Purchas his pilgrimes. part 1 In fiue bookes. The first, contayning the voyages and peregrinations made by ancient kings, patriarkes, apostles, philosophers, and others, to and thorow the remoter parts of the knowne world: enquiries also of languages and religions, especially of the moderne diuersified professions of Christianitie. The second, a description of all the circum-nauigations of the globe. The third, nauigations and voyages of English-men, alongst the coasts of Africa ... The fourth, English voyages beyond the East Indies, to the ilands of Iapan, China, Cauchinchina, the Philippinæ with others ... The fifth, nauigations, voyages, traffiques, discoueries, of the English nation in the easterne parts of the world ... The first part.

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CHAP. XV. Collections out of PETER STROZA, Secretary to Pope PAVL the Fifth, his Treatise of the Opinions of the Chaldaeans, touching the Patriarke of Babylon, and the Nestor∣rians in Asia.

IT happened that amongst those poore men, whose feet were on Maundie Thurs∣day, [ 50] according to the wonted Solemnitie, washed by Pope Paul the Fifth, in the first yeere of his Papacie, there were two Chaldaeans, one a Monke, the other a Lay-man, which a little before had made their Pilgrimage to Rome; which car∣ried some presents to Elias the Patriarke of Babylon from the Pope, and gaue him a Booke of the profession of faith, propounded to the men of the East which came to Rome; whereby, and by their extolling the Popes gentle vsage, the said Patriarke Elias sent Legates to the Pope to giue him thankes and to acknowledge him for their common Father and Lord, with acknowledgement of his subiection & profession of the same faith, indeuouring to make it appear that the difference betwixt Rome & them was only in words & not in sense. These Legates fell amongst Theeues; and others were sent, which with much difficultie came to Rome, [ 60] where hearing how odious the name of Nestorius was, to decline the suspition of Nestorian He∣resie, they tooke some pages out of the Bookes of their profession and rites, being perswaded there∣to by a Iew lately conuerted. They returning in this manner, and little being done, Elias consul∣teth with his Bishops, and sends Adam the Archdeacon of the Patriarchall Chamber, Abbot of the Chaldaean Monkes, to render account of their faith, and humbly to desire correction, if

ought therein were erronious. Hee brought a Letter and profession the third yeere after the de∣parture of the former. The Letter is this.

From the Patriarchall Chamber, Prayers and Blessings be giuen to you.

