Gregory in resisting hym, had none other meaning but the same. And to proue thys to be the very meanyng of Gregory, he reciteth the wordes of Gregory written to the sayd Iohn Archbishop of Constantinople as foloweth: Qui enim indignum te esse fatebaris, vt episcopus dici de buisses, ad hoc quandoq; perductus es, vt despectis fratribus episcopus appetas solus vocari.  

That is to saye: MarginaliaA place of Gregory examined.For thou (Iohn bishop of Constantinople) whych sometyme didst graunt thy selfe vnwoorthely the name of a Byshop, art now come to thys, that thou doest seeke to bee called a bishop alone. &c. Vpon thys woorde Episcopus solus, thys Gloser would grounde a surmyse, that Gregorye dyd finde faulte wyth the Archbyshoppe, not because for any primacy sought for aboue other Bishops, but onely, for that he coueted to be byshop and Pastor alone in euery church, in such sort as there should be no other byshop nor Pastor els but him selfe onely. But as is sayd, that was neuer the Archbishops seking, nor the matter of Gregories repehension. For the sayde Archbishop of Constantinople, went not about to be bishop alone (whych was to much absurde, & also impossible) but to be vniuersall alone: nor to take awaye the office from other, but the honour from other: not to depose them, but to despyse them. And therfore saith Gregory, vt despectis fratribus, not depositis fratribus, so that this woord solus here noteth a despising of other, not a deposing of other, and importeth a singularity in condicion aboue other, and not the office or substaunce of ministration without other, that is, to be vniuersall among many, & not to be one alone wythout any, nor to diminish the number of them, but onelye to increase the honour to hym selfe. For the more euident probatiō wherof (although the thyng of it selfe is so euident, that it nedeth no proofe) what can bee more playne, then the wordes them selues of Pelagius & Gregory? wherwith they charge hym for running before hys brethren, for chalenging superiority aboue thē, for diminishing their honour, by taking more honour then to hym was due, for folowyng the Angel of pride in exaltyng hym selfe, in admitting that to hym, whych the byshops of Rome and theyr predecessours had refused, being offred to thē before. &c. Al whych declare that he sought not to thrust out al other byshops out of their churches, and to be byshop hym selfe alone. For that was neuer offered to the byshops of Rome by the coūcel of Chalcedon, that they should be byshops alone, and none other. Neyther dyd Lucifer seeke to haue no mo aungels in all heauen, but hymselfe, but he to be aboue all other alone.

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Lykewyse the woorde præcurrere, that is to runne before other in the Epistle of Pelagius, declareth that Iohn sought not to be byshop alone, but byshop vniuersall. MarginaliaPelagij. 2. epist. 1.We saye not that a man runneth before an other, when hee runneth alone, and no man followeth hym, that is not properly præcurrere, but solus currere. Moreouer in seeking to be superior to other bishops, he seketh not to take awai other bishops, but to take other bishops inferiour to him. For wher no inferior is, ther can be no superior, forasmuch these together are correlatiues, and inferre necessary respect mutuallye. And if it were true as thys Gloser sayth, that he had sought to be bishop alone, how woulde that councell eyther haue graunted that vnto hym, or haue offered it to the bishop of Rome before? or if they had, how could it be possible for him alone to serue al churches, wythout any felow byshop to helpe hym? And wher thys foresayd clarcke standeth so much vpon the wordes of S. Gregory: Solus episcopus, Gregory therfore shal expound Gregory, and one Solus shal declare an other. Wherfore if thys diuine (whatsoeuer he be Doctor or Bacheler) eyther knoweth not, or woulde learne, what (onelye Byshop) meaneth in thys place: an other place of the sayd Gregory maye instruct hym, wher Gregory writing to Eulogius, MarginaliaEx epist. Greg. 36. lib. 4.Patriarcheof Alexandria, geueth thys reason, why he refused the same title offred to hym (whych then was offered to the sayd Iohn Patriarche of Constantinople) saying: Quia videlicet si vnus patriarcha vniuersalis dicitur, patriarcharum nomen cæteris derogatur, sed absit hoc. &c.  

