cruell death of that giltlesse young Prince his deare frend of whose destruction he himself was the cause Afterward hauing greatly complayned of the bitternesse and trecherie of his enemyes who contrarie to all right conscience whereas of all others he was most innocēt and blamelesse had bereft him of the heritage which his father graundfather greatgraundfather and graundfathers graundfather had purchased with their bloud and hauing committed his case to the souerein iudge calling vpon God the reuenger of trayterousnesse and murther he appealed to Christ our Lord and God and to his iudgement seate and cried vnto him for vengeance with castyng his gloues vp to heauenward and then in his owne right bequeathing these kingdomes to his Cousin Peter king of Aragon whose graundmother was sister to the Emperour Friderike he held out his necke vnfearefully to the execution and had his head striken of lastly eleuen noblemen of Sweueland and Italie suffered the same execution Among whom Gerhard of Pisa a noble gentlemā was one Within a few yeares after Peter king of Aragon began to lay clayme to Sicilie And the Westerne Frenchmen haue now about ij hundred foure score and seuen yeares striued with the Spanyardes for those kingdomes with exceding bloudshed and wasting of the countreys But in the sayd two Princes were extinguished the lynes of the Dukes
the Pope And if he obey not he commaundeth all his Lordes temporall and spirituall to forsake their Prince and to compell him to obey the Pope This Bull was published the xv day of October the yeare of our Lord God. 1323. But Lewes asked the aduise of all the Clerkes that were best séene in the lawes as well of God as man through Germanie Italie and Fraunce at Paris Bononie Padua and other Uniuersities who gaue an agreable aunswere That the Popes doinges against the Emperour are contrarie to Christian doctrine that the Pope was out of his wittes and made hauocke of Christes people for desire of dominion and that the Emperour was not subiect to the Pope but the Pope to the Emperour For the seruaunt of seruauntes ought not to beare rule but rather to do seruice to such as sit at the table But the Bishop cryes out that all these which gaue the Emperour this aunswere are heretickes and he excommunicateth them all with the Emperour and burneth their bookes The Emperour for all this called a Parlament about the matter and sommoning a Counceil deposed the Pope For he was openly proclaymed for an heretike a tyraunt of the Church and a troubler of the common peace and thereunto his image was burned in the Marketsted Neuerthelesse when Iohn the xxij was dead Clement the sixth continewed the displeasure still agaynst Lewes commaunding him likewise to depose himselfe from the Empyre Yea he proceded yet further and reuiuyng all Iohn the xxij processes denounced the Emperour to be an heretike and a schismatike moreouer commaundyng the Electors to chuse another king by a tyme appointed except they had leuer that the Bishop himself should giue them a king They therfore obeying his manaces chose Charles Marques of Morania But for asmuch as the better part of the Empyre was displeased both with the Pope with Charles and sticked still to Lewes their true souerein Lord and Emperour it came agayne to swordes drawyng on both sides and there was burning wasting and sleayng the accustomed frutes of the Byshops of Rome which neuer brought tydinges of peace but alwayes blew vp the trumpet to battell And least Italie and Naples might take breath any while from their slaughters and wastinges Vrbane the sixth of that name made sute to Lewes the puissant king of Hungarie that he should send Charles Duke of Durace into Italie with an host of Hungarians for he would bestow the kingdome of Sicilie vpon him Therfore when he came to Rome he crowned him king of Sicilie howbeit in such wise as he departed with certeine of the best Earledomes in the Realme to the Bishops neuew Againe least Clement the Antipope might séeme of lesse authoritie then Pope Turbane he crowned Lewes Duke of Angeow a sideman of his kyng of Sicilie who immediatly enters into Italie with threescorethousand mē Then folowed spoilyng burning and sleaing againe and all maner of crueltie was exercised on either side verely by the instigation of these good and peaceable Apostles the souerein Shepeherdes of the Church of Rome I wittingly passe ouer here many outrageous doynges of the Bishops which the storywriter Theodoriche of Nyem prosecuteth very largely and truly in his thrée bookes of the Schisme Now come I to Martine the fifth that was created Bishop at the Councell of Constance who being nothing vnlike his predecessors gaue Sicilie in Fee to one Aloyse of Sicilie against Alphons king of Spayne Wherupon rose againe not a few nor small calamities The same Byshop was the cause of the Ciuill warre in Beame and that the Germanes that went into Beame with a great power brought nothing thence but dishonour very great losse I will not pursue the slaughters burninges wastringes miseries of that warre They be described at large by Aenaeas Syluius in his Historie of Beame The same author setteth out the horrible and blouddy practises that Eugenie the fourth and his successor Martine the fifth vsed to ouerthrow the Councel of Basill And it hath ben shewed already how great mischief the same Eugenie the fourth brought vpon Christendome when he inforced kyng Ladislaus vnto vnhappie warre contrarie to his othe made vnto Amurathes Prince of Turkye Pius the second and Sixtus the fourth were forewarder to feates of armes then to peace and preaching of the Gospell They neuer yelded an inche to any Prince but indeuered most scoutly not onely to maynteine but also by hooke and by crooke to increase the maiestie of their sea The histories beare witnesse hereof abundantly I will not any further report what the Byshops of Rome haue committed in our age and within the remembraunce of man least I trouble the gentle reader to much for they be better knowen then that they néede to be rehearsed For who knoweth not how great lawlesnesse they haue abused in transposing kingdomes in dischargyng subiectes from their dew faithfulnesse and obedience in putting downe and settyng vp of kynges and in hatching of most blouddy and mortall warres The horrible trecherie of Alexander the sixth agaynst Charles kyng of Fraunce is well inough knowen in that he made him take armes vppon him and called him into the kyngdome of Naples agaynst the kyng of Spayne and yet for all that did byanby after most trayterously take part with the Spanyardes agaynst him Iulius the second a Lombard practised the Uenetian warre which being the greatest and sorest of all others continewed eight yeares with excedyng great bloushed before it could be ended and stirred vp Lewes kyng of Fraunce agaynst the Uenetians and byanby after led not onely the Uenetians but also all the puissantest Princes and people of Europe agaynst Lewes Also he behaued himselfe after such a sort in the matter of calling a Councell that euen the Papistes themselues do greatly blame him and finde fault with him in that behalfe Yea and euen Onuphrius Panuinius hath blamed this dealing in Iulius the second Leo the tenth not onely appeased not the troubles styrred vp by Iulius but also continewed them doubblyng mischief vppon mischief armyng nation agaynst nation and kéepyng promise neither with Germanes nor with Frenchmen Clement the seuenth passed Leo and some of his predocessours For first he tooke part with the Emperour and afterward slipt away to Fraunces the French king to whom he was the occasion of a very great losse For in the kyngdome of Naples whether Lawtreche had brought his army very well appointed by the instigation of the Pope he lost the greater part of his armye by reason of an vnmercyfull plague that fell vpon them The storie of Frijndsperg Captein of the Almaine souldyers auoucheth in the eighth booke and the hundred and thréescor the leafe that of fourescore thousand there remained alyue scarcely one thousand and seuen hundred What troubles Paule the third the Romish Byshop wrought vnto Germanie the warre that