On this Day in History ... 13th November

The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy. While, in the condition described above, the prosperity of Normandy flourished under so noble a ruler, King Æthelred of the English stained the kingdom, which had long flourished in the great glory of most powerful kings, with such a wicked act of treacherous cruelty during his reign, that even pagans judged so detestable a crime to be horrific. For the Danes, who dwelt throughout the whole kingdom in peaceful agreement with him, suspecting no danger of death, he suddenly ordered to be killed in one day by a fury; and he commanded that the women should be buried up to their waists in the earth, and that the fiercest dogs, being set upon them, should cruelly tear the breasts from their chests; and that the suckling infants should be dashed against the doorposts of houses so that their brains were shattered, without any guilt of crimes. While, therefore, in London on that appointed day [13th November 1002], this great heap of massacred victims was being increased beyond measure by the cruelty of the executioners, certain young men, swift in their agility, fled to a ship and sought safety in flight, making for the open sea by rapid rowing along the channel of the Thames. Having crossed the long expanse of the deep, at last they landed at the desired harbour of Denmark, and reported to King Swein the bloody destruction of their people. Then the king, deeply grieved within, summoned all the chiefs of his realm, and laid the whole matter before them, inquiring earnestly what should be done. And they, moved by the suffering and grief of their friends and kinsmen, all declared with one voice that their blood must be avenged with all their strength.

Dum in statu supra intellecto sub tam præclaro rectore Northmanniæ felicitas polleret, Eldredus Anglorum rex regnum quod sub magna potentissimorum regum gloria diu floruerat, tanto nefariæ proditionis scelere regiminis sui tempore polluit, ut et pagani tam exsecrabile nefas horrendum judicarent. Nam Danos per omne regnum unanimi concordia suum cohabitantes, mortis periculum minime suspicanles, subito furore sub una die perimi, mulieres quoque alvo tenus terræ csse defossas, et ferocissimis canibus concitatis mamillas ab earum pectoribus crudeliter extorqueri, lactentes vero pueros ad domorum postes allisos excerebrari, jussit, nullis criminum existentibus culpis. Dum igitur apud Lundoniam sub hujus decretis die hæc congeries peremptorum lictorum sævitia in immensum cumularetur, quidam juvenes agilitate pernices ad quamdam navim se contulerunt, et fugæ præsidium per Thamisæ alveum celeri remigio maris sinum petierunt. Permenso autem prolixi ponti spatio, novissime cupitum Danamarchæ portum applicant, regique Sueno cruenta gentis suæ exitia nuntiant. Tunc rex nimio dolore tactus intrinsecus, totius regni sui ascitis principibus, cunctam ei seriem illis deponit, quidque agendum consulerent, diligenter inquirit. Qui amicorum et propinquorum ærumnis et luctu moti, quasi ex uno ore omnes eorum sanguinem decreverunt debere totis viribus ulcisci.

A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea by William of Tyre Book 15 Chapter 27. [13th November 1143]. It happened, however, in those days that, when the lord king [Fulk "Young" King Jerusalem (age 54)], along with the lady queen [Melisende Queen of Jerusalem (age 38)], after autumn had passed, was staying in the city of Acre, the queen wished, to relieve her boredom, to go out of the city to certain suburban places, irrigated by springs, for the sake of recreation; whereupon the lord king, so that the queen might not lack company, decided also himself, with his usual retinue, to set forth. And while they were going along, it happened by chance that the boys who were going before the ranks and retinue stirred up a hare lying in the furrows, which, as it fled, was pursued by the clamor of all. The king, however, seizing a lance, in order to pursue this same hare, driven by a stroke of bad luck, began to urge his horse toward those parts, and to press on the chase vigorously. Finally, as the horse rushed forward heedlessly, it was driven headlong; and falling to the ground, threw the king headlong, and to the one lying there, stunned by the pain of the fall, the saddle crushed his head, so that the brain was emitted both through his ears and even through his nostrils. At this accident, the entire retinue, both those going before and those following, terrified by the harshness of the event, turned around, and wanting to bring help to the one lying there, found him lifeless, for he had neither voice nor sense.

