¶ Peter was not greater then the other Apostles, by any aucthoritie geuen hym of Chryst.

THey saye that Peter was chefe of the Apostles, verely as Apel­les was called chefe of painters for his excellent conning aboue other, euen so Peter may be called thefe of y ^e Apostles for his actiuitie ād boldnes aboue the other: but that Peter had any aucthoritie or rule ouer his bretheren & fellow apostles, is fals & cōtrary to the scriptur. Christ forbad it the last euen before his passion, ād in dyuerse times befor, and taught always the contrary, as I haue rehersed.

Thou wylt saye: thou canst not see how there shuld be any good ordre in y ^e kingdom, where none weare Better then other, and where the superiour had not a lawe ād au­thoritie [Page] to compell the inferyour with violē ce. The world truly can se none other way to rule, then with violence. For there no mā absteyneth from euel / but for feare, because the loue of ryghtuousnes is not written in theyr hartes. And therfore the Po­pes kingdome is of thys worlde. For there one sorte are your Grace, your Holynesse, your fatherhod: An other, my lorde bisshop my Lorde Abbot, my Lord Priour / An o­ther / master doctour / father, bachelar / mas­ter parson / master vicar, and at the last commeth in simple sir Iohan. And euery man reygneth ouer other wyth myght and haue euery ruler his pryson his iayler / hys chay­nes / hys tormentes / euen so much as y ^e fry­ers obseruauntes obserue that rule, and cō pell euery man eyther with violence aboue y ^e cruelnes of the heathē tiraūts, so y ^t what cometh ones in, maye neuer out for feare of tellyng tales out of scole. They rule ouer the bodye with violence and cōpell it whe­ther the harte wyll or not, to obserue thin­ges of their owne making.

But in the kyngdom of God it is contrarye. For y ^e spirite that bringeth thē thether maketh thē wyllyng & geueth thē luste vnto the lawe of God, & loue compelleth them to [Page] worke / and loue maketh everye mans good and all that he can do, commune vnto hys neyghbours neade. And as every man is strōge in that kingdome, so loue compelleth him to take the weake by the hande / and to helpe him, and to take him, that can not goo vppon his shulders and beare him. And so to do seruice vnto y ^e weaker, is to beare rule in that kyngdome.

And because Peter did excede the other apostles in fervēt service towarde his bre­thern, therfore is he called (not in the scrip­ture but in the vse of speaking) the chefeste of the Apostles, and not that he had any dominiō ouer thē. Of which truth thou mayest se all thy practise in the A [...]tes of the A­postles after the resurrectiō. For when Peter had bene & preached in the house of Cor +nelis an hethē mā, the other that were circūcysed, chode hym, because he had bene in an vncyrcumcised mās house and had ea­tē w ^t hī, for it was forbyddē in y ^e lawe, neyther wist they yet y ^t y ^• hethē shuld be called. And Peter was fayne to gyue accountes vnto thē (which is not tokē of superiorite) ād to shew thē how he was warned of the holy gost so to do Actes. xi.

And Actes the .xv. whē a counsell was [Page] gathered of the apostles ād dyscyples aboute y ^e cyrcūcysiō of the hethē, Peter brought forth not hys cōmaundemēt and the auctoryte of hys vycarshyppe, but the myracle y ^t the holy gost had shewed for the heathen / how at the preaching of the gospel, the holy gost had lyghted vppon thē and purytyed theyr hartes thorow fayth, and therfore ꝓ [...]ed that they ought not to be circumcysed.

And Paule & Barnabas brought forth the myracles also that God had shewed by thē / amōg the heathē, thorow preachyng of fayth. And thē Iames brought forth a ꝓphecy of the olde testamēt for the sayde partie: And ther with the aduersaries gaue o­uer their hold / and they cōcluded wyth one assent by y ^e auctorytie of the scripture & of y ^e holy gost, y ^u y ^e heathen shuld not be circū cised / and not by the commaundement of Peter, vnder payne of cursing, excommu­nycatyon interdytyng and lyke bogges to make foles and chyldren afrayed wyth all.

And Actes. viij. Peter was sent of y ^e other apostles vnto the samaritanes / which is an evident token that he had in iurisdic­cion ouer them (for then they coulde not haue sent hym) But rather (as the truth is) y ^t the congregacion had auctorytie ouer hym [Page] and ouer all other pryuate Parsons, to admitte them for ministres and send thē forth to preach whether so euer the sprite of god moued them / and as they sawe occasyon.

And in the Epystle vnto y ^e Gallathians thou seist also howe Paule corrected Peter when he walked not the ryght waye after the truth of the Gospell. Galla. ij. So now thou seyst that in the kingdome of Chryst, and in his churche or congregation, and in his coū sels, Scripture is the chefest of the apostles. the ruler is the scripture approued thorowe the myracles of the holy gost and mē be seruaunts onely▪ and Chryst is the heade and we all bretheren: And when we call men oure heades, y ^t we do not, because they be shorne or shauen, or because of theyr na­mes, parson, vicar, bisshoppe, pope: But one­ly because of the worde which they preach. If they erre frō the worde / then may who soeuer God moueth his harte, playe pauil▪ and correct hī. If he wyl not obeye the scripture / then haue hys brethern aucthoritie by the scripture to put hym downe & to sende hī out of Chrystes church amonge the heretikes which preferre their false doctryne a­boue the true woorde of Chryst.

¶ How the gospell punissheth trespasers and how by the Gospell we ought to go to lawe with oure aduersaryes.

THough y ^t they of Chrystes congre­gacion be all wyl [...]ing: yet because y ^t the moost part is always weake & because also that the occasions of the world be euer many and greate, in so muche that Chryst, which wys [...]e all thing beforehande, sayth Mathew xviij. Wo be vnto y ^e world by reason of occasions of Euell, and saythe also that it can not be auoyded but that oc­casyons shall come, therfore it can not be chosen but that many shal ouerfaule, when a weake Brother hath trespassed, by what law shal he be punisshed? verely by the law of loue / whose properties thou readest in y ^e xiii. of the first to the Corinthians. If the loue of God / which is my professiō / be written in myne hart, it wyll not let me hate my weake brother when he hath offended me▪ no more then naturall loue wyll let a Mo­ther hate her chyld when it trespasseth a­gainst her. My weak brother hath offēded me, he is fallē, his weaknes hath ouertrowne hī: it is not ryght by the lawe of loue y ^t I shuld now faule vpō hī, & treade hī downe [Page] in y ^e myre and destroy him vtterly: but it is ryght by the law of loue, y ^t I runne to hym & helpe him vp agayne. ¶By what ꝓcesse we shuld go to law w ^t our trespacers / christ teacheth vs Math. xviij. Tell hī hys faute betwene hī & the with all mekenesse, remē ­bryng y ^• thou arte a man & mayst fall also: Yf ye repet, & thou loue hī / ye shall sone a­gre / & thē forgeue hī. And whē thou forge­uest thy neyghbour, thē thou arte sure that god forgeueth the thy trespaces by his holy promysse Math. vi. If he heare y ^• not / thē take a neyghboure or two. If he heare thē not, thē tell the cōgregaciō wher thou art: & let y ^e preacher pronoūce gods law agaīst hī & let y ^e sad & discret mē rebuke hī & exhort hī vnto repētaūce, if he repēt, & y ^• also loue him accordyng to y ^e professyon, ye shall so­ne agre. If he heare not y ^e cōgregaciō, then let him be taken as an hethē. Yf he y ^t is offē ded be weake also / thē let them y ^t be strong [...]o betwene & helpe thē. And in lyke maner if any sine agaīst y ^e doctrine of Chryst & y ^e professiō of a christē mā so that he be a dronkard, & ā horekeper, or whatsoeuer opē sinne he do, or if he teach false learnīg: then let such be rebuked opēly befor y ^e cōgregaciō & by y ^e auctoritie of y ^e scripture. And if they [Page] repēt not, let thē be put out of y ^e cōgregaciō as he thē people, if they thē be not a shamed [...] we haue no remedye but paciently to abyde what god wil do & to pray in y ^e meane time y ^e god wyll opē their hartes & giue them re­pentaunce. Other law then this, Chrystes gospell knoweth not, nor y ^e officers therof. It is manifest therfore, that y ^e kingdom of christ is a spirituall kingdom w ^c no man cā mynyster well, & a tēporall kingdō to, as it is sufficiently proued: because y ^• no mā whiche putteth his hand to y ^e plow, & loketh backe / is apt for y ^e kingdō of heauē, as Chryst answered Luke. ix. vnto hī y ^• wold haue folowed hī, but wolde first haue take leaue of his housholde. If a man put hys hād to y ^• plow of gods word, to preach it / & loke also vnto worldly busines / his plow wyll sure­ly go a wry. And therfore sayth Christ vn­to ā other y ^• wold likewise folow hī, but desyred first to go ād bury his father. Let y ^e dead bury y ^e deade, but come thou ād shewe or preach y ^t kingdom of god. As who shuld say, he y ^• wyll preache the kingdom of God (which is Chrystes gospell) truly, must ha­ue his harte no where else.

¶What officers y ^• apostles ordeyned ī christes church, & what their offices wer to do.

[Page]Wherfore y ^e apostles folow [...]g & obeīg y ^e rule, doctrine & cōmaūdmēt of our sauiour Iesus Christ their master / ordeyned in hys kyngdome ād congregaciō two officers: One called after y ^e greke worde byshop, in english an ouersear: which same was called preast after y ^e greke, elder in ēglysh because of his age, discreciō & sadnes for he was as nygh as coulde be all waye ā elderly man: as thou seist both in the new & olde testament also, how the officers of the Iewes be called the Elders of the People / because (as thou mayst wel thynke) they were ouer old men▪ as nygh as could be. For vnto age do men naturally obeye, and vnto age doth god commaunde to geue honoure / sayenge: Levi. xix. Ryse vp before the ho­rehead, and reuerence the face of the old mā And also experience of thynges and could­nesse (without which it is hard to rule wel) is more in age then in youth. And thys ouersea [...] dyd put hys hādes vnto the plow of goddes worde, and fed Chrystes flocke / and tended them only without lokyng vnto any other busynesse in the worlde.

An other officer they chose, and called hym Deacon after the greke, amynystre in english, to mynystre the almesse of the peo­ple [Page] vnto the pore and neadye. For in the congregation of christ, loue maketh euery mās gifte and goodes comune vnto the necessyte of hys neyghboure. Wherfore the loue of god beyng yet hore in the hartes of men, the rych that had the substance of thys worldes goodes / brought of theyr aboundaunce gre­te plentye vnto the sustentation of the poo­re, and delyuered it vnto the Handes of the Deacons. And vnto the helpe of the Dea­cons were wydowes of .lx. yeare olde, holy, vertuous / and destitute of frendes, chosen to tende and wayte vppon the sycke and to washe the sayntes fete that came from one Congregacion vnto an other / whether for any busynes or for feare of Persecucyon. And these commune goodes of the churche offered for the succour of the poore, grewe in all churches so Exceadyngly / that in so­me cōgreg [...]cion it was so much that it was sufficyente to Mayntayne an hoste of men In so muche that tyrants dyd oft tymes ꝑsecute the christen for those commune goo­des / as thou seist in the lyfe of. S. Laurence the deacon of Rome.

And moreouer the couetuousnes of the prelates was the decaye of chrystendome ād the encresyng of the kyngdome of Maho­mette [Page] For by the first springing of the em­pyre of, Mahomete, the Emperoures, Kinges, and greate lordes of christendome had geuen their treasure so myghtely vnto the church, what after great victoryes, & what at theyr deathes, that their successours were not able to mainteyne battell against the Saracenes and Turkes (for the woorlde was not yet in such captiuitie y ^t they coulde make theyr subiects swere on bokes what they were worth & rayse vp taxes at theyr pleasur) so that a certein wrytter of stories sayth: The prelates gaped when the laye men wolde take the warre vpon thē agaīst the Turkes, and y ^t lay men loked when y ^e prelates wolde laye out their money to make the warre with all, and not to spend it in worse vse, as y ^e most part of thē were wōt to do / spendynge the moneye that was go­ten with almesse and bloude of marters vppon goodly place and greate vessels of gol­de and syluer, without care of things to come, despising God whome they worshyp­ped for their belyes sake onely and also mā. Moreouer it was the custome euen then / (sayth y ^e auctor) to axe what the bishopry­ke was worth, ye and to leaue a worse for a better or to kepe both with a vniō. And at y ^e [Page] same time Isacius the debitie of the Em­perour, came to Rome to confirme the Po­pe in his se, w ^t the Emperours aucthoritie, for the electiō of y ^e pope was thē nothynge worth, except it had bene cōfirmed by y ^e emperour, and he founde so great treasure in the church of saynt Ihon Lateran, y ^• for dysdayne which he had y ^t they shulde haue such treasure in s [...]ore & not to helpe the emperour in his warres agaīst the Turckes seing his souldyers / lacked wages, he toke it away with violence agaīst the wyll of y ^e prelates, of which he exy [...]ed some / and payde his owne men of warre with one part & toke an other part vnto him self, & sent the thyrde parte vnto the Emperoure: whiche must nedes haue bene a great treasure in o­ne church.

¶By what meanes the prelates fell from Chryst

THe office of a Bysshop was a rou­me at the begynnynge, that no man coueted and that no man durste ta­ke vppō him, saue he only which loued christ better then hys owne lyfe. For as Christ sayeth that no man myght be hys disciple, ex­cepte [Page] that he were ready to forsake lyfe and all: euē so myght that officer be sure that it wolde coste hym hys lyfe at one tyme or an other forbearīg record vnto the truth. But after that the multitude of the chrysten were encreased, and many great men had re­ceau [...]d the fayth, than both landes and rentes aswell as the other goodes, were geuen vnto the maintenaunce as well of the cler­gye as of the poore: because they gaue then no tythes to the priestes, nor yet nowe do saue in certeyne coūtreys: For it is to much to geue almesse / offeringes / landes and ty­thes also. And then the bysshops made thē whych they call pryest / and kepe the name bisshop vnto them selues.

But out of the deacons sprange all the myschefe. For thorow their handes wente all thynge: they ministred vnto the clergye, they ministred vnto the poore / they were in fauoure with great & small. And when the bisshops office begā to haue rest & to be honorable / then the deacons through fauoure and gyftes clam vp thervnto, as lyghtlye he y ^t hath the old Abbots treasure, succedeth with vs. And by the meanes of their practise & accointaūce in the world, they were more [Page] subtile and woorldly wyse then the olde bysshops, and lesse learned in Goddes wor­de, as oure prelates are / when they come frō studentshyppe in Gentlemens houses, and from surueing of greate mens landes, lor­des secrets, Kynges counsels, ambasadourshyp / from warre and ministring all worldly matters / yea, worldlye mischefe: and yet nowe they come not thence / but receaue all and byde there styll, The prelates must b [...] de styll in the courte. yea they haue enacted by playne parlyament that they must byde in the courte styll or els they may not haue pluralytie of benefyces. And then by lytle and lytle they inhaunsed them selues and turned all to them selues minysshynge the poore peoples parte and encreasing theyrs, and ioynīng accoyntaunce with greate mē, and with their power clam vp and entitled thē wich the chosing and confyrming of the Pope and all bisshoppes, to flatter and purchase fauoure and defenders: trustynge more vnto their worldly wysdom then vnto y ^e doctryne of Chryst, whych is the wysdom of God and vnto the defence of mā, then of God. Then whyle they y ^t had the plowe by the tayle, loked [...]acke, the plow went a wrye▪ Faythe waxed feble and faint / loue waxed cold, the scriptur waxed darke, Chryst was [Page] no more sene: he was in the mounte wyth Moses, & therfore the bysshops wolde haue a god vpon the earth whom they might se, and thervpon they began [...]e to dyspute who shulde be greatest.

¶How the Bysshop of Rome beca­me greater then other / and called him selfe Pope.

