Ludouicus his sonne, an. 810. of the which two, Carolus the father receaued expresly of Pope Adrian the first, full iurisdiction and power to elect & ordeine the Bishop of Rome,MarginaliaLibertie graunted to the Clergy, and to the people to chuse their Bishop.like as pope Leo the ix. did also to Ottho the first Germain Emperour, an. 961. The other, that is, Ludouicus, sonne to the foresayd Charles,MarginaliaCarolus Magnus. Ludouicus Pius. is sayd to renoūce agayne, and surrender from him selfe and his successours, vnto pope Paschalis and the Romaines, the right and interest of chusing the Romane Bishop, and moreouer to giue and graunt to the sayd Paschalis the full possession of the Citie of Rome, & the whole territorie to the same belongyng. An. 821. as appeareth by the decree, Ego Ludouicus Dist. 63.MarginaliaThe decree, Ego Ludocus, dist. 63. suspected.But admit that fayned decree to be vnfaynedly true (as it may wel be suspected for many causes, as proceedyng out of the same foūtaine, with the cōstitution of Constantine afore mentioned, that is, from the maister of the Popes Library, of whō both Gratianus & Volateran,MarginaliaGratianus & Volateranus, what ground they haue of their recordes.by their owne confession take their grounde) yet the same decree doth not so geue away the freedome of that election, that he limiteth it onely to the Cardinals, but also requireth the whole cōsent of the Romaines, neither doth he simplely & absolutely geue the same, but with cōditionnū, so that, Omnes Romani vno consilio, & vna concordia sine aliqua promissione ad pontificatus ordinem eligerent  

:MarginaliaDist. 63. ca. Ego Ludouicus.that is, whō as all the Romaines with one counsaile, & with one accord, without any promise of their voyces graūted before, shall chuse to be Byshop of Rome.MarginaliaElection of the Bishop of Rome standeth vpon the cōsent of the Clergy, and the people of Rome.And moreouer in the same Decree is required, that at the consecration of the same Bishop, messengers should be directed incōtinent to the Frēch kyng concernyng the same.

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Furthermore, neither yet did the same decree (albeit it were true) long continue. For although Pope Stephen the fourth, and pope Paschalis the first, in Ludouicus time were impapaced thorough discord without election of the Emperour, yet they were fayne by message to send their purgation to him of their election. And after that, in the tyme of Eugenius the ij. which succeeded next to Paschalis, Lotharius sonne of Ludouicus, and Emperour with his father, came to Rome, and there appointed lawes & magistrates ouer the Citie. Whereby may appeare the donation of Ludouike, in geuyng away the Citie of Rome to the Pope, to be fayned.MarginaliaThe decree Ego Ludouicus, proued fals.And after Eugenius, pope Gregory the iiij. who followyng within a yeare after Eugenius, durst not take his election without the consent and confirmation of the sayd Emperour Ludouicus. And so in like maner his successours pope Sergius the ij. Pope Leo, the iiij. pope Nicolas the first, and so orderly in a long tract of tyme, from the foresayd Nicolas the first, to Pope Nicolas the ij. an. 1061. (which Nicolas in his Decree beginnyng, In nomine Domini Dist. 23.MarginaliaDist. 23. ca. In Nomine Domini.ordained also the same) so that in the election of the Bishops of Rome, commonly the consent of the Emperour and the people with the Clergy of Rome, was not lackyng. After which Nicolas came Alexander the 2. and wicked Hildebrād, which Alexander being first elected without the Emperors will and consent, afterward repenting the same, openly in his preaching to the people declared that he would no longer sit in the Apostolique sea, vnlesse he were by the emperor confirmed. Wherfore he was greatly rebuked, and cast into prison by Hildebrand, and so deposed. Then Hildebrand and his folowers so ordred the matter of this election, that first the Emperor, then the lay people, after that the Clergie also began to be excluded. And so the election by litle & little was reduced into the handes of a few Cardinals, cōtrary to all anciēt order, where euer since it hath remained.

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And like as in elections, so also in power iudiciarie,MarginaliaThe iudiciarie power of the Pope examined.in deciding and determinyng of causes of fayth, and of Ecclesiasticall discipline, the state of the Church of Rome, now beyng, hath no cōformitie with the old Romane Churche heretofore. For then Byshops debated all causes of fayth onely by the Scriptures, and other questions of Ecclesiasticall discipline they determined by the Canōs, not of the Pope, but of the Church, such as were decreed by the auncient Councels, as writeth Greg. Turonensis in Francorum historia.MarginaliaGeorg. Turonens. in Francorum hist. lib. 10. ca. 18Where as now both the rule of scripture, & sanctions of the old Councels set aside, all thynges for the most part are decided by certaine new decretall or rather exra-decretall & extrauagant constitutions, in the Popes Canon law compiled, and in his Consistories practised.

