upon the death of Thomas Arundel fell to the Exchequer were by a particular favour granted him by a Patent under the Great Seal after he had paid Six hundred Marks He came to Leicester upon the account of the Parliament which the King had call'd there that he might consult with his Prelates Lords and Commons about making new Laws raising Money and the State of the Kingdom in general In this Parliament the Archbishop by his great Wisdom averted a terrible Storm from the Church which was rais'd against it by the envy of the Nobility and Commonalty at the Wealth of the Prelates which had shewed it self at several times during the Reign of Henry the Fourth but now seem'd to threaten them more nearly in this new Government For ten years before this in a Parliament holden at Coventry in the Year 1404. when King Henry the Fourth demanded Money of them for his Wars with the Scots the Welsh the Bretons the Flemings and the French the House of Commons replied that there was no other way of supplying the necessities of the Publick but by diminishing the excessive Wealth of the Clergy and that such was the Condition of the People of England that they not only advanc'd Money continually for the Service of the War but also expos'd their persons to the common Enemy while the Clergy staid at home and neither serv'd their Country with their Persons nor their Estates To this Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury briskly replied That the Clergy granted Tenths oftner than the Laity did Fifteenths and that more of their Tenants and Domesticks serv'd in the Wars than of those of the Nobility beside their Prayers which they pour'd out to God day and night for the prosperity of the Kingdom And presently turning himself to the King he fell upon his Knees and besought him that he would be mindful of his Oath by which he had solemnly promis'd before God and Man to preserve the Rights and Privileges of the Church entire and unviolated by which and by engaging those of the Nobility whom he thought to favour his Cause he prevail'd so far that the Demands of the Commons were thrown out by a publick Act. Six years after this in another Parliament holden by Henry the Fourth at Westminster the Commons in an Address presented to the King set forth that the Revenues of the Prelates and Monks which they consumed in Debauchery and Excess were sufficient to supply the Necessities of the King and Kingdom that out of them might be maintain'd Fifteen Earls Fifteen hundred Knights Six thousand two hundred Esquires and One hundred Hospitals and therefore they besought the King that he would seise them into his own hands and out of them would defray the necessary Expences of the Kingdom To which Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury again replied That the Commons did not desire the Lands of the Clergy to enrich the Exchequer but to repair their own Fortunes which were wasted by their Prodigality out of the rich Spoils of the Church as it had formerly happened to the Monasteries in France which in the Wars between the English and the French were brought into the Treasury out of which said he the King has not now so much as a Noble left At that time also the King rejected the Petition of the Commons whether it were that he fear'd an eternal Infamy would attend him if he should rob the Church or because he thought that the Promoters of this Design were secret Favourers of the Doctrine of John Wickliff to which he had always a great aversion From that time during the Reign of Henry the Fourth there was nothing attempted against the Church But in this Parliament at Leicester the House of Commons in an Address petition'd the new King that their demands against the Clergy which were represented four years ago might be taken into consideration again and voted in both Houses The Archbishop was extremely troubled at this for he was very sollicitous that the Church should receive no prejudice under his Government his greatest fear arose from the consideration of the King's Youth which is generally bent upon hasty Designs and Innovations Having therefore communicated this Affair to the Bishops it was determin'd by them that the Clergy should offer the King a great Sum of Money and excite him to make war with the French and to assert his Title to that Crown which falling to Edward the Second by Marriage was by him transmitted to his Successors Most of the Writers of that Age relate that the Archbishop upon this occasion presently call'd a Synod at London yet none of their Decrees are now to be found among the publick Records Now our Kings claim'd the Crown of France by this Title Charles the Fair King of France who was the only surviving Male-Heir of the Line of Philip the Fair his Father dying without Issue Edward the Third King of England Son to Edward the Second by Isabella Daughter of Philip the Fair by his Ambassadors demanded the Crown of France of the Estates of that Kingdom as next of kin to Philip the Fair his Mother's Father and Charles his Unkle On the other side Philip de Valois Son to Charles de Valois who was Brother to Philip the Fair maintained that he was next Heir by right of Succession as Cousin German to the late King Charles the Fair whereas Edward claim'd only in right of his Mother as being Grandson to Philip the Fair by his Daughter and Nephew to Charles the Fair by his Sister which Claim was contrary to the Laws and Constitutions of France by which the Crown is to descend upon the Male-line only alledging the words of the Salick Law that no Woman should inherit in Salick Land which Salick Land he affirm'd to be the Kingdom of France The French therefore rejected King Edward's Claim and acknowledg'd Philip for their King whereupon Edward presently assum'd the Title of King of France which our Kings have us'd ever since and having invaded France successfully he left the Quarrel entail'd upon his Successors together with the Crown of England After him Richard the Second a weak Prince desisted wholly from the War with the French and Henry the Fourth though he were a Valiant Prince yet being taken up partly with the Rebellions of the Welch and partly with the Intestine Divisions of his own Nobility he could not employ the whole Force of the Kingdom against them But in Henry the Fifth all opportunities concurr'd for carrying on the War a vigorous Age a great Courage Riches and Peace at home Beside which the Archbishop was of opinion that the fierce and restless Disposition of the Young King ought to be employ'd in some difficult Enterprize and that the only way to keep him from making any Disturbances at home was to shew him an Enemy abroad as there is no other way to stop the fury of
a Torrent but by dividing the Water into several Chanels For this end he rose from his Seat in the House of Lords and address'd himself to the King who sate on his Throne in this manner May it please your Highness IN this Consultation about the publick Affairs of the Kingdom when so many things have been propos'd tending to restrain the Vices of your Subjects by good Laws to the impartial Administration of Justice and to the establishment of the Peace of the Kingdom it would be accounted the highest ingratitude if I alone who by your bounty have been lately advanced to the highest pitch of Honour should conceal those things which seem so necessary to me for enlarging the Bounds of your Dominion and advancing your Reputation amongst Foreign Nations For although by establishing good and wholsome Laws by the due administration of Justice and by the settlement of peace at home you may live safely and securely yet certainly you will have but little regard to your Honour unless you look abroad and consider how you may extend the limits of your Empire and revenge the Injuries done to you by your Enemies for this Opinion hath been constantly received by all Princes whatsoever that the eminence of Kingly Dignity doth consist not so much in the Nobility of their Birth the enjoyment of Pleasures the abundance of all things the Wealth of their Subjects and the Peace of their Kingdoms as in the extent of their Dominion the multitude of their Subjects and the number of their Towns And though the Realms of England and Ireland which are devolv'd upon you from a long series of your Ancestors may sufficiently furnish you with all these yet they are very small if compar'd with the spacious Kingdom of France which in number of People the Wealth of its Cities in strong Garrisons and fortified Towns exceeds all the Kingdoms in the World containing as the French themselves report above Eighty Provinces exceeding populous One hundred and eight Bishops Sees above One thousand Convents and Thirteen thousand Parishes All which descending to your Highness by right of Inheritance from Edward the Third your Great Grandfather are unjustly detain'd by Charles the Sixth commonly call'd King of France to say nothing of those Injuries which are daily offer'd your Subjects in Normandy Gascogne Aquitain and the Provinces of Anjou and Maine which your Ancestors long ago possess'd by another kind of Title and with the consent of the French themselves And that they may have some colour for this Injustice they obtrude upon you the Salick Law made by Pharamond the first King of the Francs by which Law they say it is provided That no Woman shall succeed in Salick Land affirming by a fallacious Interpretation that by the Salick Land is meant the Kingdom of France and by this Cheat they would debar the Female Line of their right of Succession and defraud them of their Inheritance Now the very Title of the Law does sufficiently evince the novelty of this Interpretation For it is affirmed by most of the Writers of that Nation that Pharamond was only Duke of Franconia in Germany that he never pass'd the Rhine nor ever came near the Confines of France but that Four hundred years after his death when Charles the Great had conquer'd the Saxons and brought them over to Christianity some of his Soldiers passing the Rhine setled their Habitations upon the River Sala who from thence were call'd Salick Francs in that part of Germany which is now call'd Misnia and that being very much offended at the immodest behaviour of the German Women they made a Law by which they excluded that Sex from inheriting any part of the Salick Land So that this Constitution is absurdly ascrib'd to Pharamond which had its original from a People that sprung up four hundred years after him and can no more concern the French than it doth the Belgians who at that time were contain'd within the bounds of France or any other Neighbouring Nation But suppose that it did oblige the French yet even then it relates only to private Inheritances and not to publick Right of Government or the Succession of the Kingdom and therefore whenever the French Kings disputed the Title with one another they never made any account of this Law but when they contended with Foreign Princes they then alledg'd it that by this means they might exclude them from the Government For Pepin who depriv'd the Race of Pharamond of the Kingdom by deposing Childeric claim'd the Cromn as next Heir to Blithild Daughter to Clothaire the First which Title was confirm'd by Pope Zachary and by the consent of the People of France When his Posterity had reign'd for Two hundred years Hugh Capet put by Charles Duke of Lorrain who was the only surviving Heir of the Line of Pepin and Charles the Great pretending himself to be lineally descended from Lingarda the Daughter of Charlemain who was Grandson to Charles the Great by which Title he obtain'd the Crown His Grandson Lewis the Tenth who was canoniz'd for a Saint and whom all we Christians honour as such being not very well satisfied with the right of his Grandfather Capet out of a religious scruple would have declined the Government had he not call'd to mind that his Grandmother Queen Isabel was next Heir to Ermingarda Daughter and Heir of Charles of Lorrain whom Capet had impiously depriv'd both of his Life and Kingdom From him all these later Kings of France and this Charles the Sixth who now reigns are descended and all these obtain'd the Kingdom in right of Female Succession which by the Salick Law they would now debar you of and would fain terrify you with this Bugbear which they themselves securely contemn Nor can that be properly call'd a Law which has no shew of equity or justice in it nay which contradicts all Laws both Divine and Humane but ought rather to be term'd a masque or shadow of a Law For by the Civil Laws of the Romans which are approv'd by the consent of all Nations Women are admitted to inherit equally with Men and the distinction of Agnation and Cognation is taken away upon very good grounds for they that introduc'd it seem'd to have laid the blame upon Nature for producing some Women as well as Men and Women suffer through the fault of their Parents in being born of that Sex and not of the Male. These Laws were afterwards admitted by the Sicilians Neapolitans Navarrois Spaniards Portuguese Scots and to say nothing of our selves by almost all Nations by the Constitutions of all which Women for want of Male-heirs are admitted to the Government and herein they all follow the prescription of that Divine Law which God Almighty gave the Jews by Moses in the Twenty seventh Chapter of Numbers If a man dye and have no Son the Inheritance shall
