Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	church_n	pope_n	rome_n	5,434	5	6.6788	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33698	An account of the court of Portugal, under the reign of the present king, Dom Pedro II with some discourses on the interests of Portugal, with regard to other sovereigns : containing a relation of the most considerable transactions that have pass'd of late between that court, and those of Rome, Spain, France, Vienna, England, &c.	Colbatch, John, 1664-1748.	1700 (1700)	Wing C4991; ESTC R20800	212,299	370

necessity but in that which is called Gravissima That it could not be denied but the Necessity of the Churches of Portugal for Bishops at that time was Gravissima and that of the Dominions thereof in other parts of the World Extreme This grand Arcanum of the Papal Empire that Bishops may be made out of Rome and without the Pope's concurrence being thus happily discovered the Portugueses were now put in a fair way to restore the Ancient Discipline to their Church and with it prosperity to their Nation it being evident that the Miseries they labour under as well as the horrible Corruptions in their Religion are no other than the necessary Effects of the Papal Usurpation and Tyranny and it appears that King John did for some time approve of the good Advice that had been given him at least that he would have it thought so at Rome for he ordered his Agent there to get a Remonstrance to be put into the Pope's hands wherein among other things he declares That he had been assured by very learned Men that when access and recourse to the Holy See could not be had it belonged to the Chapters to choose their Bishops upon his Nomination according as it had formerly been practised in Spain and was still observed in some places that his Holiness had no reason to be dissatisfi'd if he took up with this Resolution after he had suffered himself to be so much slighted while he had the Remedy in his own hands that if his Holiness were finally resolved to prefer the Interests of Castille to his just Rights he for his part would justifie himself before all Christian Princes so that the blame of what followed should never be laid on him Had the King proceeded so far as to convince the Pope that he was in earnest he had brought him no doubt to his own terms or else might have done that for which his Posterity and Country would have the greatest cause to bless his Memory that is have shaken off that intolerable Yoke under which they are now sinking The very mention of having Bishops chosen by the Chapters upon the King's Nomination put Innocent into a terrible Fright he had nothing to say against the practice or the necessity of it in the present case But here the Inquisition of Portugal interpos'd its Authority and delivered the Pope from the Agony he was in by condemning the two last Opinions and that for a reason which comprehends the rest they declaring the Pope as Universal Head of the Roman Church to have all Monarchical Power and to be the Fountain of all Spiritual Jurisdiction which cannot be derived to Ecclesiastical Ministers without his express Concession and Will This peremptory sentence of the Inquisition put a stop to all further Proceedings in this Affair The Pope reassumed new Courage and continued as Insolent as ever after the King's Declaration had brought him to his Wits-end for as the Conde da Ericeyra in his Portugal Restaurado tells the World his Holiness did not stick to declare That the Holy Office had delivered him out of the greatest Perplexity by cutting a knot which of himself he durst not meddle with The same noble Author tell us That the King desisted from his Resolution for no other reason but because the Inquisition did not approve of it while there were as he saith a great number of learned Men both within and without the Kingdom ready to justifie and maintain it so that according to the Conde it is to the Inquisitors that the Portugueses owe the continuance of their Bondage and there is no question but they did their utmost to obstruct the King's Design supposing that he had a real intention to shake off the Roman Yoke for should the Church of Portugal recover her Liberty and have her Bishops restored to their just Authority the Holy Office must fall of course were the design of that Office no other than is pretended it is at best but an encroachment upon the Episcopal Jurisdiction for to the Bishops it belongs of right to give Judgment in matters of Religion and superintend the Discipline of the Church and they all along exercised this Jurisdiction which they derive through the Apostles from Christ with that Gentleness Tenderness and Charity as became the true Fathers of the Church till the Popes began to usurp the whole Power to themselves or impart it to Creatures of their own and among the rest to these Wolves of Inquisitors whom in the heighth of their Tyranny they let loose upon the Church to dispossess the Shepherds and ravage the Flock but should an end be put to the Papal Usurpations there would be no further occasion for Inquisitors and therefore it had been no wonder if of their own heads they made this desperate Effort to preserve their Master and themselves But in Truth had King John been fully bent to break with Rome it is much to be question'd whether all the Power of the Inquisition as great as it is suppos'd to be could have frustrated his design for in reality this Tribunal since its last establishment in Portugal hath had its chief support from the Kings who on several occasions have maintain'd it in spight of the Court of Rome it self Had the King withdrawn his Protection it is not unlikely but the Bishops of themselves might have made their Party good For the People doubtless would prefer their Government to that of the Inquisitors as chusing rather to be under the Discipline of a Father than in the hands of those barbarous Executioners Besides it was an easie matter for the King to hinder the Inquisitors from giving him any trouble some of the chief of them ow'd their lives to his Mercy the Inquisitor General for one who stood convicted as a Principal of the most horrible Treason that ever Traitor was charg'd with it was for no less a Crime than a design to murther the King fire the City and betray his Country to the Spaniards It is said that in order to the Execution of this Treason the Holy House had been fill'd with Arms and that which made the Plot the more remarkable the undermanagers of it were some of the leading Men among the New Christians against whom the Inquisition was erected and upon whom the Inquisitors for the most part exercise their Barbarities and thereby gain what favour they have with the People for the rest of the Portuguses bear a mortal hatred against those among them that go by the Name of New Christians whom these Impostors represent as Jews in their hearts pretending that their Jewish blood makes them such whether they will or no. But on this occasion it was observed That the Inquisition and the Synagogue were of accord together to destroy their Country and it is very likely that the King had he pleased might have rendered the one as odious to the people as the other was But he took other measures and though several Noble Men of the first

