Bellarmine · Responsio Matthaei Torti · Answer to the Book Entitled Triplici Nodo Triplex Cuneus, or Apology for the Oath of Allegiance
Chapter 1: The First Brief of Paul V, and the Apology Answered from Its Opening to Page 8
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. XII, Responsio ad Librum Inscriptum Triplici Nodo Triplex Cuneus, an answer of 1608, published under the name of Matthaeus Tortus. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
The first Pontifical brief
Beloved sons, health and Apostolic benediction. The tribulations and calamities which you have continually borne for keeping the Catholic faith have always affected us with great grief of mind; but since we understand that at this time everything is growing more bitter, our affliction has been wonderfully increased. For we have heard that you are being compelled, under threat of the gravest penalties, to go to the churches of the heretics, to frequent their assemblies, and to be present at their sermons. We believe indeed, beyond doubt, that those who have hitherto endured with such constancy and fortitude the most atrocious persecutions and almost infinite miseries, that they might walk without stain in the law of the Lord, will never allow themselves to be defiled by communion with deserters of the divine law. Nevertheless, impelled by the zeal of our pastoral office, and by the fatherly care with which we labour continually for the salvation of your souls, we are compelled to admonish and entreat you that on no account you go to the churches of the heretics, or hear their sermons, or communicate with them in their rites, lest you incur the wrath of God. For it is not lawful for you to do these things without detriment to the worship of God and to your own salvation. Just as also you cannot, without a most evident and most grave injury to the honour of God, bind yourselves by an oath which likewise, with the greatest grief of our heart, we have heard has been proposed to you to be taken, of the tenor written below, namely:
“I, A. B., do truly and sincerely acknowledge, profess, testify and declare in my conscience, before God and the world, that our sovereign lord King James is the lawful and rightful king of this realm and of all other his Majesty’s dominions and countries; and that the Pope, neither of himself nor by any authority of the Church or See of Rome, nor by any other means with any other, has any power or authority to depose the king, or to dispose of any of his Majesty’s kingdoms or dominions, or to authorise any foreign prince to invade or annoy him or his countries, or to discharge any of his subjects from their allegiance and obedience to his Majesty, or to give licence or leave to any of them to bear arms, raise tumults, or to offer any violence or hurt to his Majesty’s royal person, state or government, or to any of his Majesty’s subjects within his Majesty’s dominions. Also I do swear from my heart that, notwithstanding any declaration or sentence of excommunication or deprivation made or granted, or to be made or granted, by the Pope or his successors, or by any authority derived or pretended to be derived from him or his See against the said king, his heirs or successors, or any absolution of the said subjects from their obedience, I will bear faith and true allegiance to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, and him and them will defend to the uttermost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their persons, their crown and dignity, by reason or colour of any such sentence or declaration, or otherwise; and will do my best endeavour to disclose and make known unto his Majesty, his heirs and successors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies which I shall know or hear of to be against him or any of them. And I do further swear that I do from my heart abhor, detest and abjure, as impious and heretical, this damnable doctrine and position, that princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murdered by their subjects or any other whatsoever. And I do believe, and in conscience am resolved, that neither the Pope nor any person whatsoever has power to absolve me of this oath or any part thereof; which I acknowledge by good and full authority to be lawfully ministered unto me, and do renounce all pardons and dispensations to the contrary. And all these things I do plainly and sincerely acknowledge and swear, according to these express words by me spoken, and according to the plain and common sense and understanding of the same words, without any equivocation or mental evasion or secret reservation whatsoever. And I do make this recognition and acknowledgement heartily, willingly and truly, upon the true faith of a Christian. So help me God.”
Since these things are so, it ought to be plain to you from the very words that an oath of this kind cannot be taken without hurt to the Catholic faith and to the salvation of your souls, since it contains many things which are openly contrary to faith and salvation. Therefore we admonish you to beware altogether of taking this and similar oaths; which indeed we require of you the more earnestly because, having had experience of the constancy of your faith, which has been tried like gold in the furnace by the fire of perpetual tribulation, we hold it for certain that you will with ready mind undergo whatever more atrocious torments, and at last constantly meet death itself, rather than in anything offend the majesty of God. And our confidence is confirmed by what is daily reported to us of the outstanding virtue and fortitude which, no less than in the beginnings of the Church, shines forth in these last times in your martyrs.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, taking the shield of faith; be strengthened in the Lord and in the power of his might, and let nothing hold you back. And he who is to crown you, and looks upon your contests from heaven, will perfect the good work which he has begun in you. You know that he promised his disciples that he would never leave them orphans; for he is faithful who has promised. Hold fast therefore his discipline, that is, rooted and founded in charity; whatever you do, whatever you attempt, do it with one mind in simplicity of heart and unity of spirit, without murmuring or hesitation; since by this all men know that we are Christ’s disciples, if we have love one for another. And this charity, though it is most to be desired by all Christ’s faithful, is to you, most beloved sons, altogether necessary. For by this charity of yours the power of the devil is broken, who now rises so fiercely against you, since he relies chiefly on the contentions and dissensions of our sons.
