The Religion Anciently Professed by the Irish and British, Chapter 11

The Religion Anciently Professed by the Irish and British · Chapter 11

p. 117CHAP. XI

Of the temporall power, which the Popes followers would directly intitle him unto over the Kingdome of Ireland: together with the indirect power which he challengeth in absolving subjects from the obedience which they owe to their temporall Governours.

IT now remaineth that in the last place wee should consider the Popes power in disposing the temporall state of this Kingdome: which eyther directly or indirectly, by hooke or by crooke, this grand Usurper would draw unto himselfe. First therefore Cardinall Allen would have us to know, thatccAllen. Answer to the Execution of Iustice in England. pag. 140. the Sea Apostolike hath an old claime unto the soveraigntie of the countrey of Ireland; and that before the Covenants passed betweene King Iohn and the same Sea. Which challenges (saith he) Princes commonly yeeld not up, by what ground soever they come. What Princes use to yeeld or not yeeld, I leave to the scanning of those, unto whom Princes matters doe belong: for the Cardinals p. 118Prince I dare be bold to say, that if it bee not his use to play fast and loose with other Princes, the matter is not now to doe; whatsoever right he could pretend to the temporall state of Ireland, hee hath transferred it (more than once) unto the Kings of England. and when the ground of his claime shall be looked into; it will bee found so frivolous and so ridiculous, that we need not care three chippes, whether he yeeld it up or keep it to himselfe. For whatsoever become of his idle challenges: the Crowne of England hath otherwise obtained an undoubted right unto the soveraigntie of this countrey; partly by Conquest, prosecuted at first upon occasion of a Sociall warre, partly by the severall submissions of the chiefetaines of the land made afterwards. ForddCum juri suo renuntiare liberum fit cuilibet (quanquam subjectionis cujuslibet hactenus immunes) his tamen hodiè nostris diebus, Anglorum Regi Henrico secundo omnes Hiberniae principes firmis fidei sacramentique vinculis se sponte submiserunt. Girald. Cambrens. Hibern expug…at. lib. 3. cap. 7. wheras it is it free for all men, although they have been formerly quitt from all subjection, to renounce their owne right: yet now in these our daies (saith Giraldus Cambrensis, in his historie of the Conquest of Ireland) all the Princes of Ireland did voluntarily submitt, and binde themselves with firme bonds of faith and oath, unto Henry the second King of England. The like might be said of the generall submissions made in the dayes of King Richard the second and King Henry the eighth: to speake nothing of the prescription of divers hundreds of yeares possession; which was the plea thateeIudg. 11. 26.Judg 11:26 Iephte used to the Ammonites, and is indeed the best evidence that the Bishop of Romes ownffGenebrard. Chr…graph. lib. 3. in Sylvest. 1. Bellarmin. de Roman. Pontif. lib. 5. cap. 9. in fine. Proctors do produce for their Masters right to Rome it selfe.

p. 119For the Popes direct dominion over Ireland, two titles are brought forth; beside those covenants of King Iohn (mentioned by Allen) which hee that hath any understanding in our state, knoweth to be clearly voide and worth nothing. The one is taken from a speciall grant supposed to bee made by the inhabitants of the countrey, at the time of their first conversion unto Christianitie: the other from a right whichggInsulas omnes sibi speciall quodam iure vendicat. Girald. Cambr. Hibern. expugnat. lib. …. cap. 3. the Pope challengeth unto himselfe over all Ilands in generall. The former of these was devised of late by an Italian, in the reigne of King Henry the eighth; the later was found out in the daies of King Henry the second: before whose time not one footestep doth appeare in all antiquitie of any claime that the Bishop of Rome should make to the dominion of Ireland; no not in the Popes owne records, which have beene curiously searched by Nicolaus Arragonius, and other ministers of his, who have purposely written of the particulars of his temporall estate. The Italian of whom I spake, is Polydore Vergil; he that composed the booke De inventoribus rerum, of the first Inventers of things: among whom hee himselfe may challenge a place for this invention; if the Inventers of lyes bee admitted to have any roome in that companie. This man being sent over by the Pope into England hhNos hanc alim quaesturam aliquot per a… not gessimus; eiusque muneris obeundi caussâ, primùm in Angliam venitnus. Poly … Vergil. Anglic. bis…. lib. 4.for the collecting of his Peterpence, undertooke the writing of the historie of that nation, wherein he forgat not by the way to doe the best service hee could to his Lord that had imployed him thither. There hee telleth an idle tale; how the Irish being moved to accept Henry the second for p. 120their King,iiId Hiberni posse fieri, nisi autoritate Romani Pontificis negabant; quòd iam indè ab initio, post Christianam religionem acceptam, sese ac omnia sua in eius ditionem dedidissent: atque constanter affirmabant, non alium habere se Dominum, praeter ipsum Pontificem: id quod etiam nunc iactitant, Id. lib. 13. eiusa. histor. did deny that this could be done otherwise than by the Bishop of Romes anthoritie: because (forsooth) that from the very beginning, after they had accepted Christian Religion, they had yeelded themselves and all that they had into his power. and they did constantly affirme (saith this fabler) that they had no other Lord, beside the Pope: of which also they yet doe bragge.