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And where as the old ordinaunce and disposition, as well of the common law, as of the sacred Coūcels, and institution of the auncient fathers haye geuen to Byshops & other prelates, also to patrons and donors of Ecclesiastical beneficesMarginaliaThe Popes iurisdiction vsurped in geuing and disposing ecclesiastical promotions.euery one within his owne precinct and dominion, also to cathedrall Churches and other: to haue their free elections & to prosecute the same in full effect: ordryng and disposing promotions, collatiōs, prouisions & dispositions of prelacies, dignities, and all other Ecclesiasticall benefices whatsoeuer, after their owne arbitremēt, as ap-peareth by the first generall Councell of Fraunce. 16. q. 7. cap. Omnes Basilicæ,Marginalia16. q. 7. cap. omnes Basilicæ. by the first generall Councell of Nice, cap 6.MarginaliaThe Councell of Nice cap 6.Also by the generall Councell of Antioche. cap. 9. and is to be seene in the Popes Decrees. 9. q. 3. Per singulas.MarginaliaThe generall Councell of Antioch. cap. 9. 9. q. 3. cap. per singulas, Pragmatica sanctio sancti Ludouici.And also beside these auncient decrees, the same is confirmed agayne in more latter yeares by Ludouicus the ninth French kyng in his constitution called Pragmatica sanctio, made and prouided by full Parliament agaynst the popes exactions. An. 1228. in these wordes as folow. Item exactiones & onera grauissima pecuniarum, per curiam Romanam Ecclesiæ regni nostri impositas vel imposita (quibus regnum miserabiliter de pauperatum existit) siue etiam imponendas vel imponenda leuari aut colligi nullatenus volumus: nisi duntaxat pro rationabili, pia & vrgentissima causa, vel ineuitabili necessitate, ac etiam de expresso, & spontaneo iussu nostro, & ipsius Ecclesiæ regni nostri. &c.  

that is. Item all exactions & importable burdens of money, which the Court of Rome hath layd vpon the Church of our kingdome (whereby the said our kingdome hath bene miserably hetherto impouerished) or hereafter shall impose or lay vpon vs, we vtterly discharge and forbyd to be leuied or collected hereafter for any maner of cause, vnlesse there come some reasonable, godly, & most vrgent, & ineuitable necessitie, & that also not to be done without the expresse & voluntary commaundement of vs, & of the Church of the same our foresayd kingdome. &c. Now contrary and agaynst to these so manifest & expresse decrementes of generall Councels, & constitutions Synodall, this latter Church of Rome of late presūption, degeneratyng frō all the steppes of their elders, haue taken vpon them a singular iurisdiction by them selues, & for their owne aduauntage, to entermedle in disposing & trāsposing Churches, Colledges, Monasteries, with the collations, exemptions, elections, goodes & landes to the same belongyng, by reason and exāple wherof haue come in these impropriations, first fruites, & reseruations of beneficesMarginaliaImpropriations and first fruites of benefices. to the miserable dispoyling of Parishes, & horrible decay of Christen fayth, which thynges amōg the old Romaine elders were neuer knowē. For so much then did it lacke, that due necessities were pluckt frō the Church, that Emperours, Kyngs, & Princes plucking frō their owne, rather did cumulate the Church with superfluities.

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Agayne, when such goodes were geuen to the Church by those auncetors, they were neither so geuen, nor yet taken, to serue the priuate vse of certaine churchmen takyng no paynes therein, but rather to serue the publique subuētiō of the needy, as is cōteined in the canonicall institutiōs by the Emperour Ludouicus Pius set forth. An. 380.MarginaliaInstitutiones canonica sub Ludouico Pio.The wordes be these: Res Ecclesiæ vota sunt fidelium, pretia peccatorum, & patrimonia pauperum  

, that is: The goods of the church be the vowes and bequestes of the faythfull, prices to raunsome such as be in captiuitie or prison, and patrimonies to succour them with hospitalitie, that be needy.

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Wherunto agreeth also the testimony of Prosper,MarginaliaThe worde of Prosper.whose wordes be these: Viros sanctos ecclesiæ non vendicasse vt proprias, sed vt commendatas pauperibus diuisisse  

: that is, good men tooke þ^e goodes of the church not as their own but distributed thē as geuē & bequeathed to the poore. And sayth moreouer: Quod habet Ecclesia, cum omnibus nihil habentibus habet commune   , that is: Whatsoeuer the church hath, it hath it common, with all such as haue nothyng. &c.

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Adde to these the worthy testimony of S. August. ad Bonif.MarginaliaAug. ad Bonifac.Si autem priuatim, quæ nobis sufficiant possidemus, nō sunt illa nostra, sed pauperum quorum procurationem quodammodo gerimus, non proprietatem nobis vsurpatione damnabili vendicamus, &c.  

Likewise vowsons and pluralities of beneficesMarginaliaVowsons and pluralities of benefices.were thyngs then as much vnknowen, as now they are pernitious to the church, taking away all free election of ministers from the flocke of Christ.

All which inconueniences as they first came and crept in chiefly by the pretensed authoritie & iurisdiction abused in this latter church of Rome, so it can not be denyed, but the sayd latter church of Rome hath taken and attributed to it selfe much more, thē either the limites of Gods word do geue, or standeth with the example of the old Romane church, in these three thynges especiall.MarginaliaThree points wherein the Popes Church erreth in his iurisdiction.Wherof as mentiō is touched before, so briefly I will recapitulate the same.

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The first is in this,Marginalia1. Ecclesiasticall iurisdiction falsly restrained & impropriate to the Church of Rome, which ought to be generally equall to all Churches Christian.that whatsoeuer the Scripture geueth and referreth, either to the whole church vniuersally, or to euery particular church seuerally, this church now of Rome doth arrogate to it selfe absolutely and onely, both doyng iniury to other churches, & also abusing the Scriptures of God. For albeit the Scripture doth geue authoritie to binde and loose, it limitteth it neither to person nor place, that is, neither to the Citie of Rome onely, more thē to other Cities, nor to þ^e sea of Peter, more thē to other Apostles, but geueth it clearely to þ^e Church, wherof Peter

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