of God c. Quâ per me praefatum Sacvilum Wade in hac parte Actorum Scribam sive Registrarii Deputatum publicè tunc ibidem altâ voce perlectâ dictus Reverendissimus Pater caeteri Episcopi secum assidentes Clerus Domûs Inferioris praedict sese coram eis exhibentes cum omni Reverentia Obedientiâ Subjectione Humilitate gratis Animis acceptarunt receperunt Reverendissimus Pater antedictus Prolocutorem alios de Domo Inferiori Decanos Archi-Diaconos Capitula Cleri procuratores ibidem praesentes voluit ut ipsi inter se convenirent excogitarent de Benevolentiâ sive extraordinariâ Contributione dicto Serenissimo Domino nostro Regi concedendâ deinde de Canonibus Constitutionibus Statum Ecclesiasticum Ecclesiae Vtilitatem concernentib ' componend ' faciend ' inter se consentiend ' Et ut ipsi pro meliori celeriori ipsius negotii expeditione quosdam graviores doctiores Viros de gremio suo eligerent dictum negotium de Canonibus concipiendis Subitur ' Et subsequenter Magister Willielmus Fisher Notarius Publicus DomuÌ„s Inferioris Actuarius mihi praefato Notario certificavit in fidem Notarii Venerabiles Viros Dominum Prolocutorem Isaacum Bargrave Thomam Wynnyffe Richardum Baily Sacrae Theologiae respectivè Professores Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Cant. London Sarum Thomam Paske Andream Binge Radulphum Brownrigg Sacrae Theologiae Professores Archi-Diaconos London Norwicen ' Coven ' Johannem Montfort Gilbertum Sheldon Sacrae Theologiae Professores Procuratores pro Capitulis Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Divi Pauli London ' Gloucester ' necnon Dominum Johannem Lambe Militem Legum Doctorem Benjaminum Laney Thomam Turner Edwardum Franklin Sacrae Theologiae Professores Gilbertum Ironside Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaurcum Procuratores pro Clero Lincoln ' Winton Norwicen ' Bristolien ' esse electos cum consensu totius Domûs ad effectum praedictum Tunc dimisso Domino Prolocutore cum toto Coetâ—… Domûs Inferioris Reverendissimus Colloquium habuit cum confratribus suis ut excogitarent imprimis de Canonibus Novis concipiendis deinde de Veteribus Canonibus percontandis examinandis ad effectum cisdem addendi vel eos supplendi si hujusmodi sacrae Synodo expedire videatur Et insuper hortatus est idem Reverendissimus ut Formae libri Articulorum in qualibet Visitatione posthâc Ministrandorum de Consecratione Ecclesiarum Capellarum Coemeteriorum concipiantur post res ita gestas praedictus Reverendissimus Pater jussit Prolocutorem coram se Confratribus suis vocari Quo Prolocutore cum Octo Decanis eum comitantibus comparente idem Reverendissimus eos Voluit ad conveniendum die Veneris proximo tempestivè ad tunc tractandum cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris citra Benevolentiam sive Contributionem voluntariam dicto Domino nostro Regi concedendam Et ut ipsi Formam Articulorum in Visitationibus imposterum ministrandis concipiant Denique eis dimissis Idem Reverendissimus Pater cum Consensu Confratrum suorum continuavit c. prout in Schedula per eum lectâ c. The Opinion of the Lord Keeper and other the Judges and the King's Councel for the Continuance of the Convocation The Convocation being call'd by the King 's Writ under the Great Seal doth continue until it be dissolv'd by Writ or Commission under the Great Seal notwithstanding the Parliament be dissolved 14 Maij 1640. Jo. Finch C. S. H. Manchester John Bramston Edward Littleton Ralphe Whitfeld Jo. Bankes Ro. Heath Sessio XI DIE Veneris 15º Viz. die Mensis Maij Anno Dom. 1640. inter horas secundam quartam post Meridiem Reverendissimus c. Confratribus suis notum fecit Quòd Serenissimus Dominus Rex honorandum Virum Dominum Henricum Vane Militem Vnum è Secretariis suis Principalibus Thesaurarium Hospitij sui Regij tanquam Nuncium specialem ad hanc Domum destinavit eundemque honorandum Virum in Capellâ ex parte Australi hujus loci praesentem esse Ideóque Reverendissimus Pater cum Consensu confratrum suorum ad se accersiri fecit dictum honorandum Virum nec non Dominum Prolocutorem totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris Qui quidem honorandus Vir domum hanc Convocationis sive Sacrae Synodi primò intravit ac deinde Dominus Prolocutor cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris Dominus Archi-Episcopus istius Sacrae Synodi Praeses eundem honorandum Virum benignè recepit in Cathedra è manu Sinistrâ positâ eum locavit Et tunc idem honorandus Vir eisdem Reverendissimo patri ac Praelatis Clero brevi Oratione declaravit se fuisse per Dominum Regem ad hanc Domum missum ad Regiam suam voluntatem eidem narrandum Scilicet Quod idem Dominus noster Rex Licentiam sive Commissionem de Ordinando Canones Constitutiones Ecclesiasticas pro meliori gubernatione Ecclesiae ad Dei gloriam Regis honorem totius hujus Regni pacem uti speratur huic sacrae Synodo ex gratia Speciali concedens cum Dominis è privato suo consilio consultum habuit an hujusmodi sacra Synodus ad hujusmodi Canones Constitutiones faciendum procederet