AN

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

OF

GREAT BRITAIN,

Chiefly of England,

FROM THE FIRST PLANTING OF CHRISTIANITY, TO THE END OF

THE REIGN OF KING CHARLES THE SECOND;

WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE

AFFAIRS OF RELIGION IN IRELAND.

COLLECTED FROM THE BEST ANCIENT HISTORIANS, COUNCILS, AND RECORDS,

BY

JEREMY COLLIER, M.A.

NEW EDITION,

WITH A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, THE CONTROVERSIAL TRACTS CONNECTED

CONTENTS

OF

THE THIRD VOLUME.

BOOK VI.

The king disobliges at the beginning of his reign, 1.-The king prohibits citations to

Rome, 3.-The order of Knights Templars suppressed, 5.-The crimes they were

charged with, 5. The degeneracy of their manners, and other occasions of their

ruin, 6.-The death of Beak, bishop of Durham, 7.-His benefactions, 7.-The

archbishop of Canterbury occasions the making the statute called the "Articuli

Cleri," 7.-Winchelsey's death and character, 9.-Reynolds translated to the see of

Canterbury by the pope, 9.-His bulls of privilege, 9.-Several heterodox opinions

censured by the university of Oxford, 10.-The battle of Bannocksburn, 11.—The

death of archbishop Greensfeild, 11.-The statute called "Articuli Cleri,” 11.—

Objections, 12.—Answers of the judges, 12.-No prohibition where tithe is granted

for a new mill, 42.-Where a suit may be commenced both in a spiritual and temporal

court, 42.-In what only case the king's letter shall be sent to discharge an excom-

municate, 43.-Clerks in the king's service shall be discharged of their residence, but

shall be corrected by the ordinary, 43.-Distresses shall not be taken in the highways

nor in the ancient fees of the church, 44.-They that abjure the realm shall be

in peace so long as they be in the church or highway, 44.-A clerk excommunicated

may be taken out of the parish where he dwells, 45.-The examination of a parson

presented to a benefice belongs to a spiritual judge, 45.-There shall be free election

of dignities of the Church, 45.—The privilege of the Church being demanded by the

ordinary, shall not be denied to a clerk that hath confessed felony, 46.-King Robert

Bruce excommunicated by the pope, 47.—The state embroiled by the barons' disgust

against the Spencers, 48.-A provincial synod at London, 48.-The barons defeated

by the king, and the earl of Lancaster beheaded, 48.-False reports spread concerning

miracles wrought by the earl of Lancaster, 49.-The pope refuses to take off the

censure against the Scots till the English had satisfaction, 49.-The bishop of

Hereford impeached for high treason in the house of lords, refuses to be tried there,

50.-He is afterwards brought to the King's Bench, and rescued by the bishops, 50.—

The queen and prince sent into France about a treaty, 51.-The queen lands with an

army, 52.-The bishop of Hereford's treasonable sermon, 53-The loyal bishop of

Exeter murdered, 53.-His benefactions, 53.-The king is deserted, and retires into

Glamorganshire, 54.-Both the Spencers executed, 54.-The deposing project con-

certed, 54.-Three bishops sent to the king to persuade him to resign, 55.-Articles

of mal-administration drawn up against him, 56.-A riot of the burghers at

St. Edmundsbury, 56.-The expedition against the Scots betrayed, 56.-The bishop

of Hereford's wicked letter, 57.-The old king murdered, 57.-The king resigns his

claim to the sovereignty of Scotland, 58.-The death and character of archbishop

Reynolds, 58.-The jurisdiction of the convent of Christ's church during the vacancy

of the see of Canterbury, 59.-This authority of the convent an encroachment upon

the bishops, 59.-The regalities of the bishopric of Durham owned by the king and

parliament, 60.-Mepham elected archbishop of Canterbury, 60.—He holds a provin-

cial synod, 60.-The encroachments of the court of Rome with respect to provisions,

61.-A list of the principal holydays observed in England, 62.—The death of arch-

bishop Mepham, 63.-Stratford chosen archbishop, 64.—Articles charged upon bishop

Orlton, 64.-The archbishop said to persuade the king to set up a claim to the crown

of France, 65.-The king complains to the pope against the elect of Norwich, 66.—

The death of Sinclare, bishop of Dunkeld, 67.-His military courage, 67.-Bishop of