Thē quod worldly wisdō Hie­rusalē must be y ^• greatest for y ^t was christs sete, et factum [...]st, so it cā to passe for a seasō And in cōclusiō where a gre­ate cytie was and much riches, ther was y ^• bis [...]hop ever greater then his fellowes. A­lexander in Egypte / and Antioch in Grece / were greater then theyr neyghbours. Thē those decaying, Constātinople and Rome / waxed greate, and stroue who shuld be greater. And Constantinople sayd, where the Emperour is, there ought to be the grea­test seat and chefest bisshop. For y ^e Empe­rour lay [...] most at Constantynople / because it was (I suppose) nygh the middes of the empyre, therfore I must be the greatest sayde the bisshope of Cōstātinople. Nay quod [Page] the bisshoppe of Rome, though the Emperour lye neuer so muche at constantinople yet he is called Emperour of Rome / & rome is the head of y ^e ēpyre, wherfor of right I muste be the Father of all waten. And thus whether they chalenged theyr title by y ^e aucthorite of God or man, or by peter or poulinge, it was all one: so they myghte be greatest.

And great intercession was made vnto the Emperours of both parties: but in vayne a greate season / for the emperours stopped their eares at such ambicious requests longe time, tyll at the last there cam an Emperour called Phocas whyche laye long in Italy & was a very soft man & a praye for prelates. Phocas. Pope bon [...] face the [...] In whose time Boniface y ^e third was bysshop of Rome, a man ambicious & gready vpon honour, & of a very subtil wit nothing inferiour vnto Thomas wolf ser cardinall of yorcke. This Boniface was greate with the emperour Phocas, & with his wyly [...] persuasions & greate intercessiō together, obtayned of Phocas to be called y ^e chefest of all bysshops, & that his churche shulde be the chefe church. Which auctorite as sone as he had purchased / he sent imme­diatly his cōmādmēt w ^t the emperours power [Page] wherunto all the bisshopps of Almanye▪ [...] maūdi [...]g y ^e euery bysshop shuld call all the priestes of his diocese, the chastit [...] of priestes how it ca­me vp. & charge thē y ^t euery man shuld put awaye his wyfe vnder payne of excōmunicatiō Which tyranny, thogh great resistaūce was made agaīst it / he yet brought to passe with the emperours swerde and his owne subtiltie to gether: for the Bysshops were rych and durst not displease the pope for feare of the Emperour.

As sone as Nemroth y ^• myghtie him [...] had caught this praye, that he had compelled all bysshops to be vnder hym and to swere obedyence vnto hym / then he began to be greate in the earth, and called him self papa, Papa. wyth thys interpreca [...]yon / father of fathers. And when the Pope had exalted his throne aboue hys fellowes, then the v­nitie that ought to be amonge bretheren in Chrystes Church, brake: and diuisyon begā betwene vs and the grekes / which grekes (I suppose) were at that time the one half of chrystendome. Diuisiō in the church. And when any pope [...]ens exhorted them to vnitie they āswered that he which wyl reygne ouer hys bretherē w ^t violēce breaketh vnitie / & not they / & y ^t they wyl not be vnder hys tyrannye whervnto he calleth them vnd a colour of vnite. And [Page] from hense forth with the helpe of his bisshops, which were sworne t [...] be true lyg [...] men vnto him, when before tyme they were admitted to their bisshoprikes of y ^e em­perours and kinges, he began to ley abay­te to catch the hole Empyre into his han­des also.

¶By what meanes the pope in­uaded the Empire.

AT that same ceason Mahomete the auctour of the s [...]cte of the turc­kes and saracens beganne. mahomete & the p [...]pe began at [...]ne time. And as sone as he had got muche People vnto him with wiles and fayned miracles, he inuaded the empyre of Rome in those quarters. And loke how busy Mahomet was in those partyes so [...]esy was the pope in these quarters to inuade y ^e empyre (with y ^e helpe of his sworne bysshops which prea­ched all of non other God then the Pope) whyle the emperour was occupied a farre of, in resisting of Mahomete. Gregory the pope came vp by y ^e frenchmen & by the he cotinnueth his estate styll.

And within few yeares after, when the kinges of Italy nowe and then vexed our holye fathers for the covetouse ambicion, then Gregory y ^e third ioyned amite wyth the Frenchmen, and called them to helpe / by whose power they gatte all they haue & [Page] also mayntaine it vnto this daye, For if a­ny man sens that time hether, dyspleased y ^e pope neuer so lytle, he īmediatly cursed hī and excommuni [...]ated hym / ād proclaymed him no ryght enheritoure, and that it was not laufull to holde of him, and obsolu [...] hys lordes and subiectes of theyr alleages aunce, and sēt his blessing vnto the french king, and remissyon of sinnes to go and cō quere hys lande, the pope and french kynge alwaye diuiding the spoyle betwene them, the bisshops and all that serued god for y ^• belly, preaching the popes myght▪ how that he had power so to do / and all thinges to b [...] de and lose at hys wyll / wrestinge the scriptures to serue for their purpose / corrupting all the lawes both of God and man to proue hys godhead with all.

pope zacharias the .i. Hilderichꝰ THē cam pope Zacharias y ^e first, in whose time hulderichus was kynge of fraunce / a mā y ^• gouer­ned his royalme (as it ofte chaū ceth) by a debitie (as parsones preache) one Pipine a lord of his o [...]ne & his sworn subiect. pipinus This pipine sēt an holy bisshop to pope Zacharias that he shuld helpe to make hym kynge of Fraunce, and he wold be hi [...] [Page] defender in Italy (as the maner of [...]aul [...] horses is, the one to clawe the other) & Za­charias answered that he was more wor­thy to be kyng that ruled the Realme and [...]oke the laboures, than an ydle shadowe y ^t went vp and downe and did nought. And so vpon that / the lordes of Fraunce by the persuasions of the prelates, consented vn­to Pipine, ād thrust downe their right kinge, vnto whom they were sworne, ynd ma­de a monke of him. And both the lordes & also Pipine toke dispensacions for theyr othes of our holy father, and were forsworne. Thus was oure holy father the Pope crepte vp in to the consciences of men with hys false interpretation of byndyng ād lo [...] synge, good .viij. hundred yeres agone.

Then came Pope Stephanus the secōd out of whose hādes Estulphus kyng of Lombardie wold faine ha­ue scratched som what, pope steuē the second estulphus for he thought that the holye fathers gathered to fa [...] / and had all readye raked to muche vnto them. But the new kynge Pipine of fraunce warned of hys duetie and seruice promysed ād mindefull of old frendshippe, and hopynge for parte of the praye, came to succoure the po­pe [Page] and when he had subdued the Kyng o [...] Lombardye, he gaue vnto our holy father or rather to saynt Peter that hungry begger, greate prouinces & contreys in Lom­bardye and in Italye, with the yle corsica and many greate cyties, of which some perteyned vnto the Emperoure being then at Constantinople / & yet the Emperour had sent before vnto king Pipine that he shuld not geue of his townes vnto the pope. But Pipine answer [...] that he cam for the same intent, & to inhaunce our holy father. And our holy father receaued them.

And thus the Empyre was deuided in two part [...]s: the Pope and the frenchking partyng the one halfe betwene them. And as the Emperour decayed, the Pope gre­we. And as the pope grewe, so the secte of Mahomete grew, for the Emperour (halfe his empyre lost) was not able to defend him selfe agaīst the infidels. And the pope wold suffer no help hence to come for two causes: One, lest the Emperour shuld re­couer his Empyre agayne, and an other because y ^e prelates of y ^e grekes wold not submitte them selues vnto his godheade as y ^e prelates of these quarters of y ^e world had [...]one.

[Page]AFter Pipine raygned his sōne greate Charles whō we cal Charlemayne w ^c knew non other God but y ^e Pope nor any other waye to heauen then to do the Pope pleasure. Pipine Charlemayne For the Pope ser [...]ed him for two purposses: One to dispē [...] wyth hym for what soeuer mischefe he did: an other, to be stablished in the Empyre by his helpe, for without his fauour he wist it wold not be / so greate a God was oure holye father become already in those dayes.

Tis pope steuen in his latter daies fell at variaunce with Desiderius king of Lō bardye, aboute the archbisshoppe of Ra­ [...]enna.

AFter Steuen succeded Adriā y ^e fir­ste with whom Desiderius the kīg of Lombardy wold fayne haue made peace, but Pope Adrian wolde not. Steuen. Desiderius king of lombardy. And shortly vpon that the brother of this Charlmayn which raygned wyth hym in halfe the dominion of Fraunce, dyed, whose wife for feare of charles, fled with hir .ij sonnes vnto Desiderius king of Lōbar­dye for succoure. Desiderius was gladd [...] of their comming trusting by the meanes [Page] of these two chylderen to obtaine fauour among many of the Frenchmen, and so to be able to resyst charles, if he wold medle▪ and to brynge Italy vnto the ryght Em [...]perour againe, and wold haue had that pope Adrian shuld haue annointed them kinges in their fathers roume. But Adrian refused that to do (for he sawe charles mygh [...]e and mete for hys purpose) and was as wilye as Desyderius, and thought to kepe oute the right Emperour & be Emperour of Rome him self, though he gaue an other the name for a ceason tyll a more cōuenient [...]ime came.

Then Desiderius warred vpon the popes iurisdictiō. And Adryan sent to Char­les / and Charles came with his armye and dra [...]e out desyderius and his sonne, which sonne fled vnto the ryght Emperoure to Constantinople. And Charles and the Pope dyuided the kingdome of Lombardy betwene them And Charles came to Rome And the Pope and he were sworne toge­ther that who soeuer shulde be ennemy vnto the one, shuld be ennemy also vnto the o­ther.

This Adrian gathered a counsell im­mediatly of an .C.lii [...]. bisshoppes, abbottes [Page] and relygious parsones, & gaue vnto Charles and his successours the empyre of Ro­me, and ordeyned that the ryght and powr to chose the pope▪ shuld be hys▪ and that no bysshop shuld be consecrate tyll he had ob­tayned of hym both consent and the orna­mentes of a bysshop also (whych they now [...]ye of the pope) vnder payne of cursing, & to be delyuered vnto black Sathan the deuell / and losse of goodes. Dist. lxiij.

And Leo the thyrde which succeded Adrian, confyrmed y ^e same / & crouned Charles Emperour of Rome for like seruice done vnto hym. And then there was apoint­ment made betwene the Emperours of cō stantinople and of Rome ād the places as­signed how farre the borders of ether em­pyre shuld reach· And thus of one empyre was made twayne. And therfore the em­pyre of cōstātinople for lacke of help, was shortly after subdued of the Turkes.

The sayd Leo also called Charles the moost chrysten Kynge because of his good seruice: which tytle the kynges of Fraūce vse vnto thys daye / though many of them be neuer so vnchristened▪ As the laste Leo called oure kinge the defender of the faith. And as this Pope Clemens calleth the duke [Page] of Ge [...]der the eldest sōne of the holy [...] of ROME, for non other vertue nor propertye y ^• anye man can knowe saue that he hath b [...]ne all his lyfe a pickequarell and a cruell and vnryghtuous bloudeshedde [...] as his father that sitteth in that holy se is. So now aboue seuen hondred yeres to be a Christen kyng, [...]s to fyght for the Pope, and most chr [...]sten that most fyghteth & sl [...]eth most men for his pleasure.

[...]he lyfe of CharlesThis Charles was a great cōquerour that is to saye a great tiraunte / and ouer­came many nacyons with the swerde, and as the Turke compelleth vnto his Fayth, so he compelled them with violence vnto y ^e fayth of Christ, sayth y ^e stories. But (alas) Christ [...] fayth whervnto the holyghost only draweth mennes hartes thorowe prea­ching the worde of truth and holy lyuyn­ge according therto, he knew not, but vnto the pope he subdued them ād vnto this supersticious ydolatry, w ^c we vse clene cōtrary vnto the scripture.

Practyse.Moreouer at the request and great desyre of his mother, he maryed the dou­ghter of Desyderius kyng of Lombar­dy / but after one yere vnto the great dys­pleasure of his mother he put her a waye [Page] againe: but not without the false subtiltye of the pope thou mayest be sure, nether w ^t out his dispensacion. For how could Charles haue made warre for the Popes pleasure with Desiderius hir father, and haue thruste him out of his kingdome, and banysshed hys Sonne for euer, deuydinge his kingdom betwene him and the pope as long as she had bene his wyfe?

And therfore the pope with his aucto­rit [...] of byndynge and lousinge / lowsed the bōdes of that matrimony (as he hath many other sens, and dayly doth for lyke purposses) to the intent that he wold with the swerde of the french kyng put the Kyng­dome of Lombardye that was somwhat to nye him [...] out of the way: by the reasō of whose kynges hys fatherhode coulde not raygne alone nor assygne or sel the Bys­shoprykes of Italy to whome he lusted ād at his pleasure.

He kept also .iiij. concubines, and laye with two of his owne doughters therto. And though he wist howe that it was not vnknowne, yet his lustes being greater thē great Charles, he wold not wete nor yet refrayne.

[Page]And beyonde all that, the sayinge [...] y ^• in hys olde age a whore had so bewitched him with a ryng & a pearle in it, ād I wote not what ymagerye grauen therin that he went asaute after her as a Dogge after a bytch / and the do [...]ehed was beside hymself and hole out of hys Mynde: in somuche y ^t whē the whore was dead, he could not de­parte from the Deade Corps, but caused it to be Enbaulmed and to be Caryed wyth hym whether so euer he Wente / so that all the worlde wondered at him / tyll at the last hys lordes accombred wyth caryenge her from place to place, and asshamed that so olde a Man, so greate an Emperoure and such a most chrysten kynge, on whō, & whose dedes euery Mannes eyes were sette, shuld dote on a dead hore, toke coūsel what shuld be the cause. And it was concluded that it muste neades be by enchauntement. Then they wente vnto the cophyne, & opened it and sought, and founde thys rynge on her finger: which one of the lordes toke of and put it on his owne fynger. When the ringe was of he, commaunded to burye her, regarding her no longer. Neuertheles he caste a phantasye vnto thys Lorde and beganne to dote as faste on hym, so that he [Page] might neuer be out of syght: But where oure Charles was / there must that lord also be, and what charles dyd, that must he be preuye vnto: vntill that th [...]s lord percea­uing that it came because of this enchaun­ted rynge / for very paine and tedyousnesse [...] to [...] and cast it into a well at ac [...]n in douchland And after y ^• the rynge was in the wel▪ the Emperour coulde neuer departe from the towne / but in the sayde place where the ring was, cast though it were a foule ma [...] resse, yet he bylt a goodly monasterye in y ^e worship of our ladye, and thether brought relikes, from whence he coulde gett thē [...]ād pardons to sanctifye the place and to make it more haūted. And there he lyeth and is [...] sainte / as ryght is. For he dyd for chrystes vicar asmuch as the greate Turke for mahomete: but to saue hys Holynesse that he myght be canonysed for a saint, they fayne in his lyfe that hys abydyng / there so con­tinuallye was for the hote bathes sakes w ^t be there.

AFter Charlemain, lewes y ^e mil [...] was emperour w ^c was a verye paciēt mā (an other pho [...] & an other pray for y ^e pope) & so meke and softe, that sca [...]elye he coulde be angrye [Page] [...]f any thynge at all. Whan oure holy fa­thers had sene his water and spyed what complexion he was / they chose Steuen y ^e iiij. of the name Pope with out his know­lege and bad him nother good morowe nor good euē nor once god spede about the matter, pope steuē [...] .iij. against theyr own graunt vnto hys father for his good seruice. And hys softnes was yet somwhat dyspleased there with in as muche as the electyon of the Pope par­tayned vnto his right. But the Pope sent Ambassadoures and wrote al the excuses that he coud and cam after him self to fraū ce to him, & pleased him ād crouned him y ^e [...]e emperour and passed the tyme a ceason with him, and they became verye famylier to gether.

After that, they chose Paschalis pope of y ^e same maner, pope pas­chale. which phascalis sent immediatly legates vnto the emperour softe le­wes excusing him selfe and sayeng: that it was not his faute but that the clergy and the comen people had drawen hym therto with violence agaīst his wyll. Then y ^e emperour was conte [...]t [...]or that ones and bad they shuld no more do so, but that y ^e old ordinaunce ought to be kept. The softenesse of this Lewes did him much care. For he [Page] was after presoned of his owne sone [...] helpe of pope Gregory the fourth.