Accidit autem illis diebus, quod cum dominus rex, una cum domina regina transcurso autumno, in civitate Acconense moram faceret, voluit regina, sublevandi gratia fastidii, extra urbem ad loca quaedam suburbana, fontibus irrigua, causa recreationis exire: quo dominus rex, ut solatium reginae non deesset, adjecit etiam ipse, cum solito comitatu proficisci. Dumque inter eundum esset, accidit casu ut qui agmina et comitatum praeibant pueri, leporem in sulcis jacentem excitarent, quem fugientem clamor prosecutus est universorum. Rex autem, arrepta lancea, ut eumdem leporem insectaretur, sinistro actus casu, equum ad illas coepit urgere partes, et cursui vehementer instare. Tandem inconsulte festinans equus in praeceps agitur; corruensque in terram, regem dedit praecipitem, jacentique prae casus dolore attonito, sella caput obtrivit, ita ut cerebrum tam per aures, quam per nares etiam emitteretur. Ad hunc casum, universus qui praeibat et qui sequebatur, facti acerbitate perterritus, conversus est comitatus, et jacenti opem ferre volentes, exanimem reperiunt, cui neque vox erat, neque sensus.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. Benedict, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his dearest son in Christ, Edward, etc. Not long ago, dearest son, desiring you to imitate the bright footsteps of your forebears, the kings of England, who, toward God and the most holy Roman Church, like her special wards and devoted sons, shone forth in the fullness of devotion and faith, and wishing the splendour of your lineage to be preserved from any darkening by the cloud of harmful contagion, and to shine more clearly in you, we remember that, from the affection of paternal charity and love with which we cherish you and your estate, we sent our letters to your highness. In them, among other things, we recalled how the excesses committed by the nobleman Louis of Bavaria, formerly, as was claimed, discordantly elected king of the Romans, against God, against the same Roman Church, and against our predecessor of happy memory, Pope John XXII, by the accumulation of many and atrocious offences, could not escape your hearing; which excesses, as being notorious to the whole world, we did not recount all, since their narration would have been too long and tedious, but of them we judged it fitting to recount certain ones in those same letters, as follows. For the same Louis, against the processes of that predecessor [Pope John XXII] and his inhibitions, made and issued with the counsel of his brothers, the cardinals of the same Roman Church, processes containing various spiritual and temporal penalties and sentences, entered Italy, and admitted into the fellowship of public participation certain heretics publicly and notoriously condemned for heresy. Asserting manifest heresies, and favouring and holding in his company heretics who publicly preached these detestable and dreadful errors of the aforesaid heresies, he knowingly, and indeed rather madly, approved heretical doctrines, and, to make this approval manifest, brought them to the public knowledge of others through various letters sealed with his well-known seal. He also later presumed, with detestable rashness, to usurp the imperial name for himself and to administer the rights of the empire in the same Italy and Germany, against the aforesaid processes and inhibitions, thereby, besides other penalties, incurring the sentences of excommunication and anathema. At length, daring yet greater daring and piling excess upon excess, he did not shrink from coming to the city [Rome], where he broke out into that madness of wickedness that, intending to stir up for city and world alike the disaster of a universal schism, he contrived to set up in the apostolic see, as Roman pontiff, a certain hypocrite, a man of diabolical presumption, by name Peter de Corbara, an image, as it were, of dreadful abomination; and this, so far as in him lay, he carried into effect. That man was venerated as pope, and received, rather, execrated, the consecration, and there accepted in fact the imperial crown, as of many other insane, indeed detestable, excesses, committed with heretical presumption by the same Louis and Peter, we shall forbear to speak. For these things, that predecessor declared the aforesaid Louis to be, by the Lord's judgment, deprived of all honour and dignity; and, wielding the sword of apostolic power against him, so entangled in the stains of such great heresies and schisms, together with all who adhered to him or gave him aid, counsel, or favour, or knowingly held, maintained, or named him as Roman king or emperor, promulgated against them not only the sentences of excommunication and anathema, but also other penalties and sentences, as against favourers of heretics and schismatics, and declared them to have been issued in law, as is set forth more fully in the various processes held by that predecessor. Now, with regard to these penalties, however much they were deserved by Louis himself and promulgated against him by the just judgment of the Church, had he truly repented and humbled himself to seek kindly grace, he would have found that same Church ready to receive him, like the prodigal son returning from afar, into her bosom with outstretched arms, ready to offer on his behalf, in the abundance of divine praise, the fatted calf. We further added in the aforesaid letters that, although we had had, and still have, knowledge both of the aforesaid excesses and of the processes held, in