very little of that Leudness in them which abounds in so scandalous a manner in those of another Country But though Crimes of this sort are not taught in the Play-House there yet it is much suspected that they are practised amongst them the Women that tread the Stage having no better Character there than in other Places And this I presume might be the Reason why their Admittance into Lisbon was so vigorously opposed by the Arch-Bishop who to put a stop to all Importunities in their behalf published an Excommunication against the Players in case they should Act and against all that went to see them It was in vain for the Fidalgo's to desire his Lordship to recall the Sentence but at last they apply'd themselves to Nicolini the Nuncio who had now a fair Opportunity presented him to engage a powerful Party against the Arch-Bishop nor did he let slip his Advantage It is true Religion and Vertue were like to suffer by what he was about but those of Rome think these are things to be minded when they prove subservient to their Designs he therefore without more ado takes off the Excommunication by Virtue of his Legantine Power The Play-House hereupon opens and fills the Fidalgo's flocking to it like so many School-Boys let loose from under the Discipline of their Master and perhaps the more eagerly that they might a little mortifie the rigid Arch-Bishop His Lordship withdraws for a time to his Country-House that he might not be a Witness to so great a Slur put upon him and to suppress his just Indignation against the Nuncio But this was only a short Mortification which considering the Occasion must doubtless have turn'd to his Lordship's Credit even among those that were pleas'd with it at that time The Court of Rome hath since thought convenient to present him with a Cap viz. in the Year 1697 at a Promotion wherein his Lordship and Monsignor Cornaro the then Nuncio at Lisbon were the only Persons advanced to the Purple Dom Anrique de Sousa de Tavares da Silva Conde de Miranda Marquis de Aronches Brother to the Arch-Bishop and acting in concert with him a Minister of great Sufficiency but too much as 't is thought addicted to his Pleasures He hath served in several Embassies as to England Spain Holland and remains well affected to the People among whom he has resided Insomuch that during the late War such as would needs have the Ministers of State to take Parties have always given the Marquess of Aronches together with his Family to the Allies and we may suppose them to be much in the right if we judge how the Noble Families stand affected to other Nations from the Alliances they contract with Foreigners This Lord having given his Daughter to the Prince of Ligne a Fleming Subject of Spain and Prince of the Empire who succeeds him in his Estate and Title the same Person who by Procurement of the Family was sent Ambassador Extraordinary from his Portuguese Majesty to the Emperor and made that splendid Entry into Vienna of which the Publick had so large an Account in the Gazettes c. If I do not mention the rest that are of this Honourable Body it is because I am not so well instructed as to be able to give a particular Account of them But I must not omit to mention the Secretary of State who tho' he hath neither a Deliberative nor a Decisive Voice in any of the Councils is yet as some term him the Primum Mobile of the whole Kingdom His Office is compounded of that of Clerk of the Council and another long since abolished but revived for a small time by the Conde de Castelmelhor he that executed it was called the Escrivam de Puridade Puridade in old Portuguese signifies Secrecy or Privacy but is now out of use in that Sense The Office seems to have been much the same as that of Privado in Spain or Prime Minister in France but nothing remains of it now at least in the Secretary of State but what is purely Ministerial The Office of Secretary at present as 't is a Place of Great Trust so it is in a manner a Place of infinite Business he gives an Account to the King of whatsoever is done in the Council of State he is address'd to by all sorts of People that have any thing to do at Court of what Nature soever their Business is he proposes the Matter to the King and returns his Answer and is apyly'd to by Foreign Ministers on all occasions This Place is at present executed by Mendo Foyos Pereira one rais'd by the House of Aronches and as some say greatly devoted to the Family He is a Person not so considerable for his Birth as for his indefatigable Diligence in his Employment of which he acquits himself so well that it seems to be without Reason that some represent him of a narrow Capacity Foreign Ministers find it to be much for their Convenience to Manage the Secretary and hold a good Understanding with him if they desire to have quick Dispatches or when Matters relating to the Ceremonial are in Question For if he be ill us'd they may chance to meet with more Rubs in their way than they look'd for The Nuncio's that have been on ill Terms with him have not been insensible of his Resentments However it is thought advisable by those that have to deal with this Minister that in the Measures they keep with him they beware lest he perceives they are in any Awe of him since an over-great Complaisance may be of worse Consequence than a Conduct that is quite contrary FINIS Books Printed for Tho. Bennet FOLIO THucydides Greek and Latin Collated with five entire Manuscript Copies and all the Editions extant Also illustrated with Maps large Annotations and Indexes By J. Hudson M. A. and Fellow of Vniversity-College Oxon. To which is added an exact Chronology by the Learned Henry Dodwell never before Publish'd Printed at the Theater Oxon. Athenae Oxoniensis Or an exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University of Oxford from 1480 to the end of the Year 1690 giving an Account of the Birth Fortune Preferment and Death of all those Authors and Prelates the great Accidents of their Lives with the Fate and Character of their Writings The Work so compleat that no Writer of Note of this Nation for Two hundred Years is omitted In Two Volumes A new Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam By Monsieur de la Loubiere Envoy Extraordinary from the French King to the King of Siam in 1687 and 1688 wherein a full and exact Account is given of their Natural History as also of their Musick Arithmetick and other Mathematick Learning Illustrated with Sculptures Done out of French by Dr. P. Fellow of the Royal Society Father Malbranch's Treatise concerning the Search after Truth The whole Work compleat to which is added his Treatise of