After this mans dayes the popes ne­uer regarded the Emperours / nor did the clergy of Rome sue any more to the emperour, ether for the electiō or cōfirmaciō of the pope. Moreouer after this Lewes there was nev emperour in christēdō of any power or able of his owne might to correcte any pope nether was there anye kyng y ^t coud correct y ^e outrages vices of the spyri­tualty of his owne realme after this tyme For this Lewes lefte .iij. sonnes amonge which he deuided the realme of Fraunce and all douchlōd. Which same for pride & disdayn [...] that one shuld haue more then ā ­other fell to gether (as we say) by the ea­res / eche destroyeng others power / so that fraunce was afterward of no might to do any great thīg. And thē the pope reygned in Italy alone without care of any Emperour: Alone pope Nic­laus the .i. in so much that Nicholaus the first [...] decreed that no seculare prince or emperoure shuld haue ought to do or be at the counsels of the clergy. pope adriā the ij ¶ And after y ^t Adriā y ^e secōde was chosē pope y ^e ēperours debite beyng in Rome and not ones spoken to of the matter.

[Page]And when the emperours ambassadoures disdained, they answered who can resiste y ^e rage of the peple, & prayed thē to be cō tent & to salute him as pope. And Adrian the third decreed that they shuld not abyde ād tarye for the Emperours confirmation or aucthoritie in chosing the pope, and hat [...] the pope onely shuld call a generall councel, and not the emperour, or if the Emperour wold presume that to do, the councell shulde be of none effecte / though all the prelat [...] of chrystendom were there, & though what soeuer they did were but GODS wor­de. So mighty was the beast now waxed when he ones began to raygne alone. And from this tyme h [...]therwarde perysshed y ^e powr of the Emperours and the vertue of y ^e pores, saith platina in the lyfe of popes. For sins that tyme as there was none emperour of myght, so was there no pope of any vertue

Alter thys lewes, the empyre of Fraunce and of all doutchlande was diuided be­twene his thre sonnes which (as I sayde) fought one with an other and destroyed y ^e strength of the empyre of fraunce. And frō that time to this, which is aboue .vij. hun­dreth yeares, thou shalt reade of fewe po­pes [Page] that haue not led their lyues in bloud­sheading / in so much that if thou consydre the storyes well, thou shalt easely perceaue that there hath bene slayn about theyr cause farre aboue .xl.C. thousand mē, besides y ^t there hath bene but fewe princes in christendom that hath not bene busyed and cō ­bred a greate parte of his lyfe about their mater. Eyther in warres begonne at their setting on, ether in ceasing scismes or di­uision that hath bene amonge the clergye who shuld be pope, or striuing of bysshops who shulde be greatest / as betwene the bisshop of Yorke and Caunterbury in In­gland & betwene the bisshops of Inglāde & Wales, wherof al y ^e chronycles be ful, or in reforming friers or monks, or in sleing them that vttered their false hypocrisy w ^t goddes woorde.

When the Emperour was downe, & no man in christendom of any powr to be feared, then euery nacion fel vppon others and all landes were at variaunce betwene them selues. And then as the Danes cam into Ingland and vexed the Inglishmen, and dwelt there in spyte of their hartes / e­uen so came straunge nacions whose na­mes were scace hearde of before in these [Page] quarters (as the Uandales / Hunnes and Gothes) and ran thorowout all christēdō by .C. thousands together, Uandales▪ Hunnes· Gothes. and subdued y ^e landes and dwelt therin maugre the inha­bitours, as thou mayest se in Douchlond how diuerse nacions are inclosed in y ^e middes of y ^e land of a straunge tongue which no douchman vnderstandeth: and that rule continued wel .viij. or ix. score or .ij. hūdred yeres. And in all this ceason / who soeuer wan the maystrye / him, the spiritualtye receaued, and him they crouned king ād to him they cleaue. And what so euer any ty­raūt had robbed al his lyfe, that or most parte therof must he deale amōg them at his death / for feare of purgatory. The spirytualty all that ceasō preached the pope mygh­tely, bylt abbayes for recreatyon and quietnesse / shryninge them alwaye for sayntes which purchased thē priuileges / or fought for their liberties, or disputed for the popes powr, how so euer they lyued (but after .L. yere whē their liues were forgotten) ād if any resisted them what soeuer mischeuen they went about, him they noted in chro­nycles as a cruell tiraunt: ye & what soed misfortune chaunsed any of hys posteritie after him, that they noted also, as thouh [Page] God had plaged thē, because their forefa­ther was disobedient vnto holy churche [...] & euer put the stories that vttered there wyckednesse out of the way and gathered rely­ques from whence they coulde g [...]t them, & fayned myracles, y ^t and gaue thē selues onely vnto poetrye / & shut vp the scriptur / so y ^• thys was the very tyme of w ^c Chryste speaketh. Mat. xxiiij in whych false prophete [...] shuld aryse and shewe myracles and won­ders to deceaue the very electe yf yt had bene possyble.

FYnallye in thys busye woorlde the Kynges of Lombardy gatte a lytle myght / and came vppe agayne and were diuerse tymes Emperours / th [...]gh of no greate myght. beringari­us. And one Beringarius kī ge of Lombardye began to meddle w ^t oure holy fathers businesse. Wherfore the pope fled vnto Ottho Kynge of the saxons, w ^c by that tyme had gottē myg [...]t, ād brought him into Italy agaīst Beringariū, whych Ottho ouercam Beringarium & was made Emperour for hys labour, Ottho. and thus came the Empyre fyrst vnto deue [...] [...]nde.

And Ottho recaued the empyre of one pope Iohn ( [...]ay they) with this othe, pope Ihō the xij▪ I Ottho [Page] do promesse and swear vnto the lorde Iohn̄, by the father / the sōne and the holy ghooste, and by thys wod of the crosse that maketh lyuing, & by these relyques of sainctes, that if I come to Rome with goddes helpe, I wyll exalte the holy churche of Rome and the, y ^e gouernoure of the same, vnto my powr: Neyther shalt thou lose lyfe nor members, or that honour that thou hast by my wyll, coūsell, consent or settynge a worke. Moreouer I wyll make in rome no cō stitucion or ordinaunce of anye thyng that perteyneth vnto the or vnto y ^e Romaynes without thy counsell. And whatsoeuer of the landes of saynt Peter cometh vnto our handes / I wyll dilyuer it the And vnto whom soeuer I shal commit the rule of Italy / I wyll make hī swere that he shal helpe the, to defend the landes of saint Peter vnto his power.

Pope Gregory y ^e .v.And Gregory the .v. (when they had gotte at the last that whiche they long ga­ped for) made this ordinaunce of chosynge the emperour / to stablysh it with all: that vi. lordes of Almany .iij of the spiritualtye and .iij. of the temporaltye with the king of Bohē the seuenth to be the odde mā & vm­pear, [Page] shuld chose him for euer, ād send hī to y ^e pope to receaue his othe, and to be crouned. Neuertheles the pope to kepe the Emperour a farre of, sendeth him his coronacion home to him oftimes moch leauer than that he shuld come any nere as a meke spi­rited man, that had leuer lyue solytary ād alone, then haue his holynes sene.

¶A propre similytude to describe our holy father.

And to see how oure holy father cā vp marke the ensample of an yuirtre: first it springeth out of y ^e earth & then a whyle crepeth a longe by the groū de tyll it fynde a great tree: then it ioyneth it selfe byneath a lowe vnto the body of y ^e tre, & crepeth vp a lytle and a lytle fayre ād softely. And at the begīning whyle it is yet thyn and small that the burthē is not per­ceaued, it semeth glorious to garnysh the tre in the winter and to beare of the tēpes­tes of the wether. But in the meane ceasō it thrusteth his rootes into the barke of y ^e tree to hold fast withall / and ceasseth not to [...]ym vppe tyll it be at the toppe / and aboue [Page] all. And then it sendeth his braunches a­long by th [...] braunches of the tree, and oue [...] groweth all and waxeth greate, heuye and thyck and sucketh y ^e moystoure so sore out of the tre ād his braunches, that it choketh and st [...]fleth them. And then the foule stync­king yuye waxeth myghty in the scōpe of the tre ād becometh a seat ād a nest for all vncleane, bird [...]s ād for b [...]inde oules which hauke in the darke and dare not come at y ^e lyght.

Euen so the bisshop of Rome now cal­led POPE, at the b [...]gining crope a longe vpon the earth, and euery man trode vpō him in this worlde. But as sone as there came a christen Emperour, he ioyned him self vnto his fete and kyssed them, and cro­pe vp a lytle with begging now this priui­lege, now that, nowe this citie now that / to fynde poore people with all and the necessary ministers of Gods word. the chosīg [...] of the pope & al bisshopes p [...]rtayned vnto y ^e ēpe [...]our & kynges once. And he en­titled the Emperour with chosyng the po­pe and other bisshopes / and promoted in y ^e spiritualte, not whom vertue ād learning but whom the fauour of greate men com­mended, to flatter to get frendes ād defen­ders with all.

the almesseAnd the almesse of the congregacyon [Page] which was the fode and patrimony of the poore and necessary preachers, geuē vnto y ^e poore is become. S peters pa­trymonye. that he cal­led saīt Peters patrimony, saynt Peters rentes, saynt Peters lands, saynt Peters right; to cast a vayne feare & an hethenish supersticiousnes into y ^e hartes of mē, that no man shuld dare meadle with what soe­uer came once into their hādes, for feare of saynt Peter, though they ministred it ne­uer so euel: and that they which shuld thinke it no [...]e almesse to geue thē any more (because they had to much alreadye) shuld yet gyue saynt Peter somwhat (as N [...]buchodonesser gaue his God B [...]ell) to purchesse an aduocate and an intercessor of saynt Peter, Danielis xiiij. and that saynt Peter shuld at y ^e fyrste knocke, let them in.

And thus with flateringe and fayning and vayne superst [...]cion vnder the Name of Saynt Peter, he crept vp and fastened hys rootes in the harte of the Emperour, and wyth hys swerde clame vp aboue all his felow bishoppes and brought them vn­d his fete. And as he subdued them wyth the Emperours swerd, euen so by subtilty & helpe of them (after that they were sworne faythfull) he clam aboue the Emperoure / and subdued hym also and made hym [Page] s [...]oupe vnto his fete / and kysse them an o­ther whyle. Yea Pope Calestinus crouned the Emperour Henrye the fift, holdynge the crowne betwene his fete. And when he had put y ^e crowne on / he smote it of w ^t his fete agayn, sayeng: that he had myght to make Emperours and to put them do [...] ne agayne.

And he made a constitucion that no lay man shuld meddle w ^c theyr maters, nor be in theyr counsels or witte what they did, & that the Pope only shuld call the counsell / and the Emperour shuld but defende the Pope: prouyded alwaye that the counsell shuld be in one of the Popes townes, and where the popes power was greater then the Emperours: then vnder a pretence of cōdempnyng some heresye / he called a ge­nerall counsell / where he made one a patri­arcke, an other Cardinal / an other Legate, an other Primate▪ an other Archbysshop / an other Bysshoppe, an other Deane, an other Archdeacon and so forth, as we now see.

And as the Pope played with the Emperour / so did his braunches and hys mē bres the bisshops play in euery kingdome duckedom and lordshyp, in so much that y ^e [Page] very heyres of them, Qualis pater talis fi­lius. Good naturall chylderen. by whome they came vp / hold nowe their londes of them and ta­ke them for their chefe lordes. And as the Emperour is sworne to the pope, euen so euery kyng is sworne to the bisshopes and prelates of the realme: ād they are the chefest in all perliamentes: yea they and their money and they that be sworn to them ād come vp by them / rule all together.

And thus the pope the father of all hy­pocrites hathe wyth falshod and gyle per­uerted the order of the worlde and turned the rootes of the trees vpwarde and hath put doune y ^e kingdō of christ, the popysh order com­pared w ^t Chrystes▪ & set vp y ^e kīgdome of the deuell whose vycar he is, and hath put downe the ministers of christ, ād hath set vp the ministers of Sathan, dis­gised yet in names and garments lyke vnto y ^e aūgels of lyght / and ministres of rightuousnes. For Chrstes kingdom is not of the world Ihon. xviij. ād the Popes kingdom is all the world.

And Christ is nether iudge nor diuyder in this world Luke .xij· But the pope iud­geth and deuideth all the worlde & taketh the empyre & al kingdoms and geueth thē [...]o whom he lusteth.

[Page]Christ sayth Math. v. Blessed are the pore in spyrite: so that the fyrst steppe in y ^e kingdom of Chryst is humblenes or hum [...] [...]ytie that thou canst fynde in thyne hart to do seruice vnto all mē, and to suffer that al men treade the.

The Pope saith. Blessed be the proude and hyghminded that can clym and subdue all vnder them and mainteyne their ryght and such as wyll suffre of no man / so y ^t he which was yesterday taken from the donghyll and promoted this daye by his prince, shall to morrow for the popes pleasure cu [...] se him & excommunicate hym, and interdyte hys royalme.

Chryst sayth. Blessed be the meke or softe that be harmlesse as doues.

The pope blesseth them that can set all the world together by the eares and fyght and slea manfully for his sake, that he may com h [...]te from bloudsh [...]ading to a bysshopry [...]e as our Cardinal dyd, and as Saynte Thomas of Canterbury dyd / which was made bysshop in y ^e feld, in complete harnesse on his horsebacke and hys speare blou­dy in hys hande.

Chryst hath nether holes for foxes, nor [...] for byrds, nor yet wheron to lay his [Page] head, nor promysed ought in thys woorlde vnto hys dyscyples nor toke any to hys d [...] sciple but him that had forsaken all.

The yuytre the Pope hath vnder hys rootes throughou [...] all chrystendome in euery vi [...]lage holes for foxes, and nestes for vncleane byrdes in all his braunches, and pro­myseth vn [...]o his discyples all the promocyons of the worlde.

The nerer vnto Chryst a man cometh, the lower he must d [...]scende and the Poorer he must waxe: but the nerer vnto the pope ye come the hygher ye must clim and the more ryches ye must gather whence soeuer ye cā gett them, to paye for your bulles, and to purchase a glorious name & lycence to weare a mytre and a crosse and a pale and goodlye ornamentes.

¶Howe the pope receaueth hys kyngdome of the deuell / and howe he distributeth i [...] agayne.

SHortlye the kingdomes of the ea [...] th and the glorye of them (whyche Chryst refused) Mathew. iiij. did the deuell profer vnto the pope, and he im­mediatlye [Page] fell frō Chryst and worshypped the deuell / and receaued them. For by fals­hed (as he maynteyneth them) cam he therto / and by falshead do al hys disciples come therto. Who of an hundred one is Pope bis [...]hope or any greate prelate, but ether by necromācye or symony or wayting on greate mens pleasures / and with corruptynge of goddes worde and fasshyonyng it after theyr lustes.

And the Pope after he had receaued the kyngdome of the worlde of the deuell and was become the Deuels vicar, The pope distributeth his fathers kingdome. toke vp in lyke maner all chrystendom an hye, & brought them from the mekenes of Chryst vn­to the hye hyll of the pryde of Lucifer and shewed them all the Kyngdome of y ^e erthe, sayinge: fall downe and worshyppe me, and I wyll geue you these. Unto the spiritualtye he saieth: fall from Chryst ād preache me, and take thou that cardenalshippe, thou y ^e bysshoprycke, thou y ^• Abbotshyppe, and so fourth: thou as many benefyces as thou wylt, and a dispensaciō for what thou wylt. And to mōkes and fryers in like ma­ner, take thou that hole, and thou that nest / wyth what pryuylege ye wyll desyre ād dispensacyons of youre rules, yf ye wyll pre­ach [Page] me.

And vnto the temporaltie he saythe: First to the Emperour, yf thou wylt fall down & kysse my feate and sweare to hold of me and to defend me, I geuethe the empyre.

And to al kin [...] in lyke maner, yf they wyl sweare to defend hys lyberties and to holde of him / he crowneth them. And euen so all temporall Lordes from the hy­ghest vnto the lowest, and all officers, and all maner subiectes, if they wyll enioye lā ­des, rentes, offices, goodes and their verye lyues they must ronne the same way.

The very whores (goddes honour vn­regarded) as long as they dispyte not him and his ordinaunces, they shall haue nes [...]es in his rentes, and amonge his Prelates. And the theues and murtherers shall ha­ue dennes in his sanctuaries, whatsoeuer they do against God / so longe as they hāg on him.

The Apostles chose pryestes to preach Chryst onely / all other thinges layde apart and chose none but Learned and Uertu­ouse

The Pope shaueth who soeuer commeth, The popes order com­pared w ^t y ^e order of y ^e Apostles. [Page] leuer [...]u [...]e of the stu [...]s then from studye [...] when they be Sworne he Sendeth them vnto all greate mennes houses to preache his godhed to be stuardes / surueyers / re­cea [...]ers & counsel [...]rs of all maner myscheue: [...] popysh priestes. to corrup [...]e wife / doughter, and mayde, & to betray theyr owne master, as oft as it neadeth to promote their falsehead with all. For therto are they sworne to gether.

