The Relics of Rome, Part 63
Of Heretykes.
Heretikes banished.POpe Siritius ordayned, yt Heretikes should be banyshed and yt no Christians shuld communicate or kepe company with thē: agayn, if any of them did reuoke their errours and heresyes, that they should be thrust into Monasteries as into prisons perpetually, there vntounto death to remayne, geuyng themselues to fastyng & prayer. In the yeare, &c. 389. Ioannes. Stella. Lib. Concil.
Heretikes put to death by the secular power.Pope Pelagius the fyrst not content with thys former punyshement, made a decree, that all heretikes and Schismatikes, with al such as be contumaciter disobediente to holy Churches ordinaunces should be put to death by the seculare power. Prouided alway, that the Popishe bloudy butcherlyke Byshops with their woluishe wicked officers and Antichristian adherētes doe first of all persecute thē, emprison thē, accite them Coram nobis, The temporall offices the …opyshe Byshops butchers.accuse them, cō demne them, and afterward accordyng to their deuilishe decrees commit them to the secular power and temporal magistrates, as vntounto their butchers & hāg men to dispatche them out of the waye either by fyre, swearde, or halter. For these holy and charitable Fathers crye out with their forefathers and Popelike predecessours:Ioan. viii. Non licet nobis interficere quenquam. It is not lawful for vsus to put any man to death. In the yeare of our Lord. 552.24. q. cap. 5. Relegentes. Angl. Chron. Ioan. Laziard.
Pope Iohn the .xxii. made a decree, yt whosoeuer did affirme, that Christ and his Apostles had no possessiōs neyther in proper nor in cōmune,☜ ye same should be taken for an heretike. Agayne, that whosoeuer did holde this opinion, that it was not lawfull for Christe and hys Apostles to enioye those things, which the Scripture testifieth that they had, nor to giuegive them, nor by the occupying of thē to get & winne more for ye maintenaunce of their lyuing: he lykewise shoulde be adiudged an heretike. Of this it folowed,Fraunces Martyrs. that many Friers and Nunnes of Fraūces order were brent as heretikes in diuers places of the worlde in resisting this decree of ye Pope for the maintenāce of their monasticall and wilfull pouertie. In the yeare of our Lorde. 958. Math. Palmer, Ioan. Laziard.
Of the state of the faithful after this lifePope Benet the twelfth after a certaine disputation had amonge learned men, whether the soules of the faithful hauehave the fruition of Gods Maiestie in heauen before the day of iudgement or no: made this resolute determination, that the soules of the faithfull Christians, after their departure hauehave nothīg in them worthy to be purged, but all pure, cleane, and without sinne: and yt therfore so sone as they departe hence, they go straightwaies vntounto Heauen, & beholde the face of God. Thaforesayde Pope also commaunded, that no man shuld either teach or beleue the cōtrary vnderunder payne of the great cursse. If any man dyd, he shoulde be reputed and taken for an heretike. In the yeare of our Lord. 1317. Ioan. Laziard.
Pope Caius ordayned, that no heretike, nor heathen man shoulde accuse a Christiā before any Iudge. In the yere of our Lorde. 284.2. Q. Cap. 7. Pagani. Christ. Massaeus.
Pope Liberius being bishop of Rome aboute the yeare of our Lorde. 364. It was decreed in the Councell Laodicen, that heretikes,Heretikes expelled out of the Churche. which remayne in their heresie, shoulde not be suffered to come into the temples of the Christiās. Lib. Conc. cap. 6. In the same councell it was also enacted,A good law that no Christen man shoulde geue hys chylde to be maryed vntounto an heretike, or schismatike. cap. 10.31. Agayne, that whosoeuer dyd forsake true Martyrs of Christe,Note well. and followed the false Martyrs, whiche are heretikes and schismatikes, shoulde be accursed. Lib. concil. cap. 34. Barthol. Carranza.
Pope Fabian made a good & Godlye decree,The cōpanie of Heretikes is to be eschued & auoyded. yt the true Christians should aboue al things auoyd the cōpany of heheretikes & schismatikes, & of al such as maintayne an other faith and doctrine than the Apostles of Christ & their successours hauehave receaued and taught, lest by keping company with them, they shoulde fall into the snare of Sathan. Lib. Concil. Barth. Carranza. In the yeare of our Lorde. 241.