accordance with justice, by the said predecessor against the said Louis, yet in order that we might be able to deliver him, freed from the bonds of his sins, from the jaws of eternal death, after we were assumed to the summit of the supreme apostolate we had, on several occasions and at various times, received his envoys, sent to us by him, kindly; and for the purpose of obtaining his reconciliation, by meriting it through the fruit of true penitence, we had held various conferences with them. At that time there were still further meetings pending by fixed appointments, in which, without doubt, it was not through us that further progress was not made in the business of his reconciliation. Wherefore, dearest son, we judged it right, and thought fit, in those same letters, to request and entreat your serenity, prudently considering, and bringing into the treasury of inward reflection, the weight of the penalties into which they fall, and the sentences which they incur, and into what great dangers and perils they are plunged, those who would presume to associate themselves with the aforesaid Louis, so notoriously and publicly condemned for the depravity of heresy and for a schism so hateful to all Christendom, before he had merited the grace of reconciliation with the same Church; or who would presume to give him aid, counsel, or favour, or knowingly assign to him, as emperor or king of the Romans, the homage of reverence or the title of royal or imperial name; and that you should take care utterly to withdraw and wholly abstain from contracting any bond of association with him, or from offering to him, as king or emperor, any reverence or honour, until such time as the said Louis should have merited to obtain the grace of reconciliation with the same Church, so that the integrity of your good name and the unsullied splendour of your lineage might be preserved to you. But now a restless and very troubling report has reached us in these days, that you, son, paying no heed to our aforesaid requests and entreaties, which were indeed salutary and sprang from the very fountain of charity, have, not without harm to your salvation and reputation (as we report with sorrow), not only entered into association and confederation with the aforesaid Louis, who has not yet been reconciled to the Church, nor freed from the penalties and sentences in which, on account of the aforesaid matters and many other grave offences, he is known to have been entangled by our said predecessor; nor even released from the processes of the aforesaid predecessor, by which, as stated above, against all and each, of whatever eminence, dignity, condition, or status, even if they should shine with pontifical, royal, or any other ecclesiastical or worldly dignity, who should adhere to the said Louis or give him directly or indirectly, publicly or secretly, counsel, aid, or favour, or who should show him reverence as emperor or king of the Romans, or assign or ascribe to him the title of royal or imperial name, grave spiritual and temporal penalties and sentences are imposed, and remain in full force and effect, …but, what is more harmful, alas! and more damnable (if truth supports the reports), you are known to have in fact accepted from the same Louis, under the title of the imperial name, as is said, the office of vicar over all Germany and Alemannia, and over all and each of their provinces or parts, although the said Louis is, as aforesaid, neither king nor emperor. And under this pretext, it is said that you have, by your letters, under threat of heavy penalties, commanded and strictly enjoined certain prelates of churches and ecclesiastical persons established in the lands of the empire, and persisting in the devotion and loyalty due to us and to the said Church, to come to you, as vicar in Germany and Alemannia and the aforesaid parts of the same Louis, to hear the justice of the sentences and judgments of the said Louis and of your mandates, and to render to the same Louis, or to you in his name, recognitions and homages for the lands, goods, and rights which they hold from the empire. Concerning you, then, son, we are at a loss to understand where your prudence, and that of your counsellors, can be, especially since, as we have heard, in order to recover those rights which you claim to pertain to you, you have taken care to journey into the parts of Germany, not without the perils of great persons and with a great outpouring of expenses and costs, and have made many preparations for this; and now, spurning the processes of the said predecessor, and bringing into damnable contempt the aforesaid penalties and sentences, in which, without doubt, you have entangled yourself, if the things reported to us are true, not without a horrible blot which greatly dims the brightness of your lineage. And this, notwithstanding that we have never offended you, nor done anything against you; although we understand that it has been falsely and mendaciously suggested to you, by those who care nothing for your safety or honour, that we gave to our dearest son in Christ, Philip, the illustrious king of France, a vast sum of money from our treasury in aid of his war, and that we had granted to him the right of appointing ecclesiastical persons in all the churches of his kingdom. These things are known to be entirely devoid of truth; for such things have never been requested of us, nor would we have granted them in any way, however urgently they might have been sought. Nor have we