ing the infirmitie of man, limiteth the time withall, adding, in diem tertium, and goeth no further. He saith not, as Anselme said in þ^e Coūcel of Winchester: Iurabunt Præsbyteri, Diaconi, & Subdiaconi, vxores suas omninò abiurare, nec vllam deinceps cum eis conuersationē habere, sub districtione censuræ. &c.

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The like order also was taken by the Lord, with þ^e priestes of þ^e old Testamēt, who although they were inioyned to withdrawe thē selues frō their wiues during þ^e time of their priestly seruice: yet for auoiding fornicatiō, they were permitted to haue their wiues notwithstandyng. So that both their absenting from theyr wiues, serued to sanctification, & their resorting againe vnto them, serued to auoide adultery and fornication.

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MarginaliaObiectiō of the papistes why priestes should liue without wiues.But here our priestlye prelates will obiecte, that because they be continually cōuersant about the priestlye function, therefore a perpetuall sanctification is of them specially required. Wherunto I aunswere:

MarginaliaAunswere to the obiection.1. Fyrst, the priestly function of those high priestes sacrificing for the people in the olde lawe, representeth onely the function of Christ the high priest sacrificing for the sinnes of the worlde: which truely and onely performed that pure chastitie in hys sanctified bodye, which the lawe then in those priestes prefigured.

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2. Secondarily, speaking nowe of the priestes of the new Testamēt, (and speaking properly) MarginaliaNo sacrificer for sinne, but onely Christ.the Scripture knoweth nor admitteth no priest to sacrifice to God for the sinnes of man, but onely the high king & priest Christ Iesus.

3. Thirdlye, vnto that priest all other bee but seruauntes and Ministers: of whom, some bee Apostles, some Prophetes, some Euangelistes, some preachers hauing the gifte of vtteraunce, some interpreters and Doctours hauing the gifte of vnderstanding, some Deacons seruing the Lordes boorde. The office of all whom chieflye consisteth in ministring the worde, next in administring the Sacramentes.

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4. Fourthly, forsomuch as in these principally aboue all other, purenes & sanctification of life is required, as much, and more too, then was in the priestes of the olde lawe, from whom all fornication, adulterye, incest, and vncleannes of lyfe ought most to bee banished: MarginaliaMariage more conuenient for priestes of the new law, then of the olde.therefore in these especially aboue the priestes of þ^e olde law, matrimonie and spousage is most requisite and conuenient, who soeuer he be, which otherwise can not conteine, according to the Apostle, saying  

: Vnusquisq̀ suam vxorem habeat propter fornicationem.Marginalia1. Cor. 7.

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MarginaliaMatrimonie is no hinderaunce, but a furtherance to sanctification.5. Fiftly, neither is this matrimonie in these, any hinderaunce to their sanctification before God, but rather furthereth and helpeth their sanctification, forasmuch as where matrimonie is not, there commonly reigneth adulterye, fornication, and all kindes of filthines, accordyng to the true saying of Bernarde: Tolle de Ecclesia honorabile connubium & thorum immaculatuni, nonne reples eam concubinarijs, incœstuosis, seminifluis, mollibus, masculorum concubitonibus & omni deniq̀ genere immundorum? MarginaliaBernard. super Cant. Serm. 66.That is, Take from the Church honourable mariage, and the bedde vndefiled, shalt thou not replenishe it with Concubinaries, with incestuous persons. Sodomiticall vices, and finallye, with all kinde of beastlye filthines? The truth of which saying, lacketh no kinde of examples for confirmation, if we listed here to ransacke the lyues of these glorious despisers of matrimonie, euen from Lanfrancke the fyrst ryngleader of thys daunce here in England, with Marginalia* Math. Paris. Paulus Monachþ⁹ Cadomēsis Archiepisc. Lancfranci nepos, imo aliquorum relationibus, consanguinitate propinquior.* Paulus Monke of Cadone hys nephewe, whom Matthew Paris misdoubteth to be hys own sonne, vnto Steuen Gardiner with hys goldilockes, the author and workemaister of these vj. Articles  

. But to þ^e reasons of Anselme hetherto sufficient: which of them selues be so friuolous and grosse, that onely to recite thē, is enough to confute the same.

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Permitting therefore the reste to the discussion of diuines, it shall suffise for our purpose, professing here to write Storyes, to declare and make manifest by pro-MarginaliaNo publicke lawe in Englād agaynst priests mariage before Lācfrācke & Anselme.
An. 1104cesse of tymes and historyes, that thys cruell lawe compelling ministers of the Church to abiure matrimonie, entred not into thys land before Lancfrancke, and Anselme hys successour, as both may appeare by the multitude of priestes sonnes lawfully begotten in Matrimonie, and succeding in the Churches here of England, testified by the Epistle of Pope Paschalis to Anselme before, pag. 251. and also may appeare likewyse by the Councel of Anselme holdē at Winchester, which partly was touched before,  

MarginaliaRead afore pag. 251. col. 2.& now þ^e full acte we haue more largely expressed to be read and seene of all posteritie, as vnder followeth.

