But what if the Pope him selfe, the Father of al Fathers, and Doctoure of al
Doctours, bothe Newe, and Olde, haue not blusshed to saie the same? Maie wee
saie, as you saie, The Pope him selfe vvas not Catholique? Or, if wée so saie, wil
you beleeue it?
In déede, Kinge Xerxes, the greate Kinge of Persia, when he had brought ouer
his huge Armie into Graecia, sente out his letters of defiance vnto the greate
Mounte Athos, that is in Macedonia, & commaunded him to stande stil, and not
to st••rre a foote, nor to woorke any pispleasure, either to him selfe, or to his Armie.
Euen by like Authoritie, and with as good discretion, the Pope hath vsed to sende
out his Preceptes, & Princely Letters, and to commaunde Angels, Archangels,
& al the Povvers of Heauen, to comme, to goe, to fetche, to carrie, & to be ready to
doo his wil. Therefore is he the better contente, to heare his frendes tel him thus,
Tibi data est omnis potestas, supra omues potestates, tam Coeli, quàm terrae.
Qui totum dicit, nihil excludit: To thee is geeuen al māner of Power, aboue al Powers,
as wel of Heauen, as of Earthe. He that saithe, Al, excepteth nothinge.
Felinus your Doctoure saith thus, Nedum Circa Coelestia, Terrestria, & In∣fernalia
papa gerit Vicariatum Christi, sed etiam super Angelos, Bonos, & Ma∣los:
The Pope hath Christes Lieutenantship, not onely ouer thinges in Heauen, ouer thinges
in Earthe, and ouer thinges in Hel, but also ouer the Angels, bothe Good, and Badde.
Innocentius the Pope him selfe saithe, Vicario Creatoris omnis creatura
Subiecta est: Vnto the Creatours Lieutenante euery Creature is subiecte. Your owne
Doctoure Antoninus, the Archebishop of Florence, saith, Potestas Papae maior
est omni alia potestate creata, aliquo modo extēdens se ad Coelestia, Terrestria,
& Infernalia: vt de ea verificari possit, quod dictum est, Omnia Subiecisti sub
pedibus eius: The Popes Povver is greater, then any other power, that God euer made:
and after a sorte stretcheth it selfe vnto thinges i•• Heauen, thinges in Earth, and thinges in
Hel: so that, of that Povver the woordes maie be verified, yt are written by the Prophete
Dauid, Thou haste made al thinges subiecte to his fecte. Camotensis saithe, Papa An∣gelis
praecipit, & potestatem habet in Mortuos: The Pope commaundeth the An∣gels
(of God), and hath power ouer the Deade. Gregorius Haimburgensis saithe,
Vt termiuis v••ar suorum Adulatorum, Papa Angelis habet imperare: To vse the
woordes of his Platterers, the Pope hath Povver to commaunde the Angelles. There∣fore,
if any man happen to die vpon ye waie, as he passeth in Pilgremage to Rome,
Pope Clemente. 6. commaundeth the Angelles of God, to be at hande, and to
carrie his soule immediately into Heauen.
Hereto, and to al other the like, M. Hardinge saithe, These Popes, these Do∣ctours,
these Fathers, these Pages, these Parasites, herein were not Catholique.
Notwithstandinge, he saithe further, If the Pope, for his fansie, take somme∣what
vpon him, and sommetimes be a litle ouer bolde with Goddes Angelles, to
Commaunde them, and Countremaunde them, at his pleasure, in sutche cases we
ought not to be ouer scrupulous.