granted tithes to the king of France against you, but rather against the Germans adhering to the aforesaid Louis and against the enemies of the same Roman Church, who, as public and notorious report had it, were preparing to invade the kingdom of France, as is expressly contained in the grant of those same tithes. It was by no means our intention to provide fuel for discord against you, or to support it by the administration of any aid; rather, desiring with our highest wishes that your kingdom and also the kingdom of France might enjoy the prosperity and unity of peace and concord, we have often laboured toward this end, by letters sent from us to your serenity and to the said king of France, and also by messengers, namely, cardinals of the holy Roman Church, sent to those parts from our side, and we have laboured, and will not cease to labour with ardent desire, so that between you and the same king, and between both your kingdoms, the serenity of peace and unity may shine forth. You, however, dearest son, having, as it seems, placed faith in the aforesaid false and deceitful suggestions, are making yourself the persecutor and enemy of us and of the same Roman Church, seeking to invade and occupy our rights and those of the same Church, rights to which, when the empire of the Romans is vacant, as it is now known to be vacant, the rule and administration pertain by full right, by harassing prelates and ecclesiastical persons who, as said above, persist in the devotion and loyalty due to us and to the said Church, and by striving, as stated, to draw and induce them, through coercive pressures and admonitions, to obedience to the said Louis, who, as has been said, has been by definitive sentence condemned for various heresies and schisms and other crimes, and has been deprived by the just judgment of God and the Church of whatever right to the kingdom or empire might perhaps have belonged or even did belong to him, and to make to him, or to you in his name, this act of recognition and homage. Would that you, son, before you involve yourself further in these matters so dangerous and detestable, might carefully consider and, after mature deliberation, set before the eyes of your mind the perilous and tangled snares into which certain persons, concerned more with their own business and advantage than with yours, have tried, with cunning devices and ingenious deceits, to entangle you beforehand by the things aforesaid; and how they have sought to impose upon you a burden, which they themselves would in some measure wish to cast off, and which, if you carefully consider the circumstances, is by no means light, and which they strive to impose not without danger of your own downfall. Nor do we wish it to be hidden from you that the aforesaid predecessor [Pope John XXII] once, by a certain constitution issued with the counsel of his brothers, the cardinals, decreed against all and each, of whatever status, dignity, or condition they might be, even if they should shine with patriarchal or any other higher, pontifical, or royal dignity, that those who, without the special licence of the Apostolic See, should presume, during a vacancy of the empire, as was the case then and, as stated above, is also the case now, to assume the name of vicar or of any other office in the aforesaid lands of the empire, or to retain such an office for more than two months if assumed, or in any way to reassume it if resigned, and those who should obey, support, or attend upon them, should incur sentences of excommunication and other grave penalties. We, therefore, who have not been able to close the bowels of paternal love toward you, son, and are inwardly touched with grief of heart when we perceive such things being contrived to the loss of your honour, rank, safety, and reputation, ask your highness, require of you, and earnestly exhort you in the Lord, while at the same time offering you sound and fatherly counsel, that you bring what we have set forth above, and other matters that may occur to you in connection with them, into the test of right deliberation and discussion; and moreover, that you hold it as certain and give heed that the said Louis, as we have said, is neither king nor emperor, nor have any acts which he has done or will do, so long as he shall have been and shall be entangled in the said processes, penalties, and sentences, any force, nor are or were they of any authority, strength, or validity. And that it is for you perilous and greatly to be feared to subject yourself to the hazards of war, especially if you should be involved in the aforesaid processes, penalties, and sentences, from which you could not be freed except by the Apostolic See, which has expressly reserved to itself the power of absolution therefrom, and so be made a persecutor and enemy of God and of the same Roman Church. May the Lord of mercies protect and defend you from these things. And considering further, with careful attention, that although it is human to sin, yet persistence in sins must be judged diabolical, you should utterly draw back from each of the aforesaid dreadful paths, if perhaps you have turned aside to them, deceived by the serpent's guile, before they grow into something more ruinous, or before they stink more foully and rot more grievously in the sight of God and men; and you should not delay to guide your feet as quickly as possible back to the straight way, pleasing to God and fitting for your rank, safety, and honour, acquiescing in the counsel of