the Commandment is conceived in general words yet there are some exceptions to be admitted as though it be said Thou shalt not kill yet in some cases we may lawfully kill so in the case of justice a Judge may lawfully sit on his Father But Doctor Veysey's Argument was that which took most with all that were present He said it was certain that the Laws of the Church did not bind any but those who received them To prove this he said that in old times all secular Priests were Married but in the days of St. Augustine the Apostle of England there was a Decree made to the contrary which was received in England and in many other places by vertue whereof the Secular Priests in England may not Marry but this Law not being universally received the Greek Church never judged themselves bound by it so that to this day the Priests in that Church have Wives as well as other secular men If then the Churches of the East not having received the Law of the Celibate of the Clergy have never been condemned by the Church for not obeying it then the conveening Clerks having been always practised in England was no sin notwithstanding the Decree to the contrary which was never received here Nor is this to be compared to those priviledges that concern only a Private mans Interest for the Common-Wealth of the whole Realm was chiefly to be lookt at and to be preferred to all other things When the Matter was thus argued on both sides all the Judges delivered their Opinions in these words That all those of the Convocation who did award the Citation against Standish were in the case of a Premunire facias and added somewhat about the Constitution of the Parliament which being forreign to my business and contrary to a received opinion I need not mention but refer the Reader to Keilway for his Information if he desires to know more of it and thus the Court broke up But soon after all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal with many of the House of Commons and all the Judges and the Kings Council were called before the King to Baynards Castle and in all their presence the Cardinal kneeled down before the King and in the name of the Clergy said That none of them intended to do any thing that might derogate from his Prerogative and least of all himself who owed his advancement only to the Kings favour But this matter of Conveening of Clerks did seem to them all to be contrary to the Laws of God and the Liberties of the Church which they were bound by their Oaths to maintain according to their Power Therefore in their name he humbly begged That the King to avoid the Censures of the Church would refer the Matter to the decision of the Pope and his Council at the Court of Rome To which the King answered It seems to us that Doctor Standish and others of our Spiritual Council have answered you fully in all points The Bishop of Winchester replyed Sir I warrant you Doctor Standish will not abide by his Opinion at his peril But the Doctor said what should one poor Frier doe alone against all the Bishops and Clergy of England After a short silence the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury said That in former times divers holy Fathers of the Church had opposed the execution of that Law and some of them suffered Martyrdome in the Quarrel To whom Fineux Lord Chief Justice said That many holy Kings had mantained that Law and many holy Fathers had given Obedience to it which it is not to be presumed they would have done had they known it to be contrary to the Law of God and he desired to know by what Law Bishops could judge Clerks for Felony it being a thing only determined by the Temporal Law so that either it was not at all to be tryed or it was only in the Temporal Court so that either Clerks must do as they please or be tryed in the Civil Courts To this no Answer being made the King said these words By the Permission and Ordinance of God we are King of England and the Kings of England in times past had never any Superiour but God only Therefore know you well that we will maintain the Right of our Crown and of our Temporal Iurisdiction as well in this as in all other points in as ample manner as any of our Progenitours have done before our time And as for your Decrees we are well assured that you of the Spirituality go expresly against the words of divers of them as hath been shewed you by some of our Council and you interpret your Decrees at your pleasure but we will not agree to them more than our Progenitors have done in former times But the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury made most humble Instance that the Matter might be so long respited till they could get a Resolution from the Court of Rome which they should procure at their own Charges and if it did consist with the Law of God they should conform themselves to the Law of the Land To this the King made no answer but the Warrants being out against Doctor Horsey the Bishop of London's Chancellour he did abscond in the Arch-Bishops house though it was pretended he was a Prisoner there till afterwards a temper was found that Horsey should render himself a Prisoner in the Kings Bench and be tryed But the Bishop of London made earnest Applications to the Cardinal that he would move the King to command the Attourney-General to confess the Inditement was not true that it might not be referred to a Jury since he said the Citizens of London did so favour Heresie that if he were as Innocent as Abel they would find any Clerk guilty The King not willing to irritate the Clergy too much and judging he had maintained his Prerogative by bringing Horsey to the Bar ordered the Attourney to do so And accordingly when Horsey was brought to the Bar and Endited of Murder he pleaded Not guilty which the Attourney acknowledging he was dismissed and went and lived at Exeter and never again came back to London either out of fear or shame And for Doctor Standish upon the Kings Command he was also dismissed out of the Court of Convocation It does not appear that the Pope thought fit to interpose in this Matter For though upon less Provocations Popes had proceeded to the highest Censures against Princes yet this King was otherwise so necessary to the Pope at this time that he was not to be offended The Clergy suffered much in this business besides the loss of their reputation with the people who involved them all in the guilt of Hunne's Murder for now their Exemption being well examined was found to have no foundation at all but in their own Decrees and few were much convinced by that authority since upon the matter it was but a judgment of their own in their own favours nor was the City of London at all satisfied with
and lawful as it had been many Ages before to change Secular Prebends into Canons Regular the endowed Goods being still applied to a Religious use And it was thought hard to say That if the Pope had the absolute Power of dispensing the Spiritual Treasure of the Church and to translate the Merits of one man and apply them to another that he had not a much more absolute Power over the Temporal Treasure of the Church to translate Church-Lands from one use and apply them to another And indeed the Cardinal was then so much considered at Rome as a Pope of another world that whatever he desired he easily obtained Therefore on the 3 d. of April 1524. Pope Clement by a Bull gave him Authority to suppress the Monastery of St. Frediswood in Oxford and in the Diocess of Lincoln and to carry the Monks elsewhere with a very full non obstante To this the King gave his assent the 19 th of April following After this there followed many other Bulls for other Religious Houses and Rectories that were Impropriated These Houses being thus suppressed by the Law they belonged to the King who thereupon made them over to the Cardinal by new and special Grants which are all Enrolled And so he went on with these great Foundations and brought them to Perfection That at Oxford in the 18 th year and that at Ipswich in the 20 th year of the Kings Reign as appears by the Dates of the Kings Patents for Founding them In the last Place I come to shew the new opinions in Religion or those that were accounted new then in England and the State and Progress of them till the 19th year of the Kings Reign From the days of Wickliffe there were many that disliked most of the received Doctrines in several parts of the Nation The Clergy were at that time very hateful to the people for as the Pope did exact heavily on them so they being oppressed took all means possible to make the people repay what the Popes wrested from them Wickliffe being much encouraged and supported by the Duke of Lancaster and the Lord Piercy the Bishops could not proceed against him till the Duke of Lancaster was put from the King and then he was condemned at Oxford Many opinions are charged upon him but whether he held them or not we know not but by the Testimonies of his Enemies who write of him with so much passion that it discredits all they say yet he dyed in peace though his body was afterwards burnt He translated the Bible out of Latine into English with a long Preface before it in which he reflected severely on the corruptions of the Clergy and condemned the Worshipping of Saints and Images and denyed the corporal Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament and exhorted all people to the Study of the Scriptures His Bible with this Preface was well received by a great many who were led into these Opinions rather by the Impressions which common sense and plain Reason made on them than by any deep Speculation or Study For the followers of this Doctrine were illiterate and ignorant men some few Clerks joyned to them but they formed not themselves into any body or association and were scattered over the Kingdom holding these Opinions in private without making any publick Profession of them Generally they were known by their disparaging the superstitious Clergy whose Corruptions were then so notorious and their Cruelty so enraged that no wonder the people were deeply prejudiced against them Nor were the methods they used likely to prevail much upon them being severe and cruel In the Primitive Church though in their Councils they were not backward to pass Anathematisms on every thing that they judged Heresie yet all Capital proceedings against Hereticks were condemned and when two Bishops did prosecute Priscillian and his followers before the Emperor Maximus upon which they were put to death they were generally so blamed for it that many refused to hold Communion with them The Roman Emperors made many Laws against Hereticks for the fining and banishing of them and secluded them from the Priviledges of other Subjects such as making Wills or receiving Legacies only the Manichees who were a strange mixture between Heathenism and Christianity were to suffer death for their errors Yet the Bishops in those days particularly in Africk doubted much whether upon the Insolencies of Hereticks or Schismaticks they might desire the Emperor to execute those Laws for Fining Banishing and other restraints And St. Austin was not easily prevailed on to consent to it But at length the Donatists were so intolerable that after several Consultations about it they were forced to consent to those inferiour penalties but still condemned the taking away of their lives And even in the Execution of the Imperial Laws in those inferiour punishments they were always interposing to moderate the severity of the Prefects and Governours The first Instance of severity on mens bodies that was not censured by the Church was in the Fifth Century under Iustine the first who Ordered the tongue of Severus who had been Patriarch of Antioch but did daily Anathematise the Council of Chalcedon to be cut out In the Eighth Century Iustinian the 2d called Rhinotmetus from his cropt nose burnt all the Manichees in Armenia And in the end of the Eleventh Century the Bogomili were condemned to be burnt by the Patriarch and Council of Constantinople But in the end of the 12 and in the beginning of the 13th Century a Company of Simple and Innocent persons in the Southern parts of France being disgusted with the Corruptions both of the Popish Clergy and of the publick Worship separated from their Assemblies and then Dominick and his brethren-Preachers who came among them to convince them finding their Preaching did not prevail betook themselves to that way that was sure to silence them They perswaded the Civil Magistrates to burn all such as were judged Obstinate Hereticks That they might do this by a Law the Fourth Council of Lateran did Decree that all Hereticks should be delivered to the Secular Power to be extirpated they thought not fit to speak out but by the Practise it was known that Burning was that which they meant and if they did it not they were to be Excommunicated and after that if they still refused to do their duty which was upon the matter to be the Inquisitors Hangmen they were to deny it at their utmost Perils For not only the Ecclesiastical Censures but Anathema's were thought too feeble a punishment for this Omission Therefore a Censure was found out as severe upon the Prince as Burning was to the poor Heretick He was to be deposed by the Pope his Subjects to be absolved from their Oaths of Allegiance and his Dominions to be given away to any other faithful Son of the Church such as pleased the Pope best and all this by the Authority of a Synod that passed for a Holy General Council
Therefore he requires them under pain of Damnation to repeal it and offers to secure them from any abuses which might have crept in formerly with these Provisions This is dated the Third of October Decimo Pontificat but I believe it is an error of the Transcriber and that its true date was the 13th of October The Parliament sate in Ianuary 1427 being the 6th year of King Henry the 6th during which on the 30th of Ianuary the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury accompanyed by the Arch-Bishop of York the Bishops of London St. Davids Ely and Norwich and the Abbots of Westminster and Reading went from the House of Lords to the place where the House of Commons ordinarily sate which was the Refectory of the Abbey of Westminster where the Arch-Bishop made a long Speech in the form of a Sermon upon that Text Render to Coesar the things that are Coesars and to God the things that are Gods He began with a Protestation that he and his Brethren intended not to say any thing that might derogate from the King the Crown or the people of England Then he alledged many things for the Popes Power in granting Provisions to prove it was of Divine Right and admonished and required them to give the Pope satisfaction in it otherwise he laid out to them with tears what mischiefs might follow if he proceeded to censures which will appear more fully from the Instrument that will be found in the Collection at the end But it seems the Parliament would do nothing for all this for no Act neither of Repeal nor Explanation was passed Yet it appears the Pope was satisfied with the Arch-Bishops carriage in this matter for he soon after restored him to the Exercise of his Legantine Power as Godwin has it only he by a mistake says he was made Legate Anno 1428. whereas it was only a Restitution after a Censure Thus stood the Law of England in that matter which was neither Repealed nor well Executed for the Popes Usurpations still encreasing those Statutes lay dead among the Records and several Cardinals had procured and executed a Legantine Power which was clearly contrary to them And as Cardinal Wolsey was already brought under the lash for it so it was now made use of partly to give the Court of Rome apprehensions of what they were to expect from the King if they went on to use him ill and partly to proceed severely against all those of the Clergy who adhared obstinately to the Interests of that Court and to make the rest compound the matter both by a full Submission and a considerable Subsidy It was in vain to pretend it was a publick and allowed Error and that the King had not only connived at the Cardinals Proceedings but had made him all that while his chief Minister That therefore they were excusable in submitting to an Authority to which the King gave so great encouragement and that if they had done otherwise they had been unavoidably ruined For to all this it was answered that the Laws were still in force and that their Ignorance could not excuse them since they ought to have known the Law yet since the violation of it was so publick though the Court proceeded to a Sentence That they were all out of the Kings protection and were liable to the pains in the Statutes the King was willing upon a reasonable Composition and a full Submission to Pardon them So in the Convocation of Canterbury a Petition was brought in to be offered to the King In the Kings Title he was called the Protector and Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England To this some opposition was made and it was put off to another day but by the Interposition of Cromwell and others of the Kings Council who came to the Convocation and used arguments to perswade them to it they were prevailed with to pass it with that Title at least none speaking against it For when Warham Arch-Bishop of Canterbury said That silence was to be taken for consent They cried out they were then all silent Yet it was moved by some to add these words to the Title in so far as is lawful by the Law of Christ. But Parker says The King disliked that Clause since it left his Power still disputable therefore it was cast out and the Petition passed simply as it was first brought in Yet in that he was certainly misinformed for when the Convocation of the Province of York demurred about the same Petition and sent their reasons to the King why they could not acknowledge him Supreme Head which as appears by the Kings answer to them were chiefly founded on this that the term Head was improper and did not agree to any under Christ the King wrote a long and sharp answer to them and showed them that words were not always to be understood in their strict sense but according to the common acceptation And among other things he showed what an Explanation was made in the Convocation of Canterbury That it was in so far as was agreeable to the Law of Christ by which it appears that at that time the King was satisfied to have it pass any way and so it was agreed to by nine Bishops the Bishop of Rochester being one and 52 Abbots and Priors and the major part of the lower House of Convocation in the Province of Canterbury Of which number it is very probable Reginald Pool was for in his Book to the King he says he was then in England and adds that the King would not accept of the sum the Clergy offered unless they acknowledged him Supreme Head he being then Dean of Exceter was of the lower House of Convocation and it is not likely the King would have continued the Pensions and other Church-Preferments he had if he had refused to Signe that Petition and Submission By it they prayed the King to accept 100000 l. in lieu of all punishments which they had incurred by going against the Statutes of Provisors and did promise for the future neither to make nor execute any Constitution without the Kings Licence upon which he granted them a general Pardon and the Convocation of the Province of York offering 18840 l. with another Submission of the same nature afterwards though that met with more opposition they were also Pardoned When the King 's Pardon for the Clergy was brought in to the House of Commons they were much troubled to find themselves not included within it for by the Statutes of Provisors many of them were also liable and they apprehended that either they might be brought in trouble or at least it might be made use of to draw a Subsidy from them so they sent their Speaker with some of their Members to represent to the King the great grief of his Commons to find themselves out of his favour which they concluded from the Pardon of the pains of Premunire to his Spiritual Subjects in which
before there was any Act of Parliament made for their Suppression In several Houses the Visitors who were generally either Masters of Chancery or Auditors of the Court of Augmentations studied not only to bring them to resign their Houses but to Sign Confessions of their passed lewd and dissolute lives Of these there is only one now extant which it is like escaped the general rasure and destruction of all Papers of that kind in Queen Maries time But from the Letters that I have seen I perceive there were such Confessions made by many other Houses That Confession of the Prior and Benedictins of St. Andrews in Northampton is to be seen in the Records of the Court of Augmentations In which with the most aggravating expressions that could be devised they acknowledged their past ill life for which the Pitt of Hell was ready to swallow them up They confessed that they had neglected the Worship of God lived in Idleness Gluttony and Sensuality with many other woful expressions to that purpose Other Houses as the Monastery of Betlesden resigned with this Preamble That they did profoundly consider that the manner and trade of living which they and others of their pretended Religion had for a long time followed consisted in some dumb ceremonies and other Constitutions of the Bishops of Rome and other forreign Potentates as the Abbot of Cisteaux by which they were blindly led having no true knowledg of Gods Laws procuring exemptions from their Ordinary and Diocesan by the Power of the Bishop of Rome and submitting themselves wholly to a forreign Power who never came hither to reform their abuses which were now found among them But that now knowing the most perfect way of living is sufficiently declared by Christ and his Apostles and that it was most fit for them to be Governed by the King who was their Supream Head on earth they Submitted themselves to his Mercy and surrendered up their Monastery to him on the 25th of September in the 30th year of his Reign This writing was signed by the Abbot the Sub-prior and nine Monks There are five other Surrenders to the same purpose by the Gray and White Friars of Stamford the Gray-Friars of Coventry Bedford and Ailesbury yet to be seen Some are resigned upon this Preamble That they hoped the King would of new found their House which was otherwise like to be ruined both in Spirituals and Temporals So did the Abbot of Chertsey in Surrey with fourteen Monks on the 14th of Iuly in the 29th year of this Reign whose House was valued at 744 lib. I have some reason to think that this Abbot was for the Reformation and intended to have had his House new founded to be a House of true and well regulated devotion And so I find the Prior of great Malverine in Worcestershire offered such a Resignation He was recommended by Bishop Latimer to Cromwell with an earnest desire that his House might stand not in Monkery but so as to be converted to Preaching Study and Prayer And the good Prior was willing to compound for his House by a Present of 500 Marks to the King and of 200 to Cromwell He is commended for being an old worthy man a good Housekeeper and one that daily fed many poor people To this Latimer adds Alas my good Lord Shall we not see Two or Three in every shire changed to such remedy But the Resolution was taken once to extirpate all And therefore though the Visitors interceded earnestly for one Nunnery in Oxfordshire Godstow where there was great strictness of life and to which were most of the young Gentlewomen of the County were sent to be bred so that the Gentrey of the Country desired the King would spare the House yet all was uneffectual The General Form in which most of these Resignations begins is That the Abbot and Brethren upon full deliberation certain knowledg of their own proper motion for certain just and reasonable causes specially moving them in their Souls and Consciences did freely and of their own accord give and grant their Houses to the King Others it seems did not so well like this preamble and therefore did without any reason or preamble give away their Houses to the Visitors as Feofees in trust for the Kings use And thus they went on procuring daily more surrenders So that in the thirtieth year of the Kings Reign there were 159 Resignations enrolled of which the Originals of 155 do yet remain And for the Readers further satisfaction he shall find in the Collection at the end of this Book the names of all these Houses so surrendred with other particulars relating to them which would too much weary him if inserted in the thread of this Work But there was no Law to force any to make such Resignations So that many of the great Abbots would not comply with the King in this matter and stood it out till after the following Parliament that was in the 31th year of his Reign It was questioned by many whether these surrenders could be good in Law since the Abbots were but Trustees and Tenants for Life It was thought they could not absolutely alienate and give away their House for ever But the Parliament afterwards declared the Resignations were good in Law For by their Foundations all was trusted to the Abbot and the Senior Brethren of the House who putting the Covent-Seal to any Deed it was of force in Law It was also said that they thus surrendering had forfeited their Charters and Foundations and so the King might seize and possess them with a good Title if not upon the Resignation yet upon Forfeiture But others thought that whatsoever the Nicety of Law might give the King yet there was no sort of equity in it that a few Trustees who were either bribed or frighted should pass away that which was none of theirs but only given them in Trust and for Life Other Abbots were more roughly handled The Prior of Wooburn was suspected of favouring the Rebels of being against the Kings Supremacy and for the Popes and of being for the General Council then summoned to Mantua And he was dealt with to make a submission and acknowledgment In an account of a long Conference which he had with a Privy Counsellor under his own hand I find that the great thing which he took offence at was That Latimer and some other Bishops preached against the Veneration of the Blessed Virgin and the other Saints and that the English Bible then set out differed in many things from the Latin with several lesser matters So that they looked on their Religion as changed and wondered that the Judgments of God upon Queen Anne had not terrified others from going on to subvert the Faith yet he was prevailed with and did again submit to the King and acknowledg his Supremacy but he afterwards joyned himself to the Rebels and was taken with them together with the Abbot of Whaley and two
upon their Mothers Title which might have been a dangerous competition to him that was so little beloved by his Subjects took this Method for amusing them with other things thence it was that his Son was the most learned Prince that had been in the World for many Ages and deserved the Title Beau-Clerke on a better account than his Predecessor that long before had carried it The Learning then in credit was either that of the Schools about abstruse Questions of Divinity which from the days of Lombard were debated and descanted on with much subtlety and nicety and exercised all Speculative Divines or the Study of the Canon-Law which was the way to Business and Preferment To the former of these the King was much addicted and delighted to read often in Thomas 〈◊〉 and this made Cardinal Wolsey more acceptable to him who was 〈◊〉 conversant in that sort of Learning He loved the purity of the 〈◊〉 tongue which made him be so kind to Erasmus that was the great Resâ—â—â—er of it and to Polidore Virgil though neither of these made their Court dextrously with the Cardinal which did much intercept the Kingâ— favour to them so that the one left England and the other was but coâ—rsly used in it who has sufficiently revenged himself upon the Cardinal's Memory The Philosophy then in fashion was so intermixed with their Divinity that the King understood it too and was also a good Musician as appears by two whole Masses which he composed He never wrote well but scrawled so that his hand was scarce legible Being thus inclined to Learning he was much courted by all hungry Scholars who generally over Europe dedicated their Books to him with such flattering Epistles that it very much lessens him to see how he delighted in such stuffe For if he had not taken pleasure in it and rewarded them it is not likely that others should have been every year writing after such ill Copies Of all things in the World Flattery wrought most on him and no sort of Flattery pleased him better than to have his great Learning and Wisdom commended And in this his Parliaments his Courtiers his Chaplains Forreigners and Natives all seemed to vie who should exceed most and came to speak to him in a Stile which was scarce fit to be used to any Creature But he designed to entail these praises on his Memory cherishing Church-men more than any King in England had ever done he also Courted the Pope with a constant submission and upon all occasions made the Popes Interests his own and made War and Peace as they desired him So that had he dyed any time before the 19th year of his Reign he could scarce have scaped being Canonized notwithstanding all his faults for he abounded in those vertues which had given Saintship to Kings for near 1000 years together and had done more than they all did by writing a Book for the Roman Faith England had for above 300 years been the tamest part of Christendome to the Papal Authority and had been accordingly dealt with But though the Parliaments and two or three high-spirited Kings had given some interruption to the cruel exactions and other illegal proceedings of the Court of Rome yet that Court always gained their designs in the end But even in this Kings days the Crown was not quite stript of all its Authority over Spiritual persons The Investitures of Bishops and Abbots which had been originally given by the delivery of the Pastoral Ring and Staffe by the Kings of England were after some opposition wrung out of their hands yet I find they retained another thing which upon the matter was the same When any See was vacant a Writ was issued out of the Chancery for seizing on all the Temporalties of the Bishoprick and then the King recommended one to the Pope upon which his Bulls were expeded at Rome and so by a Warrant from the Pope he was consecrated and invested in the Spiritualties of the See but was to appear before the King either in Person or by Proxie and renounce every clause in his Letters and Bulls that were or might be prejudicial to the Prerogative of the Crown or contrary to the Laws of the Land and was to swear Fealty and Allegiance to the King And after this a new Writ was issued out of the Chancery bearing that this was done and that thereupon the Temporalties should be restored Of this there are so many Precedents in the Records that every one that has searched them must needs find them in every year but when this began I leave to the more Learned in the Law to discover And for proof of it the Reader will find in the Collection the fullest Record which I met with concerning it in Henry the 7th his Reign of Cardinal Adrian's being Invested in the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells So that upon the matter the Kings then disposed of all Bishopricks keeping that still in their own hands which made them most desired in those Ages and so had the Bishops much at their Dovotion But King Henry in a great degree parted with this by the above-mentioned power granted to Cardinal Wolsey who being Legate as well as Lord Chancellour it was thought a great errour in Government to lodge such a trust with him which might have past into a Precedent for other Legates pretending to the same Power since the Papal greatness had thus risen and oft upon weaker grounds to the height it was then at Yet the King had no mind to suffer the Laws made against the suing out of Bulls in the Court of Rome without his leave to be neglected for I find several Licenses granted to sue Bulls in that Court bearing for their Preamble the Statute of the 16 of Richard the Second against the Popes pretended Power in England But the immunity of Ecclesiastical persons was a thing that occasioned great complaints And good cause there was for them For it was ordinary for persons after the greatest Crimes to get into Orders and then not only what was past must be forgiven them but they were not to be questioned for any Crime after holy Orders given till they were first degraded and till that was done they were the Bishops Prisoners Whereupon there rose a great dispute in the beginning of this Kings Reign of which none of our Historians having taken any Notice I shall give a full account of it King Henry the Seventh in his Fourth Parliament did a little lessen the Priviledges of the Clergy enacting that Clerks convicted should be burnt in the hand But this not proving a sufficient restraint it was Enacted in Parliament in the Fourth year of this King that all Murderers and Robbers should be denyed the benefit of their Clergy But though this seemed a very Just Law yet to make it pass through the House of Lords they added two Proviso's to it the one for excepting all such as were within
the Holy Orders of Bishop Priest or Deacon the other that the Act should only be in force till the next Parliament With these Proviso's it was unanimously assented to by the Lords on the 26 Ian. 1513. and being agreed to by the Commons the Royal Assent made it a Law Pursuant to which many Murderers and Felons were denyed their Clergy and the Law passed on them to the great Satisfaction of the whole Nation But this gave great offence to the Clergy who had no mind to suffer their Immunities to be touched or lessened And judging that if the laity made bold with Inferiour Orders they would proceed further even against Sacred Orders therefore as their Opposition was such that the Act not being continued did determine at the next Parliament that was in the 5th year of the King so they not satisfied with that resolved to fix a censure on that Act as contrary to the Franchises of the Holy Church And the Abbot of Winchelcomb being more forward than the rest during the session of Parliament in the 7 year of this King's Reign in a Sermon at Pauls Cross said openly That that Act was contrary to the Law of God and to the Liberties of the Holy Church and that all who assented to it as well Spiritual as Temporal Persons had by so doing incur'd the Censures of the Church And for Confirmation of his Opinion he published a Book to prove That all Clerks whether of the greater or lower Orders were Sacred and exempted from all Temporal Punishment by the Secular Judge even in Criminal cases This made great noise and all the Temporal Lords with the concurrence of the House of Commons desired the King to suppress the growing Insolence of the Clergy So there was a hearing of the Matter before the King with all the Judges and the Kings Temporal Council Doctor Standish Guardian of the Mendicant Friers in London afterwards Bishop of Saint Asaph the chief of the Kings Spiritual Council argued That by the Law Clerks had been still convened and judged in the Kings Court for Civil Crimes and that there was nothing either in the Laws of God or the Church inconsistent with it and that the publick good of the Society which was chiefly driven at by all Laws and ought to be preferred to all other things required that Crimes should be punished But the Abbot of Winchelcomb being Counsel for the Clergy excepted to this and said There was a Decree made by the Church expresly to the contrary to which all ought to pay Obedience under the pain of Mortal sin and that therefore the trying of Clerks in the Civil Courts was a sin in it self Standish upon this turned to the King and said God forbid that all the Decrees of the Church should bind It seems the Bishops think not so for though there is a Decree that they should reside at their Cathedrals all the Festivals of the year yet the greater part of them do it not Adding That no Decree could have any force in England till it was received there and That this Decree was never received in England but that as well since the making of it as before Clerks had been tryed for Crimes in the Civil Courts To this the Abbot made no answer but brought a place of Scripture to prove this Exemption to have come from our Saviours words Nolite tangere Christos meos Touch not mine Anointed and therefore Princes ordering Clerks to be arrested and brought before their Courts was contrary to Scripture against which no custome can take place Standish replyed these words were never said by our Saviour but were put by David in his Psalter 1000 years before Christ and he said these words had no relation to the Civil Judicatories but because the greatest part of the World was then wicked and but a small number believed the Law they were a Charge to the Rest of the World not to do them harm But though the Abbot had been very violent and confident of his being able to confound all that held the contrary opinion yet he made no answer to this The Laity that were present being confirmed in their former opinion by hearing the Matter thus argued moved the Bishops to order the Abbot to renounce his former opinion and recant his Sermon at Pauls Cross. But they flatly refused to do it and said they were bound by the Laws of the Holy Church to maintain the Abbots opinion in every point of it Great heats followed upon this during the sitting of the Parliament of which there is a very partial Entry made in the Journal of the Lords House and no wonder the Clerk of the Parliament Doctor Tylor Doctor of the canon-Canon-Law being at the same time Speaker of the Lower House of Convocation The Entrie is in these words In this Parliament and Convocation there were most dangerous contentions between the Clergy and the Secular Power about the Ecclesiastical liberties one Standish a Minor Frier being the Instrument and Promoter of all that mischief But a passage â—ell out that made this matter be more fully prosecuted in the Michaelmas-Term One Richard Hunne a Merchant-Taylor in London was questioned by a Clerk in Middlesex for a Mortuary pretended to be due for a Child of his that died 5 weeks old The Clerk claiming the beering sheet and Hunne refusing to give it upon that he was sued but his Counsel advised him to sue the Clerk in a Premunire for bringing the Kings Subjects before a forreign Court the Spiritual Court sitting by Authority from the Legate This touched the Clergy so in the quick that they used all the Arts they could to fasten Heresie on him and understanding that he had Wickliff's Bible upon that he was attached of Heresie and put in the Lollards Tower at Pauls and examined upon some Articles objected to him by Fitz-Iames then Bishop of London He denied them as they were chargeâ— against him but acknowledged he had said some words sounding that way for which he was sorry and asked Gods mercy and submitted himself to the Bishops Correction upon which he ought to have been enjoyned Penance and set at Liberty but he persisting still in his Sute in the Kings Courts they used him most cruelly On the Fourth of December he was found hanged in the Chamber where he was kept Prisoner And Doctor Horsey Chancellour to the â—iâ—hop of London with the other Officers who had the Charge of the Prison gave it out that he had hang'd himself But the Coroner of London coming to hold an Inquest on the dead body they found him hanging so loose and in a silk girdle that they clearly perceived he was killed they also found his Neck had been broken as they judged with an Iron chain for the Skin was all fretted and cut they saw some streams of blood about his body besides several other evidences which made it clear he had not murdered himself whereupon they did acquit the dead body and
a fuller Commission might be sent to himself with all possible haste since delays might produce great inconveniences If a Legate were named then care must be taken that he should be one who were Learned Indifferent and Tractable and if Campegius could be the man he was the fittest person And when one was named he should make him a decent present and assure him that the King would most liberally recompence all his labour and expence He also required him to press his speedy Dispatch and that the Commission should be full to try and determine wiâ—hout any reservation of the Sentence to be given by the Pope This Dispatch is interlined and amended with the Cardinals own hand But upon the Arrival of the Messenger whom the Secretary had sent with the Commission and Dispensation and the other Packets before mentioned It was debated in the Kings Council whether he should go on in his Process or continue to solicite new Bulls from Rome On the one hand they saw how tedious dangerous and expensive a Process at Rome was like to prove and therefore it seemed the easiest and most expedite way to proceed before the Cardinal in his Legantine Court who should ex officio and in the Summary way of their Court bring it to a speedy Conclusion But on the other hand if the Cardinal gave Sentence and the King should Marry then they were not sure but before that time the Pope might either change his mind or his Interest might turn him another way And the Popes Power was so absolute by the Canon Law that no general Clauses in Commissions to Legates could bind him to confirm their Sentences and if upon the Kings Marrying another Wife the Pope should refuse to confirm it then the King would be in a worse case than he was now in and his Marriage and Issue by it should be still disputable Therefore they thought this was by no means to be adventured on but they should make new Addresses to the Court of Rome In the debate some sharp words fell either from the King or some of his Secular Counsellors Intimating that if the Pope continued under such fears the King must find some other way to set him at ease So it was resolved that Stephen Gardiner commonly called Doctor Stevens the Cardinals chief Secretary and Edward Fox the Kings Almoner should be sent to Rome the one being esteemed the ablest Canonist in England the other one of the best Divines they were Dispatched the 10th of February By them the King wrote to the Pope thanking him that he had expressed such forward and earnest willingness to give him ease and had so kindly promised to gratifie his desires of which he expected now to see the effects He wrote also to the Cardinals his thanks for the chearfulness with which they had in Consistory promised to promote his Sute for which he assured them they should never have cause to Repent But the Cardinal wrote in a strain that shews he was in some fear that if he could not bring about the Kings desires he was like to lose his favour He besought the Pope as lying at his feet that if he thought him a Christian a good Cardinal and not unworthy of that Dignity an useful member of the Apostolick See a Promoter of Justice and Equity or thought him his faithful Creature or that he desired his own eternal Salvation that he would now so far consider his Intercession as to grant kindly and speedily that which the King earnestly desired which if he did not know to be Holy Right and Just he would undergo any hazard or punishment whatsoever rather than promote it but he did aprehend if the King found that the Pope was so overawed by the Emperor as not to grant that which all Christendom judged was grounded both on the Divine and Human Laws both he and other Christian Princes would from thence take occasion to provide themselves of other Remedies and lessen and despise the Authority of the Apostolick See In his Letters to Cassali he expressed a great sense of the Services which the Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor had done the King and bid him enquire what were the things in which he delighted most whether Furniture Gold plate or Horses that they might make him acceptable presents and assure him that the King would contribute largely towards the carrying on the building of St. Peters in the Vatican The most Important thing about which they were employed was to procure the expediting of a Bull which was formed in England with all the strongest Clauses that could be imagined In the Preamble of which all the Reasons against the validity of the Bull of P. Iulius the 2d were recited and it was also hinted that it was against the Law of God but to lessen that it was added at least where there was not a sufficient Dispensation obtained therefore the Pope to reward the great Services by which the King had obliged the Apostolick See and having regard to the Distractions that might follow on a Disputable Title upon a full Consultation with the Cardinals having also heard the Opinions of Divines and Canonists Deputed for his Legate to concur with the Cardinal of York either together or the one being hindred or unwilling severally And if they found those things that were suggested against the Bull of P. Iulius or any of them well or sufficiently proved then to declare it void and null as surreptitiously procured upon false grounds and thereupon to Annul the Marriage that had followed upon it And to give both Parties full leave to Marry again notwithstanding any Appellation or Protestation the Pope making them his Vicars with full and absolute Power and Authority empowering them also to declare the Issue begotten in the former Marriage good and legitimate if they saw cause for it The Pope binding himself to confirm whatever they should do in that process and never to revoke or repeal what they should Pronounce Declaring also that this Bull should remain in force till the Process were ended and that by no Revocation or Inhibition it should be recalled and if any such were obtained these are all declared void and null and the Legats were to proceed notwithstanding and all ended with a full Non obstante This was judged the uttermost force that could be in a Bull Though the Civilians would scarce allow any validity at all in these extravagant Clauses but the most material thing in this Bull is that it seems the King was not fully resolved to declare his Daughter illegitimate Whether he pretended this to mitigate the Queens or the Emperors opposition or did really intend it is not clear But what he did afterwards in Parliament shews he had this deep in his thoughts though the Queens Carriage did soon after provoke him to pursue his resentments against her Daughter The French King did also joyn a most earnest Letter of his to the Pope
Campana to England with a Letter of Credence to the Cardinal the effects of which message will appear afterwards And thus ended this year in which it was believed that if the King had employed that Money which was spent in a fruitless Negotiation at Rome on a War in Flanders it had so distracted the Emperors Forces and encouraged the Pope that he had sooner granted that which in a more fruitless way was sought of him In the beginning of the next year Cassali wrote to the Cardinal that the Pope was much inclined to unite himself with the Emperor and proposed to go in Person to Spain to solicite a general Peace but intended to go privately and desired the Cardinal would go with him thither as his Friend and Counsellor and that they two should go as Legates But Cassali by Salviati's means who was in great favour with the Pope understood that the Pope was never in greater fear of the Emperor than at that time for his Ambassador had threatned the Pope severely if he would not recal the Commission that he had sent to England so that the Pope spoke oft to Salviati of the great Repentance that he had inwardly in his heart for granting the Decretal and said He was undone for ever if it came to the Emperors knowledge He also resolved that though the Legates gave Sentence in England it should never take effect for he would not confirm it Of which Gregory Cassali gave Advertisement by an express Messenger who as he passed through Paris met Secretary Knight and Doctor Bennet whom the King had dispatched to Rome to assist his other Ambassadors there and gave them an account of his message and that it was the Advice of the Kings Friends at Rome That he and his Confederates should follow the War more vigorously and press the Emperor harder without which all their applications to the Pope would signifie nothing Of this they gave the Cardinal an account and went on but faintly in their Journey judging that upon these Advertisements they would be recalled and other Counsels taken At the same time the Pope was with his usual Arts cajoling the Kings Agents in Italy For when Sir Francis Brian and Peter Vannes came to Bononia the Proto-Notary Cassali was surprized to hear that the business was not already ended in England since he said he knew there were sufficient Powers sent about it and that the Pope assured him he would confirm their Sentence but that he made a great difference between the confirming their judgment by which he had the Legates between him and the Envy or Odium of it and the granting a Bull by which the Judgment should arise immediately from himself This his best Friends dissuaded and he seemed apprehensive that in case he should do it a Council would be called and he should be deposed for it And any such distraction in the Papacy considering the footing which Heresie had alread gotten would ruin the Ecclesiastical State and the Church So dextrously did the Pope govern himself between such contrary tides But all this Dissimulation was short of what he acted by Campana in England whose true errand thither was to order Campegio to destroy the Bull but he did so perswade the King and the Cardinal of the Popes sincerity that by a dispatch to Sir Francis Brian and Peter Vannes and Sir Gregory Cassali he chid the two former for not making more haste to Rome for he believed it might have been a great advantage to the Kings Affairs if they had got thither before the General of the Observants then Cardinal Angell He ordered them to setle the business of the Guard about the Pope presently and tells them that the Secretary was recalled and Dr. Stephens again sent to Rome And in a Letter to Secretary Knight who went no further than Lions he writ to him That Campana had assured the King and him in the Popes name that the Pope was ready to do not only all that of Law Equity or Justice could be desired of him but whatever of the fulness of his Power he could do or devise for giving the King content And that although there were three things which the Pope had great reason to take care of The calling a General Council The Emperors descent into Italy and the Restitution of his Towns which were offered to be put in his hands by the Emperors means yet neither these nor any other consideration should divert him from doing all that lay within his Authority or Power for the King And that he had so deep a sense of the Kings merits and the obligations that he had laid on him that if his resignation of the Popedom might do him any Service he would readily consent to it And therefore in the Popes name he encouraged the Legates to proceed and end the business Upon these assurances the Cardinal ordered the Secretary to haste forward to Rome and to thank the Pope for that kind message to setle the Guard about him and to tell him that for a Council none could be called but by himself with the consent of the Kings of England and France And for any pretended Council or meeting of Bishops which the Emperor by the Cardinals of his Party might call he needed not fear that For his Towns they should be most certainly restored Nor was the Emperors offering to put them in his hand to be much regarded for though he restored them if the Pope had not a better Guaranty for them it would be easie for him to take them from him when he pleased He was also to propose a firmer League between the Pope England and France in order to which he was to move the Pope most earnestly to go to Nice and if the Pope proposed the Kings taking a second Wife with a Legitimation of the Issue which she might have so the Queen might be induced to enter into a state of Religion to which the Pope inclined most he was not to accept of that both because the thing would take up much time and they found the Queen resolved to do nothing but as she was advised by her Nephews Yet if the Pope offered a Decretal about it he might take it to be made use of as the Occasion might require But by a Postscript he is recalled and it is signified to him that Gardiner was sent to Rome to negotiate these aâ—fairs who had returned to England with the Legate and his being so successful in his former Message made them think him the fittest Minister they could imploy in that Court and to send him with the greater Advantage he was made a Privy Councellour But an unlooked-for Accident put a stop to all Proceedings in the Court of Rome For on Epiphany-day the Pope was taken extreme ill at Mass and a great sickness followed of which it was generally believed he could not recover and though his distemper did soon abate so much that it
some days publick Dispute on the 1st of Iuly determined to the same purpose about which Crooks Letter will be found among the Instruments at the end of this Book At Ferrara the Divines did also confirm the same conclusion and sâ—t their Seal to it but it was taken away violently by some of the other Faction yet the Duke made it be restored The profession of the Canon-Law was then in great credit there and in a Congregation of 72 of that proâ—ession it was determined for the King but they asked 150 Crowns foâ— setting the Seal to it and Crook would not give more than an hundred the next day he came and offered the Money but then it was told him they would not meddle in it and he could not afterwards obtain it In all Crook sent over by Stokesley an hundred several Books Papers and Subscriptions and there were many hands subscribed to many of those Papers But it seems Crook died before he could receive a reward of this great Service he did the King for I do not find him mentioned after this I hope the Reader will forgive my insisting so much on this Negotiation for it seemed necessary to give full and convincing Evidences of the sincerity of the Kings proceedings in it since it is so confidently given out that these were but mercenary Subscriptions What difficulties or opposition those who were employed in France found does not yet appear to me but the Seals of the chief Universities there were procured The University of Orleance determined it on the 7th of April The faculty of the canon-Canon-Law at Paris did also conclude that the Pope had no Power to dispence in that Case on the 25th of May. But the great and celebrated faculty of the Sorbon whose Conclusions had been lookt on for some Ages as little inferiour to the Decrees of Councils made their Decision with all possible Solemnity and Decency They first met at the Church of St. Mathurin where there was a Mass of the H. Ghost and every one took an Oath to study the Question and resolve it according to his Conscience and from the 8th of Iune to the 2d of Iuly they continued searching the matter with all possible diligence both out of the Scriptures the Fathers and the Councils and had many Disputes about it After which the greater part of the Faculty did Determine That the King of Englands Marriage was unlawful and that the Pope had no Power to dispence in it and they set their common Seal to it at St. Mathurin's the 2d of Iuly 1530. To the same purpose did both the Faculties of Law Civil and Canon at Angiers Determine the 7th of May. On the 10th of Iune the Faculty of Divinity at Bourges made the same Determination And on the 1st of October the whole University of Tholose did all with one consent give their judgment agreeing with the former Conclusions More of the Decisions of Universities were not Printed though many more were obtained to the same effect In Germany Spain and Flanders the Emperors Authority was so great that much could not be expected except from the Lutherans with whom Cranmer conversed and chiefly with Osiander whose Neece he then Married Osiander upon that wrote a Book about Incestuous Marriages which was published but was called in by a Prohibition Printed at Ausburg because it Determined in the Kings cause and on his side But now I find the King did likewise deal among those in Switzerland that had set up the Reformation The Duke of Suffolk did most set him on to this so one who was imployed in that time writes for he often asked him how he could so humble himself as to submit his Cause to such a vile vitious stranger Priest as Campegio was To which the King answered He could give no other reason but that it seemed to him Spiritual men should judge Spiritual things yet he said he would search the matter further but he had no great mind to seem more curious than other Princes But the Duke desired him to discuss the matter secretly amongst Learned men to which he consented and wrote to some Forreign Writers that were then in great estimation Erasmus was much in his favour but he would not appear in it He had no mind to provoke the Emperor and live uneasily in his own Country But Simon Grineus was sent for whom the King esteemed much for his Learning The King informed him about his Process and sent him back to Basil to try what his Friends in Germany and Switzerland thought of it He wrote about it to Bucer Oecolampadius Zuinglius and Paulus Phrygion Oecolampadius as it appears by three Letters one dated the 10th of August 1531. another the last of the same Month another to Bucer the 10th of September was positively of Opinion That the Law in Leviticus did bind all mankind and says That Law of a Brothers Marrying his Sister-in-Law was a Dispensation given by God to his own Law which belonged only to the Jews and therefore he thought that the King might without any scruple put away the Queen But Bucer was of another mind and thought the Law in Leviticus did not bind and could not be Moral because God had dispensed with it in one Case of raising up seed to his Brother Therefore he thought these Laws belonged only to that Dispensation and did no more bind Christians than the other Ceremonial or Judiciary Precepts and that to Marry in some of these Degrees was no more a sin than it was a sin in the Disciples to pluck Ears of Corn on the Sabbath-day There are none of Bucers Letters remaining on this Head but by the answers that Grineus wrote to him one on the 29th of August another of the 10th of September I gather his Opinion and the reasons for it But they all agreed That the Popes Dispensation was of no force to alter the nature of the thing Paulus Phrygion was of Opinion That the Laws in Leviticus did bind all Nations because it is said in the Text That the Canaanites were punished for doing contrary to them which did not consist with the Iustice of God if those Prohibitions had not been parts of the Law of Nature Dated Basil the 10th of September In Grineus's Letter to Bucer he tells him that the King had said to him That now for seven years he had perpetual trouble upon him about this Marriage Zuinglius Letter is very full First he largely proves that neither the Pope nor any other Power could dispence with the Law of God Then that the Apostles had made no new Laws about Marriage but had left it as they found it That the Marrying within near degrees was hated by the Greeks and other Heathen Nations But whereas Grineus seemed to be of opinion that though the Marriage was ill made yet it ought not to be dissolved and inclined rather to advise that the King should take
St. Austin who do plainly deliver the Tradition of the Church about the obligation of those Laws and answer the objections that were made either from Abraam's Marrying his Sister or from Iacob's Marrying two Sisters or the Law in Deuteronomy for the Brothers Marrying his Brothers Wife if he died without Children They observed that the same Doctrine was also taught by the Fathers and Doctors in the latter Ages d Anselm held it and pleads much for Marrying in remote Degrees and answer the Objection from the Decision in the Case of the Daughters of Zelophehad Hugo Cardinalis Radulphus Flaviacenfis and Rupertus Tuitiensis do agree that these Precepts are Moral and of perpetual obligation as also Hugo de Sto. Victore Hildebert Bishop of Mans being consulted in a Case of the same nature with what is now controverted plainly Determines That a man may not Marry his Brothers Wife and by many Authorities shewes That by no means it can be allowed And Ivo Carnotensis being desired to give his Opinion in a Case of the same circumstanceâ— of a Kings Marrying his Brothers Wife says Such a Marriage is null as inconsistent with the Law of God and that the King was not to be admitted to the Communion of the Church till he put away his Wife since there was no Dispencing with the Law of God and no Sacrifice could be offered for those that continued willingly in sin Passages also to the same purpose are in other places of his Epistles From these Doctors and Fathers the Inquiry descended to the Schoolmen who had with more niceness and subtlety examined things They do all agree in asserting the obligation of these Levitical Prohibitions Thomas Aquinas does it in many places and confirmes it with many Arguments Altisiodorensis says they are Moral Laws and part of the Law of Nature Petrus de Palude is of the â—ame mind and says that a mans Marrying his Brothers Wife was a Dispensation granted by God but could not be now allowed because it was contrary to the Law of Nature St. Antonine of Florence Ioannes de Turre Cremata Ioannes de Tabia Iacobus de Lausania and Astexanus were also cited for the same Opinion And those who wrote against Wickliffe namely Wydeford Cotton and Waldensis charged him with Heresie for denying that those Prohibitions did oblige Christians And asserted that they were Moral Laws which obliged all Mankind And the Books of Waldensis were approved by P. Martin the First There were also many Quotations brought out of Petrus de Tarantasia Durandus Stephanus Brulifer Richardus de Media Villa Guido Briancon Gerson Paulus Ritius and many others to confirm the same Opinion who did all unanimously assert That those Laws in Leviticus are parts of the Law of Nature which oblige all Mankind and that Marriages contracted in these Degrees are null and void All the Canonists were also of the same mind Ioannes Andreas Ioannes de Imola Abbas Panormitanus Mattheus Neru Vincentius Innocentius and Ostiensis all Concluded that these Laws were still in force and could not be Dispenced with There was also a great deal alledged to prove that a Marriage is compleated by the Marriage-Contract though it be never Consummated Many Authorities were brought to prove that Adonijah could not Marry Abishag because she was his Fathers Wife though never known by him And by the Law of Moses a woman espoused to a man if she admitted another to her Bed was to be stoned as an Adulteress from whence it appears that the validity of Marriage is from the mutual Covenant And though Ioseph never knew the Blessed Virgin yet he was so much her Husband by the Espousals that he could not put her away but by a Bill of Divorce and was afterwards called her Husband and Christs Father Affinity had been also defined by all writers a Relation arising out of Marriage and since Marriage was a Sacrament of the Church its Essence could only consist in the Contract and therefore as a man in Orders has the Character though he never Consecrated any Sacrament So Marriage is compleat though its effect never follow And it was shewed that the Canonists had only brought in the Consummation of Marriage as essential to it by Ecclesiastical Law But that as Adam and Eve were perfectly Married before they knew one another so Marriage was compleat upon the Contract and what followed was only an effect done in the right of the Marriage And there was a great deal of filthy stuff brought together of the different Opinions of the Canonists concerning Consummation to what Degree it must go to shew that it could not be essential to the Marriage Conâ—ract which in modesty were suppressed Both Hildebert of Mans Ivo Carnotensis and Hugo de Sto. Victore had delivered this Opinion and proved it out of St. Chrysostome Ambrose Austin and Isidore Pope Nicolas and the Council of Tribur defined that Marriage was compleated by the Consent and the Benediction From all which they Concluded that although it could not be proved that Prince Arthur knew the Queen yet that she being once lawfully Married to him the King could not afterwards Marry her It was also said that violent presumptions were sufficient in the Opinion of the Canonists to prove Consummation Formal proofs could not be expected and for Persons that were of Age and in good health to be in Bed together was in all Trials about Consummation all that the Cononists sought for And yet this was not all in this Case for it appeared that upon her Husbands death she was kept with great care by some Ladies who did think her with Child and she never said any thing against it And in the Petition offered to the Pope in her name repeated in the Bull that was procured for the Second Marriage it is said she was perhaps known by Prince Arthur and in the Breve it is plainly said she was known by Prince Arthur and though the Queen offered to purge her self by Oath that Prince Arthur never knew her it was proved by many Authorities out of the canon-Canon-Law That a Partie's Oath ought not to be taken when there were violent presumptions to the contrary As for the validity of the Popes Dispensation it was said That though the Schoolmen and Canonists did generally raise the Popes Power very high and stretch it as far as it was possible yet they all agreed that it could not reach the Kings Case Upon this received Maxime That only the Laws of the Church are subject to the Pope and may be dispenced with by him but that Laws of God are above him and that he cannot dispence with them in any case This Aquinas delivers in many places of his Works Petrus de Palude says The Pope cannot dispence with Marriage in these Degrees because it is against Nature But Ioannes de Turre Cremata reports a singular Case which fell out when he was a
places cited from the New Testament As for that of Herod both Iosephus and Eusebius witness that his Brother Philip was alive when he took his wife and so his sin was Adultery and not Incest We must also think that the Incestous Person in Corinth took his Fathers Wife when he was yet living otherwise if he had been dead St. Paul could not say it was a Fornication not named among the Gentiles for we not only find both among the Persians and other Nations the Marriage of Step-Mothers allowed but even among the Iews Adonijah desired Abisha in Marriage who had been his Fathers Concubine From all which they concluded that the Laws about the Degrees of Marriage were only Judiciary Precepts and so there was no other obligation on Christians to obey them than what flowed from the Laws of the Church with which the Pope might dispense They also said that the Law in Leviticus of not taking the Brothers wife must be understood of not taking her while he was alive for after he was dead by another Law a man might marry his Brothers wife They also pleaded that the Popes Power of Dispensing did reach further than the Laws of the Church even to the Law of God for he daily Dispensed with the Breaking of Oaths and Vows though that was expresly contrary to the Second Commandment and though the Fifth Command Thou shalt do no Murther be against Killing yet the Pope Dispensed with the putting Thieves to death and in some cases where the reason of the Commandment does not at all times hold he is the only judge according to Summa Angelica They Concluded the Popes Power of Dispensing was as necessary as his Power of Expounding the Scriptures and since there was a Question made concerning the obligation of these Levitical Prohibitions whether they were Moral and did oblige Christians or not the Pope must be the only Judge There were also some late Presidents found one of P. Martin who in the case of a mans having Marryed his own Sister who had lived long with her upon a Consultation with Divines and Lawyers Confirmed it to prevent the Scandal which the dissolving of it would have given Upon which St. Antonin of Florence says that since the thing was dispensed with it was to be refered to the judgment of God and not to be condemned The Pope had granted this Dispensation upon a very weighty Consideration to keep peace between two great Crowns it had now stood above Twenty years it would therefore raise an high scandal to bring it under debate besides that it would do much hurt and bring the Titles to most Crowns into Controversie But they Concluded that whatever Informalities or Nullities were pretended to be in the Bulls or Breves the Pope was the only competent judge of it and that it was too high a presumption for inferior Prelates to take upon them to examine or discuss it But to these Arguments it was Answered by the writers for the Kings cause that it was strange to see men who pretended to be such Enemies to all Heretical Novelties yet be guilty of that which Catholick Doctors hold to be the foundation of all Heresie which was the setting up of private senses of Scripture and Reasonings from them against the Doctrine and Tradition of the Church It was fully made out that the Fathers and Doctors of the Church did universally agree in this that the Levitical Prohibitions of the Degrees of Marriage are Moral and do oblige all Christians Against this Authority Cajetan was the first that presumed to write opposing his private conceits to the Tradition of the Church which is the same thing for which Luther and his followers are so severely Condemned May it not then be justly said of such men that they plead much for Tradition when it makes for them but reject it when it is against them Therefore all these exceptions are overthrown with this one Maxime of Catholick Doctrine That they are Novelties against the constant Tradition of the Christian Church in all Ages But if the force of them be also examined they will be found as weak as they are New That before the Law these degrees were not observed proves only that they are not evidently contrary to the Common sense of all men But as there are some Moral Precepts which have that natural evidence in them that all men must discern it so there are others that are drawn from publick inconvenience and dishonesty which are also parts of the Law of nature These Prohibitions are not of the first but of the second sort since the Immorality of them appears in this that the Familiarities and freedoms among near Relations are such that if an horror were not struck in men at conjunctures in these degrees Families would be much defiled This is the Foundation of the Prohibitions of Marriages in these degrees Therefore it is not strange if men did not apprehend it before God made a Law concerning it Therefore all examples before the Law show only the thing is not so evident as to be easily collected by the light of Nature And for the story of Iudah and Tamar there is so much wickedness in all the parts of it that it will be very hard to make a President out of any part of it As for the Provision about Marrying the Brothers wiâ—e that only proves the ground of the Law is not of its own Nature Immutable but may be Dispensed with by God in some cases And all these Moral Laws that are founded on publick conveniency and honesty are Dispensable by God in some cases but because Moses did it by Divine Revelation it does not follow that the Pope can do it by his Ordinary Authority For that about Herod it is not clear from Iosephus that Philip was alive when Herod Marryed his Wife For all that Iosephus says is that she separated from her Husband when he was yet alive and divorced her self from him But he does not say that he lived still after she Marryed his Brother And by the Law of Divorce Marriage was at an end and broken by it as much as if the Party had been dead So that in that case she might have Marryed any other Therefore Herods sin in taking her was from the Relation of having been his Brothers Wife And for the Incestuous person in Corinth it is as certain that though some few Instances of a King of Syria and some others may be brought of Sons Marrying their Step-Mothers yet these things were generally ill looked on even where they were practised by some Princes who made their Pleasure their Law Nor could the Laws of Leviticus be understood of not Marrying the Brothers wife when he was alive for it was not Lawful to take any mans Wife from him living Therefore that cannot be the meaning And all those Prohibitions of Marriage in other degrees excluding those Marriages simply whether during the life or after the death of
the Father Son Uncle and other such Relations there is no ground to disjoynt this so much from the rest as to make it only extend to a Marriage before the Husbands death And for any Presidents that were brought they were all in the latter Ages and were never Confirmed by any publick Authority Nor must the Practices of later Popes be laid in the Ballance against the Decisions of former Popes and the Doctrine of the whole Church and as to the Power that was ascribed to the Pope that began now to be enquired into with great Freedom as shall appear afterwards These Reasons on both sides being thus opened the Censures of them it is like will be as different now as they were then for they prevailed very little on the Queen who still persisted to justifie her Marriage and to stand to her Appeal And though the King carryed it very kindly to her in all outward appearance and employed every body that had credit with her to bring her to submit to him and to pass from her Appeal remitting the Decision of the matter to any Four Prelates and Four Secular men in England she was still unmovable and would hearken to no Proposition In the judgments that people passed the Sexes were divided the Men generally approved the Kings cause and the Women favoured the Queen But now the Session of Parliament came on the Sixteenth of Ianuary and there the King first brought in to the House of Lords the Determination of the Universities and the Books that were written for his cause by Forreigners After they were read and Considered there the Lord Chancellor did on the 20th of March with Twelve Lords both of the Spiritualty and Temporalty goe down to the House of Commons and shewed them what the Universities and Learned men beyond Sea had written for the Divorce and produced Twelve Original Papers with the Seals of the Universities to them which Sr. Brian Tuke took out of his hand and read openly in the House Translating the Latine into English Then about an Hundred Books written by Forreign Divines for the Divorce were also showed them none of which were read but put off to another time it being late When that was done the Lord Chancellor desired they would report in their Countries what they had heard and seen and then all men should clearly perceive that the King hath not attempted this matter of Will and Pleasure as strangers say but only for the Discharge of his Conscience and the Security of the Succession to the Crown Having said that he left the House The matter was also brought before the Convocation and they having weighed all that was said on both sides seemed satisfied that the Marriage was unlawful and that the Bull was of no force more not being required at that time But it is not strange that this matter went so easily in the Convocation when another of far greater consequence passed there which will require a â—ull and distinct account Cardinal Wolsey by exercising his Legantine Authority had fallen into a Premunire as hath been already shewn and now those who had appeared in his Courts and had sutes there were found to be likewise in the same guilt by the Law and this matter being excepted out of the Pardon that was granted in the former Parliament was at this time set on foot Therefore an Indictment was brought into the Kings Bench against all the Clergy of England for breaking the Statutes against Provisions or Provisors But to open this more clearly It is to be Considered that the Kings of England having claimed in all Ages a Power in Ecclesiastical Matters equal to what the Roman Emperors had in that Empire they exercised this Authority both over the Clergy and Laity and did at first erect Bishopricks grant Investitures in them call Synods make Laws about Sacred as well as Civil Concerns and in a word they Governed their whole Kingdom Yet when the Bishops of Rome did stretch their Power beyond either the limits of it in the Primitive Church or what was afterward granted them by the Roman Emperors and came to assume an Authority in all the Churches of Europe as they found some Resistance every where so they met with a great deal in this Kingdom and it was with much Difficulty that they gained the Power of giving Investitures Receiving Appeals to Rome and of sending Legates to England with several other things which were long contested but were delivered up at length either by feeble Princes or when Kings were so engaged at home or abroad that it was not safe for them to offend the Clergy For in the first Contest between the Kings and the Popes the Clergy were generally on the Popes side because of the Immunity and Protection they enjoyed from that See but when Popes became ambitious and warlike Princes then new Projects and Taxes were every where set on foot to raise a great Treasure The Pall with many Bulls and high Compositions for them Annates or first Fruits and Tenths were the standing Taxes of the Clergy besides many new ones upon emergent occasions So that they finding themselves thus oppressed by the Popes fled again back to the Crown for Protection which their Predecessors had abandoned From the days of Edward the 1st many Statutes were made to restrain the Exactions of Rome For then the Popes not satisfied with their other oppressions which a Monk of that time lays open fully and from a deep sense of them did by Provisions Bulls and other Arts of that See dispose of Bishopricks Abbeys and lesser Benefices to Forreigners Cardinals and others that did not live in England Upon which the Commonalty of the Realm did represent to the King in Parliament That the Bishopricks Abbeys and other Benefices were founded by the Kings and people of England To inform the people of the Law of God and to make Hospitality Alms and other works of Charity for which end they were endowed by the King and people of England and that the King and his other Subjects who endowed them had upon Voidances the Presentment and Collations of them which now the Pope had Usurped and given to Aliens by which the Crown would be disinherited and the ends of their endowments destroyed with other great Inconveniences Therefore it was ordained that these Oppressions should not be suffered in any manner But notwithstanding this the abuse went on and there was no effectual way laid down in the Act to punish these Transgressions The Court of Rome was not so easily driven out of any thing that either encreased their Power or their Profits Therefore by another Act in his Grand-Child Edward the 3ds time the Commons complained that these abuses did abound and that the Pope did daily reserve to his Collation Church-Preferments in England and raised the first-Fruits with other great Profits by which the Treasure of the Realm was carried out of it
over his own Clergy that he could sâ—arce have expected more if he had set up a Patriarch in France so that Francis did resolve to go on in the designs which had been concerted between him and the King of England no further but still he considered his alliance so much that he promised to use his most effectual intercession with the Pope to prevent all Censures and Bulls against the King and if it were possible to bring the matter to an Amicable conclusion And the Emperor was not ill-pleased to see France and England divided Therefore though he had at first opposed the Treaty between the Pope and Francis yet afterwards he was not troubled that it took effect hoping that it would dis-unite those two Kings whose conjunction had been so troublesome to him But when the news was brought to Rome of what was done in England with which it was also related that Books were coming out against the Popes Supremacy all the Cardinals of the Imperial Faction pressed the Pope to give a definitive Sentence and to proceed to Censures against the King But the more moderate Cardinals thought England was not to be thrown away with such precipitation And therefore a temper was found that a Sentence should be given upon what had been attempted in England by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury which in the Stile of the canon-Canon-Law were called the Attentates for it was pretended that the matter depending in the Court of Rome by the Queens Appeal and the other steps that had been made it was not in the Arch-Bishop's Power to proceed to any Sentence Therefore in general it was declared that all that had been attempted or done in England about the Kings Suit of Divorce was null and that the King by such attempts was liable to Excommunication unless he put things again in the state they were in and that before September next and that then they would proceed further and this Sentence was affixed in Dunkirk soon after The King resolving to follow the thing as far as it was possible sent a great Embassy to Francis who was then on his Journey to Marseilles to dissuade the Interview and Marriage till the Pope gave the King satisfaction But the French King was engaged in honour to go forward yet he protested he would do all that lay in his Power to compose the matter and that he would take any injury that were done to the King as highly as if it were done to himself and he desired the King would send some to Marseilles who thereupon sent Gardiner and Sir Francis Brian But at this time the Queen brought forth a Daughter who was Christened Elizabeth the renowned Queen of England the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury being her God-Father She was soon after declared Princess of Wales though Lawyers thought that against Law for she was only Heir presumptive but not apparent to the Crown since a Son coming after he must be preferred Yet the King would justifie what he had done in his Marriage with all possible respect and having before declared the Lady Mary Princess of Wales he did now the same in favour of the Lady Elizabeth The Interview between the Pope and the French King was at Marseilles in October where the Marriage was made up between the Duke of Orleance and Katharine de Medici to whom besides 100000 Crowns Portion the Principality of many Towns in Italy as Milan Reggio Pisa Legorn Parma and Piacenza and the Dutchy of Urbin were given To the former the Pope pretended in the Right of the Popedom and to the last in the Right of the House of Medici But the French King was â—o clear all those Titles by his Sword As for the Kings business the Pope referred it to the Consistory But it seems there was a secret Transaction between him and Francis that if the King would in all other things return to his wonted obedience to the Apostolick See and submit the matter to the judgment of the Consistory excepting only to the Cardinals of the Imperial Faction as partial and incompetent judges the Decision should be made to his hearts content This I collect from what will afterwards appear The King upon the Sentence that was passed against him sent Bonner to Marseilles who procuring an Audience of the Pope delivered to him the Authentick Instrument of the Kings Appeal from him to the next general Council lawfully called At this the Pope was much incensed but said he would consider of it in Consistory and having consulted about it there he answered that the Appeal was unlawful and therefore he rejected it and for a general Council the calling of it belonged to him and not to the King About the same time the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury being threatned with a Process from Rome put in also his Appeal to the next general Council Upon which Bonner delivered the threatnings that he was ordered to make with so much vehemency and fury that the Pope talked of throwing him in a Cauldron of melted Lead or of Burning him alive and he apprehending some danger made his escape About the middle of November the Interview ended the Pope returning to Rome and the French King to Paris a firm Alliance being established between them But upon the Duke of Orleance his Marrying the Pope's Neece I shall add one observation that will neither be unpleasant nor impertinent The Duke of Orleance was then but Fourteen years and Nine Months old being born on the last of March 1518. and yet was believed to have consummated his Marriage the very first night after so the Popes Historians tell us with much Triumph though they represented that improbable if not impossible in Prince Arthur who was nine Months elder when he died Upon the French Kings return from Marseilles the Bishop of Paris was sent over to the King which as may be reasonably collected followed upon some Agreement made at Marseilles and he prevailed with the King to submit the whole matter to the Pope and the Consistory on such terms that the Imperialists should not be allowed a Voice because they were Parties being in the Emperor's Power None that has observed the genius of this King can think that after he had proceeded so far he would â—aâ—e made this Submission without very good assurances and if there had not been great grounds to expect good effects from it the Bishop of Paris would not in the middle of Winter have undertaken a Journey from England to Rome But the King it seems would not abase himself so far as to send any Submission in writing till he had fuller assurances The Lord Herbert has published a Letter which he transcribed from the Original written by the Arch-Bishop of York and the Bishop of Duresmâ— to the King the 11th of May 1534. giving an account of a Conference they had with Queen Katharine in which among other motives they used this was one to perswade her to comply with what
Letter in defence of the Kings Proceedings in this matter to Reginald soon after Cardinal Pool from these writings and the Sermons preached by some Bishops at this time with other Authentick pieces I have Extracted the Substance of the Arguments upon which they grounded their Laws which I shall divide in two heads The one of the reasons for rejecting the Popes pretended Power The other for setting up the Kings Supremacy with the Explanations and Limitations of it First of the Popes Power they declared that they found no ground for it in the Scripture All the Apostles were made equal by Christ when he committed the Church to their care in Common And he did often declare there was no Superiority of one above another St. Paul claimed an equality with the chief Apostles both Peter Iames and Iohn and when he thought St. Peter blame-worthy he withstood him to his face But whatsoever Preheminence St. Peter might have that was only Personal and there was no reason to affix it to his Chair at Rome more than at Antioch But if any See be to be preferred before another it should be Ierusalem where Christ dyed and out of which the Faith was propagated over all Nations Christ commanding his Disciples to begin their Preaching in it so that it was truly the Mother Church and is so called by St. Paul whereas in the Scripture Rome is called Babylon according to Tertullian and St. Ierome For the places brought from Scripture in favor of the Papacy they judged that they did not prove any thing for it That Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church if it prove any thing in this matter would prove too much even that the Church was founded on St. Peter as he was a private person and so on the Popes in their Personal Capacity But both St. Ambrose St. Ierome and St. Austin think that by the Rock the Confession he had made was only to be meant Others of the Fathers thought by the Rock Christ himself was meant who is the only true Foundation of the Church though in another sense all the Apostles are also called Foundations by St. Paul That Tell the Church is thought by Gerson and Aeneas Silvius afterwards Pope Pius the 2d rather to make against the Pope and for a General Council And the Fathers have generally followed St. Chrysostome and St. Austin who thought that the giving of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Charge Feed my Sheep were addressed to St. Peter in behalf of all the rest of the Apostles And that I have prayed for thee that thy Faith sail not was only Personal and related to his Fall which was then Imminent It is also clear by St. Paul that every Apostle had his peculiar Province beyond which he was not to Stretch himself and St. Peters Province was the Circumcision and his the Uncircumcision in which he plainly declares his Equality with him This was also clear from the constant Tradition of the Church St. Cyprian was against Appeals to Rome and would not submit to P. Stephens definition in the point of Re-baptizing of Hereticks and expresly says That all the Apostles were equal in Power and that all the Bishops were also equal since the whole Office and Episcopate was one entire thing of which every Bishop had a compleat and equall share And though some places are brought out of him concerning the Unity of the Roman Church and of other Churches with it yet those places have no relation to any Authority that the Roman Church had over other Churches but were occasioned by a Schism that Novatian had made there at Rome being Elected in opposition to the Bishop that was rightly chosen and of that unity only St. Cyprian writes in those places But from all his Epistles to the Bishops of Rome it is visible he look't on himself as their Equal since he calls them Brother Collegue and Fellow-Bishop And whatsoever is said by any Ancient Writer of St. Peters Chair is to be understood of the pure Gospel which he delivered as St. Austin observes that by Moses Chair is to be understood The delivering of Moses Law But though St. Peter sate there the succeeding Popes have no more right to pretend to such Authority than the Kings of Spain to claim the Roman Empire because he that is now their King is Emperor When Constantine turned Christian the Dignity of the chief City of the Empire made Rome to be accounted the first See but by the General Council of Nice it was declared that the Patriarches of Alexandria and Antioch had the same Authority over the Countries round about them that he of Rome had over those that lay about that City It is true at thaâ— time the Arrian Heresie having spread Generally over the Eastern Churches from which the Western were free the oppressed Catholick Bishops of the East made Appeals to Rome and extolled that See by a natural Maxime in all men who magnifie that from which they have Protection But the Second general Council took care that that should not grow a President for they Decreed that every Province should be governed by its own Synod and that Bishops when they were accused must first be judged by the Bishops of their own Province and from them they might appeal to the Bishops of the Diocess but no higher appeal was allowed and by that Council it appears what was the Foundation of the greatness of the Bishop of Rome for when Constantinople was made the Seat of the Empire and New Rome it had the same Privileges that Old Rome had and was set next to it in order and dignity In a Council at Milevi in which St. Austin sate they appointed that every Clerk that should appeal to any Bishop beyond the Sea should be excommunicated And when Faustianus was sent by the Pope to the African Churches to claim the Right of receiving appeals and pretended a Canon of the Council of Nice for it the Pretension was rejected by the Afâ—ican Fathers who acknowledged no such Right and had never heard of that Canon Upon which they sent to the Eastâ—rn Churches and search was every-where made for the Copies of the Canons of that Council but it was found that it was a Forgery From whence two things were observable The one that the Church in that Age had no Tradition of any Divine Institution for the Authority of that See since as the Popes who claimed it never pretended to any such thing so the African Bishops by their rejecting that Power shew that they knew nothing of any Divine Warrant all the Contest being only about a Canon of the Church It also appeared how early the Church of Rome aspired to Power and did not stick at making use of Forged writings to support it But Pope Agatho more modestly writing to the Emperor in his own name and in the name of all the Synods that were Subject to his See calls
