king yet notwithstādyng he laid aside the gouernement of temporall and worldly thyngs and tooke him selfe to the charge onely of spirituall thynges By reason wherof when Pylate asked hym whether hee were the kyng of Israell or no He denyed not him self to be a kyng but hee addeth an exposition and méekely aunswered my kyngdome is not of this world Whereupon in another place of the Gospell he sayd he came not to be serued that is to wit as a worldly prince but to serue or to do seruice him selfe and to giue his life for the raunsome of the whole multitude For that cause he vtterly refused the iudgyng or diuidyng of the heritage that was desired at his hand and put it ouer from himself to the lawfull iudges not without displeasure saying mā who hath made me a iudge or vmper betwene you And therfore when the people were purposed to haue made him a temporall kyng he fled and by that flight of his shewed that those his ministers must not séeke for worldly souereintie in the Church and much lesse possesse it or by any meanes claime it no nor receiue it or take it vpon them if it be offered Besides this he not onely commaunded to giue vnto Caesar that which is Caesars but also furthermore when the tribute that was wont to be payd to the Magistrate was demaunded of him he commaunded a penny that was taken out of a fishes mouth to be payd for him least he might be an offence vnto others Finally by the space of whole iij. yeares together in which he most faithfully went through with the charge that his heauenly father had put him in trust with accomplished all things enioyned him to the full he neuer gaue any inclyng no not the least that could be of any souereintie or worldly dominiō Unto this holy and most humble example of the Lord there is also further added his most modest doctrine For when he perceiued that his disciples beyng caught and led away with ambition burned altogether with desire of souereintie and striue among themselues for supremacie or prerogatiue or as the Romane Bishops terme it for greaternesse as surely this maladie sticketh fast to the ribbes of them that are atteinted neuer so litle with ambitiousnesse which thyng appeareth by the Romish sort them selues he gaue them a very sore checke and withdrew them from that desire of souereintie beating lowlinesse into them therwithall also mainteinyng the right of the Magistrate ordeined of God and finally committyng the ministration of the word to his disciples without any hope or mention of souereintie at all Therfore when in the xvii of Mathew Peter had payd a péece of twentie pence for the Lord and himselfe to those that demaunded but ten pence and that therby he had put the rest of the disciples in suspicion as though Peter should be aduaunced aboue all the rest of them or be made primate among them in the kyngdome of heauen or in the gouernement of the Church they began to dispute of the matter among them selues and eche of them accordyng to mans infirmitie gaped after that hyghest degrée of souereintie But what sayd the Lord and what did he in that debate of his disciples He tooke a child vnto him and setting him in the middes of them sayd Uerely I say vnto you except ye turne and become like children ye shall not enter into the kyngdome of heauen Therfore whosoeuer humbleth himselfe as this child he is greatest in the kyngdome of heauen Which is all one as if the Lord had sayd vnto them ye striue for preheminence which of you should be gréeted as greatest of all But I tell you for a certeintie except ye turne your myndes from such ambitious disputations that sauour of nothyng but pride and pompe and turne your selues in lowlinesse vnto me and my example yea and vnto the simplenesse of this little boy whom you sée here ye shal be so farre from greatnesse and gloriousnes in that kyngdome of myne that I will not so much as take you for my Disciples Uery truly sayth S. Chrisostome in his 59. Homely vpon Mathew litle childrē know not how to enuy nor how to gape for vaineglorie nor how to desire preheminence of dignitie neither are they any whit the statelyer if ye prayse them or honor them What then aunswereth the Lord to the question of his Disciples Who soeuer sayth he becommeth like a child by puttyng away naughtie affections but chiefly ambition and desirousnesse to beare rule truly the same is greatest in the kingdome of heauē Upon which place Chrisostome sayth agayn Thou séest how he hath taught that preheminence of dignitie is not to be coueted in any case And so forth Agayne in the 20. chapter of Mathew when the mother of Zebedies children came vnto the Lord with her sonnes Iames and Iohn and made sute for them that they might haue the highest roome and chief authoritie about him in his