not to be restrain'd by a new Pope 85 And that on the Pope's death a new Election belongs to the Council Ib. Yet during that of Trent the Cardinals chose Paul the Third Ib. That of Constance gave order about t h M due by England to Rome 86 The Election of Pope Martin was mightily liked Ib. London Synod grants the King two Tenths 87 By a Decree therein Students of both Universities were provided for Ib. Which was opposed and laid aside 89 Pope Martin at pleasure fill'd the Episcopal Sees in England Ib. Whose Clergy were quiet during the Council of Constance Ib. Martin first claim'd an universal Right of Presentation 90 In two years made thirteen Bishops in the See of Canterbury Ib. His Appropriations censur'd Ib. The English neglected in the Grants of the Roman Dignities 91 Martin afterwards agreed to some redress Ib. In uniting Parishes Ib. And for a power to Bishops therein Ib. For avoiding the Unions made in time of the Schism Ib. For recalling Dispensations for nonresidence Ib. For lessening the Number of Cardinals and for their equal promotion Ib. The King required that Pope not to meddle with his Presentations 92 That no French be preferred in Aquitain c. Ib. That Irish Livings be given to those that understand English Ib. That the Bishops there promote the English Speech only Ib. That French be not preferr'd to Monasteries in England Ib. That the Pope supply the King with some of the English Mony Ib. The Pope not answering favourably 't was declared the King would take his course 93 The French and Germans declare against the Pope's Provisions Ib. The former revived the Laws to restrain him Ib. That if he were refractory they 'd disown him Ib. The Pope's Interdict of the Church of Lyons remov'd by the Parliament of Paris Ib. An Appeal from the King to the Pope High Treason Ib. The Oppress'd Germans not redress'd 94 The King besieges Roan the Capital City of Normandy Ib. Proposal of a Treaty betwixt England and France Ib. From our King were sent the Archbishop and Earl of Warwick 95 And Cardinal Ursini as Mediator from the Pope Ib. The Commissioners did not conclude Ib. Our King demanded a Million of Crowns Normandy Aquitain and Ponthieu Dowry with his Mistress Ib. The French straitned refused all Terms Ib. Roan holds out obstinately 96 Where 't is said an Apple was sold for 3 s. a Dog for 10 S. Ib. The Citizens helpless their King being Lunatick and the Kingdom in a Civil War Ib. Upon suit made they surrenderd paying 365000 Crowns 97 Here the King setled his Exchequer and Courts for the Affair of Normandy Ib. Took Meudon and Pontoise by storm and others by surrender Ib Half a Tenth granted the King in a Synod where Walker a Priest convicted of Witchcraft for which he abjured and some of Wickliff's Followers recanted 98 99 Processions for the King's Success with whom the Duke of Burgundy made a private League who then had King Queen and Daughter of France in 's power 100 Our King at Troyes marries the said Daughter Catharine on agreement himself should be Regent and their Children succeed to the Crown of France Ib. These Conditions ratified the Archbishop goes to France to congratulate the King 100 101 Who goes against the Dauphin his only Enemy Ib. Took Montereau Ib. Melun surrender'd 102 The King returns to England Ib. Processions for four days Ib. Queen Catharine Crowned Ib. The Synod gives a Tenth on condition that it should be Felony to geld a Priest Ib. Moved to publish a late Decree with a Clause in favour of Monks and Priests Ib. Decreed a Bishop take only 12 s. for Institution and an Archdeacon for Induction 104 Pope Martin denied Money besides the Tenths c. in order to unite the two Churches of France and England Ib. The Archbishop recalls the Judges from the Conquests and commanded the French to obey their Ordinaries 105 The King hastens to France on his Brother's death Ib. His Son Henry born at Windsor Ib. The Queen recovered goes to France Ib. Pavia chosen by Pope Martin for a General Council according to that of Constance 106 A Provincial Synod at London Ib. Whence Delegates were designed Ib. But through Benedict the Thirteenth's Interest the Pavian Council is dissolved called to Siena and seven years after to Basil 107 H. Webb for preaching without Orders whipp'd in three principal Cities Ib. William Taylor 's honest Principles condemned as impious 108 King Henry the Fifth dies of a Fever at Bois de Vinciennes 109 For which his father-in-Father-in-law pining away died with grief within twenty days 110 The King's Body buried at Westminster Ib. His Brothers were left his Son Henry's Guardians Ib. Great loss of a King so vertuous so generally and princely qualified of singular good fortune and esteem thereupon Ib. Duke of Glocester calls a Parliament 111 The hopes the Archbishop conceived of young King Henry Ib. Three Reasons for calling the Parliament viz. to assign the King Governors and consult about the Peace and for the defence of the Realm 112 Jethro 's Advice Ib. The Duke of Glocester confirm'd Protector and the Archbishop named First of the Council 113 But he retired to his Function Ib. Founded a College at Higham Ferrers Ib. And a large Hospital 114 The Considerable Revenues of which were augmented by his Brothers Robert and William Ib. A Synod held by him at London Ib. The Dauphin crown'd King of France at Poictiers Ib. Whereupon preparation was made for War 115 The Regent of France and Duke of Burgundy oppose the Dauphin Ib. The former sent for Supplies from England Ib. The Bishop of Winchester moves for Money in the Synod Ib. Which now wants Henry the Fifth 116 As Henry the Sixth is like to go without their Money the Clergy's Estates being already so much drained and Livings fallen so low Ib. Being also alledged that the power of granting Tenths was taken away Ib. The Bishop succeeded no better in the Lower House and so the Synod was adjourned 116 117 At the next Sessions half a Tenth was granted by the Higher House on condition the Proctors consented but refused by the Lower House Ib. The Synod dissolved Ib. At the next half a Tenth's given with much ado 118 Hoke and Drayton's Heresy and Russell denies personal Tythes to be Jure Divino 118 119 In his absence proclaimed an Heretick and prosecuted at Rome 119 120 Afterwards he abjured his Error in England 120 H. Beaufort Bishop of Winchester an open Enemy to the Lord Protector 121 Great Parties on each side appear in the Streets of London Ib. The Archbishop interposed Ib. They then laid down their Arms 122 The Bishop of Winchester accuses the Protector to the Duke of Bedford Ib. Who hastens into England Ib. Calls a Parliament Ib. Finds out the causes of the Quarrel and inclines them to the arbitration of the Archbishop and Duke of Exeter c. 123 Their Reconciliation confirm'd by the
the King two Tenths By a Decree therein Students of both Universities were provided for Which was opposed and laid aside Pope Martin at pleasure fill'd the Episcopal Sees in England Whose Clergy were quiet during the Council of Constance Martin first claim'd an universal Right of Presentation In two years made thirteen Bishops in the See of Canterbury His Appropriation censur'd The English neglected in the Grants of the Roman Dignities Martin afterwards agreed to some redress In uniting Parishes And for a power to Bishops therein For avoiding the Unions made in time of the Schism For recalling Dispensations for nonresidence For Lessening the Number of Cardinals and for their equal promotion The King required that Pope not to meddle with his Presentations That no French be preferred in Aquitain c. That Irish Livings be given to those that understand English That the Bishops there promote the English Speech only That French be not preser'd to Monasteries in England That the Pope supply the King with some of the English Money The Pope not answering favourably 'T was declared the King would take his course The French and Germans declare against the Pope's Provisions The former revived the Laws to restrain him That if he were refractory they 'd disown him The Pope's Interdict of the Church of Lyons remov'd by the Parliament of Paris An Appeal from the King to the Pope High Treason h Carol. Molinae de Monar Fran. n. 145. The Oppress'd Germans not redress'd i In Epistolis passim The King besieges Roan the Capital City of Normandy Proposal of a Treaty betwixt England and France From our King were sent the Archbishop and Earl of Warwick k Enguerr de Monstrell cap. 200. And Cardinal Ursini as Mediator from the Pope The Commissioners did not conclude Our King demanded a Million of Crowns Normandy Aquitain and Ponthieu Dowry with his Mistress The French straitned refused all Terms Roan holds out obstinately Where 't is said an Apple was sold for 3 s. a Dog for 10 s. The Citizens helpless their King being Lunatick and the Kingdom in a Civil War l Enguerr de Monstrell cap. 202. Upon 〈◊〉 made they surrenderd paying 365000 Crowns Here the King setled his Exchequer and Courts for the Affairs of Normandy Took Meudon and Pontoise by storm And others by surrender Half a Tenth granted the King in a Synod where Walker a Priest convicted of Witchcraft for Which he abjured And some of Wicklyff's Followers recanted Processions for the King's Success with whom Duke of Burgundy made a private League Who then had King Queen and Daughter of France in 's power Our King at Troyes marries the said Daughter Catharine On agreement himself should be Regent and their Children succeed to the Crown of France These Conditions ratified The Archbishop goes to France to congratulate the King Who goes against the Dauphin his only Enemy Took Montereau Melun surrender'd The King returns to England Processions for four days Queen Catharine Crowned The Synod gives a Tenth On condition That it should be Felony to geld a Priest Moved to publish a late Decree with a Clause in favour of Monks and Priests Decreed a Bishop take only 12 s. for Institution and an Archdeacon for Induction Pope Martin denied Money besides the Tenths c. In order to unite the two Churches of France and England The Archbishop recalls the Judges from the Conquests And commanded the French to obey their Ordinaries The King hastens to France on his Brother's death His Son Henry born at Windsor The Queen recovered goes to France m Sess 39. Pavia chosen by Pope Martin for a General Council according to that of Constance A Provincial Synod at London Whence Delegates were designed But through Benedict the Thirteenth's Interest the Pavian Council is dissolved Called to Siena And seven years after to Basil H. Webb for preaching without Orders whipp'd in three principal Cities William Taylor 's honest Principles condemned as impious King Henry the Fifth dies of a Fever at Bois de Vinciennes For which his Father-in law pining away died with grief within twenty days The King's Body buried at Westminster His Brothers were left his Son Henry's Guardians Great loss of a King so vertuous So generally and princely qualified Of singular good fortune and esteem thereupon Duke of Glocester calls a Parliament n Rotul Parlia Ann. 1. H. 6. The hopes the Archbishop conceived of young King Henry Three Reasons for calling the Parliament viz. to assign the King Governors and consult about the Peace and for the defence of the Realm Jethro's Advice The Duke of Glocester confirmed Protector and the Archbishop named First of the Council But he retired to his Function Founded a College at Higham Ferrers And a large Hospital The Considerable Revenues of which were augmented by his Brothers Robert and William A Synod held by him at London The Dauphin crown'd King of France at Poictiers Whereupon preparation was made for War The Regent of France and Duke of Burgundy oppose the Dauphin The former sent for Supplies from England The Bishop of Winchester moves for Money in the Synod Which now wants Henry the Fifth As Henry the Sixth is like to go without their Money The Clergy's Estates being already so much drained And Livings fallen so low Being also alledged that the power of granting Tenths was taken away The Bishop succeeded no better in the Lower House and so The Synod was adjourned At the next Sessions half a Tenth was granted by the Higher House on condition the Proctors consented But refused by the Lower House The Synod dissolved o C. Quoniam v. provinciam de decim At the next Half a Tenth's given with much ado Hoke and Drayton's Heresy and Russell denies personal Tythes to be Jure Divino In his absence proclaimed an Heretick p Liter Academ Oxon. in Archiv ep 20. And prosecuted at Rome Afterwards he abjured his Error in England H Beaufort Bishop of Winchester an open Enemy to the Lord Protector Great Parties on each side Appear in the Streets of London The Archbishop interposed They then laid down their Arms. The Bishop of Winchester accuses the Protector to the Duke of Bedford Who hastens into England Calls a Parliament Finds out the causes of the Quarrel And inclines them to the arbitration of q Rotul Parliam an 4. H. 6. The Archbishop and Duke of Exeter c. Their Reconciliation confirm'd by the Votes of the whole Parliament Which granted Money for Levying Men. And Half a Tenth granted in the Synod Bishop of Winchester made Cardinal The Cap with a Legacy for England had been promised him by John the Twenty third But the Archbishop had shewn that the Pope's Legates derogated from the Royal Dignity c. Which he did in a Letter to the King Wherein there is a Specimen of the English Language at that time No Suit to be made to the Pope after Election till the Pope has wrote to the King and has got an Answer A Pope's Legate in England durante vitâ without Precedent The Doctrine and Discipline of the Church dispensable by the Ordinaries c. not Legates The Archbâ—shop sends a Minute of the Legate's Office or Instructions to the King Such Legacies are extraordinary and not without great and notable cause and no resident above two Months at most The Instructions to be express and limited He deprecates the Oppressions and cormorant Exactions of the Legates Upon this Letter the King forbad the Bishop of Winchester the Cardinal 's Cap. r Polychron in Hen. 5. After the King's death he is created Cardinal Å¿ Antiq. Britan. in Henr. Chich. For whom our pious Henry Archbishop was mistaken A Vigorous Defender of the King's Authority Whence he incurr'd the displeasure of Pope Martin the Fifth t Epist Academ Oxon 36. in Archiv The Archbishop's Character from Oxford u Rotul Parliam an 6 H. 6. Great Intercession mads for him Bishop of Winchester is Legate in England with a Faculty So exercis'd the Power that he was stiled the Rich Cardinal x Joan. Foxius in Martyrolog sub H. 5. The Cardinal opposed by R. Caudray the King's Proctor Promises not to exercise his Office without the King's leave * Eodem jure semper usi sunt Gallire Reges quorum injussu Legatis Pontificum nunquam licuit Galliam ingredi aut mandata promulgare Sicuti clarissimus Advocatus Regius Ludovicus Servinus coram Senatu Parisiensi Turonibus tum sedente demonstrabat cum Ann. MDXC Cardinalis Cajetanus ad Henricum IV. Galliae Regem Legatus mitteretur †L. Servâ—n aux playdoier vol. 4.