The Italian is followed herein by two Englishmen, that wished the Popes advancement as much as hee; Edmund Campian and Nicholas Sanders. the one whereof writeth, thatkkCamp. History of Ireland. lib. 2. cap. 1. immediately after Christianitie planted here, the whole Iland with one consent gave themselves not onelyonly into the spirituall, but also into the temporall Iurisdiction of the See of Rome. the other in Polydores owne words (though hee name him not) thatllHiberni initio statim post Christianam religionem acceptam, sesua que omni… in Pontificis Romani ditionem dederant; nec quenquam alium supremum Hiberniae Principem ad illud usque tempus praeter unum Romanum pontificem agnoverunt, Sander de schism. Anglican. lib. 1. ad ann. 1542. the Irish from the beginning, presently after they had received Christian Religion, gave up themselves and all that they had into the power of the Bishop of Rome; and that untill the time of King Henry the second, they did acknowledge no other supreme Prince of Ireland, beside of the Bishop of Rome alone. For confutation of which dreame, we need not have recourse to our owne Chronicles: the Bull of Adrian the fourth, wherein hee giveth libertie of King Henry the second to enter upon Ireland, sufficiently discovereth the vanitie thereof. For, hee there shewing what right the Church of Rome pretended unto Ireland, maketh no mention at all of this (which had beene the fairest and clearest title that could bee alledged, if any such had been then existent in rerum naturâ) but is faine to p. 121flie unto a farre-fetcht interest which hee saith the Church of Rome hath unto all Christian Ilands. mmSanè omnes Insulas, quibus Sol iustitiae Christus illuxit, & quae documenta fidei Christianae susceperunt, ad ius S. Petri & sacrosanctae Romanae Ecclesiae (quod tua etiam Nobilitas recognoscit) non est dubium pertinete. Bull-Adrian. IV. ad Henr. II. Angl. reg.Truly (saith he to the King) there is no doubt, but that all Ilands unto which Christ the Sunne of Righteousnesse hath shined, and which have received the instructions of the Christian faith, doe pertaine to the right of Saint Peter and the holy Church of Rome: which your Noblenesse also doth acknowledge.

