^oT^v^ -^.v Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N, J. BX 4905 .V38 1828 v.l r,,.: Vaughan, Robert, 1795-1868 The life and opinions of '^"' John de Wycliffe Bou„ M"^ TllD^ SSA2,X2S, ^„.y..y.y„>. jr®srKr a® wtciliifif] 7 / /cT hil'h.thrd hv lUNohUworlh. Li S' r,wU iMuili rairl,& Mefj'-'Baiclmrrl & Son.IiecaJUhi.. THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF JOHN DE WYCLIFFE, D. D. JElIustratci prinrtpallp from f)i6 UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS ; PRELIMINARY VIEW OF THE PAPAL SYSTEM, AND OF THE STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRLNE IN EUROPE, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. ROBERT VAUGHAN. VOL. I. LONDON: B. J. HOLDS WORTH, IS, ST. Paul's cnuRCH-TfARi). HAT CHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY. 1828. LONDON: '.\.h-rt.X> BY S. HOLDSWORTH, 13, PATERNOSTER R-OW, P II E F A C E. The name of John de Wyclifte appears in the page of history, as that of the tirst Englishman, whose views of Christianity were such as to induce a renunciation of the spiritual as well as of the temporal power claimed by the pontiffs ; and to his mind, nearly every principle of our general Pro- testantism may be distinctly traced. To diffuse his doctrine among his countrymen, was the object to which his energies were directed in the face of every danger, with an industry which is almost incredible, and with a success which his enemies describe as a leading cause of the revolution which signalized the reign of Henry the eighth. By that event, though the result of imperfect motives in the sovereign, and defective in many of its prin- a2 IV PREFACE. ciples, a value was at length conferred on the birth- right of the men of this land, which no second change could have imparted. Such, at least, must be the persuasion of every Protestant believer ; and he must in consequence feel, that the Life of our patriarch Reformer is the last which should be left to be gathered from the tales of adversaries, who have employed their utmost ingenuity to conceal his virtues, or to convert them into crime. Nor will it be admitted for a moment, by the sincere disciple of the Reformation, that the History, and the Opinions of Wycliffe, may be sufficiently known through the medium of the brief, or the confused notices, which have been hitherto supplied by his friends. To this, indeed, we might submit, as to a sort of destiny, were it certain that the zeal of his opponents had succeeded in consigning the whole of his compositions to the flames. But though their famihar designation, as inquisitors of heretical pravity, was far from being assumed in vain, the Wycliffe manuscripts still extant, are happily suf- ficient to aftbrd a complete illustration of his cha- racter and doctrines. The only writer who may be said to have at- tempted a Life of Wycliffe, is Mr. Lewis, a clergy- PREFACE. V man, who about a century since, was *' Minister of ** Meregate." But that gentleman concluded his labours, regretting that his opportunities for exa- mining the works of the Reformer, were such as of necessity to render his acquaintance with them imperfect. So feebly also, from various causes, have his very laudable intentions been executed, that his book, which few persons have been known to read, would seem to be rarely consulted, except by the enemies of Wycliffe, as their best authority when employed in traducing him. It would have grieved the honorable mind of that writer, to have known that such a use would be made of his labours ; but this is the event. And, unhappily, the persons who thus avail themselves of his defects, so as to make him appear a party in the work of accusation, are en- abled to do so, without being exposed to all the they consequences of a disingenuousness with which they certainly are chargeable. To myself, Mr. Lewis's narrative could afford but a very limited aid, as it became my determi- nation in making my collections with a view to the present Work, to examine the Reformer's manu- scripts, so as to become immediately possessed of whatever information those voluminous productions a3 VI PREFACE. might supply. To acquire this familiarity with writings which are so widely scattered, and where every sentiment is clothed in a character, and mostly in a dialect so long since obsolete, was a point which demanded an exercise of patience. It was strictly necessary that considerable intervals should be passed at both Universities : that access should be obtained to the manuscript libraries of Lambeth Palace, and Trinity College, Dublin : and that much time should be spent in consulting the va- luable documents in the British Museum. Nor is it until more than two thousand miles have been traversed for this object, and some extended portions of time have for some years been devoted to it, that I have ventured to claim the attention of the public on a subject so important as the character of the Father of the Reformation. How far the result of these efforts may equal the expectations of my readers, is a question on which I shall not be sup- posed to be indifferent. I have failed, however, in the object which I have pursued with some soli- citude, if these volumes be not found to contain a faithful detail of all the facts which may be known as pertaining to the Reformer's history ; accom- panied too with whatever of illustration may be brought to them from his writings. In addition PREFACE Vll to which, I trust the story of his life, and particu- larly the chapter immediately following it, will be found to present a complete view of his various opinions, as they exist in the series of his works. The introduction to the main object of these volumes consists of three chapters ; the first, relating to the rise and character of the Papal System ; the second, to the state of the Protestant Doctrine on the continent from the fall of the empire, to the opening of the fourteenth century ; and the last, to the Eccle- siastical Establishment, and the state of society in England, previous to the appearance of Wycliffe. The history of the contest so long perpetuated, between the advocates of a corrupted, and of a purer Christianity, is resumed in the Life of the English Reformer. Some observations are also offered, on the state of the church during the interval between the decease of Wycliffe, and the appear- ance of Luther. To a correct estimate of the cha- racter of Wycliffe, and of our obligation to his generous labours, it is necessary that the features of the system, which he was called to oppose, should be clearly perceived, together with the degree of resistance, which it had previously encountered. But properly to dispose of the materials which it a 4 viii preface: became important for this purpose to connect with the narrative, was a point of some difficulty. The plan of an introduction has been adopted, as fa- vorable to the more consecutive treatment of the Reformer's history ; and of the series of things, whether good or evil, which belong to his times. The comprehensive nature of the points to be inves- tigated within the small space allotted to the prelimi- nary chapters, and the laborious attention which has been so often conferred upon them, must serve to pre- vent the anticipation of novelty. Should some of the views expressed, with respect to the complicated movements detailed in that portion of the Work be thought to partake at all of that character ; they have not, I trust, been hastily adopted ; but accurary, se- lection, and arrangement, were there the principal matters of solicitude. The first and second chapters, describe the Christianity which pervaded the western nations during the middle ages : the last contemplates the same system, subject to the modifications sup- plied by our local history. In following the stream of events which issued in the establishment of the papal power, I have been guided chiefly by Catholic writers. Where these have failed, I have restricted myself to such autho- PREFACE. I'X rities, as on the questions with which they are connected will be in general acknowledged by the Protestant reader as decisive. With respect to the churches of the Reformation, now under the protec- tion of the British Government, it is certain that Wy- cliffe should be considered as the parent of them all, rather than as the partisan of either. In conformity with this view of his character, while stating among his opinions many which must prove unacceptable to various existing denominations, and adding as no less due to his memory and to the reader, the rea- sonings on which such opinions were founded, I have been concerned to rest the claims of the Re- former on the gratitude of each religious body discarding the authority of Rome, upon grounds which the whole have agreed to venerate as sacred. If I have any where violated this rule, it has not been from design. In English history, WyclifFe is known as the first man who dared to advocate the free circulation of the vernacular scriptures, the un- alienable right of private judgment, and our complete deliverance from the wiles and oppressions of a papal priesthood ; uniting with these excellencies all the elements of that enlightened piety which adorned the christian profession in its purer ages. The reader who may be capable of regarding these as trivial X PREFACE. things, because the mind which proceeded thus far^ did not adjust itself with more precision to the delicate frame-work of that faith or polity on which his own partialities had been conferred, is certainly one with whom the Author can have no sympathy. It will be seen that in the extracts introduced from WyclifFe's vernacular pieces, the orthogra- phy and a few obsolete terms have been discarded, and that the taste of the modern reader, has been in some farther degree consulted. This liberty with the Reformer's language has been taken from a persuasion that without it the passages in- serted would fail to receive the attention which they deserve, and which is necessary to the design of the present publication. It may be questioned also, whether it is just to WyclifFe himself, that he should be obliged to deliver his sentiments at con- siderable length, in the very letter of a dialect, to most readers so unintelligible and repulsive as that of our ancestors in the fourteenth century. There is a danger of mistaking the imperfections of expression for those of perception and sentiment. But though such reasons may perhaps have justified a greater liberty with the Reformer's phraseology, I wish it to be borne distinctly in mind, that in the portion of his PREFACE. XI compositions included in these volumes, the substance of his language has been in every instance carefully- preserved ; and with it, every, even the minutest shade of his meaning. Nine-tenths of his terms are still current among us, and his sentences are in consequence more obsolete from their structure and orthography, than in their materials. To persons connected vs^ith both our Universities, and to others, members of the Protestant College in the capital of the Sister Island, I might express my obligations. But these are no w^here more serious, than as conferred by the kindness of the Venerable the Archdeacon of Richmond, who, as Rector of Wycliffe, has afforded me every encou- ragement in prosecuting my object, and has ren- dered me an important service by the loan of the valuable picture, from which the engraving prefixed to this volume is taken. Dr. Zouch, a former Rector, bequeathed this painting to his successors, with the following notice appended to it : *' Thomas " Zouch, A. M. formerly Fellow of Trinity College, '' Cambridge, and Rector of Wycliffe, gives this " origwa I picime of the great John Wycliffe, a ?iative " of this parish, to his successors, the Rectors of " Wycliffe, who are requested to preserve it as an Xll PREFACE. " heirloom to the Rectory House." Sir Antonio More was in England, during the reign of Ed- ward the sixth, and probably before the death of Henry the eighth. Dr. Zouch possessed consider- able information respecting the history of this painting, but a glance is sufficient to place its claims beyond doubt.^ In leaving the result of my obscure industry with the reader, it is not without feeling that I have much depending on his candour. But it was a conviction that the labours of WyclifFe were more nearly connected with our religious inde- pendence, and with the benefits attending it, than is generally supposed; and particularly, that many of the reproaches cast upon his name were unmerited, which led me first to make his charac- ter the subject of investigation. Every step in my inquiries, has served to convince me that on these points my impressions were correct. Com- pared with the most illustrious of the men, who during the sixteenth century adopted so much of 1 I am sorry to have to notice a mistake of the printer in repeating the preposition before the name of the parisli of Wycliffe in the lines at the foot of the engraving. Tlie error did not come under my notice until the whole of the impressions were taken. PREFACE. X»U his creed, he will be found to be the equal of the greatest, and the superior of most. Had his career been far less efficient, it will be remembered that the struggle at Thermopylse, does not aifect us less, because it was a failure. And if many of the questions which occur very frequently in his writings, are now in a great measure obsolete ; the man who can be indifferent to the steps by which his liberties were acquired, has scarcely learnt to value them as he ought. CONTENTS. PRELIMINARY VIEW, # CHAPTER I. 0)1 fhc Rise and Character of the Papal Poivvr. SECTION I. P 1. The Character of Judaism. — 2. Peculiarities of tiie Christian Dis- ponsation. — 3. Ancient Import of the word Church. — 4. Influence of the People in the Primitive Church. — 5. Origin of Patronage ; its Progress and Corruptions.— 6. How invaded by the Pontiffs. — 7. No Appellant Jurisdiction in the Primitive Church. — 8. Rise of Ecclesiastical Councils, and their Influence. — 9. State of the Hierarchy previous to the Fourth Century. — 10. Its Establishment under Constantine. — 11. Origin and Character of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.— 12. Its Abuses. — 13. Clerical Exemptions SECTION II. 1. Generosity of Primitive Believers. — 2. Wealth of the Primitive Church, its Sources and various Applications. — 3. Its Increase and Perversion?.— 4. Secular Character assumed by the Clergy. — 5. Elevation of Churchmen to Offices of State. — G. Celibacy of the Clergy. — 7. Rise of Monachism. — 8. Causes which favored its Diffusion. — 9. Its Corruption. — 10. Rise of the Mendicants. — 11. Pagan Customs incorporated with the Christian Ritual. — 12. Imitative Character of the Papal Policy. — 13. Worship of Images. — 14. Prayer for the Dead. — 15. Trausubstantiation. — 16. Connec- tion between the Power of a vicious Clergy, and the Virtues of their Predecessors , , , 27 CONTENTS. SECTION III. . Early Advances of the Papacy. — 2. Its various Progress to the Close of the Sixth Century. — a. Rise of Gregory tlic Great.— 4. His Character. — 5. Influence of his Pontificate on tlic Maxims of the Papal Power.— 6. Ambition of the Pontiffs, and their Appellant Jurisdiction. — 7. Origin of their Temporal Power.— 8. Papal In- fallibility.— 9. The Decretal Epistles.— 10. The Scheme of Hilde- brand.— 11. Disputes respecting Investitures. — 12. Its Conclusion. 03 SECTION IV. . Religion necessary to Political Security. — 2. Paganism of Greece and Rome. — 3. And of the Northern Nations. — 4. Favourable in- fluence of Christianity on the States of the Western Empire. — 5. Tlie Discoveries and Tendencies peculiar to the Gospel. — G. These strangely overlooked by the Clergy of the Middle Ages. — 7. Their general System defective, and in many respects degrading and ruinous 0^ CHAPTER II. On the State of the Protestant Doctrine in Europe, to the Commencement of the Fourteenth Centurxf. SECTION I. 1. State of the Ecclesiastical Power in the Sixth Century.— 2. In- efficacy of Catholic Persecutions.— 3. Origin of tlie Paulicians.— 4. Their Attachment to the Sacred Scriptures, their Doctrine, Prac- tices, and Sufferings. — 5. Their Dispersion and the Degree of their influence on the movements of Reform in the Western Church 109 SECTION II. , Signs of Primitive Piety to the Age of Charlemagne.— 2. Notices of Paulinus, and of Claude of Turin.— 3. Their Followers survive the Persecutions of the Orthodox.— 4. The Martyrs of Cologne, and the Number and Character of the Separatists from the Romish Church in tlie Twelfth Century.— 5. Doctrines of the La Nobla Layczon.- 6. Notice of Peter de Bruys, and of Henry.— 7. Arnold CONTENTS. XVU PAGE. of Brescia.— 8. Peter Waldo.— 9. The Albigenses.— 10. St. Dominic, and St. Francis. — 11. Persecuting Edict of Lucian the Third. — 12. Its Failure, the Inquisition, and the Crusades against the Albi- genses. — 13. Reduced state of the Protestant Doctrine in Europe, through the Century previous to the age of Wycliffe 123 CHAPTER III. On the Ecclesiastical Establishment, and the State of Society in England, previous to the Age of Wycliffe. SECTION I. 1. Despotic Tendencies of the Papal Power. — 2. Feeble Obligations of our Saxon Ancestors to the Church of Rome. — 3. Authority of the English Monarclis with respect to the Anglican Church from the Accession of the Conqueror. — 4. Excessive Avarice of the Papacy. — 5. Its Encroachments frequently resisted by the People, and the Nobles. — 6. And by the Clergy. — 7. Notice of Grossteste. — 8. The Contioversy between Henry the Second, and Thomas a Becket.^ —9. Vigorous Policy of Edward the First.— 10. Limits of the Opposition hitherto manifested by the English to the Papal Claims. — 11. Their Ignorance respecting the Character of the Con- tinental Sectaries.— 12. The Story of Gerard and his Followers.— 13. Sincere Devotion sometimes observable among the Enghsh Clergy of this period — Lanfranc, Anselm, St. Edmund, Bradwar- dine. — 14. Religious Degradation of our Ancestors at the Opening of the Fourteenth Century 155 SECTION II. I. The Feudal System. — 2. Progress of English Commerce.— 3. Its Influence on the Constitution.— 4. The Decline of Learning.— 5. Rise of the Universities. — 6. State of Learning in England in the Fourteenth Century.— 7. Scholastic Philosophy — its Good and Evil Influence. — 8. Civil and Canon Law. — 9. A Summary of the Preliminary Chapters VOL. I. b CONTENTS. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAPTER I. PAGE. Birth of WyclifFe ; its Date and Place— His Juvenile History— Studies of Youth in the Fourteenth Century- His Connexion with Oxford — His removal from Queen's College to Merton — Character of his Studies at this period — His attention to the Canon, Civil, and Municipal Laws — His Proficiency in the Philosophy and Exercises of the Schoolmen — His veneration for the Sacred Writings, and his Title as " Gospel Doctor" — Much in the times opposed to the formation of his Character — The Great Pestilence — WyclifTe's first Tract, intitled, " The Last Age of the Church" — Discloses the Religious Character of his Mind in the thirty-second year of his Age 217 CHAPTER II. The Mendicants — Importance of WyclifFe's Controversy with them — Causes which favored their Popularity — Their first Settlement in England — Their Disorderly Conduct exposed by Armachanus — and by Wycliffe— Summary of Wycliffe's Objections to their Prac- tices — The Peculiarity and probable Costs of his Opposition — He is elected Master of Baliol, and afterwards of Canterbury Hall — His Dispute respecting the Wardenship of the latter — His Appeal to the PontifF— His Firmness and Integrity at this crisis — Urban the Fifth's Demand of the Census— Decision of the English Parlia- ment — Wycliffe is Challenged to Defend it — His Reply — The Mendicant Controversy submitted to the Parliament — Wycliffe probably known to the Court at this period 248 CHAPTER in. Edward's Invasion of France — National animosity produced by it — Its favourable Influence on the English Constitution, and on the Independence of the Anglican Church — Character of Edward the Third, and of his Court — Defects of Chivalry — John of Gaunt — On the probable Origin of his Connexion with Wycliffe — Novel and enlightened Measure of the English Parliament— Its accordance with a favorite Doctrine of Wycliffe — Ground of the Reformer's Opposition to the Secularity and Vices of the Clergy — His Views of Clerical Obligation — Issue of the Dispute respecting his Warden- ship — Becomes Professor of Divinity — Importance of this Event — Analysis of his Exposition of the Decalogue, and Extracts 279 CONTENTS. XIX CHAPTER IV. PAGE. State of the Papal Influence in England on the Accession of Edward the Third — Complaints respecting it— Statute against Provisors, and that of Premunire — Embassy to the Papal Court — Favorable Circumstances of this period improved by Wy cliff e — Inquiry con- cerning the number of Alien Benefices in England — A Second Embassy including the name of Wycliffe — Bruges, the Seat of Negociation — Character of that City, and its Connexion with the Hanseatic League— Wycliffe with the Duke of Lancaster at Bruges — Result of his Embassy— Its Influence on his Sentiments — He is promoted by the King to the Prebend of Aust, and to the Rectory of Lutterworth— Proceedings of the Good Parliament — The Re- former is accused of teaching dangerous Opinions — His Appear- ance before the Bishop of London— Death of Edward the Third — Measures of Richard's first Parliament — Its Appeal to the Judgment of Wycliff"e— His Reply 315 CHAPTER V. The Doctrines of Wycliffe well known before the Decease of Edward —Opinions attributed to him by the Pontiff— Letters from the Pope to the King, the Primate, the Bishop of London, and the University, requiring the immediate Suppression of the Reformer's Tenets — Discussion elicited at Oxford by the Papal Mandates— WyclifTe's Appearance before the Papal Delegates at Lambeth— Contents of the Paper said to have been delivered to them — The Document a faithful Exhibition of his Sentiments respecting the Limits of the Papal Authority, the Power of the Crown over the Revenues of the Clergy— The Claims of the Hierarchy— And the Priestly Function of Binding and Loosing — He is assailed by an anonymous Divine — His indignant Reply 348 NOTES 389 APPENDIX 397 A VIEW OF THE PAPAL SYSTEM, eye. CHAPTER I. On the Rise and Character of the Papal Poiver. SECTION I. I. THE CHARACTER OF JUDAISM. II. PECULIARITIES OF THE CHRISTIAN DIB- PENSATION. HI. ANCIENT IMPORT OF THE WORD CHURCH. IV. INFLUENCE OF THE PEOPLE IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. V. ORIGIN OF PATRONAGE; ITS PROGRESS AND CORRUPTIONS. VI. HOW INVADED BY THE PONTIFFS. — VII. NO APPELLANT JURISDICTION IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. VIII. RISE OF ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCILS, AND THEIR INFLUENCE. IX. STATE OF THE HIERARCHY PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTH CENTURY. X. ITS ESTABLISHMENT UNDER CONSTANTINE. XI. ORIGIN AND CHARACTER OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION. XII. ITS ABUSES. XIII. CLERICAL EXEMPTIONS. I. In the ancient world, the superstitions of heathen states were intimately connected with their civil polity; but the priest was commonly, the obsequious servant of the ma- gistrate. In the form of government established among the Gauls and Britons, this gradation of power was inverted. With them, a priestly supremacy was the object to which every civic institution was rendered tributary -^ and this order of authority, distinguishing the political arrangements of all the Celtic tribes, may be traced to a remote anti- ' Caesar de Bel. Gal. vi. 13. The character of the Druidical priesthood is thus forcibly described by Edmund Burke : — " They were at ouce tlie priest.s, the lawgivers, and the physicians of the people, and consequewtly concentrated in themselves all the respect which men have for those who heal their diseases, protect their property, or reconcile them to the divinity." — Abridgment of English History. / VOL. 1. B 2 ON TFIE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. 1. quity.2 A similar union of the priestly office, with the highest civil dignity, was usual during the patriarchal ages, and in the code of laws subsequently adopted by the Hebrew nation, the spirit of those legal customs and religious observ- ances, which had hitherto prevailed, was not only preserved, but made still more obvious and permanent. The Mosaic institute provided both for the secular and spiritual govern- ment of the Jewish people ; it thus became at once, their civil, and their ecclesiastical law ; their guide in all judicial proceedings ; and their only directory of faith and worship. All its parts were delivered to them, as the will of their God ; and by his authority the whole was enforced. Hence the Hebrew government has been appropriately described as a Theocracy. In it, Jehovah appeared as supreme magis- trate, while the design of every precept, whether relating to the ritual of the temple, or to social obligation, was to perpetuate that religious faith, and that religious homage, which were to confer on the descendants of Abraham their character as a people.^ II. Thus a union between secular and spiritual offices had been nurtured as in the cradle of the nations, and from the age of Moses, to the advent of Messiah, religion is every where seen, as forming an important branch of national polity. Hence it happened, that the gospel, in its laws of external discipline, scarcely less than in its spiri- tual tenets, was " to the jews a stumbling block, and to the greeks foolishness." It sought no aid from penal sanctions, attached no sanctity to places, exhibited no pomp of ritual, provided nothing either to allure the senses, or to stimulate the ambition of the worldly. Under its influence every place became holy, and the most simple services acceptable. 2 The resemblance of Druidism, in its doctrines and polity, to the Oriental superstitions, has been frequently shown.— See Maurice. Indian Antiquities, passim. ■^ This portion of Jewish antiquities, is luminously treated by Lowman, in bis volumes on the Hebrew Government, and Ritual. SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 3 if connected with an approach to the Father in spirit and in truth. By its ministers, the authority of the magistrates was scrupulously honoured, as far as it respected the social in- terests of men ; but in the labours of their own spiritual office, no local boundaries were allowed to impede their course. Its disciples also are seen assembling with regu- larity for religious exercises, influenced purely by the unity of their faith, and hope, and love, and by their attachment to the volume containing the will of their departed Lord. Among these the most humble are esteemed the greatest ; and the most successful in aiding the devotions of the brotherhood are most revered. The harmless custom of admitting such only to their fellowship as were prepared to make the profession which they had made, and to cultivate the temper by which they were themselves distinguished, included the whole of that power, which these communities are known to have exercised or claimed. But so closely were they united by these spiritual sympathies, as to become one in feeling under every approach of suffering, diffusing the tidings of redemption through the earth, not merely unaided by magisterial influence, but in the face of its de- termined opposition. Such was the conduct of the disciples of the gospel at a period when an imposing ritual, and legal sanctions, were considered essential to every act which should bear the name of a religious service. Accordingly, this total exclusion of ceremonial show from christian assemblies, was regarded by the gentile as the evidence of atheism, and by the jew as resulting from a state of heart no less revolting: while the religious independence which they assumed, was every where appealed to, as the certain, evidence of hostility to Csesar. A religion established and perpetuated by means, having in them so little resembling the .coarse implements of wordly power, no kingdom had hitherto witnessed. That enlarged spirit of charity too, which led the professors of the gospel to rejoice in it, as B 2 4 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. Is applying its benefits to every portion of the human family, was wholly a novelty ; and by disposing its first preachers to anticipate the conversion of the world to the obedience of their faith, in contempt of all worldly inducement, it has placed the character of the christian apostles before the eye of succeeding generations in a light equally singular and commanding.* From the various records of primitive Christianity, it appears, that such was the spirituality of the Saviour's kingdom. Nor is it to be supposed, that this marked neglect of ritual circumstance and attraction, as connected with the christian religion, and of all coersion, as the means of ex- tending its influence, was the result of necessity rather than of principle. The Redeemer, to whom all the powers of the earth were subject, might soon have brought them into alli- ance with his cause. The state, therefore, in which his church is found to the age of Constantine, must be allowed to suggest, that if kings were designed from that period to become her patrons, the event was never intended to bring all the pomp and secularities of Judaism, and even more than all, into their subsequent connexion with the christian sanctuary.^ To the papal hierarchy it was reserved, so com- * The reader who would see the facts in mj text pleasingly narrated, may consult Fleury's Discourse on the History of the Church, to the year six hundred, and more especially his separate work on the manners of the early Christians. Dr. Barrow has treated the same topics more profoundly in his work on the Pope's Supremacy ; and Mosheira, in his Commentaries on the Three First Centuries, has sometimes blended the philosophy of the latter writer with the learning of the former. But it is in the Apologies of the Fathers, that those peculiarities of the new Economy are most vividly presented, and, presented very properly, as rendering the wide diffusion of the Gospel, and its long continuance, under circumstances so unattractive, a most convincing evidence of its divine origin. See also Bingham, B. xvi. c. i. sect. 1, 2. c. ii. sect. 3. Gibbon ii. 324. 382— 38G. 5 Dr. Barrow elpquently remarks that it is a " peculiar advantage of our religion, that as it delivereth so excellent and perfect a rule of life, so it delivereth it to us pure from any alloy embasing, free of any clog encumbering it ; for that it chiefly, and in a manner only requireth of us a rational and a spiritual service, consisting in performance of substantial duties, plainly necessary or profitable; not withdrawing us from the practice of solid piety and virtue, by obligation to a tedious observance of many external rites ; not spending the vigour of our minds upon superficial formalities, (or husie scriipulosilies, as Tertullian lermeth them,) such as serve only SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 5 pletely to vitiate all the principles of the new economy, as to render it subservient to the very passions, which it was intended to subdue and to destroy. From the history of that vast usurpation, it would hardly be suspected, that the Messiah had appeared to introduce a dispensation which should be emphatically designated the ministration of the Spirit ; that he had declared with marked solemnity, my kingdom is not of this world ; or, that his immediate disciples were known to boast of bringing no carnal weapons to their warfare.^ III. There is nothing, indeed, in the import of the word church, to denote the peculiar character of the communities to which it has long since been exclusively applied. It is synonymous with the term society ; and in the writings of apostles, and of the faithful to the close of the second century, it is generally employed to designate the disciples of the Saviour, either as convening in some particular locality, or as scattered through the world. Its intermediate application to believers, as in- habitants of certain countries, but who never congregate ; and to the clergy in their synods and councils, as distin- guished from the laity, is of much later origin. to amuse childish fancies, or to depress slavish spirits. It supposeth us men, men of good understanding, and ingenious dispositions, and dealeth with us as such, and much more such it rendereth us if we comply therewith. The ritual observances it enjoineth are as few in number, as in nature simple and easy to perform, so evidently reasonable, very decent and very useful, apt to instruct us, able to excite us unto the practice of most wholesome duties; which consideratioi> showeth this doctrine to be complete, suitable to the most adult age and constitution, to the most ripe and improved capacities." — Sermon on the Excellency of the Christian Religion. With respect to that independence of the magistrate, which marked the conduct of the apostles in forming and governing the (irst christian societies, it should be ob- served, that a something resembling it had long been a peculiarity in the customs of the Jewish synagogue, and the analogy has been very justly adverted to by Bishop Stillingfleet. Irenicum, pt. ii. c. vi. § 9. ^ "Christianity," observes Dr. Barrow, "we see transformed from its original simplicity into quite another thing than it was, from a divine philosophy dei^igned to improve the reason, to moderate the passions, and to correct the manners of men, to prepare men for conversation with God and angels, modelled to a system of politic devices (of notions, of precepts, of rites,) serving to exalt and enrich the pope, with his court and adherents, clients and "assals." — Treatise on the Pope's Supremacy, p. 201. \i 3 6 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I, IV. In these primitive societies, a peculiar deference would be shewn to the wisdom of their inspired teachers. But apart from this special controul, it is generally conceded, that in such assemblies " all the authority which belongs to such as are vested with a sovereign power," was exercised by the people. It was not, indeed, their province to enact laws, but they were required to act as the executive power with respect to those which had been committed to them, as expressing the pleasure of their Lord. On them it devolved, not only to preserve the scriptural methods of admission or exclusion with regard to the christian fellow- ship, but to choose their own pastors and teachers, to judge on the propriety of such regulations as were proposed for general adoption, and to determine the disputes which arose between the brethren, or between the deacons and the elders.''^ It is, however, equally certain, that this important feature of ecclesiastical polity was early assailed, and that after an interval it totally disappeared. Before the close of the fourth century, the semblance only was preserved. Rites which had pertained to the presbyters or to the people, were now claimed by the prelates ; and the authority vested in the universal church was virtually yielded to the chris- tian emperors.^ V. One department of the change introduced at this period. 7 Mosheim, i. 99, Gibbon, ii. 324. iii. 282—285. To these testimonies it would be easy to add those of such writers as Lowth, Stillingfleet, and Bingham; but the verdict of Fleury and Dupin may^be more decisive. That of the first may be seen in his Discourse on the Six First Ages, Hist. iv. 349. That of the second, in liis remarks on the Epistle ascribed to Clemens Romanus, Cent. i. p. 28 ; in his notice of Origin, Cent. iii. p. 112 ; and in his Summary of Primitive Discipline, 183. The influence of the people in episcopal elections was no where more tenaeiou.sly retained than in Italy. Nor would it be diflicult to make it appear as pro- bable, that the famous republics of that kingdom arose less from other causes, than from the custom.s which this ancient branch of popular authority had induced. So late as in the tenth century, an infringement of the claims of the people on the vacancy of a bishopric, was sometimes enough to occasion a civil war ; and when bishops became princes, the extension of the popular voice, from the cathedral to the senate, was easy and natural. ' Mosheim i.24S, 349. See Note [A]. SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 7 is deserving of more than a passing notice. It was deemed important on the conversion of Constantino, that the zeal professed in the cause of Christianity, should be found to keep pace with that which had been evinced in favour of the previous system : and it had been a prevailing sentiment of paganism, that the political safety of a nation, must be in proportion to the provision made for the worship of its deities. From these plausible motives arose the multitude of consecrated structures which were found in almost every province of the empire; and it was subsequently decreed, as an expedient to effect a wider diffusion of religious in- struction, that persons erecting an edifice for the christian worship might retain as a right the appointment of its occupant. In this manner, though by slow degrees, the lands which heathenism had covered with its temples, were sup- plied with buildings equally numerous and costly, as the means of perpetuating the faith and worship of the gospel.9 But this transfer of the power of election from the many to the few, and from the few to the individual, how- ever well intended, was to become an inlet to the grossest corruption. It would be pleasing to suppose, that the first pastors of the cures thus established, were nominated in the spirit of a pure Christianity ; and that such an order of patronage was continued through the ages which followed. But history relates, that with the greater number in that important class of persons, some earthly passion too readily supplied the place of every christian motive ; and that the clergy thus appointed proved the stern abettors of a scheme, which had yielded to them their larger emolument, and increased their political power. Hence at no very distant period, their introduction to the sphere of their duties, was 9 Mosheiin, i. 394, 395. It is not until toward the middle of the fifth centar^i, that Fleury records the fact which he describes as " the beginnings of the rights of patron- age." The instance, however, clearly supposes tlie previous existence of the custom ; but it is certain tliat the practice was not so suddenly diffused as the brief notice in Mosheim would imply .—Fleury, Hist. iii. 440. B 4 8 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. J. too commonly degraded to a point of mere secular arrange- ment. The decrees of provincial synods, and of general councils, from the fifth century to the age of Luther, dis- close the extent and inveteracy of the evils, which were thus wedded to the ecclesiastical system. Simony, pluralities, and non-residence, were among the disorders arising from this source ; and which, through so long an interval, successfully resisted every measure opposed to them. Princes, who reserved to themselves the power of such elections, fre- quently sold their bishoprics and abbeys to the highest bidder; while the purchasers proceeded, and with as little sense of decency, to recover the cost which had been incurred to secure their elevation by endless exactions, as the condi- tions of discharging the functions of their ministry. Such benefices also as were not thus directly sold, were frequently conferred on some royal favourite, or given in the place of pecuniary offerings. Emolument being in such cases the great attraction, the religious office was accepted with pre- cisely the same feeling that would have accompanied the event of a civil promotion, if equally lucrative. To this example, furnished by the highest authorities, both in the church and the state, the conduct of every lower branch of patronage would, as an event of course, be fully conformed. The loss of every just conception respecting the pastoral character and pastoral duty, which such practices suppose, was further evident in the frequent transfer of numerous benefices to the same persons.^*^ 10 In the language of ecclesiastical history, it is not merely the purchasing of church preferments which is branded as simony, but the exacting of money for the discharge of any spiritual oflice, and the uncanonical entrance upon any spiritual cure. Bingham has shown bow vigorous and how fruitless were the eflbrts made to check the progress of this vice, B. xvi. c. vi. The sin which had provoked the censure of Origin, became hereditary in the papal court, Dupin, Cent. iii. p. 112. X. p. C8. xi. p. 24- Fleury attributes the first purchasing of bishoprics to the sixth century, vii. p. 3.j4. The same iiistorian has introduced the biographer of a prelate, who, in the twelfth century, had written largely against this crime, r s saying, " I niuch question if he ever reformed a single man. For this pernicious heresy is the roost stubborn of all to remove, especially among the clergy of higher rank. Thej SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 9 VI. In this destruction of that purely spiritual relation, which once subsisted between the christian minister and his charg-e ; and in the strengthening of every corruption which ensued, the court of Rome performed a vigorous and effec- tive part. In filling a vacant cure, the nomination of a lay patron depended for its efficacy on the sanction of the pre- late of the diocese. Much ingenuity was subsequently em- ployed, and with no small success, to render the approbation of the diocesan dependant on that of the pontiff; and at length the whole right of providing for such benefices was claimed by the boundless ambition of the papacy." It was from the crown, and from the higher authorities of the church, that the most formidable opposition to these preten- sions was to be anticipated. Many ages were in conse- quence required to make the election, first of archbishops and then of their suffragans, dependant for validity on the papal confirmations. On the vacancy of a bishopric, princes exercised their right of nomination ; the chapters claimed as their privilege, the formalities of the election ; and the pope failed not to assert, that these measures, if strictly canonical, were merely preliminary, and such as must be- come wholly void unless followed by his sanction as universal pastor. Disputes frequently arose between sovereigns, and the monks or canons, to whom, in each cathedral, the show of election pertained, and of these disputes the pontiffs were often selected as arbiters. Such appeals were generally promise amendment, but tbey defer it from day to day, until it becomes more easy to convert a Jew than a bishop," xii. p. 4Cfi. See also his Discourse on the Church, from A.D. 600, and Father Paul's Council of Trent, Lib. vii. p. 460. ; and for the expedients successively adopted to separate the episcopal elections from popular influence. Gibbon, iii. 283 — 285. Father Paul traces the origin of non-residence to the close of the seventh century, and exposes the deception of the canonists, who, to evade the prohibition of pluralities, contended that the number of benefices to be conferred on the same person, should be determined by his rank. He also notices the proverb which elevated cardinals to the rank of kings, and which, acording to the maxim cited, entitled them to the wealth of princes, Council of Trent, Lib. ii. 203, 204.234,235. '» Dnpin, Cent. xiii. 155. xv. 138. Mosheira, iii. 318. Hallam, ii. 325, 326. Collier, 1. 497. 10 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. made by the ecclesiastical litigants ; but there were political causes too frequently constraining princes to appear as de- fendants, and the deference thus conceded to the papacy, usually furnished a precedent for some future and more au- thoritative interference. In descending to submit his claims to such an umpire, the monarch sometimes succeeded in conferring a solitary vacancy on his favourite ; but it was effected by a process which secretly impaired the general in- fluence of his crown. The chapters also, by their frequent appeals from the pleasure of the king to a foreign authority, contributed greatly to the increase of a power more effectively hostile to their claims. In the details of ecclesiastical history, the notice of a vacant bishopric, and the narrative of dis- putes among the parties adverted to, with respect to a new incumbent, follow each other with a constancy, which is truly wearisome. But that invincible perseverance, so long conspicuous in the policy of Rome, was in this particular but too successfully exhibited.^" It was readily seen, that a subjection of the dignities of the church, included that of its subordinate departments. The authority of the popes once admitted in the successions of the prelacy, no new principle was required to justify an invasion of the inferior sources of wealth and power. Nor was it considered suffi- cient, that vacancies alone should be regarded as justly at the disposal of the pontiffs. By means of " provisors," benefices were secured to the papal favourites in prospect of vacancy ; and that with the most shameless profusion. Where these encroachments were vigorously resisted, the same fraudulent purpose was often accomplished, by appoint- ing certain ecclesiastics to livings, under pretence of hold- ing them for the true incumbent, when regularly chosen. •2 In 1231 and in the following year, three elections to the primacy of the English church were voided hy the authority of the pontifl', and a prelate of his own nomina- tion proved the successful caudidate. Collier, i. 433, 434. SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 11 To complete this picture of corruption, it may be presumed, that nothing farther was required : but in the tenth, and through the two following centuries, we read of chil- dren, as gravely inducted to the cure of souls. Exten- sive revenues were thus secured to favoured individuals, or retained in distinguished families. ^^ Such practices, however, betray that false confidence, which is the common result of successful ambition, and which, in the providence of God, is often employed to create a reverse of power when least expected. In this manner were the people excluded from their ancient authority in the christian church, and thus corrupt became the system of patronage to which their influence was at length completely transferred. The dis- orders which accompanied the decline of the empire, were viewed as loudly demanding this plausible innovation, and it was doubtless productive of very important benefits : but if the few only were capable of ruling, it must be regretted that their discernment commonly did so little for their devo- tion, as to render them but sorry guides to the many. VII. And if the churches of primitive times possessed the influence stated in the election of their pastors, it would seem fair to presume, that they were deemed competent to Bvery other function of self-government. It is no doubt true, that in the history of those voluntary associations, the powerful would sometimes be called to aid the weak; and that in various instances, the latter would have to regard themselves '3 AUo, Bishop of Verceil, in the tenth century, complains of the laws of patronage as corrupted by every conceivable expedient, and concludes his lament by stating, that some princes were so infatuated as to raise infants to bishoprics, (Dupin, Cent. X. p. 27, see page 11 also.) But In the following century, the papal chair was filled by a child who had not numbered his tenth year, and it had been occupied, a century before, by a boy of sixteen. Baron. An. 925. 1033. The archbishopric of Rheiras was conferred during the same period on a child of five years old, and boys of twelve were clothed with the dignity of cardinals.— Dr. White's works, preface. See also Father Paul on Benefices, c. xix. Mosheim, ii. 501. 502. and Annal. Burton, 320— 328. from which it appears, that it was a vice of Ibis description which provoked the memorable indignation of Grosteste. 12 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I;. as the offspring of the former. Under these circum- stances, the decisions of a more distinguished, or a parent church, may have been received, in certain cases, with considerable deference. In such of those fraternities as were less important, from their numbers, their wealth, or the character of their pastors, this consequence would naturally arise. It appears, however, from the testimony of men, truly learned on the subject of christian antiquities, and, with respect to such points, perhaps, the most im- partial, that notwithstanding this unavoidable influence of power, no feature is more conspicuous in the history of the earlier churches, than that of their freedom from all appel- lant jurisdiction. According to such writers as Gibbon and Mosheim, it is not until after the first century, that the authority of churches, founded by apostles, became in any case such as to involve a supremacy over others : that on the contrary, their power was so cautiously restricted, during that period, as to leave to each community all the liberties of a separate republic.^-* Ylll. That this state of things was of short duration is well known, and the causes, which led to its total exclusion from the visible church through so many centuries, are no less certain. It is in the second century, that we trace the beginning of that local union of churches, whence eccle- siastical councils have their origin.^^ That a confession of nThus decided is the language of Moslieira, i. 107. And of Gibbon, ii. 325 — 328. It is cited from TertuUian, by the late Regius Professor of Divinity in Cam- bridge, as the boast of all the orthodox churches, " that each could point out the individual to whom the superintendance of its doctrine and discipline was first com- mitted by some one of the apostles," and it is stated as evidently the opinion of the same father, that " ail the apostolic churches were independent of each other, and equal in rank and authority." — Dr. Key's Ecclesiast. Hist. 236. " At first," observes Dr. Barrow, " every church was settled apart under its own bishops and presbyters ; so as independently and separately to manage its own concerns, each was governed by its own head, and had its own laws." The changes which followed are described as the result of " human prudence." — Works i. 062. 15 Mosheim. i, 107. 177. Gibbon, ii. 328. 329. The assembly at Jerusalem was SECT. 1.] OP THE PAPAL POWER, " 13 faith in the doctrines of the gospel, should be exacted of every candidate for christian communion, is in no way un- reasonable ; and it is certain that such confessions were among- the most ancient of the means employed, to preserve the purity of the christian fellowship. It may be, that tests of this description would prove insufficient for their purpose, as the profession of the gospel became less con- nected with suffering. But it is proper here to remark, that the corruptions of the christian religion have usually con- sisted of error engrafted upon its truths. This fact will be frequently illustrated in the course of the present narra- tive. Thus, on the practice now under review, though pure in its origin, a frightful structure of anti-christian usurp- ation, was gradually reared. By the aid of provincial synods, certain harmless creeds, which have long been limited to particular churches, were after a while extended, as the tests of orthodoxy to the several communities of a district, or a province ; and by these local confederacies, the way was imperceptibly prepared for that system of priestly domination, which has been disclosed in the history of general councils.16 Over these assemblies, the Spirit of Truth was ^ said to preside, and from them, as a consequence, the imiversal church was instructed to receive her articles of faith and rules of discipline ; while the civil power became pledged to enforce their decrees, in relation to both, as in- fallible. ^^ The duty of searching the Scriptures, could no longer be urged upon the people with any shew of con- sistency. In the degrading system thus introduced, they were required to think by proxy, and to adopt their religious opinions in the person of their guides. Having no concern with the faith of the Gospel, but to receive it as thus that of one church, not of representatives from many, (Acts xy.) Its decisions were binding on others because those of inspired men. '6 Bingham, X. c. iii.iv. '7 Mosheim,i.l78.263— 266. 349— 351. Gibbon, iii. 301— 303. 14 ON THE RISE AND CI5AEACTER [CHAP. 1* officially defined, the word of God was naturally withdrawn from the hand of the laity, and rendered the exclusive pos- session of the priesthood. The light thus extinguished, the children of darkness might revel in impurity. This secrete- ing of the key of knowledge, was strictly necessary to that ascendancy of superstition which followed ; nor has its reign, in any instance, been materially broken, but as this lost property of the people has been restored. The motives which thus consigned the sacred volume to obscurity, were such as could not fail to prepare the way for those tra- ditionary fables, which were so long to delude and enthral the nations of Christendom. IX. Nor was it possible that the exemption from foreign interference, which is said to have pertained to the primitive churches, should pass away alone ; as the principle of sub- jection once admitted among them, must have contributed to establish a subordination precisely similar among their pastors. Accordingly, the terms presbyter and bishop ceased ere long to be synonymous, and if the time ever was, which I presume not to determine, when one or more from that class of men, " remarkable for piety and wisdom, ruled these small congregations in perfect harmony," and when there was no need " of precedent, or superior, to maintain concord and order, as no dissensions were known,"!'' it is certain that this interval of peaceful equality was soon to reach its close. Through several generations, however, " the bishop treated his presbyters as brethren, doing nothing without their advice."!^ But the distinction between the two offices was gradually extending, while out of the order of prelacy a second and a third class of dignitaries was 18 Mosheim, i. 101. 179. — That bishops and presbyters were the same both in "name aud order" in the primitive church, is the doctrine of Bishop Stillinglleet, (Irenicum, part ii. c. vi. § 11.) supported by the authority of Medina, Jerome, Austin, Ambrose, Seduliiis, Primasius, Chrysostome, Theodoret, and Tlieophylact. Such also is the doctrine of Gibbon, ii. 324. '^Dupin, on Ancient Discipline, p. 182. SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 15 destined to arise : and who, wliile zealous in support of tlieir particular jurisdiction, were to facilitate the ultimate sub- jection of the church, and its clergy, to the despotism of the pontiffs. The plea of order, which had served to con- firm, if not to create the distinction between the office of a bishop and that of his presbyters, was transferred in the second century, to provincial synods, and there led to the similar appointment of a precedent, or moderator, whence metropolitans derive their origin ; and the frequency with which such assemblies were convoked, contributed to esta- blish the flattering distinction which they had thus intro- duced. Jerusalem also was now no more, and with its temple its priesthood had d^jarted. But the mantle of Aaron and of the Levites, it was argued, had fallen upon the ministers of the gospel. The Jewish sanctuary was in consequence eulogised, as typifying the order appropriate to the christian church : and this theory, whether embraced from ignorance, or design, was not urged in vain. Its re- ception was favourable to the subordinations already esta- blished among the clergy, and smoothed the way for the new distinctions, and the more secular aspect, which were soon to appear within the pale of the church. X. Constantine had important reasons for assimilating the civil and religious polity of the empire ; and to conform the discipline of the church, with some recent changes in the civil constitution, new gradations were required in the episcopal order. The prelates of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, were already in some measure distinguished by their privileges. To these also the bishop of Constantinople was added, when that city became the imperial residence. These were known from the reign of the first christian emperor, by the name of patriarchs ; and revered by an order of exarchs and metropolitans, their dignity har- monized with that of the four pretorian prefects, which had been created by the same authority. At this period, the 10 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. 1, bishop of Rome excelled all other prelates, in opulence and splendour. But he was still subject, in common with his brethren, to the laws of the empire. A century later also, while the affairs of every diocese devolved, with few excep- tions, on its bishop, all causes of general importance were determined, and every law, in relation to the church, enacted, either by the emperor, or by an ecclesiastical council convened in his name.-*' XI. Such were the advances of the christian hierarchy, previous to the age of Constantino, and such was the form in which it then received the imperial sanction. Among the immediate effects of that revolution, so largely productive, both of good and evil, was the secular jurisdiction of the clergy ; a feature of ecclesiastical discipline too prominent in the history of the church, and too evidently including the germ of the most extravagant pretentions subsequently urged by the pontiffs, to be here overlooked. This tendency, indeed, of the motley policy so suddenly established, was, after a while, per- ceived ; but the efforts of the magistrate to subdue the rival power, which his pleasure had created, were often ineffectively made, because made too late. It will be remembered, that when the apostle of the gentiles called upon the litigious Corinthians, to submit their differences, respecting things " pertaining to this life," to the decision of arbiters chosen from among themselves, it was to check the first move- ments of strife, and to avoid the reproach incurred by the appeal of christian disputants to a pagan tribunal. His ad- vice, however, in this instance, respected such disputes only 20 The admirable essay on the Spirit and Influence of the Reformation, by C. Vil- lers, which obtained the prize of the National Institute of France, is followed by a masterly «' Sketch of the History of the Church," from its founder to the age of Luther. The first period, extending " from Jesus to Constantine," is described as that of " democracy;" the second extending from Constantine to Mahomet, is called the " oligarchy;" the third, reaching from the death of Mahomet to the pontificate of Hildebrand, is denominated " monarchy;" and the remaining interval, to the appearance of Luther, is considered as that of " despotism." — See Mosheim, i. 179. 180.348—354. Gibbon, 301— 303. SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 17 as arose in relation to property ; tlie law of procedure, in every case of moral delinquency, being previously known."^ And it is important, distinctly to observe, that the office of peace- maker, as thus commended, was far from being exclusively associated with that of the christian pastor. On the con- trary, the admonition of the apostle simply required, that such matters of dispute should be determined before the " saints," and not before the " unjust:" and that on questions of so small importance, the least esteemed in the church should be supposed competent to decide.-- It was not to be pre- sumed, that appellants, especially such as had failed to obtain a favourable verdict, would, in every instance, be strictly satisfied, that the decision announced had been equitably formed. In such cases, if the pastor were the arbiter, a prejudice would be excited with regard to his character, injurious to every purpose of his official rela- tion. Aware of this fact, the apostle could hardly have failed to assign so unwelcome an office to the humbler members of the church, rather than to its accredited teachers ; and in the hands of the brotherhood it was an act of mediation, which must have contributed greatly both to the peace and the reputation of the christian commu- nities. By degrees, however, this branch of authority became inseparably connected with the pastoral office. This event may ha\e been in most instances the effect of that confidence, which was usually reposed in the christian shepherd by his flock : in some, it may have resulted from a guilty ambition : it is evident, that what was thus conceded by custom, was at length demanded as a right. So long, however, as the arbiters in such disputes performed the duties of their office without emolument, and unaided by political power, this authority, though ■^' Matt, xviii. 15— IT. " 1 Coi. vi. 1—8. VOL. I. C 18 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. 1. adventitious to tliat of the pastoral character, and in some respect at variance witli it, was perhaps secure from any serious abuse. But the establishment of Christianity, as the religion of the empire, conferred popularity on the profession of the gospel. As the certain consequence of this change, the wealth and irreligion of avowed believers rapidly increased. In proportion also to this increase, were the controversies which arose with regard to property, and which, as the result of previous custom, fell under the cognizance of the pastors of the church. With this change, however, another, no less considerable, was found to be connected. The magistrates of the empire were no longer pagan, but, by the existing clergy, were generally recognised as true believers : and as the ground, on which the advice of St. Paul to the Corinthians had been founded, was thus removed, the disposal of all secular causes should in justice have been restored to the secular judge. If, indeed, a private arbitration were still preferred, nothing existed to prevent an appeal to it. But it was evident, that every such decision must depend for its efficacy, on those moral sanctions, which formed the sole power of the primitive church ; and a more summary method of adjusting contro- versies was now to be embraced. By a law of the first christian emperor, every bishop was constituted general arbitrator of such civil dissensions as arose within his diocese or parish. From his sentence there remained no appeal, and the officers of justice were bound to an immediate execution of his pleasure.-^ Constantine would scarcely have attempted to connect such an office, with that of the christian ministry, without the concurrence of the men on whom it was conferred. The fact of its being -' Eusebius Vit. Constant, iv. c. 27. Sozomeii i. c, 9. SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 19 universally sustained by the clergy of the fourth century, is unfavourable to their pretensions as religious men. By a limited and a better class among them, the distractions in- troduced by this v/orldly occupation, vj^ere feelingly de- plored ; but all were conformists in this respect, and the greater number with little difficulty .'^^ It may be conceded that the proceedings of the episcopal courts in later ages, were more fixed and equitable, than those conducted by the secular officers ; but this disparity could not have been strikingly observable in the fourth century, when the sacred scriptures were by no means unknown, and when barbarism had accomplished but little toward demolishing the fabric of Roman jurisprudence. It should be remembered too, that the verdicts of each court were enforced by the same coer- cive weapons, so that no religious objection could possibly be urged against appeals to the one, which would not apply Avith equal force to the other. While the general equity of the pastoral decisions formed the sole ground of their influ- ence, the various arts of corruption were happily excluded. But removed from this honourable footing, and entrenched amid the sanctions of imperial law, their character was wholly changed. Christian pastors thus became, but in a sense never intended by their Lord, a royal priesthood, an- nexing the power of the sword to that of their spiritual office. Nor is it easy to determine the extent of the en- croachments, which would speedily have followed, if a powerful check had not arisen in the rival vigilance of the courts, whose province was thus invaded.-^ ^* Angastine professed to feel this evil, and uttered some loud complaints against it.— Fleury, ii. 909. iii. 147. ^ The emperor Valens appointed the clergy to determine the price of vendible commodities, a measure which certainly bespeaks a confidence in their equity, but which also implies a talent for secular pursuits, that could hardly have existed along with a proper regard to their spiritual obligations. Mr. Gibbon has named the aversion of the early christians from the matters of civil govern- ment, as imparting a collected energy to their religious movements. In later c 2 20 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. By the emperor Theodosius it was farther decreed, that a cml cause might be carried to the bishop's court in the first instance, at the pleasure of either party : and that it might be removed thither at the same option, in any stage of its pleadings, before the civil magistrate.^ From this strange increase of power it may be inferred, that the efficiency of churchmen in their new vocation, had been such as to command the royal confidence. But it was deemed im- portant by Arcadius and Honorius, to whom the supreme authority next descended, more accurately to define the limits of episcopal jurisdiction, and to make every appeal to the clerical tribunal, dependant, as formerly, on the concur- rence of both parties. By this provision a feeble check was given to the increasing usurpation ; but the customs which the former statute had introduced, were not to be easily eradicated ; and from the history of subsequent princes it appears, that after an interval its disastrous authority was fully restored. Courts were, indeed, established to deter- mine such causes as were of a mixed nature, and their existence discloses a mutual jealousy. But if the secular judge was admitted to these tribunals, it is certain that in these also the episcopal authority commonly prevailed. Various also were the expedients by which causes said to be overlooked or rejected by the magistrates, were made to devolve on the more scrupulous equity of the ecclesiastical officers. By such steps an amount of legal occupation be- came connected with the pastoral relation, rendering a know- ages the complaints of tl>e secular nobility respecting the obtrusion of churchmen into civil ofiices, were often urged; but for many centuries with but as very partial measure of success.— Decline and Fall, ii. 322. Fleury's Discourse on the Church, from A. D. GOO. 2fi This edict has been attributed to Constantine, but Godefroy has proved that it is of a later origin. That it was fairly introduced into the code of Theodosius is doubt- ful ; but from thence it was extracted by Charlemagne.— Gibbon iii. 293. Hallam, ii. 10. Lingard, ii. 29.3. That appeals to tiie bishop's court depended previously on the consent of both parties, is evident from the Novels of Valentenian, iii. 12. and from Sozomen, i. 9. SECT. I.] OP THE PAPAL POWER. 21 ledge of law every where of so much more importance to a bishop, than the study of his bible, as to convert the dis- graceful fact into a proverb.-^ XII. Thus a union between priestly and judicial power, was not more familiar to the barbarian tribes by which the empire was dissolved, than it had long been to the members of the christian church. As a consequence, this perilous combination survived those deep convulsions, which gave existence to the states of modern Europe, and ended in the adoption of the christian worship. In a gothic council at Toledo, convened before the close of the sixth century, in- cluding more than seventy prelates, and conducted under the royal sanction, we find the judges of the people admo- nished to appear before the yearly convocation of the clergy, to receive official instructions from the mouth of the bishops as their appointed overseers.^ Two centuries later, the ob- noxious edict of Theodosius was re-enacted by Charlemagne, and became a law, through the various nations owning his authority .29 It is also well known, that under the reign of paganism among the northern nations, the judgment of ex- communication separated its victim alike from religious and from civil privileges : that to be accounted impious was to be exposed to the miseries of outlaw. From the age of Constantine the successors of the apostles had been too much accustomed to pronounce the sentence which they knew would be followed by confiscations or imprisonment, to feel shocked by this connection between religious censures and civil penalties. Soon was it adopted by them in the whole of its extent, and thus the present and the future, with respect to their votaries, was placed in complete subjec- tion to their will.^'^ The principle, also, once admitted, that -' See the luminous Discourse of Father Paul on this subject, in the fourtli book of Ihe Council of Trent. -e Fleury, iv..278, 279. » Capital. Reg. Franc. VI. 3GG. 30 Mosbcira, ii.225, 226. Fleury, iii. 144, 145. c 3 22 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. 1. a religious delinquency called for a suspension of civil rights, was easily extended, until monarchs were deposed from their thrones, and kingdoms were bartered at pleasure by a race of haughty priests.^^ An interval would be required to prepare the way for a frequent application of these spiritual censures, to rulers and to sovereigns. But to punish the aberrations of the multi- tude, and to overlook those of their superiors, would have been to admit a distinction in every view hazardous. It might have been sincerely pleaded, that a strict subjection of the magistrate to the authority of the penitential canons, would be at variance with the freedom of his peculiar admi- nistration. It is certain, however, that the motives which for a while secured the person of the emperors from serious rebuke, sometimes afforded but a feeble protection to of- fenders in the subordinate offices of government. St. Atha- nasius pronounced the sentence of excommunication on one of the ministers of Egypt.^^ The prelate Synesius followed his example, and in the person of the president, Andronicus, subdued a more formidable adversary. ^^ But among the earlier and the more successful champions of the power which became ere long so much the subject of abuse, a pre- eminence must be given to the devout St. Ambrose. By the authority of that excellent man, the emperor Theodosius was excluded from the altar of the faithful ; and the mem- bers of the christian commonwealth were edified by the novel spectacle of a prince assuming the garb of public contrition, as the exacted atonement for public crime.^* ai Tlie earliest exercise of this power, was in tlie deposition of Vamba, a king of tlie Visigoths, bj the council of Toledo, in C8l. The next was in the case of Louis the Debonaire, and two centuries later.— Flenry's Discourse, A.D. GOO. '■>'^ Baron. An. 370. where the cardinal's authority is an epistle of St. Basil. 33 Fleury, iii. 143, 144. S't Gibbon, V. {;f)— 72. The doors of the Basilica Anibrosiana, are still revered by the Italians, as those closed by the inflexible saint agiiinst the supplicating emperor. Eustace's Tour, iv . 26. .SECT. I.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 23 Nor was it deemed sufficient that the censures of the church should be thus fearlessly applied, connected as they had every where become with the abhorrence of earth and heaven. The curse, with all its consequences, was gradually extended from the individual to his family and adherents ; and this practice, though it often secured the punishment of the innocent with the guilty, became the ground work of the well known sentence of interdict, an ecclesiastical weapon, by which, in the western church, the tenants of the baron were often made to groan under the chastisement incurred by their lord ; and nations were doomed to sack- cloth for the iniquities imputed by pontiffs to their kings.^^ XIII. While the clergy were thus active in establishing that species of jurisdiction, the principles of which were soon to be wrested in support of every papal pretension, it becomes proper to inquire how the delinquencies of ecclesi- astics themselves, were to be in any measure corrected. The civil controversies which arose between churchmen, would be, of course, referred to the decision of their own order. This custom may not have furnished the strongest incentive to religious circumspection, but it was favourable to the influence of the clergy, as it preserved the faults of men, separated to the services of religion, from being too nearly scrutinized by the people. On this ground the practice was earnestly commended by Constantine,^*' and by the emperor Justinian it was further decreed, that every civil suit, in which either party were a clergyman, should devolve on the episcopal tribunal.""' This privilege once se- cured, would be cautiously maintained ; and in the subse- quent establishment of the christian worship among the western nations was not to be forgotten. We have seen that by Charlemagne, this important claim was sufficiently a^ Fleury, iii. 143, 144. * Tillemont. Meiii.Eccles. toiii. iii. 7S9, 7.50. 37 Novel, LXXIX. i. LXXXni. c 4 24 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. respected. Nor is there the least room, from this period, to question the independence, or the entire competency, of the spiritual courts, with respect to any contempt of the canons on the part of the clergy, nor in relation to such civil contro- versies among them, as the prelates were empowered to decide in behalf of the laity. In subsequent periods we perceive the utmost ingenuity employed to connect almost every legal suit with the court of the bishop ; while the clergy themselves as constantly plead a total exemption from the authority of the secular judge. Questions relating to tithes, testaments, advowsons, and every form of civil contract, were at length as much connected with the jurisdiction, still designated spiritual, as those of marriage, perjury, or scandal. ^'^ That various of these matters were unknown to the episcopal courts during the reign of the first christian emperors, is certain ; and it is equally evident, that the criminal clergy were not then protected by the sanctity of their order, from the known penalties of criminal law.-''^ The steps wliich led to this increase of power, have been variously related, and are still the subject of debate.^ But it appears, that from the days 38 Berrington's Henry, ii. 67 — 89. Lingard Hist. ii. 302. 3" Ibid. 2ngn of Maurice, and in the year 590.^^ It was an elevation which had been recently occupied by one of his ancestors, in the person of Felix the second. Gregory's immediate parents '7 The facts adduced in the text to illrwtrate the character and pontificate of Gregory, are selected from the profuse d'talKs of Fleury and Dtipin, except when cited as fioui his epistles. r i 72 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER. [CHAP. I. were of distinguished rank, and revered as devout. On the decease of his father, he resigned the oflice of prefect of the city in favor of the cloister, and expressing a wish to be forgotten among men, employed his ample patrimony in founding seven monasteries, six in Sicily, and the seventh at Rome, fixing his own residence in the latter. But there were elements in the character of Gregory strongly opposed to the inaction of the convent. From the hand of Pelagius the second he early received the office of deacon, and by that pontiff was induced to become a resident in the Byzantine court, as nuncio of the apostolic see. On the death of Tiberius, and after four years absence, he returned to Rome, filled the office of secretary to Pelagius, and, on the decease of his patron, was unanimously chosen to sustain the papal dignity. After much hesitation, the sincerity of which has been variously judged, the honor was accepted ; and the pontificate of Gregory the great became one of the most eventful periods in the history of the church. IV. The character of this extraordinary man was in no few respects particularly suited to his station and his times. If from being deficient in learning himself, he fell into the common error of undervaluing it in others, his was not an age to appreciate any of the refinements of literature.^^ Rome was then reduced by the united influence of war, pestilence, and famine, to the lowest stage of her depression ; and there was an adaptation in that ruder eloquence with which the pontiff* often applied the comforts of religion to the sorrows and the disordered passions of its citizens. The removal also of the imperial residence to Byzantium, had '^ Mr. Gibbon has censured tlie tasle of the pontiff in discouraging a priest from teaching the classics, because it required the same lips to utter the praise of Jupi'ter and of Clirist. Mr. Eustace defends the conduct of the saint by referring to that of a modern prelate, who relinquished his favourite study of chemistry when called to the bench, because an employment of too little importance to be associated with obliga- tions so serious. Unfortunately, however, in another of his epistles, Gregory has described such occupation as inconsistent with a proper regard for piety, either ia priest or layman. — L is. ep. 48. cited by Dupin. SECT. III.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 73 elevated the bishop of Rome from the rank of a second to that of the first man in the more ancient city ; while, from the necessity of the times, Gregory the great became the frequent correspondent of princes on the subject of wai- and peace, and was allowed the exercise of a princely influence. At the same time his episcopal revenues were collected with a paternal mildness ; and from the rigid economy of his es- tablishment a large surplus arose, which was freely distri- buted to relieve the general distress. The maxims of his own conduct, and those commended by him to the clergy, discover no ordinary acquaintance with the human heart, and to his honour the indolent and vicious of that order dreaded his inspection. Nor is there room to charge him with substituting the morals of Epictetus in the place of the doctrines of Christ, since the truths peculiar to the gospel are exhibited, either in his own or in borrowed language, in most of his writings. It may likewise be worthy of re- mark, that to the indefatigable labours of Gregory, the papal ritual is indebted for much of its subsequent order and efticiency. But the mission of St. Augustine and his monks to impart the knowledge of Christianity to our Saxon an- cestors, rose also from his zeal, and forms the worthiest deed of his pontificate. There was much in the circum- stances of the ancient capital during Gregory's elevation, to facilitate the introduction of that temporal sovereignty which ere long became inseparable from the papacy ; and while his character must have imparted no small impetus to this tendency of events, it was eqiially adapted to give a plausible aspect to his numerous acts of spiritual encroach- ment. How far this influence of his virtues may have dimi- nished their real claims, in the case of some protestant and sceptical historians, it is not easy to determine ; but it is cer- tain, that few men have been exposed to the same indiscri- minate application of censure and applause. His monastic vows may appear of doubtful sincerity, because accompanied 74 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. by such a display of the most popular virtues of the age, as formed the best security against descending- unnoticed to the grave. The language of humility also, which passed with such readiness from his pen, was the associate of actions which often betrayed much less of that feeling than of its opposite ; and while his general conduct and advice are dis- tinguished by their prudence, he is found on some occasions almost surpassing the age in which he lived, in the weak- nesses of superstition and credulity.^9 His zeal in the cause of what were deemed the prerogatives of his see, or, in his language those of St. Peter, was avowed distinctly as ex- ceeding every other solicitude. Nor did he need to be instructed in the policy of dividing the power opposed to his pretensions. Hence, his influence was employed with suc- cess to check the aspiring temper of his rival, the patriarch of the eastern capital ; and to subdue the independence of provinces in Greece, Spain, and Gaul. Even the mission to Anglo Saxon Britain, is chiefly remarkable through several ages as subservient to the growing usurpation, in- asmuch as the plea which it supplied for interference with the discipline of the English church, became a formidable precedent in similar struggles for dominion. To the death of Gregory, indeed, the ordination of bishops by the pope w as limited to that of such as were called to the churches then immediately depending on the see of Rome, and there- fore named Suhurhicary, as was the exercise of various among the papal functions. But at the close of this period the vicars or legates of the western patriarch were firmly established in several nations, as in Illyricum, Spain, Gaul, and Portugal; and the granting of the pallium, a recent '^ His Pastoral, which our Alfred honored by translating, appears to be the work most creditable to Gregory's feelings and discernment. It is, however, like most works of the period, little more than a compilation. The reader who is sceptical of this pontiff's credulity and superstition, need only consult his Dialogues or his Life of St. Benedict. Highly, indeed, must he have valued the filings from St. Peter's chain, since nc'i;rly tweuty of iiis letters refer to his various distribotions of them. SECT. III.] OF THK PAPAL POWER. 75 custom, also became more frequent and connected with doc- trines more hostile to the independence of the national churches.-'^ It is true, the authority of the pontiffs was described even by Gregory, as receiving its limits from the canons and customs of the church ; but he must have known that these afforded no sanction to a Roman bishop, in con- ferring the pallium on a prelate of Antioch, nor in meddling with the disputes of ecclesiastics in Constantinople or in Chalcedon. His admiration of relics, and his faith in miracles may be regretted as the weakness of the age, or as a politic device unworthy of his station : and even his obvious love of power may be somewhat tolerated while his ascen- dancy is employed, but to benefit mankind : but when to- ward the close of life both gratitude and sincerity are too plainly sacrificed, with a view to preserve his oflficial influ- ence, a strong suspicion is of necessity thrown over much of his previous history. The emperor Maurice had confirmed the election of Gregory, had granted him many proofs of friendship, and was a prince less unworthy of episcopal confidence than many who were then raised to the same dignity. By the pontiff also, his character had been frequently extolled as possessing every moral and religious excellence."^ It was probably from in- difference to the ground of dispute, that the emperor refused to interfere with the controversy which arose between the prelates of Rome and Constantinople, respecting the title of universal bishop ; an appellation which the latter had re- cently assumed, and which the former had endeavoured to *) These -vicars, as their name imports, were the representatives of the pontiff, and either decided the qaestions relating in any way to the papal jurisdiction, or referred them to the judgment of the holy see. The pallium was a slight appendage to the episcopal robe ; and before the pontificate of Gregory the first, it appears to have been conferred but in two instances, once by his immediate predecessor, and once by pope Vigilius. Gregory, however, not only bestowed this badge of spiritual knighthood more frequently, but taught that it should be regarded as the mark of superior virtue, and as dependant on his pleasure as to the time, the place, and the mannerof wearing it. — Dupiu,49. 59. 7'J. 31 Episl. L. V. ep. 63, vi. ep. 30, viii. ep. 2, 76 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. suppress, by every art of eloquence and policy. Such, how- ever, was the only circumstance which can fairly be supposed to have altered the judgment of the pontiff, respecting the character of his sovereign, when a military insurrection placed the sceptre of the empire in the hand of Phocas ; a centurion, and a wretch who appears to have added the sen- sualities of the brute to the treacherous and vindictive passions which characterise the fiend. Five of the children borne to Maurice were secured by the usurper, these were slaughtered in succession before the eyes of their parent ;-^ and his murder was followed by that of his brother, of his only remaining son, and of as many whether patricians or plebeans, as were suspected of attachment to hi& interests. It would be easy to select numerous maxims from the writings of Gregory, placing him before us, deeply shocked by these atrocities, and urging with an apostolic intrepidity, the necessity of repentance, as affording the only prospect of the blessing of heaven, on a reign commenced by such deeds. But in his congratulatory letter to the successful rebel, every such topic is passed by, and in the place of that fidelity which he had so often enjoined on others, are his soothing descriptions of misery, as resulting from the weakness, or the turpitude of the former sovereign ; and of unusual prosperity as to flow from the piety and benignity of the reigning prince, with much concerning the arm of the Lord, as revealed in favour of his servant Phocas. This declamatory appeal was bor- rowed, principally from the language of the prophets when describing the advent of Messiah, and the felicities of his reign, and it was consistent with such an application of holy writ, to wish a long and a prosperous career to the august personage in possession of the throne.-^ The conduct of this 2^^ " At each stroke which he felt in his heart," observes Mr. Gibbon, " he found strength to rehearse a pious ejaculation, ' thou art just, O Lord, and thy judgments are righteous.' Such, also, was his attachment to truth and justice, that in his last moments, he revealed to the soldiers the pious falsehood of a nurse who presented Ler own child in the place of a royal infant."— Hist. viii. 210—214. 23 Epist. L. ii. ep. 3G. 43. SECT. III.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 77 " first pastor of the religion of the emperors,""^ had long been sufficiently at variance with his professions to occasion a freqnent doubt of his sincerity ; and from the part of it now adverted to, we are obliged to conclude that power had long been the favourite pursuit of this celebrated pontiff, or at least that at this period the possession of power had created that idolatry of itself, which is capable in the moment of temptation of bringing every principle and feeling as an oblation to its shrine. V. We have dwelt the more largely on the character and pon- tificate of the first Gregory, as the maxims of his conduct in- cluded the substance of almost every claim preferred by his successors ; while his reputation which it became in con- sequence important to preserve, conferred upon them nearly all the authority of inspiration. The doctrine of the pope's legatine authority, his appellant jurisdiction, his dispensing with oaths and contracts, his temporal sovereignty, were all, more or less, assumed by this pontifl'. To produce the scheme of Hildebrand, nothing was required beyond the aid of the decretal epistles, and the confirmation of the usages pre- vailing at the close of the sixth century, by an uninter- rupted adoption of them, to the latter half of the eleventh. It was not, immediately, that the consequences resulting from an acknowledgment of the pope's supremacy as derived from St. Peter would be fully perpeived, though when generally recognized, it was to impart very plausible appearances to the most iniquitous invasions of human liberty. For the sovereignty assumed on the ground of this theory, was one extending itself to every part of the ecclesiastical system ; and being once conceded even in the most modified form, it became consistent that the deputies of the pontiff* should 2"* Eustace. It is perfectly natural that Baronius should attempt to save the repu- tation of Gregory, by iinpeachiug that of Maurice; bat the epistles cited above, are not the only documents opposed to his success. A similar effort has been more re- cently made by an historian of our own. But the perplexities which Lingard and Eustace have passed over in despair, will hardly be found to yield to the genius or the industry of Joseph Milner. In making this remark, I should, perhaps, add, that I consider the church history produced by the latter writer as wortiij in many re- spects of all the notice it has obtained. 