The Bee Hive of the Romish Church, Part 1 · Chapter 12
The xii Chap. VVherein is declared, that the Lutheranes are with this foundation so valiantly assalted on all sides, that it is not possible for them to escape any way: and what is the last argument to be obiected against them: is, declared and proued by the example of Transubstantiation.
WHat maruel is it then, that a simple yong man, whom hee calleth Brother Ligier, durst not dispute against Master Gentianus? For who dare bee so bold as to looke such a stout Goliah in the face? I let alone speaking to him: no, and I would not counsell the Huguenotes to take vponupon them so to do. For whereas they thinke perhaps, with a sling to hit this Giant in the forehead with the corner stone of Gods worde, and to fell him downe to the grounde: yet must they knowe, that all the matter is not ended there. For in place of one, there will starte vp by and by, and innumerable companie of stout and valian: Champions, which will assault them on all sides. For besides all the holy fathers, the Popes of Rome, besides all the noble and right honourable Cardinals, all forkeheaded Bishops, all fatte Abbats, and proude pra…ing Prelates, there will yet come (as Gentianus here doeth bragge) a great companie of men Saintes, and women Saintes, glorious Martyrs, comlie Confessours, and excellent Doctours of the Church, which the Pope him selfe hath canonized, and bestowed places vppon them in heauen. These surely (in consideration of the benefites they hauehave receiued at his hands) will (for the mainteining of his doctrine) hazard both cappe and cowle: Then siw…her, there will come such a companie of goodly miracles, which surely are so perfectly and also vnreproueably registred in the golden Legend, that the Heretikes must nodes be packing away, if they will do wisely, and followe good counsell. For if it were se…, that this could not yet helpe, then should come in the Doctours of Louen with their great coppintankes, and Doctours hattes, with their Aristotles breech on their heads, and his Liripipium about their necks,Sortes currit, is as much to say, Argumentes: & wordes called also, for that Petrus Hispanus & other writers of the Louens Sophistrie doe for the most part vse those exāples in their Dialectica, and are alway busie therewith. and they will bring in al their Syllogismes, their Sortes currit, their Quidditat…s, Realitates, Formalitates, Ecceitates, Identitates, Secundas intentiones, Instantias, and manie more of like learning, which they will quickly shoote vp in the aire, in such sort, that the multitude of their arrowes wil darken the Sunne: And at the last, they wil plucke out of their quiuer, a strong and a swift bolte or argument, which the scholemen cal aThis is an argument or prophesie of faggots.Argumentum a fasciculis, that neither Bible nor Testament, neither Peter nor Paul,Sortes currit in these are all feinid names, which the diuines alway vse in their subtile disputations, to the end no man shall vnderstād them, but their owne scholers. shal be able to helpe the poore heretikes: & so they must altogether daunse into the fire, and be burn… to ashes. This is most true and apparant, and needes no proofe or witnesse. Notwithstanding, seeing that Gentianus him selfe▪ to shewe his stoutnesse and noble courage, doeth alledge and bring forth a certeine example▪ as it were for an attempt or skirmishe: therefore will I take the same vponupon me, and explane it further: …o the ende, that euerie man may see, with what strong weapons our deare mother with all her souldiers, horsemen and footemen, is furnished. And thus saith Maister Gentianus here, That the Lutheranes and Huguenotes can in no wise be reputed and taken for right beleeuers, so long as they doe not beleeue, that the breade and the wine in the blessed Sacrament of the altar (as soone as euer the fiue wordes are spoken ouer them) are no more bread & wine, Thom. de Aquin. in the 3. patte Summar. Item, in the 4. booke of the Senten. and in the Extrauaga… ▪ in titulo de cons. missar. all thorough. And ca. Ego …ereng. through the cō. dist. 2. & in the Clementines, de reliq. & veneratione Sanctor. and by all Catholike doctorsbut by and by become the verie perfecte bodie and bloud of Iesus Christ, as long, and as broade as it was hanging vppon the crosse.