If you would further understand the ground of this strange claime, whereby all Christian Ilands at a clap are challenged to bee parcell of St. Peters patrimonie: you shall have it from Iohannes Sarisburiensis, who was most inward with Pope Adrian, and obtained from him this very grant whereof now wee are speaking.nnAd preces meas illustri Regi Anglorum Henrico secundo concessit & dedit Hiberniam iure haereditario possidendam: sicut literae ipsius testantur in hodiernum diem. Nam omnes insulae, de iure antiquo, ex donatione Constantini, qui eam fundavit & dotavit, dicuntur ad Romanam Ecclesiam pertinere. Iohan. Sarisburiens. Metalogie. lib. 4. cap. 42. At my request (saith he) he granted Ireland to the illustrious King of England Henry the second, and gave it to bee possessed by right of inheritance: as his owne letters doe testifie unto this day. For all Ilands, of ancient right, are said to belong to the Church of Rome, by the donation of Constantine, who founded & endowed the same. But will you see, what a goodly title here is, in the meane time? First, the Donation of Constantine hath been long since discovered to be a notorious forgerie, and is rejected by all men of judgement as a senslesse fiction. Secondly, in the whole context of this forged Donation I find mention made of Ilands in one place only:ooPer nostram Imperialem iussionem sacram, tam in Oriente quàm in Occidente, vel etiam septentrionali & meridianâ plagâ, videlicèt in Iudaeâ, Graeciâ, Asiâ, Thraciâ, Aphricâ & Italiâ, vel diversis Insulis nostrâ largitate eis libertatem concessimus: eâ prorsus ratione, ut per manus beatissimi patris nostri Sylvestri Pontificis successorumque eius omnia disponantur. Edict. Constantin. where no more power p. 122is given to the Church of Rome over them, than in generall over the whole Continent (by East and by West, by North and by South) and in particular over Iudaea, Graecia, Asia, Thracia, and Aphrica; which use not to passe in the account of St. Peters temporall patrimonie. Thirdly, it doth not appeare, that Constantine himselfe had any interest in the Kingdome of Ireland: how then could hee conferre it upon another? Some words there be in an oration ofppVltra Occanum verò quid erat praeter Britanniam? Quae à vobis ita recuperata est; ut illae quoque nationes terminis eiusdem insulae cohaerentes vestris nutibus obsequantur. Eumen. Panegyric. ad Constant. Eumenius the Rhetorician, by which peradventure it may bee collected, that his father Constantius bare some stroke here: but that the Iland was ever possessed by the Romanes, or accounted a parcell of the Empire, cannot be proved by any sufficient testimonie of antiquitie. Fourthly, the late writers that are of another mind, as Pomponius Laetus, Cuspinian, and others, doe yet affirme withall,qqPomp. Laet. in Roman. histor. Compend. Io. Cuspian. in Caesarib. Seb. Mu…ster. in lib. 2. Cosmograph. that in the division of the Empire after Constantines death, Ireland was assigned unto Constantinus the eldest sonne: which will hardly stand with this donation of the Ilands supposed to bee formerly made unto the Bishop of Rome and his successors. Pope Adrian therefore, and Iohn of Salisbury his sollicitor, had need seeke some better warrant for the title of Ireland, than the Donation of Constantine.

Iohn Harding in his Chronicle saith, that the Kings of England have right

rrHarding. Clhronic. cap. 241.To Ireland also, by King Henry (le fitz

Of Maude, daughter of first King Henry)

That conquered it, for their great heresie.

which in another place he expresseth more at large, in this manner:

p. 123ssIbid. cap. 132▪The King Henry then, conquered all Ireland

By Papall dome, there of his royaltee

The profits and revenues of the land

The domination, and the soveraigntee

For errour which agayn the spiritualtee

They held full long, and would not been correct

Of heresies, with which they were infect.

Philip Osullevan on the other side, doth not only deny ttOsullevan. Histor. Catholic. Iberniae, tom. 2. lib. 1. cap. 7.that Ireland was infected with any heresie: but would also have us beleeve,uuIbid. cap. 4. 5. 9. & lib. 2. cap. 3. that the Pope never intended to conferre the Lordship of Ireland upon the Kings of England. For where it is said in Pope Adrians Bull;xxIllius terrae populus te recipiat, & sicut Dominum veneretur. Bull. Adrian. IV. Let the people of that land receive thee, and reverence thee as a Lord: the meaning thereof is, saith this Glozer,yySicut Dominum veneretur, id est, ut Principem dignum magno honore; non Dominum Iberniae, sed praefectum caussâ colligendi tributi Ecclesiastici. Osullevan. Hist. Ibern. fol. 59. b. in margine. Let them reverence thee, as a Prince worthy of great honour; not as Lord of Ireland, but as a Deputie appointed for the collecting of the Ecclesiasticall tribute. It is true indeed that King Henry the second, to the end hee might the more easily obtaine the Popes good wil for his entring upon Ireland, did voluntarily offer unto him the payment of a yearely pension of one penny out of every house in the countrey: which (for ought that I can learne) was the first Ecclesiasticall tribute that ever came unto the Popes coffers out of Ireland. But that King Henry got nothing else by the bargaine but the bare office of collecting the Popes Smoke-silver (for so wee called it here, when wee payed it) is so dull a conceit; that I doe somewhat wonder how Osullevan himselfe could be such a blocke-head, as not to discerne the senselesnesse of it.

