Historical Defense of the Reformation, Part 1 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
That the State of the Government of the Latin Church ſome Ages ago, gave to our Fathers Prejudices, of its Corruption in Doctrine and Worſhip, ſufficient to drive them more nearly to Examine their Religion.
AS our Fathers did not Reform themſelves, but by following the Examination which they made of Religion, ſuch as it was in their days, and as they did not enter upon that Examination but by the Prejudices which they received that its ſtate was extreamly corrupted, it is neceſſary to our judging of their Conduct, to conſider in the firſt place, of what nature and force thoſe Prejudices were, whether they were juſt, or unjuſt, raſh or reaſonable, and whether they juſtly led our Fathers to make a more particular Reflection upon that which they taught them. It ſhall be then by this Fundamental Queſtion that we will begin, and firſt propoſe the Prejudices that the corrupted eſtate of the Eccleſiaſtical Government gave them ſome Ages before; and afterwards we ſhall conſider thoſe that the ſame External State of Religion furniſht them with.
But becauſe this matter will engage us to declare thoſe Truths, which it may be will not be agreeable to all the World, they ought to remember that we are within the bounds of a juſt and natural defence, having been publickly provoked to it, by a Famous Book, which is alledged on all occaſions with great boaſting; and that that Book in aſſaulting us with Prejudices has furniſht us with the very ſame Example, to defend our Anceſtours likewiſe by Prejudices, and that it will be a ſtrange injuſtice, if while on the one ſide they charge us with ſuch foul accuſations, they will not allow us on the other ſide to declare thoſe things that are eſſential to our juſtification. We will declare them then, but no otherwiſe then Hiſtorically, and upon the proper Teſtimony of thoſe Authors which the Church of Rome approves, with a deſign rather [nakedly] to ſhew them, then [ſubtilly] to repreſent or exaggerate them.
In the firſt place, Our Fathers beheld, that inſtead of having kept that Evangelical ſimplicity which Jeſus Chriſt and his Apoſtles had ſo much recommended by their Sermons, and their Examples, they had on the contrary framed the Government of the Church, according to the Platform and Model of Secular Empires: They ſaw an almoſt innumerable Company of Dignities, elevated by Pompous Titles, Canons, Honours, Preeminencies and Priviledges, upheld by the vaſt Riches and the Splendor of the World, and all of them together depending on a Soveraign High-Prieſt who had lifted himſelf up above the whole Church, as its rightful Monarch, yea as a Divine Monarch, whoſe words muſt be Laws, and whoſe Laws Oracles, who pretended to reign not only over the external Actions of men, but to Lord it alſo over their Souls, and their Conſciences, and who left nothing ſo reſerved in the deepeſt and moſt inward motions of the Soul, of which he did not demand its Subjection. It had been very hard, if our Fathers had not found in the midſt of the Grandeur of this Body ſo ordered, ſomthing very much alien to the natural Aſpect of the Church of Jeſus Chriſt, which is much rather a Miniſtry, then an Empire, in reſpect of its External Government. Indeed, if Jeſus Chriſt had had a deſign to have eſtabliſhed ſuch a Dominion as our Fathers beheld eſtabliſhed, he had never told his Diſciples that which he ſaid to them, The Kings of the Gentiles exerciſe Lordſhip over them; and they that exerciſe Authority upon them Luke 22. 25, 26.are called Benefactours. But it ſhall not be ſo with you: but he that is great among you let him be as the leſs, and he that is chief, as he that doth ſerve. St. Peter would never have ſaid to the Paſtors of the Church that which he told them, Feed the ſtock of Jeſus 1 Pet. 5.Chriſt which is committed to you, not as being Lords over God's Heritage. It had then already from thence, in that very Dominion, a great ſign of its Corruption. It was an evil, but an evil that diſcover'd divers others. For it had this appearance with it, that the Spirit of the World had got poſſeſſion of the Miniſters of the Church, till it made them forget what they were in their firſt Inſtitution, beyond which it had made them often commit many outrages.
