Sermon Preached 14 February 1607, Part 13

Sermon Preached 14 February 1607 · Part 13

p. 122The thirteenth Wound.

TOuching wilfull murder, it hath beene their doctrine and practice, since the misty times of ignorance, that2727The 13. wound; That it is lawfull to hauehave sanctuaries for wilfull murder. Churches & Churchyards, and Bishops houses, & some such other places be sanctuaries, that is, places for refuge for the offender; vntounto which if he do flie, and settle himselfe, he cannot, nor may not be prosecuted by course of lawe and iustice but is there safe, as long as it pleaseth the Cleargie to retaine him.

Thus writeth Pope Innocent the 3. in his Decretalls to the King of Scotland, who in those euil daies (poore man) held himselfe not of power to punish p. 123malefactors of his owne kingdome that had taken sanctuarie, vntill he had sent to the Pope for his aduise. qqCorp. Iuris Canonici Decretal. li. 3. tit. 49. cap. 6.To your question Sir (saith the Pope) I answere thus; If he that hath taken sanctuarie be a freeman, then is he not to be takē violently out of the Church, not tho he hauehave committed neuer so grieuous crimes: neither may he be condemned thereupon either to death or other…punishment; but the Clergi…, and gouernours of that Church are to obtaine for him libertie and safety of life & limme &c.

Some may here obiect, that afterward in the decretall he makes exception of some crimes: true, of night robbers, but not of murderers. Neither was this proper to Italie or to Scotland, but the generall sore of al nations. In England we had manie, but especially 3. most famous sanctuaries:

One at Beuerley, in Yorke-shire, erected by K Athelstane, where in the Church was set a chaire of stone, and this inscription written ouer it; This stone chaire is called Freedstoole, that is, the chairerrVide Britā niā Camdeni in Com. Ebor. of peace, whereunto if one that is guilty doe fly and sit in it, he shall hauehave all-sufficient security.

Another at Battel Abbie in Sussex, where the Conquerer wonne the victorie: and in memory thereof, building that Abby, hee endowed it (with the popes consent) amongst others with this priuiledgessVide eundē Camdenum, in com. Sussex.; If any theefe or Murderer, or any other malefactour (whatsoeuer his fault bee) for feare of death doe flie and come to this Church, he shal not be hurt by p. 124any meanes; but shall bee dismissed, and let goe againe with safety and freedome. And further it shal be lawful for the Abbot of the saide Church, in all places wheresoeuer he shall hap to com…, to saue one theefe from the gallowes.

These bee the very words of the Charter.

The third & not the least was at Westminster: wherof there is often and famous mention in our Chronicles, as being a place of frequent & ordinary refuge for great Malefactors; and the name remains there to this day. And these were not so much the facts of ignorant and superstitious Kings, as the generall receiued doctrine of the Romish teachers, & the publick deed of their Popes them seluesttVide decretal. Sext. & Clement: in tit. de ecclesiarum & coemeteriorū immunitatibus, &c..

This was so in the olde time (will some say) but now it is otherwise. I answere: Nay, this is not healed, but rather is much worse. To this end, let vsus consider a little of some of their latest & principall writers in this case2828The 13. woūd not healed; for Poperie alloweth sanctuaries for wilful murder still.. A greate Clarke of Rome; a fauourite of Pope Gregories the xiiii. and one of his principall Secretaries, some 12. yeares agoe writes a great volume of this and other Immunities, which he saith by their religion belong to holy persons and places; let vsus obserue a fewe of his wordsuuVide Anaslasium Germoniū de sacrorum immunitatibus. lib. 3. cap. 16. art. 1. &c.. Not Clergie men onelyonly, but euen the very Churches themselues hauehave their priuiledge: for Malefactors flying to them, are in a sort made sacred or holy thereby; insomuch as they may not be taken awaie thence, nor be cast into prison, nor be toucht in life, nor lim, but shal there be safe from all pursuers, as in a Castle or most strong holde, &c.

