assembled and nevertheless from this present and as far forth as shall be needfull he protests the Nullity of all that may hitherto have been done or may hereafter be pronounc'd publish'd or affixed against his Person Family Domestiques or others and to provide himself as shall be found reasonable declaring that if any one of whatsoever Quality he may be is wanting to the respect and regard due to his Character he shall become responsible both to God and Men for all the mischiefs that may result from the offence done to his Majesty by violating the right of Nations in the Person of his Ambassador Given at Rome Dec. 27th 1687. And in January following in France the King's Council having in a large Harangue laid the business open to the Parliament of Paris where was read the Bull concerning the Franchises and the Orders of the 26th of December for the interdicting St. Lewis's Church together with the Act of Appeal put in to a future Council by the King's Attorney-General The Court of Parliament admitted of the said Appeal and declared the said Bull and Ordinance as Null and Abusive Prohibited all persons whatsoever to vend them in the Kingdom on pain of being proceeded against according to the severity of the Law enjoyned those that had Copies of them to bring them to the Regiâ—ter of the Court there to be suppressed Ordered that the Act of Appeal put in by the Atturney-General to a future Council should be Registred in the Registry of the Court and that the King should be most humbly desired to employ his Authority for the maintaining the Franchises and Immunities of the Quarter of his Ambassadors in the Court of Rome in the whole extent they had hitherto enjoy'd them And the Kings Council having alledged that the Pope had refused to grant his Bulls to confirm Ecclesiasticks which the King had nominated to vacant Benefices so that a third part of the Churches of the Kingdom were destitute of Pastors the Court did further Order that the King should be most humbly desired to order the holding of Provincial Councils or even of a National Council or an Assembly of the Nobles of his Kingdom so to advise about the most suitable means for the remedying the Disorders which the long Vacancy of several Arch-Bishopricks and Bishopricks had therein introduced and to prevent the progress and encrease of them and in the mean while to forbid his Subjects in such manner as the said Lord the King should judge convenient to have any Commerce or remit any Money into the Court of Rome And this present Arrest to be affix'd in the publick and usual places of Paris and every where as should be needfull Done in Parliament the 23th of January 1687 8 Signed Jacques Hereupon in February 1687 8 the Pope resolved to give Audience to several Cardinals apart upon the differance betwixt France and that See after this manner viz. unto two in one day as he should name them one in the Morning the other in the Afternnon and on the 15th of February he began with Cardinal Cibo and so went on And after these Debates he took off the Interdict of the Church of St. Lewis for which Te Deum was sung in that Church and withal Cardinal Cibo had leave to receive from and pay Visits unto Cardinal D'Estrees and all exasperating Books and Writings which reflected on France in the handling these Controversies were prohibited In March following the Pope appointed Cardinal Cibo to Negotiate the matter with the Auditor of the Rota a Frenchman who was thereto appointed by the Marquis de Lavardine and the Envoy of Venice then residing at Rome was to be Mediator betwixt them But the Pope would not grant that they should make any accord unless there were a previous surrender of the Franchise which the Ambassador would not grant and so it came to nothing 1688. In February 1688 the Pope granted leave to the Venetians to raise 40000 pound Sterling on the Clergy within their State and that there might be 1000 men Enlisted in the Ecclesiastical State to help to man their Galleys of Malta and prevail'd with the Duke of Mantua to lend the Venetians 500 men all this was for carrying on the War for as to his own Galleys he durst not venture to send them into the Morea this year the suspition daily encreasing that the Erench King had a design upon Italy it appear'd that the Marquis de Lavardin had not less than 600 Men lodg'd in his Quarters and it was whisper'd that he design'd to make a publick Entry maugre the Popes good will and pleasure beside the French at this time fortify'd Montferrat and Cazal The Pope was not willing to take notice of either that there might be no pretence for a disgust yet raised Land Soldiers that he might not be surpriz'd and his Galleys cruised about Italy under pretence of meeting with the Corsairs of Barbary whereby they were near at hand if the French should attempt to make a Descent upon Italy The Venetians with the assistance the Pope gave and procur'd for them landed Men on the Isle of Negropont and took the Castle of Carambaba there and a Fort near Negropont which also they closely besieged and the 2â—th of August they took the Outworks and