necne Et dicti Domini unanimi Consensu nullo eorum dissentiente Vota eorum exhibuerunt tanquam maximè necessarium adjudicarunt ut Sacra haec Synodus ad istos Canones juxta potestatem eidem Synodo datam faciendum concipiendum procedat Ideóque dictus honorandus Vir nomine ex parte dicti Domini Regis hortatus est ut tales Canones in brevi tempore fiant quales Ecclesiae praesenti huic statui maximè utiles sint Et subjunctâ aliâ brevi Oratione per Reverendissimum Patrem antedictum Praelatis toto Coetui praedicto cum monitione Nomine dicti Domini Regis ut nullus eorum à dictâ Sacrâ Synodo discedat donec omnia juxta mandatum Regium praedictum perimpleantur idem Reverendissimus Pater unà cum dicto honorando Viro à dictâ Sacrâ Synodo ad Consilium ineund ' cum Domino Rege apud Whitehall recessit Et post aliquem tractatum inter Dominos Episcopos antedictos habitum Reverendus Pater Dominus Johannes Sarum Episcopus dicti Reverendissimi Patris Commissarius sive locum-tenens continuavit c. prout in Schedula per eum lecta continetur Cujus c. Sessio XII DIE Sabbathi 16º viz. die mensis Maij Anno Domini 1640 inter horas Octavam Vndecimam ante Meridiem c. Reverendissimus c. communicavit cum eisdem Dominis Episcopis Et inter hujusmodi communicationes comparuit Dominus Prolocutor cum Decanis Cant ' London tradidit in Manus dicti Reverendissimi Patris quasdam Schedulas Papyri continentes quaedam Capitula Canonum per eum Prolocutorem totum clerum Domûs
the Inferiour Clergy in Convocation 146 CHAP. XII The Share of right belonging to the Clergy in preparing and in presenting the Gravamina and Reformanda 147 The GRAVAMINA often consider'd and presented with the Subsidies 147 The Gravamina how address'd by the Clergy 151 The time when Grievances shall be propos'd at the discretion of the Vpper House ibid. Grievances first offer'd in a general Representation vivâ voce 152 The Clergy's Right to Redress and the manner thereof 154 The REFORMANDA frequently propos'd by the Archbishop among the Causes of Convocation 155 The Clergy's Right to propose Reformations 157 The Clergy's Right to bring in Schedules of Reformation 159 A short state of the Reformanda from the foregoing Accounts 161 The Care of the Reformanda in Parliamento usually left to the Archbishop and Bishops 162 Deputies appointed by Convocation to Assist in Soliciting ibid. CHAP. XIII The Clergy's Right to offer Petitions of other Kinds 164 The several sorts of Petitions particularly occurring in the Acts of Convocation not specified to restrain the Clergy from Petitions of other kinds 1. For making new Canons 164 2. For the revival of old ones 165 3. For the Abolition or Suspension of Laws ibid. 4. About Festivals 166 5. For the Archbishop's Intercession with the King ibid. 6. For the more strict Execution of Discipline 167 Petitions of several kinds An. 1555. 167 Clergy's Petitions of all kinds presented immediately to the Vpper-house 168 The usual Time of presenting such Petitions 169 CHAP. XIV The Part to which the Clergy have a Right in Judicial Cases in Convocation The Occasion of bringing Offenders ordinarily try'd in the Bishops Courts before the Convocation 169 Constitution for bringing Hereticks before the Convocation 170 Offenders usually said to be brought Coram Archiepiscopo Episcopis Clero as the Judicature 171 The Sentence ran in the Name of the Archbishop by authority of the Synod 171 This Account not oppos'd to any Restraints laid upon the whole Convocation by subsequent Statutes ibid. CHAP. XV. The Clergy's Right of a Negative or Final Dissent from the Vpper-house 172 The Original of the Clergy's Negative ibid. A Negative or Final Dissent a peculiar but yet establisht Right of the English Clergy 173 All Denials of the Clergy ever made with great Humility and Condescension ibid. This no prejudice to the Clergy's absolute Right to a final dissent 175 CHAP. XVI The manner of Passing business in Convocation 176 The manner of Consenting in the Lower-house ibid. The Circumstances of that Consent in some Instances reported to the Vpper-house 177 All Instruments read publickly and finally agreed to in the Upper-house 178 The Sanction of the Metropolitan ibid. Articles Canons c. pass'd otherwise viz. by Subscription 180 Why Articles Canons c. pass now by Subscription 182 CHAP. XVII Of Proroguing and Dissolving The Royal Writs for these purposes necessarily directed to the Archbishop 183 The Archbishop's Prorogations and Dissolutions upon these Writs Authoritative and Canonical 184 The Archbishop executes them by his own Metropolitical Power and in his own Name ibid. The Commissions to do the same things in Parliament express a Special Power and Authority from the King ibid. The Archbishop's Admonitions immediately before Prorogations or Dissolutions 185 The Schedules of Prorogation or Dissolution mention the Royal Writs but run in the name of the Archbishop 186 The English Reformation unjustly charg'd with destroying the Canonical Methods of transacting Ecclesiastical