them a few Bishops in the Northern and Western Parts When afterwards the Patriarch of Constantinople was declared by the Emperor Mauritius The Vniversal Bishop Gregory the great did exclaim against the Ambition of that Title as being equal to the Pride of Lucifer and declared that he who assumed it was the Forerunner of Antichrist saying that none of his Predecessors had ever claimed such a Power And this was the more observable since the English were Converted by those whom he sent over so that this was the Doctrine of that See when this Church received the Faith from it But it did not continue long within those limits for Boniface the Third assumed that Title upon the Grant of Phâ—â—as And as that Boniface got the Spiritual Sword put in his hand so the Eighth of that name pretended also to the Temporal Sword but they owe these Powers to the Industry of those Popes and not to any Donation of Christs The Popes when they are Consecrated promise to obey the Canons of the Eight first General Councils which if they observe they will receive no Appeals nor pretend to any higher Jurisdiction than these give to them and the other Patriarchs equally As for the Decrees of Latter Councils they are of less Authority For those Councils consisted of Monks and Friers in great part whose exemptions obtained from Rome obliged them to support the Authority of that Court and those who sate in them knew little of the Scriptures Fathers or the Tradition of the Church being only conversant in the Disputes and Learning of the Schools And for the Florentine Council the Eastern Churches who sent the Greek Bishops that sate there never received their Determination neither then nor at any time since Many places were also brought out of the Fathers to show that they did not look on the Bishops of Rome as superior to other Bishops and that they understood not those places of Scripture which were afterwards brought for the Popes Supremacy in that sense so that if Tradition be the best Expounder of Scripture those latter glosses must give place to the more ancient But that passage of St. Ierome in which he equals the Bishops of Eugubium and Constantinople to the Bishop of Rome was much made use of since he was a Presbyter of Rome and so likely to understand the Dignity of his own Church best There were many things brought from the Contests that other Sees had with Rome to show that all the Priviledges of that and other Sees were only founded on the practice and Canons of the Church but not upon any Divine Warrant Constantinople pretended to equal priviledges Ravenna Milan and Aquileia pretended to a Patriarchal Dignity and Exemption Some Arch-Bishops of Canterbury contended that Popes could do nothing against the Laws of the Church so Laurence and Dunstan Robert Grostest Bishop of Lincoln asserted the same and many Popes confessed it And to this day no Constitution of the Popes is binding in any Church except it be received by it and in the daily practice of the Canon Law the customs of Churches are pleaded against Papal Constitutions which shows their Authority cannot be from God otherwise all must submit to their Laws And from the latter Contests up and down Europe about giving Investitures receiving Appeals admitting of Legates and Papal Constitutions it was apparent that the Papal Authority was a Tyranny which had been managed by cruel and fraudulent Arts but was never otherwise received in the Church than as a Conquest to which they were constrained to yield And this was more fully made out in England from what passed in William the Conqueror and Henry the 2d's time and by the Statutes of Provisors in many Kings Reigns which were still renewed till within an hundred years of the present time Upon these grounds they Concluded that the Popes Power in England had no Foundation neither in the Law of God nor in the Laws of the Church or of the Land As for the Kings Power over Spiritual persons and in Spiritual causes they proved it from the Scriptures In the old Testament they found the Kings of Israel intermedled in all matters Ecclesiastical Samuel though he had been Judge yet acknowledged Sauls Authority So also did Abimelech the High-Priest and appeared before him when cited to answer upon an Accusation And Samuel 1 Sam. 15.18 sayes he was made the head of all the Tribes Aaron in that was an Example to all the following High-Priests who submitted to Moses David made many Laws about sacred things such as the Order of the Courses of the Priests and their Worship and when he was dying he declared to Solomon how far his Authority extended He told him 1 Chron. 28.21 That the Courses of the Priests and all the people were to be wholly at his commandment pursuant to which Solomon 2 Chron. 8.14 15. did appoint them their charges in the service of God and both the Priests and Levites departed not from his commandment in any matter and though he had turned out Abiathar from the High-Priesthood yet they made no opposition Iehosophat Hezekiah and Iosias made likewise Laws about Eccledsiastical Matters In the New Testament Christ himself was obedient he payed Taxes he declared that he pretended to no earthly Kingdom he charged the people to render to Caesar the things that were Caesars and his Disciples not to affect temporal dominion as the Lords of the Nations did And though the Magistrates were then Heathens yet the Apostles wrote to the Churches to obey Magistrates to submit to them to pay Taxes they call the King Supream and say he is Gods Minister to encourage them that do well and to punish the evil doors which is said of all persons without exception and every Soul is charged to be subject to the Higher Power Many passages were cited out of the Writings of the Fathers to show that they thought Church-men were included in these places as well as other persons so that the Tradition of the Church was for the Kings Supremacy and by one place of Scripture the King is called Supream by another he is called Head and by a third every Soul must be subject to him which laid together make up this conclusion That the King is the Supream Head over all persons In the primitive Church the Bishops in their Councils made rules for ordering their Dioceses which they only called Canons or Rules nor had they any compulsive Authority but what was derived from the Civil Sanctions After the Emperors were Christians they made many Laws about sacred things as may be seen in the Codes and when Iustinian digested the Roman Law he added many Novel Constitutions about Ecclesiastical persons and causes The Emperors called general Councils presided in them and confirmed them And many Letters were cited of Popes to Emperors to call Councils and of the Councils to them to Confirm their Decrees The Election of the Popes themselves was
sometimes made by the Emperors and sometimes confirmed by them Pope Hadrian in a Synod decreed that the Emperor should choose the Pope And it was a late and unheard of thing before the dayes of Gregory the 7th for Popes to pretend to depose Princes and give away their Dominions This they compared to the pride of Anti-Christ and Lucifer They also argued from Reason that there must be but one Supream and that the King being Supream over all his Subjects Clergy-men must be included for they are still Subjects Nor can their being in Orders change that former relation founded upon the Law of Nature and Nations no more than Wives or Servants by becoming Christians were not according to the Doctrine of the Apostles discharged from the Duties of their former Relations For the great Objection from those Offices that are peculiar to their Functions It was answered that these notwithstanding the King might well be Supream Head for in the Natural body there were many vital motions that proceeded not from the Head but from the Heart and the other inward parts and vessels and yet the Head was still the chief seat and root of Life So though there be peculiar functions appropriated to Church-men yet the King is still Head having Authority over them and a Power to direct and coerce them in these From that they proceeded to show that in England the Kings have allwayes assumed a Supremacy in Ecclesiastical matters They began with the most Ancient Writing that relates to the Christian Religion in England then extant Pope Elentherius Letter to King Lucius in which he is twice called by him Gods Vicar in his Kingdom and he writ in it that it belong'd to his Office to bring his Subjects to the Holy Church and to maintain protect and govern them in it Many Laws were cited which Canutus Ethelred Edgar Edmond Athelstan and Ina had Enacted concerning Church-men many more Laws since the Conquest were also made both against appeals to Rome and Bishops going out of the Kingdom without the Kings leave The whole business of the Articles of Clarendon and the Contests that followed between King Henry the 2d and Thomas Becket were also opened And though a Bishops Pastoral care be of Divine Institution yet as the Kings of England had divided Bishopricks as they pleased so they also converted Benefices from the Institution of the Founders and gave them to Cloisters and Monasteries as King Edgar did all which was done by the Consent of their Clergy and Nobility without dependance on Rome They had also granted these Houses Exemption from Episcopal Jurisdiction so Ina exempted Glastenbury and Offa St. Albans from their Bishops visitation and this continued even till the dayes of William the Conqueror for he to perpetuate the Memory of the Victory he obtained over Harald and to endear himself to the Clergy founded an Abbey in the Field where the Battel was fought and called it Battel-Abbey and in the Charter he granted them these words are to be found It shall be also free and quiet for ever from all subjection to Bishops or the Dominion of any other persons as Christs Church in Canterbury is Many other things were brought out of King Alfreds Laws and a speech of King Edgars with several Letters written to the Popes from the Kings the Parliaments and the Clergy of England to show that their Kings did always make Laws about Sacred matters and that their Power reach't to that and to the persons of Church-men as well as to their other Subjects But at the same time that they pleaded so much for the Kings Supremacy and Power of making Laws for restraining and Coercing his Subjects it appeared that they were far from vesting him with such an absolute Power as the Popes had pretended to for they thus defined the extent of the Kings Power To them specially and principally it pertaineth to defend the Faith of Christ and his Religion to conserve and maintain the true Doctrine of Christ and all such as be true Preachers and setters forth thereof and to abolish Abuses Heresies and Idolatries and to punish with corporal pains such as of malice be the occasion of the same And finally to oversee and cause that the said Bishops and Priests do execute their pastoral office truly and faithfully and specially in these points which by Christ and his Apostles was given and Committed to them and in case they shall be negligent in any part thereof or would not diligently execute the same to cause them to redouble and supply their lack and if they obstinately withstand their Princes kind monition and will not amend their faults then and in such case to put others in their rooms and places And God hath also commanded the said Bishops and Priests to obey with all humbleness and Reverence both Kings and Princes and Governors and all their Laws not being contrary to the Laws of God whatsoever they be and that not only propter Iram but also propter Conscientiam that is to say not only for fear of punishment but also for Discharge of Conscience Thus it appears that they both limited obedience to the Kings Laws with the due Caution of their not being contrary to the Law of God and acknowledged the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in the discharge of the Pastoral Office committed to the Pastors of the Church by Christ and his Apostles and that the Supremacy then pretended to was no such Extravagant Power as some imagine Upon the whole matter it was Concluded that the Popes Power in England had no good Foundation and had been managed with as much Tyranny as it had begun with Usurpation the Exactions of their Courts were every-where heavy but in no place so intolerable as in England and though many complaints were made of them in these last 300 years yet they got no ease and all the Laws about Provisors were still defeated and made ineffectual Therefore they saw it was impossible to moderate their proceedings so that there was no other Remedy but to extirpate their pretended Authority and thenceforth to acknowledge the Pope only Bishop of Rome with the jurisdiction about it defined by the Ancient Canons and for the King to re-assume his own Authority and the Prerogatives of his Crown from which the Kings of England had never formally departed though they had for this last Hundred years connived at an Invasion and Usurpation upon them which was no longer to be endured These were the Grounds of casting off the Pope's Power that had been for two or three years studied and enquired into by all the Learned men in England and had been debated both in Convocation and Parliament and except Fisher Bishop of Rochester I do not find that any Bishop appeared for the Popes Power and for the Abbots and Priors as they were generally very ignorant so what the Cardinal had done in suppressing some Monasteries and what they now heard that the
Court had an eye on their Lands made them to be as complyant as could be But Fisher was a man of great reputation and very ancient so that much pains was taken to satisfie him A week before the Parliament sat down the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury proposed to him that he and any Five Doctors such as he should choose and the Bishop of London and Five Doctors with him might confer about it and examine the Authorities of both sides that so there might be an Agreement among them by which the scandal might be removed which otherwise would be taken from their Janglings and Contests among themselves Fisher accepted of this and Stokesley wrote to him on the 8th of Ianuary that he was ready whenever the other pleased and desired him to name time and place and if they could not agree the matter among themselves he moved to refer it to two Learned men whom they should choose in whose determination they would both acquiesce How far this overture went I cannot discover and perhaps Fishers sickness hindred the progress of it But now on the 15th of Ianuary the Parliament sat down by the Journals I find no other Bishops present but the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of London Winchester Lincoln Bath and Wells Landaffe and Carlisle There were also twelve Abbots present but upon what pretences the rest excused their attendance I do not know perhaps some made a difference between submitting to what was done and being active and concurring to make the change During the Session a Bishop preached every Sunday at Pauls-Cross and declared to the people That the Pope had no Authority at all in England In the two former Sessions the Bishops had preached that the general Council was above the Pope but now they struck a note higher This was done to let the people see what justice and reason was in the Acts that were then passing to which I now turn and shall next give an account of this great Session of Parliament which I shall put rather in the natural Method according to the matter of the Acts than in the order of time as they passed On the 9th of March a Bill came up from the Commons for dischargeing the Subjects of all dependance on the Court of Rome it was read the first time in the House of Lords the 13th of March and on the 14th was read the second time and Committed The Committee reported it on the 19th by which it appears there was no stiff nor long opposition and he that was likest to make it was both obnoxious and absent as will afterwards appear On the 19th it was read the third time and on the 20th the fourth time and then passed without any protestation Some Proviso's were added to it by the Lords to which the Commons agreed and so it was made ready for the Royal assent In the Preamble the intolerable exactions for Peter-pence Provisions Pensions and Bulls of all sorts are complained of which were contrary to all Laws and grounded only on the Popes Power of Dispensing which was Usurped But the King and the Lords and Commons within his own Realm had only power to consider how any of the Laws were to be Dispensed with or Abrogated and since the King was acknowledged the Supreme Head of the Church of England by the Prelates and Clergy in their Convocations Therefore it was Enacted that all Payments made to the Apostolick Chamber and all Provisions Bulls or Dispensations should from thenceforth cease But that all Dispensations or Licences for things that were not contrary to the Law of God but only to the Law of the Land should be granted within the Kingdom by and under the Seals of the two Arch-Bishops in their several Provinces who should not presume to grant any contrary to the Laws of Almighty God and should only grant such Licences as had been formerly in use to be granted but give no Licence for any new thing till it were first examined by the King and his Council whether such things might be dispensed with and that all Dispensations which were formerly taxed at or above 4 l. should be also confirmed under the Great-Seal Then many clauses follow about the Rates of Licences and the ways of procuring them It was also declared that they did not hereby intend to vary from Christ's Church about the Articles of the Catholick Faith of Christendom or in any other things declared by the Scriptures and the word of God necessary for their Salvation confirming withal the exemptions of Monasteries formerly granted by the Bishop of Rome exempting them still from the Arch-Bishops Visitations declaring that such Abbeys whose Elections were formerly confirmed by the Pope shall be now confirmed by the King who likewise shall give Commission under his Great-Seal for visiting them providing also that Licences and other Writs obtained from Rome before the 12 of March in that year should be valid and in force except they were contrary to the Laws of the Realm giving also to the King and his Council power to order and reform all Indulgences and Priviledges or the abuses of them which had been granted by the See of Rome The offenders against this Act were to be punished according to the Statutes of Provisors and Premunire This Act as it gave great ease to the Subject so it cut off that base trade of Indulgences about Divine Laws which had been so gainful to the Church of Rome but was of late fatal to it All in the Religious Houses saw their Priviledges now struck at since they were to be reformed as the King saw cause which put them in no small confusion Those that favoured the Reformation rejoyced at this Act not only because the Popes Power was rooted out but because the Faith that was to be adhered to was to be taken from those things which the Scriptures declared necessary to Salvation so that all their fears were now much qualified since the Scripture was to be the standard of the Catholick Faith On the same day that this Bill passed in the House of Lords another Bill was read for confirming the Succession to the Crown in the Issue of the Kings present Marriage with Queen Anne It was read the second time on the 21 of March and Committed It was reported on the 23th and read the third time and passed and sent down to the Commons who sent it back again to them on the 26th so speedily did this Bill go through both Houses without any opposition The Preamble of it was The distractions that had been in England about the Succession to the Crown which had occasioned the effusion of much Blood with many other mischiefs all which flowed from the want of a clear Decision of the true Title from which the Popes had Usurped a Power of investing such as pleased them in other Princes Kingdoms and Princes had often maintained such Donations for their other ends therefore to avoid the like
inconveniences the Kings former Marriage with the Princess Katharine is judged contrary to the Laws of God and void and of no effect and the Sentence passed by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury annulling it is confirmed and the Lady Katharine is thenceforth to be reputed only Princess Dowager and not Queen and the Marriage with Queen Annâ— is established and confirmed and Marriages within the degrees Prohibited by Moses which are enumerated in the Statute are declared to be unlawful according to the judgment of the Convocations of this Realm and of the most famous Universities and Learned men abroad any Dispensations to the contrary notwithstanding which are also declared null since contrary to the Laws of God and all that were Married within these degrees are appointed to be Divorced and the Children begotten in such Marriages were declared Illegitimate And all the Issue that should be between the King and the present Queen is declared Lawful and the Crown was to descend on his Issue Male by her or any other Wife or in default of Issue Male to the Issue Female by the Queen and in default of any such to the right Heirs of the Kings Highness for ever and any that after the 1st of May should maliciously divulge any thing to the slander of the Kings Marriage or of the Issue begotten in it were to be adjudged for misprision of Treason and to suffer Imprisonment at the Kings will and forfeit all their Goods and Chattels to him And if the Queen out-lived the King she is declared Regent till the Issue by her were of Age if a Son 18 and if a Daughter 16 years of Age and all the Kings Subjects were to Swear that they would maintain the Contents of this Act and whoever being required did refuse it was to be judged guilty of misprision of Treason and punished accordingly The Oath it seems was likewise agreed on in the House of Lords for the Form of it is set down in their Journal as follows Ye shall Swear to bear Faith Truth and Obedience alonely to the Kings Majesty and to his Heirs of his body of his most dear and entirely beloved lawful Wife Queen Anne begotten and to be begotten And further to the Heirs of our said Soveraign Lord according to the limitation in the Statute made for surety of his Succession in the Crown of this Realm mentioned and contained and not to any other within this Realm nor Forreign Authority or Potentate And in case any Oath be made or hath been made by you to any Person or Persons that then ye to repute the same as vain and annihilate And that to your cunning wit and uttermost of your Power without guile fraud or other undue means ye shall observe keep maintain and defend the said Act of Succession and all the whole Effects and Contents thereof and all other Acts and Statutes made in Confirmation or for Execution of the same or of any thing therein contained And this ye shall do against all manner of Persons of what Estate Dignity Degree or condition soever they be and in no wise to do or attempt nor to your power suffer to be done or attempted directly or indirectly any thing or things privily or appartly to the let hindrance damage or derogation thereof or of any part of the same by any manner of means or for any manner of pretence So help you God and all Saints and the holy Evangelists And thus was the Kings Marriage confirmed But when the Commons returned this Bill to the Lords they sent them another with it concerning the proceedings against Hereticks There had been complaints made formerly as was told before of the severe and intolerable proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Courts against Hereticks And on the 4th of Fâ—bruary the Commons sent up a complaint made by one Thomas Philips against the Bishop of London for using him cruelly in Prison upon the suspition of Heresie but the Lords doing nothing in it on the 1st of March the House of Commons sent some of their number to the Bishop requiring him to make answer to the complaints exhibited against him who acquainted the House of Lords with it the next day but as they had formerly laid aside the complaint as not worthy of their time so they all with one consent answered That it was not fit for any of the Peers to appear or answer at the Barr of the House of Commons Upon this the House of Commons finding they could do nothing in that particular case resolved to provide an effectual remedy for such abuses for the future And therefore sent up a Bill about the punishment of Hereticks which was read that day for the first time and the second and third time on the 27th and 28th in which it passed The Act was a repeal of the Statute of the 2d of Henry the 4th by which Bishops upon suspition of Heresie might commit any to Prison as was before told but in that Act there was no Declaration made what was Heresie except in the general words of what was contrary to Scriptures or Canonical Sanctions This was liable to great Ambiguity by which men were in much danger and not sufficiently instructed what was Heresie They also complained of their proceedings without Presentment or Accusation contrary to what was practised in all other cases even of Treason it self and many Canonical Sanctions had been established only by Popes without any Divine Precept therefore they repealed the Act of Henry the 4th but left the Statutes of Richard the 2d and Henry the 5th still in force with the following Regulation That Hereticks should be proceeded against upon Presentments by two Witnesses at least and then be Committed but brought to answer to their Enditements in open Court and if they were found guilty and would not abjure or were relapse to be adjudged to death the Kings Writ De Haeretico comburendo being first obtained It was also declared that none should be troubled upon any of the Popes Canons or Laws or for speaking or doing against them It was likewise provided that men Committed for Heresie might be Bailed It may easily be imagined how acceptable this Act was to the whole Nation since it was such an effectual limitation of the Ecclesiastical Power in one of the uneasiest parts of it and this Regulation of the Arbitrary proceedings of the Spiritual Courts was a particular blessing to all that favoured Reformation But as the Parliament was going on with these good Laws there came a Submission from the Clergy then sitting in Convocation to be passed in Parliament With what opposition it went through the two Houses of Convocation and the House of Commons is not known for as the Registers of the Convocation are burnt so it does not appear that there were any Journals kept in the House of Commons at that time On the 27th of March it was sent up to the Lords and since the Spiritual Lords had already consented to
it there was no reason to apprehend any opposition from the Temporal Lords The Session was now near an end so they made haste and read it twice that day and the third time the next day and passed it The Contents of it were The Clergy acknowledged that all Convocations had been and ought to be assembled by the Kings Writ and promised in verbo Sacerdotii that they would never make nor execute any new Canons or Constitutions without the Royal assent to them and since many Canons had been received that were found prejudicial to the Kings Prerogative contrary to the Laws of the Land and heavy to the Subjects That therefore there should be a Committee of thirty two Persons sixteen of the two Houses of Parliament and as many of the Clergy to be named by the King who should have full power to abrogate or confirm Canons as they found it expedient the Kings assent being obtained This was confirmed by Act of Parliament and by the same Act all appeals to Rome were again condemned If any party found themselves agrieved in the Arch-Bishops Courts an appeal might be made to the King in the Court of Chancery and the Lord-Chancellor was to grant a Commission under the Great-Seal for some Delegates in whose determination all must acquiesce All exempted Abbots were also to appeal to the King and it concluded with a Proviso that till such Correction of the Canons was made all those which were then received should still remain in force except such as were contrary to the Laws and Customs of the Realms or were to the damage or hurt of the Kings Prerogative This Proviso seemed to have a fair colour that there might still be some Canons in force to govern the Church by but since there was no day prefixed to the Determination of the Commission this Proviso made that the Act never took effect for now it lay in the Prerogative and in the Judges breast to declare what Canons were contrary to the Laws or the Rights of the Crown and it was judged more for the Kings Greatness to keep the matter undetermined than to make such a Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws as should be fixed and unmoveable The last of the publick Acts of this Session that related to the Church was about the Election and Consecration of Bishops On the 4th of February the Commons sent up a Bill to the Lords about the Consecration of Bishops it lay on the Table till the 27th of February and was then cast out and a new one drawn On what reason it was cast out is not mentioned and the Journal does not so much as say that it was once read The new Bill had its second reading the 3d of March and on the 5th it was ordered to be Engross'd and on the 9th it was read the third time and agreed to and sent down to the Commons who returned it to the Lords on the 16th of March. The first part of it is a confirmation of their former Act against Annates to which they added that Bishops should not be any more presented to the Bishop of Rome or sue out any Bulls there but that all Bishops should be presented to the Arch-Bishop and Arch-Bishops to any Arch-Bishop in the Kings Dominions or to any four Bishops whom the King should name and that when any See was vacant the King was to grant a Licence for a new Election with a Letter missive bearing the name of the Person that was to be chosen and twelve days after these were delivered an Election was to be returned by the Dean and Chapter or Prior and Convent under their Seals Then the Person Elected was to swear Fealty to the King upon which a Commission was to be issued out for Consecrating and Investing him with the usual Ceremonies after which he was to do Homage to the King and be restored both to the Spiritualities and Temporalities of his See for which the King granted Commissions during the vacancy and whosoever refused to obey the Contents of the Act or acted contrary to it were declared within the Statute of Premunire There passed a private Act for depriving the Bishops of Salisbury and Worcester who were Cardinal Campegio and Ierome de Ghinuccii the former deserved greatter severities at the Kings hand but the latter seems to have served him faithfully and was recommended both by the King and the French King about a year before to a Cardinals Hat The Preamble of the Act bears that persons promoted to Ecclesiastical Benefices ought to reside within the Kingdom for preaching the Laws of Almighty God and for keeping Hospitality and since these Prelates did not that but lived at the Court of Rome and neglected their Diocesses and made the Revenues of them be carried out of the Kingdoms contrary to the intentions of the Founders and to the prejudice of the Realm 3000 l. being at least carried yearly out of the Kingdom therefore their Diocesses were declared vacant But now I come to the Act of the Attainder of Elizabeth Barton and her Complices which I shall open fully since it was the first step that was made to Rebellion and the first occasion of putting any to death upon this quarrel and from it one will clearly see the Genius of that part of the Clergy that adhered to the Interests of the Court of Rome On the 21th of February the Bill was sent up to the Lords and read the first time on the 26th it was read the second time and committed then the Witnesses and other Evidences were brought before them but chiefly she with all her Complices who confessed the Crimes charged on her It was reported and read the 6th of March the third time and then the Lords addressed to the King to know his pleasure whether Sir Thomas More and others mentioned in the Act as Complices or at least Concealers might not be heard to speak for themselves in the Star-Chamber As for the Bishop of Rochester he was sick but he had written to the House all that he had to say for his own excuse What presumptions lay against Sir Thomas More I have not been able to find out only that he wrote a Letter to the Nun at which the King took great exceptions yet it appears he had a mean opinion of her for in discourse with his beloved Daughter Mistress Roper he called her commonly the silly Nun. But for justifying himself he wrote a full account of all the entercourse he had with the Nun and her Complices to Cromwell but tho by his other printed Letters both to Cromwell and the King it seems some ill impressions remained in the Kings mind about it he still continued to justifie not only his intentions but his actions in that particular One thing is not unworthy of observation that Rastall who published his Works in Queen Maries time printed the second Letter he wrote to Cromwell yet did not publish that account which
to which it related which was also shewed him having considered of them he said he would neither blame these that made the Act nor those that Swore the Oath but for his part though he was willing to Swear to the Succession if he might be suffered to draw an Oath concerning it yet for the Oath that was offered him his Conscience so moved him that he could not without hazarding his Soul take it Upon this the Lord Chancellour told him that he was the first who had refused to Swear it and that the King would be highly offended with him for denying it and so he was desired to withdraw and consider better of it Several others were called upon and did all take the Oath except the Bishop of Rochester who answered upon the matter as More had done When the Lords had dispatched all the rest More was again brought before them they shewed him how many had taken it he answered he judged no man for doing it only he could not do it himself Then they asked the reasons why he refused it He answered he feared it might provoke the King more against him if he should offer reasons which would be called a disputing against Law but when he was further pressed to give his reasons he said if the King would command him to do it he would put them in Writing The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury urged him with this Argument that since he said he blamed no other person for taking it it seemed he was not perswaded it was a Sin but was doubtful in the matter but he did certainly know he ought to obey the King and the Law so there was a certainty on the one hand and only a doubt on the other therefore he was obliged to do that about which he was certain notwithstanding these his doubtings This did shake him a little especially as himself writes coming out of so Noble a Prelates mouth but he answered that though he had examined the matter very carefully yet his Conscience leaned positively to the other side and he offered to purge himself by his Oath that it was purely out of a Principle of Conscience and out of no light Fantasie or Obstinacy that he thus refused it The Abbot of Westminster pressed him that however the matter appeared to him he might see his Conscience was Erroneous since the great Council of the Realm was of another mind and therefore he ought to change his Conscience A Reasoning very fit for so rich an Abbot which discovers of what temper his Conscience was But to this More answered that if he were alone against the whole Parliament he had reason to suspect his own understanding but he thought he had the whole Council of Christendome on his side as well as the great Council of England was against him Secretary Cromwell who as More writes tenderly favoured him seeing his ruin was now inevitable was much affected at it and protested with an Oath he had rather his own only Son had lost his head than that he should have refused the Oath Thus both he and the Bishop of Rochester refused it but both offered to Swear another Oath for the Succession of the Crown to the issue of the Kings present Marriage because that was in the Power of the Parliament to determine it Cranmer who was a moderate and wise man and foresaw well the ill effects that would follow on contending so much with persons so highly esteemed over the World and of such a temper that severity would bend them to nothing did by an earnest Letter to Cromwell dated the 27th of April move that what they offered might be accepted for if they once Swore to the Succession it would quiet the Kingdom for they acknowledging it all other persons would acquiesce and submit to their Judgments But this sage advice was not accepted The King was much irritated against them and resolved to proceed with them according to Law and therefore they were both indicted upon the Statute and Committed Prisoners to the Tower And it being apprehended that if they had Books and Paper given them they would write against the Kings Marriage or his Supremacy these were denyed them The Old Bishop was hardly used his Bishoprick was seized on and all his goods taken from him only some old rags were left to cover him and he was neither supplyed well in diet nor other necessaries of which he made sad complaints to Cromwell But the remander of this Tragical business which left one of the greatest blots on this Kings proceedings falling within the limits of the next Book I haste on to the Conclusion of this The Separation from Rome was made in the former Session of Parliament but the Kings Supremacy was not yet fully setled This was reserved for the next Session that sate in November from the 3d of that month to the 18th of December about which we can have no light from the Journals they being lost The first Act Confirmed what had been already acknowledged by the Clergy that the King was the Supream Head in Earth of the Church of England which was to be annexed to his other Titles it was also enacted that the King and his heirs and Successors should have Power to visit and reform all Heresies Errors and other Abuses which in the Spiritual jurisdiction ought to be reform'd By the Second Act they Confirmed the Oath about the Succession concerning which some doubts had been made because there was no Oath specified in the former Act though both Houses had taken it it was now Enacted that all the Subjects were obliged to take it when offered to them under the pains contained in the Act pass'd in the former Session By the Third Act the first Fruits and Tenths of all Ecclesiastical Benefices were given to the King as the Supream Head of the Church The Clergy were easily prevailed on to consent to the putting down of the Annates pay'd to the Court of Rome for all men readily concur to take off any Imposition but at that time it had perhaps abated much of their heartiness if they had imagined that these duties should have been still payed therefore that was kept up till they had done all that was to be done against Rome And now as the Commons and the Secular Lords would no doubt easily agree to lay a taxe on the Clergy so the others having no forreign support were not in a condition to wrestle against it In the Thirteenth Act among other things that were made Treason one was the denying the King the Dignity Title or name of his Estate Royal or the calling the King Heretick Schismatick Tyrant Infidel or Usurper of the Crown This was done to restrain the Insolencies of some Friars and all such offenders were to be denyed the Priviledge of Sanctuaries By the Fourteenth Act provision was made for Suffragan Bishops which as is said had been accustomed to be had within this Realm for the
the Pope had any other Jurisdiction in England than any other forreign Bishop it was referred to Thirty Doctors and Batchelors who were impowered to set the University-Seal to their Conclusion they all agreed in the Negative and the whole University being examined about it man by man assented to their determination All the difficulty that I find made was at Richmond by the Franciscan Friers where the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield Rowland Lee and Thomas Bedyl tendred some Conclusions to them among which this was one That the Pope if Rome has no greater jurisdiction in this Kingdom of England by the Law of God than any other Forreign Bishop This they told them was already subscribed by the two Arch-Bishops the Bishops of London Winchester Duresm Bath and all the other Prelates and Heads of Houses and all the famous Clerks of the Realm And therefore they desired that the Friers would refer the matter to the Four Seniors of the House and acquiesce in what they should do But the Friers said it concerned their Consciences and therefore they would not submit it to a small part of their House they added that they had sworn to follow the Rule of St. Francis and in that they would live and dy and cited a Chapter of their Rule That their Order should have a Cardinal for their Protector by whose directions they might be governed in their obedience to the Holy See But to this the Bishop answered That St. Francis lived in Italy where the Monks and other Regulars that had Exemptions were subject to the Pope as they were in England to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury And for the Chapter which they cited it was showed them that it was not written by St. Francis but made since his time and though it were truly a part of his Rule it was told them that no particular Rule ought to be preferred to the Laws of the Land to which all Subjects were bound to give Obedience and could not be excused from it by any voluntary Obligation under which they brought themselves Yet all this could not prevail on them but they said to the Bishop they had professed St. Francis's Rule and would still continue in the Observance of it But though I do not find such resistance made elsewhere yet it appears that some secret practises of many of those Orders against the State were discovered therefore it was resolved that some effectual means must be taken for lessening their credit and Authority with the people and so a general Visitation of all Monasteries and other Religious Houses was resolved on This was chiefly advised by Doctor Leighton who had been in the Cardinals service with Cromwell and was then taken notice of by him as a dextrous and diligent man and therefore was now made use of on this Occasion He by a Letter to Cromwell advertised him that upon a long Conference with the Dean of the Arches he found the Dean was of Opinion that it was not fit to make any Visitation in the Kings name yet for Two or Three years till his Supremacy were better received and that he apprehended a severe Visitation so early would make the Clergy more averse to the Kings Power But Leighton on the other hand thought nothing would so much recommend the Supremacy as to see such good effects of it as might follow upon a strict and exact Visitation And the Abuses of Religious persons were now so great and visible even to the Laity That the Correcting and Reforming these would be a very popular thing He writ further That there had been no Visitation in the Northern parts since the Cardinal Ordered it Therefore he advised one and desired to be employed in York-shire And by another Letter dated the 4th of Iune he wrote to Cromwell desiring that Doctor Lee and he might be imployed in Visiting all the Monasteries from the Diocess of Lincoln Northwards which they could Manage better than any body else having great kindred and a large acquaintance in those parts so that they would be able to discover all the disorders or seditious practises in these Houses He complained that former Visitations had been slight and insignificant and promised great faithfulness and diligence both from himself and Doctor Lee. The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was now making his Metropolitical Visitation having obtained the Kings Licence for it which says That he having desired that according to the Custom and the Prerogative of his Metropolitical See he might make his Visitation The King granted him Licence to do it and required all to assist and obey him dated the 28th of April Things were not yet ripe for doing great matters so that which he now look'd to was to see that all should submit to the Kings Supremacy and renounce any dependance on the Pope whose name was to be struck out of all the Publick Offices of the Church This was begun in May 1535. Stokesly Bishop of London submitted not to this Visitation till he had entered Three Protestations for keeping up of Priviledges In October began the great Visitation of Monasteries which was committed to several Commissioners Leighton Lee and London were most imployed But many others were also empowered to Visit. For I find Letters from Robert Southwell Elâ—ice Price Iohn Ap-price Richard Southwell Iohn â—age Richard Bellasis Waltâ—r Hendle and several others to Cromwell giving him an account of the Progress they made in their several Provinces Their Commissions if they were passed under the great Seal and enrolled have been taken out of the Rolls for there are none of them to be found there Yet I encline to think they were not under the great Seal For I have seen an Original Commission for the Visitation that was next year which was only under the Kings hand and Signet From which it may be inferred that the Commissions this year were of the same nature yet whether such Commissions could Authorize them to grant Dispensations and Discharge men out of the Houses they were in I am not skill'd enough in Law to determine And by their Letters to Cromwell I find they did assume Authority for these things So what their Power was I am not able to discover But besides their Powers and Commissions they got Instructions to direct them in their Visitations and Injunctions to be left in every House of which though I could not recover the Originals yet Copies of very good Authority I have seen which the Reader will find in the Collection at the end of this Book The Instructions contain 86 Articles The substance of them was to try Whether Divine Service was kept up day and night in the right hours And how many were commonly present and who were frequently absent Whether the full number according to the Foundation was in every House Who were the Founders What additions have been made since the Foundation And what were their Revenues Whether it was ever changed from one
the fault was in her humor or in the Provocations she met with the Reader may conjecture The King received the news of her death with some regrett But he would not give leave to bury her as she had ordered but made her body be laid in the Abbey Church of Peterborough which he afterwards Converted to an Episcopal Cathedral But Queen Anne did not carry her death so decently for she express'd too much joy at it both in her Carriage and dress On the 4th of February the Parliament sate upon a Prorogation of 14th Months for in the Record there is no mention of any intermedial Prorogation where a great many Laws relating to Civil concerns were passed By the 15th Act the Power that had been given by a former Act to the King for naming thirty two Persons to make a Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws was again confirmed for nothing had been done upon the former Act. But there was no limitation of time in this Act and so there was nothing done in pursuance of it The great business of this Session of Parliament was the suppressing the lesser Monasteries How this went thorough the two Houses we cannot know from the Journals for they are lost But all the Historians of that time tell us that the report which the Visitors made to the King was read in Parliament which represented the manners of these Houses so odiously that the Act was easily carried The Preamble bears That small Religious Houses under the number of twelve Persons had been long and notoriously guilty of vicious and abominable Living and did much consume and waste their Churches Lands and other things belonging to them and that for above two hundred years there had been many Visitations for reforming these Abuses but with no success their vicious living encreasing daily So that except small Houses were dissolved and the Religious put into greater Monasteries there could no Reformation be expected in that matter Whereupon the King having received a full information of these Abuses both by his Visitors and other credible ways and considering that there were divers great Monasteries in which Religion was well kept and observed which had not the full number in them that they might and ought to receive had made a full Declaration of the Premisses in Parliament Whereupon it was Enacted That all Houses which might spend yearly 200 l. or within it should be suppressed and their Revenues converted to better uses and they compelled to reform their Lives The Lord Herbert thinks it strange that the Statute in the printed Book has no Preamble but begins bluntly Fuller tell us that he wonders that Lord did not see the Record and he sets down the Preamble and says The rest follow as in the printed Statute Chap. 27th by a mistake for the 28th This shews that neither the one nor the other ever look'd on the Record For there is a particular Statute of Dissolution distinct from the 28th Chap. And the Preamble which Fuller sets down belongs not to the 28th Chapter as he says but to the 18th Chapter which was never printed and the 28th relates in the Preamble to that other Statute which had given these Monasteries to the King The reasons that were pretended for dissolving these Houses were That whereas there was but a small number of persons in them they entred into Confederacies together and their Poverty set them on to use many ill arts to grow Rich. They were also much abroad and kept no manner of Discipline in their Houses But those Houses were generally much richer than they seemed to be For the Abbots raising great Fines out of them held the Leases still low and by that means they were not obliged to entertain a greater number in their House and so enriched themselves and their Brethren by the Fines that were raised For many Houses then rented at two hundred pounds were worth many thousands as will appear to any that compares what they were then valued at which is Collected by Speed with what their Estates are truely worth When this was passing in Parliament Stokeslâ—y Bishop of London said These lesser Houses were as Thorns soon pluck't up but the great Abbots were like putrified old Oaks yet they must needs follow and so would others do in Christendom before many years were passed By another Act all these Houses their Churches Lands and all their Goods were given to the King and his Heirs and Successors together with all other Houses which within a year before the making of the Act had been dissolved or suppressed And for the gathering the Revenues that belonged to them a new Court was Erected called the Court of the Augmentations of the Kings Revenue which was to consist of a Chancellor a Treasurer an Attourney and Sollicitor and ten Auditors seventeen Receivers a Clerk an Usher and a Messenger This Court was to bring in the Revenues of such Houses as were now dissolved excepting only such as the King by his Letters-Patents continued in their former state appointing a Seal for the Court with full Power and Authority to dispose of these Lands so as might be most for the Kings Service Thus â—ell the lesser Abbeys to the number of 376 and soon after this Parliament which had done the King such eminent Service and had now sate six years was dissolved on the 14th of April In the Convocation a motion was made of great consequence That there should be a Translation of the Bible in English to be set up in all the Churches of England The Clergy when they procured Tindalls Translation to be condemned and suppressed it gave out that they intended to make a Translation into the Vulgar-Tongue Yet it was afterwards upon a long Consultation Resolved that it was free for the Church to give the Bible in a Vulgar-Tongue or not as they pleased and that the King was not obliged to it and that at that time it was not at all expedient to do it Upon which those that promoted the Reformation made great complaints and said it was visible the Clergy knew there was an opposition between the Scriptures and their Doctrine That they had first condemned Wickliffs Translation and then Tindalls and though they ought to teach men the Word of God yet they did all they could to suppress it In the times of the Old Testament the Scriptures were writ in the Vulgar-Tongue and all were charged to read and remember the Law The Apostles wrote in Greek which was then the most common Language in the World Christ did also appeal to the Scriptures and sent the people to them And by what St. Paul says of Timothy it appears that children were then early trained up in that study In the Primitive Church as Nations were converted to the Faith the Bible was Translated into their Tongue The Latine Translation was very Ancient the Bible was afterwards put into the Scythian Dalmatian and Gothick Tongues It continued thus for
Wives gained most on his esteem and affection But she was happy in one thing that she did not out-live his love otherwise she might have fallen as signally as her Predecessor had done Upon this turn of Affairs a great change of Counsels followed There was nothing now that kept the Emperor and the King at a distance but the Illegitimation of the Lady Mary and if that matter had been adjusted the King was in no more hazard of trouble from him Therefore it was proposed that she might be again restored to the Kings favour She found this was the best opportunity she could ever look for and therefore laid hold on it and wrote an humble submission to the King and desired again to be admitted to his presence But her Submissions had some reserves in them therefore she was pressed to be more express in her acknowledgments At this she stuck long and had almost embroyled her self again with her Father She freely offered to submit to the Laws of the Land about the Succession and confessed the fault of her former Obstinacy But the King would have her acknowledge that his Marriage to her Mother was incestuous and unlawful and to renounce the Popes Authority and to accept him as Supream Head of the Church of England These things were of hard digestion with her and she could not easily swallow them so she wrote to Cromwell to befriend her at the Kings hands Upon which many Letters passed between them He wrote to her that it was impossible to recover her Fathers favour without a full and clear Submission in all points So in the end she yielded and sent the following Paper all written with her own hand which is set down as it was Copied from the Original yet extant The Confession of me the Lady Mary made upon certain points and Articles under written in the which as I do now plainly and with all mine heart confess and declare mine inward Sentence Belief and Judgment with a due conformity of Obedience to the Laws of the Realm so minding for ever to persist and continue in this determination without change alteration or variance I do most humbly beseech the Kings Highness my Father whom I have obstinately and inobediently offended in the denial of the same heretofore to forgive mine offences therein and to take me to his most gracious Mercy First I confess and knowledg the Kings Majesty to be my Soveraign Lord and King in the Imperial Crown of this Realm of England and do submit my self to his Highness and to all and singular Laws and Statutes of this Realm as becometh a true and faithful Subject to do which I shall also obey keep observe advance and maintain according to my bounden duty with all the power force and qualities that God hath endued me with during my Life Item I do recognize accept take repute and knowledg the Kings Highness to be Supream Head in Earth under Christ of the Church of England and do utterly refuse the Bishop of Romes pretended Authority Power and Jurisdiction within this Realm heretofore usurped according to the Laws and Statutes made in that behalf and of all the Kings true Subjects humbly received admitted obeyed kept and observed and also do utterly renounce and forsake all manner of Remedy Interest and advantage which I may by any means claim by the Bishop of Rome's Laws Process Jurisdiction or Sentence at this present time or in any wise hereafter by any manner of title colour mean or case that is shall or can be devised for that purpose Mary Item I do freely frankly and for the Discharge of my duty towards God the Kings Highness and his Laws without other respect recognize and knowledg that the Marriage heretofore had between his Majesty and my Mother the late Princess Dowager was by Gods Law and Mans Law incestuous and unlawful Mary Upon this she was again received into favour One circumstance I shall add that shows the frugality of that time In the Establishment that was made for her Family there was only 40 l. a quarter assigned for her privy purse I have seen a Letter of hers to Cromwell at the Christsmas quarter desiring him to let the King know that she must be at some Extraordinary expence that season that so he might encrease her allowance since the 40 l. would not defray the Charge of that quarter For the Lady Elizabeth though the King devested her of the Title of Princess of Wales yet he continued still to breed her up in the Court with all the care and tenderness of a Father And the new Queen what from the sweetness of her disposition and what out of compliance with the King who loved her much was as kind to her as if she had been her Mother Of which I shall add one pretty evidence though the childishness of it may be thought below the Gravity of a History Yet by it the Reader will see both the kindness that the King and Queen had for her and that they allowed her to subscribe Daughter There are two Original Letters of hers yet remaining writ to the Queen when she was with Child of King Edward the one in Italian the other in English both writ in a fair hand the same that she wrote all the rest of her life But the conceits in that writ in English are so pretty that it will not be unacceptable to the Reader to see this first Blossome of so great a Princess when she was not full Four years of Age She being born in September 1533. and this writ in Iuly 1537. Although your Highness Letters be most joyful to me in absence yet considering what pain it is to you to write your Grace being so great with Child and so sickly your Commendation were enough in my Lords Letter I much rejoyce at your health with the well liking of the Countrey with my humble thanks that your Grace wished me with you till I were weary of that Countrey Your Highness were like to be combered if I should not depart till I were weary being with you although it were in the worst soil in the World your presence would make it pleasant I cannot reprove my Lord for not doing your Commendations in his Letter for he did it and although he had not yet I will not complain on him for that he shall be diligent to give me knowledg from time to time how his busie child doth and if I were at his birth no doubt I would see him beaten for the trouble he has put you to Mr Denny and my Lady with humble thanks prayeth most entirely for your Grace praying the Almighty God to send you a most lucky deliverance And my Mistress wisheth no less giving your Highness most humble thanks for her commendations Writ with very little leisure this last day of Iuly Your Humble Daughter Elizabeth But to proceed to more serious matters A Parliament was Summoned to meet the 8th of Iune
Bribes at this time which is not to be wondred at when there was so much to be shared But great disorders followed upon the Dissolution of the other Houses People were still generally discontented The Suppression of Religious Houses occasioned much out-crying and the Articles then lately published about Religion encreased the distaste they had conceived at the Government The old Clergy were also very watchful to improve all opportunities and to blow upon every spark And the Popes Power of deposing Kings had been for almost five hundred years received as an Article of Faith The same Council that established Transubstantiation had asserted it and there were many Precedents not only in Germany France Spain and Italy but also in England of Kings that were Deposed by Popes whose Dominions were given to other Princes This had begun in the Eighth Century in two famous Deprivations The one in France of Childeric the 3d who was deprived and the Crown given to Pepin and about the same time those Dominions in Italy which were under the Eastern Emperors renounced their alleagance to them In both these the Popes had a great hand yet they rather confirmed and approved of those Treasonable Mutations than gave the first rise to them But after Pope Gregory the 7th's time it was clearly assumed as a Right and Prerogative of the Papal Crown to Depose Princes and absolve Subjects from the Oaths of Alleagance and set up others in their stead And all those Emperors or Kings that contested any thing with Popes sat very uneasie and unsafe in their Thrones ever after that But if they were tractable to the demands of the Court of Rome then they might oppress their Subjects and Govern as unjustly as they pleased for they had a mighty support from that Court This made Princes more easily bear the Popes usurpations because they were assisted by them in all their other Proceedings And the Friers having the Consciences of people generally in their hands as they had the word given by their General at Rome so they disposed people either to be obedient or seditious as they pleased Now not only their own Interests mixed with their zeal for the ancient Religion but the Popes Authority gave them as good a Warrant to encline the people to Rebel as any had in former times of whom some were Canonized for the like practices For in August the former year the Pope had Summoned the King to appear within Ninety days and to answer for putting away his Queen and taking another Wife and for the Laws he had made against the Church and putting the Bishop of Rochester and others to death for not obeying these Laws and if he did not reform these faults or did not appear to answer for them the Pope Excommunicated him and all that favoured him deprived the King put the Kingdom under an Interdict forbade all his Subjects to obey and other States to hold Commerce with him dissolved all his Leagues with forreign Princes commanded all the Clergy to depart out of England and his Nobility to rise in Arms against him But now the force of those Thunders which had formerly produced great Earth-quakes and Commotions was much abated yet some storms were raised by this though not so violent as had been in former times The people were quiet till they had reaped their Harvest And though some Injunctions were published a little before to help it the better forward most of the Holy days in Harvest being abolished by the Kings Authority yet that rather Inflamed them the more Other Injunctions were also published in the Kings name by Cromwell his Vice-gerent which was the first Act of pure Supremacy done by the King For in all that went before he had the Concurrence of the two Convocations But these it is like were penned by Cranmer The Reader is referred to the Collection of Papers for them as I transcribed them out of the Register The Substance of them was that first all Ecclesiastical Incumbents were for a quarter of an year after that once every Sunday and ever after that twice every quarter to publish to the people That the Bishop of Romes usurped Power had no ground in the Law of God and therefore was on good reasons abolished in this Kingdom And that the Kings Power was by the Law of God Supream over all persons in his Dominions And they were to do their uttermost endeavour to extirpate the Popes Authority and to establish the Kings Secondly They were to declare the Articles lately published and agreed to by the Convocation and to make the people know which of them were Articles of Faith and which of them Rules for the decent and politick Order of the Church Thirdly They were to declare the Articles lately set forth for the Abrogation of some superfluous Holy days particularly in Harvest time Fourthly They were no more to extol Images or Relicks for superstition or gain nor to exhort people to make Pilgrimages as if blessings and good things were to be obtained of this or that Saint or Image But in stead of that the people were to be instructed to apply themselves to the keeping of Gods Commandments and doing works of Charity and to believe that God was better served by them when they stayed at home and provided for their Families than when they went Pilgrimages and that the Moneys laid out on these were better given to the poor Fifthly They were to exhort the people to teach their Children the Lords Prayer the Creed and the ten Commandments in English and every Incumbent was to explain these one Article a day till the people were Instructed in them And to take great care that all Children were bred up to some trade or way of Living Sixthly They must take care that the Sacraments and Sacramentals be reverently administred in their Parishes from which when at any time they were absent they were to Commit the Cure to a Learned and expert Curate who might instruct the people in wholsome Doctrine that they might all see that their Pastors did not pursue their own profits or interests so much as the Glory of God and the good of the Souls under their Cure Seventhly They should not except on urgent occasion go to Taverns or Ale-houses nor sit too long at any sort of Games after their Meals but give themselves to the Study of the Scripture or some other honest exercise and remember that they must excel others in purity of life and be examples to all others to live well and Christianly Eighthly Because the goods of the Church were the goods of the poor every Beneficed person that had twenty Pound or above and did not reside was yearly to distribute the Fortieth part of his Benefice to the poor of the Parish Ninthly Every Incumbent that had an hundred Pound a year must give an Exhibition for one Schollar at some Grammar School or University who after he had compleated his Studies was to be Partner of
recovered the Lands which their Ancestors had superstitiously given away and the Surrenders which Religious persons made to the Crown could not have cut off their Title But this Act did that effectually It is true many of the greatest of them were of Royal Foundation and these would have returned to the Crown without Dispute On the 23 of May in this Session of Parliament a Bill was brought in by Cromwel for giving the King Power to Erect new Bishopricks by his Letters Patents It was read that day for the first second and third time and sent down to the Commons The Preamble of it was That it was known what slothful and ungodly Life had been led by those who were called Religious But that these Houses might be converted to better uses that Gods word might be better set forth Children brought up in Learning Clarks nourished in the Universities and that old decayed Servants might have Livings poor people might have Alms-Houses to maintain them Readers of Greek Hebrew and Latine might have good Stipend daily Alms might be Ministred and Allowance might be made for mending of the high-ways and Exhibition for Ministers of the Church for these ends if the King thought fit to have more Bishopricks or Cathedral Churches erected out of the Reat of these Houses full Power was given to him to erect and found them and to make Rules and Statutes for them and such Translations of Sees or divisions of them as he thought fit But on this Act I must adde a singular Remark The Preamble and material parts of it were drawn by the King himself and the first draught of it under his hand is yet extant which shows his extraordinary application and understanding of business But in the same Paper there is a List of the Sees which he intended to found of which what was done afterwards came so far short that I know nothing to which it can be so reasonably imputed as the declining of Cranmers Interest at Court who had proposed the Erecting of new Cathedrals and Sees with other things mentioned in the Preamble of the Statute as a great mean for Reforming the Church The Sees which the King then designed with the Abbies out of which they were to be Erected follow as it is in the Paper under the Kings own hand Essex Waltham Hartford St. Albans Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire Dunstable Newenham Clowstown Oxford and Berkshire Osnay and Tame Northampton and Huntington Peterborough Middlesex Westminster Leicester and Rutland Leicester Glocestershire St. Peters Lancashire Fountaines and the Arch-deaconry of Richmond Suffolk Edmonds-bury Stafford and Salop. Shrewsbury Nottingham and Derby Welbeck Werksop Thurgarton Cornwall Lanceston Bedmynne Wardreth Over these is written The Bishopricks to be made In another corner of the Page he writes as follows Christ's Church in Canterbury St. Swithins Ely Duresm Rochester with a part of Leeds Worcester and all others having the same Then a little below Places to be altered into Colledges and Schools Burton super Trent More is not written in that Paper But I wonder much that in this List Chester was forgotten Yet it was Erected before any of them For I have seen a Commission under the Privy Seal to the Bishop of Chester to take the Surrender of the Monastery of Hamond in Shropshire bearing date the 24th of August this year So it seems the See of Chester was Erected and endowed before the Act passed though there is among the Rolls a Charter for Endowing and founding of it afterwards Bristow is not mentioned in this Paper though a See was afterwards Erected there It was not before the end of the next year that these Sees were founded and there was in that Interval so great a Change made both of the Counsels and Ministers that no wonder the things now designed were never accomplished Another Act passed in this Parliament concerning the obedience due to the Kings Proclamations There had been great exceptions made to the Legality of the Kings proceedings in the Articles about Religion and other Injunctions published by his authority which were complained of as contrary to Law since by these the King had without consent of Parliament altered some Laws and had laid Taxes on his Spiritual Subjects Upon which an Act passed which sets forth in the preamble the contempt and disobedience of the Kings Proclamations by some who did not consider what a King by his Royal power might do which if it continued would tend to the disobedience of the Laws of God and the dishonour of the Kings Majesty who may full ill bear it Considering also that many occasions might require speedy Remedies and that delaying these till a Parliament met might occasion great prejudices to the Realm and that the King by his Royal power given of God might do many things in such cases Therefore it is Enacted That the King for the time being with advice of his Council might set forth Proclamations with pains and penalties in them which were to be obeyed as if they were made by an Act of Parliament But this was not to be so extended that any of the Kings Subjects should suffer in their Estates Liberties or Persons by vertue of it Nor that by any of the Kings Proclamations Laws or Customs were to be broken and subverted Then follow some Clauses about the publishing of Proclamations and the way of prosecuting those who contemned and disobeyed them It is also added That if any offended against them and in further contempt went out of the Realm he was to be adjudged a Traitor This also gave power to the Counsellours of the Kings Successor if he were under age to set forth Proclamations in his name which were to be obeyed in the same manner with these set forth by the King himself This Act gave great power to the Judges since there were such Restrictions in some branches of it which seemed to lessen the great extent of the other parts of it so that the Expositors of the Law had much referred to them upon this Act were the great changes of Religion in the Non-age of Edward the 6th grounded There is another Act which but collaterally belongs to Ecclesiastical affairs and therefore shall be but slightly touched It is the Act of the Precedency of the Officers of State by which the Lord Vice-gerent has the Precedence of all persons in the Kingdom next the Royal Family and on this I must make one Remark which may seem very improper for one of my profession especially when it is an animadversion on one of the greatest men that any age has produced the most Learned Mr. Selden He in his Titles of Honour sayes That this Statute was never printed in the Statute-Book and but incorrectly by another and that therefore he infers it Literally as is in the Record In which there are two mistakes For it is Printed in the Statute-Book that was set down in that Kings Reign though left out in some latter Statute-Books
them to their Heresies the number of which was too long to be repeated that having formerly abjured they were now incorrigible Hereticks and so were condemned to be burned or suffer any other death as should please the King And two dayes after Cromwels death being the 30th of Iuly They were brought to Smithfield where in their Execution there was as odd a mixture as had been in their Attaindors For Abel Fetherston and Powel that were attainted by another Act of the same Parliament for owning the Popes Supremacy and denying the Kings were carried to the place of Execution and coupled with the other three So that one of each was put into a Hurdle and carried together which every body condemned as an Extravagant affectation of the shew of Impartial Justice When they were brought to the Stake Barnes spake thus to the People Since he was to be burned as an Heretick he would declare what opinions he held So he enlarged on all the Articles of the Creed to shew he believed them all He expressed a particular abhorrence of an opinion which some Anabaptists held That the Blessed Virgin was as a Saffron Bagg by which indecent Simile they meant that our Saviour took no substance of her He explained his opinion of Good works that they must of necessity be done since without them none should ever enter into the Kingdom of God They were commanded of God to shew forth our profession by them but he believed as they were not pure nor perfect so they did not avail to our Justification nor merit any thing at the hands of God for that was to be ascribed to the Merits of the Death and Passion of Christ. He professed great Reverence to the Blessed Virgin and Saints But said he saw no warrant in Scriptures for praying to them nor was it certain whether they prayed for us or not but if the Saints did pray for those on Earth he trusted within half an hour to be praying for them all Then he asked the Sheriff if he had any Articles against them for which they were condemned who answered he had none He next asked the people if they knew wherefore he died or if they had been led into any Errours by his Preaching but none made answer Then he said he heard he was condemned to die by an Act of Parliament and it seemed it was for Heresie since they were to be burnt He prayed God to forgive those who had been the occasions of it And in particular for the Bishop of Winchester if he had sought or procured his death he prayed God heartily to forgive him as Christ forgave his Murtherers He prayed earnestly for the King and the Prince and exhorted the people to pray for them He said some had reported that he had been a Preacher of Sedition and Disobedience But he declared to the peopâ—e that they were bound by the Law of God to obey their Kings Laws with all humility not only for fear but for Conscience adding that if the King commanded any thing against Gods Law though it were in their Power to resist him yet they might not do it Then he desired the Sheriff to carry five requests from him to the King First That since he had taken the Abbey-Lands into his hands for which he did not blame him as the Sheriff fancied he was about to do and thereupon stopped him but was glad that Superstition was taken away and that the King was then a compleat King obeyed by all his Subjects which had been done through the Preaching of them and such wretches as they were yet he wished the King would bestow these goods or some of them to the comfort of his poor Subjects who had great need of them Secondly That Marriage might be had in greater esteem and that men might not upon light pretences cast off their Wives and that those who were unmarried might not be suffered to live in Whoredome Thirdly That Abominable Swearers might be punished Fourthly That since the King had begun to set forth Christian Religion he would go forward in it and make an end for though he had done a great deal yet many things remained to be done and he wished that the King might not be deceived with false Teachers The fifth desire he said he had forgot Then he begged that they all would forgive him if at any time he had said or done evil unadvisedly and so turned about and prepared himself for his death Ierome spake next and declared his Faith upon every Article of the Creed and said that he believed all that was in the Holy Scriptures He also prayed for the King and the Prince And concluded with a very Pathetical Exhortation to mutual Love and Charity that they would propose to themselves the pattern of Christs wonderful Love through whom only he hoped to be saved and desired all their Prayers for himself and his Brethren Then Gerard declared his Faith and said That if through ignorance or negligence he had taught any error he was sorry for it and asked God pardon and them whom he had thereby offended But he protested that according to his Learning and Knowledg he had always set forth the honour of God and the obedience of the Kings Laws Then they all prayed for the pardon of their Sins and constancie and patience in their sufferings And so they embraced and kissed one another and then the Executioners tyed them to the Stake and set fire to them Their death did rather encourage than dishearten their followers who seeing such an extraordinary measure of patience in them were the more confirmed in their resolutions of suffering for a good conscience and for his name who did not forsake his Servants in these cruel Agonies One difference between their Sufferings and the other three who were hanged for asserting the Popes Supremacy was remarkable that though the others demeaned themselves toward them with the most uncharitable and spiteful malice that was possible so that their own Historian sayes That their being carryed with them to their Execution was bitterer to them than death it self yet they declared their hearty forgiving of their Enemies and of Gardiner in particular who was generally looked on as the person that procured their death which Imputation stuck fast to him though by a Printed Apologie he studyed to clear himself of any other concernment in it than by giving his vote for the Act of their Attaindor Now Bonner began to shew his nature Hitherto he had acted another part For being most extreamly desirous of Preferment he had so complyed with Cromwel and Cranmer that they had great confidence in him and he being a blustering and forward man they thought he might do the Reformation good service and therefore he was advanced so high by their means But as soon as ever Cromwel fell the very next day he shewed his Ingratitude and how nimbly he turned with the Wind. For Grafton the Printer whom Cromwel favoured much
Father were committed to the Tower That which was most insisted on was their giving the Arms of Edward the Confessor which were only to be given by the Kings of England This the Earl of Surrey justified and said they gave their Arms according to the opinion of the Kings Heraulds But all excuses availed nothing for his Father and he were designed to be destroyed upon reasons of State for which some colours were to be found out The Earl of Surrey being but a Commoner was brought to his Tryal at Guildhall and put upon an Inquest of Commoners consisting of nine Knights and three Esquires by whom he was found guilty of Treason and had Sentence of death passed upon him which was executed on the 19th of Ianuary at Tower-Hill It was generally condemned as an Act of high injustice and severity which loaded the Seimours with a popular Odium that they could never overcome He was much pitied being a man of great parts and high courage with many other Noble Qualities But the King who never hated nor ruined any body by halves resolved to compleat the misfortunes of that Family by the Attaindor of the Father And as all his Eminent Services were now forgotten so the Submissions he made could not allay a displeasure that was only to be satisfied with his Life and Fortune He wrote to the King Protesting his Innocency That he had never a thought to his prejudice and could not imagine what could be laid to his Charge He had spent his whole Life in his Service and did not know that ever he had offended any person or that any were displeased with him except for prosecuting the breakers of the Act about the Sacrament of the Altar But in that and in every thing else as he had been always obedient to the Kings Laws so he was resolved still to obey any Laws he should make He desired he might be examined with his Accusers face to face before the King or at least before his Council and if it did not appear that he was wrongfully accused let him be punished as he deserved In Conclusion he begged the King would have pity on him and restore him to his favour taking all his Lands or Goods from him or as much of them as he pleased Yet all this had no effect on the King So he was desired to make a more formal Submission which he did on the 12th of Ianuary under his hand ten Privy Councellors being Witnesses In it he confessed First his discovering the Secrets of the Kings Council Secondly his concealing his Sons Treason in using to give the Arms of St. Edward the Confessor which did only belong to the King and to which his Son had no Right Thirdly That he had ever since his Fathers death born in the first quarter of his Arms the Arms of England with a difference of the Labells of Silver that are the proper Arms of the Prince which was done in prejudice of the King and the Prince and gave occasion for disturbing or interrupting the Succession to the Crown of the Realm This he acknowledged was high Treason he confessed he deserved to be attainted of high Treason and humbly begged the Kings Mercy and Compassion He yielded to all this hoping by such a Submission and Compliance to have overcome the Kings displeasure but his Expectations failed him A Parliament was called the reason whereof was pretended to be the Coronation of the Prince of Wales But it was thought the true cause of calling it was to Attaint the Duke of Norfolk for which they had not colour enough to do it in a Tryal by his Peers Therefore an Attaindor by Act of Parliament was thought the better way So it was moved that the King intending to Crown his Son Prince of Wales desired they would go on with all possible haste in the Attaindor of the Duke of Norfolk that so these Places which he held by Patent might be disposed of by the King to such as he thought fit who should Assist at the Coronation And upon this slight pretence since a better could not be found The Bill of Attaindor was read the first time on the 18th of Ianuary And on the 19th and 20th it was read the second and third time And so passed in the House of Lords and was sent down to the Commons Who on the 24th sent it up also passed On the 27th the Lords were ordered to be in their Robes That the Royal assent might be given to it which the Lord Chancellor with some others joyned in Commission did give by vertue of the Kings Letters Patents And it had been executed the next Morning if the Kings death had not prevented it Upon what grounds this Attaindor was founded I can only give this Account from the 34th Act of the first Parliament of Queen Mary in which this Act is declared null and void by the Common Law of the Land for I cannot find the Act it self upon Record In the Act of Repeal it is said That there was no special matter in the Act of Attaindor but only general words of Treasons and Conspiracies and that out of their care of the preservation of the King and the Prince they passed it But the Act of Repeal says also That the only thing with which he was charged was For bearing of Arms which he and his Ancestors had born both within and without the Kingdom both in the Kings presence and in the sight of his Progenitors which they might Lawfully bear and give as by good and substantial matter of Record it did appear It is also added That the King dyed after the date of the Commission That the King only empowered them to give his Assent but did not give it himself And that it did not appear by any Record that they gave it That the King did not Sign the Commission with his own hand his Stamp being only set to it and that not to the upper but the nether part of it contrary to the Kings custom All these particulars though cleared afterwards I mention now because they give light to this matter As soon as the Act was passed a Warrant was sent to the Lieutenant of the Tower to cut off his head the next Morning but the King dying in the night the Lieutenant could do nothing on that Warrant And it seems it was not thought advisable to begin the new Kings Reign with such an Odious Execution And thus the Duke of Norfolk escaped very narrowly Both Parties descanted on this differently The Conscientious Papists said it was Gods just Judgment on him who had in all things followed the Kings pleasure oftentimes against his own Conscience That he should smart under that Power which himself had helped so considerably to make it be raised so high The Protestants could not but observe an hand of God in measuring out such a hard measure to him that was so heavy on all those poor people that were
Hereticks in a little time Bird said doest thou marvel at that I tell thee it is no marvel for the great Master of all is an Heretick and such a one as there is not his like in the World By the same Act the Lord Hungerford was likewise Attainted The Crimes specified are that he knowing Bird to be a Traitor did entertain him in his house as his Chaplain that he ordered another of his Chaplains Sir Hugh Wood and one Doctor Maudlin to use Conjuring that they might know how long the King should live and whether he should be victorious over his Enemies or not and that these three years last past he had frequently committed the detestable sin of Sodomy with several of his Servants All these were Attainted by that Parliament The Lord Hungerford was Executed the same day with Cromwell he dyed in such disorder that some thought he was frenetick for he called often to the Executioner to dispatch him and said he was weary of Life and longed to be dead which seemed strange in a man that had so little cause to hope in his death For Powel Fetherstoun and Abell they suffered the same day with Barnes and his friends as hath been already shewn This year Sampson Bishop of Chichester and one Doctor Wilson were put in the Toâ—er upon suspition of correspondence with the Pope But upon their submission they had their pardon and liberty In the year 1541 five Priests and ten secular persons some of them being Gentlemen of Quality were raising a new Rebellion in Yorkshire which was suppressed in time and the Promoters of it being apprehended were Attainted and Executed and this occasioned the death of the Countess of Sarum after the Execution of the Sentence had been delayed almost two years The last instance of the Kings severity was in the year 1543 in which one Gardiner that was the Bishop of Winchesters kinsman and Secretary and three other Priests were tryed for denying the Kings Supremacy and soon after Executed But what special matter was laid to their charge cannot be known for the Record of their Attaindor is lost These were the proceedings of this King against those that adhered to the interests of Rome in which though there is great ground for just censure for as the Laws were rigorous so the Execution of them was raised to the highest that the Law could admit yet there is nothing in them to justifie all the clamors which that party have raised against King Henry and by which they pursue his memory to this day and are far short both in number and degrees of the cruelties of Queen Maries Reign which yet they endeavour all that is possible to extenuate or deny To Conclude we have now gone through the Reign of King Henry the 8th who is rather to be reckoned among the Great than the Good Princes He exercised so much severity on men of both perswasions that the writers of both sides have laid open his faults and taxed his cruelty But as neither of them were much obliged to him so none have taken so much care to set forth his good qualities as his Enemies have done to enlarge on his Vices I do not deny that he is to be numbered among the ill Princes yet I cannot rank him with the worst The End of the third Book and of the first Part. ADDENDA After some of the sheets of this History were wrought off I met with Manuscripts of great Authority out of which I have Collected several particulars that give a clear light to the proceedings in those times which since they came too late to my knowledg to be put in their proper places I shall here add them with refâ—râ—nces to the places to which they belong Ad Page 202. line 13. THere it is said that the Earl of Wiltshire Father to Queen Anne Boleyn was one of the Peers that Judged her In this I too Implicitly followed Doctor Heylin he seeming to write with more than ordinary care for the Vindication of that Queen and with such assurance as if he had seen the Records concerning her so that I took this upon trust from him The reason of it was that in the search I made of Attaindors I did not find the Record of her Tryal so I concluded that either it was destroyed by Order during her Daughters Reign or was accidentally lost since that time And thus having no Record to direct me I too easily followed the Printed Books in that particular But after that part of this History was wrought off I by chance met with it in another place where it was mislaid and there I discovered the error I had committed The Earl of Wiltshire was not one of her Judges these by whom she was tryed were the Duke of Suffolk the Marquis of Exceter the Earls of Arundell Oxford Northumberland Westmoreland Derby Worcester Rutland Sussex and Huntington and the Lords Audley Delaware Mountague Morley Dacres Cobham Maltravers Powis Mounteagle Clinton Sands Windsor Wentworth Burgh and Mordant in all twenty six and not twenty Eight as I reckoned them upon a Vulgar Error The Record mentions one particular concerning the Earl of Northumberland that he was taken with a sudden fit of sickness and was forced to leave the Court before the Lord Rochford was Tryed This might have been only Casual but since he was once in Love with the Queen and had designed to Marry her see Page 44 it is no wonder if so sad a change in her Condition did raise an unusual disorder in him When I had discovered the mistake I had made as I resolved to publish this free Confession of it so I set my self not without some Indignation to examine upon what Authority Doctor Heylin had led me into it I could find no Author that went before him in it but Sanders the chief design of whose writing was to defame Queen Elizabeth and to blast her Title to the Crown To that end it was no ill piece of his skill to perswade the World of her Mother lewdness to say that her own Father was convinced of it and condemned her for it And Doctor Heylin took this as he has done many other things too easily upon Sanders Testimony Ad Page 217. line 37. The Articles of Religion of which an abstract is there set down are indeed published by Fullâ—r but he saw not the Original with all the Subscriptions to it which I have had in my hands and therefore I have put it in the Collection with three other Papers which were soon after offered to the King by Cranmer The one is in the form of fifteen queries concerning some abuses by which the people had been deceived as namely by these Doctrines that without Contrition sinners may be reconciled to God that it is in the Power of the Priest to pardon or not to pardon sin at his pleasure and that Gods pardon cannot be obtained without Priestly Absolution Also he complained that the people
