AN ANSWERE VNTO SIR THOMAS MORES DIALOGE

VOLUME 3

The Independent Works

LOCATION

KEY Commentary Side Textual Bibliographic Scriptural

all his dedes were contrary? I coude not beleue God him selfe that he loued me / if in all my trybulacions I had of him no nother comforte then those bare wordes.

And in like maner if I had no nother felynge in my fayth that couetousnesse were synne / then that the spiritualtie so sayth / my faith coude be but weake and faintie / when I se how the pope wyth wiles hath thrust downe the emproure / and how the bisshopes and prelates be cropt vpp. an hye in all regyons aboue their kinges and haue made them a seuerall kingdome and haue goten in to their handes all most the one halfe of euery realme whiche they diuide amonge them selues / geuinge no laye man ony parte wyth them / and hepynge vpp bisshoperike vppon bisshoperike / promocyon vppon promocion / benefice vppon benefice / with vnions and tot quottes robbinge in euery parish the soules of their fode and the pore of their due sustynaunce: ye and some preachinge that it were lesse sinne to haue .ij. wyues then .ij. benefices / but whyle they be yet younge & hote / and therfore thynke couetousnesse greater synne then lecherye: which same / when they be waxed elder and their complexcyon some what altered / thinke that couetousnesse is as small a synne as lechery / and therfore take all that cometh. And if any man cast theyr preachynge in their tethes / they answere that they be better lerned and haue sene further. If I saye / I haue no nother felinge that couetousnesse is synne / then the preachynge of these holy fathers / my faith were bilt but vppon a weke rocke or rather on the soft sonde. And therfore oure defenders do ryght well to fome out their awne shame and to vtter the secret thoughtes

Couetuousnesse [1531]

kingdome] ed., kindome [1531], kyngdome [1573]

Vnions / tot quottes [1531]

vnions and tot quottes. Cf. Obedience K3v; 1 John D2v, D5v, E6, F4v. For the phrase "pluralities of benefices," cf. Prelates K2v-K3.

[Hand] [1531]

couetousnesse. Because prelates do not practice what they preach about the sin of avarice, More does not defend them against Tyndale's accusation of covetousness. William E. Lunt gives the essential background in Papal Revenues in the Middle Ages, 2 vols. (New York: Columbia UP, 1934), while Barbara M. Hallman treats the abusive practices that lived on through most of the 16c, in Italian Cardinals, Reform, and the Church as Property (Berkeley: U of California P, 1985). Luther gave extensive coverage to Roman financial exploitation of Germany in his reform tract, To the Christian Nobility, 1520 (WA 6.407/9–411/7; LW 44.142–68), where he mentions the same canonical measures named by Tyndale [D7] by which high clerics circumvented the sanctions against pluralism of pastoral benefices and offices.

lecherye. In the preface to a new edition of Enchiridion, Erasmus cites a patristic criticism of poor moral judgment on the clergy : "Augustine complains in his letters that lechery is the one offence imputed to the clergy in Africa, while the vices of avarice and drunkenness are almost counted to their credit." Cf. Ep. 22, Augustine to Bp. Valerius (AD c392) 1.3 (PL 33.91; CSEL 34/1.56-–57; Parsons 1.53), cited by Erasmus, Ep. 858, To Paul Volz, Basel, 14 August 1518 (Allen 3.372/417–20; CWE 6.85/441–44; also Holborn 15/15–17; CWE 66.18). In his memorial of Colet, Erasmus praises the better judgment of his friend: "He used to say that avarice and pride were much more to be abhorred in a priest than if he had a hundred concubines." From Ep. 1211, To Justus Jonas, Anderlecht , 13 June 1521 (Allen 4.521/467–68; CWE 8.239/508–10).

The Papistes think lechery nor couetousnes to be any sinne.[[1573]

bilt . . . sonde. Cf. Matt. 7.26.

Matthew 7.26