What the King sought for and obtained, is sufficiently p. 124declared by them that writ the historie of his reigne. zzRobert. de Monte. Roger. de Wendover. Matth. Paris. & Nicol. Trivett in Chronic. an. 1155.In the yeare of our Lord MCLV. the first Bull was sent unto him by Pope Adrian: the summe whereof is thus laid down in a second Bull, directed unto him by Alexander the third, the immediate successor of the other. aaVenerabilis Adriani Papae vestigiis inhaerentes, vestrique desiderii fructum attendentes; concessionem eiusdem super Hibernici regni dominio vobis indulto (salvâ Beato Petro & sacrosanctae Ecclesiae Romanae, sicut in Angliâ Sic in Hiberniâ de singulis domibus annuâ unius denarii pensione) ratam habemus & confirmamus. Bul. Alexandri III. apud Grialdum Cambrens. lib. 2. Histor. Hibern. expugnat. cap. 6. in codicibus MS. (in edito enim caput hoc mancum est) & Io. Rossum Warvicensem, in tract. De terris Coronae Angliae annexis.Following the stepps of reverend Pope Adrian, and attending the fruit of your desire; we ratifie and confirme his grant concerning the dominion of the KINGDOME of Ireland conferred upon you: reserving unto St. Peter and the holy Church of Rome, as in England so in Ireland, the yearely pension of one penny out of every house. In this sort did Pope Adrian, as much as lay in him, give Ireland unto King Henry, haereditario jure possidendam, to bee possessed by right of inheritance; & withall bbAnnulum quo que per me transmisit aureum, smaragdo optimo decoratum, quo fieret investitura iuris in gerenda Hibernia: idemque adhuc annulus in curiali archîo publico custodiri jussus est. Io. Sarisbur. Metalogic. lib. 4. cap. 42. de quo consulendus etiam est Giraldus Cambrens. lib. 2. Hibern. expugnat. cap. 6.sent unto him a ring of gold, set with a faire Emerauld, for his investiture in the right thereof: as Iohannes Sarisburiensis, who was the principall agent betwixt them both in this businesse, doth expresly testifie. After this, in the year MCLXXI. the King himselfe came hither in person: where the Archbishops and Bishops of IrelandccIn Regem & Dominum receperunt. Roger. Wendover, & Matth. Paris. in Historiâ maiori, an. 1171. Roger. Hoveden, in posteriore parte Annalium. Iohan. Brampton in Historiâ Ioralanensi, & Bartholomaeus de Cotton, in Histor. Anglor. MS. received him for their KING and Lord. The King (saith Iohn Brampton) ddRecepit ab unoquoque Archiepiscopo & Episcopo literas, cum sigillis suis in modum Char…ae pendentibus; regnum Hiberniae sibi & haeredibus suis confirmantes, & testimonium perhibentes ipsos in Hiberniâ cum & haeredes suos sibi in Reges & Dominos in perpetuum constituisse. Io. Brampton. ibid.received letters from every Archbishop and Bishop, with their seales hanging upon them in the manner p. 125of an Indenture; confirming the KINGDOME of Ireland unto him and his heyres, and bearing witnesse that they in Ireland had ordained him and his heyres to bee their KINGS and Lords for ever. At Waterford (saith Roger Hoveden)eeVenerunt ibidem ad regem Angliae omnes Archiepiscopi, Episcopi, Abbates totius Hiberniae, & receperunt cum in Regem & Dominum Hiberniae; jurantes ei & haeredibus suis fidelitatem, & regnandi super …os potestatē in perpetuum: & inde dederunt ei chartas suas. Exemplo autem clericorum, praedicti Reges & Principes Hiberniae, receperunt simili modo Henricum regem Angliae in Dominum & Regem Hiberniae; & homines sui devenerunt, & ei & haeredibus suis fidelitatem juraverunt contra omnes homines. Rog. Hoveden. ad ann. 1171. all the Archbishops, Bishops, and Abbots of Ireland came unto the King of England, and received him for KING and Lord of Ireland; swearing fealty to him and to his heyres, and power to reigne over them for ever: and hereof they gave him their Instruments. The Kings also and Princes of Ireland, by the example of the Clergie, did in like manner receive Henry King of England for Lord and KING of Ireland; and became his men (or, did him homage) and swore fealty to him and his heyres against all men.

