1 02 E diti on s an d Ver si on s S acr am en tor u m : or , an assertion of the seven sacra ments, against Martin Luther by Hen ry the VIII . To which is adjoyn ’ d his epistle to the Pope ; Mr . J . C lark ’ s oration ; and the Pope ’ s answer thereunto . A s also, the Pope ’ s B ull , by which his Holiness was p l eas ’ d to bestow upon K . H . VIII. that most illustrious title of D efender of the Faith . Faithfully trans lated into E nglish by T [homas] W[ebster] . Gent . pp . 1 33 E u g . N . Thompson : London, 1 687 . A n d also a S econd edition, revised and corrected . London , 1 688 . A s for other E nglish versions, the writer knows of none printed in E ngland, for this E nglish version, n ow and here reprinted, was, he believes, done in Ireland ; and this belief is based on the following reasons 1 . On e might readily suspect that after Henry had changed his m orals—even if not his faith—and had n ot only left, but shamefully pillaged and assaulted, the C hurch, naturally he would not al l ow the “A sser ti o ” to be printed . * Neither would any subsequent sover eig n , save M ary, in her brief and busy reign , and that for the same obvious reasons . 2 . In the “A dvertise ment ” of the present edition, here reprinted, the wr iter speaks of “The London edition from whence the presen t is taken . ” Now, that sounds as if this edition were n ot done in London , but somewhere else ; and where ? 3 . In this same “A dvertisement, ” page 247 , note ( a) , the writer refers to the “Historical A ccoun t of the Reformation (from Fl eu r y ’ s E cclesiastical History) printed in C or ke Now, at this date in E n g l an d on e would hardly expect to see a C atholic so dar ing as to break the laws and n ot only have, bu t print , a book so decidedly pro - C atholic as the “A sser tio. ” A n d *The ver sion ju st told of, by T . W wou ld seem to b e th e exc ep tion that pr oves th e r u le . I t had dou btless b een done su r reptitiou sly.
1 04 E di ti on s an d Ver si ons D efen ce of the S even S acraments, again st Martin Luther . 2 vols . D ublin, 1 821 . The same catalogue makes entries of “ [ another edi tion] D ublin 1 83 6, and “ [another edition ] B alti more [ 1 858 and The D ecalogue explained, etc . , 1 750, From the library of S t. Mary ’ s S emi n ary, B altimore, the editor has secured a copy of the 1 821 edition, en titled “The C om mandments an d S acramen ts E xplained in Fifty two D iscourses by the Rt . Rev. D oc tor H orn ihol d, to which is added, King Hen ry the E ighth ’ s D efence of the S even S acraments against Mar tin Luther . In two volumes . D ublin : Richard C oyn e, 1 6 Parliament S t. , C atholic B ookseller . 1 821 . Price 1 1 8 . 41/2d . ” The work is in 1 6mo and bound in calf. On page 21 5 of Volum e II . is the following : “A sser tio S ep tem S acr am en tor u m , or a D efence of the S even S acra ments against Martin Luther , by Henry the E ighth, King of E ngland, France and Ireland, to which ar e ad j oined His E pistle to the P Op e, The Oration of Mr . John C lark, (Orator to H i s Majesty) on the D elivery of this B ook to His Holiness, and the Pope ’ s A n swer to the Oration, as also the Pope ’ s B ull , by which H i s Holi ness was pleased to bestow upon that King (for compos ing this book) that most illustrious, splendid, an d most C hristian - like title of D efender of the Faith . Faith ful ly translated into E nglish from the origin al Latin edition . By T . W . Gent . ” This edition of D r . H or n ihol d ’ s work is dif erent from the on e which is here reprinted, though the latter i s evidently by D r . H or n ihol d . The catalogue of the B ritish Museum says there was an other edition of H or n ihol d, D ublin, 1 836, Probably this latter is the edition here reprin ted . The same catalogu e records “an other edition , B altimore, 1 858 ( l ) ,
E di ti ons an d Ver sions 1 05 From this narration of the various e dition s we may readily see how Widely spread and read the “A sser tio ” was. “C opies were sent to all the prin cipal courts of E u rope and to the universities . Two copies are still in the Vatican This statement must yield to a personal letter from Rev. Fr . E hrle , S . J . , from the Vatican Library, where in he says there are now in the Vatican four copies of the edition of London 1 521 , all printed on parchment , and also the editions of A ntwerp 1 523, Floren ce 1 543, Lyons 1 561 , and Paris ( l ) 1 562 ( l ) . In the B ritish Museum there are sixteen editions and ten copies of dates as follows : 1 521 , two editions and two copies ; 1 522, five editions and three copies ; 1 543 , on e edition ; 1 5 61 , one edition and one copy ; 1 562, on e edition and two copies ; 1 687 , one edition and two copies ; and on e edition for 1 688, 1 821 , 1 836, 1 850, and 1 858 . Here at the end of the list of the editions of the A s ser ti o, ” for the sake of clearness and by way of supple men t, is inserted a chronological sum mary taken from Walter ’ s “More . 1 521 . May, “A sser ti o ” begun . October, “A sser ti o ” published . 1 522 . July, Luther replied to Henry . Henry complained to the E l ector . ‘ r 1 525 . S eptember, at the entreaty of Christian, King of D en mark, Luther apologized to Henry . *E ng lish C atholic Tru th S o. ' s pu blication, Popery on E very C oin of the Realm . " fA u din , Henry VIII . , p . 1 01 , gi ves the title of th e letter of H en ry to the Pri n c es com plaining ab ou t Lu ther , as foll ows: C on tr a Lu th eru m eju squ e hasr esim epist. scr . r eg is A ng . ad il l u str i ssimas S axon iaad u c es pie admonitor ia.
