Against a Rank Papist, Part 1 · Opinion 9
Censura.
¶The obediēce of suche monstruous vowers and theyr vpholders, is not tovp…lder… be trusted of christen princes and theyr faythfull subiectes, whych hauehave be…e so ofte tymes betrayed by them.
Obiectio.
☞They be no monstrouse vowers, but faythfull vowers, if they kepe theyr vowes, and better to be trusted of princes, folowyng Christes exhortaciō therunto, thā they which breake theyr vowes & be vnfaythfull in theyr promyses. It is not lykely, ye he wyll be faithfullBreake. to man, who can but kyll the body, that wyll not be faithfull in kepyng promise with God, that hath power to send both body and sowle to hell.
Responsio.
Afore ded I speake of suche vowers, as in the obedyence of Antichrist and the deuyll, professed such a chastyte, as ought rather to be called a fylthy Sodome, than aSodome. chastyte. These (I sayd) were monstruous vowers, for so moch as both theyr vowes and theyr chastyte, were so preposterouse and prodygyously monstruouse, theyr execrable frutes and examples declaryng no lesse. Now come yow after, and ye boldely say, that these were no monstruouse vowers. Ye go further in the matter, and report thē to be the very faythfull vowers, if they kepe theyr vowes, yea, those obedyēt vowers of Antichrist and ye deuil. For ther…owers. were none other vowers spoken of. Of a lykelyhode ye hauehave not yet vowed to your kynge, to be his obedyent true subiect. And if ye hauehave, yet are ye but a mōstruouse vower. For ye seme not faythfully to kepe your vowe, that mayntaine suche kinde of vowers. Ye can not iustly say, y• ye meane any other, than these fylthy vowers. But that they are the very same, that ye so earnestly defende, euen the byshop of Romes ranke cattell. For ye hauehave not as yet, onesDefende. blamed theyr euils, though they hauehave bene layed afore your nose. But manfully hauehave ye defended them for necessary vertues, lyke a valyaunt captayne of theyrs, and a stought bene factour of Sodome.
If the fowle beast, with the. vii. heades and. x. hornes, which bare the great whore arayed all in purple and rose coloure, Apoca. xvii. maye be proued an odyouse mostre, I hauehave no doubte of it, but I shallMonstre. be able to fynde out a fylthy rable of monstruouse vowers. For lyke as the faithfull congregacion of God, are the mystycall mēbers of his sonne Iesus Christ, so this dysguised rable of rauenours, are the misticall membres of that monstruouse beast, by vertue of theyr vowes geuynge vp thē selues to hys ydolatrouse obseruacyons, & vpholding y• filthy whore his Sinagoge ofSinagoge …orceries, in all blasyhemy, supersticiō, and pryde. These are sealed (I saye) by vertue of theyr vowes and professiōs. They hauehave the marke of this beast in theyr ryght handes & foreheades, they are full of …lasphemouse names, they can opē theyr mouthes against god, they can speake blasphemies, they hauehave power of y• great serpent, they may bye & sell by hys authoryte, Apo. xiii. they can wurke suche wonders & do sucheMiracles miracles, as God can not do agayne. For they can make false Goddes, and gyue to them latryall honoure. They can also set them vp aloft, salute them wyth lyes, perfume them wyth sensynges, and cause a greate nōbre of people to worshyp thē vpō ye earth. Soche mōstruouse doers are they.
If these be no mōstruouse vowers, that are y• mēbers of thys odyouse monster by their pilde popish vowes, & cā do so manyFeates. prodigiouse feates by their prestish professiōs, thā are they nothinge at all. They are no vowers after ye right shape of vowing, as were y• Iewysh vowers in y• olde testament, offering calues & bullockes. Neither are they vowers after y• Gospell. For vowes are no wurkes of y• gospell, but of an ydell presthode & mōkery, which y• Gospel neuer knew. They cā not therfor be called workes Euāgelical, but workes papistical sacerdotical, monastical, & fātasticall. TheOffyce. office of a mā or womā professinge Christ, is to do all thynges in fredome and not … bondage of vowes, consydering he is frely regenerate, and hath a fre womā to his mother. Gal. iiii. They are therfor vnfaith ful vowers that professe those vowes, and moch more vnfaithfull that kepe them. Ye saye, those vowers are, aboue all other, of princes to be trusted. But ye do not tell vsus here, what prynces▪ye meane▪ Byshoppes wyth ye helpe of abbottes and other ghostlyAbbottes. fathers, were wonte to be prynces of thys worlde, vnderunder the greate Mahounde of Rome, whan they had the consciences of kynges vndre theyr subiecciō. Though these prycke eared prynces myghte truste those vowers, as hawkes made to theyr handes, yet wolde I counsell the christen prynces in no wyse to trust them.
