Acts and Monuments Volume 2 Part 2, Book 11 · Account 22 · Account 2
The tenour of the Appeale of the Archb. of Cant. from the Pope, to the next generall Councell.
IN the name of the father, and of the sonne, and of the holy Ghost.…
Firste, my plaine protestation made, that I entende to speake nothing against one holy, catholicke and Apostolical church,… or the authority thereof (the which authority I hauehave in great reuerence, and to whom my minde is in all things to obey) and if any thing peraduenture, eyther by slippernesse of tongue, or by indignation of abuses, or els by the prouocation of mine aduersaries be spoken or done otherwise then wel, or not with such reuerence as becommeth me, I am most ready to amend it.
…Although the bishop of Rome (whom they cal Pope) beareth the roume of Christ in earth, and hath authoritye of God, yet by y• power or authority he is not become vnsmable, neither hathe hee receiued that power to destroy, but to edify the congregation: Therfore if he shal cōmand any thing yt is not right to be done,… he ought to take it paciētly and in good part, in case he be not therin obeied. And he must not be obeied, if he commaund any thing agaynst the preceptes of God: no, rather he may lawfully be resisted, euen as Paul withstoode Peter. And if he be aided by helpe of princes, deceiued perchance by a false suggestion, or with euill counsell, can not be resisted, but the remedies of withstanding him be taken away, there is neuertheles one remedy of appealing (which no prince cā take away) vttered by the very lawe of nature: for as muche as it is a certaine defence, which is meete for eueryevery body by the law of God, of nature, and of man.
…And whereas the lawes do permit a man to appeale, not onelyonly from the griefes & iniuries done, but also from suche as shall be done hereafter, or threatned to be done, in so much that ye inferior cannot make lawes of not appealing to a superiour power: and since it is openly inoughe confessed, that a holy generall counsell,The inferiour cannot forbid to appeale to the superiour. Generall Coū sell is superiour to the Pope. lawfully gathered together in the holy Ghost, and representing the holy catholicke Church, is aboue the Pope, especially in matters concerning faith, yt he can not make decrees that men shal not appeale frō him to a general councel: therfore I Tho. Cranmer Archbishop of Caunterbury, or in time past ruler of the Metropolical church of Canterb. doctor in diuinitie, do say and publish before you the publike Notarie, and witnesses here present, with minde and intent to chalēge and appeale from the persons and griefs vnderneath wrytten, and to profer my selfe in place and time conuenient and meete, to prooue the Articles that followe. And I openly cōfesse, that I wold lawfully hauehave published them before this day, if I might hauehave had either liberty to come abroad my self, or licence of a Notary and witnesses. But further then I am able to doe, I knowe wel is not required of the lawes.
1 First I say and publishe, that Iames by the mercye of God Priest, called Cardinall of the Pit,The causes why he doth appeale. The .1. cause. and of the title of our Lady in the way of the churche of Rome, Iudge and Commissary specially deputed of our most holy Lorde the Pope, (as he affirmed) caused me to be cited to Rome, ther to appeare lxxx. daies after the Citation serued on mee,The Archb. cyted to appeare at Rome, when he was …ast in prison that he could not come. to make answer to certaine articles touching the peril of my state and lyfe. And where as I was kept in prisone wyth most strait warde, so that I could in no wise be suffered to go to Rome, nor to come out of prison, and in so grieuous causes concerning state and life, no man is bound to send a proctour, and thoughe I would neuer so faine sende my Proctour, yet by reason of pouertie I am not able (for all that euer I had, wherewith I should beare my Proctors costes and charges, is quite taken from me) neuerthelesse the most reuerend Cardinall aforesayde doth sore threaten me, that whether I shal appeare, or not,Note with what iustice and sinceritye this Catholicke Church doth proceede. he wil neuerthelesse yet proceede in iudgement against me. Wherin I fele my selfe so greeued, that nothing can be imagined more mischieuous or further from reason.
2 Secondly, the reuerend father Iames Brookes, by the mercy of God bish. of Glocester,The 2. cause. Iudge and vnderdeputy (as he affirmed) of the most reuerend cardinall, caused me to be cited at Oxford (where I was then kept in prison) to answer to certaine articles, concerning the daunger of my state and life.The Archb. denyed to hauehave counsell of the law. And when I being vnlearned and ignorant in the lawes, desired coūsel of the learned in the lawe, that thing was most vnrighteously denied me, contrary to the equitie of al lawes both of God and man. Wherin againe I feele me most wrongfully grieued.
