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A20944 A defence of the Catholicke faith contained in the booke of the most mightie, and most gracious King Iames the first, King of Great Britaine, France and Ireland, defender of the faith. Against the answere of N. Coeffeteau, Doctor of Diuinitie, and vicar generall of the Dominican preaching friars. / Written in French, by Pierre Du Moulin, minister of the word of God in the church of Paris. Translated into English according to his first coppie, by himselfe reuiewed and corrected.; Defense de la foy catholique. Book 1-2. English Du Moulin, Pierre, 1568-1658.; Sanford, John, 1564 or 5-1629. 1610 (1610) STC 7322; ESTC S111072 293,192 506

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and stirre vp the mildest spirits and was desirous by pardoning the wicked to make them become good and though he could not find cause in them why to pardon he foūd it in himselfe for though they no way deserued mercy yet he shewed himself worthy of his greatnesse in doing good to those of so euill demerite He considered that God whom hee represents sendeth raine vpon the Bryers and Thistles as well as on fruit Trees and makes the Sunne to rise alike to the good and to the euill or else it may be that his clemency was accompanied and assisted with a neglect of his enemies esteeming many of them not worthy of his wrath But for the better preuenting of such conspiracies in future times the Parliament together with the King framed a forme of Oath to be administred to all his Maiesties subiects which is to this effect That they acknowledge IAMES the first King of great Britaine for their lawfull King and that the Pope cannot by any right whatsoeuer depose him from his Kingdomes nor discharge his subiects of their obedience to him nor giue them licence to beare Armes against him Also that notwithstanding any Declaration or Sentence of Excōmunication made or granted or to be made or granted against the said King his Successors they wil beare faith and true alleageance to him his heyrs Successors him and thē wil defend to the vttermost of their power against all attempts conspiracies whatsoeuer And that they wil reueale al treasons and trayterous Conspiracies which they shall know or heare of against him or any of them And that they do abhor detest and abiure this damnable position that Princes which be excommunicated by the Pope may be deposed or murdered by their subiects And that they beleeue and in conscience are resclued that the Pope hath no power to absolue them of this Oath or any part thereof And renounce all pardons and dispensations to the contrary And that without any Equiuocation mentall Euasion or secret Reseruation whatsoeuer they doe sincerely acknowledge and sweare all these things and doe make this acknowledgement heartely willingly and truely So helpe them God This Oath being offered to those of the Romish Church diuers of them tooke it without difficulty and amongst the rest Blackwell the Arch-Priest who then was and still remaines in England These things being come to the knowledge of the Bishop of Rome Paul the fift that raignes at this present he dispatches presently for England a breue or as they terme it letters Apostolique bearing date the two twentieth of September 1606. by which he declares That this Oath cannot be taken with good conscience exhorting them rather to vndergoe all cruell torments whatsoeuer yea Death it selfe rather then to offend the Maiestie of God by such an Oath and to imitate the constancy and fortitude of the other English Martyrs willing them to haue their loynes girt about with verity and to haue the Brest-plate of righteousnes and to take the shield of faith That God that hath begunne this good worke might finish it in them who wil not leaue them Orphants c. And finally willeth them exactly to put in practise that which is commaunded in the Letters of Clement the eight his Predecessor written to Mr. George Black well the Arch-priest of England by which Letters all Princes of any Religion contrary to their owne are excluded from the kingdome of England These Letters being come into England were not receiued by those of the Romish Church with such respect as the Pope expected for many iudged them ridiculous as exhorting them to suffer Martyrdome for ill doing since none can be a Martyr but for hauing done well As also for that they declare that this Oath is contrary to the Catholique faith without telling why or wherefore as likewise for that the exhortations of holy Scripture to shun vice and to perseuere in the profession of the Gospell and to resist the Diuell are in this Papall breue drawne to a contrary sense to kindle sedition and to incite subiects to disobedience And aboue all for that these Letters ingaging the subiects to reuolt doe necessarily plucke vpon them persecution and the iust anger of their natural Prince who being vnwilling to require any caution of them in any thing contrary to their beliefe demaundeth no more of them but fidelity and ciuill obedience For these considerations some part of the Priests and Friers of England said that these Letters of the Pope were shufled in by their Aduersaries and forged by the Heretiques for so they of their goodnes are pleased to tearme vs to kindle the anger of the King against them which was already prouoked by the plot of the Powder-mine which onely fell out to ruine the vndertakers By reason whereof the same Pope being aduertised that through these doubts whether they were true or fained the Authority of his Letters were infringed hee writ others more expresly bearing date the three and twentieth of August 1607. In which he seemeth to wonder that they any way suspect the truth of the Apostolique letters Non solum motu proprio exce●●a nostra scientia verum etiam post longam grauem deliberationem that vnder that pretence they might exempt themselues from his commaunds and therefore declareth vnto them that those letters