The Practice of Prelates, Part 6
¶By what meanes the pope inuaded the Empire.
AT that same ceason Mahomete the auctour of the s…cte of the turckes and saracens beganne.mahomete & the p…pe began at …ne time. And as sone as he had got muche People vntounto him with wiles and fayned miracles, he inuaded the empyre of Rome in those quarters. And loke how busy Mahomet was in those partyes so …esy was the pope in these quarters to inuade ye empyre (with ye helpe of his sworne bysshops which preached all of non other God then the Pope) whyle the emperour was occupied a farre of, in resisting of Mahomete.Gregory the pope came vp by ye frenchmen & by the he cotinnueth his estate styll.
And within few yeares after, when the kinges of Italy nowe and then vexed our holye fathers for the covetouse ambicion, then Gregory ye third ioyned amite wyth the Frenchmen, and called them to helpe / by whose power they gatte all they hauehave & also mayntaine it vntounto this daye, For if any man sens that time hether, dyspleased ye pope neuer so lytle, he īmediatly cursed hī and excommuni…ated hym / ād proclaymed him no ryght enheritoure, and that it was not laufull to holde of him, and obsolu… hys lordes and subiectes of theyr alleages aunce, and sēt his blessing vntounto the french king, and remissyon of sinnes to go and cō quere hys lande, the pope and french kynge alwaye diuiding the spoyle betwene them, the bisshops and all that serued god for y• belly, preaching the popes myght▪ how that he had power so to do / and all thinges to b… de and lose at hys wyll / wrestinge the scriptures to serue for their purpose / corrupting all the lawes both of God and man to proue hys godhead with all.
pope zacharias the .i. HilderichꝰTHē cam pope Zacharias ye first, in whose time hulderichus was kynge of fraunce / a mā y• gouerned his royalme (as it ofte chaū ceth) by a debitie (as parsones preache) one Pipine a lord of his o…ne & his sworn subiect.pipinus This pipine sēt an holy bisshop to pope Zacharias that he shuld helpe to make hym kynge of Fraunce, and he wold be hi… defender in Italy (as the maner of …aul… horses is, the one to clawe the other) & Zacharias answered that he was more worthy to be kyng that ruled the Realme and …oke the laboures, than an ydle shadowe yt went vp and downe and did nought. And so vponupon that / the lordes of Fraunce by the persuasions of the prelates, consented vntounto Pipine, ād thrust downe their right kinge, vntounto whom they were sworne, ynd made a monke of him. And both the lordes & also Pipine toke dispensacions for theyr othes of our holy father, and were forsworne. Thus was oure holy father the Pope crepte vp in to the consciences of men with hys false interpretation of byndyng ād lo… synge, good .viij. hundred yeres agone.
Then came Pope Stephanus the secōd out of whose hādes Estulphus kyng of Lombardie wold faine hauehave scratched som what,pope steuē the second estulphus for he thought that the holye fathers gathered to fa… / and had all readye raked to muche vntounto them. But the new kynge Pipine of fraunce warned of hys duetie and seruice promysed ād mindefull of old frendshippe, and hopynge for parte of the praye, came to succoure the pope and when he had subdued the Kyng o… Lombardye, he gaue vntounto our holy father or rather to saynt Peter that hungry begger, greate prouinces & contreys in Lombardye and in Italye, with the yle corsica and many greate cyties, of which some perteyned vntounto the Emperoure being then at Constantinople / & yet the Emperour had sent before vntounto king Pipine that he shuld not geue of his townes vntounto the pope. But Pipine answer… that he cam for the same intent, & to inhaunce our holy father. And our holy father receaued them.
And thus the Empyre was deuided in two part…s: the Pope and the frenchking partyng the one halfe betwene them. And as the Emperour decayed, the Pope grewe. And as the pope grewe, so the secte of Mahomete grew, for the Emperour (halfe his empyre lost) was not able to defend him selfe agaīst the infidels. And the pope wold suffer no help hence to come for two causes: One, lest the Emperour shuld recouer his Empyre agayne, and an other because ye prelates of ye grekes wold not submitte them selues vntounto his godheade as ye prelates of these quarters of ye world had …one.