These things were presently after confirmed in the Nationall Synod held at Casshell: the Acts whereof in Giraldus Cambrensis are thus concluded. ffDignum etenim & justissimum est, ut sicut Dominum & Regem ex Angliâ sortita est divinitùs Hibernia; sic etiam exinde vivendi formam accipiant meliorem. Girald. Cambrens. Hibern. Expugnat. lib. 1. cap. 34.For it is fit and most meet, that as Ireland by Gods appointment hath gotten a Lord and a KING from England; so also they should from thence receive a better forme of living. King Henry also at the same time ggRex Angliae misst transcriptum Chartarum universorum Archiepiscoporum & Episcoporum Hiberniae, ad Alexandrum Papam: & ipse authoritate Apostolicâ confirmavit illi & haeredibus suis regnum Hiberniae, secundùm formam Chartarum Archiepiscoporum & Episcoporum Hiberniae. Rog. Hoveden.sent a transcript of the Instruments of all the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland, unto Pope Alexander: who by his Apostolicall authority (for so was it in those p. 126dayes of darknesse esteemed to bee) did confirme the KINGDOME of Ireland unto him and his heyres, (according to the forme of the Instruments of the Archbishops & Bishops of Ireland)hhNam summus Pontifex regnum illud sibi & haeredibus suis auctoritate Apostolicâ confirmavit; & in perpetuum eos constituit inde Reges. Io. Brampton. and made them KINGS thereof for ever. The King also iiPerquisierat ab Alexandro summo Pontifice, quòd liceret ei filium suum quem vellet Regem Hiberniae facere, & fimiliter coronare; ac Reges & potentes ejusdem terrae, qui subjectionem ei facere …ollent, debellare. Id. ad. …. 1177.obtained further from Pope Alexander, that it might bee lawfull for him to make which of his sonnes hee pleased, KING of Ireland, and to crowne him accordingly; and to subdue the Kings and great ones of that land, which would not subject themselves unto him. Whereupon, in a grand Councell held at Oxford in the yeere of our Lord MCLXXVII. kkIohannem filium suum coram Episcopis & regni sui principibus Regem Hiberniae constituit. Id. ibid. & Gualterus Coventrensis, inejusdem anni historiâ.before the Bishops and Peeres of the Kingdome hee constituted his sonne Iohn KING of Ireland; llConstituit Iohannem filium suum Regem in Hiberniâ, concessione & confirmatione Alexandri summ… Pontificis. Rog. Hoveden. Annal. part. 2. ad an. 1177.according to that grant and confirmation of Pope Alexander. And to make the matter yet more sure, in the yeere MCLXXXVI. hee obtained a new licence from Pope Vrban the third;mmAb eo impetravit; quòd unus quem vellet de filiis suis coronaretur de regne Hiberniae. & hoc confirmavit ei Dominus Papa Bullâ suâ: & in argumentum voluntatis & confirmationis suae, misit ei coronam de pennâ pavonis auro contextam. Id. ad an. 1185. that one of his sonnes, whom hee himselfe would, should bee crowned for the KINGDOME of Ireland. And this the Pope did not onelyonly confirme by his Bull: but also the yeere following purposely sent over Cardinall Octavian and Hugo de Nunant (or Novant)nnQuibus ipse commisit legatiam in Hiberniam, ad ceronandum ibi Iohannem filium Regis. Sed Dominus Rex coronationem illam distulit. Jd. ad an. 1187. his Legates into Ireland, to crowne Iohn the Kings sonne there.