Nowe then, who dares once kicke or winche against this? Or howe can these Heretikes wrestle against this? whereas, to begin withal, generally the holy Catholike, Apostolicall, Papisticall, Romishe Church, with her Pontificall seate and crowne, with all her Cardinals ha…tes, Bishops myters, Abbats slaues, Priestes crownes, Monkes cowles, and Doctours hoodes, doe not onelyonly beleeue so, but likewise do specially commande, & will so hauehave it in dede: that al other persons shal so likewise beleeue, and that vponupon paine of deadly sinne? Wel then, it is a sealed …loth▪ there is no more to saye to the matter▪ For Iohannes Scotus hath him selfe said absolutely, That if those fiue woordes should be spoken in a market place, I…hannes Scotus in the 4. booke of sentences.or in a Bakers house, where much breade were: or in a seller, where much wine were: the said bread would by and by bee turned into flesh, and the wine into bloud. Yea, this hath bene proued by manie wonderful tokens, as you may see,The sacrament of miracles at Bruxels. and heare at Bruxels, in Saint Goels Church, where the Iewes stand painted, which did sticke the holy Sacrament there through with daggers, and the red bloud came running out. For you may yet see red spottes painted vponupon it.At Padua. And at Padua in Italie in Saint Anthonies Church, standes grauen vponupon an altar, Saint Anthonie of Padua, going alongest the streete with the Sacrament: and some Iewes that were there did mock it, and would not kneele downe, and by and by there came an Asse alongest the streete, which seeing that it was verie flesh and bloud,This doeth Thomas de Aquino set forth: and the Legend of Gregorie, and Vincentius Lirinensis, and all other Catholike writers. did fall verie deuoutely vponupon his knees, and did open his mouth so wide, that Saint Anthonie of Padua did est…eme the same for such a great miracle, as doth wholy confound these Heretikes with hide and haire thrust in their throtes: as is in his Legend set forth more at large▪ Was not that a goodly and wonderfull miracle? What will these Heretikes say to this, when that Asses do beleeue it, and yet they esteeme it not? We read likewise of Saint Gregorie: howe he being busie at Masse, and hauing spoken the fiue wordes, the holy Sacrament was soudeinly (through his prayer) conuerted and turned into a fleshly and visible finger: and that for a good Gentlewomans sake, which could not well beleeue that it was fleshe. Likewise, it is written,A miracle of the fiue words. that there was a good and a deuout woman, which had heard in secret of her Curate the fiue wordes: and being with her Gossep kneeding of doaw, to make bread, she rehearsed by chaunce to her Gossep the secretes of the Masse, which she had learned of the Priest: and soudenly all the doaw was turned into flesh: and the water, wherwith she had wrought the doaw, into verie bloud: in so much that the poore women were maruellously affraide, and were so bloudie as though they had lien ten yeares in the butchers slaughter house. It is verie true, that it will not frame so well with beggers, who hauing vnderstood this matter, would gladly hauehave pla…ed the like pa…el to the intent to hauehave made of the cra…tes of bread which they had begged, with the saying of these fiue wordes, a good flesh hotchpotch or gallemawfrie:This he writes in his booke called the description of Italie. in the 184 leafe▪ the copie whereof was printed Anno 1550. and the same booke is priuiledged by the Pope of Rome. but it woulde not fadge, because they had not the good intent, which the Priestes hauehave, when they say Masse: which intent, the Curate had surely put into that good Gossep secretely, in shriuing her. Now is it not plainly written in the booke of that holy Monke Leander Alberte of Bullein, that beside the lake called Lago de Bolsena, as a Priest was saying his Masse, that holy Offertorie or oblation did droppe a great many droppes of bloud vponupon the altar, and vppon the white piece of cloth called the Corporall: after this, it skipt and leapt out of the handes of the sacrifising Priest, & away it went, swiftly fleeing all about the Church like a birde, still dropping droppes of bloud vponupon the Marble stones, which are seene there yet to this day.