were written not onely vpon his proper motion and of his certaine knowledge but also after long and weighty deliberation and therfore again inioyneth them fully to obserue them for such is his will and pleasure To these letters giuing the Alarums to rebellion for their greater confirmation were added the letters of Cardinall Bellarmine to George Blackewell the Arch-Priest In which after he had put him in minde of their auncient acquaintance hee greatly blameth him for taking the Oath the which vnder colour of modifications hath no other aime or drift but to transferre the authority of the Pope the head of the Church to a Successor of HENRY the eight by the examples of his Predecessors he exhorreth him constantly to defend the primacy of the Pope whom he calleth the head of the faith But he sheweth neyther what wordes or clauses in this Oath are contrary to the faith of the Romish Church nor wherefore this Arch-Priest should rather chuse to die then to obliege himselfe by Oath to be loyall to his King in things meerly ciuill and which no way meddle with the Primacy of the Pope and yet this is the onely thing whereof question is made and whereof proose is expected These letters both of the Pope and Cardinall being fallen into the handes of his Maiestie might wel haue kindled the anger of a very patient Prince and haue armed and stirred him vp against those with whom these Papall letters were of more power then eyther their faith to their King or their obedience to God For what Prince can permit in his Kingdome subiects that acknowledge him not or that to retaine
his fellowes where he saith that the rebellion of a Clergie man against his King cannot be treason in that he is not subiect to the King which agreeth with that which is written by the Iesuite Saunders in his second booke of his visible Monarchie whereof the King of great Britaine in his first booke cyteth many passages Now whereas the Iesuites of France did make a booke intituled * In the pag. 70. of the Edition of the bigger print 1595. you shall finde these wordes The Pope pretendeth nothing ouer Souerainty but to correct as a father as a Iudge such as are pernitious to the Church For then he may not alone but he is bound to shew himselfe their Superior Security wold make thee peruerse froward but thou must be kept down be made to confes that thou hast neyther reason nor conscience For it is fit that Princes shold be often held in and curbed by feare of their temporalities The defence of the truth against the pleading of Anthony Arnold In which they maintaine at large that the Pope may as Iudge depriue Princes of their temporalties This is wholly to be imputed to the times for then it was fit to speake in that manner but now they reserue those Maximes for fitter seasons Diuinity is to be applyed as occasions serue and wee are now in an age that if wee would know how wee were to teach and moue the people we must first looke into the A●minake and accommodate our selues to the affaires of the Common wealth and therefore it is to be hoped that such * The which are produced in the Chapter following passages of Bellarmine that do make the liues and Crownes of Kings subiect to the Pope will be mended in the next Edition And as for the troubles and seditions which these Fathers haue stirred in Polonia which hath cost Demetrius his life and as for the causes which haue moned the Venetians to banish them out of their estate this a thing wholly to be imputed to the Climate or to the strange humors of the Country which is farre differing from Fraunce All this being considered it is to be hoped that the King of great Britaine following the counsell of Doctor Coeffeteau will take them to be neare about his person The other Reasons which are brought to recommend them seeme not to me of any great weight It is said that they carefully instruct youth if it be so how commeth it to passe that since they haue vndertaken to teach learning is so much decayed I would willingly that one could shew mee in Fraunce any of their Disciples that were of exact and exquisite learning or whom haue they in their society that may bee compared with those that were the Schollers of Turnebus or of Cuias Who are yet as many of them as are left the very lights and ornaments of the Court where is now the Vniuersitie of Paris which had wont to haue in it thirty thousand schollers but hath declined towards barbarisme euer since this kinde of people haue vndertaken to teach by their abridgements and Epitomies the which haue beene framed and composed by a rable of Pedants that teach all by rote in stead of drawing their instructions from the Fountaines of the Greeke and in stead of●etling their iudgements by the course of auncient Philosophy And as for humane learning Scaliger Casaubon Passerate Lipsius and diuers like vnto them were they brought vp in their schooles Or indeede whom haue they brought vp comparable to them But Coeffeteau saith that the most Christian King is serued by them dealeth well with them and taketh them neere vnto his person our condition is too low and our vnderstanding too weake to search out the Counsels of so great a King whom God hath endued with an incomparable wisedome but yet I thinke that this serues not to iustifie them for who can tell whether his Maiesty doth this onely to put in practise that rule of the Gospell which is To doe well to those that hate vs Or whether he endeauoureth by his goodnes to master and ouercome their wickednesse and so by that meanes to binde them to fidelity Or who can tell whether his Maiestie herein imitateth the example of God who imployeth the wicked spirits for such causes and to such purposes as are best knowne to his diuine wisedome Or who knoweth whether in this he doth like Vlisses who for auoyding of tempests would keepe the winds with him shut vp in a leather bagge This great King whose paines and industry procureth our generall repose whose vigilancy makes vs to sleepe securely