THE LIFE OF HENRY CHICHELE Archbishop of Canterbury Who lived in the Times of HENRY the V. and VI. Kings of England Written in Latin by ARTH. DUCK LLD. Now made English And a Table of CONTENTS Annexed LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCXCIX The most Reverend D r. HENRY CHICHELE Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury MBurghers delin et sculp To the most Reverend Father in God THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan My Lord WHILE the World is so fond of Voyages and the Discoveries of Unknown Countries I hope it will not be unacceptable to bring into view one of the best Lives of one of the Greatest Prelates of this Church writ in Latin with great Judgment by a Man very eminent in his Profession If this Prelate had lived in happier Times he would probably have exerted those great Talents which he carried far in so dark an Age in Services of a high nature He had a true Judgment and firm Courage with a generous Temper and was a great Patron and Promoter of Learning He despised Wealth was free from aspiring and asserted the Rights of the Crown and the Liberties of this Church against Papal Usurpations These were great Qualities and so much the greater because the Corruptions of the Clergy from the Papacy down to the Begging Orders were then to an insupportable degree In any other Age the publishing a Life which has so great a Relation to the most Glorious part of our History might have lookt like a reproach of the Time in which it came out But the Present Age may well bear it in which if we have not carried our Conquest into France as was then done yet we see a GREAT PRINCE who has far out-done the Performances of that time Then a Feeble King and divided Court made the Work as easy in it self as it looks great in History But we have seen a Mighty and United Power managed by Wise Counsels flush'd with a long course of Success that gave Law to All about it stopt in its full career by a King born to be a Blessing to the present Age and a Wonder to all Succeeding ones to Whose Reign the most renouned Pieces of our History are but foiles to set it off and make it shine the brighter My Lord I could not be long in suspence for the choice of a proper Patron to my small Interest in this Work which is only the care of the Translation of it into English The See that you do now govern with so Apostolical a Temper and in none of the easiest Times is not the chief reason of my addressing to Your Grace the Life of one of the most Eminent of all Your Predecessors I could give many more Reasons for the choice that relate immediately to Your Self but I will rather leave it to the Reader to find out than offer a thing so ingrateful to Your Lordship I pay Your Grace so profound a Reverence that I will not venture on that which I know will offend You for I am with the truest Zeal and the highest Respect possible My Lord Your Grace's most Humble and most Obedient Servant THE LIFE OF HENRY CHICHELE Archbishop of CANTERBURY HENRY CHICHELE was Born at Higham-Ferrars an ancient Town in Northamptonshire so call'd from the Ferrars who were formerly Lords of it His Father's Name was Thomas Chichele his Mother 's Agnes The Family was but mean and obscure but through his Virtue it became illustrious in after-ages In his Youth he applied himself to the Study of the Civil and Canon Law at Oxford being made Fellow of New-College by William Wyckam then Bishop of Winchester who had lately at a vast Charge founded and endow'd with large Revenues two stately Colleges one at Oxford and the other at Winchester In these Studies of the Law he improv'd his good natural Parts by his great Industry and commenc'd Doctor in that Faculty He left the University at the instance of Robert Medeford Bishop of Salisbury who took him first into his House and Family and afterwards communicated also to him his most private and important Concerns with whom he ever after preserv'd a strict and intimate Friendship He was preferr'd by him to the Archdeaconry of Salisbury which was his first step to Ecclesiastical Promotions But one Walter Fitzpers a Priest commenc'd a Suit against him for this Dignity claiming it by vertue of a Grant from King Henry the Fourth under the Great Seal The Cause being brought by Appeal before Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury the Archdeaconry was adjudg'd to Henry Chichele by the Auditor of the Archbishop's Court who was deputed with full Power to determine this affair This was about the Years 1402 and 1403 in the Reign of King Henry the Fourth He held this Dignity for about two years and with great diligence perform'd the Duty of his Office after which he was made Chancellor of Salisbury For Walter Medeford the Bishop's Brother who enjoy'd that Place made an exchange with him which was allow'd to be lawful according to the Constitutions of the Canon Law and having both quitted their several Dignities Henry was made Chancellor by the Bishop and Walter Archdeacon There was annexed to the Chancellorship the Parsonage of Odyham in the Diocess of Winchester which was then void and was given to him by the Bishop and he was immediately put in possession of it by the Custos Rotulorum of the See of Winchester which was then vacant by the Death of William Wyckam who on the 27 th of September chang'd a Life which he had spent very gloriously in the Service of that Church for Immortality These Preferments he obtain'd by the favour of the Bishop of Salisbury who always highly esteem'd him and when he died which was about three years after made very honourable mention of him in his Will and left him a golden Cup with a Cover and made him the Chief of his Executors which were named in the same Will His eminent Qualifications began now to be generally taken notice of and particularly by King Henry the Fourth who afterwards employ'd him in many Negotiations For besides his extraordinary Learning he had a sharp and piercing Wit which with his Experience and Skill in Civil Affairs rendred him very dextrous in the management of Business The first publick Employment that he had beside those Affairs which he dispatch'd for the King here at home with great Commendation was in an extraordinary Embassy which was sent by the King to Pope Gregory the Twelfth to Congratulate his late Advancement to the Papacy or to reconcile him to Benedict the Thirteenth who assumed the Pontifical Dignity at Avignon The Ambassadors arriving in Italy took their Journey towards Rome but in their way thither they met with the Pope at Siena which is a very pleasant and noble City of Tuscany at that time
by birth a Cretan but it is not certainly known who his Father was When he was a Boy he was taken up by a certain Franciscan Fryer as he was begging from Door to Door who perceiving good Parts in him admitted him into his Order and instructed him in Grammar and Logick whilst he was in Italy from thence he sent him to Oxford where applying himself to the Studies of Philosophy and Divinity he attain'd to a very great perfection in both those Sciences as he shew'd afterwards in his Lectures at Paris and his close and subtile Commentaries upon the Books of Sentences After that by the Interest of John Galeatius Duke of Milan he was made Archbishop of that place then he was created Cardinal by Innocent the Seventh and now at last he was made Pope He was a man of great Learning and Integrity but having been wholly addicted to study and confin'd to a Monastick Life he was generally esteem'd unfit for the Administration of Publick Affairs He enjoy'd not the See of Rome either long or peaceably for the next Year going from Pisa to Bologna on the first of May in the Tenth Month of his Pontificate he was poison'd as it is believ'd and Balthasar Cossa whom he had made Legate of Bologna a man of a fierce Disposition and fitter for the Soldiery than the Priesthood was chosen Pope by the College of Cardinals partly through fear of the Soldiers that he kept in Garrison in the City and partly by bribing the poor Cardinals that were lately promoted by Gregory and took the name of John the Twenty third Now while Alexander was Pope at Pisa and Bologna Gregory assum'd that Title at Ariminum and Benedict at Panischola a City of Arragon so that three Popes sat at one time in St. Peter's Chair which could hardly contain the Pride of one and by the just judgment of God their Vanity was made manifest who would have the holy Flock of Christ and the Faith of all Christians to depend upon a perpetual succession of Popes in that See The Council of Pisa being broke up and the Winter coming on Henry Bishop of St. David's who is mention'd in the Statute-Books this Year as the King's Ambassador with the other Delegates return'd into England and the two following Years he was call'd by the Archbishop to two Synods holden at London as appears out of the publick Acts of those Synods the rest of his time he spent in visiting his Diocess examining into the Lives of the People and all the other Duties of his Episcopal Function which he perform d with great diligence as often as he had leisure from publick Affairs in which he was often employ'd by King Henry the Fourth who always highly honour'd him for his great Wisdom On the 20 th of March 1413. Henry the Fourth dyed at Westminster and Henry the Fifth a very accomplish'd Prince succeeded him to whom in respect of his excellent Endowments the Nobility of their own accord swore Allegiance before he was crown'd which we never read to have been done to any of our Kings before him While he was in a private Capacity he spent his younger days loosely and extravagantly but when he came to the Crown he chang'd his course of Life together with his Condition for he presently put away from him all those that he had made his Equals and who had serv'd him as Instruments of his Extravagances and took to him all the wisest and gravest men whose Counsels his Father had made use of amongst them Henry Bishop of St. David's whom he ever after highly esteemed and this very Year in the beginning of his Reign he chose him out of all the rest and sent him upon two very honourable Embassies first to the King of France and then to the Duke of Burgundy the remembrance of which we owe to the French Writers for ours have omitted this and many other passages For a War was begun in France between Charles the Sixth and Henry the Fourth occasion'd by the frequent Incursions of the French into Aquitain which at that time was in the possession of the English This Quarrel was transmitted together with the Crown to Henry the Fifth by his Father But King Charles being taken up with the Intestine Divisions between his Brother Lewis of Orleans and John Duke of Burgundy desir'd a Truce with the English from which King Henry being newly come to the Crown and his Affairs at home being not yet throughly setled was not much averse Whereupon Richard Earl of Warwick and Henry Bishop of St. David's were sent out of England and from the French King the Master of the Horse which is the highest Honour in France and the Admiral who meeting at Calais concluded a Truce for one Year When he was come back from France he was sent again the same Year with the Earl of Warwick to demand the Duke of Burgundy's Daughter in marriage for King Henry They met with the Duke at Lisle in Flanders and treated with him according to their Instructions but return'd without concluding any thing either because they did not like the person of the Lady or because the King was become more inclinable to a Match with the King of France's Daughter and had sent Ambassadors into France at this very time to treat about it Some few Months after his return he receiv'd a very ample Reward of these Embassies and his other Merits For the Creation of an Archbishop of Canterbury being in consultation he of all the Bishops of England was chosen without dispute as most capable of exercising the highest Office in the Kingdom next to the King himself in whose Judgment he was look'd upon as the fittest Person to deliver his Opinion first in the Privy Council For Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury dying on the 19 th of February in the Year 1414. John Wodneburgh Prior of Canterbu and the Monks of that Church desir'd leave of the King to elect a new Archbishop which was a Prerogative that the Kings of England had challeng'd to themselves since the time of Edward the Third who took it away from the Pope and constituted Bishops by his own Authority which practice of theirs Panormitanus affirm'd to be agreeable to the Constitutions of the canon-Canon-Law When they had obtain'd leave of the King by a Grant under the Great Seal they first call'd home the absent Monks and celebrated the Funeral of Thomas Arundel in Christ's Church in Canterbury and on the 4 th of May they all assembled in the Chapter-house where after Solemn Service and a Sermon in which they were all admonish'd of their Duty out of the Holy Scriptures in a matter of so great importance and having also caused the King's Grant to be reâ—d Henry Bishop of St. David's was immediately demanded by all their Voices which demand was declared by John Langdon
pass to his Daughter To which Ordinance if any Laws in any Nation whatsoever be found repugnant they are not Laws but Corruptions seeing they depart from that principal Rule of Justice which the great Lawgiver prescrib'd to his own People But setting aside those Women who govern'd that very People and those Kings who inherited that Crown in right of their Mothers we Christians do all acknowledge that Jesus Christ was the lawful Heir of the Jewish Kingdom now they who deny a right of Succession to be deriv'd from the Female Sex do not only oppose his Title but also deprive us of those exceeding great Benefits which God hath promis'd to Mankind through Christ For God having promis'd Abraham that in his Seed all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed because the Messias was to come out of his Family and the Prophets Isaiah and Micah by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost having prophesied many Ages before that Christ should spring out of the Root of Jesse and out of the Family of David and that the Tribe of Juda should be the noblest of all the rest because Christ was to arise out of it who should govern the People of Israel if the right of Succession be taken away from the Female Sex we shall find no truth in these Divine Oracles for Christ being begotten by an Eternal Father could not spring from the Seed of Abraham from the Root of Jesse from the House of David and from the Tribe of Juda but by Inheritance from his Mother But the French chuse rather to destroy the veracity of the Divine Promises than to submit to a Foreign Prince and they that call themselves most Christian do prefer a supposititious Law of Pharamond a Heathen before those sacred Laws given by God himself I would ask the French why they exclude Women from a right of governing whom all other Nations do admit Is it because their Government is so much better than that of all other Nations and even than that of the Jews which was constituted by God himself that only men are capable of administring it or does France which as they say produces the bravest men in the World bring forth the weakest and most despicable Women or did your great Grandfather's Mother Isabella commit some heinous Crime for which she a King's Daughter and Sister to Kings deserv'd to be depriv'd of the Crown But though we should grant them all this yet seeing they have formerly rejected your great Grandfather King Edward and do now disclaim any Authority that your Highness hath over them they are very manifestly convicted of Treason against you For admitting the Salick Law to be in force in the Kingdom of France let Females be excluded and the Male Issue only inherit the Crown yet by what words of that Law are the Sons of those Females excluded Shall a Law that debars Women from inheriting in respect of the natural Levity of their Sex be made to contradict it self and for a quite contrary reason to put by Men also or will they by a kind of malicious comprehension extend those words of the Law to the Male-Sex which reach only the Female Wherefore though they exclude Isabella why did they not admit her Son Edward a magnanimous and prudent Person why do they not invite your Highness a Prince every way qualified for Government For it is a received Maxim amongst the Lawyers that one unworthy or incapable may transmit some sort of right to his Heir and that those Laws that take away from Females the right of Inheritance are contrary to right Reason and natural Justice that none but the strictest interpretation of them is to be admitted and that they may not be stretch'd beyond the very Letter from Women to Men nor to the exclusion of a Sex that is not mentioned in them but ought rather to be taken in the most favourable acceptation Seeing therefore most mighty Prince that you are call'd to the Kingdom of France by the Laws both of God and Man assert that Right which is denied you by the French by force of Arms strike off that Crown from the head of the King of France which he hath unjustly put on repress the Rebellions of that People with fire and sword maintain the ancient Honour of the English Name amongst Foreign Nations and suffer not Posterity to accuse your Tameness in passing by those Affronts put upon you by your Enemies For besides a very just Cause which is commonly attended with the Divine Assistance you have all things that can be desir'd for carrying on a War with success a vigorous Age a strong and healthful Constitution a loyal Nobility and Commonalty and a flourishing Kingdom and lastly We your Subjects of the Clergy have granted your Highness a greater Sum of Money than your Predecessors ever received of our Order which we very readily and chearfully offer you for the Charges of this War and shall daily in our Prayers implore the Divine Majesty that by the prosperous success of your Arms he would make known to all the World the Justice of your Cause The Archbishop having ended his Speech the King seem'd very much affected with it But Ralph Nevil Earl of Westmorland President of the North fearing the Incursions of the Scots if the King should pass over into France in a long Oration endeavour'd to persuade That a War with the Scots was to be undertaken before that with the French and after he had excused himself in the beginning of his Speech for his want of Learning as not being able to contend with my Lord of Canterbury either in Eloquence or Knowledge he added That he had learn't from Wise men and from his own Experience that Forces united are stronger than disjoin'd and that it was less hazardous to invade a Neigbouring Enemy than one more remote Thus the Romans first reduc'd to their obedience the Samnites the Fidenates the Volsci and those People of Italy that lay next to them before they attempted to meddle with Foreign Nations and afterwards preferr'd the little Island of Sicily because it border'd upon Italy before the vast Regions of Pannonia Numidia and Germany He shew'd that the War with the Scots would be managed here at home where Soldiers and all other necessary preparations for War would be ready at hand whereas against the French there was a necessity of providing a great Fleet and Army at a prodigious charge when the Seat of the War was to be in the Enemies Country that the Victory would be easily obtain'd over the Scots their King being Prisoner in England and the state of Affairs there being in confusion through the unseasonable severity of Alban the Regent and lastly That the cause of this War would be very just being occasioned by the Ravages and Robberies daily committed by the Scots which they would exercise with greater fury while the English
