manners and customs and in their very pronunciation so liquid plain and distinct more to symbolize and agree with us English than any other people of Italy which so is either because we learned of them or they of us or both mutually of each other when there was that great commerce and intercourse between us and that City for so many years together But for so much of all this as concerns the interchange of manners and customs I leave it to the consideration and observance of such as have to deal with them whilest nothing is more certain than that by that communication and commerce that happen'd between us the Italians ingrossed most of our wealth and riches which is sufficient for the purpose of our present design And indeed as the occasions of running and flocking to Rome were infinite so many that went thither never came back again resolving to lay their bones in that holy ground and many others over-grown with a longing zeal would purposely transplant themselves thither as to the fountain of grace and then their revenues and estates must of course be transmitted after them and spent there Now to shew that the women would not be left at home in these zealous excursions and to what purpose many of them went I will be so bold as to give you one Paragraph out of a famous Epistle of advice from Boniface Archbishop of Mentz to Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterb. Epist Borifac Aâ—â—h â—â—gunâ— ad Câ—â—hb Arch. Câ—nt in S. Hen. Spelm. Concil Tom. 1. fo 241. which is this si prohiberet Synodus Principes vestri mulieribus velatis foeminis illud iter frequentiam quam ad Romanam civitatem veniendo redeundo faciunt quia magna ex parte pereunt paucis remanentibus integris Perpaucae enim sunt civitates in Longobardia vel in Francia aut in Gallia in quibus non sit adultera vel meretrix generis Anglorum quod scandalum est turpitudo totius Ecclesiae vestrae I was sorry I confess to find this blot upon the reputation of our Country-women on record in such manner but that downright Boniface did not use to spare the faults of any that came in his way if not the miscarriages of Princes Vid. Epist ad Ethelbald in W. Malmsb. Spelm Sup. fo 136. and Priests much less could the notorious misdemeanors of the women miss him from whom it seems many of the Italians may derive their pedigrees and to that probably in some measure may be assigned that agreement and likeness which our Travellers observe between them and the English at this day the communicated tincture being not yet worn out in so many descents CHAP. X. Offerings Gifts and Presents OFferings Gifts Presents Bequests and Legacies to Saints their Altars Shrines and at Holy Places amounted to a very great value We have mentioned before and shall have occasion to mention more of those many occasions which many had or made unto themselves of running to Rome upon Appeals or as Ambassadors Agents or otherwise And few would hope their journeys to prove successful if they did not visite such famed Holy Places with suitable Gifts and offerings whilst many that stayed at home would take the opportunity to send by the hands of others what they had vowed or design'd for that purpose The proximity Major è Longinquo reverentia and commonness of a thing takes off much from the esteem conceived by hear-say or first sight Many famous Saints and Shrines we had here in England and they were zealously adored and presented from Forrainers whilst the devotion of the English was not satisfied with our home objects but he was the happy man that could bestow something at Rome the Holy And the Italians would laugh at the English for their bigottry as they call'd it in travelling so far with such ardent zeal and liberality to so little purpose as they thought in regard those objects by reason of their vicinity to them and experienc'd inefficacy were by them contemned whilst on the contrary they themselves in a like strain of Fanatick zeal or devotion would run to St. James of Compostella in Spain or to our St. Thomas of Canterbury or further to shew they could be as fond and liberal in our quarters as we had been in theirs And hence it was that the Shrines and Altars of many Saints became so excessive rich What vast treasure in Jewels Gold and Silver Stows Anna's in Hen. 8. W. Somner Antiquit. of Cant. Erasm Pereg. Relig. Ergo. Antiq. of Darham Camb. Britt was conferred on our St. Thomas of Canterbury Cuthbert of Durham Lady of Walsingham and multitude more in our own Country both by natives and strangers our Historians and others with admiration testifie So for the reasons aforesaid great quantities of our English Gold Silver Jewels c. were swallowed up in the Treasuries of Saints beyond the Seas especially in Italy and at Rome The greatest Treasure of that nature thought to be in the world at this day is at the Lady of Loretto in Italy esteemed sufficient if so imployed to maintain a Warr against the Turks many