A Treatise Concerning Antichrist, Book 1 · Chapter 6
Chap. 6. Of other vices or sinnes of Antichrist.
1. NOw are wee to intreate of other vices and sinnes of Antichrist. For albeit by the application of the two former noates concerning the opposition of Antichrist vntounto Christ, and his incredible ambition in aduancing himdelfe aboue all that is called God, it plainely appeareth that the Pope of Rome meriteth to be called by that peculiar title of Antichrist the man of sin, because those two notes wherein the Apostle insisteth as sufficient 2. Thess. 2. 3. 4.proofes thereof, doe most properly agree vntounto him: notwithstanding, many other notorious sinnes of the Popes may be produced for the further euidence of this truth. Of which sins some are common to very many of them, and some are common to them all. For howsoeuer the crimes and enormities of such deepe dissemblers, as these Antichristian Popes hauehave beene, were many times either not commonly knowne to the world, or beeing knowne were not communicated to posterity, the writers of those times being for the most part the seruile flatterers of Antichrist: yet notwithstanding many of them were knowne, & of those which were knowne many are recorded to hauehave beene guilty of fearefull crimes, besides those which either were not knowen or not recorded. For to begin with their horrible impiety towards God, hauehave not many of these most holy fathers bewraied themselues to be very Atheists and scorners of religion? Such were those which before I Chap. 4. §. 8.named, Iohn the 24. Alexander the 6. Sixtus 4. Paulus 3. Clement 7. Iulius 2, & 3. Leo 10. and besides them Iohn 12. aliàs 13. who vsed to blaspheme God, & at his dice to call vponupon the Luitprandus lib. 6. Fascic, temp.diuell, & in his feasts to drinke vntounto him. Many of them also (as cōmonly those which renoūce god betake thēselues to the diuell) hauehave bin knowne sorcerers & necromancers, besides those which were not known. It is recorded euen by Popish authors of Syluester the 2. that he did homage to the diuell, & that by the diuel he was placed in the Papacy, to which end he had be, Fascic. tempo. Stella. Platina. &c.taken himselfe both in body & solue to the diuell. Such a one was Gregory 7. as Cardinal Benno testifieth, & such also were al the Popes frō Syluester the 2. to Gregory the 7. But amōg them Benedict 8. aliàs 9. who before his Papacy was called Theophylact is most worthy to be remēbred. For he was wont in woods & mountaines to sacrifice to the diuell, & by magicall art to allure women vntounto him: he kept a sparrow which brought him newes frō alcoasts And when he had sold the Papacy to Gregory the 6. for 1500. pound & thought by soloery to recouer it againe as he first had gotten it, and to that end consulted with the diuell, he had his neck wrung in sunder; his successor Gregory the sixt, beeing a sorcerer as well as he, and now as it may seeme in greater fauour with the diuell then hee: and to these three which I hauehave named some twentie more may be added. But now I come to speake of their sinnes against the second table.
2 For many of them hauehave beene murtherers and otherwise barbarously cruell. As for example Gregory the seauenth, who poisoned six Popes to make himselfe a way to the Papacie, and sought to murther Henry the Emperour as hee was at his Bal. ex Mario Mat. Paris. in Henr. 3.prayers in the church. Innocentius the fourth sought to poison Conrade the Emperour. Clement 6. caused the Emperour Lewis of Bauaria to be poisoued. King Iohn was poisoned by a monk when the Pope had giuen sentence that he should be deposed, and so was Henrie of Lucemburgh euen in the eueharist, and that as some report by the appointment of the Pope. By the Gregory. 13.Pope was Parry suborned to murther our gracious Queene Elizabeth, so was the Iacobine that murthered Henry the third Sixtus 5.king of Fraunce. In the church at Florence a massacre was intended, and Iulianus Medices murthered by the appointment Volaterran. geograph. lib. 5. & Politianus de coni…ratione Pactiana.of Sixtus the fourth, the eleuation of the sacrament beeing made the signe or watchword when this murther should begin. Alexander the sixt for 200000. crownes poisoned the great Turks brother who was at Rome: he also, or as some say his sonne appointed his seruaunts to minister poyson to certaine Cardinalls and Senatours whom he had inuited: but the seruitors mistaking the cuppes and giuing him of the same, dispatched him, together with the rest. Paulus the third poisoned his mother and his nephew, that to him might descend the Bal. de Rom. Po…t. actis.whole inheritance of the Farnesian family. Hee poisoned his sister whome he vsed as his harlot, because shee fancied others more then himselfe: and that he might more freely abuse his owne daughter Constantia, hee poisoned Bosius Sfortia her husband. He poisoned one Bishop and two Cardinalls because they inclined to the gospell. I might be long in this argument, but these may serue for a tast. But if besides these you desire to heare some other examples of their cruelty, you may remē ber how Stephen the 6. caused the body of Formosus the Pope to be taken out of the graue, and hauing cut of two of his fingers & cast them into the Tiber, he buried the body amōg the Laity: which body eight yeares after Sergius the 3. causeth againe to be taken out of the graue, and hauing cut of the other 3. fingers, he casteth thē & the body it self into the said riuer, & condemned him and all his actes, which other Popes not withstanding as Romanus 1. Theodorus 2. Iohn 10. ratified & approued. Likewise Boniface 8. caused the body of Hermannus of Ferrara, who before had bene canonized for a Saint, after 30. yeares to be pluckt out of his graue, & to be burnt. Vrbanus the 6. cast seuen Cardinals into prison because they fauoured Clement the 7. and in spite of him put fiue of them into sackes and drowned thē. And this is some part of their behauiour among themselues. For of their cruelty toward the Saints and Martyrs of Iesus who is able sufficiently to intreat?
