ALL THE SVBmyssyons, and recantations of Thomas Cranmer, late Archebyshop of Canterburye, truely set forth both in Latyn and Englysh, agreable to the Originalles, wrytten and subscribed with his owne hande.
Visum & examinatum per reuerendum patrem & Dominum, Dominum Edmundum Episcopum London.
Anno, M. D. LVI.
¶ The true copye of the fyrste submyssion o Thomas Cranmer, late Archbyshop of Caunterburye, which afterwarde by inconstancye and vnstablenes he the sayd Thomas Cranmer did cancell, the oryginall whereof was sent to the Quenes Maiestie, and her priuie counsell, as foloweth.
FOrasmuch as the kynge and Quenes maiesties, by consent of their parliament, haue receaued the Popes aucthoritie within this realme, I am content to submyt my selfe to theyr lawes herein, and to take the Pope for chief heade of this churche of England, so farre as Gods lawes and the lawes and customes of this realme wyll permit.
¶ The true copye of the second submyssion of the sayde Thomas Cranmer, whiche he the sayde Thomas dyd aduisedly subscribe with his owne hande, and dyd not afterwarde reuoke it, the originall whereof was also sente vp to the Quenes Maiestie and her said counsell, as before.
I Thomas Cranmer doctor in diuinitie, do submyt my selfe to the catholyke Churche of Christ, and to the Pope, supreame heade of the same churche, and vnto the kynge and the Quenes Maiesties, and vnto all theyr lawes and ordinaunces.
Tertium scriptum Cranmeri sua ipsius manu exaratum, & per eum in buccardo exhibitum London, Episcopo.
I Am contente to submyt my selfe to the kynge and Quenes Maiesties, and to all theyr lawes and ordynaunces, aswel concernyng the Popes supremacy as others. And I shall from tyme to tyme moue and styrre all other to do the lyke, to the vttermost of my power, and to lyue in quyetnes and obedience vnto theyr maiesties, most humbly, without murmour or grudgynge agaynst any of theyr godly procedinges. And for my boke whiche I haue wrytten, I am contented to submyt me to the iudgement of the Catholyke churche, and of the nexte generall councell.
Quartum scriptum Cranmeri sua ipsius manu exaratum, et per eum in buccardo exhibitum London, Episcopo.
BE it knowen by these presentes, that I Thomas Cranmer doctor of diuinitie, & late Archbyshop of Canterbury, do fyrmely, stedfastlye, and assuredlye beleue in all articles and poyntes of the christian religion, and catholyke fayth, as the Catholyke church doth beleue, and hath euer beleued from the begynnynge. Moroeuer, as concerning the Sacramentes of the churche, I beleue vnfaynedly in all poyntes as the sayde catholyke churche doth and hath beleued from the begynnynge of Chrysten religion. In wytnes whereof I haue humbly subscribed my hand vnto these presentes, the .xvi. day of February. M. D. lv.
¶ The true copye of a fyfte submission of the sayd Thomas Cranmer, wrytten and subscrybed wyth his owne hand in y e presence of master Henry Syddall, and of one called Frater Iohannes de uilla Garcina, a notable learned man, as foloweth.
EGo Thomas Cranmer anathematizo omnem Lutheri & Zuinglij haeresim & quodcun (que) dogma sanae doctrinae contrarium, confiteor uerò & credo firmissimè unam sanctam & Catholicam ecclesiam uisib lem extra quam salus non est, at (que) eiusdem in terris supremum agnosco caput episcopum Romanum, quem fateor summum esse pontificem & papa [...] ac Christi uicarium cui omnes tenentur subesse fideles. [...]am quod ad sacramenta attinet credo & colo in sacramento Eucharistiae uerū Christi corpi & sanguinem sub speciebus panis & uini uerissime citra ullum tropum & figuram contenta, conuersis & transubstantiatis pane in corpus & uino [...] sanguinem redemptoris diuina potentia. At (que) in sex alijs sacramentis (sici in hoc) id credo & teneo quod uniuersa tenet ecclesia ac sentit Roman [...] Credo insuper purgatorium locum ubi ad tempus cruciantur defunctoru animae pro quibus sanctè ac salubriter orat ecclesia sicut & sanctos colit [...] illos (que) praeces effundit. Demum in omnibus me profiteor non aliud sentire quàm ecclesia catholica & Romana tenetiae me poenitet ꝙ aliud unqua tenuerim ac senserim, deum autem supplexoro ut pietate sua mihi condonare dignetur, quae in illum & eius ecclesiam commisi, fideles simul rogo et ol secro ut pro me praeces effundant, eos autem qui meo aut exemplo aut doctrina seducti sunt, per sanguinem Ihesu Christi obtestor ut ad ecclesiae [...] deant unitatem idem (que) dicamus omnes, ut nō sint in nobis schismata. Postremo sicut me subijcio catholicae christi ecclesiae eiusdem (que) supremo capiti, [...] me submitto Philippo & Mariae Angliae regibus at (que) eorum legibus & decretis, & testor deum optimum maximum (que) haec in nullius gratiam, nulli [...] metu à me confessa, sed ex animo & libentissimè ut meae & aliorum su [...] conscientiis consulam & prospiciam.