78 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I, have their place and their influence in the various national establishments allied to his authority. These ecclesiastics, whether known by the name of vicars or legates, were ex- empted by their office from all cognizance of their brethren, were taken under the immediate protection of the popes, and secured thus to the interests of a foreign court they fre- quently became the mere spies of the land into which they were admitted, and the check of every movement favouring its religious independence.-^ Hence, the vigor with which their obtrusive power was sometimes resisted, and the imvarying firmness, also with which their particular services were vin- dicated and extolled by the pontiffs and their adherents. The rise of this important arrangement in the general usurpation, may be traced to the close of the fourth century, but it re- mained for Gregory the first, to extend the practice, and to ensure its stability, by supplying his successors in office with the most formidable precedents."*' The custom respect- ing the pallium was of more recent date than the legatine authority ; but by the same pontiff that distinction was con- ferred with greater frequency, and was vested with an encreased importance. The badge itself, consisted of a trivial ornament worn upon the shoulder, and attached to the epis- copal habit, and was granted at first but to some of the more distinguished members of that order.-^ After a considerable 25 Matt. Paris, Hist. 637. Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris, iii. 659. 26 It was in 379 tliat east Ill^ricum was separated hy Gratian from the eastern, and attached to the western empire, and the event was followed by the appointment of Acholius, bishop of Thessalonica, to the office of papal vicar. Pope Damasius, by whose watchful authority this branch of policy was thus introduced, was succeeded by Siricius, who endeavoured to render the election of bishops through that part of Illyricum dependent on the approbation of the papal representative. The authority conceded to these legates, principally on account of their episcopal rank, was after a while claimed as the legitimate appendage to this superadded dignitj% Hence, the disputes in our own history respecting the legatine power, as that which should be acknowledged but as sustained by the archbishop of Canterbury. '^'^ In the tenth century it began to be extended from archbishops to bishops, and the metropolitans of England and Germany visited Rome to receive it. The 6rst practice was censured at the time as an unseemly innovation, and by the Gallic prelates the last was carefully avoided. It was not before the middle of the thirteenth century that attempts were made to compel the elected abbots of theEnglish church to appear before the pontift's for this purpose. — Matt, Paris, Hist. 951. SECT. III.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 79 interval, it was declared to be necessary to the canonical exercise of any episcopal function. It was next demanded that the bishop to obtain this mark of his complete conse- cration, should appear in the court of his ecclesiastical so- vereign ; and to this well known expression of feudatory homage, all the formalities of an oath of fealty to the see of St. Peter were finally added.-^ VI. It will be sufficient to glance only at these and similar features of the papal policy, to become sensible that with the court of Rome, an increase of political power, formed the object to which every question of equity or morals was too frequently subservient. Maxims so pernicious would sometimes carry retribution along with them; but in general the ambition which gave them such importance was accompanied by discernment enough to secure their application, only in such forms, or in such a measure as the prevailing ignorance or superstition might be expected to iadmit. Their influence in consequence was greatly conducive to the end proposed. The facts which reveal these purposes of aggrandizement, belong of course to the whole period of the papal history, and to every department of its ulti- mate jurisdiction. Disputes arose continually io relation, either to the doctrine, or the discipline of the church ; and it was no small number of these, which in contempt of every other con- sideration, were laid under a strict contribution to this increase of dominion. The right of the western patriarch to receive appeals, and to decide on all controversies between eccle- siastical litigants within the ten provinces, which compose the Roman patriarchate had been established from the days of Constantine. But it has appeared, that since the council of Sardica, it became the steady object of papal ambition to 2S Our countrj'man, Boniface, the apostle of Germany, was the first ecclesiastic to yield this last article of feudal homage to the pontifl's. It was not, however, until churchmen had long betrayed their stronger attachment to the cause of the popes, than to the claims of their sovereigns that the ecclesiastical chieftain deemed the oath of siibjeclion to himself incompatible with the same pledge to princes. — Mosheiin ii. 512. 80 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. extend the same jurisdiction over all the churches of Italy, and through the western empire. Every appeal from distant communities was in consequence received with a marked interest, as favouring the projected supremacy. Hence, also, to predict the issue of a contest submitted to a papal decision, it is in general sufficient to know the party which had been first to offer that deference to the power of the apostolic see, which was implied in the act of appealing to its authority as final. It is true, the language and the genius of the Latins were less nearly allied to controversy than those of the Greeks; and in the struggle between those great divisions of the church, the former, if less considerable in numbers, ge- nerally possessed the advantage of opposing the strength of union, to the weakness of division. In the west, however, disputes respecting the polity of the church, were scarcely less frequent than in the east, and its faith was sufficiently the subject of debate, to furnish the popes with a ground for frequent interference. Gregory also, while professing to respect the rights of metropolitans, was not slow to employ the weight of his character in invading them. During his ascendancy, the cases of appellants became numerous, and if his sole authority was not exercised in confirming the sentence pronounced, its revision commonly devolved on a papal de- puty joined with the bishops of some neighbouring province. There were exceptions, however, during this period to the latter mode of adjusting controversies ; and such as assisted to bring the revision, as well as the confirmation of synodical decrees to the immediate tribunal of the popes .-9 From the establishment of this custom, and those relating to the pallium arose a constant intercourse between the dignified churchmen of Christendom, and the court of Rome. To the influx of appellants, and of successful candidates for episcopal and abattical honours, were added as a consequence the most *9 Dupiii, cent. vi. 78. SECT. III.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 81 accomplished representatives of the European sovereigns, either as defendants of their rights, or as the organs of their pleasure ; and vehen the popes aspired to confer the benefices of the most distant and opulent establishments upon their creatures, the ranks of their attendants were swoln into alarming numbers. VI. From the power of binding and loosing which the pontiffs had derived from the doctrine of St. Peter's sove- reignty, arose their custom of dispensing with treaties and oaths. The practice was frequently conducive to their in- fluence and to that of their clergy ; but it also afforded farther proofs of their contempt for moral obligations, when incompatible with the advances of political power. Thus to be applauded as pious and benign by the man to whom the Saviour had entrusted the keys of the celestial kingdom must have been in the judgment of Phocus, the certain assurance of freedom from the guilt of his treason and of his sanguinary deeds. And it is worthy of careful obser- vation, that by a similar act of perfidy, Pepin of France, ascended the throne of his master, Childeric the third ; and that it wt^s the sanction of that act on the part of Zachary, the contemporary pontiff, and of Stephen his suc- cessor, which annexed the exarchate of Ravenna, Penta- polis, and various cities and territories in the Roman duke- dom, to the see of the ancient capital. From this period its bishop, who had often exerted the influence of a sovereign, and sometimes with much advantage to the citizens of Rome, is possessed of the name and of the entire authority of a temporal prince.^o The grant of Pepin was confirmed and extended by Charlemagne, to whom his sceptre de- scended. But that monarch, amid his bounties to the mi- nisters of religion, discovered a political sagacity peculiar 30 Mosheim, ii. 229—233. Gibbon* ix. 143—155. The last writer seems to regard the successor of Childeric, and certain of the popes belonging to the same period, as not altogether unwortliy of the civic honour obtained bj such questionable means. VOL. I. G 82 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAF. I, to himself. As emperor of the west he reserved to his crown the right of confirming every election to the papacy ; maintained the strict independence of his civil j urisdiction, extending its authority over the persons of the clergy in all criminal cases, and subjecting the property of churchmen to the tribute demanded of lay proprietors. But his genius was not hereditary. In the ninth century his posterity be- came involved in destructive wars, and the pontiffs with their adherents in Italy, profited by this season of weakness so as to escape from their dependence on the imperial con- firmation ; and, indeed, virtually to secure to themselves the election of the emperor. It is manifest, that a power in the religious establishment sufficient thus to create the chief authority in the secular hierarchy, was inseparable from the most serious encroachments of superstition and of priestly tyranny. The disposal of other crowns would readily follow that of the Ceesar ; and the influence which arose from a politic improvement of passing events, would soon be regarded as a legitimate function. Nor was it usual with the church of Rome formally to relinquish any claim which it had once asserted. VII. The teacher, indeed, who would decline the praise of infallibility, may still feel solicitous to conceal, as far as pos- sible, his liableness to mistake when engaged in his own field of instruction. To this very natural anxiety the papal doctrine of infallibility may be in part ascribed. Long, however, before any pretension to that attribute was dis- tinctly urged, the vanity or the love of power from which it proceeded, had rendered the fearless reiteration, even of the most disputed claims, a prominent feature in the Roman po- licy ; and to the advances of its spiritual despotism this practice as we have noticed was of the greatest importance. To suspend the exercise of a right, was not to abandon the right itself; and though to preserve this distinction might sometimes re- quire no ordinary skill, it is certain, that in general the SECT. III.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 83 ceaseless repetition of the demand at length secured its admission. By every such admission the general character of the pontifical claims as just and sacred was supposed to be preserved. That Gregory the first was no stranger to the feeling whence this peculiarity derived its origin, and that he was fully aware of its influence over every branch of the papal jurisdiction, is evident from much of his conduct, but especially from the perseverance with which he opposed the ambitious title assumed by his rival of Constantinople, and from his exercise of the same pertinacity with respect to Maxentius the refractory bishop of Salonae.'^ With this rigid adherence to its public decisions, the infallibility claimed by the papal court was naturally connected, nor was it to be supposed that popes would have attempted to place them- selves above councils, without assuming the whole of that inspired authority which had been claimed by such assem- blies; By such steps did men proceed until it was asserted, *' that all pontifical decrees ought for ever to be observed by all men, like the word of God, to be received as if they came from the mouth of St. Peter himself, and held like canonical scripture. Neither the catholic faith, nor the four evangelists could avail those who rejected them, this being a sin which was never to be remitted. Christ had bestowed upon the pope, when he spake as such, the same infallibility which resided in himself." Yea, what is more, " he could change the nature of things, and make injustice justice. Nor was it possible that he should be amenable to any se- cular power, for he had been called God by Constantine, and God was not to be judged by man; under God the sal- vation of all the faithful depended on him, and the commen- tators even gave him the blasphemous appellation of our Lord God the Pope !"32 3' On this point the chief pastor and the chief niap;istrate of the empire, were divided, but after a struggle of eight jears continuance, the will of the former prevailed — Dupin, Cent. vi. 90. ^^ Book of the Church, i. .128, 329. G 2 84 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. VIII. The beginnings of these extravagances were in many ways resisted by such as were acquainted with the ancient constitutions of the church ; but their opposition was at length overruled, and by means discovering again that subor- dination of integrity to power, which is of such frequent occur- rence in the annals of the papacy. It was in the eighth and ninth centuries that certain documents appeared, which have since become notorious under the name of the decretal epistles. Their chief design was to abridge the influence of metropolitans, by empowering every planitive bishop to make his first appeal to the apostolic see ; and the popes to subserve the purposes of ambition with which they were now so much occupied, descended to plead them as authorities. They were described as including the decrees of preceding pontiffs and of ancient councils, and made their appearance in two compilations. The first extended the extraordinary powers now claimed by the successors of St. Peter, to the time of Siricius, and such was the success of the imposture, that the second conferred on the same pretensions, an anti- quity as remote as the days of Sylvester. That these col- lections were the fabrication of designing men, has been long since conceded by catholics. Their influence, however, on the future usurpations of the papacy is every where seen, and has not only disclosed that contempt of truth and equity, which was so deeply to characterise the later policy of the court of Rome, but that prostrate ignorance both of the clergy and laity, which were so long to form the reproach of the western nations.^^ IX. The annals of the papal court through the tenth cen- tury, are admitted by its friends to be little else than those of crime, — and frequently of crime almost unparalleled. Yet even in that age its influence was progressive, nor were there as Lingard's Hist. iii. 299, 300. Mosheim, ii. 305—307. See the .story of these decretals and of the donation of Constantiae, in Gibbon, ix. 161— 164. SECT. III.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 85 wanting sycophants to vindicate and applaud the most insulting of its demands. It is not, however, until the century following that this mystery "of iniquity appears complete. The filling of St. Peter's chair, which had previously devolved on the clergy and nobility and on the burgesses and the people of Rome, was then confined to the newly instituted college of cardinals.3^ At the same time the utmost ingenuity and ardour were discovered to render the will of the pontiffs, the presiding authority, not only in every church, but in every nation of Christendom. At this period it was not enough to assert their supremacy as legislators in relation to the church, but they claimed, and in virtue of a divine commis- sion to that purpose, the entire distribution of ecclesiastical honours and emoluments, and *' carried their insolent pre- tensions so far, as to give themselves out for the lords of the universe, arbiters of the fate of kingdoms and empires, and supreme rulers over the kings and princes of the earth."^^ Such was the nature of that monarchy to which the haughty genius of Hildebrand aspired ; a despotism extended over all ranks, whether priests or laymen, and enforced, by the appalling alternative of immediate submission, or the coming vengeance of eternal fire. His design is stated to have been to engage in the bonds of fidelity and allegiance to St. Peter, that is, to the Roman pontiff", all the kings and princes of the earth, and to establish at Rome an annual assembly of bishops, by whom the contests that might arise between kingdoms and sovereign states were to be decided, the rights and pretensions of princes to be examined, and the fates of nations and em- pires to be determined.^^ It was a scheme, embodying all the gloomy grandeur of that druidical ascendency which had 3' This was achieved by Gregory \'II. Soon afterwards it was agreed that the suiFrage of two thirds in the sacred college should determine the election ; and such is the present law of the catholic church. ••' Mosheim ii. 409. The substance of this claim was ventured before (he close of the tenth century.— Histoire Litteraire de laFranoc, torn, vi.98. '« Mosheim ii. 493. G 3 86 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. anciently obtained in Gaul and Britain ; and to its establish- ment the monk of Clugni directed the activities of his ardent nature, when raised to the papal throne, as Gregory the seventh. But this subjection of all princes to the sovereignty of the pontiff, and of every state convention to a parliament of priests, was to exist but in theory. The clergy of different nations struggled to preserve the authority of their local councils ; and princes, in some instances, exerted both their wisdom and their valour to protect their civil dominion from invasion. It is manifest, however, that the independence of the clerical assemblies referred to, had been already greatly subdued ; partly by the influence of the decretal epistles, and partly by the customary presence of the pontiff in the person of his legates. The valour of princes also, frequently availed but little, as opposed to the power of men who had every horror of superstition at their command, and who, by those weapons, could diffuse a feebleness and disaffection over the mind of almost any people. The letters of Hildebrand afford ample proof that the failure of his scheme is not to be attributed to any deficiency, either of intrepidity or decision on the part of its author. The most powerful princes were required, and with much solemnity, to subject their respective territories to the juris- diction of St. Peter, by rendering them the fiefs of the apostolic see. But it was impossible to give to this su- premacy, as vested in a christian priest, the charm of a remote antiquity; and as the frame of society, which a similar despotism had once induced, through a large division of pagan Europe, existed but in very faint traces, our admi- ration of the prowess which could project its introduction, is not without a mixture of pity for the weakness that could anticipate its admission over a field so extended as the nations of Christendom. There were sovereigns, indeed, who, enslaved to an abject superstition, or preferring the feudal superiority of the pontiff" to that of soni^' neighbouring SECT. III.] ON THE PAPAL POWER. 87 power, complied with this demand. It was the authority of Hildebrand which dissolved all the political relations of Poland, dethroned its prince, and placed a creature of the papal court in possession of his dignity. The monarchy of Poland was thus added to that of Russia, to the principalities of Croatia and Dalmatia, and to the Several Spanish king- doms, which became, with every formality, the feudatories of St. Peter's representative.^^ In other instances, these in- solent demands were sternly and effectively resisted ; but it is proper to remark, when adverting to the origin of the doctrine on which they were founded, that the boldness with which it was urged arose principally from the sanction which had been conferred upon it, more or less, immediately, both by the prince and the people through the states of Europe. Thus the crusades to the holy land, in which the popes were allowed to weild the military energies of Christendom, were founded on the supposed right of its religious chief to confer the soil of a distant nation on his particular adherents. These general movements, however, are not so evidently connected with the progress of this pernicious tenet as the local and selfish policy of individul monarchs. Our first William scorned to acknowledge a civil superior even in the lofty Hildebrand,* but he had previously conceded some such superiority, as belonging to the pontificial chair, by soliciting of its possessor the sanction of his projected enterprize in England.^a The same authority, in the disposal of kingdoms, was more distinctly acknowledged by Henry the second, when he descended to procure the sister island as a grant from Adrian the fourth.'*'^ But Henry is also in that class of sovereigns who lived to feel the impolicy of thus subjecting the temporal to the spiritual sword, for the sake of some immediate and transitory gain. 37 Ibid, 492, 521. 38 Collier's Hist, records, xii. ^9 Pict. lOG, 107.— Malms. 56. «o Malt, Paris, 95 — Baronius, 1159 (; 4 88 ON THE RISE AND CHARCTER OF [CHAP. I. X. Among the disorders which Gregory applied himself to correct, were the prevalence of simony, and the contempt of discipline and morals, which had arisen from the celibacy prescribed to the clergy. From his attempt to expel the practice of simony, arose his dispute concerning investitures ; a discussion which involved the empire and the papal court in long and most calamitous warfare. It has appeared, that in the primitive church, the ministers of religion were chosen to the pastoral relation by the people ; and it is unquestionable, that after the civil establishment of Chris- tianity, this right continued to be divided between the people and the clergy ; pertaining, however, after an interval, to the latter in a greater degree than to the former. It will be remembered, also, that in the arrangements of the feudal system established through the western empire, every immediate tenant of the crown received his possessions on condition of appearing in the presence of the sovereign, and of performing there the oath of fealty. As the estates of the church increased, bishops and abbots became an important part of the national aristocracy, and introduced by princes to their particular jurisdictions by the same formalities, monarchs began to consider the investment of candidates with these honors as their legitimate province. The clergy, however, who had laboured to withdraw the whole business of such elections from the people to themselves, were loud in their complaints ; and not unfrequently braved the displeasure of the sovereign, by concealing the decease of their bishop or abbot until his successor should be chosen and consecrated. By this stratagem, the designs of the monarch, whether good or evil, were frustrated ; and to prevent the recurrence of this artifice, a law was introduced which empowered the magistrate in the neighbourhood of the cathedral, or convent, to secure on the decease of its dignitary, and in the name of the king, the ring and crosier. These, as the known emblems of the spiritualities belonging to the episcopal and abuttical offices. SECT. III.] o:n the papal power. 89 were conveyed to the court ; and the conferring of these on the candidate by his metropolitan, which had hitherto formed tlie investment, was now to be preceded by a similar formality on the part of the sovereign. To this innovation it was principally and strongly objected, that it deprived the clergy of their ancient privilege of election, with respect to the more important places of the hierarchy; that the seizure of the ring and crosier by the secular power was nothing less than a deed of sacrilege, and that the uses to which they were applied were to the last degree removed from those holy mysteries of which they were significant. The right of sovereigns to exact an oath of fealty from the clerical aristocracy was not disputed ; but while the wealth of churchmen had been derived chiefly from the laity, and while the sword of the laity was expected to defend it from every assault of infidel rapacity, the election of the men by whom the larger revenues of the religious estab- lishment should be enjoyed, was to be scrupulously reserved to the sacred order. Accordingly, in the year 1075, Hildebrand convened a council in the city of Rome, and a sentence of excommunication was pronounced on every ecclesiastic who should accept of investiture from the hands of a layman, and on every layman who should thus presume to touch the ark of the sanctuary. The emperor, Henry the fourth, against whom this anathma was immediately directed, ad- mitted that the practice of regal investitures had become the inlet of a most disgraceful merchandize, but pledged himself to reform the custom throughout his dominions. The pontiff, however, insisted on its total abolition, and a war was thus kindled, which is described by the contemporary writers as that of the empire and the church. Through nearly half a century, the most cultivated provinces of Europe became the scenes of tumult and desolation. But if one emperor incurred the loss of his sceptre, and his life, by this contest, being first subdued to a state of prostration before his priestly rival. 90 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. which should have roused the indignation of every monarch, it is certain that the popes themselves were in their turn reduced to the humbling necessity of providing for their safety by flight and concealment. The struggle attended with this various success was terminated at length by mutual con- cessions. The election of bishops and abbots was reserved, the first to the canons, and the second to the monks, according to ancient usage ; and the prince was no longer to be con- sidered as investing the persons so elected with any thing beyond the temporalities of their dignity, and was in con- sequence to resign the use of the ring and crosier. But on the part of the secular power, it was also provided that every such election should be made in the presence of the emperor, or of his representative ; that the ecclesiastic chosen should take the oath of allegiance to his sovereign ;^^ and that every dispute between the suffragan parties should be referred to his decision as final.*- XI. The provisions of this treaty are still the law of the papal court, but the language in which they are stated, has been differently interpreted. A weak pontiff or a weak sovereign might admit an interpretation little favourable to his par- ticular claims ; but a consciousness of power invariably con- ferred a latitude of meaning on the terms of this reluctant compact. Indeed the history of the papacy, from the eleventh century to the age of Wycliffe, is the developement of a continuous effort, to realize that unlimited empire, which had received its ideal perfection from the genius of Gregory the seventh.*^ It was a scheme opposed to the rights of sove- reigns and of the provincial clergy, but their opposition was ■" This had been prohibited nearly thirty years previously, by Urban the second, in the counsel of Clermont. "It is enacted that no bishop or priest siiail promise upon oath leige obedience to any king or layman." — Mosheim ii. 525. •f^ In the above epitome of this memorable controversy I have been guided princi- pally by Mosheim ii. 506, 524 ; iii. 43,49. The question is one of those to which that historian has brought the whole of his learning. ^^ Ibid iii. 105—187. SECT. III.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. - 91 merely local, and always divided, and hence was usually in- efficient. Kings are still dethroned, subjects absolved from their allegiance, nations laid under interdict, and their feudal subjection to the see of St. Peter often demanded. A priest, who could thus dispose of every security, presumed to be in- herent in the laws of nations, would evince but little delicacy in his attempts to mould their religious institutions to his pleasure. Accordingly, under the name of universal pastor, the popes describe every form of power in the church, as emanating from themselves ; and regard the disposal of its revenues and honours, as in every instance subject to their sanction. From these ambitious notions, proceeded the customs of provisors, commendams, annates, with the numerous modes of obtaining wealth, which were extended to every province of Europe, the effects of which are scarcely to be paralleled in the annals of rapacity. In the ensuing pages, this general statement will be confirmed by details from our own eccle- siastical history; and that of some other states, if but partially consulted, would furnish a large portion of the same evi- dence. But the reader is probably wearied by these mono- tonous recitals of human frailty and corruption. It may therefore be agreeable to him, as well as due to our subject, before dismissing this introductory chapter, to notice some of the benefits certainly resulting to the states of Europe, from the Christianity of the middle ages ; considering it however, at the same time in its deficiencies and positive vices, when compared with that purer system, the name of which it con- tinued to assume. 92 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. SECTION IV. RELIGION NECESSARY TO POLITICAL SECURITY. XI. PAGANISM OF GREECE AND ROME. in. AND OF THE NORTHERN NATIONS. IV. FAVOURABLE IN- FLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON THE STATES OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. V. THE DISCOVERIES AND TENDENCIES PECULIAR TO THE GOSPEL. VI. THESE STRANGELY OVERLOOKED BY THE CLERGY OF THE MIDDLE AGES VII. THEIR GENERAL SYSTEM DEFECTIVE AND IN MANY RESPECTS DEGRADING AND RUINOUS. I. The laws of men partake of the imperfections insepa- rable from human nature. If devoid of error and of injustice, they can apply but to our visible history, leaving the pas- sions, those great springs of good and evil wholly uncontrouled. Every culprit also, will indulge the hope of escape from human sanctions : but true religion presents a standard of duty in- fallible and complete, enforced by the doctrine of a certain retribution, and of a retribution which the awards of an earthly judge can but faintly pourtray. The history of nations has in consequence demonstrated, that without some measure of re- ligious faith, political security is a dream, and that impressions of futurity, in proportion to their truth, constitute the spring and safeguard both of public and of private welfare. The Athenian may smile at the solemnity of an oath, while the Roman is found regarding it with reverence ; but the effect is soon disclosed in the ascendancy of Roman power.^ The Roman also, may in his turn imbibe the scepticism of the more speculative Greek, but to copy the vices of Athens, Pol^-b. vi. 34, wliere the patriot historian feelingh' deplores this degeneracy onrr his r.n-iintrvmnn. SECT. IV.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 93 was to share in her fall. The very imperfect code of obli- gations which the popular superstition had supplied might be abandoned ; but atheism had nothing so wholesome to offer in its place ; and hence, the tyranny and disaster which formed the decline of the most powerful empire the world had known.- II. It is true, the policy which had raised a temple to fidelity, and suggested the erection of others to the social af- fections, at length yielded similar honours to licentiousness and contumely. Nor will this excite surprise, if it be re- membered, that while Bacchus revels in his cups, Saturn murders his offspring, that Venus is described as a harlot, that Mercury is degraded by theft, and that Jupiter him§elf, appears as the pattern of filial disaffection, stained with the guilt of perfidy, fornication, and adultery. Still when Plato determined to exclude the disciples of Hesiod and Homer, from his imaginary commonwealth, because the authors of these demoralizing tales, the philosopher must have anticipated a state of society, capable of distinguishing between the tares of the popular system and its better produce.^ The doctrine of immortality, though on many points relating to it, the most thoughtful men were most disturbed by uncertainty, was its master tenet. Very little indeed of purity was associated in the mind of the ancient pagan, with the notion of a future existence ; and the trivial, and often worse than trivial occupation assigned to the objects of his worship, conferred upon the most favourable aspect of his future being, a strange insignificance. Yet history has shewn, that even such a faith may be the conser- 2 " As long as the religious principle remained, itcontroaled manners and checked the progress of luxury in proportion to its influence ; but when atheism had corrupted this principle, the great bar to corruption was removed, and the passions were without check or controul." — Montague. On the Rise and Fall of the Ancient Republics. ■■ De Nep. ii. 605, iii. 613. Cicero applauds the decision of the philosopher, and for tiie reason assigned. De Nat, Deor. i.42. 94 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. 1. vator of a state, while to abandon it in favour of scepticism, must be to introduce every element of political ruin. III. The difference between the superstitions of Greece and Rome, and those of the tribes by which the Roman empire was subdued, must be sought in the opposite character of the victors and the vanquished. The northern nations frowned on the incontinence and the softer indulgencies which had arisen from the climate, or the luxury of their enemies, and which their deities were presumed to to- lerate. But they were unmindful, or, perhaps, ignorant, of the fact, that their own mythology had been no less accommodating to the propensities which characterized its votaries. If not so impure as that of Rome, it was more nearly connected with ferocious passion, and the contempt which it attached to the arts of industry, tended to the pro- duction of unhappiness, scarcely less than the vices which hastened the decline of Roman greatness* Their ancient creeds had proceeded from the same source, but had derived many peculiarities from the rudeness or the culture, from the martial temper, or from the more varied or harmless occupa- tion of the nations in which they had been preserved. Foster- ing many errors and many vices in every region, they still shed some rays of patriarchal light across the gloom which time and distance had created.* But at the period of the Saviour's advent, those sublime conceptions of the unity and the perfections of Deity, which had so charmed the con- temporaries of Thales and Pythagoras, were obscured or lost ; the age of reason had passed, and the world, instead of be- coming more devout, as it became more enlightened, was fast descending in its religious knowledge, as to a second childhood. IV. But if that degree of patriarchal truth, which was inter- woven with the policy of gentile nations, continued, through ■• Mallet's Northern Antiqaities. Tacitus, De Moribus, Germ. SECT. IV.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 95 SO long a period, to diffuse a preserving' influence over the most important of the institutions, and the feelings which link society together, it may be safely presumed that no corruption of Chris- tianity has been such as wholly to destroy its happier tenden- cies.^ Its effect, indeed, with regard to the spiritual destinies of man, from the age of Gregory the first, to that of Wycliffe, is a question of awful import and of many difficulties ; but that it bestowed many present advantages on its avowed disciples, even through that period, is evident. Much of what it produced might have followed as the result of civili- zation ; but in the states of modern Europe, civilization was every where the offspring of Christianity. It is in vain, therefore, to conjecture as to what the condition of European society would have been apart from the influence of the christian faith, since it became what it is in the page of history, principally from this source ; a state in which the usual possessions of civilized life are sometimes connected with a generosity of sentiment, and an equality of benefits, which civilized paganism never conferred. That industry and that honourable thirst of independence which the gospel enjoins on every disciple,^ the contempt of worldly greatness so evident in its descriptions of present duty and of future honour, together with the domestic virtues, the public spirit, the hatred of strife, and the veneration of magistracy, which it so variously and so forcibly demands, all unite to render the gospel the most efficient scheme of human improvement ever announced to the world.''' Such at least is the conces- sion which has been frequently extorted from its enemies.^ During the middle ages its primitive aspect had, indeed, s It is worthy of observation that the ancient lawgivers invariably confer npon their codes a divine origin, and plainly anticipate their efficiency but as enforced by celestial sanctions. 6 2 Thess. iii. 7—15. 'Ephes.v. vi. Rom. xii. xiii. 8 Analysis of Boliogbroke, sect, xii Rousseau, Social Contract, iv. 8. The same concessions form a part of the paradoxical theories of Hume, Gibbon, and Voltaire. 96 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. disappeared, but something of its spirit was still retained. Its opposition to the practice of lawless divorce, and to every species of impurity, was too striking to be evaded, and was often urged with success.9 Wherever published it was called to contend with the custom of human sacrifices, or with the equally cruel practice of infanticide, and it invariably abolished them.i° The assumed right of self-destruction, under whatever pretext maintained, was solemnly denounced ;^^ and by the zeal of christian benevolence, the nations of the east and west were at length secured from the brutalizing influence of gladiatorial exhibitions.^- The practice of de- ciding questions relating to property or morals, by civil combat and ordeal was common to the northern nations ; but it was frequently opposed by the christian priesthood, whose courts invited the litigants to a process of inquiry more favour- able to equity, presenting amid the barbarism of the times 9 Constantine demolished the temple of Venus at Heliopolis and Mount Lebanon prohibiting the impure rites connected with her worship. Euseb. Vita. Constant. iii. 5. Justinian, and the younger and elder Theodosius are among the princes of the empire, whose laws were directed to extirpate licensed fornication ; and in later ages the instances are not few in which the licentiousness of sovereigns and their nobles was laudably checked by the persuasions or authority of churchmen.- — Thomas, ii. 745,7.57,758,762,775. Greg. Turen. Hist. iv. 26. Baronius, 632, G39. Epist. St. Boniface apudSpelman. 225. The apologies of the fathers prove the chastity of the early christians to have been alike singular and unquestionable. •0 Gibbon, is. 248, 249. — We read also the inveteracy of this custom, in the traces of it which remained in Europe to the third and even to the sixth century. Porphyry de Abstinentia, ii. Procopius. DeBell, Goth. ii. 25. The absence of infanticide among the ancient Germans excited the surprise of Tacitus. De Moribus Germ. xix. The practice of exposing female infants to perish by violence, or by the slow operation of famine, did not cease in the empire before the close of the fourth century, a date which prevents our attributing the event to an increase of civilization. " There was much reproach attached to this crime in the earlier stages ef Greece and Rome, but ere long it passed wholly away. '2 In these exhibitions men were doomed to engage in mortal strife for the amuse- ment of the populace and their rulers. The sport was introduced by the Bruti, when the combatants consisted of six persons ; by Julius Ciesar, that number was increased to three hundred and twenty ; and by Trajan, ten thousand lives are said to have been thus sacrificed for the public diversion. — Valer. Max. ii. 4, Pint. Dio. Cass. Ixvi. Ixviii. Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactanctius, and many other fathers, employed their eloquence to effect the suppression of these savage spectacles. In later ages tour- naments were repeatedly condemned by ecclesiastical councils, as too nearly re- sembling these sports of pagan Rome. — Martene, vii. 76. SECT. 1\.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 97 tlie model, in many particulars, of our later jurisprudence.^' " The civil power was in those ages so inefficient for the preservation of public tranquillity, that when a country was at peace with all its neighbours, it was liable to be disturbed by private wars ; individuals taking upon themselves the right of deciding their own quarrels, and avenging their OM'n wrongs. Where there existed no deadly feud, pretexts were easily made by turbulent and rapacious men for engaging in such contests ; and they were not scrupulous whom they seized and imprisoned for the purpose of extorting a ransom. No law, therefore, was ever more thankfully received than when the council of Clermont enacted, that from sunset on Wednesday to sunrise on Monday, in every week, the truce of God should be observed on pain of excommunication. Well might the inoffensive and peaceable part of the com- munity, (always the great, but in evil times the inert, and therefore the suffering part,) regard with grateful devotion a power under whose protection they slept four nights of the week in peace, when otherwise they would have been in peril every hour."'^ A laborious comparison of the lives of pagan and of christian sovereigns has farther demonstrated, that heathenism affords no security against violence and faction, like that derived from Christianity ;!-' and a volume might be occupied in describing the evil propensities of monarchs, as controuled by the more humane genius of churchmen.^'' Hospitality, the proverbial virtue of primitive •3 Robertson's Introductiou, diaries V. .sect. i. vi. '4 Book of the Church, i. 294, 29.3. " Fifty sovereigns swayed tlie sceptre of France eleven hundred years ; while in the pagan state of the empire, the same authority passed through the hand of nearly that number, within a fourth of the interval. See many similar illustrations iii Bo/.ius,ii. 368. 474. 6G7. "3 Tile fact that Englishmen are principally, if not entirely indebted to a prelate for their magna charta, may suggest that the influence of chuicliiuen has not been cltcays adverse to popular rights. It was an act of inhumanity which excluded the emperor Theodosius from the altar of the church, and a successful effort to prevent the efl'u- sion of blood, was among the last acts of our own archbishop Theodore. It must at VOL. I. II 08 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. believers, was diffused through Europe with the faith of the gospel •,^'^ while the permanent rece}>tacles of the sick and the infirm, which arose from the benevolent zeal of Chry- sostom in the eastern capital, were the first edifices which cities had devoted to such a purposeJ'^ But the fate of the prisoner and the slave was ever an object of peculiar soli- citude with the more virtuous of the clergy. Instances of manumission by themselves or by their influence, might be selected from almost every age and country ; and where the evil was not to be destroyed, its rigors were often greatly subdued ; nor could the widow, or the defenceless in general, consult their own interests better, than by appealing in most cases to the equity or compassion of their pastors. ^^ Christianity which thus conveyed an improved morality and much political benefit to the converted barbarians, was The soldiers of Scythia same time be confessed, that the sins of the clergy, with respect to the liberties of men, were very far more numerous tlian their virtues. The ponliffs were not the only persons of fhcir oider who would fain have annihilated our magna charta. 17 Julian, ep. 49. Baronius, iii. 163. The absence of houses designed particularly for the accommodation of strangers or travellers, was supplied during the middle ages, when such intercourse was very limited by the prevalence of this virtue, or by the penalties which were inflicted on the delinquent. Muratori Antiq. Ital. iii. 589. Robertson's Introduction, note xxix. A law of the Slav], cited by the last writer, sentenced the moveables of an inhospitable man to confiscation, and his house to be burnt, and even sanctioned theft, if committed from necessity and to supply the wants of a stranger. '8 The Athenians made a permanent provision for the children of soldiers who had fallen in battle, and the Thebans who reared the children of the poor, were encou- raged by being allowed to retain them as slaves. These, however, were much less the measures of charity than of policy. — Arist. Pol. ii. s. MUan, ii. 7. In a description of the various public buildings in Constantinople, at the close of the fourth century, there is not the remotest intimation of any one existing, as the result of charitable association. — Scriptores Byzant. vol. i xxii. For the altered state of things under the influence of a very imperfect Christianity, see vol. IV. iv. ofthe same work. Equallystriking was the change induced in this particular among the western nations; see Du Cange. Cenodochiuni, &c.and Lindenbrog. Capit. L. ii. c. 29. '9 Aristotle (De Moribus) and Plato (De Lpgibus) are among the ancient writers who conceive oftlie master and the slave as having an impassible gulf placed between their sympathies. That its removal in later ages is to bo attributed to Christianity, is evident from the many forms of manumission which have descended to us. In these a religious motive is almost invariably assigned; and it was accordingly required by various laws, that the act of liberation should be performed in a church. Robertson's Introduction, note xx. SECT. IV.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 99 spared the Athenian libraries, that books might continue to enervate the Greeks, presuming with Theodoric the Goth, that the boy who had trembled at the rod would shrink when a man, from the sword or the spear.-'' Such was the spirit pervading the hordes among whom the Roman provinces were divided. But the establishment of Christianity among those unlettered tribes, was the success of an enterprise which secured a continuance to the Latin, the Greek, and the Hebrew languages. The fact, that these languages were the depositories of heavenly wisdom, either as taught by inspired men, or by their immediate disciples, would in- duce some measure of attention to them, at least on the part of the priesthood. Hence the studies which were some- times deemed the most important object of the collegiate or monastic life, and which so materially contributed to the diiFusion of civilization and knowledge. It may be regretted that the number participating in the least tincture of learn- ing, through the dreary interval adverted to, w as so small ; and still more, that ecclesiastics, v/ho should have been its patrons, are sometimes found viewing- it with indifference, with envy, and even struggling to impede its progress ; but to other natures in the same order of men, we are almost wholly indebted for the literature which connects" the fall of the empire with the revival of letters. V. To judge, however, of our obligations to churchmen during the middle ages, it will be proper to pass from the review of what they certainly effected, to a consideration of what they might have accomplished. Had their zeal in the cause of popular freedom, and of every thing serving to the embellishment of life, been such as to confer on every state the most enviable distinctions of Athens or Rome, it is evi- dent that this may have consisted with a corruption of Chris- tianity, down to the level of that delusion, absurdity, and ^0 Zonarac, Ann. xii. 20. Procop. De Bell. Golb. i. 2. H 2 100 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. T, vice, so prominent in the mythology revered in those cities, when in the zenith of their splendour. We needed not a revelation from heaven, therefore, to aid us in preserving the fine arts, or the forms of political liberty. It is enough, indeed, to warrant a suspicion, that the nobler purpose for which Christianity is imparted, has been strangely overlooked when much importance is attached to its favourable influence on improvements, which have flourished in independence of it, as in the ancient republics, or in contempt of it, as among the disciples of Mahomet. If reminded of that moral influence which has so happily distinguished the as- cendancy of the christian faith from that of the ancient idolatry, or of modern Islamism, the fact may be admitted to the extent already explained ; but the question still occurs, — is this the whole of what is proposed by those marvellous discoveries included in the doctrine of the gospel? The end proposed by Christianity is, to restore man by an exercise of the divine compassion, to the state from which he has fallen; and by enlightening his mind, and creating within him those spiritual sympathies which may qualify him for the intelligent and sincere worship of his Maker, to prepare him for the perfection and happiness of the celestial world. The means which are employed with a view to this end, are disclosed in the incarnation and sacrifice of Christ, and in the gift of the divine Spirit ; the former securing to the penitent offender the forfeited approbation of the Al- mighty ; the latter producing on his spirit the lineaments of a divine image as the pledge of his ultimate destiny. Nor would there seem to be any certainty in language, if it be not a doctrine of the New Testament, that the persons to whom these tidings are conveyed can escape from future ruin, but as they truly confide in the atonement of the Saviour ; and from present depravity, but as they connect the employment of rational means with dependence on the aid which is promised from above. At the same time, to this SECT. IV,] OF THK PAPAL POWER. 101 faith and activity every thing included in the christian salva- tion is assuredly annexed. Christianity, then, is a system of truth in which man is contemplated as a sojourner on earth, and in which to prepare for another world, where truth and purity hold their endless and undisturbed dominion, is re- garded as the great design of present existence. Accord- ingly the instruction of man in the articles of christian doc- trine, his emancipation from lust, whether pertaining to the flesh or the mind, and his growing attachment to whatever is true, and holy, and benevolent, form the momentous re- sult to which every ecclesiastical arrangement, in proportion to its christian character, will be strictly subservient. Pro- viding in a degree peculiar to itself, for the present felicities of its disciples, it is on their approaching allotments that the gospel has lavished its sublimest powers of description, and from which its most eloquent appeals are made. VI, Such is Christianity as it appears in the sacred writings, and in the compositions of its earlier disciples. But if such was its character, the causes which operated so injuriously on the polity of the church, have had a similar influence on its doctrine. The eucharist, and some truth of expression respecting the atonement of which it is commemo- rative, were long retained. In the middle ages, however, the doctrine itself, was either lost amid the general struggle for worldly power, or deprived of its efficacy by the various notions of personal merit,^! and by a dependence on the superfluous virtues or friendly aid of invisible guardians, who had become associated in the creed of the worshipper 21 Thus the manumission of slaves and bequests to the church are commonly stated to be, " pro redemptione animae," or, " de redemptione peccatorum.'' — DuCange. voc Manumissio, iv. 470. voc Servus, vi. 451. Muratori Antiq. Ital. v. 712. The sentiment of these more costly proofs of devotion, would naturally pervade the grada- tion of religious performances, and is but little accordant with that which it was the concern of apostles to cherish in believers, with respect to the appointed influence of the Saviour's atonement. H 3 102 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. with the " one Mediator" as procuring salvation.-" The rite of baptism also was preserved, and was described as the sign of regeneration. But the change intended by that term was presumed to take place in the unconscious infant at the font, and hence the violence of adult depravity, if it called for reproof and penance, was supposed to yield to the mystic power of priestly absolution ; and thus was rarely inconsistent with the hope of future blessedness. The sacred scriptures, the common property of primitive be- lievers, were a source of instruction which millions of bap- tized men in succeeding generations never saw ; and which, had they existed even in the vernacular languages, and been accessible to laymen, scarcely a man in a province would have been able to decypher. Having supplied to the church those statements of doctrine which were contained in the decrees of councils, or adopted in the established ritual, they were regarded as having performed every thing to be reasonably expected from them, in immediate relation to the people. It is plain also that such was the ignorance of the popular mind, that the statements which were thus allowed to supersede the inspired volume, proved susceptible of almost any interpretation which the weakness or the artifice of the individual priest might deem it expedient to suggest. VII. Even in the darkest ages men may perhaps be disco- vered assigning to the doctrine of the Saviour's atonement, something of the importance belonging to it ; and treating 22 The following is a catalogue of the relics forming the most valuable possessions of the clergy in the cathedral church of Seville: " A tooth of St. Christopher; an agate cup used at mass by pope Clement, the immediate successor of St. Peter ; an arm of St. Bartholomew ; a hend of one of the 11000 virgins ; part of St. Peter's body ; ditto of St. Lawrence ; ditto of St. Blaise ; the bones of St. Servandus, and Germanus ; ditto of St. Florentius ; the Alphonsine tables, left to the cathedral by king Alphonso the wise, containing three hundred relics ; a silver bust of St. Leander, with his bones ; a thorn from our Saviour's crown ; a fragment of the true cross." On great festival days these are all borne in splendid procession, by great numbers of the clergy ; and before a gazing populace this farce from the dark ages, is but too successfully repeated.— Blanco Wliite's Letters, 272. SECT. IV.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 103 the no less important tenet of regeneration with a hopeful measure of perspicuity. But through centuries previous to the age of WyclifFe, we look in vain, to the system esta- blished, or to its general influence, for the remotest indica- tions of a scriptural religion. The majority of councils in the different nations are wholly occupied in the secular affairs of their respective hierarchies ; the most enlightened rarely extending their solicitude beyond the reproving of scandalous off'ences, insisting perhaps, and with all gravity, on such a degree of culture in candidates for the clerical vocation, as might enable them correctly to repeat the daily formularies. These formularies also, were the mutterings of a language often unknown to the priest, and always a secret from the people ; and hence the conventual or parochial *' mass-men," contributed to the instruction of a religious assembly by their usual services scarcely more than their predecessors, who had performed the same unmeaning office to some past generation, and were sleeping in the mouldering sepulchres around them. It should be remarked likewise, that fully inspired with the genius of superstition, the papal system appealed less to the hopes than to the fears of its victims. The prevailing doctrine with respect to the hea- venly state, contained scarcely any idea above that of mere repose, or of occupation, which if not wholly undefined, was not such as to require any peculiar discipline of our present capacities. Accordingly the trivial interference in human aff'airs, and the petty jealousies in relation to power or pos- sessions, which had been evinced by any popular saint during his sojourn below, were invariably ascribed to him when advanced to his celestial dignity. These feeble and errone- ous representations of the heavenly state, suppose a degree of ignorance as to the extent of human depravity, which is truly foreboding, because incompatible with the cultivation of those spiritualities of thought and feeling, which alone constitute religion, or, in the language of St. Paul, a meet- H 4 104 ON THE RISE AND CIIARACJER [cilAP. !• ness for the inheritance of the saints in light. But there is not the same indistinctness, though there may be equal error, in the announcement of the penalties by which obedience was enforced. On the contrary, the scenes of purgatory and the region of despair, as exhibited in the devotional produc- tions of period, include all the tangible horrors which had stored the savage mythology of Odin. By these terrors the heart of the most fearless was often shaken, and the outrage of passion was not unfrequently controuled, but the utmost solicitude was generally limited to the hope of escape from the penalty of sin, and that was usually anticipated without one attribute to qualify the spirit for the celestial abode ; a state in which the perfected rectitude of every thought and emotion will be for ever felt as the supreme and peculiar endearment. The Roman hierarchy found the nations of Europe lost to every such view of immortality, and ignorant, of course, respecting the means by which men may be pre- pared for its enjoyments ; and as it found the mass of the European population in these respects, so after the flight of many centuries, it left them. Nor will this alarming amount of spiritual negligence admit of any explanation favourable to the character of the clergy. The wealth which they so variously obtained from the sovereign and from every class of the people, might have supplied the nations even then, with bibles, or at least with some important portions of that volume, and might farther have extended the means of no ordinary knowledge to every gradation of society. Nor is it less evident, that where the encouragement of delusion was not allowed to ensnare themselves as its victims, the ruling clergy must have known, that, at least, to attempt this moral revolution was their peculiar obligation. In the place, however, of such efforts, was the zeal which branded every generous enterprise with the name of heresy, which asserted the scriptures to be the peculiar possession of the priesthood, and which suggested the various modes of SECT. IV.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 105 persecution forming so indelible a stain in the annals of the papal power. The maxims of injustice, and cruelty, which were so long acted upon by the church of Rome, with respect to every class of dissenters from her communion, were too readily adopted by ecclesiastics in their provincial assem- blies ; imparting to the whole order an aspect of determined hostility, with regard to every attempt which might favor the return of a purer Christianity. Thus the influence of Rome was not merely withheld from the cause to which it should have been devoted, biit was employed, both immediately and i jmotely, to check its progress, and, in truth, to complete its extirpation. It was no trivial delinquency to abandon the sluggish tendencies of human nature to those mechanical observances in which it has ever been disposed to confide ; declining nearly all eftort to accomplish that discipline of its better capacities, which forms the end so distinctly proposed in the gospel. But to add to this, a positive prohibition of every measure most conducive to that happy result, was to assume the least equivocal marks of impiety and antichrist. Nor is it enough to ascribe the violence employed in this suppression of enquiry to some unyielding peculiarity in the times, inasmuch, as there were other, and more difficult cases, in which the laity were found sufficiently obedient to the will of the church. As the agents of persecution, princes and their subjects were what the clergy in their criminal laxity had allowed them to remain from the period of their nominal conversion ; or else, and which indeed was more frequently the case, what that order of men had labored to make them. This dread of inspection betrayed a conscious- ness of error, and to supply the place of those sublimer objects of reverence or attachment which the scriptures had presented, images, and pictures, were introduced, to which men must bow down ; also the most childish dreams, as to llie authority of the virgin mother, the mediatorship of 100 OxM THE RISE AND CHARACTER [CHAP. I. saints, and the host of miracles performed by their spiritual agency, or by their decayed bones and rotten vestments. On things created, and on the very lowest of such things, the mind had thus fallen, and on them it fixed to an exclusion of God scarcely less sure and foreboding than under the influence of the ancient idolatry. And while the credulities of ignorance and superstition were thus unsparingly abused, conscience itself was assailed, and virtually annihilated, by the custom of auricular confession, a practice, the abolition of which has proved the only remedy for that depravation of morals which it is fitted to produce. We may presume, however, that the extent of this great apostacy, was far from being generally perceived, inasmuch, as this adoption of the entire form and temper of a worldly kingdom in the supposed church of Christ, arose as we have seen, from a multitvide of causes, and from perverted in- genuity, variously operating through many generations. It is only by a steady eff'ort to escape from the influences of prejudice, and by annihilating a considerable interval of time, that we become in any just measure, sensible to the magni- tude of the change, which in the lapse of centuries has passed on the christian profession. " if the christian apos- tles, St. Peter or St. Paul," observes Mr. Gibbon, " could return to the Vatican, they might possibly enquire the name of the deity who is worshipped with such mysterious rites in that magnificent temple ; at Oxford or Geneva they would experience less surprise, but it must still be encumbent upon them to peruse the catechism of the church, and to study the orthodox commentators on their own writings, and the words of their master.""^ Such are the sentiments which may be described as inseparable from an ingenuous comparison of primitive Christianity, with that which has obtained in later ages ; nor is there any thing in the pleas usually urged in ■is Hist. ix. 351. 8ECT. IV.] OF THE PAPAL POWER. 107 support of these altered appearances to prevent their be- coming the matter of a most painful regret with the mind which has been tims employed. Latin formularies may have aided in preserving the classic productions of that language, but this was more the result of accident, than of design. From the period in which the Latin ceased to be a spoken language, there was but little either in the natural or the ac- quired taste of the clergy to render them concerned for the fate of such men as Virgil, or Livy. Certain it is, that the mo- tives for retaining the language of ancient Rome in the liturgy of the church were in general quite distinct from the love of its peculiar literature. Were it not so, the christian must perceive, as the consequence of this adherence to an unknown tongue, a loss of religious instruction, of devotional feeling, and of future good, too great to be fully ascertained before the arrival of a day when the smallest of such privations will be more feelingly deplored, than the total v/reck of whatever Roman genius has produced. Hence to the mind properly affected by the discoveries of revelation, there is nothing in the magnificence of any structure which this successful tyranny has left to us, nor in the silent beauty of its loveliest ruins to afford an unmixed pleasure. The moral taste is in such cases too deeply offended to allow the natural its full indulgence. That negligence of the better and the living temple, though so broken and decayed, from which these stately piles derive their origin is not to be forgotten, and if the doubtfulness or gloom of that futurity on which a be- nighted ancestry has entered, be the cost at which these monuments were raised, the fact is sufficient to convert the very effort which reared them into an offence of the most serious magnitude. It is also evident, that these imposing edifices were not only erected with means which might have been more charitably, more wisely, and more justly applied ; but that they were designed to occupy an important place 108 ON THE RISE AND CHARACTER, &C. [CHAP. I. among the causes which conferred on the general delusion so permanent a power.-^ Such, indeed, were the abuses of the papal system, and such was the system itself, that to have become the agent of diffusing christian instruction would have been to hasten its overthrow as embodying the spirit and the power of the pre- dicted apostacy. So little also of real worth belonged to the priesthood for some ages previous to the appearance of "Wycliffe, that to have divested that order of their supposed authority to remit offences, and to confer salvation by their various sacramental services, would in general have been to deprive them of their entire influence over the mind, and the property of their people. 2^ It is remarked b}' Sir Joshua Reynolds, that " travellers into the east, tell ns that when the ignorant inhabitants of those countries are interrogated concerning the ruins of stately edifices yet remaining among them, the melancholy monuments of their former grandeur and long lost science, they always answer that they were built by magicians. The untaught mind finds a vast gulf between its own powers and those works of complicated art, which it is utterly unable to fathom, and it is supposed that such a void can only be passed by supernatural means." — ( Works, i. Diss, vi.) Thus also the Koran attributes the erection of Solomon's temple to the same influence and with similar monuments, similar legends have been every where connected. But as the magnificent structures raised by ecclesiastics during the middle ages were not to be considered as the work of individuals, but as those of the order, the operations of magic would not be suspected for a moment, unless it were the lawful as opposed to the forbidden, or an inspiration from above, and not from beneath. 109 CHAPTER II. On the State of the Protestant Doctrine in Eurojie, to the Commencement of the Fourteenth Century, SECTION I. STATE OF THE ECCLESIASTICAI, POWER IN THE SIXTH CENTURY. II. INEF- FICACY OF CATHOLIC PERSECUTIONS. III. ORIGIN OF THE PAULICIANS. IV. THEIR ATTACHMENT TO THE SACRED SCRIPTURES, THEIR DOCTRINE, PRAC- TICES, AND SUFFERINGS. V. THEIR DISPERSION AND THE DEGREE OF THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE MOVEMENTS OF REFORM IN THE WESTERN CHURCH. I. It has appeared that the jurisdiction of the bishops of Rome, previous to the pontificate of the first Gregory, was cautiously limited and comparatively harmless. And if an authority hostile to freedom of enquiry was somewhat earlier assumed by provincial synods, or by general councils, we have seen that their dogmas were variously interpreted, and but partially received. Before the age of Constantine, we search in vain for more than the embryo of papal doctrine or of papal domination ; nor is it less evident, that every subsequent step in the progress of pontifical power was preceded by the inroads of a debasing superstition. At the close of the sixth century, the simplicity of primitive faith and of primitive worship had almost disappeared ; but it is not, until after that period, that the ecclesiastical authority of the western pa- triarch may be considered as ascendant. II. It is, indeed, true, that in succeeding ages, the en- lightened votaries of the christian profession, compose but a 110 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II. small minority, and that tliey were commonly disowned hy an interested order of men, and a barbarian multitude, who, while harmonious in little beyond the work of corrupting the faith and manners enjoined in the gospel, are to be revered as con- stituting the christian church. The religious independence assumed by a few scattered fraternities, would not fail to provoke the high minded displeasure of the clergy ; and especially in the cases where the severity of their morals and their purer doctrine, would be felt as conveying the language of reproof. Their history is in consequence, that of piety assailed by persecution in every conceivable form, and with a most resentless perseverance. Measures the most atrocious were resorted to by ecclesiastics and by sovereigns, and that through many centuries, with a view to annihilate every vestige of opposition to established abuses. That a pi'ocess so extended and so merciless should have been in almost un- interrupted action, and that its work of extirpation should still be incomplete, may well excite a degree of astonishment. Judging of its effect, rather from what it promised to per- form, than as the result of enquiries with respect to its real achievements, it would indeed be reasonable to conclude with the Romanist that a christian church, distinct from the papal communion, could have no permanent existence in the ages previous to Luther. But that the faith so triumphantly de- fended by the reformers of the sixteenth century, has never failed to influence the mind of man, is a fact admitting of demonstration. III. The numerous sects which so early contributed to the beauty or deformity of the nominal church, were subject to constant vicissitude ; but while most of their errors were to die a lingering death, the truths which they embraced survived to much later ages. In the seventh century, a considerable remnant of these dissentients was proscribed under the odious name of Gnostics or Manicheans, and expelled the capitals of the east and west, stripped of wealth, of power, and in a great measure of SECT. T.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Ill learning, they were diffused among the villages and mountains bordering on the shores of the Euphrates. Their silence and obscurity had been for some time their protection ; but at this period a reformer appeared, whose zeal, while it served widely to disseminate their doctrines, provoked anew the displeasure of their enemies. Constantine, an individual sharing in the exile and poverty of his brethren, offered the accommodation of his dwelling to a deacon returning from Syrian captivity, and on the departure of his stranger-guest, received from his hand a copy of the New Testament, as the reward of hos- pitality. The oriental clergy had already concealed this volume from the inspection of the people. With Constantine, it soon became a principal study, and was at length revered, as af- fording the only certain standard of religious truth. The writings which had imparted a light so welcome to his mind, would inform him of his duty to seek its diffusion, and he was not heedless of the admonition, nor did he labour in vain.^ It is supposed, and on probable evidence, that the name Paulicians, subsequently peculiar to this people, arose from their known preference for the writings of the gentile apostle. To the congregations scattered throughout Armenia and Cappadocia, they imparted the names of the churches to which the epistles of St. Paul were addressed; and a lingering fondness for the purer ages of the gospel, led them to discover • For the above particulars we are indebted to the catholic writer, Pefrus Siculus, who resided some weeks among the Armenian sectaries as a deputy from the emperor. In a subsequent part of his Karrative, he Las introduced an aged female Paulician, whom he describes as the tool of satan, and as a fair specimen of her sect. She accosts a young man with soine flattering remarks on his attainments, and with some expressions of surprise that he did not read the sacred gospels. His immediate reply was, " it is not lawful for its profane persons, hut for priests onli/." She then suggested whether it were not obvious from the scriptures themselves that they were designed by their author for general perusal ; hinted at the suspicious motives of the priests in concealing them •, and proceeding to read certain portions of the New Testament ; the youth became interested, read the volume for himself, and was afterwards numbered with the most zealous of the Paulician missionaries. The anecdote illustrates the spirit of the historian, the ascendency which the oriental priest- hood had already obtained over their people, and the character of the means employed by the branded communities of Armenia with a view to diffuse a more scriptural piely, j\]ag. Pat. vol. xvi. 822, 823. 112 ST.\TE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II. the same pardonable weakness, in conferring the names of primitive teachers on such of their brethren as were appointed to the work of instruction. It was in the gospels, and the epistles, that Constantine and his followers seduously studied the creed of the first believers ; and it has been justly remarked that, " whatever be the success, a protestant reader will applaud the spirit of the enquiry."- If we yield implicit credit to the enemies of the Paulicians, we shall regard them as deeply infected with the manichean heresy, and, in consequence, as rejecting the Old Testament with abhorrence.^ The reader, however, who is only partially versed in the history of religious disputes will be aware, that the inferences deducible, or supposed to be deducible, from any tenet, have been commonly urged by polemics as the 2 Gibbon X. 168. 3 It is upon the whole an iiiferesting account which the historian of the Roman empire lias given of the Paulicians. He has left them, however, under the full reproach of the manichean heresy', and this has been done on the authorifj' of an opponent, whose virulence has rarely been excelled, who is described by Mr. Turner as " their fierce enemy," and by Mr. Gibbon himself, as stating the tenets of that people "with much prejudice and passion." And what is still more surprising, this occurs after recording that " the Paulicians sincerely condemned the memory and opinions of the manichean seel, and complained of the injustice which impressed that invidious name on the simple votaries of St. Paul and of Christ." (pp.169, 170.) Such, however, was the unhappy bias of that higbly-giited writer, that it is no breach of charity to suppose that the character of the Paulicians would have been less agreeable to him, and less pleasingly exhibited in his splendid history, had he felt obliged to de- scribe it as the ellect of christian truth, and of that alone. The elFort to annihilate the pretensions of the gospel, which is so painfully interwoven with the story of the decline and fall, consists principally in an indirect attempt to show that the virtues said to pro- ceed from Christianity alone, may exist without its aid, or in contempt of it, and to create a doubt as to the reality of such as appear to spring from that source. The doctrine of Manes, which will be frequently adverted to in this chapter, taught its disciples to regard the visible system, and the scriptures of the Old Testament, as the production of a malignant being, dividing the empire of the universe with a rival power, the father of all spiritual natures, and the source of benevolence. To exhibit the adherents of such a faith as superior iu virtue to the orthodox, was not to concede any thing in favor of cbristianity. It is to a manichean creed that he attributes the fortitude of a band of martyrs, who are noticed in the same chapter as having perished at Orleans in 1017. The authority cited is Mosheim, but if the reader will refer to that historian (ii.582) he will find it recorded of those sufl'erers, that " the opinions for which they were ^punished, differ widely from the manichean system." The doctor, while unsparing in his censures of the hierarchy, was disposed to quarrel with nearly all who seceded from it, and is plainly no friend to the Orlean martyrs. He is, nevertheless, obliged to admit that the front of their offending was a refined species of mysticism. — See Aljix on the Albigenses, c.xi. SECT. I.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 113 formal doctrine of their opponents. It will be evident, also, that the slightest approximation of a creed deemed erroneous to another of more acknowledged impiety, has often been sufficient to bring the entire odium of the latter on the adherents of the former ; while, in other cases, the reproach, which a few may have merited, has been most disengenuously cast upon the whole. As the New Testament could not be made to sanction that secular dominion which its accredited ministers had succeeded in establishing, it was their custom to appeal, in support of such innovations, to the less spiritual economy of Moses. The Paulicians, on the contrary, as- serted, that the obligations of the Jewish polity had passed away ; but such was the spirit of the times, that this asser- tion alone would be enough to bring upon them the charge of belonging to the school of Manes. Any abandonment of the le- vitical law might be easily treated as a more artful method of en- tirely discarding the Old Testament ;* and on that peculiarity of the manichean scheme its remaining errors might be engrafted. By individuals, some still more plausible pretext for this impu- tation would perhaps be afforded, but ifwe dismiss the evidently partial and malevolent statements of their enemies, and adopt their own protest, the body of the Paulicians will be regarded as loathing the tenets which had deified the Principle of evil. Indeed, to an adoption of the exploded opinions adverted to, a subtle antagonist might have attributed that contempt of all worldly pomp, as connected with religion, which these injured sectaries were never anxious to conceal.^ * See a forcible illustration of this in the account contained in Hoveden (184, 18G) of the conference between the Albigenses and the Orthodox at Alby, where the principal clerical disputant is described as sagely contending that to discard any portion of the Old Testament is to reject the whole. 5 I should not here omit to observe, that from the rise of the Paulicians to the age of Luther, no one of the many superstitions which bad become connected with the sacraments could be objected to without incurring the reproach of opposing the sacrament itself, and that was an acknowledged peculiarity of the gnostic and manichean sects. It should also be stated, that such consequences may have arisen in many instances from that ignorance which, during the middle ages, was so general even among the sacred order. Mosheim, ii. 582, note. VOL. I. 1 114 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II. IV. It is, however, sufficiently plain, that it was the study of inspired truth, which taught them to spurn so much of the fiction and mummery of their time ; and that the hope, which that truth had imparted, proved their strength in the hour of suff'ering. To suppose hastily, that the word of God, while thus honored, would be found to leave its possessors in serious error on the most important articles of christian doctrine, must arise from weakness or from prejudice. " The objects which had been transformed by the magic of superstition, ap- peared to the eyes of the Paulicians in their genuine and naked colors. An image made without hands was the common workmanship of a mortal artist ; to whose skill alone the wood and canvass must be indebted for their merit and value. The miraculous relics were a heap of bones and ashes, destitute of any relation, perhaps, with the persons to whom they were ascribed. The true and vivifying cross was a piece of sound or rotten timber ; the body and blood of Christ, a loaf of bread, and a cup of wine, the gifts of na- ture, and the symbols of grace. The mother of God was degraded from her celestial honors and immaculate virginity, and the saints and angels were no longer solicited to exercise their laborious office of mediation in heaven and ministry on earth. In the practice, or at least in the theory of the sacraments, the Paulicians were inclined to abolish all visible objects of worship, and the words of the gospel were, in their judgment, the baptism and communion of the faithful."^ That the creed and w^orship of that people were distinguished by these peculiarities, is a part of their crime, as recorded by their enemies ; and that sentiments deduced with so much faithfulness from the pages of inspiration, were associated to any serious extent with the manichean absurdities, should in candour be learnt from unquestionable authority before it is admitted. As decisive on this point, it should also be 8 Gibbon,x. 170, 171, SECT. I.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 115 remembered that Coustantine, whose successful zeal exposed himself and followers to the displeasure of the clergy and the empire, is described by his principal accuser as destroying his manichean library from the period of his attention to the gospel, and as producing in his disciples a contempt for their former instructors, and even of ManesJ From this important notice, it appears probable that certain errors of mani- chean origin had been previously embraced by this reformer, and by some perhaps among his adherents ; but from the same source it is evident, that the zeal which provoked the more powerful hostilities of the orthodox, was the offspring of a much purer faith. Still as the change, to whatever degree experienced, was merely from one line of guilty separation to another, and to one indeed, which it would be yet more difficult to remove, the effect must have been rather • to augment than to subdue the resentment of the adversaries. And as no reproach could be greater than that which had been incurred by the tenets, which had partially obtained among them from the writings of Manes; it was in cha- racter with the age that it should still be connected with their opinions and worship, however much altered or im- proved. In a body of instructors, whose rank scarcely ad- mitted a distinction between the shepherd and his flock, a precedence in honor was assigned to Constantine, who from the period of his conversion is called Sylvanus. Nor was it until the wheat of his doctrine had been sown with its tares, (whatever they were,) throughout the provinces of Asia Minor, that this devoted man perished as the victim of orthodox revenge. He had performed the arduous duties of his perilous mission twenty and seven years, when a royal decree sentenced every Pauli- cian document to the flames, and such as should conceal their prohibited writings, or retain their heterodox opinions, to an ignominious death. Simeon, a Greek, appeared with his 7 PetrusSiculus,820, 821. 1 2 116 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. 11, soldiers at Colonia, the residence of Sylvanus ; he seized the person of the arch-heretic, placed him in the midst of his assembled followers, and animated by the most violent hatred of their cause, announced the instant massacre of their chief, as the only deed which could demonstrate the sincerity of their return to the bosom of the church. Their filial hearts scorned the cruel overture. One only from the multitude could be found to accept of life on terms so odious. By the hand of that traitor Sylvanus fell ; and the act, in a review of which another Judas might have wept, conferred an honor upon its author, which, in the esteem of catholic writers, was scarcely second to that of David when returning from the slaughter of Goliah. But the pleasure excited by that solitary instance of apostacy was soon disturbed by the rumours which now began to circulate respecting the probable conversion of Simeon himself to the faith of the persecuted. Their patienoe under suffering had produced an admiration of their character ; and that distinguished officer embracing the faith which he had endeavoured to destroy, was long known as one of the most effective of the Paulician missionaries, closing his career amid the honors of martyrdom. From this noble attachment to their faith and to their pastor, evinced by the disciples of Sylvanus, and from this conversion of his leading persecutor we derive an amount of evidence, with regard to the scrip- tural piety of this people, which is hardly to be affected by less favourable statements, which are often contradictory, and always imbued with the virulence of party .'^ 8 Such was the success of Sergius, who for more than thirty years laboured to dis- seminate the doctrine of St. Paul, that mau^' of his contemporaries began to regard him as the leader of the great antichristian apostacy foretold by that apostle. Under this impression, or something nearly resembling it, Petrus Siculus vents his pious abhorrence by describing him as the enemy of the cross of Christ, the agent of wickedness, the mouth of impiety, the hater of Christ, the wolf in sheep's clothing, the great champion of the evil one, and as the crafty pretender to all virtnes. These mild epithets occur in a very narrow space, and in the language of Mr. Turner they have but one meaning, viz. that Sergius taught with great effect.— Hist. v. 120. Serijius was the youth whose conversion is described in the first note to this chapter. SECT. 1.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH GENTURY. 117 From the death of Sylvanus to the middle of the ninth century, the history of these disciples of St. Paul is that of a various effort to preserve their religious independence ; and of attempts on the part of the established authorities, to convert what might otherwise prove a dangerous example, into a beacon, to prevent any future aspirations after the freedom which they sought. But teachers and churches arose in succession, as from the ashes of the slain, and such as could sometimes ' extort a degree of praise even from their enemies. Justinian the second, and Leo the Armenian, were foremost in the work of persecution ; nor can the name of Michael the first, nor even that of the humane Nicephorus, be freed from this blemish. It remained, however, for a woman to surpass the most ferocious of the emperors in these sanguinary measures. The inquisitors of the empress Theodora ex- plored the recesses of lesser Asia, and after the interval of a few years, it was their boast that "a hundred thousand Paulicians had been dispatched by the sword, the gibbet, or the flames."9 But oppression may drive a wise man mad, nor is there any delirium so ~ impetuous or terrible as this delirium of the wise. The massacre of a prelate, and of a magistrate the willing instrument of his intolerant councils, had already betrayed the growing disaffection, when the persecution commenced by Theodora created a wider spirit of revolt. The guards of the general of the east were then commanded by Corbeas, a soldier, whose father had perished under the torture of Catholic inquisitors. He deserted the imperial standard, and such had been the impolitic ravages of bigotry, that five thousand of his brethren are described as sharing in his motives while they followed his example.^" Prudence suggested their alliance with the Saracen, but through more than thirty years the Paulician troops repulsed the forces of the empire ; and when Michael, the son of » Gibbon, X. 17(j. '« Ibid. 177. 1 3 118 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. 