touching the most high and excellent, the most wholesome and super-admirable sacrament of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, or else of the sacrament of baptism, confession of sins, penance for sins, and extreme unction; or of any other sacraments of the church, and the articles of the faith, than that which the right holy and universal church of Rome doth hold, teach, preach, and observe; or that shall presume obstinately, by any ways or menus, privily or apertly, to hold, believe, and teach the articles, books, or doctrine of the aforesaid archheretics, John Wickliff, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, being by the aforesaid synod of Constance with their authors (as is said) damned and condemned; or dare presume publicly or privily to allow or commend in any wise the death and end of the said arch-heretics, or of any other their receivers, aiders, and favourers, in the favour or supportation of the aforesaid errors, as also their believers and adherents: that then, as before, you see and cause them and every of them to be most severely punished; and that you judge and give sentence upon them as heretics, and that as arrant heretics you leave them to the secular court or power. Let the receivers, also, and favourers and defenders of such most pestiferous persons (notwithstanding they neither believe, favour, nor have devotion towards tlieir errors, but haply shall receive or entertain such pestiferous persons because of carnal affection or friendly love,[1]) besides the punishment due unto them by both laws (over and above the same punishment), by competent judges be so afflicted, and for such heinous acts of theirs, with such severe pain and punishment excruciated, that the same may be to others in like case offending, an example of terror; that at least those whom the fear of God by no means may revoke from such evil doing, yet the severity of this our discipline may force and constrain.
As touching the third sort, who shall be any manner of ways infected with this damnable sect, and shall, after competent admonition, repent and amend themselves of such errors and sects aforesaid, and will return again into the lap and unity of our holy mother the church, and fully acknowledge and confess the catholic faith, towards them let the severity of justice, as the quality of the fact shall require, be somewhat tempered with a taste of mercy.
And furthermore, we will and command, that by this our authority apostolical ye exhort and admonish all the professors of the catholic faith, as emperors, kings, dukes, princes, marquises, earls, barons, knights, and other magistrates, rectors, consids, proconsids, shires, countries, and universities of the kingdoms, provinces, cities, towns, castles, villages, their lands and other places,[2] and all others executing temporal jurisdiction, according to the form and exigence of the law, that they expel out of their kingdoms, provinces, cities, towns, castles, villages and lands, and other places, all and all manner of such heretics, according to the eftect and tenor of the council of Lateran, beginning, "Sicut ait Ecclesia," &c.: that those who publicly and manifestly, by the evidence of their deeds, shall be known to be such as, like sick and scabbed sheep, infect the Lord's flock, they expel and banish, till such time as from us or you, or other ecclesiastical judges or inquisitors, holding the faith and communion of the holy church of Rome, they shall receive other order and countermand; and that they suffer no such, within their shires and circuits, to preach or to keep either house or family, or yet to use any handicraft or occupations, or other trades of merchandise ; or to solace themselves in any way, or frequent the company of christian men.
And furthermore, if such public and known heretics shall chance to die (although not so denounced by the church), yet in this so great a crime let him and them want christian burial, and let no offerings or oblations be made for them, nor received. His goods and substance, also, from the time of his death, according to the canonical sanctions being confiscated, let no such enjoy them to whom they appertain, till that by the ecclesiastical judges, having power and authority in this behalf, sentence upon that his or their crime of heresy be declared, and promulgated; and let such owners as be found suspected or noted with any such suspicion of heresy, before a competent and ecclesiasticcal judge, according to the consideration and exigence of that suspicion, and- ↑ Draconis lex sanguine scripta. The pope's religion hath left all sense of humanity.
- ↑ 'Et vidi bestiam et reges terræ et exercitus eorum pugmantes cum illo qui sedebat in equo, et exercitu ejus.' Apoc. xiii. 'Et data est illi potestas in omnem tribum, et populura, et linguam, et gentem:' i. e. 'And power is given him over all tribes, and people, and tonnes, and nations,' &c. [Apoc. xiii]