kingdome so as he should place them next him selfe the one on his right hand and the other on his left for looke who they be that are next about a kyng and garde his person in sittyng on either side of him those are counted chief men in the Realme like as at this day those be called Legates a latere or from the Popes side whō the Byshop sendeth from Rome with full power and authoritie The Disciples hauyng forgotten the thynges which the Lord had taught them afore mistrusted eftsoone that those two brothers should be preferred before them all By reason wherof enuying them they began to take pritch at it and to contend agayne among themselues for the preheminēce The Lord therfore calling them to him sayd ye know that the kynges of nations reigne ouer them and they that be great exercise authoritie vpon them It shall not be so among you but he that will be great among you let him become your seruaunt and he that wil be chief among you let him be your vnderlyng like as the sonne of mā is come not to be serued but to serue and to giue his life for the redemption of many Most trimly and effectually hath the Lord herein seuered the Ecclesiasticall ministerie from the ciuill authoritie And iustly doth he challendge and yeld to the Magistrate that which belongeth to the Magistrate without derogatyng or takyng any thyng from him and conueying it to him selfe and his and likewise shew the ministers what they also ought to do Ye know sayth he that there be Princes or Magistrates ordeined among people and among the Gentiles so as there is no neede that you also should be made rulers ouer nations I mynde not to make warres with the Romanes and to put downe their presidentes and Tetrarkes to set you vp in theyr roomes which thyng notwithstandyng the Iewes beleued that Christ should haue done and therfore when he aunswered not their expectation they acknowledged him not to be the Messias Princes haue their
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
man ought to be compelled to rightuousnesse when you read that the householder sayd to his seruauntes whomsoeuer ye finde make them to come in or when you read that he which was first Saule and afterward Paule was with great violence and compulsion enforced by Christ to know the truth and to hold it whether he would or no The same Austen agayne in his v. Epistle to Earle Boniface sayth where is the fréedome of beleuyng or not beleuyng which these men are wont to blase abroad saying whom hath Christ enforced whom hath Christ compelled Behold they haue the Apostle Paule in him they may sée Christ first compelling and afterward teachyng first beating and afterward comforting And it is a wonder to sée how he that came in vnto the Gospell by compulsion of bodily punishment hath labored more in the Gospell then all they did that were called in by the onely word and that his perfect charitie hath driuen feare out of doores whom greatest feare compelled to charitie Why then should not the Church compel the vnthriftie children to returne if the vnthriftie children haue compelled others to perish Agayne in the same Epistle the same Austen sayth whereas they that would not haue any iust lawes ordeined agaynst their wicked heresies auouch that the Apostles demaunded no such thinges of the kinges of the earth they consider not that the state of that tyme was other then it is now and that all thynges are to be done in their times For what Emperour beleued in Christ at those dayes that he might haue done him seruice by making lawes in defence of godlinesse agaynst vngodlinesse when as yet this prophesie was in fulfilling why did the Gentyles rage and why did the people imagine vayne thinges The kinges of the earth stode vp and the princes assembled together against the Lord against his christ For as yet the world was not come to that point which is spokē of anone after in the same Psalme And now ye kinges bethinke your selues be learned ye that iudge the earth do seruice vnto him in feare and reioyse with trembling How then do kynges serue God in feare but by godly seueritie of prohibiting punishing the thinges that are done agaynst the cōmaundementes of the Lord for he serueth in one sort as he is a mā in another sort also as he is a king In that he is a mā he serueth him by liuing faithfully in that he is also a king hée serueth by stablishing with conuenient rigour such lawes as commaund rightfull thinges and forbid the contrarie So serued Ezechias by beating downe the groues and temples of the Idols and the high places that had bene builded agaynst Gods commaundement So serued Iosias by doing the like thinges So serued the king of Niniuie by compelling the whole Citie to pacifie Gods displeasure So serued Darius by breaking the Idoll