By all this wee may see, how farre King Henry the second proceeded in this businesse: which I doe not p. 127so much note, to convince the stolidity of Osullevan, who would faine perswade fooles, that he was preferred onelyonly to bee collector of the Popes Peterpence: as to shew, that Ireland at that time was esteemed a Kingdome, and the Kings of England accounted no lesse than Kings thereof. And therefore **Paulus IIII nostris temporibus Hiberniam insulam in regni titulum ac dignitatem erexit. Gabutius in vitā PijV.Paul the fourth needed not make all that noyse, and troubleooAd omnipotentis Dei laudem & gloriam, ac gloriosissimae ejus genitricis Virginis Mariae, totius que Curiae coelestis honorem, & fidei Catholicae exaltationem, Philippo Rege & Mariâ Reginâ nobis super hoc humiliter supplicantibus, de fratrum nostrorum consilio & Apostolicae potestatis plenitudine, Apostolicâ authoritate Insulam Hiberniae in Regnum perpetuò erigimus; ac titulo, dignitate, honore, facultatibus, juribus, insigniis, praerogativis, antelationibus, praeeminentiis regiis, ac quibus alia Christi fidelium Regna utuntur, potiuntur, & gaudent, ac uti, potiri, & gaudere poterunt quomodo libet, in futurum insignimus & decoramus. Bulla Pauli IV. in Rotulo Patentium, ann. 2. & 3. Philippi & Mariae, in Cancellariâ Hiberniae. the whole Court of heaven with the matter: when in the yeere MDLV. he tooke upon him by his Apostolicall authority (such I am sure, as none of the Apostles of Christ did ever assume unto themselves) to erect Ireland unto the title and dignity of a Kingdome. Whereas hee might have found, even in his owne**Provinciale ex archivis Cancellariae Apostolicae. edit. tomo 2. Tractat. Doctor. fol. 344. (impres. Venet. an. 1548.) Romane Provinciall, that Ireland was reckoned among the Kingdomes of Christendome, before hee was borne. Insomuch, that in the yeere MCCCCXVII. when the Legates of the King of England and the French Kings Ambassadours fell at variance in the Councell of Constance for precedencie; the English Orators, among other arguments, alledged this also for themselves.ppSatis constat, secundum Albertum Magnum & Bartholomaeum de proprietatibus rerum, quòd toto Mundo in tres partes diviso (videlicèt Asiam, Africam, & Europam) Europa in quatuor dividitur regna: primum videlicèt Romanum, secundum Constantinopolitanum, tertium regnum Hiberniae quod jam translatum est in Anglicos, & quartum regnum Hispaniae. Ex quo patet, quòd rex Angliae & regnum suum sunt de eminentioribus antiquioribus Regibus & Regnis totius Europae: quam praerogativam regnum Franciae non fertur obtinere. Act. Concil. Constant. Sess. 28. MS. in Bibliothecâ Regiâ. It is well knowne, p. 128that according to Albertus Magnus and Bartholomaeus in his booke De proprietatibus rerum, the whole world being divided into three parts (to wit, Asia, Africk and Europe) Europe is divided into foure Kingdomes: namely, the Romane for the first, the Constantinopolitane for the second, the third the Kingdome of Ireland which is now translated unto the English, and the fourth the Kingdome of Spain. Whereby it appeareth, that the King of England and his Kingdome are of the more eminent ancient Kings and Kingdomes of all Europe: which prerogative the Kingdome of France is not said to obtaine. And this have I here inserted the more willingly, because it maketh something for the honour of my Country (to which, I confesse, I am very much devoted) and in the printed Acts of the Councell it is not commonly to be had.