who bereaueth himselfe of himselfe and bestoweth himselfe on the publique and who maketh peace to flourish vnder the shaddow of his victories Long may hee enioy that quiet and repose which he hath broght euen to those that hate him Let his Counsels be euer blessed with happy successe his life with safety his subiects with fidelity his Crowne with glory and his Kingdome with prosperity CHAP. V. Of the power of the Pope ouer the temporalities of Kings and that he cannot take from Kings their Crownes nor free subiects from the Oath of fidelity And thereupon the reasons of Bellarmine are examined THe King of great Britaine in his Apology complayneth of two Breues or letters Apostolique of Clement the eight sent into England a little before the death of the late Queene ELIZABETH which were produced at the arrainment of Garnet the Iesuite by which the said Pope excludeth him from the succession of the Kingdome by a generall debarring of all such as were not of the Romane Religion This thing being so notoriously vniust and so publique yet notwithstanding Coeffeteau saith that there hath beene a wrong interpretation made of this Popes intentions and that it hath beene some particular mens drift to put it into his Maiesties head that he went about to hinder his establishment in the Kingdome These are insurious speeches to say that the King of great Britaine hath beene circumuented and that men haue only made him beleeue things but that he hath not seene any such Breues but speaketh this onely vpon trust There likewise turning to the side of Kings against the consent of the whole Romish Church he speaks thus It is a thing without doubt Fol. 6. pag. 2. that if the Pope would inuade Kingdoms and giue them in prey to whom he pleaseth deuesting the right possessors of them he well deserueth that Princes should stand stiffe against his viosence and should ioyntly runne vpon him as vpon a robber and spoiler of their inheritances And a litle after The Popes pretend nothing ouer the temporalties of Kings are contented only to make their authority appear ouer the crimes of men which he bindeth or looseth without stretching of it tyranically to dispose of their possessions otherwise then such as are fallen vnto him what causes here moued Coeffeteau thus to fauour Kings and to pare the Popes nayles so neare
terms England neyther is nor euer shall be the patrimony of S. Peter Math. Paris p. 270. Anno 1216 A King cannot giue his Kingdome without the consent of his Barons And thereupon all the French Nobility cryed out that they would fight to the death in that quarrell IOHN being dead Math. Paris pag. 425. Rex inclinato ad genua eius capite vsque ad interior a regni deduxit officiosè his sonne and successor HENRY the third did homage to the Pope and payed the accustomed tribute Shortly after the Pope sent into England a new Legate one Otho a Cardinall before whom the King bowed himselfe so●low as to touch the Legates knees with his head which Cardinall behaued himselfe more like a King then a Legate This Cardinall being desirous to haue entred into Scotland the King would not receiue him Non me memini Legatum in terra mea vidisse nec opus esse Pag 530. Rex in ampliori regia Westmonasterij pransurus Legatum ●uem inuitanerat in eminentiori loco mensae scilicet in Regali sede quae in Medio mensae crat non sine muliorum obliquantibus oculis collocauit saying that he had neuer seene Legate in his Kingdome neyther had he neede of them But in England he was his owne caruer cutting and paring away at his pleasure euen so farre as that he presumed to sit at table in the Chaire of State aboue the king as hee did at a feast which king Henry the third made at Westminster as Matth. Paris witnesseth which Authour also Ann. 1241. speaking of his Legates returne saith that according to the account then made he carried away more money with him then he left in all the kingdome besides hauing rifled and spoyled it like a Vine brouzed and troden downe by wilde Boares yea all the Historians of England doe complaine of the pillages and exactions of Rome which sucked the Englishmen to the very blood And as I vnderstand Cardinall Bellarmine hath lately made a booke against the king of England Bellarm. in his new booke pa. 19. Rex Anglorū duplici iure subiectus Papae vno communi omnib ' Christianis ratione Apostolicae potestatis quae in omnes extenditur iuxta illud Psal 44. Constitues eos principes super omnem terram altero proprio ratione recti Dominij c. wherein he maintayneth that the Pope is direct Lord of England and Ireland and that these kingdomes are the Churches fee Farmes and the King the Popes vassall or feudatary Things which I thought good to represent at large to the end that his Maiesty of England may know and acknowledge how much the Crowne which God hath giuen him is beholding to the purity of the Gospell the preaching whereof hath broken that yoake and hath made libertie to spring forth together with the truth dissipating at once both superstition and tyranny Iesus Christ saith Ioh. 8. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free which saying may after a sort bee applyed to this purpose for there our Lord speaketh of the seruitude of sinne and here we speake of the slauery vnder the man of sinne there our Lord speaketh of the freedome and deliuerance from the bondage of the father of lies here we speake of being enfranchized from the thraldome of the sonne of perdition and indeede that temporall seruitude of the Crowne of England came from the spirituall bondage of the conscience For the Popes laid this subiection vpon men as a meanes and condition of obtayning remission of sinnes Then England enioyed the happy golden age in which euery man for his money might enter into Paradise but Iesus Christ ouerthrew this bancke of money-changers set vp in the Temple and detecting the abuses sheered asunder those inuisible chains of Custome and Opinion which held mens soules ensnared in and