2. They had not contented themſelves to eſtabliſh a Spiritual Dominion upon the plat-from of Secular ones, unleſs they joyned the very Temporal one it ſelf to it. The greater part of the Biſhops were become Lords properly ſo called, and even ſome of them had got to be Soveraign Princes, with the Titles and Preregatives of other Princes and Lords, without any difference: had not the Popes themſelves done far better, if they had put themſelves in poſſeſſion of that which they now call the State of the Church under the quality of Temporal Lords and Monarchs? I will not mention by piece-meal the Diſorders the Complaints, the Contentions, the Wars that this Spirit of Temporal Dominion has raiſed: This is not my deſign. It is ſufficient for me to remark, that one can ſcarce give a more certain Character of the Corruption of a Church, then that. For where that Spirit reigns, it is by that, that men will eaſily bring in Errors and Superſtitions, at leaſt thoſe that can bring them any advantage, and thoſe that have a tendency to adjuſt the Crown with the Miter, and the worldly Grandeur with the Dignities of the Church. It is not very eaſy in ſuch a ſtate to be ſtudiouſly watchful over the Flock, and much leſs to repel the Doctrines, the Cuſtomes, and the Maximes that can any ways advance or favour that Elevation.
3. Covetouſneſs is almoſt always inſeparable from Ambition. They are thoſe two things that nouriſh and mutually ſuſtain one another. So, our Fathers ſaw them reigning together through a long tract of time among the Church-men. I will not here ſpeak of the complaints which they made many Ages ago of the Avarice of the Court of Rome, becauſe I ſhall mention ſomething about them hereafter in this Diſcourſe.
I will only ſay, that thoſe Complaints were univerſally extended to all the Clergy, whom they reproacht with an inſatiable greedineſs of heaping up of Riches. The vaſt ſtocks they had gained, the great Cares they took to hinder an Alienation, and procure an increaſe, would not poſſibly be the worſt proofs. But as that evil ſpread it ſelf very far, ſo it was lamented for a long time after, They feed on the ſins of my people, ſaid St. Bernard, who lived Bernard in Cant. Serm. 77. Item, Serm. 33. Nicol. Cuſan. lib. 3. de Concord. Cath. c. 29.in the twelfth Century, that is to ſay, they require money for their ſins, without making any other account of the Sinuers, Who of the Clergy may you not obſerve far more careful to empty the Purſes of thoſe ſet under them, then to deſtroy their Vices? A diſorderly Appetite of thoſe Lands that are annexed to the Churches, ſaid Cardinal Cuſanus, dwells at this day in the hearts of the aſpiring Biſhops, ſo that we ſee them do that openly after their promotion, which they ſecretly coveted before. All their Care is for the Temporal, and nothing for the Spiritual. But this was never the mind of the Emperours. They did not then think that the Spiritual affairs would be ingulpht
in the Temporal, when they gave thoſe goods to the Churches. So, our Fathers were but too well acquainted with that Spirit of Avarice with animated the Governours of the Church in their Days, and every one knows that one of the matters that very much Scandalized them, and made them deliberately examine the ſtate of Religion, was the Traffick of Indulgences. In effect what likelyhood was there, that a Vice that corrupts all things, and which St. Paul calls the root of all evil, and elſewhere a kind 1 Tim. 6. 10, 3. Col. 5.of Idolatry being as it was for many Ages ſo univerſally ſpread over the Clergy, over the Head, and the Members, even to the Monks themſelves, what likelyhood I ſay was there, that this Vice, which was found to be ſo much increaſed by their Superſtitions, ſhould have left Religion in its natural purity?
4. Our Fathers diſcern'd a prodigious neglect of the Functions of the Miniſtry joyn'd with that Covetouſneſs. For a Preaching Biſhop was for a long time ſo rare, that it was altogether unuſual. The Care of the poor, the viſiting of the ſick, the comforting the Afflicted, the correcting the Ignorant, the ſtudying of the Scriptures, and all the other offices belonging to the Paſtoral Croſier, were, if not quite quite abandoned, yet at leaſt extremly neglected, All was may almoſt reduc't to ſaying of the ſervice as one ſpeak, and to reading of the Adminiſtration of the Sacraments, & the Formularies of a Liturgy, which a very few of the People underſtood, and neither he himſelf ſometimes who read it before them. It was this that made Nicholas de Clemangis Archdeacon of Bayeux, who flouriſhed in the beginning of the fifteenth Centuary, to ſay, that the ſtudy of the Holy Scriptures, and thoſe who taught them were derided by all, and that which is yet more amazing, is that it is chiefly Nicolaus de Clemangis de corrupto Statit. Eccleſiae.the Biſhops that ſcoff at them, preferring their own Traditions to the Ordinances of God. Now a days, the charge of Preaching which is an Office ſo admirable and ſo glorious, and which heretofore belonged to the Paſtours only, is now thought ſo vile by them, that there is nothing which they judge more unworthy of their Grandeur, and to bring more reproach to their Dignity. He adjoyns, that they made no difficulty openly to profeſs, that it belonged only to the begging Fryars to Preach, and not to them. But this Negligence did not ſpring up in that Age of the Reformation, nor in that, that immediatly preceded it, for ſince the ninth Century the Paſtors of the Church have been extream ſlack in dreſſing the Vineyard of our Lord. Which could not but have made way for falſe Doctrines and Superſtitions, and have cauſed a very great alteration in Religion.
