The Practice of Prelates, Part 8 – Part 9
¶Howe the pope receaueth hys kyngdome of the deuell / and howe he distributeth i… agayne.
SHortlye the kingdomes of the ea… th and the glorye of them (whyche Chryst refused) Mathew. iiij. did the deuell profer vntounto the pope, and he immediatlye fell frō Chryst and worshypped the deuell / and receaued them. For by falshed (as he maynteyneth them) cam he therto / and by falshead do al hys disciples come therto. Who of an hundred one is Pope bis…hope or any greate prelate, but ether by necromācye or symony or wayting on greate mens pleasures / and with corruptynge of goddes worde and fasshyonyng it after theyr lustes.
And the Pope after he had receaued the kyngdome of the worlde of the deuell and was become the Deuels vicar,The pope distributeth his fathers kingdome. toke vp in lyke maner all chrystendom an hye, & brought them from the mekenes of Chryst vntounto the hye hyll of the pryde of Lucifer and shewed them all the Kyngdome of ye erthe, sayinge: fall downe and worshyppe me, and I wyll geue you these. Unto the spiritualtye he saieth: fall from Chryst ād preache me, and take thou that cardenalshippe, thou ye bysshoprycke, thou y• Abbotshyppe, and so fourth: thou as many benefyces as thou wylt, and a dispensaciō for what thou wylt. And to mōkes and fryers in like maner, take thou that hole, and thou that nest / wyth what pryuylege ye wyll desyre ād dispensacyons of youre rules, yf ye wyll preach me.
And vntounto the temporaltie he saythe: First to the Emperour, yf thou wylt fall down & kysse my feate and sweare to hold of me and to defend me, I geuethe the empyre.
And to al kin… in lyke maner, yf they wyl sweare to defend hys lyberties and to holde of him / he crowneth them. And euen so all temporall Lordes from the hyghest vntounto the lowest, and all officers, and all maner subiectes, if they wyll enioye lā des, rentes, offices, goodes and their verye lyues they must ronne the same way.
The very whores (goddes honour vnregarded) as long as they dispyte not him and his ordinaunces, they shall hauehave nes…es in his rentes, and amonge his Prelates. And the theues and murtherers shall hauehave dennes in his sanctuaries, whatsoeuer they do against God / so longe as they hāg on him.
The Apostles chose pryestes to preach Chryst onelyonly / all other thinges layde apart and chose none but Learned and Uertuouse
The Pope shaueth who soeuer commeth,The popes order compared wt ye order of ye Apostles. leuer …u…e of the stu…s then from studye … when they be Sworne he Sendeth them vntounto all greate mennes houses to preache his godhed to be stuardes / surueyers / recea…ers & counsel…rs of all maner myscheue:… popysh priestes. to corrup…e wife / doughter, and mayde, & to betray theyr owne master, as oft as it neadeth to promote their falsehead with all. For therto are they sworne to gether.
And when they hauehave done all mischefe / there shall no man wyt whence it cometh.
The apostles chose deacons to ministre the almes of the rych vntounto the poore. And to helpe the deacons they chose widowes of .ix. yere old,the popysh wi…dows. holy & d…stitute of frendes to …end the sycke. And the Pope in stead of such wedowes maketh who soeuer commeth / whether she be yōg or olde, but none saue them yt be ryche & able to pay .xx.xxx. or .xl. pounde for their prof…ssiō, to whom for as much more he wyll gyue a dispensacion on the morowe to mary agayne. And in steade of suche deacons,…he popysh deacons. he maketh bothe deacons and subdeacons which do nothinge at all but are vayne names without office / except it be that on some Holydaye in steade of ministringe the goodes of the church vntounto the poore, they syng a pistle or Gospell to begge more from the …ore. And as his … the …oodes of the church … the poore: euen so doo hys pryes…es preac… Chrysts gospell vntounto his flocke.
And the almesse that was geuen to the sustencacion of the poore which thou shalt reade in storie… that it was in some cities aboue .xx.xxx.xl. yea an hundred thousād pounde,How the pope diuydeth the poore people. and all the landes geuen for the same purpose, they hauehave s…olen from them & hauehave diuyded it amonge them selues. And ther with did they at the beginning corrupt the greate men of the woorlde and clam vp to this heigth were they now be. And for yt hauehave they strouen among them selues this viij. hundred yeares. And to mainteyne yt which they hauehave falsely gotten / hath the pope sturred vp aswerde of warre in all christendom this .viij. hundred yeares & hath taken peace cleane out of the worlde.
When the bisshoppes, preastes and deacons were fallen and had receaued of the pope the kingdom that parteyned vntounto the poore people, and had robbed them and parted their patrymony among them selues / then sprange the orders of monkes: Whose professyon was to abstayne frō flesh all theyr liues, to were vyle raymēt, to eate but once in the daye / ād that but butter, chese, egges, frutes, rootes and suche thynges that weare not costly / ād myght eueryevery where be founde. And they wrote bokes / ād wrought diuerse thynges to get their lyuinge wyth all. When the laye men sawe that the preastes were fallen in to suche couetuousnes / & that the Monkes were so holy: they thought, these be mete men to minister our almesse vntounto the pore people. For theyr profession is so holy that they can not deceau… vsus as the preastes do, ād made the mō kes tutors and ministers vntounto the pore, ād gaue great Landes and rychesse in to theyr handes to deale it vntounto the poore. Whē the monkes sawe suche aboundaunce / they fell after the ensample of the preastes, and toke dispēsacyōs of the pope for their rules ād strait professiō, whiche now is as wyde as their coules / and deuided all amonge them▪ and robbed the poore once moare. And out of the abbayes toke he the most parte of his Bysshoprickes and cathedral churches, and the moste parte of all the landes he hathe / besydes that there Remayne yet so Many myghtye abbayes and nun ryes ther….