London's loyalty, 67.-A survey of the glebe-land, 68.-The king enters upon a war

with France, and claims that crown, by the archbishop's advice, 68.-The archbishop

taxed with inconstancy, and disappointing the king, 69.-A statute in behalf of the

clergy, 69.-Temporalities of bishops shall not be seized without good cause, 69.-How

the temporalities of bishops shall be used in the time of a vacation, 70.—The dean and

chapter may take them in to farm if they will, 70.-Who shall let to farm the

temporalities of bishops to the king's use, 70.-The king much displeased with the

archbishop, 71.-He is charged with high treason, 71.-He endeavours to recover the

king's favour, 72.-He justifies his conduct in the pulpit, and excommunicates upon

several articles, 72.—The king charges him with misconduct, 73.-He is cited to the

duke of Brabant's court of justice in Flanders, 73.-The king's letter against the

archbishop, 74.—A brief recital of the archbishop's defence, 78.—The introductive

part, 78. The saying of Constantine relating to the decisions of bishops, 79.—The

archbishop's answer to the first article, 80.-His defence to the second article, 81.—

He replies to the third article, 82.-To the fourth article, 13.-To the fifth article,

84. Those of the clergy who did not hold by barony were only obliged to pay a

tenth: notwithstanding this, both the tenth and ninth was collected upon them, 84.—

To the sixth article, 85.-King Edward's letter against the archbishop's defence, 87.

-The archbishop comes to the parliament-house, and is denied entrance, 89.—He is

afterwards permitted to come in, 90.-He offers to put himself upon his defence, 90.

-Peers to be tried by their peers, 90.-Twelve peers appointed to examine the charge

against the archbishop, 90.-The archbishop claims the privilege of being tried by his

peers, which is allowed him, 91.-Sir Edward Coke mistaken in his representation of

the rights and quality of the bishops, 91.-A temporal nobleman may decline being

tried by his peers, 92.-The charge against the archbishop grounded upon reasons of

state, 93.-His integrity vindicated, 93.—A provincial synod at London, 94.—The

jubilee shortened to fifty years, 95.-The king's expostulatory letter to the pope, 96.

-Observations upon the king's letter, 98.―The Church does not forfeit the privilege

of choosing her governors by being endowed by the State, 98.-The first Christian

kings under the heptarchy did not make the nominating to bishoprics part of their

regale, 100.--A statute made in favour of the clergy, 100.-Bigamy shall be tried by

the ordinary, and not by a jury, 100-Prelates impeached for purchasing lands in

mortmain are to be discharged upon showing the king's licence, 101.-Prohibition, 101.

-Temporal justices shall not inquire of process awarded by spiritual judges, 101.—

In case of a dispute about jurisdiction between the spiritual and temporal courts, by

whom the controversy is to be decided, 102.-King David Bruce does homage to king

Edward for the kingdom of Scotland, 104.-The Scots make an incursion into

England, and are defeated by the bishop of Carlisle, 104.-King Edward's successes

in France, 104,-The victory against the French at Cressy, 105.-The Scots defeated

near Durham, and king David taken prisoner, 106.-Calais taken, 107.-Occam's

death and character, 107.-The death of the archbishop of Canterbury, 107.-He is

vindicated, 107.-Ufford elected archbishop of Canterbury, 108.—The computation of

the beginning of the year seems altered, 108.-Ufford dies before consecration, 109.—

Bradwardin is elected archbishop of Canterbury, and consecrated, 109.-His learning

and commendable qualities, 110.--Archbishop Islip somewhat rigid in his government,

111.-A statute in favour of the clergy, 111.-A provincial constitution for perpetual

imprisonment and other penance for clerks guilty of crimes against the state, 112.—

The statute of provisors, 113.-The dispute about carrying the cross adjusted between

the sees of Canterbury and York, 113.-The coin diminished, 114.-A quarrel

between the university and city of Oxford, 114.-The statute of Præmunire, 114.—

Bateman, bishop of Norwich, 115.-The battle of Poictiers, fought the nineteenth of

September, 1356, 116.-The French king taken prisoner, and brought into England,

117.-David, king of Scots, enlarged, 117.-A dispute between the archbishop of

Armagh and the friars mendicant, 117.-His nine conclusions, 118.-Our Saviour did

not choose poverty for its own sake, 119.-An unhappy misunderstanding between the

lady Blanche Wake, and Lylde, bishop of Ely, 120.-The bishop unfairly used, 120.