5. Ignorance was one inevitable Conſequence of that careleſsneſs of the Miniſters of the Church, that is to ſay, that which of all things in the world was the moſt improper to engage any to have relied on their Conduct, and to have reſted aſſured of the ſincerity of their inſtructions. This Ignorance was very great and very general, in the time of our Fathers, and the moſt prejudiced of our Adverſaries will not deny it. But it had began a great while before their days, as it appears, from the Barbariſm of the Schools, and from the matter and ſtile of the greateſt part of the Books that the preceding Age had produced, and from the expreſs Teſtimony of divers Authours. The Church of God, ſaith St. Bernard, every day in divers manners finds by ſad experience, Bernard de verbis Evangel Dixit Simon, &c. pag. 1000. Marſil. de Pad. Defens. pacis. Part 2. cap. 20.in what great danger ſhe is, when the Shepheard knows not where the Paſtures are, nor the Guide, where the right way is, and when, that very man who ſhould ſpeak for God, and on his ſide, is ignorant what is the will of his Maſter. In theſe days, ſaid Marſilius of Padoua in the fourteenth Century, in theſe days wherein the Government of the Church is corrupted, the greateſt part of the Prieſts and Biſhops are but meanly inſtructed in the Holy Scriptures, and I dare ſay they are uncapable of deciding the doubts of their Faith. For Ambition, Covetouſneſs, and Canvaſſings obtain the Temporal Benefices, and they purchaſe in effect by their ſervices, or by their prayers, by their Gold or by their Favour, all the Dignities of the Age. God is my witneſs, and a great number of his faithful alſo, that I remember I have ſeen many Prieſts, many Abbots, and many Prelats ſo void of knowledge, that they have not known how to ſpeak even according to the Rules of Grammar. Is it not very natural to conclude that a number of Errors and Superſtitions would infallibly accrew from the favouring of this Ignorance, and thereby be eſtabliſhed in the Church, and that that, would produce Novelties, and that thoſe which formerly were but private opinions, or which conſiſted but in ſome firſt diſpoſitions and [tendencies] to Errors, would become general, and be changed into habits?
6. But, might not our Fathers very well conclude the ſame thing from that dreadful depravation of manners, which they and their Fathers had ſeen reign for ſo long a time among the Church-men? Thoſe who have any knowledge of Hiſtory are not ignorant of the Lamentations that all honeſt men made then, and the mournful deſcriptions that they have left of thoſe times in their writings. One may read for the twelfth Century, only St. Bernard; for the thirteenth, Cardinal Hugo; for the fourteenth, William Biſhop of Mende; for the fifteenth, Werner Rollewink a Carthuſian Monk of Cologne; for they ſay but too much for the juſtifying of theſe Articles; and for the ſixteenth, which was the Age of the Reformation, who does not know that it was extremely corrupted? One of the matters of which the Ambaſſadour of the Duke of Bavaria ſo vehemently complain'd before the Council of Trent, on the behalf of his Maſter, and upon which he ſo much inſiſted, was, the wicked lives of the Clergy, where he ſaid, that he could not deſcribe their horrible wickedneſſes without offending Hiſtory of the Council of Trent, Book 6.the chaſt ears of the Audience; He ſubjoyns, That the Prince his Maſter remonſtrated to the Council, That the Correction of points in Doctrine, would be vain, and unprofitable, if they did not firſt correct their manners. That the Clergy was defamed by reaſon of their Luxury. That the Civil Magiſtrate did not ſuffer any Layman to have a Concubine, that notwithſtanding amongſt the Clergy it was ſo common a thing to have them, that amidſt a hundred Prieſts one could not find above three or four who either kept not Whores, or were not Married, the one ſecretly, and the others publickly. It is In the Inſtructions and Miſſives of the moſt Chriſtian King, for the Council of Trent.with ſhame that I ſpeak of it, ſaid the Cardinal of Lorrain, in an Oration that he made to the ſame Council, but it is alſo with a ſenſible diſpleaſure that I mention the lives that we have led. We are the cauſes that have ſwell'd this ſtorm ſo high, let us caſt our ſelves into the Sea, and ſince you have our Confeſſion, puniſh us after what manner you pleaſe. A little before that, he had ſaid, That the Troubles wherewith France was found to be agitated, were the effect of a juſt Judgment of God, and that they had drawn that judgment upon themſelves by that Corruption of manners which was to be found among all Orders of men, and by the ſubverſion of all Eccleſiaſtical Diſcipline. Charles the ninth alſo, in thoſe Memoirs that he gave to that Cardinal for the Council, had expreſly ſet down this Article, That his Majeſty with the moſt extreme regret was conſtrained In the ſame Inſtructions and Miſſives.to complain of the unclean lives of the Eccleſiaſticks, who brought ſo much Scandal and Corruption amongſt the Common people, beyond the ſcandal they took at their Miniſters, that to him it ſeemed neceſſary that it ſhould be very ſpeedily provided againſt. Tell me I beſeech you, what could any juſtly conclude from the ſo licentious lives of Perſons who for ſo long a time ſince had made themſelves Maſters of that Religion, but that there was very little appearance that that Religion was preſerv'd in its Antient Purity. I acknowledge, the ill life of the Paſtour is not of its ſelf a ſufficient reaſon to ſeparate from him; but I affirm, that when that wicked life is found to be ſo general in the Clergy, and remains there for ſome Ages without amendment, it gives a prejudice exceeding reaſonable of ſome great corruption in that very Religion it ſelf: For Men of ſuch impure manners can be but very ill Guardians of Faith and Piety.