11, Theodora, conducted his legions into the fastnesses of heresy, his defeat before the walls of Samosata yielded a harvest of wealth to the victors, and covering- the imperial eagles with disgrace, laid a foundation for the ambitious designs of Chrosyochier, the successor of Corbeas. The new general, aided by his moslems, traversed the provinces of Asia, pillaged Nice, Nicomedia, Ancyra, and Ephesus, converting the cathedral of the latter city into a receptacle for mules and horses." The emperor Basil descended to solicit the clemency of the victorious chieftain in behalf of his subjects, and would have purchased it with gold, but the elated sectary aspired to the dominion of the east. Accident at length achieved what the imperial legions had attempted in vain. Returning from a successful inroad, Chrosyochier was surprised and slain, and as his place was not immediately filled, his followers gradually retraced their steps, until the independence of the Paulicians in the east became limited to the securities afforded by the mountain or the desert. V. Their progress westward is a subject of interesting en- quiry, but the number of the emigrants and their influence on the piety of European believers, are perhaps over- rated. About the middle of the eighth century, they were introduced, and by royal authority into Constantinople and Thrace. In the latter they sustained the violence of perse- cution, preserved a friendly correspondence with their Arme- nian brethren, and were of considerable civic importance, so 1' "It is not unpleasing," remarks Mr. Gibbon, "to observe the triumph of re- bellion over the same despotism which has disdained the prajers of an injured people." To this remark we may add the more profound observation of Montesque. " Every religion which is persecuted becomes persecuting, for as soon as from some accident it rises from persecution, it attacks the religion which persecuted it, not as a reliyion, but as a tyranny.'' — Spirit of Laws, xxv. c. 9. It was not until this period in their career that the Paulicians became known to their historian and adversary Petrus Siculus. His ol)ject as a deputy of the emperor Basil was to negociate a change of prisoners. It may be that the spirituality of the sectaries had not been increased by the success of their worldly enterprises, we may be assured tiiay would not be thought the less sinners on that account by their enemies. SECT. I.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 119 late as the tenth century. It was in the following age that the emperor Alexius, Comnenus, appealed to their reason, their fears, and their cupidity, in the hope of restoring them to the communion of the faithful, but his decease was followed by the abandonment of every change which his influence had effected. Two hundred years later, and while their faith and manners appeared to have materially degenerated, the Pau- licians, or at least communities who by their contempt of established customs had acquired that designation, are found scattered over Croatia, Dalmatia, Italy, and the south of France ; bound to each other by various ties, but separated alike from the Greek and from the Roman church.^- It has been observed, that " three different roads might introduce the Paulicians into the heart of Europe. After the conversion of Hungary, the pilgrims who visited Jerusalem, might safely follow the course of the Danube ; in their journey and return, they passed through Philippopolis ; and the sectaries disguising their name and heresy might accompany the French or German caravans to their respective countries. The trade and do- minion of Venice pervaded the coast of the Adriatic ; and the hospitable republic opened her bosom to the foreigner of every climate and religion. Under the Byzantine standard, the Paulicians were often transported to the Greek provinces of Italy and Sicily ; in peace and war they freely conversed with strangers and natives, and their opinions were silently propagated in Rome, Milan, and the kingdoms beyond the Alps."^2 It should be remembered, however, that these emigrant '* Zonaras, ii. L. xvii. 209. Anna, Comnena.Alexiad. Lib. xiv.450. The Cathari, •who suifered death at Cologne, in the former part of tlie twelfth century described their sect as perpetuated from the time of the persecutions under pagan Rome, and as having long existed in Greece and in other conutries. AUix's Remarks on the Albigenses. — Mosheim, ii. 578 — 580. By the last writer, Basnage is noticed with something approaching to contempt, as too much concerned to add to the number of witnesses for the truth, and this it must be confessed, is a weakness with which the doctor himself is far from being chargeable, ii. 581 , 582; >3 Gibbon, X. 184, 185. I 4 120 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II, sectaries were not a mercantile people, and hence it is not easy to conceive the motives which should frequently induce them to reliuqviish the security of Philippopolis for the dangers o-f a residence in Germany or France, dangers, which are sup- posed in the necessity of disguising their name and heresy. Venice also, though a nearer and a more generous locality would for the same reason afford but a partial attraction ; and the casual intercourse of Greek soldiers with the western po- pulation could have sown the seeds of reform in no great profusion. That the Paulicians were loosely scattered by such means over the regions extending from the summits of Armenia, to the valleys of Piedmont will scarcely be questioned ; and wherever diffused every struggle opposed to ecclesiastical corruption would be aided by their hereditary zeal.^^ But to conclude that the rise of such opposition among th^ nations of the west is to be attributed exclusively, or even principally to the emigration of eastern sectaries is to dicard alike the suggestions of reason and the evidence of facts. The name Paulicians, and as expressive of heterodox opinion, was cer- tainly familiar to the states of Europe during the middle ages. It is thus employed by our William of Newburgh, in the beginning of the thirteenth century. But the hands of the clergy had been so deeply imbrued in the blood of that people as to make the abuse of their creed an act of self- 1* From a passage in Mariana, (Bib. Mag. i v. part 2, p. 581,) Mr. Turner supposes, and with a degree of probability, that some of the Paulicians accompanied their luoslem allies into Saracen Spain, (Hist. v. note.) But that the sectaries of Alby derived their doctrines from the Paulicians of Leon is a somewhat strained hypo- thesis. Mosheim states as the result of his enquiries on this intricate subject, that persons of this sect settled first io Sicily, Lonibardy, Liguria, and the Milanese, but he does not suppose that their emigration included any considerable number, until toward the middle of the eleventh century, (cent. xi. part ii. c. v.) It is curious to observe the solicitude of the western catholics to make that root of bitterness religious dis- aftectioii an exotic, and their attempts to save their particular countries from the sup- posed disgrace of having been the fust to harbour the Paulician heresy, the supposed parent of so much evil. — Ibid. SECT. I.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CETSTURY. 121 defence; and hence their name became, what has been in every age no small convenience to weakness and bigotry, a term of reproach to be applied to the faith or the manners of the mino- rity however diversified. That the designation was often unjustly conferred in the west is certain ; nor can it be needful to devise expedients for introducing the Paulicians into Europe, as the principal agents in producing its revolt from superstition, while that event admits of explanation from causes which are nearer and more obvious. The corruptions of the eastern church by which the piety of Sylvanus and his followers was so greatly scandalized, were far surpassed in the western division of Christendom.^^ In both the word of God, the great foe of delinquency, was withdrawn from the people, but into some hands capable of improving the gift, that volume would pass, and the suspicions of clerical inte- grity which existing practices must often have excited in the more discerning and ingenuous, would be thus matured into a class of opinions levelled to the humblest capacity, and arrayed in relentless hostility against the established system and the detail of its abuses. As all the causes which produced re- ligious disaffection under the eastern hierarchies, existed even with greater vigour in the west ; the same results may be expected to proceed from them independent of any foreign influence. What reason would anticipate in this respect, history confirms. Admitting, therefore, the importance of those auxiliary services which were no doubt rendered by the Paulician teachers to the great event of the western refor- mation ; it is equally proper to remember that the inspired •* It is thus Mr. Gibbon speaks of the Latin as compared with the Greek church. " Her avarice was oppressive, her despotism odious, less degenerate perhaps than the Greeks in her worship of saints and images, her innovations were more rapid and scandalous ; she had vigorously defined and imposed the doctrine of transubstan- tiatioii ; the lives of the Latin clergy were more corrupt, and the eastern bishops luiglit pass for the successors of the apostles if they were compared witli the lordly prelates who wielded by turns, the crosier, the sceptre, and the sword." Hist. x. 184. 122 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II. doctrine to wliicli tliey were in general devoted, has never failed to obtain disciples in either division of the nominal church. ^6 '*» The fashionable doctrine which makes every thing good the efl'ect of trans- migration has influenced the historians of literature scarcely less than thoseof religion. This notion as pursued by the former class of writers has been powerfully refuted by a living author. Adverting to the origin of the poetic genius evinced by the German Troubadours of the twelfth century, it is remarked, that " M. Ginguene will not even allow the smiling descriptions of the beauties of nature, the joyous revelling or the genial influence of spring, the delights of fields, of flowers, of rocks, and groves, to be natural ornaments of poetical imagiuation, " tout cela est oriental," he ob- serves. Surely Gorres is more philosophic in his observation, that it was easier for our forefathers to search in their own breasts for the feelings which breathe in their poetry, than to mine the inaccessible rocks of foreign manners and language." Lays of the Minnesingers, pp. 35 — 39. Viewing the religion of the Bible, quite apart from that protecting power which is distinctly promised to give it perpetuity, its revivals are in general more easily explained on the ground of that moral discernment which is not the product of climate, and that degree of access to the sources of religious knowledge which has never wholly failed, than upon any of those complex theories which are contrived to waft it ever from a distance. The truths of natural science may have been commonly handed thus from one community to another, but our moral perceptions, and whatever relates to the imagination and the feelings, must be less dependent on circumstances. SECT. II.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 223 SECTION II. SIGNS OF PRIMITIVE PIETY TO THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE. — ■ II, NOTICES OF PAULINUS, AND OF CLAUDE OF TURIN. III. THEIR FOLLOWERS SURVIVE THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE ORTHODOX. IV. THE MARTYRS OF COLOGNE, AND THE NUMBER AND CHARACTER OF THE SEPARATISTS FROM THE ROMISH CHURCH IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY. V. DOCTRINES OF THE LA NOBLA LEYCZON. VI. NOTICE OF PETER DE BRU'VS, AND OF HENRY. VII. ARNOLD OF BRES- CIA. VIII. PETER WALDO. IX. THE ALBIGENSES. X. ST. DOMINIC, AND ST. FRANCIS. 'XI. PERSECUTING EDICT OF LUCIAN THE THIRD, XII. ITS FAILURE, THE INQUISITION, AND IHE CRUSADES AGAINST THE ALBIGEN- SES. XIII. REDUCED STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE IN EUROPE, THROUGH THE CENTURY PREVIOUS TO THE AGE OF WYCLIFFE. I. From the first century to the fourth, Christianity pro- claimed the divinity of its origin by its triumphs, amid the successive persecutions of pagan Rome. Its history since the conversion of Constantino, has largely developed the good or evil arising from that secular controul to which it has been subject through the east and west from that period. Before the close of the seventh century, the general corruption of the christian doctrine is but too evident. Still it is a fact, and one supported by evidence which no ingenuity can evade, that the worship of the Almighty after the manner of pri- mitive times was still maintained, and at intervals by a numerous seed. With these servants of the " God of heaven," the sacrifice of a Divine Mediator, and the grace of the Eternal Spirit formed the only ground of religious confidence. They are sometimes discovered as separated from the nominal church, and sometimes as consulting their personal safety, by 124 STATE OF THE PROTESTAMT DOCTRINE [CHAP. li. an adherence to certain of its forms. ^ But so early as the seventh century the sequestered districts of Piedmont ap- pear to have been viewed by these disciples of the ancient faith, as affording a probable asylum from clerical oppression. It should be remembered also, that the same age was dis- tinguished by the labours of Sylvanus, and the consequent revival of the Paulician doctrines in the east. In the Gallic provinces attempts had been made before this period, to impair the simplicity of the eucharistic services, to define the efficacy of prayers for the dead, and to divest the sacred writings of that paramount autliority which the Head of the church has assigned to them. These efforts to secrete the key of knowledge, and to aid the cause of priestly usurpation and of the growing superstitions, were consistent with each other and arose from the same source, but they were opposed as often as they were made, and not unfrequently with the most encouraging success." II. During the reign of Charlemagne, Paulinus, a royal favourite, and the bishop of Aquilia, employed his voice and his pen to arrest the progress of these and similar cor- ruptions, exhibiting the scripture doctrine of salvation in its primitive simplicity.'' In the year 804, his honorable career was terminated, and a few years later it devolved on the ' Even in Rome, the " poor men of Lyons" and their associate sectaries appear to have been for sometime regarded as an order of lay devotees, who without proposing to leave the pale of the church aspired to the possession of heaven by a path of peculiar sanctity. Muralori, Antiq. Ital. Diss. 60, torn. v. 83. We learu also from the sermons of St. Bernard, (Canticles 65, 66,) that the Waldenses were often punctual in their attention to the service of the church. Reiner, who wrote some years later, affirms that their object was in general to criticise the established formularies, and especially the preacher. Contra. Wald. c. vii.765, 766. 2 AUix on the Albigenses, c. i. vii. 3 The worship of images and the confused notions which began to be promulgated respecting the eucharist, were powerfully resisted by Paulinus, as were the undue pretensions of the bishop of Rome. The works of this prelate are abundantly ex- planatory of his religious opinions. " The Son of God," he remarks, " our Almighty Lord, because he redeemed us by the price of his blood, is properly called the true Redeemer, by all who through him are redeemed. He, I say, was not redeemed, because he was never captive; but we are redeemed who were captives sold under sin, and bound by the hand-writing that was against us, which he took away, blotting it out by his Mood, which the blood of no other redeemer could do, and fixed it to SECT, n.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 125 celebrated Claude of Turin, to check the same abuses, to advocate the same truth, and to scatter more widely the seeds of future opposition and reform. The sovereignty of the Redeemer in his church was so maintained by this pre- late, as virtually to annihilate the ambitious pretensions of the Roman see. The worship of images he denounced as gross idolatry ; the childish veneration of relics he exposed to its deserved contempt ; and discarding prayer for the dead as the device of man, his zeal bowed to no authority in religion opposed to the obvious meaning of the sacred scriptures. Explaining the doctrine of justification by faith alone, with a force and perspicuity not unworthy of Luther, the papal scheme of merit was greatly broken and impeded by his labours. More than twenty years of his life were devoted to this warfare against the prevailing superstitions, and to the cause of christian truth, as embraced by its earliest disciples. The result is seen in that hostility which arose from the weakness or the vices of contempora- ries, in the extent to which his opinions were disseminated, and in their influence on the piety even of remote generations.^ III. The episcopal authority of Turin, extended over the vallies of Piedmont, and that the faith defended by Claude was preserved in that locality through the ninth and tenth centuries, is the testimony of catholic writers.^ Before the his cross openly triumphing over it in himself." Allix on the Churches of Piedmont. Fleury, v. 238. 241, 242. 271. Paulinus was celebrated for his learning, and was the friend of Alcuin ; and it was a farther commendation of his doctrine and attain- ments, that one of his compositions long passed for a production of Augustine's. — Dupin, cent. viii. 124. * Allix on the Churches of Piedmont, c. ix. where the statements of my text are fully proved. Fleury's narrative is to the same effect, v. 396 — 398. Claude derided the superstitious uses to which the material cross was applied, and it was in character with llie mode of disputing at that period that Dungal, a monk, and his principal an- tagonist, should, in consequence, accuse him of rejecting " the passion and the incarnation." Mr. Turner (v. 116.) speaks of the work of Dungal, as " one of the best defences of image worship." The author, however, has trusted much less to the force of his reasoning than to the array of his authorities, his production consisting of little beyond a series of citations. (Mag. Bib. Pat. vol. iv. pars iv.pp. 145—199). 5 Allix on the Albigenses, c. xiii. " Oh! how difficult a thing it is," exclaims the ancient monk of Vaux Ceruay, " to pluck up a deep rooted custom. This 12G STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. T. close of this period the fires of persecution were kindled in that favoured diocese, in the liope of consigning both the name and the doctrine of its distinguished reformer to ob- livion. But in the hour of trial the disciple was often found to be worthy of his master ; while the zeal of such as were expelled their home, increased by a natural process with the increase of suffering, never failing to convert the fact of their dispersion into the means of imparting a more extended influence to their obnoxious creed. ^ IV. A company of these exiles wandering to escape op- pression, at length fixed their residence near Cologne, in Germany. Their singularities soon attracted the notice of the clergy, and the event has served to disclose much of the faith and character of this injured people, at the commence- ment of the twelfth century. Evervinus, a German eccle- siastic, thus writes concerning them to the great St. Bernard. " Certain heretics have been recently discovered among us near Cologne, of whom some have with satisfaction returned to the church. One who was a bishop among them, together with his associates, openly opposed in the assembly of the clergy and laity, the lord archbishop himself being present with many of the nobility, maintaining their heresy from the words of Christ and his apostles. But finding that they made no impression, they desired that a day might be named in which they should bring forward men skilful in their faith, promising to return to the church provided their teachers treacherous city of Tholouse, from its very foundation, as it is said, hath seldom or never been clear of this detestable plague, this poison of heretical pravity."— Ibid. p. 119. Leger, i. c. ii. Reiner numbers the antiquity of the Vaudois, as contemporary according to some, with pope Silvester, and according to others, with the apostles, among the principal enormities of that sect. ' Leger. c. XX — xxii. xxviii. Perrin's Hist. The last historian informs ns, that in one of the earlier persecutions referred to in the text, a Vaudois named Catalan Gjrard, requested when at t!ie stake with his companions, that two flints might be given him ; on receiving them he threw them on the ground, exclaiming, " Sooner shall I feed on these stones than ye shall have power to destroy by persecution the religion for which I die," (part ii. L. ii. c. iv.). The reader may see this period of Vaudois' history efficiently treated in the third volume of Dr. Rankin's History of France. SECT. II.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 127 were unable to answer their opponents, but declaring that otherwise they would prefer death to a renunciation of their doctrine." Such, however, were their judges, that the equity of this appeal was wholly lost upon them, and pro- ceeding to brand the accused as incorrigible heretics, the people are described as seizing their persons and committing them to the flames with infuriated triumph. The heroism of the sufferers threw the mind of Evervinus into the greatest perplexity, and suggested his application to the superior wisdom of St. Bernard for instruction. Attempting a defi- nition of their heresy, he describes them as contending " that inasmuch as they are alone in their contempt of all secular aggrandizement, they are alone in following the footsteps of Christ and his apostles, and that they in consequence form the only true church on earth. Their opponents on the con- trary, are accused of being ever employed in adding house to house, and field to field, and of allowing this worldly infec- tion to extend even to monks and canons at the cost of their most solemn vows. Claiming a spotless morality, appealing to their industry, their temperance, and the simplicity of their devotion, they are said to compare their state to that of the ancient martyrs who fled from city to city as lambs among wolves. The clergy are at the same time censured as lovers of the world, and as therefore at peace with it, as false apostles corrupting the word of God, and as thus lost through many generations to the sanctity of their vocation. Receiving the opinions in which they have been educated, as the pure doctrine of the ajwstles, they treat the existence of purgatory as a delusion, reject the invocation of saints as impiety, and disclaim all subjection to the pontiff" as strictly forfeited by the secular nature of his present jurisdiction. In a word, all things observed in the church which have not been estahlished by Christ himself, or by his apostles, they describe as superstitious" Such is in substance the character given of the sufi'erers at Cologne, by an ecclesiastic who had 128 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. 11. been a party to their fate, and who, in consequence, had no motive to confer upon it the least share of favourable colour- ing-. To stimulate the zeal of St. Bernard, his correspondent reports, that the sect " had great numbers of their adhe- rents scattered nearly every where, and that among them were many of the clergy and monks. "^ This appeal of Evervinus was not made in vain, but the eloquent defender of orthodoxy had much to learn respecting the sentiment and character of his new opponents. After some charges of delinquency preferred with the hesitation naturally resulting from defective evidence, the confessions extorted from the pen of St. Bernard, have raised these calumniated sectaries to a commanding position in the view of posterity. " If you ask them of their faith," writes this renowned controversialist, " nothing can be more christian ; if you observe their conversation, nothing can be more blameless ; and the sincerity of their language they prove by the consistency of their deeds. In testimony of his faith you may see a man of this order frequent the church, honor its elders, offer his gift, confess his sin, and partake of the communion, and what can be more expressive of the chris- tian ? In life and manner also, he circumvents no man, defrauds no man, does violence to no man. His fasts are frequent, his bread is not that of idleness, his labour pro- cures him his support." So harmless and so truly scriptural was the tendency of the faith embraced by these dissenters, even in the esteem of the powerful polemic, who was em- ployed to confute their peculiar tenets with the weapons of reason and authority.^ ' AUix on the Churches of Piedmont, 140, &c. 8 Bernard's Sermons on the Canticles, (65, 60). The preacher dwells particularly on the text, "Take me the foxes," &c. &c. The charges of pride, of innovation, and of insincerity, were quite in place from. the pen of an orthodox opponent. But when the secrecy of the Vaudois' assemblies is made a crime, the saint sliould have remem- bered, that this arose much less from the inclination of his antagonists, than from the intolerance of his own order. He triumphs over the relapse of some, but is per- plexed by the constancy of others, and severely reproaches certain lords and ladies and even prelates, as affording an indirect sanction of this mistaken people. SECT. II.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 129 V. Egbert, who in the twelfth century was abbot of Schonage, has borne a simihir testimony to the faith and manners of these communities. He states, indeed, that they were divided into several sects, but adds, that each main- tained its opinions by the authority of scripture ; and that they were so far increased, as to be found " in great num- bers throughout all countries."^ To the concessions which were thus made respecting the doctrine and character of these ancient separatists from the papal communion, and made by men who were deeply interested in opposing their progress, we may add the still more decisive evidence sup- plied by their own compositions. La Nobla Leyczon, or " the noble lesson" is a poem in the language of the Trou- badours, and a production highly curious, as bearing a date so early as the last year in the eleventh century. To the his- torian of literature it is valuable, to the historian of religion it is peculiarly so, as pointing with certainty to the ark of piety amid the obscurities of that remote and gloomy period. It is » The words of Egbert are, " Onines terras raaltiplicati," (Mag. Bib. Pat. torn, ii. pp. 99 — 106,) and the signs noticed by the abbot, as those of an heretical people, are just those which bespeak the purest Christianity. His describing them as " the worst of poisons," is not surprising; but we are more interested in learning that the evil deplored was universal (undique). It is Egbert, also, who informs us, tliat the seclusion of a manufactory, of a cellar, or of some subterranean region, was often resorted to by these separatists, for the purpose of conducting their religious exercises. He likewise states, that he had frequently disputed with them in the neighbourhood of Cologne. Mosheira has noticed these sects under the name of ca- thari, or puritans, in his History of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries ; but appears to admit the accusations of their adversaries by far too easily. Those defenceless so- cieties had a persecution to sustain, as relentless and unprincipled as that with which the first christians were assailed by pagan Rome. It was asserted that the purpose for which the primitive believers assembled in their secret places, was to feast on a slaughtered infant, and to indulge unnatural lusts ; and those charges were said to be canlirmed by the confessions of the tortured. The same crimes were imputed to this people by papal Rome, and were said to he proved by the same species of evidence ; nor is it more easy to vindicate the first cliristians against such calumnies, than the body of the cathari. Without descending to the weakuess of concluding every fraternity immaculate which may he found protesting against the corruptions of the papacy, justice assuredly requires, that the character given of them by their known enemies, should be received with the last degree of caution. — Eusebius, Hist. iv. c. 20. Allix on the Albigenses c.ii.8,9. Fleury on the Manners of the Early Chris- tians, part ii. c. XV \OL. I. K 130 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. If* alone sufficient to demonstrate the weakness of the hypo- thesis which first degrades the Paulicians with the charge of manicheism, and then makes them give existence to tlie Cathari and Waldenses. No trace of that heresy is to be discovered in this ancient record of the Vaudois faith. On the contrary, it is the depository of opinions, and an expres- sion of feelings, not unworthy of the professors of the gospel in the most favoured period of its history. Including no small portion of scripture history, it exhibits especially the lead- ing events in the life of the Saviour ; and dwelling with par- ticular interest on the doctrine of the fall of man, and on his present weakness and temptations, it adverts with equal truth to the grace of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as affording the strongest inducements to confide in their clemency for pardon, and in their constant presence for all spiritual aid. While it recognises the great law of nature, it assigns a precedence to that of Moses, but de- clares the law of Christ to be complete, superseding the officious wisdom of man, and all future communications from heaven. The devotional feeling which it discloses, is at once ardent and enlightened, generally clothed in the lan- guage of inspiration; and it is with emphasis that it inculcates the lessons of the Redeemer in his sermon on the mount, which abolished the law of retaliation, demanding of all who would honor his precepts, or follow his example, to return blessing for cursing, good for evil. It describes the known virtues of the Vaudois, as constituting a noble but a dangerous contrast to the manners of the age ; and as exposing them to a severity of treatment rarely incurred by an open practice of the vices which their spirit and their conduct tended to reprove. Amid these sufferings, however, they appear calmly resigned to the will of heaven, anticipating the speedy dissolution of a world which had thus persecuted martyrs and confessors before them, and confiding in the promise of a triumphant entrance on the better region pre- SECT. II.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 131 pared of old for the disciples of Jesus, and the blessed of the Father.i" VI. It was in the century commencing with the year fol- lowing- that in which the above document was completed, that Peter de Bruys became distinguished in Provence and Lan- g-uedoc, as the intrepid advocate of certain reformed opinions; and his zeal, after the labour of twenty years, sustained the trial of martyrdom. On his descease his place was more than supplied by the learning and the invincible ardour of Henry, the founder of the sect called Henricians. But if Henry imbibed the zeal of his predecessor, he had also to share in his reward. The invective in which these preachers had in- dulged on the manners of their age, and especially on the vices of the clergy, was not to be patiently endured. It roused the displeasure of the pontiffs and of their court ; and in the name of Eugenius the third, the person of Henry was seized and com- mitted to prison, where, after a brief interval, his life was the sacrifice incurred by his unshaken integrity. Such are the measures which have been long and widely adopted to crush the leaders of reform, and experience has shewn how little they are suited to diminish either the number or the ardour of its advocates. Of the religious doctrine promulgated by Peter de Bruys and his successor, we have indeed but little distinct in- formation. But from the creed, and the spii'it, which had been so forcibly inculcated in "the noble lesson," and which appear to have been, with some occasional exceptions, common to the •" Choix des poesies originales des Troubndours, torn. ii. La nobla Lejczon. A copy of this poem was brought into England bj Sir Samuel Moreland, minister of Oliver Cromwell, tbe Duke of Savoj, and was deposited in Cambridge. That ancient manuscript has been collated with another preserved in (he library of Geneva, by M. Raynouard, the editor of the work cited above. In the extract given by Mr. Turner, is the remarkable passage which has long been familiar to tiie curious. " If there be any one who is good, and fears Jesus Christ, who will neither curse, lie, nor swear, nor be adulterous, nor kill nor rob another, nor avenge himself, they say he is a Vauduis, and worthy to be punished, and by falsehood or deceit they find accusation against him, and take from him what he has." But the sufferer is said to comfort himself with the assurance that " he shall have great glory if he has endured dishonor." Hist. v. 12.5— 128. Bresse's History of the Vaudois, c. ii. K 2 132 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. li, multitude dissenting from the established worship ; and from the statements also, which have been transmitted to us by their enemies ; we may safely conclude that these preachers had embraced the substance of the christian doctrine, and that the errors with which it was associated were not such as to prevent their treading in the footsteps of apostles and evangelists. It is certain that they denied what has since been called the real presence in the eucharist: that they asserted the inefficacy of prayer for the dead : that they dis- carded the papal doctrine of merit: and that constantly reprov- ing the licentiousness of the clergy, and treating the usual ceremonies of the church as the machinery of superstition, they were accustomed to meet in separate assemblies for instruction and worship." VII. But if the Petrobrussians and Henricians were suffi- ciently numerous to excite the alarm of the church, it is certain they were but few and feeble, when compared with their opponents. It was toward the close of the century in the former half of which they had flourished, that the ear of Europe became familiar with the name of Arnold of Brecia, as that of a moi*e daring opponent of clerical ambition. This extraordinary man had suddenly risen from the lowest rank in the church, and there are facts included in his history, which impart to it an unusual interest. The reader is not assuredly to be envied, who can refuse to admire the genius which in such an age could devise a plan of ecclesias- tical reformation, more complete, perhaps, than has yet been realized in any nation of Christendom ; and which sustained a course of activity and suffering in the cause of its own " Moslieiin, ii. IIG — 118. The fonrteentli chapter in Dr. Allix's Remarks on the Ancient Churches of the Albigenses, is devoted to an examination of the doctrine promulgated by Peter de Brays and Henry, and is a sufficient vindication of their character. Had Henry been the profligate which Baronius describes, St. Bernard would not have had to lament so feelingly the multitude of his followers ; nor is it probable, that the saint would then have incurred the guilt of being the chief agent in bringing his theological opponent to atone for his erroneous opinion at the stake. Ibid. pp. 1-28, 129. SECT. II. J PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 183 theory, evincing a patience of toil and a fearlessness of op- position, pertaining less to the character of actual occurrences than to that of fable or romance. Such, however, was the mind, and so hostile to many a venerated custom, were the doctrines of Arnold. He had studied under the famous Abelard, and had probably adopted some of the speculations, which exposed the lover of Eloisa to the frown of the church. But with the skill of the master, the disciple asso- ciated an independence and hardihood peculiar to himself. In the garb of a monk and with a countenance which be- spoke his decision and capacity, but which had already become marked with many cares, Arnold commenced his stormy career, as a preacher in the streets of Brecia. The kingdom of Christ he ventured to describe as not of this world : secular honors and possessions he also dared to maintain, could justly belong but to the laity. On the relinquishment of every such anti-christian appendage, on the part of the ecclesiastical orders, he loudly insisted as being the claim of the gospel, and as essential to their salvation, even to that of their accredited head. Tythes and voluntary ob- lations still remaining, would, it was contended, be every where enough to ensure that frugal supply, which is alone in place with the ministers of Christ. The corruption of the church had proceeded so plainly from its accumulated wealth and its encroachments on worldly offices, as to prepare numbers in every community for listening to these revolutionary tenets ; and announced with an elo- quence worthy of a more cultivated age, and by a preacher whose purity of morals and whose contempt of gain no enemy could impeach, they were hailed in many an assembly of the populace with bursts of acclamation. Arnold's diocesan forsaken by his flock, appealed from the reasonings of an obscure monk, to the authority of the pope. Innocent the second, accordingly convened a general council of the Later«n, before which this daring innovator was admonished K. 3 134 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CIIAP. if. to appear. ITie summons was obeyed. But the enemies of the accused were his judges: he was sentenced to per- petual silence : and passing the Alps found an asylum at Zurich, where he is presumed to have left the seeds of his doctrine to vegetate until the age of Zinglius. The appearance of Arnold before the Lateran council^ was sooa regarded by its members as a disastrous event. It had contributed to introduce his name and opinions to the notice and attachment of the Roman people ; and in that city, degenerate as it was, the disciples of the exile multi- plied daily. But so intoxicating is the possession of power,, that the persecution which expelled him from his country >, was allowed to follow him into his retreat ; and it appears- at lengthy to have fixed the desperate resolve which placed him suddenly in the midst of his friends, within the gates of the capital. To unfurl the standard of revolt, as beneath the shade of the Vatican, was an enterprise equally novel and perilous. Familiar alike with the civil and the religious history of Rome, he dwelt with a commanding eloquence on the exploits of the Bruti, the Gracchi, and the Scipios, and on the saintly character of the martyrs who had perished in the cause of her ancient and her better Christianity. With a glow of patriotism, and we must presume of piety too, he urged the restoration of the forgotten laws of the republic, and required as a measure strictly essential to produce a return of the purity and the triumphs of religion, that all authority in the pontiffs and the clergy should be limited to the spiritual government of the christian commonwealth. So momentous a revolution was not to be in any considerable degree anticipated without some bursts of popular violence, and these may have been viewed with sincere regret by the discernment of the man who, however innocent, would be reproached as their author. But in Rome, and for nearly ten years, the iniluence of the monk of Brecia presided, while several contcjnporary {)Oiitifls trembled withm its walls. SECT.n.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 135 sunk beneath the cares of their tottering empire, or resorted as exiles to the adjacent cities. It was long, however, since the voice of freedom had echoed among the seven hills, and her authority in the present instance was precarious and of short duration. Adrian, the only Englishman who has filled the chair of St. Peter, had no sooner assumed that dignity than he dis- played a firmness and policy, adapted to the alarming exi- gencies of his station. A cardinal was either slain or wounded in the streets of Rome, and the new pontiff instantly pro- nounced an interdict upon the guilty city, suspending every formality of public worship through several months. It was an untried and a bold expedient. The Romans who had re- sisted every political demand of the popes, had not learned so freely to question their spiritual power; and the majority were induced by this gloomy chastisement to accede to the banishment of Arnold. The reformer again became an exile, but in his second retreat was sheltered for awhile by his patrons, the viscounts of Campania. He soon learnt, however, that this successful eff'ort of the papal court was merely prepa- ratory to still more decisive measures. Frederic Barbarossa was ere long to receive the crown of the empire from the hand of Adrian. In an interview previous to the ceremony, the pontifl!' laboured to shew that the heresy of Arnold was not less hostile to political, than to ecclesiastical government, and the emperor conceded, or professed to concede, the truth of the doctrine. By such docility the official services of the chief pastor could hardly fail to be secured. The religious sanctions which were attached by such formalities to the exercises of regal power, were of no little moment during the reign of superstition, and it is too well known that for objects of much less importance, the interests and the lives of indi- viduals have been at all times but a trivial sacrifice. Forced from his concealment in the name of the Ceesar, Arnold was conducted by a strong escort to Rome. Arraigned before K 4 136 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II. the prefect of the city, the reformer was condemned to die, and deserted (perhaps of necessity) by his more powerful adherents, he perished at the stake, amid the idle gazings of the Roman popuhice. His ashes were given to the Tiber, but his opinions were not so easily consigned to oblivion. If no sect survived to venerate him as its founder,^- his spirit of enterprise and its measure of success : that constant reference to the scriptures of the New Testament as an ultimate authority : and that critical attention to the features of Christianity in its earlier stages, which the whole controversy so powerfully induced, must all have served to diffuse a new vigour into every sect and into every struggl e in favour of truth and piety. His triumphs so far as they extended, would be seen as those of equity opposed to usurpation, and that while the latter stood intrenched by the remote antiquity of its birth, and guarded by another barrier usually deemed invulnerable, — the custom of nations. If our information respecting him, has left his theological opinions in some degree doubtful, the silence of his enemies may be al- lowed to exonerate him from any very serious delinquency on such points. It is possible, indeed, and even probable, that his religious tenets would have been found in some measure peculiar, and have called for clerical reproof, had not the resentment of that order been so completely directed from such matters, by his more alarming assault on that secular policy, which evil passions and the lapse of time had placed in alliance with the hierarchy." This he viewed as the source of all its corruptions, regarding every hope of reno- '2 We read, indeed, of Arnoldists in the later periods of ecclesiastical history, bat the name appears to have been almost confined, after an interval, to those who were zealous for the establishment of the senate in the capital, or to the followers of Arnold, a celebrated Waldensian preacher. '3 His opinions with respect to the eucharist and baptism were said to be hete- rodox. Allix on the Churches of Piedmont, 169. Dupin makes the same statement, but records, that, when banished the city bj Adrian, the Tuscans received him as a prophet, and allirms that the motive fur burninjj his remains, was lest his followers should worship him. (cent. xiii. 89.) Those are facts which place him before us as a religious, and not as a political reforuier. SECT. II,] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 137 vating the ecclesiastical system as vain, if not founded on the presumption of effecting this exterior revolution. To treat the character of Arnold as that of a mere political declaimer, is evidently to violate the law of charity and justice. There is nothing known respecting him, inconsistent with sincere and enlightened piety ; no principle on ecclesiastical polity received as his, which is not at present maintained, and as of the highest importance to the cause of uncorrupted Chris- tianity, by myriads among the most devout of mankind. Nor is there any thing authenticated as the action of his life, which might not be paralleled from the lives of Knox or Cranmer, and of many beside, whose benevolence of purpose, and unfeigned devotion are rarely questioned. ^-^ VIII. In the -disputes which had arisen between monarchs and the pontiffs concerning investitures, and which it required the age of Luther to extinguish, the doctrines of Arnold were of frequent utility. As they fiiiled not to strengthen that disposition to examine the validity of sacerdotal claims which produced the memorable controversy described, they were silently performing the most important service to the cause of freedom and religion. It was in this manner that the struggle of the Brecian reformer, political as it appears, proved greatly subservient to the progress of those religious truths, which in the ninth century were so ably defended by Claud of Turin. We have seen that after an interval of nearly three centuries, the doctrine of that distinguished prelate was fondly cherished, and cherished with a simplicity truly surprising, by the Vaudois: and that many, if not the whole, of his peculiar opinions were widely disseminated by the itinerant efforts of Peter de Bruys and of Henry his reputed disciple. It was in the year " The above facts respecting Arnold, have been adopted principally on the authority of Dr. Allix, Gibbon, and Mosheim. That Arnold had not embraced any doctrine in- consistent with scriptural piety is either aifirnied or implied by each of these writers. Those principles of action, however, which commanded the admiration of Mr. Gibbon, are slightly reprehended by Moslieim, not indeed as wrong in themselves, but as carrietl to somewhat oi excess. 138 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. H. 1148, tliat the latter perished as the victim of persecution. But ten years from that period had scarcely passed, when Peter Waldo, an opulent merchant of Lyons, became known in that city as an opponent of the Romish superstition, and a zealous advocate of what has since been designated the re- formed faith. ^^ Waldo had witnessed the sudden decease of a friend at his table, and a disposition already favourable to religion, was much confirmed by the affecting incident. Often scan- dalized by the manners of the clergy, his superior education had enabled him to consult the Latin Version of the Scrip- tures. From that source he derived the instruction which taught him to separate from communion with the papal church. His morals had ever defied the breath of calumny ; from this period his wealth ministered largely to the comforts of the poor ; and if his opposition to vice and error exposed him to the malice of interested men, his fearless enforcement of the truths of the gospel, won the applause and the grateful attachment of multitudes. For a season he found his pro- tection in his rank, in the influence of his connections, and in the number of his followers. But the inroads of his zeal which had thus eluded every hostile purpose of the local authorities were at length deemed so serious an innovation as to require the most formal interference of the papacy. In a council convened by Alexander the third, Peter Waldo, and his numerous disciples were presumed to be convicted of heresy, and until signs should be given of repentance, they were cut off from all communion with the faithful. This sentence would probably have been little regarded, had it not through the ferocity of the times, become no less destructive of civil than of religious communion. The Lyonese who were '5 The life of Waldo is fuliy recorded by Perriu, Hist. c. i. See also Leger, 1. i. Centuriators, Magdeburg, cent. xii. Biisnage, torn. ii. Usber's de Sacce.ssione. Catalogus tcstium veritatis, vol. xv. Limborch'.s Hi.story of the Inquisition, 1. i. c. 8. The hi.story of these people ha.s also been variously treated by Natalis Alexander, Hist. Eccles. Tliuaniis, Hist, I. v. and in Bossuet's Ilistoirc des Variations. SECT. U.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 139 not fully prepared to brave the wrath of the church were constrained to refuse the hated sectaries, even the remotest intercourse of social life.^*^ That flourishing- city was in con- sequence deserted by a large, and by the most valuable portion of its inhabitants ; but like the Hebrew tribes, they were not to be lost in their dispersion. Waldo continued to publish his doctrine, and with great success through Daupheny, Pi- cardy, and various of the German states, concluding a labour of twenty years in a province of Bohemia. His disciples every where harassed by the hand of persecution are still found associated with almost every continental sect, and by a benevolent arrangement of providence, they are preserved as witnessness for the truth until the age of Luther. ^^ Aware of the assistance which he had derived from the scriptures, and of the principles which assert them to be the property of the people no less than of the priest ; it had been an object of early solicitude with Waldo, to confer upon his folloAvers a vernacular translation of the inspired volume.^" It was a novelty in modern Europe, and contributed much to his unprecedented success in the work of reformation. The " noble lesson" had long since supplied the devout with a valuable summary of scripture history, and of the doctrines and the duties of the gospel ; but such was the impulse given to the mind of multitudes by the possession of the scriptures, that the numerous sectaries, however poor and despised, were generally capable of vindicating their peculiarities of custom or opinion by an appeal to that authority. It was even their boast, that there was scarcely a man or woman among them, who was not far better read in the Bible than the doctors of 16 Suoli was the decision of the council of Turin in 1163,Baronius, ubi supra. n Peirin, c. i. 18 This is particularly noticed by Reiner, in liis list of the causes contributing to diffuse the Waldensian heresy , (c. iii.) It should be stated also that he speaks of the Old and the New Testament as thus placed in the hands of the people. The consequence be relates has beau that " whatever a uoclor of the church teaches, wiiicli he does not prove from the New Testament, they considtr as entirely fabulous and contrary to the authority of the church." 140 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CIIAP. 11. the church. Nor will this be doubted if it be remembered, that it is an enemy who states his conversing with a rustic, who could repeat every verse and term of the book of Job, and with others who were scarcely less familiar v/ith the whole of the New Testament.^9 The writer recording- these facts, has subscribed himself as in "time past a heretic," and was a man who would be fully aware that, to indulge in any friendly remark on the faith or character of his former associates, would be, as in similar cases, to create a suspicion of his present sincerity. This is one of the worst evils of apostacy, and Reiner evidently intends to degrade the Waldenses when he describes one of their travelling merchants as exposing his robes and trinkets before an opulent family, and on selling his articles as replying to the question, — Have you nothing more I — by lauding the virtues of a certain jewel in his pos- session, but which he dares not discover, unless he may obtain a pledge of protection from the resentment of the clergy. Curiosity excited, the promise is made by the party, and the stranger produces a vernacular gospel, a gem, brilliant from God ; reads some of its more interesting portions, and if the auditory be observed to feel pleased with his recitals, he ventures on the denunciations against the scribes and pharisees, not unfrequently pointing them against the monks and the clergy ."'' It is not difficult to suppose with the his- torian, that by such means an impression was often made on the rich and powerful, unfavourable to the pretensions of churchmen ; but the tone of morals which pervaded these communities must have been of no ordinary character since it could extort from such a writer, and in such an age, the concessions found in his narrative. It is the language of Reiner, once a Waldensian, and afterwards a relentless per- 19 Ibid, c. vii. 747, 7()6. Tliis Rhaineiius Sacclio, as he is frequently called, had been an accredited disciple of Waldo seventeen years, when his apostacy raised him to the honorable otlice of iiKiuisitor. His catalogue of (he Waldensian errors con- sists of thirty three articles, and may be seen in Allix on the Churches of Piedmont, 188-191. *• Reiuer, c. \ii, 7GG. SECT. II.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEETH CENTURY. 141 secutor, which describes them as grave and modest in their mamiers, and phiin in their apparel ; as often declining the snares of commerce from their aversion to falsehood, oaths, and dishonesty ; as careless of accumulating wealth, being sa- titfied with little ; as chaste and temperate, especially those of Lyons ; as remarkable for the placidity of their temper, never frequenting taverns, mingling with the dance, or with other vanities, but ever employed in labour, in reading or in communicating knowledge.-^ If piety is to be at all de- termined by its fruits, these statements from a contemporary, and an opponent must be decisive of its reality in the case of the Waldenses. It would be easy, however, to add to their force by copious citations from many ancient documents re- lating to that people ; some of which have descended from themselves, and others had been supplied by their adversaries. It will be easily supposed that at a period illumined but by the first twilight of knowledge, some absurdities of opinion would be observable in the creed of these fraternities, and that the diversity of their manners would not always be the result of wisdom. Such an effect was inseparable from the existence of societies, so numerous, so widely diffused, and adhering with so much tenacity to the almost forgotten right of private judgment.-- 21 Ibid. 765. 22 The perplexing variety of names by which the sectaries of the middle ages are known, will admit of some classification. When they are called Bulgarians, Lom- bardists, Thoulousians, &c. itisevident the name is derived from places, and not from persons. When they are designated Catharists (or Puritans,) Publicans (or Paa- licians), Fratracel'i, (or men of brotherhood,) or are described as poor men of Lyons, some peculiarity of iheir profession, or character, or circumstances, is plainly intended. The followers of Peter de Bruys were called Petrobrussians ; those of Henry, Henricians ; .and those of Arnold, Arnoldists. Hence the name Waldenses appears to proceed very naturally from Peter Waldo, the reformer of Lyons. But the occuirencs of the word Vaudois in the Nobla Leyczon, proves its use to have been much older than the age of Waldo. The Waldenses were inhabitants of those VALE localities which skirt the base of the Alps and Pyrenees. From the Latin, A'allis conies the proven^al Vaux or Vaudois, and the Italian, Valdesi. Hence, the designation Valdenses, Ualdenses, or Waldenses. We have seen that these vallies were through many ages the asylum of seceders from the Romish church, or at least of men who were often disposed to question many of its pretensions. These had so far increased at the period of Waldo's ministry, that a Waldensian or a 142 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II. IX. That the Cathari of Germany, and their brethren, the Vaudois, were free during the former half of the twelfth cen- tury, from any serious error respecting the faith, or the obli- gations of the gospel, has appeared on the evidence of the most certain authorities ; and to the same points, with respect to the Waldenses the testimony borne by Reiner is no less decisive. But the Albigenses were sufferers beyond their brethren, and to justify their peculiar punishment, no effort has been spared to give to their alleged offences a pe- culiar enormity. It is probable that the name Albigenses arose from the council of Albi, where certain sectaries were condemned in 1176. It is unquestionable, that from that period it was a designation applied to a nvimerous people, denounced as heretics, and resident in the city of Albi and its neighbourhood. It is also evident that the parties who were censured in that assembly, under the general name of Albigenses, included the various multitude who had been confirmed in their aversion to the established superstitions by the preaching or the martyrdom of Henry, and of Peter de Bruys. Against those reformers the old and convenient reproach of manicheism was employed, but with as little ap- pearance of truth as in many previous instances. It is obvious, that the records of the inquisition of Toulouse are an authority to be adopted with caution. From this source, however, and from the writings of Alanus, a contemporary, it would appear that there were persons among the Albigenses, who were sincerely regarded as of Paulician origin, and as infected with the doctrine of Manes.-^ At the same time, ValleyMAN. became but another name for a heretic. The edicts of Frederic the second against heretics, describe thera as existing under a raultitade of different and strange desiguations. 2:J The work of Alanus is intitled Contra Albigenses et Waldenses paganos et Judacos, opus quadri partitnm. The first thirty-five chapters of this formidable pro- duction are occupied in refuting the raanichean and gnostic tenets as errors maintained by the Albigenses; and it may be thought unreasonable to suppose that, after all these formalities of attack, the enemy assailed was one of the imagination only. It should be remembered, however, that such was the disputatioihs spirit of schoolmen — and Alannswasthe "Universal doctor," as often to create opponents, from their passion for SECT. II. j PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH PENTURY. 143 from a patient comparison of the evidence preserved to us, it is not only easy to suppose, but it is in the hig-hest degree probable, that these mistaken men formed but a small minority in the country of the Albigenses. Yet their exis- tence, however thinly scattered, would be sufficient to afford a pretext for branding the whole, agreeably to ancient custom, with the odium attaching but to the opinions of a part. Such were the circumstances peculiar to the Albigensian dis- senters ; and they have served to render their faith and manners the subject of a more modified approbation than has been generally conferred on those of the Vaudois. But that much the greater number comprehended, under both appellations, were, with respect to every important question of piety and morals, the same people, is either the implied or the direct testimony of every age through which they have survived."^ the knightly exercise of destroyino; them ; and the very title of the work published by this disputant, proposing as it does to annihilate all the known errors of the world, be- speaks his love of conflict. In addition to which, it should be recollected that Alaniis was a native of Flanders, and through the greater portion of his life a resident in the university of Paris, and that his statements of the most objectionable tenets imputed to the Albigenses are often given in a manner which betrays his imperfect information and his consciousness that the errors attributed to some were certainly rejected by others. The reader may see some curious extracts from this work in Dr. Allix on the Albigenses, c. xvi. xvii. 2< Mosheim ii. 580. Of the credit to be given to the charge of manicheism as pre- ferred against nearly all tlie dissenters, from the Romish church, through the whole interval, from the rise of the Paulicians to the age of Wyclifte, a judgment may be formed from the conduct of the pontiffBoniface, in 1302, with respect to Philip the Fair, The French monarch asserted his claim to dispose of certain benefices in his king- dom, this the pope challenged as his own unalienable right, declaring in his celebrated decretal unum sanctum, that there are two swords in the church, the spiritual and the temporal — that the temporal is subject to the spiritual, that to deny this is to affirm the doctrine of two distinct and independent principles, and so to fail into the heresy of the manicheans. (Dupin. cent. xv. 5, Collier i. 497, 498.) If such was the ground of this odious accusation as preferred by pontiffs against the most powerful sovereigns, a much less plausible pretext, if such were possible, would be sufficient to bring its reproach and its punishment on the defenceless Albigenses, from the malice of monks and inquisitors. If is of that sect that a contemporary and an enemy exclaims, " Thus does the spirit of falsehood only by the appearance of a pure and spotless life ]ead away inconsiderate people from the truth." To concede the influence of heresy to be so far better than that of orthodoxy as to turn the scale against it, was not altogether politic. Guil. de Podio Laurentii, c. viii. C72.— Sis- moiidi Crusades, c. i. 14. 144 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II. X. To check the progress of opinions so hostile to the maxims of the papacy, was an object too important to be overlooked. It was to meet this exigency that the order of preaching, or, as they are more properly designated, of beg- ging friars, was instituted. That unlimited renunciation of property, which formed a peculiar feature in the discipline of these fraternites, was expected to secure them from the many corruptions which opulence had introduced among the secular clergy, and which even the convent had so feebly resisted. Their promised appeal, also, to reason or persuasion, in support of established usages and opinions, was a measure adjusted by the same policy to the improving spirit of the times. But we have seen, and shall again see, that the vow of poverty, whether framed by the severity of St. Dominic, or of St. Francis, was not so strict, as to be in no way eluded; and history has informed us that the heresies which neither the arguments nor the rhetoric of the mendicants could expel, were readily yielded to a process of coersion ; and one, which, as it insulted every dictate of the understanding, was but ill adapted to remove the alledged estrangement of the heart. XI. It was in the year 1179 that Peter Waldo finished his prosperous career; and it was two years later that the pontiff, Lucian the third, issued his memorable decree, "con- demning all manner of heresy, by whatever name denomi- nated." This enactment required the prelates of Christendom to denounce the censures of the church againt heretics with the return of every public solemnity ; and to explore their diocese at least once a year, that spiritual offenders might be every where detected. It at the same time adjudged, every bishop who should be found slow herein, to a suspen- sion for three years, from the exercise of his episcopal functions. Every layman convicted of heresy, and refusing to abjure his opinions, was left by the same decree " to the sentence of the secular judge, to receive condign punish- ment, according to the quality of the offence ;" while the SECT. IT.] PKEVrOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 145 secular authorities, forbearing " to execute the ecclesiastical and imperial statutes when required," are excommunicated, their power transferred to others, and their goods confiscated to the use of the church.*^ x{[ But the zeal of the provincial clergy was cold and unequal when compared with that of the papal court. The mendicant orders, though introduced but to debate the questions of heresy, were soon viewed as more promising in- struments of arbitrary power ; and with little difficulty they were placed at the head of a political machinery, which had been recently framed to maintain the despotic authority of Rome. From this period, wherever the influence of the pontiffs could extend it, that of the friars was carefully di- rected, to make inquisition into heresy, and to seize the per- sons of the suspected. In the cells of their prison house the unhappy victims of intolerance suffered every species of tor- ture, and thence were often conducted to the stake, ignorant alike of their crime, of their accusers, and of the evidence on which they were condemned. The diocesan clergy might have been expected to resent this innovation, as diminishing their local authority, but they were generally appeased, either by the freedom which it secured them from an odious em- ployment, or by the nominal importance which was conceded to them, as associated with this new order of spiritual judges. It is also true, that this malignant institute invaded the province of the magistrate scarcely less than that of the secular priest. But it was arranged that a third of the confiscated property should pass into the civic treasury : on the civil power it also devolved to nominate the inferior agents to this holy office : and to it was reserved the doubtful honor of inflicting every public penalty on the guilty ."'^ It is obvious, however, that it is not to the prevalence of sentiments favourable to religious *5 The spirit of this enactment is expressed in a previous decision of the council of Toulouse, (1119), and it is seen embodied as the more authorative doctrine of the church, in the twenty-third canon of the second general Lateran council. 2S Sismondi attributes a considerable delay in the establishment of the inquisitioH to these causes. Crusades i. • VOL. I. L 146 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. 11. liberty, or to general science, so much as to the encroach- ments of this tribunal on the civil rights of men, that we must attribute the modified state of the inquisistorial courts in some countries, and their total exclusion from others. The reader who would learn how far the tree of despotism may strike its roots in the soil of these western kingdoms, and the extent of that poisonous shade, which it has the power of diffusing, may acquire this melancholy lesson by consulting the histories of Portugal or Spain. Within the limits of Arragon and Castile, eighteen courts of inquisition were established, each with its prisons and its gradation of officers, while, from the whole, not less than twenty thousand familiars went forth as spies among the people, to detect, by every expedient, the seeds of heretical pravity. The nation which has most freely submitted to this yoke of antichrist has had its reward. That the grave of its freedom was that of its virtue and energy, is manifest in that ignorance and cruelty, and in that superstition and distrust, which have so strongly marked the character of the Spaniard, and so disfigured his history both in the old world and in the new.^^ But the signs of religious disaffection had become so formidable in the beginning of the thirteenth century, that a more summary mode of procedure than was consistent with the forms even of an inquisitorial court, was deemed im- portant to the safety of the church. Eighteen of the most considerable towns in the south of France, are described as being principally occupied at that period by Waldenses and Albigeois. While the clergy were enjoined to confute the doctrine of the heretics, and to deprive the obdurate of catholic commimion, the magistrate was instructed to prove his religious fidelity by punishing them with exile, or with that separation from every social connection which it was known could be less easily endured. The more severe of -^ Liiuborcli's Hist. Voltaire's History of Europe, e. c. xviii. Sismoudi, c. v.— SECT. II.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 147 these mandates, however, whether too much at variance with humanity, or too plainly the offspring of political ambi- tion, were far from being religiously observed. Over the mind of the persecuted, the censures of a hierarchy, which they had been taught to loathe as wholly corrupt, could have no power. To escape from the civil consequences of their reli- gious opinions was their only solicitude ; and their opinions, however heterodox, by contributing to their habits of in- dustry, and of civil subordination, had rendered them of such political importance, that their appeal to the local nobility for protection was often made with success. It may be, that this conduct of their superiors arose in some instances from the calculations of a worldly policy, but in others, it appears, as the consequence of a more religious feeling. At length, however, the demon of persecution is allowed to seize its prey. By the haughty Innocent the third, every motive which superstition could supply was employed to arm the princes and the people of Europe against the pacific disci- ples of the gospel.-*^ To extirpate them by fire, and by the sword, was the object distinctly proposed ; and the indul- gencies so impiously connected with the crusades into Asia, were now as freely bestowed on such as became devoted to this murderous cause. But this desperate scheme was too comprehensive to be suddenly accomplished, and to gain time, or to impart the appearance of justice to the intended desolations, a conference was proposed with the Albigensian teachers. The challenge was accepted, but a pledge of safe 29 That the activit}' of this pontiff kept pace with his ambition appears from the fact that not less than 2000 of his letters have survived to the present period, extending to two volumes, folio, (1GS2.) In 1208, an inquisitor, who had grossly insulted Raymond the sixth, count of Toulouse, was afterwards killed by an attendant of Ray- mond's who had witnessed the offence. Innocent suspected Raymond's participation in the deed, but without the shadow of proof, and instantly required that he should be publicly anathematiited in all the churches, and delivering it as a canonical decision of the holy fathers, " that we are not to observe faith toward those who keep not their faith toward God," Ire discharges every man from all oaths eithef of alliance or fidelity to Raymond, declaring his property alienated aad his person infaiuous. — Petri Vallis Cern. c. viii. 5G4, Sismondi, i. L 2 148 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II, conduct was required ; and it was farther demanded that the sacred scriptures should be alone decisive of the questions at issue. These conditions admitted, it was in the year 1206 that the delegates of the opposite parties assembled in the town of Montreal. The accusations of the catholic disputants were presented in writing', and the Albigensian divines had extemporaneously replied to them through four successive days, when their opponents betrayed the weakness of their cause by announcing- the approach of the crusadings army, and abruptly dissolving the convention. This alarm- ing communication was not devoid of truth. A hundred thousand cross bearers, — for so were the crusaders designated, • — speedily encircled the walls of Toulouse. These, it isstated, were soon joined by twice their number, and the command of this terrific force was divided between a band of feudal chieftains and certain ecclesiastical dignitaries.-^ The crusades, which had so long rolled the tide of war from the west toward the holy sepulchre, had yielded so little advantage, and had been attended by so much loss and suffering, as to possess, at this period, but a feeble influence over the passions of the European population. The honors of a future world, which were supposed to be ensured by such acts of devotion, might be valued ; but the chances of plunder were few, and the prospect of bearing it to the security of home when obtained was nearly hopeless, while life itself was in constant jeopardy from the perils of climate, and from encounters with no common adversary. But in the pro- posed invasion of Toulouse, another scene was opened for the display of this fanatic heroism, and one which, while it 29 The number of these marauders, as given by different writers, is from fifty to live hundred thousaud. Petri Vallis, Cern. xvi.57]. Hist. gea. de Langnedoc I. XX. c. 53. pp. 167, 108. Perrin. iii. c. ii. Sismondi, c. i. The last writer remr.rks, that if we adopt the smaller number, "we must not include in this calculation the ignorant and fanatical multitude which fallowed each preacher armed with scythes and clubs, and promised to themselves that if they were not in condition to combat the knights of Languedoc, they might at least be able to murder the women and childreu of the heretics." SECT. 11.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 149 secured every present exemption, and entitled to every future g^ood, which had been connected with the exploits of the former, presented but a few of the difficulties, and as few of the dangers which had been inseparable from them.^*^ Among the chiefs conducting the multitudes who were thus animated to this war of extirpation, we find Eudes, the third duke of Burgundy, the counts of Navar, of St. Paul, of Auxerre, of Geneve, and of Forez, and Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester. The latter nobleman, who was lord of a castle ten leagues from Paris, had possessed the countship of Evreaux, had distinguished himself in the fourth crusade, and had recently succeeded to the earldom of Leicester, by the decease of his mother, who was a native of England. The distance between the scene of this contest and his English possessions, and the limited nature of all feudal services, render it improbable that many of our ancestors were engaged in these ravages.^^ But Mo)itfort.'s deficiencies in this respect would be more than supplied by his military skill and reputation, and by a combination of qualities which fitted him to become conspicuous as the agent of intolerance. Ilis object plainly was to annex the countship of Toulouse to his other possessions, and that, though it should be at the cost of its complete depopulation. With Leicester, indeed, and with the multitude, fanaticism was, no doubt, a motive for this enterprise ; but the sequel demonstrates that it arose in a much greater degree from the barbarian lust of plunder and devastation. Under the impulse of such motives, towns were 30 The monks of Citeaux were particularly active in recruiting for the enterprize, and, to a soldiery immersed in superstition, and enslaved to every brutal passion, they announced that there was " no crime so dark, no vice so deeply rooted in the heart, the very trace of which a campaign of forty days in the south of France would not obliterate. Paradise, with all its glories, was opened for them, without the necesssity of purchasing it by any reformation in their conduct." — Hist. Languedoc, xxii. 84. Sismondi ii. In 1214, Philip Augustus thought it expedient to abolish the exemption granted to these crusaders from the cognizance of the temporal courts, and also their privileges as accused of crimes, or in pleading for their fief or their manor.— Ordinances des Rois, i. 32. •J' NoteB. L 3 150 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [CHAP. II. taken in succession, and their inhabitants slaughtered with an atrocity which spared neither age nor sex. The local no- bility had endeavoured to disarm the invaders by humiliation and entreaty, 32 \y^i {^ ^^^g i\^q object of the pontiff to render the civil and the religious authorities of those heretical provinces entirely subject to his will, and the crusade in con- sequence advanced. The city of Beziers was first captured by the insurgents; and its inhabitants, amounting to many thousands, after a few hours were no more \^^ The siege of Circassone was a more costly enterprize to the assailants, but its intrepid defenders, and its harmless multitude, were to disappear before the power of the fanatics.^* The fall 32 This was the case especially with Raymond of Toulouse, and Innocent judged it well to delay for a while the inflicting of his purposed vengeance on that injured man. It is thus the pontiff writes to his sacred emisaries, "We counsel you, with the apostle Paul, to employ guile with regard to this count, for in this case it ought to be called prudence. We must attack separately those who are separated from unity. Leave for a while the count of Toulouse, employing toward him a wise dissimulation, that the other heretics may be the more easily defeated, and that afterwards we may crush him when he shall be left alone." Thus did that arch traitor secretly resolve on the destruction of a man to whom he had given his pledge of entire favour. Innocent, Epist. i. Ixi. ep. 232. Sismondi, e. i. The spirit of Innocent pervaded bis clerical agents. Peter, the monk of Vaux Cernay, was an attendant on the movements of Simon de Montfort, and while recording the most revolting atrocities as committed by that chieftain, extols him as the pattern of knighthood and of devotion. In 1214, there ■was a prospect of Montfort's ravages being brought to a close, but a legale and another army of crusaders unexpectedly arrived, the truce was perfidiously broken, and the consummate hypocrisy and fraud displayed by the papal representative to supply the cross-bearers with the opportunities of indulging their lust of slaughter, are recorded by the same unprincipled monk with the most impassioned plaudits. '•^ The numbers of the slain have been variously determined by catholic writers from 10,000 to 60,000. The half of the latter number is the most probable amount, if it be true that the stated population of the city was 15,000 ; for if a remnant escaped, many who had fled to its walls for protection were doubtless numbered with the slain. The city was taken almost by surprise, and when it was enquired how in the work of slaughter the heretics should be distinguished from the faithful, the memorable an- swer of the Abbot of Citeaux was, " Kill them all, the Lord will know well those who are bis." — Raynaldus Eccles. 1209. Hist, de Languedoc, 1. xxii. c. Ivii. 169. Bib. Pat. Cistercien.ii.l49. 3< The viscount of Beziers, whose crime had been that of forbearing to extirpate beresy in his dominions, trusted himself in the camp of the beseigers, relying for his safe conduct on the oaths of its chiefs and the attendant clergy. Both himself and bis followers were seized on the pretext that faith is not to be kept with heretics. The people of Circassone principally escaped the vengeance of their enemies, by means of a secret avenue connected with the city. Some, however, were seized, and together with the viscount and bis knights, supplied to their enemies the festive spectacle of 400 heretics consuming at the stake, and lifty suspended on the gallows. SECT. II.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 151 of these principal towns was, of course, followed by that of the many castles, and the less promising retreats of this afflicted people. Nor was the system of outrage com- menced with this infuriated feeling of short duration. Extending over the provinces of southern France, it was perpetuated for more than twenty years, exhibiting a combi- nation and a continuance of crime, to which the annals of civilized heathenism could scarcely supply a parallel, and which is supposed to have swept away at least a million of lives.^^ A volume might be occupied in detailing these atrocities, but it must be sufficient to observe in the language of Mr. Gibbon, " that pope Innocent the third, surpassed the sanguinary fame of Theodora. It was in cruelty alone that her soldiers could equal the heroes of the crusades, and the cruelties of her priests were far excelled by the founders of the inquisition, an office more adapted to confirm than to confute the belief of an evil principle."^ But the spoil of this enterprise failed to enrich its posses- sors. By their mutual envy, and by the extended disaffection which their conduct had created, more was lost, than had been gained by oppression ; while the sufferers, according to the narrative of their enemies, generally encountered their fate with a constancy not unworthy of the primitive martyrs. So unsparing, however, and so determined were the effiarts of Simon de Montfort, of Arnold, abbot of Citeaux, after- wards archbishop of Narbonne, and of their numerous followers, to complete the work of extirpation, that there were seasons in which their malignant purpose seemed to be accomplished. The Albigensian teachers had perished, and apparently with scarcely an exception,^^ and the feeble 35 The author of the Belgian Chronicle from Caesarius, (A. D. 1208,) describes the Albigensian doctrine as having infected a thousand cities, and as what must have corrupted all Europe had not its votaries been extirpated by the swords of the faithful, 3« Decline and Fall, x. 18G. 3^ In proof of this we may remark, that the most diligent search of the vast army which entered the territories of the count of Toulouse, under the command of Louis L 4 152 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE [(JHAP. 11, remnant of their followers, who had escaped the vengeance of the crusaders, fled to distant countries, where a veil thrown upon their previous history must commonly have afforded their only hope of security. In such regions, sepa- rated from their home, their pastors, their brethren, and from all the hallowed pleasures of social worship, their sorrows, even their sighs were required to be in secret. It is true, the sparks of the independence which had been thus subdued, were often perceptible amid the darkness which followed. In the two Sicilies, in Gascon, in Italy, even in Rome itself, the scattered sectaries were discovered, but their detection was every where the prelude to imprison- ment, confiscation, and death.^^ xifjThe interval between the former half of the thirteenth century, with which these crusades are connected, and the middle of the following, in which Wyclilfe appeared, is one of unusual gloom in the history of true religion. The effort of the Waldenses and Albigeois to restore its purity, and which has not been improperly designated the first reformation, appeared as a total failure, and through nearly three hundred succeeding years, the good which it was designed to confer on the nations of the western empire, is effectually resisted. And not only so, the machinery of des- potism appears to become every day more matured, and every the eighth, A. D. 1226, could discover bat one person infected with the heresy, which, for the purpose of worldlj policy, had been so represented as to require the strength of the French nation to remove it. That person was too aged either to fly or to alter his opinions, and he was burnt accordingly with much ceremony. — Hist, de Languedoc , ubi supra. 38 Raynaldus, Ann. Eccles. A. D. 1231, sect. 18. 23. 13, 14. A. D. 1232, sect. 8. A. D. 1233, sect. 42, A. D. 1234, sect. 43. If we may credit Cardinal Conrad, who, in 1223, presided in the council of Sens, the Albigenses had recently established a pope or chief pastor on the frontier of Bulgaria, and were laboriously forming them- selves into a rival hierarchy. (Labb. xi. 288. Matt. Paris, Hist. 2C7. Raynaldus, A. D. 1223, sect. 39.) It is not improbable that the shores of the Adriatic had aftbrded an asylum to the fugitive Albigenses; but the story of their ponlilf is un- worthy of notice. So late, however, as 1235, the Patarenes were frequently detected in the diflerent slates of Italy. (Ibid. sect. 16—19.) Nor were the Gallic provinces wholly freed from the pestilence. Labb. xi. 287. SECT. II.] PREVIOUS TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 153 struggle of its victims but to place them more com- pletely beneath it. No doctrine opposed to the follies and the vices which the church had now canonized, could possibly circulate among the people, without being de- nounced at once as of heretical origin, and exhibited in connection with records of crime and suffering, sutRcient to enfeeble every purpose of reform. The wild fanaticism which taught the crusader to revere himself, as the support of a falling church while shedding the blood of heretics, or leading them to the stake, had in some degree subsided f^ but principally because the reputed foes of the church were no longer seen in formidable array. Hence the maxims of the stormy season which had passed were all retained, and were acted upon as often as men were found who dared to advocate the faith, the worship, or the morals, which had formed the glory of christian communities in better times. We may venture, indeed, to conclude, that the comparative indiffer- ence with which the few remaining dissenters from the hierarchy were now regarded, discovered a state of things even less hopeful than the former. During this period we look in vain, either to the clergy or the laity for the remotest idea of capacity, acquirement, or feeling, in any degree re- putable, as associated with the crime of heresy.*^ Hence the persons convicted of that vague offence, were usually 39 Of the contempt with which everything; Albigensian was regarded by the mass of the new inhabitants of Languedoc, whom the crusades had introduced, we may judge from the treatment experienced by Raymond the sixth, the court of Toulouse, and a most obsequious suppliant for the luercy of the priesthood. " They persecuted him," observes Sismondi, " for his compassion, not only during his life, but even for ag^s after his death. His son could never obtain the honors of sepulture for his body; but his colfin was deposited near the burial ground of St. John of Toulouse, waiting the permission of the church for its interment. It was still there in the fourteenth cen- tury ; but as it was only of wood, and as no one took care for its preservation, it was broken, and his bones dispersed before the sixteenth century. The skull alone of Raymond the sixth, was long preserved in the house of the hospitalers of St. John of Toulouse." '"' Reiner wrote about the middle of the thirteenth century, and we perceive something of this sentiment expressed by him, when he contrasts the pretensions of Catholicism as supported by princes and literati, with those of heresy as sustained by " pauperes et opifici, luulieres et idiotte." c. vii. 71?'. 154 STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE, &c. [CIIAP. 11. disposed of as if lost to every thin^ with which humanity might be expected to sympathize. So busily had the calum- nies respecting them been circulated, and so general was the credence which had been given to them, that while fre- quently animated by sentiments the most devout and gene- rous, they seemed to be viewed as distinguished from chil- dren but by the absence of their docility, and by a proficiency in the devices of impiety peculiar to themselves. In some instances their very punishment would seem to be foregone, from the notion of their being unworthy of the feeble effort which it demanded. Such, in the continental states, was the feeling of monarchs, of nobles, and of no small number among the clergy, through the century which preceded the appearance of "Wycliffe. The struggle had passed, and the established superstition resumed its dominion with a renewed conscious- ness of power. How far the English reformer discovered the feeling of other states to be that of his countrymen, or how far the circumstances of England, in the fourteenth century, were peculiarly favorable to the formation of his character and the encouragement of his efforts, will appear from the following chapter, which is designed to present a rapid view of the institutions of our ancestors at that period. 155 CHAPTER III. On the Ecclesiastical Estahlishment, and the State of Society in England, jjrevious to the Age of Wyclije. SECTION I. I. DESPOTIC TENDENCIES OF THE PAPAL POWER. II. FEEBLE OBLIGATIONS OF OUR SAXON ANCESTORS TO THE CHURCH OF ROME. III. AUTHORITY OF THE ENGLISH MONARCHS WITH RESPECT TO THE ANGLICAN CHURCH FROM THE ACCESSION OF THE CONQUEROR. IV. EXCESSIVE AVARICE OF THE PA- PAcy. V. ITS ENCROACHMENTS FREQUENTLY RESISTED BY THE PEOPLE AND THE NOBLES. VI. AND BY THE CLERGY. VII. NOTICE OF GROSSTESTE. VIII. THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN HENRY THE SECOND, AND THOMAS A EECKET. IX. VIGOROUS POLICY OF EDWARD THE FIP.ST. X. LIMITS OF THE OPPOSITION HITHERTO MANIFESTED BY THE ENGLISH TO THE PAPAL CLAIMS. XI. THEIR IGNORANCE RESPECTING THE CHARACTER OF THE CON- TINENTAL SECTARIES. XII. THE STORY OF GERARD AND HIS FOLLOWERS. XIII. SINCERE DEVOTION SOMETIMES OBSERVABLE AMONG THE ENGLISH CLERGY OF THIS PERIOD — LANFRANC, ANSELM, ST. EDMUND, BRADWARDINE. XIV. RELIGIOUS DEGRADATION OF OUR ANCESTORS AT THE OPENING OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. I. The abridgement of despotic authority in the crown, has been frequently numbered among the social benefits resulting from Christianity, as adopted in the states of modern Eu- rope. History, however, has demonstrated, that the power thus wrested from the sovereign, was more frequently attached to the priesthood, than conferred upon the people. Hence, the struggles which arose between monarchs, and any con- siderable portion of their subjects, were partial and almost in- effective, when compared with those which were every where perpetuated between the demands of the crown, and the rival 15G RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. pretensions of the mitre. Tiie feudal system knew nothing of divine right as pertaining to kings any more than to their nobles, or to the more subordinate chieftains of the soil. The practice, however, which had been connected by church- men with the inauguration of monarchs had served to create this distinction, and thus to produce the many forms of suffering which are inseparable from civil despotism. A character of peculiar weight was thus impressed on sovereigns, and such as was intended to place them in independence of the subject, however elevated. Pontiffs, indeed, might de- throne princes, and give their land to strangers ; but in every such transfer the people were disposed of along with the territory, and were left to resist the pontifical decision, but at the peril of their souls. Amid every conceivable re- volution therefore the only alternative before the view of the multitude, was this change of tyrannies. While the docility of the monarch secured the approbation of the pope, every terror of superstition was freely employed to enforce the royal pleasure ; but a dispute between the king and this chief pastor of the church formed a favorable crisis for revolt. Even then, however, the man whom some convulsion had placed on the vacant throne, would not fail to be reminded by the spiritual counsellor of Christendom of the fate of his pre- decessor, and would be gravely admonished on the importance of profiting by example.