But now commeth forth Osullevan againe, and like a little furie flyeth uponqqCujus mali maxima culpa in aliquot Angloibernos Sacerdotes jure transferenda est; qui tartareum dogma ab Orco in Catholicorum perniciem emissum non negabant, licere Catholicis contra Catholicos & suam patriam pro Haereticis getere arma & dimicare. Philip. Osullevan. Hist. Cathosic. Iberniae, tous. 4. lib. 3. cap. 5. fol. 263. edit. Vlissipon. an. 1621. the English-Irish Priests of his owne religion, which in the late rebellion of the Earle of Tirone did not deny that Hellish doctrine, fetcht out of Hell for the destruction of Catholickes, that it is lawfull for Catholickes to beare armes and fight for Heretickes against Catholickes and their country. or rather (if you will have it in plainer termes) that it is lawfull for them of the Romish Religion, to beare armes and fight for their Soveraigne and fellow-subjects that are of another profession, against those of their own religion that trayterously rebell against their Prince and Country. and to shew,rrHaec est Academiarum censura; quâ liquidò constat, quantâ ignoratione & caligine erraverint illi Iberni, qui in hoc bello Protestantibus opem tulerunt, & Catholicos oppugnârunt: quamque insanam & venenosam doctrinam attulerint nonnulli doctiores vulgò habiti, qui saeculares homines ad Reginae partes sequendas exhortati, à fide tuendâ averterunt. Id. tom. 3. lib. 8. cap. 7. fol. 204. how madde p. 129and how venemous a doctrine they did bring (these bee the caitiffes owne termes) that exhorted the laitie to follow the Queens side: he setteth downe the censure of the Doctors of the University of Salamanca and Vallodilid, published in the yeere MDCIII. for the justification of that Rebellion, and the declaration of Pope Clement the eights letters touching the same; wherein he signifieth thatssCùm enim Pontifex dica… Anglos adversus Catholicam Religionem pugnare, eosque non minut ac Turcas oppugnari debere; eisdemque gratiis eos oppugnantes prosequatur, quibus contra Turcas pugnantes prosequitur: quis dubitet, bellum ab Anglis adversus exercitum Catholicum omninò iniquum geri? Censur. Doct. Salmanti…. & Vallisolet. de Hibermiae bello. the English ought to be set upon no lesse than the Turkes, and imparteth the same favours unto such as set upon them, that hee doth unto such as fight against the Turkes. Such wholesome directions doth the Bishop of Rome give vntounto those that will be ruled by him: far different (I wisse) from that holy doctrine, wherewith the Church of Rome was at first seasoned by the Apostles.ttRom. 13. 1.Rom 13:1 Let every soule bee subject unto the higher powers; for there is no power but of God: was the lesson that S. Paul taught to the ancient Romanes. Where if it bee demanded;uuQuid, & illa potesta…, quae servos Dei persequitur, fidem impugnat, religionem subvertit, à Deo est? Ad quod respondendum, quòd etiam talis potestas à Deo data est, ad vindictam quidem malorum, laudem verò bonorum. Sedul in Rom. 13.Rom 13 whether that power also, which persecuteth the servants of God, impugneth the faith, and subverteth religion, be of God? our countryman Sedulius will teach us to answer with Origen; that even such a power as that, is given of God, for the revenge of the evill, and the praise of the good. although he were as wicked, as eyther Nero among the Romans, or Herod among the Iewes: the one whereof most cruelly persecuted the Christians, the other Christ himselfe.

And yet when the one of them swayed the scepter, p. 130Saint Paul told the Christian Romanes; that they xxRom. 13. 5.Rom 13:5must needes be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake: and of the causelesse feare of the other, these Verses of Sedulius are solemnly sung in the Church of Rome, even unto this day.

yySedul. in Hymno acrostich. de Vit… Christi.Herodes hostis impie,

Christum venire quid times?

Non eripit mortalia,

Qui regna dat coelestia.

Why, wicked Herod, dost thou feare

And at Christs comming frowne?

The mortall he takes not away,

That gives the heavenly crowne.

a better paraphrase whereof you cannot have, than this which Claudius hath inserted into his Collections upon St. Matthew.zzRex iste qui natus est, non venit Reges pugnando superare, sed moriendo mirabiliter subjugare: neque ideò natus est ut tibi succedat, sed ut in eum mundus fideliter credat. Venit enim, non ut regnet vivu…, sed ut triumphet occisus: nec sibi de aliis gentibus auro exercitum quaerat; sed ut pro salvandis gentibus pretiosum sanguinem fundat. Inaniter invidendo timuisti successorem, quem credendo debuisti quaerere salvatorem; quia si in eum crederes, cum eo regnares; & sicut ab illo accepisti teraporale regnum, accipe…es etiam sempiternum. Hujus enim pueri regnum non est de hoc mundo; sed per ipsum regnatur in hoc mundo. Ipse est etiam Sapientia Dei, quae dicit in Proverbiis: Per me Reges regnant. Puer iste Verbum Dei est, Puer iste Virtus & Sapientia Dei est. Si potes, contra Dei sapientiam cogita: in tuam perniciem versaris, & nescia. Tu enim regnum nullatenus habuisses, nisi ab isto Puero qui nunc natus est accepisses. Claud. lib. I. in Matth. That King which is borne, doth not come to overcome Kings by fighting, but to subdue them after a wonderfull manner by dying: neither is he borne to the end that hee may succeed thee, but that the world may faithfully beleeve in him. For he is come, not that hee may fight being alive, but that hee may triumph being slaine: nor that he may with gold get an armie p. 131unto himselfe out of other nations, but that hee may shed his precious bloud for the saving of the nations. Vainly didst thou by envying feare him to be… thy successor, whom by beleeving thou oughtest to seeke as thy Saviour: because if thou diddest beleeve in him, thou shouldest reigne with him; and as thou hast received a temporall kingdome from him, thou shouldest also receive from him an everlasting. For the kingdome of this Childe is not of this world; but by him it is that men do reign in this world. He is the Wisedome of God, which saith in the Proverbs: By mee Kings reigne. This Childe is the Word of God: this Childe is the Power and Wisedome of God: If thou canst, thinke against the Wisedome of God: thou workest thine owne destruction, and dost not know it. For thou by no meanes shouldest have had thy kingdome, unlesse thou hadst received it from that Childe which now is borne.