7. The Corruption of the Church of Rome in particular, that is to ſay, of that Church which calls her ſelf the Mother and Miſtreſs of all others, and which had in poſſeſſion the Government of them according to her own will, confirmed our Fathers in this prejudice. For by this means they ſaw the Evil did not confine it ſelf only to the borders, but that it was got into the very heart it ſelf, that is, into that Church which as the Chief, ſhed its influence on the others. Further, I think I need not prove that Corruption, where every one will yield it as a thing that cannot be conteſted. Thoſe who have read the Hiſtories of Luitprand, of Glaber, of Matthew Paris, of Platina, of Baronius, and Onuphrius, and of many others, cannot deny that ſince the ninth Century, the See of Rome has been moſt frequently filled with Popes, whoſe Lives and Government have not very much edified the World. Every one knows the Complaints that all the Earth had made, and which it made yet in the days of our Fathers, not only againſt the Popes, but againſt all that they call the Court of Rome, the Corruption whereof, was looked on as the Cauſe of that in all the other Churches. I ſhall not urge this matter further, but it ſeems to me that our Fathers did not deſerve the leaſt blame, if they could not believe that ſuch a ſort of men, could have a great zeal for the glory of God, and the Salvation of men, or that they were ſo fit and likely to preſerve Chriſtianity intire amongſt them, nor in fine, that whereas it was for ſo many Ages accuſed to be the very Center of all Vices, it could be the Centre of all the Doctrines of Faith and Holineſs.
8. But altho' our Fathers ſhould not have reflected on the perſons of ſuch men, yet it is very certain that they found enough Characters of Irregularity in the Maxims, in the pretenſions, and the Government of the Popes, to make them juſtly conclude, That they could not but be very ill Conſervators of the purity of Religion. What elſe could they gather from that exceſſive Pride ſo intolerable to all Chriſtians, that conſiſted in making their Feet to be Kiſſed with a ſubmiſſion far beyond what was yeilded to Kings, in making themſelves to be born on the ſhoulders of men, and to be ſerved by the greateſt Princes, or by their Ambaſſadors, to wear three Crowns, and to be Adored upon the Altar after their Election, &c?
9. What could they ſay, to thoſe proud Titles which they with the greateſt ſcandal affected to have given them, as that of God in the Canon Law, whereof ſee the words, It evidently appears Distinct. 96. Canon. 7.that the Pope who was called God by Conſtantine, can be neither bound to any thing, nor looſed by any Secular Power. For it is manifeſt that a God cannot be judged by men. To the ſame purpoſe Auguſtin Steuchus ſays, That Conſtantine called the Pope God, and that he acknowledged him to be ſo, and he aſſures us that from thence it was Aug. Steuchus De falſ. Donat. Conſtantini.that he made that Excellent Edict in his Favour, he would ſay, that falſe Donation. He adored him, ſays he, as God, as the ſucceſſour of Chriſt, and of Peter, and rendred him all the ways that he could, Divine Honours, Worſhipping him as the living Image of Jeſus Chriſt. So Clement the ſeventh, Anti-Pope, with his Cardinals at Avignon in a Letter which they wrote to Charles the ſixth, which is ſet down by Froiſſard, they make no ſcruple of Froiſſard. Tom. 3. Fol. 147.calling him a God upon Earth, ſeeing as there is, ſay they, but one only God in the Heavens, there cannot, and ought not of right to be more then one God on Earth. After the ſame manner Angelus Politianus Angel. Politian. Orat. pro Sen. ad Alexand. Sextum.in an Oration that he made for thoſe that were ſent as Deputies from the City Sienna to Alexander the ſixth, aſcribes Divinity to him. We rejoyce among our ſelves, ſays he, to behold you raiſed above all humane things, and elevated even to Divinity it ſelf, ſeeing nothing next unto God which is not ſet under you. He was not the only perſon that treated that Pope as God, for Raynaldus relates that amidſt the Pomps of his Coronation one might Raynald ad Ann. 1492. ſſ. 27.ſee in divers places of the ſtreets of Rome the Arms of the Pope with Verſes and Epigrams underneath, among which this Diſtich might be Read:
Caeſare magna fuit, nunc Roma eſt maxima, ſextus Regnat Alexander: ille vir, iſte DEƲS.