3 And when I refused the sayde Bishop of Glocester to be my Iudge for most iust causes, which I then declared,The 3. cause. he neuerthelesse went on still, and made processe agaynste me, contrary to the rule of the lawes of appealing,The Papistes proceede contrary to law. whych say: A iudge that is refused, ought not to proceede in the cause, but to leaue off. And when he had required of me answers to certaine articles, I refused to make him any answeare, I sayde, I would yet gladly make answeare to the moste renoumed Kinges and Queenes deputies or Attourneis then present, wyth this condition notwythstanding, that mine answeare should be extraiudicial, and that was permitted me. And with thys my protestation made and admitted, I made aunsweare, but mine aunsweare was sodaine and vnprouided for: and therefore I desired to hauehave a Copie of mine aunsweares, that I myght putte too, take awaye, chaunge, and amende them: and thys was also permitted mee. Neuerthelesse, contrarye to hys promyse made vntounto mee, no respecte hadde to my protestation,The Papistes contrary to their owne promise. nor licence geuen to amende myne aunsweare, the saide reuerende Father Bishop of Glocester (as I heare) commanded mine aunsweares to be enacted, contrary to the equitie of the lawe. In which thing againe I feele mee muche grieued.
4 Furthermore,The 4. cause. I coulde not for many causes admit the bishop of Romes vsurped authority in this Realme, nor consent to it: first, my solemne othe letting mee, whyche I made in the time of most famous memorie of king Henry the eight, according to the lawes of Englande: Secondly,Causes mouing the Archb. why he could not admit the Popes authoritye. The Popes authoritye cannot be admitted in this Realme without periury. because I knewe the authoritie of the Bishop of Rome, whych he vsurpeth, to be againste the crowne, customes, and lawes of this realme of Englād, in so much, that neither the king can be crowned in thys realme, without the most grieuous crime of periurie, nor may Bishops enioy their Bishoprickes, nor iudgements be vsed accordyng to the lawes and customes of this Realme, except by the byshop of Romes authoritie, be accursed both the King and Queene, the Iudges, wryters, and executors of the lawes and customes, with all that consent to them. Finally, the whole Realme shalbe accursed.
5 Moreouer, that heinous and vsurped authoritie of the bishop of Rome, through reseruations of ye Bishoprickes Prouisions, Annuates, Dispensations, Pardones, Appellations, Bulles, and other cursed Marchaundice of Rome, was woont exceedingly to spoyle and consume the richesse and substaunce of this Realme, which all thinges shoulde followe againe by recognising and receyuing of that vsurped authoritye vntounto the vnmeasurable losse of thys Realme.The 5. cause. Inconuenience to this Realme in receiuing the popes authority. The 6. cause.
6 Finally, it is most euident by that vsurped authority, not onelyonly the Crowne of Englande to be vnderunder yoke, the lawes and customes of this realme to be throwen downe and troden vnderunder foote: but also the most holy Decrees of Councels, together with the precepts both of the gospel, and of God.
When in times past the sonne of righteousnesse being risen in the world, Christian religion, by the preaching of the Apostles began to be spred verye farre abroade and to floorish,The primatiue state of the church of Rome sincere & pure. in so much that theyr sounde went out into all the worlde: innumerable people, which walked in darknesse, saw a great light, Gods glory eueryevery where published did flourishe, the onelyonly carke and care of the Ministers of the church was purely & sincerely to preache Christ, the people to imbrace and followe Christes doctrine. Then the church of Rome, as it were Lady of the world, both was, & also was coūted worthily the mother of other churches, for as much as then she first begat to Christ, nourished wt the foode of pure doctrine, did help them with their riches, succoured the oppressed, and was a sanctuarie for the miserable, she reioyced wt them that reioyced, and wept with them that wept. Then by the examples of the Bishops of Rome, riches were despised, worldly glory & pompe was troden vnderunder foote, pleasures and riot nothyng regarded. Then this fraile & vncertain life, being ful of al miseries, was laughed to scorne, whiles thorow ye example of Romish martyrs, men did eueryevery where presse foorth warde to the life to come.The Church of Rome how and where it began to alter. Deformityes of the Church of Rome, infecting all other Churches. The B. of Rome no equall iudge in his owne cause. But afterward the vngratiousnes of dā nable ambition neuer satisfied, auarice and the horrible enormitie of vices had corrupted & taken the see of Rome, there followed eueryevery where almost the deformities of all churches, growing out of kinde, into the manners of the churche their mother, leauing their former innocencie and puritie, and slipping into foule and heinous vsages.