^ J The history of onr Magna Charta affords a sutFicient proof of the above state- ments, and its> fate, as a document favorable to popular rights, was not singular. Maithew Paris records the wrath of Innocent the third, respecting it as degrading to his vassal, the king of England ; and informs us, that it was annulled by the pope and liis conclave. (Hist. 2G6.) The pontiff afterwards descended to reason with the barons on the propriety of relinquishing their ill-gotten treasure ; promising, that their submission to his will as lord, should not be to their injury : but both his authority and liis condescension were lost on the efficient parties in the affair of Runnamede, (ibid. 267.) Honorius, who succeeded Innocent, approved of his policy in this particular, but suggested to Henry, the iraportance of choosing a favorable crisis for recovering that portion of authority which had been improperly wrested from his hand, (ibid. 2G8.) Clement the fifth proceeded so far as to absolve our Edward the first from all the restraints which this obnoxious paper had imposed upon him, andfrom wlialever oaths he might have been taken to observe its provisions.— Collier, i. 499. SECT. I.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OP WYCLIFFE. 157 II. In England, various circumstances had facilitated the early subjection of the ecclesiastical establishment, to the authority of Rome. The doctrine of Christianity was intro- duced among our Saxon ancestors by papal missionaries, and these, though slow in their progress, at length procured the expulsion of the Scottish clergy from that larger portion of the octarchy, which their more successful zeal had evangelized. These events, together with the subsequent appointment of Theodore to the see of Canterbury, by pope Vitalian : the rapid diffusion of the monastic spirit : and the frequent appeals of Wilfred of York, to the papal tribunal : contributed much to induce that spirit of subjection to a foreign inter- ference so observable in the history of the Anglo-Saxon church.- It is, however, worthy of remark, that when 4;he Duke of Normandy meditated his enterprise to secure the sceptre of Anglo-Saxon Britain, this obedience of the fathers availed nothing with the successor of St. Peter in behalf of the children. A consecrated banner was the significant pre- sent of Alexander the third to the invader of England ; and by William and his army it was hailed as expressing a sanction of their object from the head of the church.^ III. But the triumphs of the Norman leader were unfriendly to the progress of papal influence. In the country which his arms had subdued, his will became supreme. The most dis- tinguished officers of the church were removed at his pleasure, and their places were supplied by his followers. The decrees of synods, and all the more important censures of the clergy, were also made to depend upon his sanction.^ And if it was among the last acts of his life to secure certain lands of the church to the purposes for which they were bequeathed, William was the first among our princes, to exact from such domains the various aids of civil tenure, or of knight- service.^ During the schism in the papacy, the conqueror also assumed the right of determining in behalf of the English -See Note C. ■! Malm. 3G. ^ Eadmer, G. J Ibid. Matt. Paris, 7, 158 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. Ill, church, respecting the person to be acknowledged as her spiritual superior, and while papal legates were allowed to preside in the national councils, it is evident that these for- malities were always conducted in entire subserviency to the will of the sovereign.^ By his authority the intercourse be- tween the English prelates, and the see of Rome was cau- tiously regulated ; nor did the menace of Hildebrand as provoked by this policy at all affect its continuance J The claim of the tribute, known by the name of Peter's pence, was more successfully made ; but that of homage to the see of St. Peter for the crown of England, was spurned with a de- cision, which the most aspiring of the pontiffs, judged it important to respect.*^ It was, however, in the introduction of the "court christian," that the policy of William, in relation to the church, became to his new subjects most remarkable. Among the Anglo-Saxon people, the clergy and the magistrate had occupied the same bench, and with some trivial excep- tions had been accustomed to determine the same causes. But the decision of such matters as were considered to be wholly civil, was now reserved to the separate jurisdiction of the secular tribunal ; while to the clergy in their spiritual courts pertained the judgment of offences as charged upon the persons of their own order, and that of the various de- linquencies, which came within the cognizance of the eccle- siastical canons.9 The limits of these separate judicatures, 6 Eadmer,6. ' Collier, i. 252. 8 Selden Spicil. ad. Eadmer, 164.— The words of the conqueror were, " To pay homage I have been unwilling, and I am unwilling, for neither did I promise it, nor do I find that my predecessors paid it to your's." 8 Eadmer, 6. Wilkins. i. 368 — To evade the evil of this arrangement, so fruitful of perplexity to his successors.William was obliged on one occasion to tax his ingenuity. His brother, Odo, while holding the bishopric of Baieux, was created Earl of Kent ; and when about to quit the kingdom in the hope of succeeding to the papacy, it occurred to the conqueror that the loss of the nobles in his brother's retinue and of their united treasure to the kingdom was an evil that should be prevented. Odo was accordingly arrested under pretence of mismanagement in his civil office during a recent absence of his sovereign in Normandy. The prelate complained of his arrest and appealed to the clerical tribunal, but the king replied, that he was detained not as bishop of Baieux, but as earl of Kent, SECT. I.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 159 if they were ever accurately defined, were never carefully observed ; hence, their history through the western empire had been that of dissension ; and if the conqueror knew but little of the evils which commonly arose from their collisions, his felicity in this respect was less the result of his unusual capacity, than of his favorable circumstances. The government of William Rufus, in reference to the church, was distinguished from that of his father in nothing exceptmg his more lawless inroads on ecclesiastical property.''* Henry the first, who ascended the throne to the exclusion of Robert, his elder brother, was aware of the hazards to which a defective title exposed his crown, and endeavoured to secure the attachment of his people, by the liberality of his mea- sures and professions. In this case, however, it was con- sidered sufficient to promise with respect to the church, that her former immunities should be preserved, and that his exchequer should not be enriched from her revenue, as in the preceding- reign. '^ Anslera, who filled the see of Canterbury, seized a favorable crisis to demand of the king, his surrender of the right of investitures. Henry first evaded, and at length openly and efi*ectively resisted this novel claim. ^- A similar fate also awaited the attempts which were made during the same period to vest the legates of the papal see, with an authority in the nation, independent of the crown.'^ During the commotions which extended through the reign of Stephen; the brother of the sovereign exercised the legatine authority in the English church, and the clergy alternately flattered or 'u It is the statement of the faithful Eadiner, that his sovereign regarded the papal influence In England as dependent in all things on the will of the prince, i. 28, ii. 54. »• Ibid, iii. 55. '2 Ibid, iii. 57—91. The king, indeed, consented to relinquish the practice of conferring the ring and crosier, but they were surrendered, considered only as the emblem of spiritual jurisdiction. The loss of the sovereign therefore was merely that of a ceremony. " Eadmer contends, though with more patriotism than truth, that such authority had never been known in England, except as connected with the see of Canterbury, (vi. 58.) Such, however, was the disposal ofthe office under Henry the first. ( Anglia Sacra, i. 792.) The admission of the power in any form involved a degree of sub- jection to a foreign authority. 160 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. TIT. oppressed, were left in the rank assigned to them, under the government of the first William and his sons. But in the reign of Stephen's successor, the comparative strength of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of England, was to be deter- mined by a series of events, which attracted the notice, and involved some of the most important interests of Christendom. The contest, however, which embittered the reign of Henry the second, was not so much with the pontiff, as with the more aspiring among the national clergy; a class of men whose general temper was but too faithfully reflected in that of their advocate, Thomas h Becket. The reign of Richard the first aff'ords but few materials to the ecclesiastical historian. It is certain, however, that the most intrepid of our monarchs was careful to exercise that authority with respect to the church, for which his father had contended, and that the English clergy in his day, deemed it expedient, rather to question the mea- sures of the pope than those of the king. But the reign of his successor was to exhibit the complete ascendancy of priestly ambition. John claimed as his right, the nomina- tion of persons to the vacant bishoprics. This demand the monks of Canterbury opposed with^ vigor ; treating it as an encroachment on the ancient authority of their convent. In support of their pretensions, they appealed to the tribunal of the pope, and through their chicanery, the king became in- volved in his disastrous conflict with the see of Rome. The claim of the English monarch had been sanctioned by the practice of all his predecessors ; but his violent and un- certain temper, exposed his kingdom to the sentence of an interdict, and his person to that of excommunication. Still unmoved, he was next declared by the sovereign pontifl* to be no longer king ; his subjects were absolved from their alle- giance; and all christian princes were exhorted to aid, in wresting the sovereignty of England and Ireland from the grasp of a perjured man. Philip of France obeyed the sum- mons, and collecting the strength of his kingdom, prepared SECT. I.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 161 to seize the English sceptre as his own. John surveyed the forces of the enemy, reflected on the general disaffection which his many vices had created, and at length complied with the demand of a papal legate, who exacted as the price of protection from domestic treachery, and from foreign in- vasion : that the deserted monarch should restore to the church, every former emolument and privilege : and that re- signing his kingdom into the hands of the pontiff", he should consent to hold it for ever, as a fief of the holy see. As a badge of this odious servitude, a thousand marks was to be an- nually conveyed to the treasury of St. Peter.^^ IV. In the declining system of superstition, even the love of power, had become in general subservient to the baser passion of avarice. The political influence of the papacy, with respect to this country, could receive no farther aug- mentation ; and from this period, the ingenuity of the Vatican appears to have been vigorously applied to render the sub- jection of England to the feudal and the spiritual supremacy of the pontiff's, as productive as possible. The modesty which had once limited the pontifical interference in episcopal elec- tions to instances of succession in the archiepiscopal sees, we have seen followed by a similar intrusion, with reference to the suffragan prelates ; and admitted into these more ambi- tious departments of the hierarchy, the spirit of encroachment was with less difficulty extended to all the subordinate sources of emolument and power.^^ We have seen, also, that this, invasion of the rights of patronage, affecting alike the prince '^ Matthew Paris was contemporary with these events, and describes the papal legate as reiterating the doctrine of Hildebrand in the presence of the king, 229 — 337. 15 It was not antil the year 1257, that the abbots of this kingdom were obliged to follow the example of its prelates and to visit Rome, before assuming the exercise of their new functions. We have observed that Matthew Paris cnmplained of this innovation. He saw it as bringing into the monasteries the same disputes respecting elections which had become iiereditary in the chapters ; and he further saw that the absence of the abbot elect, would often be a season in which monastic wealth would be invaded by the laity, and when monastic discipline might not be so vigoronsiy ob- served, Hist. 951. VOL. I. M ir>2 RELIGION A?JD SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. and the subject was not peculiar to England. It was an in- novation which would of course be variously resisted. But the political divisions of Christendom, were opposed to any general effort, even for the removal of evils generally felt; and by the skill of the pontiffs they were commonly so fos- tered or controuled, that to each state the alliance of a power enthroned amid the superstitions of the age, was always important. That division of strength also, which national rivalry or the policy of the Roman court failed to produce, was too frequently effected by domestic faction and in- trigue.^*' An exclusive patronage of such ecclesiastical vacancies as were of royal foundation, was among the deputed claims of Henry the second. It formed a branch of authority cau- tiously preserved by Richard, his sou and successor; and we have seen that John, to whom the sceptre next descended, became violent in asserting the same pretension. But his subsequent surrender of this right, together with his crown, into the hands of the pope, exposed the nation during the succeeding reign, to a system of exaction the most oppressive in its annals. The sums extorted by the court of Rome under the name of " fees," had incurred the reproach of Christendom. To this odium the pontiff adverts, as inducing him to request of Heni^ the third, that two prebends in each cathedral, with an annual sum equal to the support of two monks for every monastery, might be transferred to the papal court, in commutation of those acknowledgements which ancient custom had rendered to its equity, but which had recently become so much the matter of complaint. It 16 Boniface VIII. who would have treated Philip the fair as his vassal, and have drained the Gallican eliurch of her treasures, was somewhat more cautious in his demeanour toward the English hierarchy. It was in the year 1302, that a bishop of Worcester cited the authority of a papal bull which atlected to give him possessioD of the temporalities of that see ; but his disloyalty was followed by the fine of a thousand marks, and by an acknowledgment before the king and his council, that those appendages to his office were holden solely of the king, nor did the pontiff con- sider it wise to remonstrate. — Spelman, ii.430. SECT. I.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 163 was at once perceived that the commutation proposed would be such in name only, and described as a novelty, it was successfully evaded by Henry and his baronsJ'' In various subsequent attempts to drain the land of its wealth, England's pontiiical lord was more fortunate. Many necessities were successively pleaded, as justifying his pecu- niary demands ; such as the recovery of the holy land from the profanation of the infidel : the expenses of a war con- ducted agaiiist the emperor, who, by defending his right of investitures, had become no less a foe to the church : and above all, the importance of an ample revenue, that the secular dignity of the papal court might be maintained, — a dignity described as essential to its influence, and in conse- quence to the perpetuity of true religion, and the means of salvation to the world. To place the property of the English nation under regular contribution for these and similar pur- poses, it became necessary to ascertain its extent, and with a view to this object the most offensive measures were adopted. 18 In the year 1229, a tenth of the moveables of England was demanded, and obtained, to aid the successor of St. Peter in a war which was intended to reduce the temporal power of the empire, into complete subjugation to the spiri- tual. By the legate Rubee, some few years later, a fifth was required for the same purpose from the revenues of the clergy, while the transfer of benefices in the English church to Italian clerks, had become such as to occasion loud com- plaints and even open violence.^s The expenditure of eccle- siastical property on this class of foreigners, as ascertained by Grossteste, was not less than 70,000 marks a year, a re- venue stated by another contemporary writer, as exceeding IT Spelman, ii.328— 331. '8 Ibid. 3G1. If the contribnlion levied on the ascertained property of the subject was refused, the parties were to be excommunicated, and their estates laid under an interdict. 13 Collier, i. 434. M 2 164 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. that of the crown by two-thirds.-'' Nor was it deemed suffi- cient thus to contemn the ancient laws of patronage. In this, as in other countries, benefices were extensively con- ferred on the favorites of the papacy, by way of provision or commendam. By the custom of provisors, ecclesiastics were considered as persons provided for certain livings in prospect of the next vacancy ; by that of commendam they were introduced avowedly but to occupy the vacancy until a permanent incumbent might be regularly chosen. This latter arrangement soon became as objectionable as the former, inasmuch as the period of occupancy was frequently commensurate with the life of the parties so appointed. By such measures the intercourse between the papacy and the English church, every where assumed the character of a most impious merchandize. From these frequent and sud- den demands for money, arose the class of persons described by our historians as Italian bankers ; — wealthy men who, pro- fiting by the necessities of others, had contrived to extend their influence to every department of the ecclesiastical system. Roger, bishop of Ij ndon, censured their iniquitous policy ; but di' y corver^ed his official displeasure into merriment. He next pronounced them excommunicated, and insisted on their removal to a distance from the city; but they appealed fi-om his decision to that of the pope, aware that their opponent would hardly submit to the parent of the evil as a judge.-^ The abuses of this description which prevailed through the reign of the first Edward, and that of his son, were scarcely less than those which had disgraced the age of Henry the third. A tenth from the almost exhausted revenues of the English clergy, was annually conveyed to the treasury of 20 Matt. Paris. 859. In bringing the English church to this state, the zeal of the reigning pontiff. Innocent the fourth, is said to have been more effective than that of all his predecessors. =" Ibid. 419. The name Caarsini, by which these thrifty merchants were distin- guished, bespoke their origin. SECT. I.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 1G5 the pope throug-h six successive years, from the accession of the first of these princes.-- On one occasion Edward de- scended to become himself the collector of this odious tri- bute ; but the pontiff suspecting the motives of this voluntary- labour, demanded that the business should devolve upon its proper agents, and the king- considered it important to with- hold his services."^ From the records of a parliament con- vened the year of Edward's decease, it appears that every source of wealth under the controul of the popes in the pre- ceding- reign, was still retained by them. Their agents also are farther accused of putting fraudulent interpretations on wills, to increase their spoil : of assuming the authority of civil magistrates, to effect the recovery of debts : and of greatly exceeding their commission in collecting the ancient tribute of Peter's pence. It was also stated, that the pro- perty of religious houses had been largely conveyed into the hands of foreigners ; either in obedience to claims preferred by the heads of their respective orders, or to those advanced by popes in favor of their cardinals ; while the demand of the pontiffs on the first fruits, i. e. the first year's revenue from every vacant benefice, was described as a novelty, and as highly prejudicial to the interests of the king, the church, and the nation. Thus England descended to the feeble government of Edward the second, burdened with ecclesias- tical grievance ; and as the inquietude which was commensu- rate with the reign of that monarch was incompatible even with the effort for redress ; the thraldom which superstition had imposed on the nation, appeared unbroken on the acces- sion of the sovereign, under whose auspices John de Wycliffe became known as a reformer. V. But the monarch was not the only, nor even the prin- 22 Knighton de Eventibus, 2461. 23 The pope complained most loudly of this intrusion, threatening, should it be continued, to visit tlie person and dominions of the monarch with chastisements pro- portioned "to the sin thus committed against the divine majesty, and the contempt thus shewn for the apostolic see." — Collier, i. 484. M 3 166 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. cipal opponent of papal avarice and encroachment. The disgrace which the weakness and the vices of John had brought upon the nation, could hardly be viewed by his successors without a blush ; the shame, however, ap]iears to have been more deeply felt by the aristocracy atid the people than by the sovereign. It was during the last year in the reign of that prince, that an interdict was pronounced in the name of the pontiff, on the city of London, as the chastisement of rebellion. But the citizens are described, as distinguishing very accurately between the temporal and the spiritual power of the popes, and as treating the sen- tence of the church with contempt, because published under false impressions, and designed to enforce a secular claim. " The pope," they observe, " has no authority for concerning himself in worldly matters, inasmuch as it was simply a spiritual jurisdiction which the Saviour conveyed to St. Peter and his successors. Whence is this ambition of Rome extending itself even to our Island I What have these apos- tolic prelates to do with the direction of armies? Surely their claim is derived from Constantino, and not from St. Peter. Little, indeed, of the apostle is there in themselves or their deeds ; but while better versed in the arts of am- bition and extortion than in those of war and peace, they must strive by their spiritual authority to render themselves absolute, and ever scattering their anathemas must aspire to the subjection of the world."*^ These sentiments cannot fail to remind the reader of Arnold of Brescia ; and thus stimu- lated, the Londoners rang the bells of the city throughout the day on which the interdict was announced, banishing from their walls all the usual signs of contrition. The feeling thus evinced by the inhabitants of the metropolis, was also frequently expressed by the more opulent members of the community, and especially by the barons. It was this ■-•' MhU. Paris. 2T8. SECT. I.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 167 which induced the latter, in an assembly of 1229, indignantly to refuse a pecuniary grant which had been solicited by Gregory the ninth.-^ From the same causes and a few years later, an association was secretly formed with a view to correct by violence, certain ecclesiastical abuses which were found to defy the penalties of law. Governed by individuals of rank, its object was to render the benefices of the English church less attractive to the creatures of the papacy ; and this was attempted by menacing the Italian clergy with a total destruction of their property ; and by carrying their threats into fearless execution with respect to some of the more delinquent in that class of strangers.^ Indeed, during the reign of Henry the third, and Edward the first, the nobility and the commons frequently discovered a spirit of opposition to this system of foreign controul, which must have led to important results, had it not been conti- nually impeded by the feebleness of the one monarch, and by the mistaken policy of the other. Had Edward disclosed but half the energy of character in the cause of religious independence within his own dominions, which was evident in his protracted effort to subject the crown of Scotland to that of England, his name might have occupied a most enviable prominence in the annals of his country. But pre- sent aggrandizement was the object generally before him, and he may have judged correctly in supposing that this would be best promoted by preserving an amicable intercourse with the papal court."^ » Matt. Paris, 301. •■» Collier, i. 434. ^ It was not long before his death that he was absolved by the pontiff from his oaths to observe the provisions of magna charta, and in a subsequent parliament some im- portant regulations were adopted to prevent the shameless impositions of the papal court, but the king, in contempt of his promise to act with the lords and commons, secretly encouraged the grievance, and it continued to his deatli. (Collier 500 — 503.) Among the last acts of his life was his presenting a service of plate to supply the table of the pontiff, and his surrender of the revenues of Canterbury, into the hands of the pope on the degradation of Winchelsea. These, however, are trifles compared with the bad faith of the former deed.— Ibid. M 4 168 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP, III. VI. Nor were the laity always alone in presenting this resistance to oppression. These complaints of the sovereign, and these louder remonstrances of the people were followed in various instances by similar expostulations from the clergy. The doctrines of Arnold, as proclaimed by the citi- zens of London in 1216, had been previously advocated by a favorite churchman, in the presence of the king ; and if the subsequent surrender of the crown to the pontiff, was fol- lowed by measures which reduced the revolutionary teacher to a state of exile and poverty, his opinions, it is certain, were not wholly forgotton.^^ We find the name of one English clergyman only, attached to the deed which was designed to render this country a fief of the papacy.'-'9 An arch- bishop also, the principal agent in obtaining magna charta, was the first in the order of nobility to denounce the validity of the odious compact between king John and Innocent the third .3° By an assembly of prelates and abbots, the first demand on the wealth of the hierarchy under the third Henry, was successfully resisted. ^^ A claim was afterwards pre- ferred on a tenth of the moveables of the church by pope Gregory; but the justice of the papal pretension was debated through several days, and the compliance so reluctantly yielded, was accompanied by a protest against the converting of a voluntary offering into a precedent for future usurpa- tion.^ This prudent admonition, however, was but little regarded. In 1238, a fifth of the clerical revenues was demanded towards defraying the expences of a war directed by the pope against the emperor. The English prelates reminded the pontiff" of the caution which they had con- nected with their former grant : they also ventured to de- scribe the hostilities which they were required to support as founded in injustice : and complained in yet stronger lan- 28 Westminster Ann. 1209. Matt. Paris. 229. » Ibid. 337. 3" Ibid. 370, 37L ^1 Ibid 331. 3J Ibid.36L SECT. I.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WVCLIFFE. 169 guage of the tyranny disclosed in the menace of excommuni- cation, as the penalty to be incurred by such of their order, as should oppose this pecuniary claim. For these reasons and others, they inform the representative of the chief pastor, that his present appeal to their worldly resources, must be wholly in vain. Thus repulsed by the prelates, the legate next assailed the inferior clergy. But the ecclesiastics of Berkshire, spoke the sentiments which had become consi- derably prevalent with their order, when they described the emperor as to be convicted of heresy, but by the judg- ment of the church : and the persecution of heretics by military force, as a custom unknown in the earlier ages of Christianity. The power of the pope, with respect to eccle- siastical property, they also stated, as the parallel of that possessed by the sovereign with respect to the estates of the subject, contending as a consequence, that the restric- tions imposed on the prerogative of kings were in equal justice to be placed on that of pontiffs.^^ In 1245, a stand no less vigorous and united, was made by the same class of men, in connection with the nobles and the commons, and its failure, as an effort to protect the property of the kingdom is attributed to the pusillanimity of the king.3^ VII. But in adverting to the opposition of the English clergy to the rapacity of their ecclesiastical sovereign, the name of Grossteste deserves a particular notice. It was in the year 1253, that a mandate was addressed by Innocent the fourth, to that prelate who then filled the see of Lincoln, requiring him to induct an Italian boy to a vacancy in his diocese. This venerable ecclesiastic, whose learning and sanctity had won the applause of his countrymen, shrunk with indignation from the odious service. In a letter to the papal court, after the usual professions of reverence, -•' Matt. PRris, 532— 535- s* Ibid. 694—708. Anna). Barton. 306, 170 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. 111. he declares with freedom his resolve to follow its decisions, but as they are found to accord with the doctrine of Christ, and with that of his apostles. He complains of the clause, non obstante, usually inserted in the papal bulls, as an example of duplicity which, were it generally imitated, must be fatal to all religious faith, and wholly subversive of social existence. The practice of conferring cures on parties incompetent to the duties of the pastoral office, he numbers with the most perilous of heresies; and, attri- buting the greater guilt of the custc;^i to the higher authori- ties, who were daily sanctioning its principle ; he ventures to assert that the remotest encouragement given to such measures at Rome must be to convert the chair of St. Peter into the chair of pestilence, and to render his holhiess but one with antichrist and Satan. Innocent, on reading this novel document, discovered the spirit which has commonly proved the associate of his office. He spoke of the king of England as his vassal, and threatened to hurl upon the head of this " absurd old man" a punishment which should make him the wonder of his kind. But in the more wary suggestions of his cardinals we perceive the caution induced by the less passive state of society. It was observed, that the reputation of the bishop of Lincoln yielded not to that of any prelate in Christendom : that the evils of which he complained could not be said to be imaginary : and that his complaint was farther supported by facts and reasonings, which must render any hostile movement with regard to him a matter of doubtful policy. These prudent admonitions at length prevailed. But Grossteste became still more the enemy of the corruption which he had exposed : and had the zeal of his youth been as enlightened as that of his old age, he might have been enrolled among the most distinguished benefactors of his country. On his death-bed he is said to have denounced the pope as a heretic and antichrist, and the popularity of his name gave currency to a tale of his re-appearance, as a nightly vision, to SECT. I.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 171 shake the heart of the pontiff by an announceiiient of his guilt. ^^ On the accession of Edward the first, the spirit of the clergy was still favorable to an abridgment of the papal in- fluence, particularly as affecting their property and the ancient discipline of the English church. So long as the intercourse of the king with the court of Rome contributed to the protection of their wealth, they were the wary but certain partisans of the crown. When, however, the neces- sities of that crown exposed them to the same species of exaction from another quarter, they threw themselves again luider the despotism of the papacy ; and it will be sufficient here to remark, that from that period, to the event of the reformation, the national ecclesiastics appear to have been more jealous of their domestic than of their foreign superior .^^ VIII. The purpose for which we advert to these instances of opposition to the usurpations of the pontiffs, will require the same passing notice of the struggles so long perpetuated in the bosom of the nation between the monarch and the clergy. We have seen that the separation of the civil from the eccle- siastical power in the annals of this country, is to be attri- buted to the policy of the Conqueror; nor is it until the reign of Henry the second, that the evils of that measure appear to have been of serious magnitude. With the monarch last named, political influence was an object often pursued with an ardour at variance with a just discrimination, as to the means of securing it. To attach the clergy to his person, Henry became the first among our princes to stain his hand in the blood of persecution :^'' to annex the provinces of Ireland to his extensive possessions, he descended to solicit them as a grant from the pope t^^ and to facilitate the subjection of 35 Matt. Paris, 870, 883. Annal. Burton. 326, 328. 3* Of this statement the second volume of Wilkins would afford ample illustration. The reader may consult as a specimen pp. 226 — 233. '^ William of Newhourgh.ii. 13. Spehnan ii. 59. ^* Baronitis, Ann. 11.51, lloj. 172 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. ecclesiastical persons, in all criminal cases, to the judgment of a lay tribunal, was his principal motive in appointing the most luxurious churchman of the age to the vacant see of Canterbury. But Henry was destined to suffer much from that clerical resentment which his imprudence had fostered : he also lived to regret the concession made by his conduct in favor of the most obnoxious pretension of the papacy : and in the person of Thomas a Becket, the royal favorite, and the new metropolitan, he presently discovered the determined opponent of his measures with regard to the English church. This extraordinary man had rapidly passed through various civil and ecclesiastical offices to the rank of chancellor.''9 Vested with the prelacy of England, he became immediately distinguished as the champion of that political independence in the christian priesthood which he had previously aided the monarch to invade, and which he knew to be regarded by Henry as a most pernicious encroachment on his rights as a sovereign.^" But a new theatre was now opened to Becket's ambition, and he prepared himself for the approaching con- flict by a flattering appeal to the superstitions of the age. Relinquishing an opulence of retinue, which had excited the wonder of his own, and of other countries,^^ he claimed the applause of a religious conversion, by suddenly resorting to practices which were to the last degree ascetic, but which, to his discerning eye, must have borne the aspect of childish- ness.*- It is evident, at the same time, that this unexpected 39 While archdeacon of Canterbury, Becket had accompauied his sovereign in tlie war of Toulouse, had taken tbree castles which were deemed impregnable, had tilted triiiinphantly with an accomplislied knight of France, and traversed Normandy at the head of 1200 knights and 4000 cavalry, maintained at his own charge. Yet such was the Christianity of the times, that this military adventurer was already anticipated as the primate of the English church. — Stephan. 22, 23. ••0 The chancellor, witli whom Henry had long indulged the most intimate fa- miliarity, could not possibly have been ignorant of his master's sentiments and de- signs, and Bede, Ilist. i. c. 29. Cressy's Church History, xvii. c. 2. Eadmer. 4—10. Lanf. Vita. 8. Turner's Hist. Anglo Saxons, book v. c. v. vi. 15 Chron. Sax. 1089. Notilia, Monaslica, Preface. 202 RELIGION AND .SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. to a liigh degree useful, and by individuals among their votaries some important benefits were conferred upon society. There are vices, however, to which the monastic system has ever, sooner or later, given an ascendancy, and these are not more obvious in the ecclesiastical history of other nations, than in the story of our own.^^ VI. But when the means of instruction presented by the collegiate and conventual seminaries had nearly failed, the opulence which corrupted the teacher had inspired the pupil with a taste for improvement, and schools instead of de- clining, became daily more numerous and efficient. In the twelfth century they were the boast of almost every town and castle, and even of villages : and if the pretensions of the greater number were limited to the humblest elements of knowledge, others aspired to teach whatever the scholars of Oxford or Cambridge were supposed to learn. The former seminary was the principal scene of WyclifFe's labours, and the history of Oxford, from the middle of the fourteenth century to the era of the reformation, is intimately connected with that of his opinions. The university which has given to that ancient town its importance, is attributed on pro- bable evidence to the wisdom of Alfred. Under Edward the confessor, it was a place of instruction, and one in which the logic of Aristotle and the rhetoric of Tully, are said to have been taught ; but its existence as a seat of learning, for nearly a century after the conquest, is doubtful. In 1086, it consisted of less than two hundred and fifty dwellings ; in 1141, it was totally destroyed by fire ; and in 1191, the greater portion of it was reduced to ashes by the 18 Bede's Epistle to Egbert, (2GI). It must bave been tbe evidence of no com- mon depravity among the Anglo-Norman monks, which led Grossteste to describe them as belonging to the dead rather than the living, as the tenants of a sepulchre appearing in the habiliments of the grave, and as deriving all their vitality from an infernal inspiration. See his language in Wyclifte's Trialogos, pp. 258 — 260. A work of Giraldus Cambrensis, called, " Distinctionem Libri," in the Cotton Library, (Tibeiius, B. 13.) includes a siring of facts illustrative of monastic corruption, fully justifying the ardent censure of the " great clerk" of Lincoln. 8ECT. II.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 203 same element. The houses which had been hitherto raised with wood and merely thatched, were now built of stone and covered with tiles or lead. On this spot Vicarius com- menced his lectures in civil law during the reign of Stephen, and the fame of his learning attracted students from Paris. A few years later, the pupils assembling in the schools of Oxford, are described as amounting to four thousand. Long dispersed among the people, and subject to many imposi- tions, in 1249, a number of the students was for the first time assembled and provided for under one roof; and such was the success of this arrangement, that the principal establishments included in that seminary, trace their origin to within a few years of this period ; while its scholars^ are said to have increased to the amount of thirty thousand.^^ VII. The state of learning in the fourteenth century is a subject of interesting inquiry, and as Wycliffe excelled in the studies which were then popular, a review of them is neces- sary to the complete exhibition of his character. In the ancient schools which we have briefly noticed, the sciences were divided into two classes ; the trivium, comprehending grammar, rhetoric, and logic ; and the quadriviiim, including music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. But these liberal arts, as they were designated, were commonly taught from meagre abridgments, and with the exception of grammar and logic, were in general but imperfectly under- stood. It was presumed, however, that every thing powerful in language, or secret in the laws of nature, must be dis- closed to the student who should surpass his fellows in this circle of the sciences. Such was the result of those circum- stances which doomed our ancestors to imbibe the infancy of their learning from the dotage of the Roman. Natural phi- losophy had been so often perverted to the cause of heresy or atheism, that it never became popular with the fathers of " Ingulf. 514. Bruckeri. Hist. Philos. Lib. vii. c. iii. §. i. AVood's Histor_y, i. Fieurj, vi. 156 — 158. viii. 252. Ilallani, ii. 571. .Simultaneous with these advances of society in England, were those of the more considerable of the continental states. 204 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. the church. 1*^ Hence, through a series of centuries, the system of nature had nearly ceased to be the object of study ; and even the small number of facts that were collected respecting it, during the middle ages, arose principally from the stimulus supplied by the dreams of the alchymist, or the kindred reveries of the astrologer.^^ The venerable Bede, whose writings mainly contributed to preserve whatever know- ledge was possessed from the fall of the empire to the revival of letters, explains the appearances of nature by matter and form ; and by the four vulgar elements acted upon by the four supposed qualities of moist and dry, hot and cold. He knew enough of astronomy to explain the nature of an eclipse, but not sufficient to prevent his describing the moon as larger than the earth.^9 In the thirteenth century more attention was directed to this branch of knowledge, and with the most encouraging success. The illustrious friar. Bacon, entertained the hope of discovering an elixir which should prolong the period of life, and transmute any metal into gold."° Hence, arose his zeal in the work of experiment, and thence resulted his deep and experimental acquaintance with the laws of the material world. -^ Still he remarks, that arithmetic was rarely understood in his day beyond what was needful to the ordinary purposes of life; and he states with grief, that there were not more than five or six scholars in Europe, to whom the higher departments of the mathematics were known.-^ Rhetoric was more attentively studied. It had been commended with much eloquence by some of the more popular writers of the twelfth century, and in succeeding ages, it proved of far greater importance to the '^Bruckeri. Hist. Philos. L. vi. c. ii. The mathematics had been so fa;- connected with astrology, that to suppress the latter the study of the former was prohibited to the clergy before the close of the fourth century, and in a council which Fleury describes as " reverenced by all antiquity," ii. 391. 19 De rerum Natura, as cited by Edmund Burke. Abridgment of English History. 20 Opus Majus. 472. •'• Fleury, viii. 192—202. 29-Opus Majus, 57-138. Woods Ilisl. Oxford, i. 122, SECT, n.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 205 mendicant preachers, than the most critical acquaintance with languag'es generally unknown."^ Another object to which the time of churchmen was devoted, to the neglect of better learning, was the study of music. Since the pontificate of Gregory the great, music had been numbered with the more important of the sciences ; and such was the value attached to it, as connected with religious worship, that honors rarely obtained by erudition were often freely bestowed on such of the clergy as excelled in this accomplishment."* But philology in the ages referred to, was truly the handmaid of science, and the difficulties of the latter were surmounted, but as a knowledge of the former, was deemed of importance. By the clergy, the Latin was studied with an ardour hitherto unknown, and in the next century it was not only written with a purity and elegance which has been often praised, but was frequently adopted by ecclesiastics, as the vehicle of their colloquial intercourse.*^ History, however, has shewn that the institutions and the dialect of our Saxon ancestors were too deeply fixed to be easily eradicated. In the age of Wycliff*e, both had re- covered a considerable share of their ancient authority. The speech of Normandy was less frequently heard, and the Latin, though still every where taught, had so far declined, that a violation of its most obvious rules, was more than once gravely defended by Oxford professors.-'' While that language was successfully cultivated, individuals are discovered pos- sessing some knowledge both of the Greek and of the Hebrew ; but in the following century, it is lamented by the most learned man of the period, that with not more than three or four exceptions, the language of Greece and Ori- ental literature in general had become wholly unknown in 25 Fleuiv, viii 174,175. "^ Bruckeri, Hist. Philos. L. viii. c. ii, Fleurj, viii. 317. =" Anglia Sacra, ii. 491, 497. P. Blesens. Opera, 2G2, also Epist. ep. 92. Metal. L. ii. c. 13 p. 7.59. Bulasi Uni versatat. Paris, ii. 55G. «* Wood'.s Hist, Oxford, i. 12,3, 127. 20G RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. the west."7 This low state of philology may be attributed in part to the mistaken judgment and false taste of the studious; and in part, to the debasing tendencies of the popular supersti- tion ; — which had proceeded so far as to connect some mystic and forbidden purpose with the use of characters so strange, and so little intelligible. But a cause more powerful than either is obvious, in the distinction and emolument which were in general secured, by a skilful acquaintance with the divinity or dialectics of the schoolmen,-^ and of the canon, and civil law.-9 VIII. The name, " schoolmen," had been derived from the ancient conventual seminaries already noticed. But the de- lusive tenet, respecting the obscurity of the scriptures which had been so conveniently urged by the priesthood, to wrest them from the laity ; was now directed with equal freedom against the body of the clergy, if untutored in the techni- calities of heathen logic. Whatever learning were possessed, if the dialectics of Aristotle were unknown, it was concluded that the true doctrine of St. Paul must continue a secret. This supremacy of the Stagyrite was not suddenly admitted, but in the twelfth century, his writings were better trans- lated, and became more extensively known ; and before the thirteenth had closed, we find his authority unrivalled. In the university of Paris, then the most distinguished in Europe, students were bound, even by oath, to defend the opinions of this infallible guide, and those also of certain among his com- mentators. While the scholastics of France boasted of their Abelard, or the Master of the Sentences, Italy was equally loud in her praises of Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure, 27 Opu.sMajus.44 — 56. 28 Wood's Hist. Oxford, 127. 29 Matt. Paris. We learn from this historian, that so early as the year 1251, the more successful students of civil law were rewarded with the dignity and all the privileges of knighthood. The practice extended until the various branches of learn- ing were found to confer no less reputation than the profession of anus — an advance in humanity of the highest importance. SECT. II.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 207 and equal honor was supposed to be conferred on the uni- versity of Oxford, by the names of Ockham, and of John Dun Scotus.^'^ If we reflect on the applause so widely conferred through nearly three centuries on the more celebrated schoolmen, and on their almost unexampled industry, as evinced by many a line of folios, the dust of which, our own generation is rarely found to disturb ; an enquiry as to the nature of a science which could attract such attention, and stimulate to such toil, will not be devoid of interest. The writings of Aristotle, which were constantly appealed to by these dis- putants were his logic and his metaphysics. The former were earlier known in the west, than the latter ; and were perhaps intended generally to precede them. Armed with these weapons, it became a great object with the scho- lastics to establish what are termed the principles of natural religion, by the force of abstract disquisition ; and to this end it was deemed important to anticipate every conceivable ob- jection. From this treacherous ground, they often passed to reason with all gravity on the substance, orders, or language of angelic natures, and on a multitude of themes even less promising. Betrayed occasionally into a similar freedom of discussion on the formal doctrine of the church, the censure of heresy was sometimes incurred ; and a polemical warfare in which the leading dissentients were supported by their numerous adherents commonly ensued. There was nothing visible or invisible : nothing either known or supposed to 30 In noticing the rise of this disputatious spirit among the clergy, it is curious to remark, that the fathers, whose authority was even yet uuimpared, commonly pro- fessed themselves the enemies of logic as a science, not^ unfrequently rejecting tiie established methods of reasoning as opposed to the simplicity of the gospel. Aristotle was the special object of their abhorrence. Thus the great St. Ambrose recommends the most limited use of discussion in religion, viewing religious faith as deriving its efficacy from its connection with the feelings, and from the supernatural aid of the Spirit. St. Basil proceeds so far as to stile reasoning " (he devil's work," and to refute an opponent deems it enough to describe his arguments as framed from the categories of Aristotle, and to denounce tiie wisdom of the world as a faithless guide,— De Fide, Lib. i. c. v. Contra Eumon. 17. 208 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CIIAP. III. exist : which the votaries of this science did not affect to class and define. But this ambitious range of topics, and particu- hirly the inscrutable mystery of some, and the unmixed folly of others, must force a suspicion that something- distinct from the discovery or the application of truth was the object pursued. If we pass from the matters of discussion, to their method of disputing, it will be evident, that the general solicitude was to debate according to certain rules, and in the free use of endless technicalities ; while victory irrespective of truth or error, constituted the great point of ambition. The most simple questions appear to have been treated with a view to discover difficulties, where they had never been suspected ; others became popular, in proportion as their subtlety sup- plied a field for the display of ingenuity. Nor did the bosom of the chivalrous knight ever swell with more conscious pride, over the fall of an antagonist, than was felt by these logical champions, when their dexterities in a verbal conflict, had secured them the honors of a triumph. Before the opening of the fourteenth century, it had passed into a maxim, that an adroitness in this intellectual manoeuvering must precede all sublimity of conception in theology. Such as had prac- tised this discipline with success, were honored in some instances with appellations, implying attributes more than human, and were often called to sustain the highest eccle- siastical dignities.^^ John of Salisbury, a prelate of the twelfth century, and a scholar of deserved celebrity, had devoted his youth to the study of Aristotle. Returning after many years of absence to the companions of his early days in the university of Paris, it is his statement, that he found them precisely the same men, without having advanced a single step towards solving »' Bruckei i, Hist. Pliilos. Lib. vii. c. Hi. § 3. Hallani, ii. 572—580. Tiiere is some- thing truly Quixotic in the knightly temper and martial diction with which the fumous Abelard closciibes his wordv achievcmeiifs. — Robertson's Introduction, note, SECT. II.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLJFFE. 209 their old questions, or having added even the smallest pro- position to the sum of their former knowledge. ^2 That one race of men should have been thus satisfied to become grey in mental activity, without in the least improving the stock of their wisdom, may be reviewed with surprise ; but this delusion extended to many generations. Nor was this total waste of energy the only result to be deplored. The scholastics were generally ignorant, both of the language and of the learning of Greece, and as a consequence, the principles of the Aris- totelian philosophy were often but unperfectly known to men who were loud in its praises. Judging of nature rather from the metaphysical abstractions of their author, than by way of experiment, the errors which followed were endless.^^ It is, however, on the subject of morals and religion, that the deficiencies of this class of men are most conspicuous and most to be lamented. A barbarous mixture of super- stition and mysticism, which Gregory the great had honored with the name of a book of morals, was for nearly four cen- turies the most popular production on that science ; and when superseded by the works of certain schoolmen, the change was not an improvement.^^ No obviousness of any truth or duty could secure it from perplexity if subject to the review of these sceptical controversialists.^^ So far, indeed, was the system of Aristotle from aiding the cause of Christianity, that it is known to have borne an unfavorable aspect on natural re- ligion ; especially when accompanied with the commentaries 2= Jlelal. Lib. i.c.ii. 3. M Opus Majus.43. s* Bruckeii Hist. Philos. Lib. vii. c. ii. ili. § 2. 3' It was, for instance, laid down as an axiom that whatever is pleasing to God is lawful. It was next made to appear ;is pleasing to God, that a youth of family' should learn the sciences, but it was supposed that this might not be done without descend- ing to theft for the means ; and hence it was concluded that there are cases in which dishonesty may become lawful and pleasing to God. When we discover men be- guiling themselves with such miserable speculations, we are not surprised to learn, that the war of words sometimes proceeded to that of blows, nor that these harder evicoutiters should be, in some instances, such as to call for the intervention of the civil authorities. — Bulaei Hist. Universitat. Paris, iv.311. Cotton's Abridgment, 102. VOL. I. P 210 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. of the famous Averroes. Disputes admitting of no termina- tion must occasion perplexity ; and it is stated by authors who appear to be most worthy of credit on this subject, that the reasoning-s of modern infidels include scarcely any thing which may not be selected from the works of schoolmen.^*' The mind would, certainly, be exhausted of its patience in contemplating the wayward exercise of power, disclosed in the annals of these laborious triflers, did not the sepulchral stillnes of preceding centuries render any movement wel- come, as the possible symptom of returning life and con- sciousness ; and did not history afford some proof of benefit, as resulting even from scholastic discussions. It is admitted, that the logic so much admired by these debating fraternities, included little more than a collection of terms. But the import of these was fixed with much precision, and arranged into a system, they were intended as a guide to universal truth ; nor would it be reasonable to suppose, that no advantage, either direct or remote, should result from the zeal so long evinced in the work of applying them. By such occupation more of discipline must have been introduced into the exercise of the higher faculties ; and it is obvious, that these move with efficiency but as accus- tomed to action. A greater attention was thus induced to the meaning of words, and hence ensued a more just concep- tion of the power of language. We should remark also, that if these applauded rules of judgment were in some instances so viciously employed as to serve the cause of a licentious infidelity, from this abuse incidentally arose their most important service to the world. By other minds less degenerate, and equally powerful, the march of infidelity was perceived with alarm. Hence the treasures of divine reve- lation, and the works of its more enlightened defenders, were explored with a new interest ; and from this cause it has 35 Hallam, iii.533. SECT. II.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF WYCLIFFE. 211 followed that the views of religion most in harmony with its cha- racter in the earlier ages of the church, are to be found at the period adverted to in the writings of schoolmen. With the study of school divinity we have noticed that of the civil and canon law as generally associated. We may also observe that the subtlety so far connected with tke former, had become inter- woven to almost an equal degree with the latter f^ and as these sciences will be frequently named in the following memoirs, the patience of the reader will, perhaps, allow me in a few words to explain the origin and character of each. VIII. Justinian ascended the throne of the empire in 528, and signalized the first year of his reign, by requiring that a collection should be made of the most useful of the Roman laws. From that copious abridgment, extracted principally from the code of Theodosius, and from the earlier compilations of Gregorius and Hermogenes, a digest was afterwards formed known by the name of the Pandects ; and the publication of these, consisting of fifty books, was preceded by that of an elementary treatise called the Institutes. The two last works, together with the novels, or subsequent edicts of the same prince, included the system of jurisprudence, which became so much an object of study and admiration in the twelfth century. From the fall of the empire the clergy had re- tained some knowledge of its secular laws, and often appealed to them ; but the accidental discovery of a copy of the pan- dects in 1135, gave a new impulse to enquiry, respecting the principles of Roman legislation. From that period to the age of Wycliffe, distinguished civilians might be found in all the principal cities; and universities began to consider their claims to civic learning as an important branch of their cele- brity. In the seminary at Boulogne, and where law only was 37 Blackstone, Book iv. c. 33. p. 410. Sir William Jones describes the science of pleading as " founded in the most exquisite logic," (Jones on Bailments), and it is certain, that the sovereigntj of Aristotle has been owned at the bar, scarcelj? less than in the pnlpit. p 2 212 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND [CHAP. III. taught, the students in 1262, amounted to ten thousand. The states of Europe had now passed from their infancy, their barbarian institutions were gradually departing, and they were no longer incapable of appreciating a code which had acquired its maturity among a civilized people, and v/hich included perhaps as large a portion of equity as any which had hitherto existed. A system which is said to be reducible to the three principles, — that we should live honestly, injure no one, and pay all their due ; — which is still ascendant, not only in Italy, but in such states as Germany and Scotland, and incorporated with more or less freedom in the polity of almost every nation of Europe, will not be speedily censured as of very humble merit. It sanctioned the use of torture, and delivered its decisions on the evidence of two witnesses ad- duced by the plaintiff. These were its most objectionable features, and they were sufficient to justify the distrust of our ancestors, as to its infallibility, and left room for a stronger attachment to the laws of their country in which no provisions were made for the extorting of evidence, and which secured to the defendant, a less partial treatment and atrial by jury.^^ The canon law, if examined, will be found to consist of the decisions of councils, and of sentences from the fathers, of the decrees of pontiffs in their Italian synods, and of their decre- tals or official answers to questions on religion. Such are the materials of the three thoiisand capitularies, published by Gratian, a monk, inlLSO; and esteemed through eight cen- turies as the most valuable depository of the canons of the church. The sacred writings were of course acknowledged as a principal source of legislative wisdom. These, however, were too commonly employed by the canonist, but to pervert judgment, and to serve the cause of a secular ambition. It was contended, that if the New Testament had contemplated any change in the circumstances of the christian community, 38 HoiJE JuridJcae Subsecivas, 82—106. Blackstone's Introduction, §i. 23 Foitescue's Da Landibus, with Selden's notes, c. xix. xx. xxii. xxiii. SECT. II.] BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OP WYCLIFFE. 213 it certainly had not provided for them. This pernicious, tenet, it had become important from the progress of error at an early period to maintain. Once admitted also, it was argued, but too successfully, that the supposed deficiencies of that document were left to be supplied by the church as re- presented in her sovereign and his court, or in general councils. With respect to the decree of Gratian, it will be sufficient to remark that the most revolting pretensions of the popes were urged on that authority.^" But the code of the papal hierarchy is fast descending to its merited oblivion ; and the better laws of Justinian are now known, but as written wisdom, or as variously blended with the policy of modern nations. In favor of both, the ecclesiastical influence of this country was vigorously exerted through several centuries. But in the age of Wycliffe, the forms of feudal policy had begun to disappear, and the prin- ciples of our present legislation, were becoming daily more systematic and cemented. Indeed before the reign of William and Mary, there is no period in the annals of the English constitution which can prove more interesting to the lover of our rational liberties than that of Edward the third. The fixing of the court of common pleas at Westminster in the reign of the third Henry, had led to the establishment of the inns of court, where our municipal laws, which the univer- sities had determined to exclude, were long successfully studied. By Sir Edward Coke, that seminary is designated a third university, and at the commencement of the fourteenth century its students amounted to two thousand.^^ IX. It appears then, as the result of the facts adduced in these introductory chapters, that the papal system exhibits so great a corruption of the christian worship, polity, and « Horse Juridicre Subsecivae, 156. 168—171. Dapin's Abridgment of Primitive Discipline, cent. iii. 103. The work of Gratian is described bj Jortin, as " full of ignorance and blunders," and as " magnifying the pope's authority beyond all bounds." — Remarks, iii. 310. ■" Blackstone's Introduction. p3 214 RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND, &C. [CHAP. HI. doctrine, as to render the traces of their original purity, discoverable in Europe during the middle ages, but so many exceptions to the faith and customs which every where pre- vailed . It is conceded that the hostilities directed against that vast usurpation may not always have originated in christian motives, nor have been always sustained by christian feeling ; but that such was their general character is certain. It has also appeared that the means employed to crush such move- ments were in general truly worthy of the causes which had led to so gross a perversion of the highest good conferred on man ; being chiefly remarkable for their contempt of honor, justice, and humanity! In England, the most serious costs and the worst disgrace imposed on the nations by the papacy, were too long submitted to ; and if the horrors of the Albi- gensian massacres were not reacted in her cities, it was perhaps, chiefly, because amid her various opposition to that lawless power, there was little till toward the close of the fourteenth century that could be branded with the name of heresy. We have also seen that through nearly two centuries, prior to the appearance of Wycliffe, the crime of heresy had become so connected with the loathing or the terror of the popular mind, that amidst commercial enterprise, the partial revival of letters, and some advances in the science of government, the signs of a religious reformation which had illumined a portion of the continent, to the dawn of the twelfth century, were no more perceived. The power of the church had been wielded to intimidate ; and through nearly two hundred years, its evil purpose had appeared to be nearly achieved. But in the mind of Wycliffe, the opinions which persecution had con- signed to the most cautious secrecy, were generously embraced. Even his labors may be described as premature, but the shadowy interval between his deceasl, and the appearance of the great German reformer, passes away like those mists which frequently linger for a while on the morning horizon, as if to heighten the contrast between the twilight and the day. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. p 4 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAPTER I. BIRTH OF WYCLIFFE ; ITS DATE AND PLACE HIS JUVENILE HISTORY STUDIES OF YOUTH IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURV HIS CONNEXION WITH OXFORD HIS REMOVAL FROM QUEEn's COLLEGE TO MERTON CHA- RACTER OF HIS STUDIES AT THIS PERIOD HIS ATTENTION TO THE CANON, CIVIL, AND MUNICIPAL LAWS HIS PROFICIENCY IN THE PHILOSOPHY AND EXERCISES OF THE SCHOOLMEN HIS VENERATION FOR THE SACRED WRITINGS, AND HIS TITLE AS " GOSPEL DOCTOR" MUCH IN THE TIMES OPPOSED TO THE FORMATION OP HIS CHARACTER THE GREAT PESTI- LENCE WVCLIFFe's FIRST TRACT, INTITLED, " THE LAST AGE OF THE church" DISCLOSES THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF HIS MIND IN THE THIRTY-SECOND YEAR OF HIS AGE, The year 1324, has been uniformly named by chap. I. Birth of Wycliffe; the biographers of John de Wycliffe, as the most probable period of his birth. ^ His appearance in Oxford as a student in the year 1340, would seem its'date to preclude the mention of any later period, and is equally opposed to the adoption of an earlier date.* Seventeen years had then passed, since the acces- sion of Edward the second, to the throne of England. The interval of three years, which closed the reign » Lewis, 0. i. Baber, ii. Tanner. Bibliothec. Brit. 767. '■' Among the youth, indeed, who are described as the scholars of the universities in the middle ages, was a considerable number who were mere children. Thus the prince of Wales, afterwards Edward the fifth, and his brother the duke of York, are described as studying at Oxford, when the elder had scarcely reached the tenth year of his age. Such juvenile pupils were received into the schools which Wood has called " Nurseries of Grammarians," until capable of ascending to " higher " arts." Children, ho\yever, would not often be sent from distant parts 218 . THE LIFE OF M'YCLIFFE. CHAP, of that unfortunate prince, transferred his sceptre v-^^ to the hand of his elder son, and the bearer of his name. The county of Durham, which in the venerable Bede, produced the father of English learning, has been viewed as the birth place of the man to whose character and efforts we are so greatly in- debted for the English reformation.^ But on better authority, a humble village in a northern district of Yorkshire, has the honor of WyclifFe's nativity.* Judging from modern usages, we should readily suppose that the surname of Wycliffe was received from his parents; but our forefathers, until the Norman conquest, if not altogether unacquainted with such appellations, rarely adopted them. After that event, and to the beginning of the fourteenth century, they were frequently attached to families, and in numerous instances, were obviously derived of the kingdom to Oxford, merely to acquire what might be obtained with the same certainty in their own neighbourhood. In the northern counties especially, provision appears to have been made against this difficulty. Edward the first, speaks of an establishment in one of the border districts where two hundred young clerks were educating in his time ; and in some such establishment the northern students generally proceeded so far as to appear at the universities qualified to enter ou the studies more peculiar to those celebrated seats of learning. In addition to which, Wycliffe was certainly long enough in the north to have acquired a considerable portion of its dialect, and as there are no traces in his history of his ever returning to that part of the kingdom after his coming to Oxford, the fact suggests that his boyhood was certainly passed near the place of his nativity. — AVood's Annals, i. 105 — 107. ii. 7i2 — 717. Collier's Ecclesiastical History, i. 497. Lord Lit- tleton, Fuller, and some other historians have remarked, that the term school was synonymous in the middle ages with the term university ; and it is certain, that various of the provincial schools, both religious and secular, aspired to teach whatever was taught in the universities. But they were none of them chartered, and never became sufficiently important to be regarded as rivals either at Oxford or Cambridge. ^ Fuller's Worthies, Durham. < Leland's Itinerary, v. 99. THE LIFE OF WVCLIFFE. 219 from the place of their residence. In such cases, chap. the parties were called by their baptismal name, ^^,^^ and commonly said to be of the place, the de- signation of which is subsequently found insepa- rable from their signatures, as Simon de Montfort, and John de Wycliife.^ The name of Wycliiffe is certainly a local one. But in England, the only locality which has ever been so described, is a village about six miles from the town of Richmond, in Yorkshire ; and, that this spot which still retains its ancient designation was the home of Wycliffe's ancestors, is a conclusion supported by the strongest probable evidence. From the conquest, to the year 1606, it was the residence of a family of the name of Wycliffe, who were lords of the manor of Wycliffe, and patrons of its rectory .^^ At the latter period, the possessor of this ancient property lost his only son, and by the marriage of his daughter, his inheritance was transferred to a family of another name, but which has continued to be of importance in the neighbourhood. During the life time of our reformer, there were two rectors of Wycliffe, who bore his name ; Robert, presented by Catherine, relict of Roger Wyclift'e, and William, presented by John de Wycliffe. That the person forming the principal subject of the ensuing chap- ters was of this family has been the local tradition ; and this is somewhat confirmed by the fact, that no antiquarian industry has been sufficient to ascertain 5 Camden's Remains, 109. Lowth's Life of Wykeham, c. i. There is also an interesting paper on this subject in the Archialogia. It is a part, as nearly as I can remember, of the sixteenth volume. 6 For my information respecting the parish and family of Wycliffe, I am principally indebted to tiie present possessor of the rectory, though many of its particulars may be seen in Whitaker's Kiclunondshire, Article Wvcliffc. 220 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, the remotest intimation of any other, as known in v^4w the district by the same appellation. Doctor Zouch, in the notice attached to his portrait of Wychife, describes him positively as " a native of this parish." To this respectable authority, we may add that of Birkbeck, the author of a work intitled ** The Protestant Evidence" and a clergyman, who officiated in an adjoining parish during the reign of Charles the first.'' But the most decisive evidence of this kind is supplied by Leland. About a century and a half had passed since the decease of Wycliffe, when this dis- tinguished antiquary, on noticing the parish of Wycliffe, describes it as the place in which Wycliffe, the heretic, was born.^ The only circumstance imparting the least uncertainty to this conclusion, is, that Leland, himself, has elsewhere given a somewhat different account. This fact, however, may be explained, so as to leave the birth place of this extraordinary man, exposed to no reasonable doubt. The author of the '* Itinerary," travelled for much of his information, but his errors with respect to Richmondshire, render it certain that he could not have visited the whole of that county. The name Spreswell, which is given by that writer to what he describes as a " poor village, a good mile *' from Richmond," and as the supposed place of Wycliffe's nativity, is one of which there is not the least trace in the history of the neighbour- hood.^ That name, or one resembling it, may ' Ed. quarto, cent. \iv. p. 71. 8 Collectanea, ii. 329. where his local description is followed by the words, " nnde Wigclif hereticus originem diixit." ^ " There neither is now nor was there ever a place of that name in " Richmondshire." Such is tlie language of my esteemed correspondent I. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 221 have been conferred on a solitary house among the chap. property of the Wycliffes, — whose possessions it is evident were extensive, — but as applied to a village or hamlet, it has never been known in that portion of the kingdom. Nor are we obliged to regard the house so denominated, if such there was, as certainly within " a good mile of Richmond," and as a conse- quence to acknowledge an incorrectness in de- scribing the reformer as a native of the parish of Wycliffe. Such accuracy was not to be expected from a writer who in the same work states the rise of the Tees, to be in a meadow near Caldwell, at least fifty miles from its real source. It is probable, that Leland's information in the two instances was obtained from distinct sources, and his first state- ment may refer to the family origin of the reformer, the second to the precise spot of his nativity, — a matter which may have been determined by ac- cident. His allusion to Spreswell, therefore, should not be allowed to disturb the current of tradition, nor his own subsequent notice on this point ; and that circumstance disposed of, there are few particulars of family history in remote times, so certain as the birth place of John de Wycliffe. It has also been the local tradition, that the family referred to as possessing, — and which it appears alone possessed — the name of the reformer, is that from which he descended. To this opinion, it may be objected, that the name of Wycliffe occurs not in the existing records of that household. But this difficulty may Mr. Kaine, a gentleman whose office as librarian of the dean and chapter Tibrary of Durham, and known proficiency as an antiquarian, render his authority decisive. The statement is also that of Dr. Whitaker. History of Richmondshire. 222 THE LIFE OF WYGLIFFE. CHAP, be removed, by stating- that the members of the v„,^^ WyclifFe family continued the unaltered partisans of those debasing superstitions which the zeal of John de Wycliffe was so rigorously devoted to an- nihilate.^" And we judge of that age, too much by impressions derived from our own, if we see not the conduct of such a man as fraught, in the view of such connexions, with the worst infamy which could stain the annals of their race. If the blood of one traitor, would be enough to destroy the pure line of ancestry ; the man who was supposed to have received from the bosom of the church, all the virtues of her sacraments, and who is after- wards found denying her authority, affirming her spiritual hea.d to be the predicted antichrist, and the great body of her ministers to be the servants of the Apocalyptic harlot, could hardly fail to be loathed as the most faithless of renagades. To wipe off this family reproach, would be the object of no little solicitude. It is when he has proceeded thus far, that we find Wycliffe indulging in re- marks which disclose this state of contemporary feeling ; and which also admit of a more obvious application to himself, than to any other man with whom the history of the age has made us ac- quainted. " There are three faults," he observes, " happening many times to wedded men and '* women. The first is, that they sorrow over their *' children,ifthey are naked or poor; but they reckon " it as nothing, that they are unclothed with virtues '" The first paper in the Appendix to this volume is the copy of a will by one of the Wycliffe family. It belongs to the year 1423, and is decisive of the point referred to in the text. For this document I am also indebted to the kindness of Mr, Raine. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 223 " in the soul. With much travail also and cost, chap. *' they get great riches, and estates, and benefices <,.^^.^^ *' for their children, and often to their greater dara- " nation ; but they incline not to get for their chil- *' dren, the goods of grace and of virtuous life. Nor " will they suffer them to retain such goods, as they " are freely proffered them of God ; but hinder it as *' much as they may ; saying, if a child yield himself *' to meekness and poverty, and flee covetousness *' and pride, from a dread of sin, and to please God ; " that he shall never become a man, never cost them " a penny, and they curse him, because he liveth '' well, and will teach other men the will of God to *' save their souls ! For by so doing, the child getteth " many enemies to his elders, and they say, that he " slandereth all their noble kindred who were ever " held true men and worshipful !"'^ Such, we may venture to conclude, was the language of relatives as provoked by the pious zeal of the english reformer. The sum of our evidence, on these points, therefore may be placed within a small compass. The surname of Wycliffe, is unquestionably of local origin, and there is no locality in the kingdom from which it could have been derived, beside that which is still so designated.^" The only inference to be adopted, therefore, is, that the con- nexion of the reformer, with the village of Wycliffe, was certainly such as to induce himself and his contemporaries to regard it as the place of his na- " MS. " On Wedded Men and Wives, and their Children also." C. C. Cambridge. '^ Dr. Whitaker, indeed, (History of Richraondshire, Article Wycliffe,) in opposition to every vestige of tradition on the subject, has attempted to render it probable that Wycliffe derived his name from a place called Wittecliffe, which is somewhat nearer Richmond than the parish of 224 THE LIFE OF VVYCLIFFE. CHAP, tivity. To the tradition which has farther con- v.,^^ nected him with the family to which the name of that village was particularly applied, there is nothing opposed, save the omission of his name, in the archives adverted to. But the known re- ligious prejudices of the one party, should be remembered ; and with it the fact, that in the nu- merous manuscripts which have descended to us from the other, there is not the least allusion to any such relations, but what is in strict agreement with the above extract, and favorable to the con- clusion which that has been viewed as tendino- to o Wycliffe ; and has employed his ingenuity to discover some designation in the neighl)oinhood that may pass for the Spreswell of Leland. Our eloquent antiquary liad not seen the statement of that writer in his Collectanea, or his genius, I presume, would have been otherwise employed. I have examined his slender materials on this subject, and, in the language of the present rector of Wycliffe, must add, that I cannot .see " the slighest foundation for this fancy of Dr. Whltaker." See vol. i. 197, 198. ii. 11, 42. It may be remarked also, that Wittecliffe, which is merely a tract of ground so denominated from a white clift near it, has never been known as the name of any person or family in the neighbourhood ; nor is there tlie least room to suppose, that it was the residence of any family, in the fourteenth century, sufficiently im- portant to send its junior members to Oxford. Nor is it less worthy of observation, that when Leland and others insert the name of the re- former in Latin, they call him Vico-cUvus, meaning the street or village near a precipice or clift, a description which is correct as applied to the pari.sh of Wycliffe, but which could never have been suggested by any thing in the neighbourhood of Wittecliffe. The term" Wic" comes from a Saxon word signifying " to dwell," and " which, according to the different nature and condition of places, hath a threefold signification, im- plying either a borough, or a village, or a bay made by the winding banks of a river." Bailey, verb. In each sense it describes the spot referred to. The name of Wycliffe is spelt with nearly twenty variations. By Mr. Lewis thus, " Wiclif ;" and Mr. Baber in following his example, observes, that it occurs in that form in the oldest document in which the name is known to appear, — meaning the pap^r referring to Wycliffe's Embasyein 1374. But the prior documents concerning the dispute respecting Canter- bury hall, are of unquestionable authenticity, and in them the name of Wycliffe often appears, and in almost every inst mce with a''y" in the first syllable, and a " ff " in the second, (see Appendix ) Whether applied to the reformer, or to the village ot Wycliffe, tlie orthography which I have adopted lias certainly the best pretensions to antiquity. THE LIFE OF M'VCEIFFE. 225 confirm. It is then in the highest degree pro- chap. bable, that the difficulty of placing Wycliffe's con- v^.^^^ sanguinity with the patrons of WyclifFe, beyond all possible suspicion, has arisen purely from the effort of his kinsmen, to save their descendants from bearing the reproach of his enormous heresy. That no traces of intercourse between himself and relatives should be found in his writings, nume- rous and varied as they are, is a circumstance, con- ferring an additional evidence on this painful conclusion ; and it is also due to his memory to remark distinctly, that after the period of his mino- rity, the aid which his character and the fair exertion of his talents might demand, would seem to have been his only dependence. In this state, providence has frequently placed the most highly gifted men, its temptations have been great, as their capacities, and how few have passed the ordeal with honor ! It is among the privileges of our universities to his ju- confer appropriate distinctions on mental acquire- t^"''^'"®' ment. This custom is older than the days of Wyclifte/^ and designed by his parents for the church, we learn that his mind was early directed to such studies as were deemed preparatory to higher attainments in a national seminary. ^^ That nothing beyond this should be known concerning the history of his youth, will hardly excite sur- prise, if it be remembered, that this is the amount of our information, respecting the juvenile years of Knox, — a patriot advocate of piety, equally de- serving the gratitude of his country, and whose '^ Dnpiii, cent, xiii. 155. ''' Lewis, c. i. VOL. T. Q 22G THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, less evil times are two centuries nearer to our w^^ own/^ The early life of distinguished men, like the first move toward the greatest revolutions, is often unnoticed by contemporaries, and hence unknown to posterity. When many causes have contributed to some momentous change, .it may not be difficult to enumerate them, agd to assign its portion of influence to each. But to observe similar events in their progress, and to predict their result; or to mark the openings of a superior mind, and to anticipate its history; requires a power of discernment rarely possessed. Had the disciples of WyclifFe, and the men of former ages in general, suspected that occurrences so familiar to them, were not only leading to important con- sequences, but might nevertheless become lost to their descendants, it would have been, but an amusement to preserve what the labors of the an- tiquary can never restore. Studies of While, however, we are left to imagine the th"^'f III" success which marked the attention of the youthful teenth WyclifFc to the usual elements of learning ; the character of the instructions, which the institu- tions of the fourteenth century presented, is suf- ficiently ascertained. At this period, the improving state of society had extended the means of edu- cation, beyond the precincts of the cathedral, and the monastery. Not only in the larger cities, but in every borough and castle, schools are said to have been established. ^'^ In these seminaries, the '* M'Crie's Life of Knox, i. c. i. '® Baconi, Opus Majus. Piefat. Robertson's Viow of Society, sect. i. Henry's History of England, vi. 195— 19S. Hallani, ii. 24—29. Beside a school in the abbey at ,St. Albans, in which every branch of knowledge then cultivated was taught, there was one in the same town under century. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 227 Latin language was taught with a zeal, somewhat chap. proportioned to its importance, as the only key v-^^^/ of knowledge. Thus initiated, the pupil passed to the study of certain approved works on grammar, rhetoric, and logic ; also on music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. These sciences, which it will be observed, were seven in number, were thought to be so explained, as to include within their mystic circle, whatever was deemed important, or even possible to be known. But a knowledge of grammar, was usually the extent of the learning acquired in these provincial insti- tutions ; the more complete study of rhetoric and logic, and of the various [departments of natural philosophy, being in general, reserved for the ad- vanced scholarship of university students. Having^ passed through this probationary dis- His con- cipline, it remained forWycliffe, or his connexions with'^Ox- to determine whether Oxford or Cambridsre should ^°'^^' Matthew, a physician, and G annus his kinsman, and the latter person was miicli celebrated for his knowledge of the canon and civil law. The praise bestowed by Matthew Paiis on this academy, implies that there were many such in the kingdom. — Vita Abbot St. Albans, 62. It has appeared from the researches of Tanner, that five hundred religions houses had risen in England during the interval from the conquest to the reign of John. To those houses schools were generally annexed. And it is eviden*^, that so early as the year 1138, the school system, as a matter distinct from the monastic establishments, had extended itself from towns to villages. —Notitia Monastica. Preface. No person, how- ever, could act in the capacity of schoolmaster until licenced by an appointed clergyman; and the priesthood, whether from jealousy or avarice, were often so merciless in their exactions, as at length to pro- voke the intervention of authority.— Brompton Chron. 