Chronological History of Popes Intolerable Usurpations, History · Book 1
An Exact CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY AND FULL DISPLAY OF POPES Intollerable Uſurpations Upon the antient juſt Rights, Liberties, of the Kings, Kingdoms, Clergy, Nobility, Commons of ENGLAND and IRELAND.
THE deſign of this Chronological Hiſtory and Display, being principally to remonſtrate to the world, by irrefragable Teſtimonies and Records, the manifold unſufferable Ʋſurpations of the Biſhops and See of Rome, from time to time, upon the antient indubitable juſt Rights and Liberties of the Kings, Churches, Nobles, Commons of England and Ireland, whiles they continued under their Foreign Juriſdiction: More eſpecially by Excom…unications, Interdicts, abſolving Subjects from their Oathes of Allegia…ce, raiſing Rebellions, dethroning our Kings, enforcing them to reſign their Crowns, to become their ſworn Vaſſals, Tributaries; exempting Biſhops, Clerks from their Homage, Judicatures; collating Biſhopricks, Monaſteries, Eccleſiaſtical Dignities, Benefices, by Proviſions to Aliens, or others; tranſlating, ſwearing Biſhops, Abbots, to them and their Papal See; vacating due Elections at their pleaſures; Appeals to Rome, Diſpenſations, Tenths, Procurations, Firſt-Fruits, Bribes, Symony, Croſſadoes; varieties of Extortions, Oppreſſions, by their Legates and other Inſtruments: To diſcover their originals, progreſſe, growth, revivals, ſuppreſſions, with the manifold memorable Complains, Letters, Oppoſitions, Writs, Prohibitions, Declarations againſt them, both in and out of Parliament; and the frequent Treacheries, Uſurpations, of our Popiſh Prelates, Spiritual Courts, Officers, upon our Kings juſt Rights, Prerogatives, Regalities, Courts, Subjects Liberties, (to the extraordinary d…ger, miſchief of the Crown, Realm, Church, Chriſtian Religion, and peoples grievance.) And what Soveraign Eccleſiaſtical Juriſdiction our Kings, as Gods Vicars, have exerciſed, from King Lucius his Converſion, Anno 183. till the total extirpation of the Popes uſurped Authority, by King Henry the 8. and Edward the 6. by Hiſtories, and memorable Records in the Tower and Rolls, for the moſt part unknown to our greateſt Clerks, Antiquaries, worthy publick view; yea adding much light to our Eccleſiaſtical and Political Hiſtories, (very defective in theſe Tranſactions of grand Importance:) I apprehended it abſolutely neceſſary, by way of Introduction (like a(a)Mat. 7. 24, 25. Luke 8. 4…. Wiſe Builder) to lay a deep, ſure Foundation, whereon to bottom this Weighty Structure, that ſo if any Floods ſhall hereafter come, or Windes blow, and beat upon it from Rome, or other Quarters, they may not be able to ſhake, or overturn it, becauſe it is founded upon a Rock.
To this end I ſhall (by Gods aſſiſtance) in one intire Book, Chronologically and Hiſtorically remonſtrate, and (where neceſſity requires) Polemically examine, diſcuſſe the Original of Soveraign Juriſdiction; in what Perſons God himſelf hath ſetled the Primitive Right and Exerciſe thereof, as well over the Churches Militant as Civil State, from Adams Creation till Chriſts Aſcenſion, and from thence till this preſent age: And irrefragably demonſtrate, by Scripture, Heathen Philoſophers, Fathers, Councils, Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtories, Imperial Laws, Edicts, Popes own Epiſtles, Decretals, Bulls, Archbiſhops, Biſhops, Popiſh Divines, School-men, Canoniſts, Proteſtant Writers, Teſtimonies, and Preſidents, in all ages, That the Supreme Eccleſiaſtical Juriſdiction, (in governing, protecting, reforming the Church, and people of God; maintaining, propagating the Orthodox Chriſtian Faith, the true publike worſhip of God; ſuppreſſing all Hereſies, Errors, Blaſphemies, Idolatries, Schiſms, ſinnes, againſt both Tables, in all Perſons, as well Eccleſiastical as Temporal; taking care of the ſouls, and ſalvation of men) is originally veſted by God himſelf, in