And when they haue done all mischefe / there shall no man wyt whence it cometh.

The apostles chose deacons to ministre the almes of the rych vnto the poore. And to helpe the deacons they chose widowes of .ix. yere old, the popysh wi [...]dows. holy & d [...]stitute of frendes to [...]end the sycke. And the Pope in stead of such wedowes maketh who soeuer com­meth / whether she be yōg or olde, but none saue them y ^t be ryche & able to pay .xx.xxx. or .xl. pounde for their prof [...]ssiō, to whom for as much more he wyll gyue a dispensacion on the morowe to mary agayne. And in steade of suche deacons, [...]he popysh deacons. he maketh bothe deacons and subdeacons which do nothinge at all but are vayne names without office / except it be that on some Holydaye in steade of ministringe the goodes of the church vnto the poore, they syng a pistle or [Page] Gospell to begge more from the [...]ore. And as his [...] the [...]oodes of the church [...] the poore: euen so doo hys pryes [...]es preac [...] Chrysts gospell vnto his flocke.

And the almesse that was geuen to the sustencacion of the poore which thou shalt reade in storie [...] that it was in some cities aboue .xx.xxx.xl. yea an hundred thousād pounde, How the pope diuy­deth the poore people. and all the landes geuen for the sa­me purpose, they haue s [...]olen from them & haue diuyded it amonge them selues. And ther with did they at the beginning corrupt the greate men of the woorlde and clam vp to this heigth were they now be. And for y ^t haue they strouen among them selues this viij. hundred yeares. And to mainteyne y ^t which they haue falsely gotten / hath the pope sturred vp aswerde of warre in all christendom this .viij. hundred yeares & hath taken peace cleane out of the worlde.

When the bisshoppes, preastes and deacons were fallen and had receaued of the pope the kingdom that parteyned vnto the poore people, and had robbed them and parted their patrymony among them selues / then sprange the orders of monkes: Who­se professyon was to abstayne frō flesh all [Page] theyr liues, to were vyle raymēt, to eate but once in the daye / ād that but butter, chese, egges, frutes, rootes and suche thynges that weare not costly / ād myght euery where be founde. And they wrote bokes / ād wrought diuerse thynges to get their lyuinge wyth all. When the laye men sawe that the prea­stes were fallen in to suche couetuousnes / & that the Monkes were so holy: they thought, these be mete men to minister our al­messe vnto the pore people. For theyr pro­fession is so holy that they can not decea­u [...] vs as the preastes do, ād made the mō ­kes tutors and ministers vnto the pore, ād gaue great Landes and rychesse in to theyr handes to deale it vnto the poore. Whē the monkes sawe suche aboundaunce / they fell after the ensample of the preastes, and toke dispēsacyōs of the pope for their rules ād strait professiō, whiche now is as wyde as their coules / and deuided all amonge them▪ and robbed the poore once moare. And out of the abbayes toke he the most parte of his Bysshoprickes and cathedral churches, and the moste parte of all the landes he hathe / besydes that there Remayne yet so Ma­ny myghtye abbayes and nun ryes ther­ [...].

[Page]As sone as the monkes were fallen, thē sprang these beggynge fryres out of Hell / the last kind of kater pillars, Beggyng [...] fryers. in a more vile apparell and a more strate relygion that (if ought of relefe were lefte amonge the laye men for the poore people) these horseleches might sucke that also. Which dranebees as sone as they had learned their crafte & had bylt them goodly & costly n [...]stes / and their lymiters had diuided all contrees amonge them, to begge in / and had prepared lyuyn­ges of a certayntie / though w ^c beggynge / then they also toke dispēsacyons of the pope for to lyue as largely & as lewdelye as the monkes.

And yet vnto the laye men whom they haue thus falselye robbed & from whyche they haue deuyded them selues and made them a seuerall kyngdome amonge them selues, The char­ge of y ^e lay people. they leaue the payenge of tolle / cu­stome and trybute (for vnto all the Char­ges of the Royalmes they wyll not paye a myte (and the finding of all the poore: the fyndyng of scolars for the moste par­te: The fynding of these forsayde horseleches and carcepillers / the beggynge fryers the reparyng of hye wayes and brydeges the buyldynge and recreacyons of theyre [Page] abbayes and cathedrall churches, chapel [...] coleges / for which they send out theyr par­dons dayly by heapes / and gather a thou­sand pounde for euery hundred that they bestow truely.

If the laye people haue warre or what soeuer charge it be, they wyll not beare a myte. If the warre be theirs (as the one parte almost of all warre is to defende them) they wyl w ^t falshed make thē beare the greatest parte, besydes that, they must leaue their wyues and children & go fight for them and loose their liues. And likewise ī al their charges they haue a cast to poll the laye people. The Scottes cast downe a castell of y ^e bysshop of dirams on y ^e scot­tysh bancke called Noram castell. And he gat a pardon from Rome for the buyldyn­ge of it agayne / wherwith I dout not, bu [...] he gat for euerye pennye that he bestowed thre.

Howe the spyritual­tie bestowe theyr trea­sure,And what do they with their store that they haue in so greate plenty every where: so that the very beggyng fryers in short space to make a cardinal or a pope of their sect or to doo what feate it were for theyr [Page] proffytt, wold not stycke to brynge aboue a Kyngs raūsō ▪ Uerely make goodly places and parkes of pleasure and gaye shrynes / and paynte postes and purchese Pardons / wherwyth they yet styll polle and plucke a waie that litle where wyth y ^e pore which peryshe for neade, and faulle in to greate in con [...]enyences myght be somwhat holpē ād releued, And laye vppe in stoare to haue al­waye to paye for the defēdīg of their faith [...]nd for to oppresse the truth.

¶How the pope made hym [...] lawe, and why.

AFter that the pope wythe tyrannye was clom vppe aboue hys brethren and had made all the Spyrytualtie hys subiectes and had made of them and hym a seuerall kyngdom among them sel­ues, and had seperated them from the laye in all thynges / and had got pryuileges that what so euer they dyd, no man shuld medle wyth them: and after also he had receaued the kyngdoms of the earth of Sathan and was become hys vicare to dystrybut them, and after that the Emperoure was fallen in lyke maner at hys fete and had worshypped [Page] hym as God, to receaue hys empyre of him, and all kings had done lyke wise to be anoynted of him and to be crouned of him, and after that the worlde both greate and smale had submitted them selues to recea­ue the beastes bagge: then because that christes doctryne was contrary vnto all such kingdomes, and therfore had no law ther in howe to rule it he went, and made him a seuerell lawe of hys owne makyng, which passed in cruelty and tyranny, the lawes of all hethen priestes.

And in his lawe he thrust in fayned gyftes of old emperours, that were out of memory, What sub­tilt [...] the pope vseth to stablysh hys kyng­dome. sayeng that the emperour Constantinus had geuen vp the empyre of Rome vnto. S. Syluester, which is proued a false lye for diuerse causes: one that saīt siluester being so holy a man as he was / wolde not haue receaued it contrarye to his ma­sters cōmaūdemētes & doctrine: an other that the emperours raygned in Rome many yeares after and all bisshopes sued vn­to the emperour and not to the pope, which was but bisshope of Rome only / & not called father of fathers. Moreouer y ^• no au­tentyke storie maketh mencion that any emperoure gaue them their patrimonye / but [Page] that Pipine which falsely & with strēgth inuaded the empire gaue it vnto him. Thē put hem the graunt of Phocas / then the gift of pipine confirmed by the great charles: then a fayned relefe of the electiō of y ^e pope / geuē vp agayne vnto pope Pascha­le by the emperour Lewes. For they thē selues had graunted vnto charlemayne, & his successours for euer the eleccion or de­nominacion of the pope & bisshopes to flatter him with all, & to make him a faythfull defender, and that in a generall Counsell which (as they say) can not erre. Neuerthelesse pope Paschal though he beleued the counsell coude not erre, yet he thought thē somwhat ouersene, to make so long a gra­unt, & therfore he purchased a relefe of gētle [...]ewes as they pretēd But verely it is more lykely that they fayned that graunte to excuse their tyranny after they had takē y ^e electiō into their hādes agayne wyth violē ce / whē the emperours were weake & not able to resyst thē ▪ as they fayned y ^e gift of Cōstātine, after they had inuaded the empire with subtylty and falshed. And last of al they broughe in the Oth of Ottho with y ^e ordre that now is vsed to chose y ^e ēperour

¶Howe the pope corrupteth the scripture and why.

MOreouer lest these his lyes shuld be spyed & least happly the empe­rours following / myght saye, our predecessours had no power to bynde vs, nor to minish our might: And least kinges following, shuld say after the same maner / that the swerd & full power to punish euel doers indifferētly is geuē of God to euery kynge for hys tyme, and therfore y ^t theyr [...] decessour coulde not bynde them contrarye vnto the ordynaunce of God: but rather y ^e it was vnto theyr dāpnation to make such graūtes / & y ^t they dyd not execute theyr office. And therfore y ^e foule & mysshapē mō stre, gate hym to the scrypture & corrupted it wyth false exposytions / to proue y ^• such aucthoritie was geuen hym of God / & ca­lenged it by y ^e aucthoritie of Peter▪ saying / that peter was the head of Christs church and that Chryst had made hym lorde ouer the apostles hys fellowes, in y ^t he bad hī fe [...] de hys shepe & lābes Iohn y ^• last / as who shuld saye y ^e paule which came longe after, was not commaunded to feade as specyally as peter, which yet wold take no aucthoritie [Page] ouer the bodyes or ouer y ^e faythes of them whych he fed, but was theyr seruaūt for Chrystes sake, Christ euer the lord and head. And as though y ^e other apostles were not lykewyse as specially commaunded as Peter: And as though we now and all that here after shall loue chryst, were not cō maunded to [...]eade chrysts flocke, euery mā in his measure, as well as Peter. Are not we commaunded to loue our neyghbours as our selues, as well as Peter? Why then are we not cōmaūded to care for his floc­ke as well as Peter?

Moreouer if to feade Chrystes shepe is to be greatest (as no doubt to feade christs flocke is to be greate and moste to feade▪ is to be greatest (in w ^c office thogh peter was greate, yet paule was greater) howe com­meth that the pope by that aucthorytie chalengeth to be greatest, and yet thys .viij. hū dred yeres feadeth not at al: but poysoneth their pasture with the venamous leuen of his tradicions & wyth wrestynge the texte vnto a contrary sence?

Then came he to thys texte Mat. xvi Thou arte peter and vppon this rocke I wyll byld my congregation or church. Loo sayth Antichryst the carnall beast / peter is [Page] the rocke wheron the church of Chryst is bylt, and I am his successoure, and therfore the head of christes church. When christ ment by the rocke, the confession that Pe­ter had confessed, sayeng: Thou art christ the sonne of the lyuing god, which arte co­me into this worlde. This fayth is the rocke, Faith is y ^e roote wherō Chrysts churche is bylte. wheron christs church is bilt. For who is of christes church, but he only that bele­ueth that Christ is Gods sonne, come into to this world to saue sīners? This fayth is it, agaynst w ^c hell gates can not prevay­le. This faith is it, which saueth the cōgregacion of christ and not Peter.

Then he goeth forth vnto that which foloweth: Unto the I wyl geue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen / and what soeuer thou bindest in earth, it shalbe bound in heauē ▪ &c. Lo [...], sayth he, in y ^t he sayth what soeuer thou biodest in erth, he excepteth nothī ge, therfore I may make lawes & bīd both king and emperoure. When christ / as he had no worldly kīgdom, euē so he spake of no worldly binding, but of binding of syn­ners. The keies Chryst gaue his disciples the keye of the knowlege of the law of God, to bind all synners / and the keye of the promyses to louse all that repent ād to let them into [Page] the mercy that is made vp for vs in christ.

Then cōmeth he vnto an other text whiche Christ rehearseth Mathe. la [...], sayeng: Al power is geuen men in heauen & earth▪ go ye therfore, and teach al nacions, b [...] pry­syng them in the name of the father, and y ^e sonn [...], and of the holy gost, teachinge them to kepe all that I commaunded you: And behold I am with you vnto the worldes ende: Loo sayth the pope, Chryst hath all power in heauen and earth, without excep­cyon, and I am christes vicar, wherfore all power is mine / and I am aboue all kinges and Emperours in temporall iurisdictyō ād they but my seruauntes to kisse on [...] my fete only but my. N. also if I list not to haue thē stoupe so low. Whē christ as I said because he had no temporal kingdom, Christes powr is to saue sīners euen so he ment of no tēporall power, but of power to saue sinnes / which they professe of, the text declareth by that he sayth, goo ye therfore, and teach and baptyse: th [...]t is preach this power to all nacions / ād wash of their sīnes thorow fayth in the promisses made in my bloude. o [...] this ma­n [...]r [...]lech he with textes.

Then he cōmeth vnto an other text Hebre. vij. which is. The presthode b [...]ing trā slated, the law must nedes be translated also. [Page] Now sayth the pope, the priesthode is trāslated vnto me, wherfore it perteyneth vnto me to make lawes and to bind euery man. And the pistle meaneth no such thin­ge / but proueth to euydently y ^t the ceremo [...]i [...]s of Moises must cease. For the prye­ [...]es of the old testament must nedes haue bene of the tribe of Leui as Aaron was▪ whose dutye for euer was the offeryng of sacrifices. Wherfore when that priesthode ceased, the sacrifices and ceremonies ceased also. Now that priesthode ceased in Christ, which was a priest of the ordre of Melchiscde [...] ād not of the ordre of Aaron· for thē he must haue bene of the tribe of Iuda & of the sede of Dauid. Wherfore they that are vnder Christs priesthod are vnder no sacrifices or ceremonies. And of this ma­ner iugle they wyth all the scriptur, why­che falshed lest the lay men shuld perceaue wyth readinge the processe of the Texte / is all their feare what soeuer they preten­de.

Moreouer y ^• thou mayst perceaue the popes falshed, marke: Christ sayd vnto p [...] ter, I wyl geue and not I giue, nether sayde he I wyll giue vnto the only: Therfor [Page] [...]oke in the .xx. chaptre of Ihō where he ga­ue them the keyes after hys resurrectiō / & thou shalt se that he gaue them vnto all in­dyfferentlye sayeinge: Chryst ga­ue all hys Apostles like aucthor [...] tye. As my father sente me so send I you. Whether sent he them? in to all the worlde / and vnto all nations. What to do? to preach y ^e law that y ^e people might repēt, & the promyses y ^t they might beleue in Chryst for y ^e remyssyon of sinnes▪ sayeng: receaue the holie gost, who so euers synne ye forgeue, they shalbe forgeuen▪ by which holy gost he gaue them vnderstandynge of the scrypture and of all that they shuld preache: as thou mayest see Luk last, where he opened theyr wittes to vnderstā de the scrypture and sayd, that repentaun­ce and forgeuenes of synnes muste be preached in hys name to all Natyons, and that they were wytnesses to preache it. Wherby thou seyste y ^t to Bynd and to Loose is but to preache and tell the people theyr fautes, To bynde & louse is to preache. and to preache mercye in chryste to all that repent.

And when he sayeth / all power is geuen me: he saieth not go thou Peter and preach but sayeth vnto all indifferentlye / go ye & preach thys power geuen me of my father [...]o saue al that repent, and to dampne them [Page] that repent not but folow y ^e lustes of their flesh, wyth full desire to lyue beastlie beyng ennymyes vnto the lawe of god.

And Math. xviij. Peter axed chryst how oft he shuld for gyue hys brother / whether seuen tymes. Nota. And chryste sayed / seuentye tymes seuen tymes. As who shuld saye / as ofte as he repenteth and axeth forgeue­nesse.