The great councell. Laterane.Pope Innocent the third bearing rule In the yeare. &c. 1215. the Councell Laterane was celebrated, where were present two Patriarches, one of Hierusalē, an other of Constātinople .lxx. Archbishops Metropolitanes .iiii.C. Byshops, xii. Abbottes .viii.C. Cōuentual Prioures: the Legates of the Greke & Romane Empyre, besides the Oratours and Embassadours of the kings of Ierusalem, of Fraunce, of Spayne, of England, and of Cyprus. In thys Councell it was decreed,Heretikes condemned to be committed to the seculer powers & so put to death. that all heretikes & so many as did in any point resiste the Catholike faith, should be condemned as Schismatikes, and deliuered to the secular power, or their Bayliffes or Shierifs, to be punished accordingly: and that if they were priests or of the Clergye,Priests degraded. they should f…rst of al be regraded from their orders, and afterward committed to the temporall officers.Prieste… goodes. Laye men… goodes. As for their goods the Laytie shal not medle with them, but they shal be applyed to the vse of those Churches, of whom they receaued their stipendes or wages. But if they be lay men, to geue them ouer streightwaies to the seculare power to be punished accordingly, and their goodes confiscate.
In the same Councel it was also determined,Suspect of heresie. that if any persons were founde onelyonly suspecte of heresie, except that they be able thorowly to purge & to clere themselues, should be accursed: and that if they so continue by the space of one whole yeare, that they should be condemned as heretikes.
Moreouer in that Councell it was also decreed,The temporall rulers sworn to roote out heretikes. that the secular powers, of whatsoeuer office or degree they be, should be admonished and charged, yea and if nede be, enforced and compelled by the ecclesiasticall censure (if they wil be reputed and taken for faithful men) openly to sweare for the defence of the faith, that they shall to the vttermost of their power faithfully and diligently roote out & destroy in all their kingdomes, dominions and landes, all such persons,Note. as the Catholike Church hath condemned for heretikes: so that eueryevery person receauyng any office, dignitie, or promotion either Ecclesiasticall or temporall, shall be bounde to obserue this decree, concernyng this dispatche of heretikes. But if so be, that any temporal lord or ruler, being required and admonished of the church so to do, shall neglect to purge his land of those heretikes: that then euerye suche person or persons so offendyng, shal be excommunicate by the Metropolitane and other Byshops of that prouince. It was further determined in the aforesayd Councell, that if that Lorde or Rular do refuse by the space of one hole yeare to satisfie and to accomplishe the decrees of the aforesaid Councell, that then signication shoulde be made thereof to the highest bishop, yt is to say, to the Pope, that he may denounce,O tyranny that from ye time forward that Princes subiectes are absolued and vtterly deliuered frō shewyng or owing any fidelitie or obediēce towarde hym: Agayne, that the Pope may geue that lād to be occupied & enioyed of the Catholikes, to possesse it (all heretikes beyng rooted out) quietly and without any contradiction. &c. Lib. Concil. Barthol. Carranza.
Pope Nicolas the first made a decree,A newe kinde of Heresie. that whosoeuer goeth aboute to take any priuilege awaye from the Church of Rome, or denyeth that to be the head of all Churches, falleth into heresye, and is in dede a playne heretike, Ipso facto. In the yeare of our Lorde. 871. Dist. 22. cap. Omnes.
Pope Gelasius the firste decreed, that as no man ought to kepe companye with heretikes: so lykewise ought no man to dispute and to conferre with them. In the yeare. &c. 494. Caus. 24. Quest. 3. cap. cum quibus.
Pope Vrban the first pronoūced, yt he whiche defendeth heretikes is not only an heretike himself,Heresiarch▪ but he is also a captaine of heretikes. In the yeare. &c. 222. Causa. 24. Quest. 3. cap. Qui aliorum.
In the Councell Aphricane it was determined, that if any Byshop made any heretike his Executor, giuing him his goodes,Dead men excommunicate. although he were hys nye kinsemā, ye same Bishop shuld be excō municate, yea though he were dead: & that his name shoulde by no meanes be recited among the priestes of God. In decret. Gregorii noni. De hereticis. Tit. 7. Lib. Concil.The company of heretiques is to be eschued.
In the Councel Laterane it was forbidden, that any man should receaue in to his house, or into his dominions, heretikes, or cherishe them, or by and sell with them: and that if any mā did contrarie to this decree, he should enioy no ecclesiasticall priuilege, nor be buryed among other Christians.
Understād by heretikes, all suche as in anye point resiste the pope, or his decreesIn a certayne generall Councell it was decreed, that those Catholikes, whiche would take vpō them the signe of the Crosse, and māfully fight against the heretikes vntounto the vtter destructiō and rooting out of thē, yt they maye no more trouble our mother holy Church nor her deuoute Childrē: should enioye that pardon, and those holy priuileges which are graunted to them, that go to fight for the holye lande, or geue any thing therunto. Lib. 5. de heret. tit. 7.