As for the Censure of the Doctors of Salamanca and Vallodilid: our Nobility and Gentry, by the faithfull service which at that time they performed unto the Crowne of England, did make a reall confutation of it. Of whose fidelity in this kinde I am so well perswaded, that I doe assure my selfe, that neither the names of Franciscus Zumel and Alphonsus Curiel (how great Schoole-men soever they were) nor of the Fathers of the Society (Iohannes de Ziguenza, Emanuel de Roias, and Gaspar de Mena) nor of the Pope himselfe, upon whose sentence they wholly ground their Resolution; eyther then was or hereafter will be of any force, to remove them one whit from the allegeance and duty which they doe owe p. 132unto their King and Country. Nay I am in good hope, that their loyall mindes will so farre distaste that evill lesson, which those great Rabbies of theirs would have them learne; that it will teach them to unlearne another bad lesson, wherewith they have beene most miserably deluded. For whereas heretofore aaVeritas sapienti nitet, cujuscunque ore prolata fuerit. Gildas, in Codice Ca…num Cottoniano tit. De veritate credendâ, quocunque ore prolata fuerit. Similiter Nennius, praefat. in in Historiam Brittonum (Ms. in publicâ Cantabrigiensis academiae Bibliothecâ:) Non quis dicat, aut qualiter dicatur, sed quid dictum sit, veritatis testimonio magis attendendum esse probanae.wise men did learne to give credence to the truth, by whosoevers mouth it should be delivered: now men are made such fooles, that they are taughtbbIn doctrinâ religionis non quid dicatur, sed quis loquatur attendendum esse. Thom. Stapleton. Defens. Ecclesiastic. authoritat. lib. 3. cap. 57. & Demonstrat. Principior. Doctrinal. lib. 10. cap. 5. to attend in the doctrine of Religion, not what the thing is that is said, but what the person is that speaketh it.

But how dangerous a thing it is, to have the faith of our Lord Iesus Christ in respect of persons; and to give entertainment to the truth, not so much for it selfe as for the regard that is had to the deliverer of it: I wish men would learne otherwise, than by wofull experience in themselves.ccVeritas propter seipsam diligenda est, non propter Hominem, aut propter Angelum, per quem adnunciatur. Qui enim propter adnunciatores eam diligit, potest & mandacia diligere, siqua fortè ipsi sus protulerint. Claud. in Galat. 1.Gal 1 The truth (saith Claudius) is to bee loved for it selfe, not for the Man, or for the Angell, by whom it is preached. For he that doth love it in respect of the preachers of it, may love lyes also, if they peradventure shall deliver any. as here without all peradventure, the Pope and his Doctors have done: unlesse the teaching of flat Rebellion and high Treason may passe in the account of Catholicke verities. The Lord of his merciemercy open their eyes, that they p. 133may see the light; and give them grace to receive the love of the truth, that they may be saved. The Lord likewise grant (if it bee his blessed will) that Truth and Peace may meet together in our dayes, that we may bee all gathered intoddIohn 10. 16.John 10:16 one fold under one shepheard, and thateePsal. 72. 19.Ps 72:19 the whole earth may be filled with his glory. Amen, Amen.

FINIS.