Now though this were spoken vnto Pe­ter only, because Peter onlye moued the question / yet it apertayneth not vnto vs all as well as vnto Peter? Are not we as muche bounde to forgeue oure neyghboures that repent and axe forgeuenes, as Peter▪ Yes verelye. But because Peter onlye ax­ed y ^e questiō, therfore did Chryste teache vs by Peter. Yf an other had axed / he wolde haue taught vs by that other. And in lyke maner when chryst axed who saye ye that I am: yf any other of the Apostles whiche beleued it as well as Peter, had sayde as Peter did, thou arte chryste, the sone of the lyuinge go [...] / which arte come in to the worlde of synners, to saue them: vnto him wold Chryst haue answered / as he dyd to Peter / that vppon the rocke of that his confession he wolde haue bylt hys church, and wolde [Page] haue Promysed hym keyes as well as he dyd Peter. Yea and in the .xviij. chapter of Mathew, Chryst saith to al the Apostles / yea / and to all congregatyons where syn­ners be, A woman hath powr to bynde. that what soeuer they bound shul­de be boūde & what soeuer they loosed shulde be loosed.

Moreouer euerye man and woman that knowe Chryst and hys doctrine, haue the keyes and power to bynde and loose: in an ordre yet and in their measure, as ty­me place and occasion geueth and pryua­telye. Maye not a wyfe, yf hyr husband synne agaynste God and hyr, and take a no­ther woman / tell hym hys taute betwene hym and hyr secretelye, and in good maner humblye, and bynd hys concyence with the law of god? And yf he repente may she not for geue hym ād loose hym as well as the Pope? Yea, and better to, as longe as the synne is secret, in as muche as he synne the specially against hy [...] ▪ and not against the pope.

And so maye the sōne do to the father / and a seruaunte to the master / and euerye man to hys neyghboure, as thou seyst in y ^• sayde .xviij. chaptre of Mathew. How be it to bynde and loose in the concience by [Page] open preaching perteyneth vnto the offy­cers that are apoynted therto. And to byn­de ād loose open Synners, and them that wyll not repēt tyll they be complayned on vnto the congregacion, perteyneth vnto the congregacion.

Finally there were many that prea­ched christ at Rome, R [...]sōs y ^e peter was not y ^e greatest by any aucthoritie geuen hī of Chryste. yet Peter cam thither if he cam euer thyther: as Paule and ma­ny other. Had they not auctoritie to bynd and loose? Or els how did they conuerte the people? Peter was also an Apostle and went from place to place as Paule did, ād as Paule ordeyned Bysshopes in euerye place to teach the people, so no doubte dyd Peter. Why then might not those Bysshopes calenge auctoritie by Peter as well as they of Rome? they saye also in their ow­ne legēdes that Peter had his seate ot Antioch first. Did he runne to Rome lyuyng no man behinde him to teach the people at Antioch? God forbyd. Why then myght not that Bysshop calenge Peters auctho­ritie? They wyll haply say soner then pro­ue it, that Peter dyed at Rome, ād therfo­re his auctoritie is greatest ther. Then by that rule christs power is no where so ful as at Hierusalem. But what hath Chry­stes [Page] inuisible kyngdom to do with places: Where Chrystes Gospell is, Chryst [...] powr is in the gospell their is his power full and all hys auctroite as well ī one place as in an other.

Fynallye to gett auctoritie whence so e­uer, they can snatch it, they ioyne Paule w ^t Peter in their awne lawes Distinctio. xxij sayinge: By the auctorytie of peter and Paule. Whych is clene agaynst thē selues. paull is called to help For they say in their awne lawe in the presence of the superior, the power of the infe­rior ceaseth, and is none at all. Nowe if Peter be greater then Paule, then by that rule / where Peter is present theire Paule is but a subiecte and wythoute auctorytie: As where Christ is present bodil [...]e ād preacheth hī selfe, there y ^e apostles geue vp their auctorytie / ād hold their peace ād sitt doune at hys fete, and become scolers and herken to.

Wherfore in that they ioyne Paule with Peter, and chalēge their superioritie as wel by y ^e auctoritie of Paule as of Peter, there they make Paule felow ād equall with pe­ter. And thus it is false that Peter was [...]eater then hys fellowes, but the blynd onles care not what they houle, seyng it is ni­ght [Page] and the daye lyght of gods worde, shut vp that no man can spye them.

Moreouer w ^t this terme Peters seate they iugle a pase (as w ^t infinite other) say­ing that Peters seate, is the chefe seat / but what Peters seat is that they tell you not For wyste ye that / ye shuld some perceaue that they lye. Peters seate is no stole or chayre (for what hath the kingdō of Christ to do w ^t such baggage) but, it is a spiritual thyng. Chryst sayth in the gospell Math. xxiij. The Scrybes and pharyzees syt on Moses seate. What was moses seat ther, a chayre [...]or the temple / or the churchs, or synagoge of the land? Nay verely▪ for moses came neuer there. But Moses seate was Moses lawe and doctrine. Euē so peters seate, is peters doctryne, y ^e gospell of christ w ^c peter taught. And the same doctrine is Peters keyes: so that peters seate, Peters keyes and Peters doctrine is all one thing Nowe is peters doctryne, Paules doctri­ne & the doctrine of all the .xij. Apostles in differently, for they taught all one thynge. Wherfore it followeth / that peters keyes, and peters seate, be the keyes and seate of Paule also, & of all the other .xij. Apostles and are nothing saue the gospell of Christ [Page] And thus as Peters doctryne is no better then Paules but one thing, euen so Peters seate is no greter nor hier or holyer then y ^• sete of y ^e other .xij. Peters sete now is christes sete / Chrystes gospell on whych all the appostles sate & on whych this daie sitteth all they only that preache christ truly Uherfore as Antichrist preacheth not peters doctrine (which is christs gospell) so he sytteth not on peters sete / but on the sete of sathan whose vicar he is and on the sete of his owne lawes and ceremonyes and false doctryne wher vnto he compelleth all men wythe vyolence of swerde.

Then he clame to purgatorye with the ladder of the sayde texte, Purgatori what so euer thou bindest in earth. &c. purgatorie sayeth he, is in earth: wherfore I am lorde ther to. Ne­uerthelesse as he can proue no purgatorye / so can he not proue that yf ther were any / it shuld be in the earth. It myght well be ī y ^e elemēte or sphere of fyre vnder y ^e mone as well as in the earth. But to bynd ād loose, is as I haue aboue sayde / to preache and to fede and with Chrystes doctryne to purge soules. And they that be dead be not of the flocke which christ bad Peter fede, but they that lyue onlye.

[Page]Then clam he vppe wyth the same lad­der styll ouer all vowes and professions of all relygious parsones, Uowes. Othes. testamēts. and ouer othes made betwene man and man to dispence wyth them / and ouer all mennes testamentes to alter thē. For what thou makest an hospy­tall, that will he shortely make a college of preastes, or a place of relygyon, or what he lusteth. Thē all maner monkes ād fryers and lyke d [...]affe toke dyspensations of hym for the ordenaūces of theyr olde founders

And because, as they thought, they had prayed & distributed for theyr Souls I­nough to bring thē out of purgatory, they thrust thē out of their beedrolles and toke dayly mo and mo.

But euer sens they toke dyspensations of the pope both for their rules and to deui­de all among them, they receued in the na­me, not of the poore / but of purgatorye, to quench the ragīge fyre ther of / which is as hote as theyr belyes can fayne it, and foles be out of theyr wyts to beleue it: promys [...] ge a masse daily for .xl. shilyngs by the yeare / of whych foūdations when they haue gotten twentie, Union. they wil yet with an vnion purchased of the pope, make but one chaū ­trie. For if they shuld do all that they haue [Page] promised from the fyrst founder vnto thi [...] day .v. hunderth monkes were not ynough in many cloysters.

Thynkest thou y ^e mē were euer so mad to make the fassions that are now among them? to geue the sell [...]rar such a sōme, & y ^e priour and the suppriour and the other offycers so much for their partes as they ha­ue yerelye, and to [...]empte the Abbot from his brethrē & to send him out of the abbaie into suche parkes ād places of pleasure, ād geue hym a thousand, fyftene hundred, two thousand or .iij thousand pounde yerely to sporte hīselfe with all? Nay, but when thorow hypochrisie thei had gottē lād ynough then they turned vnto the pope ād toke dyspensacions both for their rules whych were to harde for such aboundaūce, and for y ^e wylles of their foūders, and serued a great sort of founders vnder one per dominum, ād deuyded among fewe that whych was ynough for a great multitude.

It was the pope that deuised all these fassions to corrupt the prelates with abū ­daunce of worldelye pleasures, of whyche he wist that y ^e worst wold be most gready and for which he wist also y ^• he shuld fynd Iudasses ynow that wold forsake Chryst [Page] and betraye the truth, and be sworne false vnto him and hys godhead. He maketh of many chauntries one, of an abbay, a cathe­dral church, and out of the abbays plucketh he the Bysshoprykes. And as Bysshoppes paye for theyr bulles, euen so do an infiny­te numbre of abbots in chrystendom, in all landes some▪ whyche Abbots be bysshops within them selues and immediatly vnder the pope. And other abbots & prioures sēd after the same ensample dayly vnto rome to purchesse lycence, to weare a mitre and a crosse & gaye ornamētes, to be as gloryous as the best. &c. And where before God, no mā is a priest, but he y ^t is appointed to preache Chrystes gospell vnto the people, & the people ought not to geue ought vnto y ^e spiritualtye / but for the maintenaunce of the preaching of Gods word, the Pope taketh vi. or .vij. yea ten .xx. and as many benefi­ces as he lysteth, & geueth them vnto one y ^e preacheth not at all as he doth all other dygnities of the spiritualtie: he that wyll pur­chasse and paye / and be sworne, shall haue what he wyll.

¶Howe they proue all theyr generall counsels.

[Page]WHen the Bysshoppes and Abbottes and other greate Prelates had for­saken Chryste and hys lyuinge, and were fallen downe before the beast the vy­car of Sathan, to receaue their kyngdome of hym / then the pope called together diuerse counsels of such holy apostles, and there concluded and made of euery opinion that semed proffitable / an artycle of y ^e fayth. If thou axe wher is the scriptur to proue it? They answere we be the church & can not erre, and therfore saye they, The chur­che cā not erre. what we con­clude, though there be no scrypture to pro­ue it / it is as true as the scriptur & of egall aucthoritie with the scrypture and must be beleued as well as the scryptur vnder payne of dampnation. For (say they) our truth dependeth not of the trueth of the scriptur that is, we be not true in our doynge becau­se the Scrypture testifyeth vnto vs that we do truly: but contrary / the truth of the scripture (saye they) dependeth of vs, that is, the scrypture is true because that we admyt it and tell the that it is true▪ For howe couldest thou knowe that it were the scrypture except we told y ^e so? & therfore we nede no witnesse of the scrypture for that we do, it is ynough that we so say of our owne [Page] head for we can not erre·

Which reason is lyke as though yong monkes newly professed, A similitu­de. shuld com by the rules of their order & ordinaunces of their olde founders and wolde go about to kepe them: & the old cankered mōkes shuld call them backe vnto the corrupt and false maner that now is vsed, sayīg: ye er. Do only as we teach you / for your profession is to obey your Elders. According vnto the rules of our order and ordinaunces of our founder shal they saye: We can teache you none other, shall the old monkes say / nor cā ly vnto you, ye ought therfore to beleue vs and to do as we byd you. The yong mon­kes shall answere, we se that you ly, cleane cōtrary vnto all that is writē in our rules and ordinaunces. The old mōkes shal say ye can not vnderstande them except we ex­pounde them vnto you / nother yet know y ^• they be your rules / excepte that ye beleue y ^• we can not lye vnto you. For how can ye knowe that these be your rules and ordy­naūces / but as we your elders tell you so? Now whē we tell you that these be your rules ād ordinaunces howe can ye be sure vndoutedlye that it is so / excepte ye beleue vndoutedly that we can not lye? Wherfo­re [Page] if ye wylbe sure y ^t they be your rules & ordenaunces / then ye must first beleue that we can not lye. Leue such imaginations & disputations therfore and laye your rules and ordinaūces out of youre hādes and lo­ke no more on thē, for they make you erre And come and do as we tell you / and capti­uate youre wyttes and beleue that we can not lyr vnto you, and that ye can not vnderstande your rules and ordynaunces. Euen so yf thou saye it is contrary to the scryp­ture: they āswere y ^t thou vnderstandeste it not / and that thou must captiue thy wytte ād beleue that though it seame neuer so cō trary, yet it is not contrarye: no if they determe y ^t christ is not risen agayn & though y ^e scripture testyfy y ^• he is rysen againe / yet (say they) they be not cōtrary, if they be wisely vnderstande. Thou must beleue / say they, y ^• there is some other meaning in the scripture & y ^• no mā vnderstādeth it: but y ^• we say / whether w ^tout scripture or agaīst it / that must thou beleue that it is true.

And thus because y ^t the scripture wolde not agre with them / they thrust it out of y ^e way fyrst, & shut vp the kingdome of hea­uen which is Christs gospel, with false [...] posicyons and with such sophistry & with [Page] false principles of naturall wisdom. And the abottes toke the scripture frō their mō kes lest some shuld ever barke against y ^e a­bottes lyuyng, the abottes kepe y ^• mō kes in ignoraunce, & y ^e bisshopes y ^e priestes and set vp suche longe seruyce and syngyng to werye them wyth all that they shulde haue no leasure to rede in the scripture but with their lippes, and made them good chere to fyll their bellyes ād to stop theyr mouthes. And the bysshops in lyke maner to occupy their priests with all, that they shulde not study the scripture for barkyng agaynste them, sett vp longe Seruyse wonderovse intricate / so that in xij. y [...]ares thou coudest scace learne to tur­ne a ryght vnto it: Long matēses, long Euen [...]onges, longe Masses / long Dyryges with vauntage yet to mitigate the tediousnes / quia leuis est labor cum lucro / for lu­cre (say they) maketh the laboure lyght: e­uer noselyng them in Ceremonies and in their oune cōstitucyons, decrees, ordinaū ­ces and lawes of holy church.

And the promises and testament which the sacrament of Christes body and bloud did preach daylye vnto y ^e people, that they put out of knowlege ād say now that it is a sacryfyce for the soules of purgatorye, y ^t they myght the better sell their masse. And [Page] in the vniuersytes they haue ordened that no man shall loke on the scriyture vntyl he be noseled in heathē learning .viij. or nyne yere and armed with false principles, the cast of the vniuersities▪ with which he is clene shit out of the vnderstonding of the scripture. And at his fyrst cō ­mīg vnto the vniuersitie, he is sworne that he shall not defame the vniuersytie what soeuer he seeth. And when he taketh fyrste degre / he is sworne that he shal hold none opinion cōdemned by y ^e church / but what such opiniōs be / y ^t he shall not know. And they when they be admitted to studye di­uinitie, because the scripture is locked vp with such false exposicions and wyth false prīciples of naturall philosofye that they can not enter in, they go aboute the out sy­de and dspute all their lyues aboute wor­des and vayne opinyons pertaynynge as muche vnto the healyng of a mannes hele as helth of his soule. Prouiso Prouided yet alway / lest god geue his syngular grace vnto any parson / that none may preach except he be admitted of the bisshopes. Thē cā Tho­mas de aquino & he made the pope a god with his sophystry, Saint thomas de Aquino. & the pope made him a saynct for his labour, and called him doctour sanctus, for whose holynes no man [Page] may deny what soeuer he sayth saue ī cer­tayne places where amōg so many lyes he sayd now ād then true. And in like maner who so euer defendeth his tradicions, de­crees and priuileges, him he made a sainct also for hys labour, were hys lyuyng ne­uer so cōtrary vnto the scripture, Saintes. as Thomas of Canterbury with many other like whose life was like Thomas cardinalles but not Christs neyther is Thomas cardinalles life any thing saue coūtrefaytyn­ge of sainct Thomas of canterbury. Thomas becket was first sene in marchaūdise temporall, Thomas of caunterbury. and then to learn spirituall marchaundyse, he gatt him to Theobald Arch­bisshop of Canterburye which sent him diuerse tymes to Rome about busines of holy church. And when Theobald had spied his actiuitie, he shore hī deacō lest he shuld go backe, & made him Archdeacon of Canterbury & vpon y ^t, presented him to the kinge. And the king made him his chaūcelare in which office he passed the pompe & pryde of Thomas cardinall as farre as the ones shrine passeth the others tombe in glory & ryches. And after that, he was a mā of warre, & captayn ouer .v. or .vi. thousād men in full harnesse as bright as saīct George [Page] ād his speare in his hande ād encoū ­tred who soeuer cā against hī / & ouerthrew the iolyest rutter that was in al the hoste of Fraūce. And out of the feld hote frō bloud sheading was he made bisshop of Caunterburye and did put of hys helme and put on his mytre / put of his harnesse and on with his robes, and layde downe his speare and toke his crosse, yet his hādes were colde / & so cam wyth a lustye corrage of a man of warre, to fyght an other whyle against hi [...] prince for the pope. Where hys princes causes were with the law of God, & the popes cleane contrary. And the pōpe of hys consecratyon was after his old worldly fation. How be it yet he is made a saynte for his worshyppyng of the holy seate of sainct peter / not that seate of peter which is Christs gospell / but an other lyed to be peters, & is in dede cathedra pestilencie / a chayr of false doctrine. And because he could no skyll of oure lordes gospell he sayde of matens w ^t oure lady, saye they. If any mā vnderstād the laten, let hym reade his lyfe & compare it vnto the scriptur, & thē he shal se such holynes, as were here to long to be rehersed. And euery abbay & euery cathedral church did shrine thē one God or other / & mingled [Page] the lyues of y ^e very saintes wyth starke lyes / to moue men to offre / which thyng they call deuocion.