Affairs ibid. APPENDIX containing the Journals of five Convocations With Observations drawn from them concerning 1. The Right of CONTINUING or PROROGUING 2. The Right of determining controverted ELECTIONS 3. The Right of SUBSTITUTING a PROLOCUTOR 4. The AUTHORITY of the Summons to Convocation I. Of the Right of Continuing or Proroguing 223 The Schedule of Continuation constantly mention'd in the Vpper-house-Registers 224 The Antiquity of Schedules in Convocation ibid. The Inferior-Clergy Present at the Archbishop's Continuations 226 A Summary account of the Schedule 227 The deriving our Schedules from the Lateran-Council an improbable Scheme 228 The dispute depends not upon Proroguing by Schedule or otherwise 230 The heads upon which the dispute turns 231 The Schedule evidently comprehends both Bishops and Clergy ibid. The Clause Praelatorum Cleri a genuine part of the Schedule 232 The transmission of the Schedule only a circumstance in this dispute 233 Reasons to believe that the Schedule has been ever sent down 235 The Prolocutor is judge of the Time of Intimating when the President and Bishops don't interpose 234 The Form of Intimating to be taken from the most Exact Journals 235 The ordinary Phrase to be in reason the Establisht Form 236 Declaring by Intimation the ordinary Form ibid. The Prolocutor's Intimation has no reference to the Consent of the House 237 The Intimation given by Command of the President 239 A formal Intimation of the Prolocutor not necessary to Continue the Lower-house 240 The President 's Right to Continue the Clergy in the Upper-house 241 The Phrase Continuavit quoad hanc Domum no argument of a Separate Power in the Lower-house 243 Nor the Phrase in Parliament Dominus Cancell contin praesens Parliamentum 245 A Separate Power of Continuing in the Lower-house opens a way to perpetual Divisions of the Synod 248 Intermediate Sessions a great Irregularity and mischief to the Church 251 The Clergy of former times did not think of Intermediate Sessions 253 II. Observations touching the Right to determine Controverted Elections 256 Instances of such Elections occurring in the Acts. ibid. No question whether the Archbishop have a Right to determine Elections 261 The Lower-house have no Right to intermeddle in Returns 262 The Pretences to a concurrent Right in the Lower-house consider'd 263 The Prolocutor and not the House determin'd the Election in 1586. 265 The Instance of 1640. consider'd 266 III. An Additional account of the Substitution of a Prolocutor 268 The late Substitution in 1701. ibid. The account of it in a Paper markt Numb 1. 269 Orders made in Convocation against publishing the Debates while depending 269 Reasons why a Sub-Prolocutor ought to be confirm'd in the Vpper-house 273 Instances of Substitutions by Authority of the Vpper-house defended against the late Paper Numb 1. 272 The arguments for an Independent Power in the Lower-house answer'd 276 Instances where the Registers of the Vpper-house are Wanting of no force 277 The bare Silence of the Vpper-house-Books no Proof against Positive Evidences 279 The Precedent of 1640. particularly consider'd 280 The Paper Numb 1. speaks against the sense of the House in this matter 281 No difference between a Prolocutor and Referendary 282 The Duties belonging to the Office of a Prolocutor are all annext to that of Reporting as the Consequences of it 284 IV. Additional Observations touching the AUTHORITY of the Summons to Convocation 287 The Authority of Summoning apply'd both to the King and the Archbishop ibid. The Archiepiscopal Summons confess'd to be Authoritative
English Convocation however laid under some Restraints from the Civil Constitution is far from being so much transform'd into a Civil Meeting as has been pleaded of late That in the Summoning Opening and Acting it appears what it is an Ecclesiastical Synod of Bishops with their Presbyters and neither a Parliamentary Body on the one hand nor an Assembly of Presbyters on the other That however the Papists slander the English Reformation as if it had chang'd our Church into a Civil Constitution yet 't is evident against all the Endeavours of some among our selves to help the Church of Rome in that Objection that as to the Nature of our Synods at least it left 〈◊〉 in the same Ecclesiastical State as it found them To proceed regularly in this Design it must be all along observ'd what I hinted before that the Corruptions which have been endeavoured of late in an English Convocation are in general the Diminution of the Canonical Authority of the Metropolitan and Bishops and the Clergy's claiming such Exemptions from that Authority as makes the whole Body look more like an English Parliament than a Sacred Synod To this purpose it has been pleaded Nar. p. 6. That the Convocation was divided into two Houses in conformity to the Parliament Answ p 9. c. 2. That the Prolocuter is President of the Lower-House as the Archbishop is of the Vpper That the Acts and Declarations of both are only the