No heir is bound to continue his forefathers’ alms, and the pope may claim no tribute

Therefore the grantconcessio: grant would be more religious with the condition expressed, that the persons be qualified and that it be pleasing to God; 279and although this condition must be understood, yet, expressed, it would allay many contentions and cause a more watchful disposition; and so by reason of humility it would be more authenticautenticus / autenticacio: authentic / authentication, by reason of its turning aside from the gentile rite to the religion of Christ it would be more meritorious, and by reason of greater help it would be more secure.¹ And so it seems presumption that anyone should bind his heirs without qualificationsimpliciter / secundum quid: without qualification / in a certain respect to the continuation of such almselemosina: alms, since it does not lie in his power to make worthy any such almsmenelemosinarius: almsman whatever, nor can he bind himself or another to reward the unworthy; since the heir is more bound to the truth, from which he takes his inheritance of itself, than to his fleshly father, from whom he takes it only accidentally.² And this is the reason why it is said catholically that the king of England is always under age: since he ought to correct the errors both of himself and of his forefathers, whether he was deceived from ignorance or from inadvertence; for otherwise he would attempt to defend injustices against God. Therefore God forbid that we should impute to the king and the kingdomregnum: kingdom such madness that, "grown old in evil days", he should defend an ancient error drawn into customconsuetudo: custom, since according to the decree alleged in the eleventh chapter, "an error that is not resisted is approved".³ And it is clear to one who considers more attentively how every so-calledvocatus (vocata bona, vocata ecclesia): so-called perpetual human alms is in reality, by the invincible law of God, temporaryelemosina temporalis / perpetua: temporary alms / perpetual alms, since the condition which God attaches must by all means be understood as impliedsubintelligere: understand as implied: as long as the one enriched remains worthy to share in the alms as regards God.⁴

Hence such attention and expression on the part of the man who is almsgiverelemosinans: almsgiver, from greater humbling, from greater confirmation to God, and from greater exclusion of errors, would dispose more toward the perpetuation of the alms through Christ than a human alms irreligiously called perpetual.⁵ 280For to perpetuate alms belongs properly to Christ, in that he is lorddominus; dominari: lord; to exercise lordship / to lord it, present without qualification to every time, able to justify the almsman, on which justification (according to what was said in the last chapter) human giving depends; and so it is with hereditary succession, in which this is less apparent. For it belongs properly to God to assignlimitare; limites: to assign (an office); limits heirs in the perpetuity of hereditary succession. Hence it is believed that many who founded alms perpetual in name have, in punishment of their pride, failed of the perpetuity of their hereditary line.⁶

In such alms, therefore, one prince grants for his own time, the condition stated above being understood as implied, and prays that his heir may do likewise; and from the meritorious gifts of many who succeed him, with a gracious disposing of the matter, God makes one perpetual alms, if it pleases him.⁷

Hence here it is objectedinstatur; obicitur: it is objected sophistically that a temporal lordtemporales domini: temporal lords meritoriously makes a perpetual alms, since he meritoriously makes a part of it. But that objectioninstancia; objectum: objection does not go against the sense set out; indeed, if it proceeds from the making of a perpetual alms in respect of a part, it would equally prove that one poor little widow would in some case do more to make such an alms perpetual, supposing that she merits more that God should complete the alms on both sides; for in 1 Corinthians 3:6 it is written: "I have planted, Apollo watered: but God gave the increase."⁸ Hence it is clear to one who considers subtly that no heir coming after a forefather who endoweddotacio: endowment the churchecclesia: church is bound to approve the founded alms except of free will. It is clear, first, thus: he is not bound to do any meritorious work except of free will; he is not bound so to approve except in the character of a meritorious work; therefore he is not bound so to approve except of free will.⁹

281And this is known to those who understand the text of the Apostle, Philippians 3:3 and Galatians 6:14, where he says: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ."¹⁰ Again, by the precept of God and by the heir’s hereditary succession to him as an adopted son, the heir is not bound to continue any good work except of free will; now God, the heir’s father, binds more than his fleshly father; therefore much more, by the obligation of his fleshly father, he is not bound so to act except of free will. For God has placed man in such liberty that he cannot command him anything absolutely except what is meritorious, and consequently with the condition added, that he perform it freely. Hence Augustine on Psalm 148: "God willed," he says, "that it should lie in your choice for whom you prepare the place, for God or for the devil; when you have prepared it, he who possesses it will rule."¹¹ But God forbid that anyone should report me as giving occasion to temporal lords to despoil holy church, or to discontinue the alms which their forefathers began, since it followssequitur: it follows formally from the conclusionconclusio: conclusion that they are bound to complete such alms.¹² For the logician knows that if they are not bound so to give almselemosinare; elemosinatus: to give alms to; almsman except freely, then they are bound [so to give them]. Who, I ask, would compel the king of England by civil coercion to continue the alms of his father? Not the past king, both because "an equal has no command over an equal", and also because, the two being incompossible in the kingdom, the full rightius: right / law has passed to the later king; nor does it belong to the emperor, since our kingdom is not so subjected to the empire.¹³

From which it follows that it does not belong to the popepapa: pope, on account of an obligation of the king and the kingdom in ancient times, 282to require from them a pension or annual alms; for in the law of Christ such a perpetual revenuereditus: revenue(s) is not found, nor by imperial law after the endowment made by Caesar, because the whole empire has no right whereby it might be lawful for him to claim an exaction of this kind.¹⁴ It would be required, then, that the pope, in this the king’s humble almsman, should ask for the ratification of such an alms, since all that he has in England he holds ofcapitalis dominus; tenere de: chief lord; to hold of the king: both because the lordshipdominium: lordship of our kingdom is not subject to the empire, and consequently not to a part of the empire cut off for the Roman pontiff; and also because our kingdom would in this way be too much diminished by the amortizationmortificacio: amortization of temporal goodstemporalia: temporal goods, and consequently, by virtue of the king’s writ ad quod damnum, the king would at once revoke what has been so improvidently granted.¹⁵ But the king, by a spoken promise, by the personal obligation of a writing, or by fatherly affection, can be more bound to continue freely the alms of his forefathers; but most of all by reason of the obligation by which he is bound to Christ, as the condition of obtaining blessedness, to bestow works of mercy on his membersmembrum: member (as is clear from Matthew 25); and since the greater work of mercy is fraternal correction, it is clear that heirs are, according to the laws of God and of men, more bound to it.¹⁶ Hence (as I said above) he would in some case do more toward the continuation of his forefathers’ alms by taking it from the frowarddiscoli: froward and turning it to other pious uses than by multiplying, however much, the conferring of temporal goods less providently. And from such works of mercy succeeding one another, even though diverse in kind, there comes to be one successivesuccessivum / permanens: successive entity / permanent entity work of mercy, since the whole church, from the beginning of the world to the last elect, has one work of mercy, according to which the church fully pleases her bridegroomsponsa / sponsus: bride / bridegroom.¹⁷