Wyclif’s Latin works

De ecclesia, chapter 23, part 5

The pope’s claim answered: Christ’s Godhead, scripture and Peter rule the church; the first objection, that past merits lie beyond the pope’s power

Loserth pp. 561.19–564.31

¶1561.19–563.6

561Et per hec patet responsio ad primum argumentum quo suadetur dominum papam de facto sic facere; non enim pretendit vicarius Christi aut Petri vel sic se posse facere, nisi forte blasphemet et postea resipiscat. Unde signum infallibile foret homini quod sit extra regulam quam Christus suis instituit, nec sit de numero illorum pro quibus Christus tunc oravit, si potestatem talem sibi usurpaverit, nec sollicitor circa facta talia particularia dominum papam vel confratres suos temere accusando, sed scio quod si finaliter consummat in ista sentencia, nec fuit Christi vicarius nec eciam christianus, quia non intravit 562humiliter per ostium Christum ad tale officium, sed ascendit aliunde violente per tractum regis superbie, et per consequens est, si factum suum sic se habuerit, fur et latro. Ad secundum argumentum captum ex dicto Christi Matthei XVI° patet ex sepe dictis quod quicunque sic extollitur, vel ad eum de potestate data Petro et eius vicariis, ideo necesse est papas addiscere scolam Petri specialiter in humilitate et ministerio spirituali, quia aliter non est ille qui sic pretenditur, ut patet quadragesima distinccione. Oportet ergo dominum papam circumspicere ut teneat se in limitibus sancti Petri, et specialiter quod notet verba scripture sacre, non usurpando quod ligat et solvit in purgatorio subter terram nec ascendit in celum imperciendo premia beatorum, cum sint insolubiliter limitata, sed oportet quod teneat se virtuose in medio super terram. Et patet quod minor argumenti est falsa, nam unus apostata potest pretendere se sic solvere vel ligare, sed non exhinc sequitur quod sic facit. Ideo (ut sepe dixi) oportet dominum papam cavere de modis sophisticis. Ad tercium argumentum dicitur quod minor est falsa, cum deitas Christi, scriptura sacra et beatus Petrus relicti sunt in ecclesia militante ad ipsam regulandum et eius dubia decidendum, que tria secundum singulum non sunt vicarii sancti Petri. Christus enim in ascensione sua dereliquit humanitus deitatem suam in terris, sed non divisit, cum copulatus 563est sibi ypostatice, ubicunque fuerit humanitus, et ipsa deitas est caput ecclesie. Christus autem humanitus reliquit testamentum suum in terris per quod voluit suam ecclesiam regulari, nec voluit quod crederetur alicui Petri vicario, nisi de quanto vivit et docet conformiter illi legi.

And by these things the reply to the first argument is clear, by which it is urged that the lord popepapa: pope in fact does so; for the vicar of Christvicarius Christi: vicar of Christ, or of Peter, does not claim even that he can do so, unless perhaps he blasphemes and afterwards comes to his senses.1 Hence it would be an infallible sign to a man that he is outside the rule which Christ instituted for his own, and not of the number of those for whom Christ then prayed, if he has usurped such power for himself. Nor am I anxious about such particular deeds, rashly accusing the lord pope or his brethren; but I know that if he finally ends in this teachingsentencia: CONTEXTUAL: teaching / sentence, he was neither Christ’s vicar nor even a Christian, because he did not enter 562humbly by the door, Christ, into such an office, but climbed up another way, violently, drawn by the king of pride; and consequently, if his deed has been so, he is "a thief and a robber."2 To the second argument, taken from the saying of Christ in Matthew 16, it is clear from what has often been said that whoever is so exalted, or to him concerning the power given to Peter and his vicars […]; therefore it is necessary for popes to learn in the school of Peter, especially in humility and spiritual ministry, because otherwise he is not the one he is claimed to be, as is clear in the fortieth distinction.3 The lord pope must therefore look about him, to keep himself within the limitslimitare; limites: to assign (an office); limits of St Peter, and especially to note the words of holy scripture: not usurping [the claim] that he binds and looses in purgatory beneath the earth, nor ascending into heaven by imparting the rewards of the blessed, since these are assignedlimitare; limites: to assign (an office); limits beyond loosing; but he must keep himself virtuously in the middle, upon the earth.4 And it is clear that the minor of the argument is false; for an apostate can claim that he looses or binds in this way, but it does not follow from this that he does so. Therefore (as I have often said) the lord pope must beware of sophistical ways.5 To the third argument the answer is that the minor is false, since the Godhead of Christ, holy scripture and blessed Peter have been left in the church militantecclesia militans / triumphans / dormiens: the church militant / triumphant / sleeping to rule it and to decide its doubts, which three, taken singly, are not vicars of St Peter.6 For Christ in his ascension, as man, left his Godheaddeitas / divinitas: the Godhead / divinity on earth, but did not divide [it from himself], since it is 563joined to him hypostatically wherever he is as man; and that Godhead is headcaput: head of the churchecclesia: church. And Christ as man left his testament on earth, by which he willed his church to be ruled; nor did he will that any vicar of Peter be believed, except so far as he lives and teaches in conformity with that law.7