were engag'd with the French who are in strict conjunction with the Scots by an ancient and even natural Alliance that is between the two Nations and therefore that it would be very hazardous to invade the French before England was secur'd from the Scots at home To this Speech of the Earl's reply'd John Duke of Exeter a Man of great Wisdom and Learning which he had acquir'd in the Universities of Italy whither he was sent by his Father who design'd him for the Church He very eloquently maintained That the French ought first to be invaded upon whose aid the Scots relying infested the English That if they were subdued the Scots would come in of themselves according to this Aphorism of the Physicians That the Remedy must be first applied to the Cause of the Disease and that in order to the healing a Wound effectually the peccant Humour must first of all be purg'd For from whence said he do the Scots draw the first rudiments either of Learning or Arms but from their Education in France How can the Scotch Nobility be maintain'd if those Pensions should fail which they use to receive from France or if that Kingdom should be subdued with what Nation will the Scots maintain any Commerce or from whom will they implore Assistance Not from Denmark that King is allied to you by marriage with your Sister not from Portugal or Castile both those Princes are your Cousin-Germans not from Italy that is too remote not from Germany or Hungary they are both in league with us so that the Scots will submit to you of themselves when the French are conquer'd as the Tree necessarily withers when the Sap fails He also shew'd in the Instances of Malcolm and David Bruce that the Scots never invaded England but when the English were at war with France and therefore he propos'd that the Earl of Westmorland should be sent with some choice Troops to hinder them from attempting any thing in the King's absence He concluded that the Conquest of France would be a rich and plentiful reward of their Victory in comparison of which that of Scotland was but poor and inconsiderable The King and the Nobility were so much inclin'd in favour of this Opinion but especially the Dukes of Clarence Bedford and Glocester the King's Brethren who were enflam'd with the desire of acquiring Honur and Renown in the War with France by the Example of their Ancestors that when it came to be voted after the usual manner they all concurred in their Opinion with the Archbishop and cried out confusedly in the House War War with France By this means the Archbishop obtain'd great commendation of Posterity for his Wisdom who by this Counsel of his promoted a very successful War and averted a very great Calamity from the Church The King having dissolv'd the Parliament with great diligence provided his Army and Navy and made all other necessary preparations for such a War designing to invade France the next Year In the beginning of which that he might proceed according to the Law of Nations he sent Ambassadors into France the Bishops of Durham and Norwich to demand the Kingdom of King Charles who receiv'd them civilly and told them that he would shortly send Ambassadors into England to return an Answer to their Demands The Fleet and Army being ready for this Expedition and the Soldiers being order'd to rendezvouz at Southampton in order to embark on Board the Fleet The King in his Journy thither staid some time at Winchester where the French Ambassadors came to him who were the Earl of Vendosme William Bouratier Archbishop of Bourges Peter Fremell Bishop of Lisieux and Walter Cole Secretary to the King The Archbishop of Bourges made an Eloquent Oration in the name of the rest in which after he had largely and floridly describ'd the Miseries of War and the Advantages of Peace he offer'd the King in marriage the Lady Catharine King Charle's Daughter if he would desist from the War promising for her Dowry a great Sum of Money and some part of those Provinces which the King demanded by right of Inheritance The King only answer'd at that time that he would consider of the Conditions which they propos'd and the next day sitting on his Throne and attended with a great number of the Nobility the Ambassadors being call'd in he told them that the Conditions which they offer'd were such as he could not accept of with honour and calling Henry Archbishop of Canterbury he commanded him to give a fuller Anser to the Archbishop of Bourges Oration which he did to this effect That the King as soon as he came to the Crown thought nothing of greater importance than to maintain peace as well at home amongst his own Subjects as abroad with Foreign Princes For which cause he had call'd a Parliament in which having setled his Affairs at home he had sent Ambassadors into France to claim his right and to demand that part of the Kingdom of France which the Kings of England had held for some Ages by a lawful possession But seeing his Ambassadors had brought back no Answer from King Charles that he had levied an Army and provided all things necessary for the War and that he was now ready to pass over into France and revenge the wrong they had done him when he perceiv'd they made no account of his Right Nevertheless that he might testify to all the World how averse he was from shedding Christian Blood by the mutual Butchery of War that he would remit something of his Right that he would disband his Army and establish a Peace between the two Nations by marriage with Catharine upon condition that they would restore to him the Dutchies of Aquitain and Anjou and the other Dominions which his Ancestors enjoy'd in France neither forcibly nor clandestinely nor precariously That unless these Conditions were accepted the King would immediately enter France with his Army and lay it waste with Fire and Sword nor would he ever desist from slaughter and revenge till he had reduc'd it to his obedience and had recover'd the Dominion transmitted to him by right of Inheritance from his Predecessors And lastly That he call'd God Almighty both for a Witness and Avenger of his Cause whose Majesty he trusted would be propitious to so just a War When the Archbishop had done speaking the King interpos'd and with his Royal Word confirm'd all that he had deliver'd in more copious and Rhetorical Terms To which when the Archbishop of Bourges began to reply with reproachful Language and to reflect upon the King with more freedom than consisted with the Character of an Ambassador the King only reprimanded him for the liberty which he took and commanded the Ambassadors to depart the Kingdom under safe Conduct The King soon after follow'd them setting sail from Southampton with his whole Army on the 13 th of
Synod but they all refusing the Condition lest they should be accounted inferior to the Doctors in Presentations to Livings this Decree which would have been for the good of both Universities was at that time laid aside When the Synod was ended the injurious proceeding of Martin the new Pope began to be enquir'd into For about this time several Bishops dying in England the Pope substituted others at his own pleasure In the beginning of the next year he made Benedict Nicoll Bishop of St. David's William Barrow Bishop of Bangor John Chandeler Bishop of Salisbury and Philip Morgan Bishop of Worcester by vertue of that absolute Power which the Popes in that Age arrogated to themselves in disposing of the Bishoprickes of England The Clergy here had been quiet for some time during the Council of Constance after the deposing of John the Twenty third For the Bishops of Salisbury and Hereford dying at that time two new Bishops were made by the free Election of both those Chapters nor could the whole College of Cardinals by their Letters written from Constance prevail upon the Chapter of Salisbury to demand John Bishop of Litchfield the King's Commissioners at the Council for their Bishop But Pope Martin having now got quiet possession of the See of Rome became far more insolent than his Predecessors for in the beginning of his Pontificate he claim'd a Right of presentation to all Churches whatsoever reserv'd to himself the Donation of all Bishopricks by provision disannull'd all the Elections of Bishops made by the Chapters and within two years time made thirteen Bishops in the Province of Canterbury taking his opportunity while the King was engag'd in the War with France to venture upon an Action which Edward the Third and Richard the Second had prohibited by most severe Laws he also made his Nephew Prospero Colonna a Youth of Fourteen years of Age Archdeacon of Canterbury by Provision to whom some years after to gratify the Pope the King granted the Profits of as many Benefices in England as did not exceed fifty Marks yearly Besides this Complaints were made of his promiscuous uniting of Churches which are commonly call'd Appropriations and Consolidations of his easiness in granting Dispensations by which Priests were excus'd from residing upon their Benefices and Laymen were permitted to hold Spiritual Preferments and lastly that there was no notice taken of the English in the distribution of the Dignities of the Court of Rome The King's Commissioners at the Council of Constance John Bishop of Litchfield and John Polton Dean of York were order'd to represent these Grievances to the new Pope who soon obtain'd a concession of some Privileges to the English which in the Instrument it self are call'd Agreements between Martin the Fifth and the Church of England These were That the uniting of Parishes should not depend wholly upon the Pope's pleasure but that the Bishops of the several Diocesses should have power to examine into the reason of it That the Vnions of Churches and Consolidations of Vicarages made in the time of the Schism should be made void That those Dispensations granted by the Pope by which Priests were excus'd from Residence and Laymen and Monks were made capable of holding Livings should be recall'd That for the future the number of Cardinals should be lessen'd and that they should be promoted equally out of all Nations and that the English should be admitted to all other Offices in the Court of Rome About the same time the King sent another Embassy to the Pope to desire him not to intermeddle in the disposing of those Livings in England the Presentation of which belong'd to him as well by Agreement made between the Kings of England and the Popes as by his Royal Prerogative that no Frenchmen might be preferr'd to any Bishopricks or Livings in Aquitain or any other of the King's Dominions in France that Dignities and Benefices in Ireland might be conferr'd only upon those that understood English and that the Bishops of that Kingdom in their respective Diocesses might take care that the People should speak only English That for the future no Frenchmen might be admitted into the Monasteries founded by the French in England and that the Pope would grant the King a Supply who was now making war in defence of the See of Rome out of the Money that was paid to the Treasury of Rome in England To which Requests when the Pope return'd no favourable Answer the Ambassadors added that if he did not speedily satisfy their demands they were commanded to declare openly that the King would make use of his own Right in all these things which he had desir'd of him not out of necessity but only to shew his respect to his Holiness and to put in a publick Protestation concerning these Matters before the whole College of Cardinals The French also and the Germans protested against these Provisions and other Artifices of the Pope For the Estates of France being assembled at Paris in May this Year by their Edict reviv'd all the Ancient Laws that had been made to redress the Grievances and restrain the Tyranny of the Popes in which Edict it was further added that Martin should not be acknowledg'd as Pope by the French unless he would subscribe to this Decree and when he had interdicted the Church of Lyons the Interdict was taken off by the Parliament of Paris and the Rector of that University was tried for High Treason for appealing from the King's Edicts to the Pope The Germans also about this time being pillag'd by the Extortion of the Pope's Receivers desir'd of him a redress of their Grievances but they were put off with Indulgences and Pardons as Aeneas Sylvius relates who liv'd at that time in Germany Toward the end of this Year the Archbishop of Canterbury after he had visited the Diocess of Rochester being sent for by the King pass'd over into France leaving John Wodnesburgh Prior of Canterbury his Vicar-general He found the King at Roan in Normandy who since his arrival in France had taken partly by storm and partly by surrender Caen Cherbourg Allenson Constance Falaise and several other strong Towns in Normandy and had then laid siege to Roan the Capital City of that Province About this time it was agreed upon by the two Kings to send Commissioners on both Sides to treat of a Peace who were to meet at Pontlarch a Town lately taken by King Henry situated upon the Seine about eight Miles from Roan On the King of England's part were sent the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Earl of Warwick from the French King Philip Morvillier President of the Parliament of Paris the Bishop of Beauvais and Reginald Tolleville Knight and from the Pope Cardinal Vrsini who was to mediate the Peace on both Sides The Commissioners debated fifteen days about composing Matters