We exhort you therefore by the bowels of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose charity we have been snatched from the jaws of eternal death, that before all things you have mutual charity among yourselves. Pope Clement VIII of happy memory prescribed for you precepts most useful for the mutual exercise of brotherly charity, in his letters in the form of a brief to our beloved son Master George, Archpriest of the kingdom of England, given on the fifth day of October 1603. Carry these out diligently, then; and that you may not be delayed by any difficulty or ambiguity, we command you to keep the words of those letters exactly, and to take and understand them simply as they sound and stand, every faculty of interpreting them otherwise being taken away. Meanwhile we shall never cease to pray God the Father of mercies to look mercifully upon your afflictions and labours, and to guard and defend you with his continual protection; upon whom we lovingly bestow our Apostolic benediction. Given at Rome at Saint Mark’s, under the ring of the Fisherman, the tenth day before the Kalends of October 1606, in the second year of our pontificate.
The parts of the Apology examined
I come now to the several parts of the Apology, to be examined with the greatest brevity. The author begins with a lament over the horrible conspiracy against the king; and says that the oath was proposed to avert such conspiracies in future. Here the author, or rather the most serene king himself, should be warned that for guarding against conspiracies of this kind little protection lies in oaths, and much in the goodwill of the people; for those who do not fear to commit so atrocious a parricide will not fear to despise the religion of an oath either. We have the example of very many kings, and no fewer emperors, slain by those very soldiers who had sworn allegiance to them most solemnly. On the other hand we know that Augustus, Vespasian, Trajan, Antoninus, Constantius and his son Constantine, and very many others, were always most safe through the goodwill of their subjects. Tacitus relates in book 15 of the Annals that when Subrius Flavus, one of the conspirators, was asked by Nero for what reasons he had gone so far as to forget his oath, he answered: “I hated you; and no one was more faithful to you while you deserved to be loved.” Where he declared plainly enough that he who deserves to be loved is secure of the fidelity of his subjects even without an oath, while he who is hated can be sufficiently protected by no oath. Therefore if the king wishes to reign securely and to provide for his own life and the lives of his people, let him allow the Catholics to enjoy the ancient possession of their religion, a religion which he cannot deny was practised in England by his parents, grandparents and forefathers for many centuries. Let him not compel the professors of the old faith, which they rightly glory to have received from Gregory the Great, to take up the new opinions of the sectaries, and at once all dangers and fears will cease. I do not excuse the deed; I hate parricides, I execrate conspiracies; but that an occasion of despair was given no one can deny. For the Catholics had hoped, as this very author of the Apology confesses, that under a new prince, who had always flourished in the praise of clemency, and whom the Catholics themselves had received with great gladness, they would breathe a little from so long a persecution, and would freely keep that faith and religion which the king’s own mother and all his ancestors had piously practised. But when they saw the cruel edicts of Queen Elizabeth confirmed, and the heaviest fines in money imposed on those who refused to go to the churches of the heretics, and themselves gradually stripped of all their goods under the pretext of accusation, some of them, less patient of injuries, driven to despair, attempted what we lament equally with you.
Then on pages 3, 4 and 5 he repeats again and again, and hammers in, that the oath was proposed by the king so that he might distinguish between faithful subjects and treacherous traitors, and that it is therefore rightly to be called an oath of allegiance, by which nothing else is sought except that due obedience be rendered to the king; but that through the sinister interpretation of the Supreme Pontiff, who by his brief forbade the oath to be taken, as if it were contrary to the Catholic faith, it has come about that the wretched Catholics must either renounce their allegiance to the prince with danger to their lives and loss of their fortunes, or bring the salvation of their souls into peril with detriment to the Catholic faith. But we have shown a little before that the oath proposed under colour of allegiance to the king contains a denial of the Apostolic primacy; nor do we need many arguments to demonstrate this, since the king’s own edict, in which the form of this oath is prescribed, most openly exposes all the frauds. For, as we noted above, the title of the edict is “For the discovering and repressing of Papists.” And in the same edict near the end, unless perhaps the translation deceives us, mention is made of two oaths, of which one is of the king’s primacy in spiritual things, and the other against the Pontiff’s power over Christian princes; an oath of allegiance alone is not even named. And it matters little whether the author of the Apology wishes the oath we are now dealing with to be the oath of the king’s primacy in spiritual things, or the oath against the Pontiff’s power over Christian princes; for among true Catholics both are repugnant to the Christian faith. The former oath attributes a spiritual primacy to one to whom according to the holy Scriptures it is not at all due; the latter takes away that same primacy from him to whom according to the same Scriptures it is due by every right. For Christ, as we said above, commanded that the shepherd of his whole flock should be, not some king, but the Apostle Peter; therefore those who succeed blessed Peter, not those who succeed kings, hold the primacy over Christians; and if kings are Christians, there can be no doubt that the successors of the Apostle Peter have pastoral power over them also. So it is not the Apostolic brief, by interpreting the oath sinisterly, that is the cause of temporal death to the faithful English; but the oath, aptly composed to deceive, is the cause of everlasting death to those same English.
