me chief, to whom the government of the whole
world appertains, considering that the people of England and
Ireland, after having been so long celebrated for their
virtues, their religion, and their submission to our see, have
become putrid members, infected, and capable of corrupting the
whole Christian body, and on account of their subjection to the
impious, tyrannical, and sanguinary government of Elizabeth,
the bastard queen, and by the influence of her adherents, who
equal her in wickedness; and who refuse, like her, to recognize
the power of the Roman Church: regarding that Henry VIII.
formerly, for motives of debauchery, commenced all these
disorders by revolting against the submission which he owed to
the Pope, the sole and true sovereign of England; considering
that the usurper Elizabeth has followed the path of this
infamous king, we declare that there exists but one mode of
remedying these evils, of restoring peace, tranquillity, and
union to Christendom, of re-establishing religion, and of
leading back the people to obedience to us, which is, to depose
from the throne that execrable Elizabeth, who falsely arrogates
to herself the title of Queen of the British Isles. Being then
inspired by the Holy Spirit for the general good of the Church,
we renew, by the virtue of our apostolic power, the sentence
pronounced by our predecessor, Pius the Fifth and Gregory the
Thirteenth, against the modern Jezebel: we proclaim her
deprived of her royal authority, of the rights, titles, or
pretensions to which she may lay claim over the kingdoms of
Ireland and England, affirming that she possesses them
unlawfully and by usurpation. We relieve all her subjects from
the oaths they may have taken to her, and we prohibit them from
rendering any kind of service to this execrable woman; it is
our will, that she be driven from door to door like one
possessed of a devil, and that all human aid be refused her;
we declare, moreover, that foreigners or Englishmen are
permitted, as a meritorious work, to seize the person of
Elizabeth and surrender her, living or dead, to the tribunals
of the inquisition. We promise to those who shall accomplish
this glorious mission, infinite recompenses, not only in the
life eternal, but even in this world. Finally, we gr