those same cardinals, who sincerely love you and your estate, for the making of peace between you and the said king, to the mutual pleasure of God and to what is amiable to men. Indeed, it seems that even if the aforesaid office of vicar could lawfully be assigned, still, for you, so great and mighty a king and prince as you are, and known throughout the world to be marked with so great a name and royal title, it would be unfitting honour to be called the vicar of any temporal lord; how much less, then, should it have been or befit your excellency to be called the vicar of one who, as has so often been said above, holds no authority, but, alas!, is bespattered with the stain of so many crimes, and is entangled, together with all his adherents, in such grave penalties and sentences. Know, dearest son, that if you will agree in effect to our wholesome counsels of this sort, we will extend to you, thus supported lest you fall, a kindly hand to lift you up, as far as we can with God's help. But otherwise, we will not be able to desist, since the office of apostolic service demands it of us, from taking suitable measures in the matter aforesaid, proceeding against you, which will be very grievous and distressing to us, should it be necessary (which God forbid), as justice shall require and as may and ought to be done. Given at Avignon, on the Ides of November [13th November 1339], in the fourth year of our pontificate.

Benedictus episcopus servus servorum Dei Benedict, in carissimo in filio Christo Edwardo etc. Dudum te, fili carissime, clara imitari vestigia progenitorum tuorum regum Angliæ, qui erga Deum et sacrosanctam Romanam ecclesiam velut peculiares ejus alumni et devoti filii, plenitudine devotionis et fidei claruerunt, tuæque splendorem prosapiæ a quavis obfuscatione nebulosi contagii præservari, eaque in te prælucere cupientes clarius, et ex paternæ caritatis et dilectionis affectu quo te statumque tuum prosequimur nostras tuæ celsitudini literas detexisse meminimus, inter cætera recensentes qualiter excessus per nobilem virum Ludovicum de Bavaria, olim, ut asserebatur, discorditer in regem Romanorum electum, adversus Deum et eandem Romanam ecclesiam, ac fœlicis recordationis Johannem papam XXII prædecessorem nostrum, per coacervationem multiplicium et atrocium offensarum, nequiter perpetrati, tuum præterire nequibant auditum; quos velut toti mundo notorios, non omnes, cum longa et prolixa nimis eorum narratio extitisset, sed ex eis aliquos, in eisdem literis providimus, ut sequitur, recitandos. Idem namque Ludovicus, contra processus prædecessoris ejusdem et inhibitiones ipsius, de consilio fratrum suorum, ejusdem Romanæ ecclesiæ cardinalium, factos et habitos, diversas spirituales et temporales pœnas et sententias continentes, intravit Italiam, et nonnullos hæreticos de hæresi publice et notorie condemnatos in consortium publicæ participationis admisit, et asserens hæreses manifestas, ac favendo secumque tenendo hæreticos publice dogmatizantes prædictarum hæresium detestabiles et horrendos errores, hæretica quoque dogmata scienter, immo potius dementer, approbans, et in evidentiam approbationis hujusmodi, ea per diversas literas, sigillo suo noto munitas, deduxit in aliorum publicam notionem. Sibi etiam nomen imperiale postmodum usurpare, et administrare jura imperii in eadem Italia et Almannia, contra processus et inhibitiones prædictos, detestabili temeritate præsumpsit, ex hiis, præter poenas alias, excommunicationis et anathematis sententias incurrendo; et tandem ausus ausibus, et excessus accumulando excessibus, se conferre non expavit ad urbem, ubi in illam nequitiæ prorupit insaniam ut meditatus urbi et orbi universali schismatis suscitare dispendium, quendam hypocritam, diabolicæ præsumptionis virum, nomine Petrum de Corbaria, velut abominationis horrendæ simulacrum, in apostolica sede pro Romano pontifice statuere moliretur; idque, quantum in eo fuit, produxit in actum; fuit veneratus in papam, consecrationemque, immo verius execrationem, ac diadema imperiale de facto recepit ibidem, ut de multis insanis aliis processibus, quinimmo detestandis excessibus, per eosdem Ludovicum et Petrum, præsumptione perpetratis hæretica, taceretur. Propter quæ dictus prædecessor præfatum Ludovicum fore a Domino denunciavit omni honore et dignitate privatum, et in eum, tantarum hæresium et schismatum maculis irretitum, exercens gladium apostolicæ potestatis, cum omnibus qui adhærerent eidem vel præstarent auxilium, consilium, vel favorem, seu pro Romano rege aut imperatore scienter haberent, tenerent, vel nominarent eundem, non solum excommunicationis et anathematis, sed etiam alias pœnas et sententias, tanquam in fautores, hæreticos et schismaticos promulgavit, et a jure declaravit prolatas, sicut in diversis processibus, per præfatum prædecessorem habitis, seriosius continetur. Super quibus quidem pœnis, quantumcunque per ipsum Ludovicum promeritis, et in eum justo ecclesiæ judicio promulgatis, si vere pœnitens se humiliasset ad gratiam benignam, reperisset eandem ecclesiam, quæ ipsum, tanquam filium prodigum de longinquo redeuntem, ad suum gremium apertis brachiis recepisset, immolatura pro eo, in ubertate divinæ laudis, vitulum saginatum. Rursus adjecimus in literis supradictis, quod, quanquam tam prædictorum excessuum quam eorundem processuum, per dictum prædecessorem contra dictum Ludovicum, exigente justitia, postmodum habitorum notitiam habuissemus et etiam habemus; ut tamen ipsum, a peccatorum nexibus liberatum, de faucibus