And not onelyonly puts he downe this for Catholicke p. 125doctrine, but hee wil also needs hauehave it to bee ex iure diuino: and whereas Couarruvias (as learned as himselfe at least) disproues it very sufficientlywwDidac. Couarruvias. variarum resolut. lib. 2. cap. 20. Num. 2. v. 2 & 3.Num 2:2Num 2:3 & concludes it to bee but de iure positivo, this dearling of the Popes wil not suffer so much amendment as this, but condemnes Couarruvias, tho he cannot confute his reasons, and concludes it to bee de iure diuino. xxIdem Germonius ibid. art. 7..

And whereas one Iohannes Ferrariensis, a famous and learned Lawyer, argueth soundly and truly that Churches should not receiue murtherers not be sāctuaries for theeues, seeing Christ cast out euen buyers and sellers which are not so ill yyIoh. Pet. de Ferrar. practica Papiensis. cap de forma inquisi. vers. ex his potest.; The Popes Secretarie, scornfully casteth away both his opinion & his reasonzzGermonius ibid. art. 15.; yet is he neuer able to ouerthrow eyther the trueth of his opinion, or strength of his reason: but so vnwilling are they to bee healed in any thing, that if any one of them doe begin to see the trueth, & do but glaunce at it, or incline to it, presently hee is nipt in the head & condemned, as heere the old Lawyer is reproued by the later; and when he would hauehave had this wound healed, this fauorite of the popes will not suffer him, but answeres that his reason is naught and not worth a rush.

And yet not content, he goeth further, and faith; that not onelyonly Churches consecrated, but tho they be not as yet consecratedaaIdem ibid. art 23. 24., yet they be sanctuaries: and not the Church onelyonly, but euen the Churchyard; yea tho it be disioyned from the ChurchbbIdem ibid. art 30. & 34..

Nay further, that euen hospitalls ccIdem ibid. art. 27., yea priuate Chappels in mens houses, if they were built by the Bishops p. 126authorityddIdē ibid. art. 29., hauehave priuiledge of sanctuary to receiue a murderer flying vntounto them. And least murder should not finde sufficient shelter in Romish religion, he tells vsus further, that euen the Bishops Palace is a sanctuary, if a murderer fly vntounto it, if it bee within 40. pases of the Church; or (tho it bee more then 40. pases off) if it hauehave a Chappell in iteeldē ibid. art… 43 &c.. And yet further, if a murtherer going to execution, after a iust sentence, or afore triall, being pursued, doe meete a Priest carying his breaden God, and doe fly to him, he is priuiledged from the power of the laweffIdē ibid. art. 52..

And least we should thinke it strange, to giuegive this honor to the Church that is Gods house, or to the bread which they say is their God, he goeth yet one steppe further, and tells vsus thatggIdē Germonius ibid. lib. 3. cap. 6. art. 51. &c., A Cardinall of Rome not onelyonly is so holy a person in himselfe, that he may not bee touched without sacriledge; but if a murderer or malefactor, that is carying to executiou, hauehave the good happe to meete a Cardinall, and can touch either his hat or his robes, hee is discharged from the sentence of the law.

Loe, heere is a holy person, indeede; a Cardinalls coate, or hat, shal hauehave more priuiledge then had eyther the coate or the flesh it selfe of Christ Iesus: hee would not deliuer any murderers from death, onelie one he deliuered; namely, Barrabas, but he himselfe died in his roomehhSee the storie of the passion.: and if my Lords the Cardinals should do so, surely they would meete no murderers in the streete.

But to goe forward; the lawe saith, the Murderer shall dieiiGen. 9. 6.Gen 9:6; and Christ saith, hee came not to dissolue p. 127the law… but to fulfill it kkMath. 5. …8.Matt 5:8: but the Cardinalls will not fulfill the law, but dissolue it. The Murderer shall die, saith God: true, saith the Pope, vnlesse hee happe to touch the hem of one of my Cardinalls coats; for thē he is acquitted.