For as we fynde in the Englyshe chronycles, they hauehave in confessions, made kinges wiues and daughters, to make vowes…awdries of vnchastyte vntounto them. And for full perfourmaūce of ye same, they hauehave sent their folysh husbandes by vowe, on pilgrimage to Rome. Loke the lyues of kyuge Inas, Ladwallader, Kenredus, Ethelwulfus, Offa, Ethelredus, and dyuerse other, besydes them that were poysoned, deposed, and made monkes, to geue place to they… vnknowne bastardes. Who can rec…en them fyt to be trusted of christen prynces, which hauehave for theyr carnal commodities, so ofte changed the great monarchie of theCarnall. Romyshe emppre, from the Romanes to the Grekes, from the Grekes to the frēth men, frō the frenche mē to the Germanes, and now wolde they translate it from the Germans to y• Spannyerdes. They hauehavePleasures in a maner, made all the christen prynces their captiue slaues▪ til now of late yeares. They hauehave at theyr pleasures, disposed diuerse of theyr kynge domes, yea, they hauehave enforced them to anthoryse theyr lyes, to fauer theyr hypocrisyes, to vpholde theyr …irānies, to support their sorceryes, to main teine theyr ydolatryes, to magt…ye theyr whordomes, & to worship they …wdries.
Not one kynge hath bene in Englande sens the conquest, but they hauehave twygged hym one way or other, and had theyr false flynges at him, I could shewe it by course.Flyng…. It were great pitie therfor, but these vowers were trusted of christen prynces, they hauehave bene so faythfull, specyally in keping the vowes of theyr Romysh fathers obedience. What caused them of late yeares to stnrre vp commociōs in the North, and now the last yeare in Deuenshire & Lor… wale, for theyr Romysh remnauntes, but the relygyous fulfyllynge of theyr vowes to holy churche the mother of theyr olde māmetryes? Afore God, I iudge yow, to be one of that lewde assembly, eyther byMother. your acte or councell, by thys your fyue workemāship for theyr defence. Ye wolde neuer els so earnestli hauehave called thē faithfull vowers, in kepynge theyr vowes so well to your mynde. But truly ye hauehave done Christ moche wrong, to call hym an exhorter therunto. For he neuer exhorted a ny mā to such vowes, neither yet to any otherGospell. kinde of vowes. For his gospell is no doctrine of vowes, but of faith. These prodigiouse vowers, ar y• locustes y• came out of the bottomles pyt, to stinge mēs cenfeiēces as doth scorpiōs. Apo. ix. And they for fulfiling theyr nowes in y• seruice of y• rose coloured whore, shall go into perdycyon.Apoc. xvii.
If ye condēpne all them for vnfaithfull mē in theyr promises, y• hauehave brokē vowes made to y• ydolouse mōster of Rome. Thā must ye condēpne all those kynges of thysCondēpne realme whych folowed after kynge Iohā, and so contynued tyll the. xxvi. yeare of kynge Henry the. viii. bycause they fulfylled not that profession, whych he made for hymselfe & hys successours. The vowe y• he made by theyr cōpulsiō, is this word by worde, as I fynde it regestred in cōpendio noui chronici de gestis regū Anglicorum collected by a monke of Cantirbury, Ego Ioānes rex Anglie, Wallie, et Hiberme, inUotum Regis. ro fidelitatē Deo et sancte ecclesie Romane, ac domino Innocentio tertio pape, ad manus Nicolai Cardinalis ei…sdem pape penitētiarn, ad tenendum regnū Anglie de eo sine detractatione aliqua imperpetu…, reddēd o domino pape Innocentio tertio ān…ati…i nulle marcas argenti, et suis successoribus canonice intrantibus. I IohanKynge Iohan. kynge of Englande, Wales, and Ireland, promyse by othe to be faythfull to God, & to my lorde pope Innocēt the thyrde, at the handes of Nicolas a Cardinall & penitencer of the sayd pope, to hold the kingdome of England of hym & hys successours for euermore, wythout any contradycciō, …ienge to them a thousand markes by yeare.Uowes. And the bishops and Barons of England, cōstraiued him for his owne part to fulfyl this vngodly professiō. After this sort were all y• mōkes vowes, the friers professiōs, & y• prestes promises for degres in y• vniuersi tees, which this wicked chaplaine calleth faithful vowes, & wold hauehave thē stil kept.
He accounteth them vnfaithfull in their promyses, yt hath broken these vowes, but of breaking gods cōmaūdemēts & disobeiing of his holy worde, he maketh no reckening.Worde. It is not lykely (he sayth) yt he wil be faithful to god y• thus breaketh promise … man, Yes wythout doubt, it is most lykely that they be faithfull to God, that in their good doynges dysobeyeth that sort of noughty men, and so Christ ment it, whan he sayed. Feare not them that kyll the body, and be not able to kill ye sowle, Mat. x. Ye knowe maystre chaplaine, that God is able to destroyeDestroye both body and sowle, and to throw them into hell, and yet ye feare not to blaspheme both hym and hys holy word. Care not yow for the fydelite of them towardes christen prynces, whych abhorreth your monstruouse sorceries. For theyr faithfull hartes are knowne good and godly, wher as yours be false and deuylyshe. To conclude. Your vowes were neuer other, thā myghte alwayes be dyspensed wyth for money. For Iohan Skuish a Cornish mā, hath in hys Englyshe chronicle, taken out of Mathew Paris and other old wryters, that in the yeare of our Lord a. M. cc. lviii. a Graye fryer called Mansuetus, came inA fryer. post haste from Rome, as a great commissyoner from pope Alexander the forth, to dyspēse with all periures, forgers of falsehede, and vowe breakers. And many wyse men, the storye sayth, deryded that wicked folyshnes. I maruell therfor, that ye make so moche a do for those vowes.