¶2563.7–564.6

563Unde quicunque sacerdos ecclesie post mortem Petri vivens et docens testamento illi conformiter potest racionabiliter dici Petri vicarius, sed specialiter ille qui vivit Petro conformius et ad istam doctrinam testamenti Christi similius; et ille supponitur esse Romanus episcopus, sed in synodis pro dubiis decidendis non est credendum cuicunque vianti, nisi de quanto dictum suum fundaverit in scriptura. Unde non est credendum quod fides catholica vel in veritate que creditur vel in habitu ecclesie catholice dependet ab ista persona, cum sit errabilis et de possibili non membrum ecclesie. Ego autem non sollicitor quid papa facit vel loquitur, cum scio quod nec sibi nec alicui istorum doctorum credendum est nisi de quanto se in scriptura fundaverit, cum in ipsa sit omnis veritas proporcionaliter, ut est necessarium ipsam nosci (ut patet secundo De Doctrina Christiana in fine). Unde sepe miratus sum quomodo aliquis istorum trium doctorum fundaret supradictam sentenciam in scriptura. Scimus autem quod papa cum cetu cardinalium eciam in materia fidei sepe errat, sed supponendum est quod scriptores bullarum papalium vel examinatores aut falsi suggestores sepe falsificant bullas suas, sicut noverunt auctores scripture de multis indulgenciis, de multis collacionibus 564prefecturarum et de multis privilegiis et terroribus censurarum; ideo tales apud Deum incurrunt penam falsarii et sunt apud potentes, scientes et ordinate volentes notabiliter renotandi. Caput ergo ecclesie Christus cum scriptura sua et sanctis doctoribus debet esse regula ecclesie in dubiis decidendis.

Hence any priest of the church, living after Peter’s death, who lives and teaches in conformity with that testament, can reasonably be called Peter’s vicar; but especially he who lives more conformably to Peter and more like to this doctrinedoctrina: doctrine of Christ’s testament; and he is supposed to be the Roman bishop. But in synods, for deciding doubts, no one on the roadviantes: those on the road whatever is to be believed, except so far as he has grounded his saying in scripture.8 Hence it is not to be believed that the catholic faith, either in the truth which is believed or in the habit of the catholic church, depends on this person, since he is liable to err and possibly not a membermembrum: member of the church. But I am not anxious about what the pope does or says, since I know that neither he nor any of these doctors is to be believed except so far as he has grounded himself in scripture, since in it is all truth, in proportion as it is necessary for it to be known (as is clear from the second book of On Christian Doctrine, at the end).9 Hence I have often wondered how any of these three doctors would ground the above-said teaching in scripture. And we know that the pope with the company of cardinals often errs, even in matter of faith; but it is to be supposed that the writers of papal bulls, or the examiners, or false suggesters often falsify his bulls, as the authors of the writing have known, concerning many indulgencesindulgencie: indulgences, many conferralscollacio: conferral 564of prefectures, and many privilegesprivilegium / privilegiare / privilegiacio: privilege / to privilege / privileging and terrors of censurescensura: censure; therefore such men incur before God the penalty of a falsifierfalsarius: falsifier, and among the powerful, the knowing and those of rightly ordered will they are to be notably marked out.10 Christ, therefore, the head of the church, with his scripture and the holy doctors, ought to be the rule of the church in deciding doubts.11

¶3564.7–564.22

564Secundo principaliter restat obicere contra fictas indulgencias, et primo contra sentenciam que imponitur sancto Thome, quia in ista materia concordant doctores alii, tam decretiste quam theologi. Primo (inquam) videtur quod supererogata merita Christi et membrorum suorum olim transierunt, et per consequens vel non sunt vel, si sunt pro suo tempore, sunt extra potestatem ordinariam iam superstitis Romani pontificis. Quid (queso) valet fingere quod iste Gregorius XI. ordinavit et instituit ut ymmolacio Ysaac et cetera merita patrum tantum precedencium in utroque testamento valeret ad ordinacionem suam cognato suo iam mortuo? Non enim valet fingere mendacia infundabilia propter extollenciam potestatis. Quomodo (rogo) est copia meritorum que non sunt, aut quomodo tam determinate lapsa in preteritum