And though in all their doinges they oppresse the tēporalty & their comē wealth, & be greuous vnto y ^e rych, and paynfull to y ^• poore: yet they be so many & so exercised in wyles & so subtyl & so knit & sworne together y ^t they cōpasse y ^e tēporalty & make thē beare thē whether they wil or wyll not (as the euye doth the oke) partly with iugglin­ge, & besyde that with wordly polycy. For euery abbot wyl make him y ^t may do most in the shyre or wyth the kynge / the stuarde of hys landes &, geue hym a fee yerely, and wyl lēd vnto some, & feast other, y ^t by such meanes they do what they wyll. And lytle master parsō after the same maner, if he come into an house & the wife be snoutefaire he wil rote him self there by one craft or o­ther: ether by vsīg such pastime as y ^e good man doth / or in beinge benefycyall by one waye or other, or he wyll lend hym / and so bryng hym into hys daunger, that he can not thruste hym oute when he wolde, but must be cōpelled to beare him ād to let hym be homely whether he wyll or not.

¶An ensample of practyse out o [...] oure owne chronycles.

Take an ensāple of their practise out of our owne stories. Kyng He­rolde. Kyng Herold exiled or banished Robert Archbisshope of Canterburye. For what cause the Inglysh polychronicon specifieth not. Robert of cāterbury. But if the cause weare not sum what suspect, I thynke they wolde not haue Passed it ouer with scylence. Thys Robert gat hī immediately vnto kynge Wylliam the conque­roure then duke of Normandye. And the pope Alexander sente duke Wylliam a ba­ner to go and conquere Ingland and clea­ne remission vnto whosoeuer wold folow the baner and goo wyth kynge Wyllyam / here marke how streight the pope folowed-Christs steppes ād his apostles: Remission of sīnes to conquere englande. they prea­ched forgeuenes of synnes, to all that re­pented throw Christes bloude shedyng: the Pope preacheth forgeuenesse of synnes to all that will slea their bretheren bought w ^t Chrystes bloud: to subdue them vnto hys tyrānie. What so euer oth [...]r cause duke wyliā had against kynge Herold / thou maiest be sure that y ^e pope wolde not haue medled yf Herold had not troubled hys kingdom [Page] [...]e: neyther shuld duke willyam haue bene able to conquer the land at that tyme except the spyritualtie had wroughte on hys sy­de. What bloud did that conquest cost England / thorowe whych almoost all the lor­des of the Inglysh bloude were slayne, & [...] the Normandes became rulers / and all the la [...]es were chaunged into Frenche? But what careth y ^e holy father for sheading of laye mens bloude? It were b [...]tter that .x. hundred thousand laye knaues loste theyr liues, then that holy church shuld louse one ynch of her honour, or sainct Peters seate one iote of her ryght.

AncelmusAnd Ancelmus that was bysshoppe in shorte time after, neuer left striuinge with that myghtie prince kynge Wyllyam the second / vntyll he had compelled hym maugre hys teth, to delyuer vp the inuestiture or e­lection of bysshops vnto sainct Peters vy­care / whych inuestiture was of old tyme y ^e kynges duet [...]e.

And [...] when the sayde kyng Wyllyam [...] the tribut that prye­stes gaue [...] to their bysshops for theyr whores [...], dyd not Raffe bisshop of Chich [...] [...] goddes seruice (as they call it) [...] the church [Page] dores with thornes thorow out al hys di [...] cese, vntyll the kynge had yelded hym vpp [...] hys trybute agayne? For when the holy father had forbidden pryestes theyr wyues / the bysshop permitted thē whores of their owne for a yearely tribute, & do yet in all lā des, saue in Ingland where they maye not haue any other saue mennes wyues onely.

And agayne for the election of Steuen langton archbysshop of Canterbury, what miserye and wretchednesse was in the royalme a longe ceason? Thē was the land interdited many yeares. And when that holpe not, then Irelande rebelled agaynst kinge Iohn immedyatly, Note. and not wythout y ^e secrete workinge of oure Prelates I dare well saye. But fynally when neyther the interditing nether y ^t secrete subtiltie holpe▪ & whē Ihon wold in no meanes consent y ^e saint peters vicar shuld raygne alone ouer the spiritualtye, & ouer all y ^t perteyned vnto thē, and y ^t they shulde synne & do all mischefe vnpunisshed / the pope sent remissyō of synnes to the kynge of Fraūce for to go and conquere hys land. [...] ▪ of synnes to cōquere Wherof king Ihō was so sore afrayd y ^t he yelded vp his croune vnto y ^e pope, & sware to hold y ^e lād of hī ād y ^t his successours shuld do so lykewise.

[Page]And agayn in Kyng Richardes dayes y ^e second / Thomas Arundell archbysshop of Cāterbury & chaūcelare was exyled w ^t y ^e Earle of Darbye. Thomas Arūdell. The outwarde pretē ce of the varyaunce betwene the Kynge ād his lordes was for the delyueraunce of the towne of Braste in Brytayne. But our prelates had an other secret mystery a bruing They coulde not at theyre owne luste slea the poore wretches which at that tyme were conuerted vnto repentaunce / and to the true faith / to put their trust in christs death & bloudsheadyng for the remission of their sinnes by the preachinge of Iohan Wyclefe / As sone as the archbysshop was out of the royaume, Practyse. the Irishmen began to rebell againste kynge Rychard as before against Kynge Ihon: But not hardelye withoute the inuisyble inspyration of them that rule bothe in the courte and also in the conscien­ces of al men. They be one kingdom sworne together one to helpe an other scatered abroade in all royalmes.

And howe be it that they stryue amonge them selues who shalbe greatest, yet agaīst the temporall powr they be always at one though they dissēble it and fayne as thogh one helde againste the other to know theyr [Page] enemies secretes to betray them with all. They cā inspyre priuelye into y ^e brestes of y ^e people, what myschefe they lyst, & no mā shal know whēce it cōmeth. Their letters go secretly frō one to an other thorow out all kyngdōs. Saīct peters vicar, shall haue worde in .xv. or .xvi. dayes, frō the vtter­most part of christendom. The bysshops of England at their nede / cā wryte vnto y ^e bysshops of Ireland, scotland, denmarke, douchland / fraunce and spayne, promysīg them as good a turne an other tyme / put­tyng them in remembraunce that they be all one holy churche / & y ^t the cause of the o­ne, is the cause of the other, sayenge: if our [...]ugglyng breake out / yours can not be lon­ge hyd. And the other shall serue their turne / ād bring the game vnto their handes, & no man shall know how it cometh about. As sone as king Richard was gone to I­reland to subdue these rebellyous, the bysshope cam in agayn, and preuented the kinge, and toke vp his power against him and toke him prisoner / and put him downe / ād to death most cruelly, and crouned the earle of darby kīg. O mercyfull Christ / what bloud hath that coronacion cost England? But what care they? Their causes muste [Page] be auenged. He is not worthy to be kynge that wyll not auenge their quarels· For do not the kynges receaue their kyngdome of the beast, and sweare to worshyp hym and maynteine hys throne? And then when the erle of Darbye whych is kyng Henry the fourth / was crouned, the prelates toke hys swerde and hys sonnes Henry the fifth after hym, as all y ^e kinges swerdes syns and abused them to shed christē bloude at their pleasur. And they coupled their cause vnto the kynges cause (as now) & made it treasō to beleue in Christ as y ^e scriptur teacheth & to resyst the bisshopes (as now) and thruste thē in the kynges prysons (as now) so that it is no new inuēcion, that they now do but euen an old practyse, though they haue done their busy cure to hyde theyr science / y ^t their conueyaunce shuld not be espyed.

And in kyng henrye the .vj. dayes, how raged they as fierce lions agaīst good duke Humfre of Gloceter the kynges vncle, and protectour of the realme in the kings you­th and childehod, Duke Umfre. because that for him they myght not slea whom they wold, and make what cheuysaunce they lusted. Wold not y ^e bysshop of Wynchester haue fallen vppon him / and oppressed hym openly with myght [Page] and power, in the Citie of London, had not the cityzens come to hys helpe?

But at the last they found the meanes to contryue a dryft to bryng their matters to passe, and made a parlament farre from the cityzens of London, where was slayne the good duke and only welth of the royal­me, and the myghty shylde that so longe be­fore had kept it from sorow, which shortly after his death, sell theron by heapes. But y ^e cronicles can not tell wherfore he dyed / nor by what meanes. No meruell verely. For he had nede of other eyes then such as the world seeth with all that shud spye out the­yr priuye pathes. Neuerthelesse the crony­cles testifye that he was a vertuous man, a godly and good to the comen welth. Moreouer the Protectour of Purgatorie sayth in hys Dialoge / quod I, ād quod he / and quod youre frende, how that he was a noble man / and a great clerke, and so wyse that he coulde spye falce myracles and dys­close them, and Iudge them from the true / whych is an hatefull science vnto our spy­rytualtye and moare abhorred them necro­mancie or wytchcrafte and a thynge wher­fore a man by their lawe, I dare well saye, is worthy to dye / and that secretly yf it be [Page] possible. Now to be good to the comen wel­th / and to se false miracles, and thirdely to wit [...]stande that Fraunce then brought vnder the fete of the Inglyshmen, shuld not be set vp agayn, by whose power the pope holdeth doune y ^e Emperour & reygneth in his stead, becauses why he myght dye though by what meanes be not knowen. For to be good to y ^e comen wealth, is to be hurtefull to the spiritualtye, thre causes seing 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 / howe can iugglers gette theyr lyuinge and be in price where such a fellow is? Thyrdlye to kepe doune y ^e kīgdō of fraūce, is to pul. S Peters vicar out of his seate.

Now if the great baude y ^• whore of babylon were destroied, then wold the bordel and stues of our prelates shortly perish. Yf Abadon that destroyer king of y ^e gras­sehoppers which deuoure all that is grea­ne, were destroyed, then were the kingdom of our caterpyllers at an ende.

¶By what craft the pope kepeth the Emperour doune.

[Page]Marke an other practise of our most holy prelates. When the empyre was translated vnto the germaynes / though the emperour was fallen doune, and had kyssed the Popes fete, and was become his sworne seruaūt: yet there was much strife and open warre oftimes betwene the popes and the emperours. And the popes haue put doune many good Empe­rours / by helpe of the Bisshopes, w ^c euery where secretly persuaded y ^e lordes, to for­sake the emperou [...]s / & to take dispensaciōs of the pope for their othes.

And cōtrary wyse, the emperours haue now and then deposed dyuerse popes at request of the Cardinalles & other great pre­lates, by whose helpe onely they were able to do it. For els verely though al Kynges christened / had sworne to depose one Pope out of his seat, if they had not y ^• fauour of other prelates therto, they might haply by the secret practise of them, to be put out of their own seates in y ^e meane tyme. The pope therfore, to be sure of him self & out of y ^e feare & daūger of y ^e emperour, were he neuer so mighty, & that y ^e emperour shuld not se / his dayly open pastimes, made [Page] frendship and amytye with the Uenecian [...] on the one syde of him, and let them com in to certayne cyties of the Emperours in Italy and with the French king on the other syde / and late him also vp into certayne Cytyes and possessyons of the Emperoures: and he himselfe in the middes: And shotte out the Emperoure frō cōminge any mo­re to Rome, and euer sent him his corona­cion home to hym. No mā rebuk y ^e pope And then he made a la­we that no man shuld rebuke the Pope for what so euer myschefe he dyd, sayeng, that the Pope was aboue al / and iudge ouer all, and none ouer him, and therfore forbade in his law. Distinctio .xl. Si Papa. sayenge: though the pope be proued negligent abou­te him self / ād also the soule helth of his brethern, and slacke in his worke and speach­lesse as concernynge anye good, and drawe with him by his ensample inumerable people to hell to be punished with him with diuerse tormētes euerlastingly: yet se that no mortal mā presume once to rebuke his fautes here. For he shall iudge all men and no man him. O antichryst. Is he not ātichrist that wyll not haue his lyfe tryed by Gods worde?

[...]enecians.Yf the Uenecians catch any of our holy [Page] fathers townes or possessions whether by warre or that they haue bought it, or that it be layde to morgage vnto them or that y ^e olde Pope hath geuen it with the mariage of som doughter vnto the duke of Uenyce: then the holy father that succedeth, whē he seeth his ceason, sendeth for it agayne, sayenge that it is not laufull for lay men to with holde sainct Peters patrimony. Yf they allege that they bought it and so forth: his fatherhod answereth that the old Pope had none auctoritie to make any such cheuisaunce with sainct Peters enheritaunce: he coude haue but the vse of it his lyfe longe / and after it must nedes returne vnto his successoure agayne. And vpō that he interdyt [...]th them and curseth them as blacke as coles / and doune to the pyt of hell.

But the Uenecians knowing more of oure holye fathers practyse, for their nye­nes then we which dwel a farre of / and wyser then we of cold contrees / perceauing al­so that their colour chaūgeth not with his cursynge, and that they syncke not, ād that their meate digesteth as well as before / and that (as Erasmus sayeth) they s [...]yte as easyly as before (with reuerence of the holy course I speake it) & therfore feare not his interdiction [Page] nor excommunicatyon.

Then our holy father raiseth vp all his power that he is able to make in Italy, a­gaynste them / & sendeth for the zwytzers to come and helpe. Yf he be not yet strong ynough / then he sendeh vnto the bysshops of fraunce, warning them that if hys seate decaye / theyrs can not longe prosper, and therfore that they put theyr kynge in remē braunce how that he is called most chrysten kyng and that they desyre hym to do som­what for hys tytie against this disobediēt rebellyons, vnto the most holy se of Rome our mother holy churche.

FrēchmenYf an other tyme the frenchmen come to nye our holy father, as they be euer gaping for Italy, to brynge the empyre home agayne to fraunce. Then the moost holy vicare bryngeth his whole power agaynste them with the power of the venecians, and with hys old frendes the zwytzers. If he be not yet stronge ynough / then he sendeth to the bisshops of England, Englishmē to help their god, and to moue their kyng to do somwhat for holy churche, puttyng him in remembraunce of whom he holdeth his croune & of hys othe, and how many cappes of mayntena­unce haue bene euer sent vnto hys forefa­thers, [Page] and what honour it was vnto them, and that he maye easely gett as greate ho­noure as they / and happly a more excellent title / yf he wyl take our holy fathers parte, besydes that he shall purchase remyssyon of all hys synnes.

Then must the peace and all the apoin­tementes made betwene vs and fraunce, be broken, and the kynge must take a dyspensacion for hys oth. For the kynge of fraunce wyll attempte nothing in Italy, vntyll he haue sent hys ambassadours / and haue made a perpetuall peace wyth oure kynge, the Sacrament of the bodye of oure sauiour broke betwene them, to confyrme the ap­pointement. But I suppose that the breakyng signifyeth that the appointemēt shall not long endure / for a greate deale of flo­wer wolde not make so manye hoostes, The abuse of the sacrament. as they call them, or synginge loues, as hathe bene broken in our dayes betwene christen princes (as they wylbe called) to confirme promises that haue not long bene kept. Other vse of that blessed sacrament wyll the prīces none know: but christ ordeined it to be a perpetuall memorye y ^t his bodye was brokē for oure sinnes vpō y ^e crosse, & y ^t all that repent shuld receaue as oft as they ea [...]e [Page] of it / forgeuenes of their misdeades tho­row fayth. Yf y ^e kīgs of y ^e earth whē they breake that sacramēt betwene them, do say on this wyse: The body of our sauiour (which was broken on y ^e crosse for the synne of al y ^e repēt & haue good harts & wold faine kepe his law) be brokē vnto my dānacion, if I breake this oth: thē is it a terrible oth, and they had neade to take heade how they make it. [...]d if it be lawfully made, not to breake it at all. But as they care for the [...]rothe / whiche they make in wedlocke [...] so they care for this.