Men may finde a hundred thousand such like miracles set foorth in manie goodly, laudable, and praise worthie Histories, and golden Legendes, and specially in the Historie of the notable, learned, wise and discrete man Lipomani, who (I dare say) would not willingly lie, if he could hit vponupon the truth. Then all these miracles, and all the foresaid Saints, & iolly roysters, would euen ioyntly together, be vponupon the bones of these heretikes. After all this, the Iewes Rabbines would march forwarde into the field, with their Caballa, & with their Thalmood, & stoutly defend our transubstantiation. The Ethnik poets (& specially Ouid) would likewise follow all a flant to help vsus: for they will neuer suffer their cunning (whereby they caused their Hecate & their Iupiter, Elicius with certeine woordes in their sacrifice to come out of heauen in spite of their teeth) to be plucked frō them. And beside that, they would likewise ioyne with vsus, to defend their Metamorphosis, that is, their Transubstantiation. And they would bring at their tailes, a band and noble supplie of 113. Bishops, who altogether in a Councel… at Rome, hauehave concluded, That it must be so: And that it is the verie flesh of Christ, not onelyonly sacramentally, but the verie bodie in deede, and as they terme it, Sensualiter, that it to say, That men may feele and taste it. It is broken with handes, and with teeth torne, eaten and digested. Herevpon they hauehave accursed all those that doe not so beleeue. And with them should be coupled all the great, wise, and profound Doctours, and sententious writers, to wit, Paschasius, Lācfrancus, Thomas de Aquino, Scotus, Innocentius, Comestor, Amarcanus, Gerson, Gabriel Biel, Durandus, Alexander de Ales, Occan, Petrus Hispanus, Albertus Magnus, Raimundus Lullius, Petrus Lō bardus, Petrus de Aliaco, Petrus de Bella pertica, Rabanus, Panormitanus, Bricot and Halcot. And these would drawe forth with them, al the good Catholike men, that hauehave bene in our time. And these noble Cardinals specially would make a great stirre in the field, as Thomas Caritanus, Reginaldus Polus, Stanislaus, Hosius: and these deepe Doctours, Master Syluester Prierias, Thomas Radinus, Ambrosius Catharinus, Iacobus Hoochstratanus, Iohannes Cochleus, Iohannes Eckius, Iacobus Latomus, Magister noster de Quercu, Iohānes a Louanio▪ Iodocus Tiletanus, Ruardus Tappard ab Enchusia.
In summe, all the Doctours of Paris, of Louen, of Collen: yea, all the Licentiates and Bacchelers, all these would set so stoutly on euerie side vponupon these Heretikes, that they may thanke God, if they get frō them without leauing a limme behinde them: For they would (vndoubtedly) teare them in pieces, with their teeth, and swallowe them vp whole haire and hide, euen as they do with their god: Or if it were so, that they could not well bring that to passe, by reason that the Heretikes are more heauie to digest, than their god in the Masse is, then there would come to helpe them, Maister Deane Romist, the Procurour Generall, with a great companie of Catchpolles, & hangmen, with staues and stakes, with fire and sworde, with strawe and fagottes, and would set them on fire, and so burne them vp by clusters: and then their disputing were at an end. Then also were S. Paule packt vp in a male with all his Prophets & Apostles. Would not the matter go well then with these Heretikes & Lutheranes? No, no, it is much better for them to tarie at home with their Paule, than to deliuer him againe a freshe into the handes of the Iewes. In summe, our Maister Gentianus hath great reson, that he, like a strong and inuincible Goliah, doeth so stoutly ouerbragge and outface all the whole heape of these Caluinistes, Zwinglians, and Huguenotes: yea, so couragiously, that they dare neuer be so bolde, as to come againe in their sights, to dispute against the fagots. So that nowe his conclusion & knitting vp of the matter, ramaines f…st and vnremoueable, as specially, That they are misbeleeuing Heretikes, seeing they do not beleeue all what soeuer the holie Church beleeues, and so consequently do denie the xii. Articles of the faith.