AFter Pipine raygned his sōne greate Charles whō we cal Charlemayne wc knew non other God but ye Pope nor any other waye to heauen then to do the Pope pleasure.Pipine Charlemayne For the Pope ser…ed him for two purposses: One to dispē … wyth hym for what soeuer mischefe he did: an other, to be stablished in the Empyre by his helpe, for without his fauour he wist it wold not be / so greate a God was oure holye father become already in those dayes.
Tis pope steuen in his latter daies fell at variaunce with Desiderius king of Lō bardye, aboute the archbisshoppe of Ra…enna.
AFter Steuen succeded Adriā ye firste with whom Desiderius the kīg of Lombardy wold fayne hauehave made peace, but Pope Adrian wolde not.Steuen. Desiderius king of lombardy. And shortly vponupon that the brother of this Charlmayn which raygned wyth hym in halfe the dominion of Fraunce, dyed, whose wife for feare of charles, fled with hir .ij sonnes vntounto Desiderius king of Lōbardye for succoure. Desiderius was gladd… of their comming trusting by the meanes of these two chylderen to obtaine fauour among many of the Frenchmen, and so to be able to resyst charles, if he wold medle▪ and to brynge Italy vntounto the ryght Em…perour againe, and wold hauehave had that pope Adrian shuld hauehave annointed them kinges in their fathers roume. But Adrian refused that to do (for he sawe charles mygh…e and mete for hys purpose) and was as wilye as Desyderius, and thought to kepe oute the right Emperour & be Emperour of Rome him self, though he gaue an other the name for a ceason tyll a more cōuenient …ime came.
Then Desiderius warred vponupon the popes iurisdictiō. And Adryan sent to Charles / and Charles came with his armye and dra…e out desyderius and his sonne, which sonne fled vntounto the ryght Emperoure to Constantinople. And Charles and the Pope dyuided the kingdome of Lombardy betwene them And Charles came to Rome And the Pope and he were sworne together that who soeuer shulde be ennemy vntounto the one, shuld be ennemy also vntounto the other.
This Adrian gathered a counsell immediatly of an .C.lii…. bisshoppes, abbottes and relygious parsones, & gaue vntounto Charles and his successours the empyre of Rome, and ordeyned that the ryght and powr to chose the pope▪ shuld be hys▪ and that no bysshop shuld be consecrate tyll he had obtayned of hym both consent and the ornamentes of a bysshop also (whych they now …ye of the pope) vnderunder payne of cursing, & to be delyuered vntounto black Sathan the deuell / and losse of goodes. Dist. lxiij.
And Leo the thyrde which succeded Adrian, confyrmed ye same / & crouned Charles Emperour of Rome for like seruice done vntounto hym. And then there was apointment made betwene the Emperours of cō stantinople and of Rome ād the places assigned how farre the borders of ether empyre shuld reach· And thus of one empyre was made twayne. And therfore the empyre of cōstātinople for lacke of help, was shortly after subdued of the Turkes.
The sayd Leo also called Charles the moost chrysten Kynge because of his good seruice: which tytle the kynges of Fraūce vse vntounto thys daye / though many of them be neuer so vnchristened▪ As the laste Leo called oure kinge the defender of the faith. And as this Pope Clemens calleth the duke of Ge…der the eldest sōne of the holy … of ROME, for non other vertue nor propertye y• anye man can knowe saue that he hath b…ne all his lyfe a pickequarell and a cruell and vnryghtuous bloudeshedde… as his father that sitteth in that holy se is. So now aboue seuen hondred yeres to be a Christen kyng, …s to fyght for the Pope, and most chr…sten that most fyghteth & sl…eth most men for his pleasure.