On page 6 the author of the Apology goes on and says that the Supreme Pontiff sinned grievously against good manners and the custom of Christian princes, in that he condemned the king without hearing his cause, partly by numbering him with the persecutors, partly by sternly commanding the Catholics to abstain from this oath, so that while they decline it they refuse to profess their allegiance. And that the Pontiff sinned in these two things the author thought he had proved by an unanswerable argument, when he says: “If the Pontiff thought himself the competent judge of the king, why did he condemn him unheard? But if the Pontiff has no business with the king, why did he put his sickle into another’s harvest?” But although the Vicar of Christ, if he is the father and ruler, as he most truly is, of the universal Church, is also the competent judge of all Christians, and so of kings too, in so far as they are Christians; yet if we wish to speak properly, the Supreme Pontiff Paul V judged not of the person of the king but of the oath. And when the question is whether some oath is lawful or unlawful, no judge more competent can be imagined than the Supreme Pontiff himself, since the matter is a sacred one, a spiritual one, one that pertains to the salvation or ruin of the soul. Therefore the Supreme Pontiff, when he frightened his subjects away from an oath which he judged harmful to the souls of the faithful, did what a shepherd does when he keeps his sheep from poisoned pasture. And as the shepherd neither judges nor punishes the ground which brought forth the deadly pasture, but provides for his sheep by removing them from such pasture, so the Supreme Pontiff did not properly judge or condemn the king, but admonished his Catholics that the proposed oath could not be taken with a safe conscience. In vain, then, does the author of the Apology cry out that the king was condemned unheard; and he frames for himself a foolish dilemma, since the matter is not the condemnation of the king but the censure of the oath.
But, he says, if the oath is censured, he who commanded the oath to be taken is censured in consequence. I answer: it cannot be denied that the censure of the oath pertains in some way to him who prescribed the oath; but it is one thing to censure a man’s work, and another to call the man himself to judgement on account of that work. For it can happen that the work displeases, and yet one refrains from judicially examining and condemning its author. So then the Supreme Pontiff censured the oath, but did not touch the king’s person; nor was there need that he should plead his cause, who had not been summoned to court.
But, he says, the Pontiff sinned in this, that he numbered the king among the persecutors, when he exhorted his Catholics to undergo martyrdom for the refusal of the oath. I answer: the Pontiff did not number the king among the persecutors absolutely, but left it to his choice whether he would acquiesce in the truth, and cease to thrust an unlawful oath upon them, and be held a peaceable king; or would rather rage against the innocent, and be named a persecutor of the holy martyrs.
But at least the Pontiff sinned in this, that by forbidding the oath of allegiance he brought it about that subjects did not show their king the obedience due to him. I answer: if the oath were one of allegiance alone, and required nothing else than that all subjects, Catholics included, should be subject to the king in all those things which were not against the Catholic faith and the obedience due to God and the Supreme Pontiff, no one would censure the oath, nor would there have been any need for the Catholic people to be admonished by Apostolic briefs. For both Clement VIII, a Pontiff of holy memory, and this same Paul V, his successor in the Apostolic See, more than once by letters admonished the English Catholics to show the king most diligently the obedience which according to the holy Scriptures is due to kings, and to beware altogether of tumults and seditions. But when he saw an oath demanded of the Catholics in which, under the appearance of civil obedience, a denial of the Catholic faith was demanded, he warned his people to beware of the snare, and to remember the Apostolic saying, “We ought to obey God rather than men,” Acts 5.
On page 7 the author of the Apology compares the bull of Pius V against Elizabeth with the brief of Paul V, and says there is almost no difference between the bull of Pius V, who excommunicated Elizabeth by name, and the brief of Paul V, who forbade the oath of allegiance to be taken by Catholics; for the former absolved the people from obedience to the queen, the latter forbade obedience to be rendered to the king. I pass over the abuse, or rather the blasphemies, against Pius V, a holy Pontiff who deserved excellently of the Church of God; for we have thought that we should answer not abuse, which harms only those who utter it, but reasons and arguments, which may harm the less skilled or the less attentive. This, then, is the difference between the severity which Pius, not without just cause, judged should be used, and the gentleness which Paul, also for a just cause, chose to employ: that the former excommunicated again by name, and declared excommunicated, a queen already long since excommunicated by law and in general for heresy; and since it is not lawful to associate with those excommunicated by name and publicly declared, and according to the laws of the Catholic Church such persons are to be shunned, Pius V most justly absolved and freed the Catholic people from obedience to a queen so excommunicated and declared; for those times counselled that such severity should be used. But Paul V, wishing to try whether milder remedies might perhaps do more good, especially since he had to deal with a king of greater prudence and learning, and whose parents had always been Catholics, did not judge it expedient at this time that the king should be excommunicated by name or publicly declared excommunicated; and so not only did he not absolve the people from obedience, as Pius had done, but neither did he forbid obedience to be rendered to the king in temporal matters, as the author of the Apology falsely affirms. But he forbade the oath of allegiance to be taken. I deny that he forbade the taking of an oath of any and every allegiance, but only of that allegiance which was joined with infidelity. For since Christians owe allegiance not only to an earthly king but also to a spiritual prince, such as the Vicar of Christ on earth is, it is in no way lawful for a Christian man so to swear allegiance to an earthly prince that he swears at the same time that he will not obey the spiritual prince, even in those things which properly belong to his power. Since, then, the oath proposed to the Catholics could not be taken without an abjuration of the Pontifical power, the Supreme Pontiff rightly judged that oath not to be taken; and there is as much difference between the bull of Pius V and the brief of Paul V as between the cautery of fire, or the opening of a vein, and an anointing with oil, or a draught of sweet medicine.
