Liber tertius

XIVINTRODUCTION.sword, a plain reterence to Greoory XI., whose war agaiust the Floreutineswas raging most violentlv.But jiist that war agaiust Florenoe brought the pope into fniancialdifficulties, and necessitated his making the English clergy contributelargely "for the Church". No demand for payment is allowed to remainunmet for more than two yearsj Nobody holding a benefice in Englandis exempt tVom payment, with the exception of the cardinals. And just atthis moment, when the distress of the Curia (then one said "the Church"was so great, came the call to confiscate the church-property, that sourcefrom which the papacy obtained the means for the defence of itspossessions. Now loudly resounded the cry of the Minorites: The Churchmust be poor, as it was in the days of the apostles. It is easy toimagine with what bitterness such cries were heard at Rome. And theyappear again emphatically enough now also in the third book. DeCivili Dominio. We must here confine ourselves to these general remarkson the contents of this book, for details referring to the work itself. Wewill only make some important remarks.Anybody who has read the extremely passionate attacks which Wyclifmade at a later time on the begging orders ("those sects" ishis standing expression,showing his utter contempt) will in the highest degreebe astonishedat the good things he says of them in most of the sections of this book.But that is intelligible enough. When he began this part there had nottaken place the condemnation of the well known nineteen theses extractedfrom the first volume, and so his attacks were directed only against themembers of the propertied orders, who assailed his teachings concerningthe advantage of secularizing church-property; so he still keeps backhis attacks on the papacy, nay he even opines that the pope himselfshould take in hand the necessary reforming of the Church, and intrustlaymen with the management of the Church's property.-He had as much right to free the Church from the enormous burdenas vSylvester in conjunction with Constantine had to lay it on. vSince1 For the single passages see my "Studien zur englischen Kirchenpolitik",p. io3. A papal mandate says: Mandamus quod de fructibus, redditibus, proventibuset aliis bonis et iuribus quibuscunque . . . ultra duos annos de solvendis illis eialiquamnon concedas dilacionem.2 Dominus papa abhas ordinis christiani potens obligare suos subditos , . .exoneraret eos ab illo officio, ut redeant ad vitam liberiorem secundum statumprimitive ecclesie.