years the same being daily increased by Gifts and offerings from those who have an esteem to the pretended Sanctity of the place This Treasury being shewed to Strangers and Travellers with admiration they behold the most costly vestments the hugest and massiest Plate the most precious Jewels with the choicest rarities of Art the world affords and for Silver the plenty of it there makes it of as little esteem as in the days of Solomon and all this for the most part the Oblations Gifts and Presents of Kings Princes Queens and Nobles of the Romish Religion of other Countrys Now to shew that all the Gifts Presents and Bounty did not always run to Rome and Italy but that sometimes there were Vestigia pauca retrorsum we find that sometimes and on some occasions the Pope would send as tokens of his grace and benediction some presents hither again of which we will produce a few instances Pope Alexander the second Speed in vit Harald sent to William the Conqueror besides a consecrated banner and an Agnus Dei one of the hairs of St. Peter King Henry the second Rog. Hâ—veden in Hen. 2. Sâ—eed Chron. Hen. 2. obtained of Pope Vrban the third that he might make one Son of his Lord of Ireland and particularly his Son John to whom the Pope sent as a special mark of grace a Coroner made of Peacocks feathers woven with gold Pope Julius the second sent to K. Hen. 8. a precious consecrated perfumed Rose of Gold and constituted W. Warham Archbishop of Canterbury his Deputy to present it with fitting ceremonies as appears by his Letter or Instrument for that purpose preserved amongst our Metropolitical Archives in these words Cod. Ms. in Regist principali Archb. Cant. nuncupato Warham fo 26. Venerabili Fratri Guilielmo Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi Julius Papa
and Religion than in those that dwelt nearest to Rome the main point of Religion there practised being how to draw this Prince or that State or Territory under the Spiritual Dominion of the Pope Pâ—atin in vits Gâ—â—g 7. there esteemed the very Atlas of the World with power to depose dispose and impose in all Kingdoms as he please But for true Christianity Hosâ— in de Orâ—g Monac li. 6. ca. 66. Hospinian affirms that the name of Christian in the Italian tongue was used to note a Block-head and a Fool. Add to this the many Treasons Rebellions Perjuries Wars and Commotions raised in Christendom about this very quarrel And for this main drift of the Papacy for Dominion in all places but now mentioned it is visible that the Pope's Supremacy is the foundation that supports the whole building of that Hierarchy and therefore it hath been thought necessary by them always to lay that stone in the first place As about the year 1594. the Bishops of South Russia being under the King of Poland but of the Greek Church submiâ—ted themselves to the Bishop of Rome in the point of Jurisdiction yet not without special reservation of the Greek Religion Brierw Inquir cap. 18. fo 138. and Rites before they would acknowledge their subjection as appears by the Articles of conditions extant Whereby it is manifest that the Pope aim'd not so much to reduce those Churches to the Truth as to his own Obedience As the Emperours and our Kings John and King Hen. 8. thunder'd against only for impugning the Pope Supremacy though they held all other points of Romish Religion And as the Papacy gained in this matter in some places and in some measure so it lost much more in others by straining and aspiring to an unlimitted authority suis ipsa Roma viribis ruitâ— For when the Pope and his Clergy endeavoured the advancement of their Sâ—veraignty over the World upon this occasion any Countreys fell away not only from 〈◊〉 Dominion but also from many other corrupt Dâ—ctrines of the Church of Rome For when they perceived that the chief struggle and design was for Temporal Greatness that many conclusions tending to that end were obtruded as Articles of Faith so manifestly contrary to the Dictates of Christianity and prejudicial to the Rights of others Then both Princes and People began to look into their Title and examine their Evidences and finding them all defective and defeasible thought there was no other remedy but quite to cut off that Power that would not be confin'd whereby this Image of Papal Supremacy became broken and thrown down in many Countreys and is but in a tottering condition in several others at this day The Kings and Princes of the Earth maintaining the just Rights of their Crowns and Kingdoms against this Usurpation on these and the like grounds and reasons viz. That the Title and Power of Kings is far more ancient than this pretended Spiritual Dominion and Quod prius est tempore potius est jure and that in this sence Grace destroyeth not nature and Kings must not lose by becoming Christians That Dominion is expresly given in Scripture unto Kings and is as expresly denyed in Scripture unto the Clergy That