1 06 E di tions an d Ver si on s 1 526. More ’ s “Vin dic atio Henrici VIII a cal u mn ii s Lu ther i ” by Gu l i el m u s Rossen s . S o that besides the A sser tio ” Henry sent ou t as hi s other docum ents, for Henry wrote a reply to Luther . * “Thes e letters have been published without n ote of place or date, and are prefixed, in the copy, n ow be fore the writer, of the tr eati se of H en r y on the seven sacraments ” ? A s for Luther ’ s writings in reply to the “A sser tio, Roscoe, in his “Leo says zl : “Luther replied to this book in his treatise ‘ C ontra H en r ic um VIII . A ngliae Regem’ ; which he addressed to S eb . S chlick, a B ohemian nobleman, in a dedication which bears date 1 5th July, 1 522 . In this work he treats the King, without any ceremony, as a liar and a blasphemer . ‘Nunc qu u m prudens et sciens m en dati a c om pon at adversus mei Regis m aj estatem in ccel i s, dam n abil i s Pu tr e do ista et Vermi s , jus mihi er it pr o meo Rege, m aj estatem A n g l i c am luto su o et ster cor e conspergere , et c or on am istam bl asphem am in C hr i stum pedibus conculcare . ’ B u t whilst he stigmatizes the book of H enr y VIII . as stolidissim u m and tu rpi ssi m u m , he ackn owledges it to be ‘ inter omnes qu i con tra se scr ipti sun t l ati n i ssim u m . ’ He insinuates, however, that it was written by some other person in the name of the King . ” This criticism is not peculiar to Roscoe : Hutton, in his speaks of an answer from Luther which n o on e denies to be violent and indecent to the last de “I nvictissim i pr i n cipia Hen ri ci VII I r egis Angliae et Fr anc iaa ad Martini Lu ther i epistol am r esp on sio. ” fRoscoe, Leo X Vol . I I . , note 1 68. tNote 1 68. § P . 1 98.
1 08 E di ti on s an d Ver si on s are prefixed, in the copy n ow before me, to the treatise of Hen ry on the S even S acraments . ” This work of More was in Latin, * and, says B urn et,1 ' “He wrote according to the way of the age, wi th much bitterness. ” However, Maitl an di may be quoted, who says : “I do not want to defend the Romi sh writers and I hope I have no par tiality for them, bu t it really appears to me only simple truth to say that, whether from good or bad motives, they did in fact abstain from that fierce, tru culent, and abusive language, and that loathsome ribaldry, which characteriz ed the style of too many of the Puritan wr iters . ” B esides S i r Thomas another wise and holy man de fended the King : that was John Fisher, B ishop of Rochester, who wrote also in Lin g ar dfl says “Fisher, B ishop of Rochester , in a more argu men tative style, un dertook the defence of the King in his work, entitled ‘D efen sio A sser ti on u m regis A n gliae de fide C atholics adversus Lu ther i C aptivi tatem B abylon A udin says of it “It is a con troversial work, where no passionate expression can be perceived, and were the bishop al ive nowadays, an d about to pub lish it, he woul d not require to erase a single word. Luther must have suffered most acutely on readin g a work of such candour and merit . ” Fisher ’ s argument is that “men may err in interpreting S cripture, and therefore they must obey the Holy Ghost, Who ex *E ve of Reform ation , p . 90. i st . of Reform ation , Vol . I . , p . 31 . i The Reform ation , p. 48 . §C onf. Lingar d , Hist. of E ng . , IV . , p . 468, note 2 . Stewar t, Life an d Letters of S ir Th om as More, p . 1 19 . Henri Brem on d , Thom as Mor e, C h . V n ote 2 . “Mason, p . 81 , Op . c it . in Bibliog . filH ist. of E nglan d , Vol . IV . , p . 468. **Henry VII I . , pp . 99, 100.
E di ti ons an d Ver si on s 1 09 pounds S cripture infallibly in the C hurch by the mouths of the Fathers and C ouncils and Tradition . ” B esides More and Fisher we are told that in 1 523 appeared [Wol sey ’ s] elaborate defence of Henry VIII . entitled ‘A dser ti on i s Lu ther an aa c on fu tatio, ’ and also Powell ’ s ‘Pr Opu gn acu l u m . ’ Of this latter, C ollier tells u s zi “On e D r . Powell of Oxford was a second to the King in this controversy . The tract was divided into two books ; the first was entitled ‘D e summo P on tific e et E ucharisties sacramento ; ’ the other ‘D e S ex S acra mentis . ’ The King was extremely pleased with Powell ’ s management . B u t he lost the King ’ s favour by appearing strongly against the divorce and the new supremacy . ” Over the C hannel , even in the land of the enemy, Henry had apologists . D u Pin, in his “E cclesiastical History, ” says zi t “S everal divines thought it an honour to defend the King of E ngland, by con futing Luther ’ s book, which he wrote against him . In Germany, John E cki u s an swer ed it in Latin , and Thomas Mu n c er in High D utch . *Har dwi c k ' s C hri stian Chu r ch , p . 1 65 , n ote 1 . {Op . c it , Pt. II . , Bk . I . , 1 7 . ISixte en th C entu ry , Bk . I I . , Ch . X IV.
{the [presentation to the [pope THOUGH I have found nothing in the records, yet on e may fancy the feelings of Henry as he waited in E n g land for news of how hi s book had been received at Rome. Lingard, in his “History of E ngland, tells somethin g of the outward presentation and of the inward private history, too. He says * that “C lark, dean of Windsor, carried the royal production to the pontiff, wi th an as surance, as his master had refuted the errors of Luther with his pen, so was he ready to oppose the disciples of the heresiarch with his sword, and to array against them the whole strength of his kingdom . Leo accepted the present, but Henry looked for something more pleasing to his vanity than mere acknowledgments . The Kings of France had long been distinguished by the appellation of ‘Most C hristian, ’ those of S pain by ‘C atholic . ’ When Louis XII . set up the schismatical syn od of Pisa it was contended that he had forfeited his right to the former of these titles, and Julius II . tran s ferred it to Henry, but wi th the understanding that the transfer should be kept secret till the services of the King might justify in the eyes of m en the partiality of the pontiff. A fter the victory of Gui n egate Henr y de m an ded the publication of the grant ; bu t Juli u s was dead ; Leo declared hims elf ign orant of the transaction . an d means were found to pacify the King with the promise of some other, but equivalent, distin ction . Wol *IV . , 446.