Effect of the Order or Consent of each House respectively That the Prolocutor governs the Time of the Lower in as full a manner as his Grace does that of the Vpper i. e. with the Consent of the House Nar. p. 17. That their Debates are manag'd Independently from their Lordships Nar. p. 61. That they have a general Negative upon the Vpper-House That in virtue thereof they have a Right to deny the Appointment of Committees and even a sight of their Journals in which by the way they exceed their Pattern the Journals of the two Houses of Parliament being mutually open to the Members of each at all times and upon all occasions Nar. p 3. That without the Knowledge or Directions of their Lordships they can enter upon and proceed in business of the highest Importance and if any Point happen that in the judgment of the Vpper-House may be most conveniently Debated in Writing Nar. p. 50. they can insist upon a free Conference as the fittest Method and if that be deny'd are under no Obligation to be further accountable to their Lordships for any of their Practices or Proceedings Nar. p. 49. Add to these the Power they claim over their own Members upon which they can require their Attendance and according to the known practice of the last Convocation can discharge them from it by a Vote or Resolution of the House with that other Claim which has been so much insisted on their Right to adjourn to different Days from the Metropolitan and Bishops and to sit and act on these Days as a House In these Claims and Practices I say we have the view of an English Parliament but lose that of an Ecclesiastical Synod consisting of a Metropolitan Bishops and Presbyters By these Rules we see the Debates as to the matter manner and time are all separated at the pleasure of the Inferior Clergy and as the Archbishop and the Upper-house are made to resemble the Speaker of the House of Lords and the Lords Temporal so to compleat the Parallel the Prolocutor and the Lower-House that is as they term themselves the Spiritual Commons answer to the House of Commons and their Speaker However such Comparisons if they went no further than Names or the general Appearance of the two Bodies might be innocent enough but when upon these the Claims of new Privileges begin to be founded and such Privileges too as are an apparent diminution of the Metropolitical and Episcopal Authority separating the Synod and raising the Presbyters by degrees to a co-ordinate Power then the Parallel is no longer safe but the Governors of the Church and all that love our Episcopal Constitution are concern'd to enter upon proper Measures for the Preservation of it And these in our present Circumstances I conceive to be the opposing to those new attempts the Authority of former Convocations and describing from thence i. e. from the only true Rule the Practice and Proceeding proper to each House Which will not only shew that their Lordships have insisted upon no Power but what their Character and the Usage of Convocation fully justifie and that therefore the Clergy's Claims of Exemption from it are not to be warranted but will also discover to the World how they have been impos'd on by those who have grounded such Claims upon an imaginary Alliance between the Parliament and Convocation two Bodies that will appear to be widely different both in Constitution and Proceedings And since that difference as I said before consists chiefly in the Authority which belongs to the Metropolitan and Bishops over the Inferior Clergy and their Proceedings 't is my design to shew out of the Records themselves how that Authority stands and has always stood in the several Ages and Instances from the Summoning and Opening a Convocation to the Dissolution thereof with an Eye all along to the different Constitution and manner of corresponding in the two Houses of Parliament and particularly to the late Claims of Independence built upon a Parliamentary Relation CHAP. I. The Method of SUMMONING an English Convocation The Writ to the Archbishop I. WHen his Majesty by the Advice of his Council resolves to Summon his Parliament and with it a Convocation he signifies his Royal Pleasure by Writ to the Archbishop Rex c. Reverendissimo c. then the generaI Causes of his calling a Convocation are recited Vobis in fide dilectione quibus nobis tenemini rogando mandamus quatenus praemissis debito intuitu attentis ponderatis universos singulos Episcopos vestrae Provinciae ac Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium necnon Archidiaconos Capitula Collegia totumque Clerum cujuslibet Dioecesis ejusdem Provinciae ad comparendum CORAM VOBIS in Ecclesia Cathedrali S. Pauli London die c. VEL ALIBI prout melius expedire videritis cum omni celeritate accommodâ MODO DEBITO Convocari faciatis A Writ to this effect and for some hundred Years in this very Form has been all along directed to the Archbishop whenever the King had resolved that a Convocation should be Summon'd Upon the reception whereof his Grace always proceeded to summon it in the fixt and Canonical Method that he ever us'd in calling of Convocations upon his own motion without that Writ For tho' the King as having a Right to the Assistance of the Clergy had also a Right to be obey'd by the Archbishop in calling them together for that end yet in the dispatch of that business he left them to proceed according to