3. To their cruelty I wil adde their perfidious treachery, & traiterous practises, especially towards the Emperours & Princes of Christendome. For first, the Emperors of Greece, by the Popes rebellious opposition against their soueraigne Lords in the vngodly defence of images, were bereaued of their dominions in the West. By which meanes the Empire being rent asunder & weakened, way was made for the Turke. And howsoeuer at the first they seemed to honour their newly erected Emperors in the West whom they created for their owne defence, yet afterward they neuer ceassed vntill they had gotten superiority ouer them. And euer since it hath bene their practise to strengthen and aduaunce thēselues and their owne See by weakening and deiecting the Emperour and all other Christiā princes. And this they had effected by diuerse diuelish pollicies. As first they hauehave vsed to picke quarels against them, & vpō any pretext or colour of a iust quarell to excōmunicate them & to absolue their subiects from their obedience. And if by these meanes they would not be brought into subiection, then to depose thē if they could, & to set vp others against thē. And if other means failed, to raise vp warres against them, & to send forth Croisades into all Christendome with large indulgences & promises of heauen to all that would fight their battels. And besides this, they hauehave also forbiddē al other chris…iās to vse any trafficke with them & their subiects: and not onelyonly that, but they hauehave exposed the princes themselues, sometimes their subiects also, to the violēce of murderers, & their coūtries & kingdoms as a prey to spoilers, warrāting any to bereaue the prince or the subiect of their liues, & to take their kingdome as a prey. Thus besides many others was Hēry the 4. Emperour vsed by Gregory 7. & Paschalis the 2. who not onelyonly excōmunicated the worthy Emperor, absolued his subiects frō obedience, but also both vnderunder hād suborned such as should murder him, & openly set vp against him in the Empire, first Rodolphus the duke of Sueuia, and then his owne sonne: & in the end the good Emperour being deposed, imprisoned, & dead in prison, his body might not for 5. yeares be vouchsafed christian burial. Thus was Otho 4 vsed by Innocentius 3. & Lewis the 4. by Iohn 22. Benedict 12. & Clement the 6. by whose meanes also he was poisoned. Thus diuerse kings of France, besides him that now is, hauehave ben intreated. But especially Lewis 12, a good king, by Iulius the 2. a notable Antichrist. For he not only excōmunicated Lewis, & interdicted his land, but also stirred vp al Christians against him, promising great indulgence and pardon of all sinnes, to eueryevery one that should by any meanes whatsoeuer kil any French man. In his owne person also hee went to warre against him, & as he being armed brought forth his army on the bridge ouer Tiber, he cast his keies into the riuer, and drew his sword, vsing this speach in the hearing of many thousāds, seing Peters keyes doe nought auaile vsus, I will therefore vse Paules sword. And to conclude, thus also hauehave our Kings beene dealt with, as king Iohn, & Henry the 8. & our gratious Q. Elizabeth, whom (to omit the other) the Popes hauehave excōmunicated, absolued her subiects frō obediēce, as much as in thē lieth deposed her from her crowne, exposed her to the violence of her secret & opē enemies, raised rebellions against her, suborned cutthroats to murder her, sent forces into Irelād to win that kingdome frō her, stirred vp the Spaniard & aided him against her, & lastly by an Antichristian deuotion giuen her realme of Ireland to the Spaniard. But whō Antichrist cursed, Christ blessed: insomuch that hauing through the Lords goodnesse ouerliued 8. Popes, since she came to the crowne, in the end after a long and happy reigne she died in peace. Another practise of Antichrist hath beene this, to bereaue the right owners of their crownes & kingdomes, & to set vp others which had no right, that they being aduāced by his meanes, should be obliged as vassals & feed men vntounto his See. And to this end, when cōtentions hauehave risen betwixt Christian princes, he hath not only nourished the same, but also taken part with the one against the other; that the one being by his means vāquished & ouercome, the other may acknowledge the Pope for his good Lorde. To this end was the title of the Romane Empire translated frō the Greeks to the French in Charlemaigne, & from the French to the Almaines in Otto, whom the Pope caused to sweare homage & fealty to him. To this end was Pipin crowned king of Fraunce, & Childerick deposed & shorne a Monke. But I shall not need to insist in the enumeration of examples: for scarcely is there any kingdome in Europe, if any at all, which the Pope Vide Fulm. brutum pag. 74.hath not in former times by these and other meanes made subiect & tributary to his See, vsing the kings as his vassals & making thē sweare homage vntounto him. A third stratageme which