That is to say: For if one alone would be called Patriarch vniuersal, then should the name of Patriarches be derogated from al other. &c. Wherby two thinges are to be noted: First what thyng it was whych the Patriarche of Constantinople dyd seeke, for Gregory here findeth no other fault, but wyth the same whyche was geuen to Iohn, whych was to be called Patriarche vniuersall. The second thyng to be noted, is the cause why Gregory did rebuke thys title, both geuen to Iohn, and offred to hym, because (sayth he) if one take vpō hym the name of vniuersal Patriarch, then is the name Patriarch taken frō the rest. As who would say: if I should take vpō me to be named vniuersal Patriarch, thē should ther be no other Patriarch, but I should be bishop Patriarche alone. And here commeth in your Solus episcopus. &c.

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Furthermore, the same Gregorye speaking of the sayd Solus, in an other place by, semeth to declare there what he meaneth by thys Solus here, in these wordes as follow: vt nullio subesse, et solus omnibus præesse videretur.  

MarginaliaEx epist. Gre. 38. Lib. 4.That is to say: so that he wold be subiect to none, and would be chiefetayne to all other alone. &c. And so by thys place, may the other place be expounded, vt solus episcopus sit is, qui solus inter episcopos præesse appetat. &c. That is, that he seeketh to be as bishop alone, who alone seeketh to be extolled aboue other Byshops. But to bee shorte in a matter that needeth not manye wordes: he that thus cauelleth vpon thys place Solus Episcopus in Gregorye, must be desired here not to take Solus alone, but ioyne with all the woord going before, which is, despectis fratribus by the whiche might seeme sufficiently declared, what Gregory ment by Solus episcopus, meaning that to despise other byshops, and to diminish their honour, to set vp hys owne, and to be subiect to none, but to preferre hym selfe inequallye before all other, is as muche as to be counted Byshop alone. And thus much touchyng thys obiection.

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MarginaliaAn other obiectiō resoluedAn other obiection of our aduersaries is this: although (say they) no Bishop of Rome was euer called, or would be called by the name of vniuersall bishop: yet it followeth not therefore, that they bee not, or ought not to bee heades of the vniuersall church. Their reason is this:

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MarginaliaA double vntruth in one popish argumentAs Saint Peter had the charge of the whole church (by the testimonie of Gregory) committed vnto hym, although he were not called vniuersall Apostle:

MarginaliaPeter howe he had charge, and not charge of the church.So no more absurde it is, for the Pope to be called the head of the whole church, & to haue the charge therof, although he be not called vniuersall bishop, &c.

Wherin is a double vntruth to be noted. MarginaliaThe first vntruth in this argument.Fyrst in that they pretende Peter to be the head, & to haue the charge of þ^e whole church: if we take here (charge or head) for dominion or maistership vpō or aboue þ^e church, in al cases iudiciary, both spiritual & temporal: for the words of the scripture be plaine. Non dominātes in clerum. 1. pet. Vos autem non sic. Luk. 22. That is. Not as maisters ouer the clergie. &c. but you not so, &c. Agayne that the church is greater, or rather the head of Peter it is clere: I. Cor. 3 All thinges are yours, whether it be Paule, or Appollo, or Cephas: either the world, death or life, you be Christs, Christ is Gods, &c. MarginaliaThe dignity of the church aboue the Apostles.In which woordes the dignitie of the church no doubt is preferred aboue the Apostles, and aboue Cephas also. Moreouer as the dignitie of the wyfe is aboue the seruaunt, so muste needes the honour and worthynes of the church (being the spouse of Christ) surmount the state of Peter or other Apostles, which be but seruaunts to Christ and to the church, yea and though they were princes of the church, yet after the mynde of Baldus: MarginaliaVide Baldum confi. 169 lib. 3. Secundum. nonam impreßionem. Et secund. vete. consi. 359. li 1.Magis attēditur person intellectualis, quàm or-  

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