Friars; Monasticism and religious orders -- England
¶ whate remedy: make lawes ageynst theim. I am yn doubt whether ye be
able: Are they not stronger in your owne parliament house then your silfe?
whate a nombre of Bisshopes, abbotes, and priours are lordes of your
parliament? are not all the lerned men in your realme in fee with theim to
speake yn your parliament house for theim ageinst your crowne, dignitie,
and comon welth of your realme a fewe of youre owne lerned counsell onely
excepted? whate lawe can be made ageinst theim that may be aduaylable? who
is he (though he be greued never so sore) for the murdre of his auncestre
rauisshement of his wyfe, of his doughter, robbery, trespas, maiheme,
dette, or eny other offence dare ley it theyre charge by any wey of
accion, and if he do then is he by and by by theyre wilynesse accused of
heresie. ye[a] they will so handle him or he passe that except he will
bere a fagot for theyre pleasure he shal be excommunicate and then be all
his accions dasshed. So captyue are your lawes vnto theym that no man that
they lyst to excommunicat may be admitted to sue any accion in any of your
courtes. If eny man yn your sessions dare be so hardy to endyte a prest of
eny suche cryme he hath or the yere [_ere he_] go out suche a yoke of
heresye leyd in his necke that it maketh him wisshe that he had not done
it. Your grace may se whate a worke there is in London, howe the bisshoppe
rageth for endyting of certayn curates of extorcion and incontinency the
last yere in the warmoll quest. Had not Richard hunne commenced accyon of
premunire ageinst a prest he had bin yet a lyue and none heretik at all
but an honest man.
¶ Dyd not dyuers of your noble progenitours seynge theyre crowne and
dignite runne ynto ruyne and to be thus craftely translated ynto the
hondes of this myscheuous generacyon make dyuers statutes for the
reformacyon therof, emong whiche the statute of mortmayne was one? to the
intent that after that tyme they shulde haue no more gyuen vnto theim. But
whate avayled it? haue they not gotten ynto theyre hondes more londes sins
then eny duke in ynglond hath, the statute notwithstonding? Ye[a] haue
they not for all that translated ynto theyre hondes from your grace half
your kyngdome thoroughly? The hole name as reason is for the auncientie of
your kingdome whiche was bifore theyrs and out of the whiche theyrs is
growen onely abiding with your grace? and of one kyngdome made tweyne: the
spirituall kyngdome (as they call it) for they wyll be named first, And
your temporall kingdome, And whiche of these, ij. kingdomes suppose ye is
like to ouergrowe the other, ye[a] to put the other clere out of memory?
Truely the kingdome of the bloudsuppers for to theym is giuen daily out of
your kingdome. And that that is ones gyuen theim comith neuer from theim
agein. Suche lawes haue they that none of theim may nether gyue nor sell
nothing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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