many very furious assaults were made and divers men kill'd on both sides in particular 25 Knights of Malta and a body of Turks were beaten that came to relieve it but after all the season of the year requiring it and the Army weakned the 20th of October the Siege was rais'd and the greatest advantage of this years Campagne was that the strong Fortress of Clin was surrendred unto General Cornaro General Conningsmark by reason of sickness could not Act in the Campagne this year and toward the end thereof dyed and it may be remark'd that since he left the Field the success in the Morea never was answerable to what it had been the several years whilst he was General This year the Doge of Venice dyed and Captain General Morosini was chosen in his place chiefly for his Merit and the Service he had done against the Turk This years Campagne in Hungary began with the surrender of Alba Regalis to the Imperialists which had been block'd up a great while and was surrendred in May. In it was found good store of Arms and Ammunition and it was follow'd with a very considerable thing viz. An Act of Submission of the Prince and States of Transilvania to the Emperour as their Father and Sovereign offering to deliver up their Fortresses unto him and promising their Obedience Assistance provided they might have that Liberty in Religion as was heretofore granted unto them tho' it had not been duly observed with them yet upon some disputes the submission was not fully made till some time after The Deputies of the States of Wallachia concluded also a Treaty to put themselves under the Emperors Protection saving their Privileges
of Pamiers acquiesced not in this Sentence but appealed to the Pope who was now engaged in the Controversie and the matter lodged in his Hands 1678. Wherefore the Pope writ his Brief to the French King and in soft and yet pressing Terms complained of the Innovations made on the Liberties of the Church and the Authority of the Council of Lions And after several Arguments to perswade him to desist from this Enterprize he concludes He cannot forget those Popes his Predecessors whom upon the like Occasion had endured long and great Afflictions But these Allegations satisfy'd not the King who pretended That the Rights of the Regale were inherent in the Crown and had been enjoyed by his Ancestors and by them derived down to himself The Pope on the other side replyed That the Secular Power had no Right to things Sacred but as it was derived to them by the Authority of the Church and that the Church had not granted any such Right having expresly limited it by the Council of Lyons which hath now been observed 400 years This Controversie seemed to lie dormant from September 1678. unto December 1679. when it was again revived in the See of Pamiers in that point which concerned the Vacant Benefices and the mean Profits for the Kings Officers seized on them so that the good old Bishop had nothing to live on the last twenty Months of his Life but the Oblations and Charity of his People This occasioned the Pope to write to Cardinal D'Estree to interpose in this Affair as being a Person more than ordinarily concerned in the Dignity of the Apostolical See to which the Cardinal answer'd in the Style of a Court-Bishop extolling the Kings Merit his Zeal for the Faith and respect for the Apostolical Chair what he had done for the suppressing of Calvinists and Heresie within his Dominions and how bravely he had defended the Christian Cause against the Turks and in fine he laid down the dangers which would follow if any Dissention should arise between that King and the Church At length Cardinal D'Estree was dispatched to Rome with a Letter of Credence and Orders to treat immediately with the Pope himself but it seems his Negotiation produced little Alteration for the Pope continued steady and constant to his Principles And on the other side the Parliament of Paris became as zealous for the Kings Right and Authority for which the Kings Attorney General pleading made little esteem of the Popes Censures in respect of the Kings Orders The Church said he may indeed have an Authority to punish Men for Heresie and an ill Life but the World was now too well enlightned not to discern that the Thunders of Rome had been for several Ages vainly employed for extending its Authority beyond all due Bounds the Limits whereof were to be found in the Canons of the Church by which the Pope as well as others ought to govern himself And therefore desired that the last Brief sent by the Pope might be suppressed which was accordingly done by a Judgment of the Court of Parliament on the last of March 1681. And to give a farther Authority to this Judgment an extraordinary Assembly was called of all the Bishops then residing at Paris where were present Six Archbishops Twenty Six Bishops and Six that were named to Bishopricks to whom the Agents of the Clergy represented the Invasions made on the Liberties of the Gallican Church by the Popes Briefs both in general concerning the Regale and in particular in the Affair at Pamiers and the Nunneries and concerning