Secondly, as the second principal part, it remains to object against feigned indulgences; and first against the teaching which is imputed to St Thomas, because in this matter the other doctors agree, decretists as well as theologians.12 First (I say), it seems that the supererogatedsupererogare; supererogacio: pay out beyond [what is owed]; supererogation merits of Christ and of his members passed away long ago, and consequently either they are not, or, if they are for their own time, they are outside the ordinary power of the Roman pontiffRomanus pontifex: Roman pontiff who now survives. What, I ask, does it avail to feign that this Gregory XI ordained and instituted that the offering of Isaac, and the other merits of the fathers who only went before, in either testament, should avail, by his ordinanceordinacio; ordinancia: ordinance; of the sacrament, ordination, for his kinsman now dead? For it avails nothing to feign groundless lies for the exalting of power. How, I ask, is there plentycopia / habundancia: plenty / abundance of merits which are not, or how are things so determinately lapsed into the past13

¶4564.23–564.31

564cum omnibus suis appendiciis sunt in potestate nostra, cum omnis actus quem nos ipsi fecimus preteriit potestatem nostram? Quomodo ergo distribuit ipse ista opera que non sunt in potestate sua? Nec valet fingere quod distribuit fructus istorum operum, quia illi non sunt nisi premia que sunt beatitudines quas non est in potestate sua a beatis auferre vel peccatoribus donare, quia tunc bonificaret eos, quod foret deliramentum asserere.

with all their appurtenances in our power, since every act which we ourselves have done has passed beyond our power? How, then, does he distribute these works, which are not in his power? Nor does it avail to feign that he distributes the fruits of these works, because these are nothing but rewards, which are blessednesses, which it is not in his power to take away from the blessed or to give to sinners; for then he would make them good, which it would be madness to assert.14