1 1 2 The Pr esen tati on to the P ope sovereigns of E ngland should n ot, in all future times, be denominated the A postolic, the Orthodox, the Faithful, or the An gelic . * The proposition of the Pope, who had been previously informed of the sentiments of Wolsey on this subject, at leng th, however, prevailed, and a bull was accordingly issued, conferring this title on Henry and his posterity a title retained by hi s successors to the presen t day, notwithstanding their separation from the Roman Church ; which has given occasion to some orthodox wr iters to remark that the Kings of this coun try should either maintain that course of conduct in r e ward for which the distinction was conferred, or r el i n qu i sh the title . ” 1: A udin adds that Pace also wen t with C lark to the Vatican to present the ‘A sser tio ’ to His Holiness . ’ Pallavicini , in his ' History of the C ouncil of Trent, M says : “1 1 composa donc u n livre savant contre beaucoup des propositions de Martin Luther, l e fit presenter au pontife en consistoire, l e second jour d ’ octobr e, par son ambassadeur . C e fut pour Leon l e sujet d ’ une grande joie . ” He further tells us that among the titles suggested as a reward for Henry were “A postolic, ” “Orthodox, ” “Faithful, ” “A ngelic (A nglican) , “M ost Faithful , Glorious ” ; that on the 26th of October, 1 521 , the C onsistory agreed on the title “D efender of the Faith . ” “Thereupon a bull was drawn up on this subject , and a brief which was to be j oined to the bull , and these two pieces were approved in a consistory 26 Oct. *Pal l avrc C on cil . di Tr en to, lib . II . , c ap . 1 , S ec . VIII . , p . 1 77 . {Vide App . , No. X . fS eckend . , lib . I . , p . 188. (Lu ther 0 p . ) §Henry VI I I . , p . 93. "Bit . II . , C h . I . , par . 7 .
The Pr esen tati on to the Pope 1 1 3 Pope C lement con firmed the title in a bull of March 5, 1 523 + Hum anly speaki n g, what a boon this book of Henry ’ s , an d all that it stood for in the eyes of the world, must have been to the Pope ! Protestantism was about to break ou t in Germany, and this embassy from E ngland must have indeed cheered the drooping spirits of the S overeign Pontif . This i s well put by S peed zi : B u t with what acceptance hi s Holinesss received King Henrie ’ s booke, his own oration solemn ly made at the delivery thereof unto M. John C larke, the presenter and King ’ s ambassador , in his C onsistory, and in the pres ence of his C ardinals, sufficiently doth show, the trans lation whereof we have inserted as we find it in the Or ig in al l it selfe . ” [ Translation follows ] “To manifest which his readinesss, himself among hi s C ardinals decreed an augmentation unto King Henries royall style , to bee annexed unto his others ; con firmi ng the same by his B ull , which that it perish not by the devouring teeth of time wee have here published from the or ig i n al l Parchment, an d Leaden S e ale it selfe, as follows : Last, but not least , is B rewer ’ s edition of the “Letters and Papers , Foreign and D omestic, ’ concer ning Henry VI I I . ’ s book being presented to the Pope . The account says 1 592 . C ampeggio to Wolsey 1 521 Is overcome with j oy at reading the 1 9 S ept . King ’ s ‘ aureus li bel l u s. ’ A l l who have seen R . 0 . it say that, though so many have written on the same subject, nothing could be bet ter expressed or argued, and he seems to have been i n *Par t I . , Bk . I I . , C h . I . fS chafi, Chr istian C hu r c h , C h . VI . , 70. fH i st . of Gr eat Br i tai n , p . 992. § Vol . I I I . , Par t II .
1 1 4 The Pr esen tati on to the P ape spired more by an angeli c and celestial than by a hum an spirit . We can hereafter tr u ly call him ‘Lu ther om as tica. ’ I send also congratul atory letters to the Ki ng . You will hear the acc oun t of the war in Italy from the King ’ s ambassador and the Pope ’ s nu ncio with you . Rome 1 9 S ept . 1 521 . S igned . Lat . p . 1 , A dd . ” S o much for the preliminary presentation . A s to the presentation in C onsistory the records say “1 607 . Clerk to Wolsey : The Pope has appointed next week for receiving the Ki ng ’ s book in open C onsistory. Would have sent a copy of his proposed oration, but was prevented by the hasty departure of the carrier . Rome . 25 S ept . 1 521 . “Hol . My Lord C ardinal ’ s grace . However, we have soon after the omitte d speec h, at least in substance ; it runs thus :1 ' “1 656. JOHN C LARK. His speech in the consistory on presentin g the King ’ s book . “The King has written this book to coun teract the pernicious and widespread heresies of M artin Luther, and comm issioned the speaker to offer it to his Holiness . E nlarges on the viru lence of Luther and his disrespect for the Pope, his maki ng himself equal to S t . Pete r, and his contempt for the authority of the Fathers . Luther has broken the rule of continence and reduced the sacra ments to 3 , 2 , 1 , would probably reduce them to nothin g some day . Points to the mi sery of B ohemia caused by the Hussite heresy, as a warn ing . The n ew enemy equals all heresiarchs in learn ing, exceeds all in wicked ness of spirit . “The Pope , however, has done hi s best to stifle the flames, aided by learn ed men in all coun tries , of which *Br ewer , S tate Paper s. i Br ewer , op . cit. 1 3th Henr y VI I I .
