Abridgment of Ecclesiastical Laws, Treatise · Chapter 38
CHAP. XXXVIII.
Of Sacriledge.
1. Whence the word Sacriledge is derived, what it imports, and the ſeveral kinds thereof.
2. It is taken properly and ſtrictly, or improperly & in ſenſu largo; and is of a mixt Cognizance.
3. The ſeveral ways whereby Sacriledge may be committed.
4. Who are intended by Perſons Sacred, againſt whom Sacriledge may be committed; the diviſion thereof.
5. Bartol's Definition of Sacriledge; ſeveral ſevere puniſhments thereof Recorded by Hiſtorians.
6. The ſeveral puniſhments inflicted on Sacrilegious perſons according to the Civil and Canon Law; The Civil Law more ſevere therein than the Canon; how puniſh'd anciently in this Realm according to the Eccleſiaſtical Conſtitutions thereof.
7. The dreadful Curſe anciently and ſolemnly pronounced in Parliament againſt Sacrilegious perſons.
8. A remarkable Judgement that happened to a Biſhop of Bangor for Sacriledge.
(1.) SACRILEDGE, from Sacro & Lego, or à Sacris Legendis, that is, ſuffurandis for that word Lego ſometimes ſignifies furari or rapere: Iſidor. lib. 1. Origin. lit. ſ. Sacrilegus, qui ſacra legit, h. e. furatur. In the Greek foreign importing as much as to ſay foreign, that is praedari vel violari Sacra, for Sacriledge is the violation or uſurpation of ſome thing that is Sacred, Gloſs. in cap. omnes Eccleſiae. 17 q. 4. and may be committed three ſeveral ways, As (1.) either in reſpect of the Perſon, as when a man doth wound or ſtrike an Eccleſiaſtical Perſon in Holy Orders: or (2.) in reſpect of the Place, as when one violates the Priviledges or immunities of the Church or Church-yard: or (3.) in reſpect of the Thing, as when a thing Sacred or Conſecrated or deputed or dedicated to ſome Sacred uſe is uſurped upon and taken away, and this holds true, whether auferatur Sacrum de Loco ſacro, vel non ſacro, vel non ſacrum de ſacro. Lindw. de Offic. Archipreſ. c. 1. gloſ. in verb. Sacrilegium.
(2.) Sacriledge is taken either ſtrictly and properly, as when a thing ſacred is ſtolen out of a ſacred place; ſo it is held according to the Law generally, but either will amount to Sacriledge according to the Canons: or in a large ſenſe and improperly, and ſo it extends to other Crimes. l. ſi quis c. de Epiſ. & cle. &c. de ſacrileg. per totum. As infringing the Church's Liberties, invading Eccleſiaſtical goods and the like, whereof more hereafter. Lindw. de immun. Eccl. c. 2. gloſ. in ver. Sacrilegi. The Emperors held their Conſtitutions ſo ſacred, that they called the violation thereof Sacriledge. l. un. c. de Crimi. Sacril. This Crime is of a mixt cognizance, partly Eccleſiaſtical, partly Secular, whereof each Juriſdiction may jure proprio take cognizance. c. cum ſit generale. De foro compet. So that this Crime of Sacriledge is not meerly Eccleſiaſtical, becauſe the cognizance …reof in ſome Caſes may appertain to the Secular Judge, at leaſt quoad poenam, ſi quis in hoc c. de Epiſ. & Cler. And Hoſtienſis himſelf doth confeſs as much quoad poenam Corporalem; otherwiſe it is as to the cenſures of the Church contra talem fulminadas.