On page 8 the author of the Apology again carps at the Pontiff, that if you regard the king he behaved imprudently, if the Catholics, injuriously. “It is imprudence,” he says, “in respect of the king, that he did not refute the oath piece by piece and in detail, or point out by any indication what little word, what little sentence, or whatever the crime is of which he accuses the oath.” I do not wish to waste time on trifles, and for that reason I do not discuss the improprieties of vocabulary and the muddy style of this translator. This one thing I answer: it was not the purpose of the Supreme Pontiff to write a book of refutation, and so there was no need for him to confute the whole oath, or its parts, with arguments drawn from various places.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
PRIMUM BREVE PONTIFICIUM. Dilecti filii, salutem, et Apostolicam benedictionem. Magno animi moerore nos semper affecerunt tribulationes et calamitates, quas pro retinenda Catholica fide jugiter sustinuistis ; sed cum intelligamus omnia hoc tempore magis exacerbari, afflictio nostra mirum in modum aucta est. Accepimus namque compelli vos, gravissimis poenis propositis, templa haereticorum adire, coetus eorum frequen- V* (a) Juram. Anglice negat potestatem solvendi in summo Pontifice. — (b) Ex formula juram. des Primatu Regis Ecclesiastico , negari Pontificis Primatum convincitur. — (c) Idem probatur ex ipsi verbis auctoris Apologice. 212 RESPONSIO AD APOLOGIAM tare, concionibus illorum interesse : profecto credimus procul dubio eos, qui tanta constantia atque fortitudine atrocissimas persecutiones, infinitas prope- modum miserias hactenus perpessi sunt, ut immaculate ambularent in lege Do¬ mini, numquam commissuros esse, ut coinquinentur communione desertorum divina? legis. Nihilominus zelo Pastoralis officii nostri impulsi, et pro paterna sollicitudine, qua de salute animarum vestrarum assidue laboramus ; cogimur monere vos, atque obtestari, ut nullo pacto ad hmreticorum templa accedatis, aut eorum conciones audiatis, vel cum ipsis in ritibus communicetis, ne Dei iram incurratis. Non enim licet vobis haec facere, sine detrimento divini cultus, ac vestrae salutis. Quemadmodum etiam non potestis, absque evidentissima gravissimaque divini honoris injuria, obligare vos juramento, quod similiter maximo cum cordis nostri dolore audivimus propositum vobis fuisse praestandum, infrascripti tenoris, videlicet : (a) Ego A. B. vere, efc sincere agnosco, profiteor, testificor, et declaro in conscientia mea, coram Deo et mundo, quod supremus Dominus noster rex Jacobus est legitimus et verus rex hujus regni, et omnium aliorum Majestatis suae dominiorum, et terrarum ; et quod Papa, nec per se ipsum, nec per ullam aliam auctoritatem Ecclesiae, vel Se¬ dis Romanae, vel per ulla media cum qui¬ buscumque aliis, aliquam potestatem, nec auctoritatem habeat regem deponendi , vel aliquorum majestatis suae dominio¬ rum vel regnorum disponendi, vel alicui principi extraneo ipsum damnificare, aut terras suas invadere auctoritatem con¬ cedendi, vel ullos subditorum suorum ab eorum suae majestatis obedientia, et subje¬ ctione exonerandi, aut ullis eorum licentiam dare, arma contra ipsum gerendi, tumultus seminandi, aut aliquam violentiam, aut damnum majestatis suae personae, statui, vel regimini, vel aliquibus suis subditis, infra sua dominia offerendi. Item juro ex corde, quod non obstante aliqua declaratione vel sententia excommunicationis, aut depriva- tionis facta, vel concessa, aut facienda, vel concedenda per Papam, vel successores suos, vel per quamcumque auqtoritatc-m derivatam, aut derivari preetensam ab illo, seu a sua Sede contra dictum regem, here¬ des aut successores suos, vel quacumque absolutione dictorum subditorum ab eorum obedientia ; fidelitatem tamen, et veram obedientiam suee majestati, haeredibus, et et successoribus suis praestabo, ipsumque et ipsos totis meis viribus, contra omnes con¬ spirationes, et attentata quaecumque, quae contra personam illius vel illorum, eorum- quc coronam, et dignitatem, ratione vel colore alicujus sententiae, vel declarationis, aut alias facta fuerit, defendam : omnemque operam impendam revelare, et majestati suae, haeredibus, et successoribus