* 1.1FRom humble Elias of the East, who by the grace of God serueth the holy See of Babylon, continuall adorations, and perpetuall inclinations & euerlasting kneelings before your holy feet: O blessed Father, and head of Fathers, Sunne of Christianitie, and Name on which is situated the aedifice of the Church of Churches; my Lord, and my Father the Pope, Lord (and) Father of all the Patriarches which are in the Vniuerse. Your Charitie towards vs may be pleased to take notice, that your Letters haue come to vs, and your firme Faith, and the blessing which you sent my lowlinesse; and I receiued blessing together with my people, and haue giuen thankes to Christ, for that I am made worthy of the blessings of your Holinesse, and [ 10] of your illustrious memorie, and you haue numbred me among the sonnes of your Father-hood besides my merits. I presently sent a thanksgiuing and letters, and my Faith. But wicked men met my Legates, and tooke all things from them, and they returned to me emptie: againe I sent others, which came not to your Holinesse, which grieued mee with my Bishops and Archbishops, and I said, What shall I doe? I cannot goe, because the Princes our Oppressors permit mee not; neither can I goe to Ierusalem: they hold vs as Slaues, and permit vs not to doe our will. At last I sent thy Faith and letters of thy puritie, with my faith∣full Sonne and Counsellour Father Adam, to shew them in all our Regions, that we might see what was fitting to bee done of vs Orientalls, and he remained in these Regions a whole yeere: and wee all consulted together, and haue sent to your Holinesse the same Father Adam; and I haue sent with him my Faith and letters, and said that hee should treat with your Holinesse of these things further then is written, because [ 20] hee is the Head of Fathers and Abbat of the Orientall Monkes, and wee haue none of more note, as all the East confesseth. And now, O Father, with bowed head wee adore before thy Seat without fraud and guile, & thy Precept is receiued of me according to his Precept, which deliuered thee the Keyes. Nor will I deny that voyce spoken to Peter, I haue giuen thee the keyes, and what thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heauen, and what thou shalt lose on Earth shall be losed in Heauen. And I will not resist as doe others, Heretickes against the precept of the holy Apostles, and orthodoxe Fathers, which affirmed that the See of Great Rome should hold the principalitie, and she is the Head of all Sees: farre be it from me,* 1.2 but I confesse that the Roman Church is the Mother of Churches, and he which doth not confesse it, let him be Anathema. And our Babylonian See is not elected of it selfe, as of other Heretikes, which haue multiplied Patriarches in the world without Law, but by the Precept of the Pope, and counsell of the [ 30] Roman Church, was the See of Babylon chosen, and so it is found written amongst vs in the Chronicles, namely, that the Orientall Fathers were ordained at Rome. But afterwards it came to passe, that when they sent men for Confirmation they were slaine in their iourney, and when they did so a long time, all pe∣rished. This being told to the Church and Pope, the Pope decreed in a Councell and said, Let vs ordaine them a Patriarch, and let vs permit them to chuse their Patriarches, that they die not in the way for Confirmation, nor any euills happen to them, and so we should sinne, and they remaine without the Roman fold. And thus wee haue receiued power till this time, and we haue done nothing of our selues, as the rest, which haue troden vnder foot the Canons of the Apostles, and Lawes of the Fathers, and haue filled the Earth with Patriarches without * 1.3 need. For this cause the See of Babylon was called the Fifth, for the [ 40] foure Sees of the foure Euangelists; and because the Patriarch was elected with the Roman Confirma∣tion▪ and he hath giuen vs power to make Pastors, then was the See of Babylon called, which doth accom∣pany the foure Sees, and is numbred the fifth, as one of them. For, O Father, behold my Faith hath come to your Holinesse with letters, and you may see if there be fraud in our profession, or error, or recoiling from our Mother the Roman Church. Admonish, and we will doe, teach, and we will obey. And if in all things we be true before your See, and there be no fraud in our faith, we desire of your benignitie, that you forget not the pouerty of your seruants, because many of our profession haue vndergone dangers when they haue come to you. For some haue dyed, others were slaine by enemies, and few haue returned. And let this suf∣fice your Holinesse from our lowlinesse, that from the furthest parts of the East, we heare * 1.4 your Precepts on our heads and eyes, and we come against all Nations with our bloud, and sustaine calamities that we [ 50] may adore before your Excellency, and we lowly and subiect may receiue blessing from the Great Mother Church of Paul & Peter. Who vrgeth vs to do this, but the Christian faith, and your loue to our lowlinesse? And let this suffice that we haue shewed to your Wisdome. But this whole labour we sustaine for the Roman Church; and your Ministers at Ierusalem hold all that are of my profession, as forrainers and rebells from the Church of Rome, and doe not gratifie vs as before, because their Interpreters are of professions which hate vs, and those your Ministers enquire not the truth. Wee desire your Holinesse to admonish them, and to hold those of our profession, as of yours, and to bee gentle to them. I haue sent Letters to your Teachers, to command those of our profession in Ierusalem, because it was written in our Annalls that our Archbishop, which was in Cyprus, and those of our profession which inhabit•• Ierusalem, and the Clergie in the Monastery of Saint Iames in Nisibis, are numbred amongst the [ 60] sonnes of the Church of Rome for your Fatherhoods loue to our lowlinesse. And now who am I, and all mine, and all the Easterne part? Wee are lisping before your Holinesse, but as obedient ser∣uants, are subiect to your Lordship, and with a mind farre from schisme kisse your holy feet, and ear∣nestly desire health to your Holinesse, and flee to your praiers, and the praiers of your fellow seruants Peter

and Paul, that wee may bee made worthy of the remission of sinnes in the terrible Iudgement Day of God the Word, to whom, and his Father and the Holy Ghost, bee honour and glorie for e∣uer Amen.

His profession of the Faith followeth, part whereof wee haue translated: Wee beleeue in God the Father, who is the Maker of Heauen and Earth, and all things therein visible and in∣uisible. And in the Sonne which is of him, and which is equall with him in Essence, and is not lesse then his Father and Maker of all things. And the Spirit of Sanctitie, which proceedeth from the Father, and is not b••getter nor begotten, and hee is a glorious substance, and equall in sub∣stance with the Father and the Sonne. The Father is Begetter, and not begotten; and the Sonne is [ 10] begotten, not begetter, and the Spirit of Sanctitie proceeding, not begetter nor begotten, &c. God the Word descended into the Virgin and was ioined with Man, which was compact in her in the power of the Spirit of Sanctitie, and was made one with man, as the coniunction of fire with Iron. And wee beleeue that hee receiued a body and soule, and vnderstanding, &c. And though they say against vs, that wee confesse not that the Virgin is the Mother of God * 1.5 but the Mother of Christ, that is, the Mother of Christ God ouer all: yet this is nothing, for this is set for the confirmati∣on and reprobation of the false opinion of Apollinaris, which said that the Deitie was without Hu¦manitie, and to the confusion of the wickednesse of Semystius, which said, That Christ is a meere Man, to wit, Humanitie without Diuinitie, &c. Wee in the denomination of Christ comprehend the two Natures, of the Deitie of the Humanitie, and confesse not a simplicitie in Christ as they tra∣duce [ 20] vs, &c.