but came to no conclusion For the French shew'd up and down the Picture of Catharine King Charles's Daughter very curiously drawn whom they propos'd in Marriage to King Henry but the English demanding for her Dowry a Million of Crowns together with Normandy Aquitain and the County of Ponthieu independent of the Sovereignty of France the French at length openly refus'd all Terms of accord conceiving that King Charles was not capable of transacting any thing having lately lost his Senses nor the Dauphin who acted in right of another and not for himself nor the Duke of Burgundy who had no power to alienate the Dominions of the Kingdom of France All this while the People of Roan held out very obstinately though they were reduc'd to the greatest Extremities For after six Months siege in which Six thousand Men perished partly by the Sword and partly by Famine those that remain'd were forc'd to feed upon the most loathsome Animals as Dogs Horses and Mice and they were reduc'd to so great a scarcity of all things that as it is reported an Apple was sold for Three Shillings and a Dog for Ten nor could they any longer hope for Relief for King Charles was not well in his Wits and the Princes were engag'd in a Civil War in which all France was involv'd being divided between Charles the Dauphin and John Duke of Burgundy Wherefore two of the Nobility two of the Clergy and two of the Citizens with a Herald were sent out of the Town who falling down at the King's Feet humbly sued for Peace The King sent them to the Archbishop's Tent to whom he had given power together with the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury the Lord Fitz-hugh Sir Walter Hungerford Sir Gilbert Vmfrevil and Sir John Robsert to treat with the Besieged about the Conditions of Surrender The Articles being agreed on which were That the Inhabitants should be safe both in their Persons and their Fortunes and that they should pay 365000 Crowns they deliver'd up the Town This was in the beginning of the Year 1419. and on the 19 th of January the King entred the Town with his Army in a triumphant manner and having fortified it with some new Works he setled there his Exchequer and the principal Court of Judicature for all matters relating to the Province of Normandy After this he conquer'd the rest of Normandy in a little time For first he took Meudon and then Pontoise by storm The other Towns being terrified by the example of that of Roan surrender'd of their own accord The Archbishop of Canterbury staid some time with the King at Roan being entertain'd in a Convent of Preaching Fryers there and afterwards attended him in his Camp at Meudon and Pontoise serving him both in the quality of a Confessor and a Counsellor and did not leave him till the end of August At which time he return d into England that he might hold a Synod and take care of the Government of his Province This Synod was appointed to be held at London on the 30 th of October that the Clergy might consult about granting a supply of Money to the King who was carrying on the War in France with success which the King had given in charge to the Archbishop at his departure out of France and again very lately by Letters The Synod granted half a Tenth upon all Livings and it was also agreed that those that held Chappels or Chantries or that receiv'd Stipends for saying Mass should pay to the King 6 s. 8 d. each but withal a publick Protestation was made by William Lyndewood in the name of the Proctors for the Clergy that this Concession should be no prejudice to them hereafter nor be made a Precedent for succeeding Ages There was brought before this Synod one Richard Walker a Priest in the Diocess of Worcester who was accus'd of Witchcraft and several Books Waxen Images Stones and other Instruments of Charms and Conjuration were produc'd which were afterwards own'd by him and burnt at Paul's Cross John Welles Bishop of Landaff preaching a Sermon upon the Occasion He himself having done solemn Penance in a publick Procession abjur'd that wicked Art After this some Persons were accus'd before the Synod for embracing the Tenets of John Wicklyff who were forc'd to recant and thus the Synod broke up The Archbishop afterwards order'd Processions to be made to all Churches for the King's success in France who at this time by the Providence of God began to conceive some hopes of reducing the Kingdom of France without bloodshed through the Divisions of the French For Philip Duke of Burgundy in revenge of his Father's death whom Charles the Dauphin had treacherously slain at Montereau under pretence of conserring with him made a private League with King Henry by his Ambassadors and promis'd him the Lady Catharine in marriage with all other assistances for the prosecution of his Conquests He only desir'd him to come in person to Troyes and there conclude a Peace publickly with King Charles The Duke of Burgundy had at that time in his power King Charles Queen Isabel and their Daughter Catharine with Paris the chief City of the Kingdom and the whole management of the Government for Isabel who hated the Dauphin had put him by and advanc'd the Duke of Burgundy to the Regency The King that he might not let slip so fair an opportunity of managing all things to his own advantage and being much taken with the great Beauty of the Lady Catharine came with all speed to Troyes where he receiv'd her in marriage at the hands of Charles and Isabel upon these Terms That King Henry during the life of Charles his father-in-Father-in-law should have the Government of France with the Title of Regent after whose death he or his Children begotten of the Lady Catharine should succeed in the Kingdom and that the Dauphin should be look'd upon as disinherited and a publick Enemy To these Conditions the Princes and Nobles of France who were there present in great number gave their assent and with the Duke of Burgundy who first took the Oath swore Allegiance to King Henry for they conceiv'd a greater esteem of his Wisdom and Courage when they saw him present amongst them than they had done before from the bare admiration of his Actions at a distance It was toward the end of May 1420. when the Nuptials were solemnized at Troyes the News of which being brought into England the excess of joy wherewith it was universally receiv'd almost lessen'd the belief of the truth of it The Archbishop of Canterbury having left the Office of Vicar general to John Prior of Canterbury and that of Auditor to William Lyndewood on the 10 th of June took shipping at Winchelsea and sail'd over into France to congratulate the King upon his late Marriage and by his Counsels to confirm his new Government He arriv'd
at Troyes just as the King was departing thence to go against the Dauphin who was the only Enemy he had now remaining In the beginning of July the King march'd toward Sens and having taken Montereau his next Attempt was upon Melun which after a Siege of four Months was surrender'd to him in the beginning of November There were present at this Siege with King Henry Charles King of France James King of Scotland Philip Duke of Burgundy William Duke of Bavaria with several other Princes the Archbishop also continued all the while in the Camp and after the surrender of the Place attended the King with his Father-in law and both the Queens to Paris from whence he return'd into England about the end of November In the beginning of February 1421. the King having left the management of his Affairs in France to Humprhy Duke of Glocester and Philip Duke of Burgundy came over into England with Queen Catharine where he was receiv'd with incredible applause and universal demonstrations of joy and by the Archbishop's command Processions were made to all Churches and Chappels for four days together Soon after his arrival in England he desir'd Money for the War with France of the Parliament assembled at Westminster during whose Session the Queen was solemnly crown'd with great splendor by the Archbishop of Canterbury who about this time call'd a Synod at London and obtain'd of them a Tenth for the service of the King which was granted upon some Conditions which were put in by William Lyndewood in the name of the Proctors for the Clergy They were these That the King's Purveyors should not meddle with the Goods of the Clergy that they should not be committed to Prison but upon manifest conviction of Theft or Murther that for all other Crimes they should only find Sureties for their appearance at their Trial but should not be imprison'd and that it should be Felony to geld a Priest all which the King confirm'd in this Parliament Beside the Bishops and other Prelates there were call d to the Synod by the Archbishop's Mandate John Castell Chancellor of Oxford and John Rykynghall Chancellor of Cambridge both Doctors of Divinity who in two eloquent Speeches requested in behalf of both Universities that the Decree made in the Synod four Years before about conferring Benefices upon those only who had taken Degrees in the Universities according to the value of the several Livings and the dignity of the Degrees might now be published with the addition of the Clause formerly put in that by repealing those Statutes of the Universities Monks might be admitted to Degrees in Divinity before they were Masters of Arts and Priests might commence Doctors of Canon Law though they had not studied the Civil Law which the Masters of Arts of both Vniversities having chang'd their minds had at length consented to Moreover to restrain the Avarice of Bishops and Archdeacons it was Decreed That no Bishop should take more than Twelve Shillings for Institution nor an Archdeacon for Induction and that Orders should be given gratis Also Simon Terraminus one of the Pope's Receivers in a handsome Speech desir'd Money of the Synod for Pope Martin but they gave no ear to him conceiving that the Tenths Annates and other Perquisites which were paid yearly into the Pope's Exchequer were more than sufficient to supply his Necessities The Archbishop having dissolv'd the Synod employ'd his care upon that Jurisdiction which he had hitherto exercis'd in France that so the same Peace which had reconcil'd the two Kingdoms might also unite both the Churches To which end he recall'd those Judges which he had plac'd in most of those Diocesses that were conquer'd by the King and by his Letters commanded all the People of France that for the future they should obey their Bishops and the Ordinaries of the Places in which they liv'd After this the King having receiv'd news of the death of his Brother Thomas Duke of Clarence who was slain in a Battel lately fought with the Forces of the Dauphin in Anjou hastned into France leaving the Queen big with Child who on the 8 th of December was deliver'd of a Son at Windsor who was Christen'd by the Archbishop with great Solemnity and nam'd Henry His Godfathers were John Duke of Bedford Regent of England and Henry Bishop of Winchester the King's Uncle and his Godmother was Jaqueline Countess of Holland Afterwards when he came to the Crown he us'd to call the Archbishop Godfather and always paid him a great deal of respect In the beginning of April 1422. the Queen being recover'd of her lying in was conducted into France to the King by the Duke of Bedford and Humphry Duke of Glocester was left Regent in England The time was now at hand in which another General Council was to be held according to the Decree of the Council of Constance by which it was ordain'd that at the end of five years a Council should be call'd seven years after that another and so every ten years constantly It was now the fifth year since the dissolution of the Council of Constance whereupon this Year Pope Martin pitch'd upon Pavia for the place of their Session In England the Archbishop call'd a Synod of the Province of Canterbury at London on the 4 th of August in which many Persons out of the whole Body of Bishops Prelates and Doctors were nominated who were to be referr'd to the King's approbation and it was concluded that the Archbishop should signify their Names by Letters to the King who should chuse whom he pleas'd out of them to represent the English Nation at the Council of Pavia and that there should be allow'd for their Expences Three pence in the Pound out of all Benefices that paid Tenths and Eight pence out of those that did not come under that Tax But this Affair came to nothing For Alfonsus King of Arragon having a quarrel against Pope Martin because at his instigation Joan Queen of Naples had put him by and appointed Lewis of Anjou her Successor in the Kingdom sent his Ambassadors to Pavia who with Gifts and Promises promoted the Interest of Benedict the Thirteenth who was still alive and acted as Pope at Panischola whereupon Pope Martin presently dissolv'd the Council which had been begun at Pavia and from thence by reason of the Plague was remov'd to Siena and appointed another to be held seven years after at Basil In the Synod at London one William White a Priest and one Henry Webb of Worcester were accus'd of Heresy the first for preaching publickly without a Licence who was therefore forc'd to recant before the Synod and the other for saying Mass without being in Orders who was sentenc'd to be whipp'd in three of the chief Cities London Worcester and Bath Also one William Taylor a Master of Arts was call'd in question for spreading
abroad again some Opinions which he had recanted in the Synod two years before for which he was said to be relaps'd into Heresy His Tenets were these That God alone was to be invok'd by the Prayers of the Faithful that that Worship was due to Christ himself not upon the account of his Human Nature but of his Divine Nature only that it was not lawful to pray to Saints or any other created Being that those that offer'd Gifts to the Image of the Cross or of the Saints were guilty of Idolatry that a Monastick Life was contrary to the Institutions of Christ that the Administration of Civil Affairs and all Secular Government was forbidden to Priests by Christ himself and that many of those Opinions that were condemn'd as impious by the Council of Constance were Orthodox All these Assertions were referr'd by the Archbishop as Judge in this Affair to the four Orders of Mendicant Fryers who were to examine whether they were agreable to the Holy Scriptures and the Sense of the Fathers and the Lawyers were order'd to consider what punishment was to be inflicted on one relapsed into Heresy The Divines deliver'd their Opinion That the Tenets maintain'd by him were impious and contrary to the Holy Scriptures and the Decrees of the Church of Rome As to matter of Law William Lyndewood Official of the Court of Arches Thomas Brown Dean of the same Court and the other Lawyers answer'd That one suspected of Heresie was to be debarr'd from the Communion of the Church for a year and if after this probation he repented of his Errors he was to be receiv'd again into the bosom of the Church but if he relaps'd into Heresy again he was to be reputed guilty of a capital Crime and deliver'd over to the Secular Power whereupon by the Sentence of the Synod he was declar'd a Heretick and solemnly devested of his Orders Soon after the end of this Synod the whole Kingdom was seiz'd with the greatest consternation imaginable upon the News of the King's death who having pursued the Dauphin with too much heat as far as Bourges on the 31 st of August died at Bois de Vinciennes about three Miles from Paris of a violent Fever which he had contracted by his excessive Fatigues He died in a very unlucky time for King Charles his father-in-Father-in-Law pin'd away with grief for the death of his Son King Henry who was very dear to him and died within twenty days after The King's Body was brought over into England and buried at Westminster The Inheritance of both Kingdoms descended to Henry the Sixth who was then an Infant the government of which was left by the late King in his Will to his two Brothers that of England to Humphry Duke of Glocester and that of France to John Duke of Bedford till his Son should come of Age the care of whose Education was committed to Henry Beaufort Bishop of Winchester and Thomas Beaufort Duke of Exeter his Great Uncles Certainly no King of England ever excell'd King Henry the Fifth in all vertuous Qualifications nor was there any one whose death was so prejudicial to the Kingdom He was adorn'd with all the Accomplishments both of Body and Mind that could be desir'd in a Prince with Prudence Courage Constancy Modesty Bounty Eloquence Beauty and Strength all which being attended with a singular good Fortune procur'd him a wonderful esteem amongst Foreigners and are celebrated as well by the French Writers as by those of our own Nation The Duke of Glocester that he might settle the Affairs of the Kingdom according to the Injunctions of his Brother King Henry call'd a Parliament at Westminster on the 9 th of November and first of all he commanded the Archbishop of Canterbury to declare to both Houses the cause of their meeting for Thomas Bishop of Durham upon the death of the King had resign'd the Seal and other marks of the Chancellorship to which this Office belongs to the Duke of Glocester at Windsor and had laid down the Place The Archbishop having spoken largely in praise of the Vertues of King Henry the Fifth and made honourable mention of his Actions in France came to speak of the Young King and affirm'd that it was by the special favour of Almighty God that a Son of such promising hopes should succeed so great a Father that his very Title of the Sixth was attended with a lucky Omen for as the number Six was the most compleat of all the rest because in so many days God Almighty had made this vast Fabrick of the World so this King Henry the Sixth of that Name would be the greatest of all his Predecessors that he would compleat what his Father had so prosperously begun in France and that as he was descended both from the Kings of England and France so he would at length enjoy both those Crowns which were devolv'd to him by lawful Inheritance That he in the King's Name did declare to the Peers and all the People that they should enjoy all the Privileges and Immunities granted to them by his Highness's Predecessors and that he was commanded to give them three Reasons for calling this Parliament Which were That Governors might be assign'd the King by a publick Act that they might consult about the Peace of the Realm and the Administration of Justice and that they might provide for the defence of the Kingdom against the Insults of Foreign Enemies Lastly He exhorted them by the Example of Jethro Moses's father-in-Father-in-law to make choice of the best and wisest of the Nobility to take upon them the government of the King and Kingdom and besought them that they would use their utmost endeavours for the safety of the King and the benefit of their Country When the Archbishop had done speaking the Protectorship was unanimously confirm'd to the Duke of Glocester and some of the most Eminent of the Bishops and Nobility were appointed to be of the Privy Council till the King should come of Age of which the Archbishop was nam'd first But he having lost his King and Patron who had advanc'd him to the highest Honors and who dearly lov'd him when the Parliament was dissolv d retir'd within the Bounds of his Province in which he perform'd the Duties of his Function with great diligence For the Year after the death of Henry the Fifth by his Metropolitical Authority he visited the Diocesses of Chichester and Salisbury and the next year that of Lincoln in which Visitations he revers d all those things that had been acted amiss by the Ordinaries and examin'd into the Faith and Manners of the People In his journy through the Diocess of Lincoln he came to Higham Ferrers the Town where he was born in which out of a pious and commendable design of adorning the Place of his Nativity he dedicated a Noble College which he had formerly begun there to the Honour of