the Popes hauehave vsed to weaken the Emperours and princes of christendome, & strengthen themselues, hath bene this, to perswade them to goe with their forces & chiefe of their strength into Palestine for the recouery of the Holy lād from the Turks and Saracens; that in their absence he might worke his will in any part of Europe, not fearing their strength if they should returne, being weakened by those warres; but rather hoping they should not returne to make resistaunce. And to this purpose consider onelyonly the dealing of Alexander the 3. and Gregory the ninth, with the one and two Frederickes the Emperours. For Alexander the third fearing the power of Fredericke Barbarossa, by Hartmannus the Bishop of Brixia, perswadeth him to goe with his armie into Palestine for the recouery of the holy Lande: the Pope in the meane time sendeth a picture of the Emperour to the Soldan, perswading him, that by some secret ambushment hee would apprehend him; which happened accordingly. The Emperour being released by the Soldan, after his returne commeth to Venice, where the Pope as you heard before treadeth on his necke &c. The other Frederick being first excōmunicated by Gregory 9. Bal. ex Mario & Matth. Paris.because he went not to Palaestine according to his appointmēt, at the length to satisfie the Popes pleasure, he tooke his voiage: and hauing recouered Ierusalē & other places from the Soldan, and made truce with him for 10. yeares, he sendeth these glad ridings to the Pope. Who hauing receiued the letters causeth the messengers to be slaine, and giueth out that the Emperour was dead. For the Pope hauing a moneths mind to the kingdoms of Sicilia & Apulia, wherof Frederick was the true heire, desired according to Saules old pollicie against Dauid, to hauehave him dispatched by the infidels, & to that end was so earnest to hauehave him gone. For in his absēce he seized on those kingdoms, & wrote to the Soldan that he should in no case restore Ierusalē vntounto the Emperour. And when as the Emperour was returned, the Pope excommunicateth him againe, because hee had made truce with the Soldan, and would not absolue him vntill he had paid for his absolution on 100000. ounces of gold.
4. But now the filthy leachery of these hollow fathers, who would seeme so chast as that they condemne marriage in their clergy, offreth it selfe to be spoken of. For although it be a rule amōg them, Si non castè, tamen cautè, If not chastly, yet charily, Nicol. 1.& one of their Popes professeth Honestius esse pluribus occultè implicari: quàm apertè in hominum vultu & conscientia cum vna ligari, That it is more honest to hauehave to doe with many women in secret, then openly in the face and notice of men to be tied to one, whether in marriage or otherwise: and therefore in all likelyhood, a smal part of their vncleannes (which they sought by al means to cōceale) is knowē to the world: yet notwithstā ding very many of them hauehave bene detected and knowne to be most filthy fornicatours and adulterers, besides Iohn the 8. or rather Ioane who was a harlot in mans apparell, and was deliuered of a childe in open procession. In this bedrole of whoremōgers & adulteres (besides those which I either know not or doe not remember) are numbred, by diuerse authors, these which follow, Sergius 3. who by the notable strumpet Marozia begot Iohn 12, Zando, who in fornicatiō begot Iohn the 11. and spent his time among harlots. Both these Iohns beeing as bad or worse then their fathers. Iohn 13. also was so giuen to whoredome as that he is said to hauehave turned the pallace of Laterane into a stewes. And being at the length taken in adulterie, by the husband of the adulteresse hee was wounded to death. Such were Iohn 14. & 19. & 21. & 24. Likewise Benedict. 6. & 9. who by sorcery allured women vntounto him, and made them follow him vp & downe like Cades. In like manner Benedict 12. who kept many strumpets, and among others the sister of Frauncis Petrarch whom by great rewards he had purchased of her brother Gerhard. Such were Christopherus 1. and Calixtus the 3. Gregory the 6. and the 7. called Hildebrand, who as also Victor the 3. were very inward with Mawde the countesse. Innocentius 4. had many bastards, and so had Innocentius the 8. who also vsed to paint his face. Nicolas 3. by his concubine begat a child which in nailes and haire was like a Bear, which some impute to the pictures of beares which hee being of the Vrsine family had caused to be made in his house. And therefore Martin 4. who kept the same concubine, fearing the like mischance, caused the pictures of the beares to be taken away. Boniface the 8. kept many harlots, & had by them diuerse nephewes, for so they call their bastards. Clement 5. was a common whoremonger and patron of harlots, and so was Clement 6. Clement 7. & 8. was worse then so: and Clement 8. that now is, hath beene no better then he should bee. And such were Pius the 4. who died betwixt 2. harlots, & Sixtus 5. of late memory, &c.