(3.) There are many ways whereby Sacriledge may be committed, as by invading the rights and goods of the Church, by unjuſt and illegal vexing and moleſting the Church, by waſting and deſtroying the Church, by violating Eccleſiaſticks, by a Clerks conſulting with Soothſayers and Diviners, by violating Church-priviledges and Immunities, by ſtriking a Clerk. Lindw. de immun. Eccl. c. ſeculi glo. in verb. auſu Sacrilego. Church-burners, Church-breakers, Church-robbers, by ſtealing the Church-bible, the Calice, or other thing out of the Church, by violating the Church-porch or breaking the Doors thereof, by ſtriking in the Church, or apprehending and taking any one there, by obſtructing the Jurisdiction of the Church, or hindering any of that free acceſs which he ought to have to the Church, by uſurping the Guardianſhip or cuſtody of a Church that is void, and under that pretence poſeſs themſelves of the Goods and Revenues thereof, by uſurping and occupying the Oblations and Offerings of the Church; but to explicate this Crime of Sacriledge to its full latitude, it is requiſite in order thereto, to diſtinguiſh aright of things Sacred which are violated thereby; for as Habits are diſtinguiſh'd ex objectis, ſo Vices by the matters about which they are converſant; now the matter of Sacriledge is ever ſomething Sacred, and therefore Sacriledges are diſtinguiſh'd according to the diverſity of Sacred things; whence Aquinas inferr's, that as there are Three kinds of things Sacred, viz. Perſons, Places, and ſome other Things: So there is a Threefold kind of Sacriledge, viz. againſt Perſons, againſt Places, and againſt other Things conſecrated and dedicated to Divine Worſhip. Which diſtinction the Canoniſts do generally hold in each Member thereof: As Sacriledge, (1.) Againſt Eccleſiaſtical Perſons. cap. ſicut. &c. quiſquis. 17. q. 4. & in c. ſi quis deinceps uſ que ad cap. ſi quis ſuadente. ead. Cauſ. & q. (2.) Sacriledge againſt ſacred places. cap. Miror, &c. Frater. (3.) Againſt the Goods and Revenues of the Church. cap. Sacrilegium. cap. Omnes Eccleſiae. & cap. Attendendum. It being expreſly ſaid, that Qui pecunias vel res Eccleſiae abſtulerit, Sacrilegium facit. in cap. qui rapit. There is no Sacriledge but may be reduced to one of theſe three heads, although under them there may be divers other kinds of Sacriledges more particularly ſubdiſtinguiſh'd.
(4.) By Perſons Sacred is here underſtood ſuch, as in a peculiar manner are ſet apart and dedicated to Divine publick Worſhip according to Sacred Ordination; and the principal kind of Sacriledge commiſſable againſt ſuch, is the laying of violent hands on them, which is a violation of their Immunities or Priviledges. cap. ſi quis ſuadente. 17. q. 4. And as to Sacriledge committed againſt Places ſacred, the Canon is, That Sacrilegium Committitur auferendo Sacrum de ſacro, vel non ſacrum de ſacro, aut ſacrum de non ſacro cap. quisquis 17. q. 4. Of which Three Members the Third doth not belong to this circumſtance of Place. And as to the ſecond Member thereof the Civil Law determines otherwiſe than the Canon, for in that Caſe the Civil Law ſays, that Res Privatorum, ſi in aedem ſacram depoſitae, ſurreptae fuerint furti actionem non ſacrilegii eſſe. l. Div. ff. ad leg. jul. pec. yet among the Canoniſts it is communis opinio, that furtum in loco ſacro ſacrilegium eſt. And where the Canon Law ſpeaks of Churches, it ſays, ſi qui depoſita, vel alia quaelihet exinde abſtrahunt, velut Sacrilegi Canonicae Sententiae ſubjaceant. But every Offence done in the Church is not Sacriledge; yet it is held, that it is in the power of the Eccleſiaſtical Juriſdiction, ſo to prohibit the doing of ſome certain things and actions in the Church, that ſuch as offend againſt the Prohibition, ſhall be reputed Sacrilegions, though the things in themſelves are not Sacriledge. The Canoniſts alſo do hold, that the perverting of the Holy Scriptures, to uphold, maintain, or confirm errors, is graviſſimum Sacrilegium. Suar…z. lib. 3. de Sacrilegio c. 7. nu. 1;
