sacrifice to the diuel Thus writ two famous papists Martinus Polonus and Baptista Platina whereof the one was an Arch-byshoppe and the popes deare Paenitentiarie and the other his Abbreuiator Apostolicus So as their testimonies must needes bee of credite especially amongst the papists Among the rest Platina hath these expresse wordes Primo quidem archiepiscopum Remâ—nsem inde Rauennatem adeptus pontificatum postremo maiore conatu adiuuante diabolo consecutus est hac tamen lege vt post mortem totus illius esset cuius frandibus tantam dignitatem adeptus erat Englished thus First hee was the Arch-byshoppe of Rhemes then the Arch-byshop of Rauennas and last of all by the helpe of the diuell he was made the pope and Byshop of Rome but vpon this condition that after his death hee should bee wholy his by whole fraude hee had attained so great a dignitie This is a most worthy historie and for the berter credite thereof because papists vse to denie all things that make against them I assure thee gentle Reader that not onely the two famous papists afore named Martinus and Platina doe so affirme but which is much more to bee admired Iohannes Nanclerus a famous popish Chronographer and late writer doth boldly and constantly auouch the very same Pope Benedict the eight was seene after his death as it were corporally ryding vpon a black horse the byshop that saw him spake thus vnto him Art not thou pope Benedict whom we know to be lately dead I am saith he that vnfortunate Benedict But how is it with thee o father saith the Byshop I am now in great torment saith the pope and therfore wuld I haue some mony to be giuen to the poore because all that I gaue to the poore before was gotten by robbery and extortion Pope Boniface the seuenth robbed Saint Peters Church of all the treasure and pretious things therein which doubtlesse was of exceeding great value and then fledde to Constantinople at length he returned to Rome with a great summe of mony when he could not preuaile he pluckt out a Cardinall Deacons eyes Here note by the way that some Cardinals are Deacons some Priests some Byshops yet he that is but a Deacon is of greater authoritie then any Byshoppe or Arch-byshop whosoeuer in the Popish seate Pope Boniface the eight shall sound the Trumpet for all the rest who made a constitution and flatte decree in which he called himselfe Lord spirituall and Lord temporall of the whole world A.D. 1302 Whereupon he required Philip the French king to acknowledge that he held his kingdome of him Which thing when the christian king refused to do the cursed pope tooke vpon him to giue his kingdome to the Emperour of Rome Of this pope thus write his deare Vassals Platina and Carranza Intrauit vt vulpes regnauit vt lupus mortuus est vt canis Englished thus He entred as a Fox he raigned as a Wolfe he dyed as a dog Alas alas how hath the late Romish Church bewitched vs. CHAP. XI Of the Popes bloody tyranny IT were enough for the manifestation of this Chapter to ponder well the contents of the Chapter next afore going But something I haue thought meete to be added thereunto for the better instruction of the indifferent and well affected reader Iohn Husse a Bohemian borne a famous eloquent and very learned man came to the councell holden at Constance there to defend the Doctrine which he had preached against the late vpstart Romish religion The councel required of Vuenceslaus the king of Bohemia that hee would send maister Hus vnto them The king acquainting maister Hus with their request found him very willing to vndergoe the iourney by reason of the great confidence which he had in the truth of his cause neuerthelesse the wise carefull prudent king Vuenceslaus for the better securitie of his safe going and coÌ„ming home againe procured him the Saluum conductum and free pasport of the Emperour Sigismundus Well one Hieronimus of Praga a famous citie in Bohemia an other most eloquent and learned man accompanied onely with one clarke came voluntarily vnto the said councel of Constance Where after much disputation when both the said vertuous and reuerend men remained constant in the doctrine of truth and Christs Gospel and would in no case yeeld vnto the erroneous and superstitious Romish religion the councell decreed most cruelly and tyrannically notwithstanding the free Charter the Letters Patents free pasport or safe-conduct of the Emperour that maister Hus should bee burnt with fire and faggot which Decree was with all speede effected accordingly But maister Hierome of Praga remained after that burning a long time in pryson And at the length when they found him most constant in the truth and in nothing flexible to their humours their charitie was so great that they decreed him to be burnt in the same manner The papists after their wonted manner will perhaps deny this to be so but assure thy selfe gentle reader that all the papists in Europe shall neuer be able to touch me for any vntrue report