as the Pope claimeth at best to be but the Vicar of Christ and that not as he was God it is most certain that Christ never impeach'd impair'd or impos'd upon the Temporal Right of any man the same Authority that Princes had either by the Law of Nature or of Nations before his coming the same he left untouch'd at his departure neither did any of the Apostles or Disciples after his recess ever innovate in the same That the Church in this world is not at home but in a state of perigrinancy and militancy and it is neither Reason nor Justice that strangers should either expell or domineer over the ancient Inhabitants and Melior est conditio possidentis as the Lawyers speak That the proper Rights 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacra Regni Sacra sublimâ—â— and Qualities of Majesty and Soveraignty are to be both perpetual and absolute as not depending upon any other nor subject to any exception or restraint That these Rights consist in managing affairs of the highest nature which cannot be separated from the Soveraign Power for upon the guiding of them all the fortunes of a State depend That nothing is of so high a nature in a State as Religion for inasmuch as Religion commandeth the Conscience Religio à Religando and holdeth the soul in subjection if supremacy therein be acknowledged in any forrainer the very sinews as I may say of Soveraignty are cut asunder And it is the most destructive Error in Policy and Government to allow to any other a power of disposing or declaring in matters of Religion either besides above or against the Prince himself by which means any King or Prince would soon be despoil'd of his Authoriâ—y and his Subjects drawn from their due Allegiance upon pretences of Conscience and Religion But now for a Conclusion of this Discourse touching the Kings Supremacy it will be but pertinent and reasonably expected to clear one thing viz. whereas upon restitution of that Right to the Crown by the Statute made in the First year of Queen Elizabeth some were induced to conceive by the generality of the words that affirm her Majesty to be Supream Governor as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical causes as Temporal c. as if it had bin an usurping upon the Sacred function of the Church properly belonging to them in Sacred Orders To give satisfaction in this we may in the first place observe in what Sphears and in what distances all the Divines agree that Ecclesiastical Authority doth move and for our purpose at this time Bellarmine shall suffice for all Bellarm. de Rom. Pont. li. 4. c. 22. s 1. who divides Spiritual Power into that of Ordinis and that of Jurisdictionis For that of Ordinis it appears chiefly in the Administration of the Sacraments That of Jurisdiction is held to be double First Internal where the Divine or Holy man by Demonstrations Perswasions Instructions Heavenly Counsel and the like so convinceth the inward Conscience of a man as it presently resigns and yields obedience to that which is proposed as did those Three Thousand Souls Acts 2.37 41. which were converted at the Preaching of St. Peter Secondly External when Christians in foro exteriori are compelled to their duty and Obedience Now for that first power of Order and for that power of Jurisdiction Internal our Kings never claimed or pretended to claime or excercise them or either of them The example of Vzza sufficiently lessoning all persons to keep within their due and proper distances and Offices in God's service 2 Sam. 6.7 this bold person being immediately stricken by the Divine Hand for his error and for his acting an irregular part in the holy Procession of the Ark.
as well by the Title of the said Act as by the Body of it An Act restoring to the Crown the ancient jurisdiction over the state Ecclesiastical and spiritual 1 Eliz. 1. in divers places for that Stat. doth not annex any Jurisdiction to the Crown but that which in truth was or of right ought to be by the ancient Laws of this Realm parcel of the Kings Jurisdiction Now it is not unknown how from the root as it were of this inherent Authority grow the several Branches of the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As that he hath the supream Right of Patronage over all England and all Ecclesiastical Benefices within the same so that if the immediate Patron present not a Clark in due time nor the Ordinary nor Metropolitan the Right of Presentation devolves on the King and there rests Nullum tempus occurrit Regi He only hath the Patronage of all Bishopricks and none can be chosen but by his Conge d' Eslier and whom he nominates none can be consecrated Bishop or take possession of the Revenues of the Bishoprick without a special Writ or Assent from the King The King only calls National or Provincial Synods and by his Commissioners or Metropolitans gives life to Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions relating to the Government and