For the foresayde and many other griefes and abuses, (which I intend to prooue, and doe profer my selfe in time conuenient, to prooue heereafter) since reformation of the aboue mentioned abuses, is not to be looked for of the byshop of Rome, neither can I hope by reason of hys wicked abuses and vsurped authority, to hauehave hym an equall iudge in hys owne cause: therefore I do chalenge and appeale in these wrytinges from the Pope, hauing no good counsell, and from the aboue named pretenses, commissions, and iudges, from their citations, processes, and from all other things that hauehave or shal folow therupon, & from eueryevery one of them, and from all their sentences, censures, paines and punishmēts of cursing, suspension, and interdicting, and from all others what soeuer, theyr denouncinges and declarations (as they pretende) of schisme, of heresie, adulterie, depriuation, disgrading, by them or by any of them in any manner wise attempted, done, and set forwarde, to be attempted, to be done, and to be sette foorth hereafter (sauing alwayes their honors and reuerences) as vnequal and vnrighteous, more tyrannicall & violent, and from eueryevery griefe to come, which shall happen to me, as wel for my selfe as for al and eueryevery one that cleaueth to me, or will heereafter be on my side, vntounto a free generall councel, that shal heereafter lawfully be, & in a sure place, to the which place I or a Proctour deputed by mee,Appellation frō the Pope to a generall Counsell. maye freely and with safety come, and to him or them, to whom a man may by the lawe, priuiledge, custome, or otherwyse challenge and appeale.
And I desire, the first, the seconde, and the thirde time, instantly, more instantly, and most instantly, that I maye hauehave *i. Letters of protection and defence.messengers, if there be any man that wil & can geue me them. And I make open promise of prosecuting thys mine appellation, by ye way of disanulling, abuse, inequalitie, and vnrighteousnes, or otherwise as I shalbe better able: choise and liberty reserued to me, to put too, diminish chaunge, correcte, and interpretate my sayings, and to reforme all thinges after a better fashion, sauing alwaies to me eueryevery other benefit of the law, and to them that either be, or will be on my parte.
And touching my doctrine of the sacrament, and other my doctrine,Defence of his doctrine. of what kinde soeuer it be, I protest that it was neuer my minde to wryte, speake, or vnderstand any thing contrary to the moste holy woorde of God, or else against the holy catholicke church of Christ, but purely and simply to imitate and teach those things onelyonly, whyche I had learned of the sacred scripture, and of the holy catholicke church of Christe from the beginning, and also according to the exposition of the moste holye and learned Fathers and Martyrs of the Church.
And if any thing hath peraduenture chaunced otherwise then I thought, I may erre:… but hereticke I can not be, for as much as I am ready in all things to followe the iudgement of the most sacred worde of God, and of ye holy catholicke church, desiring none other thing, then mekely and gently to be taughte, it any where (which God forbid) I hauehave swarued from the truth.
And I protest and openly confesse,He pro…steth himselfe to be Catholike. that in all my doctrine and preaching, both of the Sacrament, & of other my doctrine what soeuer it be, not onelyonly I meane and iudge those things, as the catholicke churche, and the moste holy fathers of olde with one accorde hauehave meant and iudged, but also I would gladly vse the same wordes that they vsed, and not vse any other woordes, but to set my hande to all and singulare their speaches, phrases, wayes, & formes of speache, which they doe vse in theyr treatises vppon the Sacrament, and to keepe still their interpretation. But in thys thing I onelyonly am accused for an hereticke,New termes of the Sacrament brought in by the pope vnknowen to the scripture and old Doctours. because I allowe not the doctrine lately broughte in of the Sacrament, and because I consent not to woordes not accustomed in scripture, and vnknowen to the ancient Fathers, but newly inuented and broughte in by men, and belonging to the destruction of soules, and ouerthrowing of the pure and olde religion. Yeuen. &c.