5 These are ordinary matters in the Romish votaryes, among whome those Popes may be counted for men of the chaster sorte, who hauehave offended onelyonly by fornication and adultery. But, as very many of their votaries, so also diuerse among the Popes hauehave fearefully sinned against nature by incest and Sodomie. Neither are we to maruell thereat, seeing they doe not onelyonly embrace the meanes of lust, as idlenesse, fulnesse of bread, and abundance of worldly delights and carnall pleasures, but also reiect the remedie appointed of God, which is mariage; but especially because they beeing Idolaters are by the iust iudgement of God giuen ouer to their lustes and to a reprobate sence, insomuch that they commit abominations against nature. It is recorded of Iohn the 13. and 23. aliàs 24. that, besides all other their whoredomes and adulteries, the one committed incest with Stephana his fathers concubine; and the other with his brothers wife. Alexander the 6. not contented with diuerse other strumpets which he kept, by whome he had 6. bastards, committed incest with his owne daughter Lucretia. Hee also gaue leaue to Cardinall Mendoza to abuse his owne bastard sonne in incestuous Sodomy and Sodomiticall incest. Paulus the third committed incest with two of his nieces, prostituted one of his sisters to Alexander 6. to get a Cardinallship, and poisoned another because shee affected some other of her louers more then himselfe, neither did hee abstaine from his owne daughter Constantia. Of Pius 5. it is saide that he kept incestuous companie with his owne sister. Sixtus 4. was not onelyonly a filthie whoremonger and Sodomite himselfe, but also to incite and encourage others to the same filthinesse, hee built a famous stewes not onelie of women, but also of males also. And hee gaue licence to the Cardinall of Saint Lucie and to all his familie; that they might in the three hote moneths of the yeere freely vse Sodomie. Iulius 2. abused vntounto Sodomie, besides others, two young noblemen of Fraunce, whome Anne the Queene had sent to Rome and committed to a Cardinall to bee informed. Iulius the 3. made his Ganymedes a Cardinall, and neither did he as some write abstaine from committing Sodomie with the Cardinalles themselues. His Legate at Venice (a fit couer for such a potte) Ioannes a Casa. Archbishoppe of Beneuentum, set foorth a booke in Italian metre in commendation of this sin, for which the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrhe with fire and brimstone from heauen. Such sinners against nature were, as authors testify, Bedict 1. Clement 7. Iohn 13. 14. & 24. Leo 10. and Paule 3. whose bastard sonne Petrus Aloysius I cannot passe ouer with silence: For hee treading in his fathers steppes, and beeing greatly loued and aduanced by him, besides incest with his sister Constantia, and rapes with other women, and buggerie with diuerse men, he forced a Sodomiticall rape vponupon Cosmus Cherius a worthy Bishoppe, vsing the helpe of his men to hold him by violence, whiles he committed that outragious act. But it is shame to speake that which they are not ashamed to doe.
6 And yet this is not all that is to bee alleadged against the Popes, that diuerse of them hauehave beene Atheists, many of them sorcerers, murtherers, traytors, Adulterers and Sodomits. For many of them hauehave beene most foule monsters (as some of their owne writers call them) compounded of these and other horrible crymes. Such, besides others, were Sixtus 4. Iohn 24. Alexander 6. Clement 7. and Paule 3. &c. Neither may it be obiected, that although diuerse Popes hauehave beene men of sinne, yet many of them hauehave beene holy men and Saints of God, and consequently not Antichrists: For howsoeuer all the Romane Bishoppes of the first 600. yeares are reuerenced as Saints and so called of Popish writers, as Saint Syluester, Saint Leo, Saint Gregory &c. a very few onelyonly excepted, yet a very fewe of them which hauehave liued this thousand yeares are euen by Popish flatterers esteemed Saints: and those fewe which be, are honoured among them not for any true holinesse, Onuphr. Pontif. Romani. Chronologia praefixa chatechismo Canisij.but either for the Antichristian aduancing of their See, or for some supposed miracles which were no better then the lying signes & wōders of Antichrist. But so far indeed these Apostaticall Popes hauehave been from being Saints in the sight of God, that all of them hauehave deserued to be called men of sinne, sons of perditiō, outlawes, although some of them were not so wicked as the rest. Men of sin, because besides those peculiar sinnes wherewithall eueryevery of them were seuerallie infected, the whole order or successiō ofthem hath been guilty of many other crimes also, as cōmō to them al, diuerse wherof the holy ghost hath set downe as noates of Antichrist. As namely those which I hauehave already proued, to be in the Pope, heresy, oppositiō or enmity to Christ, apostasy, hypocrisy, satanical pride. For if the Pope be an heretick or false prophet teaching the doctrines of diuels, if a notorious hypocrite, if an apostate, yea the head of the catholike apostasy, if an aduersary opposed vntounto Christ, though a couert and disguised enemie, if the king of pride aduancing himselfe most insolently aboue all that is called God, as we hauehave proued him to be, then wee neede not doubt, but that in respect of these sins though he had no more, he deserueth to be called the man of sin.
