Chapter 34

Who must help: clergy, lords and labourers

Pollard pp. 80.22–82.5

Truth80.22–82.5

80.24 Every one is bound to help the Church.

80.26 The clergy by argument.

80.28 Lords by restraining the Church's enemies and withdrawing alms from them.

81.1 Labourers by ministering to these two orders in things temporal.

81.6 Everyone should help by his prayers.

81.10 The secular lords can give most aid, and the clergy should stir them to this.

81.13 The third order would rejoice both for temporal and spiritual reasons.

81.15 This matter shows who are Christ's disciples and who Antichrist's.

81.19 The worldly among the clergy oppose the truth, and there are few on Christ's side to defend it.

81.22 But God must defend His own in the end.

81.23 If the endowed clergy would renounce secular dominion, it would be a glorious triumph over the devil.

81.32 Lords must be warned not to be on the devil's side in this matter.

80veritas. Restat videre quibus personis ecclesie pertinet practizare et juvare in sentencia supradicta, et patet absque dubitacione quod quelibet persona militantis ecclesie debet juvare matrem suam pro illa sentencia modo suo: ut clerici racionibus et scripture testimonio arguendo ac responciones diabolicas repellendo; domini temporales inimicos ecclesie cohercendo, et tam in se quam in suis tenentibus vocatas elemosinas ab inimicis domini subtrahendo, quia aliter contra deum cum suis hostibus proditorie consentirent, et tercia 81pars ecclesie, scilicet laboratores et alii cum bonis temporalibus commercantes debent in hoc duabus partibus prioribus in temporalibus secundum racionis limites ministrare. Et si tota multitudo viancium concurreret simul in isto proposito, facile foret partem diaboli confutare. Ymmo cum in deo jacet auxilium, specialiter in hoc puncto, quilibet viator debet oracione vel merito, sicut beati faciunt, adjuvare. Unde quia dampnati non juvant in isto sed reprobant non merentur sed peccando continue faciunt ut non debent. Auxilium autem magis sensibile in hoc puncto stat in dominis secularibus, et clerici debent ipsos ad hoc secundum raciones et leges domini excitare. Cum autem cederet ad comodum sensibile tercie partis ecclesie ipsa non remurmuraret, sed de cessacione a spoliacionibus congauderet, et specialiter si perciperet de tendencia ad beatitudinem conformiter legi dei. Unde in ista materia patenter discerni possunt fideles Christi a discipulis antichristi. Clerici quidem cesarii, qui mundum sapiunt et intendunt artibus lucrativis, materiam istam despiciunt et ejus tractatum impediunt quantum sciunt, et pauci sunt ex parte domini qui istam fidem defendunt vel alios simplices in hoc juvant. Sed quedam consolacio est quod necesse est dominum et cives suos juvare finaliter partem suam. Si autem episcopi et clerici cesarii et cum illis claustrales, ut abbates et alii dotati prepositi, conciperent in hoc vitam et legem Christi et sic gratis renunciarent omnibus mundanis dominiis foret illis magis meritorium et gloriosus triumphus ecclesie militantis super diabolum et alia membra sua. Non solum enim clerici cesarii sed sui complices seculares domini in hoc puncto consenciunt antichristo. Et cum juxta dictum Christi lucᵉ 11° Qui non est mecum contra me est totus mundus dividitur in hoc puncto, ideo domini temporales et omnes Viantes sunt hortandi ne consenciant diabolo in hac parte, quia certum est ex fide quod pars adversa in die judicii obmutescet. Ista autem 82sentencia non est ficta sed fides ecclesie, cum oportet omnes homines salvandos esse Christi milites et ab eo accipere stipendium largissimum, quia in beatitudine omne bonum. Et antichristi milites degenerantes a Christo vecorditer oportet in tartaris condempnari.

