Whole Works, Tracts 1 · Tract 5 · Body of tract · Part 12
An example of practiſe out of our owne Chronicles.
TAke an exāple of their practiſe out K. Herold.of our owne ſtories. Kyng Herold exiled or baniſhed Robert Archbyſhop Robert of Cāterburyof Cāterbury. For what cauſe the Engliſh Polychronicō ſpecifieth not. But if the cauſe were not ſomwhat ſuſpect, I thinke they would not hauehave paſſed it ouer with ſilēce. This Robert gat him immediatly vntounto king William the cō querour then Duke of Normādy. And the pope Alexander ſent Duke William a baner to go and conquere England Remiſſion of ſinnes to conquere England.and cleane remiſſion vntounto who ſoeuer would folow the baner and go with kyng Williā. Here marke how ſtreight the Pope folowed Chriſtes ſteppes & his Apoſtles: they preached forgeueneſſe of ſinnes to all that repented thorough Chriſtes bloud ſhedyng: yt pope preacheth forgeueneſſe of ſinnes to all Note here how well Chriſt and the pope agre Chriſt biddeth ſaue, & the pope biddeth kill.that wil ſ…ea their brethrē …ought with Chriſtes bloud, to ſubdue them vntounto his tyranny. What ſoeuer other cauſe Duke William had agaynſt K. Herold, thou maiſt be ſure yt the pope wold not hauehave medled if Herold had not troubled his kyngdome: neither ſhould Duke William hauehave bene able to cōquere the land at that tyme except the ſpiritualtie had wrought on his ſide. What bloud did that conqueſt coſt England, thorow which almoſt all the Lords of the Engliſhe bloud were ſlayne, and the Normandes became rulers, & all the lawes were chaunged into French? But what careth the holy father for ſheding of laye mens bloude? It were better that ten hundred thouſand laye The pope is a cruell & mercileſſe tyrant.knaues loſt their liues, then that holy Church ſhould loſe one inch of her honour, or Saint Peters ſeate one iot of her right.
And Anſelmus that was Byſhop in ſhort tyme after, neuer left ſtriumge with that mighty prince kyng William Anſelmus a chapleine of ye popes.the ſecond vntill he had compelled him maugre his teeth, to deliuer vp the inueſtiture or election of Byſhops vntounto Saint Peters vicar, which inueſtiture was of olde tyme the kynges dutie.
And agayne, when the ſayde kyng William woulde hauehave had the tribute that Prieſtes gaue yearely vntounto theyr Byſhoppes for their whores, payde to hym, did not Rāfe Byſhop of Chicheſter forbid Gods ſeruice (as they call ☜ The pope is well pleaſed to admit prieſtes to hauehave whores. but not wiues.it) and ſtoppe vp the Church doores with thornes thoroughout all his dioceſſe, vntill the kyng had yelded hym vp his tribute agayne? For when the holy father had forbode Prieſtes theyr wyues, the Byſhop permitted them whores of their owne for a yearely tribute, & do ſtill yet in all landes ſaue in England where they may not hauehave any other ſaue mens wiues onelyonly.
And agayne, for the election of Steuē Langton Archbyſhop of Canterbury, what myſery and wretchednes was in the realme a long ſeaſon? Then was ye land interdited many yeares. And whē that holpe not, then Ireland rebelled agaynſt kyng Iohn immediatly, & not Note here the pryde and wickednes of the Pope.without the ſecrete workinge of our Prelates I dare well ſay. But finally, when neither the interditing, neither that ſecrete ſubtiltie holpe, and when Iohn would in no meanes conſent that Saint Peters vicar ſhould raigne alone ouer the ſpiritualtie, and ouer all that pertayned vntounto them, and yt they ſhould ſinne and do all miſchiefe vnpuniſhed, the Pope ſent remiſſion of Remiſſion of ſinnes to cōquere England.ſinnes to the kyng of Fraunce, for to goe and conquere his land. Whereof kyng Iohn was ſo ſore afrayde that he yelded vp his crowne vntounto the Pope, and ſware to holde the land of him, and that his ſucceſſours ſhould do ſo likewyſe.
And againe, in king Richardes dayes Thomas Arundell.the ſecond, Thomas Arundell Archbyſhop of Canterbury and Chauncellar was exiled wyth the Earle of Darby. The outward pretence of the variaūce betwene the king and hys Lords was for the deliueraunce of the towne of Breſte in Britayne. But our prelates had an other ſecrete miſtery a bruyng. They could not at their owne luſt ſlea the poore wretches which at that tyme were conuerted vntounto repētaunce & to yt true fayth, to put their truſt in Chriſtes death & bloud ſheding for the remiſſiō of their ſinnes by the preaching of Iohn Wiclefe. As ſoone as the Archbyſhop Practiſe of Prelates.was out of the realme, the Iriſhmen began to rebell agaynſt kyng Richarde, as before agaynſt kyng Iohn: But not hardly without the inuiſible inſpiration of thē that rule both in the courte and alſo in the conſciences of all men. They be one kyngdome ſworne together one to helpe an other ſcatered abroad in all realines.