vniust seruitude Certainely then the doctrine of the Gospell is the setling and establishment of Thrones and that which exalteth raiseth Kings seeing that it doth not subiect their Crownes to any man liuing and further stoppeth vp all wayes and accesse to rebellion and disloyaltie Now out of that which aboue hath beene said it is euident that Coeffeteau telling the king of great Britaine that the Pope doth neyther expose kingdomes as a prey nor pretend any thing vpon the temporalties of kings thought the king a stranger at his owne home and one that knew not his Genealogie nor the story of his owne house or else deemed him blinde and bereft of sense when hee complayneth in his Apologie that Bellarm. writing against him dooth importunately inculcate this position that the Pope may depose kings in that he may excommunicate them It must needes be then if we beleeue Coeffeteau that the king of great Britainecy ther did not read or else vnderstood not the booke of his Aduersary If we would seeke out examples of the like cases besides these of England we might fill a iust volume How many Germane Emperours haue beene degraded from their Empire by excommunications and Papall fulminations and their Imperiall Diadem giuen in prey to him that could catch it Did not Pope Iulius the second Anno 1511. take from king Iohn of Nauarre his kingdome and giue it to Ferdinand king of Castile This Bull of Alexander is found in the beginning of Francisco Lopez de Gomara his Story of the ●ndies Did not Pope Alexander the sixt Anno 1492. diuide the Indies betweene the Portugals and the Spaniards allotting the west Indies to the Spaniards and the East to the Portugals whereat Atabalippa the poore king of Peru asked who the Pope was that gaue that which did not belong vnto him To omit the confusions and hurly-burlies of later times which of fresh memory haue blasted and singed our kings with the lightnings of excommunications and almost burnt them to powder and haue made the people to rise in rebellion against their soueraigne Prince the soares doe yet bleede neyther is the wound yet soundly cured Now if experience be not strong enough to enforce the certainty of Papall vsurpations ouer kings let vs heare the Popes themselues speake Clementina Pastoralis de sententia reiudicata Nos tam ex superioritate quam ad imperium non est dubium nos habere quam ex potestate in quam vacante imperio Imperatori succedimus In ipsa vrbe vtriusque potestatis Monarchiam Romanis Pontisicibus declararet and let vs learne what their intent is rather from their owne mouthes then from the fearefull and doubtfull termes of this Iacobin Clement the fift being in the Councell of Vienna speaketh thus We aswell by that Superiority which wee haue ouer the Empire as by the power whereunto we succeed the Empire being vacant c. As it is contayned in the Clementine Pastoralis And in the Chapter Fundamenta de Electione in 6 Pope Nicholas the third sayth that Constantine hath graunted to the Bishoppes of Rome both the one
Churches and Orders haue fortie yeares Prescription This ought also moreouer to be added which is a thing that doth greatly redound to the weakening of the power of kings And that is that al Fee-farms and lands of the most noble Tenure assoone as they enter into the Possession of Ecclesiasticall persons they become exempted from all charges and payments as well in regard of their persons as of their goods being no longer bound to that personall seruice which the possessour formerly owed vnto the Prince Whence it came to passe that our auncient kings were able within lesse circuite of Countrey to leuie Armies of an hundred thousand men whereas now a dayes within a farre larger extent fewer troupes are gathered because there is a third part of the lands of Fraunce which contribute nothing to publique necessities And yet notwithstanding naturall reason requireth that they who enioy the fruite and benefite of peace should contribute toward the warre that those that liue at case should cherish and releeue them that fight for their conseruation Wherefore then whiles the Nobility and the third State do oppose themselues to the inuasion of strangers whiles the King doth fortifie his Frontiere Townes doth intertaine Garisons dooth appoint Officers as well for ciuill gouernement as for discipline of warre why should not Ecclesiasticall persons who by these meanes doe quietly enioy the fat and best of the Kingdome why should not they I say contribute to the publicke necessity why should their increase be a deminution to their Princes forces who watcheth ouer them for their quiet Furthermore no man can be ignorant but that this is a thing greatly threatning the dammage and impouerishing of the Kingdome that a third part of Fraunce should be tributary to a stranger vnder a title of Annates Dates Dispensations Absolutions and cases of marriage Against all which biting extortion our auncient Kings prouided by the Pragmaticke Sanction being angryed and agreeued to see the faire pence of the Kingdome to passe ouer the Alpes vnder a Religious kinde of pillage and to enter into the purses of those who made a mocke at our simplicity But aboue all this is that which is most pernitious to Kings and their estates that so many persons are exempted from iustice and from the arme of the secular power For by this meanes if a Clerke doe himselfe vndertake or doe abet another to attempt against the life of his Prince if he coyne false money set fire on a towne or entertaine secret intelligence with strangers or if hee infect the common people by the example of his lewde manners The Prince for all this cannot lay handes on him without leaue from his Bishop and hee shall not dare to touch him vntil he be first degraded in such sort that the King hath in his kingdome an infinite number of persons who are Lords of the fairest and best choyce of his Countrey and who are not his subiects but do acknowledge another for their Superiour out