- Frater Ioannes de uilla Garcin [...]
- Henricus Sidallus.
¶ The true copye of a syxte submyssion of the sayde Thomas Cranmer, wrytten and subscribed with his owne hande as foloweth.
EGo Thomas Cranmer pridem Archiepiscopus Cantuarien. confiteor, & doleo exanimo, quod grauissime deliquerim in coelum & aduersus Anglicanum regnum, imo in uniuersam Christi ecclesiam, quam [...]nge seuius persecutus sum (quam) olim paulus, qui fui blasphemus, persecutor, & contumeliosus. At (que) utinam qui Saulū malicia & scelere superaui, possē [...]um paulo quē detraxi honorē Christo & ecclesiae utilitatem recompensare. Verum meum utcun (que) animum latro ille euangelicus solatur. Ille nam (que) tunc [...]andem ex animo resipuit, tunc illum furti pertesum est, quum furari am [...]lius non liceret: & ego (qui meo offitio & aucthoritate abusus, & Christo [...]onorem, et huic regno fidem et religionem abstuli) iam tandem dei maximo [...]eneficio ad me reuersus, agnosco me omnium maximum peccatorem, et curiosi qua possem deo primum, deinde ecclesiae, & eius capiti supremo, at (que) [...]egibus, toti demum Anglicano regno condignam reddere satisfactionem. Verum sicut latro ille felix, quum non esset soluendo quas pecunias & [...]pes abstulit (quum nec pes nec manus affixae cruci suum officium faceret) [...]orde & lingua dumtaxat (quae non erat ligata) testatus est quod reliqua [...]mbra essent factura, si eadem qua lingua libertate gauderent. Illa confessus est Christum innocentem, ea obiurgabat impudentiam sotij, eadem ante [...]ctam uitam detestatus & peccatorum ueniam impetrauit, & ueluti claui quadam paradysi fores aperuit. Huius exemplo non mediocrem concipio de Christi misericordia spem, fore ut mihi peccata condonet. Manibus & pe [...] libus careo, quibus quod destruxi iterum reedificare ualeam (relicta enim sunt tummodo labia circa dentes meos) sed uitulos labiorum nostrorum recipiet, qui est supra (quam) credi possit misericors. Hacigitur concepta spe libet hunc offerre uitulum, hanc minimam & corporis & uitae partem licare. Confiteor in primis meam ergadeum opt. max. ingratitudinem, agnosco me omni indignissimum beneficio & pietate, dignissimum uero omni non [...] humano ac temporali sed diuino & eterno supplicio, quod in Henricum 8 & maxime in eius uxorem Reginam Catherinam uehementissime deliqui, quum diuortij causa & author extiti: quae sanè culpa, omnium huius regni malorum & calamitatum seminarium fuit. Hinc tot proborum neces, hinc totius regni schisma, hinc haereses, hinc tot animorum & corporum strages [...]bortae sunt, ut uix possim uel rationae complecti. Sed quum adeo sint [Page] haec grauia inicia (que) dolorum, aperui fateor ingentem senestram haeresibis cunctis, quarum ego praecipuum egi doctorem & ducem. In primis uero il lud uehementer meum excruciat animum, quòd sacrosanctum Eucharistia Sacramentum tot blasphemijs & contumelijs affecerim, negans Christi cor pus & sanguinem uere & realiter sub speciebus panis & uini contineri, editis etiam libellis qui ueritatem pro uiribus impugnabam: in hac sanè par [...] te non solum Saulo & latrone deterior, uerum omnium quos terra un (que) su [...] stinuit sceleratissimus. Domine, peccaui in coelum & coram te. In coelum, quod mea causa tot caret coelicolis, quod coeleste hoc beneficium nobis exhibitum negaui impudentissime. Peccaui & in terra, quae tamdiu hoc sacramento miserè caruit, in homines quos ab hac supersubstātiali esca reuocaui, tot occisor hominum, quot inedia perierunt. Defraudaui defunctorum animas hoc iugi & celeberrimo sacrificio. At (que) ex his omnibus manifestum est, quantopere etiam post Christum in eius uicarium iniurius extiti, quemlibris etiam editis potestate priuaui. Propterea magnopere & impensissimè oro summum pontificem, ut mihi ob Christi elementiā condonet, quae aduersus illum eius (que) apostolicam sedem commisi. Ac serenissimos Reges Angliae, Hispaniae. &c. Philippum & Mariam supplex oro, ut regia qua pollent cle mentia mihi uelint ignoscere: totū etiam regnum, imo uniuersam ecclesiam rogo & obsecro, misereantur huius miserae animae, cui iam praeter linguam nihil est reliquum, quo possim illatas iniurias & damna resarcire. Praecipue uero quia tibi soli peccaui oro clementissime pater (qui omnes ad te uenire quamlibet facinorosos & cupis & praecipis) me propius & cominus digneris intueri, sicut Magdalenam & Petrum respexisti, uel certe sicut latrone ex cruce aspiciens, tuae gratiae & gloriae promissione dignatus espauidū et trementem animum consolari, ita etiam solita et natiua tua pietate oculos misericordiae ad me conuertas, nec non tuo me digneris alloquio, dicens, Salus tua ego sum, Et in die mortis, hodie mecum eris in Paradyso. Scriptum est hoc anno domini, 1555. Mensis Martij. 18.
[...] prayer and sayinge of Thomas Cranmer, a litle before his death, all written with his owne hande as foloweth.
GOod chrysten people, my dere beloued brethren, and my systers in Chryst, I besech you most har [...]ely to praye for me, to almighty god, that he wyl for [...]yue me all my synnes, and offences, whiche be ma [...]y wythout number, and greate aboue measure, but [...]et one thinge greuethe my conscience more then all [...]he rest, whereof god willing, I intend to speke more [...]ereafter, But howe manye and howe greate soeuer [...]hey be, I besech you to pray god of hys mercy to pardon and forgyue me all.
O Father of heauen, o sonne of god redemer of the worlde, o holy ghost, proceding from them both three persones and one God, haue mercye vpon me a most wretched caytife, and miserable synner, I haue offended both heauen and earth, more then my tonge can expresse, whyther than may I go? or whither shal I flye for succoure? To heauen I may be ashamed to lyste vp myne eyes, and in earth I fynde no refuge or succoure, what shall I than doo? shal I dyspayre? god forbyd, O god thou art mercyfull, aud refusest none, that commeth vnto the for succoure. To the therfore do I runne, to the doo I humble my selfe sayinge: O lorde god my synnes be greate, but haue mercy vpon me, for thy greate mercye. God was not made man, for our smal offences. Thou didest not giue thy sonne vnto death, for smale synnes onely, but for all, and the greatest synnes of the worlde, soo that the synner retourne to the in his hart, as I doo here at this presēt: wherefore haue mercy on me o lord, for although my synnes be great, yet thy mercy is greater, I craue nothynge, o Lorde for myne owne merytes but for thy name sake, that it may be halowed therby, and for thy [Page] deare sonne Jesus Chryst sake, and nowe therefore, O father that art in heauen, hallowed be thy name▪ Thy kyngdome come. &c.
