Vindication of Ecclesiastical Volume 3, Volume 2 · Book · Chapter 2 · Document 281
SAnctiſſimo in Chriſto Patri I Summo Pontifici, H. Rex Angliae, ſalutem. EccleſiaeClauſ. 37 H. 3. m. 18. dorſo. De Literis directis Domino Papae. Romanae matri noſtrae & praecipuè piae Paternitati veſtrae quantas poteſt humana devotio referimus gratiarum actiones, de eo quod Richardum Comitem Cornub. prae caeteris mundi Magnatibus elegiſtis ad culmen Regni Siciliae, quod inter caetera Regna magnum eſſe cognovimus, cencenties nos in ipſius exaltatione non mediocriter honoratos. Verum cum venerabilis vir Magiſter albertus Notarius veſter nos, ex parte veſtra curiosè ſollicitaret, quod ipſius fratris noſtri negotio, circa praedictum Regnum adquirendum conſilium & auxilium impenderemus, non immemores omnium bonorum & gratiarum ſpecialium, quae multociens ab Eccleſia Romana ſuſcepimus, ut filii grati & devoti acceptamus, quod a Clero Regni noſtri praefato Com. vel Haeredi ſuo negotium adquiſitionis ejuſdem Regni proſequenti competens auxilium impertiatur. Salva nobis per omnia gratia veſtra conceſſa, et ſi placet concedenda ad negotium crucis, quod aſſumpſimus exequend. Teſte Rege apud Weſtm. 23. die Januarii.
Biſhop Groſthead being ſuſpended his Biſhoprick this year by the Pope. for oppoſing his proviſions, and trampling them under his feet, as you heard *Here p. 761, 762.before, cauſed his Clerks to make a diligent inquiry to what an annual ſumme they amounted to, who found them to exceed about 70. thouſand Marks, and treble the ſumms of the King ordinary revenues, wherewith he inriched his kindred and attendants three times more then any his predeceſſors had done.
Ipſo quoque Anno in tantum permiſſa eſt Romanorum avaritia, et Mat. Paris Hiſt. p. 832. Mat Weſtm. p. 251. Epiſcopus Lincolnienſis facit computare redditus alienorum in Anglia.in tantum adeo aſcendiſſe, quod Epiſcopus Rob. Lincolnienſis ſuper hoc ſtupefactus, fecit a ſuis Clericis diligenter computari et conſiderari alienorum proventus in Anglia, per iſtum Papam, ſcilicet Innocentium promotorum, et inventum eſt et veraciter compertum, quod nunquam aliquis praedeceſſorum ſuorum in triplo aliquos ſui generis vel patriae tot ditaverit: et quod iſte Papa praeſens videlicet Innocentius quartus, plus Eccleſiam Univerſalem depauperaverat* Here p. 753. quam * omnes praedeceſſores a tempore Papatus primitivi (prout manifeſte patet in lugubri querimonia quam poſuerunt Franci, coram* See Sir Roger Twyſdens hiſtorical vindication p. 59. 60. Papa pro ſuis intolerabilibus oppreſsionibus▪ quae reducta eſt in ſcriptum Epiſtolae admodum prolixae, As Matthew Paris addes in his Hiſtoria minori.) Reddituſque Clericorum per ipſum in Anglia alienorum, quos Eccleſia Romana ditaverat ad pluſquam …0. Millia Marcarum aſcendit. Bedditus Regis merus, non ad ejus partem tertiam computatur.
As this Pope multiplyed his Proviſions in England, more then all his predeceſſors, ſo did he likewiſe in France, as the French agent told him to his face this year, in the name of the whole Realm, who by a pubilck letter and remonſtrance, thus proteſted againſt his intollerable innovations, oppreſſions, which they neither would nor could tollerate any longer.
*Additamentorum Mat. Paris f. 135. Hiſt. An. 1252. p. 287. Sir Roger Twiſden his hiſtorical vindication p. 59. 60.Dicturus quod injunctum eſt mihi, certè non multum temporis elapſum eſt, ex quo Dominus Papa Alexander, perſecutionis cogente incommodo, venit in Franciam, confugiens ad ſubſidium inclytae recordationis Regis Ludovici patris Regis Philippi; à quo benignè ſuſceptus eſt, & ſtetit ibi diu; & fortè vivunt aliqui qui viderunt …um: ipſe tamen in nullo gravavit Eccleſiam Gallicanam, ut nec unam ſolam praebendam aut aliud beneficium ipſe Papa dederit ibi, ſed nec aliquis praedeceſſor ſuus, nec multi etiam de ſucceſſoribus dederunt in ſua Auctoritate beneficium aliquod, uſque ad tempora Domini Innocentii 3. qui primus a…ſumpſit ſibi jus iſtud: in tempore ſuo, Revera dedit multas praebendas, et ſimiliter poſt ipſum Dominus Honorius, et Dominus Gregorius ſimili modo fecerunt, ſed omnes praedeceſſores veſtri, ut publice dicitur, non dederunt tot beneficia ut vos ſolus dediſtis. &c. as well in England as in France.