of the kingdome This is verily one of the boldest wiles and the subtilest sleights of the mystery of iniquity to haue found out a meanes whereby to make a king by sufferance to giue way to another to establish an estate within his owne estate and in the end to thanke him for it too and to thinke himselfe beholding to him for the same Who will then maruell hereupon if the king of great Britaine whom God hath freed from so heauy a yoake doe looke with compassion vpon those other kingdomes who yet do groane vnder this burthen and as standing safe on the shoare giueth aduise and counsell to his brethren whom he seeth weather-beaten with these surges and carryed away with the current of an olde inueterate custome Now here I protest againe as heretofore I haue done that I doe not speake of the persons but of the rules and orders of the Church of Rome I know that in this great body of the Clergy there is a great number that would willingly dye for the seruice of their king in whom their Priestly character of shauing hath not made them forget that they are borne subiects In whose spirits nature hath more force then their habites and the loue of their Countrey more then the Maximes of Italy but they are beholden to their owne good dispositions for this and not to the rules of the Church Some to colour this abuse say that Clerkes are exempted from the power of Princes not by Gods law but onely by mans positiue law whereunto I say that first they contradict not onely Bellarmine himselfe who in his booke of the exemption of Clerkes Ecclesiae Ecclesiasticaeque personae ac res ipsa●um non solum iure humano quinim mo diuino a secularium personarum exactionibus sint immunes hee doth exempt them by Gods diuine Law but also Pope Boniface the eight who speaketh in this maner in the Title De Censibus in Sexto The Churches and Ecclesiasticall persons their goods let them be exempt from the exactions of secular persons not onely by mans lawe but also by Gods Diuine law Secondly I say that it little importeth Princes vnder what title men take away their dues seeing that they are eyther way alike riffeled and despoyled And it goeth against the heart of him that hath been robbed to pay himselfe with a distruction certaine it is that if this be graunted that the exemptions of Clerkes is founded onely vpon mans lawes yet if a Prince should goe about to clippe the priuiledges of Church-men and should continue on to draw those rights and dues vppon their lands which he had vpon them whiles they were yet in the hands of secular men such a Prince I say shall be neuer a whit the more excused nay rather he shall be cursed and banned as blacke as a coale and shall be ground to powder with hote excommunications as a persecutor and diminisher of the liberty of the Church And if any Iesuite should come to suffer death in any such quarrel he should be put in the Kalendar of Saints and Martirs as was Thomas of Canterbury who suffered only for this very subiect And indeede it is a thing very easie for vs to prooue that Clerkes haue exempted themselues from Taxes and Subsidies and Contributions and from subiection to the secular sword not onely without all law both of God and man but directly contrary to Gods Diuine law For S. Paul Rom. 13. will haue euery soule subiect to the higher powers He that will exempt Clerkes from this rule saith by a consequent that they haue no soule Now if they be subiect then doe they owe Tribute for S. Paul addeth that this subiection consisteth in paying of tribute For this cause sayth he you pay tribute because they are the Ministers of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wheruppon Saint Chrysostome in his Commentary on that place speaketh roundly to the purpose The Apostle sayth he enioyneth this to all euen to Priests
of inflicting corporall punishment vpon them but of this we haue spoken at large before Thence doth Coeffeteau proceede to the Example of Henry the fourth which he saith cannot be alleadged because the times were then troublesome but the example suits very well to our purpose for that the Popes were the onely instruments of raising those troubles to exempt themselues from the Emperours subiection and to subiect the Emperours to themselues euen in seruices more seruile then seuuitude it selfe stirring vp the sonne to seeke the life and Crowne of Henry his father who died being depriued of his Imperiall dignity by his sonne the Popes instrument therein who vouchsafed not his father so much fauour See Helmoldus in the Chronicles of Sclauonia Naucl. 39. genera Baronius de vitis Pontificum and many others as to cause his body to be buried Fredericke Barbarossa being come soone after into Italy to be Crowned Emperour the Pope enforced him to hold his stirrope when he tooke horse But this Emperour little-skil'd in these seruices putting himselfe forward to hold the left in stead of the right stirrop was adiudged to practise the same submission the day following and howbeit he performed it very mannerly yet in conclusion the Pope sought to pull his Crowne from him And in the same degree of pride did Alexander the third treade vpon the said Frederickes necke vpon the staires of S. Markes Church in Venice the History is reported by many writers and alleadged by the King of great Britaine in his confutation of Bellarmine about the end of the booke and it is paynted at Venice in the hall of del Scrutinio del grand Constiglio the Maps and Tables thereof are reckoned vp and expounded by Girolam Bardi in a booke expresly written of that argument In the sequel of his discourse Coeffeteau fals into that wretchlesse negligence that he accuseth the King of mistaking the History not alleadging so much as one passage for his confutation And sure it is not Platina that doth alone record the deposition of these three Popes by Henry the fourth for Stella a Venetian Monke who hath written the liues of the Popes hath the same in these wordes Henricus Caesar habita