10. What could our Fathers ſay to that Divine power that the Flatterers of the Popes attributed to them? As the Gloſſary of Decretal. Greg. lib. 1. tit. 7. Can. Quanto, in Gloſſa.the Decretals, which remarks, That every one ſaid of the Pope that he had all Divine power, caeleſte arbitrium. That by reaſon of that he could change the nature of things, applying the eſſential properties of one thing to another. That he could make ſomething of nothing, that a Propoſition which was nothing, he could make to be ſomething; That in all things that he ſhould pleaſe to do, his will might ſerve for a Reaſon. That there is none that could ſay to him, why doſt thou do that? That he could diſpence with whatſoever was right, and make injuſtice to become Juſtice, by changing and altering of that which was right. And in fine, that he had a Plenitude, a fulneſs of Power.
11. What could they ſay to thoſe Titles which the Popes attributed to themſelves, of being the ſpouſes, Husbands of the Church, and the Vicars of Jeſus Chriſt? The Church my Spouſe, ſaid Innocent the Third, were not married to me, if ſhe did not bring Itinerar. Ital. Part, 2. de coron. Rom. Pontif.me ſomething, ſhe has given me a Dowry of an ineſtimable price, the fulneſs of all ſpiritual things, the greatneſs and ſpaciouſneſs of Temporals, the Grandeur and Abundance both of the one and the other. She has beſtowed on me the Miter in token of things Spiritual, The Crown for a ſign of the Temporal, the Mitre for the Prieſthood, the Crown, for the Kingdom, ſubſtituting me in his place who had it wrote on his Veſtment, and his Thigh, The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. After the ſame ſtile Martin the fifth, intitled himſelf in this manner, in the Inſtructions which he gave to a Nuntio Raynald. ad Ann. 1162.that he ſent to Conſtantinople, as Raynaldus relates, The moſt Holy, and moſt Happy, who has Heavenly power, who is the Lord of the Earth, the ſucceſſor of Peter, The Chriſt or Annointed of the Lord, the Lord of the Ʋniverſe, the Father of Kings, the Light of the World, the Soveraign High Prieſt, Pope Martin.
12. What could they ſay to that Scandalous applying to the Popes thoſe paſſages of the Scripture, which only and immediately regard God himſelf, and his Son Jeſus Chriſt? Baronius relates, that Alexander the Third making his Entry into the Town of Montpellier, a Saraſin Prince proſtrated himſelf before him, and adored him as the Holy and venerable God of the Chriſtians, and that Baron. ad Ann. 1162.thoſe that were of the Popes train, raviſhed with Admiration, ſaid one to another thoſe words of the Prophet, All the Kings of the Earth ſhall worſhip him, and all Nations ſhall do him ſervice. So, in the Council of Later an one complemented Leo the Tenth with Concil. Lateran. Seſſ. 7. & 9. in Orat.theſe Applications of Scripture, God has given you all power both in Heaven and in Earth, Weep not Daughter of Sion. Behold the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, of the stock of David. And thoſe of Palermo, by the Relation of Paulus Jovius, proſtrate at the feet of Martin Paulus Jovius in Philippo 3.the Fourth, made their addreſſes to him in the ſame words that they ſay to Jeſus Chriſt before their Altars, Thou that takeſt away the Sins of the World, have mercy upon us, Thou that takeſt away the the ſins of the World, have mercy upon us, Thou that takeſt away the ſins of the World, grant us thy peace.