Whatsoeuer nead the pope hath, he wyl not send to the Emperour to come & helpe hi [...] in Italy, for feare lest he wold take to hīself what soeuer he cōquered of y ^e frēchmen / and waxe to strong and minish oure holy fathers power, and become our holy fathers vicar / as he is saint Peters. Ne­uerthelesse if we englishmen will hyre the Emperour to com and fyght agaīst fraū ­ce for the right of the church in these quarters that [...]e next vnto vs, his fatherhod is cōtent to admyt his seruice.

When our king hath graunted to take our holy fathers part / then the pretence & cloke out ward must be, that the kyng wil [Page] [...]alenge his ryghte in fraunce. And to ayde the king in his ryght, must the commens be mylked tyll they blede agayne. Then to do the king seruice, the lordes sell or laye their landes to morgage. Then is cleane remis­sion geuen to sleo french dogges. Remissio [...] of synnes. He that dyeth in the quarell shall neuer see purgatorye / but file tor heauen streyght, euen with a thought.

WHen the Pope hath what he desy­reth in Italye, then muste we make peace wyth the Frenchmen agayne immediatlye / that fraunce be not all toge­ther trodē vnder the fete: but that it rema [...] alwaye in a meane state / stronge Inough to match the emperour & to kepe hym doune, but not to myghtye for oppressinge the pope, and then oure prelates to bringe the peace about / sende immediatly a fryer fo­rest / or a vicar of croiden / to preach before y ^• king & his lords / which preacher roreth ād cryeth vnto thē as though he halowed hys houndes and maketh exclamations, sayenge: Alas what wyll ye do? spare Chrysten bloude: wyll ye slea youre owne soules? Be not the frēchmē as well christē as ye? Moreouer ye slea pore innocents that neuer offēded? make peace for y ^e passiō of christ, kyll [Page] not one an other as though Christ had not dyed for you: but fyght rather agaynst the turkes.

Thē come in the Ambassadours of fraū ce, and money a fewe prelates and certayne other the kynges playfellowes / y ^• be sworn with them to betraye both the kinge and y ^e royalme too: And then is peace concluded. But outwardelye there is nothinge saue a truce taken for halfe a yeare / tyll our soul­diers be at home again / for feare least they wold not be contēt▪ Then cōmeth the whole host home beggerd both great and smal And the poore that can not sodenlye gette work, fall to stealyng and be hanged at home. Thys could More tell in hys Utopia before he was the cardenalles sworn secretarye, and fallen at hys fete to betraye the truth / for to gett promocyon.

Hēry y ^e .v.Take an ensāple: the bysshops sent king Henrye the fyft out to conquere Fraunce. The cause was (sayth the chronicles) that the kynge went about to take theyr temporallyes from them. And therfore to bringe the kynge into an other imaginacyon, they monyed hym, and sent him into fraunce.

When they had sent out the kyng, he cō quered more then was theyr will and mo­re [Page] then they supposed possible for hym in so shorte space / and brought fraunce cleane vnder fete: so that oure prelates had much secrete busynes, to set it vp agayn, but what is impossyble vnto so great Gods?

In kynge Henryes dayes the .vi. oure holy father of Rome made the bysshop of Wynchester a cardynall, Hēry y ^e .vi which went shortly after into fraunce to treate of a truce betwene Ingland & fraunce. And him met­te a legate of Rome, a cardinall also: after which meating / Inglyshmen had euer the worse in fraunce, and theyr chefest fryende the duke of Burgayne forsoke them. For whē cardinalles & bysshops mete together, they haue their secrete counsell by them selues, wherin they conclude neyther what is good for Inglande, nor yet for fraunce, but what is best for our holy fathers proffytt to kepe him in hys state.

When kynge Henry was of age, there was a maryage made betwene hym and y ^e earle of Arminackes doughter in Giā, w ^t the which shuld haue bene geuen manye castels and townes in Gian and a greate sō me of money therto. But y ^e maryage was broken not without the secret workyng of oure prelates and dyspensation of our ho­lye [Page] father thou mayest be sure. And a ma­riage was made betwene hym and the kinges doughter of Cecyle, for which Ingland gaue vp the whole dukedom of Gyan and Earledom of Mayme / wherby we lost all Normandye, wherof they were the kaye. And besyde y ^•, the cōmunes gaue a, xv. & an half to [...]ette her in wyth pompe. And then was the good duke of Glocetter traytou­rously murthered / partely because he could iudge false myracles, & partely because of the delyueraūce of these two contreys. For he being a lyue, they durst not do it.

And when kyng Edward had put doune kyng Henry [...], a mariage was made and cōcluded betwene hym & the kynge of spaiue this quenes mother y ^• nowe is. But yer the Ambassadours were come home, oure Prelates had be witched kynge Edwarde by theyr apostle Fryer bongay / and maried him vnto a wyddowe that was a knyghts wyfe / lest yf spayne and Ingland had bene wyned together / kynge Edward shuld ha­ue recouured fraunce agayn. But what followed after y ^e breakīg of y ^t mariage, betwene kynge Edward & the earle of warwick ād what came of his chyldren? ye ād what came on king Hēry of windsores children [Page] also? But what care our prelates what v [...] geaunce or mischefe fa [...]e on princes or on theyr royalmes / so theyr kyngdome prospere?

In Kynge Henryes dayes the .vij. the cardinall Murton & bysshop [...]ox of win­chester, delyuered vnto the kinges grace the confessions of as many lordes as hys gra­ce lusted. Who soeuer was mistrusted, it he shroue hym self at the chart [...]rhouses sy [...]n Grenewich / at sainct Iho [...]s, Cōfession or where soe­uer it wa [...], the confessour was comaunded by the aucthorite of the pope to delyuer his confession wrytē & sworne that it was al. And cardinal Murton had a lyc [...]nce of the pope for fourtyne, to study nycromancy [...], of whych he him selfe was one / and other I haue heard named whiche at thys tyme I passe ouer with scilence. And how the holy fryers obseruauntes caryed feyned letters to trye who was true, I passe ouer with silence also. How beit such temptacions and fained profers were ynough to mo [...]e them that neuer wold haue thought amysse: yea and in confession men wyll shryue them s [...]lues of thoughtes which they neuer went about in the outwarde dead.

Whē any great mā is put to death how [Page] his cōfessour entreateth him & what penaunce is enioyned him, concerninge what he shall say, when he comēth vnto the place of executiō / I coud gesse at a practise y ^t might make mens eares glowe

And did not the subtil counsell of the sayde two prelates fayne the sege of Bolen to make a pretence to gather in a fiftene, whē there was no more warre betwene y ^e king of Fraunce and of Englond, then is betwene a mans head y ^t hath lust to slepe, & his pilow? Which sege yet cost many a mā their lyues, yea & some great men therto, which knew not of that faining. The kinges grace went ouer with a ten thousād men to cō quere all Fraunce and spent haply an hū ­dred thousand pound, of which he saued y ^e fourth part in the dādyprattes and gathe­red at home .v. or .vi. hūdred or more. And two other such fayned viages could I happly reherse, which I passe ouer for diuerse causes, where many an Englishe man lost his lyfe. But what care they for mens ly­ues?

And did not our cardinall with like polycy thīcke ye / to gather y ^• which he thoght wolde not well be payed, excepte the com­mens sawe som [...] cause, brīg a great mul­titude [Page] of scottes vnto the english pale eth [...] by some bysshopes of Scotlande or by some great man, whom he corrupted with some yerelye pencion? agaynst which the po [...] re northen mē / must goo on their owne cos [...] to kepe them out. And generall processyon was commaūded at London / thryse in the weke, and thorow out all the lande, while [...] Kynges receauers gathered the taxe of the comen people. Which plage and such like after the thretning of god. Leui. xxvi. & Deute. xxviij. ād .xxix. I am sure wyll faule on all christendome without cease, vntyll they ether defye the name of chryst with the turckes, or if they wylbe called christen, they turne and loke on his doctrine.

Yea and what fayned the cardinall at the great loue to begyle his owne pryestes / to make thē swere what they were wroth and the better wyllyng to paye, for the co­men priestes be not so obedient vnto theyr ordinaryes, that they wyl pay money excepte they know why. Now it is not expedyēt that euery rascall / shulde know the secretes of the very true cause, for many cōsyderacyons. And therfore ā other pretence must be made ād an other cause alleaged. And therfore the priestes were charged by theyr or­dynaryes [Page] to appeare before the gentelm [...] of y ^e court and t [...]mporal officers / & swea [...]e what euery mā was worth. Now the pryestes had [...]euer be slayne and dye marters after the ēsample of sainct Thomas of Caū terbur [...], then to sweare before a laye iudge, for they thinke it greater synne / then to slea their owne fathers, and that then the lyberties of the church were clean lost, and they no better then the vyle lay peple. And whē they were in y ^t perplexitie that they muste eyther sweare or runne into the kyngs daū ger & lose theyr goddes (I wold say theyr goodes) then my lorde cardenall sent downe hys graciouse powr y ^• they shuld swear [...] vnto theyr ordinaryes onely. And then the pryests for ioye that they were ryd out of y ^• laye mennes handes, were so glad and ioy­ous, that they wyste not what thankes to geue my lorde cardinall / and so were obedyent to sweare and to lende, or els for all the curses that my lord Cardinall hath and the Pope to, they wold neither haue sworne or payde a penny.

¶The practise of oure tyme.

[Page]WHen the Kynges grace came fyrste to the ryghte of the croune and vnto the Gouernaunce of the Royalme yōg & vnexpert, Thoms wof [...]e. Thomas wolf [...]e a man of lust & courage, and bodelie strength to do ād to suffer great thinges / and to endure in al maner of voluptuousnes, expert a [...]d exer­cysed in y ^• course of the worlde, as he which had hard, red & sene much policie & had do­ne many thynges him selfe / and had bene of the secrete councell of weyghtye maters, as so [...]e as symon that betraaed troye, vtterly apoynted to semble and dissemble, to haue one thynge in the harte / and an other in the mouth, beynge therto as eloquēt as sotle & able to persuade what he lusted to thē that were vnexpert: so desyrous and gredye of honoure / that he cared not but for the nexte and most compendious waye therto, whe­ther godlie or vngodlie: this wylye wolf I saye / ād ragynge sea and shypwracke of all England, though he shewed him selfe pleasaūt and calme at the fyrst (as hores do vn­to theyr louers) came vnto y ^e kinges grace and wayted vppō him, and was no man so obsequious and seruiceable / and in all ga­mes and sportes the fyrst and next at hand [Page] and as a captayne to courage other ād a g [...] ­ye fynder out of newe pastimes to obtayne fauour with all.

And therto as the secrete communicacion wēt, which by many tokens thou mayst well coniecture and gather to be true, Bisshopes calke kings natiuities. he calked the kinges natiuiti [...] ād birth, whiche is a comen practise amonge prelates, in all landes, wherby he sawe wherunto the kynges grace shuld be enclined all his lyfe, ād what shuld be lyke to chaunce him at all times. And as I hard it spoken of diuerse, he made by crafte of nicromancye, grauen Ima­gery to beare vppon hym, wherwith he be­witched the kinges mynde, ād made the kinge to dote vpon him more then euer he dyd on any lady or gentil woman / so that nowe the kinges grace followed him, as he before folowed the king. And then what he sayde, that was wysdome, what he praysed, that was honourable only. Moreouer in the meantime he spied out y ^• naturs and disposicyons of the kinges playe felowes, and of all that were greate, ād whō he spyed me­re for his purposse, him he flattered, & hym he made faythfull wyth great promyses, & to hym he sware, & of hym he toke an oth agayne that the one shulde helpe y ^e other for [Page] wythout a secret oth, he admytted no man vnto any parte of hys pryuities.

And euer as he grewe in promociōs & dignitie, so gathered he vnto him of y ^e most subtle wytted, & of thē that were dronke in the desyre of honour most lyke vnto hīself And after they were sworne / he promoted thē, and wyth great ꝓmyses, made them in falshed faithfull: & of them euer presented vnto the kyngs grace, & put thē into his seruyce, saying: thys is a man mete for youre grace. And by these spyes (if oughte weare done or spokē in the court, The kinge is betrayed agaīst y ^• cardi­nall) of y ^• he had woorde within an houre or two. And thē came the cardinall to court with all hys magike, to persuade y ^e contrary. If any in the court had spokē against y ^e Cardinall, ād the same not great in the kinges fauour / the Cardinall bad hym walke a villayne, and thrust hym out of the courte headlong. If he were in conceyte wych the kynges grace, thē he flattered, & persuaded and corrupt sōme w ^t gyftes, and sente som Ambassadours, and some he made Captaines at Calais, Hāmes, Gynes, Iernsey & Gersey, or sent them to Irlande & into the north, and so occupyed them tyll the kynge [...] forgottē them and other were in theyr [Page] rowmes / or tyll he had spyed what they e [...]tended.

And in lyke maner played he with the ladyes and gentyll women. the quene [...] betraied Whosoeuer of them was great, with her, was he familiar and to her gaue he giftes▪ Yea: and where saynt Thomas of caūterburie was wont to com after, Thomas Cardinall wē [...] oft before / preuentynge hys prince and peruer­ted the order of the holte man. Yf any were subtyll witted and mete for his porpose, hi [...] made he sworn to betray y ^e quene likewise [...] [...]nd to tell hym what she sayde or dyd. I know one that departed the court for none other Cause then that she wolde no long [...] betraye her mastresse.

And after y ^e same example he furnishe [...] y ^e court with chapelains of his owne sworne disciples & childrē of hys owne bryngīg vp, to be alwaie present ād to dyspute of va­nityes and to water what soeuer the Car­dinall had planted. Yf among those cormo­ra [...] ̄t [...]s any yet begā to be to much ī fauour wyth the Kynge, and to be somwhat busye in the Court, and to drawe any other waye then as my lord Cardinall had appoynted / that the Plowe shulde goo, a nonne he was sent to Italye or to SPAINE: or some [Page] quarel was picked against him and so was [...]ust out of the court, as stokesly was.

He promoted the bysshop of Lyncolne that now is, the bisshop of Lincoln his most faythful frende & old companyon / and made hym conf [...]ssour: to whom, of what soeuer y ^e kinges grace shro [...]e him self, think ye not that he spake so loude that the Cardinall herde it? and not vn­ryght: for as Gods creatures ought to o­beye God and serue his honoure, so ough [...] the popes creatures to obeye the pope & se [...] ue hys magestie?

Finally Thomas wolfse became what he wolde, euen porter of heauen, so that no man coulde entre into promocion, but tho­row him.

¶The cause of all that we haue suffred thys twentye yeares.

ABoute the beginning of the Kynges grace that now is / fraūce was mightie / so y ^• I suppose it was not myghtier thys fyue hundred yeares. Kynge Le­wes of Fraunce had wonne Naples / and had taken Bonony from sainct Peters s [...]. king lewes Wherfore Pope Iuly was wroth ād cast Pope Iuly [Page] how to bring the frenchmen doune, yet so­berly lest whyle he brought hym lower / he shulde geue an occasyon to lyft vp the Emperour hyer. Our first viage into Spayne was to brīg y ^e frenchmen lower. For our meyney were set in the forefronte and bor­ders of spayne towarde Gaskayne: partly to kepe those parties, and partly to feare y ^• Gascaynes, & to kepe them at home whyle in the meane tyme the Spanyardes wan Nauerne. When Nauerne was wonne our men came to howse as manye as dyed not there, ād brought all there money with them home agayn / saue that they spend there. How beit for all the losse of Nauerne y ^e frenchmen were yet able ynough to match Spayne, the Uenecians ād the Pope with all the Zwytzers that he coulde make: so y ^t there was yet no remedye but we must set on y ^e frēchmē also, if they shuld be brought out of Italy.