the King would submit to him p. 122 A new Session of Parliament ibid. A Subsidy is voted p. 123 The Oaths the Clergy swore to the Pope and to the King ibid. Chancellor More delivers up his Office p. 124 The King meets with the French King ibid. Eliot sent to Rome p. 125 The King Marries Anne Boleyn p. 126 New Overtures for the Divorce ibid. Anno 1533. A Session of Parliament ibid. An Act against Appeals to Rome ibid. Arch-Bishop Warham dies p. 127 Cranmer succeeds him ibid. His Bulls from Rome p. 128 His Consecration ibid. The Iudgment of the Convocation concerning the Divorce p. 129 Endeavours to make the Queen Submit p. 130 But in vain ibid. Cranmer gives Iudgment p. 131 Censures that pass upon it ibid. The Pope united to the French King p. 133 A Sentence against the Kings proceedings ibid. Queen Elizabeth is born p. 134 An Enterview between the Pope and the French King ibid. The King submits to the Pope ibid. The Imperialists oppose the agreement p. 135 And procure a definitive Sentence p. 136 The King resolves to abolish the Popes Power in England ibid. It was long disputed ibid. Arguments against it from Scripture p. 137 And the Primitive Church p. 138 Arguments for the Kings Supremacy p. 140 From Scripture and the Laws of England p. 141 The Supremacy explained p. 142 Pains taken to satisfie Fisher p. 143 Anno 1534. A Session of Parliament ibid. An Act for taking away the Popes Power p. 144 About the Succession to the Crown p. 145 For punishing Hereticks p. 147 The Submission of the Clergy ibid. About the Election of Bishops p. 148 And the Maid of Kent p. 149 The Insolence of some Friers p. 151 The Nuns speech at her death p. 152 Fisher is dealt with Gently p. 153 The Oath for the Succession taken by many p. 154 More and Fisher refuse it p. 155 And are proceeded against p. 156 Another Session of Parliament p. 157 The Kings Supremacy is Enacted ibid. An Act for Suffragan Bishops ibid. A Subsidy is granted p. 158 More and Fisher are Attainted ibid. The Progress of the Reformation p. 159 Tindal and others at Antwerp send over Books and the New Testament ibid. The Supplication of the Beggars p. 160 More answers and Frith replyes p. 161 Cruel proceeding against Reformers p. 162 Bilney's Sufferings p. 163 The Sufferings of Byfield p. 164 And Bainham p. 165 Articles abjured by some ibid. Tracy's Testament p. 166 Frith's Sufferings p. 167 His Arguments against the Corporal presence in the Sacrament ibid. His Opinion of the Sacrament and Purgatory for which he was condemned p. 169 His Constancy at his death p. 170 A stop put to Cruel proceedings p. 171 The Queen favoured the Reformers ibid. Cranmer Promoted it ibid. And was Assisted by Cromwell p. 172. A strong party against it ibid. Reasons used against it ibid. And for it p. 173. The Iudgment of some Bishops concerning a General Council p. 174 A speech of Cranmers of it ibid. BOOK III. Of the other Transactions about Religion and Reformation during the rest of the Reign of King Henry the 8th Anno 1535. THe rest of the Kings Reign was troublesome p. 179 By the practises of the Clergy p. 180 Which provoked the King much ibid. The Bishops swear the Kings Supremacy p. 181. The Franciscans only refuse it p. 182 A Visitation of Monasteries ibid. The Instructions of the Visitors p. 184 Injunctions sent by them p. 185 The State of the Monasteries in England and their Exemptions p. 186 They were deserted but again set up by King Edgar p. 187 Arts used by the Monks ibid. They were generally corrupt p. 188 And so grew the Friers p. 189 The Kings other reasons for suppressing Monasteries ibid. Cranmers design in it p. 190 The Proceedings of the Visitors ibid. Some Houses resigned to the King p. 191 Anno 1536. QVeen Katherine dies ibid. A Session of Parliament in which the lesser Monasteries were suppressed p. 193 The reasons for doing it ibid. The Translation of the Bible in English designed p. 194 The reasons for it ibid. The opposition made to it p. 195 Queen Anns fall driven on by the Popish party p. 196 The King became jealous p. 197 She is put in the Tower p. 198 She confessed some Indiscreet words p. 199 Cranmers Letters concerning her p. 200 She is brought to a Tryal p. 201 And Condemned p. 202 And also Divorced p. 203 She prepares for Death p. 204 The Lieutenant of the Tower's Letters about her ibid. Her Execution p. 205 The Censures made on this ibid. Lady Mary is reconciled to her Father and makes a full Submission p. 207 Lady Elizabeth is well used by the King p. 208 A Letter of hers to the Queen p. 209 A New Parliament is called ibid. An Act of the Succession p. 210 The Pope endeavours a reconciliation p. 211 But in vain ibid. The Proceedings of the Convocation p. 213 Articles agreed on about Religion p. 215 Published by the Kings Authority p. 217 But variously censured p. 218 The Convocation declared against the Council Summoned by the Pope p. 219 The King publishes his reasons against it p. 220 Cardinal Pool writes against the King ibid. Many Books are written for the King p. 221 Instructions for the dissolution of Monasteries p. 222 Great discontents among all sorts p. 223 Endeavours to qualifie these ibid. The people were disposed to Rebel p. 224 The Kings Injunctions about Religion p. 225 They were much censured p. 226 A Rising in Lincoln-shire p. 227 Their Demands and the Kings Answer ibid. It was quieted by the Duke of Suffolk p. 228 A great Rebellion in the North ibid. The Duke of Norfolk was sent against them p. 230 They advance to Doncaster ibid. Their Demands p. 231 The Kings Answer to them p. 232 Anno 1537. THe Rebellion is quieted p. 233 New risings soon dispersed p. 234 The chief Rebels Executed ibid. A New Visitation of Monasteries p. 235 Some great Abbots resign ibid. Confessions of horrid crimes are made p. 237 Some are Attainted p. 238 And their Abbies Suppressed p. 240 The Superstition and Cheats of these Houses discovered p. 242 Anno 1538. SOme Images publickly broken ibid. Thomas Beckets shrine broken p. 243 New Injunctions about Religion p. 245 Inâ—ectives against the King at Rome ibid. The Popes Bulls against the King ibid. The Clergy in England declared against these p. 248 The Bible is Printed in English p. 249 New Injunctions ibid. Prince Edward is born p. 250 The Complyance of the Popish party p. 251 Lambert appealed to the King p. 252 And is publickly tryed ibid. Many Arguments brought against him p. 253 He is condemned and burnt p. 254 The Popish party gain ground ibid. A Treaty with the German Princes p. 255 Bonners dissimulation ibid. Anno 1539. A Parliament is called p. 256 The six Articles are proposed ibid. Arguments against them p. 257 An Act passed for them p. 258 Which is variously
this House useth to be Confessed and Communicate Restat pro Ecclesiis Collegiatis Hospitalibus Ecclesiis Cathedralibus Parrochialibus Ecclesiis Episcopo Archiepiscopo pro ordine Ierosolomitarum Exhibeant omnia scripta munimenta Inventaria Scedulas quascunque unde aliquid cognitionis eorum reformationi Monasteriorum sive domorum utilitati necessariae explicari aut quoquo modo colligi possit II. General Injunctions to be given on the King's Highness's behalf in all Monastries and other Houses of whatsoever Order or Religion they be FIrst That the Abbot Prior or President and all other Brethren of the Place that is visited shall faithfully truly and heartily keep and observe and cause teach and procure to be kept and observed of other as much as in them may lie all and singular Contents as well in the other of the King's Highness Succession given heretofore by them as in a certain Profession lately sealed with the Common Seal and subscribed and Signed with their own hands Also that they shall observe and fulfil by all the means that they best may the Statutes of this Realm made or to be made for the suppression and taking away of the usurped and pretensed Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome within this Realm and for the assertion and confirmation of the Authority Jurisdiction and Prerogative of our most noble Sovereign Lord the King and his Successors and that they shall diligently instruct their Juniors and Youngers and all other committed to their Cure That the King's Power is by the Laws of God most excellent of all under God in Earth and that we ought to obey him afore all other Powers by Godâ—â— Prescript and that the Bishop of Rome's Jurisdiction or Authority heretofore usurped by no means is founded or established by Holy Scripture but that the same partly by the craft and deceit of the same Bishop of Rome and by his evil and ambitious Canons and Decretals and partly by the toleration and permission of Princes by little and little hath grown up and therefore now of most right and equity is taken away and clean expelled out of his Realm Also that the Abbot Prior or President and Brethren may be declared by the King 's Supream Power and Authority Ecclesiastical to be absolved and loosed from all manner Obedience Oath and Profession by them heretofore perchance promised or made to the said Bishop of Rome or to any other in his stead or occupying his Authority or to any other Forreign Prince or Person And nevertheless let it be enjoined to them that they shall not promise or give such Oath or Profession to any such Forreign Potentate hereafter And if the Statutes of the said Order Religious or Place seem to bind them to Obedience or Subjection or any other Recognizance of Superiority to the said Bishop of Rome or to any other Forreign Power Potentate Person or Place by any ways such Statutes by the King's Graces Visitors be utterly annihilate broken and declared void and of none effect and that they be in no case bounden or obligate to the same and such Statutes to be forthwith utterly put forth and abolished out of the Books or Muniments of that Religion Order or Place by the President and his Brethren Also that no Monk or Brother of this Monastery by any means go forth of the Precinct of the same Also that Women of what state or degree soever they be be utterly excluded from entring into the Limits or Circuit of this Monastery or place unless they first obtain license of the King's Highness or his Visitor Also that there be no entring into this Monastery but one and that by the great fore-gate of the same which diligently shall be watched and kept by some Porter specially appointed for that purpose and shall be shut and opened by the same both day and night at convenient and accustomed hours which Porter shall repel all manner Women from entrance into the said Monastery Also that all and singular Brethren and Monks of this Monastery take their refections altogether in a place called the Misericorde such days as they eat Flesh and all other days in their Refectory and that at every Mess there sit four of them not of duty demanding to them any certain usual or accustomed duty or portion of Meat as they were wont to do but that they be content with such Victuals as is set before them and there take their Refections soberly without excess with giving due thanks to God and that at every such Refection some Chapter of the New Testament or Old by some of the said Brethren be read and recited to the other keeping silence and giving audience to the same Also that the Abbot and President do daily prepare one Table for himself and his Guests thither resorting and that not over-sumptuous and full of delicate and strange Dishes but honestly furnished with common Meats At which Table the said Abbot or some Senior in his stead shall sit to receive and gently entertain the Strangers the Guests Also that none of the Brethren send any part of his Meat or the leavings thereof to any Person but that there be assigned an Almoner which shall gather the Leavings both of the Covent and Strangers Tables after that the Servants of the House have had their convenient Refections and distribute the same to poor People amongst whom special consideration be had of such before other as be Kinsfolk to any of the said Brethren if they be of like power and debility as other be and also of those which endeavour themselves with all their will and labour to get their living with their hands and yet cannot fully help themselves for their chargeable Houshold and multitude of Children yet let not them be so cherished that they shall leave labour and fall to idleness with consideration also specially to be had of them which by weakness of their Limbs and Body be so impotent that they cannot labour and by no means let such Alms be given to valiant mighty and idle Beggars and Vagabonds as commonly use to resort about such places which rather as drove-Beasts and Mychers should be driven away and compelled to labour than in their idleness and lewdness against the form of the King's Graces Statute in this behalf made cherished and maintained to the great hindrance and damage of the Common-Weal Also that all other Almses or Destributions due or accustomed to be made by reason of the Foundation Statutes or customes of this place be made and given as largely and as liberally as ever they were at any time heretofore Also that the Abbot Prior or President shall find Wood and Fewel sufficient to make Fire in the Refectory from Allhallow-even to Good-Friday Also that all the Brethren of this House except the Abbot and such as be sick or evil at ease and those that have fulfilled their Iubilee lie together in the Dormitory every one by himself in several Beds Also that no Brother
Nunnery Yorksh. no Subscriptions 3. September Haughmond Can. August Sallop the Abbot and 10 Mon. 9. Nunnkeling Nunnery Yorksh. no Subscription but the Seal 10. Nunniton Nunnery the Prioress 27 Crosses for Subscript 12. Ulnescroft Liecestersh the Prior and 11 Friers 15. Marrick Nunnery Yorksh. the Prioress 15. Burnham Nunnery Bucks the Abbess and 9 Nuns 19. St. Bartholomew Smithfield the Prior. 25. October Edmundsbury Bened. Suffolk the Abbot and 44 Monks 4. November A Commission for the surrender of St. Allborrough Chesh. 7. Berkin Nunnery Essex the Abbess 14. Tame Oxfordsh Bp. * Reonen and 16 Monks 16. Osney ibid. id and 12 Monks 17. Godstow Nunnery Oxfordsh subscribed by a Notary 17. Studley Nunnery Oxfordsh signed as the former 19. Thelsford Norfolk the Prior and 13 Monks 16. February Westminster Bened. the Abbot and 27 Monks 16. Ianuary A Commission to the Arch-Bpp of Canterb. for taking the Surrender of Christ's-Church Canterb. 20. March And another for the surrender of Rochester both dated 20. March Waltham Benedict Essex the Abbot and 17 Monks 23. St. Mary Watte Gilber Bpp. of Landaffe Commend 8 Friers and 14 Nuns  There is also in the Augmentation-Office a Book concerning the Resignations and Suppressions of the following Monasteries St. Swithins Winchester 15. November St. Mary Winchester 17. Wherewell Hampshire 21. Christ's Church Twinham the Commendator thereof is called Episcopus Neopolitanus 28. Winchelcomb 3. December Ambrose Bury 4. St. Austins near Bristol 9. Billesswick near Bristol 9. December Malmesbury 15. Cirencester 19. Hales 24. St. Peter's Glocester 2. Ianuary Teuksbury 9. There are also several other Deeds enrolled which follow St. Mary-Overhay in Southwark 14. October St. Michael near Kingston upon Hall Carthus 9. November Burton upon Trent Staffordsh 14. Hampol Nunnery Yorksh. 19. St. Oswald Yorksh. 20. Kirkstall Yorksh. 22. Pomfret Yorksh. 23. Kirkelles Yorksh. 24. Ardyngton Yorksh. 26. Fountains Yorksh. 26. St. Mary York 29. St. Leonard York 1. December Nunnapleton Nunnery Yorksh. 5. St. Gelmans Selbe Yorksh. 6. Melsey Yorksh. 11. Malton Yorksh. 11. Whitby Yorksh. 14. Albalanda Northumb. 18. Montgrasse Carthus Yorksh. 18. Alnewick Premonstrat Northumb. 22. Gisburne August Yorksh. 22. Newshame Dunelme 29. St. Cuthberts Cathedral of Duresme 31. St. Bartholomew Nunnery in Newcastle 3. Ianuary Egleliston Richmondsh 5. St. Mary Carlile Cumber 9. Hoppa Premonst Westmorland 14. St. Werburg Chester 20. St. Mary Chester a Nunnery 21. St. Peters Shrewsbury 24. St. Milburg Winlock Salop. 26. Section IV. IT seems there was generally a Confession made with the Surrender Of these some few are yet extant though undoubtedly great care was taken to destroy as many as could be in Queen Mary's time That long and full one made by the Prior of St. Andrews in Northampton the Preamble whereof is printed by Fuller and is at large printed by Weaver is yet preserved in the Augmentation-Office There are some few more also extant six of these I have seen one of them follows FOrasmuch as we Richard Green Abbot of our Monastery of our Blessed Lady St. Mary of Betlesden and the Convent of the said Monastery do profoundly consider That the whole manner and trade of living which we and our pretensed Religion have practised and used many days does most principally consist in certain dumb Ceremonies and other certain Constitutions of the Bishops of Rome and other Forinsecal Potentates as the Abbot of Cistins and therein only noseled and not taught in the true knowledg of God's Laws procuring always Exemptions of the Bishops of Rome from our Ordinaries and Diocesans submitting our selves principally to Forinsecal Potentates and Powers which never came here to reform such disorders of living and abuses as now have been found to have reigned amongst us And therefore now assuredly knowing that the most perfect way of living is most principally and sufficiently declared unto us by our Master Christ his Evangelists and Apostles and that it is most expedient for us to be governed and ordered by our Supream Head under God the King 's most noble Grace with our mutual assent and consent submit our selves and every one of us to the most benign Mercy of the King's Majesty and by these presents do surrender c. The Surrender follows in common form Signed by the Abbot Subprior and 9 Monks 25. Septemb. Regni 30. There are others to the same purpose Signed by the Guardian and seven Franciscans at Alisbury the 1st of October By the Franciscans at Bedford the 3d of October The Franciscans in Coventry the 5th of October And the Franciscans in Stamford the 8th of October And the Carmelites in Stamford on the same day which I shall also insert the former four agreeing to it FOrasmuch as we the Prior and Friers of this House of Carmelites in Stamford commonly called the White Friers in Stamford in the County of Lincoln do profoundly consider that the perfection of Christian living doth not consist in some Ceremonies wearing of a white Coat disguising our selves after strange fashions dockying and becking wearing Scapulars and Hoods and other-like Papistical Ceremonies wherein we have been most principally practised and noseled in times past but the very true way to please God and to live a true Christian Man without all hypocrisy and feigned dissimulation is sincerely declared to us by our Master Christ his Evangelists and Apostles being minded hereafter to follow the same conforming our self to the Will and Pleasure of our Supream Head under God on Earth the King's Majesty and not to follow henceforth the superstitious Traditions of any Forinsecal Potentate or Power with mutual assent and consent do submit our selves unto the Mercy of our said Sovereign Lord and with the like mutual assent and consent do surrender c. Signed by the Prior and 6 Friers Section V. Of the manner of suppressing the Monasteries after they were Surrendred THe Reader will best understand this by the following account of the Suppression of the Monastery of Teuksbury copied from a Book that is in the Augmentation-Office which begins thus THe Certificate of Robert Southwell Esquire William Petre Edward Kairne and Iohn London Doctors of Law Iohn Ap-rice Iohn Kingsman Richard Paulet and William Bernars Esquires Commissioners assigned by the King's Majesty to take the Surrenders of divers Monasteries by force of his Grace's Commission to them 6 5 4 or 3 of them in that behalf directed bearing date at his Highness's Palace of Westminster the 7 th day of Novemb. in the 31 year of the Reign of our most dread Sovereign Lord Henry the Eighth by the Grace of God King of England and of France Defender of the Faith Lord of Ireland and in Earth immediately under Christ Supreme Head of the Church of England of all and singular their Proceedings as well in and of these Monasteries by his Majesty appointed to be altered as of others to be dissolved according to the tenour purport and effect of his Graces said Commission with Instructions to them
whosesoever Daughter she was she should be his Wife and upon that Sir Thomas instructed his Daughter how she should hold the King in her toils Sir Thomas must have thought the King had an ill memory if he had forgot such a Story but the one part of this makes him afraid that the King should marry his Daughter and the other part makes him afraid they should miss their hopes in it Not to mention how little likely it is that a King of such high vanity would have done that which the privatest Person has an aversion to I mean the marrying the Daughter of one whom they know to be a common Prostitute 23. He says Wolsey before his return from France sent Gambara to the Pope desiring him to name himself Vicar of the Papacy during his captivity This was not done till almost a year after this and the motion was sent by Staphileus Dean of the Rota for which see pag. 50. 24. He says None but ill Men and ignorant Persons wrote against the Marriage but all learned and good Men wrote for it The whole Doctors of the Church in all Ages were against it and no Doctor ancienter than Cajetan could ever be found to have writ for it 25. He says That tho great endeavours were used to perswade Sir Tho. More of the unlawfulness of the marriage all was in vain Is it probable that the King would have made him Lord Chancellor when he was so earnest in this business if he had not known that he would have gone along with him in it By one of his Letters to Cromwel out of the Tower it appears that he approved the Divorce and had great hopes of success in it as long as it was prosecuted at Rome and founded on the defects in the Bull. And in the 22 d year of the King's Reign when the Opinions of the Universities and the Books of Learned Men were brought to England against the Marriage he carried them down to the House of Commons and made read them there after which he desired they would report in their Country what they had heard and seen and then all Men would openly perceive that the King had not attempted this matter of his Will and Pleasure but only for the discharge of his Conscience More was a Man of greater integrity than to have said this if he had thought the Marriage good so that he has either afterwards changed his mind or did at this time dissemble too artificially with the King 26. After a long flourish about the King 's secret fears and apprehensions and the perplexities the Cardinal was in which must pass for a piece of his Wit that is to say Lying for he knew none of their thoughts He says That Gardiner and Sir Francis Brian were sent to the Pope together Gardiner being then Secretary of State In this there are only three gross mistakes First Gardiner was not sent with the first Message to the Pope Secretary Knight carried it 2. Sir Francis Brian went never to Rome with Gardiner It is true a year after the commencing the Sute Sir Francis Brian was sent to Rome and about a month after him Gardiner was also sent so tho they were both together at Rome yet they were not sent thither together 3. Gardiner was not Secretary of State but was Wolsey's Secretary when he went first to Rome and was made a Privy Counsellor when he was sent thither the second time and was not Secretary of State till some months after his return from his Journey the last time 27. He says They made the Pope believe that the Queen would willingly retire into a Monastery This was on the contrary a contrivance of the Popes who thought it the easiest way to bring the Matter to a good issue but in England they had no hopes of it and so always diverted the motion when it was proposed by the Pope 28. He says ' The Pope said he would consult with some Cardinals and Divines and do all that he could lawfully do to give the King satisfaction Upon the first motion of it the Pope frankly granted the King's desire and gave a Bull with a Commission upon it And only consulted some Cardinals about the methods of doing it And did assure the King that he would not only do every thing that could be granted in Law or Justice but whatsoever he could grant out of the fulness of his Power It is true afterwards when the Pope changed his measures and resolved to agree with the Emperor he pretended he understood not these things himself but would needs turn it over upon the Cardinals and Divines 29. He says All the Cardinals were of a mind that the Marriage was good Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor by the force of that mighty Argument of 4000 Crowns changed his mind All the other Cardinals were forward in granting the King's desires for which he wrote them a Letter of Thanks 30. He says The Pope granted the Commission to the two Legats not doubting but it was true that had been told him of the Queens readiness to go into a Monastery The Pope knew she would not yield to any such thing but when he granted that Commission he sent with Campegio a Decretal Bull annulling the Marriage and sent afterwards a promise never to avocate the Process but to confirm what Sentence the Legats should give tho soon after he broke his promise most signally And since he had often dispensed with others for breaking their Faith he might think that it was hard to deny him the same priviledg for himself 31. He says The Pope understanding that the Queen did not consent to the Propositions that were made and that he had been abused sent after Campegio when he was on his Journey that he should not proceed to a Sentence without a new order The Pope sent Campana to England after Campegio to assure the King he would do every thing for him that he could do out of the fulness of his Power And ordered the same Person to charge Cardinal Campegio to burn the Decretal Bull which he had sent by him In all which the Pope as appears by the Original Letters was only governed by politick Maxims and considered nothing but the dangers himself was like to fall in tho Sanders would perswade us he was ready to run the hazard of all these 32. He says The King by his Letters to the Pope did at the same time that he was moving scruples about his own Marriage transact about a Dispensation for a marriage betwixt his own natural Son the Duke of Richmond and his Daughter the Lady Mary Tho the whole Dispatches at that time both to and from Rome be most happily preserved there is not the least mention of any such design and can any body think that if any such motion had been made the Pope would not have taken great advantages from it and that these Letters would not
could any such Oath be then put to them The only Oath which the Parliament had enacted was the Oath of the Succession and the refusing it was only misprision of Treason and was not punishable by death But it was for denying the King's Supremacy and for writing and speaking both against it and his marriage that they suffered according to Law 80. He says Cromwel threatned the Jury in the King's name with certain death if they did not bring them in guilty Every Body that knows the Law of England will soon conclude this to be a Lye for no such threatnings were ever made in Trials in this Nation Nor was there any need at this time for the Law was so plain and their Facts so clearly proved that the Jury could not refuse to bring them in guilty 81. He says The three Carthusians that suffered were made stand upright and in one place fourteen days together with Irons about their Necks Arms and Legs before they died and then with great pomp he describes their Death in all its parts as if it had been a new-devised cruelty it being the Death which the Law appoints for Traitors He tells that Cromwel lamented that others of them had died in their Cells and so prevented his cruelty He also adds a long story of the severities against the Franciscans All this he drew from his learning in the Legend The English Nation knows none of these Cruelties in which the Spanish Inquisitors are very expert I find by some Original Letters that the Carthusians who were shut up in their Cells lived about a year after this so if Cromwel had designed to take away their lives he wanted not opportunities but it appears from what More writ in his Imprisonment that Cromwel was not a cruel Man but on the contrary merciful and gentle And for the Franciscans tho they had offended the King highly two of them railing spitefully at him to his Face in his Chappel at Greenwich Yet that was passed over with a Reproof from which it appears that he was not easily provoked against them So all that Relation which he gives being without any Authority must pass for a part of the Poem 82. He says The Bishop of Rochester was condemned because he would not acknowledg the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Matters He was never pressed to acknowledg it but was condemned for denying it and speaking against it for had he kept his Opinion to himself he could not have been questioned But the denying the King's Titles of which his being Supream Head was one was by the Law Treason so he was tried for speaking against it and not for his not acknowledging it 83. He runs out in an high commendation of Fisher and among other things mentions his Episcopal and Apostolical Charity His Charity was burning indeed He was a merciless Prosecutor of Hereticks so that the rigor of the Law under which he fell was the same measure that he had measured out to others 84. Sanders will let the World see how carefully he had read the Legend and how skilfully he could write after that Copy in a prety Fabulous Story concerning More 's death to whom I will deny none of the Praises due to his memory for his great learning and singular probity nor had he any blemish but what flowed from the Leaven of that cruel Religion which carried him to great severities against those that preached for a Reformation His Daughter Roper was a Woman of great Vertue and worthy of such a Father who needed none of Sanders's Art to represent her well to the World His Story is That the morning her Father died she went about distributing all the Mony she had in Alms to the Poor and at last was at her Prayers in a Church when of a sudden she remembred that she had forgot to provide a Winding-sheet for his Body but having no more Mony left and not being well known in that place she apprehended they would not give her credit Yet she went to a Linnen-Drapers Shop and calling for so much Cloth she put her hand in her Pocket knowing she had nothing in it but intending to make an excuse and try if they would trust her But by a Miracle she found the price of the Sheet and neither more nor less was conveighed into her Pocket This is such a lively essay of the Man's Spirit that invented it that I leave it without any further Commentary 58. He says Lee that was not in Orders was sent to visit the Monasteries who sollicited the chastity of the Nunns He does not mention Leighton and London the two chief Visitors for Leighton brought in Lee but they were of the Popish Party and Lee was Cranmer's Friend therefore all must be laid on him He was in Orders and soon after was made Dean of York I have seen complaints of Dr. London's solliciting the Nuns yet I do not find Lee complained of But since London was a Persecutor of Hereticks such a small kindness as the concealing his Name and the turning the blame over on Lee was not to be stood on among Friends especially by a Man of Sander's ingenuity 86. For the correspondence between Q. Katharine and Father Forest and the Letters that past since Sanders tells us not a word how he came by them we are to look on them as a piece of the Romance 87. He says Ann Boleyn bore a monstrous and a mishaped lump of Flesh when the time of her bearing another Child came She bore a dead Child before the time says Hall but there was no great reproach in that unless made up by Sanders's wit 88. He lays out the business of Ann Boleyn with so much spite and malice that we may easily see against whom he chiefly designed this part of his Work He says She was found guilty of Adultery and Incest There was no Evidence against her but only a hear-say from the Lady Wingfield we neither know the credit of that Lady nor of the Person who related it in her name It is true Mark Smeton did confess his Adultery with the Queen but it was generally thought he was drawn into it by some promises that were made to him and so cheated out of his Life but for the Queen and the other four they attested their innocency to the last nor would any of those unfortunate Persons redeem their lives at so ignominious a rate as to charge the Queen whom they declared they knew to be innocent so that all the Evidence against her was an hear-say of a Woman that was dead the Confession of a poor Musician and some idle words her self spake of the Discourses that had passed between her and some of those Gentlemen 89. He says Foreigners did generally rejoice at her fall and to prove this he cites Cochleus's words that only shew that Author's ill opinion of her The Germans had so great a value of her that all their
18. v. 16. Lev. 20.21 And in the New Mat. 14.4 1 Cor. 5. â— Lib. 4 to cont Marcionâ—â— The Authorities of Popes a ad omnes Galâ—iâ—e Episcopos b 30. Quaest. 3. cap. Pitanâ—m c De Pres. cap. cum in juventutem and Counciâ—s Can. 2. Chap. 5. 〈◊〉 61. Chap. 5. a And the Greek In 20. Levit. b Homil. 71. on 22. Mat. c Epist. ad Diodor. On Levit. 18. and 20. And the Latine Fathers a Lib. 8. Ep. 66. b Cont. Hâ—â—vidium c Cont. Faâ—st chap. 8 9 10. Quaest. 64. in Lev. Ad Bonifac Lib. 3. chap. 4. Lib. 15. de Civ Dâ—i chap. 16. And of the Modern Writers In Epist. ad Pium Fratâ—em e On 18. Lev. g Epist. ad Arch. Rotomag Epis. Sag. f Lib. 2. de Sacram. p. 2. chap. 5. Art 2. h Epist. 240. The Schoolmen 2 dâ— 2 dae Quaest. 154. art 9. In Tertiam Quaest. 54. art 3. In 4tam. dist 40. Q. 3. and 4. And Canonists Marriage compleated by Consent Violent presumptions of the Consummation of Prince Artâ—â—r's Marriage The Popes Dispensation of no force In Quodiâ— Lib. 4. Art 13. in 4 tam dist 15. Q. 3. art 2. Sâ—p Cap. Conjunctioniâ— 35. Q. 2. 3. Sup. Cap. Literas de Rest. Spons Cap. ad Audien Spousal Several Bishops refuse to submit to the Popes Decrees The Authority of Tradition The Arguments for the Marriage 1529. The Anwers made to h ese 1531. The Queen still intractable Hall A Session of Parliament Morâ— Convocation The whole Clergy sued in a Premâ—nire The Prerogative of the Kings of England in Ecclesiastical affairs The Encroachment of the Papacy Mat. Paris The Laws made against them 25 Edw. 1st repeated in the Stat. of Provisors 25. Edw. 3d. 25. Edward 3d. Statute of Provisors 27. Edward 3d. cap. 1st 38. Edward 3d. cap. 1st 3. Richard 2d cap. 3d. 12 Richard 2d cap. 15. 16. Richard 2d cap. 5. 2. Hen. 4. cap. 4. 6. Henry 4. cap. 1st 7. Hen. 4. cap. 6.8 17. Hen. 4. cap. 8. 4. Hen. 5. cap. 4. Ex MSS. D Petyt 1530. Reg. Chicâ—el Fol. 39. Collect. Numb 37. 1531. And to the King and Parliament Collect. Numb 38. Collect. Numb 39. But to no purpose Collect. Numb 40. The Clergy excuse themselves Yet they Compound And acknowledge the King Supreme Head of the Church of England Lord Heâ—bert Antiquit. Britanniae in vita Warham Printed in the Cabala The Commons desire to be included in the King's Pardon Hall Which thâ— King afterwards grants One Attainâ—â—ed for Poisoning 22. Hen. 8 Act. 16. Lord Herbert The King leaves the Queen A disorder among the Clergy of London about the Subsidy Hall The Pope falls off to the French Faction A Match projected between the Pope's Neece and the Duke of Orleance The Emperor is engaged in a War with â—he Turk 1532. The Parliament complains of the Ecclesiastical Courts Hall But reject a Bill about Wards The Commons Petition that they may be Dissolved 1532. The King's Answer An Act against Annates Collect. Numb 41. Parl. Rolls The Pope writes to the King about the Queens Appeal L. Herbert Collect. Numb 42. A Dispatch of the King to the Pope Sir Edward Karne sent to Rome His Negotiation there taken from the Original Letters Cott. lib. Viteli B. 13. The Cardinal of Ravenna corrupted by Bribes Collect. Numb 43. Collect. Numb 44. Collect. Numb 45. A Bull for erecting new Bishopricks The Pope desires the King would submit to him Collect. Numb 46. A Session of Parl. One moves for bringing the Queen to Court At which the King is offended A Subsidy is voted The King remits the Oaths which the Clergy swore to be considered by the Commons Their Oath to the Pope Their Oath to the King More laid down his Office An Enterveiw with the French King Eliot sent to Rome with Instructions Cott. Lib. Vil. B. 13. The King Married Anne Boâ—eyn Nov. 14. Cowper Holinsâ—ies and Sanders An enterview between Pope and Emperor Some overtures about the Divorce Lord Herbert 1533. A Session of Parliament An Act against Appeals to Rome 24. Hen. 8. Act 22. 1533. Warhams Death Aug. 23. The King resolves to promote Cranmer Fox Cranmers Bulls from Rome His Protestation about his Oath to the Pope Antiq. Brit. iâ— vita Cranmâ—â— 1532. New Endeavours to make the Queen submit But in vain 1533. Cranmer proceeds to a Sentence of Divorce taken from the Originals Cott. lib. Otho C. 1â— Collect. Numb 47. The Censures past at that time Cott. lib. Otho C. 10. The Pope unites himself to the French King And condemns the Kings proceedings in England Queen Elizabeth Born Sâ—p 7. An Interview between the Pope and Frâ—nch King at Marsâ—illâ—s The Pope promises to give Sentence for the King of England's Divorce Fidel. serv. Infidâ— subdit Responsio Bzovius The French King prevails with the King of England to submit to the Pope Which was well received at Rome Hist. Council of Trent by Padre Paule But the Imperialists opposed it 1531. And with great preparation procure a sentence against the King The King resolves to abolish the Popes Power in England Which had been much disputed there 1532. â—elerine Inglese Hall The Arguments upon which it was rejected 1533. 1534. The Arguments for the Kings Supremacy From the old Testament 1533. And the New And the Practises of the primitive Church And from Reason And from the Laws of England 1534. The Qualification of that Supremacy Necessary Erudition upon the Sacrament of Orders The necessity of extirpating the Popes Power Pains taken to satisfie Fisher about it The Origiâ—nal is in the Cott. lib. 〈◊〉 C. 10. Journal Procer The Act for taking away the Popes Power It is the Act 21 in the Statute Book 27 in the Record and 8 in the Journal The judgments past on that Act. Act about the Succession to the Crown 22 in the Statute Books 34 in the Reâ—ord 26 in the Journal The Oath about the Succesâ—ion Journal Procer Act about punishing Hereticks 14 in the Stâ—tute Book 33 in the Record 31 in the Journal The submission made by the Clergy to the King 19 in the Statute Book 25 in the Record Journal Procâ—r 〈…〉 26 in the Record Collect. â—umb 48. The Act about the Maid of Kâ—nt and her Complices 12 in Statute Book 31 in the Record 7 in the Journâ—â— See his Works paâ— 1435. The 〈…〉 of the 〈◊〉 Sâ—ow Stow. The Nuns speech at her death Hall Stow Fisher gently dealt with But is obstinate and intractable Collect. Numb 49. Cott. Lib. Cleopatâ—e E. 4. The Oath for the Succession generally sworn Orig. Cott. Lib. Otho C. â—â— Collect. Numb 50. Rot. Claus. Those last clausâ—◠〈◊〉 not in the other Writing More and Fisher refuse the Oath See his works p. 1428. Weavers Monuments page 504 and 506. And are proceeded against Another Session of Parliament The Kings Supremacy declared The Oath about the Succession conâ—iâ—med The first Fruits of Benefices given to the King Sundry
THE Historie of the REFORMATION of the CHURCH of ENGLAND LONDON Printed for Ric Chiswell Whitehall May 23. 1679. THis Book entituled The History of the Reformation of the Church of ENGLAND having been perused and approved by Persons of eminent Quality and several Divines of great Piety and Learning who have recommended it as a Work very fit to be made publick as well for the Usefulness of the Matter as for the Industry and Integrity the Author hath used in compiling of it the Honourable Mr. SECRETARY COVENTRY doth therefore allow it to be Printed and Published IO. COOKE THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE Church of England The First Part OF THE Progress made in it during the Reign OF K. Henry the VIII By GILBERT BVRNET LONDON Printed by T. H. for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXIX TO THE KING SIR THE first step that was made in the Reformation of this Church was the restoring to your Royal Ancestors the Rights of the Crown and an entire Dominion over all their Subjects of which they had been disseised by the craft and violence of an unjust Pretender to whom the Clergy though your Majesties Progenitors had enriched them by a bounty no less profuse than ill-managed did not only adhere but drew with them the Laity over whose Consciences they had gained so absolute an Authority that our Kings were to expect no Obedience from their people but what the Popes were pleased to allow It is true the Nobler part of the Nation did frequently in Parliament assert the Regal Prerogatives against those Papal invasions yet these were but faint endeavours for an ill-executed Law is but an unequal match to a Principle strongly infused into the Consciences of the people But how different was this from the teaching of Christ and his Apostles They forbad men to use all those Arts by which the Papacy grew up and yet subsists They exhorted them to obey Magistrates when they knew it would cost them their Lives They were for setting up a Kingdom not of this World nor to be attained but by a holy and peaceable Religion If this might every-where take place Princes would find Government both easie and secure It would raise in their Subjects the truest courage and unite them with the firmest charity It would draw from them Obedience to the Laws and Reverence to the persons of their Kings If the Standards of Justice and Charity which the Gospel gives of doing as we would be done by and loving our Neighbours as our selves were made the measures of mens actions how steadily would Societies be governed and how exactly would Princes be obeyed The design of the Reformation was to restore Christianity to what it was at first and to purge it of those Corruptions with which it was over-run in the later and darker Ages GREAT SIR This work was carryed on by a slow and unsteady Progress under King Henry the VIII it advanced in a fuller and freer course under the short but blessed Reign of King Edward was Sealed with the blood of many Martyrs under Queen Mary was brought to a full settlement in the happy and glorious days of Queen Elizabeth was defended by the learned Pen of King Iames but the established frame of it under which it had so long flourished was overthrown with your Majesties blessed Father who fell with it and honoured it by his unexempled Suffering for it and was again restored to its former beauty and order by your Majesties happy Return What remains to compleat and perpetuate this Blessing the composing of our differences at home the establishing a closer correspondence with the Reformed Churches abroad the securing us from the restless and wicked practices of that Party who hoped so lately to have been at the end of their designs and that which can only entitle us to a Blessing from God the Reforming of our manners and lives as our Ancestors did our Doctrine and Worship All this is reserved for your Majesty that it may appear that your Royal Title of Defender of the Faith is no empty sound but the real strength and Glory of your Crown For attaining these ends it will be of great use to trace the steps of our first Reformers for if the land-marks they set be observed we can hardly go out of the way This was my chief design in the following sheets which I now most humbly offer to your Majesty hoping that as you were graciously pleased to command that I should have free access to all Records for composing them so you will not deny your Royal Patronage to the History of that Work which God grant your Majesty may live to raise to its perfection and to compleat in your Reign the Glory of all your Titles This is a part of the most earnest as well as the daily Prayers of May it please Your Sacred Majesty Your Majesties most Loyal most Faithful and most devoted Subject and Servant G. BVRNET THE CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME BOOK I. A Summary View of King Henry the Eighths Reign till the Process of his Divorce was begun in which the State of England chiefly as it related to Religion is opened Page 1. BOOK II. Of the Process of Divorce between King Henry and Queen Katherine and of what passed from the 19th to the 25th year of his Reign in which he was declared Supream Head of the Church of England Page 34. BOOK III. Of the other Transactions about Religion and Reformation during the rest of the Reign of King Henry the 8th Page 179. COLLECTION OF RECORDS c. Ad Librum Primum Page 3. Ad Librum Secundum Page 9. Ad Librum Tertium Page 131. An Appendix concerning the Errors and Falsehoods in Sanders's Book of the English Schism Page 273. ADDENDA Page 305. ERRATA in the Historical part PAge 12. Line 6. Margent for 15. read 1st p. 49. l. 19. for chiefly r. clearly p. 54. l. 15. for 10. r. 13. p. 103. l. 32. Abisha r. Abishag p. 109. l. 47. had r. has p. 115. l. 10. having r. had p. 126. l. 9. before officiate r. did p. 151. l. 31. speak r. spake p. 173. l. 31. dele a. p. 186. l. 25. Pachon r. Pachom p. 198. l. 8. co r. to p. 203. l. 41. then r. that p. 205. l. 20. being her last words r. her last words being p. 235. l. 44. that so r. so that p. 239. l. 33. was r. is p. 259. l. 42. As r. All. p. 264. l. 15. down r. out p. 275. l. 5. no r. on p. 283. l. 49. in that r. that in l. 51. the great charges of r. of the great charges p. 284. l. 21. person r. prison p. 327. l. 31. desertion r. discovery p. 333. Marginal Note resentments r. preâ—erments Informers r. Reformers p. 344. l. 22. before he r. that p. 369. l. 5. utrumque r. utcumque Some Literal faults and mistakes in the Punctuation the Reader will more easily Correct THE
the discovery of the Indies having brought great wealth into Europe Princes began to deal more in that trade than before so that both France and England had their Instruments in Scotland and gave considerable yearly Pensions to the chief heads of Parties and Families In the search I have made I have found several Warrants for Sums of Money to be sent into Scotland and divided there among the Favourers of the English Interest and 't is not to be doubted but France traded in the same manner which continued till a happier way was found out for extinguishing these Quarrels both the Crowns being set on one head Having thus shewed the State of this Kings Government as to forreign Matters I shall next give an account of the Administration of Affairs at home both as to Civil and Spiritual Matters The King upon his first coming to the Crown did choose a wise Council partly out of those whom his Father had trusted partly out of those that were recommended to him by his Grand-Mother the Countess of Richmond and Derby in whom was the Right of the House of Lancaster though she willingly devolved her pretensions on her Son claiming nothing to her self but the Satisfaction of being Mother to a King She was a wise and Religious Woman and died soon after her Grand-Son came to the Crown There was a Faction in the Council between Fox Bishop of Winchester and the Lord Treasurer which could never be well made up though they were oft reconciled Fox always complaining of the Lord Treasurer for squandring away so soon that vast Mass of Treasure left by the Kings Father in which the other justified himself that what he did was by the Kings Warrants which he could not disobey but Fox objected that he was too easie to answer if not to procure these Warrants and that he ought to have given the King better advice In the Kings first Parliament things went as he desired upon his delivering up Empson and Dudley in which his preventing the severity of the Houses and proceeding against them at the Common Law as it secured his Ministers from an unwelcome President so the whole honour of it fell on the Kings justice His next Parliament was in the Third year of his Reign and there was considered the Brief from Pope Iulius the Second to the King complaining of the Indignities and Injuries done to the Apostolick See and the Pope by the French King and entreating the Kings assistance with such cajoling words as are always to be expected from Popes on the like occasions It was first read by the Master of the Rolls in the House of Lords and then the Lord Chancellour Warham Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Lord Treasurer with other Lords went down to the House of Commons and read it there Upon this and other reasons they gave the King subsidies towards the War with France At this time Fox to strengthen his Party against the Lord Treasurer finding Thomas Wolsey to be a likely man to get into the Kings favour used all his endeavours to raise him who was at that time neither unknown nor inconsiderable being Lord Almoner he was at first made a Privy Counsellour and frequently admitted to the Kings presence and waited on him over to France The King liked him well which he so managed that he quickly engrossed the Kings favour to himself and for 15 years together was the most absolute Favourite that had ever been seen in England all forreign Treaties and Places of Trust at home were at his Ordering he did what he pleased and his Ascendant over the King was such that there never appeared any Party against him all that while The great Artifice by which he insinuated himself so much on the King is set down very plainly by one that knew him well in these words In him the King conceived such a loving fancy especially for that he was most earnest and readiest in all the Counsel to advance the Kings only will and pleasure having no respect to the case and whereas the Ancient Counsellors would according to the Office of good Counsellors divers times perswade the King to have some time a recourse unto the Council there to hear what was done in weighty Matters the King was nothing at all pleased therewith for he loved nothing worse than to be constrained to do any thing contrary to his pleasure and that knew the Almoner very well having secret Insinuations of the Kings Intentions and so fast as the others Counselled the King to leave his pleasures and to attend to his Affairs so busily did the Almoner perswade him to the contrary which delighted him much and caused him to have the greater affection and love to the Almoner Having got into such Power he observed the Kings Inclinations exactly and followed his Interests closely for though he made other Princes retain him with great Presents and Pensions yet he never engaged the King into any Alliance but what was for his Advantage For affairs at home after he was established in his Greatness he affected to Govern without Parliaments there being from the Seventh year of his Reign after which he got the great Seal but one Parliament in the 14th and 15th year and no more till the One and Twentieth when matters were turning about But he raised great Sums of Money by Loans and Benevolences And indeed if we look on him as a Minister of State he was a very extraordinary Person but as he was a Church-man he was the disgrace of his Profession He not only served the King in all his secret pleasures but was lewd and vicious himself so that his having the French Pox which in those days was a matter of no small infamy was so publick that it was brought against him in Parliament when he fell in disgrace he was a man of most extravagant vanity as appears by the great State he lived in and to feed that his Ambition and Covetousness were proportionable He was first made Bishop of Tourney when that Town was taken from the French then he was made Bishop of Lincoln which was the first Bishoprick that fell void in this Kingdom after that upon Cardinal Bembridge his death he parted with Lincoln and was made Arch-Bishop of York then Hadrian that was a Cardinal and Bishop of Bath and Wells being deprived that See was given to him then the Abbey of St Albans was given to him in Comendam he next parted with Bath and Wells and got the Bishoprick of Duresm which he afterwards exchanged for the Bishoprick of Winchester But besides all that he had in his own hands the King granted him a full Power of disposing of all the Ecclesiastical benefices in England which brought him in as much money as all the Places he held for having so vast a Power committed to him both from the King and the Pope as to Church-preferments it may be easily gathered what
laid the Murder on the Officers that had the charge of that Prison and by other proofs they found the Bishops Sumner and the Bell-ringer guilty of it and by the deposition of the Sumner himself it did appear that the Chancellour and he and the Bell-ringer did Murder him and then hang him up But as the Inquest proceeded in this Trial the Bishop began a new Process against the dead body of Richard Hunne for other points of Heresie and several Articles were gathered out of Wickliff's Preface to the Bible with which he was charged And his having the Book in his Possession being taken for good evidence he was judged an Heretick and his body delivered to the Secular Power When judgment was given the Bishops of Duresme and Lincoln with many Doctors both of Divinity and the Canon-Law sate with the Bishop of London so that it was lookt on as an Act of the whole Clergy and done by common consent On the 20th of December his body was burnt at Smithfield But this produced an effect very different from what was expected for it was hoped that he being found an Heretick no body should appear for him any more whereas on the contrary it occasioned a great out-cry the man having lived in very good reputation among his Neighbours so that after that day the City of London was never well affected to the Popish Clergy but inclined to follow any body who spoke against them and every one lookt on it as a Cause of common concern All exclaimed against the Cruelty of their Clergy that for a mans suing a Clerke according to law he should be long and hardly used in a severe imprisonment and at last cruelly murdered and all this laid on himself to defame him and ruin his family And then to burn that body which they had so handled was thought such a complication of Cruelties as few Barbarians had ever been guilty of The Bishop finding that the Inquest went on and the whole matter was discovered used all possible endeavours to stop their proceedings and they were often brought before the Kings Council where it was pretended that all proceeded from Malice and Heresie The Cardinal laboured to procure an order to forbid their going any further but the thing was both so foul and so evident that it could not be done and that opposition made it more generally believed In the Parliament there was a Bill sent up to the Lords by the Commons for restoring Hunne's Children which was passed and had the Royal assent to it but another Bill being brought in about this Murther it occasioned great heats among them The Bishop of London said that Hunne had hanged himself that the Inquest were false perjured Caitiffs and if they proceeded further he could not keep his house for Hereticks so that the Bill which was sent up by the Commons was but once read in the House of Lords for the power of the Clergy was great there But the Trial went on and both the Bishops Chancellour and the Summer were endicted as Principals in the Murder The Convocation that was then sitting finding so great a stir made and that all their liberties were now struck at resolved to call Doctor Standish to an Account for what he had said and argued in that matter so he being summoned before them some Articles were objected to him by word of mouth concerning the judging of Clerks in Civil Courts and the day following they being put in writing the Bill was delivered to him and a day assigned for him to make answer The Doctor perceiving their intention and judging it would go hard with him if he were tryed before them went and claimed the Kings Protection from this trouble that he was now brought in for discharging his duty as the Kings Spiritual Counsel But the Clergy made their excuse to the King that they were not to question him for any thing he had said as the Kings Counsel but for some Lectures he read at St Pauls and elswhere contrary to the Law of God and Liberties of the holy Church which they were bound to maintain and desired the Kings Assistance according to his Coronation Oath and as he would not incur the Censures of the holy Church On the other hand the Temporal Lords and Judges with the concurrence of the House of Commons addressed to the King to maintain the Temporal Jurisdiction according to his Coronation Oath and to protect Standish from the Malice of his enemies This put the King in great perplexity for he had no mind to lose any part of his Temporal Jurisdiction and on the other hand was no less apprehensive of the dangerous effects that might follow on a breach with the Clergy So he called for Doctor Veysey then Dean of his Chappel and afterwards Bishop of Exeter and charged him upon his Allegiance to declare the truth to him in that matter which after some study he did and said upon his Faith Conscience and Allegiance he did think that the convening of Clerks before the secular Judg which had been always practised in England might well consist with the Law of God and the true Liberties of the holy Church This gave the King great satisfaction so he commanded all the Judges and his Council both Spiritual and Temporal and some of both Houses to meet at Black-Friers and to hear the matter argued The Bill against Doctor Standish was read which consisted of Six Articles that were objected to him First That he had said that the lower Orders were not sacred Secondly That the Exemption of Clerks was not founded on a divine Right Thirdly That the Laity might coerce Clerks when the Prelates did not their duty Fourthly That no positive Ecclesiastical Law binds any but those who receive it Fifthly That the Study of the Canon-Law was needless Sixthly That of the whole Volume of the Decretum so much as a man could hold in his fist and no more did oblige Christians To these Doctor Standish answered that for those things exprest in the Third the Fifth and the Sixth Articles he had never taught them as for his asserting them at any time in discourse as he did not remember it so he did not much care whether he had done it or not To the First he said Lesser Orders in one sense are sacred and in another they are not sacred For the Second and Fourth he confessed he had taught them and was ready to justifie them It was objected by the Clergy that as by the Law of God no man could judge his Father it being contrary to that Commandment Honour thy Father So Church-men being Spiritual Fathers they could not be judged by the Laity who were their Children To which he answered that as that only concluded in favour of Priests those in Inferiour Orders not being Fathers so it was a mistake to say a Judge might not sit upon his Natural Father for the Judge was by another Relation above his Natural Father and though
the Proceedings in the Kings Bench since there was no justice done and all thought the King seemed more careful to maintain his Prerogative than to do Justice This I have related the more fully because it seems to have had great Influence on peoples minds and to have disposed them much to the Changes that followed afterwards How these things were entred in the Books of Convocation cannot be now known For among the other sad losses sustained in the late burning of London this was one that almost all the Registers of the Spiritual Courts were burnt some few of the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and Bishops of London's Registers being only preserved But having compared Fox his Account of this and some other matters and finding it exactly according to the Registers that are preserved I shall the more confidently build on what he published from those Records that are now lost This was the only thing in the first 18 years of the Kings Reign that seemed to lessen the Greatness of the Clergy but in all other matters he was a most faithful Son of the See of Rome Pope Iulius soon after his coming to the Crown sent him a Golden Rose with a Letter to Arch-Bishop Warham to deliver it and though such Presents might seem fitter for young Children than for men of discretion yet the King was much delighted with it and to shew his Gratitude there was a Treaty concluded the year following between the King and Ferdinand of Arragon for the Defence of the Papacy against the French King And when in opposition to the Council that the French King and some other Princes and Cardinals had called first to Pisa which was afterwards translated to Milan and then to Lions that summoned the Pope to appear before them and suspended his Authority Pope Iulius called another Council to be held in the Lateran the King sent the Bishops of Worcester and Rochester the Prior of St. Iohns and the Abbot of Winchelcomb to sit in that Council in which there was such a Representative of the Catholick Church as had been for several of the latter Ages in the Western Church in which a few Bishops packt out of several Kingdoms and many Italian Bishops with a vast number of Abbots Priors and other Inferiour Digniâ—â—ed Clergy-men were brought to Confirm together whatever the Popes had a mind to Enact which passing easily among them was sent over the world with a stamp of Sacred Authority as the Decrees and Decisions of the Holy Universal Church assembled in a General Council Nor was there a worse understanding between this King and Pope Leo the 10 th that succeeded Iulius who did also complement him with those Papal Presents of Roses and at his desire made Wolsey a Cardinal and above all other things obliged him by conferring on him the Title of Defender of the Faith upon the presenting to the Pope his Book against Luther in a pompous Letter Signed by the Pope and 27 Cardinals in which the King took great pleasure affecting it always beyond all his other Titles though several of the former Kings of England had carried the same Title as Spelman informs us So easie a thing it was for Popes to oblige Princes in those days when a Title or a Rose was thought a sufficient Recompence for the greatest Services The Cardinal Governing all Temporal Affairs as he did it is not to be doubted but his Authority was absolute in Ecclesiastical Matters which seemed naturally to lie within his Province yet Warham made some opposition to him and complained to the King of his encroaching too much in his Legantine Courts upon his Jurisdiction and the things being clearly made out the King chid the Cardinal sharply for it who ever after that hated Warham in his heart yet he proceeded more warily for the future But the Cardinal drew the hatred of the Clergy upon himself chiefly by a Bull which he obtained from Rome giving him Authority to visit all Monasteries and all the Clergy of England and to dispence with all the Laws of the Church for one whole year after the date of the Bull. The power that was lodged in him by this Bull was not more invidious than the words in which it was conceived were offensive for the Preamble of it was full of severe Reflections against the Manners and Ignorance of the Clergy who are said in it to have been delivered over to a Reprobate mind This as it was a publick Deâ—aming them so how true soever it might be all thought it did not become the Cardinal whose Vices were notorious and scandalous to tax others whose faults were neither so great nor so eminent as his were He did also affect a Magnificence and Greatness not only in his Habit being the first Clergy-man in England that wore Silks but in his Family his Train and other pieces of State equal to that of Kings And even in performing Divine Offices and saying Mass he did it with the same Ceremonies that the Popes use who judg themselves so nearly related to God that those humble acts of Adoration which are Devotions in other persons would abase them too much He had not only Bishops and Abbots to serve him but even Dukes and Earls to give him the Water and the Towel He had certainly a vast mind and he saw the corruptions of the Clergy gave so great Scandal and their Ignorance was so profound that unless some effectual ways were taken for correcting these they must needs fall into great disesteem with the People For though he took great liberties himself and perhaps according to the Maxime of the Canonists he judged Cardinals as Princes of the Church were not comprehended within ordinary Ecclesiastical Laws yet he seemed to have designed the Reformation of the Inferiour Clergy by all the means he could think of except the giving them a good Example Therefore he intended to visit all the Monasteries of England that so discovering their corruptions he might the better justifie the design he had to suppress most of them and convert them into Bishopricks Cathedrals Collegiate Churches and Colledges For which end he procured the Bull from Rome but he was diverted from making any use of it by some who advised him rather to suppress Monasteries by the Popes Authority than proceed in a Method which would raise great hatred against himself cast foul aspersions on Religious Orders and give the Enemies of the Church great advantages against it Yet he had communicated his design to the King and his Secretary Cromwell understanding it was thereby instructed how to proceed afterwards when they went about the total suppression of the Monasteries The Summoning of Convocations he assumed by vertue of his Legantine Power Of these there were two sorts the first were called by the King for with the Writs for a Parliament there went out always a Summons to the Two Arch-Bishops for calling a Convocation of
This as it was fatal to the Counts of Tholouse who were great Princes in the South of France and first fell under the Censures so it was terrible to all other Princes who thereupon to save themselves delivered up their Subjects to the Mercy of the Ecclesiastical Courts Burning was the death they made choice of because Witches Vizards and Sodomites had been so executed Therefore to make Heresie appear a terrible thing this was thought the most proper punishment of it It had also a resemblance of everlasting Burning to which they adjudged their Souls as well as their bodies were condemned to the â—ire but with this signal difference that they could find no such effectual way to oblige God to execute their sentence as they contrived against the Civil Magistrate But however they confidently gave it out that by vertue of that Promise of our Saviours Whose sins ye bind on Earth they are bound in Heaven their Decrees were ratified in Heaven And it not being easie to disprove what they said people believed the one as they saw the other Sentence executed So that whatever they condemned as Heresie was looked on as the worst thing in in the world There was no occasion for the execution of this Law in England till the days of Wickliffe And the favour he had from some great men stopt the Proceedings against him But in the 5th year of King Richard the Second a Bill passed in the House of Lords and was assented to by the King and published for an Act of Parliament though the Bill was never sent to the House of Commons By this pretended Law it appears Wickliff's followers were then very numerous that they had a certain habit and did Preach in many places both in Churches Church-yards and Markets without Licence from the Ordinary and did preach several Doctrines both against the Faith and the Laws of the Land as had been proved before the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the other Bishops Prelats Doctors of Divinity and of the Civil and Canon-Law and others of the Clergy That they would not submit to the admonitions nor Censures of the Church but by their subtile ingenious words did draw the people to follow them and defend them by strong hand and in great routs Therefore it was Ordained that upon the Bishops certifying into the Chancery the names of such Preachers and their Abettors the Chancellour should issue forth Commissions to the Sheriffs and others the Kings Ministers to hold them in Arrest and strong Prison till they should justify them according to the Law and reason of Holy Church From the gentleness of which law it may appear that England was not then so tame as to bear the severity of those cruel laws which were setled and put in execution in other Kingdoms The Custome at that time was to engross Copies of all the Acts of Parliament and to send them with a Writ under the great Seal to the Sheriffs to make them be proclaimed within their jurisdictions And Iohn Braibrook Bishop of London then Lord Chancellour sent this with the other Acts of that Parliament to be proclaimed The Writ bears date the 26th of May 5 to Reg. But in the next Parliament that was held in the 6th year of that Kings Reign the Commons preferred a Bill reciting the former Act and constantly affirmed that they had never assented to it and therefore desired it might be declared to be void for they Protested it was never their intent to be Iustified and to bind themselves and their Successors to the Prelats more than their Ancestors had done in times past To which the King gave the Royal Assent as it is in the Records of Parliament But in the Proclamation of the Acts of that Parliament this Act was suppressed so that the former Act was still looked on as a good law and is Printed in the Book of Statutes Such pious frauds were always practised by the Popish Clergy and were indeed necessary for the supporting the Credit of that Church When Richard the 2d was deposed and the Crown usurped by Henry the 4th then he in gratitude to the Clergy that assisted him in his coming to the Crown granted them a law to their hearts content in the 2 d. year of his Reign The Preamble bears That some had a new Faith about the Sacraments of the Church and the Authority of the same and did Preach without Authority gathered Conventicles taught Schools wrote Books against the Catholick Faith with many other heinous aggravations Upon which the Prelats and Clergy and the Commons of the Realm prayed the King to provide a sufficient remedy to so great an evil Therefore the King by the assent of the States and other discreet men of the Realm being in the said Parliament did Ordain That none should Preach without Licence except persons Priviledged That none should Preach any Doctrine contrary to the Catholick Faith or the Determination of the Holy Church and that none should favour and abett them nor keep their Books but deliver them to the Diocesan of the place within 40 days after the Proclamation of that Statute And that if any Persons were defamed or suspected of doing against that Ordinance then the Ordinary might Arrest them and keep them in his Prison till they were Canonically purged of the Articles laid against them or did abjure them according to the Laws of the Church Provided always that the proceedings against them were publickly and judicially done and ended within three Months after they had been so Arrested and if they were Convict the Diocesan or his Commissaries might keep them in Prison as long as to his discretion shall seem expedient and might Fine them as should seem competent to him certifying the Fine into the Kings Exchequer and if any being Convict did refuse to abjure or after Abjuration did fall into Relapse then he was to be left to the Secular Court according to the Holy Canons And the Majors Sheriffs or Bayliffs were to be personally present at the passing the Sentence when they should be required by the Diocesan or his Commissaries and after the Sentence they were to receive them and them before the People in a high place do to be Brent By this Statute the Sheriffs or other Officers were immediatly to proceed to the Burning of Hereticks without any Writ or Warrant from the King But it seems the Kings Learned Council advised him to issue out a Writ De Haeretico comburendo upon what grounds of Law I cannot tell For in the same year when William Sartre who was the first that was put to death upon the account of Heresie was judged Relapse by Thomas Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in a Convocation of his Province and thereupon was degraded from Priesthood and left to Secular Power a Writ was issued out to Burn him which in the Writ is called The Customary Punishment relating it as like to the Customs that were beyond
Sea But this Writ was not necessary by the Law and therefore it seems these Writs were not Enrolled For in the whole Reign of King Henry the 8 th I have not been able to find any of these Writs in the Rolls But by Warham's Register I see the Common course of the Law was to certifie into the Chancery the Conviction of an Heretick upon which the Writ was issued out if the King did not send a Pardon Thus it went on all the Reign of Henry the 4 th But in the beginning of his Sons Reign there was a Conspiracy as was pretended by Sir Iohn Oldcastle and some others against the King and the Clergy upon which many were put in Prison and 29 were both attainted of Treason and condemned of Heresie so they were both Hanged and Burnt But as a Writer that lived in the following Age says Certain affirmed that these were but feigned causes surmised of the Spiritualty more of displeasure than truth That Conspiracy whether real or pretended produced a severe Act against those Hereticks who were then best known by the name of Lollards By which Act all Officers of State Judges Justices of the Peace Majors Sheriffs and Bayliffs were to be Sworn when they took their Imployments to use their whole Power and Diligence to destroy all Heresies and Errors called Lollardies and to assist the Ordinaries and their Commissaries in their proceedings against them and that the Lollards should forfeit all the Lands they held in Fee-Simple and their Goods and Chattels to the King The Clergy according to the Genius of that Religion having their Authority fortified with such severe Laws were now more cruel and insolent than ever And if any man denied them any part of that respect or of those advantages to which they pretended he was presently brought under the suspition of Heresie and vexed with Imprisonments and Articles were brought against him Upon which great complaints followed And the Judges to correct this granted Habeas Corpus upon their Imprisonments and examined the Warrants and either Bailed or Discharged the Prisoners as they saw cause For though the Decrees of the Church had made many things Heresie so that the Clergy had much matter to work upon yet when Offenders against them in other things could not be charged with any formal Heresie then by consequences they studied to fasten it on them but were sometimes over-ruled by the Judges Thus when one Keyser who was Excommunicated by Thomas Bourchier Arch-Bishop of Canterbury at the Suit of another said openly that That Sentence was not to be feared for though the Arch-Bishop or his Commissary had Excommunicated him yet he was not Excommunicated before God he was upon this Committed by the Arch-Bishop's Warrant as one justly suspected of Heresie but the Judges upon his moving for an Habeas Corpus granted it and the Prisoner being brought to the Bar with the Warrant for his Imprisonment they found the matter contained in it was not within the Statute and first Bailed him and after that they Discharged him One Warner of London having said That he was not bound to pay Tithes to his Curate was also imprisoned by Edward Vaughan at the command of the Bishop of London but he escaped out of Prison and brought his Action of false Imprisonment against Vaughan Whereupon Vaughan pleading the Statute of Henry the 4 th and that his Opinion was an Heresie against the Determination of the Catholick Faith the Court of the Common-Pleas judged That the words were not within the Statute and that his Opinion was an Error but no Heresie So that the Judges looking on themselves as the Interpreters of the Law thought That even in the case of Heresie they had Authority to declare what was Heresie by the Law and what not But what opposition the Clergy made to this I do not know I hope the Reader will easily excuse this Digression it being so material to the History that is to follow I shall next set down what I find in the Records about the proceedings against Hereticks in the beginning of this Reign On the 2 d. of May in the year 1611. Six Men and Four Women most of them being of Tenterden appeared before Arch-Bishop Warham in his Mannor of Knall and abjured the following Errors 1 st That in the Sacrament of the Altar is not the Body of Christ but Material Bread 2 dly That the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are not necessary nor profitable for mens Souls 3 dly That Confession of Sins ought not to be made to a Priest 4 thly That there is no more Power given by God to a Priest than to a Layman 5 thly That the Solemnization of Matrimony is not profitable nor necessary for the well of mans Soul 6 thly That the Sacrament of Extreme Unction is not profitable nor necessary for mans Soul 7 thly That Pilgrimages to holy and devout Places be not profitable neither Meritorious for mans Soul 8 thly That Images of Saints be not to be worshipped 9 thly That a man should pray to no Saint but only to God 10 thly That holy water and holy bread be not the better after the Benediction made by the Priest than before And as they abjured these Opinions so they were made to Swear That they should discover all whom they knew to hold these Errors or who were suspected of them or that did keep any private Conventicles or were Fautors or Comforters of them that published such Doctrins Two other men of Tenterden did that day in the Afternoon abjure most of these Opinions The Court sate again the 5 th of May and the Arch-Bishop enjoyned them Penance to wear the Badg of a Fagot in Flames on their Cloaths during their lives or till they were dispensed with for it and that in the Procession both at the Cathedral of Canterbury and at their own Parish Churches they should carry a Fagot on their shoulders which was looked on as a publick Confession that they deserved Burning That same day another of Tenterdon abjured the same Doctrines On the 15 th of May the Court sate at Lambeth where 4 Men and one Woman abjured On the 19 th Four Men more abjured On the 3 d. of Iune a Man and a Woman abjured Another Woman the 26 th of Iuly Another Man the 29 th of Iuly Two Women on the 2 d. of August A Man on the 3 d. and a Woman on the 8 th of August Three Men on the 16 th of August And three Men and a Woman on the 3 d. of Sept. In these Abjurations some were put to abjure more some fewer of the former Doctrines and in some of their Abjurations Two Articles more were added 1 st That the Images of the Crucifix of our Lady and other Saints ought not to be worshipped because they were made with mens hands and were but Stocks and Stones 2 dly That Money and Labour spent in Pilgrimages was all in vain All these Persons
particular For the Question of the unlawfulness of the Match had been first debated in the Cortes or Assembly of the States at Madrid and the Emperour had then shewed himself so â—avourable to it that he broke the Match to which he had bound himself with the Princess Therefore the King had reason to think that this at least would mitigate his opposition The Emperour had also used the Pope so hardly that it could not be doubted that the Pope hated him And it was believed that he would find the protection of the King of England most necessary to secure him either from the greatness of France or Spain who were Fighting for the best part of Italy which must needs fall into one of their hands Therefore the King did not doubt but the Pope would be compliant to his desires And in this he was much confirmed by the hopes or rather assurance which the Cardinal gave him of the Popes favour who either calculating what was to be expected from that Court on the account of their own Interest or upon some promises made him had undertaken to the King to bring that matter about to his hearts content It is certain that the Cardinal had carried over with him out of the Kings Treasure 240000 l. to be employed about the Popes Liberty But whether he had made a bargain for the Divorce or had fancied that nothing could be denied him at Rome it does not appear It is clear by many of his Letters that he had undertaken to the King that the business should be done and it is not like that a man of his wisdom would have adventured to do that without some good warrant But now that the Suit was to be moved in the Court of Rome they were to devise such Arguments as were like to be well heard there It would have been unacceptable to have insisted on the nullity of the Bull on this account because the matter of it was unlawful and fell not within the Popes Power For Popes like others Princes do not love to hear the extent of their Prerogative disputed or defined And to condemn the Bull of a former Pope as unlawful was a dangerous Precedent at a time when the Popes Authority was rejected by so many in Germany Therefore the Canonists as well as Divines were consulted to find such Nullities in the Bull of Dispensation as according to the canon-Canon-Law and the proceedings of the Rota might serve to invalidate it without any diminution of the Papal Power Which being once done the Marriage that followed upon it must needs be annulled When the Canonists examined the Bull they found much matter to proceed upon It is a Maxime in Law that if the Pope be surprized in any thing and Bulls be procured upon false suggestions and untrue premises they may be annulled aâ—terwards Upon â—hich foundation most of all the Processes against Popes Bulls were grounded Now they found by the preamble of this Bull that it was said The King had desired that he might be dispensed with to Marry the Princess This was false for the King had made no such desire being of an Age that was below such considerations but Twelve years old Then it appeared by the preamble that this Bull was desired by the King to preserve the Peace between the King of England and Ferdinand and Isabella called Elizabetha in the Bull the Kings of Spain To which they excepted That it was plain this was false since the King being then but Twelve years old could not be supposed to have such deep speculations and so large a prospect as to desire a Match upon a politick account Then it being also in the Bull that the Popes Dispensation was granted to keep Peace between the Crowns if there was no hazard of any Breach or War between them this was a false suggestion by which the Pope had been made believe That this Match was necessary for averting some great mischief And it was known that there was no danger â—t all of that and so this Bull was obtained by a surprise Besides both King Henry of England and Isabella of Spain were dead before the King Married his Queen so the Marriage could not be valid by vertue of a Bull that was granted to maintain Amity between Princes that were dead before the Marriage was consummated And they also judged that the Protestation which the King made when he came of Age did retract any such pretended desire that might have been preferred to the Pope in his name and that from that time forward the Bull could have no further operation since the ground upon which it was granted which was the King's desire did then cease any pretended desire before he was of Age being clearly annulled and determined by that Protestation after he was of Age so that a subsequent Marriage founded upon the Bull must needs be void These were the grounds upon which the Canonists advised the Process at Rome to be carried on But first to amuse or over-reach the Spaniard the King sent word to his Ambassadour in Spain to silence the noise that was made about it in that Court Whether the King had then resolved on the Person that should Succeed the Queen when he had obtained what he desired or not is much questioned Some suggest that from the beginning he was taken with the charmes of Anne Boleyn and that all this Process was moved by the unseen spring of that secret affection Others will have this Amour to have been later in the King's thoughts How early it came there as this distance it is not easie to deâ—ermine But before I say more of it she being so considerable a Person in the â—ollowing Relation I shall give some account of her Sanders has assured the world That the King had a liking to her Mother who was Daughter to the Duke of Norfolk and to the end that he might enjoy her with the less disturbance he sent her Husband Sir Thomas Boleyn to be Ambassadour in France And that after Two years absence his Wife being with Child he came over and sued a Divorce against her in the Arch-Bishop of Canterburies Court but the King sent the Marques of Dorchester to let him know that she was with Child by him and that therefore the King desired he would pass the matter over and be reconciled to his Wiâ—e to which he consented And so Anne Boleyn though she went under the name of his Daughter yet was of the King 's bâ—getting As he describes her she was ill-shaped and ugly had Six Fingers a Gag-tooth and a Tumor under her Chin with many other unseemly things in her Person At the 15 th year of her Age he says both her Father's Butler and Chaplain lay with her Afterwaâ—ds she was sent to France where she was at first kept privatly in the house of a Person of Quality then she went to the French Court where she led such a dissolute life that
lately there had been one granted by Pope Alexander the 6th to the King of Hungary against the Opinion of his Cardinals which had never been questioned and yet he could not pretend to such Merits as the King had And all that had ever been said in the Kings Cause was Sum'd up in a short Breviate by Cassali and offered to the Pope a Copy whereof taken from an Original under his own hand the Reader will find in the Collection The King ordered his Ambassadors to make as many Cardinals sure for his cause as they could who might bring the Pope to consent to it if he were still averse But the Pope was at this time possessed with a new jealousie of which the French King was not free as if the King had been tampering with the Emperor and had made him great offers so he would consent to the Divorce about which Francis wrote an anxious Letter to Rome the Original of which I have seen The Pope was also surprized at it and questioned the Ambassadors about it but they denyed it and said the union between England and France was inseparable and that these were only the Practices of the Emperors Agents to create distrust The Pope seemed satisfied with what they said and added that in the present conjuncture a firm union between them was necessary Of all this Sir Francis Brian wrote a long account in cipher But the Popes relapse put a new stop to business of which the Cardinal being informed as he ordered the Kings Agents to continue their care about his Promotion so he charged them to see if it were possible to get Access to the Pope and though he were in the very Agony of Death to propose two things to him the one that he would presently command all the Princes of Christendom to agree to a Cessation of Arms under pain of the Censures of the Church as Pope Leo and other Popes had done and if he should die he could not do a thing that would be more meritorious and for the good of his Soul than to make that the last Act of his Life The other thing was concerning the Kings business which he presseth as a thing necessary to be done for the clearing and eâ—se of the Popes Conscience towards God And withal he orders them to gain as many about the Pope and as many Cardinals and Officers in the Rota as they could to promote the Kings desires whether in the Popes sickness or health The Bishop of Verona had a great Interest with the Pope so by that and another Dispatch of the same Date sent another way they were ordered to gain him promising him great Rewards pressing him to remain still about the Popes person to ballance the ill Offices which Cardinal Angell and the Arch-Bishop of Capua did who never stirred from the Pope And to assure that Bishop that the King laid this Matter more to heart than any thing that ever befel him and that it would trouble him as much to be overcome in this Matter by these two Friers as to loose both his Crowns and for my part writes the Cardinal I would expose any thing to my life yea life it self rather than see the Inconveniencies that may ensue upon disappointing of the Kings desire For promoting the Business the French King sent the Bishop of Bayon to assist the English Ambassadors in his name who was first sent over to England to be well Instructed there They were either to procure a Decretal for the Kings Divorce or a new Commission to the two Legates with ampler Clauses in it than the former had to judge as if the Pope were in person and to emit compulsorie Letters against any whether Emperor King or of what degree soever to produce all manner of Evidences or Records which might tend towards the clearing the Matter and to bring them before them This was sought because the Emperor would not send over the pretended Original Breve to England and gave only an Attested Copy of it to the Kings Ambassadors least therefore from that Breve a new Suit might be afterwards raised for Annulling any Sentence which the Legates should give they thought it needful to have the Original brought before them In the penning of that new Commission Dr. Gardiner was ordered to have special care that it should be done by the best advice he could get in Rome It appears also from this Dispatch that the Popes Pollicitation to Confirm the Sentence which the Legates should give was then in Gardiner's hands for he was ordered to take care that there might be no disagreement between the date of it and of the new Commission And when that was obtained Sr. Francis Brian was commanded to bring them with him to England Or if neither a Decretal nor a new Commission could be obtained then if any other expedient were proposed that upon good advice should be found sufficient and effectual they were to accept of it and send it away with all possible diligence And the Cardinal conjured them by the Reverence of Almighty God to bring them out of their Perplexity that this Virtuous Prince may have this thing sped which would be the most joyous thing that could befal his heart upon Earth But if all things should be denyed then they were to make their Protestations not only to the Pope but to the Cardinals of the Injustice that was done the King and in the Cardinals name to let them know that not only the King and his Realm would be lost but also the French King and his Realm with their other Confederates would also withdraw their Obedience from the See of Rome which was more to be regarded than either the Emperors Displeasure or the Recovery of two Cities They were also to try what might be done in Law by the Cardinals in a Vacancy and they were to take good Counsel upon some Chapters of the Canon-Law which related to that and Govern themselves accordingly either to hinder an Avocation or Inhibition or if it could be done to obtain such thing as they could grant towards the Conclusion of the Kings Business At this time also the Cardinals Bulls for the Bishoprick of Winchester were expedited they were rated high at 15000 Ducats for though the Cardinal pleaded his great Merits to bring the composition lower yet the Cardinals at Rome said the Apostolick Chamber was very poor and other Bulls were then coming from France to which the favour they should show the Cardinal would be a Precedent But the Cardinal sent word that he would not give past 5 or 6000 Ducats because he was exchanging Winchester for Duresm and by the other they were to get a great Composition And if they held his Bulls so high he would not have them for he needed them not since he enjoyed already by the Kings Grant the Temporalities of Winchester which it is very likely was all that he considered in a Bishoprick They were