the known Rules of a Provincial Synod viz. to be summon'd before their Metropolitan and to the Place he should think fit to appoint and in the manner that was usual in all other Convocations For the Archbishop had a Right to call a Convocation at pleasure till the Statute 25 H. 8. c. 19. absolutely restrained him from doing it unless empower'd by the King 's Writ Which effected this Alteration in the Summons that whereas before it was issu'd sometimes upon the Pleasure of the Prince signified to the Archbishop and sometimes upon the Archbishop's alone the Authority of the Summons in both resting equally in his Grace Now he is restrain'd from the Exercise of that Authority till he receive leave or direction from the Prince The Summons upon that intimation of the Royal Pleasure being still issued in his Grace's Name and under the Archiepiscopal Seal that is remaining as properly Authoritative as before * See this point proved more largely in Right of the Archbishop 9 c. II. For whereas in the late comparisons of a Convocation and Parliament the parallel lies between the Archbishop in the first and the Lord Chancellor in the second the share they have in the Summoning these two Bodies is very different The Warrant to the Lord Chancellor who acts Ministerially The Lord Chancellor or Keeper receives a Warrant from the King whereby his Majesty signifies his Resolution to call a Parliament In which case divers and sundry Writs are to be directed forth under our Great Seal of England c. Wherefore we Will and Command you forthwith upon the receipt hereof and by Warrant of the same to cause such and so many Writs to be made and sealed under our Great Seal for the accomplishment of the same as in like cases hath been heretofore used and accustom'd c. What the King in this case requires of the Lord Chancellor is in a way purely Ministerial his Lordship being commanded to act only in his Majesties Name and under his Seal i. e. solely by his Authority while the Archbishop is only Licens'd or Directed to Exert a Power and Authority which belongs to him as well in the common Right of a Metropolitan as by the antient Laws and Customs of this Realm In virtue whereof he directs his Mandate to the Bishop of London whose Office it is as his Grace's Dean of the Province to Execute that Mandate and whose part therefore in the calling a Convocation answers to that of the Lord Chancellor in the Summons of a Parliament Both of them Act Ministerially in the Name and by the Authority the one of his Civil and the other of his Ecclesiastical Superior The Writ for a Parliament issu'd in the King's Name by the Lord Chancellor summons the Lords Spiritual and Temporal Personally to attend his Majesty on a certain day at Westminster Vobis in side legiantia quibus nobis tenemini firmiter injungendo Mandamus quod consideratis Dicto die loco personaliter intersitis nobiscum And another also in his Majesty's Name to the Sheriff of each County commands him to take care that the Knights Citizens and Burgesses duly Elected pay their Attendance to the King at the same Place But the Archbishop in his Mandate executed by the Bishop of London first reciting the Royal Writ to shew that the Restraint of the Statute is taken off Summons the Bishops and Clergy of his Province to appear before himself in his Provincial Convocation at St. Pauls Quod iidem Episcopi Decani Archidiaconi caeteri Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Praelati c. compareant coram nobis aut nostro in hac parte locum tenente sive Commissario in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London The Returns to Parliament to the King The Sheriff of each County is directed in the Royal Writ to make a due Return of his Election to the King in his Court of Chancery Et Electionem tuam in pleno Comitatu tuo factam distinctè apertè sub sigillo tuo sigillis eorum qui Electioni illi interfuerint nobis in Cancellariâ nostrâ ad diem locum in Brevi Contentum certifices indilatè In Convocation to the Archbishop By the Archbishop's Mandate the Bishop of each Diocese to whom the immediate Execution thereof belongs is directed to make the Return to his Grace or his Commissary Et praeterea vobis ut supra injungimus quòd omnibus singulis Coepiscopis Suffraganeis Provinciae nostrae Cant. injungatis injungi faciatis ut singuli eorum sigillatim de facto suo quatenus pertinet ad eosdem Nos seu locum-tenentem sive Commissarium unum vel plures dictis die horâ loco per literas eorum Patentes Nomina Cognomina omnium singulorum per eos respectivè Citatorum continentes distinctè certificent apertè These Returns are ultimately deposited in their proper