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MarginaliaActes concluded at the Councel in Winchester.HÆc sunt Statuta de Archidiaconibus, Præsbyteris, & Canonicis in quocunq; gradu constitutis, quæ VVintonia statuerunt Anselmus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis & cum eo Girardus Archiepiscopus Eboracensis, & omnes alij Angliæ Episcopi, in præsentia gloriosi Regis Henrici, assensu omnium Baronum suorum. Statutum est vt Præsbyteri, et Diaconi castè viuant et fœminas in domibus suis nō habeant prater proxima consanguinitate sibi iunctas, secundū hoc quòd sancta Nicenæ Synodus definiuit. Illi vero Præsbyteri, Diaconi siue Subdiaconi qui post interdictū Londonēsis Concilij, fœminas suas tenuerint vel alias duxerint, si elegerint in sacris ordinibus temanere, iurent quòd cum eis carnale commertiū non habebūt amplius. Statutū est etiam vt prædictæ fœminæ in domo cum eis scienter non conueniant, neq; huiusmodi fœminæ in territorio Ecclesie habitēt. Si autem propter aliquam honestam causam eos colloqui oporteat, cum duobus ad minus legitimis testibus extra domum colloquantur. Si vero in duobus aut tribus legitimis testibus vel publicæ parochinorum fama, aliquis eorum accusatus fuerit, quod hoc statutū transierit, purgabit se adiunctis secum ordinis sui idoneis testibus, sex si Præsbyter, quinq̀ si Diaconus, quatuor si Subdiaconus fuerit. Cui autem hæc purgatio defecerit, vt transgressor sacri statuti iudicabitur. Illi vero Præsbyteri qui diuini altaris & sacrorum ordinum cōtemptores prælegerint cum vxoribus suis habitare, a diuino officio remoti, extra Marginalia* Forte extra hortum paradisi intelligit.* hortum ponantur, infames pronunciati. Eadem sententia Archidiaconos et Canonicos omnes complectitur & de abiurandis vxoribus, et de vitanda earum conuersatione, & de districtione censuræ si statuta transgreßi fuerint. Iurabunt & Archdiaconi omnes quòd pecuniam non accipient pro toleranda transgressione huius statuti. Sed neq; vllo modo tolerabūt Præsbyteros vxoratos cantare, vel Vicarios habere, & quòd ipsi non dißimulabunt per Archidiaconos suos hoc inquirere, & fideliter Episcopis suis renunciabunt, & attentè & fideliter de exequendæ huius rei vindicta Episcopos suos adiuuabunt. Qui vero Archidiaconus vel Diaconus hoc iurare noluerit, Archidiaconatum vel Diaconiam irreperabiliter perdet. Præsbyteri verò qui relictis vxoribus deo & sacris ordinibus seruire elegerunt, xl. dies ab officio cessantes, pro se Vicarios habebunt, iniuncta eis p&œnitentia secundum quod Episcopis eorum visum fuerit.

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MarginaliaThe cruell lawe of Anselme tooke no great place.And yet thys vnreasonable statute of Anselme, so diligentlye defensed with sharpe censures and penalties, had no great speede, neyther in the lyfe tyme of the sayd Anselme, nor long after hys death, but that diuers priestes notwithstanding kept still their wiues, or that after hys death, they returned to their wiues againe, through the sufferaunce of the famous and learned kyng named then Henry Bewclarke  

, MarginaliaEx epist. Ansel. 77.who somethyng stayed the oportunitie of this Monkishe prelate, and willed that priestes should keepe both their wiues and their Churches, as they did before in Lanfrāckes dayes.  

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MarginaliaRadulphus Archiepisc. Cant.Then after Anselme, followed Radulphus Archbyshop of Canterbury, in whose tyme was no great sturre agaynst the priestes that were maryed. About the tyme of thys Archbyshop, K. Henry called a Coūcell at London, where he obtayned of the spiritualtie a graunt to haue the punishment of maryed priestes (which the spiritualtie afterward dyd muche repent) wherby the priestes paying a certayne to the kyng, were suffered to retayne their wiues still,MarginaliaRead afore pag. 256. col. 1. as is aboue storyed, pag. 256  

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MarginaliaRichardus de Turbine Archie. Cant.Nexte after this Radulphe, then succeeded William Turbile surnamed de Turbine, who renued agayne the constitution of Anselme agaynst maryed priestes, especially by the helpe of Ioannes Priest and Cardi-