13. What could our Fathers ſay to thoſe ſtrange Declarations of ſome Popes? that maintained, that all Laws reſided in them, that all the Rules of Juſtice were encloſed within their Breaſts, that it was neceſſary to the Salvation of every Creature that he ſhould be ſubject to the Pope of Rome, that they had in their hands the Temporal and Spiritual Sword, and other expreſſions of the like nature? So Paul the ſecond anſwered Platina, who requeſted him that he would †Renvoy, ſignifies properly a ſimple diſmiſſion granted to one, that being appealed or called before a ſuperiour Judg, requires to be diſmiſſed to the proſecuting of his ſuit already begun before the inferiour (his Ordinary) Judge.diſmiſs him to the proſecuting of his ſuit about a very important affair, before the Auditors of the Rota, becauſe the Sentence that the Pope had given was unjuſt, Is it ſo then, ſays he, that you would have us be brought to be try'd before the Judges? Do not you know that we have all the Laws ſhut up within our own Breaſt? In the cloſe of that buſineſs Platina having taken the boldneſs to ſay he would demand Juſtice of a Council, the Pope put him into a ſtrait Priſon. So alſo Boniface the Eighth begins one of his Decretals in theſe words, Licet Romanus Pontifex qui jura omnia in ſcrinio pectoris ſui cenſetur habere. It was the ſame perſon who deſin'd the neceſſity of ſubjecting ones ſelf to the Pope after this manner. Subeſſe Romana Pontifici, omni humanae Creaturae, dicimus, declaramus, definimus, & pronuntiamus, eſſe de neceſſitate Salutis, Platina in vit.and who ſaid, that although the Papal Authority was given to a man, and that though it was exerciſed by a Man, it was never the leſs Divine, Sexto Decret. tit. 2. cap. 1. Sext. Decret. Extravag. lib. 1. De major. & obed. cap. 1.that though the Papal power came to be depraved, yet it could not be judged by any man, but by God alone, becauſe the Apoſtle has ſaid, that the Spiritual man judges all things and is himſelf judged of no man. That there are two Swords that are in the power of the Church, the Spiritual and the Temporal, the one of the which had its uſe for the Church, and the other the Church her ſelf exerciſed, the one is in the hand of the Pope, and the other in thoſe of Kings and Souldiers, but whoſe management depends on the good pleaſure, and the ſufferance of the Pope.
14. What could our Fathers ſay to thoſe prodigious pretenſions that the Popes made over Emperours and Kings, even to make their Crowns depend on their pleaſure, to dethrone them, to give away their Kingdoms to others, and to abſolve their Subjects from their Oaths of Allegiance. Every one knows what the deciſions were that Gregory the Seventh made in a Council held at Rome in the year, 1076. againſt the Emperor Henry the Fourth whom he had depoſed, and whoſe Subjects he had abſolved of their Oaths of Allegiance. One may call thoſe deciſions the Dictatorſhip of the Pope, do but ſee ſome of their Articles as they are ſet down by Baronius. That the Biſhop of Rome only could wear the Imperial Ornaments. That all Princes were wont to kiſs the feet of the Pope alone. That only his name ought to be mentioned in the Baron. ad Ann. 1076.Churches, That there was but one chief name in the World, which was that of the Pope. That he had right to depoſe Emperours, That his Decrees could be made void by none whoſoever he were, but that he alone could make void all others. That he could looſe the Subjects of wicked Princes from their Oaths of Allegiance. The Decretals are full of the like attempt of Boniface the Eighth, upon Philip the Fair, one of our Kings. He went ſo far as to excommunicate him, and to abſolve his ſubjects from their Oaths of Allegiance, and in fine to give away his Crown to the Emperor Albert. I confeſs that he was puniſhed as he deſerved, and that the French on this occaſion ſerved their Prince with great zeal. The ſame Platina mentioned before, could not forbear making this reflexion on the Platin. in vit. Bonif. 8.Death of this Pope, Thus dy'd this Boniface, who thought of nothing leſs then of terrifying Emperors, Kings, and Princes, and all men, that he might the more inſpire into them a Religious reſpect, and who pretended to give and take away by force, whole Kingdomes, to overturn and re-eſtabliſh all men by the meer motion of his Will. But howſoever it was, the bad ſucceſs of Boniface could not hinder our Fathers from judging as they ought of theſe inſolent pretenſions of the Popes, and taking notice, that thoſe who made their very Religion to ſerve their Ambition, ſeeing their Ambition had no bounds, had a peculiar intereſt to feed the people with their Superſtitions, for they were ſuch as enſlav'd their Souls, where true Piety would have ennobled, and freed Men from that yoak which they would have impoſed on us. Further, if any would more particularly ſee how far the Claims of the Roman See went, they need but to read what Auguſtine Steuchus Library-keeper to the Pope, has wrote, for he aſcribes to the Popes the very ſame Temporal rights, in the ſame Latitude, wherein the Old Roman Empire poſſeſt them, and he proves from the Regiſter of Gregory the Seventh, that Spain, Hungary, England, Denmark, Ruſſia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Arragon, Portugal, Bohemia, Swedland, Norway, Dacia, did all heretofore belong to the Popes, and that all that Pepin, Charlemain, Henry, and other Emperors gave to the Church, brought him not any new rights, but only ſet him in the poſſeſſion of that which the violence of the Barbarians had wreſted from him.