7 But vntounto these, diuerse others may be added, as first and principallie the idolatrie, superstitious and counterfaite religions of the Pope and church of Rome. For the whore of Babylon, whereby is signified the Antichristian state, is described in the scriptures not onelyonly as a spirituall adulteresse, but also as the mother of all fornications and abominations in the earth, which with the golden cuppe of her fornications, that is idolatries Apoc. 17.and superstitions, hath made drunke the kings and inhabitants of the earth. Now the idolatry of the Pope and church of Rome is manifold and grieuous. As first, to the bread in the sacrament, which beeing a small creature they worship as their maker and redeemer, neither doe they thinke that they can worshippe it enough, and therefore in the worship thereof the chiefe part of their solemne seruice consisteth. Secondly to the crosse and crucifix, and images of the trinitie, all which as they teach are to be worshipped with diuine worship, and are so worshipped among them. Thirdly, to the blessed virgin Mary, who hath beene worshipped among them as much or rather more then God. Her they call their Lady and goddesse, and queene of heauen. In her they repose their trust and assiance, to her they flie in their necessitie, of her they craue all good things, and from her they expect remission of sins and eternall saluation, in honour of her they hauehave deuised and vsed diuerse seruices, as offices, letanies, …osaryes, psalters &c. full of blasphemous idolatries. Fourthly to Saints departed, who hauehave succeeded the tutelar gods of the heathenish Romanes, there beeing almost no cuntry, city, parish, trade or profession which had not their seuerall Saints to patronize them, no disease nor other calamity in themselues or their cattell for which they had not their peculiar saints, as it were Auerruncos deos to turne away those euills from them. In the merits of Saints they trust for remission of sinne and for eternall life. Them they adore, to them they pray, and not onelyonly them doe they worship but their images also and reliques. Wherein the Papists are more grosse idolatours then the very heathen. For the Gentiles did not worship the images themselues, but the persons represented by them: but the Papists hold that the very same worship is due to the image which belongeth to the person whom it resembleth. To these notorious idolatries we may Papa solus nouas religiones creat, & approbat.adde their diuerse counterfeit religions and orders deuised or authorized by the Pope, which are so many by-pathes misleading men out of the onelyonly true way which leadeth vntounto heauen, Antonin. part. 3. tit. 22. cap. 5. §. 21.& besides them innumerable traditions, superstitions, trū peries and fooleries. VponUpon all which notwithstanding the fond people of al natiōs, in these parts of the world, hauehave so strāgely doted, as that they may most truely be said to hauehave bene besotted and made drunke with the wine of the whore of Babylons fornications, that is to say, with the idolatries and superstitions of the Church of Rome.
8. VponUpon their spirituall adultery, that is to say, their manifolde & grosse idolatry, hath followed their carnall adultery & vncleannesse. For seing by their idolatry they had dishonoured Rom. 1. 24.God, as the Gentiles did, therefore the Lord hath giuen ouer them also to their harts lustes vntounto vncleannesse. Neither hauehave they onelyonly beene guilty of vncleannesse in themselues, but also the causes thereof in others; whiles they extenuate the sinne of fornication as though it were but a veniall sinne, and recken Cap. at si clerici extra, de iudic.adultery among the lesse and lighter offences: whiles they dispense with these sinnes and giuegive men leaue to committe them without controlment, or else assigne vntounto them ridiculous punishments: but especially whiles they forbidde mariage vntounto all their clergy, and mainteyne open stewes. For in forbidding mariage they open a gappe to all vncleannesse. Tolle de ecclesia (saith Bernard) honorabile coniugium & thorum In Cant. serm. 66.immaculatum, nonne reples eam cōcubinarijs, incestuosis, semini…uis, m…llibus, masculorū concubitoribus, & omni deni que genere immundorum? Take out of the Church honorable mariage and the bed vndefiled, and doe you not fill it with keepers of concubines, incestuous fellowes, Gonorrhaeans and Sodomites, & in a word with all kinde of vncleane persons? For proofe hereof read but the actes of English votaries, who yet may not be cō pared …. Bale.with those of hotter countreis: remember the suruey taken here in England before the dissolution of Abbeyes, Vid. praesat. I. … … libri sui de acti… Pontif.wherein our irreligious houses were found to be little better thē stewes of both sorts; not to speake of their secular Priests who were knowne for the most parte to hauehave beene the towne-bulles were they dwelt. Neither will I tell you of the innumerable murders of infants, besides those which died in their mothers wombes to preuent their parents shame. As for common stewes, they are mainteyned not onelyonly in other popish countreys and cities, but euen in Rome it selfe, and not onelyonly maintained by the Pope, but maintainers also of the Pope, to whom they pay as if hee were their bawde a yearely pension, which amounteth sometimes to 30000. sometimes to 40000. Ducates. It is said of Paulus the third that in his tables he had the names of 45000. curtizans, which paid a monethly tribute vntounto him. Which, besides his patronizing of filthinesse, argueth his coueting of filthy lucre, of which wee are also briefly to speake. For of him in respect of these two vices, filthinesse and couetousnesse, it was said in old time,
Eius auaritiae totus non sufficit orbis:
Eius luxuriae meretrix non sufficit omnis.M…t. Paris…in …nric. 3.
Neither doth the whole world suffice his couetousnesse, nor all harlots his l…chery.
