The Cardinal, who had suffered himself to appear in the House of Lords, had refrained from intruding into the constitutional assembly of the clergy of Canterbury. But the same scrupulous sense of propriety which withheld him from attempting to fill the vacant throne of Cranmer, impelled him to assert his own dignity in a still more exalted manner. If however herein he thought to exceed the limits of allowance and the permissive principle of the realm, he was soon brought down: the hand of Gardiner, for Gardiner was not then quite dead, may be discerned for the last time in the special faculty which Pole procured: and the royal letters patent, of November 2, which enabled him to celebrate, the clergy to frequent, a synod, to make, ordain, decree, enforce and obey canons and constitutions ecclesiastical, without let or hindrance from any of the laws, statutes, customs, or prerogatives of the realm, rendered his proceedings innocuous to the majesty of England. Pole, when he had received this permission, bade Bonner summon the bishops and clergy of both Provinces. Bonner issued. letters. The place was ordered to be the palace of Westminster, to distinguish the meeting from the ordinary convocations of St. Paul's.* Chronological View of Events connected with the Synod, 1555, 11 Oct. Convocation. Wilkins, iv. 120. Ten days before Parliament. Business. Wilkins and Heylin. 25 30 Convocation. Cran. App. No. 88. Wilkins 120 and 126. Strype's 2 Nov. Letters patent for holding a synod issued. Wilkins, iv. 130. 8 10 15 30 - Convocation met not, though prorogued to this day. Wilkins, 120. S. Andrew's Day. Anniversary of the Reconciliation kept. 2 Dec. Synod in the King's Chapel in Westminster. 4 Deputation from Synod to Philpot. Fox, or Philpot's examinations, p. 126. See below, p. 481, 483. The occurrence of St. Andrew's day and the anniversary of the Reconciliation upon the first Sunday in Advent seemed fortunate for the institution of the recordation of the great event, and of good omen for the pious labours that were to ensue. Pole caused it to be kept with due solemnity: and rejoiced greatly at the honour that was paid, not unjustly, to himself. "Into the temple of Peter at Westminster," related he, "was I conducted by the bishops and the whole body of the nobility who were present in Parliament: I was received as Legate at the entrance by the Archbishop of York and all the ministers of the church. There was a vast concourse of the clergy and the people: the sermon was 11 Dec. Consistory at Rome. Pole made Cardinal Presbyter, and Administrator of the diocese of Canterbury. Pole's Epist. v. 142. 13 Synod: "Institution of a Christian Man" revised. Wilkins, 16 20 23 - 132. Synod New Testament. Ib. Synod: New Testament: abuses. Ib. The Pope writes to the English bishops congratulating them on the Synod. Pole's Epist. v. 143. Schools to 8 Jan. Synod: New Testament, list of words exhibited. 20 21 10 Feb. Synod in Lambeth church. Pole's constitutions read: Mass in Lambeth chapel: Watson preaches a sermon. Ib. Pole writes to Philip about the prorogation. Venetian Calendar, p. 346. 17 19 Pole writes to Morone a full summary of what had been done. Ib. p. 347. Some time after this, Pole writes to the Pope, and sends his constitutions or decrees. Epist. v. 19. 10 Nov. Synod met not, though prorogued to this day, but was pro rogued to May. Wilkins, 150. 10 May, 1557. Synod met not, though prorogued to this day, but was prorogued to November. Ib. 10 Nov. Synod met not, though prorogued to this day, but was prorogued, and never met again. Wilkins, 150, 154. preached by a royal chaplain, who expounded the benefit that had been conferred on the kingdom by the King and Queen. Many think that this example of the nobility so willingly attending mass and prayers will do as much to draw the people to the obedience of the Church as any of the sermons of last year." * Two days after this, December 2, the legatine synod met, and occupied two months with several sittings, some seven or eight in all. The designs were extensive that were entertained: a new confession of faith, a new translation of the New Testament, a new book of homilies, the revival of ecclesiastical legislation, the recovery of the jurisdiction of ordinaries in the case of intestates, the reformation of abuses. Some progress was made in some of these. The Henrician formulary, the Institution of a Christian Man, which Bonner had already used as a model, was adopted for the text of a confession, and distributed for examination: and the first two parts of it, concerning the Apostles' Creed and the Seven Sacraments, were immediately taken in hand. As to the New Testament, a beginning was made: the parts were set for translation, and the shade of Gardiner hovered over the assembly when the Prolocutor exhibited a list of venerable words, or words of which the rendering into English required consideration. The composition of homilies was assigned to some chosen divines, among whom was Watson.