assertion or relation made against them in any one of all the bookes which I haue written The reader therefore may boldly giue credit to euery thing that I haue reported of them not onely in this treatise now in hand but in all the rest which I haue written I thanke God I make a conscience to belie the Diuell and consequently it is not my meaning to publish any vntruth against any man Iohannes Nanclerus a very famous popish Historiographer after hee hath made mention of the Emperours saluus conductus a free Charter as I haue already related addeth these expresse words Lata est in consessu patrum aduersus pertinaces sententia cremandos esse qui doctrinam ecclesiae respuerent condemnataque simul est haeresis Wicleff Prior itaque Iohannes Hus combustus est sexta feria post festum Vdalrici Hieronimus diu post in vinculis habitus cum resipiscere nollet pari supplicio affectus sabbatho ante exaltationem S. crucis Anno. 1415. pertulerunt ambo constanti animo necem quasi ad epulas invitati ad incendium properabant nullam emittentes vocem quae miseri animi posset facere indicium vbi ardere caeperunt hymnum cecinere quem vix flâ—mma fragor ignis intercipere potuit cineres exustorum ne raperentur a Bohemis in lacum proiecti sunt discipuli vero eorum ex eo solo terram abstulere in qua ignis fuit eamque veluti sacram secum attulere in patriam Iohannes ac Hieronimus apud Bohemos martyrum honores meruerunt nec minores quam Petrus Paulus apud Romanos Englished thus Sentence was giuen in the assembly of the fathers against the obstinate that they should be burnt who refused the doctrine of the church and withall the heresie of Wiclif was condemned First therefore Iohn Hus was burnt vpon
first Paragraph of his power in generall CHristus per passionem suam meruit iudiciariam potestatem super omnē creaturam Vnde ipse resurgens ait data est mihi omnis potestas in Caelo in terra Cū autem vicarius Christi sit papa nullus potest seipsum subtrahere ab obedientia eius de iure sicut nullus de iure potest se subtrahere ab obedientia Dei sicut recepit Christus a patre ducatum sceptrū ecclesiae gentiū ex Israel egrediens super omnē principatū potestatē super omne quodcumque est vt ei genua cuncta curuentur sic ipse Petro successoribus eius plenissimam potestatem commisit Englished thus Christ merited by his passion iudiciare power ouer all creatures wherefore when hee arose from death hee sayd all power is giuen me in heauen and on earth Now seeing the Pope is Christs Vicar none can lawfully withdrawe their obedience from him no more then they may withdraw their obedience from God himselfe For as Christ receiued the Dukedome and Scepter of the Church ouer all principate and power and ouer all whatsoeuer else hath being that al knees do bowe vnto him euen so did he commit most full and large power vnto Peter and his Successors the Byshops popes of Rome Thus writeth Antoninus that holy Archbyshop and religious Fryer Augustinus de Ancona an other religious Fryer in that booke which he dedicated to pope Iohn the twelft of that name singeth the same song with Antoninus his popish brother These are his words papa tanquam vicarius dei filij coelestis imperatoris iurisdictionē habet vniuersalem super omnia Regna Imperia Englished thus The Pope as he is the Vicar of the sonne of God the heauenly Emperour hath vniuersall iurisdiction ouer all Kingdomes and Empires Gerson a famous papist who was sometime chancelour of Paris maketh rehearsall of intollerable titles power more then royall ascribed to the pope and derideth the same Sicut non est potestas nisi a Deo sic nec aliqua temporalis vel ecclesiastica imperialis vel regalls nisi a papa in cuius foemore scripsit Christus Rex regū dominus dominantium de cuius potestate disputare instar sacrilegij est cui neque quisquam dicere potest cur ita facit Englished thus Like as there is no power but of God so is there neither any Temporall nor Ecclesiastical neither imperiall nor regal but of the Pope in whose thigh Christ hath writen the King of kings Lord of Lords of whose power to dispute is as meere Sacriledge to whom none may say why doest thou so The pope himselfe from his owne pen Gregorie the ninth deliuereth vs this doctrine Ad firmamentum caeli hoc est vniuersalis ecclesiae fecit Deus duo magna luminaria id est duas instituit dignitates quae sunt pontificalis authoritas regalis potestas Sequitur vt quanta est inter solem lunam tanta inter pontifices reges differentia cognoscatur Englished thus To the Firmaments of of heauen that is of the vniuersal Church God made two lights pontificall authoritie and power royall that wee may know there is as much difference betweene Popes and Kings as there is betweene the Sunne and the Moone The Glosse setteth downe precisely how farre a King is inferiour to a pope that is to euery Byshop of Rome in these words Restat vt pontificalis dignitas quadragesies septies sit maior regali dignitate Englished thus It