at last expedited at what Rates I cannot tell but this I set down to show how severe the Exactions of the Court of Rome were As the Pope recovered his health so he inclined more to joyn himself to the Emperor than ever and was more alienated than formerly from the King and the Cardinal which perhaps was increased by the distaste he took at the Cardinals aspiring to the Popedom The first thing that the Emperor did in the Kings Cause was to protest in the Queen of Englands name that she refused to submit to the Legates The one was the Kings chief Minister and her mortal enemy The other was also justly suspected since he had a Bishoprick in England The Kings Ambassador pressed the Pope much not to admit the Protestation but it was pretended that it could not be denyed either in Law or Justice But that this might not offend the King Salviati that was the Popes Favourite wrote to Campegio that the Protestation could not be hindred but that the Pope did still most earnestly desire to satisfie the King and that the Ambassadors were much mistaken who were so distrustful of the Popes good mind to the Kings Cause But now good words could deceive the King no longer who clearly discovered the Popes mind and being out of all hopes of any thing more from Rome resolved to proceed in England before the Legates and therefore Gardiner was recalled who was thought the fittest person to manage the Process in England being esteemed the greatest Canonist they had and was so valued by the King that he would not begin the Process till he came Sr. Francis Brian was also recalled and when they took leave of the Pope they were ordered to Expostulate in the Kings name Upon the Partiality he expressed for the Emperor notwithstanding the many assurances that both the Legates had given the King that the Pope would do all he could toward his Satisfaction which was now so ill performed that he expected no more justice from him They were also to say as much as they could devise in the Cardinals name to the same purpose upon which they were to try if it were possible to obtain any Enlargement of the Commission with fuller Power to the Legates for they saw it was in vain to move for any new Bulls or Orders from the Pope about it And though Gardiner had obtained a Pollicitation from the Pope by which he both bound himself not to recal the cause from the Legates and also to confirm their Sentence and had sent it over they found it was so conceived that the Pope could go back from it when he pleased So there was a new Draught of a Pollicitation formed with more binding Clauses in it which Gardiner was to try if he could obtain by the following Pretence He was to tell the Pope that the Courier to whom he trusted it had been so little careful of it that it was all wet and defaced and of no more use so that he durst not deliver it And this might turn much to Gardiners prejudice that a matter of such Concern was through his neglect spoiled upon which he was to see if the Pope would renew it If that could be obtained he was to use all his Industry to get as many pregnant and material words added as might make it more binding He was also to assure the Pope that though the Emperor was gone to Barcellona to give reputation to his affairs in Italy yet he had neither Army nor Fleet ready so that they needed not fear him And he was to inform the Pope of the Arts he was using both in the English and French Court to make a separated Treaty But that all was to no pâ—rpose the two Kings being so firmly linked together But the Pope was so great a Master in all the Arts of Dissimulation and Policy that he was not to be overreached easily and when he understood that his Polliâ—itation was defaced he was in his heart glad at it and could not be prevailed with to renew it So they returned to England and Dr. Bennet came in their place He carryed with him one of the fullest and most important Dispatches that I find in this whole matter from the two Legates to the Pope and the Consistory who wrote to them that they had in vain endeavoured to perswade either party to yield to the other That the Breve being shewed to them by the Queen they found great and evident Presumptions of it's being a meer forgery and that they thought it was too much for them to sit and try the Validity or Authenticalness of the Popes Bulls or Breves or to hear his Power of Dispencing in such cases disputed therefore it was more expedient to Avocate the cause to which the King would consent if the Pope obliged himself under his hand to pass Sentence speedily in his favour but they rather advised the Granting a Decretal Bull which would put an end to the whole matter in order to which the Bearer was Instructed to show very good Precedents But in the mean while they advised the Pope to press the Queen most effectually to enter into a Religious life as that which would compose all these differences in the softest and easiest way It pitied them to see the rack and torments of Conscience under which the King had smarted so many years and that the Disputes of Divines and the Decrees of Fathers had so disquieted him that for clearing a matter thus perplexed there was not only need of Learning but of a more singular Piety and Illumination To this were to be added the desire of Issue the Settlement of the Kingdom with many other pressing reasons that as the matter did admit of no further delays so there was not any thing in the opposite scale to ballance these Considerations There were false Suggestions surmised abroad as if the hatred of the Queen or the desire of another wife who was not perhaps yet known much less designed were the true causes of this Suit But though the Queen was of a rough Temper and an unpleasant Conversation and was passed all hopes of Children yet who could imagine that the King who had spent his most youthful days with her so kindly would now in the decline of his Age be at all this trouble to be rid of her if he had no other Motives But they by searching his sore found there was rooted in his heart both an awe of God and a respect to Law and Order so that though all his people pressed him to drive the Matter to an issue yet he would still wait for the decision of the Apostolick See Therefore they most pressingly desire the Pope to grant the Cure which his distemper required and to consider that it was not fit to insist too much on the Rigour of the Law but since the Soul and Life of all the Laws of the Church was in the Popes breast in doubtful cases
where there was great hazard he ought to mollifie the severity of the Laws which if it were not done other Remedies would be found out to the vast prejudice of the Ecclesiastical Authority to which many about the King advised him There was reason to fear they should not only lose a King of England but a Defender of the Faith The Nobility and Gentry were already enraged at the delay of a Matter in which all their Lives and Interests were so nearly concerned and said many things against the Popes Proceedings which they could not relate without horror And they plainly complained that whereas Popes had made no scruple to make and change divine Laws at their pleasure yet one Pope sticks so much at the Repealing what his Prodecessor did as if that were more sacred and not to be medled with The King betook himself to no ill Arts neither to the charms of Magitians nor the Forgeries of Impostours therefore they expected such an Answer as should put an end to the whole matter But all these things were to no purpose the Pope had taken his measures ard was not to be moved by all the reasons or Remonstrances the Ambassador could lay before him The King had absolutely gained Campegio to do all he could for him without losing the Popes favour He led at this time a very dissolute life in England hunting and gaming all the day long and following whores all the night and brought a Bastard of his own over to England with him whom the King Knighted so that if the King sought his pleasure it was no strange thing since he had such a Copy set him by two Legates who representing his Holiness so lively in their manners it was no unusual thing if a King had a slight sense of such disorders The King wrote to his Ambassadors that he was satisfied of Campegio's love and affection to him and if ever he was gained by the Emperors Agents he had said something to him which did totally change that Inclination The Imperialists being Alarm'd at the recalling of some of the English Ambassadors and being Informed by the Queens means that they were forming the Process in England put in a Memorial for an Avocation of the cause to Rome The Ambassadors answered that there was no Colour for asking it since there was nothing yet done by the Legates For they had strict orders to deny that there was any Process forming in England even to the Pope himself in private unless he had a mind it should go on but were to use all their Endeavours to hinder an Avocation and plainly in the Kings name to tell the Pope that if he granted that the King would look on it as a Formal decision against him And it would also be an high affront to the two Cardinals and they were thereupon to Protest that the King would not obey nor consider the Pope any more if he did an Act of such high Injustice as after he had granted a Commission upon no complaint of any Illegality or Injust Proceedings of the Legates but only upon surmises and suspitions to take it out of their hands But the Pope had not yet brought the Emperor to his Terms in other things therefore to draw him on the faster he continued to give the English Ambassador good words and in discourse with Peter Vannes did insinuate as if he had found a means to bring the whole matter to a good Conclusion and spoke it with an Artificial smile adding In the name of the Father c. But would not speak it out and seemed to keep it up as a secret not yet ripe But all this did afterwards appear to be the deepest Dissimulation that ever was practised And in the whole Process though the Cardinal studied to make tricks pass upon him yet he was always too hard for them all at it and seemed as Infallible in his Arts of Jugling as he pretended to be in his Decisions He wrote a Cajoling Letter to the Cardinal but words went for nothing Soon after this the Pope complained much to Sr. Gregory Cassali of the ill usage he received from the French Ambassador and that their Confederates the Florentines and the Duke of Ferrara used him so ill that they would force him to throw himself into the Emperors hands and he seemed inclined to grant an Avocation of the cause and complained that there was a Treaty of peace going on at Cambray in which he had no share But the Ambassador undertook that nothing should be done to give him just offence yet the Florentines continued to put great affronts on him and his Family and the Abbot of Farfa their General made excursions to the gates of Rome so that the Pope with great signs of fear said that the Florentines would some day seize on him and carry him with his hands bound behind his back in Procession to Florence and that all this while the Kings of England and France did only entertain him with good words and did not so much as restrain the Insolencies of their Confederates And whereas they used to say that if he joyned himself to the Emperor he would treat him as his Chaplain he said with great Commotion that he would not only choose rather to be his Chaplain but his horse-Groom than suffer such injuries from his own Rebellious Vassals and Subjects This was perhaps set on by the Cardinals Arts to let the Pope feel the weight of offending the King and to oblige him to use him better but it wrought a contrary effect for the Treaty between the Emperor and him was the more advanced by it And the Pope reckoned that the Emperor being as he was informed ashamed and grieved for the taking and Sacking of Rome would study to repair that by better usage for the future The Motion for the Avocation was still driven on and pressed the more earnestly because they heard the Legates were proceeding in the cause But the Ambassadors were instructed by a Dispatch from the King to obviate that carefully for as it would reflect on the Legates and defeat the Commission and be a gross violation of the Popes Promise which they had in writing so it was more for the Popes Interest to leave it in the Legates hands than to bring it before himself for then whatever Sentence passed the ill effects of it would ly on the Pope without any Interposition And as the King had very just exceptions to Rome where the Emperors forces lay so near that no safety could be expected there so they were to tell the Pope that by the Laws of England the Prerogative of the Crown Royal was such that the Pope could do nothing that was prejudicial to it To which the citing the King to Rome to have his cause decided there was contrary in a high degree And if the Pope went on notwithstanding all the diligence they could use to the contrary they
his Ambassadors it is plain that both the King and Queen came in Person into the Court where they both sate with their Council standing about them The Bishops of Rochester and St. Asaph and Doctor Ridley being the Queens Council When the King and Queen were called on the King answered Here but the Queen left her seat and went and kneeled down before him and made a Speech that had all the Insinuations in it to raise pity and compassion in the Court She said She was a poor woman and a stranger in his Dominions where she could neither expect good Council nor indifferent Judges she had been long his Wife and desired to know wherein she had offended him she had been his Wife twenty years and more and had born him several Children and had ever studied to please him and protested he had found her a true Maid about which she appealed to his own Conscience If she had done any thing amiss she was willing to be put away with shame Their Parents were esteemed very wise Princes and no doubt had good Counsellors and Learned men about them when the Match was agreed Therefore she would not submit to the Court nor durst her Lawyers who were his Subjects and assigned by him speak freely for her So she desired to be excused till she heard from Spain That said she rose up and made the King a low Reverence and went out of the Court. And though they called after her she made no answer but went away and would never again appear in Court She being gone the King did publickly Declare what a true and obedient Wife she had always been and commended her much for her excellent Qualities Then the Cardinal of York desired the King would witness whether he had been the first or chief mover of that matter to him since he was suspected to have done it In which the King did vindicate him and said That he had always rather opposed it and protested it arose meerly out of a scruple in his Conscience which was occasioned by the Discourse of the French Ambassador who during the Treaty of a Match between his Daughter and the Duke of Orleance did except to her being Legitimate as begotten in an unlawful Marriage upon which he resolved to try the lawfulness of it both for the quiet of his Conscience and for clearing the Succession of the Crown And if it were found lawful he was very well satisfied to live still with the Queen But upon that he had first moved it in Confession to the Bishop of Lincoln then he had desired the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to gather the Opinions of the Bishops who did all under their Hands and Seals Declare against the Marriage This the Arch-Bishop confirmed but the Bishop of Rochester denied his Hand was at it And the Arch-Bishop pretended he had his consent to make another write his name to the Judgment of the rest which he positively denied The Court Adjourned to the 25th ordering Letters Monitory to be Issued out for Citing the Queen to appear under pain of Contumacy But on the 25th was brought in her Appeal to the Pope the Original of which is extant every page being both Subscribed and Superscribed by her She excepted both to the Place to the Judges and to her Council in whom she could not confide and therefore appealed and desired her Cause might be heard by the Pope with many things out of the Canon-Law on which she grounded it This being read and she not appearing was Declared Contumax Then the Legates being to proceed ex officio drew up Twelve Articles upon which they were to examine witnesses The substance of them was That Prince Arthur and the King were Brothers that Prince Arthur did Marry the Queen and Consummated the Marriage that upon his death the King by vertue of a Dispensation had Married her that this Marrying his Brothers Wife was forbidden both by Humane and Divine Law and that upon the complaints which the Pope had received he had sent them now to try and judge in it The Kings Council insisted most on Prince Arthur's having Consummated the Marriage and that led them to say many things that seemed indecent of which the Bishop of Rochester complained and said they were things detestable to be heard but Cardinal Wolsey 〈◊〉 him and there passed some sharp words between them The Legates proceeded to the Examination of Witnesses of which I shall say little the substance of their Depositions being fully set down with all their names by the Lord Herbert The sum of what was most material in them was that many violent presumptions appeared by their Testimonies that Prince Arthur did carnally know the Queen And it cannot be imagined how greater proofs could be made 27 years after their Marriage Thus the Court went on several days Examining Witnesses but as the matter was going on to a conclusion there came an Avocation from Rome Of which I shall now give an Account The Queen wrote most earnestly to her Nephews to procure an Avocation protesting she would suffer any thing and even death it self rather than depart from her Marriage that she expected no justice from the Legates and therefore lookt for their assistance that her appeal being admitted by the Pope the Cause might be taken out of the Legates hands Campegio did also give the Pope an account of their Progress and by all means advised an Avocation for by this he thought to excuse himself to the King to oblige the Emperor much and to have the reputation of a man of Conscience The Emperor and his Brother Ferdinand sent their Ambassadors at Rome orders to give the Pope no rest till it were procured and the Emperor said He would look on a Sentence against his Aunt as a dishonour to his Family and would lose all his Kingdoms sooner than endure it And they plied the Pope so warmly that between them and the English Ambassadors he had for some days very little rest To the one he was kind and to the other he resolved to be civil The English Ambassadors met oft with Salviati and studied to perswade him that the Process went not on in England but he told them their Intelligence was so good that whatever they said on that head would not be believed They next suggested that it was visible Campegio's advising an Avocation was only done to preserve himself from the envy of the Sentence and to throw it wholly on the Pope for were the matter once called to Rome the Pope must give Sentence one way or another and so bear the whole burden of it There were also secret surmises of Deposing the Pope if he went so far for seeing that the Emperor prevailed so much by the terrors of that the Cardinal resolved to try what operation such threatnings in the Kings name might have But they had no Armies near the Pope so that big words did only provoke and alienate him
a Book for his opinion and confirm it with as much Authority as he could and was recommended to the care of the Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond to which honor the King had advanced Sr. Thomas Boleyn in the right of his Mother and in the beginning of the next year he published his Book about it Richard Crook who was Tutor to the Duke of Richmond was sent into Italy and others were sent to France and Germany to consult the Divines Canonists and other Learned men in the Universities about the Kings business How the rest managed the matter I have not yet been able to discover but from a great number of original Letters of Doctor Crooks I shall give a full account of his Negotiation It was thought best to begin at home and therefore the King wrote to the two Universities in England to send him their conclusions about it The matters went at Oxford thus The Bishop of Lincoln being sent thither with the Kings Letters for their Resolution it was by the Major vote of the Convocation of all the Doctors and Masters as well Regents as non-Regents committed to 33 Doctors and Batchelours of Divinity who were named by their own Facultie or to the greater number of them to determine the Questions that were sent with the Kings Letters and to set the common Seal of the University to their Conclusions and by vertue of that Warrant they did on the 8 of April put the common Seal of the University to an Instrument declaring the Marriage of the Brothers wife to be both contrary to the Laws of God and Nature The Collector of the Antiquities of Oxford informs us of the uneasiness that was in the University in this matter and of the several messages the King sent before that Instrument could be procured so that from the 12 of February to the 8 of April the matter was in agitation the Masters of Arts generally opposing it though the Doctors and Heads were for the greatest part for it But after he has set down the Instrument he gives some reasons upon what design I cannot easily imagine to shew that this was extorted by force and being done without the consent of the Masters of Arts was of it self void and of no force and as if it had been an ill thing he takes pains to purge the University of it and lays it upon the fears and corruptions of some aspiring men of the University and without any proof gives credit to a lying Story set down by Sanders of an Assembly called in the night in which the Seal of the University was set to the Determination But it appears that he had never seen or considered the other Instrument to which the University set their Seal that was agreed on in a Convocation of all the Doctors and Masters as well Regents as non-Regents giving Power to these Doctors and Batchelors ofDivinity to determine the Matter and to set the Seal of the University to their Conclusion The original whereof the Lord Herbert saw upon which the persons so deputed had full Authority to set the University Seal to that Conclusion without a new Convocation Perhaps that Instrument was not so carefully preserved among their Records or was in Queen Maries days taken away which might occasion these mistakes in their Historian There seems to be also another mistake in the Relation he gives for he says those of Paris had determined in this matter before it was agreed to at Oxford The Printed Decision of the Sorbone contradicts this for it bears date the 2d of Iuly 1530. whereas this was done the 8th of April 1530. But what passed at Cambridge I shall set down more fully from an original Letter written by Gardiner and Fox to the King in February but the day is not marked When they came to Cambridge they spake to the Vice-Chancellor whom they found very ready to serve the King so was also Bonner whom they call Doctor Edmonds and several others but there was a contrary party that met together and resolved to oppose them A meeting of the Doctors Batchelors of Divinity and Masters of Arts in all about 200 was held There the Kings Letters were read and the Vice-Chancellor calling upon several of them to deliver their opinions about it they answered as their affections led them and were in some disorder But it being proposed that the answering the Kings Letter and the Questions in it should be referred to some indifferent men great exceptions were made to Doctor Salcot Doctor Reps and Crome and all others who had approved Doctor Cranmers Book as having already declared themselves partial But to that it was answered that after a thing was so much discoursed of as the Kings matter had been it could not be imagined that any number of men could be found who had not declared their judgment about it one way or another Much time was spent in the debate but when it grew late the Vice-Chancellor commanded every man to take his place and to give his voice whether they would agree to the Motion of referring it to a Select body of men but that night they would not agree to it The Congregation being Adjourned till next day the Vice-Chancellor offered a Grace or Order to refer the matter to 29 persons himself 10 Doctors and 16 Batchelors and the 2 Proctors That the Questions being publickly disputed what two parts of three agreed to should be read in a Congregation and without any further debate the Common Seal of the University should be set to it Yet it was at first denyed then being put to the vote it was carryed equally on both sides But being a third time proposed it was carryed for the Divorce Of which an account was presently sent to the King with a Schedule of their names to whom it was committed and what was to be expected from them so that it was at length determined though not without opposition That the King's Marriage was against the Law of God It is thought strange that the King who was otherwise so absolute in England should have met with more difficulty in this matter at home than he did abroad But the most reasonable account I can give of it is That at this time there were many in the Universities particularly at Cambridge who were addicted to Luthers Doctrine And of those Cranmer was lookt on as the most Learned So that Crome Shaxton Latimer and others of that Society favoured the Kings Cause besides that Anne Boleyn had in the Dutchess of Alancon's Court who inclined to the Reformation received such impressions as made them fear that her Greatness and Cranmers Preferment would encourage Heresie to which the Universities were furiously averse and therefore they did resist all Conclusions that might promote the Divorce But as for Crooke in Italy he being very Learned in the Greek Tongue was first sent to Venice to search the Greek Manuscripts that lay in the Library of
St. Mark and to examine the Decrees of the ancient Councils He went incognito without any Character from the King only he had a Letter Recommending him to the care of Iohn Cassali then Ambassador at Venice to procure him an admittance into the Libraries there But in all his Letters he complained mightily of his Poverty that he had scarce whereby to live and pay the Copiers whom he imployed to Transcribe passages out of MSS. He stayed some time at Venice from whence he went to Padua Bononia and other Towns where he only talked with Divines and Canonists about these questions Whether the Precepts in Leviticus of the Degrees of Marriage do still oblige Christians And whether the Popes Dispensation could have any force against the Law of God These he proposed in Discourse without mentioning the King of England or giving the least intimation that he was sent by him till he once discovered their Opinions But finding them generally inclining to the Kings Cause he took more courage and went to Rome where he sought to be made a Penitentiary Priest that he might have the freer access into Libraries and be lookt on as one of the Popes Servants But at this time the Earl of Wiltshire and Stokesley who was made Bishop of London Tonstall being Translated to Duresm were sent by the King into Italy Ambassadors both to the Pope and Emperor Cranmer went with them to justifie his Book in both these Courts Stokesley brought full Instructions to Crooke to search the Writings of most of the Fathers on a great many passages of the Scripture and in particular to try what they wrote on that Law in Deuteronomy which provided that when one died without Children his Brother should marry his Wife to raise up Children to him This was most pressed against the King by all that were for the Queen as either an Abrogation of the other Law in Leviticus or at least a Dispensation with it in that particular Case He was also to consult the Iews about it and was to Copy out every thing that he found in any Manuscript of the Greek or Latine Fathers relating to the Degrees of Marriage Of this labour he complained heavily and said That though he had a great task laid on him yet his allowance was so small that he was often in great straits This I take notice of because it is said by others That all the Subscriptions that he procured were bought At this time there were great Animosities between the Ministers whom the King imployed in Italy the two Families of the Cassali and the Ghinucci hating one another Of the former Family were the Ambassadors at Rome and at Venice Of the other Hierome was Bishop of Worcester and had been in several Ambassies into Spain His Brother Peter was also imployed in some of the little Courts of Italy as the Kings Agent Whether the King out of Policy kept this hatred up to make them Spies one on another I know not To the Ghinucci was Crooke gained so that in all his Letters he complained of the Cassali as men that betraied the Kings Affairs and said that Iohn then Ambassador at Venice not only gave him no assistance but used him ill and publickly discovered That he was imployed by the King which made many who had formerly spoken their minds freely be more reserved to him But as he wrote this to the King he begged of him that it might not be known otherwise he expected either to be Killed or Poisoned by them Yet they had their Correspondents about the King by whose means they understood what Crooke had Informed against them But they wrote to the King that he was so morose and ill-natured that nothing could please him and to lessen his Credit they did all they could to stop his Bills All this is more fully set down than perhaps was necessary if it were not to show that he was not in a condition to corrupt so many Divines and whole Universities as some have given out He got into the acquaintance of a Frier at Venice Franciscus Georgius who had lived 49 years in a Religious order and was esteemed the most Learned man in the Republick not only in the vulgar Learning but in the Greek and Hebrew and was so much accounted of by the Pope that he called him the Hammer of Hereticks He was also of the Senatorian Quality and his Brother was Governor of Padua and payed all the Readers there This Friar had a great opinion of the King and having studied the case wrote for the Kings cause and endeavoured to satisfie all the other Divines of the Republick among whom he had much credit Thomas Omnibonus a Dominican Philippus de Cremis a Doctor of the Law Valerius of Bergamo and some others wrote for the Kings cause Many of the Iewish Rabbins did give it under their hands in Hebrew That the Laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy were thus to be reconciled That Law of Marrying the Brothers wife when he dyed without Children did only bind in the Land of Judaea to preserve Families and maintain their Successions in the Land as it had been divided by Lot But that in all other places of the world the Law of Leviticus of not Marrying the Brothers wife was obligatory He also searched all the Greek MSS. of Councils and Nazianzens and Chrysostoms works After that he run over Macarius Acacius Apollinaris Origen Gregory Nyssen Cyril Severian and Gennadius and copied out of them all that which was pertinent to his purpose He procured several hands to the Conclusions before it was known that it was the Kings business in which he was employed But the Government of Venice was so strict that when it was known whose Agent he was he found it not easie to procure Subscriptions Therefore he advised the King to order his Minister to procure a Licence from the Senate for their Divines to declare their opinions in that matter Which being proposed to the Senate all the answer he could obtain was that they would be Neutrals and when the Ambassador pressed as an evidence of Neutrality that the Senate would leave it free to their Divines to declare of either side as their Consciences led them he could procure no other answer the former being again repeated Yet the Senate making no Prohibition many of their Divines put their hands to the Conclusions And Crook had that Success that he wrote to the King he had never met with a Divine that did not favour his cause but the Conclusions touching the Popes Power his Agents did every-where discourage and threaten those who subscribed them And the Emperors Ambassador at Venice did threaten Omnibonus for writing in prejudice of the Popes Authority and asserting conclusions which would make most of the Princes of Europe Bastards He answered he did not consider things as a Statesman but as a Divine Yet to take off this fear Crook suggested to the King to order his Minister at the
another Wife keeping the Queen still Zuinglius confutes that and says If the Marriage be against the Law of God it ought to be dissolved But concludes the Queen should be put away honourably and still used as a Queen and the Marriage should only be dissolved for the future without Illegitimating the Issue begotten in it since it had gone on in a publick way upon a received error But advises that the King should proceed in a Judiciary way and not establish so ill a President as to put away his Queen and take another without due form of Law Dated Basil 17th of Aug. There is a second Letter of his to the same purpose from Zurick the first of September There is also with these Letters a long paper of Osianders in the form of a Direction how the Process should be managed There is also an Epistle of Calvins published among the rest of his Neither the date nor the person to whom it was directed are named Yet I fancie it was written to Grineus upon this occasion Calvin was clear in his judgment that the Marriage was null and that the King ought to put away the Queen upon the Law of Leviticus And whereas it was objected that the Law is only meant of Marrying the Brothers wife while he is yet alive he shews that could not be admitted for all the prohibited degrees being forbidden in the same style they were all to be understood in one sense Therefore since it is confessed that it is unlawful to Marry in the other degrees after the death of the Father Son Uncle or Nephew so it must be also a sin to Marry the Brothers wife after his death And for the Law in Deuteronomy of Marrying the Brothers wife to raise up seed to him he thought that by Brother there is to be understood a near Kinsman according to the usual phrase of the Hebrew tongue and by that he reconciles the two Laws which otherwise seem to differ illustrating his Exposition by the History of Ruth and Boaz. It is given out that Melancthon advised the Kings taking another wife justifying Polygamy from the old Testament but I cannot believe it It is true the Lawfulness of Polygamy was much controverted at this time And as in all controversies newly started many crude things are said so some of the Helvetian and German Divines seem not so fierce against it though none of them went so far as the Pope did who did plainly offer to grant the King Licence to have two wives and it was a motion the Imperialists consented to and promoted though upon what reason the Ambassador Cassali who wrote the account of it to the King could not learn The Pope forbade him to write about it to the King perhaps as Whisperers enjoyn silence as the most effectual way to make a thing publick But for Melancthons being of that mind great evidences appear to the contrary for there is a Letter of Osianders to him giving him many reasons to perswade him to approve of the Kings putting away the Queen and Marrying another the Letter also shews he was then of opinion that the Law in Leviticus was Dispensable And after the thing was done when the King desired the Lutheran Divines to approve his second Marriage they begged his excuse in a writing which they sent over to him so that Melanâ—â—hon not allowing the thing when it was done cannot be imagined to have advised Polygamy before hand And to open at once all that may clear the sense of the Protestants in the Question when some years after this Fox being made Bishop of Hereford and much inclined to their Doâ—ctrine was sent over to get the Divines of Germany to approve of the Divorce and the subsequent Marriage of Anne Boleyn he found that Melancthon and others had no mind to enter much into the Dispute about it both for fear of the Emperor and because they judged the King was led in it by dishonest affections they also thought the Laws in Leviticus were not Moral and did not oblige Christians and since there were no Rules made about the Degrees of Marriage in the Gospel they thought Princes and States might make what Laws they pleased about it yet aâ—ter much Disputing they were induced to change their minds but could not be brought to think that a Marriage once made might be annulled and therefore demurred upon that as will appear by the Conclusion they passed upon it to be found at the end of this volume All this I have set together here to give a right representation of the judgments of the several parties of Christendome about this matter It cannot be denyed that the Protestants did express great sincerity in this matter such as became men of conscience who were acted by true Principles and not by maxims of Policie For if these had governed them they had struck in more compliantly with so great a Prince who was then alienated from the Pope and in very ill terms with the Emperor so that to have gained him by a full Compliance to have protected them was the wisest thing they could do and their being so cold in the matter of his Marriage in which he had engaged so deeply was a thing which would very much provoke him against them But such measures as these though they very well became the Apostolick See yet theâ— were unworthy of men who designed to restore an Apostolick Religion The Earl of Wiltshire with the other Ambassadors when they had their Audience of the Pope at Bononia refused to pay him the submission of Kissing his foot though he graciously stretched it out to them but went to their Business and expostulated in the Kings name and in high words and in Conclusion told the Pope that the Prerogative of the Crown of England was such that their Master would not suffer any Citation to be made of him to any forreign Court and that therefore the King would not have his cause tryed at Rome The Pope answered that though the Queens Sollicitor had pressed him to proceed in the Citation bâ—th that her Marriage being further examined might receive a new Conâ—irmation for silencing the Dispuâ—es about it and because the King had withdrawn himself â—rom her yet if the King did not go further and did not innovate in Relâ—gion the Pope was willing to let the matter rest They went next to the Emperor to justifie the Kings Proceedings in the Suit of the Divorce But he told them he was bound in honour and justice to â—uppâ—rt his Aunt and that he would not abandon her Cranmer offered to maintain what he had written in his Book but whether they went so far as to make their Divines enter into any Discourse with him about it I do not know This appears that the Pope to put a Complement on the King declared Cranmer his Paenitentiary in England He having stayed some months at Rome after the Ambassadors were gone
went into Germany where he became acquainted with Cornelius Agrippa a man very famous for great and curious Learning and so satisfied him in the Kings cause that he gave it out that the thing was clear and indisputable for which he was afterwards hardly used by the Emperor and dyed in Prison But when the King received the Determinations and Conclusions of the Universities and other Learned men beyond Sea he resolved to do two things First to make a new attempt upon the Pope and then to publish those Conclusions to the World with the arguments upon which they were grounded But to make his address to the Pope carry more terror with it he got a Letter to be signed by a great many Members of Parliament to the Pope The â—ord Herbertâ—aith â—aith it was done by his Parliament but in that he had not applyed his ordinary diligence the Letter bears date the 13 of Iuly Now by the Records of Parliament it appears there could be no Session at that time for there was a Prorogation from the 21 of Iune till the â—st of October that year But the Letter was sent about to the chief Members for their hands and Cavendish tells how it was brought to the Cardinal and with what chearfulness he set his hand to it It was subscribed by the Cardinal and the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury 4 Bishops 2 Dukes 2 Marquesses 13 Earls 2 Viscounâ—s 23 Barons 22 Abbots and 11 Commoners most of these being the Kings Servants The Contents of the Letters were that their near Relation to the King made them address thus to the Pope The Kings cause was now in the opinion of the Learned men and Universities both in England France and Italy found just which ought to prevail so far with the Pope that though none moved in it and notwithstanding any Contradiction he ought to confirm their judgment especially it touching a King and Kingdom to whom he was so much obliged But since neither the justice of the cause nor the Kings most earnest desires had prevailed with him they were all forced to complain of that strange usage of their King who both by his Authority and with his Pen had supported the Apostolick See and the Catholick Faith and yet was now denyed justice From which they apprehended great mischief and Civil Wars which could only be prevented by the Kings Marrying another wife of whom he might have issue This could not be done till his present Marriage were annulled nulled And if the Pope would still refuse to do this they must conclude that they were abandoned by him and so seek for other Remedies This they most earnestly prayed him to prevent since they did not desire to go to extremities till there was no more to be hoped for at his hands To this the Pope made answer the 27 of September He took notice of the vehemency of their Letter which he forgave them imputing it to their great affection to their King they had charged him with ingratitude and injustice two grievous Imputations He acknowledged all they wrote of the obligations he owed to their King which were far greater than they called them both on the Apostolick See and himself in particular But in the Kings cause he had been so far from denying justice that he was oft charged as having been too partial to him He had granted a Commission to two Legates to hear it rather out of favour than in Rigor of Law upon which the Queen had appealed he had delayed the admitting of it as long as was possible but when he saw it could not be any longer denyed to be heard it was brought before the Consistory where all the Cardinals with one consent found that the Appeal and an Avocation of the cause must be granted That since that time the King had never desired to put it to a Tryal but on the contrary by his Ambassadors at Bononia moved for a delay and in that posture it was still nor could he give sentence in a thing of such Consequence when it was not so much as sought for For the conclusions of Universities and Learned men he had seen none of them from any of the Kings Ambassadors It was true some of them had been brought to him another way but in them there were no reasons given but only bare Conclusions and he had also seen very important things for the other side and therefore he must not precipitate a Sentence in a cause of such high Importance till all things were fully heard and considered He wished their King might have Male Issue but he was not in Gods stead to give it And for their Threatnings of seeking other Remedies they were neither agreeable to their wisdom nor to their Religion Therefore he admonished them to abstain from such Counsels but minded them that it is not the Physicians fault if the Patient will do himself hurt He knew the King would never like such courses and though he had a just value for their Intercession yet he considered the King much more to whom as he had never denyed any thing that he could grant with his honor so he was very desirous to examine this matter and to put it to a speedy issue and would do every thing that he could without offending God But the King either seeing the Pope resolved to grant nothing or apprehending that some Bull might be brought into England in behalf of the Queen or the disgraced Cardinal did on the Nineteenth of September put forth a Proclamation against any who purchased any thing from Rome or elsewhere contrary to his Royal Prerogative and Authority or should publish or divulge any such thing requiring them not to do it under the pains of incurring his indignation Imprisonment and other punishments on their persons This was founded on the Statutes of Provisors and Premunires But that being done he resolved next to publish to the world and to his Subjects the justice of his cause Therefore some Learned men were appâ—inted to compare all that had been written on it and out of all the Transcripâ—s of the Manuscripts of Fathers and Councils to gather together whatsoever did strengthen it Several of these Manuscripts I have seen one is in Mr. Smiths Library where are the Quotations of the Fathers Councils Schoolmen and Canonists written out at length There are Three other such MSS. in the Cotton Library of which one contains a large vindication of these Authorities from some Exceptions made to them another is an answer to the Bishop of Rochesters Book for the Queens cause A Third digests the Matter into Twelve Articles which the Reader will find in my Appendix and these are there enlarged on and proved But all these and many more were sum'd up in a short Book and Printed first in Latine then in English with the Determinations of the Universities before it These are of such weight and Importance and give so great a light to
Cardinal A King of France desired a Dispensation to Marry his Wives Sister The matter was long considered of and debated in the Rota himself being there and bearing a share in the Debate but it was concluded That if any Pope either out of Ignorance or being Corrupted had ever granted such a Dispensation that could be no president or warrant for doing the like any more since the Church ought to be governed by Laws and not by such Examples Antonin and Ioannes de Tabia held the same And one Bacon an English-man who had taught the contrary was censured for it even at Rome and he did retract his Opinion and acknowledged that the Pope could not dispence with the Degrees of Marriage forbidden by the Law of God The Canonists agree also to this both Ioannes Andreas Ioannes de Imola and Abbas Panormitanus assert it saying That the Precepts in Leviticus oblige for ever and therefore cannot be dispenced with And Panormitan says These things are to be observed in Practice because great Princes do often desire Dispensations from Popes Pope Alexander the 3d. would not suffer a Citizen of Pavia to Marry his younger Son to the Widow of his eldest Son though he had Sworn to do it For the Pope said it was against the Law of God therefore it might not be done and he was to repent of his unlawful Oath And for the Power of dispencing even with the Laws of the Church by Popes it was brought in in the latter Ages All the Fathers with one consent believed That the Laws of God could not be dispenced with by the Church for which many places were cited out of St. Cyprian Basil Ambrose Isidore Bernard and Urban Fabian Marcellus and Innocent that were Popes besides an infinite number of latter Writers And also the Popes Zosimus Damasus Leo and Hilarius did freely acknowledge they could not change the Decrees of the Church nor go against the Opinions or Practices of the Fathers And since the Apostles confessed they could do nothing against the truth but for the truth the Pope being Christs Vicar cannot be supposed to have so great a Power as to abrogate the Law of God and though it is acknowledged that he is Vested with a fulness of Power yet the phrase must be restrained to the matter of it which is the Pastoral care of Souls And though there was no Court Superiour to the Popes yet as St. Paul had withstood St. Peter to his face so in all Ages upon several occasions holy Bishops have refused to comply with or submit to Orders sent from Rome when they thought the matter of them unlawful Laurence that Succeeded Austin the Monk in the See of Canterbury having Excommunicated King Edbald for an Incestuous Marriage would not Absolve him till he put away his Wife though the Pope plied him earnestly both by Intreaties and Threatnings to let it alone and Absolve him Dunstan did the like to Count Edwin for an other Incestuous Marriage nor did all the Popes Interposition make him give over They found many other such instances which occurred in the Ecclesiastical History of Bishops proceeding by Censures and other Methods to stop the course of Sin notwithstanding any encouragement the Parties had from Popes And it is certain that every man when he finds himself engaged in any course which is clearly sinful ought presently to forsake it according to the opinion of all Divines And therefore the King upon these Evidences of the unlawfulness of his Marriage ought to abstain from the Queen and the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury with the other Bishops ought to require him to do it otherwise they must proceed to Church Censures Many things were also brought from reason or at least the Maximes of the School Philosophy which passed for true reason in those days to prove Marriage in the degrees forbidden by Moses to be contrary to the Law of Nature and much was alledged out of Profane Authors to show what an abhorrency some Heathen Nations had of Incestuous Marriages And whereas the chief strength of the Arguments for the contrary opinion rested in this That these Laws of Moses were not confirmed by Christ or his Apostles in the New Testament To that they answered That if the Laws about Marriage were Moral as had been proved then there was no need of a particular Confirmation since those Words of our Saviour I came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it do confirm the whole Moral Law Christ had also expresly asserted the Relation of Affinity saying That man and wife are one Flesh. St. Paul also condemned a Match as Incestuous for Affinity But though it were not expresly set down in the Gospel yet the Traditions of the Church are received with equal Authority to written Verities This the Court of Rome and all the Learned Writers for the Catholick Faith lay down as a Fundamental Truth And without it how could the Seven Sacraments some of which are not mentioned in the New Testament with many other Articles of Catholick Belief be maintained against the Hereticks The Tradition of the Church being so full and formal in this particular must take place And if any Corruptions have been brought in by some Popes within an Age or two which have never had any other Authority from the Decrees of the Church or the Opinions of Learned men they are not to be maintained in opposition to the Evidence that is brought on the other side This I have summed up in as short and Comprehensive words as I could Being the Substance of what I gathered out of the Printed Books and Manuscripts for the Kings cause But the Fidelity of an Historian leads me next to open the arguments that were brought against it by those who wrote on the other side for the Queens cause to prove the validity of the Marriage and the Popes Power of Dispensing with a Marriage in that degree of Affinity I could never by all the search I have made see either MSS. or Printed Books that defended their Cause except Cajetans and Victorias Books that are Printed in their works But from an answer that was written to the Bishop of Rochesters Book and from some other writings on the other side I gather the Substance of their arguments to have been what follows Cardinal Cajetan had by many arguments endeavored to prove that the Prohibitions in Leviticus were not parts of the Moral Law They were not observed before the Law no not by the holy seed Adams Children Married one another Abraham Married his Sister Iacob Married two Sisters Iudah gave his two Sons to Tamar and promised to give her the third for her Husband By the Law of Moses a Dispensation was granted in one case for Marrying the Brothers wife which shows the Law was not Moral otherwise it could not be dispenced with and if Moses dispensed with it why might not the Pope as well do it nor was there any force in the
and many Clerks advanced in the Realm were put out of their Benefices by those Provisors therefore the King being bound by Oath to see the Laws kept did with the assent of all the great men and the Commonalty of the Realm ordain that the free Elections Presentments and Collations of Benefices should stand in the Right of the Crown or of any of his Subjects as they had formerly enjoyed them notwithstanding any Provisions from Rome And if any did disturb the Incumbents by vertue of such Provisions those Provisors or others employed by them were to be put in Prison till they made Fine and Ransome to the King at his will or if they could not be apprehended writs were to be issued out to seize them and all Beneficeâ— possessed by them were to fall into the Kings hands except they were 〈◊〉 or Priories that fell to the Canons or Colledges By another Act the Provisors were put out of the Kings Protection and if any man offended against them in Person or Goods he was excused and was never to be impeached for it And two years after that upon another Complaint of their Suing the Kings Subjects in other Courts or beyond Sea it was Ordained that any who Sued either beyond Sea or in any other Court for things that had been Sued and about which judgment had been given in former times in the Kings Courts were to be Cited to answer for it in the Kings Courts within two Months and if they came not they were to be put out of the Kings Protection and to forfeit their Lands Goods and Chattels to the King and to be imprisoned and ransomed at the Kings will Both these Statutes received a new Confirmation Eleven years after that But those Statutes proved ineffectual and in the beginning of the Reign of Richard the 2d the former Acts were Confirmed by another Statute and appointed to be Executed and not only the Provisors themselves but all such as took Procuratories Letters of Attourney or Farms from them were involved in the same Guilt And in the 7th year of that King Provisions was made against Aliens having Benefices without the Kings Licence and the King promised to abstain from granting them Licences for this was another Artifice of the Roman Court to get the King of their side by accepting his Licence which by this Act was restrained This failing they betook themselves to another course which was to prevail with the Incumbents that were presented in England according to Law to take Provisions for their Benefices from Rome to Confirm their Titles This was also forbidden under the former Pains As for the Rights of Presentations by the Law they were tryed and judged in the Kings Courts and the Bishops were to give Institution according to the Title declared in these judgments This the Popes had a mind to draw to themselves and to have all Titles to Advousons tryed in their Courts and Bishops were Excommunicated who proceeded in this matter according to the Law Of which great Complaint was made in the 16th year of the Reign of Richard the 2d And it was added to that that the Pope intended to make many Translations of Bishops some to be within and some out of the Realm which among other Inconveniences reckoned in the Statute would produce this effect That the Crown of England which had been so free at all times should be subjected to the Bishop of Rome and the Laws and Statutes of the Realm by him defeated and destroyed at his Will They also found those things to be against the Kings Crown and Regality used and approved in the time of his Progenitors Therefore all the Commons resolved to live and dye with him and his Crown and they required him by way of Iustice to Examine all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal what they thought of those things and whether they would be with the Crown to uphold the Regality of it To which all the Temporal Lords answered they would be with the Crown But the Spiritual Lords being asked said they would neither deny nor affirm that the Bishop of Rome might or might not Excommunicate Bishops or make Translations of Prelates But upon that Protestation they said that if such things were done they thought it was against the Crown and said they would be with the King as they were bound by their Leageance whereupon it was ordained that if any did purchase Translations Sentences of Excommunication Bulls or other Instruments from the Court of Rome against the King or his Crown or whosoever brought them to England or did receive or execute them they were out of the Kings Protection and that they should forfeit their Goods and Chattels to the King and their Persons should be imprisoned And because the Proceedings were to be upon a writ called from the most material words of it Premunire facies this was called the Statute of Premunire When Henry the 4th had Treasonably Usurped the Crown all the Bishops Carlisle only excepted did assist him in it and he did very gratefully oblige them again in other things yet he kept up the force of the former Statutes For the Cistercian Order having procured Bulls discharging them of paying Tithes and forbiding them to let their Farms to any but to possess them themselves This was complained of in Parliament in the 2d year of his Reign and those Bulls were declared to be of no force and if any did put them in Execution or procured other such Bulls they were to be proceeded against upon the Statutes made in the 13th year of the former Kings Reign against Provisors But all this while though they made Laws for the future yet they had not the Courage to put them in Execution And this Feebleness in the Government made them so much despised and so oft broken whereas the severe execution of one Law in one Instance would more effectually have prevenâ—ed the Mischief than all these Laws did without Execution In the 6th year of his Reign Complaints being made of the excessive Rates of Compositions for Arch-Bishopricks and Bishopricks in the Popes Chamber which were raised to the treble of what had been formerly payed it was Enacted That they should pay no more than had been formerly wont to be payed In the 7th year of his Reign the Statuâ—e made in the 2d year was confirmed and by another Act the Licences which the King had Granted for the Executing any of the Popes Bulls are declared of no force to prejudice any Incumbent in his Right Yet the abuses and Encroachments of the Court of Rome still encreasing all former Statutes against Provisors were Confirmed again and all Elections declared free and not to be interrupted either by the Pope or the King But at the same time the King pardoned all the former Transgressions against these Statutes By those Pardon 's the Court of Rome was more encouraged than terrified by the Laws therefore there was a
necessity of making another Law in the Reign of Henry 5th against Provisors that the Incumbents Lawfully Invested in their Livings should not be molested by them though they had the Kings Pardon and both Bulls and Licences were declared void and of no value and those who did upon such grounds molest them should incur the pains of the Statutes against Provisors Our Kings took the best opportunity that ever could have been found to depress the Papal Power for from the beginning of Richard the Second's Reign till the Fourth year of Henry the Fiâ—th the Popedome was broken by a long and great Schism and the Kinâ—doms of Europe were divided in their Obedience Some holding for those that sate at Rome and others for the Popes of Avignon England in opposition to France that chiefly supported the Avignon-Popes did adhere to the Roman Popes The Papacy being thus divided the Popes were as much at the mercy of Kings for their Protection as Kings had formerly been at theirs so that they durst not Thunder as they were wont to do otherwise this Kingdom had certainly been put under Excommunications and Interdicts for these Statutes as had been done formerly upon less Provocations But now that the Schism was healed Pope Martin the Fifth began to reassume the Spirit of his Predecessors and sent over threatning messages to England in the beginning of Henry the Sixths Reign None of our Books have taken any notice of this piece of our History The Manuscript out of which I draw it had been written near that time and contains many of the Letters that passed between Rome and England upon this occasion The first Letter is to Henry Chichely then Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who had been promoted to that See by the Pope but had made no opposition to the Statute against Provisions in the Fourth year of Henry the Fifth and afterwards in the Eighth year of his Reign when the Pope had granted a Provision of the Arch-Bishoprick of York to the Bishop of Lincoln the Chapter of York rejected it and pursuant to the former Statute made a Canonical Election Henry the Fifth being then the greatest King in Christendome the Pope durst not offend him So the Law took place without any further contradiction till the Sixth year of his Sons Reign that England was both under an Infant King and had fallen from its former greatness Therefore the Pope who waited for a good conjuncture laid hold on this and first expostulated severely with the Arch-Bishop for his remisness that he had not stood up more for the Right of St. Peter and the See of Rome that had bestowed on him the Primaâ—y of England and then says many things against the Statute of Premunire and exhorts him to imitate the Example of his Predecessor St. Thomas of Canterbury the Martyr in asserting the Rights of the Church requiring him under the pain of Excommunication to declare at the next Parliament to both Houses the unlawfulness of that Statute and that all were under Excommunication who obeyed it But to make sure work among the people he also commands him to give orders under the same pains that all the Clergy of England should preach the same Doctrine to the people This bears date the 5th day of December 1426. and will be found in the Collection of Papers But it seems the Pope was not satisfied with his Answer for the next Letter in that MSS. is yet more severe and in it his Legantine Power is suspended It has no date added to it but the Paper that follows bearing date the 6th of April 1427. leads us pretty near the date of it It contains an Appeal of the Arch-Bishops from the Popes Sentence to the next general Council or if none met to the Tribunal of God and Jesus Christ. There is also another Letter dated the 6th of May directed to the Arch-Bishop and makes mention of Letters written to the whole Clergie to the same purpose Requiring him to use all his Endeavors for repealing the Statute and chides him severely because he had said that the Popes zeal in this matter was only that he might raise much Money out of England which he resents as an high Injury and Protests that he designed only to maintain these Rights that Christ himself had granted to his See which the Holy Fathers the Councils and the Catholick Church has always acknowledged If this does not look like Teaching ex Cathedra it is left to the Readers Judgment But the next Letter is of an higher strain It is directed to the two Arch-Bishops only and it seems in despite to Chichely the Arch-Bishop of York is named before Canterbury By it the Pope annuls the Statutes made by Edward the Third and Richard the Second and commands them to do no Act in pursuance of them and declares if they or any other gave obedience to them they were ipso facto Excommunicated and not to be relaxed unless at the point of death by any but the Pope He charges them also to intimate that his Monitory Letter to the whole nation and cause it to be affixed in the several places where there might be occasion for it This is dated the 8th of Decemb. the tenth year of his Popedom Then follow Letters from the University of Oxford the Arch-Bishop of York the Bishops of London Duresm and Lincoln to the Pope all to mitigate his displeasure against the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in which they gave him the highest testimony possible bearing date the 10th and the 25th day of Iuly These the Arch-Bishop sent by an Express to Rome and wrote the humblest submission possible to the Pope Protesting that he had done and would do all that was in his Power for repealing these Statutes One thing in this Letter is remarkable he says he hears the Pope had proceeded to a Sentence against him which had never been done from the days of St. Austin to that time but he knew that only by report for he had not opened much less read the Bulls in which it was contained being commanded by the King to bring them with the Seals entire and lay them up in the Paper-Office till the Parliament was brought together There are two other Letters to the King and one to the Parliament for the Repeal of the Statute In those to the King the Pope writes that he had often pressed both King and Parliament to it and that the King had answered that he could not repeal it without the Parliament But he excepts to that as a delaying the business and shews it is of it self unlawful and that the King was under Excommunication as long as he kept it therefore he expects that at the furthest in the next Parliament it should be repealed It bears date the 13th of October in the 10th year of his Popedom In his Letter to the Parliament he tells them that no Man can be saved who is for the observation of that Statute
they were not included and therefore prayed the King that they might be comprehended within it But the King answered them That they must not restrain his Mercy nor yet force it it was free to him either to execute or mitigate the Severity of the Law That he might well grant his Pardon by his Great-Seal without their assent but he would be well advised before he pardoned them because he would not seem to be compelled to it So they went away and the House was in some trouble many blamed Cromwell who was growing in favour for this rough answer yet the King's Pardon was passed But his other concerns made him judge it very unfit to send away his Parliament discontented and since he was so easie to them as to ask no Subsidy he had no mind to offend them and therefore when the thing was over and they out of hopes of it he of his own accord sent another Pardon to all his Temporal Subjects of their Transgressons of the Statutes of Provisors and Premunire which they received with great joy and acknowledged there was a just Temperature of Majesty and Clemency in the Kings proceedings During this Session of Parliament an unheard-of Crime was committed by one Richard Rouse a Cook who on the 16th of February Poisoned a Vessell of Yest that was to be used in Porridge in the Bishop of Rochester's Kitchin with which 17 Persons of his Family were mortally infected and one of the Gentlemen died of it and some poor People that were Charitably fed with the remainder of it were also infected one woman dying The Person was Apprehended and by Act of Parliament Poisoning was declared Treason and Rouse was attainted and Sentenced to be Boyled to death which was to be the punishment of Poisoning for all times to come That the Terror of this unheard-of Punishment might strike a Horror in all Persons at such an unexampled Crime And the Sentence was Executed in Smithfield soon after Of this I take Notice the rather because of Sander's Malice who says this Rouse was set on by Anne Boleyn to make away the Bishop of Rochester of which there is nothing on Record nor does any Writer of that time so much as insinuate it But persons that are set on â—o commit such Crimes are usually either conveighed out of the way or secretly dispatched that they may not be brought to an open Trial. And it is not to be imagined That a man that was employed by them that might have preferred him and found himself given up and adjudged to such a death would not have published their names who set him on to have lessened his own Guilt by casting the load upon them that had both employed and deserted him But this must pass among the many other vile Calumnies of which Sanders has been the inventer or publisher and for which he had already answered to his Judg. When the Session of Parliament was over the King continued to ply the Queen with all the applications he could think of to depart from her Appeal He grew very Melancholy and used no sort of Diversion but was observed to be very pensive Yet nothing could prevail with the Queen She answered the Lords of the Council when they pressed her much to it That she prayed God to send the King a quiet Conscience but that she was his lawful Wife and would abide by it till the Court of Rome declared the contrary Upon which the King forbore to see her or to receive any Tokens from her and sent her word to choose where she had a mind to live in any of his Mannours She answered that to which place soever she were removed nothing could remove her from being his Wife Upon this answer the King left her at Windsor the 14th of Iuly and never saw her more She removed first to Moor then to Easthamstead and at last to Ampthill where she stayed longer The Clergy went now about the raising of the 100000 l. which they were to pay in five years and to make it easier to themselves the Prelates had a great mind to draw in the Inferiour Clergy to bear a part of the burden The Bishop of London called a meeting of some Priests about London on the 1st of September to the Chapter-House at St. Pauls He designed to have had at first only a small number among whom he hoped it would easily pass and that being done by a few others would more willingly follow But the matter was not so secretly carried but that all the Clergy about the City hearing of it went thither They were not a little encouraged by many of the Laity who thought it no unpleasant diversion to see the Clergy fall out among themselves So when they came to the Chapter-House on the day appointed the Bishop's Officers would only admit some few to enter but the rest forced the door and rushed in and the Bishop's Servants were beaten and ill used But the Bishop seeing the tumult was such that it could not be easily quieted told them all That as the State of men in this life was frail so the Clergy through frailty and want of wisdom had misdemeaned themselves towards the King and had fallen in a Premunire for which the King of his great Clemency was pleased to Pardon them and to accept of a little in stead of the whole of their Benefices which by the Law had fallen into his hand Therefore he desired they would patiently bear their share in this burden But they answered They had never medled with any of the Cardinals Faculties and so had not fallen in the P remunire and that their Livings were so small that they could hardly subsist by them Therefore since the Bishops and Abbots were only Guilty and had good Preferments they only ought to be punished and pay the Tax but that for themselves they needed not the Kings Pardon and so would pay nothing for it Upon which the Bishop's Officers threatned them but they on the other hand being encouraged by some Lay-men that came along with them persisted in their denyal to pay any thing so that from high words the matter came to blows and several of the Bishop's Servants were ill handled by them But he to prevent a further Tumult apprehending it might end upon himself gave them good words and dismissed the meeting with his blessing and promised that nothing should be brought in Question that was then done Yet he was not so good as his word for he complained of it to the Lord Chancellor who was always a great Favourer of the Clergy by whose order fifteen Priests and five Lay-men were committed to several Prisons but whether the Inferiour Clergy pay'd their proportion of the Tax or not I have not been able to discover This year the State of Affairs beyond-Sea changed very considerably The Pope expected not only to recover Florence to his Family by the Emperors means but also to wrest
try the outmost severity that the Law allowed and would not offer them such a favour again Yet all this did not prevail for the Act was rejected and their complaint against the Clergy was also laid aside and the Parliament was Prorogued till April next In this Parliament the Foundation of the Breach that afterwards followed with Rome was laid by an Act for restraining the payment of Annates to that Court which since it is not Printed with the other Statutes shall be found in the end of this Volume The substance of it is as follows That great Sums of Money had been conveyed out of the Kingdom under the Title of Annates or first Fruits to the Court of Rome which they extorted by restraint of Bulls and other writs that it happened often by the frequent deaths of Arch-Bishops and Bishops to turn to the utter undoing of their Friends who had advanced those Sums for them These Annates were founded on no Law for they had no other way of obliging the Incumbents of Sees to pay them but by restraining their Bulls The Parliament therefore considering that these were first begun to be payed to defend Christendome against Infidels but were now turned to a duty claimed by that Court against all Right and Conscience and that vast Sums were carryed away upon that account which from the Second year of King Henry the 7th to that present time amounted to 800000 Ducats besides many other heavy Exactions of that Court did declare that the King was bound by his Duty to Almighty God as a good Christian Prince to hinder these oppressions And that the rather because many of the Prelates were then very Aged and like to die in a short time whereby vast Sums of Money should be carryed out of England to the great Impoverishing of the Kingdom And therefore all payments of first Fruits to the Court of Rome were put down and for ever restrained under the pains of the forfeiture of the Lands Goods and Chattels of him that should pay them any more together with the Profits of his See during the time that he was vested with it And in case Bulls were restrained in the Court of Rome any person presented to a Bishoprick should be notwithstanding Consecrated by the Arch-Bishop of the Province or if he were presented to an Arch-Bishoprick by any two Bishops in the Kingdom whom the King should appoint for that end and that being so Consecrated they should be Invested and enjoy all the Rights of their Sees in full and ample manner yet that the Pope and Court of Rome might have no just cause of Complaint the persons presented to Bishopricks are allowed to pay them 5 lib. for the Hundred of the clear Profits and Revenues of their several Sees But the Parliament not willing to go to extremities Remitted the final ordering of that Act to the King that if the Pope would either charitably and reasonably put down the payment of Annates or so moderate them that they might be a tolerable burden the King might at any time before Easter 1533. or before the next Session of Parliament declare by his Letters Patents whether the premises or any part of them should be observed or not which should give them the full force and Authority of a Law And that if upon this Act the Pope should vex the King or any of his Subjects by E xommunications or other Censures these notwithstanding the King should cause the Sacraments and other Rites of the Church to be administred and that none of these Censures might be published or Executed This Bill began in the House of Lords from them it was sent to the Commons and being agreed to by them received the Royal Assent but had not that final Confirmation mentioned in the Act before the 9th of Iuly 1533. and then by Letters Patents in which the Act is at length recited it was confirmed But now I come to open the final Conclusion of the Kings Suit at Rome On the 25th of Ianuary the Pope wrote to the King that he heard reports which he very unwillingly believed that he had put away his Queen and kept one Anne about him as his Wife which as it gave much Scandal so it was an high Contempt of the Apostolick See to do such a thing while his Suit was still depending notwithstanding a Prohibition to the contrary Therefore the Pope remembring his former merits which were now like to be clouded with his present Carriage did exhort him to take home his Queen and to put Anne away and not to continue to provoke the Emperor and his Brother by so high an Indignity nor to break the General peace of Christendome which was its only security against the Power of the Turk What answer the King made to this I do not find but instead of that I shall set down the Substance of a Dispatch which the King sent to Rome about this time drawn from a Copy of it to which the date is not added But it being an answer to a Letter he received from the Pope the 7th of October it seems to have been written about this time and it concluding with a Credence to an Ambassador I judge it was sent by Doctor Bennet who was dispatched to Rome in Ianuary 1532. to shew the Pope the Opinions of Learned men and of the Universities with their Reasons The Letter will be found in the end of this Volume the Contents of it are to this purpose The Pope had writ to the King in order to the clearing all his scruples and to give him quiet in his Conscience of which the King takes notice and is sorry that both the Pope and himself were so deceived in that matter the Pope by trusting to the judgments of others and writing whatever they suggested and the King by depending so much on the Pope and in vain expecting remedy from him so long He imputes the mistakes that were in the Popes Letters which he says had things in them contrary both to Gods Law and Mans Law to the Ignorance and rashness of his Councellors for which himself was much to be blamed since he rested on their advice and that he had not carryed himself as became Christs Vicar but had dealt both unconstantly and deceitfully for when the Kings cause was first opened to him and all things that Related to it were explained he had Granted a Commission with a promise not to recall it but to confirm the Sentence which the Legates should give and a Decretal was sent over defining the cause If these were justly granted it was unjustice to revoke them but if they were justly revoked it was unjust to grant them So he presses the Pope that either he could grant these things or he could not If he could do it where was the Faith which became a Friend much more a Pope since he had broke these promises But if he said he could not do them had he
not then just cause to distrust all that came from him when at one time he condemned what he had allowed at another So that the King saw clearly he did not Consider the ease of his Conscience but other worldly respects that had put him on Consulting so many Learned men whose judgments differed much from those few that were about the Pope who thought the Prohibition of such Marriages was onely positive and might be dispensed with by the Pope whereas all other Learned men thought the Law was Moral and indispensable He perceived the Apostolick See was destitute of that Learning by which it should be directed and the Pope had oft professed his own Ignorance and that he spake by other mens mouths but many Universities in England France and Italy had declared the Marriage unlawful and the Dispensation null None honoured the Apostolick See more than he had done and therefore he was sorry to write such things if he could have been silent If he should obey the Popes Letters he would offend God and his own Conscience and give scandal to those who condemned his Marriage he did not willingly dissent from him without a very urgent cause that he might not seem to despise the Apostolick See therefore he desired the Pope would forgive the freedom that he used since it was the Truth that drew it from him And he added that he intended not to Impugn the Popes Authority further except he compelled him and what he did was only to bring it within its first and Ancient Limits to which it was better to reduce it than to let it always run on headlong and do amiss therefore he desired the Pope would Conform himself to the opinions of so many Learned men and do his Duty and Office The Letter ends with a Credence to the Ambassador The Pope seeing his Authority was declining in England resolved now to do all he could to recover it either by force or Treaty and so ordered a Citation to be made of the King to appear in Person or by Proxie at Rome to answer to the Queens appeal upon which Sir Edward Karne was sent to Rome with a new Character of Excusatour His Instructions were to take the best Counsel for pleading an Excuse of the Kings appearance at Rome First upon the grounds that might be found in the Canon Law and these not being sufficient he was to Insist on the Prerogatives of the Crown of England Doctor Bonner went with him who had expressed much zeal in the Kings cause though his great zeal was for Preferment which by the most servile ways he always Courted He was a forward bold man and since there were many Threatnings to be used to the Pope and Cardinals he was thought fittest for the employment but was neither Learned nor discreet They came to Rome in March where they found great heats in the Consistory about the Kings business The Imperialists pressed the Pope to proceed but all the wise and indifferent Cardinals were of another mind And when they understood what an Act was passed about Annates they saw clearly that the Parliament was resolved to adhere to the King in every thing he intended to do against their Interests The Pope expostulated with the Ambassadors about it but they told him the Act was still in the Kings Power and except he provoked him he did not intend to put it in execution The Ambassadors finding the Cardinal of Ravenna of so great reputation both for Learning and Vertue that in all matters of that kind his opinion was heard as an Oracle and gave Law to the whole Consistory they resolved to gain him by all means possible And Doctor Bennet made a secret address to him and offered him what Bishoprick either in France or England he would desire if he would bring the Kings matter to a good issue He was at first very shie at length he said he had been oft deceived by many Princes who had made him great Promises but when their business was ended never thought of performing them therefore he would be sure and so drave a Bargain and got under Doctor Bennets hand a promise of which a Copy being sent to the King written by Bennet himself will be found at the end of this Volume Bearing that he having Powers from the King for that effect dated the 29th of December last did promise the Cardinal for his help in the Kings affair Monasteries or other Benefices in France to the value of 6000 Ducates a year and the first Bishoprick that fell vacant in England and if it were not Ely that when ever that See was vacant upon his resigning the other he should be provided with the Bishoprick of Ely dated at Rome the 7th of February 1532. This I set down as one of the most Considerable Arguments that could be used to satisfie the Cardinals Conscience about the justice of the Kings cause This Cardinal was the fittest to work secretly for the King for he had appeared visible against him I find also by other Letters that both the Cardinals of Anâ—ona and Monte afterwards Pope Iulius the 3d were prevailed with by arguments of the same nature though I cannot find cut what the Bargains were Providellus that was accounted the greatest Canonist in Italy was brought from Bononia and entertained by the Ambassadors to give Counsel in the Kings cause and to plead his Excuse from appearing at Rome The plea was summed up in 28 Articles which were offered to the Pope and he admitted them to be examined in the Consistory appointing three of them to be opened at a Session But the Imperialists opposed that and after fifteen of them had been heard procured a new order that they should be heard in a Congregation of Cardinals before the Pope pretending that a Consistory sitting but once a week and having a great deal of other Business it would be long before the matter could be brought to any issue So Karne was served with a new order to appear in the Congregation the 3d. of April with this Certification That if he appeared not they would proceed Upon which he protested that he would adhere to the former Order yet being warned the second time he went first and protested against it which he got entered in the Datary This being considered in the Congregation they renewed the Order ofhearing it in the Consistory on the 10th of April and then Providellus opened three Conclusions Two of them related to Karne's Powers the third was concerning the Safety of the place to both parties But the Imperialists and the Queens Council being dissatisfied with this Order would not appear Upon which Karne complained of their Contumacy and said By that it was visible they were distrustful of their Cause On the 14th of April a new intimation was made to Karne to appear on the 17th with his Advocates to open all the rest of the Conclusions but he according to the first Order would onely plead
with the Lutherans he did not think it was then seasonable to call one That as for sending a Proxy to Rome if he were a private Person he could do it but it was a part of the Prerogative of his Crown and of the Priviledges of his Subjects That all Matrimonial Causes should be originally judged within his Kingdom by the English Church which was consonant to the general Councils and Customs of the ancient Church whereunto he hoped the Pope would have regard And that for keeping up his Royal Authority to which he was bound by Oath he could not without the consent of the Realm submit himself to a Forreign Jurisdiction hoping the Pope would not desire any violation of the Immunities of the Realm or to bring these into publick Contention which had been hitherto enjoyed without intrusion or molestation The Pope had confessed that without an urgent cause the Dispensation could not be granted This the King laid hold on and ordered his Ambassador to show him that there was no War nor appearance of any between England and Spain when it was granted To verifie that he sent an attested Copy of the Treaty between his Father and the Crown of Spain at that time By the words of which it appeared that it was then taken for granted that Prince Arthur had Consummated the Marriage which was also proved by good witnesses In fine since the thing did so much concern the Peace of the Realm it was fitter to judg it within the Kingdom than any where else therefore he desired the Pope would remit the discussing of it to the Church of England and then confirm the Sentence they should give To the obtaining of this the Ambassador was to use all possible diligence yet if he found real intentions in the Pope to satisfie the King he was not to insist on that as the Kings final Resolution And to let the Cardinal of Ravenna see that the King intended to make good what was promised in his name the Bishoprick of Coventry and Litchfield falling vacant he sent him the offer of it with a promise of the Bishoprick of Ely when it should be void Soon after this he Married Anne Boleyn on the 14th of November upon his landing in England but Stow says without any ground that it was on the 25th of Ianuary Rowland Lee who afterward got the Bishoprick of Coventry and Liechfield officiate in the Marriage It was done secretly in the presence of the Duke of Norfolk and her Father her Mother and Brother and Dr. Cranmer The grounds on which the King did this were That his former Marriage being of it self null there was no need of a Declarative Sentence after so many Universities and Doctors had given their judgments against it Soon after the Marriage she was with-Child which was looked on as a signalEvidence of her Chastity and that she had till then kept the King at a due distance But when the Pope and the Emperor met at Bononia the Pope expressed great Inclinations to favour the French King from which the Emperor could not remove him nor engage him to accept of a Match for his Neece Katherine de Medici with Francis Sforza Duke of Milan But the Pope promised him all that he desired as to the King of England and so that matter was still carried on Dr. Bennet made several propositions to end the matter either that it should be judged in England according to the Decree of the Council of Nice and that the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury with the whole Clergy of his Province should determine it or that the King should name one either Sir Thomas More or the Bishop of London the Queen should name another the French King should name a third and the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to be the fourth or that the cause should be heard in England and if the Queen did Appeal it should be referred to three Delegates one of England another of France and a third to be sent from Rome who should sit and judge the Appeal in some indifferent place But the Pope would hearken to none of these Overtures since they were all directly contrary to that height of Authority which he resolved to maintain Therefore he ordered Capisucci the Dean of the Rota to cite the King to answer to the Queens Appeal Karne at Rome protested against the Citation since the Emperor's Power was so great about Rome that the King could not expect justice there and therefore desired they would desist otherwise the King would Appeal to the Learned men in Universities and said there was a nullity in all their proceedings since the King was a Soveraign Prince and the Church of England a free Church over which the Pope had no just Authority But while this depended at Rome another Session of Parliameot was held in England which began to sit on the 4th of February In this the Breach with Rome was much forwarded by the Act they passed against all Appeals to Rome The Preamble bears that the Crown of England was Imperial and that the Nation was a compleat Body within it self with a full Power to give justice in all cases Spiritual as well as Temporal and that in the Spiritualty as there had beed at all times so there were them men of that sufficiency and integrity that they might declare and determine all doubts within the Kingdom and that several Kings as Edward the 1st Edward the 3d Richard the 2d and Henry the 4th had by several Laws preserved the Liberties of the Realm both Spiritual and Temporal from the annoyance of the See of Rome and other forreign Potentates yet many inconveniences had arisen by Appeals to the See of Rome in Causes of Matrimony Divorces and other cases which were not sufficiently provided against by these Laws by which not only the King and his Subjects were put to great charges but justice was much delayed by Appeals and Rome being at such a distance Evidences could not be brought thither nor Witnesses so easily as within the Kingdom Therefore it was Enacted that all such Causes whether relating to the King or any of his Subjects were to be determined within the Kingdom in the several Courts to which they belonged notwithstanding any Appeals to Rome or Inhibitions and Bulls from Rome whose Sentences should take effect and be fully Executed by all Inferior Ministers and if any Spiritual Persons refused to Execute them because of Censures from Rome they were to suffer a years Imprisonment and fine and ransom at the Kings will and if any Persons in the Kings Dominions procured or executed any Process or Censures from Rome they were declared liable to the pains in the Statute of Provisors in the 16th of Rich. the 2d But that Appeals should only be from the Arch-Deacon or his Official to the Bishop of the Diocess or his Commissary and from him to the Arch-Bishop of the Province or the Dean of the Arches where the