Pound out of all Ecclesiastical Preferments The Examination of this Matter being referr'd by the Pope to Branda Cardinal of Placenza he was condemn'd to perpetual Imprisonment unless he repented of his Error but afterwards escaping out of Prison he return'd into England and having preach'd a Sermon at Paul's Cross he abjur'd his Error with a formal Oath The Archbishop also by his Mandate enjoin'd the Franciscans that as often as they preach'd to the People they should teach them that personal Tythes were commanded to be paid both by the Laws of God and the Constitutions of the Holy Fathers The same Year after the Synod was ended the Archbishop by his Prudence dispell'd a dreadful Storm that threatned the Kingdom which was rais'd by the Dissentions of the Nobility For Henry Beaufort Son to John Duke of Lancaster by Catharine Swinford his third Wife being puff d up with the nobility of his Birth and the great Wealth which he had got together out of the Bishoprick of Winchester and not brooking the Rule of Humphry Duke of Glocester the Lord Protector he began to maintain an open enemity against him the Quarrel being afterwards more enflam'd on both Sides and many of the Nobility and others engaging in either Party they both went Arm'd and attended with their Servants and Adherents and a great number of Profligate and Seditious Persons wearing Arms by their Example went about the Streets of London and their Number was so great that the Citizens shut up their Shops and left off their Trades and were forc'd to keep Guard Day and Night in all the Streets of the City to repress the Insolence of these Mutineers Upon this the Archbishop accompanied with Peter Duke of Conimbra Son to the King of Portugal who was lately come into England to visit the King his Cousin rid through the City eight times in one Day betwixt the Duke's and the Bishop's Palaces and prevail'd so far upon them both by his Authority and Intreaties that they laid down their Arms and Matters were compos'd for a time But the Bishop though he had quitted his Arms had not yet relinquish'd his Hatred for soon after by Letters sent into France to the Duke of Bedford he accus'd the Duke of Glocester desiring the Duke of Bedford to come over into England with all speed if he tender'd the Safety of the King and the Peace of the Kingdom which otherwise must of necessity be involv'd in Blood and the devastations of a Civil War The Duke though the War went on succesfully in France by the surrender of a great many strong Towns and the defeat of a great Army of the French in a pitcht Battel at Vernoil yet esteeming the success of Affairs in France to depend upon the Peace of England immediately upon the receit of these Letters he committed the Administration of his Office to Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick and came with all speed into England in the beginning of the Year 1426. and having call'd a Parliament at Leicester he examin'd the Quarrel between his Brother and the Bishop When they had both shew'd the causes of their discontent and from arguing began to break out into greater heats at the Duke of Bedford's entreaty they agreed to refer all Differences on both Sides to the determination of Arbitrators of whom Henry Archbishop of Canterbury was nam'd first after him Thomas Duke of Exeter John Duke of Norfolk Thomas Bishop of Durham Philip Bishop of Winchester John Bishop of Bath Humphry Earl of Stafford William Alnewyke Keeper of the Privy Seal and Ralph Cromwell who order'd them to join hands and in a set form of words to be repeated by them both to forgive all Injuries on both Sides and be friends with one another which Reconciliation was confirm'd by the Votes of the whole Parliament In this Session a supply of Money was granted for levying Soldiers for which end also about this time the Archbishop assembled a Synod at London on the 15 th of April Thither came John Kempe Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England with Walter Hungerford Lord Treasurer and the Lord Chancellor having extoll'd the great pains and diligence of the Duke of Bedford in an Eloquent Oration the Synod granted the King half a Tenth The Bishop of Winchester who was created Cardinal thsi Year by Pope Martin the next Year went over with the Duke of Bedford into France and at Calais in the great Church of that Place he put on the Cap and other Ensigns of that Dignity with great solemnity on Candlemas-day He had sought this Honor with great earnestnss eight years before in the time of King Henry the Fifth and had obtain'd a Promise of it of Pope John the Twenty third who design'd to promote him very speedily and to appoint him his Legate à latere in England with a very large Authority But the Archbishop perceiving his Ambition at that time interpos'd with the King who was then in France by Letters which he wrote to him in a grave and modest style in which he shew'd That the Power of the Pope's Legates did derogate very much from the Dignity of the King from the Laws of the Land and from the Privileges of the Church of England A Copy of this Letter the Original of which is yet to be seen written with the Archbishop's own Hand we have here subjoin'd Sovereyn Lord as your humble Prest and debout Bedeman I recommand me to your Hygnesse desyreing evermore to heare and knowe of your gracious speed he le of body and of soule also my Lordys your brethren and all your royal hoste And as hertly as I can or may thanke Almightie God and Lord of all strengths and hostes that so graciously hath continued his mygty hond upon you sythen the time of your beginning hedirtoward into your most worship your Leige menys most hertly gladnesse and abating of the hy pride of your enemies And besech God both day and night with all your subgetts both spirituel and temporel so continue his hy Grace upon you and yowre that the mow come to the effect of your hy labor pees of both your regmes after your hertly desires Gracious Lord like it to remember you that be your moost worthie letters written at your towne of Caen rrb. day of September you charged me that be the abys of my Lord your brother of Bedford and of your Chaunceler sholde be ordeygned that all maner of men of your subgets wat astaat or condicion that thei were should abstyne letter of wrytes or pursuit making to the Pope after his election till the time that he have writen to you and ye againe to him as it hath be acustumed of honeste of your lond for the which cause neither I nor non odir man as ferforth as it may be knowe hath yit written nor sent ne no leve hath of passage to the
Cowrte wow it so be that many lych at London to pursue to my Lord your brother your Chaunceler and your Counseil for to have leve and letters of passage Werfore Soverain Lord my Lord your brother charged me write to you and in as miche as your letter forseid was direct to me to wite in wat wise we shol governe us herafter for if ye have resteyned our holy faders letters or written to him it is unknowen to us unto this time Like it therfore gracious Lord to write to my Lord your brother in wat maner wise this matier schal be governed hereafter Forthermore gracious Lord of trowth that I am bound to you be my ligeaunse and also to quite me to God the chirch of your lond of the wich God and ye gracious Lord have maked me governor howeth to open to you this matier that suyeth of the wich I have herd pribily but now it is more opend and in such wise that credence shold bee yive to by reson that is to seyne that my brother of Winchester shold be maked a Cardinal if ye wold give your asent therto and that he shold have his Bishoprich in comende for terme of his life and therto have a stat and sent to your rengme of Yngland as a legat a latere to the wich manier of legacie non hath be acustumed to be named but Cardinals and that legacie also to ocupie thorgh all your obeysaunce saunce and all the time of his life Sovereyn Lord and most Christien Prince what instanse schall be maad to your Hignesse for this matier I wot not but blessyd be Almightie God undir your worthie protection your Chirche of Yngland is at this day I dare boldly say the moost Honorable Chirche Christien as wee l as debin servise as honest living therof governed after streit lawes and holy constitutions that be maad of hem withowten any gret erorbitaunses or any thing that migt torne to by shlaundre of your forseid Chirch or of your lond and if any trespases of mannys frelte falleth we may be coretid and punished by the Ordinaries there as the caas falleth But wat that this offis of legacie to be ocupied in the forme aforseid and suich comendis of Bishopriches not used in your holy Aunsetres time here afore wold extend to or gendre ageines the good governanse of your subgets in your by wisdom I trist to God ye will consider And forasmich as ye schal be enformid what the office of suych manier of legacie extendith to and appyly your Clerhys have not in minde for it hath shelde be seyn and have not alle here bookys with hent pleynly to enforme you in this time of your grete labor I send you a scrowe writen with inne this letter conteyning that is expressed in the Popis lawe and fully concludyd be Doctors And over that what he may have in special of the Popis grace no man wot for it stond in his wille to dispose as hym good liheth And be inspection of lawes and cronicles was there never no Legat a latere sent in to no loud and specially in to your rengme of Yngland withowte great and notable cause And thei whan thei came after thei had done her legacie abiden but lytul wyle not over a yer and summe a quarter or two monethes as the nedes requeryd And yit over that he was tretyd with or he cant into the lond whon he schold have exercise of his power and how myche schold be put in erecucion An aventure after he had be reseyved he whold have used it to largely to greet oppression of your peple Wherefore moost Cristien Prince and Sovereyn Lord as your trewe Preest whom it hath lyked you to sette in so hy astaat the wych with owte your gracious Lordship and supportation I know my self insufficient to ocupie beseche you in the moost humble wyse that I can devise or thenke that ye wile this matier take tendirly at herte and see the staat of the Chirche be meyntenid and susteyuid so that everich of the Ministers theroffe hold hem content with her owne part for trewly he that hath leest hath inow to rekene fore And that your poore pepul be not pyled nor oppressyd with diverse eractious and unacustumed thorgh wych thei schold be the more feble to refresche you owre liege Lord in time of nede and when it lyketh you to clepe up on hem and alle plees and sklaundre cese in your Chirche Towchinge oure holy fadir the Popis Ambassiat that late cam in to your lond I wot wel my Lord your brother wryteth to you pleynly and also of odir governance of your lond the wych blessed be God stond in good quiet pees and reste withowte any grete ryotis or debatys and al your trewe peple have her herys opyn to here good tydinges of you and continuely pray for your prosperite and al yowrys the mych Almighty God graunte for his mercy Amen wryten at Lambyth vi day of March. Your Prest H. C. Indorsed Au Roy nostre Souverein S. The King was so mov'd with this Letter of the Archbishop's that he commanded the Bishop of Winchester not to take upon him the Cardinalship and protested several times that he had rather see him wear the Crown than the Cardinal's Cap. During the King's Life the Bishop desisted but now relying upon the Infancy of the King and the Favour of his Nephew the Duke of Bedford he attempted it again and was created Cardinal by the Pope with the Title of Priest of S. Eusebius which easily occasion'd their mistake who instead of Henry Bishop of Winchester relate that Henry Archbishop of Canterbury was made Cardinal of S. Eusebius who was a Man of such Piety and Moderation that he was never known to court a Preferment by which being engag'd in the Interests of the Pope he must necessarily have swerv'd from that Loyalty to his Prince which he had always preserv'd entire and untainted For he was a most vigorous Defender of the King's Authority and the Rights of the Kingdom against the Ambition of the Popes and the Oppressions of the Court of Rome by which at this very time he drew upon himself the heavy displeasure of Martin the Fifth For the University of Oxford by Letters bearing date the 24 th of July this Year interceded for him with Pope Martin in which after they had given him a very extraordinary Character calling him the mirror of Life the light of Manners a Person most dear to the People and Clergy a golden Candlestick set up in the Church of England they besought him that he would not suffer the Credit of so eminent a Prelate to be blasted by the secret Calumnies of Detractors to which purpose also in the Parliament at Westminster the House of Commons petition'd the King to send an Ambassador forthwith to the Court of Rome to intercede with the
Pope in behalf of the Archbishop who had incurr'd his displeasure for opposing the excessive Power of the Court of Rome And indeed it was but reasonable that he who for promoting the common good of all and maintaining the Honour of the Kingdom so little dreaded the Pope's Anger should be defended by the publick Authority But the Bishop of Winchester beside his Title of Cardinal had the power of Legate in England conferr'd upon him by the Pope with a very large Commission or as they commonly term'd it a Faculty which Power he exercis'd with so great Avarice and got together such a prodigious Wealth that he was generally styl'd the Rich Cardinal The Year after this he return'd into England and having open'd his Commission in the presence of Humphry Duke of Glocester the Protector and many of the Bishops and Nobility Richard Caudray who was appointed Proctor for the King by the Duke of Glocester and the Privy Council expresly declar'd That by a particular Prerogative of the Kings of England which they had enjoy'd ever since the memory of man no Legate from the Pope could come into England without the King's leave and therefore if the Cardinal of Winchester by vertue of his Legantine Office should act any thing contrary to this Right of the King 's that he in the King's Name did interpose and disown all his Authority Whereupon the Cardinal promis'd openly before the Duke of Glocester and all that were present that he would not exercise his Office of Legate without the King's leave and that he would act nothing in it that might any ways infringe or derogate from the Rights Immunities and Privileges of the King or Kingdom Now upon his being made Cardinal and Legate he was oblig'd to lay down his Place of Lord Chancellor Laid down the Office of Chancellor as obliged which he did the Year before in the Parliament at Westminster he ought also to have been removed from the Privy Council but in respect of the Nobility of his Birth and his near alliance to the King by a particular favour he was allow'd to keep his Place there except when any But kept his Place in the Council with exception matter was to be debated between the King and the Pope for then it was expresly concluded that he should not be present which Limitation was confirm'd y Rot. Parliam ann 8 H. 6. the next Year by Act of Parliament and order'd to be entred in the Journals of the Privy Council Now the chief Reason that mov'd the Pope to create the Bishop of Winchester a Cardinal was that he might employ him in the War that he design'd The Pope rais'd imm against the Bohemians Who had pull'd down the Monasteries c. against the Bohemians who having embrac'd the Doctrine of Wickliff had pull'd down the Monasteries and Images and having abolished almost all the Rites and Ceremonies of the Romish Church had openly revolted from the Government of the Pope He therefore The Cardinal made General in the Bohemian War c. made him his General in the Bohemain War and appointed him Legate in Hungary Bohemia and all Germany with a far larger Commission by which He could pardon Rapes on Nuns c. he was impower'd to pardon Rapes committed upon Nuns to dispense with Marriages contracted within the fourth degree of Consanguinity with the Age of Persons to be admitted to Orders and Benefices with Interdicts and many other things which were contrary to the Constitutions of the Canon Law He was to demand a Tenth of the English Clergy for the War he was also order'd to demand a Tenth of the English Clergy for the Service of this War For this cause the Archbishop being sollicited by the Pope's Bull and being also press'd by Letters from the King to consider of raising Money for carrying on the War in France call'd a Synod at London which began on the 5 th of July In their first Session at the request of the Archbishop of York Lord Chancellor and Walter Hungerford Lord Treasurer they granted the King half In the next Synod half a Tenth is given the King a Tenth The Synod was afterwards prorogu'd by reason of the excessive heat of the Summer to St. Martin's day in November following and then again to the 29 th of October the next Year at which time the Archbishop of York was sent to them again from the King together with the Duke of Norfolk the Earls of Warwick Stafford and Salisbury th e Lords Cromwell Tiptoft and Hungerford at whose desire a Tenth and a half And in another a Tenth and an half was granted and solemn Processions were order'd to be made for the success of the Duke of Bedford who went on Duke of Bedford had besieg'd Orleans prosperously and had now besieg'd Orleans a noble City upon the River Loyre These Concessions of Tenths which were granted so readily by the z 8 H. 6. c. 1. Synod were rewarded by an Act made in the Parliament holden at this time at Westminster by which The same Priviledge was granted to the Clergy which the Members of the House of Commons do enjoy when they are chosen to serve in Parliament For those Grants the Members of the Synod c. were freed from Arrests which was that neither they nor their Servants should be arrested while they were assembled in Convocation nor in their journy thither But Conzo Zuolanus the Pope's Nuntio came often to the Synod and pleaded in behalf of the Pope but to no purpose The Pope's Nuntio prevail'd not in the Synod When he could not obtain of them a Supply for the War with the Bohemians which he had sollicited in a long and pressing Oration he produc'd the For shewing his Letters for a Tenth Pope's Letters before the Synod in which he signified that he had impos'd a Tenth upon the Kingdom of England for the support of the Bohemian War which so incensed the whole Synod that they absolutely denied to grant a Tenth However at the importunity of the Pope He was denied but got 8 d. per Mark from Livings With a Salvâ praerogativâ Regiâ they gave him Eight pence in every Mark out of all Benefices according to their respective values provided that this grant were not contrary to the King's Prerogative and the Laws of the Land After this John Jourdelay John Galle Robert Heggley Ralph Mungyn Thomas Garenter all men in Orders with several others were brought before the Synod who were accus'd of Heresy for holding divers corrupt Opinions concerning the Sacrament of the Altar the Adoration of Images Religious Pilgrimages and the Invocation of Saints for maintaining that the Pope was Antichrist and not God's Heresy in holding the Pope to be Antichrist c. Vicegerent that the Divine Oracles were contain'd only in the Scriptures and not in the Legends or Lives of the