Ceremonies of the Church for reformation and correction of Heresies Schismes Contempts c. Halls Case Coke 5 Rep. The King hath Power to pardon the violation of Ecclesiastical Laws to dispence with the rigour of them and to regulate all Ecclesiastical Persons as that a Bastard may be made a Priest 11 Hen. 7.12 a. That a Priest may hold more Benefices than one That he may succeed his Father That he may be non-Resident c. And for his Superintendency over the whole Church the King hath the First-Fruits and Tenths of all Ecclesiastical Benefices And from him lyes no Appeal to any forrain Jurisdiction whatsoever Neither is it unknown what strange incroachments and usurpations have been made upon the fundamental Right of our Kings by the Popes and Court of Rome and again how strenuously in all times it hath been asserted and vindicated by the Kings and People of England the Papal Dominion rising and falling here according to the quality of the Times and the measures of resistance which it met withall And evident is it also by what means this forrain Dominion came to be owned here for in the Empire the Bishops of Rome usurp'd one half of the Imperial Power and annexed the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Supremacy to their own See for taking advantage of the publick distractions occasion'd partly by the incursions of the Barbarians on the North and East parts and chiefly by the divisions of the Empire it self and by some opportunities of serving some weak and vicious Emperours in their unworthy purposes they gain'd at last by force or fraud the whole Dominion of Religion to themselves and by pretending to the Spirit of Infallibility they usurp'd an absolute Empire over the Faiths and Consciences of men which yet they could not maintain without the continual disdained affronts to the Princes of Christendom the last whereof reduced under this yoke were the Kings of this Island and for which there were not Arts enough wanting As by making a bad use of innocent and good meanings and improving the humility of others for an advantageous step whereon to mount it self For when Religion came to a consistency here the Bishop of Rome was greatly reverenced by the Christians of this Island as one that was the Primate of one of the then most glorious Churches in the World Patriarch of the West and residing in a City famous for Arts and Learning and the seat of the Empire And then the fame of this eminent Bishop crescens eundo Tacit. Hist lib. 2. and majora credi de absentibus as Tacitus speaks acquired a mighty reverence for him in these remoter parts though the devout Brittains who received more probably their first conversion from Asia applyed themselves chiefly to Judaea as a place of the greatest sanctity yet amongst the Saxons for the reasons aforesaid Beda Hist li. 4. cap. 23. Romam adire magnae virtutis aestimabatur as Ven. Beda hath it But as this was of their part no other than as to a great Doctor or Prelate from whose countenance and assistance they hoped for great advantages so those Instructions they received from Rome were not as coming from one that had Dominion over their Faith the one side not at all giving nor the other assuming more respect than what was decent and fit out of Charity Reverence and Christian affection each unto the other And therefore observable is it in that famous transaction of the Kingdom of France Platina in vita Zach 1. Spondan in eod about the deposing of Childerick and setting up Pepin in his room which some have contended to have been done by the Pope's Authority The Truth is Mente stupidus vitâ ignavus Paul Aemil. Childerick was set aside by the Peers of France for a Fool or Frantick and Pepin stepping up applyed himself to the then Pope Zachary to confirm not to confer his new obtained Kingdom for in those days they gave no such power neither did Pope Zachary claim it Only that such an extraordinary action might carry the better face in the world it was thought requisite to have the suffrage of so grave an Oracle and therefore Baronius confesses and that you will will say is much Baron Annal. Francos non Zachariae paruisse decreto sed acquievisse consilio and there is great difference between an Authoritative Injunction and a Prudential Advice which is only an Answer out of discretion and left to discretion and so can imply no obligation at all And Sabellicus relates it thus That the Peers of France deposed Childerick Sabell Ennâ—ad 8 lib. 8. and set up Pepin in his stead Romano Pontifice consulto whence this Gloss upon one of their Laws Papa deposuit id est deponentibus consensit But enough of this But certain it is that by one way or other the Papal Dominion arrived to a great height in the World and particularly in this Island in after times and then the former addresses of the Christians of this Island to the Bishop of Rome were made use of as notes and evidences of subjection and what had passed by the Popes advice and Counsel only was afterward said to have been done by his Authority And so the ordering and determining of Ecclesiastical affairs was endeavoured to be drawn to a forraign Judicature to the apparent prejudice and diminution as well of the Rights of the Crown as of this Church And therefore in this case it fared with our Ancestors as with her in the Tragedy Quisquis in primo obstitit Repulitque amorem tutus ac victor fuit Sâ—nec Trag. Hippolyt Qui blandiendo dulce nutrivit malum