sempiternæ mortis possemus eripere, postquam fuimus ad apostolatus summi apicem assumpti, diversos nuncios ejus, diversis vicibus et temporibus ad nos missos, receperamus benigne, ac pro reconciliatione ipsius, per fructum veræ pœnitentiæ promerenda, prolocutiones varias habueramus cum eis, et tunc pendebat etiam ad proloquendum ulterius, terminis assignatis, in quo, proculdubio, per nos non stetit quominus ulterius fuerit super negotio reconciliationis ejusdem processum. Quare, fili dilectissime, serenitatem tuam requirendam tunc duximus per easdem literas et rogandam, ut prudenter advertens, et in scrinium internæ considerationis adducens, gravitatem pœnarum in quas inciderent, et sententiarum quas incurrerent, quantisque periculis et discriminibus implicarentur, qui præfato Ludovico, sic notorie et publice de pravitate hæresis et sic odiosi toti Christianitati schismatis condemnato, antequam reconciliationis gratiam ejusdem ecclesiæ meruisset, participare præsumerent, sibique impenderent auxilium, consilium, et favorem, vel sibi, tanquam imperatori vel regi Romanorum, reverentiæ cultum, seu titulum regalis vel imperialis nominis assignarent scienter, ac cujuslibet participationis foedere contrahendo cum ipso, et exhibitione reverentiæ et honoris sibi, tanquam regi vel imperatori, quousque dictus Ludovicus reconciliationis ejusdem ecclesiæ meruisset gratiam obtinere, penitus te retrahere et totaliter abstinere curares, ut tibi famæ integritas et illibata tui generis claritas servarentur. Cum autem rumor implacidus et admodum infestus ad nos perduxerit hiis diebus, quod tu, fili, requisitionibus et rogationibus nostris hujusmodi, utique salutaribus et de fonte prodeuntibus caritatis, non sine detrimento tuæ salutis et famæ, quod dolentes referimus, obauditis; non solum cum prædicto Ludovico, nondum eidem reconciliato ecclesiæ, nec a pœnis et sententiis, quibus propter præmissa et alia multa gravia commissa, per ipsum prædecessorem nostrum implicatus esse noscitur, liberato; nec etiam processibus sæpefati prædecessoris, per quos, ut præmittitur, adversus omnes et singulos cujuscunque præminentiæ, dignitatis, conditionis, vel status, etiamsi pontificali, regali, vel quacunque alia ecclesiastica seu mundana dignitate fulgerent, præfato Ludovico adhærentes seu præstantes directe vel indirecte, publice vel occulte, consilium, auxilium, vel favorem, vel sibi, tanquam imperatori aut regi Romanorum, reverentiam exhibentes, seu titulum regalis vel imperialis nominis assignantes seu ascribentes, graves, spirituales ac temporales pœnæ ac sententiæ infliguntur, nequaquam relaxatis, immo sui roboris efficacia perdurantibus, participationes, confoederationes inire sibique adhærere, ac præstare favorem, auxilium, et consilium præsumpsisti; immo, quod perniciosius, proh dolor! et damnabilius noscitur existere, si veritas relatibus suffragetur, vicariatus officium per totam Almanniam et Germaniam, ac universas et singulas earum provincias sive partes, ab eodem Ludovico, sub imperialis nominis titulo, ut asseritur, suscepisti de facto, cum ipse Ludovicus nec rex nec imperator sit, ut præfertur. Cujus prætextu nonnullis prælatis ecclesiarum et personis ecclesiasticis in terris imperii constitutis, ac in nos. tra et ecclesiæ memoratæ devotione ac fidelitate debitis persistentibus, sub pœnis gravibus, per tuas eis literas comminatis, mandasse diceris et districtius injunxisse, ut ad te, tanquam ejusdem Ludovici in Almannia et Germania et partibus supradictis vicarium, et audituri sententiarum et judiciorum ipsius Ludovici tuorumque mandatorum rectitudinem, ac præstituri eidem Ludovico, vel tibi ejus nomine, recognitiones, homagia de terris, bonis, et juribus, quæ tenent ab imperio, convenirent. De te igitur, fili, ubi sit tua tuorum que consiliariorum prudentia ex eo præsertim non sufficimus admirari, quod cum tu, sicut audivimus, pro illorum repetitione jurium, quæ ad te asseris. pertinere, non sine grandium personarum periculis, ac expensarum et sumptuum profluviis, peregrinari ad partes Almanniæ curaveris, et multos super hoc feceris apparatus, nunc spretis ejusdem prædecessoris processibus, et deductis damnabiliter in contemptum pœnis et sententiis supradictis, quibus te manifeste, si quæ nobis referuntur vera sint, non absque horrenda nota, quæ non parum obfuscat tui claritatem generis, proculdubio implicasti. Et nihilominus, quamvis nos te nunquam offenderimus, nec contra te aliquid fecerimus; quanquam et intelleximus falso et mendaciter suggestum tibi per eos qui te, salutem et honorem tuum minime diligunt fuerit, quod nos carissimo in Christo filio nostro Philippo regi Franciæ illustri, in auxilium guerræ suæ, ingentem pecuniæ quantitatem de nostra camera dederimus, quodque institutionem personarum ecclesiasticarum concesseramus eidem in omnibus ecclesiis regni sui, quæ omnimoda carere veritate noscuntur; talia namque nunquam postulata fuerunt a nobis, nec ea concessissemus quomodolibet cum quantacunque instantia petita fuissent; nec decimas contra te regi Franciæ concessimus, sed adversus Teutonicos Ludovico adhærentes prædicto, ipsiusque ecclesiæ Romanæ inimicos, qui ad invasionem regni Franciæ se, ut habebat rumor publicus et notorius, disponebant, sicut in concessione decimarum ipsarum continetur expresse. Non fuit nempe nostræ intentionis adversus te fomentum ministrare discordiæ vel eam alicujus subsidii administratione fulcire; quinimmo statum regni tui et etiam regni Franciæ, pacis et concordiæ prosperitate et unanimitate potiri summis