consults Lower House to consult and determine whether the Pope might dissolve a General Council at his own pleasure and And what Pope they should obey if another be set up in case the Fathers at Basil should depose Eugenius and set up another Pope which of them they ought to obey To which Questions some days after Thomas Bekyngton Official of the Archbishop's Court answer'd in the name of Alledged 1 st that the Pope might dissolve a Council and if another be set up the Synod is to obey Eugenius the rest That the Pope by his sole command might dissolve a Council and that they were not to withdraw their Obedience from Eugenius though another Pope should be created at Basil For the Affections of a great many People in England began some time ago to be alienated from the Fathers at Basil upon the account of By which they resent a Decree made at Basil transferring Votes from the Nations to a few Delegates a Decree made by them which took away the Custom of voting by the Suffrages of every Nation and referr'd all things to the determination of some particular Delegates whereupon the English Representatives then at Basil Thomas Bishop of Worcester William Prior of Norwich Thomas Brown Dean of Salisbury Peter Patrick Chancellor and Robert Borton Precentor of Lincoln John Sarysbury Doctor of Divinity and John Symondisborough Licentiate in the Canon Law protested against it which was also done at the same time here in Which was protested against on the place England by William Lyndewood Proctor for the King who repeated a set form of Appeal in which he protested against the Decree as unjust for that this way of voting might hereafter be prejudicial to the King and the Rights of the Clergy and Parliament After this the Archbishop consulted with the Synod about nominating more Eight new Delegates nominated Delegates because several of those that were sent before were dead at Basil and eight Doctors of Divinity and both Laws were chosen who were to be sent to Basil provided the Fathers would admit them without imposing upon them any new Oath At this time our Affairs in France declin'd daily by the revolt of the chief Cities to King Charles who had been lately crown'd at Rhemes with great solemnity King Charles crown'd at Rhemes for which cause the Duke of Bedford who was lately come into England and his Brother the Duke of Glocester thought it expedient to raise a A new Army against France designed new Army here in England and John Stafford Bishop of Bath Lord Chancellor the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury the Lord Treasurer Cromwell and the Lords Scrope and Tiptoft were sent to the Synod Money desired of the Synod to desire Money of them The Chancellor in an elegant Speech laid before them the miserable state of Affairs in France and the poverty of the Exchequer and brought them to supply the Necessities of the King and Kingdom After a denial At first they absolutely refus'd to grant any Supply alledging that the Wealth of the Clergy was exhausted by their advancing Money continually for the use of the War by the Rapines of the King's Purveyors and by unjust Citations to the King's Courts But some other Lords soon after coming to them as the Earl of Huntington the Lords Hungerford Audly and Cornwallis who urg'd again the same Reasons and reckon'd up the extraordinary Benefits conferr'd on the Church by the Kings of England they They gave three quarters of a Tenth at length obtain'd three quarters of a Tenth For at that time the Clergy complain'd grievously of the unjust proceeding of the King's Judges and the The Grievances of the Church at that time common Lawyers That Priests against all Law and Equity were brought to their Secular Courts that the Power of the Ecclesiastical Judges was restrain'd by their unjust Prohibitions and particularly that by a fraudulent interpretation they wrested a strict Law of Richard the Second against Provisors and turn'd it upon those Persons who were Judges in the Spiritual Courts of those Causes which they pretended to belong to their Jurisdiction For which cause the Archbishop held another Synod at London the next Year on the 7 th of October where in a pathetical Speech he express'd how solicitous he was that the The Archbishop zealous to rescue her from the Oppressions of the Lawyers Church might receive no prejudice under his Government that it might be deliver'd from the illegal Oppressions of the Lawyers and restor'd to its ancient dignity and commanded them all to consider what measures were to be taken to ease the Clergy of the weight of these Oppressions But the Plague breaking out in the City the By reason of the Plague the Synod dissolved Synod was quickly dissolv'd having only appointed a Holiday to be kept in honour of S. Frideswide the Protectress of the Vniversity of Oxford and denounc'd excommunication against any one that should detract from the Privileges and Jurisdiction of the Church After this the Archbishop applied himself industriously to the Government of his Province and call'd never another Synod in three Years till the Necessities of the Exchequer call d upon the Clergy for a Supply to maintain the Charges of the War with France The Duke of Burgundy revolts to the French and Bedford dies The former occasion'd The revolt of the Duke of Burgundy to the French and the death of the Duke of Bedford which hapned the next Year gave a terrible blow to our Affairs in France For about that time by the mediation of Pope Eugenius and the Council of Basil Commissioners from our King from Charles King of France and the The ill success of the Treaty at Arras Duke of Burgundy met at Arras in order to treat of a Peace But the English and French not agreeing by reason of the extravagant Conditions demanded on either side the Burgundians at last went over to the French and soon after the Duke of Bedford fell sick and died whose death soon caus'd a great alteration in the posture of Affairs For the The English driven out of Paris c. next Year the People of Paris conspir'd privately together and drove the English out of the City and many other Towns being stirr'd up by their example and in a manner all the People of France as if they were impell'd by a And generally the French surrender'd to Charles fatal necessity surrender'd themselves to King Charles Wherefore to preserve the remains of our Dominion in France the Duke of Glocester with a great Army and a gallant Fleet sail'd over to Calais which A new English Army set sail for Calais was then besieg'd by the Duke of Burgundy and the King by Letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury press'd him to move the Clergy for a supply of Money for levying more men who having assembled the Bishops and Prelates of his Province at
first to be sworn to the Infallible Chair Ib. The Pall denoting full power over the other Bishops 41 Delivered him in the King's Palace of Sutton 42 Where he took the Oath of Obedience Ib. The Pope gave the Church but the King could only give the Land 43 Which was done after renouncing of the Clauses derogatory to the King's Power Ib. For his Patent he paid Six hundred Marks 44 Secur'd the Church from the Envy of the two Houses Ib. Being formerly voted to supply King Henry the Fourth by the Church's Wealth Ib. Whilst the Church paid Tenths oftener than the Laity did Fifteenths c. 45 Which Consideration but chiefly the Intercession of his Predecessor with the King had then averted the storm Ib. Another Address of the Commons against the Clergy Ib. Which was design'd as the then Bishop alledg'd for the enriching themselves 46 King of France said he has not a Noble now of the Revenues of the Monasteris that were brought to the Exchequer Ib. The Petition rejected Ib. Henry the Fourth averse to Wickliff's Doctrine abetted by the Petitioners 47 In Henry the Fifth's time the Address renew'd Ib. To avoid which the Clergy resolv'd to give the King Money for a War with France Ib. For which a Synod is call'd at London 48 The Title of the Kings of England to France Ib. Claim'd by Edward the Third Ib. Whose Competitor was Philip de Valois Ib. King Edward claiming by 's Mother rejected under pretence of the Salick Law assumed the Title 49 Successfully invaded France and entail'd the Quarrel Ib. Richard the Second waved the Quarrel Ib. Henry the Fourth was diverted by Intestine Commotions Ib. But the happy Juncture was in Henry the Fifth's time Ib. As Chichele thought for a more glorious Diversion Ib. His Speech to the King for that purpose 50 Accommodates himself to the King 's Heroic Temper Ib. Thinks France no less than the Envy of the World 51 Represents the King's Right Ib. And insinuates the Injuries done his French Provinces Ib. The Salick Law an Obtrusion 52 And a Cheat to debar the Female-Line Ib. Not made by Pharamond as pretended Ib. Put Four hundred years after him and in Germany 53 If it obliges the French it relates to private Inheritances only for Ib. In dispute one French King never us'd it against another for Ib. Pepin claimed by a Female 54 And so did Hugh Capet Ib. And by the like Lewis the Tenth confirm'd his Right Ib. This Law made a Bugbear to Foreigners contemned by themselves 55 'T is contrary to the Civil Law and Ib. The Constitutions of most Nations Ib. And to the Divine Law 56 Jesus Christ the Lawful Heir by his Mother of the Jewish Kingdom Ib. The French rather deny the Bible than submit to a Foreign Prince 57 The Salick Law literally excludes not the Sons of Females 58 And is to be taken in the most favourable sense 60 The Archbishop asserts the King's Call as well as Right to France Ib. With other great Encouragements to the Expedition Ib. Success a Good Sign in the Vertuous and Brave 61 But the Earl of Westmorland advises a War with the Scots Ib. From the Roman Example to begin with the lesser Enemy Ib. And the readiness of Provisions for the latter 62 With the easiness of the Victory Ib. The justice and necessity of the War Ib. The Earl Answered by Jo. Duke of Exeter 63 That the Scot's Strength lying in the French ought to be first attaqued Ib. France once conquer'd the Scots will be helpless Ib. Advised to hinder the Scots Attempts in the King's absence Ib. Which Opinion highly applauded Ib. And War with France was the Cry of the House 64 The Archbishop's renowned for the wisdom of his Counsel 65 The King provides an Army and Navy Ib. Sends Ambassadors to demand France Ib. The Army's Rendezvouz at Southampton 66 The French Ambassadors in Answer offer the French King's Daughter in Marriage Ib. Their Conditions not thought honourable by the King The Archbishop s more full Answer 67 That the French King had not answered King Henry's Demand Ib. Who insisted only on the Dominions his Ancestors had enjoyed 68 Which Answer the King confirms Ib. The French Ambassadors remanded Ib. The King sets sail 69 Takes Harflew Ib. Defeats the French at Agincourt Ib. Of whom Ten thousand are slain Ib. And many Noble Prisoners Ib. In the King's absence the Archbishop arms the Clergy in Kent Ib. Calls a Synod 70 In which two Tenths are granted for the War Ib. Another Synod 71 Christendom divided between Three Popes Ib. By two of whom the Council of Pisa refused Ib. A General Council appointed by the Third Ib. The Archbishop appears at Constance by Proxy 72 Their Charges 2 d. per l. out of the Clergy's Revenues Ib. The Emperor comes to England as Mediator 73 Whereupon the Delegates are press'd to Constance Ib. Where a Decree pass'd about Wills and Administration Ib. That 5 s. shall be paid for a Probate Ib. And that the Clergy shall bring in the Tenth six Months sooner Ib. The Mediation in vain between the Two Kingdoms 74 Harfleu being besieg'd and Four hundred English slain by the French Ib. Wherefore the King sends his Brother the Duke of Bedford to Normandy Ib. Presents the Emperor with the Garter Ib. And conducts him to Calais Ib. The Emperor goes to Constance Ib. The Archbishop goes to France 75 Ambassadors from the French to King Henry at Calais Ib. Who returning got a Supply from the Parliament Ib. And Two Tenths from the Synod 76 The King setting sail left the Duke of Bedford Vicegerent Ib. The Archbishop interdicts the Church of St. Dunstans 77 Excommunicates the Criminals viz. Ib. Lord Strange Lady and Servants Ib. The two former with Tapers and all in their Shirts and Drawers only did processional Pennance from St. Paul's to St. Dunstan's for purification of which the Lady fill'd the Vessels with water 77 78 At Constance they dispute about a new Pope Ib. And against John Wickliff Ib. By whom the Seeds of sound Doctrine had been dispersed Ib. Particularly among the Bohemians Ib. Wickliff pronounc'd Heretick 79 And decreed that his Bones be taken up and burnt Ib. And his Followers be prosecuted as Hereticks Ib. John Huss and Jerom of Prague condemn'd to Flames Ib. Whose death made the Emperor and Council infamous Ib. The publick Faith being shamefully violated the Bohemians revenge it Ib. The Council decreed Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks 80 Of which the Papists ashamed kept it to Luther and others Ib. Pope John the Twenty third charg'd for not leaving the Papacy 81 And accused before the Council of Adultery Incest Witchcraft c. Ib. Gregory by Proxy resign's the Chair as did also Benedict 82 At Constance a Council is decreed superior to the Pope Ib. Five Nations compos'd the Council Ib. Martin V th elected Pope 83 The Decree of the Council's Power repeal'd by Leo the Tenth Ib. A Council