final Determination was to be made without any further Process and in every Process concerning the King or his Heirs and Successors an Appeal should lie to the upper House of Convocation where it should be finally Determined never to be again called in question As this Bill passed the sense of both Houses of Parliament about the Kings Marriage did clearly appear but in the Convocation the business was more fully debated The Convocation of the Province of Canterbury was at this time destitute of its Head and principal Member For Warham Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was dead since August last year He was a great Canonist an able States-man a dextrous Courtier and a favourer of Learned men He always hated Cardinal Wolsey and would never stoop to him esteeming it below the Dignity of his See He was not so peevishly engaged to the Learning of the Schools as others were but set up and encouraged a more generous way of Knowledge yet he was a severe persecutor of them whom he thought Hereticks and enclined to believe idle and Fanatical people as will afterwards appear when the Impostures of the Maid of Kent shall be related The King saw well of how great importance it was to the designes he was then forming to fill that See with a Learned Prudent and resolute man but finding none in the Episcopal Order that was qualified to his mind and having observed a native simplicity joyned with much courage and tempered with a great deal of wisdom in Dr. Cranmer who was then Negotiating his business among the Learned men of Germany he of his own accord without any adresses from Cranmer designed to raise him to that Dignity and gave him notice of it that he might make hast and come home to enjoy that reward which the King had appointed for him But Cranmer having received this did all he could to excuse himself from the burden which was coming upon him and therefore he returned very slowly to England hoping that the Kings thoughts cooling some other person might step in between him and a Dignity of which having a just and primitive sense he did look on it with fear and apprehension rather than joy and desire This was so far from setting him back that the King who had known well what it was to be importuned by ambitious and aspiring Churchmen but had not found it usual that they should decline and fly from Preferment was thereby confirmed in his high opinion of him and neither the delays of his Journey nor his Intreaties to be delivered from a Burden which his Humility made him imagine himself unable to bear could divert the King So that though six moneths elapsed before the thing was settled yet the King persisted in his Opinion and the other was forced to yield In the end of Ianuary the King sent to the Pope for the Bulls for Cranmers Promotion and though the Statutes were passed against procuring more Bulls from Rome yet the King resolved not to begin the breach till he was forced to it by the Pope It may be easily imagined that the Pope was not hearty in this Promotion and that he apprehended ill consequences from the Advancement of a Man who had gone over many Courts of Christendom disputing against his Power of Dispensing and had lived in much Familiarity with Osiander and the Lutherans in Germany Yet on the other hand he had no mind to precipitate a Rupture with England therefore he consented to it and the Bulls were expedited though instead of Annates there was onely 900 Ducats paid for them They were the last Bulls that were received in England in this Kings Reign and therefore I shall give an account of them as they are set down in the beginning of Cranmers Register By one Bull he is upon the Kings Nomination promoted to be Archbishop of Canterbury which is directed to the King By a second directed to himself he is made Archbishop By a third he is absolved from all Censures A fourth is to the Suffragans A fifth to the Dean and Chapter A sixth to the Clergy of Canterbury A seventh to all the Laity in his See An eighth to all that held Lands of it requiring them to receive and acknowledge him as Archbishop All these bear Date the 21th of February 1533. By a ninth Bull dated the 22th of February he was ordained to be consecrated taking the Oath that was in the Pontifical By a tenth Bull dated the second of March the Pall was sent him And by an eleventh of the same Date the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London were required to put it on him These were the several Artifices to make Compositions high and to enrich the Apostolick Chamber for now that about which S. Peter gloried that he had none of it neither silver nor gold was the thing in the world for which his Successors were most careful When these Bulls were brought into England Thomas Cranmer was on the 13th of March consecrated by the Bishops of Lincoln Exeter and S. Asaph But here a great Scruple was moved by him concerning the Oath that he was to swear to the Pope which he had no mind to take and Writers near that time say the dislike of that Oath was one of the motives that made him so unwillingly accept of that Dignity He declared that he thought there were many things settled by the Laws of the Popes which ought to be reformed and that the Obligation which that Oath brought upon him would bind him up from doing his Duty both to God the King and the Church But this being communicated to some of the Canonists and Casuists they found a temper that agreed better with their Maxims than Cranmers sincerity which was that before he should take the Oath he should make a good and formal Protestation That he did not intend thereby to restrain himself from any thing that he was bound to either by his Duty to God or the King or the Countrey and that he renounced every thing in it that was contrary to any of these This Protestation he made in S. Stephens Chapel at Westminster in the hands of some Doctors of the Canon Law before he was consecrated and he afterwards repeated it when he took the Oath to the Pope by which if he did not wholly save his Integrity yet it was plain he intended no Cheat but to act fairly and above board As soon as he was consecrated and had performed every thing that was necessary for his Investiture he came and sate in the Upper House of Convocation There were there at that time hot and earnest Debates upon these two Questions Whether it was against the Law of God and Indispensable by the Pope for a man to marry his Brothers Wife he being dead without Issue but having consummated the Marriage And whether Prince Arthur had consummated his Marriage with the Queen As for the first it was brought first into the Lower
read with many other Instruments and the whole Merits of the Cause were opened Upon which after many Sessions on the 23th of May Sentence was given with the Advice of all that were there present declaring it onely to have been a Marriage de facto but not de jure pronouncing it Null from the beginning One thing is to be observed That the Archbishop in the Sentence is called The Legate of the Apostolick See Whether this went of course as one of his Titles or was put in to make the Sentence firmer the Reader may judge Sentence being given the Archbishop with all the rest returned to London and five days after on the 28th of May at Lambeth by another Judgment he in general words no Reasons being given in the Sentence confirmed the Kings Marriage with the new Queen Anne and the first of Iune she was crowned Queen When this great Business which had been so long in agitation was thus concluded it was variously censured as men stood affected Some approved the Kings Proceedings as Canonical and Just since so many Authorities which in the intervall of a General Council were all that could be had except the Pope be believed Infallible had concurred to strengthen the Cause and his own Clergy had upon a full and long examination judged it on his side Others who in the main agreed to the Divorce did very much dislike the Kings second Marriage before the first was dissolved for they thought it against the common course of Law to break a Marriage without any publick Sentence and since one of the chief politick Reasons that was made use of in this Suit was to settle the Succession of the Crown this did embroil it more since there was a fair colour given to except to the Validity of the second Marriage because it was contracted before the first was annulled But to this others answered That the first Marriage being judged by the Interpreters of the Doctrine of the Church to have been Null from the beginning there was no need of any Sentence but onely for Form And all concluded it had been better there had been no Sentence at all than one so late Some excepted to the Archbishop of Canterbury's being Judge who by his former Writings and Disputes had declared himself partial But to this it was answered That when a man changes his Character all that he did in another Figure is no just Exception so Judges decide Causes in which they formerly gave Counsel and Popes are not bound to the Opinions they held when they were Divines or Canonists It was also said That the Archbishop did onely declare in Legal Form that which was already judged by the whole Convocation of both Provinces Some wondered at the Popes stifness that would put so much to hazard when there wanted not as good Colours to justifie a Bull as they had made use of to excuse many other things But the Emperors Greatness and the fear of giving the Lutherans advantages in disputing the Popes Authority were on the other hand so prevalent Considerations that no wonder they wrought much on a Pope who pretended to no other knowledge but that of Policy for he had often said He understood not the matter and therefore left it in other mens hands All persons excused Queen Katharine for standing so stifly to her ground onely her denying so confidently that Prince Arthur consummated the Marriage seems not capable of an Excuse Every body admired Queen Annes Conduct who had managed such a Kings Spirit so long and had neither surfeited him with great freedom nor provoked him by the other Extreme for the King who was extremely nice in these matters conceived still an higher Opinion of her and her being so soon with child after the Marriage as it made people conclude she had been chaste till then so they hoped for a Blessing upon it since there were such early appearances of Issue Those that favoured the Reformation expected better days under her Protection for they know she favoured them But those who were in their hearts for the Established Religion did much dislike it and many of the Clergy especially the Orders of Monks and Friars condemned it both in their Sermons and Discourses But the King little regarding the Censures of the Vulgar sent Embassadors to all the Courts of Europe to give notice of his new Marriage and to justifie it by some of those Reasons which have been opened in the former parts of this History He also sent the Lord Mountjoy to the Divorced Queen to let her know what was done and that she was no more to be treated as Queen but as Princess Dowager He was to mix Promises with Threatnings particularly concerning her Daughters being put next the Queens Issue in the Succession But the afflicted Queen would not yield and said she would not damn her Soul nor submit to such an Infamy That she was his Wife and would never call her self by any other Name whatever might follow on it since the Process still depended at Rome That Lord having written a Relation of what had passed between him and her shewed it to her but she dashed with a Pen all those places in which she was called Princess Dowager and would receive no Service at any ones hands but of those who called her Queen and she continued to be still served as Queen by all about her Against which though the King used all the Endeavours he could not without both threatning and violence to some of the Servants yet he could never drive her from it and what he did in that was thought far below that Height of Mind which appeared in his other Actings for since he had stript her of the real Greatness of a Queen it seemed too much to vex her for keeping up the Pageantry of it But the news of this made great impressions elsewhere The Emperor received the Kings justification very coldly and said â—e would consider what he was to do upon it which was looked on as a Dâ—câ—aration of War The French King though he expressed still gâ—eat Friendship to the King yet was now resolved to link himself to the Pope for the crafty Pope apprehending that nothing made the King of England so confident as that he knew his Friendship was necessary to the French King and fearing they had resolved to proceed at once to the puâ—ting down the Papal Authority in their Kingdoms which it appears they had once agreed to do resolved by all means to make sure of the French King which as it would preserve that Kingdom in his obedience so would perhaps frighten the King of England from proceeding to such extremities since that Prince in whose conjunction he trusted so much had forsaken him Therefore the Pope did so vigorously pursue the Treaty with Francis that it was as good as ended at this time and an Interview was projected between them at Marseilles The Pope did also grant him so great Power
would grant But he wrote back excusing himself that all he did was only to try whether her Revelations were true He confessed he conceived a great opinion of her Holiness both from common Fame and her entring into Religion from the report of her Ghostly Father whom he esteemed Learned and Religious and of many other Learned and Vertuous Priests from the good opinion the late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury had of her and from what is in the Prophet Amos That God will do nothing without revealing it to his Servants That upon these grounds he was induced to have a good opinion of her and that to try the truth about her he had sometimes spoken with her and sent his Chaplains to her but never discovered any falsehood in her And for his concealing what she had told him about the King which was laid to his charge he thought it needless for him to speak of it to the King since she had said to him that she had told it to the King her self She had named no person who should kill the King which by being known might have been prevented And as in Spiritual things every Church-man was not bound to denounce judgments against those that could not bear it so in temporal things the case might be the same and the King had on other occasions spoken so sharply to him that he had reason to think the King would have been offended with him for speaking of it and would have suspected that he had a hand in it therefore he desired for the passion of Christ to be no more troubled about that matter otherwise he would speak his Conscience freely To all which Cromwell wrote a long Letter which the Reader will find in the Collection copied from the rude draught of it written with his own hand In which he charges the Matter upon him heavily and shews him that he had not proceeded as a grave Prelate ought to have done for he had taken all that he had heard of her upon trust and had examined nothing that if every person that pretends to Revelations were believed on their own words all Government would be thereby destroyed He had no reason to conclude from the Prophecie of Amos that every thing that is to fall out must be revealed to some Prophet since many notable things had fallen out of which there was no Revelation made before hand But he told him the true reason that made him give credit to her was the matter of her Prophecies to which he was so addicted as he was to every other thing in which he once entred that nothing could come amiss that served to that end And he appealed to his Conscience whether if she had prophecied for the King he would have given such easie credit to her and not have examined the matter further Then he showes how guilty he was in not revealing what concerned the Kings Life and how frivolous all his excuses were And after all tells him that though his excusing the matter had provoked the King and that if it came to a Tryal he would certainly be found guilty yet again he advises him to beg the Kings pardon for his Negligence and offence in that matter and undertakes that the King would receive him into his favour and that all matters of displeasure pass'd before that time should be forgiven and forgotten This shows that though Fisher had in the progress of the Kings cause given him great offence yet he was ready to pass it all over and not to take the advantage which he now had against him But Fisher was still obstinate and made no submission and so was included within the Act for misprision of Treason and yet I do not find that the King proceeded against him upon this Act till by new provocations he drew a heavier storm of indignation upon himself When the Session of Parliament was at an end Commissioners were sent every-where to offer the Oath of the Succession to the Crown to all according to the Act of Parliament which was universally taken by all sorts of persons Gardiner wrote from Winchester the 6th of May to Cromwell that in the presence of the Lord Chamberlain the Lord Audley and many other Gentlemen all Abbots Priors Wardens with the Curates of all Parishes and Chappels within the Shire had appeared and taken the Oath very obediently and had given in a list of all the Religious persons in their Houses of 14 years of Age and above for taking whose Oaths some Commissioners were appointed The forms in which they took the Oath are not known and it is no wonder for though they were enrolled yet in Queen Maries time there was a Commission given to Bonner and others to examine the Records and raze out of them all things that were done either in contempt of the See of Rome or to the defamation of Religious Houses pursuant to which there are many things taken out of the Rolls which I shall sometimes have occasion afterwards to take notice of yet some Writings have escaped their diligence so there remains but two of the Subscriptions of Religious Orders both bearing date the 4th of May 1534. One is by the Prior and Convent of Langley Regis that were Dominicans the Franciscans of Ailesbury the Dominicans of Dunstable the Franciscans of Bedford the Carmelites of Hecking and the Franciscans de Mare The other is by the Prioress and Convent of the Dominican Nuns at Deptford In these besides the renewing their allegiance to the King they swear the Lawfulness of his Marriage with Queen Anne and that they shall be true to the Issue begotten in it that they shall always acknowledge the King Head of the Church of England and that the Bishop of Rome has no more Power than any other Bishop has in his own Diocess and that they should submit to all the Kings Laws notwithstanding the Popes censures to the contrary That in their Sermons they should not pervert the Scriptures but preach Christ and his Gospel sincerely according to the Scriptures and the Tradition of Orthodox and Catholick Doctors and in their Prayers that they should pray first for the King as Supreme Head of the Church of England then for the Queen and her issue and then for the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the other ranks of the Clergy To this these Six Priors set their hands with the Seals of their Convents and in their Subscriptions declared that they did it freely and uncompelled and in the name of all the Brethren in the Convent But Sir Thomas More and the Bishop of Rochester refused to take the Oath as it was conceived Whose Fall being so remarkable I shall shew the steps of it There was a meeting of the Privy Council at Lambeth to which many were cited to appear and take the Oath Sr. Thomas More was first called and the Oath was tendred to him under the great Seal then he called for the Act of Succession
more speedy administration of the Sacraments and other good wholesom and devout things and laudable ceremonies to the encrease of Gods honour and for the commodity of good and devout people therefore they appointed for Suffragans Sees the Towns of Thetford Ipswich Colechester Dover Gilford Southampton Taunton Shaftbury Malton Marleborough Bedford Leicester Glocester Shrewsbury Bristol Penreth Bridgewater Nottingham Grantham Hâ—ll Huntington Cambridge and the Towns of Pereth and Berwick St. Germans in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight For these Sees the Bishop of the Diocess was to present two to the King who might choose either of them and present the person so named to the Arch-Bishop of the Province to be Consecrated after which they might exercise such jurisdiction as the Bishop of the Diocess should give to them or as Suffragans had been formerly used to do but their Authority was to last no longer than the Bishop continued his Commission to them But that the Reader may more clearly see how this Act was executed he shall find in the Collection a Writ for making a Suffragan Bishop These were believed to be the same with the Chorâ—piscopi in the Primitive Church which as they were begun before the first Council of Nice so they continued in the Western Church till the Ninth Century and then a Decretal of Damasus being forged that condemned them they were put down every-where by degrees and now revived in England Then followed the grant of a Subsidy to the King It was now Twelve years since there was any Subsidy granted A Fiveteenth and a Tenth were given to be payed in Three years the final payment being to be at Allhallontide in the year 1537. The Bill began with a most Glorious Preamble of the Kings high Wisdom and Policy in the Government of the Kingdom these Twenty Four years in great wealth and quietness and the great charges he had been at in the last War with Scotland in fortifying Callais and in the War of Ireland and that he intended to bring the wilful wild and unreasonable and savage people of Ireland to Order and Obedience and intended to build Forts on the Marches of Scotland for the security of the Nation to amend the Haven of Calais and make a new one at Dover By all which they did perceive the entire love and zeal which the King bore to his People and that he sought not their wealth and quietness only for his own time being a Mortal man but did provide for it in all time coming therefore they thought that of very equity reason and good Conscience they were bound to show like correspondence of zeal gratitude and kindness Upon this the King sent a general pardon with some exceptions ordinary in such cases But Fisher and More were not only excluded from this pardon by general Clauses but by two particular Acts they were attainted of misprision of Treason By the Third Act according to the Record Iohn Bishop of Rochester Christopher Plummer Nicholas Wilson Edward Powel Richard Fetherston and Miles Willyr Clerks were attainted for refusing the Oath of Succession and the Bishoprick of Rochester with the Benefices of the other Clerks were declared void from the 2d of Ianuary next yet it seems few were fond of succeeding him in that See for Iohn Hilsey the next Bishop of Rochester was not Consecraed before the year 1537. By the Fourth Act Sr. Thomas More is by an Invidious Preamble charged with ingratitude for the great favours he had received from the King and for studying to sow and make sedition among the Kings Subjects and refusing to take the Oath of Succession therefore they declared the Kings Grants to him to be void and attaint him of misprision of Treason This severity though it was blamed by many yet others thought it was necessary in so great a Change since the Authority of these two men was such that if some signal notice had not been taken of them many might by their endeavors especially encouraged by that Impunity have been corrupted in their affections to the King Others thought the prosecuting them in such a manner did rather raise their reputation higher and give them more credit with the people who are naturally enclined to pity those that suffer and to think well of those opinions for which they see men resolved to endure all extremities But others observed the justice of God in retaliating thus upon them their own severities to others for as Fisher did grievously prosecute the preachers of Luthers Doctrine so Mores hand had been very heavy on them as long as he had Power and he had shewed them no mercy but the extremity of the Law which himself now felt to be very heavy Thus ended this Session of Parliament with which this Book is also to conclude for now I come to a Third period of the Kings Reign in which he did Govern his Subjects without any Competitor but I am to stop a little and give an account of the Progress of the Reformation in these years that I have past through The Cardinal was no great persecutor of Hereticks which was generally thought to flow from his hatred of the Clergy and that he was not ill pleased to have them depressed During the agitation of the Kings process there was no prosecution of the Preachers of Luthers Doctrine whether this flowed from any Intimation of the Kings pleasure to the Bishops or not I cannot tell but it is very probable it must have been so for these opinions were received by many and the Popish Clergy were so inclined to severity that as they wanted not Occasions so they had a good mind to use those Preachers cruelly so that it is likely the King restrained them and that was always mixed with the other threatnings to work upon the Pope that Heresie would prevail in England if the King got not justice done him so that till the Cardinal fell they were put to no further trouble But as soon as More came into favour he pressed the King much to put the Laws against Hereticks in execution and suggested that the Court of Rome would be more wrought upon by the Kings supporting the Church and defending the Faith vigorously than by threatnings and therefore a long Proclamation was issued out against the Hereticks many of their Books were prohibited and all the Laws against them were appointed to be put in execution and great care was taken to seize them as they came into England but many escaped their diligence There were some at Antwerp Tindal Ioye Constantine with a few more that were every year writing and printing new Books chiefly against the corruptions of the Clergy the Superstition of pilgrimages of worshiping Images Saints and Relicks and against relying on these things which were then called in the common style Good works in opposition to which they wrote much about Faith in Christ with a true Evangelical obedience as the only mean by which men
mitigated but that it may be to the Salvation of thy Soul to the extirpation terror and conversion of Hereticks and to the Unity of the Catholick Faith This was thought a scorning of God and men when those who knew that he was to be burnt and intended it should be so yet used such an Obtestation by the Bowels of Jesus Christ that the rigor might not be extreme This being certified the Writ was issued out and as the Register bears he was burnt in Smithfield the 4th of Iuly and one Andrew Hewet with him who also denyed the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar This Hewet was an Apprentice and went to the meetings of these Preachers and was twice betrayed by some spies whom the Bishops Officers had among them who discovered many When he was examined he would not acknowledge the Corporal Presence but was illiterate and resolved to do as Frith did so he was also condemned and burnt with him When they were brought to the Stake Frith expressed great joy at his approaching Martyrdom and in a Transport of it hugged the â—aggots in his Arms as the Instruments that were to send him to his eternal rest One Doctor Cook a Parson of London called to the people that they should not pray for them any more than they would do for a Dog At which Frith smiled and prayed God to forgive him so the fire was set to and they were consum'd to Ashes This was the last Act of the Clergies Cruelty against mens lives and was much condemned it was thought an unheard-of barbarity thus to burn a moderate and learned young man only because he would not acknowledge some of their Doctrines to be Articles of Faith and though his private judgment was against their tenet yet he was not positive in it any further than that he could not believe the contrary to be necessary to Salvation But the Clergy were now so bathed in blood that they seemed to have strip't themselves of those impressions of pity and compassion which are natural to mankind they therefore held on in their severe courses till the Act of Parliament did effectually restrain them In the Account that was given of that Act mention was made of one Thomas Philips who put in his complaint to the House of Commons against the Bishop of London The proceedings against him had been both extreme and illegal he was first apprehended and put in the Tower upon suspition of Heresie and when they searched him a Copy of Tracy's Testament was found about him and Butter and Cheese were found in his Chamber it being in the time of Lent There was also another Letter found about him exhorting him to be ready to suffer constantly for the Truth Upon these presumptions the Bishop of London proceeded against him and required him to abjure But he said he would willingly swear to be obedient as a Christian man ought and that he would never hold any Heresie during his life nor favour Hereticks but the Bishop would not accept of that since there might be Ambiguities in it therefore he required him to make the Abjuration in common form which he refused to do and appealed to the King as the Supreme Head of the Church Yet the Bishop pronounced him Contumax and did excommunicate him but whether he was released on his Appeal or not I do not find yet perhaps this was the man of whom the Pope complained to the English Ambassadors 1532. that an Heretick having appealed to the King as the Supreme Head of the Church was taken out of the Bishops hands and judged and acquitted in the Kings Courts It is probable this was the man only the Pope was informed that it was from the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury that he Appealed in which there might be a mistake for the Bishop of London But whatever ground there may be for that conjecture Philips got his liberty and put in a Complaint to the House of Commons which produced the Act about Hereticks And now that Act being passed together with the extirpation of the Popes Authority and the Power being lodged in the King to correct and reform Heresies Idolatries and Abuses the Standard of the Catholick Faith being also declared to be the Scriptures the Persecuted Preachers had ease and encouragement every-where They also saw that the necessity of the Kings Affairs would constrain him to be gentle to them for the Sentence which the Pope gave against the King was committed to the Emperor to be executed by him who was then aspiring to an universal Monarchy and therefore as soon as his other Wars gave him leisure to look over to England and Ireland he had now a good colour to justifie an Invasion both from the Popes Sentence and the interests and honour of his Family in protecting his Aunt and her Daughter Therefore the King was to give him work elsewhere in order to which his interest obliged him to joyn himself to the Princes of Germany who had at Smalcald entred into a League offensive and defensive for the liberty of Religion and the Rights of the Empire This was a thorn in the Emperor's side which the Kings Interest would oblige him by all means to maintain Upon which the Reformers in England concluded that either the King to recommend himself to these Princes would relax the severities of the Law against them or otherwise that their Friends in Germany would see to it for in these first fervours of Reformations the Princes made that always a condition in their Treaties that those who favoured their Doctrine might be no more persecuted But their chief encouragement was from the Queen who Reigned in the Kings heart as absolutely as he did over his Subjects and was a known favourer of them She took Shaxton and Latimer to be her Chaplains and soon after promoted them to the Bishopricks of Salisbury and Worcester then vacant by the deprivation of Campegio and Ghinuccii and in all other things cherished and protected them and used her most effectual endeavours with the King to promote the Reformation Next to her Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was a professed favourer of it who besides the Authority of his Character and See was well-fitted for carrying it on being a very Learned and Industrious man He was at great pains to collect the sense of Ancient Writers upon all the Heads of Religion by which he might be well-directed in such an Important matter I have seen two Volumns in Folio written with his own Hand containing upon all the Heads of Religion a vast heap both of places of Scripture and Quotations out of Ancient Fathers and later Doctors and School-men by which he governed himself in that work There is also an original Letter of the Lord Burghly's extant which I have seen in which he writes that he had six or seven Volumns of his Writings all which except two other that I have seen are lost for ought I can understand From
Preheminence of the See of Rome flowed only from the Laws of men so there was now good cause to repeal these for the Pope as was said in the Council of Basil was only Vicar of the Church and not of Christ so he was accountable to the Church The Council of Constance and the Divines of Paris had according to the Doctrine of the Ancient Church declared the Pope to be subject to a General Council which many Popes in former Ages had confessed And all that the Pope can claim even by the canon-Canon-Law is only to call and preside in a General Council but not to overrule it or have a Negative vote in it The Power of Councils did not extend to Princes Dominions or Secular Matters but only to points of Faith which they were to declare and to Condemn Hereticks nor were their Decrees Laws till they were Enacted by Princes Upon this he enlarged much to show that though a Council did proceed against a King with which they then Threatned the King that their Sentence was of no force as being without their Sphere The determination of Councils ought to be well considered and examined by the Scriptures and in matters indifferent men ought to be left to their freedom he taxed the severity of Victors Proceedings against the Churches of the East about the day of Easter And concluded that as a Member of the Body is not cut off except a Gangrene comes in it so no part of the Church ought to be cut off but upon a great and inevitable cause And he very largely showed with what moderation and charity the Church should proceed even against those that held errors And the Standard of the Councils definitions should only be taken from the Scriptures and not from mens Traditions He said some General Councils had been rejected by others and it was a tender point how much ought to be deferred to a Council some Decrees of Councils were not at all obeyed The Divines of Paris held that a Council could not make a new Article of Faith that was not in the Scriptures And as all Gods Promises to the people of Israel had this condition implyed within them If they kept his Commandments so he thought the Promises to the Christian Church had this condition in them If they kept the Faith Therefore he had much doubting in himself as to General Councils and he thought that only the word of God was the Rule of Faith which ought to take place in all Controversies of Religion The Scriptures were called Canonical as being the only Rules of the Faith of Christians and these by appointment of the Ancient Councils were only to be read in the Churches The Fathers SS Ambrose Ierome and Austin did in many things differ from one another but always appealed to the Scriptures as the common and certain standard And he cited some remarkable passage out of St. Austin to show what difference he put between the Scriptures and all the other Writings even of the best and holiest Fathers But when all the Fathers agreed in the Exposition of any place of Scripture he acknowledged he looked on that as flowing from the Spirit of God and it was a most dangerous thing to be wise in our own Conceit Therefore he thought Councils ought to found their decisions on the word of God and those expositions of it that had been agreed on by the Doctors of the Church Then he discoursed very largely what a person a Judge ought to be he must not be Partial nor a Judge in his own Cause nor so much as sit on the Bench when it is tryed lest his presence should over-awe others Things also done upon a common error cannot bind when the error upon which they were done comes to be discovered and all human Laws ought to be changed when a publick visible inconvenience follows them From which he concluded that the Pope being a Party and having already passed his Sentence in things which ought to be examined by a General Council could not be a Judge nor sit in it Princes also who upon a common mistake thinking the Pope Head of the Church had sworn to him finding that this was done upon a false ground may pull their Neck out of his Yoke as every man may make his escape out of the hands of a Robber And the Court of Rome was so corrupt that a Pope though he mean't well as Hadrian did yet could never bring any good design to an issue the Cardinals and the rest of that Court being so engaged to maintain their Corruptions These were the Heads of that Discourse which it seems he gave them in writing after he had delivered it but he promised to entertain them with another Discourse of the Power the Bishops of the Christian Church have in their Sees and of the Power of a Christian Prince to make them do their duty but that I could never see and I am afraid it is lost All this I thought necessary to open to show the State of the Court and the Principles that the several Parties in it went upon when the Reformation was first brought under Consideration in the third Period of this Kings Reign to which I am now advanced The end of the Second Book EFFIGIES VERA REVERENDISSIMI D. THOMAE CRANMERI ARCHIEPISCOPI CANTUARIâ—NSIS HHolbein pinxit Natus 1489 Iuly 2. Consecratus 1533 Mar. 30. Martyrio Coronatus 1556 Mar. 21. 〈…〉 THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE Church of England BOOK III. Of the other Transactions about Religion and Reformation during the rest of the Reign of King Henry the 8th THe King having passed through the Traverses and tossings of his Sute of Divorce and having with the concurrence both of his Clergy and Parliament brought about what he had projected seem'd now at ease in his own Dominions But though matters were carryed in Publick Assemblies smoothly and successfully yet there were many secret discontents which being fomented both by the Pope and the Emperors Agents wrought him great trouble so that the rest of his life was full of vexation and disquiet All that were zealously addicted to that which they called the Old Religion did conclude that what-ever firmness the King expressed to it now was either pretended out of Policy for avoiding the Inconveniences which the fears of a Change might produce or though he really intended to perform what he professed yet the Interests in which he must embarque with the Princess of Germany against the Pope and the Emperor together with the Power that the Queen had over him and the credit Cranmer and Cromâ—ell had with him would prevail on him to change some things in Religion And they look'd on these things as so complicated together that the change of any one must needs make way for change in more since that struck at the Authority of the Church and left people at liberty to dispute the Articles of Faith This they thought was a Gate opened to Heresie
And therefore they were every-where meeting together and consulting what should be done for suppressing Heresie and preserving the Catholick Faith That zeal was much inflamed by the Monks and Friers who clearly saw the Acts of Parliament were so levelled at their Exemptions and Immunities that they were now like to be at the Kings mercy They were no more to plead their Bulls nor claim any Priviledges further than it pleased the King to allow them No new Saints from Rome could draw more Riches or Honour to their Orders Priviledges and Indulgences were out of doors so that the Arts of drawing in the people to enrich their Churches and Houses were at an end And they had also secret Intimations that the King and the Courtiers had an eye on their Lands and they gave themselves for lost if they could not so embroyl the Kings Affairs that he should not adventure on so invidious a thing Therefore both in Confessions and Conferences they infused into the people a dislike of the Kings Proceedings which though for some time it did not break out into an open Rebellion yet the humor still fermented and people only waited for an opportunity So that if the Emperor had not been otherwise distracted he might have made War upon the King with great Advantages For many of his discontented Subjects would have joyned with the Enemy But the King did so dextrously manage his Leagues with the French King and the Princes of the Empire that the Emperor could never make any impressions on his Dominions But those factious Spirits seeing nothing was to be expected from any forreign Power could not contain themselves but broke out into open Rebellion And this provoked the King to great severities His Spirit was so fretted by the tricks the Court of Rome had put on him and by the Ingratitude and seditious practises of Reginald Pool that he thereby lost much of his former temper and patience and was too ready upon slight grounds to bring his Subjects to the Bar. Where though the matter was always so ordered that according to Law they were Endicted and Judged yet the severity of the Law bordering sometimes on rigor and cruelty he came to be called a cruel Tyrant Nor did his severity lie only on one side but being addicted to some Tenets of the Old Religion and impatient of Contradiction or perhaps blown up either with the vanity of his new Title of Head of the Church or with the praises which Flatterers bestowed on him he thought all persons were bound to regulate their Belief by his Dictates which made him prosecute Protestants as well as proceed against Papists Yet it does not appear that Cruelty was Natural to him For in Twenty five years Reign none had suffered for any Crime against the State but Pool Earl of Suffolk and Stafford Duke of Buckingham The former he prosecuted in Obedience to his Fathers last Commands at his death His severity to the other was imputed to the Cardinals Malice The Proceedings were also legal And the Duke of Buckingham had by the knavery of a Priest to whom he gave great credit been made believe he had a Right to the Crown and practises of that nature touch Princes so nearly that no wonder the Law was executed in such a case This showes that the King was not very jealous nor desirous of the Blood of his Subjects But though he always proceeded upon Law yet in the last Ten years of his Life many instances of Severity occurred for which he is rather to be pityed than either imitated or sharply censured The former Book was full of Intrigues and forreign Transactions the greatest part of it being an account of a tedious Negotiation with the subtlest and most refined Court in Christendome in all the Arts of humane Policy But now my work is confined to this Nation and except in short touches by the way I shall meddle no further with the Mysteries of State but shall give as clear an account of those things that relate to Religion and Reformation as I could possibly recover The Suppression of Monasteries The advance and declension of Reformation and the Proceedings against those who adhered to the Interests of the Court of Rome must be the chief Subjects of this Book The two former shall be opened in the series of time as they were Transacted But the last shall be left to the end of the Book that it may be presented in one full view After the Parliament had ended their Business the Bishops did all renew their Allegeance to the King and swore also to maintain his Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Matters acknowledging that he was the Supreme Head of the Church of England though there was yet no Law for the requiring of any such Oath The first act of the Kings Supremacy was his naming Cromwell Vicar-General and General Visitor of all the Monasteries and other Priviledged places This is commonly confounded with his following Dignity of Lord Vice-Gerent in Ecclesiastical matters but they were two different Places and held by different Commissions By the one he had no Authority over the Bishops nor had he any Precedence but the other as it gave him the Precedence next the Royal Family so it cloathed him with a compleat Delegation of the Kings whole Power in Ecclesiastical Affairs For Two years he was only Vicar-General But the tenour of his Commissions and the nature of the Power devolved on him by them cannot be fully known For neither the one nor the other are in the Rolls though there can be no doubt made but Commissions of such Importance were enrolled therefore the loss of them can only be charged on that search and rasure of Records made by Bonner upon the Commission granted to him by Queen Mary of which I have spoken in the Preface of this work In the Prerogative-Office there is a subalterne Commission granted to Doctor afterwards Secretary Petre on Ian. 13. in the Twenty Seventh year of the Kings Reign by which it appears that Cromwells Commission was at first conceived in very General words for he is called the Kings Vice-Gerent in Ecclesiastical causes his Vicar-General and Official-Principal But because he could not himself attend upon all these affairs therefore Doctor Petre is deputed under him for receiving the Probates of Wills from thence likewise it appears that all Wills where the Estate was 200 lib. or above were no more to be tryed or proved in the Bishops Courts but in the Vicar-Generals Court Yet though he was called Vice-Gerent in that Commission he was spoken of and writ to by the Name of Vicar-General but after the second Commission seen and mentioned by the Lord Herbert in Iuly 1536. he was alwayes designed Lord Vice-Gerent The next thing that was every-where laboured with great industry was to engage all the rest of the Clergy chiefly the Regulars to own the Kings Supremacy To which they generally submitted In Oxford the Question being put whether
Primitive times were to their Bishops according to the Canons of the Council of Chalcedon But upon the confusions which the Gothick Wars brought into Italy Beâ—edict and others set up Religious Houses and more artificial Rules and Methods were found out for their Government Not long after that Austin the Monk came into England and having Baptized Ethelbert he perswaded him to Found a Monastery at Canterbury which the King by his Charter exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Arch-Bishop and his Successors This was not only done by Austins consent but he by another Writing confirms this Foundation and exempted both the Monastery and all the Churches belonging to it from his or his Successors Jurisdictions and most earnestly conjures his Successors never to give any trouble to the Monks who were only to be subject to their own Abbot And this was granted that they might have no disturbance in the Service of God But whether this with many other Ancient Foundations were not latter Forgeries which I vehemently suspect I leave to Criticks to discuss the next Exemption that I find was granted in the year 680 to the Abby of Peterborough by Pope Agatho and was Signed by Theodore Arch-Bishop of Canterbury called the Popes Legate this I doubt was Forged afterwards In the year 725 King Ina's Charter to the Abbey of Glassenbury relates to their Ancient Charters and exempts them from the Bishops Jurisdiction King Offa Founded and exempted the Monastery of St. Albans in the year 793 which Pope Honorius the 3d Confirmed Anno 1218 Kenulph King of Mercia founded and exempted Abington in the year 821. Knut Founded and exempted St. Edmundsbury in the year 1020. About the end of the Eighth Century the Danes began to make their descents into England and made every-where great depredations and finding the Monks had possessed themselves of the greatest part of the Riches of the Nation they made their most frequent inroads upon these places where they knew the Richest spoyl was to be found And they did so wast and ruine these Houses that they were generally abandon'd by the Monks who as they loved the ease and wealth they had enjoyed formerly in their Houses so had no mind to expose themselves to the persecutions of those heathenish Invaders But when they had deserted their Seats the Secular Clergy came and possessed them so that in King Edgars time there was scarce a Monk in all England He was a most dissolute and lewd Prince but being perswaded by Dunstan and other Monks that what he did towards the restoring of that decayed State would be a matter of great Merit became the great Promoter of the Monastical State in England For he converted most of the Chapters into Monasteries and by his Foundation of the Priory of Worcester it appears he had then founded no fewer then Fourty Seven which he intended to encrease to Fifty the number of Pardon Yet in his Foundations he only exempted the Monasteries from all exactions or dues which the Bishops claim'd There are Exemptions of several rates and sizes Some Houses were only Exempted from all Exactions others from all Jurisdiction or Visitations others had only an Exemption for their precinct others for all the Churches that belonged to them Edward the Confessor exempted many of these Houses which Edgar had founded as Ramsey c. He also founded and Exempted Coventry and Westminster and the Exemption of the last was likewise confirmed by Pope Nicolas in a Bull to King Edward William the Conqueror Founded and Exempted the Abbey of Battel from all Episcopal Jurisdiction But after that time I do not find that our Kings exempted Abbeys from any thing but Episcopal Exactions for though formerly Kings had made Laws and given Orders about Ecclesiastical matters yet now the claim to an Immunity from the Civil Jurisdiction and also the Papal Authority were grown to that height that Princes were to meddle no more with sacred things And henceforth all Exemptions were granted by the Popes who claimed a Jurisdiction over the whole Church and assumed that Power to themselves with many other Usurpations All the Ancient Foundations were subscribed by the King the Queen and Prince with many Bishops and Abbots and Dukes and Earls consenting The Abbeys being exempted from all jurisdiction both Civil and Spiritual and from all Impositions and having generally the Priviledge of Sanctuary for all that fled to them were at ease and accountable to none so they might do what they pleased They found also means to enrich themselves First by the belief of Purgatory For they perswaded all people that the Souls departed went generally thither few were so Holy as to go straight to Heaven and few so bad as to be cast to Hell Then people were made believe that the saying of Masses for their Souls gave them great relief in their Torments and did at length deliver them out of them This being generally received it was thought by all a piece of piety to their Parents and of necessary care for themselves and their families to give some part of their Estates towards the enriching of these Houses for having a Mass said every day for the Souls of their Ancestors and for their own after their death And this did so spread that if some Laws had not restrained their profuseness the greater part of all the Estates in England had been given to those Houses But the Statutes of Mortmain were not very effectual restrains for what King soever had refused to grant a Mortmain was sure to have an uneasie reign ever after Yet this did not satisfie the Monks but they fell upon other contrivances to get the best of all mens Jewels Plate and Furniture For they perswaded them that the protection and intercession of Saints were of mighty use to them so that whatsoever respect they put on the Shrines and Images but chiefly on the Relicks of Saints they would find their account in it and the Saints would take it kindly at their hands and intercede the more earnestly for them And people who saw Courtiers much wrought on by presents imagined the Saints were of the same temper only with this difference that Courtiers love to have Presents put in their own hands but the Saints were satisfied if they were given to others And as in the Courts of Princes the new Favourite commonly had greatest credit so every new Saint was believed to have a greater force in his Addresses and therefore every body was to run to their Shrines and make great Presents to them This being infused into the credulous Multitude they brought the richest things they had to the places where the bodies or Relicks of those Saints were laid Some Images were also believed to have a peculiar Excellencie in them and Pilgrimages and Presents to these were much magnified But to quicken all this the Monks found the means either by dreams and visions or strange Miraculous stories to feed the devotion of the people
and his Gospel so if she be proved culpable there is not one that loveth God and his Gospel that ever will favour her but must hate her above all other and the more they favour the Gospel the more they will hate her For then there was never creature in our time that so much slandered the Gospel And God hath sent her this punishment for that she feignedly hath professed his Gospel in her mouth and not in heart and deed And though she have offended so that she hath deserved never to be reconciled unto your Graces favour yet Almighty God hath manifoldly declared his goodness towards your Grace and never offended you But your Grace I am sure knowledgeth that you haue offended him Wherefore I trust that your Grace will bear no less entire favour unto the truth of the Gospel than you did before Forsomuch as your Graces favour to the Gospel was not led by affection unto her but by zeal unto the truth And thus I beseech Almighty God whose Gospel he hath ordained your Grace to be Defender of ever to preserve your Grace from all evil and give you at the end the promise of his Gospel From Lanbeth the 3d day of May. After I had written this Letter unto your Grace my Lord Chancellor my Lord of Oxford my Lord of Sussex and my Lord Chamberlain of your Graces House sent for me to come unto the Star-Chamber and there declared unto me such things as your Graces pleasure was they should make me privie unto For the which I am most bounden unto your Grace And what Communication we had together I doubt not but they will make the true report thereof unto your Grace I am exceedingly sorry that such faults can be proved by the Queen as I heard of their relation But I am and ever shall be Your faithful Subject Your Graces most humble Subject and Chaplain T. Cantuariensis But Jealousie and the Kings new affection had quite defaced all the remainders of esteem for his late beloved Queen Yet the Ministers continued practising to get further evidence for the Tryal which was not brought on till the 12th of May and then Norris Weston Brereton and Smeton were tryed by a Commission of Oyer and Terminer in Westminster-Hall They were twice indicted and the indictments were found by two Grand Juries in the Counties of Kent and Middlesex The Crimes with which they were charged being said to be done in both these Counties Mark Smeton confessed he had known the Queen Carnally Three times The other Three pleaded not Guilty but the Jury upon the evidence formerly mentioned found them all Guilty and Judgment was given that they should be drawn to the place of Execution and some of them to be hanged others to be beheaded and all to be quartered as Guilty of high Treason On the 15th of May the Queen and her Brother the Lord Rochford who was a Peer having been made a Viscount when his Father was Created Earl of Wiltshire were brought to be Tryed by their Peers The Duke of Norfolk being Lord high Steward for that occasion With him sate the Duke of Suffolk the Marquess of Exeter the Earl of Arundel and Twenty Five more Peers of whom their Father the Earl of Wiltshire was one Whether this unnatural complyance was imposed on him by the Imperious King or officiously submitted to by himself that he might thereby be preserved from the Ruin that fell on his Family is not known Here the Queen of England by an unheard-of president was brought to the Bar and Indicted of high Treason The Crimes charged on her were that she had procured her Brother and the other Four to lye with her which they had done often that she had said to them that the King never had her heart and had said to every one of them by themselves that she loved them better than any person whatsoever Which was to the slander of the issue that was begotten between the King and her And this was Treason according to the Statute made in the 26th year of this Reign so that the Law that was made for her and the issue of her Marriage is now made use of to destroy her It was also added in the Indictment that she and her complices had conspired the Kings death but this it seems was only put in to swell the charge for if there had been any evidence for it there was no need of stretching the other Statute or if they could have proved the violating of the Queen the known Statute of the Twenty Fifth year of the Reign of Edward the Third had been sufficient When the Indictment was read she held up her hand and Pleaded not Guilty and so did her Brother and did answer the evidence was brought against her discreetly One thing is remarkable that Mark Smeton who was the only person that confessed any thing was never confronted with the Queen nor was kept to be an evidence against her for he had received his Sentence Three dayes before and so could be no witness in Law but perhaps though he was wrought on to confess yet they did not think he had confidence enough to aver it to the Queens face therefore the evidence they brought as Spelman says was the Oath of a Woman that was dead yet this or rather the Terror of offending the King so wrought on the Lords that they found her and her Brother Guilty and Judgment was given that she should be Burnt or Beheaded at the Kings pleasure Upon which Spelman observes that whereas Burning is the death which the Law appoints for a Woman that is attainted of Treason yet since she had been Queen of England they left it to the King to determine whether she should dye so infamous a death or be Beheaded but the Judges complained of this way of proceeding and said such a disjunctive in a Judgment of Treason had never been seen The Lord Rochford was also Condemned to be Beheaded and Quartered Yet all this did not satisfie the enraged King but the Marriage between him and her must be annulled and the issue illegitimated The King remembred an Intrigue that had been between her and the Earl of Northumberland which was mentioned in the former Book and that the then Lord Piercy had said to the Cardinal ' That he had gone so far before witnesses that it lay upon his Conscience so that he could not go back this it 's like might be some promise he made to Marry her per verba de futuro which though it was no Precontract in it self yet it seems the poor Queen was either so ignorant or so ill-advised as to be perswaded afterwards it was one though it 's certain that nothing but a Contract per verba de praesenti could be of any force to annul the subsequent Marriage The King and his Council reflecting upon what it seems the Cardinal had told him resolved to try what could be made of it and pressed the Earl of
and Aldermen of London She said She was come to die as she was Judged by the Law she would accuse none nor say any thing of the ground upon which she was judged She prayed heartily for the King and called him a most merciful and gentle Prince and that he had been always to her a good gentle Soveraign Lord and if any would meddle with her cause she required them to judge the best And so she took her leave of them and of the world and heartily desired they would pray for her After she had been some time in her Devotions being her last words To Christ I commend my Soul her Head was cut off by the Hangman of Calais who was brought over as more expert at Beheading than any in England her Eyes and Lips were observed to move after her Head was cut off as Spelman writes but her Body was thrown into a common Chest of Elme-tree that was made to put Arrows in and was buried in the Chappel within the Tower before twelve a Clock Her Brother with the other four did also suffer none of them were Quartered but they were all Beheaded except Smeton who was Hanged It was generally said that he was corrupted into that Confession and had his Life promised him but it was not fit to let him live to tell Tales Norris had been much in the Kings favour and an offer was made him of his life if he would confess his guilt and accuse the Queen But he generously rejected that un-handsome proposition and said That in his Conscience he thought her Innocent of these things laid to her charge but whether she was or not he would not accuse her of any thing and he would die a thousand times rather than ruin an Innocent Person These proceedings occasioned as great variety of Censures as there were diversity of Interests The Popish Party said the justice of God was visible that she who had supplanted Queen Katharine met with the like and harder measure by the same means Some took notice of her faint justifying her self on the Scaffold as if her Conscience had then prevailed so far that she could no longer deny a thing for which she was so soon to answer at another Tribunal But others thought her care of her Daughter made her speak so tenderly for she had observed that Queen Katharines obstinacy had drawn the Kings indignation on her Daughter and therefore that she alone might bear her misfortunes and derive no share of them on her Daughter she spake in a stile that could give the King no just offence And as she said enough to justifie her self so she said as much for the Kings honour as could be expected Yet in a Letter that she wrote to the King from the Tower which will be found in the Collection she pleaded her Innocence in a strain of so much Wit and moving passionate Eloquence as perhaps can scarce be paralelled certainly her spirits were much exalted when she wrote it for it is a pitch above her ordinary stile Yet the Copy I take it from lying among Cromwells other papers makes me believe it was truely written by her Her carriage seemed too free and all people thought that some freedoms and levities in her had encouraged those unfortunate persons to speak such bold things to her since few attempt upon the Chastity or make declarations of Love to persons of so exalted a quality except they see some invitations at least in their carriage Others thought that a free and jovial temper might with great Innocence though with no discretion lead one to all those things that were proved against her and therefore they concluded her chast though indiscreet Others blamed the King and taxed his cruelty in proceeding so severely against a person whose Chastity he had reason to be assured of since she had resisted his addresses near five years till he Legitimated them by Marriage But others excused him It is certain her carriage had given just cause of some jealousie and that being the rage of a man it was no wonder if a King of his temper conceiving it against one whom he had so signally obliged was transported into unjustifiable excesses Others condemned Cranmer as a man that obsequiously followed all the Kings appetites and that he had now Divorced the King a second time which shewed that his Conscience was governed by the Kings pleasure as his Supreme Law But what he did was unavoidable For whatever motives drew from her the Confession of that Precontract he was obliged to give Sentence upon it And that which she confessed being such as made her incapable to contract Marriage with the King he could not decline the giving of Sentence upon so formal a Confession Some loaded all that favoured the Reformation and said It now appeared what a woman their great Patroness and Supporter had been But to those it was answered That her faults if true being secret could cast no reflection on those who being ignorant of them made use of her Protection And the Church of Rome thought not their Cause suffered by the enraged Cruelty and Ambition of the cursed Irene who had convened the second Council of Nice and set up the worship of Images again in the East whom the Popes continued to court and magnifie after her barbarous murder of her Son with other acts of unsatiated spite and ambition Therefore they had no reason to think the worse of persons for claiming the Protection of a Queen whose faults if she was at all criminal were unknown to them when they made use of her Some have since that time concluded it a great evidence of her Guilt that during her Daughters long and glorious Reign there was no full nor compleat vindication of her published For the Writers of that time thought it enough to speak honourably of her and in general to call her Innocent But none of them ever attempted a clear discussion of the particulars laid to her charge This had been much to her Daughters honour and therefore since it was not done others concluded it could not be done and that their knowledge of her guilt restrained their Pens But others do not at all allow of that Inference and think rather that it was the great wisdom of that time not to suffer such things to be called in question since no wise Government will admit of a debate about the clearness of the Princes Title For the very attempting to prove it weakens it more than any of the proofs that are brought can confirm it therefore it was prudently done of that Queen and her great Ministers never to suffer any Vindication or Apology to be written Some indiscretions could not be denied and these would all have been catched hold of and improved by the busie Emissaries of Rome and Spain But nothing did more evidently discover the secret cause of this Queens ruin than the Kings Marrying Iane Seimour the day after her Execution She of all King Henries
the Bishop of Rome whom some called the Pope who had long darkned Gods word that it might serve his Pomp Glory Avarice Ambition and Tyranny both upon the Souls Bodies and Goods of all Christians excluding Christ out of the Rule of mans Soul and Princes out of their Dominions And had exacted in England great Sums by dreams and vanities and other Superstitious ways â—pon these reasons his Usurpations had been by Law put down in this Nation yet many of his Emissaries were still practising up and down the Kingdom and perswading people to acknowledg his pretended Authority Therefore every person so offending after the last of Iâ—ly next to come was to incur the pains of a Premunire and all Officers both Civil and Ecclesiastical were commanded to make enquiry about such offences under several penalties On the 12th of Iuly a Bill was brought in concerning Priviledges obtained from the See of Rome and was read the First time And on the 17th it was agreed to and sent down to the Commons who sent it up again the next day It bears that the Popes had during their Usurpation granted many Immunities to several Bodies and Societies in England which upon that Grant had been now long in use Therefore all these Bulls Breves and every thing depending on or flowing from them were declared void and of no force Yet all Marriages celebrated by vertue of them that were not otherwise contrary to the Law of God were declared good in Law and all Consecrations of Bishops by vertue of them were confirmed And for the future all who enjoyed any Priviledges by Bulls were to bring them in to the Chancery or to such persons as the King should appoint for that end And the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was Lawfully to grant anew the effects contained in them which â—rant was to pass under the great Seal and to be of full force in Law This struck at the Abbots Rights But they were glad to bear a Diminution of their Greatness so they might save the whole which now lay at stake By the Thirteenth Act they corrected an Abuse which had come in to evade the force of a Statute made in the Twenty First year of this King about the Residence of all Ecclesiastical persons in their Livings One qualification that did excuse from Residence was their staying at the University for the compleating of their Studies Now it was found that many dissolute Clergymen went and lived at the Universities not for their Studies but to be excused from serving their Cures So it was Enacted that none above the Age of Forty that were not either Heads of Houses or Publick Readers should have any Exemption from their Residence by vertue of that Clause in the former Act. And those under that Age should not have the Benefit of it except they were present at the Lectures and perform'd their Exercises in the Schools By another Act there was Provision made against the prejudice the Kings Heirs might receive before they were of Age by Parliaments held in their Non-Age That whatsoever Acts were made before they were Twenty Four years of Age they might at any time of their lives after that Repeal and Annul by their Letters Patents which should have equal force with a Repeal by Act of Parliament From these Acts it appears that the King was absolute Master both of the affections and fears of his Subjects when in a new Parliament called on a sudden and in a Session of six weeks from the 8th of Iune to the 18th of Iuly Acts of this Importance were passed without any Protest or publick Opposition But having now opened the business of the Parliament as it relates to the State I must next give an account of the Convocation which sate at this time and was very busie as appears by the Journal of the House of Lords in which this is given for a reason of many Adjournments because the Spiritual Lords were busie in the Convocation It sate down on the 9th of Iune according to Fullers Extract it being the Custom of all this Reign for that Court to meet two or three days after the Parliament Hither Cromwell came as the Kings Vicar-General But he was not yet Vice-Gerent For he sate next the Arch-Bishop but when he had that Dignity he sate above him Nor do I find him Stiled in any Writing Vice-gerent for some time after this though the Lord Herbert says he was made Vice-gerent the 18th of Iuly this year the same day in which the Parliament was Dissolved Latimer Bishop of Worcester preached the Latine Sermon on these words The Children of this World are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light He was the most Celebrated Preacher of that time The simplicity and plainness of his matter with a serious and fervent Action that accompanied it being preferred to more learned and elaborate Composures On the 21st of Iune Cromwell moved that they would Confirm the Sentence of the Invalidity of the Kings Marriage with Queen Anne which was accordingly done by both Houses of Convocation But certainly Fuller was asleep when he wrote That Ten days before that the Arch-Bishop had passed the Sentence of Divorce on the day before the Queen was beheaded Whereas if he had considered this more fully he must have seen that the Queen was put to death a Month before this and was Divorced two days before she dyed Yet with this animadversion I must give him my thanks for his pains in copying out of the Journals of Convocation many remarkable things which had been otherwise irrecoverably lost On the 23d of Iune the lower House of Convocation sent to the upper House a Collection of many opinions that were then in the Realm which as they thought were abuses and errors worthy of special Reformation But they began this Representation with a Protestation That they intended not to do or speak any thing which might be unpleasant to the King whom they acknowledged their Supream Head and were resolved to obey his Commands renouncing the Popes usurp'd Authority with all his Laws and Inventions now extinguisht and abolisht and did addict themselves to Almighty God and his Laws and unto the King and the Laws made within this Kingdom There are Sixty Seven opinions set down and are either the Tenets of the Old Lollards or the New Reformers together with the Anabaptists opinions Besides all which they complained of many unsavory and indiscreet expressions which were either feigned on design to disgrace the New Preachers or were perhaps the extravagant Reflexions of some illiterate and injudicious persons who are apt upon all occasions by their heat and folly rather to prejudice than advance their party and affect some petulant jeers which they think witty and are perhaps well entertained by some others who though they are more judicious themselves yet imagining that such jests on the contrary opinions will take with the people do give them too much Encouragement Many of these
jests about Confession praying to Saints Holy Water and the other Ceremonies of the Church were complained of And the last Articles contained sharp reflexions on some of the Bishops as if they had been wanting in their Duty to suppress such things This was clearly levelled at Cranmer Latimer and Shaxton who were noted as the great Promoters of these opinions The first did it prudently and solidly The second zealously and simply And the third with much indiscreet pride and vanity But now that the Queen was gone who had either raised or supported them their Enemies hoped to have advantages against them and to lay the growth of these opinions to their charge But this whole Project failed and Cranmer had as much of the Kings favour as ever for in stead of that which they had projected Cromwell by the Kings order coming to the Convocation Declared to them that it was the Kings pleasure that the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church should be Reformed by the Rules of Scripture and that nothing was to be maintained which did not rest on that Authority for it was absurd since that was acknowledged to contain the Laws of Religion that recourse should rather be had to Glosses or the Decrees of Popes than to these There was at that time one Alexander Alesse a Scotch-man much esteemed for his Learning and Piety whom Cranmer entertained at Lambeth Him Cromwell brought with him to the Convocation and desired him to deliver his opinion about the Sacraments He enlarged himself much to Convince them that only Baptism and the Lords Supper were Instituted by Christ. Stokesley Bishop of London answered him in a long Discourse in which he shewed he was better acquainted with the Learning of the Schools and the Canon-Law than with the Gospel He was Seconded by the Arch-Bishop of York and others of that Party But Cranmer in a long and learned Speech shewed how useless these niceties of the Schools were and of how little Authority they ought to be and discoursed largely of the Authority of the Scriptures of the use of the Sacraments of the uncertainty of Tradition and of the Corruption which the Monks and Friars had brought into the Christian Doctrine He was vigorously seconded by the Bishop of Hereford who told them the world would be no longer deceived with such Sophisticated stuff as the Clergy had formerly vented The Laity were now in all Nations studying the Scriptures and that not only in the vulgar Translations but in the original Tongues and therefore it was a vain imagination to think they would be any longer governed by those arts which in the former Ages of Ignorance had been so effectual Not many days after this there were several Articles brought in to the upper House of Convocation devised by the King himself about which there were great debates among them The two Arch-Bishops heading two Parties Cranmer was for a Reformation and with him joyned Thomas Goodrich Bishop of Ely Shaxton of Sarum Latimer of Worcester Fox of Hereford Hilsey of Rochester and Barlow of St. Davids But Lee Arch-Bishop of York was a known favourer of the Popes Interests which as it first appeared in his scrupling so much with the whole Convocation of York the acknowledging the King to be Supreme Head of the Church of England so he had since discovered it on all occasions in which he durst do it without the fear of losing the Kings favour So he and Stokesley Bishop of London Tonstâ—ll of Duresm Gardiner of Winchester Longland of Lincoln Sherburn of Chichester Nix of Norwich and Kite of Carlisle had been still against all changes But the King discovered that those did in their hearts love the Papal Authority though Gardiner dissembled it most artificially Sherburn Bishop of Chichester upon what inducement I cannot understand resigned his Bishoprick which was given to Richard Sampson Dean of the Chappel a Pension of 400 l. being reserved to Sherburn for his Life which was confirmed by an Act of this Parliament Nix of Norwich had also offended the King signally by some correspondence with Rome and was kept long in the Marshalsea and was convicted and found in a Premunire The King considering his great Age had upon his humble submission discharged him out of Prison and pardon'd him But he died the former year though Fuller in his slight way makes him fit in this Convocation For by the 17th Act of the last Parliament it appears that the Bishoprick of Norwich being vacant the King had recommended William Abbot of St. Bennets to it but took into his own hands all the Lands and Manours of the Bishoprick and gave the Bishop several of the Priories in Norfolk in exchange which was confirmed in Parliament I shall next give a short abstract of the Articles about Religion which were after much consultation and long debating agreed to First All Bishops and Preachers must instruct the people to believe the whole Bible and the three Creeds that made by the Apostles the Nicene and the Athanasian and interpret all things according to them and in the very same words and condemn all Heresies contrary to them particularly those condemned by the first four general Councils Secondly Of Baptism the people must be instructed That it is a Sacrament instituted by Christ for the Remission of sins without which none could attain Everlasting Life And that not only those of full Age but Infants may and must be Baptized for the pardon of Original sin and obtaining the gift of the Holy Ghost by which they became the Sons of God That none Baptized ought to be Baptized again That the opinions of the Anabaptists and Pelagians were detestable Heresies And that those of ripe Age who desired Baptism must with it joyn Repentance and Contrition for their sins with a firm Belief of the Articles of the Faith Thirdly Concerning Penance they were to instruct the people that it was instituted by Christ and was absolutely necessary to Salvation That it consisted of Contrition Confession and Amendment of Life with exterior works of Charity which were the worthy Fruits of Pennance For Contrition it was an inward shame and sorrow for sin because it is an offence of God which provokes his displeasure To this must be joyned a Faith of the mercy and goodness of God whereby the penitent must hope that God will forgive him and repute him justified and of the number of his Elect Children not for the worthiness of any merit or work done by him but for the only Merits of the Blood and Passion of our Saviour Jesus Christ. That this Faith is got and confirmed by the Applicatition of the Promises of the Gospel and the use of the Sacraments And for that end Confession to a Priest is necessary if it may be had whose Absolution was instituted by Christ to apply the promises of Gods Grace to the penitent Therefore the people were to be taught That the Absolution is spoken by an Authority
given by Christ in the Gospel to the Priest and must be believed as if it were spoken by God himself according to our Saviours words and therefore none were to condemn auricular Confession but use it for the comfort of their Consciences The people were also to be instructed that though God pardoned sin only for the satisfaction of Christ yet they must bring forth the Fruits of Penance Prayer Fasting Almsdeeds with restitution and satisfaction for wrongs done to others with other works of Mercy and Charity and Obedience to Gods Commandments else they could not be saved and that by doing these they should both obtain Everlasting Life and mitigation of their Afflictions in this present life according to the Scriptures Fourthly As touching the Sacrament of the Altar people were to be instructed that under the Forms of Bread and Wine there was truly and substantially given the very same Body of Christ that was born of the Virgin Mary and therefore it was to be received with all Reverence every one duly Examining himself according to the words of St. Paul Fifthly The people were to be instructed That Justification signifieth Remission of sins and acceptation into the favour of God that is to say a perfect Renovation in Christ. To the attaining which they were to have Contrition Faith Charity which were both to concur in it and follow it and that the good works necessary to Salvation were not only outward Civil works but the inward motions and graces of Gods Holy Spirit to dread fear and love him to have firm confidence in God to call upon him and to have patience in all adversities to hate sin and have purposes and wills not to sin again with such other motions and vertues consenting and agreeable to the Law of God The other Articles were about the Ceremonies of the Church First of Images The people were to be instructed That the use of them was warranted by the Scriptures and that they served to represent to them good Examples and to stir up Devotion and therefore it was meet that they should stand in the Churches But that the people might not fall into such Superstition as it was thought they had done in time past they were to be taught to reform such Abuses lest Idolatry might ensue and that in censing kneeling offering or worshipping them the people were to be instructed not to do it to the Image but to God and his honour Secondly For the honouring of Saints they were not to think to attain these things at their hands which were only obtained of God but that they were to honour them as persons now in glory to praise God for them and imitate their vertues and not fear to die for the Truth as many of them had done Thirdly For praying to Saints The people were to be taught that it was good to pray to them to pray for and with us And to correct all Superstitious Abuses in this matter they were to keep the days appointed by the Church for their Memories unless the King should lessen the number of them which if he did it was to be obeyed Fourthly Of Ceremonies The people were to be taught That they were not to be condemned and cast away but to be kept as good and laudable having mystical significations in them and being useful to lift up our minds to God Such were the Vestments in the worship of God The sprinkling holy-water to put us in mind of our Baptism and the Blood of Christ Giving holy Bread in sign of our Union in Christ and to remember us of the Sacrament Bearing Candles on Candlemas-day in remembrance that Christ was the spiritual Light Giving Ashes on Ash-wednes-day to put us in mind of Penance and of our Mortality Bearing Palms on Palm-sunday to show our desire to receive Christ in our hearts as he entred into Ierusalem Creeping to the Cross on Good-friday and kissing it in memory of his death with the setting up the Sepulchre on that day The Hallowing the Font and other Exorcisms and Benedictions And lastly As to Purgatory They were to declare it good and charitable to pray for the Souls departed which was said to have continued in the Church from the beginning And therefore the people were to be instructed That it consisted well with the due order of Charity to pray for them and to make others pray for them in Masses and Exequies and to give Alms to them for that end But since the place they were in and the pains they suffered were uncertain by the Scripture we ought to remit them wholly to Gods mercy Therefore all these Abuses were to be put away which under the pretence of Purgatory had been advanced as if the Popes pardons did deliver Souls out of it or Masses said in certain places or before certain Images had such efficiency with other such-like Abuses These Articles being thus conceived and in several places corrected and tempered by the Kings own hand were signed by Cromwell and the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and seventeen other Bishops forty Abbots and Priors and fifty Arch-Deacons and Proctors of the lower House of Convocation Among whom Polidor Virgil and Peter Vannes signed with the rest as appears by the Original yet extant They being tendered to the King he confirmed them and ordered them to be published with a Preface in his name It is said in the Preface that he accounting it the chief part of his Charge that the Word and Commandments of God should be believed and observed and to maintain unity and concord in opinion and understanding to his great regret that there was great diversity of opinion arisen among his Subjects both about Articles of Faith and Ceremonies had in his own Person taken great pains and study about these things and had ordered also the Bishops and other Learned men of the Clergy to examine them who after long deliberation had concluded on the most special Points which the King thought proceeded from a good right and true judgment according to the Laws of God these would also be profitable for establishing unity in the Church of England Therefore he had ordered them to be published requiring all to accept of them praying God so to illuminate their hearts that they might have no less zeal and love to unity and concord in reading them than he had in making them to be devised set forth and published which good acceptance should encourage him to take further pains for the future as should be most for the honour of God and the profit and the quietness of his Subjects This being published occasion'd great variety of Censures Those that desired Reformation were glad to see so great a step once made and did not doubt but this would make way for further Changes They rejoyced to see the Scriptures and the ancient Creeds made the Standards of the Faith without mentioning Tradition or the Decrees of the Church Then the Foundation of Christian Faith was truly stated and
them to spoyl the Countrey and they were no longer able to subsist without doing that The Duke of Norfolk directed some that were secretly gained or had been sent over to them as Deserters to spread reports among them that their Leaders were making Terms for themselves and would leave the rest to be undone This joyned to their necessities made many fall off every day The Duke of Norfolk finding his Arts had so good an operation offered to go to Court with any whom they would send with their demands and to intercede for them This he knew would take up some time and most of them would be dispersed before he could return So they sent two Gentlemen whom they had forced to go with them to the King to Windsor Upon this the King discharged the Rendezvous at Northampton and delayed the sending an answer as much as could be But at last hearing that though most of them were dispersed yet they had engaged to return upon warning and that they took it ill that no answer came he sent the Duke of Norfolk to them with a general pardon six only excepted by name and four others that were not named But in this the Kings Counsels were generally censured for every one was now in fear and so the Rebels rejected the Proposition The King also sent them word by their own Messenger That he took it very ill at their hands that they had chosen rather to rise in Arms against him than to Petition him about these things which were uneasie to them And to appease them a little the King by new Injunctions commanded the Clergy to continue the use of all the Ceremonies of the Church This it is like was intended for keeping up the four Sacraments which had not been mentioned in the former Articles The Clergy that were with the Rebels met at Pomfret to draw up Articles to be offered at the Treaty that was to be at Doncaster where three hundred were ordered to come from the Rebels to treat with the Kings Commissioners So great a number was called in hopes that they would disagree about their Demands and so fall out among themselves On the 6th of December they met to treat and it seems had so laid their matter before that they agreed upon these following Demands A general Pardon to be granted a Parliament to be held at York and Courts of justice to be there that none on the North of Trent might be brought to London upon any Law-sute They desired a Repeal of some Acts of Parliament Those for the last Subsidy for uses for making words misprision of Treason and for the Clergies paying their Tenthes and first Fruits to the King They desired the Princess Mary might be restored to her right of Succession the Pope to his wonted Jurisdiction and the Monks to their Houses again that the Lutherans might be punished that Audley the Lord Chancellor and Cromwell the Lord Privy-Seal might be excluded from the next Parliament and Lee and Leighton that had visited the Monasteries might be imprisoned for Bribery and Extortion But the Lords who knew that the King would by no means agree to these Propositions rejected them Upon which the Rebels took heart again and were growing more enraged and desperate so that the Duke of Norfolk wrote to the King that if some content were not given them it might end very ill for they were much stronger than his Forces were And both he and the other Commanders of the Kings Forces in their hearts wished that most of their Demands were granted being persons who though they complied with the King and were against that Rebellion yet were great Enemies to Lutheranism and wished a Reconciliation with Rome of which the Duke of Norfolk was afterwards accused by the Lord Darcy as if he had secretly encouraged them to insist on these Demands The King seeing the humour was so obstinate resolved to use gentler Remedies and so sent to the Duke of Norfolk a general Pardon with a promise of a Parliament ordering him not to make use of these except in extremity This was no easie thing to that Duke since he might be afterwards made to answer for it whether the extremity was really such as to justifie his granting these things But the Rebels were become again as numerous as ever and had resolved to cross the River and to force the Kings Camp which was still much inferiour to theirs in number But Rains falling the second time made the Foords again unpassable This was spoken of by the Kings Party as little less than a a Miracle that Gods Providence had twice so opportunely interposed for the stopping of the progress of the Rebels And it is very probable that on the other side it made great impression on the Superstitious multitude and both discouraged them and disposed them to accept of the offer of Pardon and a Parliament to be soon called for considering their other Demands The King signed the Pardon at Richmond the 9th of December by which all their Treasons and Rebellion to that day were pardoned provided they made their submission to the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Shrewsbury and lived in all due obedience for the future The King sent likewise a long answer to their Demands as to what they complained about the subversion of the Faith He protested his zeal for the true Christian Faith and that he would live and die in the defence and preservation of it But the ignorant multitude were not to instruct him what the true Faith was nor to presume to correct what he and the whole Convocation had agreed on That as he had preserved the Church of England in her true Liberties so he would do still and that he had done nothing that was so oppressive as many of his Progenitours had done upon lesser grounds But that he took it very ill of them who had rather one Churl or two should enjoy the Profits of their Monasteries to support them in their dissolute and abominable course of living than that their King should have them for defraying the great Charge he was at for their defence against Forreign Enemies For the Laws it was high presumption in a rude multitude to take on them to judge what Laws were good and what not They had more reason to think that he after twenty eight years Reign should know it better than they could And for his Government he had so long preserved his Subjects in Peace and Justice had so defended them from their Enemies had so secured his Frontier had granted so many general Pardons had been so unwilling to punish his Subjects and so ready to receive them into mercy that they could shew no paralel to his Government among all their former Kings And whereas it was said That he had many of the Nobility of his Council in the beginning of his Reign and few now he shewed them in that one instance how they were abused by the lying slanders