desideriis affectantes, ad hoc, serenitati tuæ et dicto regi Franciæ per nos sæpe directis literis, et etiam nunciis, videlicet sanctæ Romanæ ecclesiæ cardinalibus ad partes illas de latere nostro missis, votis ardentibus laboramus, et labore non cessamus, nec cessabimus, ut inter te et regem eundem et utriusque regna, pacis et unitatis serenitas illucescat. Tu tamen, fili carissime, fide, ut videtur, adhibita prædictis falsis suggestionibus et mendosis, te nostrum et ejusdem Romanæ ecclesiæ ecclesiæ persecutorem et hostem, invadere ac occupare honores et jura nostra et ejusdem ecclesiæ, ad quos regimen et administratio imperii Romanorum, eo vacante, sicut nunc vacare noscitur, pertinent pleno jure, moliris, molestando prælatos et personas ecclesiasticas in nostra et ipsius ecclesiæ devotione ac fidelitate debitis, ut præmittitur, persistentes, ipsosque ad obedientiam dicti Ludovici, de diversis, ut præmittitur, hæresibus et schismatibus aliisque criminibus sententialiter condemnati, ac jure regio et imperii, si quod forsan ad eum competierat, vel etiam competebat, justo Dei et ecclesiæ judicio privati, ac præstationem hujus recognitionis et homagii sibi, vel tibi ejus nomine, faciendam, attrahere et inducere, coactivis impulsibus et commonitionibus satagendo. Utinam, fili, antequam de hiis tam periculosis et detestandis te involvas amplius, attente consideres, et matura deliberatione prævia constituas ante oculos mentis tuæ circuitus periculosos et nodosos laqueos, quibus te, subtilibus ingeniis et fraudibus exquisitis, aliqui, de suis potius quam de tuis solliciti negotiis et commodis, præmissis involvere, tibique onus, quod a se quodammodo rejicere cupiunt, non minus leve, si diligenter circumstantias attenderis, imponere moliti sunt, et non sine periculo tui præcipitii moliuntur. Nec te latere volumus quod præfatus prædecessor olim, per quandam constitutionem ab ipso de dictorum fratrum suorum editam consilio, in omnes et singulos, cujuscunque status, dignitatis, vel conditionis existerent, etiamsi patriarchali vel quavis alia superiori aut pontificali vel regali dignitate fulgerent, et qui, absque sedis apostolicæ licentia speciali, vicarii seu cujuscunque alterius officii nomen in prædicti terris imperii, eo vacante, sicut tunc vacabat, et nunc etiam vacat, ut præmissum est, assumere, vel assumptum ultra terminum duorum mensium præsumerent retinere, seu dimissum reassumere quoquomodo, ac in obedientes, parentes et intendentes eisdem, excommunicationes ac alias graves sententias promulgavit. Nos itaque, qui erga te, fili, claudere viscera paternæ dilectionis nequivimus, et cordis dolore tangimur intrinsecus cum talia percipimus ad tuum tuique honoris, status, salutis, et famæ dispendium machinari, tuam rogamus magnificentiam, requirimus, et in Domino attentius exhortamur, sano paternoque tibi nihilominus consilio suadentes, quatinus ea quæ præmisimus, et alia quæ circa illa tibi possunt occurrere, deducens in rectæ deliberationis et discussionis examen, ac insuper tenens certius et attendens quod dictus Ludovicus, ut præmisimus, nec rex nec imperator est, nec aliqua quæ ipse fecerit vel faciet quamdiu fuerit et erit dictis processibus ac pœnis et sententiis irretitus, quicquam valuerunt vel valent, nec sunt aut fuerunt alicujus auctoritatis, roboris, vel momenti, quodque tibi periculosum est, et multipliciter formidandum, te bellorum subjicere discriminibus, maxime si esses supradictis processibus, pœnis, et sententiis, a quibus liberari non posses, nisi duntaxat per sedem apostolicam, quæ absolutionem earum sibi expresse retinuit, involutus, ac Dei et ejusdem Romanæ ecclesiæ persecutor et hostis effectus, a quibus te misericordiarum Dominus protegat et defendat. Consideransque præterea diligenter, quod licet humanum sit peccare, in peccatis tamen perseverantia diabolica est censenda, te a præmissis singulis sic horrendis deviis, si ad illa forsan declinaveris serpentina deceptione seductus, antequam invalescant perniciosius, seu in conspectu Dei et hominum foeteant deterius et putrescant, resilire penitus, pedesque tuos ad viam rectam, Deo placitam ac tuis statui, saluti et honori congruam, dirigere quantocius non postponas; eorundem cardinalium, qui te statumque tuum sincere diligunt, super reformatione pacis inter te et dictum regem mutuo placabili Deo et amabili hominibus adquiescens. Videtur equidem quod si etiam prædicti vicariatus valeret officium assignari, adhuc tamen tuum, qui tam magnus tantusque rex et princeps existis, tantoque nomine ac titulo regio existere nosceris insignitus in orbe, non deceret honorem quod nominareris vicarius alicujus domini temporalis; quanto minus ergo tuam decuit vel decet excellentiam illius vicarium appellari, qui auctoritate nulla, sicut sæpedictum est superius, præminet, sed, proh dolor! tantorum existit respersus labe criminum, tamque gravibus pœnis et sententiis, cum omnibus sibi adhærentibus implicatus. Sciturus, fili amantissime, quod si monitis nostris hujusmodi salutaribus adquieveris cum effectu, tibi sic impulso ut caderes manum benignam porrigemus quantum cum Deo poterimus, sublevantem; alias autem non poterimus desistere, cum id a nobis exigat officium apostolicæ servitutis, quominus super prædictis providere de opportunis remediis, procedendo contra te, quod molestum et grave et grave nobis erit admodum, si necesse, quod absit, fuerit, prout, exigente justitia, debebit et poterit fieri, procuremus. Datum apud Avinionem idibus Novembris, pontificatus nostri anno quarto.