and giuing it into the power of Daniell and by casting his enemies in to the Lyons So serued Nabuchodonosor by making a terrible law to all that were vnder his dominion from blaspheming God by a terrible law Kinges therfore in asmuch as they are kinges do then serue God when they do that thing to serue God withall which they could not do if they were not kinges Considering then that kinges serued not the Lord in the time of the Apostles but as yet imagined vaine thinges against God and against his annointed that the sayinges of the Prophetes might be fulfilled truly vngodlinesse could not thē be prohibited but rather it was executed by lawes For the state of those tymes was so far out of order that euen the Iewes slew them that preached Christ thinking themselues to do God high seruice according as Christ had prophesied afore the Genttles raged against the Christians and yet the strength of Martyrs ouercome them all But after the thing began to be fulfilled which is written All the kinges of the earth shall worship him All natiōs shall serue him what is he that is in his right wits that will say vnto kinges Take you no care in your kyngdome who defēdeth or assaulteth the Church of your Lord it makes no matter to you who be chast who be vnchast in your Realme For seing that God hath giuen vnto mā frée choise why should aduoutrie be punished by lawes apostasie be let slip Is it a lighter matter for the soule to breake her faith plighted vnto God thē for a womā to breake her troth plighted vnto mā Or if the thinges that be cōmitted through ignoraūce not through contēpt of religiō be to be punished more gently are they therfore to be neglected In déede it is better who doutes that mē should be brought by gentlenesse to serue God then to be compelled to it by feare of punishment and smart But bycause they that be gētly allured be the better it foloweth not that those which are otherwise should be neglected For it hath done many men good which thing is euident by experience to be first compelled by feare or smart that they might afterward be taught or accomplish the thing in worke which they had learned already by word Thus much haue I hetherto rehearsed out of the bookes of Austen which I suppose do satisfie such as are not giuen to contention in this case Furthermore that euery man should not haue leaue to chuse at his own pleasure and to folow what likes him best in the case of faith and Religion it is forbidden long ago in Gods law accordyng as is read to this effect ye shall not do euery one of you what seemeth right in his owne eyes Marke and heare all that I cōmaund thée that thou mayest fare well and the children after thée when thou doest the thing that is good and acceptable in the sight of thy god Therfore looke what I commaund thée that onely do thou vnto the Lord neither put thou any thing to it nor take thou any thing away Nay truly it is the welspring and originall of all mischief errour heresie schisme dissention and troubles if it were frée for euery man to folow the fancies of his owne head and the imaginations and deuises of his owne hart Which thing is proued by the stories of all ages and by the experience of our time also And ye shall read often in the Prophetes depart ye or turne ye from your owne wayes and you haue chosen in your wayes the thinges that displease me Also walke ye in my wayes and it shall be for your weale And what els is the Popish Religiō but a way deuised set vp by the will and pleasure of man cōtrarie to the rule of Gods word From the which God willeth the Magistrate to turne away his seruaunts and to bring them backe agayne into the way of the lord Dauid the king and Prophet pleased the high God singularly in this respect though in many things he defiled him selfe shamefully that he
thūderbolt and no more to be feared then the thunderclappes smokes and mistes of Cacus were to be feared of Hercules as hath bene sayd already afore The blind mā to whom Christ had giuen eye sight was in old tyme cast out of the Synagoge of the Pharisies But that excommunication was so farre from hurting him that from thence forth he was receiued into Christes houshold by the Lord Christ himselfe who in his Gospell prophesying of the thinges that are now accomplished by the Pope sayd They shall thrust you out of their Synagoges Yea and the tyme commeth that who soeuer killeth you he shall thinke he doth God seruice And these thinges shall they do vnto you bycause they haue not knowē the father nor yet me But I haue told these things vnto you to the intent that whē that time is come ye may remember what I haue sayd vnto you Wherfore it hurteth not the Queenes Maiestie a whit that she is sayd to be cut of truly not from the vnitie of Christes