provided extraordinary means by which the Conciliarists could
circumvent former canonical categories.
Jewel knew both his recent history and his Conciliarists, often quoting
them when it suited him. Like the Conciliarists, he happily sought a
means to circumvent older norms. But in the Ad Scipionemhe even
exceeded Conciliarists views of the extraordinary. Like the Conciliarists
he saw the papacy as the key obstacle to reform, but for Jewel, the
papacy would never countenance a truly free council. How then was
reform to be effected? In what form would equity and moderation
bypass the use of canon law and procedure? For Jewel it was found in
two places. The first is the charismatic leader, most notably, the godly
prince: ‘So in times past, when bishops did sleep, or were attending to by
matters, or did defile and pollute the Lord’s temple, God did always
extraordinarily raise up some men of great spirit and courage, to make
all well and sound again.’^178 A similar argument Jewel had already
employed in the Ad Scipionem: ‘For he the godly man [t.g.m.]
understands that he is not bound to give ear to the pope, or the council,
but to the will of God, whose voice is to be obeyed, though all men say
nay.’^179 The second is the authority vested in local councils: ‘Wherefore
we called a full synod of bishops, and, by common consent of all sorts,
purged our church .... This it was properly in our power to do, and,
because we could do it, we did it boldly.’^180 Jewel’s twin resolution to the
dilemma of how to reform the Church lay with the prince as a unilateral
agent of reform, the one who for the good of the Church acted in the
Church; and the prince’s and the bishop’s authority in each particular
region to dictate and establish rites and ceremonies. The regional
assembly of bishops could also act unilaterally to circumvent the
corruption inherent in the larger Church, authority having devolved to
them through that devolved from the now impotent emperor to the
several monarchies and principalities. This equity stood above the law of
any foreign jurisdiction’s claim in England, be it papal or conciliar.
The other concept, that of the Roman legal dictum Quod omnes
tangit, which addressed the question of interest, Jewel also employed,
though never quoting or using the phrase. The Conciliarists had used it
to argue both for the supremacy of the council over the pope – in that it
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE ELIZABETHAN CHURCH 103
(^178) ‘Sic olim cum episcopi dormirent, atque aliud agerent, aut etiam contaminarent et
polluerent templum Dei, semper Deus extraordinaria ratione alios quosdam excitavit,
magno viros spiritu atque animo, qui omnia in integrum restituerent.’ Jewel, Ad Scipionem,
inWorks, p. 1123.
(^179) Jewel,Ad Scipionem, in Works, IV, p. 1122. Editor’s translation.
(^180) ‘Itaque convocatis episcopis frequenti synodo, communi consensu omnium ordinum
... Idque et potuimus recte facere, et quia potuimus fidneter fecimus.’ Jewel, Ad Scipionem,
inWorks, p. 1123. Editor’s translation.