suis, ma¬ nifestam facere omnes proditiones, et prodi¬ torias conspirationes, quae contra illum, aut aliquos illorum, ad notitiam, vel auditum meum pervenerint. Praeterea juro, quod ex corde abhorreo, detestor, et abjuro, tamquam impiam et haereticam hanc doctrinam et propositio- nionem : Quod principes per Papam excom- municati vel deprivati, possint per suos sub¬ ditos, vel alios quoscumque deponi et occidi. Et ulterius, credo, et in conscientia mea resolvor, quod nec Papa, nec alius quicum- qoe, potestatem habet me ab hoc juramen¬ to, aut aliqua ejus parte absolvendi. Quod juramentum agnosco recta, ac plena aucto¬ ritate, esse mihi -legitime ministratum, om- nibusque indulgentiis, ac dispensationibus in contrarium renuntio. Heecque omnia plane, ac sincere agnosco, et juro juxta ex¬ pressa verba per me hic prolata, et juxta planum, ac communem sensum, et intelle¬ ctum eorumdem verborum, absque ulla mquivocatione aut mentali evasione, vel secreta reservatione quacumque. Hancque recognitionem, et agnitionem, facio cordia- liter, voluntarie et vere, in vera fide Chri¬ stiani viri, sic me Deus adjuvet. (a) Formula Juramenti fidelitatis. PRO JURAMENTO FIDELITATIS 213 (b) Quas cuin ita sint, vobis, ex verbis ipsis perspicuum esse debet, quod hu¬ jusmodi juramentum, salva fide Catholica, et salute animarum vestrarum prae¬ stari non potest, cum multa contineat, quae fidei, et saluti aperte adversantur. Propterea admonemus vos, ut ab hoc, atque similibus juramentis praestandis omnino caveatis, quod quidem eo acrius exigimus a vobis, quia experti vestrae fidei constantiam, quae tamquam aurum in fornace, perpetuae tribulationis igne probata est, pro comperto habemus, vos alacri animo subituros esse quaecumque atrociora tormenta, ac mortem denique ipsam constanter oppetituros, potius . quam Dei majestatem ulla in re laedatis. Et fiducia nostra confirmatur ex his, quae quotidie nobis afferuntur de egregia virtute atque fortitudine, quae non se¬ cus ac in Ecclesiae primordiis resplendet novissimis hisce temporibus in martyri¬ bus vestris. State ergo succincti lumbos vestros in veritate, et induti loricam justitiae, su¬ mentes scutum fidei : confortamini in Domino, et in potentia virtutis ejus, nec quicquam vos detineat. Ipse autem, qui coronaturus vos, certamina vestra in coelo intuetur, bonum opus, quod in vobis coepit, perficiet. Nostis quia discipu¬ lis suis pollicitus est, se numquam relicturum esse eos orphanos : fidelis enim est qui repromisit. Retinete igitur disciplinam ejus, hoc est, radicati et fjindati in charitate ; quicquid agitis, quicquid conamini, in simplicitate cordis et uni¬ tate spiritus, sine murmuratione, aut haesitatione unanimes facite : siquidem in hoc cognoscunt omnes, quia discipuli Christi sumus, si dilectionem ad invicem habuerimus. Quae quidem charitas, cum sit omnibus Christi fidelibus maxime appetenda; vobis certe, dilectissimi filii, prorsus necessaria est. Hac enim vestra charitate diaboli potentia infringitur, qui nunc adversus vos tantopere insurgit, cum ipsa contentionibus, atque dissidiis nostrorum filiorum praecipue nitatur. . Hortamur itaque vos per viscera Domini Jesu Christi, cujus charitate e fau¬ cibus aeternae mortis erepti sumus, ut ante omnia, mutuam inter vos charitatem habeatis. Praescripsit sane vobis praecepta maxime utilia, de fraterna charitate vicissim exercenda, felicis recordationis Clemen ' Papa VIII. suis litteris in forma Brevis ad dilectum filium Magistrum Georgium irchipresbyterum regni Angliae, datis die quinta mensis Octobris 1603. ea igitur diligenter exequimini, et ne ulla difficultate, aut ambiguitate remoremini, praecipimus vobis, ut illarum litte¬ rarum verba adamussim servetis, et simpliciter prout sonant et jacent, acci¬ piatis, et intelligatis, sublata omni facultate aliter illa interpretandi. Interim nos numquam cessabimus Deum Patrem misericordiarum precari, ut afflictiones, et labores vestros clementer respiciat, ac vos continua protectione custodiat at¬ que defendat, quos Apostolica benedictione nostra clementer impertimur. Datum Romae apud sanctum Marcum, sub annulo piscatoris decimo Kalend, Octob. MDCVI. Pontificatus nostri anno secundo. (o) Juramenti damnatio. 