1 1 6 The Pr esen tati on to the Pop e When John C l[ erk] , the King ’ s ambassador at Rome, presented the King ’ s book against Luther to the late Pope Leo X . , in presence of the C ollege of C ardinals, it was beautiful to hear with what exultation the Pope and C ardinals broke out into the praises of Henr y, de cl ar in g that no on e could have devised a better antidote to the poison of heresy, and that Henry had with great eloquence completely refuted Luther by reason, S crip ture and the authority of the Fathers . He had thus devoted hi s learning to the support of religion, and shown an example to C hristian princes . A s an imper feet acknowledgment of this service, the Pope , with the unanimous assent of the C ardinals, a little before his death, ordained , by letters under the hands of himself and them, that Henry should henceforth be called ‘D e fen der of the Faith, ’ and ordered a bull to be sent , which Wolsey now presents . C ongratulates Henry on the honour, and himself on having induced him to undertake the work . “Lat . pp . 2 mutilated . It is pertinent to ask about the B ull n ow, which was conveyed to Henry with such “fulsome parade and It “is still in the B ritish Museum, as also an autograph letter} from the Pope praising Henry and his work in the highest terms . ” f Fuller, in his “C hurch History of B ritain, Vol . II . p . 1 3 , says : There is a tradition that King Henry ’ s fool , coming into the court, and finding the King trans ported with an unusual j oy, boldly asked him the cause thereof ; to whom the King answered it was because that *Worsley, D awn of th e Reform ation , p . 160. J (S ee Pope ’ s Letter to Henry, p . 1 75 . tE nglish C atholic Tr u th S ociety, pamphlet Popery on E very C oin of th e Realm . ”
The Pr esen tati on to the Pope 1 1 7 the Pope had hon oured him with a style more emin ent than any of hi s ancestors . ‘0 good Harry, ’ quoth the fool, ‘ let thou and I defend on e an other, an d let the faith alone to defen d itself . ’ Finally, there is an amusing as well as interesting statemen t made by Lowndes, * who says that the Roman edition of 1 521 had four leaves prefixed, declaring “Libr u m hu n c I n victi ss A ngliae Regis, Fidei D efen sor i s contra Mart . Lu ther u m Leg en tibu s, decem an n or u m et totidem X L I n du lg en ti a apostolica A u ctor itate concessa est . *Biog raph . Man u al , Par t IV . , p. 1039.
d be trifle “E efenoer of the jfaitb Was i t to be mereoitarp z E DWARD VII . is the seventeenth E nglish sove reign who has borne that title . It is the only title he sides that of ‘King ’ of E ngland he thin ks it worth while to put on his coin age . In other words , his proudest title, after ‘King of E ngland, ’ i s that given by the Pope — ‘D efender of the Faith . ’ Now, the question i s, has the present Ki ng, had any king or queen other than Henry VIII . the right to the title “D efender of the Faith ” which the Pope gave Henry 2 The question must be di vided in two, thus 1 . D id the King of E ngland ever have this title be fore Henry VIII 9 2 . Was H en r y VI I I . ’ s title given to him by the Pope to be hereditary ? 1 . A s to the first, there are several reliable witnesses for the affirmative . In the “A r chaeol og i a, published in London , Vol . XIX . , p . 1 , Luders presents very interesting testimony . He says : “A ccording to Henaul t, Pepin had received the title of ‘Most C hristian ’ in A . D . 755 from the Pope, and C harles the B ald in 859 from a C ouncil . C harles the S ixth, in a charter of 1 41 3 , refers to ancient usage for the same . ” C ontinuin g, he says that Richard II . and Henry IV . both speak of themselves as “D efenders of the Faith . ” *E nglish C atholi c Tru th S ociety, pam phlet Popery on E very C oin of th e Realm .
1 20 The Ti tl e “ D efen der ofthe F ai th ” S acramen ts, ’ a title which had been bor ne by former ki n gs, bu t which he [Henry VIII . ] exulted in as a per sonal distinction . S o that one may reasonably conclude that the title D efender of the Faith, ” or at least a title similar in wording, if not in idea, was used before Henry VIII . received it from Leo. An d, moreover, while it i s n ot so stated in the authorities consulted, yet this title, used before the time of Henry, would seem to have been hereditary. 2 . A n d now as to the second part of the question Was the title given by the Pope to Henry VIII . in tended by the Pope to be perpetual and hereditary ? The evidence is not all on one side, and hence the testimonies declaring the title hereditary are here g iven first . B utler, in his C hurch History of B ritain, says of Hen ry VIII . “To requite his pains the Pope honou red him and hi s su cc essor s with a specious title, ‘A D efender of the Faith . ’ Thomson agrees - with this in his C ourt of Henry and says : “His theological attain ments enabled him in after times to procure for hims elf and hi s suc c essor s the title of ‘D efender of the Faith . ’ S o, too, Lewis, in his “Life of D r . John speaks of “A n A cte in bu ll un der lead declarin g His Grace to be the ‘D efender of the C hristian Faith ’ and hi s su cc essor s for ever . ” The “A nnals of E ngland, ” page 47, says of Leo : “He decreed to grace King Henry an d hi s su cc essor s wi th that honourable one of D efender of the Faith . ” C oncurring with this is C obbett in hi s “History of the Protestant Reformation i n E ngland an d Ireland, ’ *Vol . I I . , p . 1 3. tVol . L , p . 1 08. {VOL I . , p . 3 . §Phila. , 1825 , p . 69 .
The Ti tl e “ D efender ofthe F ai th ” 1 21 who makes the translation of the Pope ’ s B ull declare that he, the Pope, does “grant unto Your Majesty, your hei r s an d su c cessor s, the title . In E dward Hall ’ s “Lives of the Kings i s the fol lowing very interesting and detailed entry : The second day of February, the Kyn g e beyn g at Gr en ewiche, came thether the C ar din al l wi th a l eg ac ion from Leo, bishop of Rome A n d final ly the C ar di n al l declared how the sayd bishop of Rome had sent his highn es an A cte in B ull under ls ade, decl aryn g therein his grace to be defen dor of the C hristian fayth, an d hi s su cc essor s for ever m or e . A n d when his grace had received the sayd B ul l and caused it to be redde and published, he wen t to his chapell to heare Masse . “H ol in shed ’ s C hronicle of E ngland, S cotland, an d I r el an d ” j L has the following to say on the title being hereditary : “On the second daie of Februarie, the King, as then being at Gr een ewich, received a bull from the Pope, whereby he was dec lared D efen dor of the C hris tian faith, an d likewise hi s su ccessor s for ever . “The title was ascribed unto the King because he had wr itten a booke against Luther in Germ an i e ; whereunto the said Luther answered ver i e shar peli e, nothing spar ing hi s au thor i ti e nor majestic . Of which booke pub l i shed by the King, I will n ot (for reverence of hi s r oi al ti e ) , though I durst, report what I have read bi c au se we are to judge hon ou r abli e of ou r rulers, and to speake nothing bu t good of the princes of the people . On el i e thi s briefe clause or fragment I wi ll adde ( least I might seeme to tell a tale of the m an in the moone) that Kin g Henrie in his said booke i s reported to rage against the divell and antichrist to cast ou t his some against Luther, to raise ou t the name of the Pope, and *Henry VI I I . , Vol . I . , p . 235. {VOL I I I . , E nglan d , p . 675.