And howbeit, that they ſtriue amōg themſelues who ſhalbe greateſt, yet agaynſt the temporal power they be alwayes at one; though they diſſemble it, & faine as though one helde agaynſt The popes clergy are ſecret and ſubtile conſpirators.the other, to know their enemies ſecretes, to betray them withall. They can enſpyre priuely into the breſtes of the people what miſchiefe they liſte, & no man ſhall know whence it cōmeth. Their letters go ſecretly from one to an other thoroughout all kingdomes. Saint Peters vicar ſhall hauehave worde in xv. or xvj. dayes from the vttermoſt ☞part of Chriſtendome. The Byſhops of Englande at their neede can write vntounto the Byſhops of Ireland, Scotland, Denmarke, Douchland, Fraūce and Spayne, promiſing them as good a turne an other tyme, putting thē … remembraunce that they be all one holy Church, and that the cauſe of yt tone is the cauſe of the tother, ſaying: if our iugglinge breake out, youres can not belong hid. And the other ſhall ſerue their turne and bring the game vntounto their handes, and no man ſhall know how it commeth about.
Aſſoone as kyng Richard was gone to Ireland to ſubdue theſe rebellions, A trayterous practiſe.the Byſhop came in againe and preuē ted the kyng, and tooke vp his power agaynſt hym, and tooke him priſoner, and put him downe, and to death moſt cruelly, and crowned the Erle of Darbye Kyng. O mercifull Chriſt what bloud hath that coronacion coſt England? but what care they? their cauſes muſt be auenged. He is not worthy to bee kyng that will not auenge their quarels. For do not the kyngs receaue their kyngdome of the beaſt, & ſweare to worſhip hym, and maintayne hys throne? And thē whē the Erle of Darbye which was king Henry the fourth, was crowned, the prelates tooke hys ☜ The Papiſtes are ſtyrers vppe of warres & ſheders of bloud.ſworde, and his ſonnes Henry the fift after hym (as all the kynges ſwordes ſince) and abuſed them to ſhed Chriſtē bloud at their pleaſure. And they coupled their cauſe vntounto the kynges cauſe (as now) and made it treaſō to beleue in Chriſt as the ſcripture teacheth, and to reſiſte the Byſhops (as now) and thruſt them in the kinges priſons (as now) ſo that it is no new inuention that they now do, but euen an olde practiſe, though they hauehave done theyr buſie cure to hide their ſciēce, that their conueyaunce ſhould not be eſpyed.
And in kyng Henry the ſixt dayes how raged they as fierce Liōs againſt good Duke Humfrey of Gloceſter the kynges vncle and protectour of the Duke Hū frey.realme in the kynges youth and childhod, becauſe that for him they myght not ſlea whom they would, and make what cheuyſaunce they luſted. Would not the Byſhoppe of wincheſter hauehave Papiſtes are cruell.fallen vponupon him and oppreſſed him openly with might and power in the citie of London, had not the Citizens come to his helpe.
But at the laſt they founde yt meanes to contriue a drift to bring their matters to paſſe, and made a Parlyament farre from the Cityzens of London, A Parliament kept at Bury.where was ſlayne the good Duke and onelyonly wealth of the realme, and the mighty ſhylde that ſo long before that kept it from ſorow which ſhortly after his death fell theron by heapes. But The death of Homfrey Duke of Glouceſter protectour of the Realme of England.the chronicles can not tell wherfore he dyed, nor by what meanes. No maruell verely. For he had neede of other eyes then ſuch as ye worlde ſeeth withall that ſhould ſpye out their priuy pathes. Neuertheleſſe the chronicles teſtifie that he was a vertuous man, a godly and good to the commō wealth. Moreouer the proctour of purgatory This is Syr Tho. More.ſaith in his Dialoge, quod I, and quod he, and quod your frende, how that the foreſayd Duke of Gloceſter was a noble mā and a great clarcke, and ſo wiſe that he coulde ſpye falſe myracles and diſcloſe them, and iudge them from the true, which is an hatefull ſcience vntounto our ſpiritualtie, and more abhorred amongeſt them then Necromancye or The Clergy cannot abyde them that can iudge talſe miracles.witchcrafte, and a thyng wherfore a man by their lawe I dare well ſay, is worthy to dye, and that ſecretly if it be poſſible. Now to be good to the common wealth, and to ſee falſe myracles, and thyrdly to withſtand that Fraūce then brought vnderunder the foote of the Engliſhmen, ſhould not be ſet vp agayne, by whoſe power the Pope holdeth downe the Emperour, and raygneth in his ſteade, be cauſes why he myght die though by what meanes be not knowne.
For to be good to the cōmon wealth Thre cauſes why the Duke of Glouceſter was murtheredis to be hurtfull to the ſpiritualtie, ſeyng the one is the others pray, as the Lambe is the Wolues. Secondaryly, if a man be ſo cleare eyed that he can ſpye falſe myracles, how can iugglers get theyr liuing and be in price where ſuch a felow is? Thyrdly to keepe downe the kyngdome of Fraunce is to pull Saint Peters Ʋicar out of his ſeate.
Now, if the great baude the whore The Pope is the whore of Babylon.of Babylō were deſtroyed, thē woulde the bordell and ſtues of our Prelates ſhortly periſhe. If Abadon that deſtroyer king of the graſhoppers which deuoure all that is greene, were deſtroyed, then were the kyngdome of our caterpillars at an ende.