214 'RESPONSIO AD APOLOGIAM Venio nunc ad singulas Apologiae partes summa brevitate discutiendas. Orditur au¬ ctor a deploratione horrendae conspirationis in regem : ad quales conspirationes deinceps avertendas, juramentum propositum esse dicit. Hoc loco monendus est auctor, vel potius ipse rex serenissimus, ad conspiratio¬ nes ejusmodi praecavendas, parum praesidii in juramentis, (a) multum autem in bene¬ volentia populorum positum esse : qui enim non timent tam atrox parricidium perpe¬ trare , neque timebunt jurisjurandi reli¬ gionem contemnere. Exemplo nobis sunt plurimi reges, nec pauciores Caesares, ab iis militibus caesi, qui eis fidelitatem sanctissi¬ me juraverant. Contra autem scimus, Augu¬ stum, Vespasianum, Trajanum, Antoninum, Constantium, et filium Constantinum, et alios permultos, benevolentia subditorum tutissi¬ mos semper fuisse. Refert Tacitus lib. xv. Annalium, cum Subrius Falvius, unus ex conjuratis, a Nerone interrogaretur, quibus ex causis ad oblivionem juramenti processis¬ set ; respondisse eum : Oderam te, nec quis¬ quam tibi fidelior fuit, dum amari merui¬ sti, ubi satis declaravit, eum, qui amari dignus est, etiam sine juramento securum esse de fide subditorum : qui vero odio ha¬ betur, nullo juramento satis tegi posse. Quare si rex secure regnare, et vitee suee, ac suorum consulere cupit, sinat Catholicos frui antiqua possessione Religionis suee : quam religionem a parentibus, avis, et proa¬ vis, per multa seecula in Angliam cultam negare non potest. Non cogat professores veteris fidei, quam a Magno Gregorio se ac¬ cepisse merito gloriantur, ad novas susci¬ piendas sectariorum opiniones : et continuo pericula omnia, timoresque cessabunt. Non excuso factum, odi parricidia, execror con- spifationes ; sed occasionem desperandi datam nemo inficiari potest. (6) Speraverant enim Catholici, ut hic ipse auctor Apologise fatetur, sub novo principe, qui clementiae laude semper floruerat, et quem ipsi quoque Catholici magna alacritate susceperant, se aliquantulum a persecutione tam diuturna respiraturos, et eam fidem, et Religionem libere retenturos, quam mater ipsa regis, et omnes ejus majores pie coluerant ; sed ubi viderunt confirmari crudelia edicta Elisa- bethee reginae, et recusantibus adire templa haereticorum gravissimas pecuniarias mul- ctas imponi, seque paulatim accusationis praetextu opibus omnibus spoliari : nonnulli eorum minus patientes injuriarum, in despe¬ rationem acti, moliti sunt, quod nos vobis- cum pariter deploramus. Deinde pag. 3. 4. et 5. iterum atque ite¬ rum repetit, atque inculcat, juramentum propositum a rege fuisse, ut internosceret inter fideles subditas, et perfidos proditores, et ideo juramentum fidelitatis merito appel¬ landum esse, quo nihil aliud quaeratur, nisi, ut debita obedientia regi praestetur ; sed per sinistram interpretationem summi Pontificis, qua per Breve suum prohibuit juramentum suscipi, quasi fidei Catholicae contrarium, factum esse, ut miseri Catholici, aut cum discrimine vitae, et jactura fortunarum fide¬ litati erga principem renuncient, aut cum Catholicae fidei detrimento, animarum sua¬ rum salutem in periculum adducant. At nos paulo ante docuimus, (c) juramentum pro¬ positum sub colore fidelitatis ad regem, abnegationem Primatus Apostolici conti¬ nere ; neque ad hoc demonstrandum multis argumentis egemus, cum ipsum regis edi¬ ctum, in quo juramenti hujus forma prae¬ scribitur, fraudes omnes apertissime dete¬ gat. Nam, ut supra uotavimus, titulus edicti est : At detegendos, et reprimendos Papi- stas. » Et in eodem edicto prope finem, nisi forte nos translatio fallat, duorum juramen¬ torum fit mentio, quorum alterum est de primatu regis in spiritualibus : alterum con¬ tra potestatem Pontificis in principes Chri¬ stianos, juramentum solius fidelitatis ne no¬ minatur quidem. Parum autem interest , utrum auctor apologiae velit, juramentum, de quo nunc agimus, esse juramentum de primatu regis in spiritualibus, an juramen¬ tum contra potestatem Pontificis in princi¬ pes Christianos : utrumque enim apud veros Catholicos fidei Christianae repugnat, prius enim juramentum tribuit spiritualem prima¬ tum ei, cui secundum Scripturas sanctas minime debetur, posterius vero detrahit eumclem primatum ab eo, cui secundum easdem Scripturas omni jure