In another Epistle written by the said Elias to the Pope, hee confesseth that the differences acknowledged are brought to these heads. First, The Lord Pope, with all the Fathers of the Great Church of Rome, call the Virgin Saint Mary the Mother of God: but wee of the East call her the Mother of Christ. Secondly, They confesse two Natures of Christ, two Powers, and two Wills: but wee confesse one Power and one Will. Thirdly, They confesse one Person in Christ, and wee confesse two Persons. Fourthly, And they say that the Spirit proceedeth of the Father and the Sonne, and wee confesse that the Spirit proceedeth of the Father. Fifthly, Also the Fathers of Rome say, that that which comes out of our Lords Sepulcher * 1.6 is not true light, and wee with all ours receiue it as true light. Hee saith, hee consulted with Adam aforesaid, and with Gabriel the [ 30] ancientest Archbishop and chiefe Grammarian in his Iurisdiction: which Gabriel answered, That they had receiued of their Ancestors▪ that there is no diuision twixt vs and the Church of Rome, but in Ceremonies, and they in all their Regions obserue their owne Ceremonies: and as farre▪ saith hee, as I can vnderstand, there is none other diuision but that one vnderstandeth not the other. But touching thy request, behold Father Adam is before thee, which hath beene proued in the desert from his youth. And I said to our Father Adam, What sayest thou of these things? Hee answe∣red, giue me three dayes space, and the third day, I will answere as much as my infirmitie is able, and as much as may suffice, and the third day hee brought his writing; and it pleased mee and all mine. And I gaue him Letters with my Faith and Thy Epistles and Faith, and sent him to the Countries and our Flocke, writing that if they had any thing to answere, hee should bring it. A yeere after hee returned [ 40] with Letters, that all of our profession submitted themselues. And now I haue sent him, &c.

The Treatise of the said Adam in seuen Chapiters, is published by the said Stroza the Popes Secretary, in which hee laboureth to reconcile the Roman and Orientall Churches in the diffe∣rences aforesaid; which by the said Stroza is learnedly discussed, and the truth enucleated and cleared from Nestorian shuffling, which the learned Reader may peruse in Stroza him∣selfe; the vnlearned could hardly doe it, though wee had troubled our selues to trouble him with the Translation. The effect was, Adam was reclaimed in those points aforesaid to the Orthodoxe Faith, and sent with the Popes Breue (published also in the Booke aforesaid) dated on the fiue and twentieth of March, 1614. And Adam wrote another Treatise in main∣tenance of his corrected faith learned at Rome, by him dated, Ann. 1974. Regis Graecorum, Romae. Diebus beatissimi Patris & Petri nostri temporis, Domini Papae Pauli Quinti, cuius oratio nobiscum [ 50] sit; all published together by the said Stroza.

Godignius and Myraeus say, that Iohn Antonie Maarierius, and Peter Metoscita two Ie∣suites, were sent backe with this Adam by the Pope, to make a more full reducing of the Nestorians.

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Notes

• * 1.1

  The Letter of Elias Patriarch of Babylon to the Pope, A. 1610.
• * 1.2

  See what the Popes pre∣sence can doe with a poore Patriarch. Remoue from me vanity and lies—least I be poore and steale, and take the name of my God in vain, Pro. 30.
• * 1.3

  Yea what need, and very needy ones are they, and this too, which makes him tell more then Rome it selfe euer dreamed, of Romes great∣nes in the East, as others haue also done of the South.
• * 1.4

  This is the Easterne fashi∣on to receiue the Letters & Mandates of their Princes on their heads
• * 1.5

  Nestorius him∣selfe in an Epi∣stle to Pope 〈◊〉〈◊〉 hath these words of the blessed Vir∣gin: 〈…〉〈…〉. &c.

  The 〈…〉〈…〉, called Nestorians, & vs.
• * 1.6

  See Fulche∣rius, l. 7. c. 2,