1348. Henry, vl. 1G2 — 167. In a general council held in the Lateran church at Rome, in 1179, and in another convened at Paris, in 1212, all exaction for licences to teach were prohibited. — Hoveden, 589. Dupin, cent, xiii. 92. Q 2 228 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, be the place of his future studies. The former s-^^ was preferred. In that university, Wycliffe is first known as a commoner in Queen's college; a seminary founded in the year 1340, and which has numbered our reformer with its earliest members. The establishment in which he thus commenced the maturer discipline of his capacities, had risen \ in part, from the munificence of Phillipa, the queen ' of Edward the third ; but still more from the lau- dable zeal of Sir Robert Eglesfield, her chaplain. This clergyman was a native of Cumberland, and the college formed by his influence, was intended chiefly for the benefit of students, from the northern counties, a circumstance which may account for its being chosen by a youth from the borders of Westmoreland and Durham. But the infancy of such institutions is inseparable from many dis- advantages, and such as must be deeply felt by a His re- mind, ardent in its pursuit of knowledoe. Wyclifl'e moval ' . ironi ^ had not yet passed the seventeenth year of his College' to age, but it is fair to suppose that this feature was erton. already conspicuous in his character, and his dissatisfaction may be read in his speedy removal to Merton, a college in the same university, but founded in the preceding century. At this period the society of Merton was the most distinguished in Oxford. It had produced some of the most scientific scholars of the age : had supplied the English church with three metropolitans : its divinity chair had been recently filled by the celebrated Bradwardine : and within its walls, Ockham and Duns Scotus, had disclosed that genius the fame of which was at this time com- THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 229 mensurate with Christendom, and was believed chap. I. to be immortal. ^^ >— /-^^ While we contemplate WyclifFe as engaged in J/'JJg^^^Jf,^ those grammatical studies to which the years of diesatthis boyhood are commonly devoted, Oxford appears as the residence of thirty thousand students. Pre- vious to his appearance as probationer of Merton, this number from causes which will be explained, was greatly reduced. His connexion, however, with the most distinguished scholars of a seminary, yielding but to the university of Paris in its fame, could hardly fail to diffuse the most important influence over a mind, remarkable alike for its thirst of knowledge, and the capacity of acquiring it. Without wholly neglecting any of the more important branches- of science, the studies of Wycliffe, appear to have been regulated by a con- scientious regard to such qualifications as were '7 Hist. Oxford, Lib. ii. 89. 113, Lewis, c. i. The iast writer has mentionel Ockhani, as a student of Merton. Brucker affirms the same of Duns Scotus. - Hist. Philos. iii. 826. Brucker has supplied his readers with a specimen of the chastened manner in which Scotus was eulogized by his followers, (b28). Had the genius of Aristotle been unknnvn, Scotus, it is said, could have supplied his place. His arrival at truth was rather with the readiness and certainty of intuition, than by the doubtful ( rocess common to other minds. The divine attribute^ he de- scribes as one descending immediately from the presence of deity, and the nature of angels as though it were his own. The mysteries of pro- vidence he explained as if apprised of all its secrecies, and the felicities of heaven as if the element of his being. It is not sui prising that such a man is described as the '* Immortal Scotus,"' and as the most ingenious and powerful of the sons of men. But his contemporary Ockham lived to better purpose- It was his lot to doubt the infallibility of pope John the twenty-second. This circumstance compelled him to seek the pro- tection of Lewis of Bavaria, emperor of Germany, and his publications in defence of the civil power, as independent of the ecclesiastical, if unfriendly to his repose, were not so to his fame. One of those com- positions is praised by Sclden, as " the very best performance pub- "lished concerning the limits of the spirilualand temporal powers." — De Synedriis, Lib. i. c. 10. p. 223. Q 3 230 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, demanded by the solemn office which he was about ^,m^^ to assume. In the received doctrines on natural philosophy, he in consequence felt but a partial interest. It was sufficient, however, to induce that attention to them, which rendered him in some instances sceptical, where less thoughtful en- quirers had relinquished suspicion. That he was . perfectly familiar with the rules of rhetoric then so sedulously taught, is certain from his known ac- quaintance with authors who had treated on them, and with others in whose style they were most la- boriously exemplified. His own writings, how- ever, betray none of the appearances of art. It is plain, that his mind when approaching any question connected with piety, was ever too much occupied with the error to be eradicated, or the truth to be established, to admit of any material solicitude, re- specting the cadence or the niceties of language. Hence, most of his works bear the marks of hurried composition; but are at the same time distinguished by that free use of vernacular terms : that reite- ration of important sentiment : and that general obviousness and strength of expression, which con- ferred on them a charm of novelty, and an ef- ficiency to shake the faith and customs of a nation. It may be safely affirmed that his writings contri- buted far more than those of any other man to form and invigorate the dialect of his country. ^^ But this effect, though important, was of subor- dinate interest in the mind of Wycliffe, and was among other benefits which arose incidentally from that ardourinthebestcauseof the community which '« Hallain. ii. 607. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. his religious opinions had excited, and which he knew, could prove subservient to the popular welfare, but through the medium of the popular language. Had our reformer written elegant Latin, or possessed any considerable acquaintance with Greek, it would have been to surpass his contem- poraries in literature, scarcely less than in his views of the religion of the Bible. In the west, at this period, the language of Greece may be considered as unknown ; and that of Rome was no where written in its purity. ^^ Terms a nd phrases derived from the former, are of frejquent occja^^^ in WyclifFe's more learned productions ; the latter he wrote with fluency, and with as much of correct- ness as the taste of the age had judged to be im- portant. A very imperfect acquaintance with this language, was the only attainment in philology, required at that period, from candidates for the clerical office. With this study, however, that of the civil and Hisatten- canon law, and that of divinity, as taught by the *'a°(,^n *^'^ schooTrnerT, had long been associated. By Wye- "vii.and '-' ./ ./ nninicipal lifFe, these branches of knowledge were closely laws, investigated. But with the laws of the empire and of the church, he united those of England, as not less deserving his attention ;"° and his infor- mation relating to each, was soon to be effectively employed in the cause of national freedom, and of a purer Christianity. The canons of the church were collected principally from the decrees of councils and of pontiffs, and formed an authority, by which a multitude of causes once pertaining, '» Bacoui, Opus Majus, 44—56. History of Oxford, Lib. 1. 125. ^" Lewis, c. i, Q 4 232 CHAP. His profi- ciency in the philo- sophy and exercif^es of the school- men. THE LIFE OF WVCLIFFE. solely to the magistrate, were at length attached to the exclusive jurisdiction- of the christian pastor. A spirit of rivalry, hence arose, between the courts of princes, and those of the bishops, and such as to render it a proverb, that to excel as a canonist, required the learning of a civilian. There were also, numerous provincial and national customs, opposed to that imperial system of legislation which had disappeared with the civilization of the empire ; and to that dominion of canonical law which churchmen had reared upon its ruins. ~^ This was considerably the case in England, and it ought not perhaps to excite surprise, that the am- bition aided by the pedantry of the times, should be found struggling to exclude the native juris- prudence from the class of liberal studies.- But the independent mind of Wycliife was not to be thus deterred from ascertaining the merit of customs which had descended with the gene- rations of his father-land, nor at length from pre- ferring them openly to the decree of Gratian, or the code of the empire. Conforming to usages which the practice of more than two centuries, had contributed to esta- blish, he also became early devoted to the study of scholastic_theology, and was soon distinguished by his acquirements and his skill. Among school- men, Aristotle w^as revered as the only safe guide to the meaning of St. Paul. Aided by the logic and metaphysics of their master, there was nothing either known or supposed to have being,which these disputants did not attempt to describe and analyze. *' Gibbon, iii. 293 — 298. Piernninaiy View, c. '■'- Blackstone's Coninicntaiie^, Introduction. sect. i. c. iii. sect. 1. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE, 233 No truth was regarded, as established, until the chap. errors opposed to it had been formally assailed ; ^^ and extemporaneous debate on the questions of nature and law, of m.orals and religion, conducted with the forms and technicalities prescribed by the Stagyrite, was an employment to which the most cultivated minds addressed their whole ca- pacity ; and in which to excel, was to afford the most unquestionable evidence of extraordinary genius. These discussions became to the inmates of colleges, wdiat the tournament had long been to the knight and the baron ; and too frequently had about as little connexion with a spirit of devotion, or an improvement of morals. It must at the same time be conceded, that these debates were not without their use ; and that Wycliffe should begin his career, by treading in the steps of men, who were honored as the luminaries of their time can neither excite surprise, nor merit reproof. The study of Aristotle as the only certain preceptor of truth, in revealed theology, in the duties of life, and in the system of nature, was alone dignified with the name of philosophy ; and that our re- former knew no superior, as a master in this science is manifest, both from the plaudits of par- tisans and the concessions of opponents who were alike his contemporaries. Scholastic exer- cises, or the public disputations already noticed, were justly regarded as subjecting every pretension to mental superiority to the most unequivocal test. The ever changing aspect of these discussions, de- manded a readiness of perception, an extent of knowledge, and a facility of communication, which left no room for the triumphs of the feeble. To 234 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, state, that in such contests, John de Wycliffe was v^.^ unrivalled, would be to adopt the language ot praise, but a language colder than that which his genius extorted from one of the most relentless of his foes, who affirms his powers of debate to have been almost more than human. "^ This proficiency in a science having respect to such a diversity of objects, and burdened with so frightful a nomen- clature, supposes ardent application, and a con- viction of its general usefulness. While, however, it would have been indeed surprising* if Wycliffe had not imbibed the sentiment of the age, re- specting the importance of this philosophy, it was almost impossible that such a mind should have become so completely versed in its principles, with- out some misgivings as to the justice of its vast pretensions. His veiiG- It is at the same time due to its votaries to state, that in the writings of schoolmen, amid much that is sceptical in its tendency, and more that is useless or puerile, the truths of the gospel are not unfre- Doctor." quently to be discovered ; and that they are some- 23 Leland de Script. Brit. 379. Henry Knighton de Eventibus Anglize, col. 2644. Knigliton is an historian whose name will frequently appear in these pages. He was a canon of Leicester, and contemporary with Wycliffe. His work commences with some brief notices of Anglo- Saxon history : his story from the conquest is an acknowledged trans- cript of Ralph Higden, leaving his narrative of contemporary events as alone valuable. His hatred of our reformer and his followers is con- stantly manifest. It is Knighton, however, who describes the disciples of Wycliffe, as equally distinguished by their industry in acquiring scriptural knowledge, and their adroitness in using it, and who is con- strained to speak in the following terms of their master's capacity and acquirements. Doctor in Theologia eminentissimus in diebns illis. In philosophia nulli rcputabatur secundus : in scholasticis disciplinis incom- parabilis. Hie maxime nitebatur aUorum ingenia subtilitate scientlis et profunditate ingenii sui transcendere, et ab opinionibus eorum variare.— Ibid. ration for the sacred writings, and his title as Gospel THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 235 times exhibited on a scale of correctness, and chap. marked by a purity of application, which would have ^r^ done honor to men of any later period."* That the mind of WyclifFe, derived a portion of its light from this source is certain ; and it is equally evident that others were thus in some degree pre- pared to receive his more peculiar doctrine. From his writings we learn that he never wholly aban- doned the scholastic topics of discussion, nor its methods of reasoning.*^ From the same source, however, we also learn, that in the art of wisely separating the precious from the vile, he far sur- j passed the most enlightened of his countrymen. ' To remove the errors which treachery or ignorance has been long employed in interweaving with the truth, and to preserve the latter uninjured, must ever be a work of difficulty. In the age of Wycliffe, when the false had acquired so complete an as- cendency over the true, it was a task of eminent peril. His ardent attachment to the sacred scrip- tures, which at length procured him the appella- tion of the " Gospel Doctor," could not have been disclosed without considerable hazard to his repu- tation as a scholar. For such was the prevailing- contempt of the sacred writings, or the mistakes -* In this class Brachvardine, already noticed as the " profound Doctor," holds a distinguished place, as does Feter Lombard. Anselm has been described as the father of the scholastic philosophy ; and we have no writer surpassing him in scriptural knowledge, and but few approaching him in warmth of devotion before the age of Wycliffe. — See Prelim. View, c. iii, sect. i. -' A glance at the table of contents prefixed to his Trialogos, is alone siifficient to demonstrate this, (see chaptor on his writings). We are informed that there is still a richly endowed college at Seville, where certain Dominicans continne to lecture on Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. But the pupils are few; and even in Spain this species of iu*;tructiou is discouraged by tlie goveniraeut. 236 THE LIFE OF V/YCLIFFE. of men induced by the papal doctrine of infalli- bility as to the uses to which they should be applied, that an adherence to that volume, even as a text book was sufficient to induce the leading universities of Europe, to exclude the offender from their walls. Friar Bacon, and Grossteste j the celebrated bishop of Lincoln, honored the cause of these persecuted teachers with their pleadings, but their arguments and their influence were put forth in vain.^^ In the age of our reformer, men may have begun to discover that their " seraphic" instructors in promising them wisdom, had pledged themselves for more than was performed. But it yet seemed to require the whole of Wycliffe's ac- knowledged talent, to give popularity to the ex- ploded custom of lecturing on morals and divinity from the pages of holy writ. The charge, either of ignorance or of incapacity as preferred against him, was known to be perilous, accordingly his oppo- nents invariably accuse him of design, rather than of w^eakness. Mucii in Dr. Lowth has described William of Wykeham, as capable of seizing on the highest honors of the scholastics, but supposes that his attachment iiischa- to such studics—as the almost inevitable conse- quence of a university education — would have de- prived the world of his character as a statesman, and as the patron of learning.-' If this observation 26 Lewis, c. i. History of Oxford, Lib. i. 53, 94, 92. Fatlier Paul's Council of Trent, Lib. ii. ubi supra. 27 Life of VVjiiehani, § i. The following is Mosheim's account of the Biblicists of the thirteenth century. " The method of investigating *' divine truth by reason and philosophy prevailed so iniiversally, and was " followed with such ardour, that the number of those who, in conformity " with the example of the ancient doctors, drew their systems of theology the times opposed to the for- mation of THE LIFE OF WVCLIFFE. 2*^7 be well founded, it is worthy of remark, that as the chap. resident of a university in the fourteenth century, v,^^ and forcibly attracted by pursuits deemed so un- friendly to a life of useful activity, our patriarch reformer lived to be the means of conveying to his country and to Christendom, benefits of unrivalled worth. It will be admitted, that had such studies been found, completely to subdue all those stronger passions which were so essential to the character, he was destined to assume, the eifect would have been without novelty : and when we see his fa- culties thus surrendered to the cold occupation of legal enquiries, and to thatworld of subtle questions which had been created by the schoolmen, it may well excite surprise, that the effect anticipated in the case of William of Wykeham, did not follow in that of John of Wycliffe. But a complete knowledge of the ground and tactics of the enemy, was not to be obtained at less hazard, or at less cost ; and how far such pursuits were to contribute in the history of our reformer, to unite serenity with ardour and profound caution with daring en- " from the holy scriptures, and the writings of the fathers, and who ac- " quired on that account the name of Biblicists, diminished from day to " day. It is true, indeed, that several persons of eminent piety, and " even some of the Roman pontiffs, exhorted with great seriousness and " warmth, the scholastic divines, and more especially those of the uni- *' versity of Paris, to change their method of teaching theology, and •' laying aside their philosophical abstraction and subtilty, to deduce the " sublime science of salvation from the holy scriptures, with that purity " and simplicity wilh which it was there delivered by the inspired " writers. But these admonitions and exhortations were without effect; " the evil was become too inveterate to admit of a remedy, and the " passion for logic and metaphysics was grown so universal and so violent, " that neither remonstrances nor arguments could check its presumption " or allay its ardour," Hist. iii. 249. 250. To the last statement a ma- terial exception is supplied by the labours of Wycliffe, at Oxford. 238 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, terprise, the remaining- facts of this narrative will v.^^^ diclose. The great The years of his minority had scarcely departed, pestilence ^ylicn the nations of the earth began to droop under one of those afflictive visitations, M^hich the con- science of mankind has ever connected with the peculiar displeasure of the Almighty. It could hardly have passed before the eye of Wycliffe without aftecting his religious sympathies ; and its influence on the religious aspect of his country was extended and deplorable. It was in the year : 1345, that a pestilence, the most destructive in the annals of the world appeared in Tartary. Having ravaged various kingdoms of Asia, it hovered about the Delta and the Nile ; was wafted thence to the islands of Greece ; passing along the shores of the Mediterranean, it filled the several states of Italy with impartial ruin, and crossing the Alps, pene- trated into nearly every recess of the European population. Two years had been occupied in its desolating march, when the continent was shaken from its centre to its borders, by a succession of earthquakes. From June to December, in the same year, England was deluged with inces- sant rains : in the following August, the plague appeared at Dorchester : it soon reached the me- tropolis, and there, in the space of a few months, added many thousands to its victims. The infected generally perished within a few hours : the strongest failed after the second or third day. Wycliffe was now in the twenty-fiftli year of his age ; he saw the distemper passing from men to the brute creation, covering the land with putrid flesh ; the labours of husbandry suspended, the courts of justice closed. THE LIFE OF M'VCLTFFE. 239 the timid resorting to every device of superstition chap. for security, and subsequently perishing, buoyant »— ^-^ with delusion or phrensied by despair. He no doubt discarded the rumour which affirmed that a tenth only of the human family had been spared. But he may have listened to the less credulous, when stating it is probable that the earth had lost full half its population. It is certain, that enough would be seen by him, and admitted on unquestion- able evidence, to clothe the dispensation with the most alarming aspect ; and from his frequent re- ferences to it, in after life, we learn that its impres- sion on his mind was not to be eftaced. He had probably anticipated a diffusion of more sincere piety both among the clergy and the laity, as the result of a visitation so fearful. But he lived to see, and on a scale awfully extended, that the depravity which is not subdued by un- usual suffering, must acquire a more hopeless har- dihood from the resisting process through which it has passed. In the contempt frequently dis- covered by the physician and the priest, as to their respective obligations, in the remorseless plundering of depopulated dwellings, in the desertion of the husband by the wife, and even of children by their parents, he was called to witness at an early period the unveiled selfishness of the human heart. The infection had not spared the opulent, but had raged with more destructive fury among the poor. With neither, however, did it produce the signs of penitence. It was while nearly every house in the metropolis was a house of mourning, while many were wholly unpeopled, and parliament in consequence of the malady had been repeatedly 240 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, prorogued, that Edward the third assembled the N^-v— ' gaiety of his court to witness his institution of the " Order of the Gartar." And no sooner had the distemper subsided, than the extent of its ravages amongthe labouringclasses,and itsinefficacyas the means of ahenating their passions from the earth, were everywhere felt. The most exorbitant wages were demanded for performing the humblest duties of agriculture, amounting in some instances to a ten-fold increase ; and in spite of various measures, and even of royal proclamations intended to check the growing cupidity, the conditions of service in- sisted on, were generally secured. The clergy removed by the calamity, which gave such promi- nence to these unpleasing features of human nature, were those it may be presumed who had been most devoted to the interests of their flock. It is known that their place was supplied by men who were in general grossly incompetent to the duties of any spiritual office ; and that in society, the evils ever resulting from a vicious and defective ministry became increasingly evident.*^ ^8 Knighton, col. 2599. 26U1. Walsinsham, Hist. 198. Rot. Pari. ii. 234. Rymer, v. 655. 658. (i93. Maitland's History of London, book i. c. 2. Barne's Edward the Third, book ii. c. 8. Ashmole's Appendix. Walsingham mentions it as a prevalent opinion, that not more than a tenth person had survived, but supposes himself that one half escaped. The number of interments which took place in the spot now called the charter house, as recorded on a monument which long stood there, warrants the conclusion that a hundred thousand of the then population of London was swept away. The spirit of extortion in the labouring classes, ■which required the interposition of tlie government, extended to the inferior clergy, and in 1362, provoked the rebuke of Archbishop Islep, who required " that no rector should give, and that no curate should " receive more than one mark above what had been yearly given for the " same srrvices before the plague." — Johnson's Canons, A. D. 1362. For an account of this pestilence, as affecting the continental states, see Gio, Villani Chron. Lib. xii. cap. 83. Matteo Villani, Lib. i. cap. 4. Also, II Decamcrone procmio. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 241 By this alarming event, viewed as the chastise- chap. ment of peculiar guilt, and followed by these fore- v-^w boding appearances, the mind of Wycliffe was gy^t^tJ^ct" indeed so far impressed, as to admit the popular ''3^®^^*' apprehension respecting the near approach of the Church." final judgment. This conviction which greatly y affected his devotional feeling, produced his first / publication, a small treatise, intitled, *' The Last y " Age of the Church." It appeared in 1356, the thirty-second year of his age.^^ Nor is the engiish reformer, the only distinguished man in whose history, erroneous impressions have been allowed to facilitate the most important results. Such, indeed, is the mixture of truth and error in the present world, and such the benevolent arrange- ments of providence, that it would not be easy to select a character of eminence, in which there should be no valuable attainment to be traced to the operations of very imperfect truth, or even in a very considerable measure to delusive calcu- lations. When the new creation is completed, the light which is now seen to be good, will be wholly divided from the darkness ; but during the progress of this separation, the errors of men will be com- monly so impregnated with their opposites, that both will frequently appear to be laid under the ^ Mr. Lewis has adduced no reason for assigning so early a date to this production. The point, however, is unquestionable. " Thirteen hundred years, and six and fifty," are stated by the writer as the in- terval " from Christ until now." From the obscurity of several of its parts I am inclined to think, that the work has been transcribed from some illegible or very imperfect copy. 'J'he date of the document, how- ever, renders its information truly valuable. It is one of the reformer's pieces peculiar to the manuscript library of Trinity college, Dublin,— = Class, c. Tab. 3. No, 12. VOL. r. II 242 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFEE. CHAP, same contribution. This is strikingly evident in v..,^^ the history of a race of visionaries, M^ho rose in succession during the middle ages, claiming the gift of inspiration ; and who, while adhering to the communion of the church, censured aloud the corruption of its ministers, predicting with fear- lessness, either the reform, or the destruction of the hierarchy. These privileged persons, who were of both sexes, and from every rank among the clergy, were generally the object of the utmost veneration with the populace ; and as the gift of miracles was usually found to accompany that of prophecy, interest, or credulity, frequently led the most dignified churchmen, and even the pontiffs themselves to become abbettors of the popular de- lusion. The calamities which had recently deso- lated the states of Europe, had so far disturbed the feelings of men, as to clothe these reveries upon the future with a new attraction. From " The Last Age of the Church," it is evident that Wycliffe, though young, had already learned to deplore the gross cor- ruptions of the ecclesiastical system ; and there was a truth and intrepidity in the general censures of the . persons adverted to, which must have appeared to such a mind, as strictly necessary to check the torrent of abuses, and to restore the departed purity of religion. In this school of prophets, the most honorable place should perhaps be assigned to the abbot Joachim, — an Italian ecclesiastic, whose fame attracted the favorable notice of Richard Coeur de Lion, when embarked in his first crusade ; and whose predictions respecting the enthronement of antichrist in the ancient capital of the empire, might well have excited the alarm of contemporary THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. '243 pontiffs. '0 With this seer, and with others who chap. could boast of similar visions, as his guides, Wye- .^^^ lifFe arrives at the conclusion, that the close of the fourteenth century, will be that of the world, and observes, that the modern prophet in stating, that four great tribulations were to come upon the church, in the interval between the advent of Christ, and the end of the christain economy, is assuredly supported by king David, the venerable Bede and St. Bernard. The first of these tribu- lations is described as taking place when the church was assailed by heathen persecution ; the second, when the hostilities of heathenism were succeeded by the allurements of heresy. But the last is said to have been '' put off by the wisdom *o The following is an extract from the prophecies of Joachim, which is annexed to Bale's Chronicle of the examination of Sir John Oldcastle. " In the latter days shall appear a law of liberty. The gospel of the " kingdom of Christ shall be taught, and the church shall be purged as " wheat is from chaff and tares. More cheerily shall men then be " learned. The kingdom of the flesh shall be done away, and these " things shall be fulfilled toward the end of the world. The Holy Ghost " shall more perfectly exercise his dominion in converting people by the " preachers of the latter time, than by the apostles. The church of Rome " is the fleshly synagogue of Satan. The church of Rome shall be de- " stroyed in the third state, as the synagogue of the jews was destroyed " in the second state. And a spiritual church shall, from thenceforth, '* succeed to the end of the world. The departing of the Greeks from " the church of Rome was Godly, for it was ordained of God, and " wrought by the Holy Ghost." The following is the title of a book in my possession, the contents of which are often less coherent than the above anticipations of Joachim. " Admirable and Notable Prophecies uttered " by Twenty-four famous Roman Catholicks, conceniiiig the Church of " Rome's Defection, Tribulation, and Reformation, 1615." In this work a conspicuous place is allotted to the Abbot Joachim, and the pro- phetess Hildegrass. The latter not only echoed the general predictions of Joachim, but became a favorite with Wycliffe, Huss, and many of the early reformers, from the distinctness with which she was supposed to have foretold the introduction and the evil deeds of the mendicants. — See Fox's Acts and Monuments, i. 600, 601. R 2 244 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFK. CHAP. " of saints, as the first was overcome by thested- v^-v^ " fastness of martyrs." The third and the fom'th of these general calamities are viewed as belong- ing to the fourteenth century, the one arising *' from the secret heresy of simonists," the other including the triumphs of antichrist, the exact " period of whose approach God only " knoweth." The modern reader will probably smile at these speculations, and it is no less probable that some future race will look with equal self-complacency on many of our gravest conclusions, with regard to the future, whether relating to science, religion, or the world. It is worthy of observation, that while the writers who record the sufferings of the period under review, attribute them principally to the vanity of the people, especially as evinced in the costly caprice of their apparel, and the general disposition to luxurious indulgence ; Wycliffe traces, the malady to a higher source, describing the clergy as so addicted to covetousness, sensuality, and fraud, as to have infected every portion of the community, with the same vices, and thus to have been the main cause of that chastisement, under ; which Europe had been called to mourn. Sub- sequently, the reformer adverts, more than once, to the conduct of the Saviour in commencing his miraculous deeds at Jerusalem, by purifying the temple ; considering the fact as plainly suggesting that the root of Judah's defection was to be sought in the character of her priesthood ; and as teaching also, that with that order, the worldliness which could degrade the sanctuary itself into the place of merchandise, was the source of every other THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 245 degeneracy. ^^ It is evident that in the judgment of chap. WyclifFe, — though time had not yet matured his opi- . — ,',^^ nions, — churchmen had but too generally become what the Jewish priesthood were at the time of the advent. In the language of St. Gregory, and other venerated persons, he describes '* the pesti- '* lent, smiting together of people, and hurling *' together of realms, and other harms, which *' should come to the earth, because the honors of *' holy church are given to unworthy men," stating also, " that this mischief shall be so heavy, that ** well will it be for that man who shall not then " be alive." The writers whom he had consulted, as treating of the times to come, are said to agree in affirming, ** that death, vengeance of sword, and " mischiefs unknown before, by which men in *' those days shall be punished, shall befal them, ** because of the sins of priests. Hence, men shall *' fall upon them, and cast them out of their fat *' benefices; and shall say, he came into his bene- ** fice by his kindred, and this by a covenant made ** before ; he for his worldly service, came into *' God's church, and this for money. Then every ** such priest shall cry, alas ! alas ! that no good ** spirit dwelt with me at my coming into the '* church of God !" Thus he again asserts, " men " of holy church shall be despised as carrion, as ** dogs shall they be cast out in open places !" The devout, however, are not left without their re- fuge, in prospect of these calamities. Jesus Christ, it is remarked, *' entered into holy things, that is, " MS. c. c. On Prelates, c. i. iv. " As virtues in priests quicken the " church, sin and vices in them make the church venomous." — MS. on the Seven Deadly Sins. Bibl, Bodl. R 3 240 T M K L 1 !■' E O F W Y C L I V ¥ E . CHAP. " into holy church, by holy living and holy v*..^ ** teaching ; and with his blood he delivered man's ** nature ; as Zachariah writeth in his ninth chapter, ** thou verily with the blood of witness, or of thy " testament hast led out from the pit, them that ** were bound. So when we were sinful, and the ** children of wrath, God's Son came out of heaven, *' and praying his Father for his enemies, he died ** for us. Then much rather shall we be saved, " now we are made righteous through his blood. ** St. Paul writeth to the Romans, that Jesus " should pray for us, and that he went into heaven, " to appear in the presence of God for us. The '* same also he writeth to the Hebrews, the which " presence, may He grant us to behold, who liveth " and reigneth without end ! Amen." The reii- The opiuious and the feeling disclosed in this racter of productiou, though but imperfectly developed, are mind, in sucli as to prepare the reader to anticipate in John second ^" dc Wycliffc, a devout opponent of the corruptions luTage^ which it describes with so much solemnity and pathos. It is important to know that even at this period of his history, the nefarious practices con- nected with the appointment of the clergy to the sphere of their duties, had so far shocked his piety, as to dispose him to expect a speedy and signal manifestation of the displeasure of Heaven. And if some years must pass before we meet the re- former again, as an author, it is but just to conclude that much of this interval was employed in those efforts to check the evil of the times, and to diffuse that better knowledge of the faith and of the obli- gations of the gospel, which are known to have engaged the whole of his energies at a later period. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 247 His capacity as an expositor of holy writ, and his chap. views of the nature of religion, and of pastoral duty, v-*^-^^ were already distinguished by many of the pecu- liarities which are observable in his later composi- tions. In this the thirty-second year of his age, we perceive his mind raised so far above the ordinary level, as to unfit him for an acquiescence in many existing customs, though sanctioned by the prac- tice of ages and nations. But laborious application, intercourse with men, the storms of human life, and sickness, and old age, all yet remained to have their influence in forming those sentiments, which shed their ennobling power upon his nature, before leaving a world which he had so generously struggled to improve. u 4 248 THE LIFE OF M'YCLIFFE. CHAPTER II. HE MENDICANTS IMPORTANCE OF WYCLIFFE S CONTROVERSY WITH THEM CAUSES WHICH FAVORED THEIR POPULARITY THEIR FIRST SETTLE- MENT IN ENGLAND THEIR DISORDERLY CONDUCT EXPOSED BY ARMA- CHANUS— — AND BY WYCLIFFE SUMMARY' OF WYCLIFFe's OBJECTIONS TO THEIR PRACTICES THE PECULIARITY AND PROBABLE COSTS OF HIS OPPOSITION HE IS ELECTED MASTER OF BALIOL, AND AFTERWARDS OF CANTERBURY HALL HIS DISPUTE RESPECTING THE WARDENSHIP OF THE LATTER HIS APPEAL TO THE PONTIFF HIS FIRMNESS AND INTE- GRITY AT THIS CRISIS URBAN THE FIFTIl's DEMAND OF THE CENSUS DECISION OF THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT WYCLIFFE IS CHALLENGED TO DEFEND IT HIS REPLY THE MENDICANT CONTROVERSY SUBMITTED TO THE PARLIAMENT WYCLIFFE PROBABLY KNOWN TO THE COURT AT THIS PERIOD. CHAP. We have noticed a royal proclamation issued ^^^ in 1348, to regulate the claims of the laboring- The men- classcs wlio had been spared by the pestilence. Among other particulars, it prohibited the relief of mendicants who might be pronounced capable of servitude. But the monarch was aware, that there existed a numerous fraternity within his domi- nions, wholly unaffected by this prohibition, though strangers to labour, and deriving their subsistence from the bounty, and frequently from the penury of others. The friar's mendicant were a class of men, filling a place of too much importance in the religious system of the fourteenth century, and too nearly connected in their history with the name of our reformer, not to be frequently noticed in these dicants. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFPE. 249 pages. It was in the year 1360, that WyclifFe became distinguished at Oxford, as the object of their enmity, by publishing his censures of their many errors and delinquencies.^ To the disputes which followed, much of his subsequent decision in the work of reformation is to be attributed. The controversy was one, conducted against some import- of the most powerful minds of that generation, in- wycUffe'a volving principles of the highest importance, and ve"sy with leading to results the most momentous in the *'^^'"* history of religion, since the age of inspired teachers. Irritated by the reasonings of their opponent, the mendicants fled to the protection of the papacy, and before the pontifical tribunal, the complaints of auxiliaries so devoted to its cause, would not be preferred in vain. The favor, however, which was thence obtained, disclosed an exercise of power too palpably erroneous ; and such as pre- pared the way for an easy abandonment of various matters, deriving the whole of their support from so doubtful an authority. In the early ages of the church, the piety which ^,^,"^^1^^^^, was scandalised by the vices of many who were voured •^ '' their po- numbered with the professors of the gospel, may puiaiUy. have been frequently edified by the opposite ex- amples of monastic severity. A numerous class indeed, in every community, disgusted by the growing secularity of the clergy and of the times, would not fail to regard the seclusion of frater- nities, under the most solemn vows of separation from the world, with a peculiar complacency. But the wealth which had rendered the cathedral a ' Wood, 83.96. 181. 150. 154, 155. iOU THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, scene of luxury, of ambition, or avarice, was soon II. \— v-^ to extend its baneful influence, and in equal measure, to the convent. The vices of the latter, v^ere less exposed to the rude notice of the people than those of the former ; but in secret, the most rank productions were found to vegetate ; and to impart a feeble check to the progress of corrup- tion was the utmost achieved by the much ap- plauded labours of St. Benedict. In the twelfth r century universities arose, but arose as establish- ments separated from the castle of the bishop, and from the cell of the monk ; and in no small degree as the result of that degeneracy which had long been observable in both. To recover the whole of that credit, which by such means had become lost to the church, was the comprehensive design of that peculiar discipline to which the mendicant orders pledged their obedience. The wealth by which the secular clergy, and the votaries of se- clusion, had become alike corrupted, was relin- quished for the mere alms of the faithful ; and with an itinerant discharge of clerical duties, they were to connect that portion of learning which might enable them to promote the- cause of the church in the national seminaries.* But the men- dicants were to inherit the indiscretions of their predecessors, as well as their fame; and after their example, were to contribute much toward the overthrow of a fabric, which it was their ambition to uphold. It was under the sanction of the founder of the Dominicans, that Gilbert de Fresney, and twelve - ^\'a!ton's History of English Poetry, i. sect. ix. See also, Prelimi- nary View, c. i. sect. ii. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 261 of his brethren appeared in England in 1221, fixing their residence in Oxford.^ The general causes which had conferred so speedy a popularity on the new discipline upon the continent, were equally operative in this country. As preachers, these pros- perous fraternities were cordially patronised by the celebrated Grossteste. The justice, however, of their particular claims soon became doubtful ; and the men who were for awhile the favorites of that prelate, became the object of his bitterest censure before his decease.^ Their zeal also to proselyte Their dis- the youth to their order, who attended the univer- conduct sities, occasioned at a later period, a general feeling J^p?^.^^ . of discontent and alarm. Paris had resounded chanus. with complaints against them, when Fitzralph, who had been called in 1333, to the chancellor- ship of Oxford, and in 1347, to the archbishopric of Armagh, appeared as a vigorous opponent of their errors and encroachments. Professing the greatest reverence for the authority of the church, and some esteem even for these new orders, he denied the virtue of their voluntary poverty ; cen- sured their inroads on the province of the more ancient clergy ; and affirmed, that by their influence, the students of Oxford had been reduced within his memory from thirty thousand, to not more than a fifth of that number. These complaints, were fear- lessly preferred before the pontiff at Avignon, in the year 1357. But the death of the archbishop three years later, left his proposed reformation un- accomplished. The failure of his efforts, and his decease, were viewed by his opponents, as the ' Wood, Ann. * 7t!atthew Pari?, 87G. 01»jcction5 to Friars, c. xxvi. 252 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, triumph of their cause. It was not perceived, that v,,,.Jo the year of his removal, would be that in which Wycliffe should commence his more memorable attack on the same order of abuses, vr" diffe '^^^ " conclusions," published at the papal court by Fitzralph, were familiar to Wycliffe, and have descended to us.^ And it may be regretted, that we have no composition by our reformer, on the same subject, which will admit of being attributed to so early a period as the year 1360. But com- paring his various writings, — nearly the whole of which are more or less connected with the points of this controversy — with each other, and with the conclusions of Armachanus ; the sameness of the reasoning and illustration employed, atfbrds abun- dant reason to conclude that the discussions of the year 1360, comprehended nearly the whole of those ** objections," the republication of which, was among some of the latest efforts of their author. With respect to these " new orders," but one opi- nion can be found in Wycliffe's compositions. If God, had indeed conferred them on the church, it was his firm conviction that it arose less from the divine favor than from displeasure, as a king- had been given to Israel. But a sanction was supposed to be imparted, to the practices of the mendicants, by the poverty of Christ and of his apostles ; and this circumstance had impercep- tibly induced a habit of appeal to the sacred I scriptures, as to a decisive authority. The \ volume of inspiration was thus brought from 5 See the story of Armachanus, and of the disputes between the mendicants and the students of Paris, iu Fox, i. 732 — 742. MS. Dc Blasphcniia, Bibl. Bodl. Archi. 83. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 253 its obscurity, and was vested, though for mis- chap. / taken purposes, with something of its ancient v,,^^ \ influence, as the guide of rehgious opinion. Such as were displeased by the obtrusive services of the friars, were thus naturally directed to the records of the gospel, that the justice of these novel pretensions might be thence ascertained or confuted ; and the arguments opposed with most success to the peculiarities of the mendicants, were derived from the source to which they had themselves been the first to appeal. It is scarcely to be questioned, that to these facts, we are considerably indebted for Wycliffe's early attachment to the doctrine, which affirms the sufficiency of the scriptures, to all the purposes, ' both of faith and duty ; a doctrine, in which the right of private judgment was obviously implied. And it will hereafter appear, that no modern theo- logian has been found, more alive to the im- portance of these maxims, or more successful in defending them. It is probable indeed, that Wycliffe was very far from anticipating the last result of his inquiries, when he first became known, as the opponent of the new orders ; but we have sufficient evidence to justify the con- clusion, that even then these momentous sen- timents, had become in a hopeful degree, familiar to his mind. The failure of Fitzralph, in his more limited project of reform, had left no room to hope for improvement, as emanating from the papacy ; and probably suggested to his less distinguished successor in the contest, his more vigorous, and less partial exposure, of eccle- siastical corruption, before the bar of the people. 254 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. Among the few of Wycliffe's writings, which practices. V— ^^ have been printed, is the work intitled, '•' Objec- If"^ " tions to Friars."*^ This treatise is divided into "•objec- fifty chapters, and presents a summary of the their reasonings usually urged by the opponents of the mendicants. Many of the complaints made, and of the arguments adduced in this production, are such as might perhaps have been frequently heard in the fourteenth century, from the lips of the secular clergy, and even from the monks. To the advocates of reform, the whole soon became familiar, and published without either weariness or fear, were greatly subservient to their cause. As transmitted by the pen of Wyclifie, these objections accuse the mendicants of opposing the progress of the gospel. It appears, that they were accustomed to praise a contemplative, as preferable to an active life : that they were men of defective morals, in the discharge of their func- tions as confessors :^ that the vow of their fra- ^ This treatise, together with that addressed by the reformer to the parliament of Richard tlie second, was printed by Dr. James from ma- nuscripts, " the one in Bennet college, the other remaining in the publike "librarieat Oxford," in 1608. A reference in the former document (chap. 24,) to the existing Avar in Flanders, as one of much cost to the country, and designed but " to make Christ's vicar the most wealthy in " the world," fixes the date of this manuscript to the year 1382, only two years before the death of the reformer. It was at this period that Urban the sixth gave his sanction to the warlike bishop of Norwicii, to wield the carnal weapons of an english army against the adherents of his rival, Clement the seventh. " C. 14. 19. 23. 26. 27. 31. This sin was charged on them by Gross- teste, and they had not improved since. Paris 876. And the statement of Fitz Ralph is as foUows.^ — I Iiave in my diocese of Armagh, about two thousand persons, who stand condemned by the censures of the church denounced every year against murderers, thieves, and such like male- factors, of all which number scarcely fourteen have applied to me or to my clergy for absolution. Yet they all receive the sacraments as others THE LIFE OF VVYCLIFFE. 255 ternity was strictly unalterable : that persons chap. detected, while not of their order, in " travelling to wyW " sow God's word among the people," were often persecuted by them to imprisonment, and even to the stake : and that a licence from the secular authorities was deemed essential to the right of announcing the tidings of the gospel, and this, ** though the preacher possess never so much know- ** ledge of God's law, and power, and will, to work " after that knowledge, and the sovereign be never *' so depraved of life, ignorant of God's law, and a *'foe to the souls of christian men." These are among the facts adduced to substantiate the charge of hostility to the progress of a scriptural religion. These offenders are farther accused of entering the fold of the church unlawfully : of invading the known rights of the more ancient clergy : while their endless exactions are censured, as alike cruel and unjust, since their tendency had been to deprive the really necessitous of their ac- customed aid. Their wiles, employed to seduce young children into their "rotten habit:" their shameless corruption of the rules established by their respective founders : and their uniting, as a consequence, more than the splendors of secular lordship,^ with the gravest professions of the do, because they are absolved, or pretend to be absolved by friars." Fox Ubi supra. ^ A little more than half a century had intervened, since the Fran- ciscans attempted to bribe the pontiff by a sum of not less than forty' thousand ducats in gold, to sanction the violation of their rule with respect to property. The pontiff is said to have sent for the sum from the banker for the order, and seizing it as the fruit of transgression, respectfully informed the astonished applicants that the rule of St. Francis was not to be infringed. Westminster, 1299. And if it be true that the present general of that order may estimate his income at twenty 256 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, most absolute poverty, are among the points ad- v.,,..^^ verted to, as proofs of consummate hypocrisy. Against their practice as beggars, several of the most appropriate scriptures are cited, and the names of St. Clement, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St. Bernard, and even that of St. Francis, are adduced as authorities. While di- rectly accused of contempt for the civil power : of encouraging simony, because admitted to share in its spoil : and of preferring the dispensations of the pope to the known commands of the Re- deemer : it is more than insinuated, that by their influence the secrets of the state frequently became known to its enemies, and the wealth of the kingdom passed into the hands of fo- reigners. If the charge of blasphemy be also pre- ferred, it is not without some degree of justice. The power attributed to the pontift', in the act of pardon, by these dispensers of his spiritual bounty, was such, as in truth pertains to the Deity alone ; and by vesting the rule of their order, w^ith an authority which they had not learned, to attach to that of the Saviour, it is cer- tain that they reflected on the author of the gospel, as inferior to their patrons *' in wit, in ** might, or in charity." pecuiiari- Such is the substaucc of Wyclifle's treatise probable agaiust thc begging friars.^ Their errors and hu^oppo- their vices had never been so generally, or so sition. thousand a year, it is obvious that to save the clergy from the snares of wealth, something more is necessary than the prohibition of estates or of fixed revenues. » Tlie document published by Mr. Lewis, c. ii. though frequently referred to as that composed by WyclifFe, is scarcely a statement of its contents ; it cannot be called an abridgment. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 257 forcibly assailed. That which distinguished the chap. efforts of our reformer, from those of Armachanus, ^^-y^^ and others, was his exposure of these evils, as the necessary consequence of the mendicant disci- pline. While other disputants sought to reform particulars, Wycliffe saw the institute itself, as uncommanded, and of evil tendency ; and instead of supposing that the introduction of such agents, formed the most efficient means by which to ele- vate the character of the more authorized priest- hood, he inculcated strongly, that nothing short of a removal of the intruders could restore the church to its long lost order and prosperity. At the same time, he remarks, and with a discern- ment and generosity hardly belonging to the age, that though men should " destroy their errors,'' they should " save their persons," the bringing of them *' to that living, which Christ ordained for " priests" being the extent of his demands. Of the penalties incurred by the author of such reproofs, we may judge, from the spirit and power of the parties accused ; and from the little delicacy felt in the middle ages, as to the means which might be justly employed to crush an adversary. The force of the malevolence actually excited, may be inferred from the statement, that '* a lord would " more patiently bear a severe censuring of his "least offence; than mendicants, the soft and *' mild reproving of their greatest sins." Through nearly two centuries the inquisition had been performing its work of torture and destruction on the continent. During that period, its odious business had devolved chiefly on Dominican and Franciscan friars ; and these, while appealing VOL. I. s 258 THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. CHAP, to the rack and the stake, as their arbiters of de- v^,,^ bate, are described as " the confessors, the " preachers, and the rulers commonly of all men." It will avail nothing to insinuate, that the ** Ob- *' jections" thus preferred by Wycliffe, have re- ceived an undue colouring, from the warmth of his passions. The greater solicitude which is sometimes felt, to cover an antagonist with odium, than to guide an inquirer to truth, must be de- plored, as a vice which has not been altogether unknown in connexion with religious controversy. But it is important to observe, that the charges urged by Wycliffe, referred principally to facts, and the praise of discernment so generally con- ceded to him, forbids our supposing that they were such as would admit of an easy refutation. Wycliffe The year 1360 has been mentioned, as that in niaster'of wliich our reformer became distinguished by his ^^^'^oi 2gg^i ij^ i\Yi^ contest. In the year following, the J.' society of Baliol college, discovered their favour- able judgment of his character, and of his ser- vices in the cause of the university, by presenting him to the living of Fillingham ;9 a benefice of considerable value, and situate in the diocese of » Majister Job Wycliffe presbyter presenta per Majist. et scbolares Aule de Baliol Oxon. ad Eccle de Fyllingham, voc. per. mort. Job. Reyncr, 11, Id. May, 13G1. in Arcbi. Stow. — It is tbiis also tbat tbe name of Wycliffe occurs in a notice found in tbe diocesan register, where it refers to tbe uniting of tbe cburch of Abbodesle to Baliol ball. — " Memoranda. " Quod nuperdefiincto — rectoreecclesiis parocbialis deAbbodesle,Linco. " dioc. in Arcbidiacon. Hunt. Venit majister Job. de Wyclif tunc " custos sen majister Aule de Balliol, Oxon, et exbibit Yenera. patri " Domino Jobanni Lincoln Episcopo literas Apostolicas, &c. Reg "GynwellMS. fol. 3G7." In 13G8, Wycliffe reUnquisbed tbe living of Fillingbara for tbat of Lutgersal, as appears from tbe following note. — • " Jobannes de Wycliffe, presbiter, presentatus per fratrum Jobannem " de pavely priorem bospitalis Jobannes Jerusalem in Anglia ad cccle- " siain de Lotegarcshall Line. dioc. Arcbideacon. Bucks per resignat, THE LIFE OF ^VYCLIFFE. 259 Lincoln. By the same community, and within chap. the same period, John de WyclifFe was called to v— -,^ the dignity of warden. ^^ Four years later, how- " doniini Johannes Wythoinevvyk, ex causa peiniutationis de ipsa cnni " ecclesia parochiale de Fylingham, dicte dioc. admissus Nov. 12, 13G8. " Reg Bokingham." '" That WyclifFe was warden of Baliol college in 13G1, is the general statement of his biographers. But there is one circumstance which has appeared to throw a shade of uncertainty over this conclusion. The reader must be apprised, that a few years later, Wycliffe appealed to the pontiff for restoration to his wardenship of Canterbury hall. And the circumstance referred to is, that Langham, then archbishop of Canter- bury, in attempting to justify his conduct toward the appellant, has employed language, which implies that Wjcliffe had been recently num- bered with the secular scholars of the said foundation. It is true, indi- viduals and societies were subject to more sudden and violent changes in those ages than at present, and tliat AVycliffe should relinquish the wardenship at Baliol, to assume the same office in an infant institution, may be accounted for on the ground that the younger seminary was rising beneath the patronage of a living metropolitan. But that the master of an older institution should descend to the rank of scholar in the younger, is by no means probable. Accordingly, if what is impUed in the language of the archbishop be correct, it is difficult to suppose that Wj cliffe was ever master of Baliol. Opposed however to the negative conclusion are the following decisive facts. 1st. It is not to be ques- tioned, that the office of warden in Baliol college was sustained in the year 1361, by a John de WyclifFe. 2d. The John de WyclifFe, of Baliol, was in the same year presented to the living of Fillingham; and, lastly in 13GS, the living of Fillingham was assuredly occupied by our re- former, being relinquished by him in the November of that year, in favour of Lntgersal. In addition to which, Langham retained his archi- episcopal dignity but two years ; removing to Avignon, the residence of the pope, in 1368. His knowledge of the case of WyclifFe appears to have been at best but imperfect; his residence at Avignon was not likely to increase his information, and it is from the papal court that he makes the statement adverted to. The inference therefore is, that WyclifFe was never reckoned with the scholars at Canterbury hall, but that the archbishop, from some unknown cause, had presumed him to have been of their number. This trivial mistake may be easily supposed, and then the direct evidence of WyclifFe's being master of Baliol in 13G1, re- mains wholly undisturbed. If the John Wj'clifFe, master of Baliol, be viewed as a second person of that name, we must from various facts suppose him to have been a member of the family with which we have jnd<>ed the reformer himself to have been connected. But that the family adverted to, should have included two John WyclifFes, and that both names should be omitted in its records, while others of less note are inserted, is to the last degree improbable. s 2 2G0 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, ever, we find him accepting the same office, in v.,..^^ connexion with Canterbury hall ; and for this And war- honor he was indebted to the enliohtened friend- den of . ° Canter- ship of Simon de Islep, then archbishop of Can- terbury. This primate had filled some of the most important offices in church and state, and retained an attachment to learning, a contempt of luxury, and an abhorrence of clerical delinquencies, which rendered him to the incompetent and the vicious, an object of terror." Wycliffe may have felt himself flattered by an appointment, originating with the first ecclesiastic of the realm ; and with a mind so disposed to investigate pretensions to learning and piety. But he saw not the difficulty to which this promotion would speedily expose him, or the proffered distinction would perhaps have been de- clined. By such a step he would probably have consulted his personal ease, but it would have been taken at the cost of lessons, which were not more painful than important. Canterbury hall had been founded by the pre- . rept- sent archbishop, and was designed for the benefit mg his ^ , ^ warden- of clevcu scholars, eight of whom were to be clerks or secular clergymen, the remaining three and the warden were to be chosen from the monks of Christchurch, Canterbury. The office of vv^arden, was first conferred on Woodhall, a monk, and a doctor in divinity, but a man whose restless spirit had proved the ceaseless occasion of disorder, and who threw the whole violence of His dis- pute ship. " The effects of his discipline were such, that Syninwell, bishop of Lincoln, purchased an exemption from his jurisdiction, of the pope, bat the pviniate speedily demolished this disorderly barrier. Collier i 553. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 261 his temper into the disputes which had long di- vided the religious ecclesiastics from the secular. It was with deep regret that Islep saw the com- munity, on which he had lavished his patronage and his substance, conspicuous rather for dissen- tion than improvement ; and availing himself of a provision in the founding of the institution, he removed the present warden, and the three monks his adherents; and supplying the place of the latter with the same number of secular scholars, he invited John de Wycliffe to the vacant office of master. These arrangements were but re- cently completed when the decease of the arch- bishop was followed by the appointment of Peter j Langham, as his successor in office. This pre- late, translated from the see of Ely, had been previously abbot of Westminster, and a private monk.^- His known attachment to the religious orders, and his present elevation by an act of papal provision, disclosed to Woodhall, and his expelled associates, a prospect of reinstatement too inviting to be lost. Their appeal was re- spectfully heard, and under a pretence that the late changes in Canterbury hall had, by some '2 In ecclesiastical liistory, tlie most luxurious and ambitious of church- men, have frequently proved the most zealous patrons of monks. They appear as if concerned to atone for their own idolatry of the world, by encouraging others in their apparent contempt of it. From the following lines, written on the occasion of Langham's removal from Ely, it appears that the day of his departure was no day of mourning. Exultant coeli, quia Simon, transit ab Ely Ad cujus adventum, flent in Kent millia centum. He had united the chancellorship of England with tiic dignity of prelacy, but covertly grasping at the princely dignity of a cardinal, he fell under the royal displeasure, and relinquishing his primacy, retired to Avignon. AngUa sacra, i. 47, 48. 120. s 3 262 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, mysterious means, been forced upon its founder v..,.^ or had received his approbation at a crisis when hardly competent to a rational decision, the monks were restored, and Woodhall, after the interval of a few weeks, resumed the office of warden. The weakness and the dishonesty of the plea advanced in favor of this counterchange, are manifest, and must have been so to its au- thors. Islep, when vesting Wycliffe with the authority of master, describes him as a man in whose fidelity, circumspection, and industry, he much confided; and as one on whom he had fixed his attention for the office, on account of the honesty of his life, his laudable conversation, and his knowledge of letters. But it had soon be- come evident, that to anticipate harmony from that mixture of the religious and the secular, which the candour of Islep had contemplated, was to expect a power of cohesion between the iron and the clay ; and the point to be determined in consequence was, to which of these classes the benefits of the establishment should be exclu- sively applied. This question had, indeed, been most explicitly decided by the acts of the founder ; but opposed to his known pleasure was that of certain intriguing monks. The fact also, that the secular scholars provided for, by the first arrangements of the institution, were twice the number of the religious, was itself sufficient to demonstrate, that from the beginning the advan- tages of the seminary were designed chiefly for that class of persons. ^^ '3 The, whole of the papers relating to this dispute, may be seen iii the Appendix, No. 2 — 9. THE LIFE OF AVYCLIFFE. 263 It will be conceded that the surrender of an chap. important cause to the judgment of an arbitrator v,-v--' known to be unfriendly, is no mean proof of con- ^JJj ^o scious integrity. WyclifFe was aware of the en- the pope, couragement afforded by the papal court, both to monks and mendicants, in the progress of their insiduous attacks on the rights of the clergy, and the jurisdiction peculiar to the universities. But he was also aware of being supported in his pre- sent claim, by the will of the dead, and by a de- gree of obvious justice which it might be deemed impolitic to evade. He, therefore, joined his ex- pelled associates in an appeal from the judgment of the metropolitan to that of the pope. The pontiff saw the difficulties of the question, and prudently transferred the investigation of its de- tails to the diligence of a cardinal. The same policy suggested the delay of a definite sentence, and nearly four years passed before it was ob- tained. The fact, however, of an appeal to the authority of Rome, under any circumstances, may be regarded as evidence, that Wycliffe had not yet learned to question the claims or the in- tegrity of pontifts, as in later years. The circum- stance is at the same time compatible with far more modified views of papal pretensions, than were generally adopted. But if the appeal of the warden of Canterbury His firm- hall, from the judgment of his metropolitan to integrity that of the pope, may be viewed as the proof of llilis!' confidence in the justice of his cause, — his subse- quent conduct must be allowed to bespeak the same conviction still more plainly. He could not be ignorant that the slightest indication of feeling, s 4 2G4 Tiir: life or wvci.ifI'E. CHAP, hostile to the claims of the Roman prelates, II. N^p^^ would be marked by his opponents, and reported to the papal court with the darkest colouring. From December, 1365, to March, 1367, he had possessed his wardenship, and from his part in the appeal to the pontiff, he must be supposed to have felt somewhat solicitous to preserve it. Had his spirit been capable of subjection to a little calcu- lating policy, he would doubtless have abstained, for awhile, from his attacks on a class of men known as the most effective agents of the papal power. ^^ It is, however, while this cause is pending, that the zealof WyclifFe, as the enemy of corruption, whether 4 in the head or the members of the hierarchy, be- come so far conspicuous as to attract attention from the highest authorities in the church and the state. His pen was still employed, and his voice was still heard, in defence of the universities, as opposed to that exempt jurisdiction which the popes had attempted in favor of the mendicants ; and in the cause of the clergy, whose flocks were frequently estranged from them by the influence of these more devoted ministers of the supersti- tions, and of the despotic authority of Rome, uiban's It is at this crisis also, that we find his name fear- of the lessly associated, with a controversy which had census, ^riscn between Edward the third, and the pontift'. Urban the fifth. It was in 1365, that the letters of Urban, demanded of the enolish monarch, the an- '■' Anthony Wood waxes quite v.iliant, in asserting, that the zeal for innovation which Wycliffe had previously discovered, and " nothing else," occasioned the loss of his wardenship. Hist, ubi suprn. Fox makes the same statement. Acts i. 557, as does Mosheim, iii. 332, and others. THE LIl'E OF VVVCLIFFE. 265 luial payment of a tlioiisand marks, to be transferred chap. to the papal treasury, as a feudal acknowledgment v^^ for the sovereignty of England and Ireland, those kingdoms being held m fee of the successors of St. Peter. The reader will be aware that this of- fensive claim was founded on the alleged surrender ^ of the english crown, by king John, to Innocent? the third. That monarch survived this odious stipulation but two years, and by his son, the oath of fealty was repeated. By succeeding princes, that formality was prudently evaded, and the claim of the tribute was either neglected or honored as the favor of the pontiff was felt to be important or otherwise. Thirty- three years had passed since the last annual tribute had been paid, when the ' arrears for that interval, and the feudal subjection which the sum was intended to express, were de- manded by Urban. In default of such payment, the king was farther admonished, that he would be cited duly to appear, and to answer for such / neglect, in the court of the sovereign pontiff, who had become his civil, no less than his religious superior.^^ In the following year, Edward submitted Spirited this question to his parliament. From the de- ofThe" cease of John, the influence of that assembly pSJa-'* had been rapidly increasing, and the commons '"<^"*- had become an essential, and a most efficient portion of the legislature. At this period indeed, it '* Cotton's Abridgment, 102. Barnes has questioned whether this tribute was paid by any sovereign after John. — Book iii. c. 12. It appears, however, from certain notices in Hymer, that it was paid, though not without considerable intermissions, to tlie close of Edward's minority.— Tom. ii. 5. Edw. I. Dec. 18; C Edw. I. Feb. 23 ; 16 Edw. I. April 28, 20 ; Edw. I. March 18 ; Tom. iv. 4. Edw. III. April 28. 2GG THE LITE OF AVYCLIFFE. CHAP, was both the law and the practice of the realm, that II. . . v--^^ every statute affecting the general interest, should i depend for its validity, on the sanction of the three / estates, and that the property of the subject should / be taxed, but with his consent. The reign of Ed- ' ward extended to fifty years, during which period, more than seventy parliaments, possessing this high authority were convened ; and more than once it was solemnly enacted, that at least, one such assembly should be annually summoned. ^^ The claim now made, was one in which the honor of the nation was involved. The king, therefore, in the person of his chancellor requested the advice of parliament, as to the answer which should be returned to the pope. The prelates solicited a day for private deliberation ; but assembling on the morrow, the lords, spiritual and temporal, and the members of the commons were unanimous in stating that neither king John, nor any other sove- reign, had power thus to subject the realm of England, without consent of parliament : that this consent was not obtained : and that passing over i other difficulties, the whole transaction was in contempt of the oath which John, himself, had taken on receiving his crown. By the temporal nobility, and the popular representatives, it was farther determined, that should the pontiff com- mence his threatened process against the monarch of England, as his vassal, the strength of the nation should be called to the king's aid. This phalanx of opposition could not have been anticipated by Urban, though assuredly the de- '" Lingard, iv. ICt). THE Lll-E OF M'VCLIFFE. 267 mand ought to have appeared to him as most un- chap. seasonable. The victories of Cressy and Poictiers v,^^ had established the military fame of England, and the peace of Bretigni had recently secured to Ed- ward, every thing which could have been rationally expected as the fruit of his incursions upon France. But Urban felt not the weight of these circum- stances, until it was too late to profit by them, and his successors in office became wiser at his cost. From this period they appear to have re- linquished all hope of any direct secular supre- macy in England. The flattering elevation was doubtless abandoned with regret, and sycophants would certainly arise, to plead even for this branch of priestly authority as sacred, though denounced by the legislature of their country, as a usurpa- tion too gross to be endured. It will be borne in mind by the reader, that wyciiffe a subjection of the civil jurisdiction, in all its de- ieng?d to partments, to the presiding authority of the hie- ^etendit. rarchy, was view^ed by many, in the ages now adverted to, as the only arrangement consistent with the relation of the parties, the latter being con- sidered as the parent of the former. To this theory which made the church the mother of the state, and which as a consequence, rendered bishops the fathers of princes, every patriot feeling was often surrendered, and surrendered as the most un- questionable evidence of exalted piety. To minds of such a character, the decision of the English parliament respecting the tribute claimed by the pontiff, must have been seriously unwelcome ; and connected with various recent movements, tending to abridge the general influence of the clergy, must II 2G8 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, have awakened the strongest displeasure in many quarters. This effect we see strikingly exemplified in the conduct of an anonymous monk, who some time after the announcement of the parliamentary decision, published a defence of the pontifical claim, entering warmly into the discussion of the questions principally at issue between the secular and the spiritual powers. At this period, Wicliffe's celebrity had arisen, chiefly from his disputes with the mendicants ; and if their vices were merely those of a particular class of offenders, we have seen that the reproof of these, created a spirit of enquiry extending itself imperceptibly, and almost necessarily, to many of the corruptions by which other features of the general system were equally disfigured. A summary of the tract, published by the mo- nastic controversialist alluded to, has been trans- mitted to us, by the pen of Wycliffe. From this it appears that the writer viewed the sovereignty of England as legally forfeited to the pope by the failure of the annual tribute ; and that in his creed, the clergy, whether considered as individuals or com- munities, were fairly exempt, both in person and property from all civil jurisdiction.^" Our reformer is called upon by name to prove the fallacy of these opi- nions. Nor was he in ignorance, concerning the mo- tives of his anonymous antagonist, in assailing him with this challenge. The questions to be discussed, were such as could not be approached without hazard ; and it is stated by Wycliffe, as infor- mation which he had received, that the hope of his 17 This tract is preserved among the Selden manuscripts, and was printed by I\Ir. Lewis. Its insertion in the appendix to this vohnne is thought to be lumccessary, as every thing material in it appears iu tlic text. THE LIFE OF V/YCLIFFE. 2G9 opponent was in the first place to defame his person chap. before the pontiff, that laden with ecclesiastical v— ^^ censures, he might be deprived of his preferments ; secondly, to purchase the favor of the Roman court to himself, and his order ; and lastly, that the pope ruling this kingdom with less controul, secular possessions might be more largely accu- mulated by the religious. To counteract in some measure this tendency to slander, Wycliffe de- scribes himself as a humble and obedient son of the church, proposing to affirm nothing that may be reported to her injury, or reasonably offend the ears of the devout. The reformer had recently numbered the for- tieth year of his age ; and the fact of his being challenged to refute the positions assumed, plainly suggests that previous to this period, the leading- features of his character, as it has descended to us, were not only formed but generally known. There could be no meaning in such an appeal, except to a man who had become conspicuous as the opponent of undue pretension, not only as proceeding from the mendicants, but from the pontiff himself, or from any portion of the clergy. Had this attack been made by a disciple of St. Dominic or St. Francis, Wycliffe's dispute with the communities boasting of such names, would have been sufficient to explain its origin. It comes, however, from the monastery, where the mendi- cant orders had ever been regarded in the light of rival candidates for popular applause, and where any exposure of their errors would in consequence be rather grateful than obnoxious. The opinions also which the antagonist of the friars was thus 270 THE LIFE OF ^rYCLTFFE. CHAP, summoned to confute, involved the v^liole question v^^^^ of the pope's temporal power ; and the entire ground of those dissensions which had been per- petuated between the priest and the magistrate, __ from the conversion of the western nations. Snijstance In his reply, he describes himself as the king's ply. peculiar clerk, from which it appears that he had received the honorary distinction of royal chaplain. The right of the king in connexion with the par- liament, not only to deny the tribute claimed by \ the pope, but to subject all clergymen to the se- cular tribunal in civil cases, and even to alienate the goods of the church, he affirms to be a doctrine established by the law, and also by the ancient practice of the reahn. Tacitly admitting that such measures may be at variance with certain eccle- siastical canons, he contends for their strict accord- ance with the claims of natural right, and with the maxims of the civil law, and those of the sacred scriptures. Appealing to these sources of autho- rity, in support of his statements, he abstains from the employment of the arguments which he was well qualified to adduce in defence of them; deem- ing it a more efficient method of procedure^ to present his readers with the substance of several speeches, delivered by certain secular lords, in re- ference to the claim lately urged on the english monarch by the pontiff. This mode of reply, while it furnished the best reproof of the person- alities in which his anonymous adversary had in- dulged, would perhaps be farther approved, as placing the shield of authority, between the humble reformer, and the power of his enemies. The speeches which have been thus preserved, may inte- THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 271 rest the curious reader ; as exhibiting a specimen of chap. the manner in which our senators of the fourteenth v— v^ century could treat questions demanding some good degree of information and discernment. What is reported from them in this document, is not indeed, a complete outline of the debate ad- verted to, but rather extracts from that memorable discussion ; and the selection made, is evidently intended to place the series of difficulties in which the papal claim was involved within the smallest compass, and in their most consecutive form. To us, the paper is chiefly valuable, as containing arguments, which by adoption, are those of Wycliffe himself; and such as appear to have de- rived some important peculiarities from the vigour and intrepidity of his own genius. The first lord declares, all feudal subjection to be founded, in the necessary subordinations of political power. This subordination he contends, could not have been the origin of England's sub- jection to the papacy : and hence it is inferred, that on the principles of feudal justice, the de- pendence introduced, should not be regarded as perpetual. Should the pontiff attempt to supply this deficiency, in the foundation of his present claim, by resorting to force, the speaker avows his readiness to appeal to the same weapons. The next speaker extends this line of argument. Feudal tribute, he observes, can be justly due, but where feudal protection might be rendered. This protection, the pope cannot afford to those, whom he yet claims as his vassals, and ought not if he could, since the character distinguishing his holiness, should be that of "chief in the fol- 272 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. ^' lowino' of Christ," and the Saviour having' no II . ... v^,^..;*/ where to lay his head, has taught his ministers by example, the contempt with which they should regard all earthly power and possessions. The duty of the moment is, therefore, declared to be, to resist this demand of civil homage, and carefully to limit the influence of the pope to the spiritualities of his office. While it was thus shown that this feudal tribute could not be ex- acted on the ground of feudal benefits ; the third speaker declares, and with equal plainness, that it could as little be founded on any religious ad- vantages supposed to result to the nation, from this vassalage to the papal court; inasmuch as the influence of the pontiff" and of his cardinals was employed but to deprive the land of its treasure, and to aid the cause of its enemies. This nobleman was succeeded by a fourth, who states, that one-third of the property of the king- dom had become that of the church ; that over this property the pope had long claimed the au- thority of lordship, and, in consequence, exacted his first fruits from every vacant benefice. This interference in temporal things, it is observed, must be either as vassal to the king, or as his superior. If the former doctrine would be re- jected by the pontiff", the latter should be equally spurned by the nation ; and it is, therefore, re- commended to present some forcible check to the progress of claims, which in some interval of political weakness, may extend the despotism already imposed on the church, in an equal mea- sure to the state. The remarks of the next speaker are no less pertinent. He expresses THE LIFE OF WVCLIEFE. 273 himself curious to know the specific condition on chap. which the disputed tribute was first granted. If ^-p-v-— / it were rendered for the benefit of absolution as conferred upon the king, or for the removal of the interdict which had passed upon the kingdom, the whole transaction is declared to be " si- " monean dishonesty," demanding reprobation alike from lords and churchmen. The gifts of the priesthood, it is pleaded, have been freely be- stowed, that they might be as freely adminis- tered ; but the pope, under this view of his con- duct, is heard to say, *' I will absolve thee, but "■ upon condition that I receive so much money *' annually, and for ever." If, indeed, the pon- tifical claim were made, not on the ground of any spiritual benefit conferred, but on the principle of a strict feudal subjection ; it is then argued, that a claim to dispose of the crown itself, may be urged at some future period, with as much ap- pearance of justice as the present demand of a census. By another lord it was observed, that if the land were ever the fair possession of the pontiff, his right to barter the goods of the church so as to exchange an opulent kingdom for the trivial annuity of seven hundred marks, might be justly questioned. Certainly he, who could thus far alienate ecclesiastical property, might dispose of it entirely, and hence, is not to be coveted in the character of a feudal superior. The same speaker proceeds to state, that " Christ is the " supreme Lord, while the pope is a man, and " liable to sin, and who, while in mortal sin, ac- " cording to divines, is unfitted for dominion ;" and he concludes by observing, " it is, therefore, VOL. I. T 274 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. " plainly enough for us to keep ourselves from ^^....^ " mortal sin, to the service of one Lord of the " kingdom ; to communicate of our goods virtu- " ously to the poor ; and, as in former time, to " hold our kingdom immediately of Christ, v^ho, ** as chief Lord, teaches whatever is most lawful " and perfect, with respect to man's authority." The last speaker exposed still more forcibly the injustice of the papal demand, as visiting the sins of the monarch, on the freedom and property of the subject, and that to remote generations. To this arrangement, in which all are certainly in- terested, it is argued, that according to the custom of the realm, the assent of all should have been obtained ; in the place of which the seal of the king and of a few apostate lords, is said to have been substituted. The grant, therefore, as never made by the kingdom, is contemned as one which the kingdom never should have recognized. ^'^ Thus firm and promising were the sentiments which led to that decision of the English parlia- ment, by which the demand of the census was for ever silenced as a national question. The claim had been stated by Wycliffe's opponent, in a form of logic, from which the escape of an ad- versary was conceived to be impossible. Having delivered it as an axiom, that every dominion, granted on condition is dissolved on the failure-' of that condition, he proceeds with all gravity to remark, that the lord, the pope, presented our '8 A temper iniich lesenibling this of tlie eng'.ish commons and no- bility, is observable in many bcloiiginn; to the same class of poisons more than a century earlier. — WestminsttM-, Ann. 1244. A\ alsinghiim, Hypodrigma Neustr. Ann. 124.». THE LIFE OF WVCLIFFE. 2/5 king with the kingdom of England, on the con- chap. dition that England should pay anniially seven v.,^^ hundred marks to the Roman court. This con- dition, he observes, has been repeatedly over- looked, and the result is viewed accordingly as inevitable, viz. that the king has fallen from the true dominion of England. Wycliffe descended to reply, that the process of reasoning, which had so pleased his adversary, must be defective somewhere, since its consequence was plainly fallacious ; and this defect he states as consisting in the dishonesty of the condition assumed. The supposed transfer of the land and its people, from the king to the pope, is treated as the dream of a fraudulent ambition, and presumed to be so ex- hibited in the arguments adduced from the lips of the english senate. To these the querulous recluse is advised to prepare an answer; and Wycliffe concludes by observing, '' if I mistake " not, the day will come in which all exactions *' shall cease, before he v/ill prove such a condi- " tion to be reasonable and honest." The parliament to which the honor of annihi- The men- lating this odious servitude pertains, was also ciSro- required to interpose its authority with respect to IiIitted"?o the struo-gle still continued between the mendf- t'i«^P/"i'a- C'O ment. cants and the universities. The complaints pre- ferred by each party were patiently heard, and from the decision of their present judges it ap- pears, that the friars continued to be chargeable with efforts to seduce the young, and an attach- ment to the papal power, inconsistent with a due regard to the interests of their country. Such, however, had been the mutual excitement, that 276 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, it was deemed important to urge upon the liti- v-^w gants a respectful deportment in their accustomed intercourse ; and in harmony with the previous decision respecting the tribute, it was resolved, that no scholar under the age of eighteen, should be received into any mendicant order : that no document tending in any manner to the injury of the national seminaries should be hereafter re- ceived from the pope : and that every future dif- ference between the parties at issue, should be decided in the court of the king, and without ■farther appeal. ^^ vvyciiffe ^^ ^fc uot informed of the persons on whom known' to ^^ dcvolvcd to advocatc the cause of the univer- the court sitics, ou this occasion. There are facts, how- from tins • i -r< i i period. evcr, which afford the strongest presumption that the defence of Oxford, was not conducted with- out the assistance of WyclifFe. His name had become connected with the present controversy far beyond that of any other living man ; and the legal provisions now made, went to the removal of evils against which his loudest complaints had been directed. It is farther evident, that this application to the supreme authority of the land, was preferred with caution and earnestness by both parties ; and it is important to remark, that of the debate immediately preceding the discus- sion of this question in the parliament, Wycliffe was himself an auditor. "° Such, too, was the resentment of Edward at this crisis, that he not only refused the badge of feudal homage de- 19 Cotton's Aldidgment, 102, 103. Collier, i. ,560. *" The speeclies given by liim are described as those " qtiam audivi '• in quodain Concilio a Doniinis secularibiis." n TM£ LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 277 maiided by the pope, but also, the ancient and harmless tribute of Peter's pence ; and under this feeling he appears to have conferred on our re- former, the title of royal chaplain ; a distinction of which we find him possessed immediately afterwards ; and one, the obtaining of which, it would be otherwise difficult to explain. From all these circumstances we may safely con- clude, that the person of Wycliffe, then the warden of Canterbury hall, was not unknown to the members of the parliament convened in 1366. l^; His doctrine, it is evident, exerted a powerful influence over that assembly. Every branch of papal interference in temporal matters was there censured with a peculiar freedom ; while the boldest comparisons were ventured between the primitive and the present pastors of the church. The conclusions which followed the discussions referring to the census and the mendicants, were in harmony with those subsequently censured as emanating in a peculiar degree, from the mind of our reformer. The entire subjection of the property of the realm, and of all its persons in their civil capacity, to the authority of the ma- gistrate, were tenets which however much at variance with the schemes of priestly ambition, he had learned at this period openly to avow. But it is of most importance to observe, that in the assembly where these questions were so ably investigated, it was also affirmed, and ap- parently without contradiction, that the canon law on which so much pretension had been founded, was in itself but of humble authority, being rendered superfluous by the christian scrip- T 3 \/ 278 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. tures, which, considered alone, are described as sufficient to determine every point of moral or religious obligation. The pontiff also, contrasted with the invisible head of the church, is not only- described as a mere man and as peccable, but as liable to the guilt of mortal transgression ; and considered in the latter state is declared to have forfeited every right to ecclesiastical dominion.