Synodo Benedictum praedictum Syluestrum hunc Gregorium abdicare se Pontificatu coegit His Maiesty of England alleadgeth to the same purpose the example of Philip le bel K. of France that wrote with liberty enough vnto Boniface the eight who first inuented the Iubile Platina Stella in these wordes Let your great folleship vnderstand that in in temporall matters we are not subiect to any man c. And he it was that surprised the aforesaid Pope at Anagnia and committed him to prison at Rome where for griefe hee died An. 1303. To the example of Lewes the ninth King of Fraunce that established the law called Pragmatica sanctio against the pillaging and merchandizing of the Court of Rome he ioyneth the example of Lewes the eleauenth who being vrged by Pius the second to repeale that Sanction remitted his Legates to the faculty of the Diuines of Sorbone Iohannes Maierius libra de schismat Concil who made it good against the Pope with whom Iohannes Romanus the Kings Aduocate was ioyned that opposed them so farre with his conclusions that the Court appealed to the next Councell as indeeede they did The said King saith farther that the facultie of Sorbone came to maintaine this point that if the Pope should offer violence to our King the French Church had authority to establish a Patriarch and seuer themselues from the See of Rome And that Gerson Chaunceller of the Vniuersitie of Paris was so farre from defending this pretended temporall power of the Popes that he wrote a booke De auferibilitate Papae ab Ecclesia that is Of the possibility of forsaking the Pope and remoueing him from the Church How much more did hee beleeue then that the temporall power of Kings might be free from the insulting of Papall authority To this doth Coeffeteau make no other answere but that these contentions were onely for temporall matters and that Philip or Lewes or the faculty of Sorbonne or the Kings Aduocate desired not to preiudice the Popes authority in any regard as he is head of the Church so that here he answeres well to the King of Englands question whose ayme is onely vnto matters temporall and to the vsurpation of Popes ouer Monarches Touching the title of Head of the Church which is an abuse more intollerable hee reserues that for an after-discourse Now if so be the dissention betweene Philip and the See of Rome continued not many yeares as Coeffeteau obserueth Fol. 22 pag 2 it was because the Pope gaue way vnto him and Benedict the eleuenth was very glad to giue Philip absolution Platina Stella which he graunted of his owne accord because the other might haue beene well without it That we may close vp this point the King of great Britaine drawes many examples out of Matthew Paris and out of the Records of his Kingdom to this purpose as William Gifford whom King Henry the first inuested with his Bishopricke and Rodulphus whom the same King inuested with the Archbishopricke of Canterbury by his Ring and Crosier-staffe and Thurstan nominated to the Archbishopricke of Yorke depriued by the King of his temporalties for corrupting with bribes the Popes agents in the Councell of Rhemes The said King alleadgeth many examples of Abbots Bishops and Deanes in England that haue eyther against the Popes will yeelded obedience to their Soueraignes or haue beene degraded censured and imprisoned by their Princes for their disobedience in adhaering to the Popes And which is more considerable these are late examples such as haue happened while the Papacy domineered most How stood the case then when the Bishoppe of Rome had nothing to doe in England with matters eyther temporall or spirituall The Kingdome of Fraunce doth furnish vs with examples of more pregnancy The Synode of Fraunce is of speciall note to this purpose which is to be found in the third Tome of the Councels of the Colleyn Edition pag. 39. where Carolomanus qualifying himselfe as Duke and Prince of Fraunce vseth this speach By the aduise of my Clergie and others of principall esteeme of the Realme Ordinauimus Episcopos We haue ordayned Bishops in the Cities and haue established Boniface Archbishop ouer them The Councell of Maurice holden vnder Charlemaine Anno 813. beginneth thus Carolo Augusto verae religionis rectori ac defensori sanctae Dei Ecclesie and the first Councell of Mayence vnder Lewes le Debonaire Ludouico verae relligionis serenissimo rectori And these I trow should haue been accounted irreligious Titles now-a-dayes And here let it be principally noted that Coeffeteau trusts more to his heeles then to his hands for he buckles onely with the first of these examples and all his answere is that Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury opposed this
vntil the thirtieth day I cannot see how this can serue to giue vnto the Pope power of deposing Princes For if Theodosius would not haue followed the counsell of Ambrose there had beene no harme done But this good Emperour did of his owne accord yeeld vnto it After him followeth Gregory the first at the end of whose Epistles is found a priuiledge graunted to the Abbey of S. Medard which hath this clause for the burthen of the Song If any King Prelate Iudge or secular person what soeuer shall violate the Decrees of this Apostolicall authority and of our commandement be he of what dignity or greatnes soeuer he may be let him be depriued of his honour I might say that this is onely an imprecation against Kings and not a Decree of deposition But we neede not busie our selues about the sense seeing that the Epistle is false It is a priuiledge indeed vnto which the name of Gregory is put to winne the greater credite and authority The falshood of it appeareth first in the Barbarisme of the style for men did neuer call neyther at Rome nor in Italy farmes or possessions by the name of Mansos It is a word which is found in the Chapter of Charles the great and of Lewes which sheweth that this priuiledge was first composed in France and not written at Rome Which thing also appeareth