† A greeting from Rome encouraged * Pole to King Philip. Epist. v. 55. Comp. Strype, v. 468. "In hac synodo die 13 Dec. prolocutor protulit librum intitulatum Institutio hominis Christiani, factum tempore Henrici VIII, committendum, et divisus est in partes: et tunc seligebantur quidam e domo inferiori ad conficiendas homilias: et articuli symboli Apostolorum committebantur quibusdam ex eadem domo. Die Lunæ 16 Dec. fuit divisio novi Testamenti ut verteretur in Anglicum: et de Septem sacramentis tractabatur. Die Veneris, 20 Dec. prolocutor ex parte reverendissimi mandavit omnibus presentibus, presertim decanis, ut confirmarent aliquas elocationes factas a clericis de beneficiis suis; deinde protulit scriptum continens quædam the Fathers to proceed: in a Consistory of his fellow Cardinals the English legate was made Administrator of the diocese of Canterbury,* and, though not yet ordained vocabula bene consideranda in translatione novi testamenti, de quorum interpretatione tractatum fecit 8 die Januarii: quo die prolocutor mandavit nomine reverendissimi, ut consultarent de modo stabiliendi scholas in ecclesiis cathedralibus: et 20 die ejusdem mensis dilecti sunt quidam ex ambabus provinciis, qui consultarent de quibusdam articulis de modo alendi scholasticos in ecclesiis cathedralibus," &c. Wilkins, iv. 132. With regard to words requiring care in translating, see the list that Gardiner produced on a former occasion, Vol. II. 286 of this work. As to the Homilies, Pole reported two years afterwards that they were partly published, and that a translation of a Spanish catechism written by Carranza, was to be added. "De communi episcoporum sententia decretum est, ut de omnibus ad fidem et religionem pertinentibus, in quibus populi precipue instruendi et ad pietatem informandi sunt, de iisque in primis quæ in controversiam hic sunt vocata, Homiliæ Anglica lingua scriberentur a quibusdum doctis et piis viris, ad hoc munus delectis, ex quibus duo, alter Watsonus, qui nunc est episcopus Lincolniensis, alter Brexallus, qui est a Sereniss. Reginæ secretis, egregiam atque sane utilem operam navarunt, jamque eorum scripta partim edita sunt, partim brevi edentur: ac te quoque Dei Providentia voluit, in hoc Anglicanam nostram Ecclesiam adjuvare tuo illo docto et pio Catechismo, quem, dum hic esses. Hispanice scripsisti, qui nunc in nostram linguam vertitur." To Carranza, Jan. 1555. Epist. v. 74. Of that Catechism we shall hear again. * "Romæ die xi mensis Dec. 1555 fuit Consistorium, in quo proponente Sanctitate sua, deputavit Administratorem Ecclesiæ Cantuariensis, tunc per privationem Thomæ Cranmeri olim Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis nuper Apostolica auctoritate factam vacantis, Reverendissimum Dominum Reginald. S. Mariæ in Cosmedin Diaconum Cardinalem Polum nuncupatum, Sedis Apostolicæ in regno Anglia Legatum ad ejus vitam, &c. Insuper creavit eund. Reverendiss. Reginald. in presbyterum Cardinalem, ita quod propterea Ecclesiæ St. Mariæ, quæ denominatio sui Cardinalatus erat, præesse non desinat, sed illius præsul, et presbyter Cardinali sexistat." Acta Consist. ap. Raynald. Annal. 526, or Poli Epist. v. 142. According to a not incompetent authority, Pole was made Administrator because he was nothing but a deacon, and so could scarcely be made Archbishop even by Rome. "Papa in cardinalium suorum cœtu referente Morono cardinali, qui tum Angliæ protector in Romana curia dicebatur, Polum non modo archiepiscopum Cantuariensem nominavit, sed cumulatissimis laudibus simulans celebravit. Et quia Polus presbyteratus ordinem nondum suscepit, sed diaconus tantum esset, accepit a Paulo papa provisionis illius usurpatæ prætextu titulum generalis administratoris archiepiscopatus et provinciæ Cantuariensis, donec presbyteratu initiaretur: Quo suscepto, admirabili sua et absoluta potentia decrevit papa ut administratoris titulus to the priesthood, priest cardinal instead of cardinal deacon of his church of St. Mary in Cosmedin: and a letter from the Pope, some days later, congratulated the archbishops and bishops of England on their synod, and pointed their efforts to the restoration of discipline.* And now, thus fortified, Pole set forth one of those literary redactions, digests, or disquisitions which were wont to mark the greater actions of his life: and the author of the treatise De Concilio, of the study De Summo Pontifice, of the considerations De Pace, invited the English synod to listen to the constitutions, which he had framed for the edification of the Church of England. As he read them to them, they were a code of twelve decrees of a brief and direct style; but the Reformatio Angliæ, the revised and extended copy, which he prepared for the Pope, and sent to Rome, was a more ornate and elaborate composition. In the Transalpine edition, as it has been not unhappily called,† the Latin was ample and florid: a solemn preface set forth evanesceret et in Archiepiscopi transiret." Parker, De Antiquit. p. 526. The transformation took place on the day after Cranmer's death as it will be seen. "Disciplinam ecclesiasticam ad sacrorum normam canonum, et omnia quæ curæ vestræ sunt credita ad Divinæ majestatis mandata, et præcepta in pristinum decus ae formam restituite: quæ vero restituta fuerint ita et servate et servanda ab aliis curate, ut et statui ipsarum ecclesiarum, et animarum saluti Deique honori et cultui, non in presenti solum, sed etiam futuris perpetuisque temporibus vos consultum voluisse apud omnes constet." Venerabilibus Fratribus Archiepiscopis et Episcopis Regni Anglia. Dec. 23. Raynaldus or Pole, as above. + Wilkins, who published the "Constitutiones Legatina" of Pole as they were read before the Synod, from the Cotton MS. Cleop. F. 2. f. 72, and a C.C.C. MS, has a note in which he speaks of the edition published in Rome after Pole's death as containing "accessiones Transalpinas vel extrasynodales: " and says truly that they were so many that it would be impossible to exhibit them without printing the whole treatise. iv. 126. This Transalpine edition, the elaborate "Reformatio Angliæ ex Decretis Reginaldi Poli Cardinalis," was printed in Rome in 1562, when it issued from the Aldine press, uniform with Pole's De Concilio and De Baptismo Constantini. |