Euery man desireth good people, at the tyme of their death, to gyue some good exhortation that good folkes maye remember after their death, and be the better for the same. So I besech god graunte vnto me, that I may speake some thinge whereby he maye be glorified and you edyfied. Fyrste it is an heauye case, to see how many folkes be so much doted of this present worlde, and so carefull of it, that for the world to come they seme to care very litle or nothyng. Therefore this shalbe my fyrst exhortation, that you set not ouermuch, by this presēt world, but vpon the world to come, and vpon God, and learne to knowe what this lesson meaneth of Saynt Iohn. The loue of this world (saith he) is hatred vnto God. The, ii. exhortation is, that next vnto God, you obey your kyng, and Quene, willingly and gladly, without murmurynge or grudgynge, not for feare of them, but muche more for feare of God, knowing that they be goddes ministers appoynted by god, for to gouerne and rule you, and therefore they that resist them, resist gods ordynaunce. The third exhortation is that you loue together, like brethren and systerne. But alas pitie it is to see howe faint this loue is, many taking other not as brother and systers, but rather as straungers, or mor tall enemyes. And yet I pray you learne this one lesson, to doo good vnto all men, as much as in you lyeth, and to hurte no man, no more then you woulde doo to your naturall louinge brother, and syster. For whosoeuer hateth any person, and goeth about maliciously to hurt him, surely withoute doute god is not [Page] with that man, although he thinke himselfe neuer so much in gods fauour. The, iiii, exhrotation shalbe to them that haue substaunce and ryches of the worlde, that they well consyder and remember, iii, sayinges, of the scrypture. One is of our Sauiour Christ hymselfe, who sayth, that rych men hardely come into hea uen: a sore saying, and yet spoken of him that knewe the truth. The second is of S. Ihon, who saith thus. He that hath the substaunce of this worlde and seeth his brother in necessitie, and shitteth vppe his mercy from him, howe can he say that he loueth God? The third is of S. Iames, who saythe to couetous ryche men after this maner: Wepe and howle you rich mē for the miserye that shall come vnto you, your riches do rotte, your clothes be moth eaten, your gold & syluer wax cancre, and rustie, and theyr rust shall beare witnes agaynst you, and consume you lyke fyre, you make a hoorde and treasure of goddes indignation agaynst the last day: let thē that be rych ponder well these. iii. sentences, for yf euer they had occasiō to shew theyr charitie, they haue it nowe, the poore people being so many, and victuells so dere.
Here to declare the Quenes iust title to the crowne.
ANd nowe forasmuche as I am come vnto the last ende of my lyfe wherevpon hangeth all my lyfe passed, and al my life, to come, eyther to liue with my Sauioure Chryste, for euer in ioye, or ells to be in paynes euer, with the wicked deuilles in hell, and I see before my eyes presentlye, eyther heauen redye to receyue me, or ells hell redy to swallowe me vppe, I shall therfore declare vnto you my very fayth, wythout coloure or dissymulation, for nowe is no tyme to dyssemble, whatsoeuer I haue sayde, preached, or [Page] written in tyme past. Fyrst I beleue in God y e father almyghty, maker of heauen and earth. &c. And I beleue euery article of the catholike fayth, euery clause worde, and sentence, taught by our sauiour Chryste, his Apostles and prophetes, in the newe and olde testament, and all articles explicate and set fourth in y e generall counselles. And nowe I come to the greate thing that soo much troubleth my conscience more thā any other thing y t euer I did, & that is settinge abroad vntrue bokes, & writings, cōtrary to the truth of goddes word, which nowe I renounce and condempne, and refuse them vtterly as erronyous & for none of myne. But you must know also, what bokes they were that you maye beware of them, or ells my conscyence is not dyscharged. For they be the boo [...] which I wrote agaynst the Sacrament of the Au [...]tare syth the death of Kynge Henrye the eyghte. But whatsoeuer I wrote than, nowe is tyme and place, to saye truth, wherefore renouncyng al those bo [...]s, and whatsoeuer in them is conteyned. I say and beleue that our Sauiour Chryst Iesu is really and sub stancially conteyned in the blessed Sacramente of y e Aultare vnder the fourmes of breade and wyne.
Excusum Londini in aedibus Iohannis Cawodi Typographi Regiae Maiestatis. Anno. M. D. LVI. Cum priuilegio.