a Book of Gerbais a Doctor of the Sorbonne De Gausis Majoribus which were equally contrary both to Church and State to the Canons and the Concordate by which the Pope upon a simple Complaint without any Appeal did by the plenitude of his Power judge at Rome concerning the validity of Elections and the Authority of Arch-Bishops and Primates c. The issue of this Assembly was They asserted the Authority of National Churches for judging all matters both of Faith and Manners and in the conclusion agreed to make an Address to the King praying him to give leave either for a National Counsel or an Assembly General the later of which was consented unto by his Majesty and summoned to meet the first of October following which met accordingly and at the opening thereof the Bishop of Meaux preached a most eloquent Sermon with much Applause after which the point of the Regale was put to the Question and argued learnedly on both sides and in conclusion the greatest part were of opinion that the Rights unto the Regale were inherent in the Crown and that the pretensions thereunto were Usurpations by the Church as appears by this following Declaration The Declaration of the Clergy of the Gallican Church concerning Ecclesiastical Power WE the Archbishops and Bishops Representatives of the Gallican Church being by Command of His Majesty Assembled at Paris together with others of the Clergy in the same manner delegated with us after long Debate and mature Consideration have thought fit to declare and determine these several particulars following I. That a Power is given by God to St. Peter and his Successors who are the Vicars of Christ and to the Church to Order and Regulate all Spiritual Matters but not to intermeddle in Civil or Temporal matters according to that Saying of our Lord My Kingdom is not of this World And again Give unto Caesar the things which are Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods And Agreeable hereunto is that of the Apostle Let every Soul be Subject to the Higher Powers for there is no Power but of God the Powers which are are ordained of God and whosoever resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God Wherefore Kings and Princes by the Law of God are not liable in temporal matters to the Ecclesiastical Power nor by the Power of the Keys can they be deposed either directly or indirectly or can their Subjects be absolved from their Fealty and Obedience to them or from their Oaths of Allegiance the which We confirm and determine as Principles not only necessary for conservation of the Publick Peace and Tranquility but for the better Government of the Church and as Truths agreeable to the Word of God the Tradition of the Fathers and to the Example and Practice of Saints and Holy Men. II. That the Apostolical See and the Successors of St. Peter who are the Vicars of Christ have a full and plenary Power in all Spiritual matters in such manner as is given to them by the Oecumenical Synod of Constance which is received by the Apostolical See and in such manner as hath been confirmed by the constant use and practice of the Popes of Rome and the whole Church and observed by the Religion of the Gallican Church and Decreed by the Authority of the General Councils in the Fourth and Fifth Sessions And the Gallican Church doth condemn the Opinion of those who esteemed
those Decrees of doubtful Authority and do endeavour to restrain their Obligations only to a certain time of Schism and to invalidate the present Power thereof III. Hence it is that the third exercise of the Apostolical Power is to be regulated by Canons established by the Spirit of God and thereunto all the World is to bear Respect and Reverence likewise the Rules Manners and Institutions received by the Kingdom and Church of France as also the Customs of our Fore-fathers are to remain unalterable the which is a clear Demonstration of the greatness of the Apostolical See that the Statutes and Ordinances thereof are established and confirmed by and with the consent of the Churches IV. In Questions of Faith the Pope is chief Judge and his Decrees extend themselves to the Churches in general and to every one in particular nor can his Judgment be repealed unless by the consent and determination of the Universal Church V. These Particulars received from the Doctrin of our Fore-fathers we have by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost Decreed to send unto all the Gallican Churches and the Bishops residing over them and we do all concur in the same Sense and Meaning of them Subscribed by Archbishops and Bishops and Clergy as before related and Registred as required by the Kings Attorney General March 23. 