Offices the Parliamentary in his Majesties Court of Chancery and those to Convocation in the Register of the See of Canterbury That is the due Execution of each being immediately certified to the Person from whom the Command comes and in whose Power it is to punish the default the Testimonies of that Execution rest and stop at the Authority The Summons not less Ecclesiastical for its being enjoined by the Prince from whence the Summons in both cases immediately flow'd Thus far to the Honour of our Reform'd Church nothing appears in the manner of an English Convocation but what is truly Ecclesiastical or in other Words suitable to the Constitution and Government of an Episcopal Church as well as the Degrees and Order of the Members whereof it consists Bating I mean that one Restraint which the Statute has laid upon the Archbishop from calling a Convocation at pleasure as the antient Metropolitans and our own here in England before that Statute had a right to do For as to the Archbishop's exercising his Summoning Authority at the Command of the King this is so far from changing our Convocations into Civil Meetings that 't is no more than an obedience which has been ever paid to Christian Princes by the Governours of National Churches planted and establish'd under their Influence and Protection Nor in our own did the Archbishop's calling his Clergy upon the King 's Writ or without it ever make the least Alteration in the stated Ecclesiastical Methods of Summoning All these God be thank'd are still pretty entire and I hope safe enough against the Endeavours of some restless Men who would perswade us that they are pleading the Cause of the Church in doing all they possibly can to make her a meer Creature of the State The Clergy not Summon'd in the same manner from the beginning This has ever been the Method of Summoning a Convocation but as to the Members summon'd the Cathedral and Diocesan Clergy were not from the beginning represented as now they are by Persons of
consider of a Subsidy quòd interim Informarent Petitiones suas super Reformatione Injuriarum ut eas conciperent in Scriptis quòdque responsiones darent die prox sequenti Dec. 8. The Bishop of London Presiding Coram eo Procuratores Cleri ibidem comparentes Decimam c. concesserunt ac dictam Concessionem in Scriptis dicto Domino London Episcopo porrexerunt unà cum quibusdam Supplicationibus pro Reformatione quarundam Injuriarum Ecclesiae Anglicanae illatarum in eadem Scripturâ content Anno 1376. Non. Febr. The Grievances were presented to the President and Bishops and 12 Kal. Martij we find the Archbishop making his Report to the King's Answer Praelatis Clero habita deliberatione per dictos Praelatos Clerum super hujusmodi Responsione Dominus Continuavit c. And again 2. Kal. Martij I suppose upon some further Application made by the Clergy the Archbishop acquaints them with the King's Readiness to comply with their Petitions Eas salvo jure Coronae suae feliciter expedire Anno 1379. 4. Kal. Martij Praelati Clerus concesserunt Domino Regi c. rogando Dominum Regem quód Injurias Gravamina illata Ecclesiae Viris Ecclesiasticis faceret revocari Anno 1384. At the end of the Convocation Clerus porrexit certos Articulos petendo Remedium Concessit Medietatem c. Anno 1421. The Archbishop's Official in the name of the rest produxit unam Cedulam Papiri formam Concessionis unius integrae Decimae continentem c. cum hoc quód per Dominum Regem auctoritate Parliamenti tunc apud Westm praesentis posset adhiberi remedium cortis Gravaminibus eis illatis In these and other Instances the Clergy who had a Right to Petition for Redress were willing those Petitions should accompany the Grant because that made them sure of a favourable Answer But this was not constantly observ'd The Grievances to whom address'd nor were all the Grievances address'd to the King but many of them ultimately to the Archbishop and Bishops when the Matter thereof concern'd their Courts and so the Redress was in their Lordships Power We find also Anno 1399. Oct. 11. mention made of such Articles offer'd to the Pope in a Case we may imagin that was not otherwise to be reform'd Decanus Ecclesiae Hereford Articulos de mandato Domini Archiepiscopi palam apertè perlegebat Et quia in dictis Articulis continebantur certa Gravamina per Sedem Apostolicam reformanda visum fuit satis honestum expediens Domino Archiepiscopo c. that the Pope's Collector should be sent for and advis'd with Whose Council was That the King the Archbishop and Bishops should write to the Pope pro Reformatione eorundem In like manner we meet with Applications of the same kind as to the King singly so to the King in Council to the King in Parliament as Redress was most probably and regularly to be had either in the one or the other The Points of this kind consider'd and debated in Convocation were either General when the Matters to be reform'd had Relation to the Common Good of the Church and equally affecting the Bishops and Clergy were settl'd in a