And that of Vzziah a King indeed proclaming aloud both the sin and danger in trespassing beyond the stated and just bounds and limits in Religious Offices whilst under his usurped Pontifical Robes 2 Chron. 26.21 he wore a loaâ—hsome leprosie to his dying day as a most signal mark of the Divine vengeance for Exchanging his Scepter for a Censer to offer up unwarranted and noisome Incense But God be thanked neither of these is the case of our Kings who otherwise have taken f r their patterns divers other Noble Hâ—zekiah Jâ—siah c. vertuous and Religious Princes to whose Honour it is recorded how though they neither offered Sacrifice nor Incense yet that they cleansed the polluted Temple reformed the corrupted Religion and manners of their times and caused Judah and Jerusalem to serve the Lord. So ours never assumed to themselves a Power or Authority of Preaching Teaching binding or loosing in foro animae Administring the Holy Sacraments conferring Orders or any thing in particu ar properly annexed to those Orders But only in matters External that is of Jurisdiction external the last Branch of Ecclâ—siastical Authority and what belongs to the outward Polity of the Church they look upon it as their duty and honour to become Nursing Fathers to see that the true God be publickly worshipped to see that Atheists Polyâ—heists and all such as break the Moral and eternal Law be Corrected chastised and restrained upon which acconut it is often said that Rex est Custos utriusque Tabulae To see that good and wholesome Laws be made and established for the good government of the Church That both the Church and Church-men be regulated and defended in their respective Rights Possessions Interests and concerns and that such as do transgress the lawful constitutions of the Church be duely punished and to this purpose the Regal Office is thus described in King Edward's Law Rex Leg. Edv. Confes cap. 17. fo 142. quia vicarius Summi Regis est ad hoc est constitutus ut regnum terrenum populum Domini super omnia Sanctam veneretur Ecclesiam ejus regat ab injuriosis defendat Jo. Brompt Coll. 761 923. c. And much to the same purpose in those of Ina Canutus and others And hence it also is that in those Laws we often find the Prince extending his Commands unto the same things the Priest did his Exhortations And thus the premises considered it plainly may be collected wherein the formalis ratio of our King's Supremacy and Ecclesiastical Authority doth consist which being inherent in their Crowns they do and may at all times put in practice sine ulla labe Christianitatis and without praying the Aid of any forraign Power or Potentate whatsoever And further to anticipate all prejudice and Scandal in this matter Queen Elizabeth in the same year of the Restitution of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to her Crown did declare she did not challenge any other authority Admoniâ—ions annexâ—d unto the Injâ—â—ctions 1 El. then was challenged and lately used by King Henry the eighth and King Edward the sixth which is and was of ancient time due to the Imperial Crown of this Realm that is under God to have the Soveraignty and rule over all manner of persons within her Realms and Dominions c. And for the Oath of Supremacy appointed by the said Stat. 1 Eliz. whereby her Highnesse's Supremacy was Declared in the stile aforesaid It was Dâ—clared in a Statute made the next Parliament Stâ—t 5 El. Ca. 1. That the said Oath shall be taken and expounded in such form as is set forth in an Admonition annexed to the Q. Majesty's Injunction c. At which time also a Synod being held for avoiding of diversity of Opinions and establishing of consent touching true Religion c. It did expresly declare Artic. 37. That they did not give to our Princes the ministring of God's word or the Sacraments But only that Prerogative as is given in the Holy Scriptures by God himself viz. That they should rule all Estates and degrees committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil sword the stubborn and evil doers c. Stat. 13 Eliz. cap. 12. And thâ— Articles of this Synod were likewise confirmed by Parliament So that now no man need doubt but that all this was but acknowledgement that what our Kings and Princes had done in former Ages might lawfully be continued by their Royal Successors and that therein they did not usurp upon the Rights and Offices of others but only maintained their own and that all these Declaratory Supervening Statures passed and Enacted upon the most weighty Reasons of State were not Introductory of any new Law but only Assertory of the just Rights and Prerogative of the Kings and Crown of England Like as a Reformation once made in the ancient Roman Empire Jul. Capitolin vit Ant. 