1 22 The Ti tl e “ D efen der of the F aith ” yet to allow hi s law, etc . I su pp r esse the rest for shame, an d return s to ou r historie . ” John Foxe, in his “A cts an d says the sam e : “B u t whosoever had the labour of this book, the King had the thanks and also the reward ; for cou se quen tly upon the same the bishop of Rome gave to the said King Henr y, for the style again st Luther, the style and title of ‘D efender of the C hristian Faith, ’ an d to hi s su cc essor s for ever . ” B ar on iu s, in his An n ales E ccl esi asticae, 1 ' sides with the foregoing : “Tam g r atum accidi t Leoni id mun us Hen rici Reg is, u t n on modum ill um l au dibu s cel ebr ar it, verum etiam defen sor i s E cclesia titul o deco r aver it, quem vel u ti perpetuum et imm ortale regia glories m on u m en tu m in eju s p oster as tr an sfu n den dum c on stitu it. ” i : This is certainly a rather formi dable array of hi s tor i an s in favour of the title being hereditary, an d yet there are others, best of all the B u ll itself, in comparison wi th which all other witnesses are of little weight, which see m to disprove the hereditary character of the title, at least in the Pope ’ s inte ntion as implied in the B ull. Mainwaring B rown, in the Royal Historical S ociety ’ s Publications, Vol . VIII . , has an article on “Hen ry VI I I . ’ s B ook, ‘A sser ti o S eptem S acr am en toru m , ’ and the Royal Title of ‘D efender of the Faith . ’ He says : “Ol d writers, such as Holinshed, Lever, etc . , say that it [ the title] was granted to the Kin g an d his su ccessor s, bu t the words of the bull ” are [ see elsewhere in this volume] . “This bull , then, so far from making the title hereditary, especially set forth that it was n ot so, and “Vol . IV. , pp . 293, 294. {C um Pagi , Tom . XXXI . , p . 348, ad an . 1 521 , parag . LXXIV. 1IV 468, note 1 .
1 24 The Ti tl e “ D efen der ofthe F ai th ” arouse the jealousy of the others by a hereditary on e . S trangely enough, Parliament declared the title heredi tary ( see S tate Papers , 35 Hen . VIII . , 0 . It was repealed by Parliament in 1 554, yet the crown still used it . E liz abeth revived it by act of Parliament . B u t the weightiest witness in this question is surely the Pope ’ s B ull itself ; so that we should carefully read the following passage of it, which decides that the title i s not hereditary “A s we have by this title honoured you , we likewise com m and all C hristians that they name you r Maj esty by this title, and that in their writing s to you r Maj esty, immediately after the word King they add D efender of the Faith . Having thus weighe d and diligently con sider ed you r sin g u l ar merits, which [ title] as often as you hear, or read, you shall remember your own merits and virtues ; nor will you , by this title , exalt you r self, but become more stron g and constant in your devotion to this Holy S ee, by which you were exalted . A n d you shall rej oice in our Lord, who is the Giver of all good things , for leaving such a perpetual and everlasting monum ent of you r glory to poster i ty, and showing the way to other s that if they also c ovet to be i n vested wi th su ch a titl e, they may stu dy to do such actions, and to follow the steps of you r most excellent M ajesty ; whom, with your wife, childr en , an d al l who shal l sp r in g fr om you , we bless with a bou n teful and liberal hand . Leo ’ s other communication to Henry, dated Rome, Nov. 4, 1 521 , and found elsewhere in this volume in both Latin and E nglish, doe s n ot say that the title was to be hereditary. Certainly, if the Pope had meant it to be hereditary, on e cann ot but thin k that he woul d have said so, as he seems overflowing with ki n dn ess and marks of aifection for Henry. B esides, the B ul l alludes
The Ti tl e “ D efender ofthe F aith ” 1 25 to the title and hOpes that you may be able to sustain that singular an d in describable glory, which your Majesty has quite justly merited by your very great deeds, even to the very last day of this life, and leave it to be told ofto all your posterity [ et eam in omni pos ter itate p r aedic an dam relinquere ] . Peter H eyl in , in his “E cclesia Restaurata (2 vols . , C ambridge, Vol . I . , p . 44, says of the heredi tar in ess of the title : “B u t then, considering with him self that it was first granted by that Pope as a p er son al favour, an d n ot i n ten ded to d esc en d u p on hi s p oster i ty, etc . In the A r chaeol ogi a, Vol . XIX . , p . 1 and fol . , pub l i shed in London 1 81 9, Luders writes : Ou r Kings do not bear this title under the authority of Leo X . ’ s bull to Henry VIII . , or that of C lement VII . , his successor, who confirmed it . This grant, we should say, ac cording to ou r law, has no proper words of limitation and in heritance, for the blessing alone is conferred upon the wife and children, and not the title . The inheritance seems n ot to be conveyed . S o that none but the King himself could claim the honour, as peculi ar to his per son, un less in the opinion of His Holiness the descend ant shoul d be thought to inherit the virtues of his ancestor . “The B ul l of confirmation, granted two years after wards by Clement VII . , in respect of the title earned by hi s extraordin ary merits, simply confirms the grant of Leo to the King himself: ‘A pp r obam u s, confir m am u s, Tibiq u e p erp etu u m et proprium depu tamus . ’ H ow, then, can the statements of so many historians who declare the title hereditary be explain ed ? Possibly flattery was their motive ; very probably assu mption , n ot having carefully read the B ull ; or perhaps the wish
1 26 The Ti tl e “ D efen der ofthe Fai th ” was father to the thought. S o for the older historians . For the later ones, the con tin ued u se of the error would lead these to fancy that their monarch had a perfect right not only “de facto ” but “de jure, ” and con sequently they would infer that the Pope had made it hereditary . A t any rate, there is one very reli able historian who stands against the title ’ s being he reditary “de jure ” ; it is Lingard , who, in his “History of E ngland, ” says most plainly and decidedly : “It should be observed that in neither of the bulls is there any grant of inheritance . The title belonged to the King personally, and not to his successors— Tibi perpetuum et proprium Ibid . B u t Henry retained it after his separation from the commu nion of Rome , and in 1 543 it was ann exed to the crown by act of Parliament, 35 Henry VIII . , It mi ght be added by way of negative argu ment, that as Polydor e Vergil says nothing of the hereditary char acter of the title, we mi ght also conclude that it was for Henry alone and personally . S o that, though “the King ’ s grace would n ot lose that stile (defender of the faith) for all London and twenty miles round yet even this he had n o right to hand down to posterity ; the assumption of the title by the subsequent sovereign s of E ngland was wi thout right and without good taste . *C hr istopher Wor dsworth , E c clesiastic al Biog r aphy, Vol . I I p . 476, n ote 2, of Lon don edi tion , 1 837 .