15. What could our Fathers ſay to thoſe unjuſt Uſurpations of the Popes over the whole Body of the Church, over which they pretended Soveraignly to reign, to have Authority to decide matters of Faith, to make new Laws, to diſpence with the Antient Conſtitutions, to call Councils, to transfer them from one place to another, to Authoriſe, or to condemn them, to Judge all the World, without being liable to be judged of any, in a word of making all things to depend on their power, and binding all Churches to ſubmit themſelves to its deciſions about matters of Faith and Rules of Diſcipline, not only with a bare external obedience, but with a real acquieſcence of their Conſciences? By Reaſon of which they were accuſtomed, as they practiſe it even at this preſent in their Bulls, to place in the Front the fulneſs of their Power, and to adjoyn this Clauſe, That no man ſhould dare to be ſo raſh as to infringe or go contrary to their Decrees, under penalty of incurring the indignation of God, and the bleſſed Apoſtles, Peter and Paul. I know there were ſome that ſometimes did very ſtrongly oppoſe theſe pretenſions of the Court of Rome, that ſome Councils did labour to repreſs them, and that the Church of France has appeared often enough jealous of its Liberty. But beſides that thoſe oppoſitions never had that ſucceſs which might juſtly have been hoped for, on the part of the Popes, who almoſt always eluded them, beſides that, I ſay, they did but ſerve to confirm the prejudices of our Fathers, by dayly diſcovering to them more and more of the Corruption of the See of Rome.
16. What could they Judge of thoſe Diſpenſations that the Popes gave in the buſineſs of Marriages within prohibited degrees, againſt the expreſs words of the Law of God, and in the Caſe of Vows which they themſelves held to be lawful, and in divers other matters, even againſt that which they call the general State of the Church? What do we think we ought to ſay at preſent, ſaid Gerſon, of the eaſineſs whereby Diſpenſations are given by the Pope Joan. Gerſon. de Eccles. poteſt. Conſid. 10.and by the Prelats, to lawful Oaths, to reaſonnable Vows, to a vaſt Plurality of Benefices, againſt all the minds, or as he ſpeaks even to a univerſal gainſaying of Councils, in priviledges and exemptions that deſtroy common Equity? Who can reckon up all the ways whereof they ſerve themſelves to looſen the force of Eccleſiaſtical Diſcipline, and to oppoſe and deſtroy that of the Goſpel? Who can read without ſome Commotion, that which Innocent the Third has wrote? That by the fulneſs of his Power, he had a lawful power to diſpence with Decretal. Gregor. lib. 3. tit. 8. cap. 4.that that was beyond all Equity. And that, that the Gloſſary has ſubjoyned, That the Pope can diſpence againſt an Apoſtle, againſt the Canons of the Apoſtles, and againſt the Old Teſtament in the Caſe of Tithes. It is added that he cannot diſpence againſt the general State of the Church, and yet elſewhere the Gloſs on the Decret. part. 2. Cauſ. 25. Queſt. 1. Canon. 6. ad Gloſſ.Decree of Gratian aſſures us, that the Pope may ſometimes diſpenſe againſt the General State of the Church, and for that alledges the Example of Innocent the Third in the Council of Lateran.
17. What could our Fathers Judge of thoſe vaſt abuſes that were committed in diſpencing with the Eccleſiaſtical Functions, given moſt frequently to perſons altogether unworthy and uncapable, and ſometimes to Children, to the great ſcandal of Chriſtianity, which complained of it highly a long time ago? They prefer, ſaid St. Bernard, little School-boys, and young Children Bernard. Epiſt. 42.to Church Dignities, becauſe of the Nobility of their Birth. So that you may ſee thoſe that are juſt got from under the Ferula, go to command Prieſts, who were yet more fit to eſcape the Rod, then to be employ'd in Government, for they are far more ſenſible of the pleaſure of being freed from their Maſters, then of that of becoming Maſters themſelves. Thoſe are their first thoughts, but afterwards growing more bold, they very ſoon learn the Art of appropriating the Altars to themſelves, and of emptying the purſes of thoſe that are under them, without going to any other School, then that of their Ambition and their Covetouſneſs. How few may one find now a days of thoſe who are raiſed to the Epiſcopal Grandure, ſaid Nicholas de Clemangis, who have either read, or know how to read the Holy Scripture, otherwiſe then by Nicol. Cleman. de Corr. Stat. Eccleſ.firſt beginning to read? They have never touched any other part of the Holy Bible then the Cover, although in their Inſtallment they ſwear that they know it all.