This appeale being put vp to the B. of Ely, he sayde: My Lorde our Commission is to proceede agaynste you: Omni appellatione remota: and therefore we cānot admit it.
Why (quoth he) then you doe mee the more wrong: for my case is not as eueryevery priuate mans case.Talke betweene D. Thurlby & the Archb. about the appeale. The matter is betweene the Pope and mee immediatè, and none otherwise: and I thincke no man oughte to be a Iudge in hys owne cause.
Well (quoth Ely) if it may be admitted, it shall, and so receiued it of hym. And then beganne he to perswade earnestly with the Archbyshop to consider hys state, and to weigh it wel, while there was time to doe hym good, promising to become a suter to the K. and Queene for hym: and so protested his great louelove & frendship that had beene betweene them, hartily weeping,Thurlby weepeth for the Archb. so yt for a time he coulde not go on with his tale. After going forward, he earnestly affirmed, that if it hadde not bene the King and Queenes cōmandement, whome he could not deny, els no worldly cōmoditye should hauehave made him to hauehave done it, concluding that to be one of the sorowfulst things that euer hapned vntounto him. The Archb. gently seeming to cōfort him, sayd, he was very well content withall: and so proceeded they to his degradation: the perfect forme wherof, withal the rites & ceremonies therto appertaining,Of this forme of degradatiō, read in the f…rst booke of Actes pag. 1493. taken out of the popes Pontifical, because it is already described at full in our first booke of Monuments, I shall refer the reader to the same, which he shall finde. pag. 1493.
Heere then to be short, when they came to take of hys Pall (which is a solemne vesture of an Archb.) then sayde he: Which of you hathe a Pall, to take off my Pall? Whych imported as much as they being his inferiors, coulde not disgrade him. Whereunto one of them said, in y• they were but Bishops, they were his inferiors, and not competent iudges: but being the popes Delegates, they myght take his Pal, & so they did: and so proceeding, tooke eueryevery thing in order from him, as it was put on. Then a Barbar clipped his heare round about, and the Bish. scraped the tops of hys fingers where he had bene annoynted, wherein B. Boner behaued him selfe as roughly and vnmanerly, as the other Bishop was to him soft and gentle. Whiles they were thus doing. All this (quoth the Archbishop) needed not: I had my selfe done wyth this geare long ago.
Last of all, they stripped him out of his gown into his iacket, and put vponupon him a pore yeoman Bedles gowne, ful bare and nearely worne, and as euil fauouredly made, as one might lightly see, and a townes mans cap on hys head, and so deliuered him to the secular power.
After this pageant of degradation, & all was finished, then spake Lord Boner, saying to him:Lord Boner vnlordeth the Archbishop. Nowe are you no Lord any more: and so when soeuer he spake to the people of him (as hee was continually barking against him) euer he vsed this terme: This Gentleman heere. &c.
And thus wt great compassion and pitie of eueryevery man in this euil fauored gown was he caried to prison. Whom there followed a gentleman of Glocestershire wt the archbishops owne gowne, who standing by,It is happy this Bishop had so much maner yet to call him gentleman. & being thought to be toward one of the Bishops, had it deliuered to him: who by the way talking with him, said: the B. of Ely protested his frendship with teares. Yea (sayde he) he myght hauehave vsed a great deale more frendship towarde me. & neuer hauehave bene the worse thought on, for I hauehave wel deserued it: and going into the prison vp wyth him, asked hym i… he would drinke. Who answeared him, saying: if he had a peece of saltfish, that he had better wil to eate: for he had beene that day somewhat troubled with this matter, and had eaten little,… but now that it is past, my heart (sayd he) is wel quieted. Whereupon the gentleman sayd, he would giuegive him mony withal his heart, for he was able to do it. But he being one toward the lawe, and fearing M. Farmers case, durst therfore geue him nothing, but gaue mony to the bailifs that stood by, & said, that if they were good men, they would bestowe it on hym (for my L. of Cant. had not one peny in his purse to help him) and so left him, my Lord bidding him earnestly farewell, cōmending him selfe to his praiers and all his friendes. That nyght thys gentleman was staide by Boner and Ely, for geuing him this mony: and but by the help of friends, he had bene sent vp to the counsaile. Such was the cruelty and iniquity of the time, that men could not do good without punishmēt.