BRUNO. Pope Julius swore to princely Sigismond,
For him and the succeeding Popes of Rome,
To hold the Emperors their lawful lords.
POPE. Pope Julius did abuse the church's rights,
And therefore none of his decrees can stand.
Is not all power on earth bestow'd on us?
And therefore, though we would, we cannot err.
Behold this silver belt, whereto is fix'd
Seven golden seals, fast sealed with seven seals,
In token of our seven-fold power from heaven,
To bind or loose, lock fast, condemn or judge,
Resign or seal, or what so pleaseth us:
Then he and thou, and all the world, shall stoop,
Or be assured of our dreadful curse,
To light as heavy as the pains of hell.
Re-enter FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHILIS, in the shapes of the
CARDINALS of France and Padua.
MEPHIST. Now tell me, Faustus, are we not fitted well?
FAUSTUS. Yes, Mephistophilis; and two such cardinals
Ne'er serv'd a holy Pope as we shall do.
But, whilst they sleep within the consistory,
Let us salute his reverend fatherhood.
RAYMOND. Behold, my lord, the Cardinals are return'd.
POPE. Welcome, grave fathers: answer presently
What hath<123> our holy council there decreed
Concerning Bruno and the Emperor,
In quittance of their late conspiracy
Against our state and papal dignity?
FAUSTUS. Most sacred patron of the church of Rome,
By full consent of all the synod<124>
Of priests and prelates, it is thus decreed,--
That Bruno and the German Emperor
Be held as Lollards and bold schismatics,
And proud disturbers of the church's peace;
And if that Bruno, by his own assent,
Without enforcement of the German peers,
Did seek to wear the triple diadem,
And by your death to climb Saint Peter's chair,
The statutes decretal have thus decreed,--
He shall be straight condemn'd of heresy,
And on a pile of faggots burnt to death.
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