-^ The reader will not need to be informed, that there was much of novelty in these opinions, and that the origin of most of them among the engiish people, is attributed by our historians to the age of Wycliffe. It is certain, that in England, the doctrine affirmed respecting the scriptures, and the alleged consequence of mortal sin, obtained in him their first advocate. ^' This sentiment is more prominently given in his reply to a question proposed a few years later by another parliament. See chap. iv. THE LIFE OF MYCLIFFE. 279 CHAPTER UL EDWARD S INVASION OF FRANCE NATIONAL ANIMOSITIES PRODUCED BY IT ITS FAVORABLE INFLUENCE ON THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION, AND ON THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH CHARACTER OF EDWARD THE THIRD, AND OF HIS COURT DEFECTS OF CHIVALRY JOHN OF GAUNT ON THE PROBABLE ORIGIN OF HIS CONNEXION WITH WYCLIFFE NOVEL AND ENLIGHTENED MEASURE OF THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT ITS ACCORDANCE WITH A FAVORITE DOCTRINE OF WYCLIFFE GROUND OF THE REFORMER'S OPPOSITION TO THE SECU- LARITY AND VICES OF THE CLERGY HIS VIEWS OF CLEJJICAL OBLIGA- TION . — ISSUE OF THE DISPUTE RESPECTING HIS WARDENSHIP BECOMES PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IMPORTANCE OF THIS EVENT ANALYSIS OF HIS EXPOSITION OF THE DECALOGUE, AND EXTRACTS. Edward the third had reached the fiftieth chap. year of his reign, when Wycliffe became known to the english court, by his first defence of the crown. The failings or misfortunes of the preceding mo- ofFrance. narch, had involved the youth of his son and successor in serious difficulties. But the young prince soon discovered that superior military ge- nius, and that portion of capacity for government, which the dismembered state of the kingdom, im- periously demanded from the sovereign. Still, through the former half of the long reign of Ed- ward, his schemes of conquest which every other arrangement was intended to subserve, had pro- duced little beside mortification and embarrass- ment. No real advantage had resulted from his hostilities with Scotland ; and the project of se- T 4 Edward's invasion 280 THE LIFE OF WVCLIFFE. curing the crown of France, which drew his at- tention so completely from domestic affairs, and from the real interests of his people, had not only exposed him to the contempt of a powerful antagonist abroad, but to the murmurings of a neglected and impoverished community at home. The reader, however, will remember, that the year 1346, is signalised in english history, by the battle of Cressy. The lustre of that event, so dazzled the sight of our ancestors, that the court of Edward became lost to nearly every enterprise except those of war; and the same spirit was ra- pidly diffused over every order of the people. A National victory which the skill of a few commanders, and sities pro- the space of a single hour, appear to have de- tile war*'^ temiiued, imparted an influence to the political France ^spcct of Christendom, which is still every where perceived. Edward's ill-supported claim to the crown of France, had awakened an indignant feeling, through that formidable kingdom ; and the disasters of his earlier campaigns in the hostile ter- ritory had wounded his own pride, and that of his followers. In his subsequent victories, the chi- valry of France, was placed entirely at the feet of that of England ; but such events could only serve to mature the enmity which had been thus excited between the two nations, and which time has not even yet removed. Ten years had passed ^ since the battle of Cressy, when the victory of ' Poictiers, again exasperated the pride of the enemy. The king of Scotland was already a pri- soner in the tower of London ; and the sovereign of France was now placed at the head of the many illustrious captives, found in the train of Edward itution. TME LI Ft OF WrCLIFFE. 281 the third. The martial vanity of the english was thus raised to the highest state of excitement, and all rational hope of political repose, was placed at the farthest possible remove. Humanity must deeply regret the national ani- influence mosity which was thus produced, and the seeds war" oi of inveterate disorder which were thus sown, {-5^^"°" through the fairest of the french provinces. But ciuu-ch the dependence of Edward, on the pleasure of his sti parliament for large supplies ; and the removal of those antipathies which had so far divided the saxon and norman population of this country from the period of the conquest, were also among the consequences of this questionable policy. It is well known that this augmented influence of par- liament, and this closer binding of the common- wealth, entered not into the results of the french war, as then anticipated either by the prince or the people ; but these were events destined to contribute in no small measure to our national improvement. There was also another advantage, and one perhaps of even greater importance than the former, arising from this contest. During the reign of Edward, the pontiffs resided at Avignon ; these, and their cardinals were so commonly Frenchmen, as to create a dangerous alliance between the politics of France, and those of the papal court ; and the obvious partialities of the latter, to the interests of the rival country, were the matter of general notoriety, and often of loud complaint.^ The vacancies of the english church > During the interval between 1304, and 1378, the following pontiffs succeeded each other, and all were Frenchmen. Clement v. ; John xxii. ; Benedicte xxii. ; Clement vi.; Innocent vi. ; Urban v., and Gre- gory xi. 282 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. were frequently conferred on foreigners, and especially on the more dignified ecclesiastics of the rival country. But in such cases, the property of the nation was generally regarded, as conveyed by means of an iniquitous policy to aid the resources of the enemy. These facts, will in some measure explain the origin of the invective, so often em- ployed by the engiish parliament during this pe- riod, when exposing the avarice and encroach- ments of the papacy : and if WyclifFe be justly revered as the parent of the engiish reformation, these circumstances were certainly among the most important, in imparting that efficiency to his labours.- Character But Edward the third had never concerned thf thinu himself very deeply with the pursuits of litera- j ture, and still less with the speculations of religion. His thirst for military ascendency was such, as to leave but little, either of leisure or capacity for any better occupation. Through the former half of his reign, the king of England was not in cir- cumstances to risk the serious displeasure of the pontiffs ; and when the peace of Bretigni, had secured to him, concessions which made him the most powerful monarch of Europe, he had reached that period of life in which the most speculative men rarely embrace any novelties of opinion, either in religion, or in politics. Some years also before his death, Edward's continental influence ^ See the avarice and encroachments of the Avignon popes, described by Mosheini, iii. 316-318. By a variety of mean and selfish contri- vances having " no other end than the acquisition of riches, these in- " considerate pontiffs excited a general hatred against the Roman see, " and thereby greatly weakened the papal empire which had been *' visibly upon the decline from the time of Boniface." — Ibid. CHAP. III. THE LIFE OF VrYCLIFFE. 283 rapidly declined, leaving but the town of Calais at the moment of his decease, as the frnit of his much celebrated victories. But during the inter- val of his prosperity, we have seen him indig- nantly refuse the census demanded by Urban ; ~ and farther withholding the very ancient tribute of Peters' pence. Wycliffe he raised to the dignity of royal chaplain ; and the reformer's subsequent appointment, as one of the commissioners to nego- tiate with the delegates of the pontiff, as to the limits of the papal influence with respect to the patronage and temporalities of the english church, was also the deed of Edward ; and a still farther promotion of John de Wycliffe was among the last acts of his life. It is thus evident, that Edward the third proceeded as far in the cause of refor- mation, as could be justly anticipated; remember- ing the peculiarities of his character, the varying circumstances of his reign, his advanced age at the time of Wycliffe's appearance, and the wide and hitherto almost unbroken influence of ancient custom. But if such was the extent of the aid which And of was to be expected from the monarch, it is im- "^ *^*''" ' portant to enquire what farther encouragement was likely to be given to the efforts of a reformer, by the family of the sovereign, or by the court. Of Edward's children, five sons arrived to the state of manhood. But the decease of the elder, known by the name of the black prince, preceded that of his father, as did that of Lionel, duke of Clarence. The latter of these princes is described by the ancient writers, as possessing every ami- able quality, the former was the pride of chivalry. 284 Tilt LIF£ OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. The devotion of the heir apparent, to that de- V— ^^ parted institute, and the fame which it secured him, were inseparable from its complete ascend- ency in the english court. Defects of To Separate the good conferred by that system, from the evil which it as certainly produced, is difficult. It is described, and with a degree of truth, as the offspring of the feudal system ; and as intended to redress by the exercise of a gene- rous valour, the wrongs which were every where inflicted, and which too commonly defied the w^eak provisions of law. As an apostle of equity, each knight bound himself by the solemnities of honor and religion, to vindicate the injured at every personal hazard, and to cherish a peculiar deference for the female character. In a state of society where there was little that could de- teriorate, an additional rein was thus placed on the neck of violence ; and it is obvious, that some good must have resulted from an institution, which at such a period, created a reverence for ac- knowledged justice, no less remarkable, than the peculiar courtesy, and the generous ardour, with which its claims were in all cases to be honored. Still the benefits conferred by chivalry, were limited, almost entirely, to the aristocracy of the nations.^ Humanity, in its nobler meaning, was ^ Mr. Hume appears unusually interested in his story, when de- scribing the courtesies of the black prince, toward the illustrious cap- tives secured l)y tlie victory of Poictiers. But the soldier who could be so considerate of the feelings of royalty and knighthood, has the less to urge in defence of cruelties inflicted on inferior classes, who still were men. Froissart concludes his description of the ferocious scene which was followed by this display of urbanity with observing, that " the prince " of Wales, who was courageous and cruel as a lion, took great pleasure " this day in lighting aui The following extract in reference to Wycliffe, and the reformatioa contemplated by the parliament in 1371, should not be overlooked. " It " appeareth by such as having observed the order and course of times, *' that this Wycliffe flourished about the year of our Lord 1371, Edw^ard *' the third reigning in England ; for this do we find in the chronicles of " Caxton : " ' In the year of our Lord 1371,(saith he) Edward the third, " king of England, in his parliament, was against the pope's clergie. " He willingly hearkened and gave ear to the voices and tales of here- " tics, with certain of his counsell ; conceiving and following sinister " opinions against the clergie. Wherefore, afterwards, he tasted and "suffered much adversity and trouble. And not long after, in the year " of our Lord 1372, he wrote unto the bishop of Rome, that he should " not, by any means, intermeddle any more within his kingdome, as " touching the reservation or distribution of benefices : and that all " such bishops as were under his dominion, should enjoy their former " and ancient liberty, and be confirmed of their metropolitanes, as hath " been accustomed in times past.'" Fox. Acts and Monuments. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 293 of christian knowledge. And to avow the general chap. doctrine, opposed as it was to prevailing custom, v^^^y-l^ to a remote antiquity, and to the secular spirit of the existing priesthood, required that the forti- tude of Wycliffe, should keep pace with his dis- cernment. Nor is it consonant with reason, any more than with religion, to attach a marked suspicion to the ardour, which may be evinced to effect the over- throw of a moral structure, so much at variance with every notion of moral propriety. The christian must consider the gospel as sufficiently attested, to make the reception of it a duty. Hence, should he view an unbeliever as sincere, he cannot forbear to question his integrity, with respect to the means of conviction. But it is curious to observe, how confidently the opponent of the gospel anticipates the meed of good intention, while attempting its total overthrow ; and how certainly he withholds that award from the more discriminate zeal, which spares religion, while assailing its corruptions. The reason, however, of this peculiarity, we cannot re- gard as a secret. Christianity is disposed of, with little difficulty, while concealed under the thick veil of its abuses. It is, when separated from these, that it assumes a perplexing aspect ; such indeed as to render the reformer of religion, a much less attractive object on the stage of history, in the view of some writers, than the crowd of priests or statesmen, who have conspired to vitiate its principles, and thus to impair its fame. It is ad- mitted, however, that the mind which has received the culture necessary to appreciate the beauties of art, is otfended by every false combination, and by u 3 294 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE, CHAP, every trace of rudeness or deformity. And it v—v^ certainly is not less evident that the perceptions and feelings of men in relation to morals, and to the gradations of piety, are susceptible of similar discipline and improvement. If there be a dif- ference here, we may presume for various reasons, that it will be in favor of the moral capacities. Accordingly, the harmonious in human life, the beautiful in religious devotedness, may become no less attractive to the reflecting man, than the same properties as distinguishing the works of art. From the zeal for improvement also, as thus ex- cited, though directed to very different objects, there may arise the same dissatisfaction with im- perfect attainment, and in all respects the same severity of criticism. We honor the man who has struggled to separate the literature of a nation from the inroads of barbarism; or to distinguish for the benefit of others, between the truths of science, and the pernicious dogmas of the alchy- mist or the astrologer. And it remains to be shewn, why the same reverence, at least, is not due to the man who performs a more perilous service, with the hope of exhibiting religion apart from superstition ; and that because the latter is re- garded, as the source of whatever can degrade his species, and the former as having the nearest con- nexion with the best discipline, both of the under- standing and the heart. His views Such has been the character of the most dis- teriai ob- tiuguishcd reformers of the christian religion ; and ig'' ions, gy^i^^ jj-^ a peculiar degree, was the culture of the mind which led the way in the english reformation. WyclifFe's acquaintance with the compositions of THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 295 devout men, and especially with the writings of chap. inspired teachers, had contributed to place human -s^kv-^ nature before him, in all the deformity and ruin of its lapsed condition ; and had at the same time, ' disclosed to him, the moral loveliness of the state in which it first stood, and to which by the in- fluence of the gospel, it may yet be restored. They are matters, of this commanding character which constitute the christian doctrine, and if true, it is plain that it possesses an importance, with relation to men, very far surpassing what may be attached to any other portion of truth, or indeed to all other truth. By Wycliffe, this doctrine was contemplated with the liveliest interest, and em- braced with no feeble confidence. Hence, while his improved understanding might be offended by barbarian customs, or his humanity by acts of oppression; his love of religion, as of that which included whatever might most contribute to the honor of the Deity and the welfare of mankind, would clothe the practices of the indolent or the worldly in the christian priesthood, with features so revolting, as to render his loudest reproof but the partial utterance of the most honest indig- nation. If these considerations are borne in mind, the reader will not perhaps be surprised at the apparent severity of the reformer's language, when exposing the vices of the clergy. Such men were viewed by him, as set apart for the sole purpose of becoming the religious instructors of the community, and their guides to the promised immortality. The shepherd, however, was often seen resigning his flock to ignorance and destruction, that his own passion for secular dignity or worldly gain, might u 4 III. 296 THE LIFE OF WVCLIFFE. CHAP, be indulged ; and to witness these fatal declen- sions, without denouncing them, as in the last degree iniquitous, was in the judgment of Wycliffe to share in the guilt thus incurred. In one of his earlier pieces, intitled, *' A " Short Rule of Life," it is thus he addresses the minister of religion. " If thou art a priest, and ** by name a curate, live thou a holy life. Pass " other men in holy prayer, holy desire, and holy '* speaking ; in counselling and teaching the truth. " Ever keep the commandments of God, and let ** his gospel, and his praises, be ever in thy mouth. ** Ever despise sin, that men may be drawn there- *' from, and that thy deeds may be so far rightful, " that no man shall blame them with reason. Let " thy open life, be thus a true book, in which the " soldier, and the layman, may learn how to serve " God, and keep his commandments. For the " example of a good life, if it be open, and con- *' tinned, striketh rude men much more than ** open preaching with the word alone. And waste *' not thy goods in great feasts for rich men, but " live a frugal life, on poor men's alms and goods. *' Have both meat, and drink, and clothing, but " the remnant give truly to the poor; to those who " have freely wrought, but who now may not '* labour from feebleness or sickness; and thus " thou shalt be a true priest, both to God and to " man." While such were the views of Wycliffe, '■' The above extract I have copied from a manuscript volume in the Hodleian, incliuling numerous extracts transcribed from the reformer's writings by Dr. James. The substance of tlie passage, and in tlie same terms, is in an early comment of Wycliffe 's, on the decalogue, (Cotton, MSS. Titus, U. xix. 122). This piece will presently claim our atten- tion. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 297 as to the obligations of" the clerical vocation ; a re- chap. moval of the clergy from all secular offices, whether «,.*^^ in the household or in the cabinet of the monarchy could not fail to appear to him as of the highest importance to their true reputation, and to the cause of religion. " He that wareth, entangleth " not himself with this life," is the language of St. Paul, and was often cited by our reformer as de- noting the abstraction from worldly solicitudes, which it should be the aim of christain pastors to preserve. It was his zeal as the advocate of these and similar doctrines, which three years later, provoked the serious displeasure of the englisli prelacy and of the papal court; involving him in all the perils of a conflict with their united strength. ^^ The power of John of Gaunt at this time, and his known disaffection, with regard to the ob- trusive ambition of the higher clergy, oblige us to believe that the proposed measure was subject to his sanction ; and it bears upon it a signature, which warrants our attributing it to the influence (however remote) of a man whose genius and ac- quirements, the duke considered as unrivalled. '3 That Wycliffe's attacks upon the clergy, were not of that indiscri- luinate character which has been sometimes insinuated, is evident from raany of liis writings. The following extract is from a piece composed about this period. " Thy second Father is tiiy spiritual Father, who " has special care of thy soul, and thus thou shalt worship him. Thou " shalt love him especially before other men, and obey his teaching as *' far as he teaches God's will. And help according to thy power, that " behave a reasonable sustenance when he doth well his office. And " if he fail in his office by giving evil example, and in ceasing from " teaching God's law, thou art bound to have great sorrow on that " account, and to tell meekly and charitably his default to him between " thee and him alone." — Ibid. If Wycliffc ever sanctioned any less mild or scriptural methods of reform, it was because the state of the malady was found to requite a severer treutmcut, III. 298 THE Lll'E OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. The fact also, of its being introduced, while Lan- caster was absent from the kingdom, is a proof that there were leaders in the assembly of 1371, who had also learned to regard the efforts designed to limit the attention of the clergy to the spiritualities of their office, with a favorable eye. In their pe- tition indeed, the secular members of the parlia- ment, appear to have been unanimous ; and they hesitate not to specify the various offices which they would have vacated, as those hitherto sus- tained by churchmen. The language of Wyclifte on this subject, is equally definite ; including not only the spirit, but nearly the words of this me- morable remonstrance. *' Neither prelates," he observes, " nor doctors, priest, nor deacons, " should:, hold secular offices, that is, those of *' chancery, treasury, privy seal, and other such " secular offices in the exchequer. Neither be '' stewards of lands, nor stewards of the hall, nor *' clerks of the kitclien, nor clerks of accounts, *' neither be occupied in any secular office in '* lords' courts, more especially while secular " men are sufficient to do such offices. "^^ In sup- port of this doctrine, an appeal is made to the various writings of St. Gregory, St. Chrysostom, and St. Jerome, and to the apostolic decrees, also to the advice of St. Paul to the Corinthians, and 1 '* Ecclesise, Regimen. Cotton, MSS. Titus, D. i. Tlie substance of this work is no doubt the production of WycHffe, but the copy in the British Museum has been transcribed, and in one or two instances in- terpolated subsequent to liis death. Much of its sentiment and language occur in his work on prelates, and in various other pieces. There is a second copy among the MSS. of Trinity collejje, Dublin. I wished to examine it, but it was unfortunately mislaid at the time of my couuexiou with that library. THE LIFE OF WYCLlFrE. 299 to the solemn admonitions of the Saviour, ad- chap, III. dressed to his immediate disciples. In another \--/.*^ treatise, he writes, that " prelates, and great re- " ligious possessioners, are so occupied in heart " about worldly lordships, and with pleas of busi- " ness, that no habit of devotion, of praying, of " thoughtfulness on heavenly things, on the sins " of their own heart, or on those of other men, *' may be preserved ; neither may they be found '* studying and preaching of the gospel, nor visiting \ " and comforting of poor men. "^^ The consequence ' accordingly, of tolerating churchmen, as " rich *' clerks of the chancery, of the commons' bench, " and king's bench, and the exchequer, and as *' justices and sheriffs, and stewards, and bai- " liffs,"^^ is said to be, that they become themselves so worldl)^, as to be in no circumstances to re- prove the worldliness of others. So success- fully were these opinions announced, that in the reformers popular tract, on the question, *' why " poor priests have no benefices ;" he explains the circumstance as arising, in a great degree, from the objections felt by the more conscientious of that order, to the practice of lay patrons, who " held " curates in vain offices in their courts." He states also, in the same work, and as the conse- quence of the general custom adverted to, that when vacancies occurred, the influence of patrons was commonly employed in favor of some shrewd '■' MS. C. C. Cambritlge, beginning, " For three skills lords should con- " strain clerks to live in meekness, willful poverty, and ghostly travail." '^ Ibid. In exposing the worldly business of clerks at another time, he describes them as resembling " baiiitfs rather than bishops." — MS. of Feigned Contemplative Life, Dublin, Class c. Tab. 3. No. 12. TIL 300 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, collector of the pope's pence, or of '* a kitchen " clerk, or one wise in building castles, or in " worldly business. "^^ In the last expression, there is an evident reference to William of Wyke- ham, the celebrated bishop of Winchester, — a pre- late whose skill in architecture and finance, had recommended him to the favor of Edward ; and whose removal from the office of chancellor, was an event particularly contemplated by the novel measure adopted in the present parliament. On receiving- this petition, the king replied, that he would act respecting it, with the advice of his council. But in the following month, Wykeham resigned his office as chancellor, and the bishop of Exeter ceased to be the treasurer of the realm. The partial success of this bold attempt to consign the policy of the kingdom to the hands of the laity, and to limit the cares of the clergy, to the spi- ritual necessities of their flock, could not be known as in agreement with the favorite doctrine of WyclifFe, without exposing him to the increased resentment of his own order. It is not possible to determine the extent, in which the labors of our reformer had produced the feeling which se- cured so formidable a sanction, to a petition that must have been seen as peculiarly ofi'ensive to the ecclesiastical state. The fact of its existence, however, would be sufficient to induce the esta- blished clergy, to associate every conceivable mis- chief with the future activities of WyclifFe. If the representatives of the english people had dis- covered propensities so dangerous, it was but just '7 MS C. C. Cuuibriilge. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 301 to conclude that the provinces were equally hn- chap. pregnated with inflammable material ; and the v— v-^ labours of this factious teacher would be regarded as tending to eff'ect the ignition of the whole /^ It was at this period that Wycliifes' dis- issue of pute' respecting the wardenship of Canterbury pntesre- hall, came under the notice of the king.^9 It ,^,'i'f^a"f had been submitted to the decision of the pontiff '^ensiup. in 1367, but the definite sentence was suspended until the year 1370. The reader will scarcely be surprised to learn, that the termination of this suit was favorable to Woodhall and the monks ; confirming the sentence of exclusion, which had been passed on the reformer and on the secular scholars by Langham. That Wycliffe had de- rived his office from the will of the founder, was unquestionable ; but to bow the decrees of the living and the dead to its pleasure, had long been the practice of the papal court. It is probable that the reformer had fully anticipated this issue of the question. So little was he affected by it, that I am not aware of a sinsle reference to it in '8 Rymer, \i. 45. Edw. III. This evil, however, was too deeply rooted to be suddenly eradicated. It is thus that Latimer deplores it as the evil of his times. " It is a thing to be lamented, that the prelates, " and other spiritual persons, will not attend upon their offices. They " will not be amongst their flocks, but rather will run hither and thither, " here and there, where they are not called, and in the mean season " leave them at adventure of whom they take their living. Yea, and " furthermore, some would rather be clerks of the kitchen, or take other " offices upon them, beside that which they have already. But with " what conscience these same do so, I cannot tell." — Sermons, Folio, p. 171. '3 It is singular that the name of Wycliffe does not occur in the papal document, though of considerable extent, and drawn up with no little caution. Nor is this the only suspicious circmnstance connected with it. Appendix No 9, 302 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE, CHAP, any of his writings. It may be supposed, however, v^^ that the recollection of the event, would some- times sharpen his invectives, as directed against the general maxims of the papacy. His op- ponents also, appear to have been conscious of the illegality of their triumph, and became seri- ously concerned, as the extent of their bribe de- monstrates, to render it secure by a confirmation from the king. This effort, indeed, was not made until nearly two years after the decision of the pope had been obtained ; and we should not err, perhaps, in attributing the alarm which it implies, to a perception of Wycliffe's growing -in- fluence among his countrymen. Edward the third, was now sinking under the infirmities of age, and still more under the embarrassments in which his attempts to possess the crown of France, had involved both himself and the nation. Of the manner in which his sanction of this papal verdict was obtained, we are ignorant; excepting that among the means employed by Woodhall and his companions for that purpose, was the sum of two hundred marks. A donation not less considerable, may be presumed to have facilitated the same cause in another court, the avarice of which had been for ages proverbial."*^ Obtains The hope of ever recovering the preferment as'dlSor t^^^s wrested from him, must now have been indivinity rehuquished ; but the genius of Wycliffe was of a character, to create other channels, through which to extend its influence. In the ensuing year, he performed his novitiate for, the degree of ^ Lewis, c. i. Where lie estimates tlie two hundred marks at about a thousand pounds of our present money THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 303 doctor in divinity. In the fourteenth century chap. that dignity was less frequently conferred by our v,*-,..^/ universities, than in later times ; and from the persons receiving it, a generosity was expected which failed not to commend itself to the more convivial inmates of colleges. How far Wycliffe conformed to this custom, or in what manner he was received by his equals, or honored by his inferiors, in this instance, we are ignorant."' His elevation, however, to the chair of theology in the leading university of the kingdom, opened a import- field for the diffusion of his opinions which has ti"afevent rendered the year 1372, a most important period in his history. From that chair many of his scholastic pieces still extant, were doubtless read ; but these, though they contributed to in- crease his reputation among contemporaries, and thus facilitated the progress of his more important opinions, possess at this day but a very limited value even to the student of history. Among his compositions produced about this period, is an extended exposition of the decalogue ; and as this work is known to the public but by its title, some extracts from it, with a general notice of its con- tents, may not be unacceptable to the reader; espesially as it will enable him to judge, of the theological opinions, and of the devotional feeling, which the reformer brought to the discharge of his duties as divinity professor. - *' Lelaud tie Script. Brit. 379. Wood's Anu. Lewis. The paper read on the occasion adverted to, is believed to be in the imperial library of Vienna. Baber, p. 44. ^ The particulars which induce me to assign tliis early date to the commentary referred to, are various. I. Though extensive, it contains not the remotest reference to tlie controversies respecting the vernacular scriptures, and the eucharist, qij,estions which as soon as they arose, 304 THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. CHAP. The code of our obligations with respect to mall, v^^^ and the Creator, which is compressed in the ten at"ilis ex- pi'ecepts delivered to Moses on the mount, has position been a part of the formularies of the church, ot the de- ^ . caiogue. through cvcry subsequent age. Its preservation also, and the prominence supposed to have been given to it in the papal ritual during the middle ages, have been considered as inseparable from much moral and political benefit. It ought not however to be forgotten, that through that long interval, the import of the moral law was understood but very imperfectly ; while the entire machinery of the established superstitions was artfully adjusted to deprive the precept of its power, by disclosing innumerable means of escape from its penalty. We learn, indeed, from the pro- logue to the comment before us, that in the four- teenth century, it was no rare event for men "to call . " God, master, forty, three score, or four score V " years ; and yet to be ignorant of his ten became so much the matter of discussion as to find their way into every production of the reformer's pen, which was at all considerable. 2. It includes certain statements of doctrine which are much more obscured by the errors of the period, than others relating to the same points supplied by Wycliffe's subsequent writings. It should, however, be stated that with tlie exception of the word purgatory, which occurs once after- wards, the only sentiments expressed in tlie present work, to which a modern protestant would object, are contained in the paragraph intro- ductory to the first precept. The writer there sanctions the use of images in less cautious terms than at a later period, and prayer to saints is not only recognised as an important exercise, but is left wholly unre- stricted. Two years from this time, Wycliffe was called to the continent, and in a homily which appears to have been composed immediately after his return, he condemns the practice of offering prayer to saints, whose admission to heaven is not affirmed in the scriptures, and dis- closes a suspicion as to the real utility of such services, even when referring to them. — Bib. Reg. 18. B. 14. Ecclesiag. Regimen. Art. 10. A little subsequently, the entire practice was discountenanced as the oifspring of folly, and as diverting the mind from the " One Mediator," — Trialogos, iii. 30. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 305 *' commandments." To induce an attention to chap. the divine precepts, WyclifFe reminds his reader, v— v^ '* that poor and helpless, as he had entered the *' world, he must soon depart from it, having "' nothing with him, but his good deeds or his " wicked." The latter also, he forcibly describes as leading " to the pains of hell," and the former, as connecting the nature of man, with " the high " bliss of heaven." '' We should be diligent," he observes, " to learn the love of God, and to fear " him, and to worship him passing all things in *' this world. But this may we not do, without '* seriously learning the law of God, and his com- *' mandments. Hence, there is full great need to *' hear the commandments of God read, and " preached, and taught, and so to learn them, and *' do after them, as God hath bidden on pain of *' damnation. But what man is there now a days " who feareth to break God's commandments, or " setteth any prize by the sweetest word in all " God's law ? Dear God ! it is a wonder of all " the wonders on earth, that from the beginning of '* our life, even to our last end, we are never *' weary, either night or day, in labouring for " worldly goods, pleasing to our wretched body, '* which shall here last but a little season ; while " about the learning of God's law, which shall be *' food and nourishment for our souls, that either " in bliss or pain, shall ever last — about such things, " may we not labour truly to the end, for one hour " of the day !" This absence of all religious soli- citude, he farther deplores as observable, " for " the most part through all the world," not ex- VOL. T. X 30G THE LIFE OF WYCLTFEE. CHAP, cepting " lord b'ishops, parsons, vicars, priests, v^^^ " and friars." In his explanation of the first precept, sen- suality, covetousness, and pride, are particularly noticed, as opposed to the reverence and attach- ment, so justly demanded by the Creator. It then follow^s : " if a mauvwill keep this commandment, ** he must believe stedfastly, that Almighty God '* in Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy *' Ghost, three persons in one God, are the noblest '* object that may have being, — all power, all wit, *' all wisdom, all mercy, all charity, and all good- *' ness, being in him, and coming of him. Also, thou *' must fear God above all things in this world, and " break his commandments for the sake of no ** worldly good ; also, thou must love God above ** all things, and thy neighbour as thyself; la- " bouring diligently to understand the law of God, ** especially his ten commandments, and w^atching " that thy will be so regulated, that it may accord " with God's will. Have a remembrance too, of *^ the goodness of God, how he made thee in his *' own likeness, and how Jesus Christ, both God " and man, died so painful a death upon the cross, " to buy man's soul out of hell, even with his own '* heart's blood, and to bring it to the bliss of *' heaven!" While such are the motives by which the love of God is enforced, on the second commandment he remarks, that " all who would be called *' christian, while they live contrary to the living " and teaching of Christ and his apostles, take " God's name in vain : for it is in vain, that THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 307 " a man say he is a christian man, and do nothing chap. *' of the works of Christ." Perjury and profane swearing are loudly censured as violations of this precept. The iniquity of the former is said to be, that it makes the God of truth, an abettor of false- hood ; the latter is noticed as opposed to certain canons, which menaced the offending clerk, with the loss of his dignity, and the layman with excom- munication. But the writer appeals with greater solemnity to the language of the Saviour, in his sermon on the mount. This he delivers as '* Christ's *' own words in his gospel," and immediately adds, " therefore for the love of Christ, who for you *' shed his blood, beware henceforth night and *' day of your oaths' swearing." His replies to certain excuses, which were urged to extenuate this vice, present a fair specimen of his more po- pular style of reasoning. Thus it was stated, as proper to have God always in remembrance, and hence it was said to be a less fault to use his name somewhat irreverently, than that it should seem to be treated with neglect. This serious trifling he compares to the conduct of a subject, who should make a virtue of frequently repeating the name " of a just prince, though it might be to " betray him, or to teach others to despise him." When the practice is vindicated as the effect of habit, the plea is coupled with that of a thief, who should appeal to his confirmed love of depredation, as an extenuation of some particular offence. It is admitted, that God is merciful, but when it is inferred, " that he will not therefore damn men " for a light oath," the partial view of the divine attributes and government which the conclusion X 2 III. 308 THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. CHAP, implies, is thus solemnly exposed. " Since God v-v-^ '* is so great a Lord, and commandeth his liege " man, on pain ofhell without end, to keep so easy *' a command as refraining his tongue from vain " and false swearing, is he not worthy to be " damned the deeper, if he break it ? It was little *' in Adam to eat an. apple in paradise, considered " apart from the bidding of God. Nevertheless, " for the eating it against the forbidding of God, *' he and all mankind were justly condemned, " until Christ bought them again, with his pre- " cious blood, and hard death upon the cross !" The assertion, that to swear, was necessary to be believed, is disposed of with equal effect ; and here it is especially regretted, that at a period when almost every sentence uttered by men was an oath, the impiety should remain wholly un- checked, even among the servants and retainers of prelates and lords though ordained to teach the law of God. " Certainly," he exclaims, "it is a " wonder, apart from the endless mercy of God, ** that the earth openeth not, and swalloweth them " quick into hell, for this treason, and others " beside. "-3 -^ The piety of WycIifFe appears to have been particularly shocked by the profanity of the times in this respect. It is thus solemnly that he appeals to such offenders. " But how shalt thou, sinful wretch, dare " stand before Christ at the dreadful day of doom, while his hands, his " side, his feet, and his wounds are all open and bloody, and wait to be " saved at that dreadful season in virtue of Christ's name, and of his " hard wounds, which name and wounds thou hast so customarily and " horribly despised all thy life, in idle swearing." -Ibid. The taste of this appeal is that of the age, its sentiment is of a character for which AVycliffe has not obtained all the credit that is due to him. In his treatise on prelates, (C. C. Cambridge, MS.) it is numbered among the sins of that class of men, that they were wont to swear, and in the pre- sence of others by " the heart, and bones, and nails, and other members THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 309 On the third commandment, he remarks, that chap. the sabbath is a day, that should be spent, ** in ^^^.^ " three manners of occupations." These occu- pations are explained, as including devout medi- tation, public worship, and the works of charity. His maxims on the last named division of christian duty, bespeak the kindness of his heart ; and must have given a strong peculiarity to the man- ners of his followers, if truly adopted by them. His instructions in relation to public worship, re- quire the most humiliating acknowledgments of guilt, and of spiritual helplessness, and urge the worshipper in his approaches to God, " to cry " heartily unto him for grace and succour." To aid the reflections of the devout mind, during this sacred season, he enjoins that it be then especially remembered, " that God is almighty — Why ? — " Because he made all this world of nought — that " he is all wise — Why? — Because he governs *' most wisely all things. That he is all good — Why? " —Because he maketh all things turn to the " profit of good men, who faithfully love him. *' That he is all just — Why? — Because he re- " wardeth all good deeds, and punishes all tres- " passes in due time, and in due measure, both " secret and open ; neither may any creature *' resist his punishing, whether in earth, in pur- " gatory, or in hell. That he is all merciful — " Why? — Because he is readier to receive sinful *' men to grace, that' would truly leave their sins, " than they are to ask mercy." His reader is " of Christ." From the record of William Thorp's examination before archbishop Arundel, it appears, that the official language of primates was not unfrequently interlarded with such asseverations. — Fox, i. C89. X 3 310 THE LIFE OF AVYCLIFFE. CHAP, then admonished, that the sabbath is not so much V— v^ commemorative of the work of creation, as of the resurrection of Christ, and of the gift of the Spirit ; and it is then added, " bethink thee heartily of the *' wonderful kindness of God, who was so high " and so worshipful in Heaven, that he should " come down so low, and be born of the maiden, " and become our brother, to buy us again by his " hard passion, from our thraldom to Satan. He '* was beaten, and buffeted, and scourged, so that *^ there was not left a whole spot of his skin, but '* all his body was as one stream of blood. He ** was crowned with a crown of thorns for despite, ** and when the crown, as some writers say, would *' not set fast down to his head, for the long " thorns, they took staves and beat them down, ** until the thorns pierced the place of the brain. ** He was then nailed, hand and foot, with sharp " nails and rugged, that his pain might be the ** more, and so at last he suffered a painful death, " hanging full shamefully on the hard tree ! And ** all this he did and suffered of his own kindness, ** without any sin of himself, that he might de- " liver us from sin and pain, and bring us to ever- ** lasting bliss. Thou shouldst also think con- " stantly, how when he h^d made thee of nought, ** thou hast forsaken him, and all his kindness, ** through sin, and hadst taken thee to Satan and *' his service, world without end, had not Christ, " God and man, suffered this hard death to save '' us. And thus see the great kindness, and all " other goodness, which God hath shewn for thee; " and thereby learn thy own great unkindness ; " and thus, thou shalt see, that man is the most THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 311 " fallen of creatures, and the unkindest of all the chap. *' creatures that ever God made ! It should be ^— ^^ " full sweet and delightful to us to think thus on " this great kindness, and this great love of Jesus '* Christ!" It is under the influence of such re- flections, that Wycliff'e calls on men to become active *' on the sabbath about the soul, as on other *' days about the body ;" requiring of each, that he should " evermore think on his own sin, and on *' the shortness, and falseness, of this wicked *' world." On the next precept, it is observed, that the homage yielded to parents, should be ex- tended to the christian pastor, as a spiritual father, and to the Creator as ** the best of all," and the being for whom men should be prepared to make any sacrifice, or endure *' any death." The pro- hibition, '* Thou shalt not kill," is said to be vio- lated, not only by the deed of blood, but by depriving men of their character, or regarding them with hatred.^* There is much strength of reasoning,and of reproof, in his comment on these precepts ; and the same is observable in his treat- ment of that relating to the vices of impurity. He states also, that ** in many places, neither " priests nor clerks, wedded nor single, may keep 24 It is thus that he assails the frequent crime of manslaughter. " How " shall he be hardy to stand before God, who has slain a son of God? " It is a wonder how any man dare destroy the creature whom God " hath made in his own likeness. If a craftsman has so great a love for " his work that he may not suffer it to be lost, how much, guess you, " that God loveth the creature he hath made in his own likeness?" — Ibid. The deed is farther interpreted as a despising and scorning of the passion and painful death of Jesus Christ, who died to save men's lives " unto the bliss of heaven " — Ibid. It was the worth of human nature, as arising from these facts, which rendered Wycliffe so much the foe of war, and so much devoted to the religious well'are of men. X 4 312 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. <' themselves" from such offences. To aid men v,-^vw in resisting- this species of temptation, many things are adduced. The tempted are admonished par- ticularly, that the passion of Christ is designed to save them from sin, and *' that God is every where *' present, and seeth most clearly all things, and " is more v^illing to help those who are in trouble, ** and truly seek after his help, than they are " ready to desire it, be they never so fervent; and " that God of his condescension and truth, will *' not suffer man to be tempted, more than he may " bear,, and with God's grace overcome." Some extracts might with propriety be made from the comment on the remaining precepts, but the observations at the close of the treatise, are too characteristic to be omitted. " Therefore " covet not thy neighbour's goods, despise him " not, slander him not, deceive him not, scorn " him not, belie him not, backbite him not — the " which is a common custom now a days — *' and so in all other things do no otherwise " than thou wouldst reasonably that he did to " thee. But many think if they give a penny to *' a pardoner, they shall be forgiven the breaking " of all the commandments of God, and, therefore, " they take no heed how they keep them. But ** I say, thee for certain, though thou have priests " and friars to sing for thee, and though thou " each day hear many masses, and found chaun- ** tries and colleges, and go on pilgrimages all thy " life, and give all thy goods to pardoners; all this " shall not bring thy soul to heaven. While if the *' commandments of God are revered to the end, " though neither penny nor halfpenny be pos- I THE LIFE OF Vs'YCLlFFK. 313 " sessed, there shall be everiastino" pardon, and chap. . . . III. ** the bliss of heaven !" The reader is, in conclu- v^-^,,-^ sion, admonished, that to suffer for Christ can be no hard requirement, since he has so greatly suffered for us ; and an appeal is made to the scenes through which apostles, martyrs, and con- fessors, have passed to their present exaltation, as an inducement to bear the evils of time with resignation, and in the spirit of triumph. From these extracts a correct judgment may be formed of Wycliffe's opinions in theology, at the period of commencing his divinity lectures among the students of Oxford. The doctrines which have been in general regarded as forming the most important peculiarities of the christian reve- lation, were evidently the favorite portion of his creed. Thus we find him zealously inculcating the lessons of inspiration on the fall of man, and /-«,, the consequent depravity of human nature ; on the excellence and perpetual obligation of the moral law; on the exclusive dependence of every child of Adam, for the remission of his sins on the atonement of Christ; and for victory over temptation, and the possession of holiness, on the aids of divine grace. It has appeared also, that these momentous tenets, were very far from being regarded with the coldness of mere speculation. On the contrary, in the experience of Wycliffe, they are found united with that pe- culiar feeling of gratitude and humility : with that hallowed confidence in God : and with those refined pleasures of devotion, which they so directly tend to produce. With him, to use his own nervous language, the love of God was an ex- 314 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, ercise of the soul " full of reason." If his lec- v,^^ tures from the professor's chair, were somewhat less devotional, or less marked by practical detail than the treatise which we have noticed, it will be but just to assume, that his statements on such occasions were in perfect consistency with the doctrine avowed in his more popular compositions. It should be remarked also, that the doctrine announced by Wycliffe, with respect to spiritual security, as certainly pertaining, and as alone pertaining, to the worshipper whose reliance on the grace of the Redeemer had produced the love of God and of his commandments, was one of no trivial importance. It will appear, indeed, in the course of this narrative, that the independence of every priestly mystery, which was thus main- tained, was to prove the essential and the most efficient means of our religious emancipation. =5 -* I avail myself of this space to remind the reader, that the term " law" and the phrase " the law of God," frequently oocuring in the theological compositions of the fourteenth century, and especially in those of Wycliffe, are often to be understood as referring, not merely to the preceptive portions of the scriptures, but to the whole sum of divine revelation. Such was the manner of the Old Testament writers. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 315 CHAPTER IV. STATE OF THE PAPAT, INFLUENCE IN ENGLAND ON THE ACCESSION OF EDWAni? THE IHIED COMPLAINTS HESPECTINO IT STATUTE AGAINST PRO- VlSonS, AND THAT OF PREMUNIUE EMBASSY TO THE PAPAL COUUT FAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THIS PERIOD IMPROVED BY WYCLIFFE INQUIRY CONCERNING THE NUMBER OF ALIEN BENEFICES IN ENGLAND A SECOND EMBASSY INCLUDING THE NAME OF WYCLIFFE BRUGES, THE SEAT OF NEGOCIATION CHARACTER OF THAT CITY AND ITS CONNEXION WITH THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE WYCLIFFE WITH THE DUKE OF LAN- CASTER AT BRUGES RESULT OF HIS EMBASSY ITS INFLUENCE ON HIS SENTIMENTS HE IS PROMOTED BY THE KING TO THE PREBEND OF AUST, AND TO THE RECTORY OF LUTTERWORTH PROCEEDINGS OF THE GOOD PARLIAMENT THE REFORMER IS ACCUSED OF TEACHING DANGEROUS OPINIONS HIS APPEARANCE BEFORE THE BISHOP OF LONDON DEATH OF EDWARD THE THIRD MEASURES OF RICHARd's FIRST PARLIAMENT ITS APPEAL TO THE JUDGMENT OF WYCLIFFE— HIS REPLY. Ix the introductory portion of this work, we chap. have noticed the struggle perpetuated between v^,^^^ the successors of the conqueror and the Roman I'apai in- 1 . , ,. . ^ fluence in prelates, with a view to determine the hmits of England, their respective power over the persons and the cession of property of the english people.^ That feudal u,t'\h'il-d. homage which had been spurned by the pride of William, we have seen extorted after an interval of nearly two centuries, from the weakness of John ; and we have marked the avaricious ap- plications of the political and religious usurpation, which was thus consolidated. From that period C. iii. sect. i. 316 THE LIFE OF WYCEIFFE. the pontiffs frequently assert their will to be above all law, whether affecting the church or the state ; and in their various exactions, they appear to have been but rarely impeded by such restraints as arise from the sentiments of justice or pity. As a consequence, while our monarchs were readily absolved from their vows, with re- spect to the charter of our liberties ; the emolu- ments of the english hierarchy, were conferred with a shameless profusion on the creatures of the papal court. Against this system of tyranny and depredation, some loud remonstrances were of- fered ; but promises of amendment were no sooner made than forgotten ; and on the accession of Ed- ward the third, the nation, if less exposed to the ambition of the popes, than in some preceding reigns, was no less impoverished by those devices which served to replenish their treasury. Occasions It was in the sixteenth year of Edward the third, that the recently elected pontiff, Clement the sixth, declared, the two next vacancies in the english church, amounting to the annual value of two thousand marks, to be by provision, the pro- perty of two, among his cardinals. The moment was unfavorable to such a demand, and the lan- guage of complaint, which had been uttered by the nobles and the commons under preceding sove- reigns was now repeated, and was enforced by the sincere concurrence of the monarch. Edward, inj his letter to the pope, distinctly states, that the custom of provisors had transferred the property designed for the support of religion, to the hands of men, who neither dwelt in the country, nor under- stood its language ; and who were alike, unable loud com pliilnt THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 317 and unwillino:, to dischart^e the duties of their chap. . IV. office ; and adding, that thejurisdiction of his courts, v^,^ had been in various particulars impaired by this practice, it is described, as alike, at variance with the royal prerogative, the right of the chapters, and that of patrons in general. The evils thus stated, are also declared to be insufferable ; and viewed as the natural consequence of the alleged innovation on ancient discipline, it is required that the custom of provisors be instantly abolished. In support of this claim, it is remarked, that the commission of the popes, as derived from St. Peter, is evidently to befriend the church, and not to oppress it, to feed, and not to impoverish the flock of Christ.- But the redress of these grievances, though thus solicited, was solicited in vain. Hence, it de- v/ volved on the king and the parliament, in the year statutes 1350, to attempt the protection of the country so,'s'and from this system of relentless fraud, by the cele- Pfem"- •^ ' ■J iiire. brated statute against provisors, and three years later by another enactment, equally known under the name " Premunire." The first, declared the collation, to any dignity or benefice, in a manner opposed to the king, the chapters, or the patrons, to be void ; subjecting the parties concerned in every such offence, to fine and imprisonment, and prohibiting appeal, beyond the court of the sovereign. The second statute, was pointed more directly against the growing custom of transferring questions in relation to property, from the decision of the native tribunals to the re-judgment of a foreign authority; exposing all such offenders to a = Wals. IGl. Collier, i. 546, 547 554. 318 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, sentence of confiscation, and to imprisonment at ^J^^ the kings will.^ The rigorous enforcement of the latter provision, was highly beneficial ; but from many subsequent facts, it is evident that the former imposed but a feeble check on the evils which it was intended to remove. Embassy In 1373 the enoiish parliament complained of to the pa- , . ^ - n 1 • • pal court, the grievances, arismg irom papal provisions, as being more oppressive than at any former period. To save the property of the realm, and to silence the continued murmers of his subjects, Edward commisssioned Gilbert, bishop of Bangor, Bolton, a monk of Dunholm, and William de Burton, and John de Shepey, to state to the pope the discon- tent which his conduct had diffused through the s nation. Gregory the eleventh, who then filled the ' papal chair, resided at Avignon, and to him it was delivered as the claim of Edward, and of the english people, " that the pontiff should desist " from the reservation of benefices in the Anglican " church : that the clergy should henceforth freely ** enjoy their election to episcopal dignities — and *' that it might be sufficient for them to be con- " firmed by their metropolitans, as was the anci- " ent custom."^ To this remonstrance, some partial concessions were made ; but they were so far defective, or made with so little appearance of sincerity, that in the parliament of the same year it is petitioned that some remedy be devised against the provisors of the popes, and against other novel customs, which has drained the land of its wealth to an extent that could be no longer endured. ^ 25. 27. Edw. 3. ' Barnes's Edward iii. 861. Lewis, c. Hi. THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. 319 An act was accordingly passed, with a view to chap. protect the community from these rapacious en- v,^^ croachments of the head of the church; and one which, by declaring the election of bishops to be completely independent of the pontifical sanction, became a law, affecting the spiritual as well as the temporal supremacy assumed by the pontiffs.-^ The partialities of the Avignon popes, and of circum- their conclaves, to the interests of France, were favor- too well known at this period, not to have a con- eciies^as- siderable influence on the national feeling of the ^j^^^ '■^' S> form. english. Under any circumstances, the most general notion of equity, or the mere selfishness of human nature, would have been sufl^icient to render the practices adverted to a matter of serious regret. But to view the kingdom, as subject to this exhausting process, and chiefly that her wealth might be transferred to aid the resources of her most powerful adversary, was inseparable from an indignant species of remonstrance. It was at this crisis of the popular feeling that the labours of Wyclifl'e would become particularly eflicient. His zeal and learning were applied to demonstrate, improved that the authority assumed by pontiff's, and by the nffe. ^^ national clergy, with respect to the aff'airs of states, and with regard to the property of the church, was strictly usurpation, and a wide departure from the maxims which had been revered by the christian priesthood, in the days of their greater purity. The efforts of the commons to reform ecclesiastical abuses, he spared no pains to pro- tect from the charge of intrusion, and the reproach Cotton's Abridgment, 119. Barnes, 8G4. 320 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, of novelty. It is also observable, that in the various v,^^ complaints preferred by that body, with respect to such matters, nothing can be less apparent than a feeling of suspicion as to the propriety of enter- ing upon the ground which they had taken. On the contrary, the popes are plainly regarded, as the centre of a body of men, who under the garb of a sanctified vocation, were living to the indul- gence of every worldly passion. So inveterate too, was this disease considered, that all hope of recovery, as arising from the proper source, appears to have been relinquished. Equity, hu- manity, and religion, all had long since failed to supply the needful restraints, and hence the strict necessity of imposing them by the coarser penal- ties of secular jurisdiction. There is usually much to be apprehended when the taught, whether in science or religion, acquire the habit, not merely of judging for themselves, but of reproving their accredited instructors. So deceptive, however, is the influence of power, that even this state of the public mind, conspicuous as it now was in this country, failed to excite any very serious alarm among the bolder adherents of the papal authority. Enquiries It was this statc of popular excitement which in^g the"" suggested the importance of instant enquiry, to number ascertain the exact number, and value, of the alien ot alien benefices, benefices in the church of England.^ Possessed of the certain information which the investigation had supplied, it was resolved by the parliament of 1374, to choose certain delegates, who should * Fox. Acts and Monuments, i. .561, 562.— Where the reader may perceive something of the pastoral solicitudt! wliich guided the Avignon popes in the disposal of english benefices. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 321 once more convey their remonstrance to the pon- tiff. It was doubtless a conviction, that Wycliffe had rendered them material aid in this important contest, w^hich led the members of that assembly to assign him his place among the persons so ap- pointed. The first name in the list is that of a a second prelate who had been employed on the previous totiie commission ; the second, is that of our reformer.^ Smg"" It will presently appear, that in the opening of oJ*^wy'"-^ 1377, Wycliffe stood before the english prelacy, ciiffe. accused of publishing opinions which shook every secular pretension of the hierarchy ; and which were scarcely less hostile to that theory of spiritual power, by which its worldly ascendency had been acquired. These opinions, however, which he is then accused of having for some time promulgated, must have been announced before the close of 1374, as the subsequent interval was passed upon the continent. It follows, therefore, that to the parliament which thus required his appearance as the advocate, both of the royal prerogative and of popular rights, his novelties of opinion could hardly have been unknown. But the negotiation, with which our reformer's name is now associated, was not to be conducted at the papal residence. And if any credit may be attached to the state- ments of numerous contemporary and catholic writers, it was in general politic, during the middle ages, to prevent the more enlightened portion of mankind from too nearly observing the manners which commonly pervaded the nearest dependants on the successors of St. Peter^. Wycliffe had ■^ See Appendix, No. 10. * Giossteste canied some of his complaints to the court of the pontiff, VOL. I. Y 322 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, already learned to trace the corruptions of the ^— /-^ members of the church to those of the head ; but his inspection of the fountain had been necessarily more distant than that of the streams ; and for this reason, we may almost regret that the meeting of the delegates was arranged to take place at Bruges, and not at Avignon, charac- The former city, however, possessed some fea- Bruges turcs, in which the mind at all curious in its period, tendencies, must have felt considerable interest. Its name had been derived from a bridge con- nected with it: its foundation is attributed to the year 760: and its fortifications rose somewhat more than a century later. When commerce had ex- tended her numerous towns over the provinces of Germany and Flanders, the wealth which was thus acquired, became an allurement too great to be always withstood by the undisciplined passions of the powerful. The prelates, on whom the government of various cities devolved, with the title of imperial vicars, were generally unpopular. And the local nobility, who appear to have been as much disposed to illegal exaction, and private rapine, as to the sports of the field, and political feuds, were not less the objects of suspicion. Many real dangers were no doubt felt, as arising from piracy and invasion ; but we can easily con- ceive, that such evils would be shrewdly magnified by these maritime republics, so as to give the most but returned to England in a somewhat gloomy mood. Paris, 802. " Tired with the mal-administration and mercenariness of the Roman " see, he left Rome and returned into England, and being dissatisfied " with the state of the english church, at his arrival, he designed to " quit his bishopric, and to retire for study and devotion." Collier, J. 458; THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 323 plausible aspect to the industry with which they chap. resorted to every defensive movement. It was v— ^w certainly to protect the wealth and independence, n^^^^, which had been the reward of their ingenuity and nexion toil, that these commercial fraternities mingled in Hausea- one friendly alliance, constituting the famous league. Hanseatic league. Soliciting, sometimes the se- cret, and sometimes the open protection of the sovereign, this body maintained its stand through several centuries, not only against the formidable combinations of pirates, but against the lawless pride of many a local aristocracy, and often against the spiritual weapons of the church. The forma- tion of this memorable union is dated from the middle of the thirteenth century. Its existence may, perhaps, be traced to an earlier period ; but it then assumed a definite form, admitting such towns only to its securities, as were in possession of their own keys, and free in the exercise of their civil jurisdiction. By this league, which in 1370, included more than sixty cities, an enviable dis- tinction was conferred on Bruges. From arrange- ments made in 1262, that city soon became the emporium of Europe; uniting, as the consequence of its locality, and from the imperfect state of navi- gation, the growing traffic of the Baltic, and the ancient commerce of the Mediterranean, and the east. In an assembly of 1361, six hundred of the Bruges ladies are said to have excelled the queen of France, in the costliness of their attire, and to the avowed mortification of royal vanity. With this taste for splendour, the spirit of civil freedom, which every where arose from that of commercial enterprise, was so far connected as to impart to the Y 2 324 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, manners of the Bruges citizens a self-confidence y^.^^ and fearlessness which passed with the more patient victims of feudal tyranny for presumption and insolence.9 There was much in these peculiar aspects of society to interest the mind of Wycliife. Those luxurious habits, indeed, and that love of finery which had long characterized the population be- fore him, could not have been regarded with pleasure, by a nature of his severe complexion. But the steady resistance presented by the citizens of Bruges to every oppressive exaction, whether pro- ceeding from their civil or their ecclesiastical rulers, must have excited his warm admiration. From the same feeling, as in progress among his coun- trymen, his present commission had arisen ; and that he returned increasingly zealous to strengthen and mature it, is no matter of conjecture. It should be noticed also, that during his stay in that city, it became the seat of negociation between the ambassadors of France and England, under the mediation of the archbishop of Ravenna, and the bishop of Carpentras, as the representatives of the pope. The dukes of Anjou and Burgundy, wydiffc brothers of the sovereign, were delegates on the duke^of P^'^t of France ; and the claims of England were at^BuN^*^ entrusted to the earl of Salisbury, Sudbury, then gps- bishop of London, and the duke of Lancaster.^" The character in which Wycliffe appeared at Bruges, would secure him access to these ambas- sadors from the most formidable powers of the age ; and would lead to a more intimate knowledge of the intrigues which have been too commonly 9 Anderson's History of Commerce, i. 57- 85. 225. 253. 268, '0 Rymcr, vii. 49 Ewd. 3. Feb. 20. Jan. 27. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 325 admitted into the policy of states, and of the chap. church. Such lessons might not be pleasing, but v-^^ to acquire them, was important. Our information, respecting the progress of the Result of negotiation, demanding WyclifFe's principal atten- bassy. tion, is imperfect. It is certain that he arrived at Bruges, near the month of August, in ] 374 ; and under the date of September, 1375, we find six bulls addressed to the english monarch by the pontiff, and treating of questions then at issue between this nation and the papacy." In these documents it was provided that no person, at present in possession of a benefice in England, should be disturbed by any interference of the pope's authority: — that the reservations of bene- fices which had been declared by Urban the fifth, and were not yet acted upon, should be anulled: — that the titles of certain clergymen which had been questioned by the late pope, should be con- firmed, remitting also, the demand of their first fruits : — and that an assessment of the revenues of certain cardinals, holding livings in England, should be made to effect a repair of their churches, and other ecclesiastical buildings, which had fallen into decay; the extent of such assessment to be determined by the verdict of a jury convened in the neighbourhood. To protract the contro- versy, which inclined to an unfavorable result, was a maxim in the policy of the court of Rome, not more conspicuous, than important to its cause. It not unfrequently happened, that a short inter- val placed the appellants in circumstances widely altered ; so that a decision which it would have " Kymer vii. 49 Edw. 3. Sept. 1. y3 326 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, been unwise at once to have avowed, was often ^^-Y^ announced without danger at a later period. In such cases the pontiffs commonly attributed their delay to the serious difficulties of the questions before them ; and when obliged to make some communications respecting them, it was frequently but to ascertain the effect of evasion. Thus, in the letters addressed to Edward the third, after a delay of more than twelve months, there was no sur- render of pontifical claims. The reservation of benefices; the demand of first fruits, from such as became vacant; and some other obnoxious customs, were relinquished so far only as they stood connected with the authority of Urban. The silence of his successor, with respect to such points, as they might become involved in his own conduct, discovers plainly, that every princ'qole in the great scheme of usurpation was still regarded as unalienable. That such were the views enter- tained of the papal letters, in England, may be confirmed from the continuance of the embassy which produced them. From a reply of Edward, to a petition of the parliament convened in the April of the following year, it appears that the royal commissioners were still prosecuting their instructions in behalf of the english church. ^^ But the aged monarch was rapidly declining; his continental influence was almost annihilated ; and faction had made considerable inroads on the domestic policy of his kingdom. Aided by these circumstances, Gregory the eleventh contrived to retain his authority unimpaired, by consenting to a partial restriction of it but upon a condition, '^ Cotton's Abridgement, Ad, Ann. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 327 which he knew mio^ht soon be made to furnish a ^'Hap. ~ IV. pretext for resuming whatever he had appeared to v— v-*-/ surrender. It was agreed, that for the future the pope should desist from the reservation of bene- fices; but it was also required, that the king should no more confer them by his writ, ** qiiare " impedit.'" This concession, which regards the authority of the pontiffs, in relation to the offices and emoluments of the anglican church, as at least the equal of what pertained to the sovereign, is the amount of the redress, obtained by a nego- ciation of two years' continuance. The official confirmation of episcopal and abbatical elections, which had been assumed by the popes, was among the matters of complaint on the part of the english commissioners; but it was a custom which involved too much to gratify both the ava- rice, and the ambition of the pontiffs, not to be obstinately retained. Gilbert, on whom the con- ducting of this embassy principally devolved, was translated immediately after his return to the see of Hereford ; and in 1389, to that of St. David's; and as his advancement, in both instances, were the fruit of papal provisions, it is obvious that in his case, at least, the cause of the chapters had been committed to very improper hands. Wycliflfe, who regarded the extent of the claims its influ- which he was called to advocate, as including but the sen- a part of what might with equal justice have been wySe! preferred, was more than disgusted by this result of the protracted embassy. Such also was the developement of papal sanctity, which had arisen out of his discussions with the envoys of the pon- tiff", that his rebukes which hitherto had been but y 4 328 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, remotely applied to the head of the church, arc .^ 4,' henceforth directed to that quarter, with unsparing severity. The pope, indeed, is regarded as one, whose elevation served but to diffuse more widely, the pestilence of an example surpassing in its worldliness and avarice. The covetousness, and the secular ambition, which had so long, and so successfully claimed the reputation of a zeal for piety, were now stripped of their disguise ; and the stimulus thus imparted to his spirit of inquiry, will be found to give a wider extent, and a more determined aspect to his efforts, as opposed to the abounding corruptions. i^ The duke of Lancaster embarked at Bourdeaux for England, on the eighth of July 1376, and we have no evidence that Wycliffe left Bruges, at an His pro- earlier period. But during his absence, the reformer had received the most unequivocal proof, that the respect entertained for his character by his sove- reign, was in no way diminished. In November 1375, he was presented by the king to the prebend of Aust, in the collegiate church of Westbury,in the diocese of Worcester. About the same period, the rectory of Lutterworth in Leicestershire became va- cant. Lord Henry de Ferars, the patron, was then a minor ; it in consequence devolved upon the crown to appoint the next incumbent : and the royal pa- tronage was again exercised in favor of Wycliffe. ^^^ " The papal nuncios on this occasion, were Benedict, bishop of Pampehma, Radulf, bishop of Senigaglia, and Giles Sancho, provost of the church of Valenza — Barnes's Edward the Third, 886. '* The following entry, though relating to Wycliffe's successor in the rectory of Lutterworth, determines the source of his promotion, and the day of liis death. " Johan de Morhouse, presbyter per dominuni Henr. '* de Ferrariis de Groby ad Eccle. de Lutterworth, luquisitores diciiut, motions. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE, 329 The interval, however, w^hich had brought pre- chap. ferment to the reformer, had involved the duke of v,^^ Lancaster in a political struggle which embittered |^'„"^oft*Jie the remainder of his life. While the career of g°"^ p^""- T-i 1 1 1 1 • r' liament. Jbdward and his sons, was such, as to gratify the vanity of the nation, its selfishness was in a good degree manageable. But the scale of pros- perity had recently fallen in favor of the enemy. The measures of government, as the usual conse- quence, began to be less acceptable ; and the duke of Lancaster, on whom, from the age of the king, and the sickness of the heir apparent, the cares of the administration chiefly devolved, found himself exposed to much of the growing petulence and prejudice. The prince of Wales may have had some real objection to the official conduct of his brother ; it is certain, that at this crisis, his name was connected with measures, which were plainly designed, to point him out, as the object of a general disaifection.^^ But the history of the parliament which thus distinguished itself, is involved in no little obscurity. Courtney, bishop of London, and Wykeham of Winchester, with others among its leading members, were men, whose feelings are known to have been at the farthest remove from the spirit of democracy. At " quod dicta Ecclesia incepit vocare ultimo del Decern, ultimo preteiiti, " (1384), per mortem Johannis Wycliffe ultimi lectoris ejusdem. Item, " dicunt, quod Dominus Heniicus de Ferrariis de Groby est verus pa- " tronis, et quod dominus noster Edwardus tertius Rex, ratione minoris " jetatis dicti Domini Henrici de Ferrariis dictum Dominum Johannem " Wycliff ultimo presentavit ad eadem. Dictus Johannes Morhouse " admissus est."— 8 col. Febru. 1384. Reg. Bokyngliam, c. col. Kennet. MS. Lewis, c. iii. '^ Yet the name of Lancaster is very honorably inserted in the list of his elder brother's executors.— Testaaieuta. Vetusta- ubi supra. 330 THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. CKA.P. the same time, the attack conducted by the house s-v-"*^ of commons, during this session, on various branches of official corruption, is one of the most determined efforts in the cause of religion, and of general freedom, to be found in our parliamentary annals. To account for the agreement of parties so opposite, in the decisive measures adopted, it has been supposed, that the prelates above named, and their adherents, descended to employ the popular influence, as their best protection in supplanting the existing administration ; and that while it was ^ known that some severe complaints, with respect to the corruptions of the church, must in con- sequence be allowed to reach the presence of the king, it was secretly arranged that they should there be rendered ineffectual/^ This view of the event, though not without its difficulties, removes the greater number of the perplexities connected with it. In its proceedings, the charges preferred by this session against the servants of the crown, were followed in several instances by confiscation and imprisonment. Among the principal sufferers was Lord Latimer, the known friend of the duke of Lancaster; and Ahce Perers, a female who after the death of Philippa, is said to have acquired an improper influence over the king, and to have added to the usual intrigues of a court, the ef- frontery, in some instances-, of publicly impeding the course of justice. The expulsion of Latimer, from the royal council, is said to be for ever; and the punishment of Alice Perers, who was no doubt greatly calumniated, appears to have con- 16 Godwin's Life of Chaucer, c. xxix. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 331 sisted in forfeiture, and a prohibition from ap- chap. proaching the person of the sovereign. i7 It is sy>n^ enough, however, to know^ the relation in M^hich Latimer stood to John of Gaunt ; and that Ed- ward, retained the obnoxious female near him to the closing moments of his life ; to be assured that the leaders in the parliament of 1376, were men whose conduct was scarcely more agreeable to the monarch, than to his second son. But im- perfect as our notices are, respecting the secret history of that convention ; it has been justly remarked, that the policy adopted "in employing *' the house of commons as an engine of attack, " against an obnoxious ministry, was perfectly ** novel, and indicates a sensible change in the " character of our constitution. In the reign of " Edward the second, parliament had little share " in resisting the government: much more was " effected by the barons, through the risings of their ** feudal tenantry. Fifty years of authority, better ** respected, of law, better enforced, had rendered ** these more perilous, and of a more violent appear- " ance, than formerly. A surer resource presented " itself in the increased weight of the lower house ** in parliament ; and this indirect aristocratical ** influence, gave a surprising impulse to that as- " Walsinghara appears to have recorded every malicious rumour he could learn respecting this woman. Sir Robert Cotton, however, re- marks, that " the record against the said dame being very long, proveth " no such haneous matter against her, and these two suits wherefore " she was condemned, seemed very honest; but mishap, she was " friendly to many, but all was not so to her," (1 Ric. 2). Her subse- quent marriage to Lord Windsor, lieutenant of Ireland, and one of the most distinguished noblemen of tlie age, wairants the inference that she had been bitterly maligned.— Godwin's Chaucer, ii. 234. 332 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. '* sembly ; and particularly tended to establish v,,^^^ *' beyond question, its controul over public " abuses. "^'^ And while the energy of the lower house, was thus effectively employed, with respect to the existing ministry, and supplied so important a precedent in our parliamentary history; its exposures of eccle- siastical disorders are made with the same un- sparing hand, exhibiting them descending most ob- viously from the head of the hierarchy, to the lowest of its members. The event, however, soon dis- covered, that the latter class of evils were less within the power of correction, possessed by an english house of commons, than the former. But the mind interested in the progress of equity and religion in a nation, and in that deliberate courage which the love of either contributes to produce, will mark with pleasure, the tone of remonstrance adopted on these points by the representatives of the english people in 1376. We may safely conclude, that they were mistaken in affirming, that the kingdom had recently lost two thirds of its population and its wealth; but the disasters, whether of war abroad, or of poverty and disease at home, which were believed to have occasioned these alarming privations, are chiefly imputed to the mal-practices of popes and cardinals. In the substance of their petition as given by Sir Robert Cotton, they state that the tax paid to the court of Rome for eccle- \ / siastical dignities, amounted to five times more ^ than that obtained by the king from the whole produce of the realm. " For some one bishopric 'a HuUaiu, iii. So. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 333 " or other dignity," the pope is said to receive, chap. " by way of translation and death, three, four, or v,^.^ " five, several taxes ; and v^hile for money, the ** brokers of that sinful city, (Rome) promote " many caitiffs, being altogether unlearned and un- " worthy, to a thousand marks living yearly, the ** learned and worthy can hardly obtain twenty " marks, whereby learning decayeth. Aliens," they proceed, " and enemies to this land, who " never saw, nor care to see their parishioners have *' those livings, whereby they despise God's service, *' and convey away the treasure of the realm, and *' are worse than jews or saracens." Agahist these customs, they plead, " the law of the church," which requires that all such preferments should be granted in charity, " without praying or paying." They also affirm it to be the demand of reason, that establishments which were the fruit of de- votion, should be kept subservient to the cause of hospitality : and fear not to add, that " God " has given his sheep to the pope to be pastured, " and not shorn or shaven, and that lay patrons " perceiving the simony and covetousness of the " pope, do thereby learn to sell their benefices to *' mere brutes, no otherwise than Christ was sold " to the Jews." The consequence of these prac- tices, reproved thus, not merely in the sentiment, but in the very language of Wycliffe, is said to be that the treasure of England, which is " most sin- '* fully" obtained by the pontiff", exceeds the reve- nue of any prince in Christendom. It is therefore stated, " that the pope's collector, and other " strangers, the king' enemies, and only lieger " spies for enghsh dignities, and disclosing the 334* THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. *' secrets of the realm, ought to be discharged IV. '' that the same collector, being also receiver of '* the pope's pence, keepeth a house in London, ** with clerks and officers thereunto belonging, as if '' it were one of the king's solemn courts, trans- " porting yearly to the pope, twenty thousand " marks, and most commonly more : that cardinals " and other aliens, remaining at the court of Rome, '* whereof one cardinal is a dean of York ; another " of Salisbury ; another of Lincoln ; another arch- *' deacon of Canterbury; another archdeacon of " Durham; another archdeacon of Suffolk; and ** another archdeacon of York; another prebendary " of Thane and Nassingdon ; another prebendary of " York, in the diocese of York, have divers other, " the best dignities in England, and have sent over " yearly unto them, twenty thousand marks, over " and above that which english brokers lying here " have : that the pope, to ransom Frenchmen, the '* king's enemies who defend Lombardy for him, " doth always athis pleasure levy a subsidy of the " whole clergy of England : that the pope for mere ** gain, maketh sundry translations of all the bishop- " rics, and other dignities within the realm: and that ** the pope's collector, hath this year taken to his ** use, the first fruits of all benefices. That therefore " it would be good to renew all the statutes against " provisions from Rome, since the pope reserveth " all the benefices of the world, for his own proper *' gift, and hath within this year, created twelve " new cardinals ; so that now there are thirty, " whereas there were wont to be but twelve in " all ; and all the said thirty cardinals, except two " or three, are the king's enemies." From these THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 335 facts it is argued, that the pontiffs, if unchecked, cfla.p. may ere long, confer the secular dignities and v--^^^ the estates of the realm, on their own creatures, after the manner in which they had *' accroached" to themselves, the election of heads to ** all houses " and corporations of religion." To protect the country from practices, which threatened to render its present embarrassments perpetual ; and by de- priving the native clergy of nearly every stimulus to improvement, to reduce it to barbarism ; it was required that the provisors of the popes should be strenuously resisted, and that no papal ** collector " or proctor should remain in England, upon pain •* of life and limb ; and that no Englishman on the " like pain, should become such collector or proc- *' tor, or remain at the court of Rome."