9. Of the insatiable anarice of the Pope and court of Rome many instances might bee giuen. For they hauehave found out innumerable waies and meanes to scrape together incredible summes of money out of all countries, without measure or modestie, without shame or shewe of honesty. But it shalbe sufficient by application of Peters prophecy concerning …. Pet. …. 3.false teachers in these latter times, to shewe, that through couetousnesse they hauehave with fained wordes and doctrines of their owne coyning made merchandize of al those that would …earken vntounto them. As sor example, they hauehave fayned that Peter was ordained of Christ the Monarch of the whole Church, that to him was committed the right both of the spirituall and temporall Monarchy: that in this Monarchy the Pope succeedeth Peter, as Christes vicar generall, as the vniuersall Bishoppe, as the Lorde of the whole earth. They hauehave fayned a donation of Constantine wherein hee should not onelyonly giuegive the Citie of Rome to the Pope, but also resigne vntounto him the whole Empire of the West. VponUpon these groundes they hauehave obtained both of Princes and Prelates, what their greedy couetousnesse armed with such authoritie shamed not to demaund. England, Fraunce, Germany and other countreys hauehave beene exceedingly; or, as some speake, Ludouic. 9. …. an. 1228. tit. de tall….miserably impouerished by the intollerable exactions of the Pope and his Court. For first, the first fruites hee claimed of all spirituall promotions: which in these partes of Europe subiect Iewel. ex legatione Hadrian. 6. excus. VVi… tembergae. 1538to that See, did amount vntounto two millions and foure hundred and three score thousand, eight hundred fourty and three Florenes. The first fruites of the spirituall liuings in Fraunce, and the charges of obtaining the same liuings, hauehave beene obserued Fulm. brut. ex postulatis sena…us Paris. Ludo… 1…. delat…. art. …2. &c.in three yeares, to amount vntounto nine hundred fourtie and sixe thousand, six hundred sixty and six french crownes. By the same title hee tooke vponupon him to bestowe or rather to sell openly and without shame the liuings of the church: and not onelyonly when they were void, but also before hand, and that to diuerse men. Insomuch that sometimes ten, sometimes twelue hauehave purchased aduousons or reuersions of the same Ibid. art. ….preferments against the next auoidance. But which of all them, whē the liuing fell, was to hauehave the benefit of the Popes graunt, that was to bee decided at Rome: whither they were to their great charge, but to the enriching of the Romish Harpies, to repaire. This gainefull trade may well bee called making Merchandize of men: for together with the benefices the poore people were bought and solde. In respect here of Blondus saith, That all Europe almost sendeth tributes Rom. in…. lib. 3.to Rome, greater or at least equall to the reuenewes of the olde times, Dum singulae ciuitates à Romano pontifice boneficia sacerdotalia accipiunt, Whiles the spirituall promoti… in eueryevery Citie are receiued from the Pope. Moreouer his yearely perquisites of elections, preuentions, dispensations, licenses & many such like merchandises the titles wherof, with their taxes or prices, are set downe in the booke called Taxae cancellariae Apostolicae, are thought to surmount nine hundred thousand Florenes: not to speake of his smoke-farthings & Peterpence, which neuerthelesse did arise to no small summe. But besides his ordinary taxations, his extraordinary exactiōs were intollerable. For hee hath not beene ashamed to demaund the tenths of all spirituall liuings, in some whole realmes, for many yeares together: yea sometimes the third part of their liuing Mat. VVestmonast. a…. 1301. Mat. Paris. an. 1246. Syl… …otorum commu…. In pr…fat. in lib. Steph. Gardiner. de vera obedient. V…d: Muscull loc. comm. de …ccl. ministr. tit. Nundinati… Rom. pontif. & Fulm. brut. pag. 62. Io… Mon… chus.that were resident, and the halfe of theirs that were non residents, & that for diuerse yeares: & sometimes also all the money and goods of them that deceassed. Out of Fraunce alone in the time of Martin 5. the Pope and court of Rome receiued 9. millions: In England the Popes pray was almost as great as the reuenewes of the crowne, as Bonner testifieth.
10. But his most odious merchandise is his setting to sale all maner of sinne, which is called Taxa poenitentiaria apostolica, wherby is promised impunity to eueryevery one who hauing cō mitted any sin, be it neuer so grieuous, paieth according to the rate for his absolution: as namely for adultery, incest, Sodomy, the abominatiō not to be spoken of cōmitted with beasts, wilfull murder, pari…ide, periurie, and such like. Hereof a notable Canonist writeth thus,
Curia vult marcas, bursas exhaurit & arcas:
Si bursae pareas, fuge Papas & Patrlarchas:
Si de deris …arcas, & eis …pleboris areas,
Culpa solueris qua que ligatus eris.
But with what difference I pray you were these crimes rated? Forsooth hee that would bee absolued from adultery or incest, it must cost him foure Turons: if from both togither, it must stande him in six Turons. And what if a Priest busy the body of a party excommunicated in Christian bu…all, or if hee chaunce vponupon ignoraunce to say Masse in a place interdicted? Either of these faultes must coste him fixe Tu…ons and two Ducates. And here it is to bee noted that the Pope in a couetous pollicie forbiddeth many things which GOD doth not forbid, namely to this ende that the straiter his prohibitions are, the oftner hee may hauehave occasion to dispense there with. As for example, he forbiddeth mariage in kinsfolke vntounto the seauenth degree: but for money he will dispense therewith in all degrees of kindred, excepting that which is betwixt the parent and the child.