Kings, Emperors, or Soveraign Princes, as Gods Vicegerents, and Chriſts Vicars upon Earth, as the principal part of their Royal Authority, Office, Truſt; not in High-Prieſts, Priests, Apoſtles, Popes, Patriarchs, Archbiſhops, Biſhops, or any other Eccleſiaſtical perſons whatſoever; who are all Subjects to, and ſubordinate Ministers under them, in the Churches Militant, within their reſpective Empires, Kingdoms, Dominions, as all inferiour Civil Magiſtrates, Officers of Juſtice, are in their Civil States, Kingdoms, Courts: And that the received Diſtinction of bGratian Diſtinct 10, 96. & cauſ. 2 qu. 7 Here p. 120, 121. Surius Concil. Tom. 2. p. 300, to 310. Hincmarus Epiſt. 4. c. 3. Epiſt. 5. c. 38. Damaſcenus Orat. 2. De Imaginibus. Damianus l. 4. Epiſt. 9. Hugo de Sancto Victore l. 2. De Sacram. pars 2. c. 4. Alexander Alenſis, Summa pars 3. qu. 40. m. 5. Johannis Pariſienſis de poteſtate Regia & Pontif. Alvatus Pelagius de Planctu Eccleſ. l. 1. Artic. 51, 52, 53, 54, &c. Tho. Waldenſis Doctrinalis Fidei, Tom. 1. Artic. 3. c. 78.two ſupreme Juriſdictions, Powers, ſpecifically different from, and independent on each other in their very eſſence, nature, by Divine Inſtitution, and (at leaſt ever ſince our Saviours Aſcenſion) immediately veſted in two diſtinct callings, profeſſions of men: to wit, the Soveraign Civil Juriſdiction in and over all ſecular perſons, affairs, in Emperors, Kings, and Temporal Powers alone; the Supreme Eccleſiaſtical or Spiritual Juriſdiction in and over all Churches Militant, Biſhops, Prieſts, Church-Members, Divine and Eccleſiaſtical affaires, only in Popes, or Patriarchs, not Emperors, Kings, Secular Princes, States: is but a meer Popiſh Impoſture, Forgery, Fancy, Stratagem, to cheat, rob, deprive all Chriſtian Emperors, Kings, Princes, of the richeſt Pearl, Jewel, chiefeſt Branch and Flower of their Diadems, to exempt the Clergy from their Juriſdictions under this pretext, and to ſubject both their Perſons, Crowns, Kingdoms, Subjects, to the Antichriſtian Uſurpations, Tyrannies, Exorbitances, Oppreſſions of Ambitious Popes, Prelates, Prieſts, as Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtories evidence, ever ſince this Hereſie of two diſtinct Soveraign Authorities, delegated by Divine Inſtitution to two ſeveral Functions, was firſt broached in the Chriſtian Church: being the ſame in ſubſtance with that of Duo Principia, (condemned by Popes themſelves, and the greateſt cAlvarus Pelagius de Planctu Eccleſiae l. 1. Artic. 13, 37. Thomas Bozius de jure ſtatus, l. 5. c. 10. Marta pars 1. c. 18. n. 25. Here p. 8, 38.Champions of their Univerſal Soveraign Monarchy, as a moſt dangerous Hereſie) invented firſt by dIrenaeus adverſus Haereſes, l. 9. c. 12. Tertullian. de Praeſcriptionibus adverſus Haereticos, & contra Marcionem, l. 1. Epiphanius contra Haereſes, Titus Boſtrenſis contra Manichaeos.Marcion, Manes, Hermogenes, and other Hereticks, againſt whom eTertullian. adverſus Hermogenem, & adverſus Marcionem l. 1. he argues in like manner. Bibl. Patrum Tom. 4. p. 365, 366, 375, 376, 439. Cent. Magd 3. col. 112. Cent. 2. col 98.Tertullian thus long ſince argued: Quid erit unicum & ſingulare, niſi cui nihil adaequabitur? Quid principale, niſi quod ſuper omnia, niſi quod ante omnia, & in quo omnia? Haec Deus ſolus habendo eſt, & ſolus habendo, Deus eſt. Si & alius habuerit, tot jam erunt Dii, quot habuerint quae Dei ſunt. Quod ſummum ſit, Deus eſt: ſummum autem non erit, niſi quod unicum fuerit. Unicum autem eſſe non poterit, cui aliquid adaequabitur. Veritas autem ſic unum Deum exigit defendendo, ut ſolius ſit quicquid ipſius est. Ita enim ipſius erit, ſi fuerit ſolius: Et ex hoc alius Deus non poſſit admitti, dum nemini licet habere de Deo aliquid. Ergo, inquis, nec nos habemus Dei aliquid. Imo, habemus, & habebimus; ſed ab ipſo, non à nobis. Nam & Dii erimus, ſi & meruerimus illi eſſe de quibus praedicavit, Ego dixi, vos Dii eſtis: & ſtetit Deus in Eccleſia Deorum: ſed ex gratia