But this work was put in a better Form afterwards where the Reader will find a more particular account of it When all these Proceedings of the Kings were known at Rome all the Satyrical Pens there were employed to paint him out as the most Infamous Sacrilegious Tyrant that ever was They represented him as one that made War with Heaven and the Saints that were there That committed outrages on the bodies of the Saints which the Heathenish Romans would have punished severely for any that committed the like on those that were dead how mean or bad soever they had been All his proceedings against the Priests or Monks that were Attainted and Executed for high Treason were represented as the effects of savage and barbarous Cruelty His suppressing the Monasteries and devouring what the Devotion of former Ages had Consecrated to God and his Saints was called Ravenous and Impious Sacrilege nor was there any thing omitted that could make him appear to posterity the blackest Tyrant that ever wore a Crown They compared him to Pharaoh Nabuchadonosor Belshazar Nero Domitian and Dioclesian but chiefly to Iulian the Apostate This last Paralel liked them best and his Learning his Apostacy and pretence of Reforming were all thought copied from Iulian only they said his manners were worse These things were every day Printed at Rome and the Informations that were brought out of England were generally addressed to Cardinal Pool whose style was also known in some of them All which possest the King with the deepest and most implacable hatred to him that ever he bore to any person and did provoke him to all these severities that followed on his Kindred and Family But the malice of the Court of Rome did not stop there For now the Pope published all these Thunders which he had threatned three years before The Bull of Deposition is Printed in Cherubins Bullarum Romanum which since many have the confidence to deny matters of fact the Most publickly acted shall be found in the Collection of Papers the substance of it is as follows The Pope being Gods Vicar on Earth and according to Ieremy's Prophecy set over Nations and Kingdoms to root out and destroy and having the supream power over all the Kings in the whole World was bound to proceed to due correction when milder courses were ineffectual therefore since King Henry who had been formerly a Defender of the Faith had fallen from it had contrary to an Inhibition made put away his Queen and marryed one Anne Bollein and had made impious and hurtful Laws denying the Pope to be the Supream Head of the Church but assuming that Title to himself and had required all his Subjects under pain of death to swear it and had put the Cardinal of Rochester to death because he would not consent to these Heresies and by all these things had rendred himself unworthy of his Regal Dignity and had hardened his heart as Pharoah did against all the Admonitions of Pope Clement the 7th therefore since these his crimes were so notorious he in imitation of what the Apostle did to Elimas the Magician proceeds to such Censures as he had deserved and with the advice of his Cardinals does first exhort him and all his Complices to return from their errours to annull the Acts lately made and to proceed no farther upon them which he requires him and them to do under the pains of Excommunication and Rebellion and of the Kings losing his Kingdom whom he required within 90 dayes to appear at Rome by himself or Proxy and his Complices within 60 dayes to give an account of their Actions otherwise he would then proceed to a further sentence against them And Declares that if the King and his Complices do not appear he has fallen from the right to his Crown and they from the right to their Estates and when they die they were to be denied Christian Burial He puts the whole Kingdom under an Interdict and declares all the Kings Children by the said Anne and the Children of all his Complices to be under the same pains though they be now under age and Incapacitates them for all honours or employments and declares all the Subjects or Vassals of the Kings or his Complices absolved from all Oaths or Obligations to them and requires them to acknowledg them no more And declares him and them Infamous so that they might neither be witnesses nor make Wills He requires all other persons to have no dealings with him or them neither by Trading nor any other way under the pain of Excommunication the annulling their Contracts and the exposing goods so Traded in to all that should catch them And that all Clergymen should within five dayes after the expiration of the time prefixed go out of the Kingdom leaving only so many Priests as would be necessary for Baptizing Infants and giving the Sacrament to such as died in Penitence under the pains of Excommunication and Deprivation And Charges all Noble-men and others in his Dominions under the same pains to rise up in Arms against him and to drive him out of his Kingdom and that none should take Arms for him or any way assist him and Declares all other Princes absolved from any Confederacies made or to be made with him and earnestly obtests the Emperour and all Kings and requires other Princes under the former pains to trade no more with him and in case of their disobedience he puts their Kingdomes under an Interdict And requires all Princes and Military persons in the vertue of Holy Obedience to make War upon him and to force him to return to the Obedience of the Apostolick See and to seize on all Goods or Merchandizes belonging to the King or his Complices where-ever they could find them and that such of his Subjects that were seized on should be made Slaves And requires all Bishops Three dayes after the time that was set down was elapsed to intimate this Sentence in all their Churches with putting out of Candles and other Ceremonies that ought to be used in the most solemn and publick manner that might be And all who hindered the Publication of this Sentence are put under the same Pains He ordained this Sentence to be affixed at Rome Tournay and Dunkirk which should stand for a sufficient publication and concludes that if any should endeavour to oppose or enervate any of the premises he should incur the indignatition of Almighty God and the Holy Apostles St. Peter and Paul Dated at Rome the 30th of August 1635. But the Pope found the Princes of Christendom liked the precedent of using a King in that manner so ill that he suspended the Execution of this Bull till this time that the suppression of Abbies and the burning of Thomas Beckets Bones for it was so represented at Rome though our writers say they were buried did so inflame the Pope that he could forbear no longer and therefore by a new sentence he did all he could
quarter And in the end a Proviso was added concerning vows of Chastity That they should not oblige any except such as had taken them at or above the Age of 21 years or had not been compelled to take them This Act was received by all that secretly favoured Popery with great joy for now they hoped to be revenged on all those who had hitherto set forward a Reformation It very much quieted the Bigots who were now perswaded that the King would not set up Heresie since he passed so severe an Act against it and it made the total Suppression of Monasteries go the more easily thorough The Popish Clergy liked all the Act very well except that severe branch of it against their unchast practices This was put in by Cromwel to make it cut with both edges Some of our inconsiderate Writers who never perused the Statutes tell us it was done by a different Act of Parliament but greater faults must be forgiven them who write upon hearsay There was but one comfort that the poor Reformers could pick out of the whole Act that they were not left to the Mercy of the Clergy and their Ecclesiastical Courts but were to be tryed by a Jury where they might expect more candid and gentle dealing Yet the denying them the benefit of Abjuration was a severity beyond what had ever been put in practise before So now they began to prepare for new storms and a heavy persecution The other chief business of this Parliament was the Suppression of Monasteries It is said in the Preamble of that Act That divers Abbots Priors and other Heads of Religious Houses had since the 4th of February in the 27th year of the Kings Reign without constraint of their own accord and according to the due course of the Common Law by sufficient writings of Record under their Covent-Seals given up their Houses and all that belonged to them to the King Therefore all Houses that were since that time suppressed dissolved relinquished forfeited or given up are Confirmed to the King and his Successors for ever And all Monasteries that should thereafter be suppressed forfeited or given up are also Confirmed to the King and his Successors And all these Houses with the Rents belonging to them were to be disposed of by the Court of Augmentations for the Kings profit excepting only such as were come into the Kings hands by Attaindors of Treason which belonged to the Exchequer Reserving to all persons except the Patrons Founders and Donors of such Houses the same right to any parts of them or jurisdiction in them which they could have claimed if that Act had never been made Then followed many clauses for Annulling all Deeds and Leases made within one year before the Suppression of any Religious House to the prejudice of it or different from what had been granted formerly And all Churches or Chappels which belonged to these Monasteries and were formerly exempted from the Visitation or Jurisdiction of their Ordinary are declared to be within the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of the Diocess or of any other that should be appointed by the King This Act passed in the House of Peers without any Protestation made by any of the Abbots though it appears by the Journal that at the first reading of it there were eighteen Abbots present at the second reading twenty and seventeen at the third reading and the Abbots of Glastenbury Colchester and Reading were among those who were present so little reason there is to think they were attainted for any open withstanding the Kings proceedings when they did not protest against this Act which was so plainly levelled at them It was soon dispatched by the Commons and offered to the Royal Assent By it no Religious Houses were suppressed as is generally taken for granted but only the Surrenders that either had been or were to be made were Confirmed The last Proviso for Annulling all Exemptions of Churches and Chappels had been a great happiness to the Church if it had not been for that Clause That the King might appoint others to visit them which in a great degree did enervate it For many of those who afterwards purchased these Lands with the Impropriated Tithes got this likewise in their Grants that they should be the Visitors of the Churches and Chappels formerly exempted from whence great disorders have since followed in these Churches which not falling within the Bishops Jurisdiction are thought not liable to his Censures so that the Incumbents in them being under no restraints have often been scandalous to the Church and given occasion to those who were disaffected to the Hierarchy to censure the Prelates for these offences which they could not punish since the offenders were thus excepted out of their Jurisdiction This abuse which first sprang from the Ancient Exemptions that were Confirmed or Granted by the See of Rome has not yet met with an effectual Remedy Upon the whole matter this Suppression of Abbies was universally censured and besides the common Exceptions which those that favoured the old Superstition made it was questioned whether the Lands that formerly belonged to Religious Houses ought to have returned to the Founders and Donors by way of Reverter or to have fallen to the Lords of whom the Lands were holden by way of Escheat or to have come to the Crown It is true by the Roman Law or at least by a Judgment of the Senate in Theodosius's time the Endowments of the Heathenish Temples were upon a full debate whether they should return to the right Heirs or be Confiscated in the end adjudged to the Fisc or the Emperors Exchequer upon this reason that by the will of the Donors they were totally alienated from them and their Heirs But in England it went otherwise And when the Order of the Knights-Templers was dissolved it was then judged in favour of the Lord by Escheat For though the Founders and Donors had totally alienated these Lands from themselves and their heirs yet there was no reason from thence to conclude any thing that might wrong the Superior Lord of his Right in the case of an Escheat And this must have held good if those alienations and Endowments had been absolute without any condition But the Endowments being generally rather of the Nature of Covenants and Contracts and made in Consideration of so many Masses to be said for their Souls then it was most just that upon a non-performance of the Condition and when that publick Error and Cheat which the Monks had put upon the World was discovered the Lands should have returned to the Founders and Patrons and their Heirs and Successors Nor was there any grounds for the Lords to pretend to them by Escheat especially where their Ancestors had consented to and confirmed those Endowments Therefore there was no need of Excluding them by any special Proviso But for the Founders and Donors certainly if there had not been a Particular Proviso made against them they might have
Secretaries name went and opened the matter to Cromwel the next day Cromwel was then going to Court and he expected to find the Bearward there looking to deliver the Book to some of Cranmers Enemies he therefore ordered Morice to go along with him Where as they had expected they found the fellow with the Book about him upon whom Cromwel called and took the Book out of his hands threatning him severely for his presumption in medling with a Privy Councellors Book But though Cranmer escaped this hazard yet in London the storm of the late act was falling heavily on them that were obnoxious Shaxton and Latimer the Bishops of Salisbury and Worcester within a week after the Session of Parliament as it appears resigned their Bishopricks For on the 7th of Iuly the Chapters of these Churches Petitioned the King for his leave to fill those Sees they being then vacant by the free Resignation of the former Bishops Upon which the Conge d'Elire for both was granted Nor was this all but they being presented as having spoken against the six Articles were put in Prison where the one lay till the King died and the other till a little before his death as shall be shewn in its proper place There were also Commissions issued out for proceeding upon that Statute and those who were Commissioned for London were all secret favourers of Popery so they proceeded most severely and examined many Witnesses against all who were presented whom they Interrogated not only upon the express words of the Statute but upon all such collateral or presumptive circumstances as might entangle them or conclude them guilty So that in a very little while 500 persons were put in prison and involved in the breach of the Statute Upon this not only Cranmer and Cromwel but the Duke of Suffolk and Audley the Chancellour represented to the King how hard it would be and of what ill consequence to execute the Law upon so many persons So the King was prevailed with to pardon them all and I find no further proceeding upon this Statute till Cromwel fell But the opposite Party used all the Arts possible to insinnuate themselves into the King And therefore to shew how far their compliance would go Bonner took a strange commission from the King on the 12th of November this year It has been certainly Enrolled but it is not there now so that I judge it was razed in that suppression of Records which was in Queen Maries time But as men are commonly more careless at home Bonner has left it on Record in his own Register Whether the other Bishops took such Commissions from this King I know not But I am certain there is none such in Cranmers Register and it is not likely if any such had been taken out by him that ever it would have been razed The Commission it self will be found in the Collection of Papers at the end The substance of it is That since all Jurisdictions both Ecclesiastical and Civil flowed from the King as Supream Head and he was the foundation of all power it became those who exercised it only Precario at the Kings courtesie gratefully to acknowledge that they had it only of his bounty and to declare that they would deliver it up again when it should please him to call for it And since the King had constituted the Lord Cromwel his Vice-gerent in Ecclesiastical affairs yet because he could not look into all those Matters therefore the King upon Bonners petition did Empower him in his own stead to ordain such as he found worthy to present and give institution with all the other parts of Episcopal Authority for which he is duely Commissionated and this to last during the Kings pleasure only And all the parts of the Episcopal Function being reckoned up it concluded with a strict Charge to the Bishop to Ordain none but such of whose Integrity good life and learning he had very good assurance For as the Corruptions of the Christian Doctrine and of mens manners had chiefly proceeded from ill Pastours so it was not to be doubted but good Pastours well-chosen would again reform the Christian Doctrine and the Lives of Christians After he had taken this Commission Bonner might have been well called one of the Kings Bishops The true reason of this profound Compliance was That the Popish party apprehended that Cranmers great interest with the King was chiefly grounded on some opinions he had of the Ecclesiastical Officers being as much subject to the Kings power as all other Civil Officers were And this having endeared him so much to the King therefore they resolved to out-do him in that point But there was this difference that Cranmer was once of that opinion and if he followed it at all it was out of Conscience but Bonner against his Conscience if he had any complied with it Now followed the final dissolution of the Abbeys there are 57 Surrenders upon Record this year The originals of about 30 of these are yet to be seen Thirty seven of them were Abbies or Priories and 20 Nunneries The good House of Godstow now fell with the rest though among the last of them Now the great Parliament Abbots surrendred apace as those of Westminster St. Albans St. Edmundsbury Canterbury St. Mary in York Selby St. Peters in Glocester Cirencester Waltham Winchcombe Malmsbury and Battel Three others were attainted Glassenbury Reading and Colchester The Deeds of the rest are lost Here it will not be unacceptable to the Reader to know who were the Parliamentary Abbots There were in all 28 as they were commonly given Fuller has given a Catalogue of them in three places of his History of Abbies but as every one of these differs from the others so none of them are according to the Journals of Parliliament The Lord Herbert is also mistaken in his account I shall not rise higher in my enquiry than this Reign for anciently many more Abbots and Priors sate in Parliament beside other Clergy that had likewise their Writs and of whose right to sit in the House of Commons there was a question moved in Edward the sixths Reign as shall be opened in its proper place Much less will I presume to determine so great a point in Law whether they sate in the House of Lords as being a part of the Ecclesiastical State or as holding their Lands of the King by Baronage I am only to observe the matter of fact which is That in the Journals of Parliament in this Reign these 28 Abbots had their writs Abington St. Albans St. Austins Canterbury Battel St. Bennets in the Holm Berdeny Cirencester Colchester Coventry Croyland St. Edmundsbury Evesham Glassenbury Glocester Hide Malmsbury St. Maries in York Peterborough Ramsey Reading Selby Shrewsbury Tavenstock Teâ—kesbury Thorney Waltham Westminster and Winchelcomh to whom also the Prior of St. Iohns may be added But besides all these I find that in the 28 year of this King the Abbot
of Burton upon Trent sate in Parliament Generally Coventry and Burton were held by the same man as one Bishop held both Coventry and Litchfield though two different Bishopricks but in that year they were held by two different persons and both had their Writts to that Parliament The method used in the suppression of these Houses will appear by one compleat Report made of the Suppression of the Abbey of Tewksbury which out of many I copyed and is in the Collection From it the Reader will see what provision was made for the Abbot the Prior the other Officers and the Monks and other servants of the House and what Buildings they ordered to be defaced and what to remain and how they did estimate the Jewels Plate and other Ornaments But Monasteries were not sufficient to stop the appetite of some that were about the King for Hospitals were next lookt after One of these was this year surrendred by Thomas Thirleby with two other Priests he was Master of St. Thomas Hospital in Southwark and was designed Bishop of Westminster to which he made his way by that Resignation He was a learned and modest man but of so fickle or cowardly a temper that he turned alwayes with the Stream in every change that was made till Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown but then being ashamed of so many turns he resolved to shew he could once be firm to somewhat Now were all the Monasteries of England suppressed and the King had then in his hand the greatest opportunity of making Royal and Noble Foundations that ever King of England had But whether out of policy to give a general Content to the Gentry by selling to them at low rates or out of easiness to his Courtiers or out of an unmeasured lavishness in his expence it came far short of what he had given out he would do and what himself seemed once to have designed The clear yeerly value of all the Suppressed Houses is cast up in an account then stated to be viz. 131607. lib. 6. s. 4. d. as the Rents were then rated but was at least ten times so much in true value Of which he designed to convert 18000. lib. into a Revenue for eighteen Bishopricks and Cathedrals But of these he only erected six as shall be afterwards shewn Great sums were indeed laid out on building and fortifying many Ports in the Channel and other parts of England which were raised by the Sale of Abbey-Lands At this time many were offering projects for Noble Foundations on which the King seemed very earnest But it is very likely that before he was aware of it he had so out-run himself in his Bounty that it was not possible for him to bring these to any effect Yet I shall set down one of the projects which shews the greatness of his mind that designed it that is of Sir Nicholas Bacon who was afterwards one of the wisest Ministers that ever this Nation bred The King designed to found a House for the Study of the Civil Law and the purity of the Latine and French Tongues So he ordered Sir Nicolas Bacon and two others Thomas Deâ—ton and Robert Cary to make a full project of the nature and orders of such a House who brought it to him in a writing the original whereof is yet exâ—ant The design of it was that there should be frequent pleadings and other exercises in the Latine and French tongues and when the Kings Students were brought to some ripeness they should be sent with his Embassadors to Forreign parts and trained up in the knowledg of forreign affairs and so the House should be the Nursery for Ambassadors Some were also to be appointed to write the History of all Embassies Treaties and other foreign Transactions as also of all Arraignments and publick Tryals at home But before any of them might write on these Subjects the Lord Chancellour was to give them an Oath that they should do it truly without respect of persons or any other corrupt affection This noble Design miscarried But if it had been well laid and regulated it is easie to gather what great and publick advantages might have flowed from it Among which it is not inconsiderable that we should have been delivered from a Rabble of ill-Writers of History who have without due care or enquiry delivered to us the Transactions of that time so imperfectly that there is still need of enquiring into Registers and Papers for these matters Which in such a House had been more certainly and clearly conveighed to posterity than can be now expected at such a distance of time and after such a rasure of Records and other confusions in which many of these Papers have been lost And this help was the more necessary after the suppression of Religious Houses in most of which a Chronicle of the times was kept and still filled up as new Transactions came to their knowledg It is true most of these were written by men of weak Judgments who were more punctual in delivering Fables and Trifles than in opening observable Transactions Yet some of them were men of better understandings and it is like were directed by their Abbots who being Lords of Parliament understood aâ—fairs well only an invincible humor of lying when it might raise the credit of their Religion or Order or House runs through all their Manuscripts One thing was very remarkable which was this year granted at Cranmers Intercession There was nothing could so much recover Reformation that was declining so fast as the free use of the Scriptures and though these had been set up in the Churches a year ago yet he pressed and now procured leave for private persons to buy Bibles and keep them in their Houses So this was granted by Letters Patents directed to Cromwel bearing date the 13th of November The Substance of which was That the King was desirous to have his Subjects attain the knowledg of Gods word which could not be effected by any means so well as by granting them the free and liberal use of the Bible in the English tongue which to avoid dissension he intended should pass among them only by one Translation Therefore Cromwel was charged to take care that for the space of five years there should be no Impression of the Bible or any part of it but only by such as should be assigned by him But Gardiner opposed this all he could and one day in a Conference before the King he provoked Cranmer to shew any difference between the Authority of the Scriptures and of the Apostolical Canons which he pretended were equal to the other writings of the Apostles Upon which they disputed for some time But the King perceived solid Learning tempered with great Modesty in what Cranmer said and nothing but vanity and affectation in Gardiner's reasonings So he took him up sharply and told him that Cranmer was an old and experienced Captain and was not to be troubled by
fresh-men and Novices The great matter of the Kings Marriage came on at this time Many reports were brought the King of the beauty of Anne of Cleve so that he inclined to ally himself with that Family Both the Emperor and the King of France had courted him to Matches which they had projected The Emperor proposed the Dutchess of Milan his kinswoman and Daughter to the King of Denmark He was then designing to break the League of Smalcald and to make himself master of Germany And therefore he took much pains with the King to divide him from the Princes there which was in great part effected by the Statute for the six Articles Upon which the Ambassadors of the Princes had complained and said That whereas the King had been in so fair a way of union with them he had now broke it off and made so severe a Law about Communion in one kind Private Masses and the Celibate of the Clergy which differed so much from their Doctrine that they could entertain no further correspondence with him if that Law was not mitigated But Gardiner wrought much on the Kings vanity and passions and told him that it was below his Dignity and high Learning to have a Company of dull Germans and small Princes dictate to him in matters of Religion There was also another thing which he oft made use of though it argues somewhere a great Ignorance of the Constitution of the Empire That the King could not expect these Princes would ever be for his Supremacy since if they acknowledged that in him they must likewise yield it to the Emperor This was a great mistake For as the Princes of Germany never acknowledged the Emperor to have a sove raignty in their Dominions so they did acknowledg the Diet in which the Soveraignty of the Empire lies to have a Power of making or changing what Laws they pleased about Religion And in things that were not determined by the Diet every Prince pretended to it as highly in his own Dominions as the King could do in England But as untrue as this Allegation was it served Gardiner's turn for the King was sufficiently irritated with it against the Princes so that there was now a great coldness in their correspondence Yet the Project of a Match with the Dutchess of Milan failing and these proposed by France not being acceptable Cromwel moved the King about an Alliance with the Duke of Cleve who as he was the Emperors Neighbour in Flanders had also a pretension to the Dutchie of Guelders and his eldest Daughter was Marryed to the Duke of Saxony So that the King having then some apprehensions of a War with the Emperor this seemed a very proper Alliance to give him a Diversion There had been a Treaty between her Father and the Duke of Lorrain in order to a match between the Duke of Lorrain's Son and her But they both being under Age it went no further than a Contract between their Fathers Hans Holbin having taken her Picture sent it over to the King But in that he bestowed the common complement of his Art somewhat too liberally on a Lady that was in a way to be Queen The King liked the Picture better than the Original when he had the occasion afterwards to compare them The Duke of Saxony who was very zealous for the Ausâ—â—â—â— Confession finding the King had declined so much from it disswaded the Match But Cromwel set it on mightily expecting a great Support from a Queen of his own making whose friends being all Luthâ—rans it tended also to bring down the Popish Party at Court and again to recover the ground they had now lost Those that had seen the Lady did much commend her beauty and person But she could speak no Language but Dutch to which the King was a stranger Nor was she bred to Musick with which the King was much taken So that except her person had charmed him there was nothing left for her to gain upon him by After some Months Treaty one of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine with other Ambassadors from the Duke of Saxony and her Brother the Duke of Cleves for her Father was lately dead came over and concluded the Match In the end of December she was brought over to England And the King being impatient to see her went down Incognito to Rochester But when he had a sight of her finding none of these charms which he was made believe were in her he was so extreamly surprized that he not only did not like her but took an Aversion to her which he could never after overcome He swore they had brought over a Flanders Mare to him and was very sorry he had gone so far but glad it had proceeded no further And presently he resolved if it were possible to break off the matter and never to yoke himself with her But his Affairs were not then in such a condition that he could safely put that affront on the Dukes of Saxony and Cleves which the sending back of this Lady would have done For the Germans being of all Nations most sensible of every thing in which the Honour of their Family is touched he knew they would resent such an Injury And it was not safe for him to Adventure that at such a time For the Emperor was then in Paris whither he had gone to an Enterview with Francis And his Reception was not only as Magnificent as could be but there was all the Evidence possible of hearty Friendship and kindness The King also understood that between them there was somewhat projected against himself And now Francis that had been as much obliged by him as possibly one Prince could be by another was not only forgetful of it but intended to take advantage from the distractions and discontents of the English to drive them out of France if it were possible And it is not to be doubted but the Emperor would gladly have embroyled these two Kings that he might have a better opportunity both to make himself Master of Germany and to force the King of England into an Alliance by which the Lady Mary should be Legitimated and the Princes of Germany be left destitute of a Support which made them Insolent and Intractable The King apprehended the Conjunction of those two great Princes against himself which was much set forward by the Pope and that they would set up the King of Scotland against him who with that forreign Assistance and the discontents at home would have made War upon great advantages especially those in the North of England being ill affected to him And therefore he judged it necessary for his Affairs not to lose the Princes of Germany Only he resolved first to try if any Nullities or Pre-contracts could excuse him fairly at their hands He returned to Greenwich very Melancholy He much blamed the Earl of Southampton who being sent over to receive her at Callice had written an high Commendation of her
Beauty But he excused himself that he thought the thing was so far gone that it was decent to write as he had done The King lamented his condition in that Marriage and expressed great trouble both to the Lord Russel Sir Anthony Brown Sir Anthony Denny and others about him The last of those told him this was one Advantage that mean persons had over Princes That great Princes must take such Wives as are brought them whereas meaner persons go and chuse Wives for themselves But when the King saw Cromwel he gave his grief a freer vent to him He finding the King so much Troubled would have cast the chief blame on the Earl of Southampton for whom he had no great kindness And said when he found her so far short of what reports and Pictures had made her he should have stayed her at Callice till he had given the King notice of it But the Earls Commission being only to bring her over he said It had been too great a presumption in him to have interposed in such a manner And the King was convinced he was in the right So now all they had to insist on was the clearing of that Contract that had passed between her and the Marquess of Lorain which the Ambassadors who had been with the King had undertaken should be fully done and brought over with her in due form of Law So after the Lady was brought in great State to Greenwich the Council met and sent for the Ambassadors of the Duke of Cleves that conducted her over and desired to see what they had brought for clearing the breach of that Contract with the Marquess of Lorrain But they had brought nothing and made no account of it saying that the Contract was in their Minority when they could give no consent and that nothing had followed on it after they came to be of Age. But this did not satisfie the Kings Council who said these were but their words and they must see better proofs The Kings Marriage was Annulled with Anne Boleyn upon a pre-contract therefore he must not again run the like hazard So Olisleger and Hogâ—sden the Ambassadors from Cleve did by a formal Instrument Protest before Cromwel that in a peace made between their late Master Iohn Duke of Cleve and Anthony Duke of Lorrain one of the conditions was that this Lady being then under Age should be given in Marriage to Francis Son to the Duke of Lorrain who was likewise under Age which Treaty they affirmed they saw and read But that afterwards Henry de Groffe Ambassador of Charles Duke of Gueldres upon whose mediation that peace had been concluded declared in their hearing that the Espousals were Annulled and of no effect and that this was Registred in the Chancery of Clâ—ve of which they promised to bring an Authentical Extract within three Months to England Some of the Counsellors who knew the Kings secret dislike of her person would have insisted more on this But the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Duresm said if there was no more than that it could be no just hindrance to the Solemnization of the Marriage So the King seeing there was no remedy and being much pressed both by the Ministers of Cleve and by the Lord Cromwel Marryed her on the 6th of Ianuary But expressed so much aversion and dislike of her that every body about him took notice of it Next day the Lord Cromwel asked him how he liked her then He told him He was not every man therefore he would be free with him He liked her worse than he did He suspected she was no Maid and had such ill smells about her that he loathed her more than ever and did not believe he should ever consummate the Marriage This was sad news to Cromwel who knew well how delicate the King was in these matters and that so great a Misfortune must needs turn very heavy on him that was the chief Promoter of it He knew his Enemies would draw great advantages from this and understood the Kings temper too well to think his Greatness would last long if he could not induce the King to like the Queen better But that was not to be done for though the King lived five Months with her in that State and very oft lay in the Bed with her yet his Aversion rather encreased than abated She seemed not much concerned at it and as their Conversation was not great so she was of an heavy Composition and was not much displeased to be delivered from a Marriage in which she had so little satisfaction Yet one thing shews that she wanted not Capacity For she learned the English Language very soon and before her Marriage was Annulled she spoke English freely as appears by some of the Depositions There was an Instrument brought over from Cleve taken out of the Chancery there by which it appeared That Henry de Groffe Ambassador from the Duke of Gueldres had on the 15th of February in the year 1535. declared the Nullity of the former Contract in express words which are set down in high Dutch but thus put in Latine Sponsalia illa progressum suum non habitura I will not answer for the Latine ex quo dictus Dux Carolus admodum doleret propterea quaedam fecisset amplius facturus esset And Pallandus that was Ambassador from the Duke of Cleves in the Duke of Guelders Court wrote to his Master Illustrissimum Ducem Gueldriae certo scire prima illa Sponsalia inter Domicellam Annam fore inania progressum suum non habitura When this was shewed the King his Council found great exceptions to it upon the Ambiguity of the word Sponsalia it not being expressed whether they were Espousals by the words of the present or of the future tense and intended to make use of that when there should be a fit opportunity for it On the 12th of April a Session of Parliament was held The Journal shews that neither the Abbot of Westminster nor any other Abbot was present After the Lord Chancellor had opened the reasons for the Kings meeting them at that time as they related to the Civil Government Cromwel as Lord Vice-gerent spake next in the Kings name and said There was nothing which the King so much desired as a firm union among all his Subjects in which he placed his chief security He knew there were many Incendiaries and much Cockle grew up with the Wheat The rashness and licentiousness of some and the inveterate Superstition and stiffness of others in the Ancient Corruptions had raised great dissensions to the sad regret of all good Christians Some were called Papists others Hereticks which bitterness of Spirit seemed the more strange since now the Holy Scriptures by the Kings great care of his people were in all their hands in a Language which they understood But these were grosly perverted by both sides who studied rather to justifie their passions out
of them than to direct their belief by them The King leaned neither to the right nor to the left hand neither to the one nor the other Party but set the pure and sincere Doctrine of the Christian Faith only before his eyes And therefore was now resolved to have this set forth to his Subjects without any corrupt mixtures and to have such decent Ceremonies continued and the true use of them taught by which all abuses might be cut off and Disputes about the Exposition of the Scriptures cease that so all his Subjects might be well instructed in their Faith and directed in the reverent worship of God and resolved to punish severely all transgressors of what sort or side soever they were The King was resolved That Christ That the Gospel of Christ and the truth should have the victory And therefore had appointed some Bishops and Divines to draw up an Exposition of those things that were necessary for the Institution of a Christian-man Who were the two Arch-Bishops the Bishop of London Duresm Winchester Rochester Hereford and St. Davids and Doctors Thirleby Robertson Cox Day Oglethorp Redmayn Edgeworth Crayford Symonds Robins and Tresham He had also appointed others to examine what Ceremonies should be retained and what was the true use of them who were the Bishops of Bath and Wells Ely Sarum Chichester Worcester and Landaff The King had also commanded the Judges and other Justices of the Peace and persons commissioned for the Execution of the Act formerly passed to proceed against all transgressors and punish them according to Law And he Concluded with an high Commendation of the King whose due praises he said a man of far greater Eloquence than himself was could not fully set forth The Lords approved of this Nomination and ordered that these Committees should sit constantly on Mundays Wedensdays and Fridays and no other days they were to sit in the afternoon But their Proceedings will require so full a Relation that I shall first open the other Affairs that passed in this Session and leave these to the last On the 14th of April the King created Cromwel Earl of Essex the Male line of the Bourchiers that had carryed that Title being extinguished This shews that the true Causes of Cromwels fall must be found in some other thing than his making up the Kings Marriage who had never thus raised his Title if he had intended so soon to pull him down On the 22d of April a Bill was brought in for Suppressing the Knights of St. Iohn of Ierusalem Their first Foundation was to be a Guard to the Pilgrims that went to the Holy Land For some Ages that was extolled as the highest expression of devotion and reverence to our Saviour to go and view the places of his abode and chiefly the places where he was Crucified Buried and ascended to Heaven Upon which many entred into a Religious Knighthood who were to defend the Holy Land and conduct the Pilgrims Those were of two sorts The Knights-Templars and Hospitallers The former were the greater and richer but the other were also very considerable The Popes and their Clergy did every-where animate all Princes and great persons to undertake expeditions into these parts Which were very costly and dangerous and proved fatal to almost all the Princes that made them Yet the belief of the pains of Purgatory from which all were delivered by the Popes Power who went on this Expedition such as dyed in it being also reckoned Martyrs wrought wonderfully on a blind and Superstitious Age. But such as could not go were perswaded That if on their death-beds they vowed to go upon their recovery and left some Lands to maintain a Knight that should go thither and fight against the Infidels it would do as well Upon this great and vast Endowments were made But there were many Complaints made of the Templars for betraying and robbing the Pilgrims and other horrid abuses which may reasonably be believed to have been true though other Writers of that Age lay the blame rather on the Covetousness of the King of France and the Popes malice to them Yet in a General Council the whole Order was Condemned and Suppressed and such of them as could be taken were cruelly put to death The Order of the Hospitallers stood yet did not grow much after that They were beaten out of the Holy-Land by the Sultans and lately out of the Isle of Rhodes and were at this time in Malta Their great Master depended on the Pope and the Emperor so it was not thought fit to let a House that was subject to a Forreign Power stand longer And it seems they would not willingly Surrender up their House as others had done Therefore it was necessary to force them out of it by an Act of Parliament which on the 22d of April was read the first time and on the 26th the 2d time and on the 29th the third time by which both their House in England and another they had in Kilmainam in Ireland were suppressed great pensions being reserved by the Act to the Priors a 1000 lib. to him of St. Iohns near London and 500 Marks to the other with very considerable allowances for the Knights which in all amounted near to 3000 lib. yearly But on the 14th of May the Parliament was Prorogued to the 25th and a vote passed that their Bills should remain in the State they were in Upon their next mâ—eting as they were going on in their business a great Change of Court broke out For on the 13th of Iune at the Council Table the Duke of Norfolk in the Kings name challenged the Lord Cromwel of high Treason and Arresting him sent him Prisoner to the Tower He had many Enemies among all sorts of persons The Nobility despised him and thought it lessened the greatness of their Titles to see the Son of a Black-Smith raised so many degrees above them His aspiring to the Order of the Garter was thought inexcusable vanity and his having so many places heaped on him as Lord Privy Seal Lord Chamberlain of England and Lord Vice-gerent with the Mastership of the Rolls with which he had but lately parted drew much envy on him All the Popish party hated him out of measure The Suppression of the Abbies was laid wholly at his door The Attaindors and all other severe proceedings were imputed to his Counsels He was also thought to be the person that had kept the King and the Emperor at such distance And therefore the Duke of Norfolk and Gardiner beside private Animosities hated him on that account And they did not think it impossible if he were out of the way to bring on a Treaty with the Emperor which they hoped would open the way for one with the Pope But other more secret reasons wrought his ruin with the King The fear he was in of a Conjunction between the Emperor and France did now abate For he understood that it went no further
of Iuly a Bill was brought in for moderating the Statute of the six Articles in the Clauses that related to the marriage of the Priests or their Incontinency with other Women On the 17th it was agreed by the whole House without a contradictory vote and sent down to the Commons who on the 21th sent it up again By it the pains of Death were turned to forfeitures of their Goods and Chattels and the rents of their Ecclesiastical promotions to the King On the 20th of Iuly a Bill was brought in concerning a Declaration of the Christian Religion and was then read the first 2d and 3d time and passed without any opposition and sent down to the Commons who agreeing to it sent it up again the next day It contained that the King as Supream Head of the Church was taking much pains for an Union among all his Subjects in matters of Religion and for preventing the further progress of Heresie had appointed many of the Bishops and the most learned Divines to declare the principal Articles of the Christian Belief with the Ceremonies and way of Gods service to be observed That therefore a thing of that weight might not be rashly done or hasted through in this Session of Parliament but be done with that care which was requisite Therefore it was Enacted that whatsoever was determined by the Arch-Bishops Bishops and the other Divines now Commissionated for that effect or by any others appointed by the King or by the whole Clergy of England and published by the Kings Authority concerning the Christian Faith or the Ceremonies of the Church should be believed and obeyed by all the Kings Subjects as well as if the particulars so set forth had been ennumerated in this Act any Custom or Law to the Contrary notwithstanding To this a strange Proviso was added which destroyed the former Clause That nothing should be done or determined by the Authority of this Act which was contrary to the Laws and Statutes of the Kingdom But whether this Proviso was added by the House of Commons or originally put into the Bill does not appear It was more likely it was put in at the first by the Kings Council for these contradictory Clauses raised the Prerogative higher and left it in the Judges power to determine which of the two should be followed by which all Ecclesiastical matters were to be brought under Tryals at Common Law for it was one of the great designs both of the Ministers and Lawyers at this time to bring all Ecclesiastical Matters to thâ— Cognizance of the Secular Judge But another Bill passed which seems a little odd concerning the circumstances of that time That whereas many Marriages had been annulled in the time of Popery upon the pretence of Precontracts or other degrees of kindred than those that were prohibited by the Law of God Therefore after a Marriage was consummated no pretence of any pre-contract or any degrees of kindred or alliance but those mentioned in the Law of God should be brought or made use of to annull it since these things had been oft pretended only to dissolve a Marriage when the parties grew weary of each other which was contrary to Gods Law Therefore it was Enacted that no pretence of precontract not consummated should be made use of to annull a Marriage duly solemnized and consummated and that no degrees of kindred not mentioned by the Law of God should be pleaded to annull a Marriage This Act gave great occasion of censuring the Kings former proceedings against Queen Anne Boleyn since that which was now condemned had been the pretence for dissolving his Marriage with her Others thought the King did it on design to remove that Impediment out of the way of the Lady Elizabeth's succeeding to the Crown since that judgment upon which she was Illegitimated was now indirectly censured And that other branch of the Act for taking away all prohibitions of Marriages within any degrees but those forbidden in Scripture was to make way for the Kings Marriage with Katherine Howard who was Cousin German to Queen Anne Boleyn for that was one of the prohibited degrees by the Canon Law The Province of Canterbury offered a Subsidy of four shillings in the pound of all Ecclesiastical preferments to be payed in two years and in that acknowledgment of the great liberty they enjoyed by being delivered from the Usurpations of the Bishops of Rome and in recompencâ— the great charges of the King had been at and was still to be at in building Havens Bullwarks and other Forts for the defence of his Coasts and the security of his Subjects This was confirmed in Parliament But that did not satisfie the King who had husbanded the money that came in by the sale of Abbey Lands so ill that now he wanted money and was forced to aske a subsidy for his Marriage of the Parliament this was obtained with great difficulty For it was said That if the King was already in want after so vast an income especially being engaged in no Warr there would be no end of his necessities nor could it be possible for them to supply them But it was answered that the King had laid out a great Treasure in fortifying the Coast and though he was then in no visible Warr yet the charge he was at in keeping up the Warr beyond Sea was equal to the expence of a Warr and much more to the advantage of his people who were kept in peace and plenty This obtained a Tenth and four 15ths After the passing of all these Bills and many others that concerned the publick with several other Bills of Attaindor of some that favoured the Popes Interests or Corresponded with Cardinal Pool which shall be mentioned in another place the King sent in a General Pardon with the Ordinary Exceptions and in particular excepted Cromwel the Countess of Sarum with many others then in person Some of them were put in for opposing the Kings Supremacy and others for transgressing the Statute of the six Articles On the 24th of Iuly the Parliament was dissolved And now Cromwel who had been six weeks a Prisoner was brought to his Execution He had used all the endeavours he could for his own preservation Once he wrote to the King in such melting terms that he made the Letter to be thrice read and seemed touched with it But the charms of Katharine Howard and the endeavours of the Duke of Norfolk and the Bishop of Winchester at length prevailed So a Warrant was sent to cut off his Head on the 28th of Iuly at Tower-hill When he was brought to the Scaffold his kindness to his Son made him very cautious in what he said he declined the purging of himself but said he was by Law condemned to die and thanked God for bringing him to that death for his offences He acknowledged his Sins against God and his offences against his Prince who had raised him from a base degree
the Kingdom fell into the hands of the Churchmen The Bishops looked more after the affairs of the State than the concerns of the Church and were resolved to maintain by their cruelty what their Predecessors had acquired by fraud and impostures And as Lesly himself confesses there was no pains taken to instruct the people in the principles of Religion nor were the Children at all Catechised but left in ignorance and the ill lives of the Clergy who were both covetous and lewd disposed the people to favour those that preached for a Reformation The first that suffered in this Age was Patrick Hamilton a person of very noble blood his Father was Brother to the Earl of Arran and his Mother Sister to the Duke of Albany so nearly was he on both sides related to the King He was provided of the Abbey of Fern in his youth and being designed for greater preferments he was sent to travel but as he went thorough Germany he contracted a friendship with Luther Melanction and others of their Perswasion by whose means he was instructed in the points about which they differed from the Church of Rome He returned to Scotland that he might communicate that knowledg to others with which himself was so happily enlightned And little considering either the hindrance of his further Preferment or the other dangers that might lie in his way he spared not to lay open the Corruptions of the Roman Church and to shew the Errours that had crept into the Christian Religion He was a man both of great learning and of a sweet and charming conversation and came to be followed and esteemed by all sorts of people The Clergy being enraged at this invited him to St. Andrews that there might be Conferences held with him about those points which he condemned And one Frier Campbel Prior of the Dominicans who had the reputation of a Learned man was appointed to treat with him They had many Conferences together and the Prior seemed to be convinced in most points and acknowledged there were many things in the Church that required Reformation But all this while he was betraying him So that when the Abbot looked for no such thing he was in the night time made Prisoner and carried to the Arch-Bishops Castle There several Articles were objected to him about Original Sin Free-will Justification Good Works Priestly Absolution Auricular Confession Purgatory and the Popes being Antichrist Some of these he positively adhered to the others he thought were disputable points yet he said he would not condemn them except he saw better reasons than any he had yet heard The matter was referred to 12 Divines of the University of whom Frier Campbel was one And within a day or two they censured all his Tenets as Heretical and contrary to the Faith of the Church On the first of March Judgment was given upon him by Beaton Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews with whom sate the Archbishop of Glasgow the Bishop of Dunkeld Brichen and Dunblan five Abbots and many of the inferior Clergy They also made the whole University old and young sign it He was declared an obstinate Heretick and delivered to the Secular Power The King had at that time gone a Pilgrimage to Ross and the Clergy fearing lest nearness of blood with the Intercessions which might be made for him should snatch this prey out of their hands proceeded that same day to his Execution So in the afternoon he was brought to the Stake before St. Salvators Colledg He stripped himself of his Garments and gave them to his man and said he had no more to leave him but the example of his death That he prayed him to keep in mind For though it was bitter and painful in mans Iudgment yet it was the entrance to Everlasting life which none could inherit that denied Christ before such a Congregation Then was he tied to a Stake and a great deal of fewel was heaped about him which he seemed not to fear but continued lifting up his eyes to heaven and recommending his soul to God When the train of Powder was kindled it did not take hold of the Fewel but only scorched his hand and the side of his face This occasioned some delay till more powder was brought from the Castle during which time the Friers were very troublesome and called to him to turn and pray to our Lady and say Salve Regina None was more officious than Frier Campbel The Abbot wished him often to let him alone and give him no more trouble But the Frier continuing to importune him he said to him Wicked man thou knowest that I am not an Heretick and that it is the truth of God for which I now suffer So much thou didst confess to me in private and thereupon I appeal thee to answer before the Iudgment Seat of Christ. By this time more powder was brought and the fire was kindled He cried out with a loud voice How long O Lord shall darkness oppress this Realm how long wilt thou suffer this Tyranny of Men and died repeating these words Lord Iesus receive my Spirit The patience and constancy he expressed in his sufferings made the Spectators generally conclude that he was a true Martyr of Christ in which they were the more confirmed by Frier Campbells falling into great despair soon after who from that turned frantick and died within a year On this I have insisted the more fully because it was indeed the beginning of the Reformation in Scotland and raised there an humour of inquiring into points of Religion which did always prove fatal to the Church of Rome In the University it self many were wrought on and particularly one Seaton a Dominican Frier who was the Kings Confessor He being appointed to preach the next Lent at St. Andrews insisted much on these points That the Law of God was the only Rule of Righteousness that Sin was only committed when Gods Law was violated that no man could satisfie for Sin and that pardon was to be obtained by unfeigned repentance and true faith But he never mentioned Purgatory Pilgrimages Merits nor Prayers to Saints which used to be the Subjects on which the Friers insisted most on these occasions Being gone from St. Andrews he heard that another Frier of his own Order had refuted these Doctrines So he returned and confirmed them in another Sermon in which he also made some reflections on Bishops that were not Teachers calling them Dumb-Dogs For this he was carried before the Arch-Bishop but he defended himself saying that he had only in St. Pauls words said a Bishop should teach and in Esaias words that such as did not teach were Dumb-doggs but having said this in the general he did not apply it to any Bishop in particular The Arch-Bishop was netled at this answer yet resolved to let him alone till he should be brought into disgrace with the King And that was soon done for the King being a licentious Prince and Frier Seaton having
to the Commons with words to be put in or put out of it On the 6th the Commons sent it up with some alterations And on the 8th the Lords sent it down again to the Commons where it lay till the 17th and then it was sent up with their agreement And the Kings Assent was given by his Letters Patents on the 29th of March. The Preamble was That whereas untrue accusations and presentments might be maliciously contrived against the Kings Subjects and kept secret till a time were espied to have them by malice convicted Therefore it was Enacted That none should be Endited but upon a presentment by the Oaths of twelve men to at least three of the Commissioners appointed by the King and that none should be Imprisoned but upon an Enditement except by a special Warrant from the King and that all Presentments should be made within one year after the Offences were committed and if words were uttered in a Sermon contrary to the Statute they must be complained of within forty dayes unless a just cause were given why it could not be so soon Admittiâ—g also the parties Endited to all such Challenges as they might have in any other case of Felony This Act has clearly a Relation to the Conspiracies mentioned the former year both against the Arch-Bishop and some of the Kings Servants Another Act passed continuing some former Acts for revising the canon-Canon-Law and for drawing up such a body of Ecclesiastical Laws as should have Authority in England This Cranmer pressed often with great vehemence and to shew the necessity of it drew out a short Extract of some passages in the Canon-Law which the Reader will find in the Collection to shew how undecent a thing it was to let a Volume in which such Laws were be studyed or considered any longer in England Therefore he was earnest to have such a Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws made as might regulate the Spiritual Courts But it was found more for the greatness of the Prerogative and the Authority of the Civil Courts to keep that undetermined so he could never obtain his desire during this Kings Reign Another Act passed in this Parliament for the remission of a Loan of Money which the King had raised This is almost copied out of an Act to the same effect that passed in the twenty first year of the Kings Reign with this addition That by this Act those who had got payment either in whole or in part of the Sums so lent the King were to repay it back to the Exchequer All business being finished and a general pardon passed with the ordinary exceptions of some Crimes among which Heresie is one the Parliament was Prorogued on the 29th of March to the 4th of November The King had now a War both with France and Scotland upon him And therefore to prepare for it he both enhanced the value of Money and embased it for which he that writes his vindication gives this for the reason That the Coin being generally embased all over Europe he was forced to do it lest otherwise all the Money should have gone out of the Kingdom He resolved to begin the War with Scotland and sent an Army by Sea thither under the command of the Earl of Hartford afterwards Duke of Somerset who landing at Grantham a little above Leith burnt and spoiled Leith and Edenburgh in which they found more riches than they thought could possibly have been there and they went through the Countrey burning and spoiling it every-where till they came to Berwick But they did too much if they intended to gain the hearts of that people and too little if they intended to subdue them For as they besieged not the Castle of Edinburgh which would have cost them more time and trouble so they did not fortifie Leith nor leave a Garrison in it which was such an inexcusable Omission that it seems their Counsels were very weak and ill laid For Leith being fortified and a Fleet kept going between it and Berwick or Tinmouth the Trade of the Kingdom must have been quite stopt Edinburgh ruined the Intercourse between France and them cut off and the whole Kingdom forced to submit to the King But the spoils this Army made had no other effect but to enrage the Kingdom and unite them so entirely to the French Interests that when the Eaâ—l of Lâ—nnâ—x was sent down by the King to the Western parts of Scotland where his Power lay he could get none to follow him And the Governor of Dunbritton Castle though his own Lieutenant would not deliver that Castle to him when he understood he was to put it in the King of Englands hands but drove him out others say he â—â—ed away of himself else he had been taken Prisoner The King was now to cross the Seas but before he went he studied to settle the matters of Religion so that both Parties might have some content Audley the Chancellor dying he made the Lord Wriothesley that had been Secretary and was of the Popish Party Lord Chancellor but made Sir William Petre that was Cranmers great friend Secretary of State He also committed the Government of the Kingdom in his absence to the Queen to whom he joyned the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor the Earl of Hartford and Secretary Petre. And if there was need of any Force to be raised he appointed the Earl of Hartford his Lieutenant under whose Government the Reformers needed not fear any thing But he did another Act that did wonderfully please that whole Party which was the Translating of the Prayers for the Processions and Litaâ—ies into the English tongue This was sent to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury on the 11th of Iune with an Order that it should be used over all his Province as the Reader will find in the Collection This was not only very acceptable to that Party because of the thing it self but it gave them hope that the King was again opening his ears to motions for Reformation to which they had been shut now about six years And therefore they looked that more things of that nature would quickly follow And as these Prayers werâ— now set out in English so they doubted not but there being the same reason to put all the other Offices in the vulgar tongue they would prevail for that too Things being thus setled at home the King having sent his Forces over before him crossed the Seas with much pomp the Sails of his Ship being of Cloth of Gold He Landed at Calais the 14th of Iuly The Emperor pressed his marching straight to Paris But he thought it of more importance to take Bulloign and after two months Siege it was surrendred to him into which he made his Entry with great Triumph on the 18th of September But the Emperor having thus engaged those two Crowns in a War and designing while they should fight it out to make himself Master of Gâ—rmanâ— concluded a Treaty
Hospital and he order'd the Church of the Franciscans a little within Newgate to be opened which he gave to the Hospital This was done the 3d of Ianuary Another was of Trinity Colledg in Cambridg one of the Noblest Foundations in Christendom He continued in a decay till the 27 of the moneth and then many signs of his approaching end appearing few would adventure on so unwelcom a thing as to put him in mind of his change then imminent but Sir Anthony Denny had the honesty and courage to do it and desired him to prepare for death and remember his former life and to call on God for mercy through Jesus Christ. Upon which the King expressed his grief for the Sins of his past Life yet he said he trusted in the mercies of Christ which were greater than they were Then Denny asked him if any Churchman should be sent for and he said if any it should be Arch-Bishop Cranmer and after he had rested a little finding his Spirits decay apace he ordered him to be sent for to Croydon where he was then But before he could come the King was Speechless So Cranmer desired him to give some sign of his dying in the Faith of Christ upon which he squeezed his hand and soon after died after he had Reigned 37 years and 9 months in the six and fiftieth year of his age His death was kept up three dayes for the Journals of the House of Lords shew that they continued reading Bills and going on in business till the 31st and no sooner did the Lord Chancellor signify to them that the King was dead and that the Parliament was thereby dissolved It is certain the Parliament had no being after the Kings breath was out so their sitting till the 31st shews that the Kings death was not generally known all those three dayes The reasons of concealing it so long might either be that they were considering what to do with the Duke of Norfolk or that the Seymours were laying their matters so as to be secure in the Government before they published the Kings Death I shall not adventure on adding any further Character of him to that which is done with so much Wit and Judgment by the Lord Hâ—rbert but shall refer the Reader wholly to him only adding an account of the blackest part of it the Attaindors that passed the last 13 years of his life which are comprehended within this Book of which I have cast over the Relation to the Conclusion of it In the latter part of his Reign there were many things that seem great severities especially as they are represented by the Writers of the Roman party whose relations are not a little strengthned by the faint excuses and the mistaken accounts that most of the Protestant Historians have made The King was naturally impetuous and could not bear provocation the times were very ticklish his Subjects were generally addicted to the old Superstition especially in the Northern parts the Monks and Friers were both numerous and wealthy the Pope was his implacable Enemy the Emperor was a formidable Prince and being then Master of all the Netherlands had many advantages for the War he designed against Enâ—land Cardinal Pole his kinsman was going over all the Courts of Christendom to perswade a League against England as being a thing of greater necessity and merit than a War against the Turk This being without the least aggravation the state of affairs at that time it must be confessed he was sore put to it A Superstition that was so blind and headstrong and Enemies that were both so powerful so spiteful and so industrious made rigour necessary nor is any General of an Army more concerned to deal severely with Spies and Intelligencers than he was to proceed against all the Popes adherents or such as kept correspondence with Pole He had observed in History that upon much less provocation than himself had given not only several Emperors and forreign Princes had been dispossessed of their Dominions but two of his own Ancestors Henry the 2d and King Iohn had been driven to great extremities and forced to unusual and most indecent submissions by the means of the Popes and their Clergy The Popes power over the Clergy was so absolute and their dependence and obedience to him was so implicite and the Popish Clergy had so great an interest in the superstitious multitude whose consciences they governed that nothing but a stronger passion could either tame the Clergy or quiet the People If there had been the least hope of impunity the last part of his Reign would have been one continued Rebellion therefore to prevent a more profuse effusion of blood it seemed necessary to execute Laws severely in some particular instances There is one calumny that runs in a thread through all the Historians of the Popish side which not a few of our own have ignorantly taken up That many were put to death for not swearing the Kings Supremacy It is an impudent falshood for not so much as one person suffered on that account nor was there any Law for any such Oath before the Parliament in the 28th year of the Kings Reign when the unsufferable Bull of Pope Paul the 3d engaged him to look a little more to his own safety Then indeed in the Oath for maintaining the successiono f the Crown the Subjects were required under the pains of Treason to swear that the King was supream head of the Church of England but that was not mentioned in the former Oath that was made in the 25th and enacted in the 26 year of his Reign It cannot but be confessed that to enact under pain of death that none should deny the Kings Titles and to proceed upon that against offenders is a very different thing from forcing them to swear the King to be the Supream Head of the Church The first instance of these Capital proceedings was in Easter-Term in the beginning of the 27th year of his reign Three Priors and a Monk of the Carthusian Order were then endited of Treason for saying that the King was not Supream head under Christ of the Church of England These were Iohn Houghton Prior of the Charter-house near London Augustin Webster Prior of Axholme Robert Laurence Prior of Bâ—vâ—ll and Richard Reynolds a Monk of Sion this last was esteemed a learned man for that time and that Order They were tried in Westminster-Hall by a Commission of Oyer and Terminer they pleaded not guilty but the Jury found them guilty and judgment was given that they should suffer as Traitors The Record mentions no other particulars but the writers of the Popish side make a splendid recital of the courage and constancy they expressed both in their Tryal and at their Death It was no difficult thing for men so used to the Legend and the making of fine stories for the Saints and Martyrs of their Orders to dress up such Narratives with much pomp But as their pleading Not
the Supremacy which was matter of Conscience But the King was resolved to let all his Subjects see there was no Mercy to be expected by any that denyed his being Supream head of the Church and therefore made him and More two Examples for terrifying the rest This being much censured beyond Sea Gardiner that was never wanting in the most servile complyances wrote a vindication of the Kings proceedings The Lord Herbert had it in his hands and tells us it was written in elegant Latine but that he thought it too long and others judged it was too vehement to be inserted in his History VERA EFFIGIES THOMAE MORI QVONDAM TOTIUS ANGLIAE CANCELLARII DIGNISSIMI ET H. Holbein pinxit R. White sculpsit Natus 1482 Angliae Cancellarius 1529 Capite truncatus An 1535 Iuly 6. to Printed for Ric Chiswell at the Rose and Crowne in St. Pauls Church yard Thus did Sir Thomas More end his days in the 53d year of his age He was a man of rare vertues and excellent parts In his youth he had freer thoughts of things as appears by his Vtopia and his Letters to Erasmus but afterwards he became superstitiously devoted to the interests and passions of the Popish Clergy and as he served them when he was in Authority even to assist them in in all their cruelties so he employed his pen in the same cause both in writing against all the new opinions in general and in particular against Tindal Frith and Barnes as also an unknown Writer who seemed of neither party but reprooved the corruptions of the Clergy and condemned their cruel proceedings More was no Divine at all and it is plain to any that reads his writings that he knew nothing of Antiquity beyond the quotations he found in the Canon-Law and in the Master of the sentences only he had read some of St. Austins treatises for upon all points of Controversie he quotes only what he found in these Collections nor was he at all conversant in the critical learning upon the Scriptures but his peculiar excellency in writing was that he had a natural easie expression and presented all the opinions of Popery with their fair side to the Reader disguising or concealing the black side of them with great Art and was no less dextrous in exposing all the ill consequences that could follow on the Doctrine of the Reformers and had upon all occasions great store of pleasant tales which he applyed wittily to his purpose And in this consists the great strength of his Writings which were designed rather for the Rabble than for Learned men But for justice contempt of money humility and a true generosity of mind he was an example to the Age in which he lived But there is one thing unjustly added to the praise of these two great men or rather feigned on design to lessen the Kings honour that Fisher and he penned the book which the King wrote against Luther This Sanders first published and Bellarmin and others since have taken it up upon his Authority Strangers may be pardoned such errors but they are inexcusable in an English man For in Mores printed works there is a Letter written by him out of the Tower to Cromwel in which he gives an account of his behaviour concerning the Kings Divorce and Supremacy among other particulars one is that when the King shewed him his Book against Luther in which he had asserted the Popes Primacy to be of Divine right More desired him to leave it out since as there had been many contests between Popes and other Princes so there might fall in some between the Pope and the King therefore he thought it was not fit for the King to publish any thing which might be afterwards made use of against himself and advised him either to leave out that point or to touch it very tenderly but the King would not follow his counsel being perhaps so fond of what he had writ that he would rather run himself upon a great inconvenience than leave out any thing that he fancied so well written This shews that More knew that Book was written by the Kings own pen and either Sanders never read this or maliciously concealed it lest it should discover his foul dealing These Executions so terrified all people that there were no further provocations given and all persons either took the Oaths or did so dextrously conceal their opinions that till the Rebellions of Lincolnshire and the North broke out none suffered after this upon a publick account But when these were quieted then the King resolved to make the chief Authors and Leaders of those Commotions publick examples to the rest The Duke of Norfolk proceeded against many of them by Martial Law there were also Tryals at common Law of a great many more that were taken Prisoners and sent up to London The Lords Darcy and Hâ—ssie were tryed by their Peers the Marquis of Exceter sitting Steward And a Commission of Oyer and Terminer being issued out for the Tryal of the rest Sir Robert Constable Sir Iohn Bulmer and his Lady Sir Francis Pigot Sir Stephen Hamilton and Sir Thomas Piercy and Ask that had been their Captain with the Abbots of Whalley Ierveux Bridlington Lenton Woburn and Kingstead and Mackrall the Monk that first raised the Lincolnshire Rebellion with sixteen more were Indicted of high Treason for the late Rebellions And after all the steps of the Rebellion were reckoned up it is added in the Indictment that they had met together on the 17th of Ianuary and consulted how to renew it and prosecute it further being encouraged by the new Risings that were then in the North by which they had forfeited all the favour to which they could have pretended by vertue of the Indemnity that was granted in the end of December and of the pardons which they had taken out They were all found Guilty and had judgment as in cases of Treason divers of them were carryed down into Lincolnshire and Yorkshire and executed in the places where their Treasons were committed but most of them suffered at London and among others the Lady Bulmer whom others call Sir Iohn Bulmers harlot was burnt for it in Smithfield The only censure that passed on this was that advantages were taken on too slight grounds to break the Kings Indemnity and pardon since it does not appear that after their pardon they did any thing more than meet and consult But the Kingdom was so shaken with that Rebellion that if it had not bâ—en for the great conduct of the Duke of Norfolk the King had by all appearance lost his Crown And it will not seem strange that a King especially so tempered as this was had a mind to strike terror into the rest of his Subjects by some signal Examples and to put out of the way the chief leaders of that design nor was it to be wondered at that the Abbots and other Clergy-men who had been so active in
the Imposition of hands so they raised their Order or Office so high as to make it equal with the Order of a Bishop But as they designed to extol the Order of Priesthood so the Canonists had as great a mind to depress the Episcopal Order They generally wrote for preferment and the way to it was to exalt the Papacy Nothing could do that so effectually as to bring down the Power of Bishops This only could justifie the Exemptions of the Monks and Friers the Popes setting up Legantine Courts and receiving at first Appeals and then Original causes before them together with many other Encroachments on their Jurisdiction All which were unlawful if the Bishops had by Divine right Jurisdiction in their Dioceses Therefore it was necessary to lay them as low as could be and to make them think that the Power they held was rather as Delegates of the Apostolick See than by a Commission from Christ or his Apostles So that they looked on the declaring Episcopal Authority to be of Divine right as a blow that would be fatal to the Court of Rome and therefore they did after this at Trent use all possible endeavours to hinder any such Decision It having been then the Common stile of that Age to reckon Bishops and Priests as the same Office it is no wonder if at this time the Clergy of this Church the greatest part of them being still leavened with the old superstition and the rest of them not having enough of spare-time to examine lesser matters retained still the former phrases in this particular On this I have insisted the more that it may appear how little they have considered things who are so far carryed with their zeal against the established Government of this Church as to make much use of some passages of the Schoolmen and Canonists that deny them to be distinct Offices for these are the very dregs of Popery the one raising the Priests higher for the sake of Transubstantiation the other pulling the Bishops lower for the sake of the Popes Supremacy and by such means bringing them almost to an equality So partial are some men to their particular conceits that they make use of the most mischievous Topicks when they can serve their turnâ—punc not considering how much further these Arguments will run if they ever admit them Ad Page 255. line 28. The Princes of Germany did always press the King to enter into a Religious League with them the first League that was made in the year 1536 was conceived in general terms against the Pope as the Common Enemy and for setting up true Religion according to the Gospel But they did afterwards send over Ambassadors to treat about particulars and they having presented a Memorial of these there were Conferences appointed between them and some Bishops and Divines of this Church I find no Divines was sent over hither but Frederick Miconius Minister of Gotha by whom Melanthon who could not be spared out of Germany sent several Letters to the King the fullest and longest of them will be found in the Collection It is all to this purpose to perswade the King to go on vigorously in the Reforming of Abuses according to the word of God The King sent over the particulars which they proposed in order to a perfect agreement to Gardiner who was then at Paris Upon which he sent back his Opinion touching them all the Original of which under his own hand I have seen but it relates so much to the other Paper that was sent him which I never saw that without it his meaning can hardly be understood and therefore I have not put it in the Collection The main thing in it at which it chiefly drives is to press the King to finish first a Civil League with them and to leave those particulars concerning Religion to be afterwards treated of The King followed his advice so far as to write to the German Princes to that effect But when the King declared his resolution to have the six Articles established all that favoured the Reformation were much alarmed at it and pressed their friends in Germany to interpose with the King for preventing it I have seen an Original Letter of Hains Dean of Exeter in which he laments the sad effects that would follow on that Act which was then preparing that all the Corruptions in the Church rose from the establishing some points without clear proofs from Scripture he wished the Germans would consider of it for if the King and Parliament should make such a Law this was a President for the Emperor to make the like in the Diet of the Empire Neither were the German Ambassadors backward in doing their friends in England all the service they could for after they had held several conferences with these that were appointed by the King to treat with them they finding they could not prevail with them wrote a long and Learned Letter to the King against the taking away the Chalice in the Sacrament and against private Masses and the Celibate of the Clergy with some other abuses which the Reader will find in the Collection as it is Copied from the Original which I have seen To this I have added the Answer which the King wrote to it He employed Tonstall Bishop of Duresm to draw it for I have seen a rude draught of a great part of it written with his hand By both these compared together every indifferent Reader will clearly see the force and simplicity of the Arguments on the one hand and the art and shuffling that was used on the other side As soon as the Act was past notwithstanding all their endeavours to the contrary they in an Audience before the King represented the great concern their Masters would have when the King on whom they had relyed so much as the Defender of the Faith should proceed with the severity expressed in that Act against those that agreed with them in Doctrine and pressed the King earnestly to put a stop to the Execution of it The King promised he would see to it and that though he judged the Act necessary to restrain the Insolence of some of his Subjects yet it should not be Executed but upon great provocation he also proposed the renewing a Civil League with them without mentioning matters of Religion To this the Princes made answer that the League as it was at first projected was chiefly upon a design of Religion and therefore without a common consent of all that were in their League they could not alter it they lamented this passing of the late Act but writ their thanks to the King for stopping the Execution of it and warn'd him that some of his Bishops who set him on to these courses were in their hearts still for all the old Abuses and for the Popes Supremacy and were pressing on the King to be severe against his best Subjects that they might thereby bring on a design which they could not hope
to effect any other way they advised the King to beware of such Counsels They also proposed that there might be a Conference agreed on between such Divines as the King would name and such as they should depute to meet either in Gueldres Hamburgh Bremen or any other place that should be appointed by the King to examine the Lawfulness of private Masses of denying the Chalice and the Prohibiting the Marriage of the Clergy On these things they continued treating till the Divorce of Anne of Cleve and Cromwells fall after which I find little Correspondence between the King and them Ad Page 256. line 4. When I mentioned the Kings Letters directing the Bishops how to proceed in a Reformation I had not seen them but I have since seen an Original of them subscribed by the Kings hand In these he challenged the Clergy as guilty of great Indiscretions that the late Rebellion had been occasioned by them therefore he required the Bishops to take care that the Articles formerly published should be exactly obeyed and to go over their Dioceses in person and preach Obedience to the Laws and the good ends of those Ceremonies that were then retained that the people might neither despise them nor put too much trust in them and to silence all disputes and contentions concerning things indifferent and to signifie to the Kings Council if there were any Priests in their Diocesses that were Marryed and yet did discharge any part of the Priestly Office All which will be better understood by the Letter it self that I have put into the Collection Ad Page 258. line 8. I do there acknowledg that I knew not what Arguments were used against the necessity of Auricular Confession But I have made since that time a Considerable discovery in this particular from an Original Letter written all with the Kings own hand to Tonstal by which it appears there had been conferences in the House and that the Arch-Bishop of York the Bishop of Winchester and Duresm had pleaded much for it as necessary by a Divine Institution and that both the King and the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury had maintained that though it was good and profitable yet it was not necessary by any precept of the Gospel and that though the Bishops brought several texts out of Scripture and Ancient Doctors yet these were so clearly answered by the King and the Arch-Bishop that the whole House was satisfied with it Yet Tonstall drew up in a writing all the reasons he had made use of in that debate and brought them to the King which will be found in the Collection with the Anotations and reflections which the King wrote on the Margent with his own hand taken from the Original together with the Kings Letter written in answer to them By this it will appear that the King did set himself much to study points of Divinity and examined matters with a scrupulous exactness The issue of the debate was that though the Popish party endeavoured to have got Auricular Confession declared to be Commanded by Christ as a part of the Sacrament of Pennance yet the King overruled that so it was enacted that Auricular Confession was necessary and expedient to be retained in the Church of God These debates were in the House of Lords which appears not only by the Kings Letter that speaks of the House but by the Act of Parliament in the Preamble of which it is said that the King had come himself to the Parliament and had opened several points of high Learning to them Ad Page 262. line 23. There I mention the Kings diligence in drawing an Act of Parliament with his own hand but since that was Printed I have seen many other Acts and Papers if not Originally Penned by the King yet so much altered by his Corrections that in some sort they may be esteemed his draughts There are two draughts of the Act of the six Articles both corrected in many places by the King and in some of these the Correction is three lines long There is another Act concerning Precontracts of Marriage likewise Corrected very much by his Pen. Many draughts of Proclamations particularly these about the use of the Bible in English are yet extant interlined and altered with his Pen. There is a large Paper written by Tonstall of arguments for Purgatory with Copious Animadversions on it likewise written by the King which shew that then he did not believe there was a Purgatory I have also seen the draught of that part of the Necessary Erudition for a Christian man which explains the Creed full of Corrections with the Kings own Pen as also the Queries concerning the Sacraments mentioned page 289. with large Annotations written with his hand on the Margent likewise an Extract all written with his own hand of passages out of the Fathers against the Marriage of the Clergy and to conclude there is a Paper with which the Collection ends containing the true Notion of the Catholick Church which has large Emendations added with the Kings hand those I have set by themselves on the Margent of the Paper A TABLE OF THE CONTENTS OF THE HISTORY BOOK I. A Summary View of King Henry the Eighth's Reign till the Process of his Divorce was begun in which the State of England chiefly as it related to Religion is opened KING Henry's Succession to the Crown pag. 1 He proceeds against Dudley and Empson ibid He holds a Parliament p. 2 His great Expence ibid Affairs beyond Sea p. 3 A Peace and Match with France ibid He offers his Daughter to the Dolphin ibid The King of Spain chosen Emperor ib He comes to England p. 4 A second War with France ibid Vpon Leo the 10th's death Hadrian chosen Pope ibid He dies and Clement the 7th succeeds ib Charles the 5th at Windsor contracted to the Kings Daughter p. 5 But breaks his Faith ibid The Clementine League ibid Rome taken and sackt p. 6 The Pope is made a Prisoner ibid. The Kings success against Scotland ibid. A Facâ—ion in his Counsels p. 7 Cardinal Wolseys rising ibid. His Preferments p. 8 The Character of the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk p. 9 Cardinal Wolsey against Parliaments p. 10 The Kings breeding in Learning ibid. He is flattered by Scollars p. 11 The Kings Prerogative in Ecclesiastical affairs ibid. It was still kept up by him p. 12 A Contest concerning Immunities ibid. A Publick debate about them p. 13. Hunne Murdered in Prison p. 14 The Proceedings upon that p. 15 The King much courted by Popes p. 18 And declared Defender of the Faith p. 19 The Cardinal absolute in England ibid. He designed to Reform the Clergy ibid. And to Suppress Monasteries p. 20 The several kinds of Convocations ibid. The Clergy grant a Subsidy to the King p. 21 Of the State of Monasteries ibid. The Cardinal founds two Colledges p. 22 The first beginning of Reformation in England p. 23 The Cruelties of the Church of Rome ibid.