debetur. Chri¬ stus enim, ut supra diximus, Pastorem uni¬ versi gregis sui, non regem aliquem, sed Apostolum Petrum esse jussit : proinde, qui B. Petro succedunt, non qui regibus succe- (a) Benevolentia populorum magna est securitas Principum. — (6) Occasio conjurationis in An- glia quibusdam quomodo data. — (c) Juram. Anglicanum non petit meram civilem obedientiam . PRO JURAMENTO FIDELITATIS 215 dunt, primatum super Christianos obtinent : et si reges Christiani sunt, dubium esse non potest, quin Apostoli Petri successores super illos etiam pastoralem habeant potestatem. Non ergo breve Apostolicum sinistre inter¬ pretando juramentum, causa est mortis temporalis fidelibus Anglis ; sed juramen¬ tum apte ad decipiendum compositum, cau¬ sa est iisdem Anglis mortis sempiternse. Pag. 6. pergit auctor Apologiee, ac dicit, summum Pontificem contra bonos mores, et consuetudinem principum Christianorum ve¬ hementer peccasse, quod regem in dicta causa condemnaverit, partim annumerando cum persecutoribus, partim severe imperan¬ do, ut Catholici ab hoc Sacramento absti¬ neant, quod dum detrectant, fidelitatem suam profiteri recusant. Quod autem Pon¬ tifex in his duabus rebus peccaverit, proba¬ re se existimavit auctor insolubili argumen¬ to, dum ait: « Si Pontifex existimavitse regis esse Judicem competentem, eur non audi¬ tum damnavit ? sin autem Pontifici nihil cum rege negotii est, cur falcem suam im¬ misit in messem alienam ? » Sed quamquam Christi Vicarius, si Pater , et rector est, ut verissime est Ecclesiae universae ; judex etiam competens est omnium Christianorum, ac per hoc etiam regum, ut Christiani sunt : tamen si proprie loqui velimus, (a) summus Pontifex Paulus V. non de persona regis, sed de juramento judicavit, quando autem quaestio est, utrum aliquod juramentum li¬ citum sit, an illicitum , nemo judex magis competens fingi potest ipso summo Ponti¬ fice, quoniam agitur de re sacra, de re spi¬ rituali, de re, quae ad salutem vel perniciem animae pertinet. Itaque summus Pontifex, cum a juramento, quod noxium animis fide¬ lium judicavit, subditos suos absterruit ; id fecit quod pastor facit, cum oviculas suas arcet a pabulo venenato. Et quemadmodum pastor non judicat neque punit terram, quae pabulum mortiferum protulit; sed ovibus suis consulit, dam eas ab ejusmodi pabulo removet : sic summus Pontifex non regem proprie judicavit, vel damnavit, sed Catho¬ licos suos admonuit, juramentum proposi¬ tum non posse tuta conscientia suscipi. Fru¬ stra igitur auctor Apologiae clamat regem in dicta causa condemnatum : ineptum quo¬ que dilemma sibi fingit, cum non de damna¬ tione regis, sed de juramenti reprehensione agatur. At, inquit, si juramentum reprehenditur, consequenter reprehenditur is, qui juramen¬ tum suscipi jussit. Respondeo : negari non potest, quin reprehensio juramenti aliquo modo ad eum pertineat, qui juramentum praescripsit : (6) sed aliud est reprehendere opus alicujus hominis, aliud hominem ipsum in judicium propter opus illud vocare. Nam fieri potest, ut opus non placeat, et ta¬ men ab auctore juridice discutiendo, et damnando abstineatur. Sic igitur summus Pontifex juramentum reprehendit, sed re¬ gis personam non attigit, neque opus fuit ut causam diceret , qui in jus vocatus non fuerat. At, inquit, in eo peccavit Pontifex, quod regem persecutoribus annumeravit, dum ad martyrium pro recusatione juramenti susci¬ piendum, Catholicos suos hortatus est. Re¬ spondeo :(c) non annumeravit Pontifex regem inter persecutores absolute, sed in ejus ar¬ bitrio reliquit, velletne acquiescere veritati, et a juramento illicito obtrudendo cessare, et rex pacificus haberi ; an potius vellet con¬ tra innocentes saevire, et persecutor sancto¬ rum Martyrum nominari. At saltem in eo Pontifex peccavit , quod juramentum fidelitatis prohibendo, effecit, ut subditi debitam obedientiam regi suo non exhiberent. Respondeo : (cl) si juramentum solius fidelitatis esset, neque aliud requireret, nisi ut subditi omnes , etiam Catholici , regi subjecti essent, in iis rebus omnibus, quae contra fidem Catholicam , et obedientiam Deo, et summo Pontifici debitam non essent ; nemo juramentum reprehenderet, neque opus fuisset brevibus Apostolicis populum Catholicum admoneri. Nam et Clemens