body but from the felowshyp of the Popish corporation For were she not cut of from this verely she could not be reckened among the true and liuely members of Christes body neither could she haue God to be her father if she could finde in her hart to be an obedient daughter to the Syr that sitteth vppon mount Tarpey deuouring his owne sonnes and daughters like Saturne For the Lord willeth hys children to get them out of Babylon if they minde to escape the plagues of God and to atteine true saluation And we be not kept in the vnitie of Christes body which is the Church of the liuing God by obeying and reuerencing the Romane Church and the Bishop therof but by true faith in Christ according to the Gospell of god He that wanteth this or he that impugneth this hath no communion at all neither with Christ nor with the Church how much soeuer he pratle of the vnitie of Christes body ¶ That the Pope of Rome doth falsly and tyrannously giue sentence that the Queene of England is depriued of her kingdome and of all right of her crowne AFterward the Pope in his sayd definitiue sentence determineth peremptorily that the Quéene of England is depriued of her crowne and of all right of her crowne and of all other authoritie dominion dignitie and priuilege whatsoeuer But who hath made the Pope a souerein Monarche ouer the whole world to reigne alone and to haue all kingdomes vnder him and to hold all kynges and princes vnder his allegeance as his vassals or tenauntes at wil so as he might set them vp or thrust them out of their kyngdomes at his pleasure Heretofore when I discoursed vpon Ieremies wordes I haue set thee ouer kynges and kyngdomes c. I haue shewed openly and sufficiently inough so as there néedeth no more at this tyme that the Pope is not set ouer kynges and kyngdomes by God but rather vsurpeth superioritie and power ouer kynges and nations contrarie both to the open example and commaundement of the lord Therfore as now I wil adde no more but this that the Pope doth falsly or rather through mere tyranny without any right or regard of shame chalenge to him selfe this power which the Lord neuer deliuered to any man For the wise Prophet Daniel sayth Wisedome and power belong vnto the lord He it is that altereth the tymes and chaunges of tymes He it is that putteth downe kinges and setteth vp kinges The same thyng also haue Iob and Dauid in his Psalmes affirmed afore him Yea and the holy histories setting forth the same thyng most plenteously declare that God ordeined Saule kyng of the Israelites by the Prophet Samuel and by the message of the same Prophet deposed him agayne for his disobedience and rebellion aduauncing Dauid to his roome a man accordyng to Gods owne hart Agayne vnder Salomon Dauides sonne the kyngdome was rent a sunder and God by the message of his Prophet Ahia gaue ten partes of the kyngdome to Ieroboam and those ten partes of the kyngdome were not taken away from Salomon and his posteritie for any other cause then for that Salomon him selfe had withdrawen his hart from God and allowed his outlandish wiues wherewith to set vp and exercise their Idolatrie But the same Ieroboam is deposed agayne and none other cause of hys deposing by the report of the same Ahia the Prophet then for that he hearkened not to the word of the Lord but according to mans policie vpon a good intent of his owne made him straunge Gods and set vp the same for the children of Israel to worship and cleaued not vncorruptly to the word of the Lord. Other kinges of Israel also were deposed from from their kingdome by God as Baasa Ela Achab such other like and for none other cause then that they had leuer to folow the Idolatrie of Ieroboam then the word of the Lord. Furthermore when Iehu had destroyed Iezabell king Achabs wife and all his posteritie and therewithall made cleane riddance of all the Priestes of Baal yea beaten downe the Temple of Baal and made a draught of it the Lord said vnto him for asmuch as thou hast earnestly executed the thing that is right in mine eyes and done vnto the house of Achab according to all that was in my hart thy sonnes shall sit vppon the seate of Israell to the fourth generatiō I could rehearse many other thinges of this sort no lesse notable then these but that I séeke to be brief as far as the matter giueth leaue And I haue rehearsed these thinges to the end that all men may manifestly perceiue how it is God himselfe and not the pope that createth kinges and displaceth them yea and which remoueth shaketh ouerthroweth repaireth and stablisheth all kingdomes vniuersally and seuerally Now although he haue disposed it by his messengers the Prophetes as by Samuell Ahias Eliseus and others yet is not the Pope called to these matters as those men were