(5.) Notwithſtanding what has been ſaid, Bartol defines Sacriledge to be the taking away or ſtealing ſome ſacred thing out of ſome Publick ſacred place; this is moſt properly Sacriledge, according to Bartol, Bart. in l. Sacrilegii poenam. ff. ad Leg. Jul. Pcculat. to which it may not be impertinent or ſuperfluous to add [cum animo furandi.] The Civil Law puniſh'd it with death, Bart. ibid. & alii D D. in dict. L. & Menoch. de Arbit. Jud. l. 2. Cent. 4. Caſ. 389. nu. 2. So the Athenians put a Boy to death for ſtealing a Plate of Gold out of Diana's Temple which fell from her Gown. Aelian. lib. 5. de var. Hiſt. cap. 16. Among the Grecians the Sacrilegious Perſons were not to have the common humanity of a Grave, but were caſt out unburied. Diod. Sicul. lib. 16. Biblio. in 6. An. Philippi. Philip King of Macedon in his holy Warr againſt the P…ocenses, having taken their General Onomarchus and routed their Army, commanded the General to be hanged, the reſt to be drownd like Sarcrilegious perſons. Idem dict. lib. anno 8. Philip. Alexander the Great in the Olympick Games cauſed it to be proclaimed by an Herauld, that all Exiles and Baniſhed perſons, except for Sacriledge and Murder, ſhould be permitted to return to their own Countrey. Idem lib. 17. An. 9. Alexandri. & Gemiſt. Pl…tho. lib. 2. de Geſtis. Graec. poſt pugnam Mantineam. Pleminius Ambaſſador from Scipio to the Senate of Rome, having robb'd the Treaſure of Proſerpina, and being now nigh dead by a moſt ſearful and horrid kind of diſeaſe before he was brought to his Trial, the Roman Senate notwithſtanding condemned him in double the ſum to Pr ſerpina. Livius lib. 9. Bel. 2. Punic. & Valer. l. 1. cap. 2. Domitian, when it was reported to him by the Flamens or Jupiters High Prieſts, that one had erected a Monument for his Son with ſtones deſign'd for the Temple or Capitol, commanded the Monument to be pulled down, and demoliſhed, the Bones and Aſhes of the Party to be caſt into the Sea, and the ſtones to be reſtored to the Temple: Sueton. in Domitian. cap. 8. Xenophon relates out of the Laws of the Athenians againſt Sacrilegious perſons in theſe words, viz. Judge, O Athenians, in this matter according to the law made againſt Sacrilegious perſons and Traitors, That if any hath committed Treaſon or Theft of things Sacred, let him be adjudged to death, and let Sentence be that be be not buryed in Athens, and all his goods confiſcate. Xenoph. de lege Athenienſ. Another Law againſt Sacrilegious perſons apud Conſtantinum Harmenopulum, in haec verba, Whoever ſteals any thing Sacred out of a Sacred place, let him have his Eyes pluck'd out. Conſt. Harmen. lib. 6. Prompt. jur. car. 5. Gunctranus King of the Pariſians and Galls, with his Nobles and Biſhops aſſembled on the Feſtival of Sumphorianus, made a Law that their Armies or Soldiers ſhould not on pain of death, either on their March or on a Victory, ruſh violently into any Churches or rob the ſame. Greg. Turon. lib. 8. Hiſt. Franc. c. 30. Clearchus and Sitacles, Soldiers under Alexander the Great, being accuſed by his Army of robbing and ſpoiling Churches and removing antient Monuments, were commanded to be put to death. Orxines, who ſucceeded Phraſaortes in the Kingdom of Perſia, being accuſed and convicted of robbing and waſting the Temples, Churches, and the Monuments of the Kings, was by Alexanders command Crucified to death. Arria. lib. 6. in fin. de expedit. Alexan. The Law in ſome Caſes doth leave the Penalty of Sacriledge Arbitrary, eſpecially where any Churches are notoriouſly and violently broken open, and the Offerings or ſacred Veſſels thence ſtolen away by night, in which caſe the Puniſhment is Capital; and ſo practiſed in the kingdome of Naples; Boerii Deciſ. 254. nu. 13. It is not the value of the thing ſtolen, that cauſes this crime of Sacriledge to be ſo ſeverely puniſhed, but becauſe there is more of audacity and iniquity in this kind of Theft than of others of inferiour Circumſtances; and therefore Caliſtratus accuſed Menalopus that he had robd'd Templi Cuſtodes, Anglice, Churchwardens, and had thence ſtolen away three very ſmall Veſſels minimi ponderis, yet even this was puniſhed as Sacriledge of a very criminal nature. Innumerable are the Preſidents of this kind found among Hiſtorians; to which might be added that of Famous or rather Infamous Remark, touching Charls Martell, King of France, cujus animam (ſays Tritemius) viſam deportari od Inferos, quod multas Eccleſias ſpoliaſſet, dum bellis inimicos perſequeretur. Tritem in Breviar. Hiſt. Franc. in fin.