Votes of the whole Parliament which granted Money for Levying Men Ib. And half a Tenth granted in the Synod 124 Bishop of Winchester made Cardinal Ib. The Cap with a Legacy for England had been promised him by John the Twenty third Ib. But the Archbishop had shewn that the Pope's Legates derogated from the Royal Dignity c. Ib. Which he did in a Letter to the King 125 Wherein there is a Specimen of the English Language at that time Ib. No Suit to be made to the Pope after Election till the Pope has wrote to the King and has got an Answer 126 A Pope's Legate in England durante vitâ without Precedent 128 The Doctrine and Discipline of the Church dispensable by the Ordinaries c. not Legates Ib. The Archbishop sends a Minute of the Legate's Office or Instructions to the King 129 Such Legacies are extraordinary and not without great and notable cause and no resident above two Months at most Ib. The Instructions to be express and limited Ib. He deprecates the Oppressions and cormorant Exactions of the Legates 130 Upon this Letter the King forbad the Bishop of Winchester the Cardinal 's Cap. 131 After the King's death he is created Cardinal 132 For whom our Pious Henry Archbishop is mistaken in Antiquit. Britan. Ib. A vigorous Defender of the King's Authority Ib. Whence he incurr'd the displeasure of Pope Martin the Fifth Ib. The Archbishop's Character from Oxford 133 Great Intercession made for him Ib. Bishop of Winchester is Legate in England with a Faculty Ib. So exercis'd the Power that he was stiled the Rich Cardinal 134 The Cardinal opposed by R. Caudray the King's Proctor Ib. Promises not to exercise his Office without the King's leave Ib. Laid down the Office of Chancellor as obliged But kept his Place in the Council with exception 135 The Pope rais'd him against the Bohemians who had pull'd down the Monasteries c. 136 The Cardinal made General in the Bohemian War c. Ib. He could pardon Rapes on Nuns c. Ib. He was to demand a Tenth of the English Clergy for the War Ib. In the next Synod half a Tenth is given the King 137 And in another a Tenth and an half Ib. Duke of Bedford had besieg'd Orleans Ib. For those Grants the Members of the Synod c. were freed from Arrests 138 The Pope's Nuntio prevail'd not in the Synod Ib. For shewing his Letters for a Tenth he was denied but got 8 d. per Mark from Livings with a Salvâ praerogativâ Regiâ Ib. Heresy in holding the Pope to be Antichrist c. 139 Some recanted others were imprison'd Ib. Joan Dertford by means of her Answer acquitted Ib. The Ordinaries charg'd to persecute the Wicklevists and Lollards Ib. And Process ordered to be form'd against them 140 Pope Martin troubled that he obtain'd not the Tenths Ib. That his Bull was opposed at York Ib. That his Legate was imprisoned Ib. He expostulated with the Duke of Bedford Ib. The Pope is diverted with the prospect of the Council of Basil 141 Wherefore Delegates are chosen in a Synod at London with 2 d. per l. Charges Ib. Their Instructions did run against Pluralities and Non-residence c. Ib. The Synod gave the King a Tenth for the Siege of Orleans 141 142 Many other Towns revolted Ib. And many English slain at Patau Ib. The Synod decreed just Weights Ib. Popes generally afraid of Councils Ib. Martin appoints a President 143 The Pope dies before he took his Place Ib. Eugenius the Fourth succeeds him and continues the President who was his Legate Ib. The Pope adjudged subject to the Council c. 144 By their supreme Authority the Council makes a Legate of Avignon c. Ib. The Pope alarm'd removes the Council to Bologne Ib. Is opposed Ib. Delegates from London Synod to the Council of Basil and others to the Pope Ib. Half a Tenth given the King 145 William Lyndewood Keeper of the Privy Seal writ excellent Commentaries on the English Constitutions 145 146 And was stiled the Light of the Law Ib. Complaint in the Synod against the Vicars General c. Ib. Decreed that a Judge of a Spiritual Court must have some degree of the Law Ib. Archbishop of York as Cardinal claim'd precedence of Canterbury 147 The Archbishop of Canterbury on the contrary by ancient Prerogative Ib. Referred to the Pope Ib. The Arguments for Canterbury urgent Ib. Overborn in the Cardinal's favour 148 A Synod call'd at London on occasion of the difference between the Pope and Council 149 The Pope is summoned to Basil Ib. Of which London Synod consults 150 And what Pope they should obey if another be set up Ib. Alledged 1st that the Pope might dissolve a Council and if another be set up the Synod is to obey Eugenius Ib. By which they resent a Decree made at Basil transferring Votes from the Nations to a few Delegates Which was protested against on the place 150 151 Eight new Delegates nominated Ib. King Charles crown'd at Rhemes Ib. A new Army against France designed 152 Money desired of the Synod Ib. After a denial they gave three quarters of a Tenth Ib. The Grievances of the Church at that time 153 The Archbishop zealous to rescue her from the Oppressions of the Lawyers Ib. By reason of the Plague the Synod dissolved Ib. The Duke of Burgundy revolts to the French and Bedford dies 154 The former occasion'd the ill success of the Treaty at Arras Ib. The English driven out of Paris c. Ib. And generally the French surrender'd to Charles 155 A new English Army set sail for Calais Ib. The Clergy grant a Tenth Ib. The Archbishop built a stately Edifice at Oxford 156 Gave it to the Monks of St. Bernard Ib. Seiz'd in Henry the Eighth's time 157 Purchased by Thomas White Merchant who founded there St. John the Baptist's College Ib. From whence came many Reformers Ib. The Archbishop chose another place for a College Ib. The Edict of the Council of Basil against the Pope backt by the Emperor 158 The Council's Translation revoked Ib. Ambassadors to the Council from Greece and Constantinople where the Emperor and Patriarch designed to be present if the Council would secure them and defray their Charges Ib. Which was agreed Ib. But on Sigismond's death the Pope removes the Council to Ferrara whether he summon'd the Bishops from England 159 This opposed by the Council Ib. King Charles of France puts forth the Pragmatical Sanction against Annates c. 160 Which curb'd the Pope's Power there till the time of Lewis the Twelfth Ib. The English generally sided with the Pope Ib. King Henry sent Ambassadors to Ferrara Ib. But their allowance was disputed Ib. The Pope gives away the Bishoprick of Ely in Commendam 161 The Archbishop in Synod opposes the Affair which was frustrated by the Survivorship of the then Bishop Ib. Propos'd in Synod to renew a Decree that those not in Orders should not be beneficed
Ib. Wherein the King concurred and obtain'd it Ib. The Council begun at Ferrara by occasion of the Plague removed to Florence 162 Where the Greeks present submitted in Opinion to the Latines Ib. Which so offended the Greek Church that after their death they were not allow'd Christian Burial Ib. The Council of Basil maintain'd its Authority Ib. Deposed the Pope Ib. The English going to Ferrara 163 And by the Deputies of four other Nations Felix the Fifth elected Pope Ib. A defence of the Council at Basil Ib. The high Character of Lodovic Romanus 164 In the next Age the Council of Basil is condemned 166 A Synod call'd at London where the Statute of Praemunire is reckon'd a lamentable Church-Grievance in so far as a Suit in an Ecclesiastical Court is construed a suing in Rome 166 167 They petition the King to limit the Penalties to those who sue in a Foreign Court strictly taken Ib. The King promises them impunity till a Parliament be called 168 This Answer procured the King a Tenth Ib. The Archbishop pray'd the King to suffer his College almost finished to be founded in his Royal Name 169 Letters Patent accordingly granted Ib. The Chappel consecrated Ib. A Warden of the College made and twenty choice Fellows with power to elect twenty more for Divinity and Sciences and the Civil and Canon Law 170 Wherefore the Archbishop called the College All Souls c. Ib. Prescribed them Statutes Ib. Was very liberal to Oxford and Canterbury Church 171 Laid out a great Sum on the Structure begun by the Duke of Glocester and two hundred Marks to the publick Chest of the University 171 172 With the Method of its disposal besides the Decree mentioned concerning graduated Dignitaries Ib. His Name decreed to be Registred among the Benefactors of Oxford University 173 Having founded two Colleges c. Ib. He adorned the Cathedral of Canterbury 174 Repaired Christ's Church there building and furnishing a Library c. Ib. Gave liberally towards the building of Croydon Church and Rochester Bridge Ib. His Death Ap. 12. 1443. and magnificent Burtal 175 Soon after which a Fatal Change in England 176 Which came to be governed by Queen Margaret Ib. Whence the Kingdom was divided and the People oppressed Ib. The French also under a Female Revolt to King Charles Ib. Normandy then Aquitain lost after 300 years possession Ib. Jack Cade 's Insurrection 177 The French invade Kent and the Scots the Borders Ib. The Civil War from the House of York in which King Henry was imprison'd exil'd depriv'd of Crown and Life by Edward the Fourth Ib. Our Chichele's Wisdom supported the Kingdom Ib. From the Calamities of which he was by his happy Fate delivered Ib. FINIS ERRATA of Moment are these Two PAge 27. line 2. for Bulrush Spears r. Poisons or Medicines P. 35. l. 14. for Master of the Horse r Constable Others less material are left to the Candor of the Reader Born at Higham Ferrars in Northamptonshire Made Fellow of New-College Oxford by William of Wyckam Went to live with Medeford Bishop of Sarum Made Archdeacon of Sarum 1402. 1404. Then Chancellor of the same Parson of Odyham And chief Executor to his Benefactor Sent Ambassador by H. 4. to Pope Greg. the 12th a In nemore unionis cap. 31. By whom made Bishop of St. David's 1408. Accordingly took the Canonical Oath in England 1409. Sent Delegate to the General Council at Pisa Held to Reconcile the Competitors for the Popedom Boniface the Eighth deposed Clement the Fifth Elected Pope Who with six Successors all French Resided at Avignon for seventy Years b Dell'inferno Canto 19. del Paradiso Canto 27. c Nella terza parte sonetto 8 9 10 epist 20. Most of them hated by the Italians for their Nation or vitious Lives The Clementines added to the Canon Law Pope Gregory returned to Rome Was succeeded by Urban the Sixth For whose Rigor and Pride Clement the Sixth was set up against him Urban for preferring the Base and fomenting of Wars called Turbanus a perverse and most cruel Pope Clement not far short of Him in wickedness Urban succeeded Boniface the Ninth and Clement by Benedict the Third Both worse than the former Boniface more Politician than Grammarian Impos'd the Tax of Annates on the clergy Suffered Bishopricks to be sold by Auction Sold the same Livings twice to several Chapmen Yet made the Purchaser swear he came fairly by it Made poor Petitiâ—â—â—rs pay a Floren apiece Enquired after Gâ—…s in the time of Divine Service Had no comfort when dying but in Money Defended by the Lawyers d Jo. Andr. Ancharan Cardin. Dd ad c. 1. de Simon Felin in c. ex parte n. 1. de off deleg e Theod. Niem lib. 2. de Schism cap. 32. But opposed by the Divines f Thom. 2. 2. qu. 100. art 2. ibi Cajetan omnes Navarr in manual c. 23. n. 108. Paul Anglic. in Speculo Aureo g Panor in repetit c. extirpandae sect Cj ia vero n. 53. de Praeben in c. 1. de Simon Barâ—… t. ad c. cum pridem de pact Barthol Ugolin de Simon Tab. 1. cap. 3. sect 5. Benedict the like spiritual Robber h Bald. ad c. quia propter de elect i Bald. ad c. olim de rescript Boniface compared to an Ox Benedict to a wild Beast The Cardinal's Oath upon Boniface's death to resign if chosen Boniface sueceeded by Innocent the Seventh who broke his Oath A great Canonist debaucht and covetous On his death the Oath repeated with Imprecations Gregory the Twelfth succeeded Who treated with Benedict for the Church's peace k Anton. de Butr. ad cap. quod ad consultationem n. 3. de Sent. re jud And for a Resignation by them both at Savona Sends to Charles the Sixth of France about the same Affair Gregory harshly treated his Ambassadors at their return Drew back and shuffled Then plainly refused to stand to the Agreement Hearing Benedict was come to Savona he comes to Siena To whom Chichele was one of the Ambassadors from England and there made Bishop of St. David's Pope Gregory goes to Lucca Refuses to go to Savona Trinkles with Benedict is for his Hypocrisy called Errorius The Cardinals displeas'd for his promoting Condelmarius His own Party fly to Pisa They appeal from him to Christ a general Council and the next Pope This justified by Panormitan l Abb. ad c. Inquisitioni n 5. de Sent. Excom m Ancharan Cons 181. Card. Zabar Cons 150. Anton. de Butr. ad c. 1. n. 10. de Constit Both Popes accused of Perjury by the best Canonists The Cardinal 's leaving the Pope grateful to the Christian Princes The Kings of England and France withdrew their Obedience from both the Popes n Dec. in Consil pro Authoritate Concilii supra Papam ☞ At the Request of the Cardinal's Letters English Money with-held o Bald. add c. olim de rescript The French King withdraws Obedience to
Benedict defended by Baldus Two Bull-Carriers the Pope's Emissaries were ignominiously treated at Paris p Carol. Molin de Monarch Franc. n. 140 141 142. q Niem lic 3. de Schism cap. 7. nemore unionis Tract 6. cap. 31. Charles the Fourth of France did neither regard the Church nor his own Kingdom Whose Son 's Successor Robert of Bavaria King the Romans siding with Gregory chiefly fomented the Church-Divisions The Emperors then were degenerated When their Power was most requisite to rectify the Pope's mismanagement r C. Hadrianus c. in Synodo Dist 63. c. Victor Honorium Dist 97. s C. Si quis 2. qu. 7. c. nos si in compenter ead t C. Hâ—beo librum Dist 16. c. Valentinianus Dist 63. c. mandastis 2. qu 4. Gregory Renounc'd by his Cardinals at Pisa Who with those of Benedict deprived them both of the Papacy For which some worldly Divines charged them with Schism u Vide Niem in nem Union Tract 4. cap. 9. x C. Multis Dist 17. y Bald. ad d. c. olim de rescrip in c. quia propter de elect * Herbis z Zabar in c. licet n 13 de elect in cons 150. in Tract de Schismate hujus temporis Ancharan Cons 181. a Pâ—nor ad c. licet de vitanda n. 8. de elect Dec. in Consil pro Concilio Pisano Felin ad c. super literis n. 21. de rescript Cardin. Jacob. de Concil lib. 3. Art 1. n. 11. Jo. Royas de Haeret. n. 518. b Niem in nem unionis Tract 6. cap. 15 16. c Card. Bellar. lib. 1. de Concil cap. 8. King of England and France c. favour the Cardinals and their aforesaid Sentence in Council Which the Cardinal of Bourdeaux with great zeal got ratified in England Walsingh 1409. H. Chichele one of the Delegates to Pisa Before whom and Associates a Learned Sermon preached Hos 1. 11. d In vol. 1. Operum Jo. Gerson Bishop of Sarum another Delegate made an eloquent Oration in the Council of Pisa * Advocatus Fisci e Niem lib. 3. de Schism cap 44. Where both Popes were pronounced perjured c. and Alexander the Fifth elected f Abb. ad c. licet de vitanda n. 8. de elect Who when a Boy had begg'd from door to door Afterwards his Parts known sent to Oxford Then made Archbishop of Milan and created Cardinal by Innocent the Seventh Alexander was too honest studious and Monastick to be politically qualified for the Chair 'T is thought he was poysoned He was succeeded by John the Twenty Third A papal Triumvirate g Ann 11. H. 4. fol. 78. 8. 1410. 1411. H. Chichele returns from his Embassy Was diligent in his Function 1413. Allegiance sworn to Henry the Fifth before his Coronation That King sent our Henry Ambassador to the French King and Duke of Burgundy h Enguerrant de Monstrellet cap 106. To the former for a Treaty of Peace i Enguerrant de Monstrellet chap. 109. To the latter about a Marriage Whilst the King seem'd more inclinable to the French King's Daughter H. Chichele chosen President of the Council 1414. The Monks desire leave to elect an Archbishop of Canterbury k Polydâ—r lib 19. in Edvard 3. l Abb. ad c. â— de Consuet n. 4. Apostil ibid. And Canonically demanded H. Chichele m C. sicut vir 7. qu. 1. n C. inter corporalia extr de translat Episc o Tot. tit extr de postul Prelat p Tot. tit de translat Episc Rebust in prax benefit par 1. tit de translat Episc Which Custom was introduced by Papal Ambition H. Chichele expects the Pope's leave To obtain which Proxies are sent to Rome With the King's Letters in his favour The Pope divorc'd H. Chichele from St. David's Made him Archbishop by way of provisor * Provisionis titulo But he was first to be sworn to the Infallible Chair q C. Significasti 4. de elect r C. Antiq. 23. de Privileg s C. nisi 3. de usu Pallii The Pall denoting full power over the other Bishops t C. 1. eod lit u C. ex tuarum 5. eod tit Delivered him in the King's Palace of Sutton * A c. Significasti de Electi Where he took the Oath of Obedience The Pope gave the Church but the King could only give the Land Which was done after renouncing of the Clauses derogatory to the King's Power For his Patent he paid Six hundred Marks Secur'd the Church from the Envy of the two Houses Being formerly voted to supply King Henry the Fourth by the Church's Wealth Whilst the Church paid Tenths oftener than the Laity did Fifteenths c. Which Consideration but chiefly the Intercession of his Predecessor with the King had then averted the storm Another Address of the Commons against the Clergy Which was design'd as the then Bishop alledg'd for the enriching of themselves King of France said he has not a Noble now of the Revenues of the Monasteries that were brought to the Exchequer The Petition rejected Henry the Fourth averse to Wickliff's Doctrine abetted by the Petitioners In Henry the Fifth's time the Address renew'd To avoid which the Clergy resolv'd to give the King Money for a War with France For which a Synod is call'd at London The Title of the Kings of England to France Claim'd by Edward the Third Whose Competitor was Philip de Valois King Edward claiming by 's Mother rejected under pretence of the Salick Law assumed the Title Successfully invaded France and entail'd the Quarrel Richard the Second waved the Quarrel Henry the Fourth was 〈…〉 But the happy Juncture was in Henry the Fifth's time As Chichele thought for a more glorious Diversion His Speech to the King for that purpose Accommodates himself to the King 's Heroic Temper Thinks France no less than the Envy of the World Represents the King's Right And insinuatâ—… the Injuries done his French Provinces The Salick Law an Obtrusion And a Cheat to debar the Female Line y Gregor Turon lib. 2. Paul Aemyl in princ Girard du Haillan livre 1. Not made by Pharamond as pretended But Four hundred years after him and in Germany If it obliges the French it relates to private Inheritances only for z Franc. Hottom in Franco-gall cap. 10. In dispute one French King never us'd it against another for Pepin claimed by a Female and so did Hugh Capet And by the like Lewis the Tenth confirm'd his Right This Law made a Bugbear to Foreigners contemned by themselves z L. maximum intem c. d. liber praeterit 1. lege 12. Tab. c. de legit haered sect Si quis igitur Anth. de haered ab intest sect Item vetustas Instit eod tit 'T is contrary to the Civil Law and The Constitutions of most Nations And to the Divine Law Numb 27. 8. Jesus Christ the Lawful Heir by his Mother of the Jewish Kingdom The French rather deny the Bible than submit to a Foreign Prince The Salick Law literally excludes not the