W… therefore might Matthew Paris thus conclude this year in relation to England. * Anglia vero ab alienigenis conculcata, et multis Dominis inclinata, Annalis Concluſio.ſu…que Regis ſincera dilectione viduata, extremis quoque ſubjacens conditionibus, inconſolabiliter contabuit deſperata. Et quod graviſsimum eſt, diatim inter Eccleſiam et populum odium venenoſum ſuſcipit incrementum.
And here before I proceed further, … ſhall preſent you with the opinion o… our learned judicious Antiquary aAn hiſtorical vindication of the Church of England, c. 3. ſect 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70.Sr. Roger Twyſd…n of the Originall, & progreſſe of Papall proviſions in England; After his Relation of the deprivations of Anſelme, and William, elected Archbiſhops of Canterbury and York, by the Pope upon appeals An. 1136. and between 1142. and 1152. (the two firſt Elections nulled by Papall authority in England.) he ſubjoynes,
b…oh. Hagulſt co…. 276. 8.Here I may obſerve, that at firſt when even the Pope made void an Election, he did not take upon him to appoint another in the place vacant, but either ſent to the Clergy of the ſame Church to chuſe another, as thoſe to whom it appertained; ſo did cMat. Pa…s An. 1207. p. 222. 40.Euge…us, to York, when dDiceto col. 507 53. & 508. 20.Henry Murdac was choſen, Innocentius 3d. when Stephen Langton, or elſe the Biſhoprick lay vacant, as London after Anſeline, from 1139. to 1141. But Elections being with much strugling ſetled wholy in the Clergy, and eMat. Paris An. 1206. …. 214. 44Innocentius 3. having by definitive ſentence excluded the Engliſh Biſhops from having any part in that of the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, they becoming wholy appropriated to the Chapters, and Cathedrals, the Pope began to creep in, fBulla Gregorii 9. apud Mat. Paris A…. 1229 p. 355, 46.& ex conceſſa plenitudine Eccleſiaſticae poteſtatis, as h…spea…, without aeny formality of choice, to conferre not only Biſhopricks, but other Eccleſiaſtical promotions, within the precincts of Dioceſes, by that meanes to fill the fat benefices of the Nation. The firſt Archbiſhop of Canterbury promoted by this abſolute power of the Church of Rome, ſeemes to have been Richard Anno 1229. gMat. Paris, p. 335, 44.non electo ſed dato ad Archiepiſcopatum.
The French hAdditamenta Mat Paris MS. in Bibliotheca Cotton. f. 133. cui initium; Dicturus quod injunctum eſt mihi.Agent in his Remonſtrance to Innocent 4. attributes the beginning of theſe Collations to Innocent the 3. (whoſe words iHere p. 777.forecited he recites at large, with thoſe of Matthew Paris.) By which it appears, that great liberty the Pope took in conferring Ec…leſiaſtical preferments within the Dioceſſes of others, took its riſe from Pope Innocent 3. and as it ſeems to me, not at the beginning of his time ; for Anno 1199. kRoger Hoveden …. 453. b. 30. 454. b. 2. Ge…val. Do…obern. col 1682. 27. in Vita Huberti.Gelardus Archbiſhop of St. Davids comming from Rome, quia idem G. Menevenſis Eccleſiae in Curia Romana ſe dicebat electum, hoc ipſum caſſavit Archiepiſcopus, & alium ſacravit Canonice electum: though he afterwards beſtowed on him a Church of 25. marks; and this in a caſe the Pope had ſo earneſtly eſtouſed, as he writes to the Biſhops of Durham, Lincoln, and Ely, ſi Archiepiſcopus ſaepè dictum Gelardum conſecrare differret, ipſi Apoſtolica authoritate freti, illum conſecrare non differrent; lS… here Book 3. ch. 2. p 234, to 238.which yet the Archbiſhop as againſt the Engliſh Liberty, did not doubt to oppoſe and diſanull.