As sone as the monkes were fallen, thē sprang these beggynge fryres out of Hell / the last kind of kater pillars,Beggyng… fryers. in a more vile apparell and a more strate relygion that (if ought of relefe were lefte amonge the laye men for the poore people) these horseleches might sucke that also. Which dranebees as sone as they had learned their crafte & had bylt them goodly & costly n…stes / and their lymiters had diuided all contrees amonge them, to begge in / and had prepared lyuynges of a certayntie / though wc beggynge / then they also toke dispēsacyons of the pope for to lyue as largely & as lewdelye as the monkes.
And yet vntounto the laye men whom they hauehave thus falselye robbed & from whyche they hauehave deuyded them selues and made them a seuerall kyngdome amonge them selues,The charge of ye lay people. they leaue the payenge of tolle / custome and trybute (for vntounto all the Charges of the Royalmes they wyll not paye a myte (and the finding of all the poore: the fyndyng of scolars for the moste parte: The fynding of these forsayde horseleches and carcepillers / the beggynge fryers the reparyng of hye wayes and brydeges the buyldynge and recreacyons of theyre abbayes and cathedrall churches, chapel… coleges / for which they send out theyr pardons dayly by heapes / and gather a thousand pounde for eueryevery hundred that they bestow truely.
If the laye people hauehave warre or what soeuer charge it be, they wyll not beare a myte. If the warre be theirs (as the one parte almost of all warre is to defende them) they wyl wt falshed make thē beare the greatest parte, besydes that, they must leaue their wyues and children & go fight for them and loose their liues. And likewise ī al their charges they hauehave a cast to poll the laye people. The Scottes cast downe a castell of ye bysshop of dirams on ye scottysh bancke called Noram castell. And he gat a pardon from Rome for the buyldynge of it agayne / wherwith I dout not, bu… he gat for euerye pennye that he bestowed thre.
Howe the spyritualtie bestowe theyr treasure,And what do they with their store that they hauehave in so greate plenty every where: so that the very beggyng fryers in short space to make a cardinal or a pope of their sect or to doo what feate it were for theyr proffytt, wold not stycke to brynge aboue a Kyngs raūsō ▪ Uerely make goodly places and parkes of pleasure and gaye shrynes / and paynte postes and purchese Pardons / wherwyth they yet styll polle and plucke a waie that litle where wyth ye pore which peryshe for neade, and faulle in to greate in con…enyences myght be somwhat holpē ād releued, And laye vppe in stoare to hauehave alwaye to paye for the defēdīg of their faith …nd for to oppresse the truth.
¶How the pope made hym … lawe, and why.
AFter that the pope wythe tyrannye was clom vppe aboue hys brethren and had made all the Spyrytualtie hys subiectes and had made of them and hym a seuerall kyngdom among them selues, and had seperated them from the laye in all thynges / and had got pryuileges that what so euer they dyd, no man shuld medle wyth them: and after also he had receaued the kyngdoms of the earth of Sathan and was become hys vicare to dystrybut them, and after that the Emperoure was fallen in lyke maner at hys fete and had worshypped hym as God, to receaue hys empyre of him, and all kings had done lyke wise to be anoynted of him and to be crouned of him, and after that the worlde both greate and smale had submitted them selues to receaue the beastes bagge: then because that christes doctryne was contrary vntounto all such kingdomes, and therfore had no law ther in howe to rule it he went, and made him a seuerell lawe of hys owne makyng, which passed in cruelty and tyranny, the lawes of all hethen priestes.
And in his lawe he thrust in fayned gyftes of old emperours, that were out of memory,What subtilt… the pope vseth to stablysh hys kyngdome. sayeng that the emperour Constantinus had geuen vp the empyre of Rome vntounto. S. Syluester, which is proued a false lye for diuerse causes: one that saīt siluester being so holy a man as he was / wolde not hauehave receaued it contrarye to his masters cōmaūdemētes & doctrine: an other that the emperours raygned in Rome many yeares after and all bisshopes sued vntounto the emperour and not to the pope, which was but bisshope of Rome only / & not called father of fathers. Moreouer y• no autentyke storie maketh mencion that any emperoure gaue them their patrimonye / but that Pipine which falsely & with strēgth inuaded the empire gaue it vntounto him. Thē put hem the graunt of Phocas / then the gift of pipine confirmed by the great charles: then a fayned relefe of the electiō of ye pope / geuē vp agayne vntounto pope Paschale by the emperour Lewes. For they thē selues had graunted vntounto charlemayne, & his successours for euer the eleccion or denominacion of the pope & bisshopes to flatter him with all, & to make him a faythfull defender, and that in a generall Counsell which (as they say) can not erre. Neuerthelesse pope Paschal though he beleued the counsell coude not erre, yet he thought thē somwhat ouersene, to make so long a graunt, & therfore he purchased a relefe of gētle …ewes as they pretēd But verely it is more lykely that they fayned that graunte to excuse their tyranny after they had takē ye electiō into their hādes agayne wyth violē ce / whē the emperours were weake & not able to resyst thē ▪ as they fayned ye gift of Cōstātine, after they had inuaded the empire with subtylty and falshed. And last of al they broughe in the Oth of Ottho with ye ordre that now is vsed to chose ye ēperour