I will not forget it with God's grace. Who preserve you ment a pope's su inter Foxii Cranmer being now placed at the head of the church of Disputes in England, next under God and the king, and the chief the parliacare of it devolved upon him, his great study was con-gainst the scientiously to discharge this high vocation. And one premacy. of the first things wherein he shewed his good service to the church was done in the parliament in the latter end of this year, 1533. When the supremacy came Life of under debate, and the usurped power of the bishop of Cranmer, Rome was propounded, then the old collections of the MSS. new archbishop did him good service; for the chief, and in a manner the whole burden of this weighty cause was laid upon his shoulders. Insomuch that he was forced to answer to all that ever the whole rabble of the papists could say for the defence of the pope's supremacy: and he answered so plainly, directly, and truly to all their arguments, and proved so evidently and stoutly, both by the word of God, and consent of the primitive church, that this usurped power of the pope is a mere tyranny, and directly against the law of God; and that the power of emperors and kings is the highest power here upon earth; unto which, bishops, priests, popes, and cardinals ought to submit themselves, and are as much bound to obey as their temporal subjects, or laymen, (as the priests call them ;) that the issue was the abolishing of that foreign papal power, and the expulsion of it out of this realm, by the full consent of parliament¶. P [See Burnet's Hist. of Reformat. vol. I. pp. 276 et sqq. ed. Oxon. 1829.] 9 [Harl. MSS. 417. Plut. Ixiv. F. fol. 90. b. The archbishop's col- Licenses for A license, dated Feb. 13, this year, was granted by the chapels. archbishop to Mary, the relict of sir Henry Guilford, kt. to have the eucharist, matrimony, and baptism ministered Cran. Reg. in any chapel or oratory within her manors where she should reside, during her life. And such a license, dated also Feb. 13, the next year was granted by him to Margaret, marchioness of Dorset. Whether indulged to them by the archbishop, the rather to free them from danger for not frequenting their parish churches, and for the avoiding the superstitious and idolatrous worship there performed; and that there might be some private places for purer worshipping God, and administration of the sacraments; or only for the convenience of those ladies; the reader hath liberty to judge. CHAPTER VI. THE ARCHBISHOP PRESSETH THE TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. 24 of the THIS rub of the papal power being now taken out of the The archbishop way, and the king's supremacy settled in the next sessions labours the of parliament, in November 1534, a way was opened for a reformation reformation of errors and abuses in religion. So that, as Church. the archbishop judged it a thing impossible to make any amendment of religion under the pope's dominion; so he thought it now, (the same being dispatched out of the realm), a meet time to restore the true doctrine of Christ, according to the word of God, and the old primitive church, within his jurisdiction and cure; and, with the said pope, to abolish also all false doctrine, errors, and heresies, by him brought into the church; for the accomplishing of which he let pass no opportunities. did this convoca A convocation now afforded him one. Our archbishop, What he from his first entrance upon his dignity, had it much in his mind to get the holy Scriptures put into the vulgar tion. language, and a liberty for all to read them. The convocation now was so well disposed, by the influence of the archbishop and his friends, that they did petition the king, that the Bible might be translated by some learned men of his highness' nomination. And as this good motion was briefly made in the house by the archbishop, so they agreed upon him to carry their petition. they clogged it with another, which the archbishop did not so well approve of: for about the month of December they passed this order of convocation: "The bishops, CRANMER, VOL. I. E But abbots, priors of this upper house of convocation, of the province of Canterbury, met together in the chapter-house of St. Paul, unanimously did consent, that the most reverend father the archbishop should make instance in their names to the king, that his majesty would vouchsafe, for the increase of the faith of his subjects, to decree and command, that all his subjects, in whose possession any books of suspect doctrine were, especially in the vulgar language, imprinted beyond or on this side the sea, should be warned, within three months, to bring them in before persons to be appointed by the king, under a certain pain to be limited by the king." "And that, moreover, his majesty would vouchsafe to decree, that the Scriptures should be translated into the vulgar tongue, by some honest and learned men, to be nominated by the king, and to be delivered unto the people according to their learning." This was resolved in the convocation, December 19. Accordingly the king issued out, soon after, his proclamation. What this proclamation was I do not know, unless it were one I meet with about this time, against bringing in or printing seditious books of Anabaptists and Sacramentaries, who were said to be lately come into the realm; and against some of his own subjects, who publicly disputed in taverns and other open places, upon those points of religion, which the king was offended 25 withal. For the correction and regulating of which, the king in the said proclamation commanded sundry articles to be observed; which, for the length of them, I have put No. VIII. into the Appendix. Unless perhaps this proclamation may belong to the year 1538. A book for About the month of June this year, was a book drawn preaching up for bishops and priests, wherein was an order for preaching; and in the same were forms devised for the and the beads. beads, as well for preachers as curates: in which forms the king's title of supreme head was specified. In this book was commandment given by the king, that every preacher should, before Easter, once in solemn audience, declare the usurped jurisdiction, within this realm, of the bishop of Rome, and the king's just cause to decline from the same and also to open and declare such things as might avow and justify the king's refusal of marriage with the princess dowager, and his contract anew with queen Ann. And also in the same book an order was given for the suppression of the general sentence of curse. This Dispersed by the book the archbishop, who we may well suppose had a archbishop great hand in it, sent, by the king's commandment, to all to all the bishops. the bishops, and to the archbishop of Yorks, though out of his province: that archbishop lying under some jealousy, as it seems, with the king. York. Therefore, after the receipt of the book, the said arch- The archbishop of bishop of York the next Sunday, which was the second York Sunday after Trinity, went from Cawood to York, and preaches at there, in his own person, declared, as well the king's cause touching the matrimony, as his refusal of the pope's jurisdiction, so fully, that nothing that needed to be opened was left unspoken, as that archbishop wrote himself to the king in his own vindication. And, that the auditory might be the greater, he sent to York forthwith, upon the receipt of the book, to publish there, that he would be there the next Sunday following, and caused the churches to make an end of their service in such time, |