neither hath he receiued any commission from God in this case so much as by one little word but rather is commaūded to attempt no such thing Besides this God deposed kinges as it were extraordinarily by the Prophetes not by the high Priestes which were ordeined by God to be in Israell with the kinges least the kingdome and the Priest hode might be set at oddes betwene them selues Therfore although the Pope were the souerein Bishop yet should not the disposing and ordering of kinges belong to his charge Moreouer if a man consider wherefore God deposed those kinges by the meane of his Prophetes the Quéene of England hath wherwith to comfort and confirme her and the Pope hath that which graffeth him into the nomber of false prophetes discorageth him and vtterly ouerthroweth him For Ahias said out of the mouth of the Lord vnto Ieroboam if thou wilt hearken to my commaundementes and walke in my wayes as
Ministers seruing for the same purpose Therfore render vnto euery mā his dew tribute to whom tribute is due Custome to whom custome is due awe to whom awe is due honour to whom honour is due The same Apostle willeth subiectes also to obey their Princes that is to wit their lawes and ordinaunces not onely that they may by their due obedience escape the punishments which Princes execute vpon the disobedient but bycause it is Gods will we should do so and we must yeld obedience to his commaundement except we had leuer to fall into the hand of Gods vengeance although princes punish vs not And this is it that the Prophet ment by saying ye must obey not onely for feare but also for conscience Also they that resist the Magistrate procure themselues damnation And truly this obedience stretcheth so farre that if the Prince néede thy seruice in the warres for the defence of his Realme against inuasions thou owest euen thy body to thy Prince yea and thy life and therefore much more thy goodes These are the thinges these I say are the thinges that all subiectes owe to their souereines by the allowance and commaundement of God and therfore the Englishmen also owe the same thinges to their Quéene True it is in déede that S. Peter sayd we must obey God rather then men howbeit that is in such things as are commaunded expresly against God and his word But the politike or ciuill gouernement is stablished and not infringed by Gods word And most of all it is stablished if the Princes be godly For the Princes that gouerne their people quietly and enforce not their subiectes to any wicked thinges but honour Gods seruice spread it abroad more more are well liked of God and helped by him And truly this obedience of the subiectes which God hath inioyned them kepeth them in their dewtie and perswadeth them that they attempt not any thing against their Prince or Magistrate As for those that rise against their Prince either by priuie practise or open force and breake the common peace they are not onely disobedient but also traytors and hated of god And yet it is the thing that the Pope in his Bull not so much teacheth as by his manaces indeuereth to inforce the noblemen and commons of England vnto The noble Realme of England through Gods grace cleaueth well together in lawes spirituall and temporall and the subiectes therof enioy peace and publike profite by the benefite of their most gracious Quéene Therfore not to be willing hence forth to obey her as the Pope would haue it what els is it then to trouble the state of the whole Realme and consequētly to stirre vp rebellion and sedition wickedly and to procure themselues assured and greuous damnation at Gods hand But heare how God hath alwayes hated seditious persons and how greuously also he hath euermore punished seditiōs Chore Dathan and Abyron with their complices raised a sedition against Moses the chaplein of Gods people But the earth opened and swallowed them vp with their housholdes and all that euer they had A right dreadfull example surely to the intent that none should hereafter ryse agaynst their Princes any more The Israelites also raysed an insurrection agaynst the same Moses in the wildernesse But for their so doing they were shet out of the land of promise and by the space of xxxviij yeares together ouerwhelmed with sundry calamities tyred and forspent with dayly trauelyng in the desert and at length also in sundry times consumed and made away with horrible kindes of death Also in the booke of Iudges the Ephraemites made an vprore against Iephthe who had deserued well at their handes But through the vengeance of God for their vngracious rebellion and vnthankefulnesse there were slaine of them about a xlij thousand What befell in Dauids time to Absolon Seba the sonne of Bithri when they rebelled seditiously against their