(6.) Touching Sacriledge as diverſified in reſpect of Perſons, Places, and other things Sacred, the Canoniſts enumerate ſuch kinds thereof, as would ſeem very uncouth and ſtrange for us to hear of in this Kingdom, as the Conſtitution of the Eccleſiaſtical State thereof is now moſt Proteſtantly eſtabliſhed; they are therefore here purpoſely omitted. The Penalties likewiſe inflicted on Sacrilegious perſons vary according to Circumſtances, and as the kinds or degrets of the Sacriledge are; and herein the Canon and the Civil Law have provided very different penalties; which at the Canon Law are of one kind, and at the Civil Law of another: But according to the ancient Eccleſiaſtical Conſtitutions of this Realm, Sacriledge of what kind ſoever, regularly incurr's the penalty of Excommunication, which admitts alſo of diſtinctions: For as there is the greater and the leſſer Excommunication; ſo there is Excommunication ipſo facto, in Contradiſtinction to that which is only ipſo jure; alſo the Law even in this point of Sacriledge doth diſtinguiſh between Excommunication latam, and ferendam; for if it be Sacriledge committed againſt an Eccleſiaſtical Perſon, then according to the Canon Law, and as heretofore practiſed in this Realm, the penalty was Excommunicatio lata; but when it is in reſpect of ſome things pertaining to the Church, in that caſe the Puniſhment was Excommunicatio ferenda. Lindw. de immun. Eccl. c. 1. glo. in ver. omnibus poenis. And ſometimes a pecuniary puniſhment was inflicted for Sacriledge. 17. q. 4. c. quiſquis. &c. ſi quis contumax. The Eccleſiaſtical Law doth not puniſh Sacriledge with that auſterity and ſeverity as the Civil Law doth, l. Sacrilegio. ff. ad Leg. Jul. peculat. whereby the puniſhment ſometimes is Damnatio ad beſtias, ſometimes the Sacrilegious perſon is burnt alive, ſometimes hung on Fonk, ſometimes condemned to the Mines, ſometimes baniſhed, and ſometimes ſentenced to death in the ordinary way of Execution. He that is guilty of Sacriledge againſt an Eccleſiaſtical perſon, is by the Canon Law excommunicatus ipſo facto, 17. q. 4. c. ſi quis ſuadente. But if it be in rebus Eccleſiae, he is by that Law Excommunicandus. de Foro compet. c. conqueſtus. If it be committed in the Church, and that by firing or breaking it open, in that Caſe the Sacrilegious perſon is ipſo jure excommunicated. de ſent. Excom. c. conqueſti. If it be without burning or breaking it open, as when a thing being left in the Church, is taken away, in that Caſe he ought to be excommunicated. De furtib. c. fin. And this (ſays Lindwood) may ſtand as a rule in Law, that wherever you find that regularly the Sacrilegious perſon is not ipſo jure excommunicated majori Excommunicatione, it hath theſe ſeveral Fallentias, that is, it doth not hold in caſe of Burning, violating, ſpoiling and waſting of the Church, nor in burning or breaking open the Church door, nor in Sacriledge againſt an Eccleſiaſtical perſon, nor in caſe of ſtriking or violently apprehending any man in the Church, nor in any forcible or violent taking away any thing out of the Church, nor in any that were excommunicated before for the like Offence, nor in ſuch as pull down