Synodical way and address'd and presented in the Names of both which the Registers call Reformanda in Convocatione Reformanda in Parliamento c. Or else Particular when the Bishops or Clergy had Grievances to offer that affected only their own Order respectively and in such cases tho' the Clergy presented theirs to the Upper-House for their Approbation and the Conveyance of them to the King or Parliament yet the Form ran in their own Name only which were properly what we call the Gravamina and Articuli Cleri The Upper house have a Right to direct at what time the Grievances shall be propos'd These the Clergy in Convocation have an undoubted Right to present but as they are to be laid immediately before the Upper-House so the Arch-bishop and Bishops have a Right to direct as oft as they see cause at what Time they shall be propos'd and offer'd in Form Anno 1356. 16. Kal. Jun. Archiepiscopus injunxit Religiosis alijs de Clero quòd die tunc crastinâ proponerent Petitiones suas Anno 1369. 10. Kal. Feb. Archiepiscopus voluit quòd Clerus Religiosi Petitiones suas super Injurijs Violentijs Gravaminibus in Scriptis redigerent sibi porrigerent die Veneris Anno 1373. The Clergy directed Quòd interim informarent Petitiones suas super Reformatione Injuriarum ut eas conciperent in Scriptis quódque Responsiones darent die prox Sequent Anno 1377. 2. Id. Nov. The President praemunivit quòd unus Clericus de quolibet Episcopatu dictae Provinciae Cant. veniret ad Ecclesiam S. Pauli London ibidem inter se post prandium c. deliberarent super Petitionibus formandis de singulis Gravaminibus communiter Clerum cujuslibet Episcopatù tangentibus Anno 1399. Oct. 6. Quia videbatur Domino Archiepiscopo alijs Episcopis sue Cant. Provinciae satis difficile omnes Praelatos Procuratores Cleri in communi congregare ad concipiend Articulos ex parte Cleri proponendos propter hoc deputavit 5. Personas viz. Mag. Thomam Stowe c. ad concipiend Articulos ex parte Praelatorum Cleri super quibus praetendunt Ecclesiam se gravatos Anno 1411. Dec. 2. Archiepiscopus mandavit Procuratoribus Cleri quatenùs si aliqua essent Gravamina ex parte eorum Reformatione indigentia quòd vellent deberent citra diem Veneris extunc proximò futur coram Convocatione Dominorum in Domo Capitulari seriosiùs intimare The Grievances first offer'd in a general Representation vivà voce At other times when the Clergy had receiv'd no previous Direction to bring their Grievances in Writing we find them first making a general Representation thereof Vivâ voce to the Archbishop and Bishops and upon that either leaving them to their Lordships Consideration or receiving Directions what was further necessary to be done Anno 1356. On the first Day of Business they are directed only in general quòd die tunc crastinâ proponerent Petitiones suas And the next Session 't is thus express'd Propositis quibusdam Petitionibus per Clerum tam vivâ voce quà m in Scriptis Anno 1373. Dec. 2. The Clergy upon a general Motion for the Redress of Grievances by the King are commanded Informare Petitiones suas super Reformatione Injuriarum bujusmodi Anno 1411. Nov. 4. The Clergy according to the Order of Dec. 2. just now cited that they should Gravamina c. Sâ—riâ—siùs intimare did it on Dec. 4. in the following manner Comparuerunt Procuratores Cleri qui plura referebant Gravamina allegantes quòd de tâ—t tantis se sâ—ntijt Clerus malis praegravatum quòd nisi in Scriptis contineantur non possent de facili recenseri The Proctors retire and
the Arch-bishop and Bishops debate about the same Matter Procuratores c. reintrarunt circa horam undecimam quibus per Dominum Archiepiscopum ad tunc mandabatur quòd citra proximum diem Convocationis exhibeant declarent Articulatim Gravamina sua in Scriptis redacta Accordingly Dec. 7. two of the Members nonnullas Inconvenientias Gravamina pro ex parte Cleri cujus gerebant Organa vocis exposuerunt quae in Scriptis redacta exhibuerunt Anno 1452. The Prolocutor having given the Upper-house an Account of what was done about the Subsidy is askt An quicquam voluisset pro parte Cleri in Ecclesiâ Anglicanâ Reformatione dignum proponere And he continuò quasi ex insperato quamplurima c. proposuit Et quia non erat facilè singula per ipsum ibidem exposita memoriae quae admodùm labilis est commendare idcircò admonuit eundem Prolocutorem dictus Reverendissimus Pater ut singula per eum in hac parte proposita redigeret in literas Concilio traderet pleniùs maturiùs super eisdem deliberaturo Anno 1452. Feb. 7. Praelocutor post explicationem declarationem nonnullorum Gravaminum Ecclesiae Anglicanae Clero ejusdem à Laicis illatorum super quibus petijt Reformationem debitam intimavit c. Anno 1460. May 13. Propositis ibidem coram dicto Reverendissimo Patre alijs in dictâ Domo Capitulari protunc ibidem existentibus quibusdam Articulis per Prolocutorem vivâ voce dictus Reverendissimus Pater decrevit hujusmodi Articulos sic vivâ voce declarat ' in Scriptis redigi Anno 1460. May 24. Reverendissimus c. auditis per eum