But this it continued not long, for mIn antiquo MS Bullarum Romanorum Pontificum Archiepiſe. Cant. Bulla 6 Honor. 3.Honorius the imm…diate ſucceſſor to Innocentius, ſhowing ſuch as ſerved the Apoſtolick See, and reſided with it were worthy, congruis beneficiis honorari, and were therefore poſſeſſed of divers both in England and other parts, wch they did adminiſter with ſo great care, quod non minus beneficiantibus quam beneficiatis utiliter eſt proviſum, unde, quia nonnunquam beneficiatis hujuſmodi decedentibus beneficia quae obtinuerunt, inconſultis hiis ad quos eorum donatio pertinebat aliis ſucceſſivè collatis, perpetu… illis ad quos pertinent videbantur amitti, propter quod etiam murmurabant plurimi, et alii ſe difficiliores ad conferendum talibus beneficia exhibebant: Nos volentes, ſuper hoc congruum remedium adhibere, ne cuiquam ſua liberalitas ſit dampnoſa, per quam potius meruit gratiam & favorem, ſtatuimus, ut Clericis Eccleſiae Romanae, vel aliis Italicis, qui Praebendas vel Eccleſias, ſeu alia Eccleſiaſtica beneficia in Anglia obtinent vel obtinuerint, à modo decedentibus, Praebendae vel Eccleſiae, ſeu alia beneficia nequaquam à nobis vel alio illa vice alicui conferantur, ſed ad illos liberè redeant ad quos illorum donatio dignoſcitur pertinere. Datum Laterani, quarto Calendas26 Febr. 1221: Marcii, Pontificatus noſtri anno quinto.
Yet neither this, nor the renewing of it by nIn eodem MS. Greg. 9. Bulla 3.Gregory the 9th. with a ſpecial Indulgence, directed, Venerabilibus fratribus univerſis Archiepiſcopis & Epiſcopis, ac dilectis filiis Abbatibus, & aliis Eccleſiarum Praelatis per Angliam conſtitutis, &c. ut ſi quando ad vos Literae Apoſtolicae pro beneficiandis hujuſmodi de caetero emanarunt, ad proviſionem ipſorum inviti non teneamur, niſi de hac indulgentia plenam fecerint mentionem. Datum Laterani, 15 Calendas Maii, Pontificatus noſtri anno quarto, &c.o April 17. An. 1230. could quiet the Engliſh, or keep them from that Confederation in pMat. Paris, 1371.Matthew Paris Anno 1231. beginning, Tali Epiſcopo & tali Capitulo, univerſitas eorum qui magis volunt mori quam à Romanis confundi, &c. Which th… Popes by wiſdome, and joyning the Regal authority with their Spiritual, found means to bring to nought, and purſuing the Papal Interest without regarding what had paſt from them, gave the qMat. Paris An. 1241. p 549. 18. 22.Kingdom occaſion Anno 1241. to obſerve, that in only three years Otho had remained Legate here, he beſtowed more then 300. Spiritual promotions, ad ſuam vel Papae voluntatem, the Pope having rIdem, Anno 1240. p. 532. 43.contracted (as the report went) with the Romans to conferre to none but their Children and Allies the Rich Benefices here, eſpecially of Religious Houſes, (as thoſe perhaps he had moſt power over) and to that effect had written to the Biſhops of Canterbury and Salisbury, ut trecentis Romanis in primis beneficiis vacantibus providerent. So that in the ſMat. Paris p. 666.Council at Lyons An. 1242. they complained of theſe Exorbitances, and ſhew the Revenues the Italians received in England, not to be leſſe then 60 or 70 thouſand Marks. And in the year following An. 1246. reiterated their griefs to Innocent 4. tMat. Paris, Anno 1246. p. 699. 9.Quod Italicus Italico ſuccedit; which yet was with little ſucceſſe, for the Popes having (as we have heard) firſt ſetled all Elections in the Eccleſiaſticks, and after upon ſeveral occaſions, on the ſubmitting of the Engliſh to his deſires, bestowed the Benefices in this and other Kingdoms on his Dependents, John the 22. (or as uCardinal Oſſat. Epiſt. 296. Dat. Rom. 1601. Decem…. 22.ſome think Clement 5. his immediate predeceſſor) endeavoured the breaking of Elections by Cathedrals and Convents, reſerving the free Donation of all preferments to himſelf alone. From whence proceeded the reiterated complaints againſt Papal Proviſions, in the Parliaments of Edward the 3. and xRot. Par l. … R. 2. n. 37.Richard the 2. for this Kingdom never received his attempts in that kind. Of which (God willing) I ſhall render you a full account in due place and time, out of our Parliament Rolls and other Records.
Upon the great complaints and oppoſition then made againſt the multitudes of Popes Proviſions to forraigners both in France, and England, the Pope was enforced to grant ſome ſeeming mitigation and relaxation of them this year, thus related by Matthew Paris.
Tempore quoque ſub eodem, conceſſit Dominus Papa his qui dignitatibus gaudebant,Mat. Paris Hiſt▪ Edit Londini p. 846. Literae Papales aliquantulum mit…gatoriae ſeu relaxativae. & ſupra modum, in partibus maximè Tranſalpinis opprimebantur, ut ritè de ipſis dignitatibus, ipſi, ad quos pertinebat electio, Deum habentes prae oculis, ordinarent. Literae autem ſuper hoc in libro *Mat Parienſi… Additamenta. p. 184, 185.Additam ntorum annotantur; where they are thus entred.