^^ Such were the proceedings of an assembly on j which the approbation of the people conferred i^ the name of the good parliament. The only per- plexing circumstance respecting it is, that it should have borne so unfriendly an aspect toward the duke of Lancaster. Nor is it easy to suppose, that men, so zealous in the cause of ecclesiastical reformation, would have been induced to sacrifice so efficient a partisan, had they not been led to anticipate the most active succour from others who were known as his opponents. If such, however, was their expectation, they were pain- fully deceived, and the duke's adherence to their object, notwithstanding the wound thus received from the hand of its friends, may be regarded as no mean evidence of his political sincerity. '^ Cotton's Abridgment, 128. Fox. Acts and Monnments, i. 561. 33G THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. We have noticed, that John of Gaunt, embarked IV' v^-v^ for England early in July, but before his landing, the parliament v^^hich had excluded him from a place in the government, and among its last acts, had withdrawn his power as ambassador, was dissolved.*^" The prince of Wales, also, the orna- ment of chivalry, had breathed his last on a bed of sickness. Edward, it appears, was far from being satisfied with the committee which had recently constituted his advisers ; and declaring the duke of Lancaster, — now his eldest son, — his principal associate in the government, the parties who had been prosecuted by the late house of commons, were presently recalled. In the sub- sequent punishment also of Peter de la Mare, of the earl of March, and of the bishop of Win- chester, who were all active members of the good parliament, we read the sentiments of the court as to the authors of the obnoxious measures, which had obtained the sanction of that assembly. About six months intervened between the dis- solution of that parliament, and the meeting of an- other, more devoted to the politics or to the power of John of Gaunt. During this interval, some mur- murings arose among the people, in consequence of the imprisonment of de la Mare ; and the bishops we may conclude were not less displeased, by the sentence of confiscation which had been passed on the episcopal temporalities of their brother of Winchester. It is observable, that at this mo- ment, the doctrine of WyclifFe is first adverted to, by the engiish clergy, as calling for official inter- 20 Rynier, vil. 50 Edw. 3, June, 12. of holding erroneous opinions. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 337 ference. It was doubtless known, that to attack chap. the rector of Lutterworth, was an indirect mode of ^^,„.^ assailing his patron, who now presided in the councils of the sovereign. Courtney, one of the most imperious churchmen of the age, had been recently elevated to the see of London, and had folly committed himself against the duke of Lancaster, by his conduct in the parliament of the preceding year. The zeal of this prelate, it ap- pears, was now employed to rouse and concentrate the indignation of his order against the opinions / and conduct of WyclifFe. In the next convoca- Wyciiffe tion, — which took place on the third of February, a week subsequent to the opening of the new parliament,-^ — we find the reformer cited to appear before his ecclesiastical superiors, to answer on certain charges, having respect to him, as hold- ing and publishing many erroneous and heretical doctrines. The nineteenth day of the same month, was fixed for hearing his defence ; and St. Paul's is described as crowded with the populace. In explanation of this circumstance, it should be noticed, that the minority in the present house of commons, had sought to strengthen their influ- ence by an alliance with the prelates and with the citizens of London ; and had induced many of the latter to believe, that the duke intended an abridgment of their liberties. Of the people as- sembled in St. Paul's, the immediate dependents of the clergy, would probably form no inconsiderable number ; the rest influenced, perhaps, by the malicious rumour adverted to, appear to have '-' Parker, ubi supra. VOL. I. Z raiil? 338 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CFiAP. been ripe for tumult. There is no reason, liow- yj^!^ ever, to suppose, that WyclifFe shared at all in their resentment ; it is rather evident, that his opinions were no less acceptable to the citizens of London, than to the students of Oxford.*- But such was the crowd on this occasion, that the authority of Lord Percy, earl marshal of the His ap- realm, and that of the duke himself, were scarcely peaj^aiice g^^^^jgj-^^ ^q procurc the accused an avenue of ap- proach to the place of his judges. Some dis- turbance arising from this difficulty, attracted the notice of Courtney, who was about to conduct the prosecution; and we may presume, that his dis- pleasure was not at all diminished, on perceiving the two most powerful subjects of the crown, pre- pared to shield the rector of Lutterworth, from the meditated vengeance of his enemies. The prelate hastily accosted these noblemen with the language of reproof, proceeding so far as to ex- press his regret, that he had not adopted mea- sures to prevent their admission to the court. The duke regarded this haughty intimation as an insult, and warmly replied, that in such matters the authority of the bishop of London, would be insufficient to regulate his conduct. Lord Percy felt with his distinguished colleague under this attack, and resented it so far, as to call upon Wycliffe to be seated, observing, that such an indulgence might be necessary, as he would have much to answer. Courtney loudly opposed the advice of the earl marshal, adding, that such con- -- Walsingliam affirms with indignation, that the Londoners were nearly all Lyllards. Hist. 101. Fuller's Church History, 185. Conl. Miiriiu. 1:57. THE LIFF, OF WYCLIFFK. SdV duct ill the person accused, must be interpreted chap. as a contempt of the court. The duke, however, \^^^.^ applauded the suggestion of his friend ; and could we credit the entire statement of Walsingham, we should regard him as descending to the use of language, alike ungentlemanly and impolitic. He may have charged the bishop with an assumption of importance, in consequence of family connexion ; but it is doubtful, whether it would be done in the coarse phrase employed by that historian ; and we may conclude, that the prudence of John of Gaunt, though no remarkable feature in his character, would be sufficient to prevent his choosing such a mo- ment to declare it as his purpose, to humble the pride of the whole order of prelacy. We may believe, however, that some angry discussion arose, that becoming connected with the already excited feeling of the multitude assembled, a tumult ensued, and that the parties being com- pelled to separate in disorder, the prosecution was for the present suspended. Wycliffe, who had continued the silent spec- tator of this stormy scene, retired with his friends; but the political animosities to wdiich the com- motion may be attributed, were not instantly al- layed. The violence discovered in the cathedral, was extended to the city, and the palace of the Savoy, the most magnificent in the kingdom, was assailed by a band of rioters, and the arms of the duke its owner, reversed as those of a traitor. The property of Lord Percy suffered less ; but a clergyman, mistaken for the earl Marshal, was slaughtered by the mob. In these proceedings, the mayor and aldermen appear to have been in z 2 340 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, some degree implicated : by the influence of the w.^^ duke, they are said to have been removed : and their places were supplied by persons who were deemed more worthy of confidence.*" The interval between February and October in 1377, Wycliffe appears to have devoted to the claims of his rectory, and to the duties of his pro- fessorship. But that period was one of consider- able change in the government of the nation. On the morning of the twenty-first of June, Edward the third expired ; and on the afternoon of the fol- lowing day, Richard, the son of the black prince, a youth, who had not attained the twelfth year of his age, made his public entry into London. His appearance was in the midst of gorgeous page- antry, which as the act of the citizens was more honorable to their feelings in reference to their present, than to their former monarch. The reign of the late king had been unusually extended, and was such as ought to have been reviewed with no little interest ; but Edward's latter days were embittered from many sources, and his breath had ^ That the first appearance of Wycliffe before the cnglish prelates was in 1377, and not in the opening of the year following as supposed by Mr. Lewis, is evident. The assault on the Savoy palace was, un- doubtedly, in immediate connexion with the duke's appearance at St. Paul's, along with the reformer, and that event is invariably attributed to the year 1377, and not to 1378. In the former year also, Percy was, as described above, earl marshal ; but at the commencement of the latter, he had resigned that office, and had succeeded to the earlship of Northumberland. In addition to which, there is mention in the account of this transaction, of the days of the week, and tb-ese agree with the earlier and not with the later date. The papal bulls, indeed, bear the date of June, 1377, and tiiis circumstance has been allowed to con- found the meeting at St. Paul's, which took place some days before these letters were written, with that which they produced about six mouths afterwards.— Wals. 191, 201—201. Spelman, ii. G25. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 341 scarcely departed, when he appears to be wholly ^^ap. forgotten by his subjects. Three weeks were em- v-^^^ ployed in preparing for the coronation of Richard the second, — a splendid event of which some minute accounts have been preserved."^ About two months later the new monarch as- His first sembled his first parliament. It was a scene of ment. considerable excitement, and was to be followed by more boisterous events. As it included nearly the whole of the members composing the good parliament, it is presumed that the influence of the duke of Lancaster was declining rapidly; but affairs may have taken much of their present course from his disgust, as readily as from his weak- ness. By the commons, it was required that a council of twelve peers should be appointed to confer with them, on the business before their house ; and that my lord of Spain — a title fre- quently given to John of Gaunt — should be their president. The king sanctioned the proposal : but the duke arose, adverted to the rumours which had been circulated touching his loyalty, and at- tributing them to certain members of the com- mons, remarked that the lower house could have no claim on him for advice. While sensible to his demerit, he could not forget that he was the son of a king, and one of the first subjects of the crown, nor would he agree to connect himself again with the affairs of the nation, until the imputation cast upon him should be wholly removed. His an- cestors of either side, had never numbered a traitor among them, nor was he disposed to be the ■^ Wa!s. 193 — 198. z 3 342 THE LIFE OF WVCLIFFE. CHAP, first to bring a stain upon their memory. But V— ,,-a^ while he felt himself thus strongly bound to senti- ments of loyalty ; and while it was known that he had more to lose by treason, than any second person iji the realm, he challenged his accusors to come forth, pledging himself to meet even the poorest knight in single combat, or in any other form, subject to the sanction of his peers. We may conceive of the ferment created by this ap- peal. The lords and prelates instantly rose, sur- rounded the person of the duke, and repeated their assurances, that no living man would credit the calumny referred to. The commons appealed to their conduct in inviting the offended party to become their principal adviser as their best de- fence ; and Lancaster at length consented to bury the past, on condition of obtaining a severe enact- ment against the authors of any similar calumnies in the future."^ But the name of our reformer is not less involved in the proceedings of this parliament, than that of his most distinguished patron. Among our Anglo- norman ancestors, the nobility, and the represen- tatives of the commons, were the principal authors of that freedom which had become the boast of the people : and under a minor prince the advocates of the prerogative would harldly fail to regard its extension as hopeless, and its strict preservation from injury, as a work of no ordinary difficulty."^ It is ^' Rot. Pali. iii. ■^"Thc archbishop of Canterbury ai)pears to have been Ailly alive to liiis danger, and Iionce in liis speech, or rat'.ior seinion, at the opeuinf; of the first parliament, was careful to inculcate that the monarchy of I'.n^^latid was not a matter of election but inlicrilance. Still in (he ceremony of the coronation ;i p.roniinenco had been given to the forms of a jioinilar election.— Wai.'^. 193. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 343 o])vious also, that the progress of civil liberty, so chap, materially dependent on the existence of delibe- *— ^-^ rative assemblies representing the property or the persons of a state, has never failed to prove an almost invincible barrier to the despotism of the church. The character of the first parliament, summoned by the youthfid Richard of Bourdeaux, and the circumstances under which it was con- vened, were accordingly both such as to lead us to anticipate the repetition of former complaints, with respect to the encroachments of the pontifts. As a remedy against the evils which had hitherto resisted every influence opposed to them, it was urged that the procuring of a benefice by papal provision, should be punished with outlaw ; and that the same penalty should be incurred by the native who should farm any of the livings in the english church which had been conferred upon foreigners : that the pope should be prevented, making " reservations to dignities elective, the " same being done against his treaty, taken with *' Edv/ard the third : that all aliens as well re- ** ligious, as others do by candlemas next, avoid " the realm : and that during the war, all their " lands and goods might be applied thereto.'"-'' We have seen, that the war adverted to, had long taken a disastrous course, and had entailed the most oppressive burdens on the nation. From a .,, .. , -11 Appeal of document still existmg, we learn that it had the par- become the matter of grave discussion, in the present tii'rjmi-" ])arliament, whether it would not be lawful in a Hffc!^*"' kingdom, in case of necessity and as the means of its ' -' CoUon's AbrulKiiiciit, 1(3'.) — 102. / 4 IV. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, defence, to detain its treasure, that it be not con- veyed to foreign nations, though the pope himself, should demand the same under pain of his cen- sures, and by virtue of obedience said to be due to him. The bearings of this question were known to be extensive, and most important ; and in the name of the king, it is said to have been referred to the judgment of Wycliffe. In his reply, the reformer professes to discard the opinions of the learned, the decisions of the canon, or of the civil law,- and along with them, even the law of England itself; deeming it sufficient to shew the affirmative *' of this doubt," from an exclusive appeal to " the " principles of the law of Christ." His first rea- sonings are designed to prove that the power of self preservation, which is so variously, but so certainly conferred on inanimate bodies, on the brute creation, and on the individuals of the human species, is also conferred on the english nation, a community which ought to be " one ** body, the clergy and the commonality being " alike members thereof." It is thence concluded *' that as there is no power given of God, to any " creature, for any end which may not be lawfully " used to that end, it follows, that our kingdom " may justly detain its treasure for the defence of " itself, in every case where necessity shall appear " to require it." In farther attempting the solution of this query, he describes every contribution, made to the papacy, as being strictly an alms; and alms, it is contended, are properly bestowed on the recipient, but as he is found to be really necessitous, and can be justly expected from the THE LIFE OF WYCMFFE. 345 donor, but as his affluence may be in the same chap. IV. degree certain. The wealth, however, of the v^.-v^ papal court was known to be far beyond its neces- sities, while the embarrassments of England were producing the loudest murmurs. It was by such steps that the reformer endeavoured to conduct his countrymen to the affirmative of this question. To him it appeared, not only as opposed to the doctrine relating to that temporal power, which the popes had frequently asserted, but as connect- ing itself, very intimately, with much that had been claimed by them, as a part of their spiritual jurisdiction. It is thus the document concludes. " Christ, the head of the church, whose example " should be followed by all christian priests, lived '* upon the alms of devout women. He hungered, " thirsted, was a stranger, and suffered in many *' ways, not only in his members, but in himself. " As the apostle testifies, he was made poor for " your sakes, that ye, through his poverty, might " be enriched." "Accordingly, when the church " was first endowed, vv^hoever among the clergy " were then holders of any temporal possessions, *' held the same in the form of a perpetual alms. " This is evident from histories, and from other " writings. Hence, St. Bernard in his second book " to the pope Eugenius, declaring that no secular " dominion could be challenged by him, on the *' ground of his office, as the vicar of St. Peter, " writes thus. " It may indeed be claimed by you, " in virtue of some other plea, but assuredly by " no right or title derived from apostles. For how '* could an apostle give unto you that which he " did nut himself possess? That care over the 34G THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. " church which he really had, he gave you; ,^^^„;^ " but when did he give you any worldly rule or " lordship ? Observe what he saith; not bearing " rule as lords over God's heritage, but yeilding ** yourselves as examples to the flock. And that *' ye may not think these words spoken in a shov/ " of humility, and not in truth, mark the words of ** our Lord himself, in the gospel; The kings of ** the nations have lordships over them, but it shall " not be so with you. Here lordly dominion is *' plainly forbidden by the apostles, and wilt thou " venture to usurp the same? If a lord, thine " apostleship is lost, if an apostle, thy lordship is "■ no more, for certainly the one or the other must " be relinquished. If both are sought, both shall *' be lost. Or shouldst thou succeed, then judge " thyself to be of that number, respecting whom, " God so greatly complains, saying, they have " reigned, but not through me; they have become " princes, but I have not known them. And if " men will keep that which is forbidden, let us " hear what is said, — ' He who is the greatest " among you shall be made as the least, and he " who is the highest, shall be your minister;' and " to illustrate this saying, he set a child in the " midst of his disciples. This then is the true " form and institution of the apostolic calling — " lordship and rule are forbidden, ministration and " service are commanded." " From these words " of a blessed man, whom the whole church hath " agreed to honour, it appears that the pope has no " right topossess himself of the goods of the church, " as though he were lord of them, but that he is to " be, with respect to them, as a minister or servant ; THE LIFE OF V/YCLIFFE. 347 and the proctor for the poor. And would to God chap. that the same proud and eager desire of authority, s.^^ and lordship, which is now discovered by this seat of power, were ought else than a declension, pre- paring the pathway of antichrist. From the gospel, evident it is, that the children of Christ's kingdom were not produced by such means, but were the fruit of his poverty, his humility, and his suffering of injury. The same blessed man, Ber- nard, and as far as I remember, in his third book toEugenius, writeth thus, ' I fear not any greater befalling thee, than this eager thirsting for dominion.' "-*' =s MS. Joli. Seldeni B. 10. Fox. Acts and Monuments, i. 58 J. Fioin the manner in which this document is printed in Fox, it is difficult to determine where the rel'ormcr conchides, and the inartj'ioiogist begins. From examining tlie RIS. I find the paper to be more ex- tended and important than itliad appeared to be. 348 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAPTER V. IIIE DOCTHINES OF WYCLIFFE WELL KNOWN BEFORE THE DECEASE OF ED- WAltD OPINIONS ATTItlliUTED TO HIM EY THE I'ONTirE LETTEUS IHOMTIIE POPE TO THE KING, THE PRIM AT E, THE BISHOP OF LONDON, AND THE UNIVERSITY, REQUIRING THE IMMEDIATE SUPPRESSION OF THE REFORMER'S TENETS DISCUSSION ELICITED AT OXFORD BY THE PAPAL MANDATES WYCLIFFe's appearance BEFORE THE PAPAL DELEGATES AT LAMEETII CONTENTS OF THE PAPER SAID TO HAVE BEEN DELIVERED TO THEM THE DOCUMENT A FAITHFUL EXHIBITION OF HIS SENTIMENTS RESPECT- ING THE LIMITS OF THE PAPAL AUTHORITY, THE POWER OF THE CROWN OVER THE REVENUES OF THE CLERGY THE CLAIMS OF THE HIERARCIIY, AND THE PRIESTLY' FUNCTION OF BINDING AND LOOSING HE IS ASSAILED BY AN ANONYMOUS DIVINE HIS INDIGNANT REPLY. CHAP. Having attempted the prosecution of Wycliffe, the english clergy would feel themselves urged by new motives to a resistance of his efforts as the advocate of reformation ; and the repulse expe- rienced from the power of the duke of Lancaster could serve but to sharpen their resentment. What their unaided strength had failed to accomplish, might be anticipated from the more formidable influence of the papacy, and the assistance of the pontiff in such a cause, it would be easy to obtain. We are not indeed, informed of the charges which were to be preferred against the rector of Lutter- worth, before the english convocation. But some weeks later, we lind the pope in possession of several statements of doctrine, said to be that of Dr. Wyclifte; and us these statements were re- THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE, 349 ceived from England, it is scarcely doubtful, that they were conveyed by the persons whose autho- rity, in the instance noticed, had proved too feeble to check the growing disaffection. Seventeen wyciiffe'» years had now intervened, since the rise of Wye- ^13?'"^ liffe's dispute with the mendicants ; ten years also t,"s^,"e.^* had passed, since his name became known to the "o<*- papal court by his appeal respecting the warden- ship of Canterbury hall ; and nearly the same pe- riod had elapsed, since his spirited defence of the english parliament, in refusing the census granted by king John. We may also conclude, that his recent intercourse with the papal commissioners at Bruges, had contributed to render the dangerous singularities of his character and opinions more known at the papal residence. The discussions involved in that embassy, would most probably elicit some of his obnoxious tenets, and some- times provoke the characteristic severity of his language, when adverting to the grosser matters of clerical delinquency. The report of such inci- dents to the pontiff, would be no doubt regarded by his envoys as an important part of their official obligations. Still to have pleaded the authority of his own delegates in aid of measures opposed to the doctrine of Wycliffe, might have been impo- politic, especially while it was certain that any announcement of opinions, seriously hostile to the claims of the hierarchy, must ere long, come before him in a less questionable shape, and from sources apparently less partial. The articles supplied by the pope, as containing Opinions the heretical doctrine of John Wycliffe, appear to Wmby to have been selected, partly from his writings, [jif/'""' 350 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, and partly from his divinity lectures in the univcr- v.^^.^^,!^ sity, and from his conversations. In these articles, the zeal of the rector of Lutterworth is seen directed against the doctrine of the pope's temporal power, and against the worldly possessions of the hier- archy ; the former being regarded as palpable usurpation, the latter as the evident source of the corruptions which had so long disfigured the christian church. In the first five articles of this series, there is considerable obscurity. They appear, indeed, to be rather loose and isolated expressions, caught by enemies from the lips of the reformer, than the complete definition of his general doctrine. In these, however, he is made to affirm that it is not in the power of the human race, since the advent of Christ, to confer a politi- cal supremacy on St. Peter, and his descendents, for ever: — that to bestow on men such a civil dominion, is even beyond the power of God: — that charters of human origin cannot secure an eternal inheritance : — that the justified are not only entitled to all the good things of God, but actually enjoy them:— and that men act but as ministers of the divine will, in conferring either temporal or eternal dominion, whether upon their natural oftspring, or upon their offspring, by imi- tation in the school of Christ. We shall presently notice Wycliffe's explanation of these articles. It will be sufficient here to remark, that the accu- sations which they contain, place the reformer before us as the marked opponent of the doctrine which modestly announced the successors of St. Peter, to be as far superior to the kings of the earth, as the soul is more honorable than the THE L[FE OF WYCLTFFE. body, and eternity more momentous than time, chap On the ground of this preposterous theory, the >,^.^ servant of the servants of God had long since invaded every civil, as well as every religious im- munity of the nations. Of the remaining articles, four relate to the design of ecclesiastical property. In these it is stated, as an acknowledged truth, that all such property is possessed conditionally, or for certain specified purposes; and on this ground, it is affirmed to be not only the right, but the imperious obligation of sovereigns, to confis- cate the temporalities of ecclesiastics who habitu- ally abuse them. But in this catalogue of heresies, imputed to Wyclifte, there are nine propositions which relate to the doctrine of the age, respecting spiritual censures. These, though scarcely noticed by historians, or even by WyclifFe's biographers, evi- dently belong to the most important peculiarities of his creed, and afford unquestionable proof of the vigour and intrepidity of his mind. In this class of articles, it is variously stated that no ecclesiastic, however elevated, can impart either good or evil by his benedictions, or his censures, except as these are in agreement with the law of ,. Christ. The consequence deduced is, that the adversaries of that law have nothing to hope from priestly absolution, and that men of an opposite character have as little to fear from the priestly -. anathema. It is farther stated, that the Saviour has not afforded any example of extorting tem- poral things by spiritual penalties, but rather the reverse; and hence, that no such practice should be admitted among his followers : and while every 352 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, priest truly ordained, is declared competent to the s...,^ ministry of every sacrament, it is in conclusion as- serted, that the highest dignitaries, not excepting the pontiff himself, may be lawfully corrected by \, their subjects, and even the laity, and may also be accused, or impeached by them. From this passing notice of the opinions which now formed the accredited doctrine of our reformer ; the reader will anticipate the determined effort presently made to prevent their diffusion. The blow which was thus pointed against the overgrown possessions of churchmen ; and which threatened, at the same moment, to dissolve the power of that " unlawful magic," which they had long- exercised over the conscience of their victims, in relation to futurity; was perceived by many of the english clergy, and would not be less obvious to the sagacity of the papal court. Papal let- On the same day, three bulls were dispatched, prdates'r ^ddrcsscd to the archbishop of Canterbury, and to ImiVil?' ^^^^ bishop of London ; and these were accom- Mjiiversity panicd by a fourth, in which the pontiff solicits the aid of the king ; and by another, in which he demands the prompt obedience of the university of Oxford.' In all these letters, the pope extols the character of the English ; and in those received by the prelates, he applauds the anglican church as having frequently produced among her clergy, men enriched with a pure knowledge of the scrip- tures, grave, devout, and the defenders of orthodoxy. But it is regretted that the zeal of the fathers has not been imbibed by the children ; and These letters are all inserted in tiie Appendix No. 11 — 15. I V. THE LIFE OE WYCLIFFE. 353 this declension is regarded as evident from the chap. fact, that the report of heresy as encreasing- in their community, could now be distinctly heard at Rome, before the evil had been opposed in England . The pontiff then states, that on information received from persons truly v^orthy of credit, it had ap- peared that John Wycliffe, rector of Lutterworth, in the diocese of Lincoln, and professor of divinity, with a fearlessness, the offspring of a detestable insanity, had ventured to dogmatise and preach in favor of opinions, wholly subversive of the church. For this cause the parties addressed are required to seize the person of the offender in the name of the pope; to commit him to prison; to obtain distinct and complete information of his peculiar tenets ; and transmitting such information to Rome, by a trusty messenger, are to retain the heresiarch as their prisoner, until farther instruction should be received concerning him. Should they fail in attempting his apprehension, they are directed in the second pontifical letter to affix a citation in such places as may bring it to the knowledge of the said Wycliffe, demanding his personal appear- ance before the pontiff, within three months from the date of such document. The prelates are farther required to employ their vigilance, that the king, the prince of Aquitain and Wales, and others of the nobility, and the counsellors of the sovereign, may not be defiled with the errors ad- verted to ; but that they may rather learn to regard such opinions as hostile to all government, and be induced to afford a speedy and effective aid to complete their extirpation. The bull addressed to the king, differs from VOL. r. -2 A 354 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, those conveyed to the bishops but as informing \.^^^ the monarch of the instructions which had been sent to those dignitaries : and as requiring him, from his known reverence for the apostoUc see, to grant the said prelates his countenance and pro- tection in discharging the duties imposed on them. In the official document borne by a special mes- senger to the university, the signs of religious de- clension in England are again deplored ; and the doctrine of Wycliffe is again described as opposed to the existence of the church, and to all the forms of civil authority. That learned body is in consequence strictly enjoined, in virtue of that sacred obedience which is due to the apostolic letters, and on pain of loosing all graces, indul- gencies, and privileges granted to their university by the holy see, to prevent the teaching of any such conclusions as were imputed to John Wycliffe, and to cause his person to be committed to the custody of the archbishop of Canterbury, or to that of the bishop of London. Should others, defiled by his errors, attempt a resistence of this mandate, it is required, that with respect to them, the same summary methods should be adopted. On a comparison of these epistles, the reader will perceive that they are little more than transcripts of each other, excepting a brief reference to the par- ticular persons addressed, and the special service required of them . But we have seen, that in one of them, the bishops were directed to use their in- fluence, that the king and the english court may not only be saved from the infection of the new doctrines, but become animated with a zeal to suppress them. We advert to that document, THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 355 as to one, amid volumes, which it would be easy chap. to adduce, to demonstrate, were it necessary, that v— .^ the persecutions of the middle ages are to be attri- buted much less to the ferocious manners of the period, than to the malevolent policy of the priest- hood. It may be an obligation peculiarly binding on that order of men to guard the interests of re- ligion. But the interests of ambition, of vanity and avarice, were plainly ascendant in the papal hierarchy during the interval from the fall of the empire to the sixteenth century ; and inseparable from the dominance of such passions was the use of those violent, and prohibited means, by which the dominion of churchmen was for a while sus- tained. It should be observed also, that in the formidable process which we now see directed against the rector of Lutterworth, no confronting of the accuser and the accused, is for a moment anticipated. On the contrary, the prelates are in- structed to obtain their information respecting the heresies specified secretly ; and having committed the reformer to prison, to extort from him, what- ever might be obtained to determine his princi- ples ; and the result of this private investigation was to be transmitted with the most cautious se- curity to the papal court. The members of that convention had been too long familiarized to sucli modes of procedure, to suspect any infringement of the rights of human nature as being involved in them. But the mind of Wycliffe was of another structure, and often indignantly complained of these inc(uisitorial customs which by sheltering the informer from the responsibilities of his conduct, placed the means of revenge, but too much at 2 A 2 356 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, the bidding of the unprincipled and male- v--^ volent. It should also be remarked that the bishop, the monarch, and the university, are alike admo- nished, that the errors taught by Wycliffe, were of the same class with those, promulgated some fifty years previously by John de Ganduno and Marcillus; — men, whose memory is declared to be infamous, in consequence of censures denounced upon them by pope John the twenty-second. The first of these persons was a distinguished lawyer; and as his name imports a native of Ghent. Marcillus was of the same profession, and is de- scribed as Marcillus of Padua. With respect to their tenets, since they are thus identified with those of Wycliffe, it will be proper to observe, that they appear to have been elicited by the controversy which had been so long perpetuated between the pontiff's and the german emperors, to determine the limits of the monarchical as distinguished from the pontifical power. Sheltered from the violence of the court of Rome, by his imperial majesty, these learned men were not satisfied with barely questioning the doctrine of the pope's tem- poral power, but affirmed it to be the right of sovereigns to preside over every temporality of the church, and even to regulate the details of spi- ritual discipline, as far as that might be deemed necessary to the independence of their territories, or to the rights of national churches. Marcillus, indeed, appears to have viewed the pastors of the the primitive church," as possessing the same 2 Mosheim (iii. 348, 349.) notices Marcillus and Ganduno, with others, who assisted them in waging the war of the emperor against the THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 357 office and authority ; and hence to have regarded chap every step of that disthiction which had been con- v^-v^ ceded to the pope as an innovation and a grievance. We have no ground, however, for supposing, that , the english reformer was really conversant with the productions of these writers. The composi- tions of the earlier fathers, and the more recent literature of his own country, appear to have awakened the principal interest in his mind. His legal studies, must have rendered him in some degree familiar with the disputes, which through so long an interval had divided the empire and the church. That his opinions were opposed to all secular pretensions in the pope, and in every gra- dation of his dependents is certain : and whether they M^ere derived from Marcillus, or from any other source, it required no little hardihood to pubhsh them through a powerful kingdom, where, if we may credit the repeated declarations of the pontiff, they had been hitherto unknown. The documents which thus appealed both to the civil and religious authorities, claiming their activity to eradicate these seeds of spiritual insu- pope. But among the men whom he describes as highly and deservedly esteemed on account of their eminent parts and learning, the most con- spicuous place is assigned to William Occam. He is said to have " sur- " passed them all in the keenness and spirit of his satire ; and hence his *' dialogues, together with his other productions which were perused with " avidity, and transmitted down to succeeding generations, gave, as it " were, a mortal blow to the ambition and majesty of the Roman pontiffs." Marcillus published, among other pieces, a work entitled " Defensor pro *' LudovicoBavaroadversususurpatamKomaniPontifieis Jurisdictioneni." This memorable work he produced while professor at Vienna. It was published at Frankfort, in 1592, by Franc Gomarus, 8vo. But nearly half a century earlier, one of his most obnoxious pieces was translated and published in enghsh, under the title, " The Defence of Peace," &c. fol. Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography, i. 30 2 A :3 ib9 THE LIFE OF M'YCLIFFE. CHAP, bordination bear the date of June 1377 ; but they v^v-^ either failed to reach this country at the usual period, or were reserved in secrecy, until a favor- able moment should occur for producing them. It is not improbable, that the confidence placed in the learning and integrity of the reformer, by the commons house of parliament in the following October, had created new alarm ; and that Wyc- lifFe's decisive answer to the question proposed by that body, had destroyed all hope of putting him to silence, except by the most coercive measures. It is certain that in the ensuing month, the papal instructions v/ere no longer a secret. But before the arrival of that period, Edward the third had expired, and the epistle which solicited his aid, was perhaps unknov/n to his grandson and suc- cessor, Richard the second. In Oxford, the arrival of the papal envoy with the demands of his master, created the most serious discussions. On the question, whether the bull of the pontiff should be received, or rejected, the former resolution was at length adopted; but it was done with no little reluctance;^ and in their subsequent conduct, nothing appears farther from the purpose of the heads of the university, than to become the instruments of committing the person of WyclifFe to the mercy of his enemies. Their caution, in the present instance, may have arisen in part from the jealousy with which, in those ages, almost every act of papal interference was regarded by such establishments ; for the des- potism which had so completely invaded the liber- ^ ^Valsi^ghaln is quite astounded at the infatuation which could pro- duce the iiesitation alluded to. Hist. Ann. I THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 359 ties of the church, was variously obtruded into the chap. seats of learning. But the letter of the pontiff had v^,-^ anticipated opposition from the adherents of the reformer; and these, it is evident were at this moment sufficiently numerous and powerful, to produce the hesitations adverted to, and to pre- vent the seminary from incurring the odium of, at once, denouncing its brighest ornament. The appeal made to the prelates was more suc- cessful. Sudbury, now the archbishop of Canter- bury, wrote to the chancellor of Oxford, reminding him of the papal mandate, and insisting on its being- executed in all things diligently, and faithfully. He is also required to obtain, by the assistance of the most authodox and skilful divines, correct in- formation as to the said heresies, and to convey, with his statement of the opinions, certainly pro- pagated by Wycliffe, his own judgment respecting them, delivered under the university seal. It was moreover enjoined upon him, that, as chancellor, he should cite the erroneous teacher, or cause him to be cited, personally to appear before his eccle- siastical superiors, in the church of St. Paul's, London, on the thirtieth court day from the date of the citation. v / The date of this mandate was toward the close wydiffe's of December, and early in the ensuing year. Wye- aSce at liffe appeared before a synod, at Lambeth. The i^=^"'*^^^''- duke of Lancaster no longer ruled in the cabinet, but events discovered that the reformer was far from depending even on his aid in the object be- fore him. On the court, and the populace, his doctrines were daily making a powerful impression. The latter, alarmed for his safety, surrounded the 2 A 4 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, place of meeting, and with many of the citizens, ^^^ forced their way into the chapel, where the parties were convened, proclaiming their attachment to the person and opinions of the rector of Lutterworth. The dismay created by this tumult was aug- mented, when Sir Lewis Clifford entered the court, and in the name of the queen mother, forbad the bishops proceeding to any definite sentence, re- specting the doctrine or the conduct of Wycliffe. Thus, by the better zeal of the laity, the plans of ecclesiastics to suppress the tenetsof the reforma- tion, were a second time thwarted. Walsingham, in relating this disastrous event, betrays the temper of the wolf when robbed of his prey. The delegates, he observes, " shaken as a reed with ** the wind, became soft as oil in their speech, to ** the open forfeiture of their own dignity, and the ** injury of the whole church. With such fear ** were they struck, that you would think them a ** man who hears not, or one in whose mouth are ** no reproofs."^ Summary It is the samc historian who relates, that at this per said* meeting, Wycliff^e delivered a paper to the prelates been^de- Containing a statement of his opinions, and by ll'^'^iiiinto various modern writers, this document has been tiie papal most Unfairly represented. It has been more than rates. * A similar interference of the queen mother had occurred a little previously to terminate the dispute between the Londoners and the duke of Lancaster. The persons delegated " to entreat the citizens to " be reconciled with the duke" were Sir Alfred Lewer, Sir Simon Burley, and the same Sir Lewis ClitTord. And " tlie Londoners an- " swered, that they for the honour of the princess would obey and do " with all reverence, what she would require." Fox's Acts and Monu- ments, i. 559. Walsingliani also relates that a similar tumult aroso durin" the trial of Ashton. Ann. 1382. V. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 361 insinuated, in some quarters, that certain of its ^^^^* explanations were less the result of ingenuousness than of timidity. Whatever is known of Wycliffe's previous character, is opposed to this conclusion ; as is the fact of his growing influence at this period with the people, and with the most con- siderable persons of the realm. It is also un- questionable, that many opinions were attributed to him which he never approved ; and to ascertain that some of his tenets were less extravagant than as defined by his enemies, ought not in con- sequence to awaken surprise. We are not sure either, that the paper which appears in Walsing- ham has wholly escaped mutilation. It is certain that a transcript, subsequently published by the author, was somewhat more extended and ex- plicit on several points.^ But passing over this particular ; nothing more is required to place the conduct of the reformer at this crisis in a light truly commanding, than that some allowance be made for his attachment to a few obsolete pecu- liarities of scholastic reasoning, and that the ivhole of his statement be attended to.^ 5 Wals. ad ami. The second paper is in the Appendix No. 16. It differs from the first but in the particulars stated in the text. " A particular emphasis is laid on attending to the whole of the re- forniers statement, for the following among other reasons. The scho- lastic philosophy introduced the existing custom of dividing a text of scripture into a multitude of parts. The greater, also, the number of distinct propositions that could be deduced from a passage, the more obvious was the genius of the preacher. We see the influence of this taste on the mind of Wycliffe himself, in one of his latest pieces against tlie friars, wliere he accuses that body of holding more than fifty heresies, and these are made to form so many sections of his work ; and even in this instance his moderation appears, when compared with the founder of the Occamists, who charged the pontiff, John the twenty- second, witli holding more than seventy propositions, deserving the same designation, (Bui. Hist. Univer. Paris, iv, 7). In such cases a distinction 362 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. It is thus his remarks are introduced. '* In the " first place, I protest publicly, as I have often " done, that I resolve with my whole heart, and " by the grace of God, to be a sincere christian; '* and while life shall last to profess and to defend " the law of Christ as far as I have power. If "■ through ignorance, or from any other cause, " I shall fail in this determination, I ask forgiveness " of God, and retracting the error, submit with " humility to the correction of the church. And " to prevent the christian from being scandalized " on my account, since I am prosecuted for my " faith; and since the notions of children, and of " weak persons concerning what I have taught, ** are conveyed by others, who are more than '* children beyond. the seas, even to the court of ** Rome, I am willing to commit my opinions to " writing. These also, I am now ready to defend, " even unto death, and the same duty I regard as *' binding upon all christians, but particularly on " the bishop of Rome, and on the whole priest- " hood of the church. In my conclusions, I have " followed the sacred scriptures and the holy *' doctors, both in their meaning and in their " modes of expression ; this I am willing to shew, '* but should it be proved that such conclusions are " opposed to the faith, I am prepared very will- " ingly to retract them."^ From this preface, must often have been made, where the difference was not very obvious, and some of the separate propositions, if tiiey could be said to possess any meaning, it must frequently have been very little — quite as little as the assertion of our reformer when simply declaring that the papal dominion must be of limited duration. Divide and conquer, was a maxim frecpiently acted upon in scholastic warfare. ■^ Such confessions are not unfrequent hi the reformer's writings. It I THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 36^ equally praiseworthy for its firmness and discretion, the writer proceeds to the tenets imputed to him, and denounced as false, and as of injurious ten- dency. In the pope's schedule, these articles are numbered with scarcely any reference to their import ; as noticed in this place, they will be classed according to the distinct matters of opinion to which they relate." The first article declared it to be above the Wyciiffe's power of the human race, since the advent of ments on Christ, to confer on St. Peter and his successors orV"" * the political government of the world for ever. fEjy^"" On this very harmless statement, Wycliffe con- descended to remark, that if understood literally, the phrase for ever, meaning eternity, it contained a truth too obvious to be disputed, since the di- vine purpose which has limited the existence of the present world, has, in consequence, fixed a period to all its political relations. This arrange- ment is then very properly noticed, as no matter of conjecture, — but as forming a leading feature in the economy established with respect to man and this world, through the mediation of Christ. The perpetuity thus denied to the political dominion of the pontiffs, was not, indeed, the only objec- tion which the reformer was prepared to urge against that scheme of boundless usurpation ; and he may have erred in presuming so far upon his readers, as to suppose that their judgment of his is thus he concludes a passage in which he has denied the tenets of orthodoxy with respect to priestly absolutions. " If any man would " shew more plainly this sentence, by the law of God, I would meekly " assent thereto. And if any man prove this to be false or against the " law of God, that I have now said herein, I would meekly revoke it." — Codd. Kic. Jaraesii. Bild. Bod. i. ' See Appendix No. 17. 364 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, doctrine on that subject, would be deferred until v^.,^ the several parts of his statement relating to it, should be duly considered. This, as it will ap- pear in the sequel, was the real amount of his offending. ^ The second conclusion affirms, that the impart- ing of such a dominion to any order of men, is even above the power of God.^'' But this asser- tion is interpreted after the same manner. It is evident, that if the natural power of the Deity be restrained, it must be by some moral considera- tions ; and the impossibility here asserted, is viewed as founded on the moral claims of the spouse of Christ, and the faithfulness of God, with respect to his promises. In Wycliffe's answer to ^ Had he made a very serious impropriety of employing tlie expres- sion for ever, with respect to human authority of any kind, the conduct of an apostle in requiring believers to abandon all modes of expression in reference to the future, which may not prove to be strictly true, and accordingly to say, " if the Lord will I will do this or that," would afford a fair vindication of this scrupulous peculiarity. It is certain too, that in the doctrine of Wycliffe, and still more in that of many of his fol- lowers, there was a considerable tincture of what would now be called quakerism. See also note 15, page 377. '0 That must be a spiritless teacher who never startled his auditors by a paradox, or roused their attention by a boldness of statement resembling the above proposition. By the schoolmen this rhetorical manoeuvre was frequently resorted to, sometimes merely to display their ingenuity, by adroitly escaping from a diflRculty, and sometimes for the more lau- dable purpose of securing a special attention to the illustration of some important truth. Thus Anselm, the reputed father of this science gravely declares in one of his popular discourses, that the will of man is omnipotent; and proceeding to explain his statement, he remarks, that in heaven the will of man will be so disciplined as to desire nothing but what the omnipotent may be pleased to confer, and that thus it will be itself omnipotent. — Sermon on Rev. chap. vii. It would be easy to cite other specimens of this kind of reasoning, which, in the middle ages, was not thought to betray any thing either of littleness or insincerity. There is not, perhaps, another schoolman, except liradwardiue, who was so little disposed to this species of trifling as our reformer. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 3G5 these objections, published subsequently to his chap. appearance before the synod, there is no addition v-^w made to the above explanation ; and the proposi- tion contained in this and the preceding article, are evidently treated by him as axioms, from which he is about to pass, in his usual manner, to more definite reasonings. The third article is of the same description, stating it as impossible to become entitled to an eternal inheritance, by virtue of charters which are of human origin. In his subsequent answer, however, he observes on this conclusion, that it was a passing remark which arose in his conver- sation with a certain divine, who magnified such charters so far as to prefer their authority to that of the scriptures. To which he states, I replied, that it would be much better to attend to the de- fence and exposition of the scriptures, since many such charters were necessarily incapable of exe- cution. The same casual origin, may with much probability be ascribed to the preceding articles. They appear very like the crude information which the reformer notices, as supplied against him, " by children and weak persons." In his view, however, even these propositions, elementary as they were, possessed a tendency to imprint on worldly men the faith of Christ, and to prevent their being drowned in the sea of a " world which ** passes away with the lusts thereof." As these introductory articles contained no heretical sentiment, it was in Wycliflfe's manner to dispose of them by explanations which, while sufficient for that purpose, left his peculiar opi- nions to be connected with those subsequent pro- ^QQ THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, positions which more obviously referred to tliem.''^ ^^ It is in the last article of the series, that the re- former enters upon the very delicate question of the duty of christians, with respect to a delinquent pontiff. The doctrine avowed by him on this subject, must have sounded to the last degree nncourtly, in the ear of the more devoted ad- herents of the papacy. If to assert, that the des- potism of the popes, whether derived from man or from God, is at best but an evanescent thing, was to approach its peculiar greatness with a freedom of speech meriting rebuke ; an attempt really to diminish the papal power, by declaring its fa- vorite maxims to be at variance with the principles of equity, and the customs of the ancient church, must have constituted an offence of no trivial magnitude. From the fourth century, to the present period, it had been the various, but continued effort of the popes, or of their flatterers, to place the accredited representatives of St, Peter above all human controul. Their equals, by whom alone they might be judged, were not supposed to exist; and thus the correction of a pontiff, came to be extensively regarded, as a work which the Deity alone was competent to perform. Against this impious tenet, and in defiance of the power of its advocates, Wycliffe delivers his solemn protest. By Walsingham, he is introduced as stating that on some accounts an ecclesiastic, and even the " In the sixth article of the second paper, he refers for his entire doctrine to the statements introduced in connexion witli the sixth, the sixteenth, and seventeentli in the previous document, adding that tlie laltcr were inserted that the preceding might not appear to be inappli- cable " by its remoteness." THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFK. 3G7 bishop of Rome may be corrected by their subjects, chap. and may be impleaded both by the clergy and >^,-,^ laity, if with a view to the good of the church. In support of the doctrine thus attributed to him,Wyc- lifFe assumes the pope to be a peccable brother; sharing in common with other men, in a tendency to what is sinful ; and thence infers his equal sub- jection to the laws of brotherly reproof. He accordingly writes, " if it be evident, therefore, *' that the college of cardinals are remiss in per- *' forming this service, for the necessary welfare " of the church, it is obvious that others, and it " may chance principally the laity, may reprove *' and implead him and reduce him to a better ** life." After this statement, it is intimated that the impeachment of a pontiff, is certainly a work not to be rashly undertaken, but it is also re- marked that where ground for such a proceeding really exists, to shrink from the duty, is not only to suppose the pope an offender, but an offender beyond the hope of recovery. With his charac- teristic firmness and devotion, he concludes, " God " forbid ! that truth should be condemned by the *' church of Christ, because it sounds unpleasantly " in the ear of the guilty or of the ignorant; for then *' the entire faith of the scriptures will be exposed " to condemnation." In judging of Wycliffe's conduct at this critical period of his history, the reader will connect the explanations attached to the previous articles which refer to the duration, of the pontifical power with this, annexed to the proposition, relating more immediately to its cha- racter. If the laity might be justly employed in impleading a pontiff, and bringing even the sue- 3G8 THE LIFE OF WrCLIFFE. CHAP, cesser of St. Peter to a better life ; the subordinate V. v^/^ members of the hierarchy were of course viewed as subject to the same species of discipUne. The right of the people also to judge as to what is, or is not for the good of the church, is distinctly assumed as the basis of this doctrine. It is never- theless avowed, committed to writing, and de- livered to the english clergy, in their character as the delegates of the papal power ! On the It will be proper also to consider the obscure th7crown article already noticed, as referring to the autho- rity of human charters, in connexion with the sixth, the sixteenth, and the seventeenth in the same series. These are all variously related to the same subject, and present a gradual development of Wycliffe's opinions, concerning the authority pertaining to secular lords, with respect to the temporalities of the christian church. The first of the three articles, more nearly relating to this important question, states, that if God is, tempo- ral lords may lawfully and meritoriously take away the goods of fortune from a delinquent church. Here, also, the reformer's reasonings have called forth censures which a little reflection in some, and a little integrity in others, would have been sufiicient to prevent. It is thus he commences the statement of his doctrine on this point. " If God is, he is almighty, and if so, he " may prescribe to secular lords the exercise of '* the authority supposed in the proposition named, ** and then to perform the supposed service, would " be most plainly their duty." Such is a part of Wycliff'e's answer to the question, relating to the seat of sovereignty, with respect to ecclesiastical THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 309 wealth; and had this been the whole of his reply, chap. it may have warranted the triumph of his adver- w^^ saries. And frequently, and most dishonestly, has it been given, as though it did include every thing which he had dared to avow on this cccasion. From a comparison of the explanation attached to this article, in the paper submitted to the dele- gates, with that given by the reformer, in his second answer, it appears that the " remoteness" of his reasoning in this particular, which has so greatly offended modern discernment, was no less obvious to its author ; and that nothing was farther from his intention, than to quit the theme which he was thus distantly approaching, without com- mitting himself to a more decisive contact with its difficulties. At no period did he sanction an invasion of the property of the clergy, " to the " injury of the church; or except in forms and " cases limited by law." The change contem- plated was not to be regulated by the passions of worldly lords, nor by those of the multitude, but by the certain dictates of the law of Christ. To his remarks, on the sixteenth and seventeenth articles, in the schedule received from the pontiff, he refers, as expressing his genuine doctrine. In those articles, he is accused of teaching, that all church endowments are left conditionally, that if the clergy fail to apply their wealth to the end which it was designed to promote, it devolves on the magistrate to supply their defect of duty; and that in every such case, the secular judge is not only empowered to secure the correct application of clerical revenue, but if needful, to the reforma- tion of the order, to deprive them of their posses- VOL. I. 2 B 370 THE LIFE or WYCLTFFE. CHAP, sions entirely ; and this, though the most alarming v,,,^^^ censures of the church should be employed to prevent it. Such is the doctrine which Wycliffe is described as holding, with respect to the enor- mous wealth of the ecclesiastical orders ; and in his confession, it is distinctly acknowledged as a part of his creed. With the prelacy of England, as his judges, and the papal power as their ally, he fears not to add, that if there be any difference between the obligations of the magistrate, when referring to ecclesiastical, as distinguished from civil endowments, those which bind upon him, an inspection of the former, are the most sacred as the issues depending on his fidelity are the most momentous. It was thus the reformer continued his assault on the ambition and the avarice of the Roman bishops ; totally denying the sovereignty which they had so long claimed over the property of every religious establishment in Europe. A censure also, was thus pronounced on the conduct of those national hierarchies, who to evade the claims of the monarch on their ample resources, had often descended to plead for this supremacy of the pontiffs, as extending to their possessions, no less than to their faith. In the theory of Wycliffe, the last appeal is made to the crown, and not to the mitre ; and the parties acting upon it, if assailed by the thunders of the church, are viewed as pos- sessing a sufficient protection from such wea|)ons in the certain justice of their cause. The reader will perceive, that in the supposed case, the balance of integrity and discernment as to the nature of reli- gion, and the best means of promoting it, is pre- THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. 371 Slimed to be in favor of the laity, as opposed to the (hap. clergy. And the important consequence asserted, ^..-..w is, that the former have nothing to apprehend from the censures of the latter. It was doubtless by such steps, that the mind of the english people was prepared to adopt two maxims, the reception of which, was strictly necessary to the emancipation of their country: — firstjthat a reduction of eccle- siastical property may be essential to a permanent ecclesiastical reform ; and, secondly, that to effect this, the national authorities were fully com- petent. In two of the remaining articles, the reformer is made to state, that every justified person is not only entitled to all the good things of God, but actually enjoys them : and that a man may confer dominion, whether temporal or eternal, upon his children, or upon his spiritual offspring in the school of Christ, but as the minister or instrument of the divine will. These propositions are admitted to be true, and they relate to some theological speculations which Wycliffe is said to have de- rived from the writings of Augustine; but to which it is certain the reformer never attached any serious importance. In their present form, it is difficult to attach any definite meaning to them ; nor does the passing notice afterwards bestowed upon them, render them greatly more intelligible.'- '■^ His piece in reply to the question proposed to him by the first parliament of Richard the second, shews, that he had then learnt to believe, that where the morals of a priesthood had become seriously corrupted, their office was the forfeiture incurred. He knew not in the case of the clergy, how to distinguish between the man and his office ; but that he could do so with respect to civil rulers is unquestionable, from his known esteem for John of Gaunt, at a time when his con- 2 13 2 372 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. It will at the same time be remembered, that the ^^^.^ opponents of the reformer, accused him of holding a doctrine, which they designate, " dominion " founded in grace ;" and that to excite the alarm of the opulent and the powerful, the tenet in- tended by this phrase was eagerly promulgated as not less opposed to civil, than to ecclesiastical authority. This doctrine will claim our attention in another place ; it will be sufficient here to re- mark, that when the process now instituted against the rector of Lutterworth commenced, he w^as known as the chaplain of Edward the third ; as having derived his ecclesiastical preferments from the favor of his sovereign ; and as having been ap- pointed by the english parliament, to advocate the claims of the crown, before the papal commis- sioners at Bruges ; also, as the intimate friend of the duke of Lancaster, the most opulent subject in the state. That his opinions while thus con- nected, had really borne an unfriendly aspect on the ground of civil authority, will hardly be sus- pected, excepting where prejudice has placed the mind beyond the reach of conviction. It is true, that many of his later compositions, while abound- ing with exhortations to obedience, discover the warmest attachment to every principle of equity and kindness, inculcating such virtues as the pe- nexion with Catherine Swinford was such as to involve him in the guilt of mortal sin — Godwin's Life of Chaucer, vol. ii. 229. 231. The follow- ing are noticed by Wycliffe, in one of his treatises, as the signs of free- dom from the guilt of mortal sin. " ^Vhen a man will gladly and wil- " lingly hear the word of God, when he knoweth himself prepared to do " good works, when he is willing to flee sin, when a man can be sorry " for his sins."— MS. Cotton. Titns, D. xix. 122. See chapter on his opinions. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 373 ciiliar obligation of rulers and of the affluent. These we shall again advert to, but must here state, that his boldest censures of magisterial negligence or crime are commonly guarded against that abuse, which the zeal of party has been so forward to connect with them.*^ The fifteenth conclusion we have noticed as of the stating that a priest is no less competent to the '^''^'"'^'y' ministry of every sacrament, than a bishop. For this doctrine, WyclifFe distinctly pleads; observing in its defence, that '' the power of priesthood is a " matter which may not exist, in a degree, either '' more or less." That there may be just ground for restraining or extending the official services of the inferior clergy according to existing practices is admitted ; but he concludes by describing the distinction between such clerks and their prelates, as consisting simply in a difference oi jurisdiction, and not in a difference of character. The articles in this series, still demanding our Wyciiffe's attention, are eight in number. These, however, concem- ali relate either to the uses, or to the efficacy, of g"f,.i\'|fai spiritual censures ; two of the most important po^^"" o^' matters in the theory of christian discipline. With respect to their uses, it is delivered as the doctrine of the reformer, that they should never be em- ployed as the instrument of revenge, inasmuch as the passion itself is forbidden, and because the known justice, of God should be sufficient to limit '3 It appears that the ministerial ; or, more properly, subordinate cha- racter asserted of all human decisions, in the fourteenth article, was connected in the mind of Wyciiffe, with the important maxim of appeal to the word of God, as the only absolute authority. In its isolated form, the proposition may appear trivial or obscure ; but it is certain, that it was not considered eitlier by the reformer or by his judges as standing alone. •2 B :? 374 'I'll E LIFE O J- W YCIA I F E . cHAi'. the application of the powers which he has en- v^^^ trusted to man, to such causes only as are of certain equity. Their employment especially, as a punish- ment for withholding temporalities from the clergy, is not only declared to be without the sanction of scripture precedent, but is described as opposed to it : and in the writer's more acknowledged statement of this doctrine, its truth is illustrated by an appeal to the conduct of the Saviour, who refused to call down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans, though they had most wickedly refused him the rights of hospitality. In the twelfth article, the practice of uniting the coercion of the magistrate with the anathema of the priest, to secure any emolument pertaining to church- men, is condemned as certainly opposed to the instructions of holy writ, and to those of the fathers. It is admitted, on the other hand, that there are some human causes, with which the sanctions of the church might be connected as an auxiliary influence ; but in such cases, which are considered as extreme, it is the relation of the supposed of- fence to the claims of God, which is viewed as calling for the interposition of a species of autho- rity, so sacred, and so widely abused. Such, ac- cording to the paper delivered to the prelates, is the doctrine of WyclifFe, as to the uses of eccle- siastical censures in relation to property. In his statement, published immediately afterwards, it is added, that the use of the anathema, and of the . civic power, as instruments to swell the revenue of the priesthood, was unknown in the better ages of Christianity ; and the change from the system of voluntary contribution, to that of force, is deplored THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 375 as one of the worldly corruptions introduced into char the church, " by her endowment under Con- ^-s,^^ ** stantine."^* But it was not only the improper application of this power, that the reformer was anxious to correct ; the power itself, as generally under- stood, he regarded as imaginary ; and the prac- tices connected with it were devoutly opposed, as involving the most serious delusion and impiety. " We know," he observes, " that it is impos- " sible that the vicar of Christ, merely by his " bulls, though concurring with his own will, " and that of his college of cardinals, should really ** qualify or disqualify any man. This is evident " from the point of catholic doctrine which re- " quires our Lord, in every vicarious operation, *' to maintain the primacy. Therefore, as in " every qualifying of a subject, it is first required " that the subject to be qualified should be meet *' and worthy of it; and as, also, in every act of " disqualification, there must first be some de- "■ merit in the person disqualified requiring it; it *' follows, that the act of qualifying or disqualify ** ing, is not simply from the ministry of the vicar ** of Christ, but from above or from some other ** cause." In the thirteenth proposition this as- sumption of an unconditional authority in the forms of binding and loosing, is pronounced to be destructive of the whole catholic faith ; to be a usurpation of the Lord's absolute power; and no less than blasphemy. But while the humble '^ In his after notes on these articles he also states, that It may be a greater act of religious cliarity, under certain circumstances, to deprive the church of her wealth, than it was to bestow it. 1 13 1 ilb THE LIFE OF M'YCLIFFE. CHAP, worshipper is assured, that he has nothing to v—vw fear from the censures of men, so long as he shall be a follower of that which is good ; he is wisely admonished that the sentence of the priest is not to be indiscriminately contemned; since it may, in some cases, be the echo of that pronounced against him by a much higher power. The fol- lowing statement includes the whole of the four- teenth article, and the sum of Wycliffe's doctrine, on what is technically designated the power of the keys. " We ought to believe^ that then only " does a christian priest bind or loose, when he *' simply obeys the law of Christ; because it is *' not lawful for him to bind or loose but in " virtue of that law; and by consequence, not ** unless it be in conformity to it." The sub- stance of his teaching on this momentous ques- tion, therefore, is,— that men should render them- selves familiar with what the law of God pro- hibits or enjoins; and confiding in their own judg- ment instead of yielding their conscience to a priest; should feel dismayed by the frown of the church, and persuaded of safety, as connected with her smile ; but as the curse or the blessing, should be known to hold agreement with the recorded will of the Eternal. Such is the sum of the reformer's opinions, as stated to the papal delegates in the commence- ment of the year 1378.15 In the document which we have thus analyzed, it will be seen that there is '* That this meeting took place early in the present year, we learn from the fact, that pope Gregoiy died in the following March, and his decease is particularly deplored by Walsingham, as it proved a death blow to the proceedings against VVycliffe. — Hist, ubi bupra. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 377 little referring, except by way of implication, chap. to what may with strict propriety be described v^..^^^^ as theological opinion. It is highly important, indeed, even in this respect, since the many things which it does imply, occur with all the certainty of direct statement ; its chief value, however, must be viewed as arising from its being a definite record of WyclifFe's sentiments at this period, respecting the limits to be imposed on the despotic pretensions of the papacy. Also, as to the authority of the state in relation to the pro- perty of the church ; on the legitimate means of securing to the clergy an appropriate revenue ; and on the power vested in the priest with regard to the present character, or the future allotment, of the worshipper. 1^ On all these topics Wycliffe's opinions as now recorded, were such as to pro- '^ All the articles included in the papers which have claimed our chief" attention in this chapter, may be traced in different forms among those condemned by the council of Constance as the tenets of Wycliffe. The following is the language of its decree, " Hie council, in the name " of our Lord Jesus Christ, reproves and condmins all and every one "of those articles by this perpetual decree ; forbidding all catholics on " pain of the anathema, to teach, preach, or hold any of those articles; " and commanding all the ordinaries of places, and inquisitors of tlie " crime of heresy, to keop a watchful eye upon and to punish the " contravcners according to the canons." Lenfaut's Constance, i. 198, 217 — 231, 414 — 420. Among the propositions attributed to Wycliffe in that assembly, are the following ; — that God cannot annihilate any thing — that he could not make the world bigger or less; — that he could not create a greater number of rational natures — that God is every creature, and that every creature is God. But it is obvious that these statements, if not the mere inferences deduced from his doctrine by enemies, must have been accompanied by explanations consonant with the known piety of his character. Thus by every creature being in God, he merely meant as the stream is in the fountain, the ideas of their existence being coeval with the divine nature, and inseparable from it. By the other propositions, he probably meant, that the creating hand was stayed where it was best to staj- ; and hence as in the ariicles noticed above, the attribute of omnipotence is revered, but as subject to the coulroul of wisdom and goodness. Ibid. 419, 420. 178 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. cHAi'. voke the serious displeasure of the ecclesiastical s^^^^:^ orders. But the mind which had learned to view their spiritual weapons, as wholly po\yerless, ex- cept when employed in subservience to equity and truth, was not to be dismayed by them, as directed against conclusions which had been adopted as the result of much cautious enciuiry. From the partial notices of this paper by some writers, we are left to suppose that its explana- tions were such as to furnish but little that could awaken the fears of the contemporary clergy. The silence, however, which was imposed on Wycliffe, by the synod to which it is said to have been submitted, is not the only event, bespeaking the ready perceptionof his judges, as to the danger- ous tendency of the doctrine which he had avowed. A professor of divinity, whose zeal was directed to familiarize the mind of his contemporaries with the notion of a right, vested in the laity, to judge and even to correct their instructors; extending this process of reform, as circumstances might require, to the pontiff himself; must have been viewed by the ecclesiastics of the fourteenth cen- tury, as a most dangerous preceptor of youth. And to assert the authority of the crown, as that which should be final in determining the applications of ecclesiastical property, was also to take a position against which provincial synods, and the papal court, had brought their most powerful engines of destruction. Nor was it less hazardous at that period, to treat the distinctions which had ob- tained in the hierarchy, as merely those of juris- diction, and as altogether of human origin. To proceed thu.s far, was sufficient to become iden- TII£ LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 379 tified ill the decisions of the papacy with John de chap. GaDduno, and Marcillus of Padua, names which ^^^^^ the reader will remember as inserted in the bulls of the pontiif, but to be denounced as "of con- " demned memory." So extended, however, and so deeply laid, was the fabric of the reigning su- perstition, that every attack on its outworks must have rebounded on the head of the assailant, if its doctrine of spiritual power was allowed to be un- questioned. This successful fiction, by placing the matters of a future state at the disposal of the priesthood, was assuredly, the key stone of the structure: and it should be distinctly remembered, that against this point, the greater number of the articles which WyclifFe is accused of holding, was plainly directed ; and that in his explanations at Lambeth, according to the showing of his enemies, no one of the propositions relating to it, was for a moment relinquished, or in the slightest degree modified. The clergy of this period are described as be- lieving, that their sentence of excommunication, exposed the parties excommunicated, to the fires of purgatory, and often to eternal torments. But if such was their faith, their frequent employment of these weapons, to avenge some trivial oftence, or to extort some paltry contribution, must be viewed, as imparting a most odious aspect to their general character. The readiness indeed, with which these censures were resorted to, throughout the middle ages, obliges us to sup- pose, that the confidence of churchmen in the truth of this scheme, was more apparent than real ; ur to regard them, as frequently sharing 380 TUP, LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, less in the nature of the man, than in that of s...^^ the fiend. On this subject, the rehgion and the humanity of Wyclifte, spoke too loudly to be misunderstood. He saw the Romish polity and doctrine, as artfully contrived to render eccle- siastics the representatives of the Almighty; and this, so as to furnish the means of identifying every movement opposed to their will, with whatever is revolting in impiety. It accordingly appears, and from the paper adopted by Walsingham, that to deliver the souls of men, from this too successful snare, was a matter of peculiar solicitude to our reformer. With a view to this object, he exposes the inconsistencies, the worldliness, and the cruelty, so evident in the usual exercise, of that spiritual authority which the clergy had thus as- sumed. The maxim, " By their fruits ye shall '* know them," is applied to them, no less than to the laity, and to raise the popular mind from its state of entire prostration, to the will of its ghostly masters ; men are urged to ascend into the place of judgment, with respect to every claim of their spiritual guides, however sanctioned by precedents or names. The statement which we have noticed, as re- lating to the power of qualifying or disqualifying, treats this imposing feature of the established dis- cipline in very general terms. Such indeed, as to render it probable, that it was meant by its author to correct the errors associated with the sacrament of orders, as well as those which had become connected with that of penance. By the persons having most to apprehend from such an interpretation of the articles adverted to, they THE LIFK OF WYCLIFFF.. 381 appear to have been so understood. Wycliffe chap. indeed, never questioned the scriptural origin of v-p^^ priestly ordination ; or the power of the church to excommunicate the unworthy ; but the corrup- tions which had become connected with the exer- cise of both functions, he condemned aloud. The efficacy of either act, he viewed, as regulated by the character of the parties, in whom it should terminate. Hence, the impenitent offender, though absolved by the priest, is viewed, as still liable to his Ma- ker's displeasure ; and clerks, boasting of the sanctity which the episcopal consecration was supposed to have conferred ; he fears not fre- quently to denounce, as hypocrites by profession, children of the fiend, and worse than the men of Sodom. To prove from the scriptures, and from the early fathers, that such were the doctrines of christian antiquity, was in no few instances, to sound the knell of priestcraft, and to give to the enslaved their freedom. The hope of this result, sustained the mind of the reformer, amid the hostilities which encircled him ; and the fear of such an issue will explain the combinations so frequently formed to crush him in his course. If his duties, as the delegate of his sovereign, would disclose to him enough of the politics of Avignon, to confirm his disaffection to the papacy ; the instructions of the pope to the english prelates, which, to use his own indignant language, re- quired them to treat him, "as men do thieves," was but ill adapted to diminish his aversion. We are not surprised, therefore, that reflection on the conduct of his persecutors, should seem to sharpen 382 THE LIFI-. OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, his feeling of resentment. In his comment on ^..^..-^ the articles of accusation, published immediately after his appearance, at Lambeth, it is thus, he adverts to the pontiff. " Let him not be ashamed " to ]3erform the ministry of the church, since he "is, or at least ought to be, the servant of the "servants of God. But a prohibition of reading "the sacred scriptures; and a vanity of secular " dominion ; and a lusting after worldly appear- "ances; would seem to partake too much of a "disposition toward the blasphemous advance- " ment of antichrist ; especially while the truths "of a scriptural faith are reputed tares, and said "to be opposed to christian truth; by certain lea- " ders who arrogate, that we must abide by their "decision respecting every article of faith; not- " withstanding they themselves are plainly ig- " norant of the faith of the scriptures. But by " such means, there follows a crowding to the " court, to purchase a condemnation of the sa- " cred scriptures as heretical ; and thence come "dispensations, contrary to the articles of the "christian faith." The work in which he thus speaks, he has described, as "a sort of answer to the bull," evidently meaning that, which the pontiff had addressed to the university. In his closing paragraph, he remarks, " These conclusions have " I delivered, as a grain of faith, separated from "the chaff, by which the ungrateful tares are set "on fire. These, opposed to the scriptures of " truth, like the crimson blossom of foul revenge, " provide sustenance for antichrist. Of this the " infallible sign is, that there reigns in the clergy "a luciferian enmity and pride; consisting in the THE LIFE OF VrYCLIFFE. 383 ** lust of domination, the wife of which is covetous- ^'^^^^ **ness of earthly things; breeding together the w-.^w "children of the fiend, the children of evan- " gelical poverty being no more. A judgment " of the fruit, thus produced, may be formed also, *' from the fact, that many, even of the children " of poverty, so degenerate, that either, by what " they say, or by their silence, they take the part "of lucifer, not being able to stand forth in the "cause of evangelical poverty; or not daring, in " consequence of the seed of the man of sin, sown "in their hearts, or from a low fear of forfeiting " their temporalities." The statements however, which he had now published, he avows himself prepared to defend, " even to death, if by such "means he might reform the manners of the " church." Wycliffe's escape from the snare of his advcr- Wyciiffe . p • 1 • assailed saries, and this reiteration of his most obnoxious byanano-. opinions, would hardly fail to provoke every spe- duin"' cies of attack which might be expected to dimi- nish his influence. An anonymous writer, who is described by the reformer, as "a motley theo- " logian," immediately assailed the point of his doctrine, which impeached the infallibility of the pontiff. From Wycliffe's reply, it appears, that his antagonist had affirmed the pope to be inca- pable of mortal sin, and that he had declared, as a consequence, that whatever he ordains, must be just. On this statement, it is remarked, that if it were correct, his holiness might exclude any book from the canon of holy writ, and might introduce any novelty in its place ; that he might thus alter the whole bible, and make the very scripture 384 THE LIFE OF WYCL,IFFE. CHAP, heresy, establishing as catholic what is opposed v^..^ to the truth. The reformer then adverts to the efforts which had been made by the pontiff, to arm the authority of the prelates, the court, and the university against him, because he had ven- tured to question these impious pretensions. The remaining portion of his tract, consists of two parts ; the first, containing a farther explanation of certain articles, in the series already objected to him, and to which his answers had been given ; the second, including a spirited exhortation, ad- dressed to the influential classes of the commu- nity, to shake off the thraldom, both secular and spiritual, which a foreign power had so long im- posed upon them. The articles cited, are the seventh, tenth, and thirteenth, which refer to the power of binding and loosing ; and also the six- teenth and eighteenth; the first, relating to the office of the magistrate, with respect to the goods of the church; the last, to the subjection of an offending pontiff, to the corrective authority of the inferior clergy, and in extreme cases, to that of the laity. The reader will remember, that the pope's instructions to the archbishop of Canter- bury, required him to ascertain the real opinions of Wycliffe ; but forbad his proceeding to any de- finite sentence, until the papal judgment should be known. In the course of this tract, the re- former speaks of the delegates, as waiting to receive this decision, before proceeding to an- nounce the fate of his conclusions ; and he states for their information, that according to a report which had reached him, his doctrine respecting the goods of the church, and the peccability of TIIK LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 385 the pope, had been denounced, as in a special chap. degree, heretical. From these articles, he pro- ^.^^ ceeds to those which treat of the pcrvver of abso- lution ; and presuming, that the decision respect- ing them, would be that the pope, and the clergy generally, may as certainly bind and loose as the Almighty himself, his indignation becomes im- petuous. The abettor of such a tenet, whoever he may be, is not only described as a blasphemer and a heretic ; but as one whom christians ought not in any way to tolerate ; certainly not as their leader, since his guidance can only serve to con- duct them in heedlessness to destruction. Secu- lar lords are therefore called upon, to resist the arrogant claims of the pope, and not merely with respect to the heresy which he had imposed on them, as to their power to withdraw their alms, from a delinquent church ; nor merely, because he had condemned it as heretical, to affirm, that his distribution of the goods of the church can be but ministerial or subordinate ; but, because he had taken from them the liberty of the law of Christ, and imposed an egyptian bondage in its place. It is therefore contended, that no fear of suffering, no thirst of gain, no love of distinction, should prevent the soldiers of Christ, as well seculars as clergy, from appearing in defence of the law of God, even unto blood. Should the lord pope himself, or even an angel from heaven, promulgate the doc- trine which confers a power of absolving peculiar to the Deity, upon a creature ; it is asserted, that every member of the christian commonwealth, is bound in such a crisis to exert his influence *'for the " saving of the faith." It is in the following manner, VOL. I. 2 c 38G THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. CHAP, that he reasons on the bearings of that spiritual y,^^^^ aiithority,which the most distinguished churchmen of the age were concerned to maintain. *' Let it once " be admitted, that the pope, or one representing ** him, does indeed bind or loose whenever he affects *' to do so, and how shall the world stand ? For if, " when the pontiff pretends to bind, with the pains " of eternal damnation, all who oppose him in his " acquisition of temporal things, either moveable *' or immoveable, such persons assuredly are so '* bound ; it must follow, as among the easiest of ** things, for the pope to wrest unto himself " all the kingdoms of the world, and to subvert, ** or to destroy, every ordinance of Christ. And *' since, for a less fault than this usurpation of a " divine power, Abiathar was deposed by Solomon, " Peter was reproved to the face by Paul, nay, and ** many popes have been deposed by emperors and *' kings ; what should be allowed to prevent the " faithful uttering their complaints against this ** greater injury done to their God ? For on the *' ground of this impious doctrine, it would be easy " for the pope to invert all the arrangements of the *' world; seizing, in connexion with the clergy, on " the wives, the daughters, and all the possessions " of the laity, without opposition; inasmuch, as it is *' their saying, that even kings may not deprive a *' churchman of ought, neither complain of his con- *' duct, let him do what he may, while obedience " must be instantly rendered, to whatever the *' pope may decree." So unblushing was the ty- ranny of the system which Wycliffe laboured to TIIF. LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. 