lawfull king Dauid it is better knowen then that if may séeme requisite to be setforth in many wordes There are in the holy Scriptures and the wordly histories of sundry kingdomes many exāples to be seene no lesse horrible then these of seditious persons that were most greuously confoūded by the lord For the Lord being rightuous and a louer of order and peace neuer spared any such And to the intent I may also bring somewhat out of latter tunes there is a notable example of the punishment of traiterous rebellion and disobedience and periurie in king Rafe of Rinfield chosen king of Romanes at the cōmaundemēt of pope Gregorie the vij against the Emperour Henry the iiij lawfully ordeined of God and succeding in the Empire by descent from his aunceters who were very good Princes The said Gregorie had prophesied out of that chayre of his in the Easter wéeke that the same yeare which was the yeare of our Lord .1080 the false Emperor should dye adding this protestation further neuer take me more for Pope but plucke me from the Altar if the false Emperour be not dead betwene this and Whitsontyde Which prophesie like as was the prophesie of Caiaphas was fulfilled in déede howbeit after another meaning then the Pope thought of For the false Emperour Rafe who was created Emperour by the Pope against Henry whom the Pope had deposed discharging all his subiectes of their faith and obedience towardes him was wounded to death the selfe same yeare Thrise before had he traiterously fought with Henry to his owne losse and now trusting to the prophesie of his blessed dad Pope Gregorie the vij he repayred his power againe the fourth tyme and in the moneth of October encountered with the army of Henry in the fieldes of Misnia where he was put to shamefull flight agayne and receiued a very great losse and blouddy slaughter In the same battell the right hand of the sayd Rafe was striken of of the which wound he dyed within a few dayes after leauing the Empyre which he had receiued of the Pope fulfilling the prophesie of the Pope his creator It is reported sayth Abbas Vspurgēsis in the 238. leafe of his Chronicles that Rafe now drawing towardes his end and beholding his right hand cut of gaue a sore sigh and said to the Bishops which by chaunce were present Lo this is the hand wherwith I tooke mine othe of allegeance to my Lord Henry the Emperour And behold now I leaue both his kingdome and this present life Sée whether you that made me mount vp into his chayre of estate haue led me a right way which thing other storywriters report in these wordes it was by your impulsion that I haue fought so often vnluckely Looke you to it whether you haue led me a right way or no. Ge your wayes performe your first faith plighted to your king for I shall go to my fathers Now ye honorable Péeres of England and thou noble Realme of England in generall learne ye by all these
to make clayme to thē being none of his And whē the Earle would not surrēder them Pope Nicolas the 4. layd his curse vppon him By meanes wherof he inforced the Earle to write an Apologie wherin amōg other thinges he sayth who is so stelyharted or to speake more truly so blockish a beast that he cā with quyet minde suffer the pride statelynesse trecherie craft outrage wickednesse prodigalitie and couetousenesse of these rakehelles Is the séeking of othermens riches and kingdomes is fighting for glorie and dignitie is oppressing of silly shéepe is sleaing is warring is this géere I say is this to féede shéepe and to loue the flocke And seing that they being our seruauntes will against the right of all Realmes be our maisters yea and make their Lordes serue them contrarie to the lawes and word of God if they be not Antichristes what els I pray you be they And so forth as is to be read in Auentine in the vij booke of his Chronicles the 720. and 721. leaues Boniface the viij euen by the record of Platina the arrogātest Bishop one of them that euer was and the author of the vj. booke of Decretals wherof somwhat hath ben said afore bare very sore grudge against Philip K. of Fraunce and at last breaking forth sent a Legate with his Buls to Paris commaundyng the king to resigne the Realme of Fraunce to the Apostolike sea But the king would suffer no such Buls to be published in his Citie kingdome Yea rather the Frechmen tooke them from the Legate burnt them in the fire and draue the Legate out of the Realme as a trouble of the state Furthermore the king greatly accused Boniface and charged him with so heynous and vgly crymes as the storywriters for the foulenesse of them are ashamed to report Yet procedeth he for all that to rayse vp troubles in Fraunce to commaund the king to depose him selfe from his kingdome and to resigne it to the Church