18. What could our Fathers ſay to that Simony which was every where openly exerciſed in the Church of Rome in all things? The Court of Rome, ſays Aeneas Sylvius, gives nothing without money. It ſells the very Impoſition of hands, and the gifts of the Holy Ghoſt, Aeneas Sylv. Epiſt. lib. 1. Ep. 66.and will give pardon of Sins to none but ſuch who will part with their Money. The Church that Jeſus Chriſt has choſen for his Spouſe without ſpot and blemiſh, ſays Nicholas de Clemangis, is in theſe days Nicol. Cleman. de praeſul.a Warehouſe of Ambition and Buſineſs, of Theft and Rapine. The Sacraments and all Orders, even to that of the Prieſts, are expoſed to Sale. For Money they beſtow Favours, Diſpenſations, Licences, Offices, Benefices, They ſell pardons of ſins, Maſſes, and the very Adminiſtration of our Lords Body. If any one have a mind to a Biſhoprick, he needs but to get himſelf furniſhed with Money, yet not a little Sum, but a great one muſt purchaſe ſuch a great Title. He needs but to empty his Purſe to obtain the Dignity that he ſeeks, but he may ſoon after fill it again with advantage by more ways then one. If any one deſire to be made a Prebendary, or a Prieſt of any Church, or to have any other charge, it matters not whether his merits, or his Life, or his Manners be known, but it is very requiſite it ſhould be known how much Money he has. For according as he has that, he muſt have his hopes ſucceed. Such were the Complaints that honeſt men made in thoſe days, and one might make a large Volum of them, if theſe Antient Diſorders were not ſo publickly known. One has publiſht not long ſince a Book of the Rates of the †ChancellerieApoſtolick Chamber, and the Taxes enjoyned for Penances, which alone declares more then it will be neceſſary for us to ſtay upon for our Edification. There not only every diſpatch of buſineſs, but every ſin alſo, every crime has its ſet Price, and as there is nothing to be done without Money, ſo there is nothing which Money cannot do.
19. I could add to all that I have ſaid, a multitude of other things, that could not but have been very proper to have raiſed thoſe prejudices in the minds of our Fathers, whereof we have ſpoken. For thoſe unjuſt ways which Rome has made uſe of to draw all affairs to it ſelf, with all the Riches of the Weſt, all the underhand Canvaſſings, and ſtrange Practices it has uſed in the Elections of Popes, the Scandalous Schiſms that have ſprung from the Diviſions of Parties, and Differences of Elections, The Bloody Wars that the Popes are accuſed to have divers times kindled among Chriſtian Princes, the Intrigues, the diſhoneſt ways whereby they are ſaid to have ſerved themſelves, to engage the Kings and Grandees of the World in their Intereſts, the endeavours they have always uſed to elude the demands of a Reformation; all theſe things ſufficiently diſcover more of the Spirit of the World, then of the Spirit of Jeſus Chriſt, and will eaſily perſwade all thoſe who are not wholly deprived of their Reaſon, that there muſt needs have been latent at the bottom an extream Coruption.
But we ought to make an end of this Chapter, and to leave a matter ſo ungrateful, into which we had not at all entred, if we had not been obliged by the neceſſity of a juſt defence, as I have before declared. It only remains that we ſhut up in the Cloſe of all thoſe things which we have repreſented, by concluding that they cannot, at leaſt without renouncing all equity, any more condemn our Fathers, either of raſhneſs or preſumption, if they durſt perſwade themſelves, that the Church and Religion were fallen into the very worſt hands, and if they judged from thence that they ought to enter upon a more particular ſcrutiny of thoſe Doctrines that they taught, and of thoſe Laws whereby they would bind their Conſciences. That Conſequence which they drew from thence, was but the juſt effect of a Reaſon animated by the fear of God, and a deſire which they had of their own Salvation: for what colour or pretence could there be, that a Diſorder in the Government of the Church, ſo great, ſo antient, ſo general, ſhould not be accompanied with a multitude of other Errors contrary to the word of God, and prejudicial to the Salvation of men?