in this that he vseth these wordes Tusiacum Mortinetum fiscos regios To call the lands of the Kings Demaines Fiscos regios is a Barbarisme that may easily befall some French monke but at Rome this would not haue beene vnderstood and you espye the French vaine in these wordes very often repeated Dominus Medardus Monsieur S. Medard Adde hereunto that this priuiledge is absurd and vniust for it forbiddes to depose the Abbot of S. Medard howsoeuer attainted with crime vnlesse it be after the Popes pleasure known and after a Councel assembled wherein there shall bee found a dousen witnesses besides the accusers Now to breake this goodly priueledge is thought to bee a crime for which a King ought to loose his Kingdome The cheef poynt is that the humor of this Gregorie the first who called himselfe seruant of seruants doth very much disagree with these so arrogant terms which cut after the stile of an earthly Monarch For writing to Mauricius the Emperor in his third booke and sixt Epistle But I the vnworthy seruant of your goodnesse Ego autem indignus pietatis tuae seruus Ego vero haec dominis meis loquens quid sum nisi puluis vermis And a little after Now I speaking these things to you my Lords what am I but dust and a very worme And the King of great Britayne hath wisely obserued in his first booke that the Emperour Mauricius had commaunded this Gregory to publish a law which Gregory himselfe condemned as vniust and yet to obey his Master he published it I sayth he as one subiect to your commaundement haue sent these same lawes into diuers Countries and because they do not agree with God Almighty I haue by these my letters signified it to my Lords and Masters How well this Gregory knew to keepe his rancke and could not finde the way to draw this temporal sword which yet stucke fast in the scabbard For an vpshot of falshoods so at the end of this goodly priuiledge the subscriptions of the Bishops of Alexandria and Carthage who neuer knew the Abbey of S. Medard especially the Bishop of Alexandria who neuer saw Gregory and who beside that signeth his name very low among the thronge of ordinary witnesses albeit he neuer thought himselfe inferiour in any thing to the Bishop of Rome After all signeth King Theodoret as inferiour to all the Bishops After this Gregory wee are brought downe to Gregory the second the great puller downe of Images If we may beleeue Cedrenus and Zonaras great adorers of Images this Gregory went about to hinder the Italians from paying their tributes to Leo Isauricus who had demolished Images But Platina who hath most carefully searched out the story of Popes witnesseth the contrary and sayth in the life of this Gregory that vpon order giuen from the Emperour for the breaking downe of Images The people of Italy were so much moued Qua cohortatione adeo animati sunt Italiae populivt Paulum abfuerit quin sibi alium Imperatorē deligerent Quo minus a id fieret authoritate sua obstare Gregorius amicusest that it wanted but little but that they had chosen themselues another Emperour but Gregory employed his authority to hinder that matter Nay further he neuer for all that declared Leo fallen from the Empire he did not translate his Scepter to another he did not dispense with his subiects for their Oath of Alleageance And yet the Emperour at that time did onely hold a third part of Italy which was a very small portion of the Empire so that his tributes of Italy were vnto him of very little value As for Pope Zacharie when they report in the yeare 750 to haue taken from Childeriche the Kingdome of Fraunce to giue vnto Pipin and likewise Pope Leo the third whom men say to haue translated the Empire of the Greekes to the French by giuing the Empire to Charlemaine I could conuince all this of falshood and shew that the practise and custome of Popes is to giue vnto some one that thing which he cannot take from him Or after hauing incyted some one to inuade the possessions of his neighbour to vaunt afterward and to reproach him that what he got by rapine he now holdeth by his Holinesse liberality or as if in the Sacring of the Emperour because he hath put the Crowne on his head he should say that he hath giuen him the Empire as if in the sacring of a King he that hath inaugurated him by performing the Ceremony should bragge that he hath giuen him the Kingdome By this reason the Bishop of Ostias who hath had for a long time the right of consecrating the Pope should haue bin aboue the Popes and the Bishop of Millan should giue the Kingdome of Italy to the Emperour because from him he is to receiue a Crowne of Iron but this belongeth to another discourse neyther is the proofe of it necessary to this purpose For had these Bishops done much worse then this yet could not their example serue for a rule vnlesse it be shewed where and when God gaue them this power For is it credible that the Bishops of Rome could haue had in their hands this power neare eight hundred yeares together without enploying it or that they suffered this temporall sworde to hang rusting on a pinne without euer making vse of it vntill that after many ages this Zachary bethought himselfe of putting it to seruice in an action which the Church of Rome it selfe confesseth to bevniust Seeing that the Canon Alius before aleadged sayth that Childericke was not deposed for any