of Rome and to assoyle the Lordes and gentlemē of their othe of fealtie wherby they were boūd to the king But the king being no whit abashed at those fond cursinges gaue streight charge to all his subiectes that none of them should come at Rome or send any money thether And at the lēght he foūd the meanes to haue the most proud and stubborne Prelate himselfe cast in prison where he dyed within xxxv dayes after being as he deserued consumed with frettyng for sorrow and spight Clement the v. being as proud and as great a troubler of Realmes as his predecessours Cursed the Uenetiās and certein other notable commō weales and abandoned them to the spoile of all men onlesse they returned to the obediēce of his sea and so he compelled the Uenetiās to send Ambassadours with submission vnto him The Ambassadour that was sent was Fraunces Dandalus who afterward was made Duke of Uenice Much a do he had to come to the Popes presence At length he had a cheyne of yron clapt about his necke was fayne to lye couched at the pope Clementes table too too basely and filthily so long till the popes displeasure was with much ado ouercome and then he assoyled the Uenetians from his excōmunication Afterward Dandalus bare the name of Dog bicause he had couched at the Popes table like a dog The reporter hereof is Sabellicus about the end of the vij booke of his ix Enneade But who could haue looked vpon this orped sight without grief vnméete for the cruell Turke much more for a mercyfull Apostle With wisedome therfore must they be mad who soeuer they be that after so many horrible examples of wicked and shamelesse vilanie and tyrannie do stil reuerence and worship the bishops of Rome recouer not their sight ne learne to know them by their vertues to shunne thē They be sore deceiued which hearing these and such lyke thinges say stil that the Apostolike sea must not be iudged by the liues of the wicked vnthriftes that sit in it and that the same is holy and to be obeyed neuerthelesse For if by the sea Apostolike they meane the Apostolike doctrine and ministerie of the Church these thinges are alwayes holy and vnspotted and although those that be in the ministerie preach the Gospell be vncleane yet neuerthelesse the sea Apostolike that is to wit the Apostolike doctrine must be obeyed still according also as it hath ben sayd afore But if by the sea Apostolike they meane the Popish kingdome or rather tyrannie wherby they chalenge to themselues absolute souereintie in matters perteinyng to God aud man as well in Ciuill as in Ecclesiastical matters through the fulnesse of their power then is it no lesse a pestilent seate and vncommended vnto vs by any word of God then they that sit in it be most deadly and pestilent plagues And therfore they that sit in it are to be eschewed and the seate it selfe is to be lothed as an abhomination of all good men But now I returne agayne to my abridgement of stories which I haue broken of The same Bishop to the exceding great domage of Italie called thether the Emperour Henry of Lucembrough the vij of that name agaynst the faction of the Vrsines who were of the Gwelfes and against Robert king of Puell with whō he encountered twise with reasonable good lucke Wherupon the Bishop began to feare least the Emperour should grow too great Therfore according to the crabbednesse of the Bishops began to fall to the byasse of his predecessours and shanke aside to Robert of Puell whom the Emperour had condemned as traytor to the Empire reuersed the Emperors sayd sentence giuen by law And whē the Emperour hasted to sease vppon the kingdome of Sicilie for which he had ben called out of Germanie at the first one Bernard of Mount Polician as Fasciculus Temporum reporteth a Frier of S. Dominikes order or a Frier preacher dispatched him at Bonconuent by putting poyson into the Sacrament of the body and bloud of our Lord giuing it vnto him surely a straunge horrible example And they alledge that the Frier was corrupted with promises brybes by the Emperours enemyes or els he durst not haue attempted this so horrible a déede Iohn the xxij after many attemptes against the Emperour Lewes the iiij disfeated him of the Empyre and vsurped it wholly to himselfe For he published a Bull and in open wordes named himselfe father and Prince of all Christendome through the whole world the high Gods lieuetenaunt in whom rested the highest power and souereine dominion of the Empyre to be disposed by his commaūdement iurisdiction and authoritie and to be bestowed as his frée gift vpō whom he listed And about the end of the Bull he commaūdeth Lewes to resigne vp the Empyre and title of king within thrée monethes and neuer after to take that dignitie vpon him but by the leaue and appointment of