VIII. sanctae memoriae Poutifex, et hic ipse Pau¬ lus V. ejus in Apostolica Sede successor, non semel per litteras Catholicos Anglos admonuerunt, ut regi obedientiam, quae re¬ gibus secundum Scripturas sanctas debetur, diligentissime exhiberent, et a tumultibus, et seditionibus omnino caverent. Sed ubi vidit juramentum a Catholicis peti, in quo (a) Paulus V. proprie non de persona regis Anglice judicavit ; sed de juramento . utrum liceat. — (b) Opus reprehendere , non est hominem propter opus in judicium vocare. — (c) Regis in arbitrio a juram. cessare , vel illud urgendo Martyrum persecutor nominari. — (d) Papa civilem obedien¬ tiam nusquam prohibuit . 216 RESPONSIO AD APOLOGIAM per speciem civilis obedientiee, fidei Catho- licse abnegatio petebatur, admonuit suos, ut caverent insidias, et memores essent Apo- stolici dicti : « Obedire oportet magis Deo , quam hominibus, Actor, v. Pag. 7. confert auctor Apologiae bullam Pii Y. adversus Elisabetham, cum brevi Pauli Y. ac dicit, nihil fere interesse inter bullam Pii V. qui Elisabetham nominatim excommunicavit, et breve Pauli V. qui jura¬ mentum fidelitatis a Catholicis suscipi pro¬ hibuit : ille enim populos ab obedientia re¬ ginae absolvit ; iste obedientiam regi prae¬ stari vetuit : Omitto convicia, vel blasphemias potius in Pium Y. pontificem sanctum, ac de Dei Ecclesia optime meritum, neque enim ad convicia, quae solis conviciantibus nocent, sed ad rationes, et argumenta, quae minus peritis, aut parum attentis nocere possunt, respondendum esse putavimus, (a) Hoc igi¬ tur interest inter severitatem, qua utemdum esse Pius non sine justa causa censuit, et lenitatem, quam justa etiam de causa adhi¬ bere placuit Paulo : quod ille reginam jam- dudum propter haeresim excommunicatam a jure, et generatim , iterum nominatim excommunicavit, et excommunicatam de¬ claravit : et quoniam cum excommunicatis nominatim et publice declaratis non licet conversari, ac secundum Ecclesiae Catholicae leges, ejusmodi vitandi sunt, ideo Pius V. populum Catholicum ab obedientia reginae ad eum modum excommunicatae, et decla¬ ratae, justissime absolvit, et liberavit : tali enim severitate utendum esse tempora illa suaserunt. Paulus vero V. experiri volens, an medicamenta mitiora fortasse magis pro¬ dessent, praesertim cum agendum esset cum rege majoris prudentiae, atque doctrinae, et cujus parentes Catholici semper fuerunt : non judicavit hoc tempore expedire, ut rex nominatim excommunicaretur, vel excom- municatus publice declararetur : ac p"er hoc non solum non absolvit populos ab obedien¬ tia, quod fecerat Pius, sed neque vetuit, ut regi obedientia in rebus temporalibus prae¬ staretur, ut falso auctor Apologiae affirmat. At prohibuit suscipi juramentum fidelitatis. (b) Nego prohibuisse suscipi cujuscumque fidelitatis, sed ejus solius, quae cum infideli¬ tate conjuncta esset. Cum enim Christiani fide¬ litatem debeant non' solum regi terreno, sed etiam principi spirituali, qualis est Christi in terris Vicarius : nullo modo licet Christiano viro, ita jurare principi terreno fidelitatem, ut simul juret se principi spirituali minime pariturum, etiam in iis rebus, quae proprio ad ipsius pertinent potestatem. Quoniam igitur juramentum Catholicis propositum suscipi non poterat, sine abjuratione Ponti¬ ficiae potestatis, idcirco recte summus Pon- fex juramentum illud suscipiendum non esse censuit; tantumque interest inter bullam Pii V. et Breve Pauli V. quantum inter caute¬ rium ignis, aut, venae incisionem, et unctio¬ nem olei, aut dulcis pharmaci potionem. Pag. 8. rursum auctor Apologiae Pontificem carpit, Quod si regem respicias imprudenter, si Catholicus injuriose se gesserit. « Impru¬ dentia, inquit, est respectu regis, quod par¬ ti tim et minutatim juramentum non refuta¬ verit vel quod verbulum, quae sententiola, vel quidquid id est criminis, cujus juramentum insimulat, nullo detexit indicio. » Nolo in nugis tempus consumere, ea de causa non discutio impropietates vocabulorum, et lutu¬ lentam orationem hujus interpretis. Illud unum respondeo, ( c ) Pontificis Maximi pro¬ positum non fuisse librum refutationis con¬ scribere, ideo necesse non fuisse, ut jura¬ mentum universum, vel partes ejus, argu¬ mentis, variis ex locis petitis confutaret.