Notes

  1. 1 Ad primum argumentum: the first of the three arguments that the pope does so in fact (556.13): the head of the church claims to do it. Suadetur: it is urged. Sic … facere: to remit sins without satisfaction, or to dispense against them through a vicar (561.15–17). Pretendit … vel sic se posse facere: does not claim even (vel) that he can do so. Resipiscat: comes to his senses. S. Loserth at 561.19 compares p. 556.9. R. Side-note 561.19.
  2. 2 Extra regulam quam Christus suis instituit: outside the rule of life Christ set for his own. Pro quibus Christus tunc oravit: taken as the prayer of Luke 22:32 that the argument alleged (556.13). Finaliter consummat: persists to the end. Sentencia: CONTEXTUAL (teaching / sentence); here the position taught. Per tractum regis superbie: drawn by the king of pride, the devil (cf. Job 41:25, "king over all the children of pride"). S. John 10:1 and 10:7 (Douay–Rheims), "the door", "climbeth up another way", "a thief and a robber"; Loserth compares John 10:7 (562.1). R. Side-note 561.27. B in the margin at 562.1: "From these words it is known who, according to him, is to be called Christ’s vicar."
  3. 3 Ad secundum argumentum: the second argument (556.22), from Matthew 16:19; Loserth compares 556.22. Quicunque sic extollitur: whoever is so exalted. Addiscere scolam Petri: to learn in Peter’s school. Non est ille qui sic pretenditur: he is not the one (Peter’s vicar) he is claimed to be. T. Loserth at 562.8: "some words seem to have fallen out here" (Hoc loco aliquot verba excidisse videntur); the clause vel ad eum … vicariis has no verb, and we give its words as they stand and mark the gap […]. B addicere for addiscere (562.8). S. Quadragesima distinccione: Decretum D.40 c.6 Si papa and c.7 Ante omnia (Loserth 562.11; the form is ours). R. Side-note 562.5.
  4. 4 In limitibus sancti Petri: within St Peter’s limits (row limites). The binding and loosing of Matthew 16:19 is super terram, "upon earth": the pope must not claim it below the earth, in purgatory, or above it, in heaven. Cum sint insolubiliter limitata: since the rewards are assigned (row limitare) so that they cannot be loosed. In medio super terram: in the middle, upon the earth.
  5. 5 Minor argumenti: the minor of the second argument, that the pope so looses and binds on earth (556.26). Pretendere: to claim. De modis sophisticis: sophistical ways of arguing (cf. row sophisticari). T. AA₁ lack Ideo … sophisticis (562.21).
  6. 6 Ad tercium argumentum: the third argument (556.30): God left one head in the church for deciding doubts, who can be none but Peter’s vicar. Loserth compares 556.30. Minor: the clause quod non potest poni nisi Petri vicarius. Secundum singulum: each singly; A and B singlm (562.27). R. Side-note 562.23. A in the margin at 562.23: Nota quis debet dubia ecclesie decidere?
  7. 7 Humanitus: as man, in his humanity. Dereliquit … deitatem suam in terris, sed non divisit: Christ left his Godhead on earth when he ascended, without being divided from it, since the union is hypostatic. Ipsa deitas est caput ecclesie: it is the Godhead, not the pope, that is head (row caput). Testamentum suum: the New Testament, the law by which the church is to be ruled. R. Side-notes 562.23, 563.3. B in the margin at 562.28 copies the sentence Christus in sua ascensione … non divisit.
  8. 8 Ad istam doctrinam … similius: more like to this doctrine (row). Supponitur esse Romanus episcopus: is presumed to be the Roman bishop; Romanus episcopus is kept apart from Romanus pontifex (row). Cuicunque vianti: anyone still on the road (row viantes), the pope included. R. Side-note 563.12. B in the margin at 563.13: Quale est premium accibile bonorum? (so the print, at line 13).
  9. 9 Vel in veritate que creditur vel in habitu: the faith as the truth believed, and as the habit by which the church believes (cf. row habitus fidei). Errabilis: liable to err. De possibili non membrum ecclesie: possibly not a member of the church, that is, possibly foreknown. Istorum doctorum: the doctors of the opinion under examination. Proporcionaliter, ut est necessarium ipsam nosci: in proportion as each truth must be known. S. Augustine, De doctrina christiana 2.42.63, where whatever is useful elsewhere is said to be found in scripture (Wyclif’s wording is a loose paraphrase) (Loserth 563.24: Aug. Opp. III.1, 44; the modern form is ours). A in the margin at 563.24: Augustinus.
  10. 10 Istorum trium doctorum: B in the margin at 563.25 names them as St Thomas, the doctor Bonaventure, and William in De reliquiis et veneracione sanctorum. Cetu cardinalium: the company (college) of cardinals. Falsi suggestores: those who put false suggestions to the pope. Auctores scripture: taken as the authors of the documents, the drafters themselves; it may be corrupt. Prefecturarum: of prefectures, offices of authority. Ordinate volentes: those whose will is rightly ordered. Notabiliter renotandi: to be notably marked out, denounced. T. AA₁ lack sepe (563.24); B cum cet. (563.27); A pravilegiis (564.1). R. Side-note 563.26.
  11. 11 Caput ergo ecclesie Christus: the conclusion of the answer to the third argument: Christ, not the pope, decides doubts, through scripture and the doctors. T. AA₁ read sciencia doctoribus (564.5), apparently for sanctis doctoribus.
  12. 12 Secundo principaliter: the second part of the plan (556.5–8): the objections against the opinion. Fictas indulgencias: feigned indulgences. Sentenciam que imponitur sancto Thome: the teaching ascribed to St Thomas Aquinas, his commentary on the Sentences, IV d. 20 q. 1 a. 3 qc. 1 (= Suppl. q. 25 a. 1), quoted in 23-b. Decretiste … theologi: canonists and theologians, as in the previous part (555.16–556.4). R. A in the margin at 564.7: Secundum principale; at 564.11: Hic arguitur contra fictas et falsas indulgencias.
  13. 13 Supererogata merita: supererogated merits (row supererogare). Olim transierunt: passed away long ago; Loserth reports transierant from a manuscript (564.12; the siglum is illegible in the OCR). Pro suo tempore: for their own time. Iam superstitis: now surviving, the living pope. Iste Gregorius XI.: Gregory XI (pope 1370–78); the grant for his dead kinsman is not identified. Ymmolacio Ysaac: the offering of Isaac (Genesis 22). Patrum tantum precedencium: taken as fathers who "only went before", whose acts are past; tantum may mean "so far". Ad ordinacionem suam: at his ordinance (row ordinacio). Copia: plenty (row). The question runs on into the next paragraph. T. B lacks ad ordinacionem … propter (564.18). R. Side-note 564.11.
  14. 14 The question begun in the previous paragraph ends here: "how are things so determinately lapsed into the past, with all their appurtenances, in our power …?" Appendiciis: appurtenances, all that goes with the acts. Ipse: the pope. Premia que sunt beatitudines: the rewards are the blessednesses themselves. Bonificaret eos: would make the sinners good. Deliramentum: madness. R. Side-note 564.22.
How the Latin of this chapter was established
  • Plate readings; page · reading · note):
    • 562: humiliter
    • 562: Christum
    • 562: fur et latro. (print line is "fur et latro." only; tr*k is noise) [GAP]
    • 562: et eius (print: Petro / et eius vicariis,)
    • 563: et ipsa deitas est caput ecclesie. Christus autem humanitus reliquit testamentum suum in terris per (two print lines; rehquit = reliquit, m = in on the ink) [GAP]
    • 563: non (205a is the glued folio mark)
    • 564: multis
    • 564: cum omnibus (print: cum omnibus suis; cum has no main-scan token, appended here)
    • 564: bonificaret [NW]