Why churches must be visited.

Archbishops, bishops, archdeacons and finally everyone else whose concern it is, and who can pronounce on ecclesiastical law, shall visit their churches and deliberate, and celebrate the solemn and [customary visited] assemblies in them at the proper time, so that the people committed to their charge may be properly governed by pastors and order, and that the state of those churches may be maintained by the constant and godly sendees of the ministers.

What shall be inquired of in visitations.

And these are the main things which must be inquired of in assemblies of this kind: Whether the Holy Scriptures are expounded diligently and sincerely, whether the administration of the sacraments is appropriate and right; what the discipline of the churches is like and how much effect it has; and lastly, whether the forms of the public prayers are maintained in the right way and at the right times, and whether everything else by which the welfare of the churches is maintained is being properly conducted.

The form of visitation.

Now in order for these things to proceed more easily, the whole congregation shall come together in one single place, as is customarily done and seems to be most convenient, and when the oaths of the churchwardens and other important witnesses have been taken, the crimes of persons of every kind, which pertain to the ecclesiastical law, shall be most diligently investigated, and when the crimes have been fully examined, the persons concerned shall pay the just penalties according to the laws and receive severe punishment.

Quae sint et a quibus praestanda.

Deinde providendum erit, ut qui beneficiis ecclesiasticis utuntur, omnes domos ad se pertinentes emendent et reconcinnent, hoc excepto, quod superiorum in ecclesiis locorum, quae cancella vocantur, instaurationem et refectionemnon ad vicario[re]s devolvi, sed ad rectores ipsos perpetuo referri volumus. Reliquae vero templorum partes his qui in parochia habitant tuendae corrigendaeque relinquentur et illorum etiam erit ut aedituum suis communibus expensis sustentent, ilium quidem quem ecclesiae pastor ad hoc munus aptum existimabit. Prae[63b]terea, coemeteriis undique communiendis, vasis et instrumentis omnibus ecclesiasticis perpurgandis, et suo in loco collocandis, invigilabunt. Syndici vero, quos gordianos vocant, ecclesiasticorum bonorum sibi creditorum quotannis rationem reddent, et communis thesauri reliquum integrum et illibatum illis tradent, quorum est proxima successio.