-He is prosecuted for harbouring one guilty of murder, and claims the privilege of

being tried by his peers, 121.-He makes his escape beyond sea, and applies to the

pope, who undertakes his quarrel, 122.-The king relents, and comes towards an

accommodation, 123.-The bishop dies, 123.-The bishop at liberty after his trial,

and why, 123.-Canonical purgation, what, 123.-The archbishop of Canterbury's

mandate for praying for the king and the strict observation of Sunday, 124.-The

treaty at Bretigny, 125.-A ratification of the treaty at Calais, 125.-The king of

France set at liberty, 125.-A sumptuary law, 126.-The archbishop enjoins penance

for marrying a nun, but does not void the marriage, 126.-Islip's death, 127.—The

three estates of parliament declare king John's homage and acknowledgment to the

pope illegal, and not binding on his successors, 127.-A stoppage of Peter-pence, 127.

-The university of Oxford and the friars mendicant complain against each other in
parliament, 127.-Langham translated from Ely to Canterbury, 128.-Pope Urban's
bull against pluralities, 128.-The great offices at court mostly possessed by the
clergy, 128.-The Black Prince restores Peter, king of Castile, 129.-Langham made
cardinal, resigns the archbishopric, 129.-The treaty at Calais broken, and the
English lose ground in France, 130.-An order to arm the clergy, 130.-The English
lose their acquisitions in France, 131.-A complaint against the clergy, 131.-More
misfortunes to the English in France, 131.-The death of Thursby, archbishop of
York, 132.-The king solicits the pope to forbear his provisions, 133.-The pope's

- answer evasive, 133.-The death of archbishop Witlesey, 133.-The misconduct of

the monks of Canterbury, 134.-The parliament petitions the bishops may be put into

the administration, 134.-A complaint against Alice Pierce, 134.-The death of the

Black Prince, 134.-A complaint against the court of Rome in parliament, 135.-The

number of cardinals formerly no more than twelve, 135.-The pope's privilege of

provisions is disused, 135.-Wickliff appears against the established doctrines, 136.—

Dr. Heylin's animadversion upon Fuller with reference to Wickliff's opinions, 136.-

A recital of some of Wickliff's tenets, 137.-The pope's bull to the archbishop of

Canterbury for the securing of Wickliff and taking his confession, 138.-Wickliff

particularly countenanced by the duke of Lancaster and the lord Percy, 138.-A

dispute between the bishop of London and duke of Lancaster, 139.-His father, Hugh

Courtney, was earl of Devonshire, 139.-The Londoners resent the hard usage put

upon their bishop, 140.-The bishop of London quiets the citizens, and stops them in

their revenge against the duke of Lancaster, 140.-Bishops to be tried by their peers,

140. The death and character of king Edward, 140.-His benefactions and works of

piety, 141.-His issue, 142.-The bishop of Rochester's sermon, 142.-The university

of Oxford demurs about receiving the pope's bull, 142.-Wickliff appears at the synod

at Lambeth, 143.-He qualifies some of his propositions, 143.-Wickliff discharged,

and commanded silence, 144.-A remark upon the computation of the year, 145.—

A statute in favour of the clergy, 145.-A competition between pope Urban VI.

and Clement VII., 146.-Urban complains of the prevarications of the cardinals, 146.

-Sanctuary broken, and murder committed in the abbey church at Westminster, 147.

-The temporal lords' reasons against the privilege of sanctuary, 147.-An act to bar

aliens from receiving any profits from their benefices in England, 147.-A rebellion

headed by Jack Straw and Wat Tyler, 148.-The scheme of the rebellion formed by