Then pope Iuly wrote vnto hys deare sonne Thomas wolfse that he wold be as good / as louynge and as helpynge to holye church / as any Thomas euer was / seyng he was as able. the newe Thomas. Then the newe Thomas as glorious as the old / toke the mater in hā de and persuaded the kinges grace. And [Page] [...]hen the kinges grace toke a dyspensatyon for hys othe made vppon the apoyntment of peace betwene him and the French king and promysed to helpe the holy seate where in Pope Peter neuer sate. But the Empe­rour Maximilian myght in no wyse stand still lest the frenchmen shuld money hym, & get ayde of hym / seynge the Almaynes re­fuse not money whēce soeuer it be profered then quod Thomas wolfse, Maximli [...] Oh and lyke youre grace / what an honoure shulde it be vnto youre grace if the emperour were youre sodyare? So greate honoure neuer cha­unced any kyng christened. It shulde be spoken of while the world stode. The glory & honour shall hyde and darken the coste that it shall neuer be sene, though it shulde coste halfe youre realme. Dixit & factum est, it was euen so. And thē a parliament: and then paye: and then vpon the Frenche dog­ges▪ with cleane remission of all his sinnes, that slew one of them, Remision of synnes▪ or if he be slayn (for the pardons▪ haue no strēgh to saue in thys life, but in the lyfe to come only) thē to hea­uen strayght wythout felynge of y ^• paynes of purgatorye.

Then cam oure kyne with all hys mi­ght, by se and by lande, and the Emperour / [Page] wyth a strong army and the Spanyardes and the pope & the Uenecyans all at once against king Lewes of fraunce. As sone as the pope had that he desyred in Italy, then peace immediatlye. And frenchmen were chrysten men / and pytie, yea and great syn­ne also were it to sheade their bloud / and y ^e frenchkinge was the most chrysten kyng a­gayne. And thus was peace concluded and oure Inglyshmen or rather shepe came home against winter and lefte theyr fleces behynde them. Wherfore no smal number of them, whyle they sought them better ray­mente at home, were hanged for theyr la­boure.

¶Why the kinges syster was tur­ned vnto fraunce.

WHen this peace was made, oure ho­lye Cardynalles and Bysshoppes (as their olde Gyse is to calke and caste .xl▪ L. yea an hundred yeare before what is lyke to chaunce vnto theyr kingdome) considered how the Emperour y ^• now is, was moost like to be chosen Emperour after hys graundfather Maximilian / for [Page] Maximilian had already obteyned of dy­uerie of the ELECTOURS that is shulde so be.

They cōsidered olso howe mightye he shuld be: first, Kyng of Spayn w ^t all that perteyneth therto, w ^c was wont to be v.vi or .vij. kyngdōs: then Duke of Burgoyne Earle of Flaūders, of Hollande / Zelande / and Braband, wyth all that parteine ther­to: then Emperour, ād hys brother Duke of Austrych / and hys sister quene of Hun­grye. Wherfor thought our prelates, if we take not hede betymes / oure kyngdome is lyke to be troubled & we to be brought vnder the fete. For thys mā shalbe so myghty that he shall w ^t power take out of y ^e french kynges handes, out of the hādes of the Uenetians / and frō the Pope also, what soe­uer parteyneth vnto the empyre / ād what soeuer belongeth vnto hys other kyngdōs and dommions therto. And then he wyll come to Rome and be crouned there, and so shall he ouerlooke our holye father and see what he doth. And then shall the olde heretykes ryse vp agayne & say that the Pope is Antichryste, and styrre vp agayne, and bryng to lyght that we haue hyd & brogh [...] a slepe with muche cost, payne and bloude­shedyng [Page] more then thys hundred yere lon­ge. Considred also that hys aunte is quene of England, and hys wyfe the king of Englāds sister, consydred y ^e old amitie betwene y ^e house of burgom, & y ^e old kinges of ēglōd so y ^t they coulde neuer do ought ī fraūce w ^t out theyr helpe: & last of all cōsidered y ^t course of marchaūdise y ^• īglād hath ī those par­ties / & also y ^e naturall hart y ^t ēglishmē bear to frēchmē. Wherfore if we shall vse oure old practyse, and set the french king agaynst hym: Then he shall lyghtelye obtayne the fauour of the king of Ingland by the meanes of hys Aunte and hys wyfe, and ayde wyth men and money. Wherfore we must take hede betimes and breake thys amytie Whych thinge we maye by thys oure olde craft / [...]easely bringe to passe. Let vs take a dispensation & breake thys maryage, and turne the kinges sister vnto y ^e French king Yf the frenche Kynge, Practyse. gette a male of her. then we shall lyghtly make our kyngepro, tectoure of fraunce / and so shall Inglande and Fraunce be coupled together, and as for the quene of Inglande, we shall trym­me her well ynough, and occupye the kynge with straunge loue / and kepe her that she shall beare no rule. And as the godd [...]s had [Page] spoken so it came to passe. Our fayre yong doughter, was sent vnto the old pocky king of fraunce / the yeare before our mortall ēnemye and a myscreaunt / worse then a Tur­ke / and disobedient vnto oure holy Father, and no more obedient yet then he was cō ­pelled to be against his wyll.

The cause of the iourney to Calyce.

IN shorte space thereafter Thomas wolfse / now Cardinall and Legate a latere and greatlye desyrous to be Pope also / thought it exceading expedient / for his many secrete purposes to bring our Kyng and the Kyng of Fraunce that now is together: both to make a perpetual peace and amitie betwene them, and that (whyle the two kynges and their lordes dalyed together) the greate cardinalles and Bisshoppes of both parties, mighte becraye them both / and the Emperour and all Chrysten kinges therto.

Then he made a iourney of gentelmen arayed all together in sylk, so much as th [...]ir very showes and lynynge of theyr boutes, much more lyke their mothers then mē of warre: yea I am sure y ^• many of theyr mo­thers [Page] wolde haue bene ashamed of so ny [...] and wanton aray: how beit they went not to make war but peace for euer and a daye longer. But to speake of the Pompouse apparell of my lorde hym selfe and of hys chaplaynes, it passeth the .xij. apostles. I dare swere that if Peter and Paule had sene them sodenly ād at a blush / they wold haue bene harder in beleue that they or any such shuld be theyr successours / then Tho­mas [...]dimus was to beleue y ^t Chryst was rysen agayne from death.

When all was concluded betwene the kyng of Fraunce and ours, that Thomas wolf [...]e had deuised / and when the prelates of both parties had cast theyr peny worthes agaynst all chaunces and deuysed remedy­es for all mischeues· Then the ryght reue­rend father in God Thomas cardinall ād Lega [...], wolde go se the young Emperoure newlye chosen vnto the roume, and haue a certayne secrete communicacion wyth some of his prelates also. And gatte him to brid­ges in Flaunders, Prelates where he was receaued with great solempnitie as belongeth vnto so mighty a pyllar of Christes church, and was saluted at the entering into the toune of a mery felow which sayd, salue rex re­gis [Page] tui atque regni sui. saluta [...]io [...] ▪ [...] Hayle both kyng of the king and also of his realme. And thogh there were neuer so great stryfe betwene the Emperoure and the French kynge / yet my lorde Cardynall iugled hym fauour of them both / and fynally brought the Emperour to Calays, vnto the kinges grace, where was great tryumphe / and great loue / & amytie shewed on both parties in so much that certayne men maruelynge at it, asked the olde bisshope of Deram. How it might be that we were so great with the Empe­rour so shortlye vppon so stronge and euer lastinge a peace made betwene vs and the frenchmen, the Emp [...]rour and the kyng of Fraunce being so mortall ennemyes? My lorde answered that it might be wel inough if he wist al. A certeine secret. But there was a certayn secret sayd he, wherof all men knew not. Yea verely / they haue had secretes this .viij hundred yeares, which, though all the laye mē haue felt thē, yet fewe haue spyed them, saue a few Iudases whiche for lucre haue bene cōfederate wyth them, to betray their owne kinges and all other.

Then were we indifferent & slode still. And the Emperoure and the French kyng wrastled together. And Ferdinandus the [Page] Emperours brother wanne Mylane of y ^• frenchmen / and the Emperour turnay our greate conqueste whiche yet after so greate coste in Buyldynge a Castell, Milane. Turnay. we delyuered vp agayne vnto the frenchmen in ernest ād hope of a mariage betwene the dolphine & our princesse.

¶How the Emperour cam tho­row Englond.

AFter that the Emperour wolde into Spayne and cam thorowe Englond where he was recea­ue w ^t great honour & w ^t al that pertayneth to loue and amyte. The kings grace lent hym money and promysed hym more. And the Emperour shuld tarye a certayne yeares & mary our princesse: Not that the cardinall intēded that thou mayest be su [...]e, for it was not proffitable for theyr kingdom, but his mind was to dallye wyth the Emperour and to kepe him without a wyfe that (in so much as he was yong and lusty) he might haue bene noselled and en­tangeled wyth hores (which is their nurterīg Nurterīg. of kynges.of kinges) and made so effeminate and [Page] that he shuld neuer haue bene able to lift vp his harte to any goodnesse or vertue: that cardinalles and bysshopes myght haue administred his dominions in the meane time vnto our holy fathers profyte.

The king of fraunce hearing the fauour that was shewed vnto the Emp [...]roure, sent immediatlye a diffiaunce vnto oure king, not w ^tout our cardinalles & bisshops counsell, thou mayst well wyt.

For frenchmen are not so folish to haue done it so vnaduisedlye and so rashlye / seynge they had to many in their toppes already. Then oure king spake manye greate wor­des that he wold dryue the frenchkyng out of his realme, or els the frenchkyng shulde bryue him out of his▪ But had he added as the legate Pandulph taught kinge Ihon̄ / with the popes lycence, his wordes had sounded much better. For there can no vow stande in effect / except the holy father con­firme it.

We sent out our sodiars, two sommers agaīst the frenchmē / vnto whose chefe captaynes the Cardinall had appoynted, how farre they shuld go, ād what they shuld do▪ And therfore the frenchkyng was nothīg afrayed / but brought all hys Power a­gaynst [Page] the Emperour in other places. And [...]o was the Emperour euer betrayed. And thus the cardinall was y ^e emperours frend openly, and the frenchkinges secretlie, For at the m [...]ng / wyth the frenchkinge besyd Cal [...]s, he vtterly betrayed the Emperour▪ yet for no loue that he had to Fraunce, but to helpe the Pope, yea ād to haue bene Po­pe happely / and to saue theyr kyngdome. Whych treason / though all the world smel­led it, yet it brake not out openlie to the eye / tyll the sege of Pauye. And the Cardynall sent the emperoure muche monye openlye / and gaue the Frenchkyng more secretelye. He played with both handes to serue their secret▪ that all mē know not, as the bisshop of Deram sayed. But what soeuer the frenchmen did, they had euer the worse, no [...] withstondyng the secrete workyng of our holy prelates on their syde.

Fynallye vnto the sege of Pauye came the Frenchkyng parsonallye with .lx. thousand men of warre, Pauye. of whych .xij, thousand were horsemen, and wyth money ynough And the Emperours host was vnder .xx. thousand, of whych were but .iij. thousand horsemen, w ^t no money at all. For he trusted vnto the Pope for ayde of men, and vnto [Page] oure Cardynall for money. But the Pope kepte backe hys men tyll that the frēchmē had geuen them a felde, and our Cardinall kepte backe hys money for the same purpose. And thus was the selye Emperoure betrayed, as all hys predecessours haue bene this .viiij. hūdred yeres. How be it there be that sa [...]e, how that the Emperours sodiars so thretened Pace, Pace [...] the kynges graces em­bassadoure, that he was fayne to make che­ [...]esaunce wyth marchauntes for money in the kinges name, to paye the soldyars with all. Wherfore the cardinall toke from hym all his promocions, and played tormētours wyth him whē he came home, because that he presumed to do one Iore more thē was in his commissiō But how so euer it was, y ^e emperours mē, in tarieng for helpe / had spent out all their vitayles. Whervpō Burbon the chefe captayne of the Emperoure sayd vnto his vnder captaynes: ye se, Burbo [...] helpe cometh not, and that our vitales are spent. Wherfore there is no remedy but to fight though we be vnequally matched. If we wynne, we shall fynd meate ynough: if we loose, we shall loose no more th [...]n we must lose with hūgre / thogh we fyght not. And so they cōcluded to set vpō y ^e Frenchmē by [Page] night. The king of fraunce and his lorde [...] purposing that the mone wolde soner haue faullen out of the skye, then that the Emperoures host durst haue fought wyth them / were som what negligent, and wēt the same night a mummynge that Burbon sett vp­pon them. The Emperours host therfore with their sodayn comyng vppon thē, amased the frenchmen / and draue them vpon heapes to gether one on an other, so y ^t they ne­uer coulde com in aray agayne, and toke the king and diuerse of his lords & slew many and wanne the felde. And there came out all the Cardinals preuye treason / for in the frenchkinges tent (say men) were letters founde / and besyde that in the Frenchkyngs treasure, and in all the host among the sodiars were englysh shippes found innumerable whiche had come saylynge a thousande myles by land. But what wonder, shippes be made to sayle ouer the sea, ād winges to fle into farre contrees & to mount to y ^e toppe of hye hylles.

When the frenchkyng was taken, we sang Te deum. But for all that singynge we made peace with frenchmen. And the Pope, Te deum. the Uenecians, Fraunce and England were knyt to gether, lest the Empe­rours [Page] army shuld do any hurte in fraunce Wherby ye may cōiecture of what mind y ^e pope & y ^e cardinal were to ward y ^e ēperour▪ and w ^t what hart our spiritualty w ^t theyr inuisible secretes, sang Te deū. And frō y ^e time hitherto / y ^e emperour ād our cardinall haue bene twayne.

After that, when the king of fraun [...] was delyuered home agayne / and hys son­nes left in pledge, many wayes were sought to bryng home the sonnes also: But in vayne / except y ^e frenchking wold make good y ^e which he had promysed the Emperour. For the bringing home of those Chylderne no Man more busyed his wittes / then the Cardinall. He wold in any wyse the emperour shuld haue sēt thē home / & it had bene but for our kynges pleasure, for the greate kindenesse that he shewed him ī times past. He wold haue maryed the kinges dough­ter our princesse vnto the Dolphine agay­ne, or as the voyce went among many, vn­to the seconde Brother, and he shulde haue bene prince in Englonde and king in tyme to come, so that he sought alwayes to plucke vs from the Emperour and to ioyne vs vnto Fraunce, to make fraunce stronge y­nough to matche the Emperour / and to kepe [Page] him downe, that the pope myght reyg­ne a GOD alone, the marte shuld haue bene at Ca [...]ce. and do what pleased him / without countrollynge of anye ouer­seer. And for the same purpose, he lefte nothing vnprouided to brynge the marte frō Andwerp [...] to Cales.

This be sufficient at this tyme, though I coulde saye more, and though other haue deserued that I more sayd: ye and I could more depely haue ētred into the practise of our cardinall, but I spare for diuerse consyderacions, and namely for hys sake / whiche neuer spared me / nor any faythfull frende of his owne, nor anye that tolde hym truth, nor spareth to persecute the bloud of Christ in as cleare lyght as euer was, ād vnder as subtyll colour of ypocrysy as euer was any persecution syns the creation of the world. Neyther haue I sayde for hate of any parson or parsons (God I take to record) but of theyr wickednesse only, and to calle them to repentaunce / knowledginge that I am a synner also, & that a greuous. How beit, it is a deuelysh thyng and a mercylesse to de­fend wickednes against the open truth, and not to haue power to repent. And therfore I doubt not, if men wyll not be warned hereby, [Page] but that God wyll vtter more practise by whome he wyll, & not cease, vntyll he haue broken the bande of the wytye hypocry­tes / which persecute so subtylly.

And fynally, let them remembre that I, to preuent all occasyons and all carnall beastes that seke fleshly lybertie, sent forth the true obedience of a Chrystē man w ^t yet they condempned, but after they had condēpned the newe testament, as ryght was, whence the obediēce had hys aucthorytie. Now thē if whē the lyght is come abroad in w ^c theyr wyckednesse can not be hyd, they fynde no such obedience in the people vnto theyr old tyranny, whose faute is it? This is a sure conclusyon: none obedience y ^t is not of loue can longe endure: and in your dedes can no man see any cause of loue: and the knoledge of Chryst, for whose sake onely a mā wold loue you, though ye were neuer so euell, yea persecute. Now then if any disobedience ryse / are ye not the cause therof youre selues?

Saye not but that ye be warned.