11 They hauehave with fained words through couetousnesse perswaded the world, that the Pope hath all lawes in the closet of his breast, that hee is the supreame iudge in all causes Antonin. sum part. 3. tit. 22. cap. 5. §. 17.and controuersies, that to him lieth appeale from all iudges whatsoeuer, and that immediately. By which chanels hauehave flowed abundance of riches into the sea of the Popes treasurie. And fitly is it compared to the 11Theodoric. Niem. tract. 6. c. 37.sea whereunto all riuers flow, and yet doth not ouerflowe. It is lawfull, saith one of their owne lawyers, to appeale from any to the Pope immediatelie: which (saith he) they hauehave prouided that they might drawe controuersies Petr. Ferrariens. inform. sent. indesin. §. sed ad quēcunque.vntounto their court, and so might satisfie their owne auarice, which notwithstanding they shall neuer doe, noting that it is vnsatiable. And heereunto appertaineth that acclamation of one of their owne chronographers: for, hauing shewed that searcely there was any spirituall promotion which was not Abbas vrsperg. pag. 321.become litigious, & the cause brought to Rome, but not with empty hand; Reioyce saith he our mother Rome, for the floudgates of the treasures in the earth are opened, that vntounto thee may flowe riuers, and heapes of money in great abundance. Reioyce o…er the iniquity of the sonnes of men, because in recompence of so great ouills there is a price or roward giuen vntounto thee. Be glad for thy helper discord, which hath burst out of the bottomlesse pilte of hell, that vntounto thee many rewards of mony might be gathered in heapes. Thou hast that which thon alwayes thirsted after: sing a song, for by the wickednesse of men, and not by thy religion thou hast vanquished the world. VntoUnto thee doth not the deuotion of men or pure conscience drawe them, but the committing of manifold crimes, and the decision of controuersies procured by mony. Furthermore with fained words they hauehave taught, that there is a p…gatory, wherein the soules of many of the elect are tormented for a time: that out of this purgatory the soules may be deliuered by the prayers of the liuing; especially, by the satisfactorie prayers of those whome they call religious, by masses and trentalls of masses, by the works of supererogation and merites of others applied vntounto them. By this conceipt, which was the foundation of religious houses, the Popes cleargie had gotten the chiefest possessions of all Europe into their hands. Monasteryes (saith one of their owne writers) were founded in times past, for deuotion, Petr. Ferrariens…in form. libell. quo ag…tur ex substit. §. ex suo corpore.though now adayes for rapine and couetousnesse: insomuch that they hauehave at this day destroyed the world, and brought to nothing the state of the Empire and of all lay men. Wherefore all such places, as are or shall be made, may worthilie bee called …ettes framed to catch lay mens goodes. In this small land of ours the reuenewes of the irreligious houses, which were dissolued, did arise according to the olde rents (which are scarce the tenth part of the true valewe) to the summe of a hundred thirtie foure thousand six hundered and three pounds, two shillings fourepence halfepennie. Neither are the Popes owne reuenewes arising from these grounds to be omitted. For purgatory forsooth is his peculier, and the merites of Saints and works of supererogation which are the treasure of the church, are in his disposition. So that by his applying thereof to whom …ee pleaseth hee can either shorten their time in purgatorie, or wholy set them at libertie by his indulgences and pardons accordingly as hee is paide for the same. And yet there are many more deuises and sained words, whereby the Pope maketh merchandise of men for the enriching of himselfe and his clergie. As by his iubileyes, and canonizing of Saints, by his promising of remission of sinnes and eternall life to those that will fight his battailes or execute his wicked designes: by his doctrines of merites and works of supererogation, of inuocation of Saints, of adoration of images and reliques, of pilgrimages, and in a word by all the doctrines almost of Poperie, I meane those, which bee peculier to the Pope and church of Rome, which are fayned words douised in diuellish pollicie to mainetaine their vnsatiable lust, ambition and couetousnesse. By all this which hath beene saide it plainelie appeareth that the Pope most worthilie deserueth to bee called the man of sinne: especiallie if you consider that in respect of diuerse of the aforesaide sinnes, hee is such a sinner as Ieroboam was, who caused all Israell to sinne. For hee is not onelie an apostate, but also the heade of the catholike apostasie: not onelie an hereticke, but the false prophet and brocher of popish heresyes: not onelie an idolatour and adulterer, but also the cause and authour of these abominations in all the Christian world, making all sorts of men drunke with the wine of his fornications.