1681 2. The French King used all means to gain this point of the Pope and thinking that the very bruit of any part of his Army marching into Italy might have a considerable Influence he sent a Protestant General Marshal Schomberg with an Army into Italy and the Fourth of October 1681. he entred Cazal The pretence was That the French King had bought that place of one of the Duke of Mantua's Ministers for three Millions which the Duke disown'd as done without his privity and would not receive the Mony and the Pope and all Italy by fortifying this place and several other apparent Designs of the French King were frequently Alarm'd so that in 1687. his Holiness durst not send his Gallies to assist the Venetians but was put to the charge of raising Forces for his Security The King caused the Declaration of the Clergy and his Edict for conforming it to be registred both in the Chamber of Accounts in France and in the Sorbonne without the Doctors Assent who shew'd their resentment of it and therefore the Parliament of Paris summoned twelve of the Doctors before them and gave them a sharp Reprimand and in June 1682. the King commanded several of the Doctors of the Sorbonne to leave the Society and repair to certain places distant which he appointed He also sent several of the Clergy to the Bastile who had spoke or wrote freely on this occasion The Pope was not idle in the mean time In January 1681. he did by several Briefs require the Jesuits to expel Father Maimburg a French Jesuit out of their Society for having wrote a Book offensive to his Holiness but the King took him into his protection In April 1682. He sent a Decree to the Carmelites at Paris to suspend one of their Members for publishing certain Theses Offensive to the Court of Rome which they performed but the Parliament of Paris commanded the Prior to take off the Suspension and forbad all the Religious Orders to execute any Mandates Letters or Orders which did not concern the internal Ordinary Discipline of their Convents The Assembly at Paris wrote to the Pope the third of February 1682. in unpleasing Terms touching the Regalia And the Pope by his Brief of April the 6th 1682. directed to his Venerable Brethren the Archbishops Bishops c. assembled at Paris check'd them for their Letter and argued his Cause in answer to theirs and reproved them for departing from their Rights and lastly rescinded and annull'd what had been done in their Assembly in the Affair of the Regale and withal excommunicated the Archbishop of Tholouse The Clergy of France before this Brief was made publick to them May the 6th made their Protestation against several Letters that the Pope had wrote into France to the Bishop of Pamiers c. and against all Acts done thereupon and were considering of ordaining that no Appeals should be made to Rome and of setting up a Patriarch of their own Hereupon the Pope sent a Bull of Excommunication of the Deputies of the Clergy of France to be published in their Assembly which the King having notice of stopt their meeting and a little after commanded them to repair to their several Charges and on the Doctors of the Sorbonne's Petition to the Parliament they are restor'd and order'd to give their Opinion on the Propositions of the Clergy wherein they spent much time even to May 1683. and still continued divided in their Opinions Cardinal D'Estree had spent his time in vain at Rome prevailing nothing upon the Pope In the Assembly before they separated the Archbishop of Paris offered several Proposals to accommodate the matter between the Pope and his Eldest Son which with many other things were debated upon 1. That those to whom the King in right of his Regalia shall give any Ecclestical Benifices shall in the Vacancy of the Sees have Approbation and Mission from the Vicars General 2. That the Chapters that are in possession of bestowing Prebends and other Dignities shall as formerly dispose of them in the Vacancy of the See 3. That in those Vacancies where the Collation is alternative between Bishops and the Chapters the same shall be observed during the Vacancies of the Sees that are under the Regality the King having the turn which the Bishops should have had 4. That where the Bishop joyntly with the Chapter disposes of the Prebends the King may in the Vacancy of the See appoint a Commissioner who shall have the same power and place in the Chapter as the Bishop had In January 1682. The French King order'd the Sieur Prior to visit the Monasteries c. where any Divinity Schools are kept and to require the Professors to teach the Propositions of the Clergy in their Assemblies several Books also were seized in France which asserted the Popes Authority and divers Ecclesiasticks and others suspected to be concerned therein were imprisoned thereupon and the Abbot of Meuard was committed to the Bastile for holding correspondence with some persons at Rome After this the French Kings Superintendant forbad the Professors of Divinity at Doway to teach or exercise their Functions because they had refus'd to subscribe the Propositions of the Clergy which so dissatisfied the Pope that the Bulls for confirmation of several Persons nominated by the King to Vacancies were not dispatched tho they were such as the Pope had no pretence against and as to the Abbot of Maupeau whom the King had named to be Bishop of Gastres he absolutely refus'd his Bull because he had signed the Declaration of the Clergy The Pope sent to divers Princes desiring them to cause their Clergy to assemble and