ipſius, non ex noſtra proprietate, quia ipſe eſt ſolus, qui Deos faciat. I may moſt aptly apply it to Emperors, Kings, who are Earthly Gods, made ſuch by God in their own Kingdoms, as his Vice-roys. The Soveraign Power, Juriſdiction, over all perſons, Churches, cauſes, as well Civil as Eccleſiaſtical, within their reſpective Realms, muſt be but one in…ire indiviſible Soveraign Authority, incommunicable unto any other ſubject or perſon whatſoever, but by ſubordinate derivation and delegation by, from, or under them; elſe they ſhould preſently ceaſe to be Earthly Gods, had Popes or Biſhops a diſtinct Supreme Eccleſiaſtical Power within their Realms, coequal with, underived from, or independent on them. Whence fDe Quaeſtionibus Novi & Veteris Teſtamenti, qu. 210.St. Auguſtine thus reſolves: Sicut terreni Imperatoris auctoritas currit per omnes, ut in omnibus ejus ſit reverentia. Ita Deus inſtituit, ut ab ipſo Rege Dei auctoritas incipint, et currat per cunctos. Quamvis frequenter mundus hoc non intelligit, & alii ſe ſubjiciat in poteſtate poſitus quam debet, tamen inſtitutio eſt, ut unus ſit qui timeatur. Ubi ergo haec inſtitutio non eſt, ibi Cathedra peſtilentiae reperitur: (as it is at Rome.) Nuſquam enim unius Dei auctoritas abjicitur, niſi apud eos qui multorum Deorum praedicant metum. From hence our gDoctrinalio Fidei, Tom. 1. Artic. 3. c. 78. ſect. 3. f 391.Thomas Waldenſis thus concludes: Ecce ab ipſo Rege incipit auctoritas, & currit per cunctos executores juſtitiae; & hoc inſtituit Deus: non ergo inſtituit Deus, ut inciperet à Summo Sacerdote, & ſola executio poteſtatis manaret in Principem. hSee Tertullian Apolog. c. 30, 31. Here p. 52.Ecce, inde eſt Imperator, unde & homo antequam Imperator: & unde homo antequam Imperator, niſi à Deo? Quamvis a Deo per Sacerdote Chriſtianus homo, tamen nec homo, nec Chriſtianus homo, niſi a Deo; Ita nec Imperator, nec Chriſtianus Imperator, niſi a Deo, quamvis per Pontificem fidelis ſit Imperator a Chriſto; et inde poteſtas illi, unde et ſpiritus; et nunquid ſpiritus illi a Pontifice? Tertullianus intendi, Quod non, ſed a Deo profecto: ergo non poteſtas illi a Sacerdotio provenit, a cujus dono animam non accepit. Poteſtatis Regiae primum initium in ipſo Rege a Deo, et ab ipſius auctoritate manat in ſubditas poteſtates; as well Eccleſiaſtical as Civil, as I ſhall here demonſtrate, againſt all Papal or Pontifical pretences to the contrary.
For methods ſake I ſhall digeſt the ſum of my First Book into theſe 5. Propoſitions.
1. That from Adams creation, till the Law given by God to Moſes, (and by him unto the Iſraelites, his peculiar people) the Supreme Paternal, Regal, Magiſtratical, with that now ſtiled Spiritual, Pontifical, Eccleſiaſtical Authority or Juriſdiction, both in and over the Family, State, Church Militant, was by Divine and Natural Right veſted, united in one perſon, not many; to wit, Firſt in Adam himſelf, but after his deceaſe in the Firſt-born, (unleſſe diſinherited by God for ſin) or in the Patriarch, or Maſter of the Family, Tribe, who was both King and Prieſt, having the Prieſthood annexed to his Paternal or Regal Office, not theſe to his Prieſtſhip.
2ly. That God, after the Iſraelites deliverance from the Aegyptian bondage, when he firſt new-modelled them into a Commonwealth, (and afterwards into a Kingdom) ſetled both their State and Church-government, dividing the Prieſthood from the Supreme Civil Magiſtracy, Kingſhip, veſting the one in Moſes, Joſuah, David, Solomon, and their Royal Succeſſors; the other in Aaron, his Sons, and Tribe of Levi; left the Soveraign Eccleſiaſtical Power, Juriſdiction over all perſons, cauſes, ſtill annexed to the Kingly or Supreme Magiſtratical Office, and reſiding in the King, or chief Civil Officer as before, transferring to Prieſts only the Miniſterial Prieſtly Offices, not the Soveraign Spiritual Juriſdiction, the ſame in kind with, a real part of, and various diſpenſation only from the Civil Supremacy.