…he lyfe of CharlesThis Charles was a great cōquerour that is to saye a great tiraunte / and ouercame many nacyons with the swerde, and as the Turke compelleth vntounto his Fayth, so he compelled them with violence vntounto ye fayth of Christ, sayth ye stories. But (alas) Christ… fayth whervnto the holyghost only draweth mennes hartes thorowe preaching the worde of truth and holy lyuynge according therto, he knew not, but vntounto the pope he subdued them ād vntounto this supersticious ydolatry, wc we vse clene cōtrary vntounto the scripture.
Practyse.Moreouer at the request and great desyre of his mother, he maryed the doughter of Desyderius kyng of Lombardy / but after one yere vntounto the great dyspleasure of his mother he put her a waye againe: but not without the false subtiltye of the pope thou mayest be sure, nether wt out his dispensacion. For how could Charles hauehave made warre for the Popes pleasure with Desiderius hir father, and hauehave thruste him out of his kingdome, and banysshed hys Sonne for euer, deuydinge his kingdom betwene him and the pope as long as she had bene his wyfe?
And therfore the pope with his auctorit… of byndynge and lousinge / lowsed the bōdes of that matrimony (as he hath many other sens, and dayly doth for lyke purposses) to the intent that he wold with the swerde of the french kyng put the Kyngdome of Lombardye that was somwhat to nye him … out of the way: by the reasō of whose kynges hys fatherhode coulde not raygne alone nor assygne or sel the Bysshoprykes of Italy to whome he lusted ād at his pleasure.
He kept also .iiij. concubines, and laye with two of his owne doughters therto. And though he wist howe that it was not vnknowne, yet his lustes being greater thē great Charles, he wold not wete nor yet refrayne.
And beyonde all that, the sayinge … y• in hys olde age a whore had so bewitched him with a ryng & a pearle in it, ād I wote not what ymagerye grauen therin that he went asaute after her as a Dogge after a bytch / and the do…ehed was beside hymself and hole out of hys Mynde: in somuche yt whē the whore was dead, he could not departe from the Deade Corps, but caused it to be Enbaulmed and to be Caryed wyth hym whether so euer he Wente / so that all the worlde wondered at him / tyll at the last hys lordes accombred wyth caryenge her from place to place, and asshamed that so olde a Man, so greate an Emperoure and such a most chrysten kynge, on whō, & whose dedes eueryevery Mannes eyes were sette, shuld dote on a dead hore, toke coūsel what shuld be the cause. And it was concluded that it muste neades be by enchauntement. Then they wente vntounto the cophyne, & opened it and sought, and founde thys rynge on her finger: which one of the lordes toke of and put it on his owne fynger. When the ringe was of he, commaunded to burye her, regarding her no longer. Neuertheles he caste a phantasye vntounto thys Lorde and beganne to dote as faste on hym, so that he might neuer be out of syght: But where oure Charles was / there must that lord also be, and what charles dyd, that must he be preuye vntounto: vntill that th…s lord perceauing that it came because of this enchaunted rynge / for very paine and tedyousnesse… to… and cast it into a well at ac…n in douchland And after y• the rynge was in the wel▪ the Emperour coulde neuer departe from the towne / but in the sayde place where the ring was, cast though it were a foule ma… resse, yet he bylt a goodly monasterye in ye worship of our ladye, and thether brought relikes, from whence he coulde gett thē …ād pardons to sanctifye the place and to make it more haūted. And there he lyeth and is … sainte / as ryght is. For he dyd for chrystes vicar asmuch as the greate Turke for mahomete: but to saue hys Holynesse that he myght be canonysed for a saint, they fayne in his lyfe that hys abydyng / there so continuallye was for the hote bathes sakes wt be there.