pluribus Articulis coram ipso adtunc vivâ voce ministratis continuavit c. Anno 1541. Sess 8. Accessit Prolocutor cum quibusdam de Electis à Clero exposuerunt querelas suas Thus the usual Methods of entring upon the Grievances of the Clergy were either upon an express Command from the Arch-bishop and Bishops or by a general Representation thereof to their Lordships who being in that manner sollicited to redress them either by their own ordinary Power or by Intercession with the King or Application to the Parliament were the best Judges of the Methods most proper to be taken for that End and gave their Directions accordingly The Redress of Grievances The Grievances being reduc'd into Articles and read in the Upper-house by the Prolocutor were presented to the Arch-bishop and Bishops to be by them particularly consider'd and debated in order to their further Prosecution of such Measures as should appear most effectual to the Relief of their Clergy After mature Deliberation upon them with the Clergy or among themselves as seem'd most convenient the Articles were either suspended for some time as those in 1411. Dec. 7. Omnes isti suprascripti Articuli quorum Reformatio deliberationis dierum exegit Inducias de consilio assensu expressis Dominorum in Convocatione praesentium positâ— fuerunt adhuc in suspenso or being thought in all Respects just and reasonable they were approv'd and Measures taken by the President and Bishops in Convocation or by their Ordinary Authority if the Matters were such as came under their own Power in either of these Capacities Otherwise they convey'd them to the King in Person in his Council or in his Parliament according to the Nature of the Requests they offer'd The Reformanda frequently propos'd by the Arch bishop among the Causes of Convocation II. The Reformanda whether in Convocatione in Parliamento or per Regem were upon Matters that concern'd the Good of the Church and Religion in general and being therefore equally the Care and Concern as well of Bishops as Clergy were frequently mov'd and propos'd by the Arch-bishop at the Opening of the Convocation among the Causes of his Summons Anno 1400. Jan. 29. The Arch-bishop explains Causas negotia Celebrationis sui Concilij Provincialis Convocationis Cleri vulgariter nuncupat viz. pro defectibus ejusdem Provinciae tam in Clero quà m in Populo juxta Juris Exigentiam Canonicè Reformandis and then he descends to the Particulars Anno 1404. May 17. The first Day of Business the Arch-bishop continuing the Convocation to May 21. demandavit alijs Praelatis Clero tunc ibidem praesentibus quòd singulis diebus interim ad dictum locum Domum Capitularem convenirent laborarent circa Reformanda in Cantuariensi Provinciâ exinde Articulos conciperent in Scriptis redigendos ut cum Dei adjutorio adhibita corum Benevolentia in hac parte quaeque Reformanda hujusmodi possent reformari Anno 1416. Nov. 16. Expositâ per Reverendissimum Patrem Causa Convocationis eorum protunc factae celebratae communicató que inter eosdem viz. the Bishops and Clergy then present aliquamdiu de super varijs Reformandis in Provincia tandem Dominus Continuavit c. Anno 1419. Among the Causes of calling the Convocation particularly explain'd by the Archbishop the third is Pro defectibus in Clero regnantibus auctoritate illius Provincialis Concilij reformandis And then he directs the Lower-Clergy to retire to their House quòd ibidem de super materijs praedictis tractarent communicarent ad finem quòd babitd deliberatione de super praemissis ad Dei laudem auctoritate Concilij finaliter concludi posset concorditer ordinari Anno 1434. The Arch-bishop reckons up several Grievances of the Church Et tunc babita Communicatione super bujusmodi Gravaminibus ordinatum erat tunc ibidem ut hujusmodi Gravamina ac alia quaecunque in quibus dictus Clerus se sentijt gravari nec non si quae forent Crimina Excessus infra Clerum usitat quae necessariâ Reformatione indigerent in Scriptis redigerentur ut super his omnibus ex communi consilio consensu auxilio Remendium posset debitum adhiberi Anno 1439. The Arch-bishop declares the Causes of the Convocation viz. qualiter Jurisdictio Ecclesiastica per Brevia Regia praecipuè per Brevia illa de Praemunire facias plus solito extitit perturbata impedita atque enormiter laesa Qualiter Personae Ecclesiasticae tam Seculares quà m Regulares per falsa Indictamenta alias vias Exquisitas plus solito vexatae gravaâ—ae sunt his diebus And the next Sesson Dominus mandavit Praelatis Clero quartenùs super praemissis alijs materijs quibuscunque Reformatione recessaria indigentibus viz. Qualiter illud Breve de Praemunire facias ipsa falsa Indictamenta quae hodiernis diebus falsò nequiter malitiosè usitantur continuantur in aliquo mitigari aut pro perpetuo deleri finaliter extingui valeant Billas alia Advisamenta in hac parte necessaria ad praemissa Reformanda conciperent Anno 1444. After the mention of the foresaid Writ among the Causes of Convocation the Arch-bishop adds Qualiter in