British Library, Stowe MS 422
In as much as you doe firmely beleeue that
the scripture directlye or by Consequence
doth Conteyne in it sufficient matter
to decide all Controversies especiallye
in things apperteyninge to the Church, And
that marriage amongst Christians Can
bee noe lett lesse accompted then a sacred
thinge, and beinge instituted by god in Pa=
=radice, honored by the presence of our saviour
himself, and declared by St Paul to
be a figure of the spirituall Coniunction of
betweene Christ and his Church; I would
bee gladd to knowe, by what text of scripture
either of the old or newe testament, a man
maye have a warrant to make a nullitie
of marriage solemlie Celebrated.
facie Eccl
warrant expresslie in Scripture to make
a Nullitie of Marriage propter frigidita=
=tem by the words of our Saviour Matth. 19.
wh
and there bee some Chast which bee made
Chast by men, and there bee some Chast
which haue made themselues Chast For
the Kingdome of heaven; I would also knowe
gladlye what Auntient father, either amongst
the Greekes or Lattines, by occasion of
interpretac
hath mencmaleficum versus hanc
declared it to bee a Cause of Nullitye
in Marriage. The like I demaund touching
the Auntient Councells, either generall or
provinciall, and Concerninge the stories
Ecclesiasticall, whether anie such matters
bee to bee found in them If for ought
that appeareth, neuer menc
of this, till the tyme of Hinemerus Episco:
=pus Remensis, (whoe lived Nyne hundred
yeares after Christ) It maye well
be Conceaved that this was a Concomitant
about that tyme grewe to soe greate height
(God permittinge then that punishment
to fall vpon the Children of unbeleife) But
since the light of the Gospell is nowe in
soe great measure broken out agayne
whye should I
the Gospell, should bee free from this
Million of men in our Age there is not
one found in all our Countrie whoe is
Cleirlye and evidentlie knowne to bee
troubled with the same. And if there should
bee anie, which might seeme to bee thus
molested, wee are taught to use
remedies against it, The one spirittuall
Phisicke, the other externall. For the first
our Saviour saieth Hoc genus Dæmonio rum
ex Impotentia in loco de Coniugio quod
Christopherus Perilus suis in Melancthonis
examen explicationibus exeruit in seruit
secunda parte Iudicium Hemingii Libello
de Coniugio repudio et divortio Iudicium
Pollani professoris Theologiæ in Acadæmia
Basill Lib. 10 sitage Cap. 18
Acadæmia Marlb. in arca fæderis
9. Gen. Impress 1591 pag. 94:
3 non tamen impotentia et veneficio atti
=git./
The Kings Ma
the Lord Archbishopp of Canter=
=burie his opinion/
To the first Argum
doth directlie or by Conseqeunce Conteyne
sufficient matter to decide all Controuersies
especiallye in this apperteyninge to the
Church this is in myne opinion
erronea
w
For the Orthodaxe proposition is that the
Scripture doth directlye or by Consequence
Conteyne in it sufficient matter to decide
all Controuersies in points of of faith and
salvac
Marraige Cannott bee accompted for one
And therefore your Consequence vpon the
former proposition must faile For
question I saie your owne second question
doth answere it for pronouncinge a Nullity
maye make him
bee Comprehended therein For whye doth
our Church Condemne as incestuous the
Marriage of a man w
or the marriage of two sisters but
rationis
prohibited by the scripture onlye the Conclusion
is gathered
nott lawfull to marrye your fathers wife
because thereby you discouer your fathers
shame nor his sister because shee is is his
kinswoman nor your owne sister for thereby
you discouer your father and mothers shame
It Can noe more bee lawfull for you to
marrye your sisters daughter for thereby also
you discouer your owne shame as alsoe the
same reason serues for ascendinge or descending
in points of Consanguinitye
The like is in this Case for although Christ
speakes onlye of three sortes of Euenuches yet
Paul in the seventh Chapter of his first
epistle to the Corinthians telleth vs Cleerely
that it is nott
Conclude therefore
Christ did Comprehend vnder those three
sorts of Euenuches all inhabilitie which
doth Continuallye hinder
hanc
=tall For what difference is there betweene
Cuttinge of the hand and beinge made impo=
=tent thereof
membri
it is a like defraudinge of the woman when
either hee or whoe is to be her husband is gelded
owh or when the use of his member towards
her is by anie vnlawfull meanes taken from
him Neither is it anie waye needfull to
Crave the particular warrant of Nullitye
more then there is warrant in that place for
anie Nullitye at all for Christ doth nott
directlye saie that a Mariage soe made
shallbe nullified neither doth hee teach vs
what forme of processe shall be vsed in it
nether makes hee menc
marriage w
obteyned o the Bishopp of the diocesse. It is
then sufficient for all moderate Christians
to bee taught out of the word that marriage
is
deus Coniunxit
where
vizt theye shall be one fleshe Butt whether the
impediment bee vniversall or
and whether the fault thereof hath bin borne w
him or done vnto him by violence or fallen by
disease or by disproportion or inaptitude be=
=twixte the parties or by vnlawfull or vnnaturall
practises it is neuer
whether hee bee
seeinge to her only was hee married then
vpon the foresaid warrant of scripture Neither
hadd our saviour Christ anie occasion to speake
then to the Iewes Concerninge Maleficium
For although it bee apparent that God made
Kinge Abimelech and his family vnable to abuse
Sara Abrahams wife and soe hee was
and that it bee nott vnprofitable that the
devill beinge Gods Ape should imitate gods
worke by his filthye witchcrafte by makeinge
such
howbeit it bee profitable that it was longe
after that tyme before the devill putt that
tricke in vpon the earth As for the third and
fourth questions what menc
Councell make of
I answere that it maye bee that if theye bee
well searched that either somethinge to this
purpose in them or at least
which
maye serue to decide this question Butt
leaveinge this to search my mayne Answere
is that wee must distinguish of tymes For in
all the first Ages as longe as persecuc
heavie vpon the Church and before that the
Empire became Christian the Church did nott
meddle w
Civill Iudges determined them whoe would nott
suffer the Church to meddle w
drewe a Consequence after it of possessions
and Inheritance as Marriage doth Naye even
diuerse hundred yeares after the Conversion of
such questions did still remaine
till the Popedome began to waxe greate and
assume or rather vsurpe to her selfe an Inde=
=pendant & or supreame Iudicatorye in all Eccle=
=siasticall Causes And therefore the fathers and
Councelles hadd noe occasion to make menc
of that which was not
tyme And besides that it is an evill Argum
to saie such a thinge is vnlawfull because the
fathers and Councells make noe menc
For you knowe much better the I that diuerse
and manye pointes betwixt the papists and vs
are neuer menc
theye Could neuer have dreamed that such
questions would arrise and therefore are the
fathers only exact in such questions as are most
agitated and vsed vpon the stage in theire
tyme as
De Trinitate de duabus Christi and such like it is therefore sufficient