12 It remaineth therfore that we should consider whether the other two titles of Antichrist do belong to the Pope, namely that he is the sonne of perdition, and the outlaw or lawlesse person. As touching the former, there is no questiō to be made but that if he be the man of sin as hath been proued, hee is also the child of perdition, in that sence that Iudas is so called. Iohn 17. 12. And that hee deserueth most iustlie to bee called the outlawe or lawlesse person it is most euident. Not onelie because hee is a transgressour of the lawe (for seeing euerie sinne is foreign A transgression of the law, therefore hee that is the man of sinne, must needs be foreign the outlawe) but also because he professeth himselfe to be the sonne of Beliall, that is to say a man without yoke, who taketh himselfe to be bound to no law, but chalengeth authority to break al lawes or at least to dispense with them. For first as touching the lawes & authority of men, Papa solutus est omni lege humana, that is, the Pope is not bound to any humane lawe. Legi non Casus Papales apud Hostiensem &c. Innocent. 3. extr. de concess. praebend. c. pro. posuit. Bald. in c. ca… ▪ super de causi proprict. & possess.subiacet vlli, he is subiect to no law. And according to the fulnes of power he may, as himselfe professeth, de iure supraius dispensare, dispense with the law aboue lawe: yea hee may doe all things, supraius, contraius, & extraius, aboue lawe, against lawe, and without lawe. And therefore of all others most worthilie called the outlawe. And as for humane authority: he is to iudge all, but to be iudged of none. Nec totus Cler…s, nec totus mundus potest Papam iudicare aut deponere. Not the Petr. de palude, de potestate Papae art. 4.whole cleargie, nor the whole world may iudge the Pope or depose him. Neither doth he indeede subiect himselfe to the lawe of God. For, hee not onelyonly taketh vponupon him to dispense with the word and law of God, as you heard before, but also thinketh hee may lawfullie breake the lawes of God. Hee hath beene made to beleeue that he may do all things, euen vnlawful things, Francisc. Zabarella.and that he is more then God, as Zabarella saith. And therefore some of them, when they hauehave beene admonished of their wicked practises, hauehave vsed to answere, Am not I pope? thereby Ioan. 23.signifying, that beeing Pope he might doe what hee list. Neither is he indeed subiect to any other lawe but to his own will or rather lust. In ijs quae vult, est es proratione voluntas, In Extr. de transat. episc. c. quanto in gloss. inter casus papales. Dan. 11. 16. R. Cupers de ecclesia pag. 29 num. 1. & 62. vum. 66. de constitutionib. c. licet. in sexto. Hostiens. Francisc de Ripa. R. Cupers. pag. 68. num. 32. & d…st. 40. non nos in gloss. Extra de concess. praebend. c. proposuit in gloss dist. 40. non nos in gloss. Ioan. de Parisiis c. 20. Concil. com. l. in purgatione Sixti. Dist. 40. Non os in gloss.those things which he will, his will is vntounto him for reason. Legi non sub…acet vlli: Iudiciumque est pro lege suum, He is subiect to no law: and his iudgement is in stead of law. So that of him is verified that prophecie concerning Antiochus the type of Antichrist, that he would do what him listed, and that his wil should be to him for a law. To this purpose his followers say, that he is lexviuens, a liuing lawe, and hath all lawes in the closet of his breast, that he can of wrong make right, of vniustice righteousnesse, that to him all things are lawfull. That the Popes power is absolute, and extendeth as farre as him listeth: that he may not be accused of Simon…e, nor murder, nor adulterie, nor any other crime, excepting heresie which they say elsewhere is not incident vntounto him. Nay his actions may not be inquired into, neither may any man say vntounto him, Sir, why do you thus? Yea it were no better then sacriledge to call in question the Popes facte, and to iudge of his actions est Ponere os in caelum, it is to set a mans face against heauen: to accuse him is to commit the sinne against the holy ghost, which shall neuer be forgiuen neither in this world nor in the world to come. But what if it be apparant that he hath committed adulterie or murther, or that himselfe is a wicked man, as indeede many of them hauehave beene monsters of men? Forsooth the actions of the Pope must bee interpreted in the good part. For if a priest when hee is seene to bee ouer-familiar with a woman must bee thought to blesse her, much mere is it to be presumed in the Popes behalfe. Or if they bee so blacke as that they will admitte no other colour, then the factes of the Pope must bee excused, as the murders Dist. 40. Non nos in gloss.of Sampson, the thefts of the Hebrewes, and the adultery of Iacob. And to the same purpose saith another, EueryEvery facte of the most holy Father must be interpreted in the good parte, and Ioan. de Paris…s de potest. reg. & papal….if it bee theft or any thing that is in it selfe euill, wee must interprete it to bee done by diuine instinct. And as touching his person, the Pope bee he neuer so wicked, is alwaies presumed to be good. Quis enim sanctū dubitet esse quem apex Dist. 40. Non nos. Papa semper praesumitur bonus ibid. in gloss.tantae dignitatis attollit? In quo sidesint bona acquisita per meritum, sufl…iunt quae à loci praedecessore praestantur. For who would doubt that hee is holy (saith the Pope of himselfe) whom the height of so great honour aduaunceth? In whome if good things gotten by his owne merite be wanting, those suffice which are performed by the predecessour in the same place, meaning Peter. And againe, There is a certaine spiritualty according to De maior. & obedient. c. vnā sanctā in gloss.state, when a man is in the most holy and most spirituall state, and in this state is the Pope alone. And therefore eueryevery one must call him most holy Father. Seing therefore the Pope is the man of sinne, and a most notorious transgressour of Gods lawes, seing hee holdeth himselfe bound to no lawe but esteemeth his owne lust for a lawe: seeing his transgressions of the lawe must not be called into question, but eyther must be commended as vertuous actions, or, excused as done by diuine instinct, seeing himselfe though neuer so wicked must be deemed most holy in that he is Pope, it cannot bee denied, but that aboue all men he most deserueth to be called foreign, the outlaw, or lawlesse person.