1 28 Cr i ti cism an d E ffects of the “ A sser ti o ” Leo calls the doctrin e set forth in the “A sser tio ” remarkable, ” and “permeated with the dew of heavenly grace, ” and he “thank ed A lmighty God most deeply, Who moved your mind, so able and prone to every good work, an d, as it were, design ed to pour g race from above into your m ind, that you should write these “It was throughout an appeal to authority, 1 is the criticism of a professor in a great A merican univer sity, which he intended to be unfavourable, but which appears quite the con trary to on e who believes that every good comes down from the Father of light and the Giver of all good gifts, and kn ows that every one should be sub ject to authority . H erg en r oether ’ s estimate is calm and just : C et ouvrage, qu ’ on a beaucoup surfait de son temps , etait con gu dans un e forme populaire, et faisait habilement ressortir les contradictions de Luther sur la con fession les indulgences et la pr 1m au te . ” it S acon ay, on p . lxxii of his Preface to the A sser ti o, says : “Postea quam autem sen sit Lutherns hoc libro reg io, per H i er on ym um E m pser u m in lingn am Ger m an ic am translato, multum exi stim ation i s apud Ger manos detr ahi evangelio su o. O n e who reads the “A sser tio ” cannot fail to be im pressed with the comm on sense and cool reason di s played, and will n ot unlikely be won over to Henry an d the faith he defen ds . He quotes the S criptures very frequently, and several of the Fathers and theologian s aptly and tellingly . To be more accurate, he qu otes the Ol d Testament forty- two times : Genesis 5, E xodus *Bull of Leo, printed i n this volume . J ( George F isher , Pr of. E cc les. Hist. in Yale, i n his T he Re for mation , " p . 126. i st . d e l 'Egl ise. v 247 .
Cr i ti ci sm and E ffec ts of the “ A sser ti o 3, Leviticus 1 , Num bers 1 , D euteronomy 3 , I . Kings 2, Psalms 9, Prover bs 3, Wisdom 1 , E cclesiasticus 2, Ec cl esi astes 1 , E zechiel 4, Isaias 3 , and Zachar y 1 . The New Testamen t i s quoted on e hundred and on e times Matthew 1 1 , Mark 3 , Luke 1 0, John 1 8, A cts 4, Romans 7, I. C orinthians 1 2, Galatians 1 , I . Thessalonians 1 , C olossians 1 , E phesians 3 , I . Timothy 1 0, II. Timothy 2, Titus 2, Hebrews 4, James 8 , I . Peter 2, I . John 1 , A pocalypse 1 . The style i s simple and direct , an d appropriate to the subject . D isparaging criticism c an easily come from the biassed prejudice and a priori decision of one who has n ot read it, or who hates the faith Henry so well de fends, or who would expect too much of an amateur . No wonder, then, that so able and practical and timel y a work should have had the ef ect that it did . A udin * says : Never did a controversialist , even to this hour, win such laurels of glory as Henry ; praise daily laid at hi s feet from Germany, Italy, Fran ce, the Netherlands , and S pain . ” A n d in hi s “C alvin ” ( II . , 424) the same author asserted : “Or , l ’A sser tio septem sacr am en tor u m du monarque anglais, accueillie 5 Rome avec enthousiasme, avait ému l e monde théologique . ” The B ishop of La Rochelle, in hi s Introduction to the “A sser tio, says as much and even more : “Un livre qui fit tan t de brui t dans l ’Eu r ope en tier e, qui excita tan t de j oie dans l ’Eg l ise, qui produisit, parmi l es savants , un e admiration 51 gen eral, et qui jeta la terreur dans l e camp de l ’hér ési e. A s to the reception it received at the C ourt of Rome, Pallavicini ] says : “C e fu t pour Leon l e sujet d ’ un e grande j oie . * Henry VIII . , p . 92. fTr en te , Bk . I C h . I . , see . 8 , p er . 177.
1 30 Cr i ti cism an d Efi ’ ec ts of the “ A sser ti o ” B etter still , we have a really beautiful , fatherly c r i ti ci sm of the worth of the “A sser ti o ” in the Pope ’ s B ull of November 4, 1 521 , wherein he says so many kind things in such a beautiful way . The B ull is printe d elsewhere in this volum e in both Latin and E nglish, so I quote from it only a few lines : “What seriousness in the theme itself ! What order ! How great force of eloquence, so that the Holy S pirit seems to be in it ! E veryt hin g is full of judgment, of wisdom, of piety ; there is kindness in teaching, meekness in admonishin g, truth in arguing, ” etc . A s to the effects it had at Rome, S ample * says : He accomplished hi s main purpose, for he received from the Pope the title of ‘D efender of the Faith . ’ However, this was not done hurriedl y and without forethought, for B r ewer f say s that only after months spent in de liberation, Henry, the new candidate for spiritual honours , was admitted into the narrow and exclusive orbit of the C hurch ’ s patrons : ‘D efender of the Faith . ’ A less selfish, more generous, and far wider purpose is attributed to Henry by Worsley in his “D awn of the He says : “A s a theological work, although not destitute of polemical ingenuity in argu ment, it missed the main point [ stopping Luther and the Reformation] . It was hailed as a prodig y . To the Germans especially it appeared marvellous that a crowned head should contain so much learni ng . ” S till, Henry i s declared to have deeply influ enced a great— and very great— man, hi s own Prime Minister, for “There is n o reason to doubt the statement that at least on e illustrious convert [M ore] was brought over to a belief in the Pope ’ s supremacy by the very con *Beac on Lights of th e Reform ation , p . 199 . {Reig n of Henry VII I Vol . I . , p . 302. fP . 160.