AFter Charlemain, lewes ye mil… was emperour wc was a verye paciēt mā (an other pho… & an other pray for ye pope) & so meke and softe, that sca…elye he coulde be angrye …f any thynge at all. Whan oure holy fathers had sene his water and spyed what complexion he was / they chose Steuen ye iiij. of the name Pope with out his knowlege and bad him nother good morowe nor good euē nor once god spede about the matter,pope steuē … .iij. against theyr own graunt vntounto hys father for his good seruice. And hys softnes was yet somwhat dyspleased there with in as muche as the electyon of the Pope partayned vntounto his right. But the Pope sent Ambassadoures and wrote al the excuses that he coud and cam after him self to fraū ce to him, & pleased him ād crouned him ye …e emperour and passed the tyme a ceason with him, and they became verye famylier to gether.
After that, they chose Paschalis pope of ye same maner,pope paschale. which phascalis sent immediatly legates vntounto the emperour softe lewes excusing him selfe and sayeng: that it was not his faute but that the clergy and the comen people had drawen hym therto with violence agaīst his wyll. Then ye emperour was conte…t…or that ones and bad they shuld no more do so, but that ye old ordinaunce ought to be kept. The softenesse of this Lewes did him much care. For he was after presoned of his owne sone … helpe of pope Gregory the fourth.
After this mans dayes the popes neuer regarded the Emperours / nor did the clergy of Rome sue any more to the emperour, ether for the electiō or cōfirmaciō of the pope. Moreouer after this Lewes there was nev emperour in christēdō of any power or able of his owne might to correcte any pope nether was there anye kyng yt coud correct ye outrages vices of the spyritualty of his owne realme after this tyme For this Lewes lefte .iij. sonnes amonge which he deuided the realme of Fraunce and all douchlōd. Which same for pride & disdayn… that one shuld hauehave more then ā other fell to gether (as we say) by the eares / eche destroyeng others power / so that fraunce was afterward of no might to do any great thīg. And thē the pope reygned in Italy alone without care of any Emperour:Alone pope Niclaus the .i. in so much that Nicholaus the first… decreed that no seculare prince or emperoure shuld hauehave ought to do or be at the counsels of the clergy.pope adriā the ij ¶ And after yt Adriā ye secōde was chosē pope ye ēperours debite beyng in Rome and not ones spoken to of the matter.
And when the emperours ambassadoures disdained, they answered who can resiste ye rage of the peple, & prayed thē to be cō tent & to salute him as pope. And Adrian the third decreed that they shuld not abyde ād tarye for the Emperours confirmation or aucthoritie in chosing the pope, and hat… the pope onelyonly shuld call a generall councel, and not the emperour, or if the Emperour wold presume that to do, the councell shulde be of none effecte / though all the prelat… of chrystendom were there, & though what soeuer they did were but GODS worde. So mighty was the beast now waxed when he ones began to raygne alone. And from this tyme h…therwarde perysshed ye powr of the Emperours and the vertue of ye pores, saith platina in the lyfe of popes. For sins that tyme as there was none emperour of myght, so was there no pope of any vertue
Alter thys lewes, the empyre of Fraunce and of all doutchlande was diuided betwene his thre sonnes which (as I sayde) fought one with an other and destroyed ye strength of the empyre of fraunce. And frō that time to this, which is aboue .vij. hundreth yeares, thou shalt reade of fewe popes that hauehave not led their lyues in bloudsheading / in so much that if thou consydre the storyes well, thou shalt easely perceaue that there hath bene slayn about theyr cause farre aboue .xl.C. thousand mē, besides yt there hath bene but fewe princes in christendom that hath not bene busyed and cō bred a greate parte of his lyfe about their mater. Eyther in warres begonne at their setting on, ether in ceasing scismes or diuision that hath bene amonge the clergye who shuld be pope, or striuing of bysshops who shulde be greatest / as betwene the bisshop of Yorke and Caunterbury in Ingland & betwene the bisshops of Inglāde & Wales, wherof al ye chronycles be ful, or in reforming friers or monks, or in sleing them that vttered their false hypocrisy wt goddes woorde.