Calendar of State Papers Charles II 13 Nov 1664. 13th November 1664. 93. William Coventry (age 36) to [Sec. Bennet (age 46)]. Hopes the wind will change, and bring the Charles and the other ships out of the river; will not then fear what Opdam can do, though the men are raw, and need a little time at sea. The Ruby and Happy Return have brought some supernumeraries, but 500 more are wanted; 200 are expected from Plymouth, but till some runaways are hanged, the ships cannot be kept well manned. Sends a list of some fit to be made examples of in the several counties where they were pressed, with the names of those who pressed them. The Dutch ship named before is brought in, and two others are stayed at Cowes, Isle of Wight by virtue of the embargo, the order in Council making no exception for foreigners, The King's pleasure should be known therein, as the end, which is to gather seamen, does not seem to require the stopping of foreigners. Prize officers must- be sent speedily to [Portsmouth], Dover, and Deal. Those at Deal, Kent [Map] should have men in readiness to carry prizes up the river, that the men belonging to the fleet be not scattered. Persons should also be hastened to 'take care of the sick and wounded. The Duke (age 31) intends to appoint Erwin captain of the ship hired to go to St. Helena; he is approved by the East India Company, which is important, trade being intermixed with convoy, and they find fault if a commander of the King's ships bring home any little matter privately bought. The Duke has divided the fleet into squadrons, assigning to each a vice and rear adiniral; Sir John Lawson (age 49) and Sir William Berkeley to his own, Mennes (age 65) and Sansum to Prince Rupert's (age 44), Sir George Aiscue (age 48) [Ayscough] and Teddeman to the Earl of Sandwich. Hopes in a few days to be in much better order, if good men can be got. Will send a list of the squadrons. The Guernsey is damaged by running aground. Rear-Admiral Teddeman, with 4 or 5 ships, has gone to course in the Channel, and if he meet any refractory Dutchmen, will teach them their duty. The King's declaration for encouraging seamen has much revived the men, and added to their courage. [Four pages.]

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 13th November 1668. Thence I to the Three Tuns Tavern, by Charing Cross, and there dined with W. Pen (age 47), Sir J. Minnes (age 69), and Commissioner Middleton; and as merry as my mind could be, that hath so much trouble upon it at home. And thence to White Hall, and there staid in Mr. Wren's chamber with him, reading over my draught of a letter, which Mr. Gibson then attended me with; and there he did like all, but doubted whether it would be necessary for the Duke to write in so sharp a style to the Office, as I had drawn it in; which I yield to him, to consider the present posture of the times and the Duke of York (age 35) and whether it were not better to err on that hand than the other. He told me that he did not think it was necessary for the Duke of York to do so, and that it would not suit so well with his nature nor greatness; which last, perhaps, is true, but then do too truly shew the effects of having Princes in places, where order and discipline should be. I left it to him to do as the Duke of York pleases; and so fell to other talk, and with great freedom, of public things; and he told me, upon my several inquiries to that purpose, that he did believe it was not yet resolved whether the Parliament should ever meet more or no, the three great rulers of things now standing thus:-The Duke of Buckingham (age 40) is absolutely against their meeting, as moved thereto by his people that he advises with, the people of the late times, who do never expect to have any thing done by this Parliament for their religion, and who do propose that, by the sale of the Church-lands, they shall be able to put the King (age 38) out of debt: my Lord Keeper is utterly against putting away this and choosing another Parliament, lest they prove worse than this, and will make all the King's friends, and the King himself, in a desperate condition: my Lord Arlington (age 50) know not which is best for him, being to seek whether this or the next will use him worst. He tells me that he believes that it is intended to call this Parliament, and try them with a sum of money; and, if they do not like it, then to send them going, and call another, who will, at the ruin of the Church perhaps, please the King with what he will for a time. And he tells me, therefore, that he do believe that this policy will be endeavoured by the Church and their friends-to seem to promise the King money, when it shall be propounded, but make the King and these great men buy it dear, before they have it. He tells me that he is really persuaded that the design of the Duke of Buckingham is, by bringing the state into such a condition as, if the King do die without issue, it shall, upon his death, break into pieces again; and so put by the Duke of York, who they have disobliged, they know, to that degree, as to despair of his pardon. He tells me that there is no way to rule the King but by brisknesse, which the Duke of Buckingham hath above all men; and that the Duke of York having it not, his best way is what he practices, that is to say, a good temper, which will support him till the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Arlington fall out, which cannot be long first, the former knowing that the latter did, in the time of the Chancellor (age 59), endeavour with the Chancellor to hang him at that time, when he was proclaimed against. And here, by the by, he told me that the Duke of Buckingham did, by his friends, treat with my Chancellor, by the mediation of Matt. Wren (age 39) and Matt. Clifford, to fall in with my Chancellor; which, he tells me, he did advise my Chancellor to accept of, as that, that with his own interest and the Duke of York's, would undoubtedly have assured all to him and his family; but that my Chancellor was a man not to be advised, thinking himself too high to be counselled: and so all is come to nothing; for by that means the Duke of Buckingham became desperate, and was forced to fall in with Arlington, to his [the Chancellor's] ruin.