〈◊〉 by the Emperour Antoninus Philosophus is thus celebrated by Julius Capitolinus in his life Jus autem magis vetus restituit quam novum fecit Applicable as well to all the other points and branches of the Reformation here as to that of the King 's Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction But the clearing that I leave to the Divines And thus have taken a brief view only for much more might have bin added out of our authentick Records and Histories as of the ancient Rights of Kings and Princes in general so particularly of our own in matters Ecclesiastical How the same have for some time been suppressed and usurp'd upon by the Papal Faction but happily Vindicated and restored in these latter Ages In which affair no Country hath proceeded more regularly laudably or legally than this our Kingdom of England the Princes of the same as Supream within their own Dominions calling together their own Clergy and with their assistance and advice reforming the Church And what remains now but my submission and pardon for the presumption of this attempt upon my Soveraign's Supremacy seeing that Prince may be said in a manner to be deposed that is made the Subject of an usurping Pen. FINIS
never come empty handed and this was very frequently injoined to others in such or the like cases Now for the particulars of these Appeals I could produce a multitude of instances and Cases but designing brevity I had rather refer you to Mat. Paris and others who are not sparing therein I shall only upon this Head further note that not only many particular persons were ruin'd and undone by reason of the great expenses they were put unto upon this account at Rome but also many religious Houses and Covents became by that means so impoverished that they would certainly have been utterly broken and dissolved if some extraordinary courses had not been taken for their support as once the Abbot Par. 3 Ed. 1. m. 13. Pre Abbate Conventu de Fevâ—â—sham and Covent of Feversham being greatly indebted to Merchants Usurers and others by reason of their vast ex ences at Rome the King by his Soveraign Authority to preserve them and their House from ruine took them with all their Possessions Fulco Peyforer Hamon Doges Lands Goods and Chattles into his special protection and committed them to the management of certain persons for the discharge of their debts and their necessary support as appears by the Patent for that purpose yet to be seen but too large to be here inserted Lambert Peromb in Feversham Note it was the Monks of this Abby of Feversham that once contended in a Controversie with King John both by way of Appeal to Rome and by force of Arms against the Sheriff and the Posse Comitatus but had the ill fortune to be worsted at every turn The like Protection and Provision in the same form and for the same reason was granted and made by King Ed. 1. to the Abbots and Covents of Bordesley and Bynedon And also to the Prior and Covent of Thornholm but the custody of them their Lands and Goods were granted to other persons CHAP. VI. Dispensations DIspensations Vid. Centum gravamina Gâ—rm An. D. 1521. and Absolutions from cases reserved and Faculties were other great means of drawing vast summs of money hence to Rome And for the managing and dispencing of these the Popes had their Ministers Officers and Courts ready to make out and grant these Dispensations to such as had occasion or to whom it would be a convenience to purchase them and that in a multitude of cases As to Dispence with one man to hold two Bishopricks or a Plurality of Benefices To make Infants capable of Benefices and Offices To Legitimate Bastards To qualifie persons to marry within the degrees prohibited by the Canons or by God's Law To lay aside Habits of Professions Regular to revert to a secular State To give liberty to live without Rules Order and Discipline which had bin entered into For liberty not to keep rash or prejudicial Oaths To eat Flesh at times ordinarily forbidden To wave the performance of Vows To rescind contracts marriages and covenants And innumerable other the like cases in which exact care was taken that the party purchaser should be served to the height of his ability and the benefit of the Dispensation King Henry the third Matt. Paris in Hen. 3. swore to maintain Magna Charta and Charta de Foresta with other liberties of the People and for that had a great Subsidy given him but for money the Pope Dispenced with his Oath and then he would perform nothing Simon Montford Id. An. 1238. fo 471. Earl of Leicester marryed the Daughter of King John named Elianor who was