remaineth that the dignitie of the pope bee fortie times seuen times greater then is the power of the King Where the Reader must seriously obserue with me that this Gregorie being himselfe one of the Byshops of Rome who now adayes are called popes Cat'exochen liued 1227. years after Christ A.D. 1227 and had either forgotten or neuer once learned that the good Byshoppe Gregorie the first acknowledged himselfe to be the Emperours subiect and yeelded all loyall obedience vnto him The popish Canons do so plainly ascribe diuine titles to the pope that none without blusing can possibly deny the same For in the popes owne decretals I find these expresse words Sic papa dicitur habere coeleste arbitrium ideo etiam naturam rerum immutat substantiam vnius rei applicādo alij de nihilo potest aliquid facere Englished thus So the pope is said to haue coelestial arbitrement and therefore doth he alter the nature of things by applying the substantiall parts of one thing to another and hee can make of nothing something Thus doe the papists write of their pope he is well pleased therewith For without his good pleasure and liking such doctrine glosses could not be currant in the Church of Rome Yea the Expositors do gather their sense euen out of the bowels of the text and this collections are as authenticall as is the text it selfe Pope Nicholas as Gratianus telleth vs was of the same minde and in effect taught the same Doctrine These are his expresse words Christus beato Petro aeternae vitae clauigero terreni simul coelestis imperij iura commisit Englished thus Christ committed to S. Peter who beareth the keyes of eternall life the right both of earthly and heauenly empire Where the glosse ascribeth the same power to the pope in these words Argumentum quod papa habet vtrunque gladium spirtiualem temporalem Englished thus This is an argument that the pope hath both the swords aswel the spiritual as the temporal And in the marginal note the Reader may finde these expresse wordes Papa habens vtrumque gladiū transtulit imperia Englished thus The pope hauing both swords translated the Empire A.D. 1294 To conclude pope Boniface the eight made a flat Constitution and Decree in which he affirmed arrogantly that himselfe was both Spirituall and Temporall Lord of the whole world The second Paragraph of power ascribed to the pope in speciall BArtholomaeus Fumus a famous Summist affirmeth boldly and resolutely the popes power to bee so exding great that he is able with his word to deliuer out of purgatorie all the soules that are boyling there in fire These are his words Papa potest liberare omnes animus purgatorij etiam si plures essent si quis pro eis faceret quod iuberet peccaret tamen indiscretè consedendo Englished thus The pope could set at libertie all the soules in purgatorie though neuer so many if any would doe that for them which hee appointeth to be done marry hee should sinne by his vndiscreet pardoning Siluester prieras a learned famous popish Canonist sometime Magister sacripalatij hath these words Sicut potest papa liberare a poena peccatorum debita in hoc mundo omnes qui sunt in mundo si faciant quod mandat etiāsi essent millies plores quam sunt ita liberare potest
the six ferie after the feast of Vdabricus Hierome being kept in prison a long time after when hee would not recant was burnt in like maner on the Saboath before the exaltatiō of the holy crosse in the yeare of our Lord 1415. they both suffered death with a constant stout courage they made hast to the fire as though they had been inuited vnto a banquet they vttered not a word which could giue any signe of a sorrowful heart When they began to burne they sang an hymne which the flame noise of the fire was scarse able to stint when their corpes were burnt their ashes were cast into a lake least their countyemen the Bohemians shuld carry them away their Disciples tooke away the earth though the ashes were gone wher the fire was made and carried the same with them into their countrey as an holy relique Iohn Hierome deserued no lesse honour of martyrs with the Bohemians then Peter and Paul with the Romans Thus writeth Nanclerus Out of whose words I obserue sundry very memorable points of Doctrine wishing the reader to ponder them seriously for his godly instruction and Christian edification First that this Nanclerus was a great papist highly renowned in the church of Rome and consequently that hee will testifie no more against the Papists then the truth it selfe doth extort from his penne Secondly that the Papists most cruelly condemned Maister Hus to the fire albeit hee had the Emperours free pasport and safe conduct freely to goe and freely to returne Thirdly that the godly Martyr Hieronimus de Praga came boldly of his owne accord vnto the councell and they stoutly defended the truth maugre the malice of the pope all his popish vassals Fourthly that the burning of Maister Hus could not terrifie Maister Hierome of