But is this healed and reformed? nay alas: one Antonius Corsetus, a learned Lawyer, misliking this, because as he saith truely (l); this being so, there will be an occasion giuen of much euil, & bloudy men wil hereby take liberty to offend: He is not suffered to make anie motion for reforming of anything, but is cōtrariwise turned away with this censure, that his reasons are slender and nothing worth. And thus, when hee is dasht out of countenance, who would hauehave healed this wound, then comes the Popes Secretarie (a true childe of Babylon that will not be healed) and to make the wound wider & deeper, brings a reason for this power of Cardinalls, worthy of himselfemmIdem Germonius ibid. cap. 6. art. 51.; If (saith he) the Virgin-vestals in Rome heathenish had this power, that if a person condemned met one of them in his way to execution, & could get to touch them, hee was thereby deliuered from death; as he proueth out of Aul. Gellius nnAul. Gellius, noct. Att. lib. 10 cap… 15.: Then much more ought the Cardinalls to hauehave this honour in Rome being now Christian.

Yea, but is there not danger to multiply murders, & defeate the law by this meanes? for may nor a Cardinall come for fauour, & on set purpose? may he not be intreated? may he not be corrupt and bee hired to come? There bee now also many Cardinalls, about 60. or 70. if any of all these be in the… streetes, murderers p. 128may escape; and there bee fewe daies, wherein some of these stirre not abroad. To all these materiall obiections, what doth he answere? surely an easie answer hath he for all: This priuiledge belongeth,ooGermonius Ibid. art. 52. without all question, to the Cardinalls person, if he come by chance, and not on set purpose: for so it was also in the case of the Virgins vestall.

But how shall it appeare, that hee comes not purposely? In that case, the vestall Virgins, that neuer might sweare, were put to their oathppAul. Gellius ibid..

But for al that (saith this Popes dearling) my Lords the Cardinalls may not sweare, they may not be so disparaged as to be put to their oathes. How shall it then appear? he must (saith heqqGermonius ibid. art. 53. be beleeued vponupon his bare word. So then if a Cardinall hauehave but the conscience to tell a lie (which, how small a thing it is in poperie, and how many excuses it hath, who knoweth not?) thē it is here apparant, that the vilest thief, and murderer in a countrie, may easily escape the halter at Rome.

Now to conclude, see how many helps there bee for a Murderer in Romish religion; first by places, then by persons priuiledged.Were this so in London how should any murderer be brought to the bar or to executiō: for no streete could he passe through but he shal finde one of these fiue places. Places priuiledged be, 1. a Church, 2. a Churchyard, 3. an Hospital, 4. a Bishops house. 5. a priuate Chappell; all these shall deliuer a man from triall. Persons priuiledged be, first, a Cardinall riding by: which because it is but in fewe places; therfore the second is a Priest carying the Sacrament, and that is in eueryevery town: To touch either of these, dooth deliuer from death a murtherer condemned by law.

p. 129Thus we see, a bloudy Church is a defender of bloud and murther; for let any wise man consider, how many thousand murders in a yeere, may be sheltred and shuffled ouer by these meanes. And yet sanctuaries are but one meanes to cloak murther; they hauehave many more (not so fit to be stood vponupon at this time); but the end, and effect of them all is this, that poisoning, stabbing, killing, and all kind of bloud-shedding is so rife in popish States, that the better sort of thēselues do bitterly complaine of it. Oleaster a spanish Inquisitor (and therfore not partiall on our side) hath these words; rrVide Hieronimū ab Oleastro inquisitorem vlissiponens. in suis Cōment, in Pentat: …n cap. 4. Genes. pag. 17.I see daily (saith he) murders are committed: but I doe not see the murderers are punished: for wee hauehave at this day a thousand waies to excuse murderers; whereof one is to appeale to the Church, & to say he is a Cleargie man, & presently to get from the Pope such Iudges or Commissioners, as thēselues will, who by & by discharge & absolue them, vponupon a little punishment or none at all, and thus murders are multiplied eueryevery day, &c.

Let these words be wel obserued, and what he was that spake them; & if this be so, so farre from Rome as Portingale is, thē we may easily iudge how the world goeth at Rome and neere vntounto it.