Truth. It remains to see to which persons of the church it pertains to put into practice, and to help in, the teaching stated above; and it is clear beyond doubt that every person of the church militant ought to help his mother on behalf of that teaching in his own way: as clerics, by arguing with reasons and the testimony of scripture and by repelling diabolical answers; temporal lords, by coercing the church's enemies, and by withdrawing so-called alms from the Lord's enemies, both in their own persons and in their tenants, since otherwise they would treacherously consent with his enemies against God;¹ and the third 81part of the church, namely labourers and others trading with temporal goods, ought in this to minister to the two prior parts in temporal things according to the limits of reason.² And if the whole multitude of wayfarers concurred together in this purpose, it would be easy to confound the devil's party. Indeed, since help lies in God, especially on this point, every wayfarer ought to help by prayer or by merit, as the blessed do.³ Hence, because the damned do not help in this but reject it, they do not merit, but by sinning continually do as they ought not.⁴ But the more perceptible help on this point rests with the secular lords, and clerics ought to rouse them to it according to the reasons and laws of the Lord. And since it would turn to the perceptible advantage of the third part of the church, that part would not murmur against it, but would rejoice together at the ceasing of the despoilings, and especially if it perceived something of the tendency toward blessedness in conformity with God's law.⁵ Hence in this matter Christ's faithful can be plainly told apart from antichrist's disciples. The caesarean clerics, indeed, who savour the world and attend to lucrative arts, despise this matter and hinder its treatment as much as they know how, and few are on the Lord's side who defend this faith or help other simple folk in this. But it is some consolation that the Lord and his citizens must in the end help his party.⁶ And if the bishops and the caesarean clerics, and with them the cloisterers, such as abbots and other endowed superiors, took to heart in this the life and law of Christ, and so freely renounced all worldly lordships, it would be more meritorious for them, and a glorious triumph of the church militant over the devil and his other members.⁷ For not only the caesarean clerics but their accomplices, the secular lords, consent to antichrist on this point. And since, according to Christ's saying in Luke 11, "He that is not with me is against me" (Luke 11:23), the whole world is divided on this point, therefore the temporal lords and all who are on the way are to be exhorted not to consent to the devil in this respect, for it is certain, as faith teaches, that the opposing party will be struck dumb on the day of judgement. And this 82teaching is not made up but the faith of the church, since all men who are to be saved must be Christ's soldiers and receive from him the most generous wage, for in blessedness is every good. And antichrist's soldiers, faint-heartedly degenerating from Christ, must be condemned in hell.⁸

Notes

1 Vocatas elemosinas: "so-called alms", i.e. the endowments given to the clergy under the name of alms, which the lords are to withdraw both from their own grants and from their tenants' (Pollard: "withdrawing alms from them"). Inimicis domini are the Lord's enemies, the worldly clergy. Cum suis hostibus is taken as God's enemies (non-reflexive suus); reflexively it would be "with their own enemies".
2 B, B¹, C read laborantes, "those who labour", for laboratores (81.1); the sense is the same. The three parts are the medieval estates: clergy, lords, labourers.
3 B, B¹, C read racione, "by reason", for oracione (81.7). Pollard's side-note follows his text ("by his prayers").
4 The sentence is loosely built: quia … reprobant gives the ground, non merentur the main clause. Reprobant is read "reject [it]" (the teaching); it could also be "condemn". The point is that the damned, unlike the blessed, cannot help.
5 Perciperet de tendencia: de is taken as partitive, "perceived something of the tendency"; possibly "perceived [it] from its tending toward blessedness". Pollard's side-note reads the pair as temporal and spiritual reasons.
6 Dominum et cives suos … partem suam: the Lord (God, as Pollard's side-note has it) and his citizens, i.e. the citizens of the heavenly city; both suos and suam refer to dominum.
7 Conciperent in hoc vitam et legem Christi: literally "conceived in this", i.e. grasped and took to heart. Alia membra sua: the devil's other members, implying that the endowed clergy, while they hold lordship, are counted among them.
8 In tartaris: literally "in the Tartarean places", a common medieval name for hell (cf. 2 Pet. 2:4 Vulg. in tartarum). Vecorditer goes with degenerantes: they fall away from Christ through faint-heartedness.

How the Latin of this chapter was established

Plate readings; page · reading · note):
- 80: CAPITULUM 34m.
- 81: tota
- 81: a
- 81: lucᵉ (superscript e)
- 81: 11°
- 81: ∅ (side-note "on the devil's side")
Omitted per §3.5 / kept in the English (margin matter): reference Lukexi. 23. (81.30). MS folio marks omitted: 115 b. (81.16), C. 22 b. (81.18), B. 19 d. (81.20).