3ly. That the Supreme Government of the Church Militant, after Chriſts Incarnation, under the Goſpel, was veſted in Jeſus Chriſt himſelf, God and Man, only as he is the King, not Prieſt or Prophet of the Church, his Prieſtly and Prophetical Offices being united to his Kingly, as the firſt, higheſt in dignity and order, not his Regal to his Pontifical or Prophetical Offices.
4ly. That Jeſus Chriſt as Supreme King, Lord, Head of his Kingdom the Church, whilſt on Earth, never claimed, nor exerciſed any Temporal Regal Juriſdiction, or Magistratical Authority over any of his Subjects, much leſs over Emperors, Kings, Kingdoms, Nations, or Soveraign Civil Powers, nor ever deprived any of them of their Crowns, nor abſolved their Subjects from their Allegiance, nor caſt down, pulled, or rooted up their Kingdoms, nor gave them to whomſoever he pleaſed: Neither did he either before, at, or after his Paſſion, Reſurrection, or Aſcenſion, derive any ſuch Superlative Power to St. Peter, as his ſole univerſal Vicar or Viceroy, nor to any other Apoſtle, Biſhop, Prieſt, or Pope whatſoever: Nor yet delegate to them his ſupreme Spiritual Juriſdiction over his Kingdom in this world, the Church Militant, and all the Members of it: but only the Miniſterial part of his Prophetical Office, (his iHeb. 7. 15. to the end. c. 8. 1. c. 9. 11, 12, 24, 25, 26, 28. c. 10. 11, to 24.High Prieſthood being perſonal, untransferrable, incommunicable to any other) to wit, preaching the Goſpel publickly to all Nations, adminiſtring the Sacraments of Baptiſm and the Lords Supper, according to his Inſtitution and Command, feeding his ſheep with the ſincere milk of his Word, teaching them (as his Apoſtles, Ministers, Servants) to obey whatſoever he hath commanded them; beſeeching, intreating them as his Ambaſſadors, in his ſtead, to be reconciled unto God: to declare, pronounce them abſolved from their ſins by God himſelf, upon their ſincere Repentance, and to denounce damnation againſt them in caſe they do not repent and believe in Chriſt.
5ly. That Gods principal end and intention in ordaining Kings and ſupreme Civil Magiſtrates in the world, was not the bare external adminiſtration of Juſtice between man and man, the protection of their Subjects from violence, oppreſſion; the preſervation of them in worldly peace, plenty, proſperity; the puniſhment of Malefactors, the rewarding of Well-doers, encouragement of Arts, Vertue, Trade, Induſtry, or fighting their Battels in times of War againſt Invading Enemies; thoughkHere, p. 191, 192, 193. conſiderable parts of their Regal Office, and Soveraign Authority: But the advancement of Gods honour, worſhip, ſervice, glory, and ſpiritual Kingdom, whoſe Viceroys they are; the ſuppreſſion of all Idolatry, Blasphemy, Hereſie, ſchiſme, ſin, wickedneſſe; the promotion of the eternal ſalvation, felicity of their people, and to bel2 Chron. 9. 8. Kings for the Lord their God, by advancing his intereſt all they can. Upon which ground (in order to effect theſe ends) God himſelf, as well under the Gospel as Law, hath delegated the ſupreme Eccleſiaſtical Juriſdiction only to Kings, and other Soveraign Temporal Potentates, not to Popes, Biſhops, Priests, who are ſubordinate to them as their Subjects, Miniſters, not Copartners with them in their Soveraign Eccleſiaſtical Authority in point of Intereſt, nor yet in its actual execution, no further then they are pleaſed by their Laws or Commiſſions to delegate it to them, as their Subſtitutes.
When I have Chronologically evidenced, and fully demonſtrated the truth of theſe five Concluſions in ſo many diſtinct Chapters, in this Firſt Book, I ſhall then wholly addreſſe my ſelf to my intended Chronological Hiſtory, in relation to the Kings and Crown of England, from Lucius our firſt Chriſtian King, Anno Dom. 183. till the Popes extirpation, concluding my Firſt Tome thereof, with the reign of King Henry the third, Anno 1273.