Against al this what can be said? that this Anastasius is an author suborned by vsus? Nay, Posseuine the Iesuite will for that answere for vsus, hauing canonized him in his catologue of catholick DoctorsssPossev. Ies. appar. sac. tom lit. A.: what then? that he is but a triuiall fellow; and of no credit nor authority? Nor so: for he was publicke professor of the Popes law, at Turin, & in great office & authoritie p. 130both with Gregory the 14. & Clement the 8.ttidem. Posseu. ibid. and his bookes be dedicated to the Popes and Cardinals, printed at Rome with soueraigne authority, & special commendation. Nay, the pope himself with his owne mouth commended the book to the Cardinalls, and said that the whole Clergie, and the Councell of Cardinals by name were greatly beholden to the Author for it uuVide eiusdem Anastasij Epistolam dedicat. ad Gregorium 14. Pont. Max.: So that it is more then impudency for anie papist, to make question of the authoritie of his doctrine.

What then can be said? that these sanctuaries stand indeed allowed for some faults, but not for murder? Indeed if it were so, the fault were lesse: but the truth is otherwise.

For tho it be certain and confessed by themselues, that by the ciuile law, Murderers, and Rauishers, and Adulterers are exceptedxxIn § Quod fi delinquentes Authent demand princip.; Yet Germonius shameth not to answere that the Ciuile law is corrected in this point by the popes law, and that therefore wee are to stand to it yyGermonius de sacrorū immunitatibus, lib 3. cap. 16…7. &c.and not to the Ciuile law. Now who are excepted by the popes law? onelie night robbers, and setters of high wayes zzGermonius ibid. art. 56, ex lure Canonico & communi sententia.: but as for murderers, adulterers, and rauishers, these finde fauor in the popes law; for they be Amici Curiae but theeues & robbers are not so: and therefore this Germonius concludes that tho the Scripture be plaine and many Doctors; yet, a murderer is not to bee taken out of sanctuarie, vnlesse there be more then murder, as deceit and trechery. What then may be said? that this Germonius is but one Doctor, and his opinion is not to bee taken for a doctrine. I answer, his iudgement is allowed by the Pope himselfe, & his opinions are fortified with p. 131consent of other popish Doctors: But that wee may see he walks not alone in this way; one Stephanus Durantus, writing also of late, of the rites of the Romish Church, deliuereth the same for a general doctrine of that church: tho he being a French-man, is therefore the bolder, & saith that neither in France nor in England they hauehave beene permitted by the kings with such absolute allowance as elswhere.aaStephanus Durantus de ritibus ecclesiae catholic Rom… … ad Gregor. …4 vid li. 1. …a art. 10. Such saith he is the honor & immunity of Churches, that malefactors flying to them may not bee taken out, nor hauehave any violence offred them.

This book also is of speciall authoritie, dedicated to P. Gregorie the …4. and by him accepted with special allowance: and in a Bull or constitution of his, he affirmeth it is a worke seruing greatly for Gods glorie, and the edification of Christian people, & that it is approued and allowed by the greate M^r. of his palace, to whom belongs the soueraigne and highest authoritie to censure all sort of bookes.

And last of al Iacobus de Graffiis, the great Casuist and Grand Poenitentiarie, within these 7. yeares hath determined this question; affirming that the murderer may not bee taken out of the Church, no not tho hee broke prison and fled thither, vnlesse it were murder ioyned with treacherie and treason bbIacobus de Graffijs decis. aur. cas cons. to 1. cap. 48. libri secūdi art. 5. 6… 7..

Thus we see how Babylon is healed in this wound. And heereby it is apparant to all that wil see, that she is a bloudy Babylon; and as in many other respects for her crueltie, so this waie also, for this doctrine and practice, she is a bloudy sinagogue: and no maruel tho the holy Ghost say, that in her is found the bloud, not only of the Prophets & Saints, but of al that wer slain p. 132vponupon the earth ddReuel 18. 24Rev 18:24. For as she hath made her selfe the principall agent in shedding the bloud of Saints and Martyrs: so hath she made her selfe accessary by this her doctrine and practise, to all the murthers & bludshed vponupon the earth: for, to maintain so many refuges and defences for a sinne, is to maintain the sin it selfe. Therefore leauing this bloudy Church weltring, and wallowing, and bathing her selfe in bloud, let vsus proceed to that remaines.