Praga nor make him deny the truth of Christs Gospell Fiftly that both Maister Husse and Maister Hieronimus de Praga went as merily and as ioyfully to the fire to bee burnt as if they had beene inuited to a royall banquet Sxtly that in the midst of the late fire they ioyfully and Christianly sang an Hymne to the honour and praise of the euerliuing God Seuenthly that the furie and rage of the hote burning fire O most worthy and constant Martyrs of Iesus Christ coulde not stay them from singing and from praysing our mercifull God Eightly that the cruell papists after they had burnt the blessed Martyrs and consumed their bodies and their bones to ashes did cast their ashes into a deepe poole of water Ninthly that these two blessed men Iohn Hus and Hierome of Praga were no lesse honoured for martyrs in Bohemia then Peter and Paul were in Rome Yea their death was so pretious with God and so honorable with the godly in their countrey that mauger the Pope and all his Romish tyrannie the Gospell hath euer since their burning continued there which is for the space almost of two hundred yeares euen within the kingdome and dominion of that Empire a thing impossible to bee done by man if God did not support the same The like crueltie was extended vppon the body and bones of Maister Bucer that holy man profound Doctor and stout champion of Gods eternall truth For after the blessed man had beene dead and a long time couered with earth in his graue his body was taken vppe fast bound with an yron chaine to a stake and burnt with a great fire vpon the market day in open place Insomuch that some of the market-folkes when they perceiued the wonderfull affaires in hand saide merily one to an other what neede is there of yron chaines and Armed men against dead bodies that haue beene a long time in the graue for they can neither resist nor yet flye away but the late popes are so bent to brutish cruelty that the like tyranny hath beene by one Pope to an other For pope Sergius the third caused the corps of pope Formosus who now had beene dead almost ten yeares to bee taken out of his tombe and to bee set in a chaire with the pontificall attyre vppon him O braue gallant and that done hee commaunded his head to bee cut off and to bee cast into the riuer Tyber He disanulled the actes and orders giuen by pope Formosus insomuch as all were enforced to take orders again O holy romish priesthood ô indelible characer who had bin ordered by pope Formosus And all this was done forsooth because Formosus had kept this Sergius from the Pope-dome Thus write Martinus Polonus Baptista Platina two famous popish doctors whereof the one was the popes Poenitentiarius and the other his Abbreuiator Apostolicus Thus much for a taste of popish more then sauage tyrannie who so listeth to know more thereof may peruse my booke of Suruey What a thing is this we beleeue many of vs that the popes are Christs Vicars vpon earth and yet we see they are most cruell tyrants euen the catch-poles and bond-slaues of the maister Diuel of hell What shall I say of reuerend Cranmer graue Latimer learned Ridley zealous Bradford and of 500. more most worthy men who in the yeare 1555. were burnt with fire and faggots for the testimonie of Christs Gospel Alas alas how hath the late Romish Church bewitched vs. CHAP. XII Of the abhomination of popish proceeding THe villanie and abhomination wherewith the popes Religion is vnderpropped and maintained is such and so notorious that the truth it selfe hath inforced the popes owne dearest vassals to declame in printed bookes against the same The famous popish canonist Nauarrus hath these expresse words papa potest despensare cum monacho iam professo vt contrahat Matrimonium imò de facto multi papae dispensarunt consentit ipse Caietanus Antoninus Paludanus Englished thus The pope may dispense with a Monke already professed that hee may marry for many popes haue De facto so dispensed Caietanus Antoninus and Paludanus are of the same opinion Franciscus a Victoria the popish famous Schooleman and religious Fryer lamenteth the popes dealing but dareth not plainly vtter his minde Thus doth he write Multi tenent quod papa non potest dispensare in votis quia dispensatio proprie est relaxatio iuris vnde cum sit de iure diuino dispensatio erit iuris diuini relaxatio quo◠sane ad papam non spectat vtinam haec opinio non sit vera Englished thus Many hold that the Pope cannot properly dispense in vowes because dispensation properly is the relaxation of the Law wherefore seeing a vow is of the law diuine dispensation must also be remission of the law diuine which thing doubtlesse belongeth not to the pope and would to God this opinion were not true Loe this religious Frier is so zealously affected and to carefull of his popes credit that he wisheth the opinion were not true because it controwleth the popes abhominable dealing The popes famous Canonist most reuerēd Archbyshop Covarruvias deliuereth the