take with the contrary for ye shall say sure they may be and so I for my discharge declare both to the Pope's Holiness and to them If this Noble and Vertuous Prince in this so great and so reasonable a Cause be thus extreamly denied of the grace and lawful favour of the Church the Pope's Holiness shall not fail for the same to lose Him and his Realm the French King and his Realm with many other their Confederates besides those that having particular Quarrels to the Pope and so aforesaid will not fail with diverse other as they daily seek occasions and provoke the King's Highness thereunto which will do the semblable being a thing of another sort to be regarded than the respect to the Emperor for two Cities which nevertheless shall be had well enough and the Emperor neither so evil contented nor so much to be doubted herein as is there supposed This with other words mentioned in your Instructions concerning like matter ye shall declare unto his Holiness and to the said Cardinals and other being your Friends if it come to that point whereby it is not to be doubted but they perceiving the dangers aforesaid shall be glad to exhort and induce his Holiness for the well of himself and the Church to condescend to the King's desire which is as much as can be here thought or devised to be by you done in all Events and Chances And therefore I pray you eft-soons and most instantly require you as afore to handle this Matter with all effect possible Coming to this new Commission when you shall have once attained such thing as shall be sufficient for the King's purpose as is aforesaid and that ye have it in your hands and custody and not afore lest thereby ye might hinder the expedition thereof ye shall by all ways and means possible labour and insist That the King's Highness as need shall be may use and enjoy the benefit of the Decretal being already in my Lord Cardinal Campegius's hands whereunto his Highness and I desire you to put all your effectual labour for the attaining of the Pope's consent thereunto accordingly Ye shall furthermore understand That it is thought here in case as God forbid the Pope should die before ye should have impetrate any thing that may serve to the absolution of the King's Matter That the Colledg of Cardinals have Authority Power and Jurisdiction sede vacante to inhibit avoke ex consequenti to pass and decide the King's Matter seeing that the same is of so high moment and importance concerning the surety of a Prince and his Realm as more amply ye shall perceive in the Chapters ubi Periculum de Electione ne Romani de Iurejurando capite primo de Scismaticis Wherefore the King's pleasure is That ye Mr. Stevins shall diligently weigh and ponder the effect of the said Chapters not only with your self but also with such the King 's Learned Counsel as ye and your Collegues have conducted there and what Jurisdiction sede vacante the Colledg of Cardinals have either by the Common Law usage or prescription which may far better be known there than here And if ye find that the Cardinals have in this the King's Cause and such other like Authority and Jurisdictions to inhibite avoke and decern then in casu mortis Pontificis quod Deus avertat ye shall specially foresee and regard that for none Intercession or pursute made by the Emperor and his Adherents they shall either inhibit or avoke And also if before such Death ye shall not have obtained such thing to the Kings desire and purpose as these present Letters before do purport his Grace's pleasure is That ye shall pursue the effectual expedition of the same at the hands of the said Colledg Sede vacante ne res quae nullam dilationem exposcit tantopere usque ad Electionem novi Pontificis quoquam modo differatur using for this purpose all such Reasons Allegations and Persuasions mentioned in those Letters and your former Instructions as ye shall see and perceive to serve to that effect and so to endeavour and acquit your self that such things may be attained there as may absolve this the King's Matter without any further tract or delay whereby ye shall as afore highly deserve the King's and my special thanks which shall be so acquitted as ye shall have cause to think your pains and diligences therein in the best wise imployed trusting in God that howsoever the World shall come ye shall by one means or other bring the King's Matter which so highly toucheth his Honour and quiet of Mind unto the desired end and perfection Finally Ye shall understand that the French King among other things doth commit at this time to the Bishop of Bayon and Mr. Iohn Ioachim to treat and conclude the Confederation heretofore spoken of between his Holiness and the King's Highness the French King the Venetians and other Potentates of Italy for a continual Army to be entertained to invade Spain in case it stand by the Emperor that the Peace shall not take effect Wherefore the King's pleasure is That ye having conference with them at good length in that Matter do also for your parts sollicite procure and set forth the same entring also on the King's behalf unto the Treaty and conclusion thereof after such manner as your former Instructions and Writings do purport So as like as the French King is determined that his Agents shall join and concur with you in the King's Pursuits and Causes So ye must also concur with them in advancement of their Affairs the successes whereof and of all other your doings there it shall be expedient ye more often notify hitherto than ye do for many times in one whole month no knowledg is had from you which is not meet in those so weighty Matters specially considering that sometime by such as pass to Lyons ye might find the means to send your Letters which should be greatly to the King 's and my consolation in hearing thereby from time to time how the things succeed there I pray you therefore to use more diligence therein as the Kings and my special trust is in you And heartily fare you well From my Palace besides Westminster the sixth day of April The French King hath sent hither an Ambassiate Monsieur de Langes Brother to the said Bishop of Bayon with certain clauses in his Instructions concerning the said Treaty of Confederation the Copy whereof ye shall receive herewith for your better carrying on that Matter Praying God to speed you well and to give you grace to make a good and short end in your Matters And eft-soons fare ye well Your Loving Friend T. Cardin. Eborac XXIII Another Dispatch to the Ambassadours to the same purpose A Duplicate RIght well beloved Friends I commend me unto you in my hearty manner letting you wit that by the hands of Thadeus bearer hereof the King's Highness hath received your several Letters to the
same directed with the Pope's Pollicitation mentioned in the same and semblablie I have received your Conjunct and several Letters of the date of the 18 and 29 days of March the 8 19 20 and 22 of April to me directed wherein ye at right good length have made mention of such Discourses Conferences Audiences and Communications as ye have had concerning your Charge since the time of your former Advertisements made in that behalf with all such Answers and Replications as have been made unto you by the Pope's Holiness and other on his behalf concerning the same In the Circumstances whereof ye have so diligently discreetly and substantially acquitted your selves as not only your firm and fervent desire to do unto the King's Highness special and singular service in this his great and weighty Cause but also your Wisdom Learning and perfect dexterities heretofore well known hath every one for his part thereby been largely of new shewed comprobate and declared to the King 's good contentment my rejoice and gladness and to your great laud and praise For the which his Grace giveth unto you right hearty thanks and I also for my part do the semblable assuring you in few words though the time and state of things hath not suffered that your desires might at this time be brought unto effect yet the King's Grace well knoweth perceiveth and taketh that more could not have been done excogitated or devised than ye have largely endeavoured your self unto for conducing the King's purpose which his Grace accepteth as touching your merits and acquittal in no less good and thankful part than if ye finding the disposition of things in more direct state had consecute all your pursuits and desires Nor ye shall doubt or think that either the King's Highness or I have conceived or thought any manner negligence in you for such things as were mentioned in the last Letters sent unto you by Alexander Messenger but that albeit his Highness had cause as the same wrote to marvel of your long demor and lack of expedition of one or other of the things committed to your charge yet did his Highness right well persuade unto himself the default not to be in you but in some other cause whereof his Grace not knowing the same might justly and meritoriously be brought unto admiration and marvel And therefore be ye all of good comfort and think your perfect endeavours used and services done to be employed there as it can right well in every part regarded and considered In effect coming to the Specialities of the things now to be answered The King's Highness having groundly noted and considered the whole continue and circumstances of all your said Letters and Advertisements findeth and perceiveth evidently that whatsoever Pursuits and Instances and Requests have been or shall be for this present time made there by you on his Grace's behalf to the Pope's Holiness for the furtherance of the said great and weighty Cause and how much soever the necessity of Christendom for the good of Peace the importance of the Matter the justness of the thing it self reason duty respect to good Merits detecting of Falsities used evident Arguments and Presumptions to the same or other thing whatsoever it be making for the King's purpose do weigh the Times be now such as all that shall be done in any of the Premisses there is apparent by such privy Intelligence and promise as is between the Pope and the Emperor to hang and depend upon the Emperor's Will Pleasure and Arbitre as whom the Pope's Holiness neither dare nor will in any part displease offend or miscontent nor do by himself any thing notable therein which he shall think or suppose to be of moment the said Emperor first inconsulted or not consenting thereunto And for that cause since the Emperor not only is the Adversary of Universal Peace Letter and Impeacher thereof but also as hath appeared by sundry Letters heretofore and now of new sent out of Spain doth shew himself adverse and enterponing himself as a Party against the King 's said great Matter It were in manner all one to prosecute the same at the Emperor's hands as at the Popes which so totally dependeth upon the Emperor and as much Fruit might be hoped of the one as of the other so as far discrepant it were from any wisdom in a thing so necessary and which as ye know must needs be brought unto an end without any further delay to consume and spend the time where such express contrariety and in manner dispair appeareth to do good therein and where should be none other but continual craft colour abuses refuses and delays but rather to proceed unto the same in place and after such form as may be a appearance of some good and brief effect to ensue Wherefore to shew you in Counsel and to be reserved unto your selves The King's Highness finding this ingratitude in the Pope's Holiness is minded for the time to dissemble the Matter and taking as much as may be had and attained there to the benefit of his Cause to proceed in the Decision of the same here by virtue of the Commission already granted unto me and my Lord Legate Campegius And for because that ye Mr. Stevins be largely ripened and acquainted in this Matter and that both the King's Highness and I have right large experience of your entire zeal and mind to the studying and setting forth of such things concerning the Law as may be to the furtherance hereof considering also that for any great thing like to be done there herein such Personages as be of good Authority Wisdom and Experience tho they be not learned in the Law may with such Counsel as ye have retained there right well serve to the accomplishment of such other things as shall occur or be committed unto them on the King's behalf tho so many Ambassadors do not there remain and continue His Grace therefore willing and minding to revoke you all by little and little except you Sir Gregory being his Ambassadour there continually residing willeth That after such things perfected and done as hereafter shall be mentioned ye Mr. Stevins and you Sir Francis Brian shall take you leave of the Pope's Holiness and with diligence return home For if ne had been the absence of you Mr. Stevins seeing that there is small appearance of any Fruit to be obtained there the King's Highness would have entred into Process here before this Whitsuntide But because his Grace would have you here present as well for the forming of the said Process and for such things as be trusted that ye shall obtain and bring with you as also for the better knowledge to be had in sundry Matters wherein you may be the better ripened and informed by means of your being in that Court And otherwise his Highness will somewhat the longer defer the commencement of the said Process and respite the same only for your coming which his Grace therefore desireth
quo vel plura forte quam licuisset Sanctitati Vestrae subjecimus quoniam haec ipsa ulcera manibus nostris contrectavimus quantum vitales spiritus exhalent cognovimus proinde Sanctitas Vestra pii patris peritissimi medici more dum virtus adhuc stat dum salus non desperatur dum aeger ipse sese sustinet legitima petit auxilia Regem de se Apostolica sede optime meritum in piaetatis suae sinu foveat illudque ei indulgeat quod nec disputationum immortalia dissidia nec litium immensum chaos unquam dabit nec sine maximo discrimine unquam tractabitur atque illud etiam secum reputet quam injurium cum privatis tum publicis rebus incommodum sit extremos juris apices consectari quanquam non expediat ex scripto jure semper judicari cui quia Pontifices Principes miro omnium consensu a Deo ipso praefecti censentur Spiritus animae vice merito in ambiguiâ— ubi multa periclitatur hominum salus arbitrio suo ejus duritiem moderari possunt debent in quo Sanctitas Vestra Regem Regnum hoc plane servaverit Quod si alia ratione vel aliunde paranda sibi fuerint auxilia veremur ne de Regno Rege hoc actum sit quicquid enim alia manu huiâ— vulneri impositum fuerit nihil minus faciet quam sanitatem seditionibus enim tumultibus omnia exponentur atque imprimis Ecclesiastica Dignitas Apostolicae Sedis Authoritas hinc deturbabitur quod non erit difficile aut ingratum quibusdam qui Rege cum Sanctitate Vestra nunc conjunctissimo impietatis suae venenum perbelle dissimulant Cujusmodi jacturam si dura haec tempora nostra fecerunt quod deinde sperandum sit non videmus Conservandus itaque Rex est ejusque eximia in Apostolicam Sedem voluntas fides ne eo a nobis abalienato non modo Angliae Regem sed Fidei quoque Defensorem amittamus cujus virtutes Religionem tanto plausu orbi commendavimus Brevitati studentes multa praeterimus praesertim quid Regni proceres Nobiles aeque atque ignobiles dicant qui fremunt acebtissime indignantur se tamdiu suspensos haberi atque ab aliorum nutu voluntate exspectare quid de fortunis eorum omnibus capitibus statuant aut decernant atque hac potissimum via insistunt qui nullam aut certe diminutam hic Romani Pontificis Authoritatem vellent quorum plerique in his disceptationibus quibus alter alteri ut usu venire solet re in ambiguo posita adversatur ea dicunt quae non absque horrore referri queant nam inter caetera illud maxime in ore obvium habent praedicant se nunquam satis demirari aut ridere posse quorundam ignaviam qui patienter audiunt Pontificibus in Jure Divino figendo refigendo licere Pontifici Pontificis ceram aut plumbum conflare non permitti nos ut hos scopulos has syrtes evitemus nihil non agimus ne praeceps huc vel illuc Rex hic ruat curamus quem in officio vix contineri posse confidimus dum a Sanctitate Vestra his literis rescribatur quibus si ut speramus cupimus aliquid rescriptum fuerit per quod Regem horum omnium animos quietiores reddere valâ—amus accedet nobis quoque vis aliqua caetera faelicius perficiendi sin minus omnia in deterius itura non ambigimus Quae ut celerius Majestas sua cognosâ—at praesentes hos nuntios suos per dispositos equos ad Sanctitatem Vestram mittit ex quorum sermone plura quoque intelliget quam literae ipsae commode capere potuerunt Ignosâ—et vero Sanctitas Vestra literarum nostrarum prolixitati quae tametsi modum excedunt rei tamen hujus difficultatem periculum majori ex parte minime attingunt May 21. 1529. Richmont XXV Another Dispatch to Rome An Original RIght well beloved Friends I commend me unto you in my most hearty manner by the hands of Alexander Messenger I have in good diligence received your Letters of the 4 th of this Month and semblably the King's Highness hath received your other Letters sent by the same Messenger unto his Grace By tenour whereof it well appeareth that the King's Highness is now frustrate of the good hope and expectation that his Grace and semblably I were in of the Pope's determination to have done for his Highness in this great and weighty Cause of Matrimony as his Holiness by his Chamberlain promised not only that which might be done of power ordinary but also of absolute and that ye be utterly in despair to consecute or attain any thing to the purpose there to the benefit of the said Cause with the strange demeanour that hath been used in calling you to make answer why the supplications presented by the Emperor's Ambassador for advocation of the Cause should not proceed and how discreetly and substantially ye have answered and ordered your selves therein Affirming finally that as to that Matter ye think it shall not serve to any purpose but only to stop your suit in the obtaining of a new Commission and desiring to be ascertained of the King's pleasure touching the Protestation mentioned in your Instructions and how the same is meant and understood with many other things comprised in your said Letters right well and substantially couched and handled for the which the Kings Highness giveth you hearty thanks and I also thank you in most hearty manner for my part Ascertaining you that by Thadeus Courier upon receipt of your former Letters sent by him who I trust be arrived with you long before this time I wrote unto you the King's mind and pleasure as well to forbear any further pursuits of the Degrees committed unto your Charge except only the expedition of a new Commission and Pollicitation mentioned in the same As also that you Mr. Stevins and Sir Francis Brian should return home like as my said Letters purported And forasmuch as now it appeareth that there is no hope for you to attain the said Commission and Pollicitation the King's Highness supposing that ye the said Mr. Stevins and Sir Francis be on your way homeward and perceiving that it should be necessary for his Grace to have there a substantial Counsellor of his well learned in the Laws as well to defend all such things as shall be procured or set forth by the Caesareans to the hindrance of the King's Cause as to let and impeach any Advocations Inhibitions or other thing that may be dammageable thereunto hath dispatched thither this Bearer and Mr. Bennet who hath commandment to shew unto you and every of you wheresoever he shall meet with or find you his whole Instructions by tenour whereof ye shall be advertised of the King 's further mind and pleasure in that behalf wherefore
ways possible to be entertained as we doubt not but you will have special eye and regard to the making winning and conservation of as many Friends to our purpose as ye can possibly obtain so handling your self as now may appear your dexterity and perfect endeavour to conduce with your diligent labour and policy our Matters to the speedy indelayed and desired end and effect which ye may be sure we shall not put in oblivion but will have the same in remembrance accordingly Marvelling nevertheless that though ye Mr. Stevins could not bring hitherto our great Causes to perfection ye had not in the mean season advertised us what is done touching such Bulls as were to be sped for our other particular Matters whereof no mention is made in your said Letters willing and desiring you therefore by your next Letters to advertise us in what state and train the same be knowing right well that ye being not only by the former Letters and Writings but also by such as be sent unto you at this time sufficiently and amply instructed of our Mind and Pleasure will now so acquit your self as shall correspond to the perfect expectation and firm opinion that we have of you which we shall not fail to have in our tender consideration to your well as is aforesaid Ye shall also in your Conferences with the said Bishop of Verone understand and know of him by what ways and means ye may best further his advancement to the Cardinality exhorting him for the manifold good effects that thereof may ensue to conform himself to the acceptation thereof if it may be obtained for doubtless his Vertue Wisdom Experience Fidelity and other great and commendable merits well considered we think no Man more meet at this time to be preferred thereunto than him And therefore our express Mind and Pleasure is that ye do it by all the ways and means to you possible And finally we will that ye show unto him how effectually we have written unto you in that behalf to the intent being advanced thereunto he may give us the better thanks and in every way bear to us the more perfect affection And by your next Letters We will that ye advertise us what Advocates ye have on our part with their Names and Qualities finding the means also if it be possible to retain some notable and excellent Divine a Frier or other that may can or will firmly stick to our Causes in leaning to that Quod Pontifex ex Iure Divino non potest dispensare c. And of all the Successes to advertise us as our special trust is in you Given under our Signet at our Mannor of Greenwich the 6 th of this April XXVIII The King's Letter to his Ambassadours about his appearance before the Legates An Original Iune 23. 1529. To our trusty and right well-beloved Counsellors Mr. William Bennet Doctor of both Laws Sir Gregory de Cassalis Knight and Mr. Peter Vannes our Secretary for the Latin Tongue our Ambassadours resident in the Court of Rome and to every of them By the KING Henry R. TRusty and right well-beloved we greet you well By former Letters and Writings sent to you Sir Gregory and Mr. Peter with other of your Collegues then being at Rome and by such conference as was had with you Mr. Benet before your departure you were advertised in what state then stood our Cause and Matter of Matrimony and how it was intended that the Process of the same should with diligence be commenced before the Pope's Legates here being authorized for that purpose Since that time ensuing the deliberation taken in that behalf the said Legates all due Ceremonies first observed have directed Citations both to us and to the Queen for our and for her appearing before them the 18 th of this month which appearance was duly on either Party kept performed and all requisite Solemnities accomplished At which time the Queen trusting more in the power of the Imperialists than in any justness of her Cause and thinking of likelyhood by frustratory allegations and delays to tract and put over the Matter to her advantage did protest at the said day putting in Libels Recusatories of the Judges and also made a provocation alledging the Cause to be avoked by the Pope's Holiness litis pendentiam coram eodem desiring to be admitted for probation thereof and to have a term competent for the same Whereupon day was given by the Judges till the 21 of the same month for declaration of their minds and intentions thereunto The Queen in Person and we by our Proctor enjoined to appear the same day to hear what the said Judges should determine in and upon the same At which time both we and the Queen appeared in Person and notwithstanding that the said Judges amply and sufficiently declared as well the sincerity of their minds directly justly to proceed without favour dread affection or partiality as also that no such Recusation Appellation or term for proving of Litis pendentiam could or might be by them admitted yet she nevertheless persisting in her former wilfulness and in her Appeal which also by the said Judges was likewise recused And they minding to proceed further in the Cause the Queen would no longer make her abode to hear what the said Judges would fully discern but incontinently departed out of the Court wherefore she was thrice preconnisate and called eft-soons to return and appear which she refusing to do was denounced by the Judges Contumax and a Citation decerned for her appearance on Friday next to make answer to such Articles and Positions as should be objected unto her So as now it is not to be doubted but that she will use all the ways and means to her possible to impetrate and attain such things as well by her own pursute as by her Friends as may be to the impeachment of the rightful Process of this Cause either by Advocation Inhibition or otherwise Wherefore seeing now in what state this our Matter standeth and dependeth necessary and requisite for the great Consequences hanging upon the same not only for the exoneration of our Conscience but also for the surety of our Succession and the well of this our Realm and People to be with all celerity perfected and observed It was thought convenient to advertise you of the Premisses to the intent ye being well and sufficiently instructed in all things concerning the same shall by your wisdoms and diligences have special regard that nothing pass or be granted there by the Pope's Holiness which may either give delay or disappointment to the direct and speedy process to be used in this Cause neither by Advocation of the Cause Inhibition or otherwise but that if any such thing shall by the Caesareans or by her Agents or other be attempted or desired the like Men of Wisdom good Zeal Learning and Experience diligently procure the stopping thereof as well upon such Reasons and Considerations as before have been
within this Realm other or otherwise than hereafter in this present Act is declared And that no manner Person nor Persons hereafter to be named elected presented or postulated to any Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick within this Realm shall pay the said Annates or First-Fruits for the said Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick nor any other manner of Sum or Sums of Mony Pensions or Annates for the same or for any other like exaction or cause upon pain to forfeit to our said Sovereign Lord the King his Heirs and Successors all manner his Goods and Chattels for ever and all the Temporal Lands and Possessions of the same Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick during the time that he or they which shall offend contrary to this present Act shall have possess or enjoy the Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick wherefore he shall so offend contrary to the form aforesaid And furthermore it is enacted by Authority of this present Parliament That if any Person hereafter named and presented to the Court of Rome by the King or any of his Heirs or Successors to be Bishop of any See or Diocess within this Realm hereafter shall be letted deferred or delayed at the Court of Rome from any such Bishoprick whereunto he shall be so represented by means of restraint of Bulls Apostolick and other things requisite to the same or shall be denied at the Court of Rome upon convenient suit made any manner Bulls requisite for any of the Causes aforesaid any such Person or Persons so presented may be and shall be consecrated here in England by the Arch-Bishop in whose Province the said Bishoprick shall be so alway that the same Person shall be named and presented by the King for the time being to the same Arch-Bishoprick And if any Persons being named and presented as aforesaid to any Arch-Bishoprick of this Realm making convenient suit as is aforesaid shall happen to be letted deferred delayed or otherwise disturbed from the same Arch-Bishoprick for lack of Pall Bulls or other to him requisite to be obtained in the Court of Rome in that behalf that then every such Person named and presented to be Arch-Bishop may be and shall be consecrated and invested after presentation made as is aforesaid by any other two Bishops within this Realm whom the King's Highness or any of his Heirs or Successors Kings of England for the time being will assign and appoint for the same according and in like manner as divers other Arch-Bishops Bishops have been heretofore in ancient time by sundry the King 's most noble Progenitors made consecrated and invested within this Realm And that every Arch-Bishop and Bishop hereafter being named and presented by the King's Highness his Heirs or Successors Kings of England and being consecrated and invested as is aforesaid shall be installed accordingly and shall be accepted taken reputed used and obeyed as an Arch-Bishop or Bishop of the Dignity See or Place whereunto he so shall be named presented and consecrated requireth and as other like Prelates of that Province See or Diocess have been used accepted taken and obeyed which have had and obtained compleatly their Bulls and other things requisite in that behalf from the Court of Rome And also shall fully and entirely have and enjoy all the Spiritualities and Temporalities of the said Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick in as large ample and beneficial manner as any of his or their Predecessors had or enjoyed in the said Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick satisfying and yielding unto the King our Sovereign Lord and to his Heirs and Successors Kings of England all such Duties Rights and Interests as before this time had been accustomed to be paid for any such Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick according to the Ancient Laws and Customs of this Realm and the King's Prerogative Royal. And to the intent our said Holy Father the Pope and the Court of Rome shall not think that the pains and labours taken and hereafter to be taken about the writing sealing obtaining and other businesses sustained and hereafter to be sustained by the Offices of the said Court of Rome for and about the Expedition of any Bulls hereafter to be obtained or had for any such Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick shall be irremunerated or shall not be sufficiently and condignly recompensed in that behalf And for their more ready expedition to be had therein it is therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid That every Spiritual Person of this Realm hereafter to be named presented or postulated to any Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick of this Realm shall and may lawfully pay for the writing and obtaining of his or their said Bulls at the Court of Rome and ensealing the same with Lead to be had without payment of any Annates or First-Fruits or other charge or exaction by him or them to be made yielden or paied for the same five pounds Sterling for and after the rate of the clear and whole yearly value of every hundreth pounds Sterling above all charges of any such Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick or other mony to the value of the said five pounds for the clear yearly value of every hundreth pounds of every such Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick and not above nor in any other wise any things in this present Act before written notwithstanding And forasmuch as the King's Highness and this his High Court of Parliament neither have nor do intend to use in this or any other like cause any manner of extremity or violence before gentle courtesie or friendship ways and means first approved and attempted and without a very great urgent cause and occasion given to the contrary but principally coveting to disburden this Realm of the said great exactions and intolerable charges of Annates and First-Fruits have therefore thought convenient to commit the final order and determination of the Premisses in all things unto the King's Highness So that if it may seem to his high wisdom and most prudent discretion meet to move the Pope's Holiness and the Court of Rome amicably charitably and reasonably to compound other to extinct and make frustrate the payments of the said Annates or First-Fruits or else by some friendly loving and tolerable composition to moderate the same in such wise as may be by this Realm easily born and sustained That then those ways and compositions once taken concluded and agreed between the Pope's Holiness and the King's Highness shall stand in strength force and effect of Law inviolably to be observed And it is also further ordained and enacted by the Authority of this present Parliament That the King's Highness at any time or times on this side the Feast of Easter which shall be in the Year of our Lord God a thousand five hundred and three and thirty or at any time on this side the beginning of the next Parliament by his Letters Pattents under his Great Seal to be made and to be entred of Record in the Roll of this present Parliament may and shall have full power and liberty to declare by the said Letters
Patents whether that the Premisses or any part clause or matter thereof shall be observed obeyed executed and take place and effect as an Act and Statute of this present Parliament or not So that if his Highness by his said Letters Patents before the expiration of the times above-limited thereby do declare his pleasure to be That the Premisses or any part clause or matter thereof shall not be put in execution observed continued nor obeyed in that case all the said Premisses or such part clause or matter as the King's Highness so shall refuse disaffirm or not ratifie shall stand and be from henceforth utterly void and of none effect And in case that the King's Highness before the expiration of the times afore-prefixed do declare by his said Letters Patents his pleasure and determination to be that the said Premisses or every clause sentence and part thereof that is to say the whole or such part thereof as the King's Highness so shall affirm accept and ratifie shall in all points stand remain abide and be put in due and effectual execution according to the purport tenour effect and true meaning of the same and to stand and be from henceforth forever after as firm stedfast and available in the Law as the same had been fully and perfectly established enacted and confirmed to be in every part thereof immediately wholly and entirely executed in like manner form and effect as other Acts and Laws The which being fully and determinately made ordained and enacted in this present Parliament And if that upon the foresaid reasonable amicable and charitable ways and means by the King's Highness to be experimented moved or compounded or otherwise approved it shall and may appear or be seen unto his Grace that this Realm shall be continually burdened and charged with this and such other intolerable Exactions and Demands as heretofore it hath been And that thereupon for continuance of the same our said Holy Father the Pope or any of his Successors or the Court of Rome will or do or cause to be done at any time hereafter so as is above rehearsed unjustly uncharitably and unreasonably vex inquiet molest trouble or grieve our said Sovereign Lord his Heirs or Successors Kings of England or any of his or their Spiritual or Lay-Subjects or this his Realm by Excommunication Excomengement Interdiction or by any other Process Censures Compulsories Ways or Means Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That the King's Highness his Heirs and Successors Kings of England and all his Spiritual and Lay-Subjects of the same without any scruples of Conscience shall and may lawfully to the honour of Almighty God the encrease and continuance of vertue and good example within this Realm the said Censures Excommunications Interdictions Compulsories or any of them notwithstanding minister or cause to be ministred throughout this said Realm and all other the Dominions or Territories belonging or appertaining thereunto All and all manner Sacraments Sacramentals Ceremonies or other Divine Services of the Holy Church or any other thing or things necessary for the health of the Soul of Mankind as they heretofore at any time or times have been vertuously used or accustomed to do within the same and that no manner such Censures Excommunications Interdictions or any other Process or Compulsories shall be by any of the Prelates or other Spiritual Fathers of this Region nor by any of their Ministers or Substitutes be at any time or times hereafter published executed nor divulged nor suffered to be published executed or divulged in any manner of ways Cui quidem Billae praedictae ad plenum intellectae per dictum Dominum Regem ex assensu Autoritate Parliamenti praedicti taliter est Responsum Le Roy le Volt Soit Baille aux comunes A cest Bille Les comunes sont assentes MEmorand quod nono die Julii Anno Regni Regis Henrici vicesimo quinto idem Dominus Rex per Literas suas Patentes sub magno sigillo suo sigillat Actum praedictum ratificavit confirmavit actui illo assensum suum regium dedit prout per easdem Literas Patentes cujus tenor sequitur in haec verba magis apte constat Here follows the King's Ratification in which the Act is again recited and ratified XLII The King 's last Letter to the Pope A Duplicate To the Pope's Holiness 1532. AFter most humble commendations and most devout kissing of your blessed Feet Albeit that we have hitherto differred to make answer to those Letters dated at Bonony the 7 th day of October which Letters of late were delivered unto us by Paul of Cassali Yet when they appear to be written for this Cause that we deeply considering the Contents of the same should provide for the tranquillity of our own Conscience and should purge such Scruples and Doubts conceived of our Cause of Matrimony We could neither neglect those Letters sent for such a purpose nor after that we had diligently examined and perpended the effects of the same which we did very diligently noting conferring and revolving every thing in them contained with deep study of mind pretermit ne leave to answer unto them For sith that your Holiness seemeth to go about that thing chiefly which is to vanquish those Doubts and to take away inquietations which daily do prick our Conscience insomuch as it doth appear at the first sight to be done of Zeal Love and Piety we therefore do thank you of your good will Howbeit sith it is not performed in Deed that ye pretend we have thought it expedient to require your Holiness to provide us other Remedies wherefore forasmuch as your Holiness would vouchsafe to write unto us concerning this Matter we heartily thank you greatly lamenting also both the chance of your Holiness and also ours unto whom both twain it hath chanced in so high a matter of so great moment to be frustrated and deceived that is to say That your Holiness not being instructed nor having knowledg of the Matter of your self should be compelled to hang upon the Judgment of others and so put forth and make answers gathered of other Men being variable and repugnant among themselves And that we being so long sick and exagitate with this same Sore should so long time in vain look for Remedy which when we have augmented our aegritude and distress by delay and protracting of time ye do so cruciate the Patient and Afflicted as who seeth it should much avail to protract the Cause and thorough vain hope of the end of our desire to lead us whither ye will But to speak plainly to your Holiness Forasmuch as we have suffered many Injuries which with great difficulty we do sustain and digest albeit that among all things passed by your Holiness some cannot be laid alledged nor objected against your Holiness yet in many of them some default appeareth to be in you which I would to God we could so diminish as it might appear no default
monumenta literas scripturas censuras conclusiones Magistrales opiniones consilia assertiones affirmationes tractatus foedera pacis processus res alias caetera promissa coram nobis in dicta causa respective habita gesâ—a facta exhibita producta Necnon ex eisdem diversis aliis ex causis considerationibus argumentisque probationum generibus variis multiplicibus validis quidem efficacibus quibus animum nostrum hac in parte ad plenum informavimus plene evidenter invenimus comperimus dictum Matrimonium inter praefatos Illustrissimum Potentissimum Principem Dominum nostrum Henricum Octavum ac Serenissimam Dominam Catharinam ut praemittitur contractum consummatum nullum omnino invalidum fuisse esse Divino Jure prohibente contractum consummatum extitisse Idcirco nos Thomas Archiepiscopus Primas Legatus antedictus Christi nomine primitus invocato ac solum Deum prae oculis nostris habentes pro nullitate invaliditate dicti Matrimonii pronunciamus decernimus declaramus ipsumque praetensum Matrimonium fuisse esse nullum invalidum ac Divino Jure prohibente contractum consummatum nulliusque valoris aut momenti esse sed viribus firmitate juris caruisse carere praefatoque Illustrissimo Potentissimo Principi Henrico Octavo Serenissimae Dominae Catharinae non licere in eodem praetenso Matrimonio remanere pronunciamus decernimus declaramus ipsosque IllustrissimuÌ„ Potentissimum Principem Henricum Octavum ac Serenissimam Dominam Catharinam quatenus de facto non de jure dictum praetensum Matrimonium ad invicem contraxerunt consummarunt ab invicem separamus divorciamus atque sic separatos divorciatos necnon ob omni vinculo Matrimoniali respectu dicti praetensi Matrimonii liberos immunes fuisse esse pronunciamus decernimus declaramus per hanc nostram sententiam definitivam sive hoc nostrum finale Decretum quam sive quod ferimus promulgamus in his scriptis In quorum praemissorum fidem testimonium has literas nostras testimoniales sive praesens publicum sententiae vel Decreti instrumentum exinde fieri ac per Notarios Publicos subscriptos scribas actuarios nostros in ea parte specialiter assumptos subscribi signari nostrique sigilli appensione jussimus fecimus communiri He likewise passed Iudgment confirming the King's Marriage with Queen Ann at Lambeth May 28 1533. which is in the same Inspeximus Act 5. Anno Regni 25. XLVIII An Act concerning the Deprivations of the Bishops of Salisbury and Worcester WHere before this time the Church of England by the King 's most noble Progenitors and the Nobles of the same have been founded ordained and established in the Estate and degree of Prelatie Dignities and other Promotions Spiritual to the intent and purpose that the said Prelates and other Persons having the said Dignities and Promotions Spiritual continually should be abiding and Reseants upon their said Promotions within this Realm and also keep use and exercise Hospitality Divine Services teaching and preaching of the Laws of Almighty God to such Persons as were and have been within the precinct of their Promotions or Dignities for the Wealth of the Souls of their Givers and Founders greatly to the honour of Almighty God Of the which said Spiritual Persons the King's Highness and his most noble Progenitors have had right honourable and well-learned Personages apt meet and convenient for to guide and instruct his Highness and his most noble Progenitors in their Counsels concerning as well their Outward as Inward Affairs to be devised and practised for the utility and preservation of this Realm by reason whereof the Issues Revenues Profits and Treasure rising and coming of the said Spiritual Promotions and Dignities were and should be spent employed and converted within this Realm to the great profit and commodity of the King's Subjects of the same And where also by the laudable Laws and Provisions of this Realm before this time made it hath been ordained used and established that no Person nor Persons of whatsoever Estate Degree or Quality he or they were should take or receive within this Realm of England to Farm by any Procuracy Writ Letter of Attorney Administrations by Indenture or by any other Mean any Benefice or other Promotion within this Realm of any Person or Persons but only of the King 's true and lawful Subjects being born under the King's Dominions And also that no Person or Persons of what estate and degree soever he or they were by reason of any such Farm Procuracie Letter of Attorney Administration Indenture or by any other mean as is aforesaid should carry conveigh or cause to be carried and conveighed out of this Realm any Gold Silver Treasure or other Commodity by Letter of Exchange or by way of Merchandise or otherwise for any of the Causes aforesaid to the profit or commodity of any Alien or other Stranger being born out of this Realm having any such Promotion Spiritual within the same without license of the King's Highness by the advice of his Council as by the same Laws Statutes and Provisions more plainly at large it may appear which said laudable Laws Statutes and Provisions were made devised and ordained by great policy and foresight of the King 's most noble Progenitors the Nobles and Commons of this Realm for the great profit utility and benefit of the same to the intent that the Gold Silver Treasure Riches and other Commodity of the same by the occasion aforesaid should not be exhausted employed converted and otherwise transported out of this Realm and Dominions of the same to the use profit and commodity of any Stranger being born out of this Realm or the Dominions of the same But only to be spent and used and bestowed within the same to the great comfort and consolation of the Subjects of this Realm Notwithstanding which said wholsome Laws Statutes and Provisions the King's Highness being a Prince of great benignity and liberality having no knowledg nor other due information or instruction of the same Laws Statutes and Provisions heretofore hath nominated and preferred and promoted Laurence Campegius Bishop of Sarum with all the Spiritual and Temporal Possessions Promotions and other Emoluments and Commodities in any wise belonging or appertaining to the same And also hath nominated preferred and promoted Hierome being another Stranger born out of the King 's said Realm and Dominions to the See and Bishoprick of Worcester with all the Spiritual and Temporal Promotions and other Emoluments and Commodities in any wise belonging or appertaining to the same Which said two Bishops and namely the Bishop of Sarum nothing regarding their Duties to Almighty God nor their Cures of the said Bishopricks eversith or for the more part of the time of their said Promotions or Profections into the same have been and yet be resident dwelling
and abiding at the See of Rome or elsewhere in other parts beyond the Sea far out and from any of the King 's said Dominions by reason whereof the great Hospitality Divine Service teaching and Preaching the Laws and Examples of good living and the other good and necessary effects before rehearsed have been many years by-past and yet continually be not only withdrawn decayed hindred and minished but also great quantity of Gold Silver and Treasure to the yearly sum and value of 3000 l. at the least have been yearly taken and conveighed out of this Realm to the singular profit and great enriching of the said Bishops and daily is like to be conveighed transported and sent contrary to the purport and effect of the said former wholsome Laws and Statutes to the great impoverishing of this Realm as well presently as for to come if speedy remedy be not had therefore in brief time provided In consideration whereof be it enacted by the Authority of this present Parliament that the said two several Sees and Bishopricks of Salisbury and Worcester and either of them from henceforth shall be taken reputed and accounted in the Law to be utterly void vacant and utterly destitute of any Incumbent or Prelate c. XLVIII A Letter from Cromwel to Fisher about the Maid of Kent Anno 34 or end of 35. MY Lord in my right hearty wise I commend me to your Lordship doing you to understand that I have received your Letters dated at Rochester the 18 th day of this Month in which ye declare what craft and cunning ye have to persuade and to set a good Countenance upon an ill Matter drawing some Scriptures to your purpose which well weighed according to the places whereout they be taken make not so much for your purpose as ye alledge them for and where in the first Leaf of your Letters ye write that ye doubt nothing neither before God nor before the World if need shall that require so to declare your self whatsoever hath been said of you that ye have not deserved such heavy words or terrible threats as hath been sent from me unto you by your Brother How ye can declare your self afore God and the World when need shall require I cannot tell but I think verily that your Declaration made by these Letters is far insufficient to prove that ye have deserved no heavy words in this behalf And to say plainly I sent you no heavy words but words of great comfort willing your Brother to shew you how benign and merciful the Prince was And that I thought it expedient for you to write unto his Highness and to recognize your Offences and desire his pardon which his Grace would not deny you now in your age and sickness which my counsel I would you had followed rather than to have written these Letters to me excusing your self altho there were no manner of default in you But my Lord if it were in an other manner of case than your own and out of the Matter which ye favour I doubt not but that ye would think him that should have done as ye have done not only worthy heavy Words but also heavy Deeds for where ye labour to excuse your self of your Hearing Bribing and concealing of the Maiden's false and feigned Revelations and of your manifold sending of your Chaplains unto her by a certain intent which ye pretend your self to have had to know by communing with her or by sending your Chaplains to her whether for Revelations Word of God or no alledging divers Scriptures that ye were bound to prove them and to receive them after they were proved My Lord whether ye have used a due means to try her and her Revelations or no it appeareth by the process of your own Letters For where you write that ye had conceived a great opinion of the holiness of this Woman for many considerations rehearsed in your Letters comprised in six Articles whereof the first is grounded upon the bruit and fame of her the second upon her entring into Religion after her trances and diffiguration the third upon rehearsal that her Ghostly Father being Learned and Religious should testify that she was a Woman of great holiness the fourth upon the report that divers other vertuous Priests Men of good Learning and Reputation should so testify of her with which Ghostly Father and Priests ye never spake as ye confess in your Letters the fifth upon the praises of my late Lord of Canterbury which shewed you as ye write that she had many great Visions the sixth upon the saying of the Prophet Amos Non faciet Dominus Deus Verbum nisi revelaverit secretum suum ad servos suos Prophetas By which Considerations ye were induced to the desire to know the very certainty of this Matter whether these Revelations which were pretended to be shewed to her from God were true Revelations or not Your Lordship in all the sequel of your Letters shew not that ye made no further trial upon the truth of her and her Revelations but only in communing with her and sending your Chaplains to her with idle Questions as of the 3 Mary Magdalens by which your communication and sending ye tried out nothing of her falshood neither as it is credibly supposed intended to do as ye might have done in any wise more easily than with communing with her or sending to her for little credence was to be given to her affirming her own feigned Revelations to be from God for if credence should be given to every such lewd Person as would affirm himself to have Revelations from God what readier way were there to subvert all Common-Weals and good orders in the World Verily my Lord if ye had intended to trace out the truth of her and of her Revelations ye would have taken an other way with you first you would not have been converted with the vain Voices of the People making bruits of her Trances and Diffiguration but like a wise discreet and circumspect Prelate ye should have examined as other since such sad and credible Persons as were present at her Traunces and Diffigurings not one or two but a good number by whose testimony ye should have proved whether the Bruits of her Traunces and Diffigurations were true or not And likewise ye should have tried by what craft and persuasion she was made a Religious Woman and if ye had been so desirous as ye pretended to enquire out the truth or falshood of this Woman and of her Revelations it is to be supposed ye would have spoken with her good religious and well-learned Ghostly Father e're this time and also with the vertuous and well-learned Priest as they were esteemed of whose reports ye would have been informed by them which heard them speak or ye would also have been minded to see the Book of her Revelations which was offered you of which ye might have had more trial of her and her Revelations than of a hundred
pleasure Item If the said Commissioners have but one County in charge then to certifie the said Chancellor in form aforesaid and there to remain till they know further of the King's pleasure VII Injunctions given by the Authority of the King's Highness to the Clergy of this Realm IN the Name of God Amen In the Year of our Lord God one thousand five hundred thirty six and of the most noble Reign of our Sovereign Lord Henry the Eighth King of England and France the 28 Year and the day of I Thomas Cromwel Knight Lord Cromwel Keeper of the Privy-Seal of our said Sovereign Lord the King and Vicegerent unto the same for and concerning all his Jurisdictions Ecclesiastical within the Realm visiting by the King's Highness's Supream Authority Ecclesiastical the People and Clergy of this Deanery of by my trusty Commissary lawfully deputed and constitute for this part have to the glory of Almighty God to the King's Highness's honour the publick Weal of this his Realm and encrease of Vertue in the same appointed and assigned these Injunctions ensuing to be kept and observed of the Dean Parsons Vicars Curates and Stipendaries resiant or having cure of Soul or any other Spiritual Administrations within this Deanery under the pains hereafter limited and appointed The first is That the Dean Parsons Vicars and other having cure of Soul any-where within this Deanery shall faithfully keep and observe and as far as in them may lie shall cause to be observed and kept of other all and singular Laws and Statutes of this Realm made for the abolishing and extirpation of the Bishop of Rome's pretensed and usurped Power and Jurisdiction within this Realm And for the establishment and confirmation of the King's Authority and Jurisdiction of the same as of the Supream Head of the Church of England and shall to the uttermost of their Wit Knowledg and Learning purely sincerely and without any colour or dissimulation declare manifest and open for the space of one quarter of a year next ensuing once every Sunday and after that at the least-wise twice every quarter in their Sermons and other Collations that the Bishop of Rome's usurped Power and Jurisdiction having no establishment nor ground by the Law of God was of most just causes taken away and abolished and therefore they owe unto him no manner of obedience or subjection and that the King's Power is within his Dominion the highest Power and Potentate under God to whom all Men within the same Dominions by God's Commandment owe most loyalty and obedience afore and above all other Powers and Potentates in Earth Item Whereas certain Articles were lately devised and put forth by the King's Highness's Authority and condescended upon by the Prelates and Clergy of this his Realm in Convocation whereof part are necessary to be holden and believed for our Salvation and the other part do concern and teach certain laudable Ceremonies Rites and Usages of the Church meet and convenient to be kept and used for a decent and politick order in the same the said Dean Parsons Vicars and other Curats shall so open and declare in their said Sermons and other Collations the said Articles unto them that be under their Cure that they may plainly know and discern which of them be necessary to be believed and observed for their Salvation and which be not necessary but only do concern the decent and politick order of the said Church according to such Commandment and Admonition as hath been given unto them heretofore by Authority of the King's Highness in thaâ— behalf Moreover That they shall declare unto all such as be under their Cure the Articles likewise devised put forth and authorized of late for and concerning the abrogation of certain superfluous Holy-days according to the effect and purport of the same Articles and perswade their Parishioners to keep and observe the same inviolable as things honesty provided decreed and established by common consent and publick Authority for the Weal Commodity and Profit of all this Realm Besides this to the intent that all Superstition and Hypocrisie crept into divers Mens hearts may vanish away they shall not set forth or extol any Images Reliques or Miracles for any superstition or lucre nor allure the People by any inticements to the pilgrimages of any Saint otherwise than is permitted in the Articles lately put forth by the Authority of the King's Majesty and condescended upon by the Prelates and Clergy of this his Realm in Convocation as though it were proper or peculiar to that Saint to give this Commodity or that seeing all Goodness Health and Grace ought to be both asked and looked for only of God as of the very Author of the same and of none other for without him it cannot be given But they shall exhort as well their Parishioners as other Pilgrims that they do rather apply themselves to the keeping of God's Commandments and fulfilling of his Works of Charity perswading them that they shall please God more by the true exercising of their bodily Labour Travail or Occupation and providing for their Families than if they went about to the said Pilgrimages and that it shall profit more their Souls health if they do bestow that on the Poor and Needy which they would have bestowed upon the said Images or Reliques Also in the same their Sermons and other Collations the Parsons Vicars and other Curats aforesaid shall diligently admonish the Fathers and Mothers Masters and Governors of Youth being within their Cure to teach or cause to be taught their Children and Servants even from their Infancy their Pater Noster the Articles of our Faith and the Ten Commandments in their Mother Tongue And the same so taught shall cause the said Youth oft to repeat and understand And to the intent that this may be the more easily done the said Curats shall in their Sermons deliberately and plainly recite of the said Pater Noster the Articles of our Faith and the Ten Commandments one Clause or Article one day and an other another day till those be taught and learnt by little and shall deliver the same in writing or shew where printed Books containing the same be to be sold to them that can read or will desire the same And thereto that the said Fathers and Mothers Masters and Governors do bestow their Children and Servants even from their Childhood either to Learning or some other honest Exercise Occupation or Husbandry exhorting counselling and by all the ways and means they may as well in their said Sermons and Collations as otherwise perswading the said Fathers Mothers Masters and other Governors being under their Cure and Charge diligently to provide and foresee that the said Youth be in no manner-wise kept or brought up in idleness lest at any time afterwards they be driven for lack of some Mystery or Occupation to live by to fall to begging stealing or some other unthriftiness forasmuch as we may daily see through sloth and
idleness divers valiant Men fall some to begging and some to theft and murder which after brought to calamity and misery impute a great part thereof to their Friends and Governors which suffered them to be brought up so idely in their Youth where if they had been well educated and brought up in some good Literature Occupation or Mystery they should being Rulers of their own Family have profited as well themselves as divers other Persons to the great commodity and ornament of the Common-weal Also that the said Parsons Vicars and other Curats shall diligently provide that the Sacraments and Sacramentals be duly and reverently ministred in their Parishes and if at any time it hapned them either in any of the Cases expressed in the Statutes of this Realm or of special license given by the King's Majesty to be absent from their Benefices they shall leave their Cure not to a rude and unlearned Person but to an honest well-learned and expert Curate that may teach the rude and unlearned of their Cure wholsome Doctrine and reduce them to the right way that do err and always let them see that neither they nor their Vicars do seek more their own profit promotion or advantage than the profit of the Souls that they have under their Cure or the Glory of God Also the said Dean Parsons Vicars Curats and other Priests shall in no wise at any unlawful time nor for any other cause than for their honest necessity haunt or resort to any Taverns or Ale-houses And after their Dinner and Supper they shall not give themselves to Drinking or Riot spending their time idely by Day or by Night at Tables or Cards-playing or any other unlawful Game but at such times as they shall have such leisure they shall read or hear somewhat of Holy Scripture or shall occupy themselves with some other honest Exercise and that they alway do those things which appertain to good congruence and honesty with profit of the Common-weal having always in mind That they ought to excel all others in purity of life and should be examples to all other to live well and christianly Furthermore Because the Goods of the Church are called the Goods of the Poor and at these days nothing is less seen than the Poor to be sustained with the same all Parsons Vicars Pensionaries Prebendaries and other Beneficed Men within the Deanery not being resident upon their Benefices which may dispend yearly 20 l. or above within this Deanry or elsewhere shall distribute hereafter yearly amongst their poor Parishioners or other Inhabitants there in the presence of the Church-Wardens or some other honest Men of the Parish the fortieth part of the Fruits and Revenues of the said Benefices lest they be worthily noted of Ingratitude which reserving so many parts to themselves cannot vouchsafe to impart the fortieth portion thereof amongst the poor People of that Parish that is so fruitful and profitable unto them And to the intent that Learned Men may hereafter spring the more for the execution of the Premisses Every Parson Vicar Clerk or beneficed Man within this Deanry having yearly to dispend in Benefices and other promotions of the Church an 100 l. shall give competent exhibition to one Scholar and for as many hundred pounds more as he may dispend to so many Scholars more shall give like exhibition in the University of Oxford or Cambridg or some Grammer-School which after they have profited in good Learning may be Partners of their Patrons Cure and Charge as well in preaching as otherwise in the execution of their Offices or may when need shall be otherwise profit the Common-Wealth with their Counsel and Wisdom Also that all Parsons Vicars and Clerks having Churches Chappels or Mansions within this Deanry shall bestow yearly hereafter upon the same Mansions or Chancels of their Churches being in decay the fifth part of their Benefices till they be fully repaired and the same so repaired shall always keep and maintain in good state All which and singular Injunctions shall be inviolably observed of the said Dean Parsons Vicars Curats Stipendiaries and other Clerks and beneficed Men under the pain of suspension and sequestration of the Fruits of their Benefices until they have done their duty according to these Injunctions Cromwel's Letter to Shaxton Bishop of Sarum taken from a Copy writ by his Secretary MY Lord after hearty Commendations I cannot but both much marvel that you whom I have taken as mine trusty Friend should judg me as I perceive by your Letters you do and also be glad that ye so frankly utter your Stomach to me I would thank you for your plain writing and free monitions saving that you seem fuller of suspition than it becometh a Prelate of your sort to be and to say that maketh me more sorry much worse perswaded of me than I thought any of your Learning and Judgment could have been I took a Matter out of your hands to mine if upon conâ—iderations mine Office bind me to do so what cause have ye to complain if I had done this either upon affection or intending prejudice to your estimation you might have expostulated with me and yet if ye then had done it after a gentler sort I should both sooner have amended that I did amiss and also have had better cause to judge your writing to me to be of a friendly heart towards me If ye be offended with my sharp Letters how can your testy words I had almost given them another Name delight me I required you to use no extremity in your Office durus est hic sermo ye call it and when ye have done ye begin again even as tho all being said all were still behind If ye have used none extremity I am I ensure you as glad of it as I ought to be And though ye do not yet upon a complaint my Office bindeth me to succour him that saith he is over-matched and is compelled to sustain wrong I was thus informed and by Persons to whom I gave more credit than I intend to do hereafter if they have abused me as ye would make me believe they have They thus complaining could I do less than grant unto them such Remedies as the King's Highness and his Laws give indifferently to all his Subjects Might I not also somewhat gather that ye proceeded the sorer against the Reader Roger London when I had seen how much you desired the preferment of your Servant to that Revenue My Lord you had shewed your self of much more patience I will not say of much more prudence if ye had contented your self with their lawful Appeal and my lawful Injunctions and rather have written somewhat fully to instruct us in this Matter than thus to desire to conquer me by shrewd words to vanquish me by sharp threp of Scripture which as I know to use travel so I trust to God as great a Clerk as ye be is done already Thus out of their place it becometh
me not neither yet I am wont to vaunt my self of well-doing I know who worketh all that is well wrought by me and whereas he is the whole Doer I intend not to offer him this wrong to labour and I to take the thanks yet as I do not cease to give thanks that that it hath pleased his Goodness to use me as an Instrument and to work somewhat by me so I trust I am as ready to serve him in my Calling to my little power as ye are prest to write worse of me than ye ought to think My Prayer is That God give me no longer life than I shall be glad to use mine Office in aedificationem and not in destructionem as ye bear me in hand I do God ye say will judg such using of Authority meaning flatly that I do abuse such Power as hath pleased God and the King's Highness to set me in God I say will judg such Judges as yeare and charge also such thoughts as ye misuse ye do not so well as I would ye should do if ye so think of me as your Letters make me think ye do The Crime that ye charge me withal is greater than I may or ought to bear untruer I trust than they that would fainest shall be able to prove It is a â—trange thing you say that I neither would write nor send you word by mouth what ye should do with the Popish Monks of Abington and that the Abbot of Redding could get streight-way my Letters to inhibit your just doings That was not my mind which I wrote I did not intend to lett your just doings but rather to require you to do justly neither I was swift in granting my Letters to him albeit I am much readier to help him that complains of wrong than prest to further on him that desireth punishment of a Person whom I am not sure hath offended I made you no answer a strange thing my Lord I thought ye had better known my Business than for such a Matter to esteem me not your Friend you might have better judged that I was too much cumbred with other Affairs that those which sued for the Abbot could better espy their time than you could Some Man will think it rather utter displeasure conceived before than that ye have any urgent occasion here to misjudg my mind towards you As concerning your Manor you must use your Priviledges as things lent unto you so long as ye shall occupy them well that is according to the mind and pleasure of them that gave you them I took neither the Monk's Cause nor any other into my hands to be a bearer of any such whom their upright dealings is not able to bear No you know I think that I love such readers of Scripture as little as ye do would God Men of your sort were as diligent to see that in all their Diocesses good were made as I am glad to remove things when I know them if ye had taken even then but half the pains to send up such things against him as ye now send neither you should have had cause no nor occasion thus easily to divine of my good or evil-will towards you nor I have been cumbred with this answer My Lord I pray you while I am your Friend take me to be so for if I were not or if I knew any cause why I ought not I would not be afraid to show you what had alienated my mind from you so you should well perceive that my displeasure should last no longer than there were cause I pass over your Nemo laeditur nisi a seipso I pray with you this first part Our Lord have pity upon me the other part is not in my Prayers That God should turn my heart for he is my Judg I may err in my doings for want of knowledg but I willingly bear no misdoers I willingly hurt none whom honesty and the King's Laws do not refuse Undo not you your self I intend nothing less than to work you any displeasure If hitherto I have shewed you any pleasure I am glad of it I showed it to your Qualities and not to you if they tarry with you my good-will cannot depart from you except your Prayer be heard that is My Heart be turned I assure you I am right-glad ye are in the place ye are in and will do what shall lie in me to aid you in your Office to maintain your Reputation to give you credit among your Flock and elsewhere as long as I shall see you faithful to your Duty according to your Calling I will not become your good Lord as your desire is I am and have been your Friend and take you to be mine cast out vain suspition let rash Judgment rule Men of less wit and discretion wilfulness becometh all Men better than a Bishop which should always teach us to lack gladly our own Will because you may not have your own Will Here is Christus paup facit ditat cum Dominus dedit Dominus abstulit to what purpose Sit nomen Domini benedictum can never lack his place it becometh alwise in season or else as great a Divine as ye are I would say it were not the best Placed here except you wist better you had rather lose all than any part of your will I pray you teach Patience better in your Deeds or else speak as little of it as ye can My Lord you might have provoked an other in my place that would have used less patience with you finding so little in you but I can take your Writings and this Heat off your Stomach even as well as I can I trust beware of Flatterers As for the Abbot of Redding and his Monk if I find them as ye say they are I will order them as I shall think good ye shall do well to do your Duty if you so do ye have no cause to mistrust my Friendship if ye do not I must tell it you and that somewhat after the plainest sort To take a Cause out of your hands into mine I do but mine Office you meddle further than your Office will bear you thus roughly to handle me for using of mine If ye do so no more I let pass all that is past and offer you such kindness as ye shall lawfully desire at my hands Thus fare you well IX The Sentence given out by Pope Paul the third against King Henry Damnatio Excommunicatio Henrici 8. Regis Angliae ejusque Fautorum Complicum cum aliarum poenarum adjectione Paulus Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei ad perpetuam rei memoriam EJus qui immobilis permanens sua providentia ordine mirabili dat cuncta moveri disponente clementia vices licet immeriti gerentes in terris in sede justitiae constituti juxta prophetae quoque Hieremiae vaticinium dicentis Ecce te constitui super gentes Regna ut evellas destruas aedifices plantes praecipuum super omnes
likewise and also there insert every Person 's Name that shall be so wedded christened and buried and for the safe keeping of the same Book the Parish shall be bound to provide of their common charges one sure Coffer with two Locks and Keys whereof the one to remain with you and the other with the Wardens of every such Parish wherein the said Book shall be laid up which Book ye shall every Sunday take forth and in the presence of the said Wardens or one of them write and record in the same all the Weddings Christenings and Buryings made the whole week afore and that done to lay up the Book in the said Coffer as afore And for every time that the same shall be omitted the Party that shall be in the fault thereof shall forfeit to the said Church 3 s. 4 d. to be employed on the reparation of the said Church Item That ye shall every quarter of a year read these and the other former Injunctions given unto you by the Authority of the King's Highness openly and deliberately before all your Parishioners to the intent that both you may be the better admonished of your duty and your said Parishioners the more incited to ensue the same for their part Item Forasmuch as by a Law established every Man is bound to pay the Tithes no Man shall by colour of duty omitted by their Curats detain their Tithes and so redouble one wrong with another or be his own Judg but shall truly pay the same as hath been accustomed to their Parsons and Curats without any restraint or diminution and such lack or default as they can justly find in their Parsons and Curats to call for reformation thereof at their Ordinaries and other Superiors hands who upon complaint and due proof thereof shall reform the same accordingly Item That no Person shall from henceforth alter or change the order and manner of any Fasting-day that is commanded and indicted by the Church nor of any Prayer or of Divine Service otherwise than is specified in the said Injunctions until such time as the same shall be so ordered and transported by the Kings Highness's Authority The Eves of such Saints whose Holy-days be abrogâ—ted be only excepted which shall be declared henceforth to be no Fasting-days excepted also the commemoration of Thomas Becket some-time Arch-Bishop of Canterbury which shall be clean omitted and in the stead thereof the Ferial Service used Item That the knolling of the Avies after Service and certain other times which hath been brought in and begun by the pretence of the Bishop of Rome's pardon henceforth be left and omitted lest the People do hereafter trust to have pardon for the saying of their Avies between the said knolling as they have done in times past Item Where in times past Men have used in divers places in their Processions to sing Ora pro nobis to so many Saints that they had no time to sing the good Suffrages following as Parce nobis Domine and Libera nos Domine it must be taught and preached that better it were to omit Ora pro nobis and to sing the other Suffrages All which and singular Injunctions I minister unto you and your Successors by the King's Highness Authority to me committed in this part which I charge and command you by the same Authority to observe and keep upon pain of Deprivation Sequestration of your Fruits or such other coercion as to the King's Highness or his Vice-gerent for the time being shall seem convenient These are also in the Bp. of London's Register Fol. 29 30. with Bonner's Mandate to his Arch-Deacons for observing them 30 Sept. 1541. Anno Regn. 32. XII Injunctions given by Thomas Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to the Parsons Vicars and other Curats in his Visitation kept sede vacante within the Diocess of Hereford Anno Domini 1538. I. FIrst That ye and every one of you shall with all your diligence and faithful obedience observe and cause to be observed all and singular the King's Highness Injunctions by his Graces Commissaries given in such places as they in times past have visited II. Item That ye and every one of you shall have by the first day of August next coming as well a whole Bible in Latin and English or at the least a New Testament of both the same Language as the Copies of the King's Highness Injunctions III. Item That ye shall every day study one Chapter of the said Bible or New Testament conferring the Latin and English together and to begin at the first part of the Book and so to continue until the end of the same IV. Item That ye or none of you shall discourage any Lay-Man from the reading of the Bible in English or Latin but encourage them to that admonishing them that they so read it for reformation of their own Life and knowledg of their Duty and that they be not bold or presumptuous in judging of Matters afore they have perfect knowledg V. Item That ye both in your Preaching and secret Confession and all other works and doings shall excite and move your Parishioners unto such Works as are commanded expresly of God for the which God shall demand of them a strict reckoning and all other Works which Men do of their own Will or Devotion to teach your Parishioners that they are not to be so highly esteemed as the other and that for the not doing of them God will not ask any accompt VI. Item That ye nor none of you suffer no Friar or Religious Man to have any Cure or Service within your Churches or Cures except they be lawfully dispensed withal or licensed by the Ordinary VII Item That ye and every one of you do not admit any young Man or Woman to receive the Sacrament of the Altar which never received it before until that he or she openly in the Church after Mass or evening Song upon the Holy-day do recite in the vulgar Tongue the Pater Noster the Creed and the Ten Commandments VIII Item That ye and every one of you shall two times in a quarter declare to your Parishioners the Band of Matrimony and what great danger it is to all Men that useth their Bodies but with such Persons as they lawfully may by the Law of God And to exhort in the said Times your Parishioners that they make no privy Contracts as they will avoid the extream pain of the Laws used within the King's Realm by his Graces Authority XIII A Letter of Cromwell's to the Bishop of Landaff directing him how to proceed in the Reformation An Original AFter my right hearty Commendations to your Lordship ye shall herewith receive the King's Highness Letters addressed unto you to put you in remembrance of his Highness travels and your duty touching order to be taken for Preaching to the intent the People may be taught the Truth and yet not charged at the beginning with over-many Novelties the publication whereof unless the same be tempered and