cryme but because Pipin was more capable of gouernement then he How many Emperours and Kings vnfit to gouerne were there before this Childericke whose Crownes the Popes neuer touched But this Pope flattered Pipin to the end to be succoured by him against the Lumbards who kept him in seruitude Now to shut vp this whole matter seeing that the Pope doth challenge to himselfe this power ouer Kings who is it that hath giuen it vnto him Is it from the vnwritten worde Is it a custome authorised by the time or suffered by Princes or slid it along by the fauour and sleepinesse of an age that liued in darkenesse Or if God hath giuen him this power let him produce his Title let him shew the clauses of this Donation 2. Againe If Christ left a Successour or Lieftenant here on earth it is certayne that he can exercise no other charge then that which Iesus Christ did being in the world Now he did neuer degrade Kings nor translate Empyres Nay how is it like he would haue done that seeing that he could not be intreated to become a Iudge betweene priuate men in a Controuersie that was of ciuill nature He that teacheth vs to yeelde tribute to Caesar is it likely that hee would haue left a Lieftenant that should make Caesar himselfe tributary 3. If it be so that S. Peter or any other Apostle had this power ouer Kingdomes where dooth it appeare that euer he exercised it And to what end serueth an authority without the execution Or where did this power of the Bishops ouer the temporality of Kings lie couring all this while that it should need to be rouzed vp some eleuen hundred yeares after Iesus Christ 4 Moreouer It is God that giueth Kings and Princes their power as Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar though an Infidel Dan. 2.37 Thou O King art a King of Kings because the God of heauen hath giuen thee a Kingdome and power and strength and glory And the Apostle Rom. 13.1 hath tolde vs that all powers are ordayned of God Now that which God giueth man cannot take away Let the Pope take away if it please him that which himselfe hath giuen let him take his Cardinals redde hattes Archbishops pals if euer he gaue any without money Let him giue out against them that holde Benefices from him that their Benefices are deuolted vnto him by lapse but let him abstaine from the Crowes of Kings let him not touch the Lords annoynted 5. Adde hereunto those passages which the King of great Britaine hath learnedly obserued in his Apology by which he proueth that God willeth that his pleople yeelde obedience to Kings euen to Infidels So in the 27. of Ieremie Submit your neckes vnder the yoake of the King of Babell and serue him and his people and cap. 29. Seeke the peace of the Citie whether I haue carried you and pray for it for in her peace you shall haue peace This was farre from mouing them to reuolt Thus did the Israelites obey Pharaoh And euen then when the Kings of Iuda were Idolaters as Ahaz and Manasse yet did the High Priests neuer for all that incite the people to Rebellion The Emperour Nero was a prodigious monster for all kinde of wickednesse notwithstanding S. Paul would haue men to obey him for conscience sake Rom. 13.1 Timoth. 1. and for feare of offending God But wee now a dayes stand vpon better termes for if wee ought to obey a Prince that is a Pagan euen for conscience sake in Ciuill causes how much more one that is truely a Christian And if a Tygre that hath climed to the top of the Empire how much more a Prince that is wise and mercifull who preserueth the liues of those that desire his death And if we may not obey any man that leadeth and commaundeth a mutiny and treason how much lesse ought we to obey the Pope whose Empire is founded vpon the ruines of the Gospell and who being prodigall of the blood of those who are his draweth persecution vpon them to the end that they for him may loose goods and life yea and life eternall Now if any man vnwilling to enter this list shal say that this is a matter of pollicy and that we prye into matters of State such a one by his tergiuersation wil more ouerthrow the Popes power then if hee had expresly fought against it For if this power be a point without the compasse of Religion it followeth thereupon that it is not sounded vpon the word of God And if God had spoken of it in his worde it were a point of Religion to beleeue it The Pope then is to blame for making such bragges of his keyes in this case if it be nothing but a matter of pollicy and such as hath no sparke of Diuinity in it which thing Pope Clement the fift doth couertly confesse in the extrauagant Meruit Meruit Charissimi filij nostri Philippi regis Francorum c. where he declareth that he doth not vnderstand that the extrauagant Vnam Sanctam of Boniface the eight which giueth to the Pope soueraigne power ouer the Temporalties of Kingdomes as well as ouer the Spiritualtie could bring any preiudice to the Kingdome of France to make it more subiect to the Church of Rome then before it was but reintegrateth the said Kingdome into the same estate that it was before the abouesaid definition of Boniface and that in acknowledgement of the merites of King Philip the faire albeit hee had somewhat rudely accorded matters with Boniface Let the Reader weigh and consider this point aduisedly For in this extrauagant which Bellarmine dooth approue and commend Pope Boniface foundeth his pretensions ouer the Temporalties of Princes vppon many passages of the word of God He meaneth then that his right is by the lawe of God where against King Philip hedoth maintaine that in temporal things he is subiect to no man Within a while after Clement the fift passed it so in fauor of the King and exempted him from the rigour of this Bull the Pope then made bolde to dispense with the law of God or if on the other side it be nothing else but an humane positiue law then Boniface dealt very wickedly in seeking to ground it vppon the holy Scripture But why shall Fraunce alone be exempted from this yoake and other Kingdomes shall be enforced to beare it Could Philips merites dispense with him for obeying the word of God produced by Boniface These Popes make a Religion of waxe depending vpon the conditions of the times and the traine of their affaires and make it a prop of their Dominion they stretch it and shorten it like a stirrup leather fitting not their wils to Religion but Religion to their will Now if Philip had bin Master of Rome and absolutecommander in Italy the Bishops of Rome would haue thrown themselues on their knees before him as did Pope Adrian in the second Counsell of Nice 2. Act. and would haue called