[151] His Arithmetic and Geometry have been published; but I am not aware if that is the case with his Astronomical Tables.
[152] Quot, Domine, hodie cum Pelagio pro libero arbitrio contra gratuitam gratiam tuam pugnant? De causa Dei adversus Pelagium, libri tres, Lond. 1618.
[153] Nequaquam gratuita sed vendita. Ibid.
[154] Suam voluntatem præire ut dominam, tuam subsequi ut ancillam. Ibid.
[155] Totus pæne mundus post Pelagium abiit in errorem. Ibid.
[Sidenote: STATUTES OF PROVISORS AND PRÆMUNIRE.]
If Bradwardine walked truthfully in the path of faith, his illustrious patron Edward advanced triumphantly in the field of policy. Pope Clement IV having decreed that the first two vacancies in the Anglican church should be conferred on two of his cardinals: "France is becoming _English_," said the courtiers to the king; "and by way of compensation, England is becoming _Italian_." Edward, desirous of guaranteeing the religious liberties of England, passed with the consent of parliament in 1350 the statute of _provisors_, which made void every ecclesiastical appointment contrary to the rights of the king, the chapters, or the patrons. Thus the privileges of the chapters and the liberty of the English Catholics, as well as the independence of the crown, were protected against the invasion of foreigners; and imprisonment or banishment for life was denounced upon all offenders against the law.
This bold step alarmed the pontiff. Accordingly, three years after, the king having nominated one of his secretaries to the see of Durham--a man without any of the qualities becoming a bishop--the pope readily confirmed the appointment. When some one expressed his astonishment at this, the pope made answer: "If the king of England had nominated _an ass_, I would have accepted him." This may remind us of the _ass_ of Avignon; and it would seem that this humble animal at that time played a significant part in the elections to the papacy. But be that as it may, the pope withdrew his pretensions. "Empires have their term," observes an historian at this place; "when once they have reached it, they halt, they retrograde, they fall."[156]
[156] Habent imperia suos terminos; huc cum venerint, sistunt, retrocedunt, ruunt. Fuller's Hist. cent. xiv, p. 116.