1 32 Cr iti cism an d E ffects of the “ A sser ti o ” A s to Henry ’ s faith outwardly manifested even at the end of his life, Luders , in the “A r chaeol og i a, ” XIX . , p . 1 an d fol . , say s : “Ou r Henry indeed proved an u n grateful child of the Holy S ee, but his character had nothing to disgrace the donor at the time of the gift ; and though he renoun ced the Pope, he may be said to have defended the C athol ick faith to the last . A n d S ander * has the following interesting notice In the year of our Lord 1 541 the imperial D iet was held in Ratisbon, and thereto the King [Henry VIII . ] weary, after the manner of the world , not only of the wickedness of others, but also of his own , sent S i r Henry Kn yv ett, and S tephen Gardiner, bishop of Win chester, a man of great learning and marvellous sagacity . On e of his reasons for sending them was his desire to justify his caution in matters of religion before certain princes of Germany, who were charging him with being lukewarm in his prosecution of the new gospel . B u t his chief reason was this : He knew that if neither C atholics nor Protestants were satisfied with him, seeing that he fully agreed with neither, he there fore determined that his ambassadors should, in concert with the emperor, devise some means by which he might be reconciled to the Roman Pontif , and openly observe the perfect rule of the C atholic faith , which he lm ew to be more true and more certain than any other . He was driven to this by the pressure of his conscience , *Rise an d Gr owth of th e Ang lic an S c hism . Notes by D avid Lewis, pp . 1 52 , 1 53 . A s to S an der ’ s tr u stworthi ness, Nicholas Pocock , in his Pr efac e to The Pr eten ded D ivor c e b etween Henry VI I I . an d C athar in e of Ar ag on , ” i n th e C am den S oci ety ’ s Tr an sac tions, 1 878, has th e followi n g tr ib u te to S an der Whom i t h as b een the fashion ever si nc e the days of B u r net to dispar ag e as em inen tly u n tr u stwor thy. A t one time I was of the sam e opi n ion , b u t th e m or e i ntim ately I b ecam e ac qu ai n ted with S an der ’ s wor k the m ore r eason I fou n d to c hang e m y ju dgm en t ab ou t him .
Cr i ticism an d E fec ts of the “A sser ti o ” 1 33 whi ch, as the an cients have justly observed, i s equal to a thousan d B u t these pretty speculations are well - nigh vain now . Poor Hen ry ! What a change from the “D efen der of the Faith ” to him who drew E nglan d—the lan d of A ugustin e, B ede, Lanfranc, A nselm an d Thomas away from the pulsing heart of unity an d the sacra mental system of grace ! I n “A Treatise on the Pretended D ivorce between Henry VIII . and C atharine of A ragon, by Nicholas H ar p sfiel d, LL . D . , by Nicholas Pocock, the C amden S ociety ’ s publication for 1 878, i s an in terest ing domestic scene and a prophecy said to have been made by Hen ry VII . respecting the gigantic mischief hi s son was to consumm ate . It says : “I credibly under! stand himself [Henry VIII . ] was beaten of his father, saying to A lcock, B ishop of E l y, then present and en treating for him : ‘Never entreat for him, for this child shall be the un doing of E ngland . ’ A n d yet, despite his bad life, Green says of him in hi s “History of the E nglish People ” :1 ' To the end hi s con victions remained firm ly on the side of the doctrines which Luther denied. I n the “C hronicle of King Henry VIII . of E ngland, written in S panish by an unknown hand, translated with notes and instructions by Martin A . S harp Hume, Bu r net (Hist . Refor m , IV . , 578, ed . Pococ k) says that ‘ thi s i s an other or n am ent of th e fable, to show the poet ’ s wit ; b u t it i s as devoid of tr u th as an y passage i n Plau tu s or Ter en ce i s. ’ S an der had b etter oppor tu n i ties of lear n ing the tr u th on th1 s poin t, b oth in Rom e an d i n S pai n , an d Gar diner c onfesses i t (F oxe, VI ., 578 ) ‘Master Knevett an d I wer e sent ambassador s u n to th e em per or to desi r e him that he wou ld b e a m ean b etween th e Pope ’ s Holi n ess an d th e Ki ng , to br i ng th e King to th e ob edi en c e of the S ee of Rom e. ’ {Vol . I I . , p . 1 24.