professed in Religion at which King Henry the third and others being offended the Earl posts to Rome and there effusa promissa infinita pecunia as the Historian hath it he obtained of the Pope to give Order to his Legate Otho to give sentence for the marriage John of Gaunt Tho. Walsing in E. 3. An. 1359. Cambd. An. Eliz. fo 2. Sr. Fr. Bacon Hist Hen. 7. fo 199. by a like Dispensation marryed his Cousin Blanch. King Hen. 8. Marryed his Brothers Widdow by such a Dispensation not cheaply obtained for a noble Author sayes the Pope was very difficil in granting it not for want of power I suppose but to scrue the more money out of the Royal Purchaser It was Pope Julius the Second that gave this Dispensation But asterwards the validity of the Marriage upon such a Dispensation being questioned as being directly against the Scripture Pope Clement 7. at the instance of King Henry Hist Cont. Trid lib. 1. fâ— 68. Camb. Speed c. sent Cardinal Campeggio into England framing a Bull or Breve to dissolve the King's marriage with Queen Catharine to be published when some few proofs were passed which were made ready and to give liberty to the King to marry another But afterwards the Pope conceiving it would disgust the Emperour who was Katharines near Kinsman he sent another Nuntio to Campeggio with order to burn the Bull and to proceed slowly in the cause Resolving like his Predecessor to make the best advantages he could of the plenitude of his power But the King perceiving the juggling went another way to work and how he procured his marriage to be vacated our Histories and Records testifie Also Charls the fifth Emperour procured a marriage between Philip his Son and Mary Queen of England by a Dispensation from Pope Julius the third because they were allyed in the third degree and that Charls himself had contracted to marry her when he was under age Camb. Annal. Eliz. And after her death King Philip desirous to keep his interest in England treated seriously of a marriage with Queen Elizabeth his late wives sister with promise to obtain a special Dispensation from the Pope which the French King laboured secretly to hinder but the Queen gave him a repulse By vertue of these Dispensations it is Sr. Edw. Sâ—nds Earop Spec. 〈◊〉 that the House of Austria for some reasons of State marry all amongst themselves so continuing all of the same family or as limbs of the same body Whereby Philip the second of Spain might have called the Archduke Albert both Brother Cousin Nephew and Son for he was so either by blood or affinity being Uncle to himself Cousin-german to his Father Husband to his Sister and Father to his Wife And it so hapned that by reason of the multitude of Canons as were put forth by divers Popes of restrictions and limitations very few Princely Families in Europe could at any time intermarry without Dispensations from such or such a Canon and then let the Pope alone for setting his own rates and prices upon his own Instruments As great summs of money came thus to the Popes upon their Dispensations in point of marriage So frequently they made their advantages by dispensing with promises Vows and Oaths How King Henry the third obtained a Dispensation about Magna-Charta we have touched before And that power claimed and exercised by the Popes made
3. Cap. 1 2. Stat. 38 Ed. 3. Cap. 3. Stat. Statutes of Pâ—ovâ—sors and Preminire 16 Ric. 2. Cap. 5. Stat. 2 Hen. 4. Cap. 3. Stat. 6 Hen. 4. Cap. 1. Stat. 7 Hen. 7. Cap. 6. Stat. 3 Hen. 5. Cap. 4. Stat. 1 Hen. 7. Cap. 4. Stat. 24 Hen. 8. Cap. 12. Stat. 25 Hen. 8. Cap. 21. Stat. 1 Eliz. Cap. 1. c. By all which with the foregoing Resolutions and Presidents to which a multitude more to the same purpose might be added it doth appear clearly that long before the time of King Hen. 8. divers Statutes and Laws were made and declared against forrain incroachments upon the Rights of the Crown in this matter and those as sharp and severe as any Statutes for that purpose have been made in later times though then both King Lords and Commons that made those Laws and the Judges that did interpret them did for the most part follow the same Opinions in Religion which were held and taught in the Church of Rome And therefore those that will lay upon this Nation the imputation of Schism for denying the Pope's Supremacy here Vid. Case de Premunire in St. John Davys Rep. must charge it many Ages before the time of King Henry the eighth For the Kings Lords and Commons of this Realm have ever been most eminent for asserting their just Rights and Liberties disdaining to become a Tributary Province as it were to the See of Rome or part of St. Peter's earthly Patrimony in Demesn And the Faith and Loyalty of the English race hath bin generally such though true it is that every Age hath brought forth some singular monsters of disloyalty as no pretence of zeal or Religion could ever draw the greater part of the Subjects for to submit themselves