the Doctors and therefore I cannot answer unto them by Learning but think this to be a good Answer for all such Questions viz. Necessitas non habet Legem It is to be thought that Christ may call as it pleaseth him inwardly outwardly or by both together So that if no Priest might be had it cannot be thought but that a Christian Prince with others learned inwardly moved and called might most charitably and godlily prosecute that same their Calling in the most acceptable Work which is to bring People from the Devil to God from Infidelity to true Faith by whatsoever means God shall inspire In hoc casu existimarem accersendos verbi Sacramentorum Ministros si qui forent vicini quin si nulli invenirentur Principem illum Christianum haberemus pro Apostolo tanquam missum a Deo licet externo Sacramento non esset commendatus quum Deus Sacramentis suis non sit alligatus To the thirteenth and fourteenth following It is not against God's Law that the Prince and his learned temporal Men may Preach and Teach and in these cases of extream Necessity make and institute Ministers In this case as I think the Prince and other temporal learned Men with him may by God's Law Teach and Preach the Word of God and Baptize and also the same Necessity standing elect and appoint Men to those Offices In summa necessitate Baptizare praedicare possunt debent haec etenim duo necessaria sunt media ad salutem at ordinare ut conjectura ducor non debent sed aliunde Sacrificos accersire quos si habere nequeant Deus ipse cujus negotium agitur vel oraculo admonebit quid faciendum erit vel necessitas ipsa quae sibiipsi est Lex modum Ordinandi suggeret ac suppeditabit I think they might in such case of Necessity for in this case the Laymen made the whole Church there and the authority of preaching and ministring the Sacraments is given immediately to the Church and the Church may appoint Ministers as is thought convenient There be two Stories good to be considered for this Question which be written in the 10 th Book of the History Ecclesiastick the one of Frumentius who preached in India and was after made Priest and Bishop by Athanasius And the other Story is of the King of the Iberians of whom Rufâ—ine the writer of the Story saith thus Et nondum initiatus Sacris fit suae gentis Apostolus Yet nevertheless it is written there That an Ambassad was sent to Constantine the Emperor that he would send them Priests for the further establishment of the Faith there The Prince and his temporal learned Men might and ought in that necessity to instruct the People in the Faith of Christ and to baptize them ut idem rex sit suae gentis Apostolus and these be sufficient for the Salvation of his Subjects But as concerning other Sacraments he ought to abide and look for a special Commission from Almighty God as Moses had or else to send unto other Regions where Priests or Bishops may be had and else not to meddle Examples in Eccles. Hist. lib. 10. cap. 1. de Frumentio cap. 2. de Ancilla captiva quae convertit gentem Hiberorum cujus captivae monitis ad Imperatorem Constantinum totius gentis legatio mittitur res gesta exponitur Sacerdotes mittere exorantur qui coeptum erga se Dei munus implerent c. I think that in such a necessity a learned Christian Prince and also temporal Men learned be bound to preach and minister either Sacraments so that the same Ministers be orderly assigned by the High Power and the Congregation I say to the first part That such a King and his temporal learned Men not only might but were also bound to preach God's Word in this case And as to the second part I say That if there could no Bishop be had to Institute the Prince might in that of necessity do it To the thirteenth I suppose the Affirmative thereof to be true Quamvis potestas clavium residet praecipue in Ecclesia In such a case I do believe that God would illuminate the Prince so that either he himself should be made a Bishop by internal working of God as Paul was or some of his Subjects or else God would send him Bishops from other parts And as for preaching of the Word of God the Prince might do it himself and other of his learned Subjects altho they were no Priests In prima parte Quaestionis Conveniunt omnes etiam laicos tali rerum statu non solum posse sed debere docere Menevens Thirlebeus Leightonus Coxus Symmons Tresham Redmanus Robertsonus etiam potestatem Ministrandi Sacramenta Ordinandi Ministros concedunt illis Eboracens hanc prorsus potestatem denegat Coren credit Principem Divinitus illuminandum consecrandum fore in Episcopum interne aut aliquem ex suis Pauli exemplo Simile habet Herefordensis Carliolensis Dayus nihil respondet de Ordinandis Presbyteris in hac necessitate In the thirteenth Concerning the first part Whether Laymen may Preach and Teach God's Word They do all agree in such a case That not only they may but they ought to teach But in the second part touching the Constituting of Priests of Laymen my Lord of York and Doctor Edgworth doth not agree with the other they say That Laymen in no wise can make Priests or have such Authority The Bishops of Duresme St. Davids Westminster Drs. Tresham Cox Leighton Crayford Symmons Redmayn Robertson say That Laymen in such case have authority to minister the Sacraments and to make Priests My Lords of London Carlisle and Hereford and Dr. Coren think That God in such a case would give the Prince authority call him inwardly and illuminate him or some of his as he did St. Paul 14. Question Whether it be forefended by God's Law that if it so fortune that all the Bishops and Priests of a Region were dead and that the Word of God should remain there unpreached and the Sacrament of Baptism and others unministred that the King of that Region should make Bishops and Priests to supply the same or no Answers IT is not forbidden by God's Law To the fourteenth In this case as we have said in the next Article afore Teaching of the Word of God may be used by any that can and would use it to the Glory of God and in this case also the Sacrament of Baptism may be ministred by those that be no Priests which things altho we have not of Scripture yet the universal Tradition and practice of the Church doth teach us And peradventure contract of Matrimony might also be made the Solemnization thereof being only ordained by Law positive and not by any ground either of Scripture or of Tradition altho for very urgent causes the said Solemnization is
the Law of Nature to take the surer way or else he should seem to contemn his own Health which is unnatural Also because we be bound to love God above all things we ought by the same Bond to labour for his Grace and Favour So that because we be bound to love God and to love our selves in an Order to God we be bound to seek the best and surest Remedy to recover Grace for our selves Contrition is one way but because a Man cannot be well assured whether his Contrition Attrition or Displeasure for his sin be sufficient to satisfie or content Almighty God and able or worthy to get his Grace Therefore it is necessary to take that way that will not fail and by which thou mayest be sure and that is Absolution of the Priest which by Christ's promise will not deceive thee so that thou put no step or bar in the way as if thou do not then actually sin inwardly nor outwardly but intend to receive that the Church intendeth to give thee by that Absolution having the efficacity of Christ's promise Quorum Remiseritis c. Now the Priest can give thee no Absolution from that sin that he knoweth not therefore thou art bound for the causes aforesaid to confess thy sin This Scripture as Ancient Doctors expound it bindeth all Men to confess their secret deadly sins I say That such Confession is a thing most consonant to the Law of God and it is a wise point and a wholsome thing so for to do and God provoketh and allureth us thereto in giving the active Power to Priests to assoil in the words Quorum Remiseritis It is also a safer way for Salvation to confess if we may have a Priest Yet I think that confession is not necessarily deduced of Scripture nor commanded as a necessary precept of Scripture and yet is it much consonant to the Law of God as a thing willed not commanded To the fifteenth I think that only such as have not the knowledg of the Scripture whereby they may quiet their Consciences be bound to confess their secret deadly sins unto a Priest Howbeit no Man ought to contemn such Auricular Confession for I suppose it to be a Tradition Apostolical necessary for the unlearned Multitude A Man whose Conscience is grieved with mortal secret sins is bound by these words Quorum Remiseritis c. to confess his sin to a Priest if he may have him conveniently Eboracens Londinens Dayus Oglethorpus Coren Redmayn asserunt obligari Coxus Tresham Robertsonus dicunt non obligari si aliter Conscientiae illorum satisfieri queat Menevens nullo modo obligari Carliolens Symmons aiunt secundum veterum interpretationem hac Scriptura quemvis obligari peccatorem Roffens Herefordens Thirliby non respondent sed dubitant Leightonus solum indoctos obligari ad Confessionem Edgeworth tradit duplicem modum remissionis peccatorum per Contritionem sive Attritionem per Absolutionem quia nemo potest certus esse num attritio dolor pro peccato sufficiat ad satisfaciendum Deo obtinendam gratiam ideo tutissimam viam deligendam scilicet Absolutionem a Sacerdote quae per promissionem Christi est certa Absolvere non potest nisi cognoscat peccata Ergo peccata per Confessionem sunt illi revelanda In the eleventh Concerning Confession of our secret deadly sins The Bishops of York Duresme London Drs. Day Curren Oglethorp Redmayn Crayford say That Men be bound to confess them of their secret Sins Drs. Cox Tresham Robertson say They be not bound if they may quiet their Consciences otherwise The Bishop of St. Davids also saith That this Text bindeth no Man Dr. Leighton saith That it bindeth only such as have not the knowledg of Scripture The Bishop of Carlisle and Symmons say That by ancient Doctors exposition Men be bound by this Text to confess their deadly sins 16. Question Whether a Bishop or a Priest may excommunicate and for what Crimes And whether they only may Excommunicate by God's Law Answers A Bishop or a Priest by the Scripture is neither commanded nor forbidden to Excommunicate but where the Laws of any Region giveth him authority to Excommunicate there they ought to use the same in such Crimes as the Laws have such authority in and where the Laws of the Region forbiddeth them there they have no authority at all and they that be no Priests may also Excommunicate if the Law allow thereunto To the sixteenth The power to Excommunicate that is to dissever the Sinner from the communion of all Christian People and so put them out of the Unity of the Mystical Body for the time donec resipisâ—at is only given to the Apostles and their Successors in the Gospel but for what Crimes altho in the Gospel doth not appear saving only for disobedience against the Commandment of the Church yet we find example of Excommunication used by the Apostles in other cases As of the Fornicator by Paul of Hymeneus and Alexander for their Blaspemy by the same and yet of other Crimes mentioned in the Epistle of the said Paul writing to the Corinthians And again of them that were disobedient to his Doctrine 2 Thess. 3. We find also charge given to us by the Apostle St. Iohn that we shall not commune with them nor so much as salute him with Ave that would not receive his Doctrine By which it may appear that Excommunication may be used for many great Crimes and yet the Church at this day doth not use it but only for manifest disobedience And this kind of Excommunication whereby Man is put out of the Church and dissevered from the Unity of Christ's Mystical Body which Excommunication toucheth also the Soul no Man may use but they only to whom it is given by Christ. To the sixteenth I think that a Bishop may Excommunicate taking example of St. Paul with the Corinthian and also of that he did to Alexander and Hymeneus And with the Lawyers it hath been a thing out of Question That to Excommunicate solemnly appertaineth to a Bishop altho otherwise both inferior Prelates and other Officers yea and Priests too in notorious Crimes after divers Mens Opinions may Excommunicate semblably as all others that be appointed Governors and Rulers over any Multitude or Spiritual Congregation I answer affirmatively to the first part in open and manifest Crimes meaning of such Priests and Bishops as be by the Church authorized to use that power To the second part I answer That it is an hard Question wherein I had rather hear other Men speak than say my own Sentence for I find not in Scripture nor in the old Doctors that any Man hath given Sentence of Excommunication save only Priests but yet I think that it is not against the Law of God that a Lay-man should have authority to do it Divers Texts of Scripture seemeth by the Interpretation
of ancient Authors to shew that a Bishop or a Priest may Excommunicate open deadly sinners continuing in obstinacy with contempt I have read in Histories also that a Prince hath done the same Opinor Episcopum aut Presbyterum Excommunicare posse tanquam ministrum os Ecclesiae ab eadem mandatum habens Utrum vero id juris nulli nisi Sacerdotibus in mandatis dari possit non satis scio Excommunicandum esse opinor pro hujuscemodi criminibus qualia recenset Paulus 1 Cor. 5. si is qui frater nominatur est fornicator aut avarus aut idolis serviens aut maledicus aut ebriosus aut rapax cum hujusmodi ne cibum sumere c. A Bishop or a Priest as a publick Person appointed to that Office may excommunicate for all publick Crimes And yet it is not against God's Law for others than Bishops or Priests to Excommunicate A Bishop or a Priest may Excommunicate by God's Law for manifest and open Crimes Also others appointed by the Church tho they be no Priests may exercise the power of Excommunication Non solum Episcopus Excommunicare potest sed etiam tota Congregatio idque pro lethalibus criminibus ac publicis ê quibus scandalum Ecclesiae provenire potest Non tamen pro re pecuniaria uti olim solebant They may Excommunicate as appeareth 1 Cor. 5. 1 Tim. 1. and that for open and great Crimes whereby the Church is offended and for such Crimes as the Prince and Governours determine and thinketh expedient Men to be excommunicate for as appeareth in nonnullis Constitutionibus Iustiniani Whether any other may pronounce the Sentence but a Bishop or a Priest I am uncertain A Bishop or a Priest only may excommunicate a notorious and grievous Sinner or obstinate Person from the Communion of Christian People because it pertaineth to the Jurisdiction which is given to Priests Io. 26. Quorum Remiseritis c. et Quorum retinetis c. There is one manner of Excommunication spoken of 1 Cor. 5. which private Persons may use Si is qui frater nominatur inter vos est fornicator aut avarus aut idolis ferviens c. cum hujusmodi ne cibum quidem capiatis Excluding filthy Persons covetous Persons Braulers and Quarrellers out of their Company and neither to eat nor drink with them Whosoever hath a place under the Higher Power and is assigned by the same to execute his Ministry given of God he may Excommunicate for any Crime as it shall be seen to the High Power if the same Crime be publick A Bishop and Priest may Excommunicate by Scripture as touching for what Crimes I say for every open deadly sin and disobedience And as touching Whether only the Priest may Excommunicate I say not he only but such as the Church authorizes so to do To the sixteenth I say that a Bishop or a Priest having License and Authority of the Prince of the Realm may excommunicate every obstinate and inobedient Person for every notable and deadly sin And further I say That not only Bishops and Priests may Excommunicate but any other Man appointed by the Church or such as have authority to appoint Men to that Office may Excommunicate A Bishop or a Priest may Excommunicate an obstinate Person for publick Sins Forsomuch as the Keys be given to the whole Church the whole Congregation may Excommunicate which Excommunication may be pronounced by such a one as the Congregation does appoint altho he be neither Bishop nor Priest Menevens Herefordens Thirleby Dayus Leightonus Coxus Symmons Coren concedunt authoritatem excommunicandi etiam Laicis modo a Magistratu deputentur Eboracens Edgworth prorsus negant datum Laicis sed Apostolis eorum successoribus tantum Roffensis Redmanus Robertsonus ambigunt num detur Laicis Londinens non respondet Quaestioni Oglethorpus Thirliby aiunt Ecclesiae datam esse potestatem Excommunicandi Idem Treshamus In the sixteenth Of Excommunication they do not agree The Bishops of York Duresme and Dr. Edgworth say That Lay-men have not the authority to Excommunicate but that it was given only unto the Apostles and their Successors The Bishops of Hereford St. Davids Westminster Doctors Day Coren Leighton Cox Symmons say That Lay-men may Excommunicate if they be appointed by the High Ruler My Lord Elect of Westminster Dr. Tresham and Dr. Oglethorp say further That the Power of Excommunication was given to the Church and to such as the Church shall institute 17. Question Whether Unction of the Sick with Oil to remit Venial Sins as it is now used be spoken of in the Scripture or in any ancient Authors Answers UNction of the Sick with Oil to remit Venial Sins as it is now used is not spoken of in the Scripture nor in any ancient Authors T. Cantuarien This is mine Opinion and Sentence at this present which I do not temerariously define but do remit the judgment thereof wholly unto your Majesty To the seventeenth Of Unction of the Sick with Oil and that Sins thereby be remitted St. Iames doth teach us but of the Holy Prayers and like Ceremonies used in the time of the Unction we find no special mention in Scripture albeit the said St. Iames maketh also mention of Prayer to be used in the Ministry of the same Edward Ebor. To the seventeenth I think that albeit it appeareth not clearly in Scripture whether the usage in extream Unction now be all one with that which was in the beginning of the Church Yet of the Unction in time of Sickness and the Oil also with Prayers and Ceremonies the same is set forth in the Epistle of St. Iames which place commonly is alledged and so hath been received to prove the Sacrament of extream Unction Ita mihi Edmundo Londinensi Episcopo pro hoc tempore dicendum videtur salvo judicio melius sentientis cui me prompte humiliter subjicio In Unction of them that be Sick with Oil and praying for them for remission of Sins is plainly spoken of in the Epistle of St. Iames but after what form or fashion the said Inunction was then used the Scripture telleth not Written on the back of the Paper The Bishop of Rochester's Book Extream Unction is plainly set out by St. Iames with the which maketh also that is written in the 6 th of St. Mark after the mind of right good ancient Doctors Robert Carliolen De Unctione Infirmorum nihil reperio in Scripturis praeter id quod scribitur Marc. 6. Jacob. 5. Thomas Robertson T. Cantuarien Unction of the Sick with Oil consecrat as it is now used is not spoken of in Scripture Richardus Cox Unction of the Sick with praying for them is found in Scripture George Day Opiniones non Assertiones De Unctione Infirmorum cum oleo adjecta Oratione expressa mentio est in
of Bread and Wine The Tenth The Church of Christ hath doth and may lawfully order some Priests to be Ministers of the Sacraments altho the same do not preach nor be not admitted thereunto The Eleventh Priests being once dedicated unto God by the Order of Priesthood and all such Men and Women as have advisedly made Vows unto God of Chastity or Widowhood may not lawfully marry after their said Orders received or Vows made The Twelfth Secret auricular Confession is expedient and necessary to be retained continued and frequented in the Church of Christ. The Thirteenth The Prescience and Predestination of Almighty God altho in it self it be infallible induceth no necessity to the Action of Man but that he may freely use the power of his own will or choice the said Prescience or Predestination notwithstanding I Nicholas Shaxton with my Heart do believe and with my Mouth do confess all these Articles above-written to be true in every part Ne despicias hominem avertentem se a peccato neque improperes ei memento quoniam omnes in corruptione sumus Eccles. 8. XXX A Letter written by Lethington the Secretary of Scotland to Sir William Cecil the Queen of England's Secretary touching the Title of the Queen of Scots to the Crown of England By which it appears that K. Henry's Will was not signed by him I Cannot be ignorant that some do object as to her Majesties Forreign Birth and hereby think to make her incapable of the Inheritance of England To that you know for answer what may be said by an English Patron of my Mistriss's Cause although I being a Scot will not affirm the same that there ariseth amongst you a Question Whether the Realm of Scotland be forth of the Homage and Leageance of England And therefore you have in sundry Proclamations preceding your Warsmaking and in sundry Books at sundry times laboured much to prove the Homage and Fealty of Scotland to England Your Stories also be not void of this intent What the judgment of the Fathers of your Law is and what commonly is thought in this Matter you know better than I and may have better intelligence than I the Argument being fitter for your Assertion than mine Another Question there is also upon this Objection of Forreign Birth that is to say Whether Princes inheritable to the Crown be in case of the Crown exempted or concluded as private Persons being Strangers born forth of the Allegiance of England You know in this case as divers others the State of the Crown the Persons inheritable to the Crown at the time of their Capacity have divers differences and prerogatives from other Persons many Laws made for other Persons take no hold in case of the Prince and they have such Priviledges as other Persons enjoy not As in cases of Attainders and other Penal Laws Examples Hen. 7. who being a Subject was attainted and Ed. 4. and his Father Richard Plantagenet were both attainted all which notwithstanding their Attainders had right to the Crown and two of them attained the same Amongst many Reasons to be shewed both for the differences and that Forreign Birth doth not take place in the case of the Crown as in common Persons the many experiences before the Conquest and since of your King 's do plainly testify 2. Of purpose I will name unto you Hen. 2d Maud the Empress Son and Richard of Bourdeaux the Black Princes Son the rather for that neither of the two was the King of England's Son and so not Enfant du Roy if the word be taken in this strict signification And for the better proof that it was always the common Law of your Realm that in the case of the Crown Forreign Birth was no Bar you do remember the words of the Stat. 25. Ed. 3. where it is said the Law was ever so Whereupon if you can remember it you and I fell out at a reasoning in my Lord of Leicester's Chamber by the occasion of the Abridgment of Rastal wherein I did shew you somewhat to this purpose also these words Infant and Ancestors be in Praedicamento ad aliquid and so Correlatives in such sort as the meaning of the Law was not to restrain the understanding of this word Infant so strict as only to the Children of the King's Body but to others inheritable in remainder and if some Sophisters will needs cavil about the precise understanding of Infant let them be answered with the scope of this word Ancestors in all Provisions for Filii Nepotes and Liberi you may see there was no difference betwixt the first degree and these that come after by the Civil Law Liberorum appellatione comprehenduntur non solum Filii verum etiam Nepotes Pronepotes Abnepotes c. If you examine the Reason why Forreign Birth is excluded you may see that it was not so needful in Princes Cases as in common Persons Moreover I know that England hath oftentimes married with Daughters and married with the greatest Forreign Princes of Europe And so I do also understand that they all did repute the Children of them and of the Daughters of England inheritable in succession to that Crown notwithstanding the Forreign Birth of their Issue And in this case I do appeal to all Chronicles to their Contracts of Marriages and to the opinion of all the Princes of Christendom For tho England be a noble and puissant Country the respect of the Alliance only and the Dowry hath not moved the great Princes to match so often in marriage but the possibility of the Crown in succession I cannot be ignorant altogether in this Matter considering that I serve my Sovereign in the room that you serve yours The Contract of Marriage is extant betwixt the King my Mistris's Grandfather and Queen Margaret Daughter to King Henry the 7 th by whose Person the Title is devolved on my Sovereign what her Fathers meaning was in bestowing of her the World knoweth by that which is contained in the Chronicles written by Polidorus Virgilius before as I think either you or I was born at least when it was little thought that this Matter should come in question There is another Exception also laid against my Soveraign which seems at the first to be of some weight grounded upon some Statutes made in King Hen. 8. time viz. of the 28 th 35 th of his Reign whereby full power and authority was given him the said King Henry to give dispose appoint assign declare and limit by his Letters Patents under his Great Seal or else by his last Will made in writing and signed with his hand at his pleasure from time to time thereafter the Imperial Crown of that Realm c. Which Imperial Crown is by some alledged and constantly affirmed to have been limited and disposed by the last Will and Testament of the said King Hen. 8. signed with his hand before his death unto the Children of the Lady Francis and Elenor Daughter to
Mary the French Queen younger Daughter of Hen. 7. and of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk so as it is thought the Queen my Soveraign and all others by course of Inheritance be by these Circumstances excluded and fore-closed So as it does well become all Subjects such as I am so my liking is to speak of Princes of their Reigns and Proceedings modestly and with respect yet I cannot abstain to say that the Chronicles and Histories of that Age and your own printed Statutes being extant do contaminate and disgrace greatly the Reign of that King in that time But to come to our purpose what equity and justice was that to disinherit a Race of Forreign Princes of their possibility and maternal right by a municipal Law or Statute made in that which some would term abrupt time and say that that would rule the Roast yea and to exclude the right Heirs from their Title without calling them to answer or any for them well it may be said that â—he injury of the time and the indirect dealing is not to be allowed â—ut since it is done it cannot be avoided unless some Circumstances material do annihilate the said limitation and disposition of the Crown Now let us examine the manner and circumstances how King Hen. 8. was by Statute inabled to dispose the Crown There is a form in two sorts prescribed him which he may not transgress that is to say either by his Letters Patents sealed with his Great Seal or by his last Will signed with his hand for in this extraordinary case he was held to an ordinary and precise form which being not observed the Letters Patents or Will cannot work the intent or effect supposed And to disprove that the Will was signed with his own hand You know that long before his death he never used his own signing with his own hand and in the time of his Sickness being divers times pressed to put his hand to the Will written he refused to do it And it seemed God would not suffer him to proceed in an Act so injurious and prejudicial to the right Heir of the Crown being his Niece Then his death approaching some as well known to you as to me caused William Clarke sometimes Servant to Thomas Henneage to sign the supposed Will with a stamp for otherwise signed it was never and yet notwithstanding some respecting more the satisfaction of their ambition and others their private commodity than just and upright dealing procured divers honest Gentlemen attending in divers several Rooms about the King's Person to testifie with their hand-writings the Contents of the said pretended Will surmised to be signed with the King 's own hand To prove this dissembled and forged signed Testament I do refer you to such Trials as be yet left First The Attestation of the late Lord Paget published in the Parliament in Queen Mary's time for the restitution of the Duke of Norfolk Next I pray you on my Sovereigns behalf that the Depositions may be taken in this Matter of the Marquess of Winchester Lord Treasurer of England the Marquess of Northampton the Earl of Pembroke Sir William Petre then one of King Henry's Secretaries Sir Henry Nevill Sir Maurice Barkley Doctor Buts Edmond Harman Baker Iohn Osborn Groom of the Chamber Sir Anthony Dennis if he be living Terris the Chirurgion and such as have heard David Vincent and others speak in this case and that their Attestations may be enrolled in the Chancery and in the Arches In perpetuam rei memoriam Thirdly I do refer you to the Original Will surmised to be signed with the King 's own hand that thereby it may most clearly and evidently appear by some differences how the same was not signed with the King's hand but stamped as aforesaid And albeit it is used both as an Argument and Calumniation against my Sovereign to some that the said Original hath been embezelled in Queen Mary's time I trust God will and hath reserved the same to be an Instrument to relieve the Truth and to confound false Surmises that thereby the Right may take place notwithstanding the many Exemplifications and Transcripts which being sealed with the great Seal do run abroad in England and do carry away many Mens minds as great presumptions of great variety and validity But Sir you know in cases of less importance that the whole Realm of England Transcripts and Exemplifications be not of so great force in Law to serve for the recovery of any thing either real or personal And in as much as my Soveraign's Title in this case shall be little advanced by taking exceptions to others pretended and crased Titles considering her precedency I will leave it to such as are to claim after the issue of Hen. the 7 th to lay in Bar the Poligamy of Charles Brandon the Duke of Suffolk and also the vitiated and clandestine Contract if it may be so called having no witness nor solemnization of Christian Matrimony nor any lawful matching of the Earl of Hertford and the Lady Katharine Lastly The semblably compelling of Mr. Key and the Lady Mary Sister to the Lady Katherine And now Sir I have to answer your desire said somewhat briefly to the Matter which indeed is very little where so much may be said for to speak truly the Cause speaketh for it self I have so long forborn to deal in this matter that I have almost forgotten many things which may be said for Roboration of her Right which I can shortly reduce to my Remembrance being at Edinburgh where my Notes are So that if you be not by this satisfied upon knowledg from you of any other Objection I hope to satisfy you unto all things may be said against her In the mean time I pray you so counsel the Queen your Soveraign as some effectual reparation may follow without delay of the many and sundry traverses and dis-favorings committed against the Queen my Sovereign as the publishing of so many exemplifications of King Henry's supposed Will the secret embracing of Iohn Halles Books the Books printed and not avowed the last Summer one of the which my Mistris hath sent by Henry Killigrew to the Queen your Soveraign The Disputes and Proceedings of Lincolns-Inn where the Case was ruled against the Queen my Soveraign The Speeches of sundry in this last Session of Parliament tending all to my Soveraigns derision and nothing said to the contrary by any Man but the Matter shut up with silence most to her prejudice and by so much the more as every Man is gone home setled and confirmed in his Error And Lastly The Queen your Soveraign's resolution to defend now by Proclamations all Books and Writings containing any discussion of Titles when the whole Realm hath engendred by these fond proceedings and other favoured practisâ—s a setled opinion against my Soveraigns to the advancement of my Lady Katherines Title I might also speak of an other Book lately printed and set abroad in this last Session containing
his going over to England but not one word of any such discourse with the King And King Henry was not a Man of such a temper as to permit one of Pole's quality to go out of England and live among his Enemies and continue his Pensions to him if he had to his face opposed him in a Matter he laid so much to heart 44. He says Fisher of Rochester and Holman Bishop of Bristol wrote for the Marriage There was no Bishoprick nor Bishop of Bristol at that time nor thirteen years after 45. Many are reckoned up who wrote for the Marriage in all Nations These are neither to be compared in number nor authority to those who wrote against it an hundred Books were shewed in Parliament written by Divines and Lawyers beyond Sea besides the determinations of twelve of the most celebrated Universities in Europe The Emperor did indeed give so great Rewards and such good Benefices to those who wrote against the King that it is a wonder there were not more Writers of his side 46. He says That upon Warham Arch-Bishop of Canterbury's death the Earl of Wiltshire told the King that he had a Chaplain who was at his House that would certainly serve the King in the matter of his Divorce upon which Cranmer was promoted Cranmer was no stranger to the King at this time he was first recommended by the King to the Earl of Wiltshire to be kept in his House but was in Germany when Warham died and made no haste over but delayed his Journey some months It is true he was of the mind that the King ought to be divorced but this was not out of servile compliance for when the King pressed him in other things that were against his Conscience he expressed all the courage and constancy of mind which became so great a Prelate 47. He say's That Cranmer being to swear the Oath of Obedience to the Pope before he was consecrated did protest to a Publick Notary that he took it against his will and that he had no mind to keep his Faith to the Pope in prejudice to the King's Authority He did not protest that he did it unwillingly nor was it only to a Notary but twice at the high Altar he repeated the Protestation that he made which was to this effect That he intended not thereby to oblige himself to any thing contrary to the Law of God the King's Prerogative or the Laws of the Land nor to be restrained from speaking advising or consenting to any thing that should concern the Reformation of the Christian Faith the Government of the Church of England and the Prerogative of the Crown and Kingdom 48. He says Cranmer did in all things so comply with the King's Lusts that the King was wont to say he was the only Man that had never contradicted him in any thing he had a mind to Cranmer was both a good Subject and a modest and discreet Man and so would obey and submit as far as he might without sin yet when his Conscience charged him to appear against any thing that the King pressed him to as in the matter of the six Articles he did it with much resolution and boldness 49. He says The King going over to Calais carried Ann Boleyn secretly with him He carried her over in great state having made her Marchioness of Pembroke and in the publick Interview between him and Francis she appeared with all possible splendor 50. He says After the King's return from France he brought the Action of Premunire against all the Clergy This is an Error of two years for so long before this Voyage to France was that action begun and the Clergy about 28 months before had made their submission and obtained their pardon in March 1531 which appears by the printed Statutes and the King went over to France in September 1532 so that it is clear Sanders never looked for any verification of what he wrote 51. He says The King by an unheard-of Tyranny and a new Calumny brought this Charge against the Clergy These Laws upon which the Charge was founded had been oft renewed they were first made under Edward the First by reason of the Papal Encroachments that gave the rise to them they were oft confirmed by Edward the Third Richard the Second Henry the Fourth and Henry the Fifth with the concurrence of their Parliaments so the Charge was neither new nor tyrannical 52. He says The Clergy submitted to the King being betrayed by their Metropolitanes Cranmer and Lee. The submission was made two years before Cranmer was Arch-Bishop in March 1531 and Cranmer was Consecrated in March 1533. but at that time Warham sate in Canterbury as for Lee he opposed it for some time 53. He says The whole Clergâ— petitioned the King to forgive their Crime according to that Supreme Power which he had over all the Clergy and Laity within his Kingdom from whence the King's Counsellors took occasion afterwards to call him Supreme Head The Clergy did in the Title of their Submission call the King in formal terms Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England as far as by the Law of Christ is lawful to which Fisher with the rest of the Convocation subscribed And all this was done when More was Chancellor 54. He says When the King went to marry Ann Boleyn he perswaded Rowland Lee made soon after Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield to officiate in it assuring him he had obtain'd a Bull for it from Rome which was then lying in his Cabinet Upon which Lee giving credit to what he said did marry them This is another trial of Sander's wit to excuse Lee who tho at this time he complied absolutely with the King yet did afterwards turn over to the Popish Party therefore to make him look a little clean this Story must be forged But at that time all the World saw that the Pope and the Emperor were so linked together that Lee could not but know that no such thing was possible And he was so obsequious to the King that such Arts were needless to perswade him to any thing the King had a mind to 55. For five pages he runs out in repetition of all those foul Lyes concerning Ann Boleyn by which he designed both to disgrace the Reformers who were supported by her and to defame her Daughter Queen Elizabeth which have been before confuted after that he says Queen Katharine with three Maids and a small Family retired into the Country She had both the respect of a Princess Dowager and all the Jointure contracted to her by Prince Arthur so she could not be driven to that straitness but this must go for an Ornament in the Fable 56. He says It was concluded that Cranmer might be more free to pass Sentence that there should be an Oath imposed on the Clergy for paying the same Obedience to the King that they had paid the Pope
contrivance of theirs who had instructed her to play such tricks as was proved by their own Confessions and other Evidences 68. He says They all died very constantly and on the Margent calls them seven Martyrs The Nun her self acknowledged the Imposture at her death and laid the heaviest weight of it on the Priests that suffered with her who had taught her the Cheat so that they died both for Treason and Imposture And this being Sander's Faith as appeared by his Works they were indeed Martyrs for it 69. He says More and Fisher having examined her could see no ground to think she was acted by a Fanatical Spirit as it was given out It was not given out that she was acted by a Fanatical Spirit for that had been more honest but her Spirit was cheating and knavery More cleared himself and looked on her as a weak Woman and commonly called her the Silly Maid But Fisher did disown her when the Cheat was discovered though he had given her too much encouragement before 70. He says The thing she prophesied came to pass which was that Mary should be Queen of England The thing for which She and her Complices were attainted of Treason was that she said If the King married Ann Boleyn he should not be a King a month longer and not an hour longer in the sight of God and should die a Villains death But it did not serve Sander's ends to tell this 71. He says The day she suffered many of the Nobility came and swore to the Succession of the Issue of the King's marriage with Queen Ann before the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor and Cromwel Both Houses of Parliament did in the House of Lords take that Oath on the day of their Prorogation which was the 30 th of March as appears by the second Act of the next Session and the Nun with her Complices did not suffer till the 21 of April after 72. He says The Franciscans of the Observance chiefly two Fathers in London Elston and Payton did both in their Sermons and publick Disputes justifie the King's marriage with Q. Katharine Elston and Payton were not of London but of Greenwich They compared the King to Achab and said in the Pulpit to his face The Dogs should lick his Blood with many other such virulent Expressions But to rail at a Prince with the most spiteful reproaches that could be was a part of Sanders's Faith and so no wonder those pass for Confessors when Elizabeth Barton and her Complices are reckoned Martyrs 73. He says Tonstal Bishop of Duresme was ordered by the King's Messengers not to come to the Session of Parliament 26 Regni in which the King's Supremacy was established In this he is safer than in some other Stories for the Journals of that Session are lost so the falshood of this cannot be demonstrated yet it is not at all likely that he who justified all that was done in the former Session in which the Pope's Power was put down the nomination of Bishops annexed to the Crown a Reformation of Ecclesiastical Laws appointed to be made in defence of all which he wrote afterwards was now so scrupulous as to be ordered to stay at home But Tonstal suffering imprisonment in Edward the Sixth's time it was fit to use some art to shew that he was unwillingly brought to comply with the King 74. He to shew God's Judgments on the chief Instruments that served the King says That the Duke of Norfolk was by the King condemned to perpetual imprisonment This bewrays palpable ignorance since he was attainted of High Treason the very day before the King's death and should have suffered the next day if the King's death had not prevented it But since he will descant on the Providence of God he should rather have concluded that his escaping so narrowly was a sign of God's great care of him 75. In the Session of Parliament that met the third of November as he describes it which was the 26 th year of the King's Reign he says Mary the King's Daughter was illegitimated and all her honours were transferred on Elizabeth and the Pope's Power put down This shews he never looked on our publick Statutes otherwise he had seen that these Acts passed in the former Session 76. He says When the King sent his Ambassadours to the French Court Francis would not so much as hear them give a justification of the King's proceedings How true this can be the World may judg since these two Kings continued in a firm Alliance eight years after this And Francis did often treat both with him and the Princes of Germany about these things and was inclined to do almost all that he did 77. He says The Lutherans did so abominate the grounds of his separation from Rome that they could never be induced to approve it for which he cites Cochleus an Author of his own kidney They did condemn the King's first marriage as unlawful and thought the Pope's Dispensation had no force and so far they approved it But they had this singular Opinion that he should have continued unmarried as long as Q. Katharine lived Yet in that they were so modest that they only desired to be excused as to the second Marriage which considering that Queen Ann favoured their Doctrine and that by an absolute compliance with what the King had done they might have secured his Protection to themselves whom otherwise they provoked highly is an evidence of a strict adhering to what their Consciences dictated that cannot be sufficiently commended 78. He says The King made many write Apologies for what he did which some did willingly being tainted with Heresie others unwillingly and for fear as Gardiner and Tonstall In this he shews how little judgment he had of the nature of things when he thinks to excuse their writing for the King as extorted by force To have done it thorough Error and Mistake was much the softer excuse but to make them Men of such prostituted Consciences as not only to subscribe and swear but to write with Learning and Zeal and yet against their Consciences represents them guilty of unexpressible baseness Indeed Gardiner was a Man like enough to write any thing that might please the King but Tonstall was a Man of greater probity than to have done so unworthy a thing upon any account whatsoever But since he mentioned Writers he should have named Longland Bishop of Lincoln Stokeley Bishop of London and above all Bonner who did officiously thrust himself into the debate by writing a Preface to Gardiner's Book with the greatest vehemence that could be But the Blood he shed afterwards did so endear him to this Author that all past Faults were forgiven and to be clean forgotten 79. He says Five Martyrs suffered because they would not swear the King's Supremacy according to the Law that was then passed There was no such Law made at that time nor
correspondence with the King fell to the ground with her but he may well cite Cochleus an Author of the same honesty with himself from whose writings we may with the like security make a judgment of Forreign Matters as we may upon Sanders's testimony believe the account he gives of English Affairs 90. He tells us among other things done by the King and picks it out as the only instance he mentions of the King's Injunctions that the People should be taught in Churches the Lord's Prayer the Ave the Creed and the Ten Commandments in English It seems this Author thought the giving these Elements of Religion to the People in the vulgar Tongue a very heinous Crime when this is singled out from all the rest 91. That being done he says there was next a Book published called Articles appointed by the King's Majesty which were the six Articles This shews that he either had no information of English Affairs or was sleeping when he wrote this for the Six Articles were not published soon after the Injunctions as he makes it by the same Parliament and Convocation but three years after by another Parliament They were never put in a Book nor published in the King's Name they were Enacted in Parliament and are neither more nor less than 25 lines in the first Impression of that Act so far short come they of a Book 92. He reckons up very defectively the differences between the Church of Rome and the Doctrine set forth by the King's Authority but in one point he shews his ordinary wit for in the sixth particular he says He retained the Sacrament of Order but appointed a new Form of Consecrating of Bishops This he put in out of malice that he might annul the Ordinations of that time but the thing is false for except that the Bishops instead of their Oaths of Obedience to the Pope which they formerly swore did not swear to the King there was no other change made and that to be sure is no part of the Form of Consecration 93. He resolved once to speak what he thought was Truth tho it be treasonable and impious and says Upon these changes many in Lincolnshire and the Northern parts did rise for Religion and the Faith of Christ. This was indeed the motive by which their Seditious Priests misled them yet he is mistaken in the time for it was not after the six Articles were published but almost three years before it Nor was it for the Faith of Christ which teaches us to be humble subject and obedient but because the King was removing some of the corruptions of that Faith which their false Teachers did impiously call the Faith of Christ. 94. He says The King did promise most faithfully that all these things of which they complained should be amended This is so evidently false that it is plain Sanders resolved dextrously to avoid the speaking of any sort of Truth for the King did fully and formally tell them he would not be directed nor counselled by them in these Points they complained of and did only offer them an Amnesty for what was past 95. Then he reckons up 32 that died for the defence of the Faith They were attainted of Treason for being in actual Rebellion against the King and thus it appears that Rebellion was the Faith in his sense and himself died for it or rather in it having been starved to death in a Wood to which he fled after one of his rebellious Attempts on his Soveraign in which he was the Pope's Nuncio 96. He says The King killed the Earl of Kildare and five of his Uncles By this strange way of expressing a legal Attainder and the execution of a Sentence for manifest Treason and Rebellion he would insinuate on the Reader a fancy that one of Bonner's cruel fits had taken the King and that he had killed those with his own hand The Lord Herbert has fully opened that part of the History from the Records that he saw and shews that a more resolved Rebellion could not be than that was of which the Earl of Kildare and his Uncles were guilty But because they sent to the Pope and Emperor for assistance the Earl desiring to hold the Kingdom of Ireland of the Pope since the King by his Heresie had fallen from his Right to it Sanders must needs have a great kindness for their memory who thus suffered for his Faith 97. He says Queen Iane Seimour being in hard labour of Prince Edward the King ordered her Body to be so opened by Surgeons that she died soon after All this is false for she had a good Delivery as many Original Letters written by her Council that have been since printed do shew but she died two days after of a distemper incident to her Sex 98. He sets down some Passages of Cardinal Pole's Heroical Constancy which being proved by no Evidence and not being told by any other Writer whom I ever saw are to be lookt on as the flourishes of the Poet to set off his Hero 99. He would perswade the World that the Marquess of Exceter the Lord Montacute and the rest that suffered at that time died because they were believed to dislike the King 's wicked Proceedings and that the Countess of Sarum was beheaded on this single account that she was the Mother of such a Son and was sincerely addicted to the Catholick Faith and that she was condemned because she wrote to her Son and for wearing in her Breast the Picture of the five Wounds of Christ. The Marquess of Exceter pretended he was well satisfied with the King's Proceedings and was Lord Stewart when the Lords Darcy and Hussie were tried and he gave judgment against them But it being discovered that he and other Persons approved of Cardinal Pole's proceedings who endeavoured to engage all Christian Princes in a League against the King pursuant to which they had expressed themselves on several occasions resolved when a fit opportunity offered it self to rebel it was no wonder if the King proceeded against them according to Law And for the Countess of Sarum tho the legality of that Sentence passed against her cannot be defended yet she had given great offence not only by her correspondence with her Son but by the Bulls she had received from Rome and by her opposing the King's Injunctions hindring all her Tenants to read the New Testament or any other Books set out by the King's order And for the Picture which was found among her Cloaths it having been the Standard of the Rebellion and the Arms of England being found on the other side of it there was just ground to suspect an ill design in it 100. He says The Images which the King destroyed were by many wonderful Works of God recommended to the Devotion of the Nation All the wonder in these Works was the knavery of some jugling Impostors and the simplicity of a credulous multitude of
which see page 224. which being so openly discovered nothing that had shame in it could speak of them as our Author does 101. He says Six and twenty Carts drawn with Oxen were loaded with the Riches taken from Becket's Shrine whom he makes a most glorious Martyr that died for the defence of the Faith and was honoured by many Miracles after his death Other Writers have sufficiently shewed what a perfidious ingrateful and turbulent Priest he was All these were Vertues in our Author's Opinion and Ingredients in his Faith But he has in this accompt of the Riches of that Shrine gone beyond himself having by a figure of speech very familiar to him called Lying increased two Chests see page 224. to 26 Cart Loads 102. He says The Sentence which P. Paul gave out against the King was affixed in some Towns both in France Flanders and Scotland from which he infers that both the Emperor the French and the Scotch King did consent to that Sentence In this he designed an eminent piece of service to the Apostolick See to leave on Record an Evidence that three Sovereign Princes had acknowledged the Pope's Power of deposing Kings But he did ill to name the proofs of his Assertion and had done better to have said simply that it was so than to have founded it on so ill grounds as if the affixing Papal Bulls in a place were an evidence that the Princes in whose Dominions it was done consented to it He might with the same reason have concluded that Q. Elizabeth consented to the Sentence against her self which it is very like will not be easily believed tho the Bull was affixed in London But all those very Princes whom he names continuing to keep up their correspondence with the King as well after as before this Sentence is a much clearer demonstration that they despised the Pope's Sentence 103. He says The King by his own Authority threw all the â—egging Orders out of their Houses The falshood of this has appeared already for they resigned their Houses to the King and of these Resignations tho many were destroyed yet near an hundred are still extant 104. He says The Parliament in the year 1539 gave the King all the great Monasteries The Parliament passed no such Act all that they did was only to confirm the Grants made or to be made by these Houses to the King It was their Surrenders that cloathed the King with the Right to them All the Tragical Stories he tells us that followed upon this are founded on a false Foundation 105. He sets down a Form of a Resignation which he says All the Abbots and many Religious Persons were made to Sign and set their Seals to it Among all the Resignations which are yet extant there is not one in this Form for which see page 238. 106. He says The King's Commissioners who went about getting Hands to that Form made them believe in every House that all the rest had signed it and so by that and other persuasions prevailed with many to set their Hands to it If all the Subscriptions had been procured about the same time such Arts might be suspected but in a thing that was three years a-doing these tricks could not have served their turn 107. He says They told the Monks that tho the King might by virtue of the Act of Parliament seize on their Houses and Rents yet he desired rather to do it with their good-will In this there are two Errors First Most of these Houses were resigned to the King before the Act of Parliament see page 235. and next the Act of Parliament only confirmed their Deeds but did not give their Houses to the King 108. He says The Abbots of Glassenbury Colchester and Reading suffered Martyrdom because they refused to set their hands to that Writing There was no such Writing ever offered to them nor was there any Law to force them to resign so they could not suffer on that account but they were Martyrs for Sander's Faith for they were attainted by a legal Trial of High Treason 109. He tells a long Story of Whitting Abbot of Glassenbury's being brought up to London to be prevailed with to set his hand to the Surrender Which he still refusing to do was sent back and tho a Book against the King's Divorce was found among his Papers which was laid there by those who searched for it yet that was past over in a chiding but as he went home hearing there was a meeting of the County at Wells he went thither and as he was going up to his place on the Bench he was called to the Bar to answer some things that were to be objected to him He was amazed at it and asked what the matter was but one told him he needed fear nothing for some-what was only to be done for form to terrify others Upon which he was condemned and sent away to his Abbey little thinking he was so near his end but when he came near it a Priest was sent to him to take his Confession for they told him he must die immediately he beg'd a day or two's respite but in vain so they hanged him up in his Habit on the top of the Hill near his Abbey and quartered him and all this was done in one day This Book came out in Forreign Parts and was printed at Rome in the Reign of Sixtus the Fifth who took great pleasure in such Executions as he describes this to have been which may fall oft out where the lives of the Subjects are wholly at the Prince's Mercy But to tell such tales of England which is so famed over the World for the safety and security the Subjects enjoy and for the regular and legal proceedings in all Trials especially of Life and Death was a great Error in the Poet for the decorum of the Laws and Customs of a place must be observed when any Nation is made the Scene of a Fable But as nothing like this can be done by the Law of England so there was nothing of it in this Case The Jury that sate on him were Men of great credit in the Country when he died he acknowledged his Offences and with appearance of repentance begged God's Pardon and the King 's see page 239. 110. After many bitter Invectives against Cromwel for which I could never see good evidence tho I cannot disprove them by any convincing Arguments he says That he advised the King to make a Law that Persons might be Convented and Condemned in absence and without being heard and that this Law first of all fell upon himself There was no such Law ever made only the Parliament by their Supream Authority did Attaint some in that manner but no other Court might do it Nor was this first applied to Cromwel for an year before his Attainder the Countess of Sarum with a great many more were so attainted tho she did not Suffer till a year
Iohannes Ab. de Bello Willielmus Ab. S. Petri Glocest. Richardus Ab. Winchelcombens Ioannes Ab. de Croyland Robertus Ab. de Thorney Robertus Ab. de Waltham Ioannes Ab. Cirencest Ioannes Ab. Teuxburen Thomas Prior Coventr Ioannes Ab. de Osney B Henricus Ab. de Anthonius Ab. de Eyntham Robertus Prior Elien Robertus Magister ordinis de Semper-ingham Richardus Ab. de Notley Hugo Prior de Huntingtoun Willielmus Ab. de Stratford Gabriel Ab. de Buckfestia Henricus Ab. de Wardenor Ioannes Prior de Merton Richardus Pr. de Walsingham B Thomas Ab. de Thomas Ab. de Stanley Richardus Ab. de Bytlesden Richardus Pr. de Lanthony Robertus Ab. de Thame B Ioannes Prior de Radulphus Prior de Kymme B Richardus Ab. de Robertus Ab. de Welhows Bartholamaus Pr. de Overhey Willielmus Pr. de Burgaveny Thomas Ab. de Abendon Inferior Domus C R. Gwent Archidiaconus London Breck Robertus Alridge Archid. Colecestr Thomas Bedyl Archid. Cornub. Richardus Street Archid. Derbiae David Pole Ar. Salop. Procurator Archid. Cleri Covent Lichfield Richardus Doke Archid. Sarum Edmundus Bonner Archid. Leycestriae Thomas Baghe Archid. Surr. Richardus Rawson Archid. Essex Edmundus Cranmer Archid. Cant. Polidorus Virgilius Archid. Wellen. Richardus Coren Archid. Oxon. Henricus Morgan Procurator cleri Lincoln Petrus Vannes Archid. Wygornen Georgius Hennage Decanus Lincoln Nilo Spencer Procurator Cleri Norwicen Guilielmus Knight Archid. Cestriae GamalielClyfton Decanus Hereford Proc. Capit. Ioannes London Decanus Wallingford Richardus Layton Archid. Bucks Hugo Coren Proâ— Cleri Hereford Richardus Sparaheford Proc. Cleri Hereford Mauritius Griffith Proc. Cleri Roffen Gulielmus Buckmastr Procurator Cleri London Richardus Shelton Mag. Colleg. de Melyngham Per me Willielmum Glyn. Archi. An-glessen Robertus Evans Decan Bangoren Walterus Cretying Ar. Bathonien Thomas Bagard Procurator Cleri Wygornen Ioannes Nase Proc. Cleri Bathon Wellen. Georgius Wyndham Archid Norwicen Nicolaus Metcalfe Archid. Roffen Gulielmus Hedge Procurator Cleri Norwicen Adam Traves Archid. Exon. Ricardus Woleman Dec. Wellen. Tho. Brerewood Archidiacan Har. Procur Capituli Cleri Exon. Georgius Carew Archid. Totten Proc. Capituli Cleri Exon. Thomas Bennet Psoc Cleri Capit Sarum Richardus Arch Proc. Cleri Capit Sarum Petrus Lighman Proc. Cleri Cant. Edmundus Stewart Proc. Cleri Winton Ioannes Rayne Proc. Cleri Lincoln Leonardus Samill Proc. Cleri Archid Lewen Simon Matthew Proc. Cleri London Linfrid Ogle Archid Salop. Gulielmus Maye Proc. Cleri Elien Rol. Philips Proc. Eccles. St. Pauli London Ioannes Bell Ar. Glocest. Ioannes Chambers Dec. St. Stephani Archid Bedford Nicolaus Wilson Some Observations on the former Subscriptions A The Abbots of Glossenbury and Reading Subscribe with the rest by which it appears that they complyed in the changes that were made as readily as others did B The Abbots writ generally so ill that it is very hard to read their Subscriptions Some of them I could by no means know what to make of C There are of 50 of the lower house of Convocation of those there are 25 Archdeacons 4 Deans of Cathedrals 3 Deans of Collegial Churches 17 Procurators for the Clergy and one Master of a Colledge II. Some Queries put by Cranmer in Order to the Correcting of several Abuses FIrst What causes reasons or considerations hath or might move any man to desire to have the Bishop of Rome restored in any point to his pretended Monarchy or to repugn against the Laws and Statutes of this Realm made for the setting forth of the Kings Title of Supream Head Item Whether a man offending-deadly after he is Baptized may obtain remission of his Sins by any other way than by Contrition through grace Item If the Clergy know that the common sort of men have them in a higher estimation because they are perswaded that it lyeth in the will and Power of Priests to remit or not remit sins at their pleasure whether in such case the said Clergy offend if they wink at this and voluntarily suffer the people to continue in this Opinion Item Whether a sinner being sorry and contrite for his sins and forthwith dying shall have as high a place in Heaven as if he had never offended Item Whether any and what difference may be Assigned betwixt two men whereof the one being very sorry and contrite for his sins dieth without Absolution of the Priest and the other which being contrite is also absolved by the Priest and so dieth Item If it may appear that the common people have a greater affiance or trust in outward Rites or Ceremonies than they ought to have and that they esteem more vertue in Images and adorning of them kissing their feet or offering Candles unto them than they should esteem and that yet the Curates knowing the same and fearing the loss of their offerings and such other temporal commodities do rather encourage the people to continue after this sort than teach them the truth in the premisses according to Scripture what the Kings Highness and his Parliament may do and what they are bound in conscience to do in such case Item Whether now in time of the new Law the Tithes or tenth be due to Curates by the Laws of God or of man and if the same be due by the Laws of man what mans Laws they be Item Whether the Clergy only and none but they ought to have voices in general Councils Item Whether the 19th Canon in the Council of Calcedon wherein is contained that one Clerk may not sue an other before any secular Judge but only before his Bishop and such other Canons of like effect have been generally received or not and whether the same be contrary to the Kings Prerogative and Laws of this Realm and whether it be expedient that it were declared by the Parliament that the said Canons being at no time received especially within this Realm be void and of none effect Item Of the 24th Canon of the said Council wherein is contained that Monasteries once consecrate by the Bishop may not after be made dwelling houses for Say-men whether that Canon have been received and observed and whether the same be against the Power of the King and Authority of his Parliament Item If it may appear that the Bishops have not ne yet do maturely examine and diligently inquire of the Conversation and Learning of such as be ordered or admitted to Cures by them but rather without examination or inquisition indistinctly admit persons unable whereof ensueth great peril of Souls and innumerable inconveniences otherways what the Kings Highness or his Parliament ought to do or may do for reformation in the premisses Item If such as have Deanries Arch-Deaconries Chanterships and other Offices or promotions of the Clergy use not themselves in their own persons after such sort as the primary institution of these Offices or Promotions require and according to the Wills of them that endowed the same what the King and his Parliament may do
grant that the Article of Priests Marriage may be openly disputed in both Universities under indifferent Judges before it be determined All the Arguments of the contrary party first to be delivered in writing to the defenders twelve days before the disputation to the intent they may the more maturely and deliberately make answer to the same and they that shall enter as defenders into this disputation to do it under this condition that if their Judges decern them to be overcome they be right well contented to suffer death therefore And if their adversaries cannot prove their purpose their desire is no more but that it may please your Highness to leave your most humble Subjects to the liberty that Gods Word permitteth them in that behalf and your said humble Subjects shall pray unto Almighty God for the preservation of your most Royal Estate long to continue to Gods Glory and Honour V. A Declaration made of the Functions and Divine Institution of Bishops and Priests AN ORIGINAL AS touching the Sacrament of Holy Orders we will that all Bishops and Preachers shall instruct and teach our people committed by us unto their spiritual charge First How that Christ and his Apostles did institute and Ordain in the New Testament that beside the Civil Powers and governance of Kings and Princes which is called in Scripture potestas gladij the Power of the Sword there should be also continually in the Church Militant certain other Ministers or Officers which should have Spiritual Power Authority and commission under Christ to Preach and teach the Word of God unto his people and to dispence and administer the Sacraments of God unto them and by the same to confer and give the grace of the Holy Ghost to consecrate the blessed body of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar to loose and absoil from sin all persons which be duly penitent and sorry for the same to bind and excommunicate such as be guilty in manifest crimes and sins and will not amend their defaults to order and consecrate others in the same room Order and Office whereunto they be called and admitted themselves and finally to feed Christs people like good Pastors and Rectors as the Apostles calleth them with their wholsome doctrine and by their continual exhortations and monitions to reduce them from sin and iniquity so much as in them lyeth and to bring them unto the perfect knowledg the perfect love and dread of God and unto the perfect charity of their neighbours Item that this Office this Ministration this Power and Authority is no tyrannical Power having no certain Laws or Limits within the which it ought to be contained nor yet none absolute Power but it is a moderate Power subject determined and restrained unto those certain Limits and ends for the which the same was appointed by Gods Ordinance which as was said before is only to administer and distribute unto the members of Christs Mystical body spiritual and everlasting things that is to say the pure and heavenly doctrine of Christs Gospel and the graces conferred in his Sacraments And therefore this said Power and administration is called in some places of Scripture donum Gratia a gift and a grace in some places it is called Claves sive potestas clavium that is to say the keys or the Power of the keys whereby is signified a certain limited Office restrained unto the execution of a special Function or Ministration according to the saying of St. Paul in his first Chap. of his Epistle to the Romans and in the fourth Chap. of his first Epistle to Timothy and also in the fourth Chap. of his Epistle to the Ephes. Where he writes in this Sentence Quum ascendisset Christus in altum captivam duxit captivitatem dedit dona hominibus dedit autem alios qâ—idem Apostolos alios vero Prophetas alios vero Evangelistas alios autem pastores ac doctores ad instaurationem sanctorum in opus administrationis in aedificationem corporis Christi donec perveniamus omnes in unitatâ—m fidei agnitionis filii Dei in virum perfectum in mensuram aetatis plene adultae Christi That is to say when Christ ascended into Heaven he subdued and vanquished very captivity her self and led or made her thrall and captive and distributed and gave divers heavenly gifts and graces unto men here on earth and among all he made some the Apostles some Priests some Evangelists some Pastors and Doctors to the intent they should execute the work and office of their administration to the instauration instruction and edifying of the members of Christs Mystical body And that they should also not cease from the Execution of their said Office until all the said members were not only reduced and brought unto unity of the Faith and the knowledg of the Son of God but also that they were come unto a perfect state and full age therein that is to say until they were so established and confirmed in the same that they could no more afterwards be wavering therein and be led or carryed like children into any contrary doctrine or opinion by the craft or subtile perswasion of the false Pastors and Teachers which go about by craft to bring them into erroneous opinions but that they should constantly follow the true Doctrine of Christs Gospel growing and encreasing continually by charity unto a perfect member of that body whereof Christ is the very head in whom if the whole body that is to say if every part and member be grown and come unto his perfect estate not all in like but only one according to the gift and quality which is deputed unto it and so to be compacted united and corporated together in the said body no doubt buâ— that whole body and every part thereof shall thereby be made â—he more perfect and the more strong by reason of that natural love and charity which one member so united in the body hath unto the other by which words it appeareth evidently not only that St Paul accounted and numbred this said Power and Office of the Pastors and Doctors among the proper and special gifts of the Holy Ghost but also it appeareth that the same was a limited power and Office ordained specially and only for the causes and purposes before rehearsed Item That this Power Office and Administration is necessary to be preserved here in Earth for three special and principal causes First for that it is the Commandment of God it should be so as it appeareth in sundry places of Scripture Secondly for that God hath instituted and ordained none other ordinary mean or instrument whereby he will make us partakers of the reconciliation which is by Christ and confer and give the graces of his holy Spirit unto us and make us the right inheritors of everlasting Life there to Reign with him for ever in glory but only his words and Sacraments and therefore the Office and Power to Minister the said Word and
the more The matter was such that by the canon-Canon-Law it could not be denied For to grant an Avocation of a Cause upon good reason from the Delegated to the Supreme Court was a thing which by the course of Law was very usual And it was no less apparent that the Reasons of the Queens appeal were just and good But the secret and most convincing Motives that wrought more on the Pope than all other things were that the Treaty between him and the Emperor was now concerted Therefore this being to be published very speedily the Pope thought it necessary to avocate the matter to Rome before the publication of the Peace lest if he did it after it should be thought that it had been one of the secret Articles of the Treaty which would have cast a foul blot upon him Yet on the other hand he was not a little perplexed with the fears he had of losing the King of England he knew he was a man of an high Spirit and would resent what he did severely And the Cardinal now again ordered Dr. Bennet in his name and as with tears in his eyes lying at the Popes feet to assure him that the King and Kingdom of England were certainly lost if the Cause were Avocated Therefore he besought him to leave it still in their hands and assured him that for himself he should rather be torn in pieces joynt by joynt than do any thing in that matter contrary to his Conscience or to Justice These things had been oft said and the Pope did apprehend that ill effects would follow for if the King fell from his Obedience to the Apostolick See no doubt all the Lutheran Princes who were already bandying against the Emperor would joyn themselves with him and the Interests of France would most certainly engage that King also into the Union which would distract the Church give encouragement to Heresie and end in the utter ruin of the Popedom But in all this the crafty Pope comforted himself that many times threatnings are not intended to be made good but are used to terrifie and that the King who had written for the Faith against Luther and had been so ill used by him would never do a thing that would sound so ill as because he could not obtain what he had a mind to therefore to turn Heretick he also resolved to caress the French King much and was in hopes of making Peace between the Emperor and him But that which went nearest the Popes heart of all other things was the setting up of his Family at Florence and the Emperor having given him assurance of that it weighed down all other considerations Therefore he resolved he would please the Emperor but do all he could not to lose the King So on the 9th of Iuly he sent for the Kings Ambassadors and told them the Process was now so far set on in England and the Avocation so earnestly pressed that he could deny it no longer for all the Lawyers in Rome had told him the thing could not be denied in the common course of Justice Upon this the Ambassadors told him what they had in Commission to say against it both from the King and the Cardinal and pressed it with great vehemence So that the Pope by many sighs and tears showed how deep an impression that which they said made upon him he wished himself dead that he might be delivered out of that Martyrdom and added these words which because of their savouring so much of an Apostolical Spirit I set down Wo is me no body apprehends all those evils better than I do But I am so between the Hammer and the Forge that when I would comply with the Kings desires the whole storm then must fall on my head and which is worse on the Church of Christ. They did object the many promises he had made them both by word of mouth and under his hand He answered He desired to do more for the King than he had promised but it was impossible to refuse what the Emperor now demanded whose Forces did so surround him that he could not only force him to grant him Iustice but could dispose of him and all his Concerns at his pleasure The Ambassadors seeing the Pope was resolved to grant the Avocation pressed against it no further but studied to put it off for some time And therefore proposed that the Pope would himself write about it to the King and not grant it till he received his answer Of all this they gave Advertisement to the King and wrote to him that he must either drive the matter to a Sentence in great haste or to prevent the affront of an Advocation suspend the Process for some time They also advised the searching all the Packets that went or came by the way of Flanders and to keep up all Campegio's Letters and to take care that no Bull might come to England for they did much apprehend that the Avocation would be granted within very few days Their next Dispatch bore that the Pope had sent for them to let them know that he had Signed the Avocation the day before But they understood another way that the Treaty between the Emperor and him was finished and the Peace was to be proclaimed on the 18th of Iuly and that the Pope did not only fear the Emperor more than all other Princes but that he also trusted him more now On the 19th of Iuly the Pope sent a Messenger with the Avocation to England with a Letter to the Cardinal To the King he wrote afterwards All this while Campegio as he had Orders from the Pope to draw out the matter by delays so did it very dextrously And in this he pretended a fair excuse that it would not be for the Kings honour to precipitate the matter too much lest great advantages might be taken from that by the Queens Party That therefore it was fit to proceed slowly that the world might see with what Moderation as well as Justice the matter was handled From the 25th of Iune the Court Adjourned to the 28th ordering a second Citation for the Queen under the pains of Contumacy and of their proceeding to examine Witnesses And on the 28th they declared the Queen Contumacious the second time and examined several Witnesses upon the Articles and Adjourned to the 5th of Iuly on that day the Bull and Breve were read in Court and the Kings Council argued long against the validity of the one and the truth of the other Upon the grounds that have been already mentioned in which Campegio was much disgusted to hear them argue against the Popes Power of granting such a Dispensation in a matter that was against a Divine Precept alledging that his Power did not exend so far This the Legates over-ruled and said that that was too high a point for them to judg in or so much as to hear argued and that the Pope himself was the only
The Laws made in England against Hereticks p. 25. Vnder Richard the 2d ibid. Vnder Henry the 4th ibid. And Henry the 5th p. 26 Heresie declared by the Kings Iudges p. 27 Warhams proceeding against Hereticks ib. The Bishop of London's proceedings against them p. 29 The Progress of Luthers Doctrine p. 30 His Books were Translated into English p. 31 The King wrote against him ibid. He replyed ibid. Endeavours to suppress the New Testament p. 32 Sir Thomas More writes against Luther ibid. Bilney and others proceeded against for Heresie ibid. BOOK II. Of the Process of Divorce between King Henry and Queen Katherine and of what passed from the 19th to the 25th year of his Reign in which he was declared Supream Head of the Church of England THe beginning of the Sute of Divorce p. 34 Prince Arthur Marryed the Infanta ibid. And died soon after p. 35 A Marriage proposed between Henry and her ibid. It is allowed by the Pope ibid. Henry Protested against it p. 36 His Father disswaded it ibid. Being come to the Crown he Marries her ibid. Shâ— bore some Children but only the Lady Mary lived ibid. Several Matches proposed for her p. 37 The Kings Marriage is questioned by Forreigners ibid. Anno 1527. He himself has Scruples concerning it ib. The Grounds of these p. 38 All his Bishops except Fisher condemn it ibid. The reasons of State against it p. 39. Wolsey goes into France ibid. The Kings fears and hopes ibid. Arguments against the Bull p. 40 Calumnies cast on Anne Boleyn p. 41 They are false and ill-contrived p. 42 Her Birth and Education p. 43 She was contrâ—cted to the Lord Piercy p. 44 The Divorce moved for at Rome ibid. The first Dispatch concerning it ibid. Anno 1528. The Pope granted it p. 47 And gave a Bull of dispensation p. 48 The Popes craft and policy ibid. A subtile method proposed by the Pope p. 49 Staphileus sent from England p. 50 The Cardinals Letters to the Pope p. 57 A fuller Bull is desired by the King ibid. Gardiner and Fox are sent to Rome p. 52 The Bull desired by them ibid. Wolsey's earnestness to procure it p. 53 Campegio declared Legate p. 54 He delaies his Iourney ibid. The Pope grants the Decretal Bull p. 55 Two Letters from Anne Boleyn to Wolsey ibid. Wolsey desires the Bull may be seen by some of the Kings Council p. 56 The Emperor opposes the Kings business p. 57 A Breve is found in Spain ibid. It was thought to be forged ibid. Campegio comes to England p. 58 And lets the King see the Bull ibid. But refuses to shew it to others ibid. Wolsey moves the Pope that some might see it ibid. But in vain p. 59 Campana is sent by the Pope to Engl. p. 60 The King offers the Pope a Guard ibid. The Pope inclines to the Emperor ibid. Threatnings used to him p. 61 Anno 1529. HE repents the sending over a Bull ibid. But feeds the King with Promises p. 62 The Popes sickness p. 63 Wolsey aspires to the Papacy Ibid. Instructions for promoting him p. 64 New motions for the Divorce p. 65 The Pope Relapses dangerously ibid. A new Dispatch to Rome p. 66 Wolseys Bulls for the Bishoprick of Winton p. 67 The Emperor Protests against the Legates ib. Yet the Pope promises not to recal it ibid. The Legates write to the Pope p. 68 Campegio led an ill life p. 69 The Emperor moves for an Avocation ibid. The Popes Dissimulation p. 70 Great contests about the Avocation ibid. The Legates begin the Process p. 72 A severe charge against the Queen ibid. The King and Queen appear in Court ibid. The Queens speech p. 73. The King declares his scruples ibid. The Queen Appeals to the Pope p. 74 Articles framed and witnesses examined ib. An Avocation prest at Rome ibid. The Pope joyns with the Emperor p. 75 Yet is in great perplexities ibid. The Avocation is granted p. 76 The Proceedings of the Legates ibid. Campegio adjourns the Court p. 77 Which gave great offence ibid. Wolseys danger ibid. Anne Boleyn returns to Court p. 78 Cranmers Opinion about the Divorce p. 79 Approved by the King p. 80 Cardinal Wolsey's fall ibid. The meanness of his temper p. 81 He is Attached of Treason ibid. He dies his Character p. 82. A Parliament called ibid. Complaints against the Clergy p. 83 The Kings debts are discharged ibid. The Pope and the Emperor unite p. 84 The Womens peace ibid. Anno 1530. The Emperor is Crowned at Bononia ib. The Vniversities consulted in the Kings sute of Divorce p. 85 The answers from Oxford and Cambridge p. 86. D. Crook Imployed in Venice p. 87 Many in Italy wrote for the Divorce p. 88 It was opposed by the Pope and the Emperor p. 89 No Money given by the Kings Agents ibid. Great Rewards given by the Emperor p. 90 It is determined for the King at Bononia Padua Ferrara and Orleance p. 91 At Paris Bourges and Tholose p. 92 The Opinions of some Reformers ibid. And of the Lutherans p. 94 The King will not appear at Rome ibid. Cranmer offers to defend the Divorce p. 95 The Clergy Nobility and Gentry write to the Pope for the Divorce ibid. The Popes answer to them p. 96 A Proclamation against Bulls ibid. Books written for the Divorce p. 97 Reasons out of the Old and New Testament ibid. The Authorities of Popes and Councils p. 98 And the Greek and Latine Fathers p. 99 And Canonists p. 100 Marriage is Compleat by Consent ibid. Violent Presumptions of the Consummation of the former Marriage ibid. The Popes Dispensation of no force p. 101. Bishops are not to obey his Decrees p. 102 The Authority of Tradition ibid. The Reasons against the Divorce p. 103 Answers made to these p. 104 The Queen is intractable p. 105 Anno 1531. A Session of Parliament ibid. The Clergy found in a Premunire p. 106 The Prerogatives of the Kings of England in Ecclesiastical affairs ibid. The Encroachments of Popes ibid. Statutes made against them p. 107 The Popes endeavoured to have those repealed p. 109 But with no effect p. 111 The Clergy excused themselves p. 112 Yet they submit and acknowledg the King Supream Head of the Church ibid. The King Pardons them p. 113 And with some difficulty the Laity ibid. One Attainted for Poysoning ibid. The King leaves the Queen p. 114 A disorder among the Clergy ibid. The Pope turns to the French p. 115 And offers his Niece to the Duke of Orleance ibid. The Turk invades the Empire p. 116 Anno 1532. THe Parliament complains of the Spiritual Courts ibid. They reject a Bill concerning Wards p. 117 An Act against Annates ibid. The Pope writes to the King p. 118 The Kings answer ibid. Sir Edward Car sent to Rome p. 119 His Negotiation there p. 120 He corrupts the Cardinal of Ravenna ibid. The Process against the King at Rome p. 121 A Bull for new Bishopricks ibid. The Pope desires