The B. of Sarisburie.
These Councelles are brought foorthe, al in a mummerie, saieinge nothinge. Therefore I might safely passe them ouer, vntil they had learned to speake some∣what. Yet, for as muche as these menne thinke it good policie to huddle vp their maters in the darke, it wil not be amisse to rippe them abroade, and to bringe them foorthe into the light.
In the Councel of Chalcedon it is decréed thus:* 1.1 Teneat & Aegyptus, vt Episco∣pus Alexandriae omnium habeat potestatem: quoniam & Romano Episcopo haec est con∣suetudo. Similiter &, qui in Antiochia constitutus est. Let Aegypte holde this order, that the Bishop of Alexandria haue the Iurisdiction of al thinges there: For the Bishop of Rome holdeth the same order (within his Diuision) So likewise let the Bishop of Antioche. By this Councel, euery of these Patriarkes had his power limited within him selfe: and none of them to haue dominion ouer other.
The Fathers in the Councel of Aphrica, wherein M. Hardinge would séeme to haue some affiance,* 1.2 haue decréed thus: Ne primae Sedis Episcopus appelletur Princeps Sacerdotum, aut Summus Sacerdos, aut aliquid huiusmodi: sed tantùm Primae Sedis Epis∣copus. That the Bishop of the First See be not called the chiefe of Priestes, or the highest Priest,* 1.3 or by any other like title: but onely the Bishop of the First See. And againe, If any shal thinke it good to appeale, let them appeale onely to Councelles to be holden within A∣phrica: or els to the Primates of their owne Prouinces. But who so euer shal appeale beyonde the Seas (that is, to the Bishop of Rome) let no man within Aphrica receiue him to his Communion. Thus muche onely for a taste. I thinke M. Hardinge wil not gea∣ther hereof, that the Bishop of Rome was called vniuersal Bishop, or the Heade of the vniuersal Churche.