to a forrain Yoke no not when Popery was in greatest height and exaltation of all which the aforesaid Statutes are manifest Evidences being generally made at the Prayer of the Commons as by their Preambles may appear most worthy to be read Particularly in the Preamble to the Statute of 16 Ric. 2. They complain Sta. 16 Ric. 2. cap. 5. That by Bulls and Processes from Rome the King is deprived of that Jurisdiction which belongs of right to his Imperial Crown That the King doth lose the service and Counsel of his Prelates and learned men by translations made by the Bishop of Rome That the King's Laws are defeated at his will the Treasure of the Realm is exhausted and exported to inrich his Court And that by those means the Crown of England which hath ever bin free and subject unto none but immediately unto God should be submitted unto the Bishop of Rome to the utter destruction of the King and the whole Realm which God defend say they and thereupon out of their zeal and loyalty they offer to live and dye with the King in defence of the liberties of the Crown And then they pray the King to examine all the Lords in Parliament what they thought of these wrongs and usurpations and whether they would stand with the King in defence of his Royal liberties which being done the Lords Spiritual and Temporal did all answer that these usurpations of the Bishop of Rome were against the liberties of the Crown and that they were all bound by their Allegiance to stand with the King and to maintain his Honour and Prerogative Upon producing and averrement of all this it is requisite some satisfaction be given about the conclusion that hapned so different to these premises For if the Kings and People of England have in all times been so sensible of and zealous for their just Rights how could the Roman Power in derogation of those Rights arrive to such a consistence and height as here it was for many years To this as to the means and manner of that acquist to keep within our Historical compass First let it be premised as undoubtedly true That before the time of the Norman Conquest the Bishops of Rome had very little or nothing to do here as well in matter of Fact as of Right For before that time the Pope's Writ did not run in England His Bulls of Excommunication and Provision came not hither no Citations or Appeals were made from hence to the Court of Rome Our Archbishops did not purchase their Palls there Neither had the Pope the Investiture of any of our Bishopricks And Ingulphus who lived in the Conquerours time a Favourite and one preferred by him thus informs Ingulph Hist fo 901. A multis namque annis retroactis nulla Electio Praelatorum erat libera mere Canonica sed omnes dignitates tam Episcoporum quam Abbatum per annulum baculum regis curia pro sua Complacentia conferebat For as it is observable that under the Temporal Empire of Rome Brittain was one of the last Provinces that was won and one of the first that was lost again So under the Spiritual Empire of the Pope England was one of the last Countrys of Christendom that received the Yoke and one of the first that cast it off But for our purpose that the Bishops of Rome had any Jurisdiction or Hierarchical Authority in the times of the Brittains Saxons or Danes there is an altum silentium in all our Histories and Records For the times of the Brittains Eleuth Epist Eleutherius Pope about 180 years after Christ writes to Lucius the Brittish King and stiles him God's Vicar within his own Kingdom and sure he would not have given that Title to the King if himself under pretence of being God's Vicar-General on Earth had claimed Jurisdiction over all Christian Kingdoms After that Beda Eccl. Hist Matt. Westm Polychron Fab. Huntingd. c. about the year 600. Austin the Monk was sent by Pope Gregory into England to convert the Saxons to the Christian Faith But the Brittish Bishops then residing in Wales gave no regard either to his Commission or his Doctrines as not owing any duty to or dependence upon Rome but still retained their Ceremonies and Traditions which they received from the East Church upon the first plantation of Christianity being both divers and contrary to those of the Church of Rome which Austin did indeavour to impose upon them Usser de Prim. Eccl. Brit. Then about the year 660 there is a famous disputation celebrated between one Colman and one Wilfrid touching the Observation of Easter wherein the Brittains differed from the practice of the Roman Church from which is plainly inferrable that the Authority of the Bishop of Rome was at that time of no estimation in this Island And that the Primitive Churches of Brittain were instituted according to the form of the East and not of the West Church Nay upon the first coming of Austin and his retinue into Brittain there was such a strangness and averseness to him that one Daganus a British Beda Eccl. Hist lib. 2. cap. 4 Spelm. Concil Tom. 1. fo 129.