387 demolish, and so devoutly was his doctrine ad- chap. justed, to operate as an axe upon the root.^^ v*.-,--*' " Dr. Lingard (Hist. iv. 257.) refers to Walsingham (Hist. 206, 207.) as containing the three papers produced by Wycliffe, in explanation of tlie articles urged against him. It is, however, the (irst of these only that may be found in Walsingham. Mr. Lewis, who is also referred to as having printed them, has given us the first and second ; but from the third, has contented himself with extracts, and an imperfect analysis. Dr. Lingard farther observes, that these papers are without date, but that their contents seem to point out the order in which they succeeded each other, and on this authority, has inverted the dates assigned to them by every previous writer. By this means Wycliffe is made to play the hero while danger is remote, and a character less reputable on its nearer approach, and the wonted ingenuity of the historian is employed to make just this impression on his readers. Dr. Lingard has abstained from any notice of particulars, as warranting the disposal of these do- cuments which he has applied to so serious a purpose. A translation of the first paper has been printed by Fox, and by Mr. Lewis, the second is in the Appendix, and the reader, by comparing them, will perceive, that there is not the remotest ground for regarding that which I have considered the second, as being really the first ; on the contrary, its distinct reference to the contents of the previous document, is decisive of its own subsequent date. Compare article the sixth of the latter, with the sixth, sixteenth, and seventeenth of tlie former. With respect to the third production, the only clause which may seem for a moment to unsettle the date assigned to it, is that in which the re- former speaks of the delegates as waiting the permission of the pontiff to proceed to a censure of his conclusions. But even this circumstance, as explained in the text, is among the proofs of its appearance as sub- sequent to the meeting at Lambeth. According to Dr. Lingard, Wycliffe " celebrated" his escape on that occasion " as a triumph ;" and if so, the bolder tone of his second paper, the angry attack of his anonymous opponent, and his still more indignant reply, follow each other in na- tural order. On the other hand, an inversion of these dates, unsupported, as far as I can perceive by the least shade of evidence, is attended by numerous difficulties which it is hardly necessary to expose. It may be remarked also, that the substance of the paper described by Dr. Lingard as inflammatory, and as subsequently softened down by the fears of its author, was soon republished in the twenty -second chapter of the reformer's work on " Clerk's Possessioners ;" and is still more vigorously given in the nineteenth chapter of his popular treatise, called, " The Great Sentence of the Curse Expounded." MSS. C. C. Cambridge. C 2 NOTES, 2 C 3 NOTE S. Note A. *' The Older of adtnittiug none to any ecclesiastical t'unction, except by an election of all the faithful in a general assembly, was inviolably observed, and so continued for about two hundred years; the ministers of the church, and the poor, subsisting all that while out of a common stock." (Father Paul on Benefices, c. iii. 3.) " No bishop that was unknown was admitted ; nor did the bishop ever ordain any, but such as were approved or indeed proposed by the people, whose con- currence was thought so necessary, that the pope St. Leo, proves at large the invalidity of a bishop's ordination without it. In this, all the father's of the church in those times agree. And Constance being chosen bishop of Milan by the clergy, St. Gregory thought he could not be consecrated without the consent of the inhabitants, who being at that time retired to Genoa, to avoid the ravages of the barbarous nations, a mes- sage was first sent to them, at his instance, to know their pleasure; a thing which may justly be recommended to the observation of this age, in which we are taught that elections, wherein the people should pretend to have a share, would be unlawful and invalid. So inverted are customs, as to make good and evil change their names — calling that lawful, which was formerly reputed detestable and impious ; and that un- 2 C 4 392 NOTES. just, which had then the reputation of sanctity !" (Ibid, c. vii.) "Charlemagne likewise restored to the cities the liberty of electing their own bishops ; — and ordered that bishops should ordain such priests as should be presented to them by their parishioners." (Ibid. c. xv,) Our reformers were not a little encouraged by such facts, in their struggle to release the power of the laity, from its subjection to that of the papal priesthood. Note B. Mr.'Turner, in noticing the crusades against the Albigenses, (Hist. V. 129,) observes that, " a large portion of the warlike missionaries were Englishmen." To ascertain the correct- ness of this statement, the reader is referred to the first volume of the History of England, (443), where the disgrace of that memorable enterprize is divided between England, France, and the papal power — the larger portion being attributed to the latter. I am sorry to question a single statement from the pen of .an author, whose general accuracy is so truly com- mendable. No living writer would seem to have bestowed iiiore attention, on the best authorities relating to this painful section of modern history, than Sismondi ; and in his nar- rative, the english are also described as forming a part of the crusading army, and as exulting in the capture of Ceziers, as a miracle wrought by Ileaven in support of the catholic cause. But the authority in both these instances is Matthew Paris, (Hist. 332, &c.) ; and as far as I can ascertain, he is alone among contemporary writers in making this assertion with respect to England. It should also be remembered, that in common with all our native historians, the Monk of 8t. Alban's was but very partially informed on these subjects ; and that such was his feeling with respect to the Albigenses, that he would almost have considered it a foul spot on the fair fame of his country, had it not been allowed to share in (he oifort to crush them. E\ery thing in Siauioiidi's nar- xoTES. 393 rative, with the exception of the solitary passage adverteil to, is opposed to the notion of many englishmen being present in the crusading army at any period of its operations. It is this historian who expressly affirms, that the first army was raised almost entirely from the immediate neighbourhood of Toulouse, — and those were the men who captured Be- ziers. In his farther descriptions of the crusaders, they are sometimes described as from the fiefs of Montfort, near Paris ; sometimes as a homeless multitude, inflamed with fanaticism, or rather with the lust of slaughter and depre- dation ; but more commonly, the atrocities narrated are said to be done by " Montfort and his frenchmen." And the correctness of this general description, is supported by the fact, that in an assembly convened by JMontfort at Pamiers, in 1212, five years after the raising of the first crusade, it was enacted that the widows and heiresses within his new territories should marry none but frenchmen during the next ten years, (Sisaiondi, c. ii.) The period of his activity also, was the last seven years in the reign of John, and the two first in that of Henry the third, — an interval in which the domestic troubles of England were too great to admit of any expenditure of its strength on an object so remote as the war of Toulouse. It is true, the Count of Toulouse held some cautionary lands of the king of England. The ambassadors of the english monarch, on that account, pleaded the cause of that injured nobleman before the pontiff"; and apart from this circum- stance, something more would perhaps have been required by Honorius, than that his vassal of England should abstain from invading the soil of France, while the soldiers of that nation were called to the pious work of destroying heretics. Per- haps the nearest approach of the english to a participation in the same honor, was in the presence of a body of men in the first crusading army, from Agenois, who were certainly sub- jects of the king of England, and were commanded by the arch- bishop of Bordeaux, (ibid c. i.) Opposed however tothe assertion of Rlatthew Paris, is this series of particulars, and also the silence of other writers who were certainly far better informed on 394 NOTES. these points — But if englishmen were indeed before the walls of Beziers, — and thus much, which is all that Matthew Paris atfirms, is neither impossible nor improbable, — it is certain they were not there as the act of the nation ). and that Montfort's influence, as earl of Leicester, drew many to his standard even from his own fiefs, is improbable as before stated, on account of the distance of the seat of warfare, and the limited nature of feudal service. Thus the counts of Nevers and Toulouse, abandoned their enterprize at the expiration of the feudal period of forty days, and the dulie of Burgundy and his followers did the same. Ibid. Note C. We have the best authority for concluding, that had the papal missionaries failed to reach the shores of Saxon Bri- tain, the faith of the gospel would have become known at no distant period to our ancestors, and that in a less objectionable form, than as imported from Rome. The civil or religious benefits resulting from the Christianity known in England, previous to the conquest, may be viewed as considerable ; but it is an important fact, and one by no means sufficiently attended to, that in the year GG4, when the gospel was pro- fessed by nearly the whole island, it has been introduced and maintained in at least two-thirds of it by Scottish missionaries, — men who knew how to spurn the growing usurpations of the pontifts, resting their own claims to a religious office on higher authority. The states of the Octarchy had their separate apostles ; these belonging to different nations, each introduced among his converts the forms which had been sanctified by the practice of his own communion. The people of Kent, Wessex, and East-Anglia, renounced their ancient supersti- tions under the direction of teachers from Rome or Gaul. The East-Saxons, the Mercians, and the tribes of Bernicia, and Deiri, whose territories stretched from the mouth of the Thames and of the Severn, to the Friths of Edinburgh, were all led to their profession of the gospel by Scottish preachers, XOTES. 395 or by such natives as were indebted to them for education. Among the diversity of customs thus introduced, the time for the celebration of Easter, and the fashion of dressing the hair to be observed by ecclesiastical persons, are particularly men- tioned as forming subjects of dispute. The Roman compu- tation required the paschal solemnities to commence on the first Sunday after the fourteenth, and before the twenty- second of the equinoctial lunation. But the Britons and Scots had been taught to commence their Easter services on the first Sunday after the thirteenth, and before the twenty- first day of the same moon. Hence when the Sabbath occurred on the thirteenth, their rejoicings began a week earlier than those of such as were in communion with Rome. It was in the year 004, that Oswy, who had recently united the powerful kingdom of Mercia, to that of Northum- liria, invited the opposing parties to meet him at Whitby. The leading disputants were patiently heard ; but it was asserted, that the keys of Paradise were entrusted to St. Peter alone, and this politic tenet is said to have influenced the royal mind in favor of the papal advocates. The decision of Oswy became an act for uniformity, and Jed to the ultimate expulsion of the Scottish teachers from the Anglo-Saxon territories. They saw that to conform with this enactment, would be to concede to the churches planted by the Romanists, a supremacy on account of their connexion with the papacy, unjust in itself, and dangerous to the chris- tian cause. The thing required might be trivial, but the principle of subjection was not to be admitted. The scheme of usurpation thus established, had been long devised; but the sanctity and talent of Aidan,and of Finauus, his successor, were the safeguard of liberty to their clergy and converts. - Colman, who was next raised to the see of Landisfarne, in- herited the virtue without the ability of his predecessors, and the opportunity thus presented for encroachment was eagerly improved. It is also importaiit to observe, respecting these injured men, these patriarchs in the cause of prolestant non- conformity, that to the latest period of tlieir influence, their 396 NOTES. piety and zeal, their devotion and their learning-, were such as to extort the plaudits even of their enemies, a fact vv^hich may in some measure account for their being abandoned by a prince, vt^ho, while giving law to the Octarchy, could recon- cile the conduct of the assassin with the hope of the gospel.' The above statements are supported by indisputable evi- dence ; and if correct, the question as to the extent of Anglo- Saxon obligations to papal missionaries, is not to be deter- mined by a comparison between the paganism of the Saxon hordes on the shores of the Baltic, and the faith embraced by their descendants in England, in the days of Theodore or Bede ; but between the probable influence of the faith published by the preachers above adverted to, and of that promulgated by the more eff'ective instruments of the papal authority. For it will hardly be supposed, that the men whose zeal scattered the seeds of the kingdom, from the northern extremities of Saxon Britain, to the borders of her southern provinces, were of a character to halt even there, had not the ground been already occupied by foreign agents. If the reader will bear in mind the concession as to the character of these instructors, which has been cited from their enemies, and connect with it what is known of the state of religion among our Saxon fathers, he will scarcely be at a loss to determine whether the services rendered by St. Gregory and his monks, were such as to warrant all the boasting which is sometimes obtruded upon us. The spirit which dictated the rejecting of the claims of St. Augustine on the part of the Britons, was that which suggested the same line of conduct to the Scottish mission- aries in the debates at Whitby, — the point virtually argued in both instances, and that which in both instances was indig- nantly spurned, being the doctrine of the pope's supremacy. • Bede, Hist. iii. 14. 17. 21, 22. 25, 26. Ushers Primord. c. xii, p, 394. Whitaker's Manchester, ii. c. 4. p. 88. Turner's Anglo-Saxons, book iii. c. iv. APPENDIX. APPENDIX, No. I. Testamcntnm Domini Roberti Wych/f quondam Recforis de Fiom the Rudby. of T. Langley, In dei nomine, Amen— 8 Sep. 1423. Ego Robertus de Jfj'^'jJ'.J"/^ Wyelyf, Rector Ecclesite Par. de Rudby, Eboracensis fol. lis. Dioceseos sance nlemoria^ onines donationes causa mortis per me ante datara presentium factas de revoco ea ceptis certis legatis per me quibusdam personis, &c. in ultimo meo eulogio assignatis, quce quidem legata sunt inclusa in quodam rotulo sigillo meo signato : et testamentum meum ultimum, &c. condo, &c. in hunc modum. In primis conimendo animam meam deo omnipotenti Beatje Marian et omnibus Sanctis corp usque meum depeliendum ubi contigerit me decedere ab hac vita vel ubi executores mei disposuerint ilhid sepeliri. Volo tamen quod corpus meum simpliciori modo quo honeste possit tradatur sepulturee. Ac quod omnia et singula debita mea sen debenda ratione ultimi vale mei ipsi Ecclesiae integre per- solvantur. Item volo quod viginti librse dentur duobus capel- lanis celebraturis pro anim^ me^ animabusque patris mei et matris et omnium benefactorum meorum et pro animabus omnium illorum pro quibus teneor et sum oneratus enorare. Et volo quod Johannes de Midelton sit unus de predictis Capellanis, et quod celebret ut prcdicitur per triennium ubi- cunque voluerit capiens pro singulo anno centum solidos de summa viginti libranim predictarum. Et volo quod alius capc'Uanus celebret per annum integrum immediate post de- 400 APPENDIX. cessum meum ubi corpus meum fiierit humatuni capiens resi- duum summje antedictje. Item lego ad reparationem quatuor Ecclesiarum, videlicet Rudby, Sancti Rumaldi, Kyrkebyra- wynswath et Wyclyf cuilibet illarum XL'. Item lego cuilibet Moniali de Nun Appilton, Il^ Item lego pro •• •• seu ornamentis eraendandis infra cancelluni Ecclesiae de Wyclyf, XL^ Item lego XL^. distribuendos pauperibus infra parochiam de Wyclyf. Item lego ad reparationem pontis de Rudby, XX*. Item lego cuilibet capellanorum stipen- diariorum Rectoriae de Rudby celebranti ad capellas infra par- rochium de Rudby, vp. viii*^. Item lego cuilibet capellani et cuilibet fratri hospitalis de Kepier Vl^ viii^. Item lego cuilibet pauperi scolari sedentiadskepham infra aulam predicti hospitalis ii^. Item lego Emmotee Mylner, Isotse Sollay et Cristianae Kendall videlicet cuilibet illarum vi\ — viii'*. Item lego cuilibet ordini Fratrum mendicantium videlicet AUerton, Richemond, et Hertilpole xx^ et Fratribus de Zarme xxvl^ viii'*. Et lego cuilibet servienti meo tran- seunti ad carucam et custodienti averia mea ultra salaria sua III*, iv*^. Et residuum vero summee c librarum de quibus condo testamentum meum ac etium omnium & singulorum bonorum meorum mobilium et mihi de quibuscunque personis debitonem do et lego executoribus meis ut et ipsi inde pro- videant faciant et disponant pro salute animae meae secundum quod eis videbitur melius expedire. Et ad hoc testamentum meum bene et fideliter perficiendum et implendum ordino et constituo Christopherum de Boynton Henricum Nersefeld Johannem de Midelton capellanum & Thomam Nele execu- to^es meos et unicunque illorum xl'. pro labore suo assigno. Et super visores hujus testamenti ordino & constituo Johannem Langton militem manentem juxta Shirburne in El vet et Robertum de Eure Com. Dunelm. In cujus rei testimonium huic presenti testamento sigillum meum opposui. His tes- tibus Johaune Runhcorne capellano Thoma Tange & Roberto Berehalgh notariis publicis Thoma Morpath et Alano Shire- bum capellanis. Data apud Kepier supradict, die et anno domini supradigtis. APPENDIX. 401 No. II. Spectahs Ltcenha Domini Regis Edwardi III. pro appro- MS. in . ^ ^ , A ,^ BiblLam. priatione Advocationis Ecclesice de Pagcham, Aulcc tan- nq. 104. tuariensi in Oxonia. Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Angliae, Doniinus Hiberniae et Aquitanize, omnibus ad quos praesentes hee pervenerint, sa- lutem. Sciatis quod de gratia nostra speciali, et ad devotam supplicationem venerabilis Patris Sinionis Cant. Archiepis- copi totius Angliae Primatis, et Apostolicae sedis Legati pie desiderantis increnientum salubre cleri regni nostri propter multiplicationem doctrinse salutaris, quae jam per praesentem epidemiam noscitur plurimum defecisse, Concessimus et licen- tiam dedimus pro nobis et haeredibus nostris, quantum in nobis est, eidem Archiepiscopo, quod ipse in Universitate Oxon. quandam Aulam sive Domum Aulam Cantuariensem vul- gariter et comrauniter vocitandam, in qua certus erit numerus scolarium tarn religiosorum quam secularium artibus scolasticis insistentium et Deo pro nobis et salute Regni nostri specialiter exorantium secundum formam ordinationis inde per eundem Archiepiscopum super hoc facienda;, suis sumptibus erigere poterit et fundare, et eisdem scolaribus in perpetuum assignare, et in eventu quo Domus sive Aula sit fundata, et scolares in ea assignati fuerint, Advocationem Ecclesiae de Pageham suae jurisdictionis immediatae, qute est de advocatione sua propria, et de jure suo Archiepiscopali, et quae de nobis tenetur in capita, ut dicitur, eisdem scolaribus, et successoribus suis dare possit, et etiam assignare, habendum et tenendum praefatis scolaribus et successoribus suis de nobis et haeredibus nostris in liberam et puram et perpetuam elemosinam in per- petuum ; et eisdem scolaribus quod ipsi tam aulam quam advocationem praedictas a praefato Archiepiscopo recipere, et Ecclesiam illam appropriare, et eam sic appropriatam in VOL. I. 2 D 402 APPE-NDIX. proprios visus tenere possint sibi et successoribus suis praedictis, pro nobis et salute Regni nostri oraturi juxta ordinatiouem praedicti Archiepiscopi, de nobis et heeredibus nostris in liberam et puram et perpetuam elemosinara in perpetuum sicut piaedictum est, Tenore prajsentium similiter licentiam dedimus specialem, statuto de terris et tenementis ad manum mortuam non ponendis edito non obstante, Nolentes quod praedicti Archiepiscopus vel successores sui aut preefati scolares seu successores sui ratione prjemissorum, seu statuti praedicti, aut pro eo quod dicta advocatio de nobis tenetur in capite, sicut praedictum est, per nos vel heeredes nostros Justitise Estaetores, Vicecomites, aut alios ballivos seu mi- nistros nostros quoscunque occasionentur, niolestentur in aliquo seu graventur. Salvis tamen nobis et haeredibus nostris, ac aliis capitalibus Domiuis feodi illius servitiis inde debitis et consuetis. In cujus rei testimonium has literas A. D. nostras fieri fecimus patentes. Testemeipso apud Westmo- nasteriura xx°. die Octobris anno regni nostri tricesimo quinto. 1361. No. III. MS. in Cliarta Fundationis Aulce Cantuariensis, et Donationis Maneiii N loT'* ^^ Wodeford Lincoln. Dioccseos dictce Fundationi. fol." Sapientia Dei Patris per uterum beatze Virginis volens prodire in publicum sicut ittate proficere voluit sic gratiae et sapientiae suae munera paulatim aliis proficiendo secundum processum zetatis suae niagis ac magis realiter ostendebat, ut alii qui ab ejus plenitudine fuerint particulariter sapientiam recepturi prius humiliter addiscerent et proficiendo crescerent in doctrina, posteaque quod sic didicerint aliis salubriter revelarent. Quia igitur per sapientiam sic non absque sudore et laboribus adquisitam reguntur regna et in justitia con- foventur, Ecclesia militans germinat et sua diftundit tentoria : APPENDIX. 403 Nos Simon perniissione Divina Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus totius Angliee Primas et Apostolicae sedis Legatus, ad haic sepius revolventes intima cordis nostri, ac considerantes viros in omni scientia doctos et expertos in epidinnis praeteritis plurinuim defecisse, paucissimosqiie propter defectum exhibi- tionis ad prassens insistere studio literarum, de magnificce Trinitatis gratia, et meritis beati Thomae martyris patroni nostri firmiter confidentes, de bonis nobis a Deo collatis Aulam quandam in Uuiversitate Oxon. et nostree provincial de consensu et licentia serenissimi principis Domini Edwardi Regis Anglise illustris, in loco quera ad hoc nostris sumptibus comparavimus, construximus et fundaviraus, quam pro duo- denario studentium numero duximus ordinandum. In partem igitur dotis et sustentationis ipsius Collegii octo hospitia conductitia juxta situni loci in quo habitationem hujusmodi studentium assignavimus consistentia, quae gravibus sumptibus nostris et expensis propterea specialiter adquisivimus per hanc Cartam nostram conferimus et donamus, et etiam as- signamus : Maneriumque de Wodeford Lincoln. Dioceseos ad perdilectum Nepotem nostrum Willelmum de Islep spectans cum omnibus suis pertincntiis eidem collegio pro- curavimus assignari. Datum apud Maghfeld Idus A prills Anno Domini 1363, et nostrae Consecrationis xiv. Insfrumentum prcecedentis Cartce. In Dei nomine Amen. Per praesens publicum instru- n^i^^ mentum omnibus innotescat, quod Anno ejusdem Domini 13C3, secundum computationem Ecclesije Anglicanaj, Indic- tione secunda Pontificis sanctissimi in Christo Patris et Do- mini Domini Urbaui digna Dei providentia Papaj Quinti anno secundo, mensis Februarii die quarto, coram Reverendo in Christo Patre Domino Simone Dei gratia Cant. Archiepi- scopo, totius Anglise Primate, et Apostolicae sedis Legato, in Camera sua infra Manerium suum apud Cherryng Cant. Dioceseos personaliter constituto, producta fuit, exhibita et 2 D 2 Ibid. 404 APPENDIX, lecta qujedam carta ipsius patris sigillo mei notarii subscripto satis noto consignata, quam idem Dominus Archiepiscopus asseruit se fecisse, et contenta in eadem rata, grata et firma se habere velle perpetuis temporibus valiturura : Cujus quidem Cartee tenor de verbo ad verbum sequitur in hiec verba. Sapientia Dei Patris per iiterum beatce Virginis volens pro- dire, ^'c. Consecrationis xiv, acta fuerunt haec anno indic- tionis Pontificiae, mense, die et loco praedictis pra^sentibus venerabili in Christo Patre Domino AVillelmo Dei gratia Episcopo RofFensi, Magistris Nicholao de Chaddesden, Legum Doctore Canonico Ecclesize Liciifieldensis, Cancel- lario dicti Domini Archiepiscopi, Willelmo Tankerville Rectore Ecclesiae de Lawfar London. Johanne Barbo Clerico Roffensis Dioceseos testibus ad prsemissum rogatis. Et Ego Richardus Wodelond de Calceto Clericus Cices- trensis Dioceseos, notariiis Apostolica auctoritate publicus, productioni, exhibition!, et lecturae Carta prffidictze assertion! et ratihabition! dicti Domini Archiepiscopi ac omnibus et singulis prout superius scribuntur et recitantur una cum praefatis testibus interfui, eaque omnia et singula sic vidi fieri et audivi veramque copiam sive transcriptum ipsius Cartae superius descriptae aliis negotiis occupatus per alium scribi feci, et hie me subscripsi et signum meum apposui prcesentibus consuetum. Willelmi de Islep conjirmatio prcedictce Donationis Manerii de Wodeford. Sciant praesentes et futuri quod Ego Willelmus de Islep ad instantiam Domini mei Domini Simonis Dei gratia Cant. Archiepiscopi totius Angliae Primatis et Apostolicae sedis Legati, dedi, concessi, et hac praesenti carta mea confirmavi Custodi et Clericis Aulae CoUegiataj Cant, per ipsum Domi- num meum in Universitate Oxon. noviter fundatae, Manerium meum quod habeo in Wodeford cum omnibus suis pertinentiis in Comitatu Northampton, habendum et tenendum prae- APPENDIX. 405 dictum Manerium cum omnibus suis terris, pratis, pascuis, pasturis, redditibus, homagiis, servitiis, stagnis, vivariis, aquis molendinis, gardinis, columbariis cum omnibus aliis suis per- tinentiis piiedictis, Custodi et Clericis et eorum successoribus in perpetuum tenendum de capitalibus Dominis feodi per servitia inde debita, et de Jure consueta. In cujus rei testimonium sigilliim meum pra^sentibus apposui, his testibus, venerabili in Christo Patre Domino Willelmo Dei gratia RofFensi Episcopo, Magistro Nicholao de Chaddesden Legum Doctore Cancellario, Domino Johanne Waleys milite, Dominis Thoma de Wolton seneschallo terrarum et Willelmo Islep cruci- ferario dicti Domini Archiepiscopi et multis aliis. Et ad majorem securitatem preemissorum Ego Willelmus de Islep supradictus praesentem cartam subscriptione et signi apposi- tione Magistri Richardi Wodeland Clerici Notarii auctoritate Apostolica publici ad requisitionem meam specialem feci et obtinui communiri. Datum apud Maghefeld quarto die mensis Junii anno Domini millesimo cccLxiii, et anno Regni Regis tertii post conquestum xxxvii. Et Ego Richardus Wodeland de calceto Clericus Cices- trensis Dioceseos Notarius Apostolica auctoritate publicus dationi, et confirmationi, et concessioni praedictis, et sigilli appositioni cartae praedictae una cum suprascriptis testibus, loco, die, mense et anno Domini supradictis, indictione prima Pontificis sanctissimi in Christo Patris et Domini Domini Urbani digna Dei providentia Papae quinti anno primo, praesens interfui et praefatum Willelmum de Islep dictam cartam perlegere audivi, et ad rogatura dicti Willelmi hie me subscripsi, et signum meum apposui praesentibus consuetum in testimonium praemissorum. 2 D 3 406 APTENDIX. No. IV. Historia Instrumenttlm Collationis Johannis de Wyclyve Guardianatui ^ ^"** Aulce Cantuariensis in Universitate Oxonicc. Uxon. p. 184. trolskp^ Simon, &c. Dilecto filio Magistro Johantii de Wyclyve inAichivis salutem. Ad vitae tuae et conversationis laudabilis hone- betlianis. statem, Iiterarumque scientiam, quibus personam tuam in artibus magistratum altissimus insignivit, mentis nostree oculos diiigentes, ac de tuis fidelitate, circuraspectione, et industria plurimum confidentes, in custodem Aulai nostrae Cantuar. per nos noviter Oxonize fundatac te preeficimiis, tibique curam et administrationem custodian hujusmodi incumbentes juxta ordinationem nostram in hac parte committimus per pra^sentes, reservata nobis receptione juraraenti corporal is per te nobis prKstandi debiti in hac parte. Dat. apud Maghefeld v" idus Decemb. anno Domini mccclxv, et nostrae xvi. No. V. Eccl. Verba Ordinationis quoad Ciistodcm Aulce Cantuar. Domino GanrRe". Archiepiscopo nominandum. K. fol. G7.' et debet ipse praefici sicut cateri monachi officiarii dictie Ecclesiae per Dominum Archiepiscopum praeficiendi viz. Prior et Capitulum eligent de toto Capitulo tres personas ydoneas et meliores in religione et scientia ad dictam Curam, et eos in scriptura communi Domino Archiepiscopo nomina- bunt quorum unum ex illis sic nominatis quem voluerit Archiepiscopus pra^ficiet in Custodem, Cnram et Administra- tionem tam spiritualium quam temporalium ad ipsam Aulam pertinentium sibi plenius committcntlo. APPENDIX. 407 No. VI. Nominatio Custodis Aulce Cant, noviter fundatCE in Univer- sitate Oxon. per lieverendum Patrem Dominum Simonem de Islep Archiepiscopum Cantuariensem. Reverendo in Cliristo Patri ac Domino, Domino Simoui Dei gratia Cant. Archiepiscopo totius Angliae Priraati, et i\postoIicje sedis Legato, Vestri humiles et devoti Prior et Capitulum Ecclesiae Ciiristi Cant, obedieiitiam, reverentiam et honorem. Ad ciiram et ofEcium Custodis Aula; Cantuar. in Universit. Oxon. per vos noviter fundatae Fratres Hea- ricum de WodhuUe sacrse paginal Doctorem, .Tohannem de Tledyngate et Vyiilielmum Rychemond nostros confratres et commonachos Vobis juxta formam et eftectum Ordinationis vestrai factae in hac parte, Tenore presentium nominamus. Supplicantes quatinus unum ex illis tribus sic nominatis quern volueritis in Custodem dictaj Aulse prseficere, et eidem curam et administrationem tarn spiritualium quam temporalium ad ipsani Aulam pertinentium committere dignetur vestra pater- nitas reverenda, quam ad Ecclesiaj suie Regimen conservet in prosperis Trinitas indivisa. Dat. sub sigillo nostro communi in Domo nostra Capitulari Cant, xiii die Martii anno Domini millesimo ccc"™" Lxn*^". No. VII. Johannes de Radyngate Monachus Cant, fuctus est Custos j^^ ; - Aulee Cant. Oxon. a Simone Langham Archiepiscopo Cant. Langliar Anno 13G7° ii Cal. Apr. Mandatum tamen revocatum est ab Arch" x Cal. Maii sequentis et Plenrirus de Wodhall Monachus Cant, factus Custos directo ad Joannem WyclifF et cueteros scolares Aultvi Cant, mandato ut obedireut ci. 2 D 4 408 APPENDIX. No. VIII. MS. in Maiidatmn Apostolicum ad cxequendam sententiam Cardincdiis L^Q^j, Andruyni contra Wiclyffiim. No. 104. fol. Urbanus Episcopus servus servorum Dei, veneiabili fratri Episcopo Londoniensi, et dilectis filiis Abbati Monasterii sancti Albani, Lincoln. Dioceseos, ac Archidiacono Oxon. in Ecclesia Lincoln. Salutem et Apostolicara benedictionem. Petitio dilectorum filiorum Prions et Capituli Cant. Ecelesiai ordinis Sancti Benedict! nobis exhibita continebat qiiod licet Collegium Aula Cant, nuncupatum scholarum Universitatis Oxon. Lincoln. Dioces. in quo quidem Collegio nonnuUi Clerici et scolares esse consueverant, per unum ex Monachis dictje Ecclesiae qui Custos dicti Collegii esse tres alios Monachos dictee Ecclesiai secum habere debet, prout in ipsius Collegii fundatione extitit Canonice ordinatum, regi debent : Tamen dilecti filii Johannes de Wyclyft', Willelmus Selbi, Willelmus Middleworth, Richardus Benger, Clerici Ebora- censis, Saresburiensis et Oxon. Dioceseos false asserentes dictum Collegium per Clericos seculares regi debere, dic- tumque Johannem fore Custodem Collegii supradicti, ac Henricum de Wodehall Monachum dictae Cant. Ecclesiee ac Custodem dicti Collegii, ac nonnuUos Monachos dicta; Ecclesiie cum prjefato Henrico in dicto Collegio commorantes de ipso Collegio excluserunt, ipsosque Collegio ipsis ac bonis inibi existentibus in quorum possessione iidem Henricus et alii Monachi existebant, spoliarunt, et nonnuUa alia in ipsorum Monachorum prsejudicium acceptarunt, nee non omnia bona dicti Collegii occuparant, propter quod dilectus filius noster Simon t. t. sancti Sixti Presbyter Cardinalis tunc Archiepi- scopus Cant, videns et prospiciens hujusmodi bona dicti Collegii per dictum Johannem et alios Clericos supradictos qui ipsius Johannis cousortes erant dissipari, fructus paro- chialis Ecclesi'.v de Paaeham Cicestrens. Dioc. sub Jurisdic- APPENDIX. 409 tione Archiep. Cant, pro tempore existentis, consistentis sequestrari fecit, ortaque propterea inter Johannem de Wyc- lyff et ejus consortes ex una parte et dictum Cardinalem super prtemissis et eorum occasione ex altera, materia quaestionis. Nos tamen hujusmodi cum partes ipsee in Homana Curia sulHcienter pra^sentes existerent, bonae memorise Andruyno t. t. sancti Marcelli presbytero Cardinali ad earum partium instantiam audiendam commisiraus, et fine debito termi- nandam. Et quod idem Andruynus Cardinalis prout ei melius et utilius pro statu dicti Collegii videretur expedire posset a dicto CoUegio Clericos seculares amovere, vel si ei utilius videretur pro Collegio supradicto religiosos supradictos ab ipso Collegio auctoritate priedieta amovere, ita quod unicum et solum Collegium regularium vel secularium re- maneret, cum potestate etiam in dicta causa simpliciter, et de piano, ac sine strepitu et figura judicii procedendi. Coram quo Magistris llichardo Bangero procuratore Johannis et ejus consortium praedictorum, ac Alberto de Mediolano per Magistrum Rogerum de Treton, procuratorem dictorura Simonis Cardinalis, nee non Prioris et Capituli praedictorum. Qui quidem Prior et Capitulum pro interesse suo ad causam hujusmodi veniebant, substituto donee eum revocaret prout eum ad hoc ab ipsis Simone Cardinale ac Priore et Capitulo sutficiens mandatum habebat in judicio comparentibus tandem postquam inter partes ipsas coram eodem Cardinali ad non- nuUos actus in causa hujusmodi processum fuerat, priefatus Ricbardus quandam petitionem summariam pro parte sua exhibuit in causa supradicta. Postmodum vero nos eidem Andruyno Card, commisimus ut in causa hujusmodi sola facti veritate inspecta procedere, etiam terminis secundum stilum palatii Apostolici servari consuetis non servatis, postmodum vero pr'«fatus Rogerus coram eodem Andruyno Card, in judicio comparens nonnullas positiones et articulos quandam petitionem summariam in eorum fine continentes pro parte sua tradidit in causa supradicta, ac deinde cum generales vaca- tiones in dicta Curia de mandato nostro inditae fuissent, Nos eidem Andmyiio Cardinali commisimus ut in causa hujus- 410 APPENDIX. modi procedere et partes ipsas per suas literas portis Ecclesiae Viteibiensis affigendas citare posset qiiociens opus esset, non obstantibus vacationibus supradictis. Idemque Andiuyuus Cardinalis ad ipsius Rogeri instantiam praefatum Johannem WyclifF et ejus consortes, cum dictus Richardus procurator in dicta curia diligenter perquisitus reperiri non posset per suas certi tenoris literas portis dictve Ecclesiie Viterbiensis affixas ad produce ndum et ad produci videndum omnia jura et muni- menta quibus partes ipsae vellent in causa liujusmodi uti, citari fecit ad certum peremptorium terminum competentem in quo praefatus Rogerus coram eodem Andruyno Cardinali in judicio comparens praidictorum citatorum non comparentium contu- maciam actitavit et in ejus contumaciam nonnullas literas au- tenticas instrumenta publica et alia jura et munimenta quibus pro parte sua in hujusmodi causa voluit uti produxit, idemque Andruynus Cardinalis ad ipsius Rogeri instantiam praidictum Richardum tunc in praidicta Curia repertuni ad dicendum contra eadem producta quidquid vellet per porterium suum juratum citari fecit ad certum peremptorium terminum com- petentem, in quo praefatus Rogerus coram eodem Andruyno Cardinali in judicio comparens praedicti Ricardi non com- parentis contumaciam accentuavit, praefatusque Andruynus Cardinalis ad dicti Rogeri instantiam praedictum Ricardum ad concludendum et concludi videndum in causa hujusmodi vel dicendum causam rationabilem quare in ea concludi non deberet, per porterium suum juratum citari fecit ad certum terminum peremptorium competentem, in quo Magistro Johanne Cheyne substituto de novo per dictum Roger um donee eum revocaret, prout ad hoc a praefatis Dominis suis sutficiens mandatum habebat coram eodem Andruyno Cardinali in judicio, compa- rente, et dicti Ricardi non comparentis contumaciam actitante, et in ejus contumaciam in hujusmodi causa concludi petente, supradictus Andruynus Cardinalis reputans eundem Richardum quoad hoc, prout erat merito contumaciae in ejus contumaciam cum dicto Johanne Cheyne in hujusmodi causa concludente, conclusit et habuit pro concluso. Subsequenter vero praefatus Andruynus Cardinalis pradictos Johannem de WyclyfF et APPENDIX. 411 ejus consortes, cum diclus Kichardus procurator latitaret et diligenter perquisitus in prjefata Curia reperiri non posset, ad suam in causa hujusmodi diffinitivam sententiara audiendam per suas certi tenoris literas portis dictee Ecclesiae Viterbiensis affixas citari fecit, ad competentem peremptoriam certam diem, in quo dicto Rogero coram eodem Andruyno Cardinali in judicio comparente, et dictorum citatorum non comparentium contumaciam accusante, et in eorum contumaciam sententiam ipsam ferri petente, memoratus Andruynus Cardinalis reputans eosdem citatos quoad actum hujusmodi, prout erant merito contumaces in eorum contumaciam visis et diligenter inspectis omnibus et singulis actibus actitatis habitis et productis in causa hujusmodi coram eo, ipsisque cum diligentia recensitis et exami- natis, habito super his consilio cum peritis per suam diffinitivam sententiam ordinavit, pronunciavit, decrevit et declaravit solos Monachos praidictae Ecclesiai Cant. Secularibus exclusis debere in dicto Collegio, Aula [Cantuar.] nuncupate, perpetuo re- manere, ac exclusionem et spoliationem contra praidictos Mona- chos per dictum Johannem de Wyclyff et ejus consortes praedictos attemptatas fuisse, et esse, temerarias, injustas et de facto praesumptas, casque in quantum de facto processerint, revocandas et irritandas fore, et quantum in eo fuit revocavit et irritavit. Et Henricum ac alios Monachos supradictos sicut prjemittitur, spoliatos et de facto exclusos ad Collegium nee non omnia bona mobilia et immobilia supradicta restituendos et reintegrandos fore, ac restituit et reintegravit, nee non fructuum sequestrationem ad utilitatem dictorum Monachorum relaxavit. Et insuper Johanni de Wyclyft' et ejus consortibus supradictis super pr^emissis perpetuum silentium imponendum fore et imposuit prout in instrumento publico inde confecto dilecti filii nostri Bernardi duodecim Apostolorum Presbyteri Cardinalis, cui nos pra^fato Andruyno Cardinali antequam instrumentum super hujusmodi sententiam confectum sigillasset vita functo, commisimus ut instrumentum sigillaret, sigillo munito plenius dicitur contineri. Nos itaque dictorum Prioris et Capituli supplicationibus inclinati hujusmodi diiiinitivam sententiam utpote proiiule Uitani, ratarn habentes et gratam, 412 APPENDIX. eamque autoritate Apostolica confirmantes discretioni vestrje per Apostolica scripta mandamus, quatenus vos vel duo aut unus vestrum per vos vel alium seu alios sententiam ipsam execution! debite demandantes, eamque ubi et quando expedire videritis, auctoritate nostra solempniter publicantes Henricum et alios monachos praedictos ad dictum Collegium, Aula [Cant.] nuncupatum, nee non ejus bona mobilia et immobilia supradicta, amotis exinde dictis Johanne de Wyclyff et ejus consortibus praedictis, auctoritate nostra restituatis, et reintegi'etis, ac restitutos et reintegratos juxta illius exigentiam defendatis Contradictores per Censuram Ecclesiasticara appelacione ^ -Q postposita compescendo. Dat. Viterbii v. idus Maii Ponti- 1370. ficatus nostri anno octavo. No. IX. MS. in Reqia Pardonatio omnium Foris facturarum Aulce Cantuarien. Bibl. , ., ,. ,. -^ Lamb.No. *^^ eidem pertinentium. 104. Ibl. Deprivationis Wicliffe. Lamb.No. ^^ eidem pertinentium, et Conjirmatio Papalis Sententice Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Angliee et Franciae et Dominus Hiberniae : Omnibus ad quos prsesentes literae pervenerint salutem. Sciatis quod cum nuper ut accepimus de gratia nostra speciali et ad devotam supplication em Simonis tunc Archiepiscopi Cant, qui de Islep cognominatus extiterat pie desiderantis incrementum salubre Cleri nostri propter multipli- cationem doctrinae salutaris per literas nostras patentes sub magno sigillo nostro concesserimus et licentiam dederimus pro nobis et haeredibus nostris quantum in nobis erat eidem Archiepiscopo quod ipse in TJniversitate Oxon. quandam Aulam sive Domum Aulam Cant, vulgariter et communiter vocitandam, in qua certus foret numerus scolarium tarn Reli- giosorum quam Secularium actibus scolasticis insistentium, et Deo pro nobis et salute Regni nostri specialiter exoraiitium, APPENDIX. 413 secundum ordinationis formam inde per eundem Archiepiscopum super hoc faciendee, suis sumptibus erigere possit et fundare, et eisdem scolaribus in perpetuum assignare, et in eventu quo Domus sive Aula sic fundata et scolares in ea assignati forent, advocationem Ecclesiee de Pageham Jurisdictiouis ipsius Archiepiscopi immediatje, qua? quidem Ecclesia de advocatione propria ejusdem Archiepiscopi, ut de jure suo Archiepiscopali extiterat, et quae quidem Advocatio de nobis tenebatur in ca- pite, ut dicebatur, eisdem scolaribus dare posse et etiam assignare habendum et tenendum praefatis scolaribus et suc- cessoribus suis de nobis et hseredibus nostris in liberam puram et perpetuara elemosinam in perpetuum, et eisdem scolaribus quod ipsi tam Aulam quam advocationem praidictas a praefato Archiepiscopo recipere, 6t Ecclesiam illam appropriare, et earn sic appropriatam in proprios usus tenere possent sibi et suc- cessoribus suis praedictis pro nobis et salute regni nostri oraturi juxta ordinationem praedicti Archiepiscopi de nobis ethaeredibus nostris in liberam puram et perpetuam elemosinam in perpetuum sicut preedictum est : Dictusque Archiepiscopus postraodum juxta dictam licentiam nostram quandam Aulam CoUegiatam sub certo scolarium studentium numero in Universitate preedicta vocabulo Aulae Cantuariensis erexerit, et fundaverit, certosque Monachos Ecclesiae Christi Cant, unum videlicet Monachum Custodem Aulae ejusdem, ceeterosque scolares in eadem una cum certis aliis scolaribus secularibus in Aula praedicta ordin- averit et constituent, et eis Aulam illam, nee non advocationem praedictam dederit et assignaverit eisdem Custodi et Scolaribus et successoribus suis perpetuo possidendas, ipsique Custos et Scolares dictas Aulam et advocationem a praefato Archiepi- scopo receperint, ac Ecclesiam praedictam sibi et successoribus suis in proprios usus una cum Aula praedicta in perpetuum ha- bendam appropriaverit, ac deinde proeter licentiam nostram, S7ipradictam amotis omnino per praedictum Archiepiscopum dictis Custode et caeteris Monachis Scolaribus videlicet re- gularibus ab Aula praedicta, idem Archiepiscopus quendam scolarem Custodem dictje Aulae, ac caeteros omnes scolares in eadem scolares duntaxat constituerit eisdem Custodi et Scolari- 414 APPENDIX. bus secularibus duntaxat in proprios iisus perpetuo possidendam dedeiit et assignaverit, ipsique Custos et Scolares seculares duntaxat Aulam et Ecclesiam prsedictam ex tunc continuatis temporibus durante vita proefati Archiepiscopi possederit tarn fructus dictae Ecclesize quam alia bona ad Aulam pijedictam spectantia usibus suis propriis applieaverit, et demum defuncto dicto Archiepiscopo et Reverendo in Christo Patre Simone t. t. sancti Sixti, Presbytero Cardinali tunc in Archiepiscopum Cant, consecrate idem Archiepiscopus tunc Cardinalis fructus dictse Ecclesiae de Pageham sequestrari fecerit, ortaque praeterea inter dictos Custodem et Scholares seculares ex parte una et praefatum Cardinalem super pr^missis, et eorum oc- casione ex altera materia contradictionis, appellationeque in- terposita, et habito inde processu, Romana Curia authoritate Apostolica videlicet felicis recordationis Domini Urbani Papje quinti per diffinitivam sententiam de facto ordinatum fuerit ibidem pronunciaverit, decreverit et declaraverit solos Monachos prredictse Cantuariensis Ecclesiae, secularibus exclusis, debere in dicto Collegio Aula nuncupate perpetuo remanere, nee non dictos Monachum Custodem ac alios Monachos Scolares sic de facto ut pra^mittitur a dicto Collegio ac bonis inibi existenti- bus in quorum possessione fuerant per amotionem hujusmodi et occupationem dictorum secularium Custodis et Scolarium secularium spoliatos et exclusos ad Collegium illud, nee non ad omnia bona supradicta, et omnia alia bona mobilia et im- mobilia dicti Collegii per eosdem secularem Custodem et Scholares seculares post amotionem praedictam occupata restituendos et reintegrandos fore, ac jam Dilecti nobis in Christo Prior et Conventus Ecclesiec Christi Cant, antedictje virtute dictorum ordinationis, procurationis, decreti et declara- tion is auctoritate Apostolica factorum uti pra^mittitur, quendam, ut asseritur, Commonachum suum ejusdem Ecclesiae Christi Custodem dicti Collegii Aula; nuncupati, ac certos alios Commonachos suos dictee Ecclesite Christi scolares in eodem Collegio ordinaverint et constituerint, amotis dictis secularibus ab eodem penitus et exclusis, contra formam liccntice nostrce snpradicicE. Nos quanquam dicta advocatio Ecclesiae de APPENDIX. 415 Pageham per aliqiiem progenitoriim nostrorum una cum alii[ui- bus prasdiis seu tenenientis in dotationem, fundatioueni seu alias in augmentationem Archiepiscopatus Cantuariensis, seu Ecclesiie Christi Cantuar. antedictaj data, concessa seu assig- nata extiterat, volentes ndiiloniinus ob devoiionem sinceram quam ad dictam Ecclesiam Ecclesiie Christi Cant, et beatum Thomani Marty rem quondam ejusdem Ecclesiae Archiepis- copum, cujus corpus gloriose cathalogo sanctorum ascriptum quiescit honorabiliter in eadem, securitati tam dictorum Prioris et Conventus quam Commonachorum suorum, quos ipsi Prior et Conventus Custodem dicti Collegii et Scholares in eodem jam, ut przemittitur, ordinarunt, et in futurum ordinaverint, provide de gratia nostra speciali et pro ducentis marcis quos dicti Prior et Conventus nobis solverunt in hanaperio nostro perdonavimus omnes transgTessiones factas nee non foris facturam si qua dictae Aulae cum pertinentiis et advocationis praidictae virtute statuti de terris et tenenientis ad manum mortuam non ponendis editi vel alias nobis intensa fuerit in hac parte, dictamque sententiam, ordinationem, pronuntiationem, decretum et declarationem auctoritate Apostolica factam, ut prajdictum est, et executionem eorundem pro nobis et hasredibus nostris, quantum in nobis est, acceptamus, approbamus, ratifi- camus, et confirmamus, volentes, et concedentes pro nobis et hseredibus nostris, quantum in nobis est, quod pra;dicti Custos et caiteri Scolares Regulares dicti Collegii Aula? Cant, nuncu- pati Monachi dictae Ecclesiae Christi Cant, et eoruni successores per preedictos Priorem et Conventum constituti, et per eosdem Priorem et Conventum et eorum successores constituendi, seu alias loco amovendorum substituendi, actibus scolasticis juxta ordinationem ipsorum Prioris et Conventus et successorum suorum religiose insistentes Aulam pra^dictam, tenementaque in ipsa contenta cum pertinentiis, nee non Ecclesiam preedictam, et advocationem ejusdem in usus proprios ipsorum Custodis et scolarium Regularium teneant videlicet dictam Aulam, et prsedicta tenementa cum pertinentiis, quse de nobis in burga- gium tenentur, ut dicitur, de nobis et haeredibus nostris, ac aliis CapitaUbus Dominis feodi per servitia inde debita et consueta. A. D 1372. tertio. 416 APPENDIX. et dictas Ecclesiam et advocationem de nobis et hseredibiis nostris in liberam puram et perpetuam elemosinani ad orandum specialiter pro salute animse nostras et pro animabus progeni- torum nostrorum ac ha^redum nostrorum in perpetuum sine occasione vel impedimento nostro vel haeredum nostrorum, Justitiae Estretorum via; aut aliorum ballivorum, seu minis- trorum nostrorum vel hanedum nostrorum quorumcunque statute vel forisfactura praedictis aut dictis, dotationem, concessionem, seu assignationem advocationis praedictee per aliquem progeni- torum nostrorum in dotationem, fundationem, vel alias in aug- mentationem Archiepiscopatus seu Ecclesiae Christi praedict- orum, seu dictam fundationem per praefatum Simonem de Islep quondam Archiepiscopum tam pro studentibus sive scolaribus Regularibus quam Secularibus factae, ut praemittitur, seu aliquo alio praimissorum non obstantibus. In cujus rei testi- monium has literas nostras fieri fecimus patentes. Teste me ipso apud Westm. octavo die Aprilis Anno Regni nostri Angliae quadragesimo sexto, Regni vero nostri Franciaj tricesimo No. X. Pro Johanne de Wiclif et aliis de jpotestatibus ad iractandum cum Nunciis Papce. Rex Universis ad quorum notitiam praesentes literae pervenerint, salutem. Sciatis quod nos de fidelitate et circumspectione venerabilis Patris Johannis Episcopi Bangoriensis, Ac fidelium nostrorum Magistri Johannis de Wiclif sacrae Theologiae Prof. Magistri Johannis Guteri Decani Segobiensis, Magistri Simonis de Multon Legum Doctoris, Willelmi de Burton Militis, APPENDIX. 417 lloberti Bealknap, et Johannis de Kenyngton, plenam fiduciam reportantes, ipsos ad partes transmarinas Ambassatores, Nuncios et Procuratores nostros speciales destinamus ; Dantes eisdem Ambassatoribus, Nunciis et Procurator ibus, sex vel quinque eorum (quorum praefatum Episcopum unum esse volumus) auctoritatem, et potestatem, ac mandatum speciale tractandi et benigne ac caritative consulendi cum Nunciis et Ambassatoribus Domini summi Pontificis, super certis negotiis, pro quibus praefatos Episcopum et Willelmum, ac fratrem Ughtredum Monachum Dunolmensem, et Magistrum Johannem de Shepeye ad sedem Apostolicam nuper miseramus; Et Relationem plenariam super hiis quze inter eos tractata et consulta fuerint nobis et concilio nostro faciendi : Ut ea quee honorem sanctae Ecclesiae et Conservationem Jurium Coronae nostrae, et Regni nostri Angliae, concernere poterunt in ea parte intuitu Dei et sanctae sedis Apostolicae^ feliciter expediantur, et debitum capiant complementum. In cujus, &c. Dat. apud London, vicesimo sexto die Julii. No. XI. p. 201. Bulla Gregorii XL missa Oxonii studio^ ^ , . , Hist.Ang. Gregorius Episcopus servus servorum Dei, dilectis filiis Cancellario et Universitati studii Oxoniensis, Lincoln, dioec. salutem, et apostolicam benedictionem. Mirari cogimur et dolere, quod vos propter gratias et privilegia vestra, studio Oxoniensi ab Apostolica sede concessa, et propter scientiam scripturaruni, in quarum pelago fcelici remigio (dante Domino) navigatis, tanquam pugiles et propugnatores orthodoxae fidei (sine qua salus animarum non provenit) esse deberetis, lollium VOL. T. 2 E 418 APPENDIX. inter purum triticiini canipi gloriosi studii vestri prjedicti per quaiulam desidiam et ignaviam premittitis pidlulare, et cpiod est porniciosius etiam adolere, nee circa extirpationem hujus lollii (sicutnuper apud nos insonuit) cuvam aliquam adhibetis, non sineclari nominis obfuscatione, et animarum vestiarum periculo, et contemptu Ecclesiaellomanas, et niemoratae fidei detrimento. Et quod nos torquet acerbius, prius de incremento lollii preedicti sentitur in Roma quam in Anglia, iibi tamen extirpationis remedium upponeretur. Multorum siquidem fide dignorum insinuatione admodum dolentium nostris est auribus intiraatum, Johannem Wycklef Rectorem Ecclesiae de Luttleworth Lincolniensis dioec. sacrse paginae professorem, utinam non magistrum erroruni, in illam detestabilem erupisse vecordiam, nonnullas propositiones et conclusiones erroneas et falsas, ac pravitate ha;reseos sapientes, quae statum totius Ecclesiae, et etiam secularem policiam subvertere et enervare nituntur, quarumque aliquae, licet quibusdam mutatis terminis, sentire videntur pei-versas opiniones et doctrinam indoctam damnatae memoriaj Marsilii de Padua et Johannis de Gandavo, quorum- libet per fcelicis recordationis Johannem Papam XXII. Prie- decessorem nostrum reprobatus extitit et damnatus, in regno Angliae nempe glorioso potentia et copia facultatum, sed glo- riosiore pietate fidei rutilante, sacra; paging claritate consueto viros producere, divinarum scripturarum recta scientia illustratos, morum gravitate maturos, devotione conspicuos, et catholica; fidei defensores, dogmatizare, et publice praedicare, seu potius de virulento claustri sui pectore evomere non veretur, nonnullos Christi fideles earum respersione commaculans, et a fidei praefatae recta semita in praecipitium perditionis abducens. Quare cum tam lethiferam pestem, cui si ejus non obstetur principiis et ipsa radicitus evellatur sero posset medicina parari quum per contagionem plurimos infecisset, noluimus prout nee velle debemus sub conniventia pertransire. Universitati vestrae per Apostolica scripta iu virtute sanctae obedientiae, ac sub poena privationis omnium gratiarum, indulgentiarum, et pri- vilegiorum vobis ac studio vestro a dicta sede concessorum, districte praecipiendo mandamus, quatenus conclusiones et APPENDIX. 419 propositiones in bonis operibus et fide male sentientes, licet eas proponentes sub quadam verborum sive terminorum curiosa implicatione nitantur defendere, de ceetero non permittatis asseri vel proponi : Dictumque Johannem authoritate nostra capiatis, seu capi faciatis, et ipsum venerabilibus fratribus nostris Archiepiscopo Cantuar. et Episcopo Londoniensi, aut eorum alteri sub fida custodia transmittatis. Contradictores quoque de dicto studio vestrje Jurisdictioni subjectos, si qui forsan (quod Deus avertat) essent hujusinodi erroribus maculati, si in illis pertinaciter perstiteiiut, ad similem captionera et missionem, aliasque prout ad vos spectat, firmiter et soUicite procedatis, perinde vestram suppletuii diligentiara, hactenus in preemissis remissam, nostraiuque et dictas sedis, prajter divinze retributionis przemium et meritura, gratiara et bene- volentiam adepturi. Dat. Ilomee apud sanctam Mariam majorem xi. Calendas Junii, Pontifieatus nostri anno septinio. No. XII. Bulla Pajjalis missa Archiepiscopo Cantuar. et Episcopo w i • » Londoniensi ad monendum Regem et Blagnates Anglice, Hist.Ang, ne prcedicto Johanni Wyclef faveant, vel adhcsreant qiiovismodo. Gregorius servus servorum Dei, venerabilibus fratribus Cantuar. Archiepiscopo et Episcopo Londoniensi salutem, &c. Super periculosis admodum erroribus quarundam detestabilium propositionum et conclusionum ad enervationem totius ecclesi- astici status tendentium, scriptas in schedula inclusa proesenti- bus, quas Johannes Wycklef rector Ecclesiae de Luttleworth Lincolniensis dioc. dictus Theologiae Professor, asseritur tarn impie quani temere suscitasse, plenijis vobis scribimus, per alias nostras patentes literas, quas cum preesentibus destinamus. Volumus igitur et vestrse fraternitati mandamus quatenus 2 E 2 Lutter- worth. 420 APPENDIX, clarissimum in Christo, Edwarduni regem Angliee illustreni, et dilectos filios nobiles viros natos dicti Regis, ac dilectam in Christo filiam nobilem mulierem Johannam principissam Aquitanise et Walliae, et alios magnates de Anglia et con- siliarios regis per vos et alios magistros et peritos in sacra pagina, non maculatos hujuscemodi erroribus, sed in fide sinceros et fervidos studeatis facere, plenarie informari, ac eis ostendi, quanta verecundia devoto regno Angliae oriatiir exinde, et quod non solum sunt ipsje conclusiones erroneee in fide, sed si bene advertantur, innuunt omnem destruere Politiam. Et requiratis eos strictissime, quodextirpationemtantorumerrorum, pro reverentia Dei et Apostolicae sedis et nostra, ipsorumque merito apud Deum et honorem seculo, tanquam Catholici principes et pugiles dictae fidei, omni qua poterunt efficacia tribuant aAixilium et favorem. Dat Roniae apud sanctam Mariara majorem XI. Cal. Junii, Pontificatus nostri anno septimo. 1 No. XIIT. ■nr ] • „i, Bulla Papalis ad incarcerandum Johannem Wyckliff et enm Hist Aug. citandum ad personaliter comparendum coram Papa. p. 202. Venerabilibus fratribus Archiepiscopo Cantuar. et Episcopo Londoniensi salutem, &c. Nuper per nos non sine gravi cordis turbatione, et plurium fide dignorum relatione, percepto quod Johannes Wicklef rector Ecclesiae de Luttleworth Lincol- niensis dioec. sacrae paginoe professor, utinam non magister errorum, in tam detestabilem vesaniam temere prorupit, quod nonnullas propositiones et conclusiones erroneas ac falsas et male in fide sonantes, quse statum totius Ecclesiae subvertere et enervare nituntur, quarumque aliquae (quibusdam mutatis terminis) imitari videbantur perversas opiniones, et doctrinam indoctam daranatje memoriae Marsilii de Padua, et Johannis APPENDIX. 421 de Gandavo, quorumlibet per felicis recordationis Johannem Papam XXII. prsedecessorera nostrum reprobatus extilit et damnatus, non verebatur in regno Anglia; asserere, dogniatizare, et publice praedicare, illis nonnullos Christi fideles maligne inficiens, ac a fide catholica (sine qua non est salus) faciens deviare. Nos attendentes quod tarn perniciosum malum quod in plurimos serpere poterat, eorum animas laethali contagione necando, non debebamus, prout nee debemus sub dissimulatione transire, vobis per alias literas nostras commisimus et man- davinius, ut vos vel alter vestrum de dictarum propositionum et conclusionum assertione, quarum copiara sub bulla nostra niisimus interclusam, vos secrete informantes, si ita esse inveniretis, prgefatum Johannem authoritate nostra capi et carceribus mancipari faceretis, eumque sub bona custodia teneretis in vinculis, donee a nobis super hac reciperetis aliud in mandatis, prout in dictis Uteris plenius continetur. Con- siderantes utique quod praifatus Johannes hujusmodi captionem et carcerationem forte prsesentiens, posset (quod absit) per- fugere, seu latitationis prsesidio dictum nostrum mandatum in gravissimum fidei detrimentum eludere : Nos (ne tam damnabiles propositiones et conclusiones indiscussae, et earum temerarius assertor impunitus remaneret in detrimentum gra- vissimum fidei praelibatae) fraternitati vestra? per Apostolica scripta committimus et mandamus, quatenus vos vel alter vestrum per vos vel alium seu alios, praefatum Johannem, si per vos capi et incarcerari non possit, per edictum publicum proponendum in studio Oxoniae Lincolniensis dioec. et aliis locis publicis, de quibus fit verisimilis conjectura, quod ad dicti Johannis notitiam pervenire valeat, et de quibus vos expedire videatur, ex parte nostra peremptorie monere et citare curetis, quod infra trium mensium spacium a die cita- tionis hujusmodi in antea computandum, ubicunque tunc nos esse contigerit, comparere ac personaliter coram nobis super propositionibus et conclusionibus hujuscemodi responsurus, ac auditurus et facturus quicquid super eis duxerimus ordinandum, et ordo dictaverit rationis, privdicciido in hujusmodi citationis edicto, quod sive idem Johannes in hujusmodi teruiino com- 2 E 3 422 APPENDIX. paruerit, sive non coniparuerit, nos super praemissis, et contra eum usque ad debitam condemnationem ipsius inclusive pro- cedemus, prout ejus demerita exigent, ac nobis secundum Deum et conservationem fidei videbitur expediie. Volumus autem et pia^sentium tenore statnimus, quod preedicta citatio sic facta, provide praefatum Johannem arctet, ac si sibi person- aliter insinuata et intimata fuisset, constitutione quacunque contraria non obstante. Diem vero citationis, et formam, et quicquid feceritis in prsedictis, nobis per vestras literas sigillis munitas harum seriem continentes, fideliter et quam citius poteritis, intiraare curetis. Dat. Roma^ apud sanctam Ma- riam majorem xi. Calendarum Junii, Pontificatus nostri anno septimo. No. XIV. Walsinffli. Bulla Papalis Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi, Sj'C. ad carcerandum Hist.Ang. Johannem Wycklef, et recijnendam ejus Confessionem. Venerabilibus fratribus Arcbiepiscopo Cantuariensi et Episcopo Londoniensi salutem, &c. Regnum Angliae gloriosum nempe potentia et abundantia facultatum, sed gloriosius pietate fidei, et sacrje paginee claritate coruscum, consuevit viros producere divinarum scripturarum recta scientia prseditos, maturitate graves, devotione prseclaros, et pugiles fidei ortho- doxx, et qui non solum proprios, sed alienos populos docu- ments instruebant verissimis, et in mandatorum Domini semitam derigebant. Et sicut ex effectu contingentium tem- poris antiqui coUigitur, dicti regni praesules in specula soUici- tudinis positi, proprias excubias exercentes sollicite, non permittebant aliquod oriri erroneum, quod posset inficere oves suas, sed si oriretur zizania ex inimici hominis inspersione, illam protinus evellebant, crescebat assidue purum tniicum in dominicum horreum inferendum. Sed (proh dolor) nunc apparet quod in ipso regno officio vigiles, negligentia vero desides, non APPENDIX. 423 circuunt civitatein, duni ho.stes ingrediunlur in earn, animavunv thesaurum preciosissimum pia?dautur. Quorum latentes in- giessus, et patentes aggressus prius sentiuntur in Roma intercapedine longa remota, quam eis in Anglia resistatur. Sane plurium fide dignorum significatione admodum dolenter audivimus, quod Johannes Wycklef vector Ecclesiae de Luttle- worth Lincolniensis dioec. sacra? paginx Professor, ntinam non magister errorum, in illam detestabilem vesaniam dicitur temere prorupisse, quod nonnuUas propositiones et conclusiones erroneas et falsas in fide male sonantes, qute statum totius Ecclesiee subvertere et enervare conantur, quarumque aliquae, licet aliquibus quibusdam mutatis terminis, sentire videntur perversas opiniones et doctrinam indoctam damnatae memoriae Marsilli de Padua, et Johannis de Ganduno, quorumlibet per ioelicis recordationis Johannem Papam XXII. predecessorem nostrum reprobatus extitit et damnatus, non veretur in prgefato regno asserere, dogmatizare, et publice praedicare, nonnullos Christi fideles eis maligne inficiens, ac a fide catholica (sine qua non est salus) faciens devlare, de quibus sic subortis, et non extirpatis, seu saltem eis nulla facta resistentia, quam sciamus, sed transactis seu toUeratis conniventibus oculis tarn negligenter transeundo, non immerito deberetis rubore perfundi, verecundari, et in propriis conscientiis remorderi, Quare cum tarn perniciosum malum, quod non przecisum seu radicitus extirpatum serpere posset in plurimos iu animabus eorum (quod absit) leethali contagione necaudos, nolumus (sicut nee debemus) sub dissimulatione transire, Fraternitati vestra; per Apostolica scripta committimus et mandamus, quatenus re- ceptis praesentibus, vos vel alter vestrum de dictarum pro- positionura et conclusionum assertione, quarura copiam vobis mittimus sub Bulla nostra inclusam, vos secrete informantes, si inveneritis ita esse, praifatum Johannem faciatis authoritate nostra capi, et carceribus mancipari, ej usque confessionem super eisdem propositionibus seu conclusiouibus recipere studeatis, ac ipsam confessionem, et qua^cunque dictus Johan- nes dixerit seu scripserit, super earundem propositionum et conclusionum induclione ac probationc, et quicquid feceritis 2 E 4 424 APPENDIX. in praemissis sub vestris sigillis clausa, et nemiiii revelata nobis per fidelem nuncium transmissuri, eundemque Johannem sub fideli custodia teneatis in vinculis, donee a nobis super hoc aliud receperitis in mandatis. Contradictores, &c. In- vocato, &c. Non obstantibus fcelicis recordationis Bonifacii Papje VIII. Predecessoris nostri constitutionibus, in quibus cavetur ne aliquis extra suam civitatem vel dioec. nisi in certis exceptis casibus, et in illis ultra unam dietam a fine suee dicec. ad judicium evocetur, sen ne judices a sede apostolica deputati aliquos ultra unam dietam a fine suae dicec. evocare praesumant, et de duabus dietis in consilio generali, ac expensionis et aliis privilegiis, constitutionibus, et Uteris apostolicis Praedicatorum, Minorum, et Hteremitarum sancti Augustini, et sanctae Mariae de monte Carmeli, et aliis quibuscunque medicantium, vel aliis ordinibus et locis, aut specialibus personis seu capitulis et conventibus ipsorum generalibus vel specialibus, quorumcunque tenorum existant, necnon statutis et consuetudinibus eorundem ordinum, et locorum contrariis, per quae efFectus praesentium impediri valeat quomodolibet vel differri etiamsi de eis eorum- que totis tenoribus ac de verbo ad verbum plena et expressa mentio in nostris Uteris sit habenda, seu si Johanni przedicto vel quibusvis aliis communiter vel divisira a dicta sede sit indultum, quod personaliter capi, aut quod jus dici, suspend!, vel excommunicari non possint per literas Apostolicas non facientes plenam et expressam, ac de verbo ad verbum de jndulto hujusmodi mentionem. Dat. Romae apud S. Mariam majorem xi. C^l. Junii, anno 27. No. XV. Walsingli. Epistola Papce ad Regem Edimrdum III. ad exhibendum ^^'snf "^' *'** Favoris et Auxilii Patrocinium Archiepiscopo Cant, et Episcopo Londinensi in Prosecutione Johannis Widiffe. Charissimo in Christo Filio Edwardo Regi Angliae illustri, salutem, &c. Regnum Anghae quod Altissinuis iix-x sup- APPENDIX. 425 posuit potestati, gloriosum nempe potentia et abundantia facultatiim, sed gloriosius pietate fidei, et sacra paginaj clari tate coruscum, consuevit viros producere divinarum scriptu- rariim recta scientia preeditos, maturitate graves, devotione ferventes, et catholicae fidei defensores, qui non solum proprios, sed alienos populos prieceptis salutaribus instruebant, dirige- bantque in divinorum semitam mandatorum. Sed nuper cum iiigenti cordis amaritudine plurimorum fide dignorum signifi- catione percepimus, Johannem de Wicklef rectorem Ecclesiae de Luttleworth Lincoln, dicecesis, sacrai paginae professorem, utinam non magistrum errorum, in illam nefandam et abhomi- nabilem prorupisse dementiam, quod nonnullas propositiones et conclusiones plenas erroribus, et manifestam haeresim con- tinentes, quae statum totius Ecclesiae subvertere et enervare nituntur, quarumque aliquee, licet quibusdam mutatis terminis, sentire videntur perversas opiniones, et doctrinam indoctam damnatae memoriae Marsilii de Padua et Johannis de Ganduno, quorumlibet per foelicis recordationis Johannem Papam XXI [. praedecessorem nostrum reprobatus extitit et damnatus, in dicto regno dogmatizare et publice pra;dicare, sen potius de virulento claustro sui pectoris evomere non veretur, nonnullos Christi fideles earum respersione commaculans, et a praefatie fidei recta semita in prtecipitium perditionis abducens. Nos itaque tantura malum quod non praescisum seu radicitus ex- tirpatum serpere posset in plurimos, in animabus eorum (quod absit) laethali contagione necandos, nolentes prout nee velle sine nostrae morsu conscientiae possumus, conniventibus oculis, pertransire, venerabilibus fratribus nostris Archiepiscopo Can- tuariensi, et Episcopo Londinensi per litteras nostras com- misimus et mandavimus, ut ipsi vel alter eorum, receptis per eos dictis nostris Uteris, de dictarum propositionum et conclusio- num assertione, quarum copiam eis sub bulla nostra misimus interclusam, se informantes (si invenirent ita esse) facerent praefatum Johannem authoritate nostra capi et carceribus mancipari, ejus confessionem super eisdem propositionibus seu couclusionibus recipere studerent, ac ipsam confessionem et quaecunque dictus Johannes dixerit vel scripserit super earun- 426 APPENDIX. dem propositionum et conclusionum inductione et probationer nobis per fidum nuncium transmittere non postponant. Cum itaque dicti Archiepiscopus et Episcopus in proseeutione hujus negotii noscantur favore et auxilio tuze Celsitudinis indigere, Majestatem tuam quam et tiii Progenitores incliti catholica; fidei, cujus in hac parte res agitur, semper consueverunt esse przecipui zelatores, requirimus et deprecamur attente quatenus ob reverentiam Dei, dictae fidei, et Apostolicje sedis, et nos- trum intuitum digneris przefatis Archiepiscopo et Episcopo, et aliis qui hujusmodi negotiura persequentur, in ipsa pro- seeutione tui Favoris et Auxilii Patrocinium exhibere provide, preeter humanae laudis prseconium, divinse retributionis prae- mium, nostram et dictae sedis adepturus benevolentiam am- pliorem. Datae Romae apud Sanctam Mariam majorem xi. Cal. Junii, anno 7. No. XVI. Inter Ista cst Protestatio Revercndi Doctoris una cum ejus Con- (leni Ar- clusionibus quce ah eo in subscripta forma sunt posite, que Chi. B. 10. (ji consimilibus matcriis, et dissimilibus formis sunt et fuerunt reportate et ad Curiam Romanam transmisse, et sic in multis minus bene imposite. Protestor publice ut sepe alias quod propono et volo esse a Sic pro ex integro Christianus, et quaradiu manserit in me "alitus, hahtiis. profitens verbo et opere legem Christi. Quod si ex ignorantia vel quacunque alia causa in isto defecero, nunc prout extunc idem revoco et exsecro, submittens me humiliter correctioni sancte Matris Ecclesie. 1. Totutn genus humanum concurreniium citra Christum non habet polestatem simplicem ordinandi ut Petrus et omne genus suum dominetur in perpetuum politice supra mundum. Istud concedo ex tide Scripture; cum oportet omuem civili- APPEXDIX. 427 tatem cessare ante finale judicium, cum prima ad Corinth, xv. ^Apostolus loquens de die Judicii ita scribit, Demum Jinis, cum tradiderit regnum Domino et Patri, cum evaciiaverit omnem principatum et virtutem. Qui ergo credit carnis resurrectionem credit istum articulum, cum amplius non est exactio vel conversatio secularis. Nemo ergo habet potestatem ordinandi quicquid contra decretum Domini in hac parte. 2. Deus non potest dare homini pro se et heredibus suis in perpetmini civile dominium. Pro isto suppono quod in per- petuum sumatur proprie, et faraose utatur more Ecclesie orantis ut Trinitati sit Gloria nunc et in perpetuum. Suppono secundo quod civile dominium intelligatur formaliter pro illo quo quis civiliter dominetur. Et tertio quod sit locutio de Dei potestate ordinata, et tunc consequitur ex priori. Lo- quendo autem de Domini potentia absoluta, videtur multis probabile quod Deus non potest continuare eternaliter viationem sponse sue, eo quod tunc fraudaret eam a pra?mio, aut corpori diaboli injuste difFerret dare penam quam meruit. 3. Carte humanitus adinvente de hereditate perpetua sunt impossibiles. Ista conclusio fuit lateraliter dicta uni Doctori magnificanti cartas hominum, scriptura professionis Christiane postposita, melius, inquam, foret defensioni et expositioni scripture attendere, cum multe carte hujusmodi sint impos sibiles. Concedo ergo conclusionem, cum multe carte affirmant de multis exheredatis et mortuis intestate, quod dantur eis pro se et heredibus in perpetuum certa dominia. Quod cum obviat ordinationi Divine non oportet canonizare cartas singulas scripturam fidei contempnendo. 4. Quilibet existens in gratia gratum faciente Jinaliter ncdum habet jus ad rem, sed pro sua tempore jits in •> rem super ,, gj^, j^jg omnia bona Dei. Probatur ex fide Scripture satis famose V^^ •"«• Mat. xxiv. Super omnia bona sua constituet eum. Juncto illo Apostoli ad Rom. viii. Deus propria Jilio suo non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit ilium, quomodo non cum ipso omnia nobis donavit? Tres ergo prime conclusiones imprimunt mundialibus fidem Christi, ne submergantur in pelago seculi transeuntis cum concupiscentia ejus : Et rpiarta allicit ho- 428 APPENDIX. minem ad amorem Domini qui dilexit nos ad tot veras divitias. 5. Homo potest solum ministratoric dure tarn naturali filio quam filio imitationis temporale dominium et eternum impli- c Sic MS. citum. Probatur per <= idem Luc. vi. Mensuram bonam et pro illud. ' confertam et coagitatum et svperejfiuentem dabunt in sinum vestrmn. Et quod solum ministratorie ex hoc probatur, quod non licet pure homini dare aliquid nisi tanquam ministro Dei, juxta illud Apostoli prima ad Corinth, iv". Sic nos existimet homo ut ministros Christi. Unde Christus fuit verus minister ecclesie, dicente Apostolo ad Rom. xv. Dico enim Jesum Christum ministrum fuisse. Non ergo erubescat ejus vicarius fungi ministerio ecclesie, cum sit, vel esse debet, servus servorum Domini. Nam determinatio a modo legendi sacre Scripture, et fastus secularis dominii, cum pruriente stilo seculari, videtur nimis disponere ad blasphemam extollentiam Antichristi ; specialiter si veritates fidei Scripture reputentur lollium, fidei Christiane contrarium ab illis capitaneis qui presumunt quod decreto eorum in omni materia fidei opovtet stare, quamcunque ignari fuerint fidei scripturarum. Sic enim posset esse concursus ad Curiam ad emendum dampna- tionem Scripture sacre tanquam heretice et dispensationem contra articulos fidei Christiane. 6. Si Deus est, Domini temporales possunt legitime ae meritorie auferre bona fortune ab ecclesia delinquente. Pro isto suppono quod loquamur de posse, ut loquitur Scriptura rectissima et summe auctentica. Mat. iii. Potens est Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahce, Sfc. Concede ergo Conclusionem tanquam corelariam primo articulo fidei. Nam si Deus est, ipse est omnipotens ; et si sic, ipse potest dare dominis secularibus hujusmodi potestatem : Et per consequens ipsi possunt meritorie ac legittime sic uti hujusmodi potes- tate. Sed ne Conclusio sit ex remotione impertinens, ostendi •1 abest in quod domini temporales habent potestatem [^ auferendi] suas eleraosinas collatas ecclesie, ipsa illis elemosinis abutente : Et quod talis ablatio foret in casu spirituale opus misericordie, salvans animam a gehenna, et impctrans utrimque beatitu- APPENDIX. 429 dineni. CoIIatio vero talis eleraosine preter vel contra religioneni quani Christus instituit, relevat corpus a temporal! niiseria tanquam elemosiiia corporalis. Et ut videtur, sicut dotatio potest esse occasio beatitudinis, sic verisimilius ablatio. Dixi tamen quod hoc non licet facere nisi autoritate ecclesie in defectu spiritualis prepositi, et in casu quo ecclesiasticus corripiendus fuerit a fide dignis. 7. Scimus quod non est possibile ut vicarius Christi pure ex biillis suis, vel ex illis cum volitione et concensu suo, aut sui collegii quenqiia7n habilitet vel inhabilitet. Probatur ex fide Scripture, qua credit ecclesia quod oportet omnem habilitationem hominis primo a Domino procedere. Nullus autem Christi vicarius in isto habet potestatem, nisi vicarie in nomine Domini notificare ecclesiae quem Deus habilitat. Ideo si quicquam facit non vicarie in nomine Domini, quem propter opus suum recognoscit vel recogitat auctorem, est Luciferina presumptio, cum secunda ad Corinth, iii. dicat Christus in suo Apostolo : Omnis vestra sufficientia ex Domino est. 8. Non est possibile hominem excommunicari ad sui dampnum, nisi exeommunicetur primo et principaliter a seipso. Probatur eo, quod omnis talis excommunicatio sapit excomraunicati deteriorationem. Sed nemo potest, secundum Chrysostomum et Scripturam saoram, deteriorari, nisi ledatur per peccatum quod oportet trahere originem a peccante. Nam meritoria suspensio hominis a Sacramentis, et ingressu Ecclesie non est excommunicatio nisi equivoce. Et quantum ad rationem meriti, est prius ab excommunicatio quam a Christi vicario excommunicante. Nemo enim dampnificatur si non per peccatum subtraheretur Divinum subsidium ; ut probatur Ysa. lix. Iniquitates vcstre diviserunt inter vos et Dominum vestrum. 9. Nemo debet nisi in causa Dei excomitmnicare, suspendere, interdiccre, vel secundum quamcunque censuram ecclesiasticam vindicando procedere. Probatur ex hoc quod nemo debet vindictam expetere nisi in causa justitie : Omnis causa justitie est causa Dei, cum ipse sit fons justitie, ergo concludo. 430 APPENDIX. Cum enim ex peccato originatur omnis talis punitio, onine vero peccatum sit in Dominum, juxta illud Psalmi 1. Tibi solipeecavi: Probatur quod nemo, nisi ad vindicandum Dei injuriam, debet ad punitionem talem procedere. Nam ex fide Scripture nemo debet vindictam capere, nisi secundum rationem, qua fit injuria Domino suo, rationem personalis injurie remittendo, ut probatur de precepto Christi Mat. xviii. Si peccaverit in te frater tuus, dimitte ei usque sejjtuagies septies. 10. Ex istis probatur decima Conclusio : Quod maledictio vel exeommunicatio non ligat simpliciter, nisi de quanta ferhir in adversarium legis Christi. Probatur sic; Nam talis maledictio non ligat quoad Deum, nisi de quanto ligatus ofFendit in legem suam, sed non ligat nisi de quanto ligaverit quoad Deum : Ergo concludo. Si enim Deus gratificat, quis est qui condempnet? Deus autem non ofFenditur nisi fuerit propter adversantiam legis sue. Et isti Articuli juvant ut lex Christi sit carior, cum oportet ipsam esse regulam dirigentem in quocunque processu legitimo, et ut fides Scripture ad Rom. xii. melius imprimatur, Non vosmet ipsos defendentes, charissimi, sed date locum ire : Scriptum est enim, Mihi vindicia, et ego retribuatn. 11. No7i exawplata potestas a Christo suis discipulis excom- municandi subditum prcecipue propter negationem temporalium, sed e contra. Probatur ex hoc, quod Christus docet honorem Dei et utilitatem ecclesie ante person ale commodum, vel negationem temporalium preferendum. Et secunda pars probatur per illud Luc. ix. ubi prohibuit suos discipulos volentes ignem de celo descendere, ad excommunicandum infideles injuste detinentes a Christo et suis discipulis bona sua. Nescitis, inquit, cujus spiritus estis ; Jilius enim hominis non venit animus perdere, sed salvare. Unde Conclusio Catholica est, quod non licet Christi vicario excommunicare proximum, nisi propter amorem quo plus sibi afficitur quara omnibus temporalibus hujus mundi. Et probatur negativa conclusio inductive ac per deducens ad impossibile quod tunc fuisset in Christo est et non. quam. APPENDIX. 431 12. Discipuli Christi non habent potesiatem ad, coactione civili, cxigendum tcmporalia per censuras. Probatur de Apostolis et aliis Christi cliscipulis usque ad dotationem Ecclesie : Qui in quantalibet magna egestate fidelium non exercuerunt hujus potestatem, sed hortati sunt secundum legem Dei, et devotum ministerium ad tales benedictiones que debent esse elemosine voluntarie. Sed * priusquam ^ for. post, dota est eeclesia, commixte sunt confusim talis palliata censura et secularis exactio. Immo probatur quod donatio civilis Luc. xxii. fuit Christi discipulis prohibita. 13. Non est possibile de Dei potentia absoluta, quod si Papa vel alius Christianus prcetendat se quovismodo solvere vel ligare, eo ipso sic solvit vel ligat. Probatur ex hoc, quod omnis Christianus posset in hoc errare difformiter ab eeclesia triumphante, tunc autem non ligaret aut solveret ut pretendit : Ergo non potest esse quod si pretendit se ligare vel solvere, ita facit. Unde videtur niihi quod usurpans sibi banc potes- tatem foret ille homo peccati de quo 2*^*' ad Tessal. 1^ scribitur : quod in templo Domini sedcat, et ostendat se tanquam esset Deus. 14. Credere debemus quod tunc solum ligat vel solvit sim- pliciter Christi vicarius quando conformiter legi Christi. Pro- batur ex hoc, quod omnis potestas Christi vicarii solum tunc est in eftectu legittima quando beneplacito capitis ecclesie regulatur et regitur. 15. Hoc debet credi catholice quod quilibet sacerdos rite ordinatus secundum legem gratie habet potestatem secundum quam. potest sacramenta ministrare, et per consequens sibi con- fessum de quocunque peccato contritum absolvere. Probatur ex hoc, quod potestates ordinum in quibuscunque Christi sacerdotibus sunt equales, ut declarat Hugo 2" de Sacra- mentis. Alique tamen potestates ordinum equales aliis in substantia rationabiliter sunt ligate que possunt solvi ad ministrandum, ut dicit conclusio. 16. Licet Regibus, in casibus limitatis a jure, auferre tcmporalia a viris ecclesiasticis, ipsis habitualiter abutentibus. Probatur de ratione posita in quinta Couclusione. Nam ad opera magis meritoria et Dominis temporalibus magis facilia 432 APPENDIX. sunt ipsi tlomini magis obligati. Sed foret in casu major elemosina atque facilius dominum temporalem subtrahere <■ gchen- elemosinam suam ab edificante ad f jehennam per ejus abusum, "^"'' quam donare dictam elemosinam ad subsidium corporale : Ergo concludo. Unde secundum legem triplicera specificatur ista sententia. Prima est lex civilis de causis corradi col- latione 10**. Si Clericus, inquit lex, veluti Episcopus, vel Abbas habens beneficiuvi a Rege datum, non solummodo persons sed ecclesie ipsum propter culpam suam perdat, eo vivente, ad Regem pertineat ; post mortem vero cle7-ici ad successorem revertatur. Secunda lex est Canonica 16. q. 7. c. ^liis sic dicitur, ^liis vel nepotihus ac honestioribus propinquis ejus qui construxit vel dotavit ccclesiam licitum sit hanc habere solertiam ut si sacerdotem aliquem ex collatis rebus defraudare prcevide- rint, aut honesta conventione compescant, aut Episcopo vel Judici corrigenda denuncient : Quod si Episcopus fuerit negligens, dicatur Metropolitano : Et tertio in em-urn neg- ligentia debet, ut dicit canon Regis auribus intimari. Nee rredo id fingibile ad quid Regi denuncient nisi ut ipse cor- rectionem adhibeat. Nee dubium quin correctio Regi per- tinentior atque salubrior in hac parte foret bonorum, quorum est capitalis Dominus, subtractio proportionaliter ad delictum. 8 Sic MS Tertia lex est Evangelica 2da ad Tessal. §20, ubi Apostolus pro 3o. sic scribit : Cum essemus apud vos, hoc denunciabamus vobis, '' Sic MS. ^ quum si quis non vult operari, non manducet. Jus ergo pro quo- nature licentia habentes regnorum gubernacula, rectificare abusus temporalium qui precipue destruerent regna sua. 17. Sive Domini temporales, sive qiiicunque alii dotaverint ecclesiam temporalibus, licet eis in casu auferre tetnporalia medicinaliter ad cavenda peccata, non obstante excommuni- catione vel alia censura ecclesiastica, cum non nisi sub conditione implicita sunt donata. Probatur ex hoc, quod per se conditio consequens ad donationem bonorum ecclesie est,- ut Deus honoretur et Ecclesia edificetur : Que conditio si defuerit, succedente opposite, probat quod perit titulus donationis, et per consequens dominus dans elemosinam rectificare debet errorem. Excommunicatio autem non debet obstare Justitie APPENDIX. 433 complemento ; quia sic posset clericus per excommunicationem ireperatorie conquirere totum mundum. ' Sic MS. 18. Ecclesiasticus, etiam Romamts Pontifex potest legittime a subditis corripi ad utilitatem Ecclesie, et tarn a clericis quam a laycis accusari. Prima pars probatur eo quod omnis talis ecclesiasticus est frater iioster peccabilis, et per con- sequens ex lege correptionis fraterne potest corripi. Unde Mat. xviii. Si peccaverit in quocunque assistens de possibili opportunitate debet eum corripere. Et per idem, si fuerit obstinata defensio pravitatis heretice, vel alterius peccati vergentis ad spirituale dampnum ecclesie, debet in casu penes superiores accusari, ad finem ut ex ejus correctione periculum ecclesie caveatur. Sic enim reprehensus est Petrus a Paulo' ad Gal. 2^, et multi Papa^ irregulares per Imperatores de- positi, ut narrat ^ Castrensis in sua Policronica libro 5". ^ Sic MS. Ecclesia enim est supra istum pontificem : Ideo dicere quod trensisTii iste non debet corripi ab homine, sed a Domino quomodo- s"^ Po'i- . , .,..,. , . . cratlca. cunque peccaverit, videtur mini implicare quod ipse sit supra Ecclesiam sponsam Christi, et quod ad instar Antechristi figuratur ejus extollentia super Christum. Christus enim, licet impeccabilis, voluit esse subjectus principibus etiam in ablatione suorum temporalium, ut probatur Mat. xvii. Hec est aliqualis responsio ad buUam. Istas Conclusiones dixerim ut granum fidei separatum a palea qua ignitur ingratum loUium quod post florem ruboris vindicte fetentis, parat pa- bulum contra Scripturas fidei Antechristo. Cujus infallibile est signum quod regnet in Clero venenum luciferinum, super- bia consistens in libidine dominandi, cujus conjux terrenorum cupiditas concreet filios Diaboli, extinctis filiis evangelice paupertatis. Judicium vero ubertatis hujus propaginis pro- batur ex hoc, quod multi etiam filii paupertatis degeneres fovent loquendo, vel tacendo partem Luciferi, non valentes aut non audentes propter semen hominis peccati injectum in cordibus, aut timorem servilem de amissione temporalium, stare pro evangelica paupertate. Hec sunt Conclusiones quas vult etiam usque ad mortem defendere, ut per hoc valeat mores ecclesie reformare. VOL. I. 2 F 434 APPENDIX. No. XVII. Conclusioncs Magistri Joannis Wyclyff contentce in Schednla inclusa Literis Papalibus dat. Jiinii 11, 1377. 1. ToTUM genus ^ homimim concurrentium citra Christum non habet potestatem ^simpliciter ordinandi, ut Petrus, et omne genus suum dominetur politice imperpetuura super munduni. 2. Deus non potest dare homini pro se et heredibus suis imperpetuum civile dominium. 3. Cartse humanitus adinventae de 'haereditate civili dim perpetua sunt irapossibiles. 4. Quilibet existens in gratia ■* gratificante finaliter nedum hab-et jus, sed in re habit omnia Dei. 5. Homo potest solum ministratorie dare tarn naturali * filio quam imitationis in schola Christi, tam temporale dominium quam leternum. Peest 6. Si Deus est, Domini temporales possunt legitime ac apndWal. nieritorie auferre bonafortunae ab Ecclesia delinquente. Singh. * 7 'Nunquid Ecclesia est in tali statu vel non, est meum discutere, sed dominorum temporalium examinare, et posito casu confidenter agere, et in poena damnationis aeternje ejvs temporalia auferre. 8. Scimus quod non est possibile quod Vicarius Christi pure ex BuUis suis, vel ex illis cum ' voluntate et consenus suo * et sui CoUegii quenquam habilitet vel inhabilitet. 9. Non est possibile hominem excommunicari nisi ® prius et principaliter excommunicaretur a seipso. ' humanum. ^ simplicem. ^ haereditate perpetua. "• gratum faciente jus ad rem, sed pro suo tempore jus in re super. * filio imitationis temporale dominium et aeternum implicitum. ^ Hie totiis Articulus deest. ' volitione. •* aut. " piifuo APPENDIX. 435 10. '" Nemo ad sui deteriorationem excommunicatur sus- penditur, vel aliis censuris cruciatur, nisi in causa Dei. 11. Maledictio vel excommunicatio, non ligat simpliciter, nisi quantum fertur in adversarium legis Christi. 12. Non est " exemplificata potestas a Christo '^ vel suis Discipulis excommunicandi subditos, preecipue propter ne- gationem teraporalium, sed e contra. 13. Discipuli Christi nou habent potestatem u coacte exigere temporalia per censuras. 14. Non est possibile de potentia Dei absoluta, quod si Papa vel '^ alius preetendat se quovismodo solvere vel ligare, eo ipso solvit vel ligat. 15. Credere debemus quod solum tunc solvit vel ligat, '*quando se conformat legi Christi. 16. Hoc debit catholice credi, ** quilibet sacerdos rite ordinatus habet potestatem sufficienter Sacramenta quaclibet conferendi, et per consequens quemlibet contritum a peccato quolibet absolvendi. 17. " Licet Regibus auferre temporalia a viris Ecclesiasticis ipsis abutentibus habitualiter. 18. '* Sive Domini temporales, sive sancti Papae, sive sancti, sive caput Ecclesiee, qui est Christus, dotaverint Ecclesiam bonis fortunee vel gratias, et excommunicaverint ejus temporalia auferentes, licet tamen propter conditionem implicitam delicto proportionabili eam temporalibus spoliare. '" Nemo debet nisi in causa Dei excommimicare, suspendere, in- terdicere, vel secundum quamcunque censuram ecclesiasticam vlndicando procedere. " exemplata. '^ deest. " ad, coactione civil), exigendum. ''' alius Christianus. '^ simpliciter vicarius Christi confonniter — • 16 quod quilibet sacerdos rite ordinatus secundum legem gratiae habet potestatem secundum quam potest sacramenta ministrare, et per con- sequens sibi confessum de quocunque peccato contritum absolvere. " Licet Kegibus in casibus limitatis a Jure '8 Sive Domini temporales, sive quicunque alii dotaverint Ecclesiam temporalibus, licet eis in casu auferre temporalia medinaliter ad cavenda peccata, non obstante excommunicatione, vel alia censura ecclesiastica ', cum non nisi sub conditione iniplicita sunt donata. 436 APPENDIX. 19. '5 Ecclesiasticus ymo et Romanus Pontifex potest legi- time a subditis et laicis conipi, et etiam acciisari. Istze fuerunt propositiones vel potius deliramenta seepe- dicti Johannis, quae ad aures domini apostolici pervenere. Walsingham. •' Ecclesiasticus etiam Romanns Pontifex potest legitime a subditis corripi ad utilitatem Ecclesiae, et tam a clericis quam a laycis accusaii. '.ND OF VOL. I. \r y u f \ .1 -i( •g^f