1 34 Cr iti cism an d E fects of the “ A sser ti o ” Knight of the Royal S panish Order of Isabel the C atholic, London, 1 889, p . 1 52, it i s said of Henry on his death- bed : “The next day he confessed and took the Holy S acramen t, and commended his soul to God . ” A foot - n ote amplifies and confirms this statemen t . A n d this firm faith was probably, in part at least, the ef ect of the “A sser tio, ” the studying out and composing of which so clearly and deeply convinced Henry of the truth of the faith he then defended that even after hi s morals had changed yet his faith was in much still staunch an d true . The E nglish C atholic Truth S ociety ’ s tract, “Popery on E very C oin of the Realm, ” says : “Protest an ti sm can claim the last and worst part of hi s [Henr y VI I I . ’ s] life ; bu t in his earlier and better years, both as prince and king, he was a staunch C atholic. ” Those earlier, better, C atholic days were looked back to with pleasure by the people who later saw and suf fer ed by his unhappy change . To quote the great C ath olic historian of Henry VIII . and the Reformation, D om Gasquet , in his “Henry VIII . and the E nglish Monasteries ” “They remembered Hen ry i n his earlier days, when he was never so imm ersed in business *Vol . I I . , pp . 331 , 332 . By way of par en thesis it m ay be i n ter estin g to recall the vari ou s wives of Henry and thei r respec tive c hi ldr en , who later su cc eeded to th e thr on e. Henry ’ s six wi ves (7) an d c hildr en : C atharine of Aragon , t e pu diated 1533—Mary ; An n e Boleyn , b eheaded 1536—E lizab eth Jan e S eymou r , died 1537—E dwar d VI . Anne of Cleves, r epu diated 1540 ; C atharine Howar d , b eheaded 1 541 C athar i ne Parr , died 1 548. Apropos ofC athar ine ’ s “di vor c em en t ” by Henry, Mr . John Strype, in his “ Memor ials of Thom as Cr anm er , Vol . I . , p . 4 and fol . , h as the followi ng in ter esting details Not lon g after this, King Henry being per su aded that th e mar riag e between him and Q ueen Cath ari ne, dau ghte r to Ki n g F er di n an d of S pain , was u nlawful and nau ght, by D r . Langlan d , Bishop of Li n coln , his c onfessor, and other of his Clergy ; he sent to six of the b est lear ned m en of
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TH E “A S SERTIO IN E NGLISH AND
1 48 Zdver ti sem en t ceit of hi s own A bilities ; (which indeed were far from being contemptible) he, from endeavouring to reform particular A buses , which n o way concerned the E ssen ce of Religion, ( though they threw a S tain on many of its Members) at length set about a Reformation of Religion i tself; and came to think his own Knowledge in D ivin ity superior to that of the whole aggregate C hurch . The A mbition of, and C ontests between some of the Ger m an i c Princes, concerning Matters of a civi l Nature, were favourable to hi s Views ; and, in the C areer of hi s newly- broached Opinions, inconsistent as they were, on e with the other, he prevailed so far as to engage the Power of Magistracy in their Propagation and D efence . A l l E u r op e stood astonished, when it beheld A rmies of military A postles enforcing an Obedience to the wild and incoherent Notions of a vain, obstinate, self - will ed and enthusiastic C lergyman . The People that were de ter mi n ed not to quit the ol d Road to Heaven, thought themselves obliged to defend the antien t Religion , by the like M ean s ; and thus a general Warfare sprang, from the Petulancy and fiery Zeal of an Individual . The learned and virtuous Part of the Clergy employed their Zeal , and exerted their Talents, on this alarming Occasion ; and demonstrated to the World , that the D eviations from good Morals could be no just F ou n da tion for a S eparation from that Religi on , which had the Promise of C hr i st for its S upport and E xistence, whil st the Wor ld shou ld l ast. H en r y the E ighth was a Prince of great Learn ing, considering the A g e in which he lived . He had well studied both Philosophy and D ivinity, in hi s Youth ; his Father , H en r y the S eventh, having intended him for the ecclesiastical S tate . His Writings against l a ther , ( I mean the following Work, so much approved of by Pope Leo the Tenth) shew a Fun d of ecclesiastical E rudition, and a S treng t h of Understanding, u n c om
A dver ti sem en t 1 49 m on in Person s of his high S tation . I t must, in deed, be ackn owledged, that they breathe too much of the S pirit of A crimony , and run into a Latitude of A buse, ever disgustful to Readers of Taste, Moderation and C andour : B u t let it be remembered, at the same Time, That extreme Virulency, Insolence and S elf- su ffic i en cy, almost every where, mark the Writings of [f ather and hi s Fel l ow- reformers : That those Reformers having thus led the Way, their O pponents thought themselves justified in retaliating the A buse, with which they had be en attacked : A n d that the M ann ers of those distant Times, wherein polemical D isputes about Religion were so strongly and warmly agitated, differ very widely from those of the present more enlightened and more moderate A g e . L u ther was not less in flamed, bv the C ensure of the University of P ar i s (a) , to whose Judgment he had submi tted his Writings, with great E logies, and who had condemn ed his D octrine in above an hundred Prop osi tion s ; than he was to find that the King of E n g l an d had wr itten against him. His A nswer abounds with (b) “heinous A ffronts and injurious Lies, in almost every Page . —This Writing did its A uthor no Honour , even among those of his own Party ; even hi s Friends were scandaliz ed at the injurious C ontempt, with which he treated all that was most august in the Universe, and at the whimsical Manner, in which he judged of Points of D octrine . ” H en r y was a pious and z ealous Rom an C atholi c, until such Times as he suf ered himself to be borne away by an immoderate Passion for Women, and found hi s S ollicitations at Rom e for a D ivorce from his Queen, Katheri n e of A r r ag on , absolutely fruitless . Then it was that he broke all Measures with the holy S ee ; and (a) H i stor i cal A ccou n t of the Refor mati on (from Fl eu ry ’ s E ccl esi astical H i story) pr inted in Cor ke, 1764. (b) Id . p . 1 36.
1 50 Adver tisem en t he, who had been a powerful and firm D efen der of the C hurch, became the C orner - stone, in E n g l an d, of that Reformation which he had so warmly and strenuously opposed . Notwi thstanding this Falling- off, however, hi s D e fence of the seven S acr am en ts is a Work of considerable Merit . Its O rthodoxy we cannot doubt of, when we read the Pope ’ s B ull , granting him the most honourable and glorious Title of D E FE ND E R OF TH E FA ITH ; a Title still retained by his S uccessors on the Throne, though of a contrary Religion . A lthough it is not to be doubted but that subsequent Writers have handled the S ubject - matter of this B ook with more A ccuracy, C lear ness and Precision ; yet the Work before us may not only be very profitably perused, but is also ext remely curious, when we consider its A uthor ’ s very remarkable and inconsistent C haracter . The L on don E dition, from whence the present i s taken, has been carefully corrected throughout, in the Orthography and Punctuation, and the Text, obscure in some Parts , hath been elucidated, wi thout deviating, however, from the S ense of the A uthor . Upon the Whole, we may venture to affirm, that this E dition is vastly preferable to all former Ones, in the E n g li sh Tongu e ; and we flatter ourselves with the Hope , that the Pains we have taken, in the Publication of a Work, hitherto so extremely scarce, will be satis factory to the C urious .