When the Emperour was downe, & no man in christendom of any powr to be feared, then eueryevery nacion fel vppon others and all landes were at variaunce betwene them selues. And then as the Danes cam into Ingland and vexed the Inglishmen, and dwelt there in spyte of their hartes / euen so came straunge nacions whose names were scace hearde of before in these quarters (as the Uandales / Hunnes and Gothes) and ran thorowout all christēdō by .C. thousands together,Uandales▪ Hunnes· Gothes. and subdued ye landes and dwelt therin maugre the inhabitours, as thou mayest se in Douchlond how diuerse nacions are inclosed in ye middes of ye land of a straunge tongue which no douchman vnderstandeth: and that rule continued wel .viij. or ix. score or .ij. hūdred yeres. And in all this ceason / who soeuer wan the maystrye / him, the spiritualtye receaued, and him they crouned king ād to him they cleaue. And what so euer any tyraūt had robbed al his lyfe, that or most parte therof must he deale amōg them at his death / for feare of purgatory. The spirytualty all that ceasō preached the pope myghtely, bylt abbayes for recreatyon and quietnesse / shryninge them alwaye for sayntes which purchased thē priuileges / or fought for their liberties, or disputed for the popes powr, how so euer they lyued (but after .L. yere whē their liues were forgotten) ād if any resisted them what soeuer mischeuen they went about, him they noted in chronycles as a cruell tiraunt: ye & what soed misfortune chaunsed any of hys posteritie after him, that they noted also, as thouh God had plaged thē, because their forefather was disobedient vntounto holy churche … & euer put the stories that vttered there wyckednesse out of the way and gathered relyques from whence they coulde g…t them, & fayned myracles, yt and gaue thē selues onelyonly vntounto poetrye / & shut vp the scriptur / so y• thys was the very tyme of wc Chryste speaketh. Mat. xxiiij in whych false prophete… shuld aryse and shewe myracles and wonders to deceaue the very electe yf yt had bene possyble.
FYnallye in thys busye woorlde the Kynges of Lombardy gatte a lytle myght / and came vppe agayne and were diuerse tymes Emperours / th…gh of no greate myght.beringarius. And one Beringarius kī ge of Lombardye began to meddle wt oure holy fathers businesse. Wherfore the pope fled vntounto Ottho Kynge of the saxons, wc by that tyme had gottē myg…t, ād brought him into Italy agaīst Beringariū, whych Ottho ouercam Beringarium & was made Emperour for hys labour,Ottho. and thus came the Empyre fyrst vntounto deue… …nde.
And Ottho recaued the empyre of one pope Iohn (…ay they) with this othe,pope Ihō the xij▪ I Ottho do promesse and swear vntounto the lorde Iohn̄, by the father / the sōne and the holy ghooste, and by thys wod of the crosse that maketh lyuing, & by these relyques of sainctes, that if I come to Rome with goddes helpe, I wyll exalte the holy churche of Rome and the, ye gouernoure of the same, vntounto my powr: Neyther shalt thou lose lyfe nor members, or that honour that thou hast by my wyll, coūsell, consent or settynge a worke. Moreouer I wyll make in rome no cō stitucion or ordinaunce of anye thyng that perteyneth vntounto the or vntounto ye Romaynes without thy counsell. And whatsoeuer of the landes of saynt Peter cometh vntounto our handes / I wyll dilyuer it the And vntounto whom soeuer I shal commit the rule of Italy / I wyll make hī swere that he shal helpe the, to defend the landes of saint Peter vntounto his power.
Pope Gregory ye .v.And Gregory the .v. (when they had gotte at the last that whiche they long gaped for) made this ordinaunce of chosynge the emperour / to stablysh it with all: that vi. lordes of Almany .iij of the spiritualtye and .iij. of the temporaltye with the king of Bohē the seuenth to be the odde mā & vmpear, shuld chose him for euer, ād send hī to ye pope to receaue his othe, and to be crouned. Neuertheles the pope to kepe the Emperour a farre of, sendeth him his coronacion home to him oftimes moch leauer than that he shuld come any nere as a meke spirited man, that had leuer lyue solytary ād alone, then hauehave his holynes sene.