MarginaliaAn. 1556. March.do. And although this Realme of late tyme, through such Schismatickes as you were, haue exiled and banished the Canons, yet that can not make for you. For you knowe your selfe that MarginaliaA rule of law.Par in parem, nec pars in totum aliquid statuere potest.  

Wherefore this Ile beyng in deede but a member of the whole, could not determine agaynst the whole. That notwithstanding the same lawes beyng put away by a Parlament, are now receaued agayne by a Parlament, and haue as full authoritie now as they had then, and they will now that ye aunswere the Popes holynes: therfore by the lawes of this Realme ye are bounde to aunswere hym. Wherefore my good Lord, all that this Thomas Cranmer (I can no otherwise terme hym consideryng his disobedience) hath brought for his defence, shall nothyng preuaile with you nor take any effect. Require him therfore to aunswere directly to your good Lordshyp: commaunde him to set aside his trifles, and to be obedient to the lawes and ordinaūces of this Realme. MarginaliaD. Story chargeth the Archb. with stubburnes.Take witnes here of his stubburne contempt agaynst the Kynges and Queenes Maiesties and compell him to aunswere directly to such Articles, as we shal here lay against him, and in refusall, that your good Lordshyp will excommunicate him.

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As soone as Doct. Story had thus ended hys tale, begynneth Doct. Martyn agayn to enter speach with the Archbyshop, which talke I thought here lykewyse not to let passe, although the report of the same be such, as the author thereof seemeth in hys wryting very partiall:  

MarginaliaPartialitie in the reporter.for as he expresseth the speach of Doct. Martyn at full, and to the vttermost of hys diligence, leauing out nothing in that part, their either was or could be sayd more: so agayne on the other part how raw and weake he leaueth the matter, it is easie to perceiue, who neyther comprehendeth all that Doct. Cranmer agayn aunswered for his defence, nor yet in those short speaches which he expresseth, semeth to discharge the part of a sincere and faythfull reporter. Notwithstanding, such as it is, I thought good the reader to vnderstand, who in perusing the same may vse therin hys owne iudgement and consideration.

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MarginaliaTalke betwene Doctor Martyn and the Archb.MAster Cranmer, ye haue told here a long glorious talke, pretending some matter of conscience in apparaunce, but in verity you haue no conscience at all. You say that you haue sworne once to king Henry the eight against the Popes iurisdiction, and therfore ye may neuer forsweare the same, and so ye make a great matter of conscience in the breach of the sayd oth. Here will I aske you a questiō or two. What if you made an oth to an harlot to liue with her in continuall adultery? ought you to keepe it?

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Cran. I thinke no.

Mart. What if you did sweare neuer to lend a poore man one penny, ought you to kepe it?

Cran. I thinke not.

MarginaliaVnaduised othes are not to be kept.Mart. Herode did sweare what soeuer his harlot asked of him, he would geue her, and he gaue her Iohn Baptistes head: did he well in keeping his oth?

Cran. I thinke not.

Mart. IehptheMarginaliaIephthes oth. one of þ^e Iudges of Israel did sweare vnto God, that if he would geue him victory ouer hys enemies, he would offer vnto God the first soule that came forth of hys house: it happened that his owne daughter came first, and he slue her to saue his oth. Did he well?

Cran. I thinke not.

Mart. So sayth S. Ambrose de officijs. *Marginalia* That is, it is a miserable which is payed with parricide.Miserabilis necessitas quæ soluitur parricidio.  

Thē M. Cranmer, you can no lesse confesse by þ^e premisses but that you ought not to haue conscience of euery oth, but if it be iust, lawfull, and aduisely taken.

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Cran. So was that oth.

Mart. That is not so, for first it was vniust, for it tēded to the takyng away of an other mans right. It was not lawfull for the lawes of God and the Church were agaynst it. Besides, it was not voluntary, for euery mā and woman were compelled to take it.

Cran. It pleaseth you to say so.

Mart. Let all the world be iudge. But Syr, you that pretend to haue such a conscience to breake an oth, I pray you, did you neuer sweare and breake the same?

MarginaliaThe Archbishop being sworne to the kyng ought not to swere to the Pope.Cran. I remember not.

Martin. I will helpe your memory. Did you neuer sweare obedience to the Sea of Rome?

Cran. In dede I dyd once sweare vnto the same.

Martin. Yea that ye dyd twyse, as appeareth by recordes and wrytinges here ready to be shewed.

Cran. But I remember I saued all by protestationMarginaliaThe Archb. sworne first to the Pope by protestation. that I made by the counsaile of the best learned men I could get at that tyme.

Mart. Harken good people what this man sayth. He made a protestation one day, to kepe neuer a whit of that which he would sweare the next day: was this the part of a christian man? If a Christian man would bargayne wyth a Turke, and before he maketh hys bargayne solemnly, before witnes readeth in his paper that he holdeth secretely in hand, or peraduenture protesteth before one or two, that hee myndeth not to performe what soeuer he shall promise to the Turke: I say if a Christian mā would serue a Turke in this maner, that the christian man were worse then the turke. What would you then say to this man that made a solemne oth and promise vnto God and his church and made a protestation before quite contrary?

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Cran. That which I did, I dyd by the best learned mens aduyse I could get at that tyme.

Mart. I protest before all the learned men here, that there is no learning will saue your periury herein, for there be two rules of the Ciuill law cleane contrary agaynst you, and so brought forth his rules: which being done, he proceedeth further. But will you haue the truth of the matter? MarginaliaDoctor Martyn would proue the Archb. periured foreswering his oth made to the Pope.King Henry the eight euen then ment the lamentable chaunge which after you see came to passe: and to further his pitifull procedinges from the diuorcement of his most lawfull wyfe, to the detestable departing from the vnity of CHRISTES Church, thys man made the foresayd protestation, and on the other side, he letted not to make two solemne othes quite contrary, and why? for otherwyse by the Lawes and Cannons of this Realme hee could not aspyre to the Archbishopricke of Caunterbury.

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Cran. I protest before you all, there was neuer man came more vnwilling to a Bishopricke,MarginaliaDoctor Cranmer vnwilling to be made Archb. thē I did to that. In so much that when K. Henry did send for me in Post, that I should come ouer, I prolonged my iourney by seuen weekes at the least, thinkyng that he would be forgetfull of me in the meane tyme.

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Mart You declare wel by the way that the king toke you to be a man of a good conscience, who could not finde within all his Realme any man that would sette forth his straunge attemptes, but was inforced to send for you in Post to come out of Germany. What may we coniecture hereby, MarginaliaFalse slaunder Doctour Martyn.but that there was a compact betwen you beyng then Quene Annes Chaplen, and the king. Geue me the Archbishopricke of Caunterbury, and I will geue you licence to liue in adultery.

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Cran. You say not true.

Mart. Let your protestation, ioined wyth the rest of your talke, geue iudgement. Hinc prima mali labes.  

Of that your execrable periury, and his coloured and to shamefully suffered adultery, came herisy and all mischiefe to this Realme.

And this haue I spoken as touching yor consciēce you make for breaking your hereticall oth made to the kyng. But to breake your former othe made at two sundry tymes both to God and his church, you haue no