or demoliſh the Body of the Church or any part thereof, and the like, Lindw. de immu. Eccl. c. ut invadentib. glo. in ver. Excomunicati. All which is likewiſeexpreſly ſet down in John de Athon's Gloſs on Cardinal Othobon's Conſtitutions, de abſtrahentib. Confug, ad Eccleſ. c. ad tutelam glo. in ver. Obſevari. and ſeems to have an adequate affinity with what Solomon (who, as in other things, ſo ſpecially in matters of the Temple, had the beſt experience) ſays, It is a ſuare to the man, who devoureth that which is Holy. Pro. 20. 25.
(7.) The dreadful Curſe denounced againſt Sacrilegious perſons, appears in that remarkable paſſage in Parliament above Four hundred years ſince, where the Priviledges of the Clergy, and Franchiſes of the Church, were (with the Liberties of the People) granted, confirmed, and ſettled by the King in full Parliament, Anno 1253. in ſuch a ſolemn manner, as no Hiſtory can parallel; The King ſtood up with his Hand upon his Breaſt, all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, ſtood with burning Tapers in their Hands, the Archbiſhop pronounceth as followeth, viz. By the Authority of God Omnipotent, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoſt, &c. We Excommunicate, Anathematize, and ſequeſter from our Holy Mother the Church, all thoſe, who henceforth knowingly and maliciouſly deprive and ſpoil Churches of their right, and all thoſe that ſhall by any art or wit raſhly violate, diminiſh, or alter ſecretly or openly, in Deed, Word, or Counſel, thoſe Eccleſiaſtical Liberties, &c. Granted by our Lord the King, to the Archbiſhops, Biſhops, Prelates, &c. For everlaſting memory whereof, we have hereunto put our Seal. After which, all throwing down their Tapers, extinguiſh'd and ſmoaking, they all ſaid,Vid. The Preſent State of Eng. p. 29. So let all that ſhall go againſt this Curſe, be extinct and ſtink in Hell, And Ethelwolphus, the ſecond ſole Monarch among the Saxon on Kings, having by advice of his Nobles, granted for ever to God and the Church, both the Tithe of all Goods, and the tenth part of all the Lands of England, free from all ſecular Service, Taxes, or Impoſitions whatſover,vid. the Charter of Donation in Ingulphus and other Authors. concludes the ſaid Grant or Charter of Donation in theſe words, viz. Qui augere voluerit noſtram Donationem, augeat Omnipotens Deus dies ejus proſperos; ſi quis vero mutare vel minuere praeſumpſerit, noſcat ſe ad Tribunal Chriſti rationem redditurum.
(8.) Dr. Heylyn in his Eccleſia Reſtaurata relates a remarkable paſſage touching a ſad Judgment,pag. 224, 225. that in the time of Queen Mary befell Buckly Biſhop of Bangor, An. 1541. for the Sacrilegious havock he made of the Lands and Patrimony of that Church, who not content to alienate the Lands, and weaken the Eſtate thereof, reſolved to rob it alſo of its Bells (for fear perhaps of having any knell rung out at the Churches Funeral;) and not content to ſell the Bells which were five in number, he would needs ſatisfie himſelf with ſeeing them conveyed on Shipboard, and had ſcarce given himſelf that ſatisfaction, but was immediately ſtruck blind, and ſo continued from that time to the day of his death: