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DIOCESAN HISTQ. 
 
 JUL 2 inr;5 
 
 V 
 
 Y O R 
 
 GEORGE ORNSBY, M.A., F.S.A. 
 
 NON OF YOKK AND VICAR OF FISHLAKF 
 
 ,ISHED UNDER THE DIRECTIOJ; OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 NORTHUMBEKLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS, W.C. ; 
 43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C. ; 48, FICCADILLY, W. : 
 AND 135, NORTH STREET, BRIGHTON. 
 
 NEW YORK : E. & T. B. YOTJNG & CO. 
 
GREAT Ql'EEN STREET, UNCOLN's-INN FIELDS, 
 LONDON, W.C. 
 
YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 No diocese in England possesses so many august 
 traditions as the diocese of York. The great Mother 
 Church of the Northern Province rises in its stateli- 
 ness and beauty from the midst of a city which 
 was great and flourishing, whilst London was com- 
 paratively insignificant and Canterbury as yet un- 
 known. Eboracum was the metropolis of Maxima 
 Ccesariensis, the central stronghold of the military 
 power of Rome and the focus of Roman civilization 
 in Britain. When the Roman legions were at last 
 withdrawn, and the Angles had vanquished the 
 Britons and driven them into the fastnesses of Wales 
 and the mountains of Caledonia, York was still a 
 place of primary importance and the capital of a 
 Saxon kingdom. " Our first glimpse of the city on 
 the Ouse, after it had changed from Roman Ebora- 
 cum into English Eoforwic, shows it to us as a city 
 not only royal, but more than royal, as the seat of a 
 supremacy acknowledged by all the Teutonic king- 
 doms of the island, save Kent alone.''^ As regards 
 
 ' "Points in Early Northumbrian History," by E. A. Free- 
 man. .("Macmillan's Magazine" for Sept., 1876.) 
 
2 
 
 YORK. 
 
 the rise and progress of Christianity throughout the 
 land, Professor Bright ^ has well observed that " the 
 history of the Church in Northumbria during the 
 larger part of the seventh century is conspicuously 
 the backbone of the history of the Church in 
 England." And as regards learning, York had a 
 reputation more than insular, when Archbishop 
 Egbert was founding schools and collecting a library, 
 and when Alcuin was niagister scholariim within its 
 walls, at a period when Oxford, as a seat of educa- 
 tion, had achieved no distinction and given no 
 presage of her future fame. 
 
 The object of the following pages is to trace, in as 
 definite and precise a manner as the limits assigned 
 to the volume will admit of, the history of the great 
 diocese which for more than a thousand years has 
 been the seat of the Northern Primate of England. 
 The aim of the book is strictly of a diocesan char- 
 acter. It is not intended to combine, in however 
 brief a form, any history of the country at large, im- 
 portant as has often been the part which Yorkshire 
 has played. However tempting the theme, it must be 
 left on one side, further than as the actions of a sove- 
 reign or the deliberations of a Parliament have inter- 
 twined themselves with the fortunes of the Church. 
 
 We propose to commence our sketch — for it 
 claims no higher appellation — of the diocese of 
 York, by an account of the mission-work of Paulinus, 
 whose name is usually placed at the head of the long 
 roll of those who have occupied its archiepiscopal 
 throne. Before proceeding with this, a short account 
 ' " Early English Church History," p. 154. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 3 
 
 may, however, be not unfitly given of the tract of 
 country over which the rule of the Archbishops 
 extended, its earliest inhabitants, its domination by 
 the Romans, and its subsequent occupation by the 
 Angles. 
 
 The great shire of York, the largest of English 
 counties, was conspicuously the main territorial 
 feature of the Northern Archbishopric, though the 
 original limits of the latter were commensurate with 
 the ancient kingdom of Northumbria, and embraced 
 at one time not only the county of Nottingham, but 
 extended northward as far as the Firth of Forth. 
 The area of the county contains about 5,961 square 
 miles. Its surface is varied. Speaking generally, it 
 slopes upwards from the sea, until it gains its highest 
 elevation on the upland range which forms a natural 
 division between it and the western side of the island. 
 That upland range, containing Ingleborough, Peni- 
 gent, and other hills and groups of lesser elevation, 
 is the great water-shed of Yorkshire. Almost all the 
 rivers which flow through the great central vale of 
 York have their sources amongst the deep valleys 
 which lie between the ranges of these western hills. 
 The rivers of that rich and fertile vale receive tribu- 
 tary streams also from the elevated land on the 
 Eastern side of the county. All, with few and 
 insignificant exceptions, combine to swell the great 
 volume of water which the estuary of the Humber 
 pours forth into the ocean. 
 
 The vale of York extends from south to north 
 through the whole county for 120 miles or more. 
 It was said by Baron Bunsen to be " the most 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 VORK. 
 
 beautiful and romantic vale in the world, the vale of 
 Normandy excepted." And full three centuries ago 
 Cuthbert Tunstall, the learned Bishop of Durham, 
 with a Yorkshireman's pride, directed the attention 
 of Henry Vlll. to this portion of his dominions as 
 being " one of the greatest and richest valleys that 
 ever he found in all his travels through Europe, and 
 moved the king to look about him and behould the 
 great mountains and great hills on the east side of 
 the said valley, being called York wolds and Blacka- 
 more ; and upon the west hand the high fells of 
 Craven; and all within the county of York.' ' On the 
 north eastern side of the \ale rise the Hambleton 
 hills, near Thirsk, with the Cleveland hills beyond, 
 the peak of Roseberry Topping rising conspicuously 
 amongst them. To the south-east He the Yorkshire 
 wolds, an undulating range of lower elevation, stretch- 
 ing along the coast line, looking down upon the flats 
 of Holderness, and gradually rising as they approach 
 the north-eastern angle of the county. 
 
 The appearance which the country presented in 
 pre-Roman times, and the manner in which its 
 population was distributed, is, to a great extent, 
 matter of conjecture. But there can be little doubt 
 that what was afterwards the Roman Eboracum was 
 then the chief city of the Brigantes, known, in all 
 probability, by the name of Ebrauc. Its site pos- 
 sessed many advantages, marking it out as suitable 
 for the chief settlement of a people whose territory 
 extended widely on all sides. It possessed a navig- 
 
 ' '•Observations by Vavasour of Hazelwood." Hearne's 
 Edilion of Leland's Collectanea, vi. p. 302. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 5 
 
 able river, and it was at the head of a valley along 
 the line of which there must at all times have been a 
 more or less beaten track communicating with the 
 north. The country on either side of this road, if it 
 could be dignified by that name, was unquestionably 
 one wide, almost unbroken, forest, full of wild 
 animals of all kinds, the hunting-ground of the 
 Brigantian tribes. The dwelling-places of these early 
 inhabitants of the country appear to have been fixed? 
 for the most part in what is now known as the wold 
 country, and the Cleveland hills, where hundreds of 
 circular pits, earth-works, and tumuli occur. Many 
 excavations of these have been made, notably in the 
 course of the last twenty years by the energy of Mr. 
 Greenwell, the results of which he has lately published. 
 Space forbids more than a mere mention of what 
 would be a most fascinating subject. Some were 
 obviously villages, or clusters of huts. Others were 
 thrown up as lines of defence, whilst the mounds or 
 tumuli were usually sepulchral. Circles and groups 
 of stone are not uncommon, more especially on the 
 north-eastern hills. The greater proportion of the 
 tumuli which have been opened are British inter- 
 ments. No Roman tumulus has been discovered. 
 Anglo-Saxon remains are not uncommon. 
 
 The wold country would afford pasturage for flocks 
 and herds, and the vast forests which, varied probably 
 with occasional open glades, clothed the declivities of 
 the hills and the wide and far-stretching vale which 
 occupied the central part of this great county, would 
 afford ample scope for hunting the deer, the wild 
 boar, and perhaps the bison. 
 
6 
 
 YORK. 
 
 The ancient inhabitants have left, as in many other 
 districts in the island, one mark of their occupation 
 which, after the lapse of so many centuries, is not yet 
 obliterated. Names which the Britons gave to the 
 river and the stream still survive. The Aire, the 
 Calder, the Don, the Derwent, and the Wisk, the 
 Ure, the Wharfe, and the Went, may be mentioned as 
 instances where the accents of the ancient British 
 tongue are still on the lips of the inhabitants. 
 
 The tract of country occupied by the Brigantes was 
 commensurate with Yorkshire, Durham, Cumberland, 
 Westmorland and Lancashire. Some smaller tribes 
 inhabited certain districts within the area. The con- 
 quests of Agricola brought this part of Britain under 
 Roman rule about a.d. 70 or 80, and the military 
 division of the island known as Maxima Ccesariensis 
 included the wide tract which was formerly in the 
 possession of the Brigantes. Of this province 
 Eboracum was the capital. It had heretofore been 
 unquestionably the chief city of the Brigantes, and 
 as Canon Raine says, " the Romans knew well how 
 wise It was, in a strange and savage country, to 
 take possession of a place of antiquity and note, 
 where probably there was the only market in the 
 district, and towards which all the forest paths con- 
 verged." Strategically also it was singularly fitted to 
 be a great military centre and depot. Few vestiges 
 remain of Roman dwellings, though it cannot be 
 doubted that the foundations of very many lie buried 
 below the streets and houses of the existing city. The 
 population must have been very large. There is 
 proof of this in the crowded cemeteries which have 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 7 
 
 been explored, more especially within the last few 
 years. Stone coffins with Latin inscriptions, the 
 bones of the dead, and hundreds of objects which 
 had been interred with them were discovered in 
 extraordinary abundance during the excavations 
 which took place in preparing the sites of the original 
 railway station and of the magnificent new one which 
 has been recently erected. Probably not one half 
 the burial-grounds of the Roman inhabitants of 
 the city has been explored, and vast quantities ot 
 inscribed stones, objects of art, coins, pottery-ware, 
 and other things of singular interest, remain yet 
 undiscovered under the surface of the ground which 
 lies outside the ancient fortifications of the city. 
 
 Amongst the sepulchral inscriptions or other sculp- 
 tures which have hitherto come to light, scarcely a 
 trace is to be found of the existence of Christianity in 
 this part of Britain. " The sacred symbol occurs 
 once at York, and twice on objects found on the 
 hne of the Roman wall, and this is all.''^ That there 
 may have been individual converts to the faith of 
 Christ amongst the Roman legionaries and settlers is 
 quite possible, and the same may be said concerning 
 the British inhabitants. Christianity, no doubt, had 
 spread extensively in other parts of the island, but 
 there is little historical proof of its having taken root 
 in the north of England during this period. 
 
 Another indication of the high rank which Ebora- 
 cum occupied amongst the cities of Roman Britain is 
 manifested by the fact of an imperial palace existing 
 
 ' "The Historians of the Church of York," &c. Preface, • 
 p. -Kx., edited by Canon Raine (Master of the Rolls Series). 
 
8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 within its walls, for the accommodation of the 
 emperors when they came to Britain. " Eboracum 
 holds a place which is unique in the history of Britain, 
 which is shared by one other city only in the lands 
 north of the Alps. York, and York alone among the 
 cities of Britain, has been the dwelling place of the 
 Caesars of Rome. London was even then the great 
 seat of commerce, but York was the seat of empire. 
 York saw the last days of Severus in one age, and of 
 Constantius in another ; and from York Constantine 
 went forth to change the face of the European world 
 for all time." ^ 
 
 The end of the fourth century witnessed the decline 
 of the Roman power in Britain, and at the begin- 
 ning of the sixth her legions were finally withdrawn. 
 History is silent as to the precise time when the 
 Angles made their first descent upon the shores of 
 Northumbria, or when they became masters of 
 Eboracum. " We might freely give up much about 
 other places,'' as Mr. Freeman justly observes, "to 
 get in e.xchange a single ray of light to throw on the 
 struggle which made Eboracum English." It is 
 supposed by Mr. Skene that as early as a.d. 374 the 
 Saxons had gained a settlement on the eastern coast 
 of Scotland. 
 
 When the Romans retired, other incursions would 
 un([uestionably soon follow. Their entrance into the 
 Humber would probably be undisputed. Horde 
 after horde would arrive. The tidal waters of the 
 Ouse would bear their small craft up to the very walls 
 
 '" Points in Early Northumbrian History." (" Macmillan's 
 Magazine," Sept. 1876.) 
 
INTRODUCTOEY. 
 
 9 
 
 of the great capital of the northern province, and, 
 however stubborn the resistance of the Britons, they 
 were finally obliged to yield, overpowered by numbers 
 and by the tenacity with which the invaders would 
 hold every post which they had once captured. The 
 progress of the conquerors was, no doubt, slow, but 
 they were continually reinforced, and the Britons 
 sullenly withdrew before them into the shelter of the 
 deep forests and the fastnesses of the far off hills. 
 The stubbornness with which they stood out against 
 the invaders may be measured to some extent by 
 the fact that as late as the seventh century an inde- 
 pendent British kingdom named Elmete existed not 
 many miles west of the city of York. 
 
 The district between the Humber and the Firth of 
 Forth comprised tv/o distinct kingdoms, Deira and 
 Bernicia ; the former embracing the large tract of 
 country between the first-mentioned river and the Tees, 
 the latter that which lay between the Tees and the 
 Forth. Ida, the Flame-bearer, whose stronghold was 
 planted on the basaltic rock of Bebbanburg, or Bam- 
 burgh, may be regarded as the first sovereign of 
 Bernicia. Ida died in 559. Deira still had a ruler 
 of its own, but the two kingdoms were soon to be 
 brought under one rule. The Bernicians pressed 
 forward to achieve the conquest of Deira. Ella, its 
 king, was old, and offered but a feeble resistance, 
 and when he died in 589, Ethelric became master of 
 Northumbria. His son Ethelfrith completed the 
 work his father had begun, and his victory at Chester 
 finally broke the power of the Britons, who on the 
 western side of the island had long cflfered a stubborn 
 
YORK. 
 
 resistance to the arms of the Angles, and left him 
 free to establish a paramount sovereignty over the 
 lesser states of his own countrymen. 
 
 After Ella's death Redwald, the king of East 
 Anglia, gave shelter and protection to Edwin, the 
 son of the sovereign of Deira. This act gave great 
 umbrage to Ethelfrith, and he sent messengers time 
 after time to Redwald, demanding the slaughter of 
 Edwin, tempting his cupidity by the offer of a heavy 
 bribe as the price of his betrayal of the trust he had 
 voluntarily undertaken. But the bribe was offered in 
 vain. At one time, indeed, Redwald was half-dis- 
 posed to yield, but his queen's remonstrances worked 
 upon his better nature, and he refused to stain his 
 hands with Edwin's blood. Ethelfrith then resorted 
 to threats. Redwald dreaded the power of the 
 Northumbrian prince, and his resolution to protect 
 Edwin again wavered. The latter was aware of the 
 danger he was in, and, whilst sadly musing upon his 
 perilous condition, a stranger stood before him and 
 questioned him on the subject of his deep despon- 
 dency. He addressed him as one who knew his 
 rank and all the perils which encompassed him. He 
 spoke mysteriously of his future, hinted at his regain- 
 ing his father's throne, and of the possibility of his 
 hereafter meeting with one who should tell him of a 
 better life and a higher and purer law than either he 
 or his fathers had ever known. Edwin promised in 
 answer to the stranger's questions that he would 
 believe and obey the utterances of such a one if only 
 they tended to his deliverance from the troubles that 
 beset him and placed him again on his seat of 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 sovereignty. At the end of this strange interview 
 his unknown visitor laid his hand upon his head, 
 bade him remember that sign and bear in mind the 
 promise he had made. 
 
 Finding at last that bribes, entreaties, and threats 
 failed to procure the object he had in view, Ethel- 
 frith took the field with a large force against the East 
 Anglian king, in the hope of crushing him by 
 numbers. But victory did not follow. He was 
 defeated by Redwald in a battle that was fought on 
 the banks of the Idle, near Retford. After this 
 Edwin was enabled to return to Deira. He sub- 
 sequently attacked Bernicia and by his conquest of 
 that province re-united the two states, and Northum- 
 bria was again one kingdom, extending, as has been 
 already said, from the estuary of the Humber to the 
 Firth of Forth. Tradition marks him as the founder 
 of Edinburgh — Edwin's burgh. He was a born ruler 
 of men, and was not only a consummate leader in 
 the field, but a sovereign whose energy and determi- 
 nation promoted the arts of peace and the security of 
 his people. " With him began the English proverb 
 so often applied to after kings : ' A woman with her 
 babe might walk scathless from sea to sea in 
 Eadwine's day.' Peaceful communication revived 
 along .the deserted highways ; the springs by the 
 roadside were marked with stakes, and a cup of 
 brass set beside each for the traveller's refreshment. 
 Some faint traditions of the Roman past may have 
 flung their glory round this new ' Empire of the 
 English ; ' a royal standard of purple and gold floated 
 before Eadwine as he rode through the villages ; a 
 
YORK. 
 
 feather tuft attached to a spear, the Roman tufa, 
 preceded him as he walked through the streets."^ 
 But his conquests were not confined to the recovery 
 of Deira and the mastery of Bernicia. He finally 
 conquered the British settlement which had so long 
 and so stubbornly held its ground in the district of 
 Elmete, near Leeds. He gained Chester and ob- 
 tained possession of the islands of Anglesey and 
 Man. "South of the Humber he was owned as 
 over-lord by the five English states of Mid-Britain."- 
 The Angles, it is hardly necessary to remind the 
 reader, were at this time heathen. They were wor- 
 shippers of Thor and Woden, of Friga and Saeter, 
 whose names still survive on the lips of all of us in 
 the appellations given to the days of the week. No 
 attempt appears to have been made on the part of 
 any British Christians to evangelise the pagan Angles. 
 At this we cannot wonder. They stood in a mutual 
 relation of fierce and unrelenting enmity. From the 
 time the latter gained possession of the eastern sea- 
 board they advanced step by step into the interior of 
 the country, persistently driving the Britons further 
 and further westward, until they were at last thrust 
 into the fastnesses of Wales. 
 
 ' Green's "History of the English People," i. p. 44. 
 » Ibid, p. 45. 
 
YORK. 
 
 '3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Christianity was at length to be planted in the 
 kingdom of Northumbria. It had already taken root 
 in Kent. Ethelbert, the king of that province, had 
 listened to the preaching of Augustine, and he and 
 his people had embraced the faith of Christ. Etheb 
 bert had passed away and his throne was filled by his 
 son Eadbald. Edwin was desirous to ally himself 
 with the royal house of Kent, and sent ambassadors 
 to Eadbald, soliciting the hand of his sister Ethel- 
 burga. Eadbald refused to give his sister to one who, 
 however eminent in position and excellent in charac- 
 ter, was yet a heathen. But Edwin was not dis- 
 couraged. He promised that Ethelburga should 
 have the free exercise of her religion, and that all 
 whom she brought in her train should have the like 
 privilege. He even went so far as to promise also 
 that he would listen to those who professed this new 
 religion ; and that if it approved itself to his mind he 
 might himself embrace it. Eadbald yielded, and Ethel- 
 burga became the wife of Edwin. She was his second 
 wife. He had been previously married to Cwenburga, 
 the daughter of the king of Mercia, by whom he had 
 two sons, Osfrid and Eadfrid. 
 
 Ethelburga was accompanied by one whose name 
 must be ever held in veneration as the great founder 
 of Christianity in the kingdom of Northumbria. His 
 name was Paulinas, and he had been "consecrated 
 
14 
 
 YORK. 
 
 to the episcopate " by Justus, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, " in order that he might be to Ethelburga in 
 her northern home what Liudhard had been to her 
 mother in the still heathen Kent." i Bede has pre- 
 served for us a description of his personal appear- 
 ance, which brings the man most vividly before the 
 mind's eye. His information was gained from one 
 who had himself received it from an aged man who 
 had received baptism at Paulinus's hands long years 
 before in the river Trent, and who loved to describe 
 the outward form and features of the servant of God 
 who had admitted him into the fold of the Chief 
 Shepherd. He pictured him as a man of more than 
 ordinary stature, slightly stooping, with hair of raven 
 blackness, of worn and wasted visage, his nose singu- 
 larly slender, but high and curved like an eagle's 
 beak, of commanding aspect, inspiring veneration 
 and awe in all who met his gaze. 
 
 For some time Edwin showed no disposition to 
 embrace the faith of his consort ; but about a twelve- 
 month after his marriage an event occurred of which 
 Paulinus took advantage with reference to that end. 
 Cwichelm, king of the West-Saxons, sent an assassin 
 to slay Edwin. The foul deed was frustrated by the 
 self-devotion of Lilla, one of his thanes, who received 
 the blow that was aimed at his sovereign, and died 
 under it, Edwin receiving only an insignificant wound. 
 This happened on the great Easter festival. The 
 same night Ethelburga gave birth to a daughter, to 
 Edwin's great joy. He consented to the infant's 
 baptism, which was solemnized on the Whitsunday 
 ' Bright's " Early English Church History," p. lii. 
 
PAULINUS. 
 
 15 
 
 following, and he promised that if he returned in 
 safety from an onslaught upon Cwichelm which he 
 meditated, in revenge for his treacherous and cowardly 
 act, he would himself embrace the Christian faith. 
 He made an attack accordingly upon the West- 
 Saxons, whom he utterly routed. Paulinus had pre- 
 viously striven to excite his gratitude to the True 
 God for the safety of his queen and the birtli of his 
 fair daughter. He now reminded him of his promise 
 if his arms were crowned with success against 
 Cwichelm. But Edwin was still irresolute. At last 
 Paulinus laid his hand upon his head and asked him 
 if he recognised that sign. It reminded Edwin of 
 the dream or vision which he had had long before, 
 and of the words which an unearthly visitor, as he 
 believed, had addressed to him. He listened, awe- 
 struck and trembling. The words of Paulinus made 
 a deep impression upon his mind, and he became 
 really desirous of adopting the Christian faith. But 
 before taking the final step he called together an 
 assemblage of the chief men of his kingdom, to lay 
 before them all that was occupying his thoughts 
 respecting the religion preached by this new teacher ; 
 so that if its doctrines approved themselves to their 
 minds, they, as well as himself, should be admitted 
 through the laver of baptism into the fellowship of 
 Christ's religion. Coifi, the chief priest of the idol 
 temples, was the first to speak. He acknowledged 
 that the heathen worship was unsatisfying, and that if 
 the new teaching proved, after careful examination, 
 to rest upon a surer basis and to offer a more certaip 
 hope, it should be at once embraced. 
 
YOKK. 
 
 Another then spoke. He was evidently one whose 
 age and dignity entitled him to be listened to with 
 reverential attention. Like an Eastern sage, he threw 
 his observations into the form of an apologue or 
 parable. This tale, which Bede narrates so beauti- 
 fully, has often been told, but the story of Edwin's 
 conversion would scarcely seem complete without it. 
 The speaker dwelt upon the strange myster)- of human 
 life, alike as regards its beginning and its end, both 
 equally shrouded in impenetrable darkness. And he 
 went on to remind the king and the other listeners of 
 what they had often seen when gathered on a winter's 
 night around the fire which blazed in the centre of 
 the royal hall. Outside nil is black and dark, and 
 the howling wind is driving the sleet and the rain 
 against the latticed windows. A door opens for a 
 brief moment, and a poor bird takes refuge from the 
 storm. But it tarries not to enjoy the light and the 
 warmth. It is seen for a few seconds whilst flying 
 across the hall. Some door or window on the op- 
 posite side is unclosed, and it disappears from the 
 view of those who marked its flight, — lost in the 
 darkness. It is a fitting emblem, he tells them, an 
 apt similitude of the life of man, who appears for a 
 little season and fulfils his appointed journey ; but no 
 earthly wisdom has hitherto told him from whence 
 he came, or illumined the darkness which enfolds his 
 departure. And the words of counsel wherewith he 
 concluded his address were, that if the new teacher 
 who had appeared among them had aught to tell 
 which bore the stamp of certainty as regarded 
 man's origin and his future fate, his words should be 
 
KING Edwin's conversion. 
 
 17 
 
 listened to and his teaching followed. Coifi again 
 spoke, and expressed an earnest desire to hear some- 
 what from Paulinas concerning the God whom he 
 adored. The king assented, and with a glad and 
 willing mind Paulinus unfolded to them the won- 
 drous story of the gospel of Christ. Coifi listened 
 with absorbed and awe-struck attention, and soon 
 burst forth into words of strong conviction, acknow- 
 ledging in the presence of that gTeat assemblage 
 that he had hitherto sought for truth, but in vain ; 
 and that now he had met with teaching which satisfied 
 all his longing aspirations, with its promises of life 
 and salvation and eternal blessedness. With all the 
 earnestness of a new-born zeal, he implored the king 
 that the idols and their shrines, whose chief guardian 
 and most devout worshipper he had been, should be 
 torn down and given to the flames. Edwin's first 
 utterance was a public acknowledgment of his own 
 acceptance of the doctrine which Paulinus preached, 
 and his absolute renunciation of all idol worship. 
 His second was a question addressed to Coifi : — 
 " Who shall be found," said he, " bold enough to 
 enter the precincts of those fanes, so long regarded 
 with veneration and awe, and tear down the images 
 of Thor and Woden?" "I will," was the chief 
 priest's reply ; "no one surely is fitter to undertake 
 the work of destruction than the man who has .so 
 long fostered a people's ignorance and encouraged 
 them in a worship which is vanity and folly." He 
 then besought Edwin to furnish him with sword and 
 spear, and to mount him on a war-horse. Hi.s 
 request was granted. It v,-as in itself an abnegation 
 
 c 
 
i8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 of the office which he held, for the priest of an idol 
 shrine was not permitted to carry weapons, and a 
 mare was the only animal he was allowed to bestride. 
 Thus armed, and thus mounted, he rode furiously to 
 Goodmanham, a place of the highest sanctity. He 
 flung his spear into the sacred enclosure, tore down 
 the idols, and with joy and gladness and shouts of 
 thanksgiving to the true God, he commanded those 
 who accompanied him to join him in the utter de- 
 struction of that which had been the object of their 
 ignorant but fond veneration. The people stood 
 awe-struck. They thought Coifi was mad, and 
 doubtless expected that the gods «-ould avenge the 
 insult offered to the place where they were enshrined. 
 " But there was no voice, nor any that answered." 
 It was the downfall of heathenism in Northumbria. 
 
 [a.d. 627.] Edwin's acceptance of Christianity was 
 followed by its open profession by himself and the 
 chief men of his kingdom, and a number of his people. 
 During the period of instruction in the mysteries of 
 the Christian faith which preceded his baptism, the 
 erection of a church or oratory within the walls of 
 York was rapidly carried on by Edwin's orders. It 
 was of wood, resembling, probably, in its structure a 
 church which yet survives at Greensted, near Ongar, 
 and is a most curious and "venerable relic of Saxon 
 times, "and a visible exponent of the old Anglo- 
 Saxon word getymbrlan — to build." Under the 
 shelter of this humble sanctuary Edwin was baptized 
 by Paulinus on Easter day, the 12th April, 627. 
 Some of " his nobles were baptized with him, and 
 among the neophytes was his grand-niece Hilda, the 
 
EDWIX'S BASILICA AT YORK. 1 9 
 
 future abbess of Whitby." Paulinus soon suggested 
 to his royal convert the erection of a larger and more 
 stately church, which was at once commenced. It 
 was of stone, and it enclosed within its four walls the 
 little wooden structure which had been hastily put 
 together for the baptism of the king. But Edwin did 
 not live to witness its completion. This was effected 
 by his successor Oswald. The oratory of wood has 
 perished long ages ago, though it was carefully pre- 
 served down to the time of Archbishop Albert 
 [a.d. 767-782] ; but there are remains still visible 
 which may possibly be associated with the basilica 
 enclosing it, which was commenced by Edwin. Under 
 the choir of York minster there is a dark and gloomy 
 crypt, which may undoubtedly be regarded as the 
 site of the church of St. Peter which synchronized 
 with Edwin's baptism. Some small portions of Saxon 
 masonry may be seen in its recesses. It may be, 
 when we gaze upon them, that our eyes are resting 
 upon fragments of the very walls which were reared 
 by the first Christian king of Northumbria. That 
 lowly building was the germ and the precursor of that 
 glorious work of high intelligence which we now 
 behold — the mighty minster which lifts its majestic 
 head above the walls and towers and dusky build- 
 ings of the metropolis of the North, the pride and 
 glory of the great shire of York, the mother-church of 
 Northern England. 
 
 Paulinus was now free to commence in earnest the 
 great work which he had in view — the preaching of 
 God's word throughout the length and breadth of 
 Northumbria. No aid was lacking which Edwin 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 YORK. 
 
 could give. His two sons by his first consort, Osfrid 
 and Eadfrid, received instruction from the saintly 
 bishop, and were admitted as members of the Church 
 of Christ. Not a few of the chief men of Northum- 
 bria followed the example of their sovereign. York 
 was assigned as the place of his episcopal chair. 
 
 The labours of Paulinus extended far and wide. 
 His voice was heard in the wilds of Glendale, at the 
 foot of Cheviot, where for thirty-six days he was 
 incessantly occupied in teaching and baptizing the 
 inhabitants of the distant province of Bernicia. In 
 Deira, where the king chiefly dwelt, it was the same. 
 Crowds gathered round him on the banks of the 
 Swale, and in its waters, as in a second Jordan, they 
 were immersed in the All Holy Name ; for, as Bede 
 says, in the infancy of that new-formed church, there 
 were neither oratories nor baptisteries. The wild 
 moorland hills, or the stretch of green pasture, where 
 the thronging multitudes could gather round him, 
 sufficed for the one, and the streams w hich glided by 
 were an apt and fitting emblem of the spiritual puri- 
 fication which in a more settled time was typified by 
 the other. A\ e read at this time of the erection of one 
 basilica only, with the exception, of course, of that 
 at York. It was built at the royal vill of Campo- 
 dunum, which may fairly be identified with the 
 modern Doncaster. 
 
 For six years were the missionary labours of 
 Paulinus carried on. When we read of Edwin's con- 
 version being followed by that of many of the chief 
 men of the kingdom, we are apt to think that some 
 worldly motives might perchance mingle with their 
 
MISSIONARY LABOURS OF PAULINUS. 21 
 
 change, and that it was not wholly spiritual in its 
 character ; but this can scarcely be alleged with any 
 semblance of truth as it regards the multitudes who, 
 in one district after another, were attracted and im- 
 pressed, savingly as we may well believe, by Paulinos' 
 earnest preaching. It is quite clear from Bede's 
 words that careful instruction preceded baptism. He 
 speaks of his catechising, of his instructing them, 
 of his preaching the word of God to them. And 
 although the accretions of heathenism had overgrown 
 it, like the moss and the lichen on the rock, there v/as 
 amongst the Teutonic nations an underlying element 
 of truth, dimly felt, no doubt, and imperfectly recog- 
 nised, which yet responded, more or less readily, to 
 the words which he uttered with all the fervour of a 
 prophet of the Lord. Their earliest belief recognised 
 One Supreme Ruler, all-powerful, omniscient, un- 
 changeable, who cannot be limited by the boundaries 
 of earthly space or represented under any human 
 form. The Edda says, " He is called AUfadir in 
 our tongue." It is true that this primitive belief^ was 
 darkened, debased, corrupted, amongst the Angles 
 to whom Paulinus preached, but he had lived long 
 enough amongst them, before he commenced his 
 missionary work, to study their character, to make 
 himself acquainted with their beliefs, and to seize 
 upon and quicken any germs of truth which lay 
 hidden beneath, and which were capable of being 
 fructified. However this may be, the result of his 
 work was marvellous. It was, so to speak, the con- 
 version of a nation. He laid the foundations of 
 ' See Maclear's "History of Christian Missions," pp. 17, 18. 
 
22 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Christian belief over the vast tract of country between 
 the Humber and the Tweed. Neither wa.s that all. 
 He passed over the former great estuary into the 
 district of Lindisse, or Lindsey, in Lincolnshire. " He 
 preached in the old Roman hill tov.n of Lincoln, and 
 its reeve, or 'prefect,' as Bede calls him, 'Bloecca' 
 by name, became a convert, and began to build 'a 
 stone church of noble workmanship,' the roofless 
 walls of which were standing in Bede's own day." 
 In Lincoln, moreover, he officiated on a very im- 
 portant occasion. Justus, the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, had passed away, and Honorius was elected to 
 succeed him. Romanus, Bishop of Rochester, had 
 perished at sea, whilst on a voyage to Rome, and 
 Honorius sought consecration from Paulinus as the 
 only representative in England of the episcopal order. 
 Thus "the fifth archbishop of Canterbury was con- 
 secrated by the sole ministry of the first of a new line 
 of bishops of Ycrk."i Paulinus baptised multitudes 
 in Nottinghamshire also, in the waters of the Trent, 
 near a place " which is usually identified with South- 
 well, where the minster of St. Mary, for ages con- 
 nected with the see of York, has always claimed 
 Paulinus as its founder."- Through Edwin's influence, 
 Christianity was also extended to East Anglia. Bede 
 tells us that his persuasions wrought upon Eorpwald, 
 — whose father, Redwald, had given shelter and pro- 
 tection to Edwin in his day of need, — to embrace 
 the faith of Christ. 
 
 But the spirit of heathendom could not be at once 
 
 ' Bright's "Early English Church History," p. 122. 
 "Hid, p. 123. 
 
EDWIN FALLS IN BATTLE. 
 
 23 
 
 exorcised, and a fierce conflict was now about to 
 commence. Cadwallon, king of North Wales, though 
 a Christian in name, cherished a bitterly revengeful 
 feeling against Edwin for a defeat which he had sus- 
 tained at his hands some years before, when he in- 
 vaded Northumbria. He had been driven back into 
 Wales, and finally took refuge in Ireland. Penda, 
 king of Mercia, " combined in his own person the 
 fiercest energy of a Teuton warrior with the sternest 
 resistance to the progress of the new creed." They 
 joined their forces together to invade Northumbria, 
 and encountered Edwin at a place called Hteth- 
 feld, or Hatfield, on the south-eastern borders of 
 Yorkshire, and here he was overpowered and slain. 
 [a.d. 633, Oct. 1 2th.] His gallant son Osfrid shared 
 the same fate, and his second son Eadfrid, who had 
 surrendered himself to Penda, under promise that his 
 life would be spared, was afterwards ruthlessly mur- 
 dered by that savage Pagan. A total rout ensued. 
 F>dwin's whole army was scattered, numbers having 
 ])erished on the battle-field, and the remainder 
 escaping as best they could.^ The whole country of 
 Northumbria was devastated, and a terrible slaughter 
 (;f the Christians took place. Penda's bitter hatred of 
 (Christianity was intelligible, but it was rivalled, nay 
 exceeded, says Bede, by the atrocities wrought by 
 Cadwallon. Neither age nor sex were spared, and the 
 barbarity of torture added bitterness to death. The 
 weakness of womanhood and the innocence of child- 
 hood were no protection. The so-called Christian 
 warrior was more savagely cruel than his heathen ally. 
 ' Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," ii. p. 20. 
 
24 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Edwin's head was brought to York by some of his 
 faithful followers and placed in the basilica of St. 
 Peter, the erection of which, as already stated, he 
 had himself commenced. His body was likewise re- 
 covered, and was subsequently buried at Whitby. ^ 
 
 A miserable year of tyranny and oppression fol- 
 lowed. Cadwallon's feelings towards the Angles were 
 those of the bitterest animosity, unsoftened by any 
 recognition of a common Christianity. The antipa- 
 thies of race were powerful with this savage prince, 
 and he utterly refused to show any respect to the 
 convictions of those who had received their know- 
 ledge of the Gospel from another and a hated source. 
 Osric, a cousin of Edwin, on the death of the latter, 
 exercised a precarious sovereignty in Deira, as did 
 Eanfrid, the eldest son of Ethelfrid, in Bernicia. 
 Both were Christians, but both now apostatised, 
 under the idea of recommending themselves to 
 Penda, and obtaining the support of that portion of 
 Northumbria which still adhered to Paganism. Their 
 apostasy secured not their safety. The blow was 
 struck by Cadwallon, with impious hand, indeed, says 
 Bede, but with a swift and just retribution. Osric 
 made a rash attempt in the summer of 634 to seize 
 the fortress at York, which was held by Cadwallon, 
 and was slain. Before the end of the year Eanfrid, 
 who ventured to approach the tyrant, accompanied 
 by a small band of followers, to sue for peace, was 
 ruthlessly put to death, and Cadwallon remained 
 master of the great province of Northumbria. 
 
 It is almost needless to say that flight was abso- 
 
 ' Bede's "Ecclesiastical History," iii. p. 24. 
 
FLIGHT OF QUEEN ETHELBURGA. 
 
 25 
 
 lutely necessary to secure the safety of Ethelburga, 
 Edwin's widowed queen. To Paulinas' care she had 
 been committed when she left her southern home, 
 and under his protection she now set off on her 
 perilous and mournful return. They went by sea, 
 taking with them the queen's two children and the 
 infant son of Osfrid, who had perished with his father 
 on the fatal plain of Hasthfeld. They secured the 
 costly furniture and vessels which Edwin had be- 
 stowed upon his church at York. A golden cross 
 and chalice which formed part of that treasure were 
 shown at Canterbury in the time of Bede.^ 
 
 Paulinus and his charge arrived safely in Kent. 
 He soon received the see of Rochester. Not long 
 after his flight from York he received a pallium from 
 Pope Honorius I. The letter, in which the pontiff 
 expressed his desire thus to confer upon Paulinus the 
 dignity of Archbishop of the province of York, was 
 addressed to Edwin, before the news of his death 
 had reached the pope. But it was too late, and 
 Paulinus has no claim, therefore, to a title which has 
 often been mistakenly accorded to him. Little is 
 known of his missionary labours in his southern see. 
 He died on the loth October, 644, and was buried 
 in the church of St. Andrew at Rochester. 
 
 ' "Ecclesiastical History," ii. p. 20. 
 
26 
 
 YORK.. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The withdrawal of Paulinus from the scene of his 
 labours, and the persecuting tyranny of the fierce 
 conqueror who now dominated Northumbria, checked 
 for a time the further progress of Christianity in that 
 province, and not a few probably of those who had 
 enrolled themselves under the standard of the Cross, 
 in the time of persecution fell away. Yet the Chris- 
 tians were not altogether left as sheep without a 
 shepherd. When Paulinus went his rounds teaching 
 and baptising on the banks of the Swale and in the 
 far-off glens over which Cheviot casts its shadow, he 
 had been accompanied by his deacon, James, often 
 designated as James the Chantor, from his skill in 
 that ecclesiastical music or church-song which is asso- 
 ciated with the name of Gregory the Great. To 
 James the Deacon he left the care of the infant 
 church. With unshrinking courage and calm fidelity 
 he stood his ground, cheering, encouraging, em- 
 boldening the converts in those sad and trying days. 
 And he pursued the mission which Paulinus had 
 begun. His teaching and baptising, says Bede, 
 gathered in a vast spoil, snatched out of the hands 
 of man's arch-enemy. His chief abode was on the 
 banks of the Swale, near Catterick, where a little vill 
 was, when Bede wrote, still known by his name. 
 Under a corrupted form it probably still survives in 
 
S. OSWALD, KING AND MARTYR. 
 
 27 
 
 the appellation of a farmhold, and some dim tradi- 
 tions yet cling to the Richmondshire hills, associating 
 the name of James the Deacon with the scene of his 
 life's labour and the place where he was laid in his 
 quiet grave. 
 
 But a great and decisive victory over heathendom 
 was at hand. When Ethelfrid, the king of Bemicia, 
 was defeated and slain by Edwin, his sons took refuge 
 in Scotland, where they remained during the reign of 
 the latter. In that country, as Bede tells us, they 
 were catechised after the manner of teaching prac- 
 tised by the Scots, and regenerated by the grace of 
 baptism. 1 Eanfrid, the eldest, was, as we have seen, 
 one of Cadwallon's victims. Oswald, the second son, 
 became, by his brother's death, the rightful claimant 
 of the throne of Bernicia. Each, probably, had re- 
 ceived his Christian teaching in the monastery of 
 lona. As regards Oswald it may be affirmed with 
 certainty, for the words of Bede expressly state that 
 during his exile he received the sacrament of baptism 
 among the seniors of the Scots, "by whom," says 
 Mr. Skene, " those of the monastery of lona are 
 meant. 
 
 Oswald was naturally anxious to regain the pos- 
 session of his kingdom, and took the field, with 
 an inferior force, against Cadwallon, who was en- 
 camped on the heights overlooking the valley of the 
 Tyne. The position which the former chose for his 
 troops was selected with great military skill. It was 
 on high ground near Hexham, and was known by the 
 
 ' "Ecclesiastical History," iii. p. i. 
 ^ "Celtic Scotland," ii. 4, p. 154. 
 
28 
 
 YORK. 
 
 name of Heavenfield, close to the Roman wall. On 
 this spot, partly protected by the wall and partly by 
 a natural escarpment of rocks, Oswald erected a 
 cross of wood. It " was the first occasion on which 
 the sacred symbol had been erected in this part of 
 the country," and was the standard under which his 
 men were to fight, and a symbol of the victory which 
 he looked to achieve over the hosts of heathendom. 
 Around it he gathered his followers, and called upon 
 them to join him in fervent prayer to the God of 
 armies that He would bless them in their righteous 
 conflict with the remorseless enemy of their holy faith. 
 [.\.D. 634 (close of).] The battle was fierce and 
 protracted, but at last Cadwallon gave way and fled 
 towards the south. At a place called Deniseburn 
 he was overtaken and slain, and the power of the 
 Britons was utterly broken.^ 
 
 Oswald was now the undisputed sovereign of Ber- 
 nicia and Deira. He was in the prime of life, and the 
 Christian teaching which his youth had received in 
 the monastery of lona bore its proper fruit in the sin- 
 cere and earnest piety of his manhood. No sooner 
 was he firmly seated on his throne than he began to 
 devise means for the recovery of such of his people 
 as had relapsed into heathenism and for the conver- 
 sion of those who were still Pagan. He sought help 
 from lona. It was natural that he should do so. He 
 knew its history ; he was cognisant of the holy lives 
 of its inmates and of their loving zeal for the con- 
 version of those who were yet in the darkness of 
 
 ' See Raine's " Hexham," Introduction, p. 13. (Published 
 by the Surtces Society.) 
 
OSWALD'S CARE FOR HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 29 
 
 heathendom. It had, indeed, a remarkable Iiistory. 
 The church which Columba founded on that small 
 island was no isolated one. It was an offshoot from 
 that great Church of Ireland which sent missionaries 
 all over Europe, and which at that period was not 
 only a great centre of Christianity, but was a home 
 of civilisation and of art. " After Columba's death, 
 the monastery of lona appears to have been the 
 acknowledged head of all the monasteries and 
 churches which his mission had established in Scot- 
 land, as well as of those previously founded by him 
 in Ireland. To use the words of Bede — ' This 
 monastery for a long time held the pre-eminence 
 over most of those of the northern Scots, and all 
 those of the Picts, and had the direction of their 
 people,' — a position to which it was entitled, as the 
 mother-church, from its possession of the body of the 
 patron saint." 1 
 
 Oswald's request that the community of lona would 
 send him some duly authorised person to evangelise 
 his people was acceded to. The first who was sent was 
 Corman, but he soon returned, complaining that his 
 teaching had been utterly disregarded by the stubborn 
 and impracticable people amongst whom he had been 
 bidden to minister. The community were deeply 
 grieved at Gorman's report, and held a council to 
 consider what had best be done. A holy man named 
 Aidan was present. He uttered a few short and 
 simple words, but they made a deep impression upon 
 all. " My brother," said he, " thou hast been too 
 
 Skene's "Celtic Scotland," ii. p. 148. 
 
3° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 austere and hard upon hearers who possess but scant 
 knowledge and have had but few opportunities of 
 instruction. Thou shouldest have borne in mind the 
 Apostle's words, and nourished them first, as babes, 
 with the milk of God's word — its simplest and plainest 
 precepts — till they should be capable of more ad- 
 vanced instruction and of receiving a sublimer teach- 
 ing." The speaker ceased, but he had struck a chord 
 which vibrated long. The eyes of all were fastened 
 upon him, and they speedily agreed that no one could 
 be so fitted for the work as the brother who had given 
 such wise and loving counsel. 
 
 [a.d. 635.] Aidan was accordingly consecrated 
 bishop, and sent into Northumbria in the summer of 
 635. On his arrival the king assigned him, at his own 
 request, the small island of Lindisfarne as his epis- 
 copal seat. To Aidan it commended itself in all 
 probability from its likeness to the Isle of Hii, or 
 lona, which had for him all the charms of early asso- 
 ciations. Its seclusion, moreover, specially adapted 
 it to be the home of a monastic family. Twice every 
 day it was encircled with water : 
 
 ' ' For with the flow and ebb, its style 
 Varies from continent to isle." — Marmion, c. 2. 
 
 Oswald's choice of it in preference to York as the 
 seat of the bishop was possibly owing to its proximity 
 to the royal fortress of Hamburgh rising proudly on 
 its lofty basaltic rock. The organisation of the 
 church over which Aidan presided was the same as 
 the Columban church of lona. The bishop was a 
 monk, and led a monastic life with his people. The 
 
S. AIDAN. 
 
 31 
 
 abbot, chosen by the bishop with the consent of the 
 brethren, governed the monastery, and all the priests, 
 deacons, and other grades of its inmates, as well as the 
 bishop himself, observed in all things the monastic 
 rule. 
 
 His missionary work now commenced, and in it 
 he received direct and personal assistance from the 
 king. The language spoken by the Angles was an 
 unknown tongue to Aidan, but Oswald came to his 
 assistance, and it was a most touching thing, says 
 Bede, to mark how patiently and carefully the king 
 interpreted the word of life as it fell from the lips of 
 the holy bishop and made it a living reality to the 
 listening throng. Oswald completed the basilica at 
 York which had been commenced by Edwin, and 
 caused churches to be built throughout the district. 
 He, moreover, granted tracts of land for the founda- 
 tion of other monasteries. Care was also taken for 
 the instruction of the children of the Angles by the 
 Scotic teachers, and everything done for the promo- 
 tion of discipHne and order. 
 
 Much more might be said concerning this illus- 
 trious saint, but the history of Aidan is connected 
 more especially with that of the diocese of Durham. 
 Yet we may not omit to say with what generous and 
 heartfelt readiness Bede enters into the minutest 
 details of Aidan's life and work, showing how the 
 surpassing beauty of his character bore down the 
 prejudices, and they were neither few nor slight, with 
 which Celtic Christianity was regarded by those who 
 conscientiously accepted the authority of the Roman 
 see. 
 
32 
 
 YORK. 
 
 For eight years Oswald ruled Northumbria. He was 
 a wise and sagacious sovereign, and " was to Chris- 
 tians all that Edwin had been, and more : in reading 
 of him we think instinctively of Alfred. Strength 
 and sweetness were united in a character which 
 almost represents the ideal of Christian royalty."^ 
 His rule extended far beyond Bernicia and Deira. 
 The Picts and Scots, as we learn from Bede, accepted 
 his authority with a willing submission. He might 
 be designated as the over-lord of Britain. His ad- 
 ministrative capacity was obviously great, and to that 
 was superadded the deepest and sincerest piety. His 
 devotion equalled that of the holy men who inhabited 
 the monasteries of lona or Lindisfarne. The dark- 
 ness and silence of the midnight hours not unseldom 
 echoed the prayers and praises of the saintly king, and 
 the very attitude which his hands most naturally 
 assumed bore silent witness to his custom of "pray- 
 ing everwhere, lifting up holy hands." His humility 
 in the midst of all the outward pomp and state of a 
 king was remarkable, as was also his lo\ ing charity to 
 the poor of Christ. The latter was shown on one 
 occasion by his sending off the untasted meat from 
 his own table to feed a thronging crowd of hungry 
 applicants, and then ordering a silver dish on which 
 some of his viands had been ser\'ed to be broken into 
 small fragments of the precious metal and divided 
 amongst them. 
 
 But his reign was to end all too soon for the 
 onward march of Christianity at that time in North- 
 umbria. The ancient enemy of his predecessor, 
 ' Bright's "Early English Church Histoiy,'" p. 132. 
 
OSWALD SLAIN AT MASERFIELD. 33 
 
 Edwin, was biding his time for striking another blow 
 at the power of Northumbria. Penda was in Mid- 
 England the impersonation of the power of heathen- 
 dom. He hated the name of Christian, and the 
 violence of his antipathy to the Gospel of Christ was 
 an additional element in the craving which he felt 
 to abolish the supremacy of Northumbria's Christian 
 king, who had regained the district of Lindsey 
 from Panda's grasp. The latter was not one to 
 submit tamely to any loss of territory or power. He 
 gathered his forces together for a decisive blow. The 
 two armies met at Maserfield, a place adjacent pro- 
 bably to the town whose name of Oswestry still com- 
 memorates in a scarcely corrupted form the name of 
 Oswald, King and Martyr. Oswald was overpowered, 
 and fell, fighting bravely, with the words of prayer on 
 his lips, "God be merciful to the souls of those who 
 are giving up their lives around me." The ruthless 
 tyrant caused the head and arms of Oswald to be 
 struck off and fi.xed upon stakes of wood set up on 
 the battle-field. They were afterwards recovered 
 by the pious care of some of his Christian subjects. 
 The head was buried at Lindisfarne by Aidan, and 
 eventually placed in the coffin of St. Cuthbert, within 
 whose arms it was found when his tomb at Durham 
 was opened in 1104. His hands were placed in a 
 reliquary of silver and reverently preserved in the 
 church of St. Peter at Bamburgh. Popular venera- 
 tion soon associated miracles of healing with the place 
 where he fell, and with splinters of the stakes to 
 which his head had been affixed, and his name soon 
 became inscribed in the church's calendar as Saint 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 VORK. 
 
 Oswald, King and Martyr. As " his life was distin- 
 guished at once by activity and by a spirit of fervid 
 Christian beneficence, so his Christian merits and his 
 martyrdom rendered him a hero of the Christian 
 world. 
 
 Oswald was succeeded in the rule of Bernicia by 
 his younger brother Oswy. There seems at first to 
 have been joint sovereignty, over that province and 
 Deira, exercised by 0sw7 and Oswin, the son of 
 Osric the cousin of Edwin. A partition was how- 
 ever soon agreed to, and the latter became king of 
 Deira. During the first year of Oswy's reign Penda's 
 policy as regards the mastery of Northumbria appears 
 to have led him to press forward into Bernicia, and 
 seize, if it might be, upon the fortress of Bamburgh. 
 The attem.pt failed. He tore down a number of 
 timber dwellings in the vicinity, heaped up their 
 beams and planks and thatch against the gates and 
 walls of the castle and set fire to them. But the 
 wind shifted, in answer it was believed to Aidan's 
 supplications, who watched the progress of Penda's 
 ruthless efforts from his isle of Lindisfarne. The 
 sudden change of wind drove the flames back upon 
 the assailants and so discouraged them that the 
 attempt was abandoned. Penda soon afterwards 
 retired from Northumbria. 
 
 For some time the two sovereigns of Bernicia and 
 Deira mutually preserved outwardly peaceful rela- 
 tions. But it was the calm that precedes the storm. 
 Each was gathering together his forces for an attack 
 upon the other. Oswin found that his rival had 
 ' Lappenberg, i. p. l6i. 
 
MURDER OF KIXG OSWIN. 
 
 35 
 
 succeeded in mustering a stronger body of auxiliaries 
 than he could bring into the field. So he took the 
 resolution of disbanding his men until a more favour- 
 able opportunity should present itself, and retired to 
 a place of concealment near Gilling, in Richmond- 
 shire, at the dwelling of a certain Hunwald, on whose 
 fidelity he placed the most implicit reliance. He was 
 accompanied by one faithful follower only. But he 
 relied upon a broken reed. Hunwald was faithless, 
 and betrayed to the Bernician king the place of 
 Oswin's refuge. Oswy found a ready tool in Ethel- 
 win, his steward, who made his way to Gilling and 
 there murdered the king of Deira and his faithful 
 companion. 
 
 The loss of Oswin to the Christians of Deira must 
 have seemed irreparable. His character, as drawn 
 by the hand of Bede, is one of singular beauty. He 
 describes him as a man of stately presence, of pre- 
 possessing countenance and most winning manner ; 
 liberal and "open-handed to gentle and simple," 
 he gained the affection of all who came into his 
 presence, and his many excellent qualities of mind 
 and heart were enhanced above all by his singular 
 humility. It was no wonder that Aidan loved him 
 as a son as well as revered him as a Christian ruler. 
 But his very excellence caused a sad foreboding in 
 Aidan's mind. With a sort of prophetic instinct he 
 said to a priest who asked him on one occasion why 
 his countenance was so sad and why the tears flowed 
 unbidden from his eyes, " It is because I know that 
 the king will not be long with us. I never knew one 
 so eminent for the grace of humility. Rely upon it 
 
36 
 
 YORK. 
 
 he will soon die. This people are not worthy of such 
 a ruler." 1 
 
 [A.n. 651, Aug. 31.] Aidan did not long survive 
 him. Within twelve days after Oswin's murder he 
 too rested from his labours. He died at Bamburgh, 
 after a sudden and brief attack of illness, on the 31st 
 August, 651. 
 
 The relations of Aidan with the Bernician king up 
 to the time of Oswin's murder had been such as 
 befitted their relative positions. He took interest 
 in the negotiations which Utta, the superior of a 
 monastery at Gateshead, had been authorised to 
 enter into for obtaining for Oswy the hand of Ean- 
 fleda, the daughter of Edwin and the cousin of 
 Oswin. It was at his invitation that another kins- 
 woman of Edwin came into Northumbria, who was 
 destined in after years to occupy one of the most 
 prominent positions in the church of that province 
 ever occupied by one of the female sex. This was 
 Hilda, the grand-niece of Edwin, who, as has been 
 already mentioned, was admitted into the fold of 
 Christ by Paulinus. She came into Northumbria 
 from East Anglia. After a short abode with a few 
 companions on the northern bank of the AVear, she 
 became the head of a sisterhood at Hereteu, or 
 Hartlepool. The interments of some of the inmates 
 of this little nunnery were discovered in 1833. Some 
 of the inscribed stones which marked their resting- 
 places are still preserved. From this place " the 
 abbess Heiu, the first of all Northumbrian women to 
 receive the monastic habit from Aidan's own hand, 
 ' Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," p. iii. 14. 
 
OSWY'S remorse. — SCOTIC CHURCH. 37 
 
 had retired to another abode at Tadcaster," which 
 may probably be identified with Healaugh (Heiu's 
 laig or territory), about three miles north of that town. 
 Hilda's government of those who placed themselves 
 under her rule, was based upon the wise and holy 
 counsels she had received from many learned men, 
 but to none did she owe so much as to the saintly 
 bishop of Lindisfarne, who loved her as a daughter, 
 and was never weary of giving her instructions for her 
 guidance. The seed which he sowed fell upon no 
 barren or unfruitful soil. 
 
 The murder of Oswin soon avenged itself in the 
 remorseful feelings which were awakened in the 
 breast of Oswy. He had married Eanfleda, the 
 daughter of Edwin and cousin of his victim. Her 
 reproaches appear to have roused in him some feel- 
 ing of repentance, and at her entreaty a monastery 
 was founded at the place where Oswin was slain, and 
 placed under the government of Trumhere, a kins- 
 man of the latter, and a priest " of Scotic training 
 and ordination," to the end that prayers might be 
 offered in this house of Gilling alike for the souls of 
 the murdered prince and of him who had caused him 
 to be slain. The body of Oswin was buried at Tyne- 
 mouth, where a chapel had already been erected, and 
 where a monastery was not long afterwards founded. 
 He was afterwards canonised as St. Oswin. 
 
 Oswy, like his brothers, had received his religious 
 training in the monastery of lona. The Scotic 
 ecclesiastics who had been his teachers held views as 
 regarded certain matters of discipline which were 
 vehemently opposed by those whose Christianity was 
 
38 
 
 YORK. 
 
 drawn from the Roman source, and who followed the 
 practice of Augustine, Justus, and Paulinus. Another 
 bishop, named Finan, came from lona to succeed 
 Aidan, and a question was revived which led in its 
 final settlement to results of the utmost importance, 
 affecting, not the Northumbrian Church alone, but 
 that of the whole of England. The questions which 
 occupied the fore-front in the controversy were the 
 right time for celebrating the great Easter festival 
 and the proper mode of fashioning the ecclesiastical 
 tonsure. These questions were not new. They first 
 came prominently into view when Columbanus went 
 on a mission into Gaul, accompanied by twelve of 
 his followers, in 590. "They were tonsured, but in 
 a different manner from the Gaulish ecclesiastics. 
 Their heads were shaved in front from ear to ear, the 
 anterior half of the head being made bare, while their 
 hair flowed down naturally and unchecked from the 
 back of the head," whilst the Roman tonsure left a 
 circle or coronal of hair around the head, the crown 
 of which was closely shaven.^ As to the Paschal 
 question, the Roman Church had adopted the 
 Alexandrian cycle of nineteen years, and laid aside 
 the old Paschal cycle of eighty-four, which was still 
 adhered to by the Scotic Church. Both were unani- 
 mous in keeping the festival on the Lord's day, but 
 with this difference, the latter kept it on the Sunday 
 which occurred from the 14th to the 20th day of the" 
 moon, whilst the Roman Church held their Paschal 
 feast on that which came between the 15th and the 
 2ist. To secure uniformity, the adoption of the 
 ' See Slcene's " Celtic Scotland," ii. p. 6. 
 
CONVERSION OF PEADA. 
 
 39 
 
 Roman practice was urgently pressed upon Finan, 
 chiefly by an ecclesiastic named Ronan, of Scottish 
 birth, but who had been trained in either Gaul or 
 Italy. Finan was a man of stern and unyielding 
 temper, and refused to recognise the arguments so 
 pertinaciously forced upon him, though backed by 
 the authority of James the Deacon, the venerable 
 representative of Paulinus' teaching. But nothing 
 carried conviction to Finan's mind, and for the 
 remainder of his lifetime the contest about Easter 
 was unrenewed. It will shortly meet us again. 
 
 An interesting conversion took place during I'inan's 
 episcopate. Penda, the old pagan tyrant, had a son 
 called Peada, to whom his father had committed the 
 rule of the Mid-Angles. Peada sought an alliance 
 with Alchfled, Oswy's daughter. His suit was 
 rejected, just as Edwin's had been by Eadbald, and 
 for the same reason. But Peada had acquired some 
 knowledge of Christianity from Alchfrid, Oswy's son, 
 who had married Kyniberga, Peada's sister, and he 
 announced that even though the maiden's hand were 
 refused him, he should still embrace the faith of 
 Christ. He was accordingly baptised by Finan in 
 that "famous royal town," as Bede calls it, "called 
 ' At the Wall.' " This was probably Newcasde. All 
 his followers were baptised with him, and when he 
 took his homeward journey, Finan sent along with 
 him four priests, Cedd, Addi, Betti, and Diuma, by 
 name, to commence a mission work amongst the 
 people whom Peada ruled. " They preached the 
 word amongst them," says Bede, " and were willingly 
 heard." Multitudes renounced their idols and were 
 
40 
 
 YORK. 
 
 bajjtised. Strange to say, even Penda, the old and 
 fierce enemy of all that bore the Christian name, 
 interposed no obstacles to their preaching in Mercia. 
 In his own person, indeed, he was Pagan still, and 
 remained so to the end, but his active opposition 
 ceased for a time. For one class of converts only 
 was reserved an expression of the most contemptuous 
 disgust, which has been preserved by Bede, those, 
 namely, whose Christian profession was contradicted 
 by an unholy life. 
 
YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 With the conversion of Peada and his people, Chris- 
 tianity was now spreading over a wider extent of 
 country than it had hitherto occupied, and the re- 
 sistance of heathenism was in many ways weakened. 
 Another mission was now sent to the East Saxons. 
 Sigebert the Good, as in after time he was called, the 
 king of that people, had paid a visit to Oswy. Many 
 conversations passed between them on the great 
 subject of a God not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens. " The passage in which Bede summarises 
 the Northumbrian king's pleading against idolatry is 
 one of the finest in his book ; it reads like a com- 
 bination of some well-known arguments of Isaiah, 
 with those grand words into which Tacitus compresses 
 the case for Monotheism. At last Sigebert yielded, 
 and was baptised by Finan at the same place where 
 Peada, not many months before, had made his Chris- 
 tian profession. Like Peada, he sought teachers for 
 his people. Cedd was sent, and gathered many con- 
 verts. [a.d. 654.] In the following year he was con- 
 secrated bishop of Lindisfarne by Finan, assisted 
 by two other bishops, and returned to the province 
 " with greater authority " than before. " He built 
 
 ' Bright's " Early English Church History," p. 169. He 
 refers to Isaiah xliv. 10, &c., and Tacitus' History, v. 51, 
 " Judaei mente sola unumque Deum intelligunt," &c. 
 
42 
 
 YORK. 
 
 churches and ordained presbyters and deacons to 
 assist him in preaching and baptising," — "a sort 
 of foreshadowing," says Professor Bright,^ " of the 
 parochial system." 
 
 A terrible and final struggle was now at hand. 
 Penda, though he had now reached fourscore years, 
 had lost none of his energy, and made a furious 
 attack upon East Anglia. Anna and his army 
 perished. In tlie following year he contrived some 
 pretext for an attack upon Northumbria. The alli- 
 ances that had taken place between his son Peada 
 and Oswy's daughter on the one hand, and between 
 Alchfrid, Oswy's son, and Penda's daughter Kyni- 
 burga on the other, were utterly unregarded as 
 guarantees of lasting amity. The placing by Oswy 
 of another son as a hostage with Penda's queen, and 
 the offer of a costly subsidy were equally nugatory. 
 The ancient warrior gathered together a vast host, 
 far exceeding in numbers the force which Oswy could 
 bring into the field. But Oswy was strong in a 
 higher strength than Penda knew of, and he vowed a 
 vow unto the Lord that if victory were granted him 
 he would give his infant daughter to serve Him in 
 holy virginity, and would assign twelve tracts of land 
 for the maintenance of as many monasteries. [655, 
 Nov. 15.] The armies met at a place called Winuaed- 
 field, near a river which may probably be identified 
 with that now known as the Went. The battle was 
 fierce and bloody. Penda fell, and his army was de- 
 stroyed, more perishing in the waters which were 
 
 ' " Early English Church History," p. 171. See also Bede's 
 " Ecclesiastical History," iii. p. 24. 
 
MONASTERIES OF NORTHUMBRIA. 43 
 
 swollen by the rains of autumn, than by the sword. 
 It was a decisive blow. " It was a great day for the 
 independence of the kingdoms, and a still greater for 
 their Christianity. On the one hand, ' the plains of 
 Yorkshire witnessed the emancipation of England ; ' 
 on the other hand, ' Penda fell, and with him fell 
 Paganism.' 
 
 Oswy gained by this victory a position of high and 
 undisputed authority, and, speaking generally, Chris- 
 tianity extended in a greater or lesser degree over all 
 the kingdoms of the island, with the solitary exception 
 of that of Sussex. To this spread he had largely con- 
 tributed. He fulfilled his vow by the foundation of 
 the twelve monasteries, and he placed his little 
 daughter Elfled under the care of Hilda at Hartle- 
 pool. Six of the monasteries were founded in Ber- 
 nicia and six in Deira. 
 
 ' Such is the received account of the battle and the locality 
 where it was fought, in the region of the Loidis (see Bright, p. 
 176, Turner, i. p. 374, and Milman's "Latin Christianity," ii. 
 p. 244). One is unwilling that "the plains of Yorkshire" 
 should lose their distinction, but Mr. Skene adduces arguments 
 in favour of the plain of Gai, on the Frith of Forth, where the 
 continuator of "Nennius" says that Penda was slain. Bede 
 mentions Loidis in one other passage, where he certainly means 
 Leeds ; but it is equally certain that Lothian was likewise called 
 the region of the Loidis, and if it may be presumed that Bede 
 here means the latter, it at once reconciles the two accounts. 
 On the other hand, Florence of Worcester tells us that Penda's 
 Eittack was upon Bernicia, and this kingdom was more imme- 
 diately under the rule of Oswy. If Mr. Skene's suggestion 
 be accepted, the river Winuaed would be the Avon, which 
 divides the province of Loidis from the district of Calatria, 
 called in the Irish annals " Calathros," and by the Britons 
 " Catraeth." See " Celtic Scotland," i. pp. 254-256. 
 
44 
 
 YORK. 
 
 The monasteries which arose in Northumbria at 
 this period, as well as those which were due to the 
 zeal and piety of Aidan, were different in their con- 
 stitution from the communities which in after years 
 became the great centres of religion, learning, and 
 civilisation under the rule of St. Benedict. They 
 followed the type of that which St. Columba founded 
 in 563 in the island of lona. The great object of 
 those whose Christian love impelled them to engage 
 in the arduous task of winning over a barbarous and 
 savage race of Pagans to a belief in Jesus, was to 
 exhibit the Christian life to them under its purest out- 
 ward form. They were missionary centres, homes of 
 peace and order, houses of prayer, from which a light, 
 not of divine instruction alone, but of holy living, 
 streamed forth upon the darkness around. 
 
 They were called a " family," for all were brethren, 
 admitted under a solemn vow, and divided into three 
 classes. The chief duty of the first, or seniors, was 
 to attend to the services of the House of God, and to 
 read and transcribe the Scriptures. Another division 
 consisted of working brethren, whose business it was 
 to cultivate the ground attached to the monastery 
 and attend to its domestic economy. Whilst a third 
 class included the young who were under instruction. 
 The penitential discipline was severe, and even the 
 ordinary mode of living of an ascetic character. 
 Submission to rule and simplicity characterised all 
 their arrangements and all their teaching. Their 
 earliest monasteries were built of wood. The teach- 
 ing was simple also, unincumbered with minuteness 
 •or splendour of ritual observance. The recitation of 
 
s. Wilfrid's karlv history. 
 
 the Psalter was apparently an important part of their 
 worship ; but the chief and principal service was un- 
 doubtedly the celebration on the Lord's day, and on 
 great festivals, of the Sacred Mysteries of the 
 Eucharist, as Adamnan designates that Holy Sacra- 
 ment. "To use the language of Columbanus, the 
 Columban Church ' received nought but the doctrine 
 of the evangelists and apostles ; ' and as we learn 
 from Adamnan, the foundation of Columba's preach- 
 ing, and his great instrument in the conversion of the 
 heathen was the Word of God." The intercourse of 
 the Irish Church and its daughter the Columban 
 Church, with the Church of Rome had long been inter- 
 rupted ; and when a claim of authority was made on 
 the part of the latter with reference to matters of faith 
 and practice, the former " opposed the custom of their 
 fathers, for which tliey claimed the sanction of the 
 second general council, held in the year 381."^ 
 
 Finan died [a. d. 661, Feb. 10], and was suc- 
 ceeded by Colman. His orders, like Finan's, were 
 derived from a Scotic source. He had not long 
 occupied the episcopal chair before the questions 
 respecting the proper time for observing Easter, and 
 about the tonsure, which Finan's influence had been 
 powerful enough to put on one side for a time, 
 were again revived. And here a great and command- 
 ing figure comes into view, destined for forty long 
 years to occupy the chief place in the ecclesiastical 
 history of the Church in Northumbria, nay, we may 
 almost say, in England. It is the figure of Wilfrid, 
 who, with varying fortunes, filled the episcopal chair 
 ' Skene's " Celtic Scotland," ii. p. ic^. 
 
46 
 
 YORK. 
 
 of York, and has been recognised by successive 
 generations as patron saint of Ripon. 
 
 Before proceeding with the account of the Synod 
 which decided the Paschal question, a brief sketch 
 must be given of Wilfrid's early history, and how it 
 came to pass that he occupied so prominent a place 
 at that important conference. Wilfrid was bom 
 about 634. He was of good descent, and at a very 
 early age was desirous of quitting his home and de- 
 voting himself to the service of God in some monastic 
 house. His father consented ; but it was needful 
 also that he should have the consent of Oswy, the 
 Northumbrian king. He was a bright and attractive 
 lad, and won favour in the eyes of Eanfleda, Os\vy's 
 queen. She sent the boy to Lindisfarne, under the 
 care of an aged retainer who was proceeding thither 
 to end his days under monastic rule. There the boy 
 passed four years, diligently studying all that the 
 monks could teach, and, above all, learning by heart 
 the Psalter in Jerome's version, and was loved by all. 
 Somehow or other he was led to cherish an ardent 
 desire to visit Rome, and to study the rules of eccle- 
 siastical discipline as there taught. Eanfleda ga'iC 
 him a letter to her brother Erconbert, the king of 
 Kent. [a.d. 653.] At Canterbury he spent a year, at 
 the expiration of which he was sent by Erconbert to 
 R6me, in company with one who was hereafter to be 
 kiiowa as Benedict Biscop, the future founder of the 
 monastery of Wearmouth, the zealous and earnest 
 student, the lover of religious art and culture. On 
 their way they halted at Lyons, where Wilfrid re- 
 mained for some time, his companion pressing 
 
WILFRID ABBOT OF RIPON. 
 
 47 
 
 onwards to Rome. At Lyons Wilfrid received the 
 most tempting offers from the Archbishop of that see, 
 who had conceived a great affection for him, to induce 
 him to remain. But his purpose was fixed and his 
 face set towards Rome. Here he spent some time in 
 diligent study, devoting special attention to the cal- 
 culations as received there for the regulation of the 
 Easter Festival ; and here he received the Roman 
 tonsure, thus withdrawing his allegiance from the 
 Scotic discipline under which he was professed at 
 Lindisfarne. He studied under archdeacon Boni- 
 face for several months, and by him was presented, 
 before taking his departure, to the pope, Eugenius I. 
 He dismissed him with a solemn blessing and an 
 earnest prayer. Wilfrid took Lyons again on his home- 
 ward journey, and remained there three years with the 
 Archbishop, narrowly escaping death when he accom- 
 panied the latter to the place of execution, on his 
 being condemned to die on some charge of treason 
 or disaffection. This happened in 658, at the latter 
 end of which year he returned to Northumbria. 
 
 A close and intimate friendship now took place 
 between Wilfrid and Alchfrid, the son of Oswy, under 
 whom he was ruler of Deira. Alchfrid, as Bede tells 
 us, "had learned both to love and follow the catholic 
 church rules." ^ Their views on all matters of eccle- 
 siastical discipline were therefore in full accord, and 
 no long time elapsed before Wilfrid received from 
 Alchfrid lands at Stamford, on the river Derwent, in 
 the East Riding of Yorkshire, and soon afterwards 
 the monastery of Ripon was also bestowed upon him. 
 ' " Ecclesiastical History," iii. p. 25. 
 
48 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Ripon was a colony from Melrose. Eata, afterwards 
 bishop of Lindisfarne, was its abbot ; and one whose 
 name can never be forgotten in the North, the saintly 
 Cuthbert, went with him as the " hostillar " of the 
 monastery. The monks who had been sent there re- 
 fused to sympathise with Alchfrid's strongly-expressed 
 views on the Paschal question, and retired from 
 Ripon, probably about 66 1. Wilfrid became its 
 abbot, and thus commenced his relations with a place 
 with which his name is even now inseparably asso- 
 ciated ; and here he was admitted into the order of 
 the priesthood, at Alchfrid's request, by Agilbert, a 
 French bishop, who had the oversight of the West 
 Saxons. 
 
 In 664 the disputes which from time to time had 
 been carried on between the two rival parties appeared 
 imperatively to demand a settlement, hastened pro- 
 bably by the anomaly of a double Easter perpetually 
 recurring at the court of Oswy — the one observed by 
 the king and his Scotic ecclesiastics, the other by 
 P'anfleda and her followers, under the guidance of 
 her priest, Romanus. Agilbert, the bishop, came to 
 spend a little time with his friend Alchfrid, attended 
 by a priest named Agatho, and the necessity of arriv- 
 ing at some definite conclusion was, doubtless, a sub- 
 ject of no little thought and discussion. Alchfrid 
 strongly espoused the Roman view, as did the queen, 
 Eanfleda. His father, Oswy, still adhered to the 
 Scotic practice, but was at last prevailed upon to 
 summon a gathering of " all the orders in the church 
 system " for the discussion of the subject. It was 
 assembled at a place called Streoneshalch, where the 
 
SVXOD OF VVHIIIiY. 
 
 49 
 
 abbess, Hilda, had recently planted a monastery on 
 land which was probably a part of the grant made by 
 Oswy in fulfilment of the \ow which he made before 
 the battle of Winuaed field. It is better known by its 
 Danish name of Whitby. 
 
 Hither came Oswy and his son to meet the assem- 
 blage. On the Scotic side were langed Colman and 
 his clergy ; on the Roman were Agilbert, the bishop, 
 attended by Agatho and Wilfrid. The venerable 
 deacon, James, representing the traditions of Paulinus, 
 and Romanuswere on the same side. Abbess Hilda 
 was there also with her train of holy women from the 
 convents which were under her rule, ready to give her 
 voice in favour of Scotic usage, in which she was 
 supported by Cedd, the venerable bishop of the East 
 Saxons, and the founder of the monastery of Lasting- 
 ham, the remains of which may yet be seen amongst 
 tlie Pickering hills. He acted as interpreter, for 
 many of them knew not each others' tongue. 
 
 Oswy presided, and after a few brief words on 
 the desirableness of unanimity amongst those who 
 professed a like faith in Christ, he desired Colman to 
 tell the assembly the origin and the reason of the 
 rites which he advocated. The Scotic bishop referred 
 them to the customs which they had inherited from a 
 long line of spiritual ancestry, traced back as they be- 
 lieved to the practice of the beloved Apostle St. John. 
 Oswy then invited Agilbert to expound his views on 
 the opposite side. He besought the king to permit 
 \\'ilfrid, the priest, to speak in his stead, for that he 
 being a foreigner could only speak through an inter- 
 preter, whilst Wilfrid as a native would be free from 
 
5° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 that embarrassment, and do more ample justice to 
 his theme. Leave was granted, and WHfrid became 
 the chief spokesman on the Roman side. He began 
 by telling them of the world-wide observance of the 
 Roman usage, — that, as he himself could testify, it 
 prevailed not at Rome alone, but throughout Italy and 
 Gaul, yea, in the far distant lands of Africa, Asia, 
 Egypt, and Greece. It was, in a word, the usage of 
 every clime and of every nation which had embraced 
 the faith of Christ. None rejected it save only those 
 perverse individuals who, in common with the Picts 
 and Britons, were foolishly and vainly opposing them- 
 selves to the otherwise universal consent of the 
 Christian world. 
 
 Colman repudiated the charge of folly by suggest- 
 ing that it was an unworthy accusation against those 
 who were simply following the example of the Apostle 
 who had reclined his head upon the Lord's breast. 
 
 Wilfrid replied by giving a summar}' of the whole 
 question, entering into the various reasons why their 
 peculiarity of reckoning should not be admitted, and 
 concluded by asking whether Columba, great and 
 holy though he were, ought to hold a higher place in 
 their estimation, and his rule be accepted with a 
 deeper veneration than that which was due to the 
 chief of the Apostles, him to whom the Lord had 
 said, " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
 build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not pre- 
 vail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of 
 the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 Wilfrid ceased. Oswy was deeply moved by this 
 appeal. He turned to Colman with the question, 
 
SYNOD OF WHITBY. 
 
 51 
 
 "Were these words verily uttered by the Lord to 
 Peter?" "It is true, O King," was the only reply 
 which could be given. " Have you anything to 
 show," pursued Oswy, "that a like power was ever 
 given to your venerated Columba ? " " Nothing," 
 was the answer. The king went on, — "Are you 
 both agreed that these words were spoken specially 
 to Peter, and that to him were given by the Lord the 
 keys of the kingdom of heaven ? " " On that point," 
 the disputants replied, "we are quite agreed." "I 
 tell you, then," said the royal president, " if Peter be 
 the door-keeper I will say nought in opposition to 
 him, but will in all things obey him ; lest when I 
 l^resent myself at the gates of that kingdom I find 
 them locked and barred, and he who beyond all 
 question is the porter, and alone has power to open, 
 should refuse to turn the key." 
 
 There was much discussion likewise respecting the 
 modes of tonsure advocated respectively by the Scotic 
 and Roman party, but Bede gives no particulars as 
 to the arguments adduced on either side. The ques- 
 tions which came before the Synod, viewing them as 
 we do through the long vista of centuries, appear to 
 have provoked a very disproportionate amount of 
 contention and acerbity. But in all ages matters of 
 ritual are apt to provoke controversy, and to embitter 
 the feelings of disputants to an extent far exceeding 
 the intrinsic importance attaching to them. 
 
 The great majority of the council pronounced in 
 favour of the Roman usage on both of the points in con- 
 troversy. Even Cedd relinquished the Scotic practice. 
 Colman went his way, discomfited but unconvinced. 
 
52 
 
 YORK. 
 
 He resigned his see and quitted Holy Island, followed 
 by all the Scotic brethren of the monastery and about 
 thirty Northumbrian members of the community. He 
 eventually founded a monastery in Ireland, where he 
 died in 676. Before leaving Northumbria he be- 
 sought of Oswy that he would appoint as head of 
 the brethren who remained one who had been a 
 disciple of Aidan. The king consented, and Eata 
 became abbot of Lindisfarne. Tuda was appointed, 
 probably before the end of 664, as Colman's suc- 
 cessor in the bishopric, " a good man and a religious," 
 but his episcopate was a brief one. He was carried 
 off by the Yellow Pest, as it was called, which was 
 fatal both to " high and low, not sparing the king of 
 the Kentishmen, nor the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 himself." Cedd also died at Lastingham in this same 
 year, a victim probably to the same disease. 
 
 With the Synod of AVhitby " we bid farewell to the 
 old Scotic Church of Northumbria. It could not but 
 pass away, for it could not provide what Northumbria 
 then needed : it had but a temporary mission, but that 
 mission it fulfilled with a rare simplicity of purpose. 
 It brought religion straight home to men's hearts by 
 sheer power of love and self-sacrifice ; it held up 
 before them, in the unconscious goodness and noble- 
 ness of its representatives, the moral evidence for 
 Christianity ; it made them feel what it was to be 
 taught and cared for in the life spiritual by pastors 
 who, before all things, were the disciples and ministers 
 of Christ, whose chief and type was a St. Aidan."i 
 
 ' Bright's "Early English Charch Historj'," p. 204. 
 
YORK. 
 
 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Besides the triumph of the Roman party, the synod 
 of Whitby produced another result, the re-establish- 
 mcnt of the bishopric of York. A witan, or general 
 assembly of the chief men of the kingdom, was 
 gathered together to elect a bishop, and at the 
 instance, probably, of Alchfrid, their choice fell upon 
 Wilfrid. He yielded a somewhat reluctant assent, 
 but utterly refused to receive consecration at the 
 hands of any of the Scotic bishops, and requested 
 permission to go to France for that purpose. Leave 
 was accorded, and he was consecrated at Compiegne 
 by Bishop Agilbert and twelve other prelates, pro- 
 bably about the beginning of the year 665. The 
 ceremonial was one of singular magnificence. For 
 some reason or another he remained in France until 
 the spring of 666. His misfortunes now began. A 
 \iolent storm wrecked him on the coast of Sussex, 
 and he narrowly escaped with his life from the attack 
 of the barbarous inhabitants, who rushed down after 
 their manner to seize upon and plunder the stranded 
 vessel. 
 
 When he returned to York he found a grievous 
 mortification awaiting him. The Scotic party was 
 not extinct, and amongst those who had accepted the 
 decision of the Whitby synod there were some who 
 perchance thought that his rule might be stern and 
 
54 
 
 YORK. 
 
 arbitrary. It is possible there might be another 
 reason. Wilfrid was celebrated for his proficiency in 
 the Roman law, and it is not improbable that, in part 
 at least, he owed his unpopularity in England to this 
 circumstance. It contributed not a little unquestion- 
 ably to the undeviating support he received from the 
 apostolic see. His long delay in returning to York 
 was a convenient handle for such as had little love 
 for him, and Oswy was prevailed upon to make 
 another appointment. Chad, who had succeeded his 
 brother as Abbot of Lastingham, was suggested. His 
 fitness was undoubted. He was consecrated by 
 Wini, Bishop of Winchester, "the only prelate at that 
 time who had been consecrated according to the 
 Roman ritual." Wini was assisted in the office by 
 two British bishops, who adhered to the old practice 
 as regarded the time of the Paschal feast. Chad's 
 consecration took place about the beginning of 666, 
 after which he returned to his diocese, and devoted 
 himself with singular fidelity to all the duties of his 
 holy office. He was diligent in the study of Holy 
 Scripture. He traversed every district in his wide 
 sphere of labour, visiting the towns and villages, not 
 omitting the shepherd's hut and the herdsman's 
 cottage, anxiously desirous that all should have an 
 opportunity of hearing something concerning the 
 good news of salvation through Christ their Saviour. 
 And with apostolic zeal and simplicity his long and 
 painful journeys on this blessed errand were always 
 performed on foot. 
 
 W'ilfrid, we may well believe, felt no little chagrin 
 when he found that his see was occupied, especially 
 
ARCHBISHOP THEODORE. 
 
 55 
 
 by one who maintained the Scotic rules. But he 
 offered no opposition. He retired to his monastery at 
 Ripon, discharging occasionally episcopal offices in 
 Mercia, and especially in Kent, whither he was in- 
 vited by Egbert. At Canterbury he made himself 
 master of the Benedictine rule, which he was after- 
 wards the first to introduce into the northern districts 
 of England. Here also he studied architecture and 
 all its kindred arts. Church music was likewise prac- 
 tised and cultivated with sedulous care. Like all men 
 of great force of character, he attracted followers who 
 adhered to him with enthusiastic devotion ; such as 
 Eddi, subsequently the great teacher of church song 
 in Northumbria, and his loving and faithful biographer, 
 not to mention ^ona and many others. 
 
 Wilfrid's absence from Northumbria was not, how- 
 ever, of very long duration. The year 669 witnessed 
 the arrival in England of one who did more to con- 
 solidate and organise the Church of England than 
 any other prelate who has occupied the chair of St. 
 Augustine. This was Theodore, a Greek monk, 
 " born at Tarsus, a city of Cilicia," well skilled in 
 literature, both sacred and profane, familiar with 
 both the Greek and Latin tongues, of irreproachable 
 morals and venerable age, being threescore and six 
 years old. His name was suggested to Pope Vitalian 
 by Hadrian, the head of a monastery near Naples, 
 whom he had designed for the vacant see of Canter- 
 bury, when Wighard's death occurred at Rome, 
 where he had been sent for consecration by Oswy as 
 Bretwalda, Egbert, and others, representing the 
 general will of the Church of the English race. 
 
56 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Hadrian had refused, but he consented at the Pope's 
 urgent request to accompany Theodore to Canter- 
 bury. Benedict Biscop, then at Rome, was also sent 
 with him. Age had not impaired Theodore's powers, 
 either of body or mind. His practical ability was 
 singularly great, and he was the first Archbishop, as 
 Bede tells us, to whom the whole church of the 
 Angles freely accorded their allegiance.^ "Great 
 stress was naturally laid on his having been sent 
 directly from Rome, and consecrated by the Pope's 
 own hands and voice : but this advantage was 
 enhanced by his own personalit\-, so that, on all 
 accounts, his arrival forms an epoch."- 
 
 Theodore at once commenced a visitation of the 
 vast tract of country over which his spiritual over- 
 sight extended. It was not long before he arrived in 
 Northumbria. Here he found that Chad had for 
 three years ruled the church of York, as Beda says, 
 sublimiter. But there were certain matters connected 
 with his position which Theodore could not over- 
 look. He told Chad abruptly that his consecration 
 was not in due form. The lowly-minded bisho]) 
 answered with touching humility both of voice and 
 manner, " If thou art well assured of that, I will most 
 willingly resign my charge. I never thought myself 
 worthy of it. I accepted it in deference to tlie 
 behest of those who had a right, as I deemed, to 
 claim my obedience." Theodore was touched and 
 softened by this utter want of self-assertion. " No,'' 
 
 ' " Manus dare consentiiet." Bede's "Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory," iv. p. 2. 
 
 * Bright's " Early English Church Histoiy," p. 225. 
 
S. CHAD. — WILFRID AT YORK. 
 
 57 
 
 lie said, "you are not bound to resign the bishopric.'' 
 Chad, however, retired to his monastery at Lasting- 
 ham, and Wilfrid took possession of the see of York. 
 Chad was shortly afterwards made Bishop of Lich- 
 field, through the express intervention of Theodore, 
 who, as it would seem, supplied whatever canonical 
 defects were, from his point of view, inherent in his 
 former consecration. Of all the characters in the 
 Northumbrian Church none is more beautiful than 
 that of Chad. We can scarcely say that it is sur- 
 passed by that of Aidan. On none does Bede" 
 dwell with more loving and heartfelt veneration, and 
 in most touching words does he describe his latter 
 end. He was taken to his rest on the 2nd March. 
 672. 
 
 Wilfrid was now the head of the great diocese of 
 Northumbria. His first care was to restore the waste 
 places in the chief city of the province over which he 
 presided. The church which Edwin and Paulinus had 
 erected, and within which was enshrined the humble 
 structure which had witnessed the baptism of the 
 royal convert, had fallen into utter disrepair, its stones 
 crumbling, the rain-drops falling through its broken 
 roof, its windows shattered so that birds flew in and 
 out at their pleasure, building their nests where they 
 would, and making dirt and litter in every corner of 
 the sanctuary. Wilfrid, as his biographer, Eddi, tells 
 us, "was grieved in his spirit" at the sight. His 
 energy soon wrought a change. The roof received a 
 covering, as we are specially told, of the best lead. 
 The windows were repaired, and the walls were made 
 pure and clean with the whitewasher's brush, till they 
 
6o 
 
 YORK. 
 
 portions of the building. At Hexham, Roman stones 
 were utiHzed in the construction of its walls. He tells 
 also of its architectural beauty above ground, its 
 stately columns, the length of its aisles, and the inge- 
 nuity and skill displayed in its newel stairs. But he 
 stops short in his narration, confessing that his de- 
 scriptive talent is all unequal to the task. The 
 singular crypts, so exactly resembling each other, both 
 at Ripon and Hexham, were probably a reproduction, 
 on a miniature scale, of the catacombs at Rome, and 
 AVilfrid doubtless emulated, as far as he was able, in 
 the churches which he built above them, the state- 
 liness and beauty of some of the Roman basilicas. 
 The privilege of sanctuary was possessed by Hexham. 
 It was acquired for that church by Wilfrid himself. 
 The frith-stol, or seat of peace, still remains there. 
 
 But he was not unmindful of the "living stones" 
 who were to be " builded together for an habitation 
 of God through the spirit." We read of his constant 
 journeys throughout his diocese, baptising and con- 
 firming. We are told of the numbers of priests and 
 deacons whom he ordained as his fellow-helpers, indi- 
 cating the growth of something like a parochial system. 
 He was careful in the cultivation of church song, in 
 which he had the assistance of Eddi and yEona. 
 In his personal habits he was self-denying, even to 
 asceticism, yet no outward austereness ever marred 
 the graciousness of a manner which made him be- 
 loved by all who came within the sphere of an 
 influence which extended widely over all ranks and 
 degrees of men, and all the various races who in- 
 habited the vast tract of country which, in name at 
 
DISCUSSION BETWEEN WILFRID AND ECGFRID. 6 1 
 
 least, was under his spiritual care. Such was Wilfrid 
 in the plenitude of his early power. But trouble was 
 nigh at hand. Oswy was no longer living. He died 
 on 15th February, 670, and was buried in the church 
 of Whitby. Ecgfrid his son succeeded him. For 
 some time the relations between him and Wilfrid were 
 amicable, but a subject of dissension arose, which 
 caused a wound which was never healed. Ecgfrid's 
 first wife was Etheldreda, the donor of the territory 
 which Wilfrid made the seat of his monastery at 
 Hexham. She was an unwilling bride, and though a 
 wife in name, insisted upon living as though she were 
 a cloistered nun. At last she actually took the veil 
 at Coldingham, and Wilfrid was believed to have 
 received her profession. At all events he promoted 
 her escape to Ely, and made her abbess of that 
 monastery. 
 
 After this Ecgfrid married a second wife, Ermen- 
 burga, a woman of fierce and violent temper, who 
 conceived a bitter hatred against Wilfrid, and aggra- 
 vated her consort's feelings against him by fomenting 
 a jealousy of the wealth and influence which the 
 great bishop had attained. It was undoubtedly great 
 in more ways than one. It was great in ecclesiastical 
 matters. Richard of Hexham calls him " the father 
 of nine monasteries," and says that many abbots and 
 abbesses " commended their houses to his keeping, 
 others named him their successor." He lived in a 
 style of princely grandeur, attended at home and fol- 
 lowed when he travelled abroad by a host of retainers. 
 
 There can be little doubt that Theodore was not 
 long in England before he began to form plans for a 
 
62 
 
 YORK. 
 
 division of the enormous dioceses of the early Saxon 
 bishops, which were for the most part commensurate 
 with the kingdoms in which they were estabHshed. 
 With regard to Northumbria it has been suggested by 
 Lappenberg that Theodore was not without some 
 suspicion that Wilfrid was laying the foundations of an 
 independent archbishopric. However this might be, 
 one thing is clear, — that in the steps which he took 
 for the partition of the great northern diocese, Wilfrid 
 was not called into council at all. 
 
 Theodore's visit to Northumbria in the year 678 
 appears to have been on the invitation of Ecgfrid. 
 He called certain bishops to assist in the delibera- 
 tions which took place. Of their names we are igno- 
 rant, but Wilfrid was not one of them. The omission 
 was not a fortuitous one. Theodore was too astute a 
 man to act thus without a reason ; and the reason is 
 not far to seek. He well knew that Wilfrid would 
 offer a strenuous resistance to the project he meditated, 
 and he acted on that assumption. Three bishops 
 were consecrated, two for Bernicia and Deira, and 
 one for Lindsey, which had shortly before been re- 
 gained for Northumbria by Ecgfrid Their names 
 were Bosa, a monk of Whitby ; Eata, the abbot of 
 Lindisfame ; and Eadhed. The consecration was 
 performed by Theodore alone. 
 
 It was unquestionably a high-handed act, and one 
 which, however admirable the poHcy which sought to 
 multiply the spheres of diocesan supervision, it is 
 impossible to justify. The consecration of the three 
 bishops took place in the basilica of York. Wilfrid 
 was absent at the time, but soon heard what had been 
 
63 
 
 going on, and (luickly appeared before the King and 
 the Archbishop to demand their reasons for taking 
 such a step without his privity and concurrence. 
 Their answer was abrupt enough. " We allege 
 nought against thee," said they, " but our act is irre- 
 vocable." Wilfrid at once announced his determina- 
 tion of submitting the matter to the judgment of the 
 Apostolic see. It was an announcement which was 
 received with shouts of contemptuous derision on the 
 part of the courtiers and followers of Ecgfrid and 
 Theodore. 
 
 But Wilfrid was not one to be turned from his pur- 
 pose by either opposition or ridicule, and he was 
 determined to make his appeal in person. He set 
 forth to Rome. It was thought that he would go 
 through France, and a scheme was devised by his 
 enemies for entrapping him as he passed through the 
 dominions of the Frankish king of Neustria. But it 
 foiled. Wilfrid had sailed to Friesland, where he was 
 honourably received by Adalgis, the Frisian king, and 
 remained long enough to sow the first seeds of Chris- 
 tianity in the country which was afterwards the scene 
 of the labours of the saintly Boniface. 
 
 About the middle of 679 he arrived in Rome. 
 Agatho was now pope. He had already received 
 Theodore's version of the story. Wilfrid placed his 
 written statement in the pope's own hands. A 
 council was held, before which were laid the memo- 
 rial and counter-memorial. The decision of the 
 council was that Wilfrid should be reinstated in his 
 original diocese, and the newly-promoted bishops 
 expelled. He was then to summon a council at 
 
64 
 
 VORK. 
 
 York, which was to be associated with him in the 
 choice of assistant bishops with whom he could live 
 peaceably, and who were to receive consecration at 
 the hands of Theodore. The policy of the latter as 
 to the partition of the diocese was thus admitted to 
 be sound, but it was not to be carried out by his own 
 autocratic authority. 
 
 During \\'ilfrid"s absence Bosa ruled over the dio- 
 cese of York, which was recognised under Theodore's 
 subdivision as being commensurate with the province 
 of Deira. Besides Eata and Eadhed, whose conse- 
 cration has already been mentioned, Theodore added 
 two more bishops— Tunbert, abbot of Gilling, whom 
 he placed at Hexham, Eata remaining altogether at 
 Lindisfarne— and Trumwine, who, as bishop of Aber- 
 corn, had the oversight of the Picts, who at that time 
 were subject to the supremacy of Northumbria. 
 Eadhed, who was obliged to retire from Lindsey when 
 its possession was regained by Ethelred, was made 
 bishop of Ripon. 
 
 In 680 Wilfrid returned to Northumbria, bringing 
 the decree which had been made by the Apostolic 
 see. It bore the " bullce " and the seals attached to 
 it, which were marks of its authenticity. He presented 
 himself before Ecgfrid and showed him the document. 
 A " witan " was convened, and AVilfrid laid it in due 
 form before the assembly, and it was read in their 
 presence. But it was received with every mark of 
 contumely, some even suggesting that bribery had 
 been employed to procure it. The issue of the 
 " witan " was that Wilfrid was thrown into prison by 
 command of the king and his council, the intruding 
 
WILFKID THROWN INTO PRISON. 
 
 65 
 
 bishops, as he regarded them, being consenting parties. 
 Everything was taken from him except the clothes 
 which he wore. The case in which he had brought 
 rehcs of saints from Rome was seized upon by the 
 queen Ermcnburga, wlio carried it about with her as 
 a talisman. None of his friends were permitted to 
 visit him in his prison cell, and in this captivity he 
 remained for nine months. l!ut lie never lost heart. 
 In a dark and gloomy dungeon into which the sun 
 rarely shone, and where no artificial light was i)er- 
 niitted him, he chanted his Psalter with unfailing 
 regularity. Ecgfrid tried in vain to bring hiin to sub- 
 mission. He promised to reinstate him as bishop of 
 a portion, at least, of the diocese he had heretofore 
 ruled, and added other offers, if only he would repu- 
 diate the authority of the decree which he had brouglit 
 from Rome. His only answer was that sooner than 
 do that he would lay his head upon the block and let 
 the headsman do his office. Soon afterwards, how- 
 ever, Ermcnburga was taken seriously ill at Colding- 
 ham, where Ebba, the aunt of Ecgfrid, was abbess. 
 Ebba worked upon her nephew's fears, persuading 
 him that if he desired his wife's life to be spared he 
 must set Wilfrid at liberty. This was done. His 
 reliquary was likewise restored. Wilfrid regained his 
 freedom and the queen her health. But he was 
 banished from Northumbria and passed over into 
 Mercia. 
 
 [a.d. 680.] The year which witnessed this untoward 
 ending of Wilfrid's first appeal to Rome is memorable 
 also for the death of one of his most strenuous opj^o- 
 nents. Hilda, the great abbess of Whitby, who for 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 YORK. 
 
 long years had exercised an influence of the most 
 marvellous kind over both princes and ecclesiastics, 
 passed away in the month of November, 680. She 
 was a woman of singular gifts, large-hearted, wise and 
 prudent, uniting, to the tenderness of her own sex, a 
 strength and tenacity of purpose and a capacity for 
 rule which have perhaps rarely been equalled by the 
 most powerful intellect of the other. She was con- 
 sulted perpetually by kings and princes in matters of 
 all kinds which demanded wise and prudent counsel, 
 and with a loving unanimity of reverential affection 
 the appellation of " The Mother," par excellence, was, 
 by common consent, accorded to her. The house 
 over which she presided, and of which she was the 
 foundress, was a double community of monks and 
 nuns. Under her wise rule none of those abuses 
 crept in which, as we learn from Bede, w^ere alleged 
 against Coldinghnm. Tlie study of Holy Scripture 
 and the practice of every good word and work were 
 carefully and constantly inculcated upon the monks 
 whom she governed, so that bishops sought for clergy 
 amongst those who had been under her care and 
 guidance, and no fewer than five of those whom she 
 had trained became bishops in the Church of God. 
 Bosa was one. The others were ^Ua, of Dorchester ; 
 Oftfor, of Worcester ; John, of Hexham ; and Wilfrid, 
 second of the name, of York. 
 
 There was another inmate of Hilda's monastery 
 whose name must not pass unnoticed, for he holds a 
 place of unique distinction. It is that of Caedmon, 
 " the father of English poetry." He was a herdman 
 in the neighbourhood, undistinguished except for his 
 
HILDA.— CAUmO'S. 
 
 67 
 
 awkward shyness when asked by his fellows to sing in 
 his turn one of the rude ballads with which they 
 enlivened their festive gatherings. On one occasion, 
 when urged to do so, he rushed away, ashamed of 
 his shortcomings. He laid him down to sleep along- 
 side the cattle he tended, and dreamed a dream. 
 Some one stood by, called him by his name, and bade 
 him sing. " I cannot," was his reply ;" " I left my 
 companions for that very reason." " But I call upon 
 thee to sing to me. and I will take no denial," said 
 his visitor. ''What shall I sing, then?" asked 
 Casdmon. " Let thy song be of the beginning of all 
 created things," was the answer. And straightway a 
 hymn of praise seemed to flow from his lips, and he 
 glorified the Maker of all. The words which he 
 sang in his dream clung to his memory when he 
 awoke, and he told of the " gift he had received." 
 " The Mother " heard of it. By her orders a passage 
 of Holy Writ was read to him and he was bidden to 
 versify it. He obeyed, and so perfectly was his task 
 fulfilled that Hilda urged him to join her community, 
 and bade him be instructed in all the wondrous his- 
 tories contained in the Divine Word. He was an apt 
 learner, a humble and docile scholar. And no long time 
 passed by ere his teachers listened with rapt attention 
 and silent wonder to the outflow of his wondrous gift, 
 as he sang of the wonders of Creation, the formation 
 of man by an Almighty Hand, the successive histories 
 of the Patriarchal times, the leading of Israel out of 
 Egypt, and the entrance of the Chosen People into 
 the land of Promise. The Gospel record furnished 
 also its mighty theme, — the Incarnation of the Lord 
 
68 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Jesus, His Passion, His Glorious Resurrection and 
 Ascension, the coming of the Spirit of promise, and 
 the teaching of the Holy Apostles. And a thrill of 
 awe went through his hearers when he described the 
 da)' of doom, the horrors of the outer darkness, and 
 the brightness and glory of the hea\-enly City. 
 
 A metrical paraphrase, under the name of C^dmon, 
 is extant. But it is not wholly his composition, though 
 portions of it may be accepted as his genuine work. 
 The precise date of Ca;dmon's death is not given by 
 Bede, but he gives a singularly beautiful account of 
 the simple and tranquil end of the poet-monk of 
 Whitby. 
 
YORK. 
 
 69 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 [a.d. 681.] We must now return to Wilfrid. As 
 already mentioned, he sought an asylum in INIercia, 
 when banished from the dominions of the Northum- 
 brian king. This was in the early part of 681. But 
 he was soon compelled to leave. Ethelred, the 
 Mercian king, had married the sister of Ecgfrid, and 
 Wilfrid was hastily expelled from his dominions. 
 Nor was he more fortunate in the next haven of 
 refuge to which he betook himself He went into 
 Wessex, but the animosity of Ermenburga pursued 
 him thither. Her sister was the wife of Kentwin, the 
 ruler of the West Saxons, and the influence of 
 Ecgfrid's queen was exerted to drive him from this- 
 asylum also. He now went into Sussex. Ethelwalch, 
 the king of that small and insignificant state, had 
 become a Christian. His queen was of the same 
 faith. Ethelwalch received him honourably, and 
 assured him of safety and protection. Christianity 
 had hitherto made no progress in Sussex. Its king 
 seemed to have failed to impress his subjects with 
 his own faith. All, apparently, that he had done 
 was to bring half a dozen Scotic or Irish monks, with 
 a priest named Dicul at their head, into his dominions. 
 They founded a small monastery at Bosham, near 
 Chichester, but made no way amongst the dull and 
 stolid inhabitants. Wilfrid now came amongst them. 
 
70 
 
 YORK. 
 
 His character ever shone brightest in adversity, and 
 as in Friesland, so now in Sussex, he applied all the 
 energy of his nature to civilise, humanise, and finally 
 to evangelise this rude and barbarous people. He 
 taught them the art of fishing in the sea, of which 
 they were utterly ignorant. He showed them, when 
 worn out and perishing by a famine, how food could 
 thus be procured for their support. The service 
 which he thus rendered won their gratitude and 
 secured their love, and they then listened to the in- 
 struction v/hich he sought to impart in higher 
 things. The seed fell at last upon soil which bore 
 fruit, and .Sussex became evangelised by his patient 
 and pious labour. Ethelwalch gave him land at 
 Selsey. Two hundred and fifty serfs were attached 
 to this grant, adscript! gleluc, and passed as chattels 
 into Wilfrid's hands. He recognised the great Chris- 
 tian principle that slavery is inconsistent with the 
 spirit of Christ's gospel. He gave them all their 
 freedom, and he gave them a yet higher gift, — he in- 
 structed them in the faith of Christ, and brought 
 them to Holy Baptism. A minster arose on the land 
 thus granted him, and Wilfrid became the first bishop 
 of the South Saxons. For five years, says Bede, he 
 discharged every function of his episcopal office 
 amongst them, deservedly venerated and honoured 
 by all. 
 
 In 684, we find a marked instance of the persistent 
 manner in which Wilfrid's claims were ignored in 
 Northumbria. Tunbert, the bishop of Hexham, was 
 deposed by Theodore, and a synod, partly ecclesiastic 
 and partly lay, was convened by the latter to elect a 
 
S. CUTHBERT CONSECRATED AT YORK. 7 I 
 
 successor. The choice of the assembly fell upon 
 Cuthbert, then living as a hermit on the island of 
 Fame. He refused to leave his cell, but yielded a 
 reluctant assent at last to the entreaties of Ecgfrid, 
 Trumwin, bishop of Abercorn, and others. On 
 Easter Day, 685, Cuthbert was consecrated bishop in 
 the Minster of York by Theodore and six other 
 bishops. It is clear that all this time Theodore was 
 exercising undisputed power as Primate of All Eng- 
 land, and neither Cuthbert nor any other bishop said 
 a word in favour of Wilfrid's claims. 
 
 Cuthbert was allowed to remain at Lindisfarne. 
 Eata went to Hexham, and Cuthbert remained as 
 bishop in the home he loved and the place where he 
 had long been prior. The king made him large 
 gifts ; amongst others the village of Crayke, as a 
 halting-place on his journeys to and from York, 
 the city of Carlisle, and the territory of Cartmel in 
 Lancashire. 
 
 A great calamity for Northumbria was now im- 
 pending. Deaf to all remonstrances, Ecgfrid deter- 
 mined upon undertaking a campaign against the 
 Picts. They owned his supremacy, but he was bent 
 upon bringing them into actual subjection. It was a 
 fatal ambition. Ecgfrid and his army saw their wily 
 foes retreat before them, not daring, as it seemed, to 
 risk a conflict. It was to lure them to their de- 
 struction. They were drawn into a mountain 
 gorge at Nechtansmere ; the Picts turned round 
 and faced them ; Ecgfrid was slain with almost all 
 his host, scarcely one escaping to bring the news to 
 Carlisle, where Ermenburga, attended by Cuthbert, 
 
72 
 
 YORK. 
 
 was anxiously awaiting tidings. She ended her days 
 as the inmate of a monasten-. 
 
 This battle, fought in May, 685, struck a blow at 
 the greatness of the Northumbrian kingdom. From 
 henceforth the Tweed instead of the Forth was its 
 northern boundary. Bishop Trumwin and his monks, 
 and the nuns who had established themselves in 
 rictland, were obliged to flee and abandon their 
 work. Trumwin taking refuge in the monastery of 
 Whitby. 
 
 Ecgfrid was succeeded by his illegitimate brother 
 Aldfrid, whose life had been passed in retirement and 
 study, a man, says Bede, who was " most learned in 
 the Scriptures, the first of our literary kings ; a man 
 of practical vigour, and well able to ' restore, though 
 within narrower limits, the humble state of the 
 realm.' " 1 
 
 About this time Wilfrid had become acquainted 
 with Cadwalla, who, like himself, was living as a 
 fugitive in the country of the South Saxons. Cad- 
 walla was a descendant of the West Saxon royal 
 house, and had been banished from Wessex through 
 some jealous feeling on the part of Kentwin the king, 
 or of some of his chief men. On Kentwin's death in 
 685, he succeeded to the throne, and soon after 
 made an attack upon Sussex. Ethelwalch fell. A 
 campaign against Kent followed, and Cadwalla 
 shortly afterwards made a descent upon the Isle of 
 Wight. This had formerly belonged to Wessex, but 
 had been acquired by Wulfhere, who gave it to 
 
 Bright's "Early English Church History," p. 33S. 
 
WILFRID'S CONVERSION OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 73 
 
 Etiielwalch. It was still Pagan, and though Cad- 
 walla, its invader, was still unbaptised, he seems to 
 have gained some dim and indistinct feeling of rever- 
 ence for the True Clod from his intercourse with 
 Wilfrid. He vowed to devote to that God, if he 
 gained possession of the isle, one fourth part of its 
 land, and of the booty which would be the conqueror's 
 prey. Three hundred hydes of land were accord- 
 ingly made over to \\'ilfrid, who assigned them to 
 certain ecclesiastics whom he united with himself in 
 the work of evangelising this outlying abode of 
 heathendom. The inhabitants were converted, and 
 thus it came that by Wilfrid's means the religion of 
 Christ became the outward profession, at all events, 
 of the inhabitants of the whole of England. 
 
 It is impossible to suppose that Theodore was 
 cither ignorant of, or indifferent to the missionary 
 work which Wilfriti had accomplished amongst the 
 barbarous and unintelligent population of Sussex and 
 the Isle of Wight. Perchance he may at times have 
 had some regretful feeling for the abrupt and arbi- 
 trary manner in which he parcelled out the diocese 
 o\'er which Wilfrid ruled without asking his concur- 
 rence or seeking for his counsel. 
 
 Theodore, who was now well nigh ninety years of 
 age, expressed a desire that Wilfrid should visit him 
 in London, and that Erconwald should be present at 
 the meeting. Wilfrid obeyed the summons. The 
 aged Archbishop acknowledged that he had been a 
 consenting party to the spoliation which A\'ilfrid had 
 suffered, and expressed his sorrow that he should 
 have been subjected to so long an exile. If Eddi's 
 
72 
 
 YORK. 
 
 v,-as anxiously awaiting tidings. She ended her days 
 as the inmate of a monasten-. 
 
 This battle, fought in May, 685, struck a blow at 
 the greatness of the Northumbrian kingdom. From 
 henceforth the Tweed instead of the Forth was its 
 northern boundary. Bishop Trumwin and his monks, 
 and the nuns who had established themselves in 
 Pictland, were obliged to flee and abandon their 
 work. Trumwin taking refuge in the monastery of 
 AVhitby. 
 
 Ecgfrid was succeeded by his illegitimate brother 
 Aldfrid, whose life had been passed in retirement and 
 study, a man, says Bede, who was " most learned in 
 the Scriptures, the first of our literary kings ; a man 
 of practical vigour, and well able to ' restore, though 
 within narrower limits, the humble state of the 
 realm.' " 1 
 
 About this time Wilfrid had become acquainted 
 with Cadwalla, who, like himself, was living as a 
 fugitive in the country of the South Saxons. Cad- 
 walla was a descendant of the West Saxon royal 
 house, and had been banished from Wessex through 
 some jealous feeling on the part of Kentwin the king, 
 or of some of his chief men. On Kentwin's death in 
 685, he succeeded to the throne, and soon after 
 made an attack upon Sussex. Ethehvalch fell. A 
 campaign against Kent followed, and Cadwalla 
 shortly afterwards made a descent upon the Isle of 
 Wight. This had formerly belonged to Wessex, but 
 had been acquired by \\'ulfhere, who gave it to 
 
 Bright's "Early English Church History," p- 33^- 
 
WILFRIDS CONVERSION OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 73 
 
 Ethelwalch. It was still Pagan, and though Cad- 
 walla, its invader, was still unbaptised, he seems to 
 have gained some dim and indistinct feeling of rever- 
 ence for the True God from his intercourse with 
 Wilfrid. He vowed to devote to that God, if he 
 gained possession of the isle, one fourth part of its 
 land, and of the booty which would be the conqueror's 
 pre}'. Three hundred hydes of land were accord- 
 ingly made over to \\'ilfrid, who assigned them to 
 certain ecclesiastics whom he united with himself in 
 the work of evangelising this outlying abode of 
 heathendom. The inhabitants were converted, and 
 thus it came that by Wilfrid's means the religion of 
 Christ became the outward profession, at all events, 
 of the inhabitants of the whole of England. 
 
 It is impossible to suppose that Theodore was 
 cither ignorant of, or indifferent to the missionary 
 work which Wilfrid liad accomplished amongst the 
 barbarous and unintelligent population of Sussex and 
 the Isle of Wight. Perchance he may at times have 
 had some regretful feeling for the abrupt and arbi- 
 trary manner in which he parcelled out the diocese 
 o\-er which Wilfrid ruled without asking his concur- 
 rence or seeking for his counsel. 
 
 Theodore, who was now well nigh ninety years of 
 age, expressed a desire that Wilfrid should visit him 
 in London, and that Erconwald should be present at 
 the meeting. Wilfrid obeyed the summons. The 
 aged Archbishop acknowledged that he had been a 
 consenting party to the spoliation which ^^'ilfrid had 
 suffered, and expressed his sorrow that he should 
 have been subjected to so long an exile. If Eddi's 
 
74 
 
 YORK. 
 
 statements are correct, he further expressed a desire 
 that he might succeed to his own archiepiscopal chair. 
 At Wilfrid's request, Theodore wrote to Aldfrid, to 
 the abbess Elfleda, Hilda's successor at Whitby, and 
 to Ethelred, the Mercian king, entreating them to 
 receive him kindly, reminding them that he had long 
 been deprived of his possessions, and had laboured 
 long amongst the heathen. Theodore's wishes were 
 acceded to. Ethelred gave back to him the monas- 
 teries and property which he had held in Mercia, and 
 Aldfrid received him at his court. 
 
 [a.d. 686.] To Northumbria Wilfrid once more 
 returned, in the autumn, probably, of 686, but not, as 
 before, to be the ruler of a diocese commensurate 
 with the kingdom. Cuthbert was bishop of Lindis- 
 farne, which was a direct contravention of the decree 
 made by Pope Agatho and his synod. Hexham was 
 vacant by the death of Eata, Bosa was at York, and 
 Eadhed at Ripon. Aldfrid at once; as it seems, put 
 \Vilfrid in possession of the monastery of Hexham. 
 After the lapse of a little time Bosa retired from York 
 and Eadhed from Ripon, when Wilfrid again became 
 bishop of his former diocese with the exception of 
 the see of Lindisfarne. He does not seem to have 
 wished to disturb this arrangement, nor yet that by 
 which Hexham was recognised as a separate see. In 
 687, on the 25th August, a holy man, known and 
 revered centuries afterwards as St. John of Beverley, 
 was consecrated bishop of that see. After the death 
 of Cuthbert, on the 20th March, 687, the see of Lin- 
 disfarne was administered by Wilfrid himself for a 
 twelvemonth. At the expiration of that time Eadbert 
 
WILFRIDS RETURN TO NORTHUMBRIA. 75 
 
 was consecrated as its bishop. It was a practical 
 admission on Wilfrid's part of the need there was of 
 a subdivision of his enormous diocese. 
 
 For some time things went on smoothly, but before 
 the expiration of five years from Wilfrid's return 
 clouds gathered in the ecclesiastical horizon of 
 Northumbria. The storm soon broke. Wilfrid loved 
 power, and he ill brooked any curtailment of privi- 
 leges which he had once enjoyed. Dissensions arose 
 between him and Aldfrid. They had their origin from 
 his own ambitious temper. He claimed to be rein- 
 stated in the possession of certain lands which had 
 formerly been given to the Church of St. Peter, and 
 of which he had been unjustly deprived. He regarded 
 with strong aversion the permanent establishment of 
 a bishop of Ripon, and above all he resisted the 
 attempt which was made to enforce his compliance 
 with the decrees of Theodore, those, namely, which ' 
 provided for the partition of the great diocese of 
 Northumbria. Of the details of his quarrel with 
 Aldfrid we are ignorant. Bede tells us nothing, and 
 Eddi gives no particulars. All we are told by the 
 latter is that Wilfrid would assent to none of Aldfrid's 
 arrangements, and betook himself to Ethelred, king 
 of Mercia, who, "out of reverence for the Apostolic 
 see, received him with all possible honour." 
 
 In Mercia he acted as a bishop, and administered 
 the see of Leicester. One of his episcopal acts was 
 the consecration of Swidbert for the Frisian mission. 
 
 Eleven years passed over and found him still in 
 Mercia. Bosa appears to have been reinstated in the 
 episcopal chair of York. But Wilfrid evidently 
 
YORK. 
 
 looked forward towards a future prosecution of what 
 he deemed his rightful claims. He sought recogni- 
 tion of them from Pope Sergius, who confirmed the 
 decree of his predecessor. 
 
 At the beginning of the eighth century so strong a 
 feeling appears to ha\ e sprung up from one cause or 
 another as to Wilfrid's rights, that Aldfrid determined 
 upon summoning a synod of the whole Church. It 
 met in 702, at a place called Ouestrefelda, which 
 may most probably be identified with Austerfield, 
 near Bawtry. Archbishop Bertwald, the successor of 
 Theodore, who died in 690, was present. AVilfrid 
 was invited, and obeyed the summons. His chief 
 opponents were the bishops of the Northumbrian 
 kingdom. Much altercation took place, but it soon 
 resolved itself into the question whether he would 
 abide by the decrees and statutes laid down by 
 Theodore ; in other words, whether he would recog- 
 nise the partition of his diocese as arranged by that 
 prelate. Wilfrid objected against this the decrees of 
 Agatho, Benedict, and Sergius. An effort was made 
 to induce him to abide by the decision of Bertwald, 
 who presided over the council. After some hesita- 
 tion he assented, provided it were in accordance with 
 the decrees of the Apostolic see. This stirred up fierce 
 dissension. It was then proposed that he should " have 
 his monastery of St. Peter at Ripon, with all that per- 
 tained to it, — but on this condition, that he should 
 not, without the king's leave, go begond the precincts 
 of his monastery, nor perform any episcopal act." 
 This attempt to make him a consenting party to his 
 own deprivation kindled in him a yet fiercer flame of 
 
WILFRID AI'I'EALS AGAIN TO ROME. 77 
 
 fiery indignation. With kindling eye and ringing 
 voice lie recounted all that he had done for the cause 
 of the Church in Northumbria,— how he had settled 
 the questions of the Paschal feast and the tonsure, — 
 how he had formed in stately order the Church's 
 service of song, her Responsories and Antiphons, — 
 how he had regulated the monastic houses according 
 to the rule of St. Benedict, in a manner heretofore 
 unknown. And he concluded by a bold and defiant 
 announcement that he would again submit his cause 
 to the judgment of the Apostolic see. ■' Of his noble 
 apostolic labours," .says Dean Milman, "his conver- 
 sion of the heathen, his culti\atioa of arts and letters, 
 his st.itely buildings, his monasteries, he said 
 nothing." ^ 
 
 The mention of an ajjpeal to Rome deeply stirred 
 the ire of the king, who went so far as to talk of 
 making him submit by force of arms. But wiser 
 counsels prevailed. The bishops reminded him that 
 Wilfrid had a safe conduct to come to the council. 
 So he was permitted to depart, and the council ended. 
 But so intense was the antagonistic feeling in North- 
 umbria, that a sentence of excommunication was 
 pronounced against him and all his adherents and 
 friends. 
 
 Ethelred received Wilfrid kindly on his return into 
 Mercia, and promised that he would watchfully guard 
 all his possessions in that kingdom until he should 
 return from Rome. His friends were encouraged and 
 comforted by a letter addressed to them by the great 
 
 " Latin Chiisti, nity," ii. p. 269. 
 
78 
 
 YORK. 
 
 scholar, the wise and holy Aldhelm of ISIalmesbury. 
 They were to cling lovingly to him. The appeal was 
 not in vain. Prayer was solemnly offered for him in 
 all the communities over which he had ruled. Several 
 accompanied him to Rome, the most eminent of whom 
 was Acca, so long associated in after years with the 
 church of Hexham. 
 
 [a.d. 704.] To Rome then, for the third time, Wilfrid 
 proceeded. The long and weary journey was made 
 on foot. He arrived there early in 704, and presented 
 a memorial to the pope, John VI. In this he re- 
 counted what had heretofore taken place, and prayed 
 that the apostolic see would charge Ethelred to con- 
 tinue protection to his monasteries in Mercia, and 
 that Aldfrid might at the least interpose no obstacle 
 to his having Ripon and Hexham, even though the 
 see of York should be otherwise disposed of. And 
 he promised all fitting subjection to Bertwald, pro- 
 viding always that on the archbishop's part the treat- 
 ment he received was in conformity with the papal 
 decrees. A counter memorial was handed in on the 
 part of Bertwald. The matters in dispute were 
 argued at prodigious length. Seventy sittings of the 
 council took place, occupying four months. Its final 
 decision exonerated Wilfrid from all blame, and 
 affirmed the decrees of Agatho, Benedict, and Ser- 
 gius. The pope wrote to Ethelred and Aldfrid, 
 calling their attention to these decrees, but not 
 absolutely demanding the reinstatement of Wilfrid. 
 Bertwald and Wilfrid were to meet each other in a 
 synod called by the former, to which Bosa and 
 John were to be summoned. If this synod failed 
 
WILFRID RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 79 
 
 in bringing matters to an amicable conclusion, 
 another and larger council would be summoned at 
 Rome to efifect a settlement. It is clear that the 
 pope was unwilling to alienate Aldfrid by too urgent 
 a demand of obedience to the decrees of Rome. 
 His policy was to gain time by directing the dispute 
 to be settled, if it might be, on English ground. It 
 was obvious enough to him that the strongest repug- 
 nance existed in England to the recognition of any 
 absolute authority as vested in the see of Rome. 
 
 Wilfrid's own wish was to have an end of contention 
 and to end his days ad limina apostolorum. But he 
 was overruled, and set forth on his homeward journey. 
 Sickness attacked him on the way, and he lay for 
 some days at Meaux in a death-like stupor, watched 
 over by the faithful Acca. On awakening from it he 
 told of a dream or vision he had had of St. Michael, 
 and how the great archangel had promised him four 
 more years of life. He gathered strength and set 
 forward on his way, landed in Kent and proceeded to 
 Mercia, having first sent messengers to Bertwald, who 
 seemed well disposed to cultivate a friendly feeling, 
 and promised to mitigate the harshness of the deci- 
 sions which had been passed in the synod over which 
 he had presided. 
 
 On arriving in Mercia he found Ethelred in mo- 
 nastic garb, ruling the monastery of Bardney as abbot, 
 instead of Mercia as king. He listened to the pope's 
 letter with the utmost reverence, as did his nephew 
 and successor Kenred. The decree and the letter 
 addressed to Aldfrid by the pope were sent to that 
 prince, who absolutely refused to accord anything to 
 
8o 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Wilfrid, or to alter any arrangement in deference to 
 " alleged writings from the apostolic see." 
 
 Aldfrid died at Driffield on the 14th December, 
 705, regretting, it was said, on his death bed, the 
 adverse part he had taken as regarded Wilfrid, and 
 enjoining his successor Eadwulf to accept the pope's 
 decree. Eadwulf exercised his sovereignty but a few 
 weeks, long enough, however, to treat Wilfrid with 
 great contumely. He was succeeded by Osred, a son 
 of Aldfrid, a boy of eight years of age, whose advisers 
 .summoned another council, held on the banks of the 
 Nidd, near Knaresburgh, to settle, if possible, the 
 cause of Wilfrid. It was attended by Archbishoj) 
 Bertwald, the Bishops Bosa, Jolin, and Eadfrid, with 
 other ecclesiastics, and the abbess Elfleda. Bertwald 
 read the papal letters; and entered at great length 
 into the matter. Elfleda spoke strongly of Aldfrid's 
 dying wishes. After much conference and the ex- 
 pression of some repugnance on the part of the three 
 Northumbrian bishops, a compromise was arrived at. 
 The conclusion fell far short of Wilfrid's full claims. 
 The chair of York was not to be his. His monas- 
 teries and territories in Northumbria and Merciawere 
 restored, and he was to have the see of Hexham and 
 his monastery at Ripon. The council ended by a 
 celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and a mutual 
 interchange of the kiss of peace. Its termination 
 could not be said to be a triumph for the Apostolic 
 see, whose decrees were ceitainly, in effect, unacknow- 
 ledged. Bosa's death took place very shortly after 
 this council, when John succeeded to the see of 
 York. 
 
WILI RIl/S DEATH, AND CHARACTER. 3 1 
 
 Wilfrid's latter years were principally passed at 
 Hexham, as ruler of the monastery and bishop, for 
 the second time, of that diocese, but his beloved 
 Ri])on was often visited. The end was, however, nigh 
 at hand ; sickness and infirmity began to press upon 
 him, and he made the most careful disposition of his 
 earthly possessions, one third of which was allotted to 
 his monasteries of Ripon and Hexham. In 709 he 
 journeyed into Mercia " to inspect and set in order 
 the monasteries within that kingdom.'' He fell 
 sick at Oundle, in the monastic house he had him- 
 self established there, and passed away on the 12th 
 October in that year, in the 76th year of his age. 
 
 Wilfrid is one of those great characters which meet 
 us from time to time in the records of the past, whose 
 words and actions are exalted by some writers to 
 almost superhuman excellence, whilst by others they 
 are held up to something little short of detestation. 
 The latter is, perhaps, the highest tribute to their 
 greatness. There must have been wonderful force 
 of character about a man, when vehement protests 
 against his policy, his temper, his demeanour, are 
 uttered centuries after he has been removed from 
 this world. It is so with Wilfrid. He is described 
 by one historian as " the haughtiest and most luxu- 
 rious prelate of his age," and he is anathematised by 
 many more with an unreasoning hatred as the man 
 of all others to whom is due the introduction into 
 England of the supremacy of the pope of Rome. 
 It is true that he was the first who appealed to Rome, 
 and that of course is enough for many. They seek 
 not for reasons, they inquire not into circumstances. 
 
82 
 
 YORK. 
 
 but settle it at once as a thing to be utterly con- 
 demned, incapable of defence or extenuation. Diffi- 
 cult though it must always be to throw ourselves into 
 the position of those who lived in an age far remote 
 from our own, with different surroundings, different 
 habits of thought, different sources of information, 
 yet, if we seek to form fair and dispassionate views, 
 the endeavour must be made to do so. The points 
 in dispute between Wilfrid and Colman, and their 
 respective adherents, as they appear on the surface, 
 seem now very trivial. But the real question resolved 
 itself into this, — whether there was any central au- 
 thority which could moderate between two contending 
 parties, and give a final decision as to their conflicting 
 opinions or claims. The Columban Church, with all 
 its holiness, with all its self-denial, with all its mis- 
 sionary zeal, had, in the proper sense of the word, no 
 organic unity. Camps and out-posts, so to speak, 
 were planted, as occasion seemed to require, in 
 different parts of the country, to do battle with 
 heathendom, and a noble battle did they fight. But 
 there was little cohesion amongst these forces, their 
 sphere of observation was narrow and contracted, 
 their plan of operations under no central government. 
 Wilfrid unquestionably saw these deficiencies. How 
 were they to be met ? He had been at Rome. He 
 had studied there ; he had witnessed the working of a 
 great and organized polity; he had seen the advan- 
 tages of wider culture, of greater range of studies, of 
 all the manifold and refining influences of music and 
 painting, and architectural science and skill. In 
 Rome he found all these things. To Rome the con- 
 
Wilfrid's character. 
 
 83 
 
 version of Northumbria was undoubtedly due. To 
 Rome, therefore, he conscientiously believed refer- 
 ence should be made, as to a venerated mother, in all 
 doubtful cases and all disputed points. Who shall 
 blame him ? That he had grave faults of temper and 
 disposition is indubitable. He was tenacious and 
 unyielding, arrogant, perchance, at times, and hot- 
 tempered ; for great though he were, he yet was mortal. 
 We may admit all these faults of character ; but surely 
 much may be condoned when we watch the employ- 
 ments of his different periods of exile, his earnest zeal 
 for the conversion of the simple-hearted Frisians and 
 the rude and unim[)ressiljle South Saxons, and his 
 manumission of the bondsmen at Selsey. Much 
 may be forgiven to the man who thought no toil too 
 great if he could carry the ministrations of religion 
 throughout his vast diocese, and provide for their 
 permanent exercise amongst its inhabitants. His 
 faults were those of an ardent, eager, and impetuous 
 temperament, conscious of its own rectitude of pur- 
 pose, confident in its own powers. His excellencies 
 were the fruit of a life of prayer, and of a stern self- 
 discipline. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 YOkK. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 For nine years after Wilfrid's death John occupied 
 the episcopal chair of York. By his name of St. 
 John of Beverley he is even yet remembered as one 
 of the best and holiest of Yorkshire's sons. He is 
 said to have been born of honourable parentage at 
 Harpham, in the East Riding of that county. In his 
 youth he was a pupil of Archbishop Theodore, and 
 was afterwards one of Hilda's monks at Whitby, 
 " which," as Fuller quaintly says, " soundeth some- 
 thing to her honour and nothing to his disgrace, 
 seeing eloquent Apollos himself learned the prinaer of 
 his Christianity partly from Priscilla." He was a 
 diligent student and expounder of Holy Scripture, 
 which he preached to the people with an eloquence 
 and earnestness whicli rivetted their attention, accom- 
 panied as it was by the example of a pure and spotless 
 life. He had many pupils. Bede was one of them, 
 and he afterwards received ordination at the hands of 
 his old master, of whom he speaks in terms of the 
 deepest veneration. 
 
 John presided over Hexham about eighteen years, 
 but little is known of his work there. His name 
 is most especially associated with Beverley, where 
 he became the owner of land and made addi- 
 tions to a small church already standing in Deira- 
 
S. JOHN OF BEVERLEY. 
 
 8S 
 
 wood, in connection with which he founded a monas- 
 tery. This Httle sanctuary was on the site of "an 
 earlier settlement marked by ' four stones,' from which 
 we infer that it was the British Pedwarllech and 
 ( rreek Pdoiiaria, chief city of Parisoi, as it still is of 
 the East Riding. From Pedwarllech we have Bever- 
 iac, Beverley." His good works in this part of the 
 diocese, and doubtless in others also, were furthered 
 by the help of Christian laity. Bede tells us of his 
 dedicating a church on the territory of an earl named 
 Puch, two miles from Beverley; and of another 
 which was founded by Earl Addi in the same neigh- 
 bourhood — indications, slight, but not without signi- 
 ficance, of the growth of a parochial system. Lands 
 at North Burton, Walkington, and other places, were 
 given to his monastery, and the first stones laid, so to 
 speak, of a great and magnificent ecclesiastical found- 
 ation. In his declining years he exchanged the 
 cares and labours of the episcopate for the retirement 
 of the house he had founded in Deira-wood. In 718 
 he resigned his see in favour of Wilfrid, second of the 
 name, whom he nominated as his successor. Wilfrid had 
 been one of his pupils, and had been for some time 
 " the I'ice-do minus or al'bas of the monastery at York, 
 the bishop himself being the doinmus or abbas." John 
 passed three peaceful years in the quiet retreat of his 
 monastery at Beverlac, where he ended a pure and 
 holy life on the 7th May, 721. He was canonised in 
 1037 by Pope Benedict IX. 
 
 Wilfrid II. sat in the chair of York from 718 until 
 732. He was a munificent bishop, but is not other- 
 wise remarkable except for having sanctioned a charge 
 
86 
 
 YORK. 
 
 ignorantly made against Bede for some supposed 
 heretical teaching in his book " De Sex ^tatibus 
 Mundi." He resigned his see in 732, and retired 
 into some monastery to end his days. He died 
 about 745. 
 
 The successor of A\ ilfrid H. was a man of great 
 eminence, Egbert, the son of Eata, and a scion of the 
 royal house of Northumbria. He was appointed by 
 Ceolwulf, king of Northumbria. the sovereign to whom 
 Bede dedicated his ecclesiastical history. When 
 Egbert succeeded as Bishop of York, Bede's life was 
 drawing to its close ; but advancing years had not 
 weakened his mental powers, and he addressed along 
 and deeply interesting letter to the newly consecrated 
 bishop. It is clear from this epistle that the holy 
 zeal of earlier days had waxed cold or lukewarm, and 
 that corruptions existed in the Church which filled 
 the mind of the writer with gloomy forebodings as to 
 the Church's future, if no remedies were applied by 
 the watchful care of her chief ministers. The gifts 
 which a pious liberality had poured into the Church's 
 treasury, and which had been administered for that 
 Church's weal with a scrupulous fidelity by those in 
 whose care they first were placed, now seemed to 
 offer only temptations to cupidity, and to afford means 
 for self-indulgence. Luxury, and worse than luxury, 
 prevailed within walls which had been erected to be 
 the homes of devotion and self-denial. Grants of 
 land, moreover, were now not uncommonly obtained 
 by men of rank for the foundation of monastic 
 houses. The land thus became free from secular 
 claims and burdens, and the house was made a resi- 
 
KEDE's LEITER TO EGBERT. 
 
 87 
 
 dence for the founder and his people with naught of 
 religion about it but the name. He warned Egbert 
 of these manifold abuses, which loudly demanded re- 
 pression and reformation by a strong and determined 
 hand ; that hand, it is obvious, being the hand of the 
 bishop of the diocese, for the monasteries at that time 
 were under no papal exemptions. Bede offered also 
 many wise and holy counsels. Personal holiness in 
 the teacher was to illustrate the lessons which he 
 gave. Study and meditation were to occupy hours 
 too often wasted in idle and purposeless talk. The 
 number of priests was to be augmented, in order that 
 the villages might not lack needful teaching and the 
 due administration of the Church's sacraments. The 
 Creed and the Lord's Prayer were to be translated into 
 their own mother tongue for the use of the unlearned. 
 He advocated also an extension of the episcopate. 
 He reminded Egbert of the plan laid down long 
 before by the far-seeing Gregory, that the northern 
 provinces should have no fewer than twelve bishops 
 to watch over the flocks which lay scattered over the 
 vast territory ; and he urged him to obtain the pall, 
 and endeavour, with the help of Ceonwulf the king, to 
 carry out this much needed measure of reform. 
 
 The words of Bede were not written in vain. 
 Egbert applied for the pall, which was given him in 
 735 by Pope Gregory HI. He became primate of 
 the Northern Province, and all the bishops within its 
 limits were under him as his suffragans. He was no 
 unworthy ruler. He was a laborious student, and 
 wrote several works which were highly estimated,, 
 especially a Pontifical, or book containing the offices 
 
88 
 
 YORK. 
 
 wliich a bishop only could perform. Besides the 
 offices of ordination, &c., it contains a series of 
 benedictions. Some of these are very interesting, as 
 showing how religion was brought to bear upon the 
 things of common life. God's blessing was sought 
 upon medicine about to be taken, or healing unguent 
 about to be applied for the benefit of either man or 
 beast ; upon the bread which was about to be eaten, 
 and upon the wine before it was drank. There is a 
 benediction also for hallowing vessels of heathen 
 workmanship which had been turned up by the 
 plough or the spade. Egbert's other works relate mostly 
 to matters of discipline, founded to some extent on 
 the writings of Archbishop Theodore. All his works, 
 says Raine, " seem to pre-suppose the existence of 
 a regular clerical organisation, and as he occupied 
 the throne of Paulinus with such commanding influ- 
 ence for above thirty years, he would have time 
 
 enough to see the systems in full play He 
 
 was, in all probability, the first introducer of the 
 parochial system into the North." i This is perhaps 
 a thing incapable of absolute proof, though it may 
 fairly be inferred. But there can be little doubt 
 respecting one great work, the foundation of the 
 school of York, and the library attached to it, which 
 became renowned, not in England alone, but through- 
 out Europe also. Youths were sent from all parts to 
 carry on their studies under Egbert's guidance. He 
 was assisted by his kinsman Albert, who was after- 
 wards his successor in the see. Amongst their pupils 
 was one whose name must ever be honoured as one 
 ' "Fasti Ebor.," i. p. 96. 
 
ALCUIN. — CANONS OF YORK. 89 
 
 of the foremost scholars of his days, the learned and 
 accomplished Alcuin, who speaks in glowing terms in 
 a [)oem written in after years, " De Pontificibus &C. 
 Ecclesia; Eboracensis," of Egbert's gracious manner, 
 of his sedulous discharge of every holy office, of his 
 loving adornment of the great mother Church of his 
 diocese, and his reverential care for the stately ser- 
 vices which were solemnised within its walls. " He 
 is said to have been the first prelate who possessed a 
 mint at York." His efforts in all good works were 
 not a little facilitated by the accession of his brother 
 Eadbert in 738 to the throne of Northumbria. 
 Egbert resigned the see in 757, and ended his days 
 in the quiet haven of a monastic retreat on the 
 19th Nov., 766. 
 
 He was succeeded by Albert, " in compliance," we 
 are told, "with the wishes of the people." He ably 
 carried on the work which had so long prospered in 
 his predecessor's hands. He was consecrated on the 
 24th April, 767, and received the pall from Pope 
 .\drian in 773. He retained the services of the illus- 
 trious Alcuin as his coadjutor in the noble work of the 
 great school which had already gained so wide a re- 
 putation. Alcuin was appointed by the archbishoj) 
 as one of the canons of the Minster, and as the 
 magister sdiolarum. 
 
 As this is the first mention we have of the canons 
 of the Church of York, a few words may be said 
 respecting the commencement of a foundation which 
 has survived with unbroken continuity down to our 
 own day. 
 
 The Minster of York had no monastic body 
 
go 
 
 YORK. 
 
 belonging to it, the clergy of that church being canons 
 secular, as being under no monastic rule. Secular 
 canons appear to have owed their origin to Chrodi- 
 gang, bishop of Metz, in the year 747. His pri- 
 mary idea was simply the gathering together of the 
 clergy of that town with the view of inducing them 
 to lead a more regular life, in the ecclesiastical sense 
 of the word, but without being under monastic vows. 
 They could retain their private property in addition 
 to such income as they might receive from the 
 church. Boys were received for education, and 
 placed for that purpose under the care of a senior 
 canon. Canons were allowed separate dwellings, 
 which constituted a marked distinction between 
 canons secular and canons regular, or monks of the 
 different orders, who lived in common and had a 
 common dormitory. Chrodigang's canonical rule 
 was soon introduced into England. We find it men- 
 tioned in the 4th canon of a synod held in North- 
 umberland in the year 787 ; and it is probable that 
 Archbishop Egbert had organised a body of canons 
 in the church of York before the termination of his 
 long episcopate. At any rate, when Albert appointed 
 Alcuin as one of them, it is not mentioned as a new 
 office. Although it is somewhat anticipating the 
 chronological sequence of events, it may conveniently 
 be mentioned here that when Athelstan was on his 
 way to encounter the Scots, in 936, he besought the 
 prayers of the clergy of the church of St. Peter at 
 York on his behalf, who are described as " men of 
 holy life and honest conversation, then styled Colidei, 
 who maintained a number of poor j^eople, and had 
 
SECULAR CANONS. — SCHOOL OF YORK. 9 1 
 
 withal but little whereon to live ' The word Colidei 
 is an inversion of Dcicolcc, and has originated the 
 term Culdee, which lias been so long supposed to 
 belong to the Columban monks of the sixth and 
 seventh centuries. This is a supposition entirely 
 destitute of authority. The name was unknown to 
 Bede, to Eddi, and to Adamnan. It was first applied 
 to anchorites, Deicola being the Latin equivalent of 
 the term Gode-fri/iic, or God-fearing, which was the 
 appellation commonly given to them. It afterwards 
 appears to have been assigned to canon clerics. 
 " Those of Canterbury we find called in a charter by 
 king Ethelred, in 1006, cultores clerici, or cleric God- 
 worshippers, the word Z>i?/ being evidently implied."' 
 Raine says that the canons of York were called Cul- 
 decs as late as the reign of Henry I. The number of 
 canons in the Minster of York in Archbishop Albert's 
 time appears to have been seven, who lived out of a 
 common fund. 
 
 The school of York was carried on with indefati- 
 gable zeal under the joint government of Albert and 
 Alcuin. The nucleus of a library had been formed 
 by Egbert. It was very greatly augmented by the 
 unsparing munificence and personal solicitude of 
 these two great scholars, who shrank not from the 
 toil of long journeys to Italy and other countries to 
 gather up precious manuscripts to add to its stores. 
 Alcuin enumerates with delight in his poem the 
 names of the various authors whose writings were 
 thus acquired. 
 
 The renovation of the Minster was one of Albert's 
 ' See Skene's "Celtic Scotland," ii. p. 245. 
 
92 
 
 YORK. 
 
 works. That which Wilfrid had restored and beauti- 
 fied had suffered greatly from a fire, and appears to 
 have been re-edified and probably much enlarged at 
 this time. Alcuin describes it somewhat minutely, 
 mentioning the grandeur of its height, the solidity of 
 its piers and arches, the number of its aisles, the 
 translucent beauty of its windows, and the rich adorn- 
 ment of its thirty altars. 
 
 Years passed on, and Albert in his turn sought to 
 be relieved from the labour and anxiety inseparable 
 from his various duties, which had now become a 
 weighty burden. He appointed Eanbald, a much- 
 loved pupil, as coadjutor bishop, cum jure successmiis, 
 apparently, and officiated at his consecration. He 
 then retired to a monastic cell, where he spent two 
 years and two months before he was called away. 
 Ten days only before his death he came forth from it 
 to assist in the solemn dedication of the Minster, 
 whose renovation he had begun whilst yet archbishop. 
 He died at York on the 8th November, 781 or 782. 
 
 The nomination of Eanbald was confirmed by his 
 reception of the pall, which was transmitted from 
 Rome by the hands of Alcuin, who undertook a 
 journey thither for the purpose of obtaining it. The 
 work of the school of York went on, and for a time 
 it had the advantage of Alcuin's vigilant and careful 
 superintendence. But anarchy prevailed in North- 
 umbria, and the sanctuary at Lindisfarne was deso- 
 lated by the Danes. Alcuin left York, and was gladly 
 welcomed by Charlemagne, who was now anxious 
 for the spread of learning in his dominions. That 
 great potentate became himself a pupil of the great 
 
EANBALD. — EANBALD II. 93 
 
 Saxon scholar, and always treated him with the 
 utmost consideration. Alcuin never forgot York, or 
 the churches and monastic houses of Northumbria. 
 He gave good advice to king and priest alike. He 
 rebuked Ethelred, and gave wise and holy counsel to 
 the clergy of Hexham and the monks of Lindisfarne, 
 Wearmouth, and Jarrow, and wrote in terms of the 
 most affectionate regard to the brethren at York. 
 Eanbald died August loth, 796. 
 
 Another of the same name succeeded. He had 
 been a favourite pupil of Alcuin, who wrote many 
 letters to him, addressing him under the name of 
 Symeon. In one he mentions a ship-load of metal 
 he was sending to cover the bell-turrets of the Minster. 
 Another is full of practical suggestions for the main- 
 tenance of discipline in the diocese. Things had 
 become somewhat lax, for it appears that the North- 
 umbrian clergy had. caused some scandal by their 
 love of fox-hunting. He reminds the Archbishop at 
 the same time that the shepherd was to set a whole- 
 some example to the flock. Proof sufficient may be 
 gathered from this letter of the grave deterioration in 
 manners and morals which then prevailed, especially 
 in the monastic houses, but it conveys no precise or 
 specific information with respect to the great diocese 
 over which Eanbald H. then presided. Incidental 
 evidence is given of the maintenance by the Arch- 
 bishop of a large body of armed retainers. The dis- 
 turbed state of Northumbria probably rendered this 
 a necessity. 
 
 Alcuin wished to have ended his days at York, but 
 was unable to obtain Cliarlemagne's consent to his 
 
.94 
 
 YORK. 
 
 return. In his later years he retired to his abbey of 
 St. Martin at Tours. He no longer had the great 
 sovereign and his nobles as his pupils, but the occu- 
 pation of his active manhood was still the solace of 
 his age. He had a school at Tours to the end of his 
 life. His own countrymen, not a little to the jealousy 
 of the Franks, swarmed about him, it was said, like 
 so many bees, gladly encountering the toil and danger 
 of long journeying to be under the instruction of one 
 who had a reputation so illustrious. As a scholar he 
 was unquestionably the most eminent of his age. 
 Alcuin died about a.d. 8io. His pupil. Eanbald H., 
 did not long survive his old master, dying, it is said, 
 in 812. 
 
YORK. 
 
 95 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 In tracing the history of the Northumbrian Church 
 during the whole of the period from the arrival of 
 Paulinas to the commencement of Egbert's episco- 
 pate, we have had the guidance of Venerable Bede, 
 the indefatigable student, the careful chronicler of the 
 events of his own time, and the faithful narrator of 
 the traditions of the generation which preceded him. 
 But for him we should have known little of the 
 establishment and progress of Christianity in North- 
 umbria. " The lamp of learning, trimmed by the 
 hand of a single monastic who never passed the 
 limits of his Northumbrian province, irradiated from 
 the cell of Jarrow, the Saxon realm of England, with 
 a clear and steady light; and when Bede died. 
 History reversed her torch, and quenched it in deep 
 night."' Bede died in 735. As an historian he left 
 no successor, and the times were such as to afford 
 little encouragement to quiet study and research. In 
 little more than half a century after his death Lindis- 
 farne was pillaged and burnt by the Northmen, and 
 the defenceless inmates of the monastery promiscu- 
 ously slaughtered. The Danes were constantly 
 making incursions in different parts. In 866, during 
 the reign of Ethelred I., they first entered East Anglia, 
 and in the year following the ' cyules ' of the invaders 
 ' Surtees' " History of Durham," ii. p. 69. 
 
96 
 
 VOKK. 
 
 were seen in the Humber, and they advanced as far 
 as York, of which they took possession. In 869, 
 East Anglia was completely in their power : it became 
 a Danish Kingdom, and was the first distinct Danish 
 settlement in England. Predatory incursions were 
 made from time to time in different directions, the 
 churches and monasteries being special objects of 
 attack. In 876, Halfdene entered Northumbria with 
 his forces. This was no mere piratical descent for 
 the sake of plunder. It was with a view to settled 
 occupation. The inhabitants were too terror-stricken 
 to offer any actual resistance. The invader assumed 
 the dominion of the country, parcelled it out, and 
 began to cultivate tracts of land within its limits 
 which had long lain waste and untilled. AVe may 
 j)robably date from this period the Danish names of 
 places which are so common in many parts of the 
 northern counties. 
 
 From the time of Eanbald s death in 812 to the 
 end of the century, and for certainly the first two 
 decades of the succeeding one, the ecclesiastical his- 
 tory of Northumbria is in utter obscurity. The names 
 of successive Archbishops are preserved, but very 
 little is known of them. The country must have been 
 in a most lamentable state, and in many parts, pro- 
 bably, the public ministrations of religion were alto- 
 gether laid aside, Christianity itself preserving but a 
 precarious and feeble existence. The most interest- 
 ing records relating to the Church of York which 
 have been preserved occur in the letters addressed 
 by Lupus, the Abbot of Ferrieres, to Wigmund, who 
 became Archbishop about the year 837. They are 
 
ALFRED THE GREAT. ATHELSTAN. 97 
 
 valuable as showing " that the communication be- 
 tween northern and foreign houses which existed to 
 so great an extent in the preceding century, was still 
 kept up. They tell us moreover that the monastery 
 of York was under the same government that was 
 described, sixty years before, in the writings of 
 Alcuin, and that the famous library was still in 
 existence, inasmuch as Lupus solicits the loan of a 
 manuscript of Quintilian, one of the questions of St. 
 Jerome on the Old and New Testament, with a 
 similar work by Beda.''^ 
 
 The campaigns of the Great Alfred against the 
 Northmen, his conflicts with them, his formation of a 
 navy to meet them on their own element, are matters 
 of history too well known to need recapitulation 
 here. But Northumbria was never really subjugated 
 by him. The submission of the Danes was yielded 
 to his son Edward the Elder, who became over- lord 
 of the whole island, and both Scots and Welsh did 
 homage to him. But, as events proved, the submis- 
 sion and the homage were more nominal than real. 
 Edward was succeeded by his son Athelstan. 
 Against him a league was formed by Constantine, 
 the King of the Scots, rendered yet more formidable 
 by the appearance of a large fleet in the Humber, in 
 the year 937, under the command of Anlaf. On his 
 way to encounter his foes Athelstan sought the 
 prayers of the clergy of York, and as he passed 
 through Beverley he made a solemn vow of the 
 great things he would do for that church if he were 
 
 ' "Fasti Ebor.," i. p. 1 12. 
 H 
 
98 
 
 YORK. 
 
 victorious, leaving his dagger on the altar as a token 
 and pledge of his sincerity. The battle of Brunan- 
 burgh followed, celebrated in Scandinavian song. 
 Athelstan gained the day, after a fierce and bloody 
 encounter. He fulfilled his vow by munificent gifts 
 to the Church of St. John of Beverley, and he gave 
 many great possessions and privileges to the minsters 
 of York and Ripon. Athelstan was sincerely attached 
 to Christianity. In the gifts he bestowed upon the 
 Church of Northumbria he was probably guided by 
 Archbishop Wulstan, who is said to have owed to 
 Athelstan his elevation to that dignity. After Athel- 
 stan's death the Archbishop took part with the Danes 
 and joined in the efforts that were made to throw off 
 the authority of his successor Edmund. Edred 
 succeeded, after the murder of Edmund, in 946, and 
 on his going into Northumbria in the following year, 
 all the chief men, with Wulstan at their head, took 
 solemn oaths of allegiance to him. But their oaths 
 were little worth. A rebellion took place in 948 in 
 which the Archbishop was deeply implicated, and 
 Eric, the son of Harold Blaatand King of Denmark, 
 was set up as their king. Edred brought his forces 
 into Northumbria. Much devastation took place, 
 the monastery of Ripon, amongst others, being 
 destroyed. When the rebellion was quelled, Wulstan 
 was deposed and thrown into prison, a thing " worth 
 noting, because it shows that, even with Abbot 
 Dunstan at the head of affairs, a churchman was as 
 much subject to the law as anybody else."i He 
 
 ' Freeman's "Old English History," p. 165. 
 
DANISH BISHOPS. — STATE OF YORK. 99 
 
 was, however, soon released, and though not allowed 
 to go back to York, was permitted to exercise the 
 office of a Bishop at Dorchester. 
 
 The fusion of the Northmen with the population 
 of Northumbria appears by this time to have taken 
 place. It was effected apparently by a sort of 
 natural process. When the Angles made their 
 descent upon the shores of Britain, their onset was 
 directed against a people of a different race to them- 
 selves, and no assimilation ever took place. But in 
 the case of the Northmen it was different. Their 
 race was the same : " in tongue, in manner, in 
 institutions, there was little to distinguish them from 
 the men amongst whom they dwelt." And ere long 
 they had a common Christendom. At this time 
 Christianity must have prevailed to a considerable 
 extent amongst the Scandinavian settlers. We find 
 prelates of Danish blood occupying the respective 
 sees of Canterbury and York, Odo being Archbishop 
 of the one, Oskytel of the other. Of Oskytel's work 
 at York we know little. His kinsman Oswald 
 received the pallium at the hands of Pope John 
 XIII. in 972. He had been a most active and 
 energetic prelate in the diocese of Worcester, and 
 Dunstan, who had now succeeded Odo in the chair 
 of St. Augustine, urgently pressed upon him the 
 acceptance of the see of York. He retained also 
 the see of Worcester. A biographer of the Arch- 
 bishop gives an interesting picture of the state of 
 York at the time. He describes the walls and very 
 many of the buildings as being in a state of much dis- 
 repair, the result doubtless of the assaults it had from 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 YORK. 
 
 time to time undergone. But it was full of Danish 
 merchants. The throng and bustle of trade were in 
 fall activity, and it was clearly becoming a great seat 
 of commerce, with an adult population of thirty thou- 
 sand. "All this seems to show that the great mis- 
 chief which the Danes did to York has been exag- 
 gerated. They seem to have occupied the citj', and 
 not to have spoiled or destroyed it."i Dunstan's 
 great reason for wishing to have Oswald as the 
 northern primate was to have his co-operation in the 
 plans he had so much at heart for re-modelling the 
 monasteries and introducing the strictness of the 
 Benedictine rule, and, above all, for enforcing the 
 celibacy of the clergy. He wished, also, to do away 
 with the secular canons. What Oswald was able to 
 effect as regards these matters in Northumbria we 
 know not. Canon Raine is of opinion that the 
 Benedictine rule was never firmly established in the 
 North till after the conquest. The marriage of the 
 clergy certainly continued until after that period, as 
 we shall hereafter see. Oswald died in 992. Two 
 Archbishops after him also held the see of Worcester 
 in conjunction with that of York. The most eminent 
 of these was Wulstan II. He was a man of piety 
 and learning, and is believed to be the author of 
 certain homilies to which the name of Lupus Epis- 
 copus is attached. One of them contains an address 
 to his countrymen on the Danish invasion, written in 
 1012, and giving "a fearful picture of the vice and 
 lawlessness of the age." He also addressed an 
 
 ' "Fasti Ebor.," i. p. 193. 
 
WULSTAN II. — ALFRIC PUTTOC. KINSIUS. lOI 
 
 encyclical letter to the inhabitants of his diocese, and 
 laid down a code of rules called the Laws of the Nor- 
 thumbrian priests. He was the author also of two 
 pastoral letters. He encouraged literature even in 
 those troublous times. Haymo studied under his 
 direction at York, and he gathered other scholars 
 round him. The uniting of the two sees of 
 Worcester and York was probably due to the policy 
 of Dunstan and Oswald, and " when Northumbria 
 was ravaged by the Danes, the possession of the 
 southern bishopric was found to be necessary for the 
 maintenance of the Northern primate. It was on 
 this ground that Edward the Confessor subsequently 
 decided in favour of their union. The Archbishop 
 of Canterbury would not be likely to oppose it, as 
 the primate of the North would thus be placed 
 in the position of a suffragan to the successors of 
 Augustine."^ 
 
 His successor, Alfric Puttoc, held no see except 
 York. He was a great benefactor to the church of 
 Beverley, and obtained certain privileges for it from 
 Edward the Confessor. During his episcopate, and 
 probably at his request, St. John of Beverley was 
 canonized, and the translation of his relics took place 
 with much stately ceremonial. 
 
 Kinsius, the next Archbishop,received the pallium 
 from Pope Victor in 1055. He was also a benefactor 
 to the church in his diocese, being the builder of a 
 large tower at Beverley, upon which church, and 
 also upon that at Southwell, he bestowed many 
 costly gifts. 
 
 ' " Fasti Ebor.," p. 132. 
 
I02 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Kinsius died in 1060, and was followed by Aldred, 
 the last of the Saxon Archbishops of York. Before 
 his elevation to York he held the sees of Hereford 
 and Worcester. The latter he retained, and went to 
 Rome for the purpose of obtaining the pallium, ac- 
 companied by Earl Tosti, the brother of Harold. 
 The pope refused, fiercely reproaching him for at- 
 tempting to hold the see of Worcester as well as that 
 of York, and for having failed to seek the license of 
 the apostolic see for his promotion. He degraded 
 and dismissed him. On his homeward journey, not 
 many miles from Rome, Aldred and Earl Tosti fell 
 into the hands of a band of robbers, and were stripped 
 and plundered. They returned to Rome and sought 
 an audience of the pope. Earl Tosti's indignation 
 was expressed in no measured terms. He told the 
 pope that there was small chance of his excommuni- 
 cation being regarded by any distant country, so long 
 as it was so little heeded by the ruffians of his own 
 dominions, and that he would take good care, if no 
 restitution was made to them of the losses they had 
 sustained, it should be made good by the king of 
 England out of the Peter-pence when they reached 
 their own land. The determined attitude of the 
 high-spirited Saxon was not without its effect, and, 
 on condition that Aldred resigned Worcester, the 
 pope confirmed the archbishopric to him and gave 
 him the pallium. 
 
 Aldred was a most munificent prelate. He en- 
 dowed stalls at Southwell, which was then growing 
 into importance. He built much at York and 
 Beverley. At the latter place he added a presbytery. 
 
ARCHBISHOP ALDRED. I03 
 
 rebuilt the whole of the western portion of the 
 church, and adorned it with many rich and sump- 
 tuous accessories. The sanctuary privileges of the 
 church received extension, and he attached prebends 
 to its canonries, raising their number from seven to 
 eight. 
 
 But days of trouble and darkness were nigh at 
 hand. In 1066 the last lineal descendant of Cerdic, 
 Edward the Confessor, died, and the day of his 
 funeral in the Abbey of Westminster, the church 
 which he had himself erected, witnessed also the 
 coronation of his successor Harold. Archbishop 
 Aldred placed the crown upon his head, all uncon- 
 scious that in that very sanctuary he would, in a few 
 short months, perform the like office for the stern and 
 haughty warrior who was destined to put an end to 
 the Saxon dynasty and to hold with iron grasp the 
 country over which its kings had ruled. 
 
 Harold's seat upon his throne was anything but a 
 firm one. It was threatened from two opposite 
 quarters, — William, duke of Normandy, on the one 
 side, and his own brother, Earl Tosti, on the other. 
 William would not admit the validity of Harold's 
 election, and was furiously indignant because the 
 latter was false to the oath which, it is said, he 
 had sworn, whereby he pledged himself to promote 
 William's claim to the throne. Tosti had been 
 exiled from Northumbria, and now sought, if it might 
 be, to win for himself a kingdom. He secured the 
 assistance of Harold Hardrada, the Norwegian king, 
 and a descent was made upon the coast of Yorkshire. 
 They were encountered at Water Fulford, near Bishop- 
 
104 
 
 YORK. 
 
 thorpe, by the Earls Edwin and Morcar. The inva- 
 ders gained the day, and a great slaughter took place, 
 in which many of the clergy suffered. A few days 
 after, another engagement took place at Stamford 
 Bridge, on the river Derwent. [a.d. 1066, Sept. 25. ] 
 Harold led his army in person and obtained a deci- 
 sive victory. Tosti was slain. Tradition has preserved 
 some memories of the day. A piece of level ground 
 near the river is still known as Battle Flats, and a 
 curious custom survives of making pies at Stamford 
 Feast in the shape of a boat. This is said to be a 
 sort of memorial of the mode adopted to destroy a 
 Norwegian who held a wooden bridge, which crossed 
 the Derwent, single-handed, for upwards of three 
 hours, and killed forty men. Some one, who com- 
 bined craft with his boldness, contrived to run a small 
 boat under the bridge, watched his opportunity, and 
 killed the gallant Northman by thrusting a spear be- 
 tween the joinings of its wood-work. 
 
 Three days after this a yet more formidable inva- 
 sion took place. William anchored off the coast of 
 Sussex. lie landed without opposition and marched 
 his troops to Hastings. There Harold gave him 
 battle on the 14th October. The details of that 
 memorable engagement need not be here repeated. 
 Harold fell on that fatal field, and with him ended 
 the line of the Saxon kings. His fall gave the 
 sovereignty of England to the Norman conqueror. 
 At Christmas he was crowned at Westminster by 
 Archbishop Aldred. 
 
 But Aldred was no time-server. He saw, indeed, 
 that his country had received another master, and he 
 
INDEPENDENCE OF ALDREd's CHARACIER. I05 
 
 submitted to his rule ; but before he placed the 
 crown upon his head, he exacted from him an oath 
 that the rights and liberties of the church should be 
 respected, that he .would govern according to the 
 laws of England, and that no undue preference 
 should be shown to his Norman followers. William 
 was politic enough to see the wisdom of conciliating 
 his new subjects by acceding to the request of the 
 ablest and most independent prelate in the dominions 
 he had acquired. And he doubtless intended to keep 
 his word. For a time all went well. " His soldiers 
 were kept in strict order. No change was made in 
 law or custom. The privileges of London were re- 
 cognised by a royal writ which still remains, the 
 most venerable of its muniments, amongst the city's 
 archives. Peace and order were restored. 
 
 This tranquility, however, was not lasting. North- 
 umbria ill brooked submission to the new sovereign. 
 An insurrection took place under Edwin and Morcar, 
 in which the men of York joined, regardless of the 
 advice and entreaties of their Archbishop. It was 
 soon quelled by the presence of William, who forti- 
 fied a castle in the city to overawe the inhabitants. 
 Another revolt took place, with a similar result. But 
 preparations for a more decisive blow at William's 
 power were making in another quarter. Sweyn, the 
 king of Denmark, was fitting out a fleet for a descent 
 upon the shores of Northumbria. The news proved 
 a fatal blow to Aldred. He had striven earnestly for 
 the promotion of peace, and he saw that this irruption 
 
 Green's " History," i. p. 116. 
 
YORK. 
 
 of the Northmen would be a death-blow to his en- 
 deavours. He prayed fervently that his end might 
 come before he was compelled to witness the misery 
 which he foresaw to be inevitable. His prayer was 
 heard. He sickened and died on the nth Sept- 
 ember, 1069, and was buried in the minster of York. 
 He was an able prelate, a man of wonderful energy, 
 independence, and courage. There must have been 
 no ordinary amount of intrepidity in one who showed, 
 on more than one occasion, that he feared not the 
 wrathful glance or the fiercer words of William the 
 Norman. 
 
YORK. 
 
 107 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 With Aldred's death another epoch in the history of 
 the Church of York commences. He was scarcely 
 laid in his grave before the threatened descent of the 
 Northmen took place. The two sons of Sweyn en- 
 tered the Humber with their fleet. York was stormed. 
 Three thousand Normans, who formed the garrison 
 were slain. "The minster with its treasures — its 
 muniments, and the glorious library which had been 
 the pride of Saxon England — all were surrendered to 
 the flames." The news of this terrible onslaught 
 soon reached William, It had been so ably planned 
 and so skilfully carried out that even his astuteness 
 had failed to foresee the probability of such a revolt 
 against his power. His wrath and indignation were 
 proportionately aggravated. He swore his grisly oath, 
 " by the splendour of God," that he would be 
 avenged, and with the sternest determination and the 
 most ruthless cruelty he carried out his purpose. He 
 inflicted a terrible retribution. If the inhabitants had 
 sympathised, as no doubt they did, with the Danish 
 king, and would fain have thrown off" the yoke which 
 William's conquest had laid upon the country, the 
 Norman king was relentless in his vengeance, and in 
 carrying it out in such a manner that resistance to 
 his power should be in all future time alike hopeless 
 and impracticable. The coast was ravaged, so that any 
 
io8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 future landing of the Northmen might be rendered, 
 practically, useless. The fair vale of York, full of 
 towns and cultivated fields, which stretched above 
 sixty miles from the city, as far as the water of the 
 Tees, was devastated so completely that, as William 
 of Malmesbury tells us, it remained barren and 
 desolate down to his own time. The crops which 
 were growing in the fields, the cattle which grazed in 
 the pastures, and the implements of husbandry were 
 all destroyed. The wretched inhabitants who failed 
 to secure safety by a timely flight were put to the 
 sword and their houses burned. Famine subse- 
 quently added its horrors, which is said to have added 
 100,000 to the list of those w'ho perished by the 
 hands of William's soldiery. A fresh rising indeed 
 took place in 1071, under the leadership of Edwin 
 and Morcar, who had some hope, as it seems, of re- 
 ceiving aid from King Malcolm of Scotland ; but it 
 was an abortive attempt, and Malcolm eventually ac- 
 knowledged the great Norman as his liege lord. 
 England then became in reality one kingdom under 
 one sovereign. 
 
 One effect of the Norman conquest was a change 
 as regarded the appointment of bishops. They were 
 no longer of Saxon or Danish blood. Most of the 
 English prelates were removed from their sees, and 
 their places filled by Norman ecclesiastics. The 
 days were passed when a bishop could nominate his 
 successor, and the policy of the Conqueror was 
 utterly adverse to the people having any share in the 
 election of their chief pastor. " Prelates were prac- 
 tically chosen by the king. Homage was exacted 
 
THOMAS OF BAVEUX. 
 
 109 
 
 from bishop as from baron. No royal tenant could 
 be excommunicated save by the king's leave. No 
 synod could legislate without his previous assent and 
 subsequent confirmation of its decrees. No papal 
 letters could be received within the realm save by his 
 permission. The king firmly repudiated the claims 
 which were beginning to be put forward by the court 
 of Rome. When Gregory VII. called on him to do 
 fealty for his kingdom, the king sternly refused to 
 admit the claim. ' Fealty I have never willed to do, 
 nor will I do it now. I have never promised it, nor 
 do I find that my predecessors did it to yours.'"' 
 
 The see of York, as we have seen, was vacated by 
 death. It remained vacant for eight months, when it 
 was filled up by the appointment of Thomas of 
 Bayeux. He is said to have been a son of Osbert, a 
 canon of Bayeux, whose name, as well as that of his 
 motlier, Muriel, occurs in the Durham " Liber Vita; " 
 (PP- i39> 140)- He was an ardent student from early 
 boyhood, and as he advanced to manhood, he sought 
 fresh stores of learning in the schools of Germany and 
 Spain. On his return to Bayeux " his learning at- 
 tracted the attention and gained for him the intimacy 
 of Odo, the bishop of that place, who was a brother 
 of the Conqueror of England and a person of com- 
 manding influence." To that influence he has been 
 supposed to have owed his promotion. But there 
 may have been a nearer and closer tie between 
 Thomas of Bayeux and William. Mr. Blanche 
 ("Companions of the Conqueror, ii. 272) cites a 
 charter of the king which Archbishop Thomas wit- 
 ' Green's "History," i. p. 131. 
 
no 
 
 YORK. 
 
 nesses as filius Eegis, and draws the inference that he 
 was a natural son of the Conqueror. 
 
 He was nominated Archbishop at Whitsuntide, 
 1070. There was then no Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 and in the Northern Province the number of suffragan 
 bishops, as it happened, was insufficient, so that he 
 was obHged to wait Lanfranc's own consecration before 
 he could receive imposition of hands. But a difficulty 
 arose. Lanfranc claimed in the first place a declara- 
 tion of obedience and subjection to the chair of 
 Augustine. Thomas refused. The matter was laid 
 before the king, who ordered Lanfranc to consecrate 
 unconditionally. The latter, however, argued the 
 matter with William, suggesting the expedience of 
 one primate only being recognised, and representing 
 the possible danger which might arise to the realm 
 from a contrary course. In the end Thomas yielded 
 so far as to promise to be subject to Lanfranc, though 
 he would not engage to yield submission to his suc- 
 cessors. Lanfranc thought it well to profess content- 
 ment with this partial obedience, and proceeded with 
 the Archbishop's consecration. 
 
 Both went together to Rome to receive their palls, 
 accompanied by Remigius, bishop of Dorchester. 
 The question of the subjection of York to Canterbury 
 was laid before the pope by Thomas. He also 
 claimed supremacy over the sees of Dorchester (Lin- 
 coln), Worcester, and Lichfield ; Lanfranc retaliated by 
 throwing doubts upon the validity of the election of 
 both his companions, Thomas, as being the son of a 
 priest, and Remigius as having been guilty of simony; 
 and the pope deprived them both of pastoral staff and 
 
RE-ORGANISATION OF THE MINSTER. Ill 
 
 ring, though at Lanfranc's request they were after- 
 wards restored. Pope Alexander gave no decided 
 judgment upon the question of subjection to Canter- 
 bury, but referred it to the decision of a national 
 synod in their own country ; whilst the jurisdiction 
 of Worcester was to be settled by the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury himself. A synod was held, at which the 
 king was present, the issue of which was that the 
 Humber was made the southern boundary of the 
 diocese of York. The northern primates were to 
 swear allegiance to Canterbury, and to appear with 
 their suffragans when bidden to a council within that 
 province. A subsequent order, made in 1075, as- 
 signed them a seat on the right hand^of the primate. 
 
 The question of Worcester was settled at a synod 
 held in 1072, when it was determined that it should 
 in future belong to the southern province, and not to 
 York. 
 
 Archbishop Thomas was very averse from parting 
 with the oversight of Lindsey, and long vehemently 
 opposed the transference of Remigius' episcopal seat 
 from Dorchester to Lincoln. But he was obliged at 
 last to give way. Lincoln and Lindsey were eventu- 
 ally transferred to Canterbury, and in lieu thereof the 
 Archbishops of York were to have the abbey of Selby 
 and the monastery of St. Oswald at Gloucester. 
 
 When Thomas of Bayeux came to York nothing 
 could exceed the wretchedness of all that he saw 
 around him. The minster was a blackened ruin, and, 
 as has already been mentioned, a vast tract of coun- 
 try in his diocese was utterly waste and desolate. 
 Out of seven canons attached to the church of York 
 
YORK. 
 
 three only were left to minister therein, without a 
 house of their own to shelter them, and without any 
 certain maintenance. Their fellows were either dead 
 or dispersed. But Thomas had all the energy 
 and determination, and all the love of organisation 
 which were such distinguishing characteristics of the 
 Norman, and he set to work vigorously to rebuild, to 
 re-organise, and to restore the waste places. The 
 minster was temporarily refitted for the performance of 
 divine offices, and was subsequently, to a great extent, 
 reconstructed. Portions of masonry, apparently be- 
 longing to Archbisliop Thomas's period, are still in 
 existence in the crypt ; but Pro.^essor Willis inclines 
 to the supposition that he only rebuilt the Saxon 
 chancel, and left it to be rebuilt after his nave and 
 transepts were completed.^ He also rebuilt the refec- 
 tory and dormitory. He gathered together as many 
 of the canons as survived, and increased their number, 
 assigning to each a distinct prebe/ida, or separate 
 esUate, out of the lands of the church. Heretofore, to 
 use Bishoj) Godwin's words, " they lived together 
 upon the common charges of the church, at one 
 table, much in like sort as fellowes of houses doe now 
 in the universities." He likewise altered the consti- 
 tution of the body. Under the Saxon archbishops, 
 one of the seven canons was the abbas, or superior, 
 another the viagister scholarum, and the third the 
 custos ciritatis. In the place of these the ruler whom 
 Thomas placed at the head of the canons was styled 
 Dean, a Chancellor represented the viagister scho- 
 larum, and a Treasurer took the place of the custos 
 ' "Arch. History of York Cathedral," p. l6. 
 
DISTRICTS ASSIGNED TO ARCHDEACONS. II3 
 
 civitaiis. He also appointed a Chantor, or Pre- 
 centor. Provision was further made for endowing 
 any future canons wlio might be added to the number 
 then constituted. Thomas of Bayeux was peculiarly 
 circumspect in the selection of his canons, and not less 
 so as regarded the clergy of his diocese. " His speciall 
 care " (to quote Bishop Godwin's quaint words) "was 
 to replenish the church and the rest of his dioces with 
 learned and honest men, with whom he was wont 
 continually to conferre and reason (sometimes with 
 one and sometimes with another), partly for his owne 
 exercise, and partly to see what was in them, and to 
 raise them uppe to a diligence in increasing their 
 knowledge." ^ 
 
 The dispersion of the canons of the Minster at the 
 time when the Conqueror carried out his ruthless 
 devastation of so large a tract of country, would, no 
 doubt, be accompanied or followed by the wholesale 
 scattering of the parochial clergy. The parochial 
 system had unquestionably become a recognised 
 mode of working, long anterior to the Norman con- 
 quest. The Domesday Survey in very many instances 
 mentions churches in connection with the vills and 
 towns which it records, and we can scarcely doubt 
 that they had been the work of the Saxon lords, with 
 the exception, possibly, of a few which might have 
 arisen under the energetic rule of Archbishop Thomas, 
 in the short interval between his accession to the see 
 and the compilation of that great record. To assist 
 him in the supervision of the parochial clergy, Thomas 
 assigned certain districts to archdeacons. This was 
 ' Bishop Godwin's " Catal.,'' p. 576. 
 I 
 
114 
 
 YORK. 
 
 not a new office, for they are mentioned in the Laws 
 of the Northumbrian priests, but they probably now 
 Imd more definite duties imposed upon them. During 
 Archbishop Thomas' episcopate there were possibly 
 not more than two archdeaconries, York and Rich- 
 mond. The latter was the richest in the kingdom, 
 and its district of very wide extent. It included 
 eight deaneries, Boroughbridge, Catterick, Richmond, 
 Lonsdale, Kendal, Amounderness, Furness, and Cope- 
 land. If the archdeacon of York was the only other 
 oculus episcopi his duties would be yet more onerous. 
 In the succeeding century we find a record of the 
 names of those who filled the office of archdeacon in 
 the several districts of the East Riding, of Cleveland, 
 and of Nottingham. 
 
 The canons of York were seculars, as has already 
 been noticed {aiite, p. 89.) Beverley and Ripon were 
 under the same system, as was also Southwell. The 
 canons of Ripon are mentioned in Domesday. 
 
 When Thomas came to the see the monastic system 
 in Northumbria had absolutely disappeared. The 
 Benedictine rule had no longer any existence. Its 
 restoration had a very humble beginning. The prior 
 of the monastery of AVinchcombe, Aldwin by name, 
 had learned from the pages of Bede that the North- 
 umbrian province had, in days gone by, been famous 
 for many holy places, inhabited by saintly men whose 
 sole object was to live a life of prayei- and to be as 
 lights amid the darkness around. He ardently longed 
 to visit the places which were associated with the 
 memories of these servants of God, and, if it might 
 be, to repair their desolation. He went to the monas- 
 
RESTORATION OF BENEDICTINE RULE. II5 
 
 tery of Evesham. Two of the brethren of that house, 
 Elfwy and Reinfrid, were deeply moved by his earnest 
 and stirring words, and gained permission from their 
 superior to accompany him on his pilgrimage. The 
 three set forth on foot, taking an ass with them to 
 carry their service books, vestments, and whatever 
 else was requisite for the celebration of the Holy 
 Eucharist. They made their way to the banks of the 
 Tyne, and after covering the ruined church of Jarrow 
 with a roof of rough-hewn rafters and planks, they 
 made it once more re-echo the sounds of the holy 
 service of the altar. Adjoining to it they constructed 
 a lowly hut for their own shelter, and there they lived, 
 depending solely for subsistence upon the alms of 
 those who deeply venerated their simple faith, their 
 patient endurance, and their earnest zeal. Many 
 joined them and received the monastic habit from the 
 hands of Aldwin, who, from Symeon's delineation of 
 his character, must have been a man of singular gifts. 
 Walcher, the bishop of Durham, watched their work 
 and marked its progress. It was a revival of work 
 which had long lain dormant, a quickening of seed 
 that had been sown in by-gone years upon that very 
 spot by Benedict Biscop, and Bede. Walcher recog- 
 nised it with joy and gladness, and bestowed upon 
 them the vill of Jarrow and its dependent townships, 
 that they might perfect that which they had begun, 
 and be able to exist without anxious thought as to 
 how the morrow's meal was to be provided. 
 
 Encouraged by the success which attended their 
 efforts in Walcher's diocese, their energies were next 
 directed to repair the waste places in the great shire 
 I 2 
 
ii6 
 
 YORK. 
 
 of York. Reinfrid went to Whitby, where he gathered 
 a community together about 1078, and obtained per- 
 mission from William de Percy to occupy the site and 
 precincts of the ancient monastery there. Here he was 
 joined by Stephen, afterwards abbot of York. On 
 Reinfrid's death many of the brethren were desirous 
 of electing Stephen as their superior, but this was 
 overruled by the Percy family, through whose powerful 
 influence Serlo de Percy became prior. Stephen then 
 retired from Whitby, and with the assistance of Alan, 
 Earl of Richmond, commenced the reconstruction of 
 the abbey at York, a work which was sanctioned by 
 Archbishop Thomas. To this monastery land was 
 afterwards given by William Rufus, who laid the 
 foundation stone of a new building in 1089, and 
 changed the dedication of the church from St. Olave's, 
 which had been given by its first founder Siward, 
 to that of St. Mary, by which it was ever after 
 known. 
 
 Such was the humble origin of the great Bene- 
 dictine houses which, after the conquest, arose in 
 Yorkshire. Those three lowly monks were the real 
 restorers of the rule of the great St. Benedict in 
 Northumbria. 
 
 The great Abbey of Selby was a royal foundation. 
 It was endowed by the Conqueror, and its buildings 
 commenced during his lifetime. St. Mary's Abbey 
 and that of Selby were the greatest of the Bene- 
 dictine houses in Yorkshire, and the only two mitred 
 abbeys north of Trent. 
 
 The Conqueror's policy made him secure of having 
 the support of the Church as well as of the baronage, 
 
STATE OF CHURCH UNDER NORMAN RULE. I17 
 
 and the appointments which he made to bishoprics 
 were for the most part good. The Norman ecclesi- 
 astics were, no doubt, far superior in learning and 
 culture to the native clergy. Ordericus Vitalis says 
 that the English were, at the conquest, rude and 
 almost illiterate, which he ascribes to the Danish 
 invasion. When the great Norman became ruler 
 " England at once becomes the resort of the most 
 learned men of the age, with the two mighty ones 
 from Bee at their head."i 
 
 But eminent as William's bishops might be in 
 character and learning, they laboured under one great 
 and serious disadvantage. However earnest they 
 might be in promoting the spiritual welfare of the 
 people, according to the mode which they deemed 
 most conducive to that end, however energetic in 
 enforcing discipline and in bringing the ministrations 
 of religion to bear upon their flocks, one great link 
 was wanting to unite them together. The new pre- 
 lates were all foreigners, and, with probably few 
 exceptions, the ecclesiastics whom they promoted to 
 the most responsible positions in the Church were 
 also of Norman blood. No zeal on the part of the 
 pastor, no personal holiness and piety could alto- 
 gether bridge over the chasm by which he and his 
 flock were thus separated. And it lasted long. For 
 a hundred years or more was William's policy acted 
 upon. Becket is said to have been the first English- 
 man who was raised to any great position. Eadmer 
 says that Henry I. would not place any Englishman 
 at the head of a monastery. 
 
 ' Freeman's "Norman Conquest," v. p. 577. 
 
ii8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 There was yet another element of danger and 
 weakness to the Church, as regarded her spiritual 
 functions, when the power of the crown was un- 
 accompanied by a stern sense of principle and of 
 duty in him who wore it. The Church was depend- 
 ent on the crown in like manner as the baronage. 
 Just as a minor came under the wardship of the 
 king, and with that wardship the profits of his lands 
 accrued to the sovereign till the expiration of its 
 period, so also during the vacancy of a bishopric, or 
 of an abbey, the revenues belonging to it passed into 
 the sovereign's hands. When that sovereign was 
 alike profuse and unscrupulous, as was the case with 
 the Red King, it is needless to say what the issue 
 was. Again and again did that sovereign defer the 
 appointment of successors to vacant sees. And it 
 carried even a worse evil along with it. It promoted 
 the growth of simony. Unscrupulous ecclesiastics 
 bid one against another to secure some high and 
 lucrative position in the Church, and utter corruption 
 was the inevitable result. The see of York does not 
 at this time furnish an example, for Thomas of 
 Bayeux's long episcopate witnessed Rufus's tragical 
 end ; but it is recorded that when that sovereign fell 
 by some unknown hand in the glades of the New 
 Forest, one archbishopric, four bishoprics, and eleven 
 abbeys were devoid of pastors. 
 
 Archbishop Thomas did not long survive the Red 
 King. He is said by Malmesbury to have crowned 
 Henry 1. But this is doubtful. His death took 
 place at York on the i8th Nov., iioo, after an epis- 
 copate of about thirty years. He was buried in the 
 
GERARD. — THOMAS II. II9 
 
 minster near his predecessor Aldred. He was a man 
 of undoubted ability, with no mean amount of learn- 
 ing, and of irreproachable morals. 
 
 [iioi.] He was succeeded by Gerard, Bishop of 
 Hereford, who had been one of Rufus's chaplains. 
 The question of subjection to Canterbury was again 
 stirred. Anselm refused to recommend him to the 
 pope when he was on the way to Rome to obtain his 
 pall unless he would promise obedience to the chair 
 of Canterbury either before he went or on his return. 
 Gerard's reply was evasive. But he took a letter 
 with him addressed by the king to Paschal, and 
 obtained the pall. More than one unseemly collision 
 took place between him and Anselm, but the exile of 
 the latter seems to have drawn out more kindly feel- 
 ings on the part of Gerard, and their reconciliation 
 after his return from his banishment appears to have 
 been complete. 
 
 Archbishop Gerard obtained the church of Laugh 
 ton from the king, and it formed the endowment of 
 an additional stall in the minster. From the same 
 source he obtained six other churches. That of 
 Snaith he bestowed upon Selby Abbey. The 
 churches of Driffield, Kilham, Pocklington, Picker- 
 ing, and Burgh he gave to the minster. 
 
 [1108.] Thomas II., son of Sampson, the first 
 Norman Bishop of Worcester, who was a brother of 
 Thomas of Bayeux, was the next Archbishop. He 
 had been appointed by his uncle as provost of Bever- 
 ley, when the foundation attached to that minster was 
 re-constituted. In 1108 the see of London fell 
 vacant, and Thomas v/as nominated to it. But the 
 
1 20 
 
 YORK. 
 
 appointment was not carried out. Gerard died, and 
 at the urgent request of the Dean of York and some 
 of his canons the king consented to advance him to 
 the northern primacy. As soon as the news of his 
 election to the see of York became known to Anselm, 
 there was a recurrence of the old demand of sub- 
 jection. Both parties were resolute in maintaining 
 what they conceived to be their rights. Both tried to 
 gain the support of the king. At one time a sort of 
 compromise was suggested, viz., to make it pro Iidc 
 rice, at all events, a personal matter, and to recognise 
 the primacy of Anselm. One bishop after another 
 was sent to confer with Thomas, but nothing could 
 shake his determination. Submission to Canterbury 
 he would not brook. The king's intervention was 
 sought, and a letter was addressed by him to the 
 pope requesting that some duly authorised person 
 should be sent by the apostolic see to settle the 
 dissension. Ulric, a cardinal, was selected for this 
 office. In the meantime Anselm passed away, but 
 even on his death-bed he addressed a letter to 
 Thomas urging him in the most solemn manner to 
 make submission to the primatial see. In the end 
 the king required the Archbishop-elect of York to 
 submit himself to Canterbury, only without prejudice 
 to his successors or the Church. Thomas stubbornly 
 resisted, to the great displeasure of the king, who 
 threatened ruin to him and all connected with him if 
 he persisted in his obstinate refusal. With great 
 difficulty he was, at last, in a manner compelled to 
 yield, and was consecrated by the Bishop of London. 
 The episcopate of Thomas II. was not a long one, 
 
THOMAS 11. 
 
 and furnishes little that is noteworthy as to the 
 concerns of the diocese. Two new stalls were 
 founded at York, and a grant of privileges obtained 
 for the church of Southwell, which was freed from 
 certain claims on the part of the Archbishops. His 
 greatest work was at Hexham. The church there 
 appears to have belonged in turn to the Archbishops 
 of York and the Bishops of Durham. The bishopric 
 of Hexham had come to an end after the death of 
 Tidferth, about 822, probably in consequence of the 
 turbulent condition of the most northern part of 
 Bernicia; but the monastery remained, under the 
 government of a provost. Strangely enough, the 
 office became an hereditary one, the son succeeding 
 the father for several generations, a fact which 
 corroborates other testimony that in the north of 
 England marriage among the clergy of all ranks and 
 orders was rather the rule than the exception. The 
 prebend of Holme in York Minster had been 
 attached to this office by Archbishop Thomas I. 
 Thomas H. re-constituted Hexham altogether. He 
 made it a house of Augustinian canons under the 
 rule of a prior, giving them at the same time four 
 vills, and a mill and fishery on the Tyne, together 
 with other benefactions. The Archbishop's death 
 took place on the 24th February, in 4. 
 
122 
 
 YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 [a.d. 1 1 14.] Thomas II. was succeeded by Thurstan, 
 whose name stands out as the great restorer of mo- 
 nastic disciphne and organisation in the north 
 Before he was in a position to undertake that work, 
 however, he had many years of anxious controversy 
 on the never-ending subject of the claim so persist- 
 ently arrogated by Canterbury to the dependence 
 and submission of York. 
 
 When Thurstan was nominated to the see of York 
 he was only a sub-deacon. After receiving the diaco- 
 nate from the bishop of Winchester he was received 
 and enthroned at York. The Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury summoned him to receive the priesthood and 
 consecration to the episcopate at his hands, but he 
 refused to obey the summons. He well knew that 
 Canterbury would forego none of his demands, and 
 that unless he made his profession of obedience, con- 
 secration would be refused. Thurstan went into 
 Normandy, and sought permission of Henry to go to 
 Rome, which the king declined to grant. The papal 
 legate in France was consulted by the king, and his 
 counsel was that Thurstan should be ordained priest 
 by one of the suffragans at the court, and then pro- 
 ceed to Rome, where the pope would doubtless meet 
 the difficulty by consecrating him himself and then 
 giving him the pall. Ths king permitted him to 
 
THURSTAN. 
 
 123 
 
 receive priest's orders from Flambard, bishop of 
 Durham, but still refused to sanction his journey to 
 Rome. 
 
 In the meantime the chapter of York had written 
 to the pope announcing Thurstan's election, and 
 urging that his consecration should not be delayed. 
 The pope recognised the choice of the chapter and 
 directed the Archbishop of Canterbury to consecrate 
 at once, without requiring the profession. The pope's 
 missive was unregarded. The Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury persisted in his requirements, and Thurstan was 
 equally determined not to yield. For five years the 
 dispute went on. The king had been induced to 
 support the views of Canterbury, and although three 
 successive popes — Paschal, Gelasius, and Calixtus — 
 all supported Thurstan's views, the matter still re- 
 mained unsettled. It came to an end in 11 19. In 
 that year a council was held at Rheims, over which 
 Calixtus presided. Thurstan was permitted by Henry 
 to attend it, under the idea that there was no likeli- 
 hood of his receiving consecration from the pope. 
 But he was mistaken. The pope embraced the 
 opportunity and consecrated him with his own hands. 
 Henry's indignation was extreme, but a conference 
 took place between him and the pope with the view, 
 if possible, of getting things arranged. A compro- 
 mise was proposed. Profession of obedience to the 
 prelate who now sat in the chair of Canterbury was 
 to be imperative, though it was not of necessity to be 
 required in the case of his successors. But all over- 
 tures were fruitless, and on Henry's return to England 
 he dispossessed Thurstan of the property attaching 
 
124 
 
 YORK.. 
 
 to his see. The latter met with every kindness from 
 the pope, who steadfastly adhered to Thurstan's cause. 
 Calixtiis at last came to the conclusion that a decisive 
 step must be taken. His final resolve was that the 
 Church of York should for ever be free from any pro- 
 fession of submission to the see of Canterbury, and 
 that the papal bull should be affixed to the charter of 
 exemption. This document was conveyed to the 
 king, together with letters which hinted in no obscure 
 manner that if it were disregarded, and Thurstan did 
 not receive restitution of his temporalities, the spiri- 
 tual arm would be raised to strike. It is needless to 
 say this threatened excommunication. Henry scarcely 
 dared to venture upon provoking such a measure on 
 the part of the pope, and after a good deal of nego- 
 tiation, and some dexterous diplomacy on the part of 
 Thurstan which promoted peace between France and 
 England, much to the gratification of the king, the 
 Archbishop's temporalities were restored, and he made 
 his public entry into York some time in the Lent of 
 1 12 1. A mighty multitude gathered to meet him, 
 and on the third day after his arrival he publicly 
 rehearsed from his seat of dignity in the minster the 
 charter of privilege and exemption which he had 
 received. But his troubles on the subject were not 
 at an end. His old opponent, Ralph d'Escures, was 
 succeeded in the chair of Canterbury by William de 
 Corbeil, who again brought the matter before the 
 pope. It was ended for the time by the appointment 
 of Corbeil as legate, which gave him a personal supe- 
 riority which could not be gainsaid. 
 
 Thurstan at last is recognised as possessing place 
 
BATTLE OF THE STANDARD. I25 
 
 and power as Archbishop of York. He is no excep- 
 tion to the strange anomaly which is so commonly 
 found to characterise the mediaeval prelates. They 
 ^^•ere bishops of the Church, and therefore they exer- 
 cised spiritual functions. On great occasions they 
 celebrated pontifical high mass in their cathedrals. 
 But they were also great statesmen, petty sovereigns, 
 and, what seems most of all alien to their episcopal 
 character, they took the command of armies in the 
 field. The hand which one day held aloft the crosier, 
 wielded perchance on the very next the battle-axe or 
 the sword. However brief and imperfect our sketch 
 of Thurstan's career, it would be incomplete without 
 the mention of the battle of the Standard, and the 
 jiart he took in gathering together the baronage of 
 the north, in rousing the spirit of the Yorkshiremen, 
 and uniting them under the holy and venerated ban- 
 ners of St. Cuthbert of Durham, St. Peter of York, 
 St. John of Beverley, and St. Wilfrid of Ripon, which 
 floated from a pole reared high upon a wheeled car 
 which was dragged to a little eminence near North 
 Allerton, still known as Standard Hill. It is need- 
 less to recount the story of the repulse of the Scottish 
 hordes, and the gallant stand by which the Yorkshire- 
 men saved the north of England from the devastation 
 of those ruthless and implacable foes. 
 
 His chief fame rests, however, upon works of a 
 different character, destined for something like four 
 succeeding centuries to exercise a most powerful in- 
 fluence, religious, political, and social, upon the wide 
 district over which his episcopal rule extended. 
 
 When Thurstan came to York he found some great 
 
126 
 
 YORK. 
 
 monasteries in existence, professing the Benedictine 
 rule. But their inmates were no longer actuated by 
 the spirit of the great and holy man whose name they 
 bore. Broad lands and wide possessions had been 
 given them as a heritage. To institutions, as to indi- 
 viduals, they are oftentimes a fatal gift. All the fore- 
 sight and prudence of pious founders are insufficient 
 to ensure their exemption from the gradual tendency 
 to which all human institutions are liable — in pejus 
 mere, ac retro sublapsa reftrri. It was the case in 
 other countries as well as in England. It was seen 
 that the injunctions of St. Benedict, which sought to 
 perpetuate " a school of service to the Lord," were, 
 if not absolutely set at nought, at least disregarded, 
 and a new order arose which sought to restore the 
 strict observance of a rule which had become practi- 
 cally obsolete. This was done by the foundation of 
 the abbey of Cisteaux in 1098, by a monk named 
 Robert, who became abbot of St. Michael's at Ton- 
 nere, in the diocese of Langres. In 1109 he was 
 succeeded by Stephen Harding, who was the real 
 founder of the great Cistercian order and its great 
 organizer, the compiler of the Charta caritatis, "a 
 set of regulations chiefly designed to promote uni- 
 formity in the understanding and practice of the rule 
 of St. Benedict in the Cistercian monasteries, and 
 to guide the mutual connection, dependence, and 
 intercourse between them." He was joined by one 
 whose name is familiar as a household word as the 
 last of the Fathers, the great St. Bernard, who strove 
 to work out there his conception of pure and angelic 
 devotion. In 1 1 1 5 he planted an offshoot from Cis- 
 
THE CISTERCIANS. 
 
 127 
 
 teaux, the yet more famous Clairvaux, from whence 
 under the combined influence of his eloquence, his 
 asceticism, and his pure and holy life, the Cistercian 
 order rapidly spread itself in every part of Europe. 
 At his death, in 11 53, there were 160 monasteries 
 which had been formed by monks from Clairvaux. 
 In England, Waverley was the first foundation. It 
 was rapidly followed by others. Thurstan had be- 
 come acquainted with Bernard during his sojourn in 
 France, and when he became Archbishop of York his 
 great object seems to have been the reorganisation of 
 the existing orders, and the bringing in of others who 
 maintained a more ascetic discipline and a sterner 
 rule. Six houses of Augustinian canons were esta- 
 blished in Yorkshire between 11 20 and 11 25. Kirk- 
 ham, of which a fragment still remains in the beautiful 
 valley near Castle Howard, was founded by Walter 
 I'Espec ; Gisburgh, by Robert de Brus ; Bridlington, 
 by Walter le Gant. The priory of Bolton, so charm- 
 ingly situated amid its secluded woods on the banks 
 of the Wharfe, owes its origin to William of Meschines 
 and his wife, Cecilia Romill^, in loving memory of 
 the " boy of Egremond," whose hound hung back 
 when its master would have leapt across the " Strid," 
 and dragged him by the leash into the rushing waters 
 below. His mother was met by one who had wit- 
 nessed that fatal fall with the words, "What is good 
 for a bootless bene ? " — 
 
 " And she made answer, ' Endless sorrow,' 
 For she knew that her son was dead. 
 
128 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Long, long in the darkness did she sit, 
 And her first words — ' Let there be 
 In Bolton, on the field of Wharfe, 
 A stately Priory.' 
 The stately Priory was reared ; 
 And Wharfe, as he moved along. 
 To matins joined a mournful voice. 
 Nor failed at even-song." 
 
 The pathetic tradition thus enshrined in AVords- 
 worth's verse will not, however, bear the light of his- 
 torical criticism, but it will be long ere it ceases to be 
 associated in popular credence with the ancient walls 
 which still stand in all their solemn beauty in the valley 
 of Wharfe. Thurstan bestowed upon Bolton the 
 churches of Skipton and Kildwick. Nostal was 
 another Augustinian house. In 1130 the first nun- 
 nery established in the north after the Conquest was 
 founded by Thurstan at Clementhorpe, near York. 
 Its inmates were Benedictines. In the following 
 year Walter I'Espec founded another monastic house 
 in the valley of the Rye, surrounded by wild moorland 
 hills and large tracts of deep forest. It was a father's 
 memorial to a much-loved and only son who came to 
 an untimely end. It became the home of a colony 
 froin Clairvaux, sent by .St. Bernard, and its situation 
 fulfilled their every requirement, for it was solitary, 
 inaccessible, and uncultured. 
 
 A yet greater Cistercian house owes its beginning 
 to Thurstan, that which at the Dissolution was per- 
 haps second to none in the wide extent of its terri- 
 torial possessions, the magnificence of its church, and 
 the vastness of its monastic buildings. The princely 
 
ORIGIN OF FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 1 29 
 
 magnificence of its latter house was in strange con- 
 trast with the austere asceticism of those who first 
 sought retirement and soHtude on the banks of the 
 Skell. 
 
 St. Mary's Abbey, whose ruins form one of the 
 most interesting features of York, was found by 
 Thurstan in no very satisfactory state. Its discipline 
 was more than lax. The rule of the great and saintly 
 man by which they professed to be governed was a 
 dead letter. The great majority of the inmates were 
 turbulent, quarrelsome, and insubordinate. Yet there 
 were some amongst them who yearned for a better 
 state of things and ardently sought reformation. The 
 usual fate of reformers was theirs. They were met 
 by hatred, opposition, and contumely. Counsel was 
 sought from the Archbishop, and he appointed a 
 day for the visitation of the monastery. He went in 
 state, attended by the Dean and the chief dignitaries 
 of the Minster. Little was the respect shewn to the 
 prelate's person, scant the reverence to his sacred 
 office. Entrance was denied him. Hoots and yells 
 drowned his remonstrances. His menace of putting 
 the monastery under an interdict was received with 
 derision, and so wild became the tumult that the 
 populace began to gather in great number. Thurstan 
 deemed it wiser to withdraw before further violence 
 ensued. Thirteen monks — the reforming party — 
 whose earnest piety had long been scandalised by the 
 self-indulgent, careless lives of the majority of their 
 brethren, contrived with some difficulty to make their 
 exit from St. Mary's and accompany the Archbishop 
 in his retreat. He gave them an asylum for a time, 
 
 K 
 
13° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 and then granted them a portion of land out of 
 his liberty of Ripon, where they might live in 
 peace and serve God as they desired, like the pro- 
 phetess of old, " in fastings and prayers night and 
 day." Their sincerity was unquestionable. No hard- 
 ship daunted them. They went in the dead of winter 
 to their solitary place in the valley of the Skell, 
 making huts for themselves under the spreading 
 branches of some ancient yew trees, and sustaining 
 life as they best might on the roots v> hich they dug 
 out of the earth. But the offerings of the faithful 
 flowed in with great munificence. Ere long a church 
 was reared, and the needful domestic buildings grew 
 up under its shadow. Many springs of water bubbled 
 up in that little valley, which led them to adopt for 
 their house the name of Fountains. It was a desig- 
 nation which suggested to the religious mind many 
 scriptural and allegorical applications of no small 
 beauty and no little spiritual significance. Such 
 was that smallest of all seeds which grew into the 
 mighty tree of the richest and most powerful of the 
 Cistercian houses in England. 
 
 Thurstan, most assuredly, was sincerely anxious to 
 promote the revival of religion in his great diocese, 
 and the extension of monastic institutions was the 
 mode by which he sought to secure that end. But 
 the area of the diocese was enormous, and he seems 
 to have felt that other means were also needed. 
 Episcopal supervision was practically out of his power 
 as regarded that wide tract of country which lay to 
 the north-west and extended beyond the border. The 
 see of Whitherne had long been in abeyance, and 
 
S. WILLIAM OF YORK. I3I 
 
 although the archdeacon of Richmond had great 
 powers over his extensive district, and had gradually 
 laid claim to a jurisdiction over Cumberland and 
 Westmorland, his supervision could not make up for 
 the absence of a bishop's rule. Thurstan saw this, 
 and in 1132 he obtained the king's consent to the 
 erection of a new see, that of Carlisle ; the counties 
 of Cumberland and Westmorland being assigned to it 
 as its bishop's diocese. About the same time he 
 revived the see of Whitherne, thus securing his own 
 ability to extend the benefit of episcopal oversight to 
 the most remote and inaccessible portion, of the great 
 province over which he ruled. 
 
 Scarcel)', however, had these measures been 
 adopted before they were set on one side. In 1138 
 Northumberland and Cumberland were overrun and 
 occupied by the Scots. The bishop of Carlisle was 
 seldom permitted to enter his diocese, and after his 
 death the long period of sixty-two years elapsed before 
 a successor could be found. 
 
 A disputed election followed Thurstan's death, 
 which took place in ir4o. William Fitzherbert, 
 known afterwards as St. William of York, was elected 
 by a majority of the chapter, and their election was 
 favourably accepted by King Stephen, Fitzherbert's 
 uncle, as also by the bishop of Winchester, the king's 
 brother, who was then the papal legate. But the 
 Cistercian interest was arrayed against him, supported 
 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and by the great St. 
 Bernard himself, who were anxious to secure the ap- 
 pointment of Henry Murdac, the abbot of Fountains. 
 The Cistercians were then all powerful at Rome, and 
 K 2 
 
YORK. 
 
 Murdac rivalled his friend and master St. Bernard in 
 his own personal austerity of life and the unbending 
 rigidity with which he enforced the ascetic rule of his 
 Order. During Murdac's life William Fitzherbert 
 lived in retirement at Winchester. On Murdac's 
 death, in 1153, he was restored to the position to 
 which he had formerly been elected, and received the 
 pall from Pope Anastasius. When he entered York 
 as Archbishop he was welcomed by the acclamations 
 of a vast multitude. A wooden bridge over the Ouse 
 gave way under the pressure of the crowd, and many 
 were precipitated into the river. William is said to 
 have offered up earnest prayers to Almighty God, be- 
 seeching Him with tears to save them. Not a life was 
 lost, and in memory of the miraculous preservation, as 
 it was deemed, which his supplications had procured, 
 a bridge of stone was built with a chapel upon it bear- 
 ing his name, which existed down to comparatively 
 recent times. 
 
 His tenure of the archiepiscopal dignity was a very 
 brief one. He was in York but thirty days. On 
 Trinity Sunday he celebrated high mass in the 
 minster, which he had barely finished before he was 
 attacked by illness. Eight days after, he died, and 
 Osbert of Bayeux, who had been archdeacon under 
 Thurstan and Murdac, was popularly supposed to 
 have been guilty of the foul crime of putting poison 
 into the chalice which the Archbishop used at the 
 celebration. An allusion to this occurs in one of the 
 hymns for the Translation of St. William in the York 
 Breviary. Many miracles were said to have been 
 wrought at his tomb, and as the church of York had 
 
CONFLICT BETWEEN YORK AND CANTERBURY. 133 
 
 up to that time no saint peculiar to itself, the chapter 
 were very desirous to obtain his canonisation. A good 
 deal of delay took place, but it was procured at last 
 through the powerful intervention of Anthony Bee, 
 the great bishop of Durham, and his remains were 
 translated to a shrine of befitting splendour, which 
 probably stood behind the high altar of the choir. 
 
 [a.d. 1154.] St. William was succeeded by Roger 
 de Pont L'Eveque. He was an able man, and took 
 an active and energetic part in the politics of his 
 time. The interest of the ecclesiastical history of 
 this period centres in the strife between Henry 11. 
 and Thomas h Becket, a struggle which raged with the 
 utmost bitterness for several years. In this Arch- 
 bishop Roger took the king's side. The end of it is 
 too well known to need a detail here. Becket's par- 
 tisans never ceased to charge Archbishop Roger with 
 having been one of the main causes of the misfortunes 
 of the martyred primate. 
 
 The old conflict between the two Archbishops was 
 revived at a synod held at Westminster, in 1 175, by 
 Becket's successor. The Archbishop of York was not 
 present, but claims were made by some of his clerks 
 on his behalf. They asserted his right to bear his 
 cross erect within the province of Canterbury and to 
 have spiritual control over the sees of Lincoln, Lich- 
 field, Worcester, and Hereford. An appeal was made 
 to Rome on the subject, as also with reference to the 
 primate of Canterbury's excommunication of the 
 officers of St. Oswald's church at Gloucester. This 
 was taken off and the other points deferred. In the 
 following year the question of place and dignity 
 
134 
 
 YORK. 
 
 culminated in a grotesque and most undignified scene 
 in the council chamber at Westminster. The papal 
 legate was present. Who was to sit on his right 
 hand ? Archbishop Richard took the place. He of 
 York thrust himself in between them, and, as it is 
 confidently stated, sat down in Canterbury's lap. The 
 friends of the latter, priests and laymen, even bishops 
 it was said, fell upon Roger, cuffed him, threw him 
 down, tore his robes, and trampled on him, shouting 
 after him, as he made his ignoble exit, that he was the 
 betrayer of St. Thomas, and that the martyr's blood 
 was still red upon his hands. An attempt was made 
 to settle the matter, not long after this ludicrous 
 scene, by a bull of Pope Alexander (1179), which, in 
 accordance with the old decree of Gregory the Great, 
 forbade altogether the token of submission. 
 
 Roger had many controversies with the Scottish 
 bishops as to the dependence of their sees upon 
 York, a matter which had often previously been in 
 dispute. It was not finally settled until after his death. 
 
 His policy with regard to the monastic system was 
 different from that of Thurstan, and he was accused of 
 being absolutely opposed to it. He certainly had no 
 scruples as to checking such abuses as presented 
 themselves to his notice, which may possibly account 
 for the adverse estimate expressed respecting him by 
 the monastic chroniclers. One thing is noteworthy, 
 that " with the exception of the Abbey of Welbeck 
 and one or two other places, all the religious 
 houses which were founded in the diocese of York 
 during his episcopate were Cistercian or Benedictine 
 nunneries." 
 
ROGER DE PONT L'EVEQUE. 
 
 Roger had all the Norman love for building. A 
 fragment of the archiepiscopal residence which he 
 reared on the north side of the minster yet remains. 
 At Ripon he began the rebuilding of the church, 
 where some of his work is still to be seen in the 
 nave, adjoining the western towers ; in the north 
 transept, the doorway of which is a characteristic 
 example of the architecture of his period, and in the 
 westernmost bays of the choir. At York he rebuilt 
 the choir of the minster, and a portion of the crypt 
 may be identified as being part of his work. He had 
 been Archdeacon of Canterbury before he became 
 Archbishop, and was probably desirous of emulating 
 " the glorious choir of Conrad," which was " the 
 pride of Canterbury." He also founded the chapel 
 of the Holy Sepulchre, on the north side of the 
 cathedral, with splendid endowments. On the 22 nd 
 of November, ii8r, he died. 
 
 The see remained vacant for ten years, the king 
 meanwhile receiving, its great revenues. The 
 spiritualities were under the care of the Dean of 
 York, the episcopal functions being discharged by 
 Hugh Pudsay, Bishop of Durham, who, previously 
 to his accession to that see, had been one of the 
 quatuor persona of the Church of York. During the 
 vacancy an important matter was settled as regarded 
 the claims of the see of York to jurisdiction over the 
 Scottish sees. It was declared by Pope Clement 
 that Scotland should be independent of every 
 authority save that of Rome, Whitherne being the 
 only see which was left under the authority of York. 
 
 In 1191 the see of York was at last filled up by 
 
136 
 
 YORK. 
 
 the consecration of Geoffry Plantagenet, an illegiti- 
 mate son of Henry II. His ecclesiastical career 
 furnishes an instance of that scandalous abuse of 
 Church patronage which was one of the most crying 
 sins of the middle ages. As a mere child he was 
 made Archdeacon of Lincoln, and when not more 
 than fourteen years of age his father procured his 
 election to the bishopric of that see, and its revenues 
 were actually received by him until 1181. The pope 
 then declared that he must either be ordained or 
 forego all rights and claims in respect of the bishopric 
 of Lincoln. Geoffry preferred the latter alternative. 
 The freedom of a layman's life was more to his taste 
 than the restraints of the ecclesiastic state. Yet he 
 was soon provided with other preferments. Amongst 
 these were the archdeaconry of Rouen, the treasurer- 
 ship of York, and the chancellorship of England. 
 
 Not long after his father's death (1189) he was 
 nominated to the see of York, which he accepted 
 somewhat reluctantly. He was eventually con- 
 secrated at Tours on Aug. i8th, 1191. No sooner 
 was he seated in the chair of York than feud after 
 feud took place with Bishop Pudsay, who owed 
 Geoffry a bitter grudge for having obtained an 
 order from the pope that he should render obedience 
 to the see of York. In consequence of this Pudsay 
 refused to obey Geoffry's summons to attend a 
 provincial synod in which he was to render an 
 account of procurations received from Allertonshire 
 and Howdenshire. He absented himself also when 
 Geoffry was enthroned. Dissensions arose likewise, 
 time after time, with the Dean and canons. The 
 
GEOFFRY PLANTAGENET. 
 
 Archbishop raised the spiritual arm. Bishop Pud- 
 say and the refractory chapter of York were, each 
 in their turn, excommunicated. This seems to have 
 been a weapon which Geoffry was always ready to 
 employ. Appeals were made to Rome, and the 
 relations between Geoffry and his chapter, and with 
 his haughty suffragan, became embittered to the last 
 degree. It was even alleged that the Archbishop 
 had employed some one to poison the Dean and 
 some of the more obnoxious canons. One of his 
 feuds with the chapter arose out of Richard I.'s 
 request to Geoffry that he should do all he could to 
 assist in raising the enormous ransom which was 
 required to release him frorn his imprisonment in 
 the Tyrol. Geoffry demanded one fourth of their 
 annual revenue from the dean and canons. This 
 they utterly refused, charged him with an attempt to 
 destroy the liberties of the Church of St. Peter, and 
 closed the minster against him. Their refusal was in 
 part owing to the Archbishop claiming to appoint to 
 the deanery, which was vacated in 11 94, the chapter 
 adhering to their right of electing their own superior. 
 The pope set aside the claims of both, and gave it of 
 his own authority to Simon of Apulia. The chapter 
 retorted by laying before the apostolic see a long 
 list of complaints of Geoffry's utter neglect of his 
 spiritual functions. He hawked and he hunted, but 
 he neither held ordinations, consecrations, or synods, 
 set the liberties of the minster utterly at naught, 
 gave benefices to boys, and if any one suggested an 
 appeal to Rome he was thrown into prison. Pope 
 Celestine issued a commission of inquiry. During its 
 
YORK. 
 
 prosecution many complications arose. Geoffry was 
 suspended for not appearing at Rome in obedience 
 to the papal mandate. In the end, however, he was 
 acquitted and restored to his archbishopric. 
 
 The complaints of the Dean and canons were pro- 
 bably not made without some foundation, yet a 
 record remains which shows that Geoffry was not 
 absolutely devoid of sympathy with those who sought 
 to promote the spiritual good of his people. Eustace, 
 Abbot of Flay, in Normandy, was a friend and com- 
 panion of Fulk de Neuilly, that bold preacher whose 
 stern rebuke to Richard Cceur de Lion respecting his 
 three besetting sins, and Richard's reply, have been 
 so often told. Eustace came to England in 1200 to 
 preach the word of God, and was supposed to have 
 wrought many miracles. He preached at Romney. 
 He did the like in London. His chief mission 
 seems to have been to promote a better observance 
 of the Lord's Day, seeking to do away with Sunday 
 trading. He exhorted also on the subject of alms- 
 giving, and tried to induce the wealthier classes 
 always to have a dish on their tables to receive 
 portions of food at each meal for distribution to the 
 poor and needy. But he met with much opposition 
 and returned to Normandy. Tlie following year he 
 renewed his efforts, making York his mission centre. 
 Archbishop Geoffry, with the clergy and people of 
 the city, received him with all respect and honour. 
 It is the one bright spot in the narrative of Geoffry's 
 acts, the only one which seems to identify him with 
 any care for the spiritual welfare of his diocese. 
 Eustace's efforts were directed to the same end as 
 
DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP GEOFFRY. 139 
 
 in London. In York, we are told, he made many 
 converts. He repeated his counsel about the alms- 
 dish on the table at meals, and urged the setting up 
 of trunks or coffers in all parish churches to receive 
 the offerings of the faithful for the relief of the poor 
 and needy ; and he urgently impressed upon them 
 the sin they committed by buying and selling their 
 wares in the churches, or their porches of entrance. 
 The Lord's Day was to be reckoned from the ninth 
 hour of Saturday until sunrise on Monday. 
 
 When John became king on the death of his 
 brother Richard in 1199, the relations between him 
 and Archbishop Geoffry were at first friendly. 
 But dissensions soon arose. One quarrel followed 
 another, alternating with temporary periods of amity. 
 At last an irreparable breach took place when John 
 demanded a thirteenth of movables from the whole 
 country. When the proposition for levying this 
 obnoxious tax was laid before the council, it was 
 vigorously resisted by Geoffry, but the king per- 
 sisted in exacting it. The Archbishop excommuni- 
 cated those who attempted to collect it within the 
 northern province. But he appears to have found 
 that the attitude he had taken was not unlikely to 
 endanger his own personal safety, for he soon after- 
 wards left England, retiring probably to Normandy, 
 where he had considerable possessions which had 
 been given him by his father. In Normandy he 
 died, in 12 12. When he left England the king took 
 possession of the temporalities of the see, and 
 they were retained by him until the appointment of 
 Geoffry's successor. 
 
YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Much interesting matter as regards the state of the 
 diocese and the work of its ruler is presented by the 
 history of Walter de Gray, who comes next in succes- 
 sion to Geoffry, and was assuredly one of the most 
 distinguished prelates who ever occupied the archi- 
 episcopal throne of York. He was a man of high 
 connections, and early in life obtained many eccle- 
 siastical preferments through the favour of King 
 John. In 1 2 13 we find him made bishop of Wor- 
 cester. In 1 2 1 5 John gave permission to the chapter 
 of York to proceed to an election, with a strong hint 
 that it would be acceptable to him if the bishop of 
 Worcester were appointed. They preferred Simon 
 de Langton, brother of the famous Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, but the pope, at the king's instigation, 
 rejected him. Gray was then suggested, and on him 
 the pope bestowed the pall, but it is said that the 
 assent of the supreme pontiff was not procured with- 
 out a payment of the prodigious sum of ;^io,ooo. 
 
 Gray held many offices of state. He was a chan- 
 cellor under John, whose interests he seems always 
 to have consulted. In the great controversy with the 
 barons as to the granting of the Great Charter, he was 
 on the side of the king, though it does not appear 
 that he offered any active opposition to the demand 
 made for that great constitutional compact with the 
 
WALTER DE GRAY. 141 
 
 king. The clergy generally, with Stephen Langton 
 at their head, were all on the side of English freedom, 
 and the first article of the Great Charter announced 
 their will that the Church of England should enjoy 
 her ancient liberty. It was a protest, no doubt, 
 against illegal interference on the part of the sove- 
 reign, but it was a protest also against the interference 
 and the exactions of the Court of Rome. 
 
 After the death of John, Archbishop Gray became 
 one of the most trusted advisers of his son, Henry III., 
 and was engaged in almost all the affairs of state, both 
 at home and abroad, during many years of that 
 sovereign's reign. But he was not unmindful of his 
 own peculiar responsibilities as the ecclesiastical ruler 
 of a great diocese. It is in that light that we have 
 especially here to regard him. For this there is 
 abundance of material in his great Archiepiscopal 
 Register, one of the most ancient records of the kind 
 in existence in this country. The systematic registra- 
 tion of the various acts relating to the diocese was 
 probably a following out by Gray of the mode adopted 
 for recording the patent and close rolls of the king- 
 dom ; the idea of which was taken in the first instance 
 from the papal registry, the method and arrangement 
 of which were ere long imitated throughout Europe. 
 
 When Gray came to the diocese he found that it 
 had been neglected in many ways. Jealousies and 
 contentions abounded on all sides, but his energy 
 was great, and his administrative capacity was equally 
 conspicuous. One of the most fertile sources of dis- 
 satisfaction existing at this time in the English Church 
 was the growing evil of a claim on the part of the 
 
142 
 
 YORK. 
 
 pope to dispose of vacant benefices. It was constantly 
 urged by the legates. It was a gradual and stealthy 
 process by which this abuse crept in. In the first 
 instance individuals were recommended, but preces 
 soon became matidata, and now, in the thirteenth 
 century, the pope's commands on the subject were 
 issued in the most peremptory manner. Preferment 
 after preferment was given in this way to foreigners, 
 chiefly Italians. The lists of incumbents of many of 
 the Yorkshire benefices, and particularly those of the 
 occupants of stalls in the Minster, show unmistakably 
 how persistently the claim was made. So strong was 
 the feeling in Yorkshire against this system, especially 
 with reference to its interference with the rights of 
 lay patrons, that an outbreak took place, headed by 
 a knight called Robert de Thweng, for the purpose 
 of seizing upon certain benefices held by these 
 strangers — a proceeding which Gregory IX. took 
 much to heart, and issued a commission to Arch- 
 bishop Gray, the bishop of Durham, and John Ro- 
 manus, treasurer of York, to excommunicate the 
 offenders. Romanus himself was one of the sufferers, 
 and had been in considerable peril. The system had 
 become too deeply rooted for Gray to do much 
 against it. The only point he seems to have gained 
 was to be released from the obligation of attending 
 to such papal provisions as were not specially directed 
 to himself; a system having crept in of the pope 
 claiming the right to present to benefices vacated by 
 the death of such of their occupants as died at the 
 papal court, a thing which very often happened. But 
 the intrusion of foreigners into English benefices 
 
WALTER DE GRAY's WORK. 143 
 
 went on in spite of all opposition, until Edward III. 
 struck a final blow against it by the famous statute 
 of Provisors. 
 
 The Archbishop's policy in the government of his 
 diocese was evidently not of an autocratic character. 
 The clergy were much brought into consultation. 
 A diocesan synod met twice in each year, probably 
 in conformity with the decrees of the Lateran council 
 in 1 2 15. Much useful work was also done by the 
 ruri-decanal chapters. In matters affecting the Eng- 
 lish Church at large, the convocations of the Northern 
 and Southern provinces met together for joint delibe- 
 ration. An interesting testimony to this practice 
 occurs in a letter written by Gray and his suffragans 
 to Henry III. in 1252. ^ 
 
 The visitation by the archdeacons of the parishes 
 within the limits of their several districts was a 
 reality. They inspected the fabrics of the churches, 
 examined into the question of dilapidations, and made 
 careful inquiry as to the due supply of all that was 
 needful for the due celebration of Divine offices. 
 " The clergy were required to entertain the arch- 
 deacon and a limited suite, and were charged with a 
 certain yearly sum for this expenditure." 
 
 Besides the general council, if we may so term it, 
 at which all the clergy assisted in the diocesan synod, 
 and the lesser meetings within each rural deanery, 
 the Archbishop evidently had an intimate conciliar 
 relation with his chapter. He appears to have applied 
 to Honorius III. suggesting that he should authorise 
 
 ' "Archbishop Gray's Register," p. 211. (Pub. Surtees Soc.) 
 
144 
 
 YORK. 
 
 the quatuor persona majores of the Minster — that is 
 to say, the Dean, Precentor, Chancellor, and Treasurer 
 of the church, to be in occasional attendance upon 
 him in consiliis. The papal sanction was obtained 
 for the purpose of dispensing with the continual re- 
 sidence which their duties in the church involved. 
 That they were often with him, as well as representa- 
 tives from the chapters of Ripon, Beverley, and 
 Southwell, is evidenced by the frequent occurrence 
 of their names as witnesses to the Archbishop's official 
 acts. 
 
 The matter of clerical celibacy comes prominently 
 forward in Gray's episcopate. It was no new subject. 
 The marriage of the clergy had been denounced, as 
 Ave all know, by Hildebrand, and at the national 
 council, held in London in 1102, it was strenuously 
 condemned by Anselm and Gerard of York, as also 
 at other councils in 1126 and 1127 by William of 
 Canterbury and Thurstan. But in the Northern 
 Province the marriage of the clergy held its ground 
 for a long time. It was clearly a common practice 
 in Gray's time, and it perpetuated an absolute abuse. 
 Benefices became hereditary. The endowments of 
 the church were treated as family property, to be 
 dealt with as their occupants chose. Apart, there- 
 fore, from the religious or ascetic view of the ques- 
 tion, this was a matter which required repression by a 
 strong hand. And it was vigorously dealt with. " In 
 1 22 1 Honorius III. wrote to Archbishop Gray desir- 
 ing him to remove from their livings the married 
 clergy and all who had succeeded their fathers in their 
 preferments, a similar order being directed to the 
 
DEALS WITH ABUSES OF PATRONAGE. I45 
 
 bishops of Lincoln and Worcester, two dioceses in 
 which the York influence was more or less strong."^ 
 A number of instances occur amongst the records of 
 Gray's episcopate showing the care he took to carry 
 out the pope's injunction. It gradually died out by 
 the middle of the thirteenth century. 
 
 Other matters affecting the temporal welfare of the 
 Church in his diocese were dealt with. Lay patrons 
 seem to have exercised an extraordinary amount of 
 power over the property of the Church. Livings were 
 divided into medieties, the result, probably, of a divi- 
 sion of the lord's own estate between heiresses, or the 
 disposal of a portion of it to some other proprietor. 
 The assignment of a suitable proportion of Church 
 property followed the division or accompanied the 
 purchase. The lay patron had the power, moreover, 
 to assign pensions or portions out of the livings in his 
 gift, and present to them, and to allot the tithes in 
 like manner. "It was not unusual for three or four 
 persons to have a pecuniary interest in one and the 
 same living, a state of things which would lead to 
 pauperise the benefice, and lessen the responsibility 
 of each person connected with it." Against these 
 abuses Gray steadfastly set his face. He dealt also 
 with another abuse. The monastic bodies often 
 absorbed the tithes and rents of a living without 
 making any fixed provision for the performance of 
 divine offices in the Church. To meet this he took 
 care that vicarages should be settled and endowed. 
 
 Another work which he took in hand was an 
 increase in the number of chapels or oratories. The 
 ' Gray's "Register," Pref., p. xxix. 
 L 
 
146 
 
 YORK. 
 
 area of many of the parishes was very wide, render- 
 ing the attendance of the parishioners at their church 
 in many cases practically impossible, whilst the 
 ministrations of religion to the sick and dying were 
 for the same reason oftentimes unsought, or very 
 inefficiently discharged. The Archbishop pointed 
 these things out to Gregory IX., who cordially 
 responded to his suggestions and gave all the 
 weight of his authority to the multiplication of these 
 houses of prayer in the outlying hamlets of scattered 
 parishes. The priests appointed to serve them were 
 to reside in the places where they were built, and 
 pensions were to be assigned for their maintenance. 
 Many of these are now distinct and separate 
 benefices. 
 
 We do not find that Gray bestowed much upon 
 the monasteries. His chief munificence was dis- 
 played in the gifts he bestowed upon the Church of 
 York. To him succeeding Archbishops have been 
 indebted for the stately dwelling which is now the 
 only residence attached to the see. The walls of 
 Bishopthorpe still show some trace of his hand in 
 their architecture, indicating that he was the "builder 
 of a mansion as well as the buyer of the estate." He 
 provided also a town house at Westminster, but it 
 has long passed out of the hands of his successors. 
 At Ripon the western front of the minster is in all 
 probability due to his munificence, and the stall of 
 Stanwick in that church was endowed by him. In 
 the Minster of York the sub-deanery and the sub- 
 chantorship of the canons were founded in his time ; 
 the stall of Wistow established and that of Weighton 
 
GRAV'S WORK AT THE MINSTER. 147 
 
 revived. To Archbishop Gray is also due one of 
 the noblest features of that stately church, the south 
 transept of the minster. Both transepts belong to 
 his period, but the northern one is the earlier. It is 
 ascribed to John Romanus, who became sub-dean in 
 1228. Both are of the best and most characteristic 
 style of Early English. Both have east and west 
 aisles, which wonderfully enhance the picturesque- 
 ness of their effect. In the southern transept, as 
 Professor Willis has remarked, " the pier arch under 
 which the tomb stands is made wider than the other, 
 apparently to give it importance." The tomb he 
 refers to is that of Gray, and is in the centre of the 
 chantry which he founded in 1241, and in which in 
 all probability it was his wish to be interred. Gray 
 issued the first archiepiscopal indulgence for the 
 fabric of the minster which is on record. It is dated 
 1 8th July, 1227. 
 
 The chantry founded by Archbishop Gray is one 
 amongst very many of those foundations which date 
 from the thirteenth century. Their number increased 
 rapidly at this time, not only in the minster, but in 
 parish churches, and as separate foundations; the 
 offspring of a pious regard for the souls of the 
 departed, an outcome of that belief in purgatory 
 which became so firmly fixed throughout the western 
 Church at an early period of the middle ages. 
 Belief in the efficacy of the sacrifice of the altar for 
 the dead as well as the living led naturally to the 
 special celebration of masses for the souls of the 
 former. It was a natural wish — it was a pious hope, 
 that the prayers of the priest when engaged in his 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 YORK. 
 
 holiest function should benefit those who had passed 
 out of this world. But "that which was a mercy, a 
 consolation, became a trade, an inexhaustible source 
 of wealth. Praying souls out of purgatory by masses 
 said on their behalf became an ordinary office, an 
 office which deserved, which could demand, which 
 did demand, the most prodigal remuneration. 
 In the thirteenth and down to the end of the 
 fifteenth century the foundation of a chantr}-, or the 
 endowment of a chantry priest, or a legacy for so 
 many masses to be said within a specified time, was 
 the commonest form in which remorse and com- 
 punction found vent, or death-bed repentance sought 
 expression. The minsters of York, Ripon, and 
 Beverley were full of them. A college was founded 
 hard by the minster as an abode for the chantry 
 priests who sang their masses within its walls, whilst 
 there was scarcely a village church in which there 
 was not a little chantry chapel, or the end of an aisle 
 screened off by its parclose, for a like celebration. 
 
 Foundations of another kind were established from 
 time to time with an ungrudging liberality. The 
 ancient Church of this country never forgot the 
 claims of poverty and sickness. Hospitals abounded. 
 They provided asylums for the poor and the afflicted, 
 the leper and the bed-ridden, the lame and the blind. 
 They stood by the way-side to shelter and refresh the 
 weary traveller. There is an interesting record in 
 existence, respecting a hospital at Northallerton, 
 which gives a sort of picture of what were un- 
 
 ' Milman's " Latin Christianity," ix. p. 82. 
 
HOSPITALS. 
 
 149 
 
 doubtedly the internal arrangements of many similar 
 houses. It bears the date of 1244.1 The govern- 
 ment of the hospital was vested in a warden, who 
 was allowed a serving-man, two foot-boys and three 
 horses. Two chaplains, each with his clerk, had 
 charge of the spiritual welfare of its inmates. A 
 baker and a brewer, with a boy to help, and a cook 
 with his kitchen-boy formed part of the household. 
 Five brethren, who might be either clerics or lay- 
 men, had each his allotted work in house and garden ; 
 one being specially charged with the care of the sick 
 and bed-ridden. The comfort of the latter was 
 further consulted by their being placed, especially in 
 the night season, under the gentle ministry of female 
 hands. Three who wore the dress and followed the 
 rule of a sisterhood were attached to the hospital. 
 Two of them watched by the sick at night when 
 need required, and all were to take a share in turn 
 of household work. Beds were provided for thirteen 
 sick or infirm poor, who were to be tended 
 hinnaniter, and provided with delicate and tempting 
 food until either health returned or death released 
 them from earthly suffering. Day by day at eventide 
 thirty poor persons were relieved at the gate with 
 half a loaf of bread each and a mess of pottage. If 
 any were too weak or infirm to proceed on their 
 journey or to get back to their home, they had a night's 
 lodging given them in the hospitium alongside the 
 gate. The size of the loaves is particularised. A 
 bushel of flour was to be made into twenty-five 
 
 ' Gray's "Register," p. 180. 
 
15° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 loaves. If the possessions of the hospital increased 
 in value, a corresponding augmentation was to be 
 made in the alms given to the poor travellers who 
 sought relief at the gate, and to those who were 
 lying on their bed of sickness within. 
 
 Leprosy was then a terrible scourge, caused to 
 a great extent, and certainly perpetuated, by over- 
 crowding in the towns, the absolute lack of all sani- 
 tary arrangements, and the uncleanly habits and bad 
 food of their inhabitants. Several hospitals for lepers 
 existed in York, and there were many others for the 
 special reception of persons so afflicted in other parts 
 of the diocese. The wills of the period contain con- 
 stant legacies to the various hospitals. A touching 
 bequest occurs in one for the relief of blind, leprous, 
 or otherwise afflicted priests who could no longer 
 minister at the altar of God. 
 
 Archbishop Gray died on the ist of Alay, 1255, 
 after having filled his high office nearly forty years 
 with singular vigour and the most systematic dis- 
 charge of duty. 
 
 Some time before his episcopate ended, a great 
 religious movement had reached England and ex- 
 tended itself to the diocese over which he ruled. It 
 does not appear from any of his official acts that he 
 showed either sympathy or its reverse with respect to 
 that remarkable body who, under the name of Fran- 
 ciscans, Minorite, or Black and Grey Friars, exercised 
 so powerful an influence and obtained so prominent 
 a position during the thirteenth and fourteenth cen- 
 turies. They setded in England in 1224, before the 
 death of their founder, and appear to have been in York 
 
STATE OF THE MONASTIC ORDERS. 151 
 
 as early as 1227. In that year there is a grant from 
 Henry III. to the Friars Preachers of a portion of land 
 called Kingestoftes by York. In the following year 
 another grant is made to them. At this period the 
 great monastic societies of the Benedictine and Cis- 
 tercian orders had, to a great extent, lost their hold 
 upon the affections of the people. Whatever amount 
 of science and learning existed, had, no doubt, been 
 preserved by them. They had cultivated the arts of 
 peace ; they had encouraged architecture ; they had 
 "built bridges ; they had made roads ; they had fed 
 the poor. The Cistercians, in particular, had brought 
 great intelligence to bear upon the cultivation of land, 
 and had promoted habits of industry amongst the til- 
 lers of the soil, but they could no longer be recognised 
 as the self-denying teachers of a pure morality or as 
 setting before the eyes of the people a visible standard 
 of exalted holiness. The enthusiastic devotion and 
 ascetic lives which distinguished the earlier monks of 
 Fountains and of Rievaulx, and which won the affec- 
 tions and commanded the veneration of a whole 
 people, had given place to more mundane character- 
 istics. Munificent benefactors had, in days gone by, 
 given them wide tracts of land which their untiring 
 industry had tilled, and whose hill-sides and pastures 
 their care had covered with exceeding many flocks 
 and herds. They were famous as wool-growers, and 
 made large consignments to the merchants of 
 Flanders. The monastic barns which still exist here 
 and there give some idea of the amount of agricul- 
 tural produce which they laid up in their garners. 
 The monks were enterprising in another way also. 
 
YORK. 
 
 They had mines and smelting furnaces. A grant was 
 made in the reign of Stephen to the monks of 
 Byland of as much iron ore as would supply one 
 furnace, and fuel out of the grantor's wood at Emley. 
 The monks of Kirkstead, in Lincolnshire, had bloom- 
 eries [smelting furnaces] on the borders of Eccles- 
 field and Rotherham. Large heaps of scoria yet 
 remain to indicate the spot where their furnaces were 
 situated. Traces also remain at Rievaulx of the 
 iron - works which were carried on in immediate 
 proximity to the abbey. 
 
 Wealth was the natural result of their industry and 
 the fruit of their care. And wealth became the parent 
 of luxury and the root of idleness. The monastic 
 bodies were civilisers and humanisers, undoubtedly, 
 but as societies, however eminent the piety of indi- 
 viduals amongst them, they had ceased to be a 
 spiritual and religious power. The same thing may 
 be said with regard to the secular clergy. The tem- 
 poral wealth of the benefices and high dignities of 
 the Church led to their being regarded simply as 
 sources of revenue, as much so, in fact, as though 
 they had been lay fiefs. Boys often received presen- 
 tations to livings, and non-resident incumbents, many 
 of them foreigners, received the income of benefices 
 which they never saw, the duties of which were dis- 
 charged by badly-paid vicars. 
 
 Individual bishops did their best oftentimes to 
 enforce discipline, but it was a hopeless and ungrate- 
 ful task, and as it regarded the Cistercian order in 
 particular the papal exemptions which from time to 
 time were granted to them made them independent 
 
THE FRANCISCANS. 
 
 153 
 
 of all episcopal interference. And as to the bishops 
 themselves, too many of them were taken up with 
 secular work as high officers of state, and paid little 
 regard to the higher duties of their spiritual functions. 
 
 The population of the towns was at this time in- 
 creasing, and clusters of miserable hovels constituted 
 their suburbs. Undrained, close, and ill-ventilated, 
 they were the hot-beds of disease. Fever and leprosy 
 were constant visitants. In these squalid localities the 
 friars established their houses. They were missionaries 
 preaching to the poor, living like them, clothed like 
 them, content with such subsistence as was afforded by 
 the alms bestowed upon them ; which, at the outset, 
 were far more the offerings of the poor than the gifts of 
 the wealthy. They nursed and tended the leper with 
 an unmercenary charity, and were constant in their 
 endeavour to alleviate every form of human misery. 
 Their popularity was immense and their spread most 
 rapid. Within thirty years after the Franciscans 
 arrived in England, their number amounted to 1,242, 
 and they had forty-nine convents in various localities, 
 of which York was one. Matthew Paris tells us 
 what they were in the fervour and devotion which 
 marked their first appearance : — " They filled the 
 land, dwelling in cities and towns by tens and sevens, 
 having literally no worldly goods of any kind, living 
 of the Gospel. They ate the food and they wore the 
 raiment which marked the extremity of poverty ; they 
 went about barefooted, showing a pattern to all of the 
 very deepest humility. On Sundays and holy days 
 they issued from their lowly dwellings and offered 
 their services as preachers of the Word of Life in the 
 
154 
 
 YORK. 
 
 parish churches. They ate and drank whatever was 
 set before them by those to whom they ministered. 
 Deep was their insight into heavenly things, for their 
 spiritual vision was unclouded by any attachment to 
 this lower world or any sympathy with its vain and 
 fleeting pleasures. They make it a rule to reserve 
 nothing in the shape of food for the wants of the 
 morrow, in order that the humility of spirit which 
 rules them within may have an outward expression 
 which may be recognised of all."i 
 
 It is almost needless to say that they soon had 
 convents in all the larger towns in Yorkshire, such as 
 Hull, Beverley, and Scarborough. One thing is very 
 striking as a proof of the feeling which existed towards 
 them. During all the long period from the thirteenth 
 century to the end of the fifteenth, from the humblest 
 person who has anything to bequeath to the lordly 
 baron with his wide extent of manors, scarcely a single 
 will is to be found which does not contain some be- 
 quest of varying amount to the houses of the friars. 
 
 Their social influence did not arise wholly from 
 their loving charity to the sick and the poor. Another 
 power was brought to bear with singular effect upon 
 the popular mind. The friars were great as preachers. 
 Preaching had, no doubt, been much neglected by 
 the parochial clergy, whose spiritual work was, for the 
 most part, confined to the hearing of confessions and 
 the celebration of mass. And where it was not laid 
 aside it probably was not presented in a very attractive 
 form. Injunctions were often issued by bishops that 
 
 ' Matthew Paris, p. 296 (ed. 157 1). 
 
THE FRIARS AS PREACHERS. 
 
 155 
 
 the parish priests should give instruction to their 
 people on the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, 
 the Creed, the seven works of mercy, and the seven 
 deadly sins. In many cases the result, in all likeli- 
 hood, was a very dry and unfervid exposition of faith 
 and duty. The style of the friars' preaching had all 
 the charm of novelty. It was dramatic, it was familiar ; 
 homely in diction, fertile in illustration. They related 
 anecdotes, and brouglit a story or a fable to bear upon 
 the Scripture lesson which they sought to teach. 
 Crowds came to listen, and their rude and homely 
 eloquence contributed not a little to advance civilisa- 
 tion by teaching those who occupied the lower strata 
 of the body politic to think and to reason. The 
 popular mind was further elevated by the representa- 
 tion of the miracle plays, which were due to the 
 friars, and which, with all their coarseness, and what 
 appears to us their irreverent dealing with sacred sub- 
 jects, are entitled to no small amount of respect as 
 the precursors of those great dramas which are the 
 richest heritage of the literature of England. The 
 monastic bodies and the secular clergy viewed the 
 friars with Ill-concealed aversion. The latter, on their 
 side, were not slow to expose the weak places in the 
 parochial and monastic systems, and to inflame 
 popular prejudice against them by fervid denuncia- 
 tions against the dissoluteness, the sloth, and the 
 pride of the priests and the monks. 
 
 At the outset of the order, learning was discredited 
 by their founder. The use of books was, in fact, for- 
 bidden. But it was soon found that human learning 
 was a necessity, and within a very few years after their 
 
YORK. 
 
 arrival in England, Agnellus of Pisa, the first Provin- 
 cial in this country, built a school at Oxford and in- 
 duced Grostete, afterwards the famous bishop of 
 Lincoln, to read lectures to the brethren. Under his 
 instruction they made wonderful progress ; the mother- 
 wit of their sermons derived point and method from 
 the learning of the schools ; " political and social 
 questions found place in them side by side with 
 spiritual matters ; and the rudest countryman learned 
 his tale of a king's oppression or a patriot's hopes as 
 he listened to the rambling, passionate, humorous 
 discourse of the begging friar."i 
 
 Their cultivation of literature was a necessity, but 
 they soon departed from their founder's rule in another 
 point, adherence to which would have secured a 
 respectful admiration if not an absolute sympathy. 
 The austere self-denial of voluntary poverty ceased 
 to exist. " In defiance of the vow of absolute poverty," 
 says Dean Milman, " the Franciscans vied in wealth 
 with the older and less rigorous orders. Mendicancy, 
 their vital principle, had long ceased to be content 
 with the scanty boon of hard fare and coarse cloth- 
 ing; it grasped at lands and the cost at least of 
 splendid buildings."- The result was odium as great 
 as had been their early popularity. The satirical 
 writers of the period soon began to pour contempt 
 and ridicule upon the friars. The unanimity of their 
 attacks leads irresistibly to the conclusion that they 
 cannot have been altogether undeserved. 
 
 ' Green's " History," i. p. 266. 
 ^ "Latin Christianity," v. p. 213. 
 
YORK. 
 
 157 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Little of interest as regards the work of the diocese 
 is recorded concerning Archbishop Gray's immediate 
 successors, excepting the efforts that were made by 
 Archbishops Giffard and Wickwaine to reform abuses. 
 The latter, in particular, was a rigid disciplinarian, 
 and carried out a systematic visitation of the monastic 
 houses, which had fallen into a state of the extremest 
 laxity. It was found, for example, that the abbot of 
 Selby neither sang mass, nor preached, nor attended 
 chapter ; rarely entered the choir, and scarcely ever 
 heard matins, except in his bed, and was, moreover, 
 grossly incontinent. The Archbishop's reforming zeal 
 led him likewise to seek to reform abuses, or, at all 
 events, to inquire if any existed, in the great monastery 
 of Durham. But he met the most determined resist- 
 ance. The prior of Durham would have none of his 
 interference. The Archbishop retorted by a sentence 
 of excommunication, which was little heeded. He 
 persevered in his attempts. Again and again he 
 sought to obtain submission from the prior, but in 
 vain. On his last visit to Durham he was so roughly 
 handled that he was fain to make a hasty retreat from 
 the church of St. Nicholas to the hospital of Kepier, 
 and the ear of his unfortunate palfrey was cut off in 
 the struggle that attended his escape. After this we 
 
YORK. 
 
 do not hear of any further attempt to reform the 
 monks of Durham. 
 
 Wickwaine is said by Stubbs to have been "a 
 great builder of churches, and that the greater part 
 of the places of worship within his diocese were con- 
 secrated during his archiepiscopate." 
 
 Before the end of the thirteenth century we meet 
 with an important record belonging to the architec- 
 tural history of the minster. At the commencement 
 of that century it was a Norman building, of well- 
 proportioned scale, the eastern end being in a more 
 enriched style than the western, but both of the same 
 architectural type, and thus, as a whole, homogeneous. 
 But the" Early English transepts which were erected 
 during Archbishop Gray's episcopate were on a scale 
 of much greater magnificence, and were doubtless 
 intended to be the beginning of an entire transforma- 
 tion of the Church. Professor Willis assigns the 
 date of 1247 as that of the completion of the tran- 
 septs. In 1 291 the foundation-stone of a new nave 
 was laid by Archbishop Romanus with great pomp 
 and ceremony, in the presence of the dean and 
 canons. We learn from Stubbs that it was begun on 
 the south side towards the east. The wall of the 
 south aisle, where it joins the Early English transept, 
 was the starting-point, therefore, of this magnificent 
 work. The walls of both aisles were probably built 
 without disturbing at the time the Norman nave, a 
 plan which, as Professor Willis points out, is recorded 
 by Gervase as having been adopted at Canterbury. 
 Of the progress of the new nave we have no written 
 record except the indulgences granted by successive 
 prelates during the time in which it was advancing to 
 
FABRIC FUND OF MINSTER. 
 
 159 
 
 its completion. Great efforts were made from time to 
 time to secure funds for the great undertaking. The 
 fabric derived a considerable yearly sum from the 
 penancers of the church. Offenders were often 
 punished by the infliction of a fine, on payment of 
 .vhich absolution was given-. It was the business of 
 the penancers to determine the amount of the fine 
 and hand it over to the keeper of the fabric. There 
 was also another source which, in the aggregate, did 
 much to swell the fabric fund— namely, the bequests 
 which we find in the wills of the period. These 
 were very numerous, and in their varying amounts, 
 and the different status of those who bequeathed 
 them, they show how deep and widespread was the 
 interest taken, from one century to another, in the 
 rearing of that magnificent structure. The great baron 
 and the wealthy churchman leave their ^40 or their 
 ;^2o, a clerk of lesser degree his half-mark, whilst a 
 husbandman bequeaths his shilling, and it is somewhat 
 affecting to find a poor leper in the hospital at Monk- 
 bridge leaving his sixpence to the works which were 
 going on at the great mother-church of York.i Briefs 
 for the same object were issued, to be published by 
 the parochial clergy in their churches, the bearers of 
 these briefs being duly authorised by a formal license. 
 Large sums of money were gathered by these means. 
 
 There is no documentary evidence fixing the pre- 
 cise date of the singularly beautiful and graceful 
 work of the chapter-house, but it must have gone on 
 simultaneously with the nave, yet from the character 
 of its magnificent geometrical tracery it is obvious 
 
 ' If we multiply by 15 we shall arrive at something like the 
 value of these bequests in modern currency. 
 
YORK. 
 
 that it must have been completed before the upper 
 part of the west front, in which flowing tracery is 
 introduced. It is certainly the most beautiful chapter- 
 house existing in England, a distinction which is 
 proudly challenged by the rhyming inscription which 
 yet survives on one of the walls of its entrance : — 
 Ut Rosa flos florum sic est donius ista domorum. 
 
 Romanus was not altogether happy in various mat- 
 ters connected with his archiepiscopal office. The 
 papal provisions were a cruel thorn in his side, some 
 of the best preferments in his church and diocese 
 being given to foreigners. In one instance he made 
 a bold and successful resistance. Pope Nicholas III. 
 gave the stall of Fenton, in York, to a nephew who 
 was a cardinal-deacon and head of a hospital at 
 Rome. The cardinal obtained his uncle's consent 
 to the appropriation of this stall to the hospital over 
 which he presided. This was an unheard-of exercise 
 of arbitrary power, and a blow to the independence 
 of the English Church. It was resisted by the Arch- 
 bishop with great spirit. The matter was also taken 
 up by the king, and the opposition was so strong that 
 the claim was at last abandoned. 
 
 The Archbishop had feuds also with the dean and 
 canons. He took measures to deprive the former 
 of his deanery and sundry other great preferments, 
 for causes which must have been deemed of weight, 
 inasmuch as the dean consented to resign on the 
 receipt of an annual pension. His quarrel with the 
 chapter was on the question of his right to hold a 
 visitation of the minster. The matter was laid before 
 the king, and the result was an order for its being 
 
ROMANUS. 
 
 i6i 
 
 settled by arbitration. The Archbishop was to \ isit, 
 but in propi'ia persona only, once in five years. 
 Canonical obedience was to be rendered by tlie Dean. 
 The Archbishop was to enter the chapter-house un- 
 attended by chaplains or clerks, two canons sworn to 
 secrecy being the only persons allowed to act with 
 him. Any canon then might make his complaints. 
 If a fault were proved, si.K months were allowed 
 wherein to amend it, and in case of default the Arch- 
 bishop was to award proper punishment in the Chapter- 
 house with advice of the canons. 
 
 He had also a desperate struggle with Bee, the 
 great Bishop of Durham, with reference to the sub- 
 jection of that see to York. Messenger after mes- 
 senger was sent with citations, which were treated 
 with contempt and the messengers imprisoned. The 
 Archbishop excommunicated the refractory prelate. 
 But he found that too bold a step. Bee was with the 
 king in Scotland, and the latter regarded it as an 
 insult to his own royal prerogative. Romanus was 
 made to understand that if he wanted his mes- 
 sengers released he should have proceeded against 
 Bee in the king's courts. Bee was a temporal prince, 
 and had imprisoned the men m the exercise of his 
 palatine jurisdiction, with which the Archbishop could 
 in no wise interfere, and he was obliged to submit 
 himself to the king's pleasure and pay a fine of 
 4,000 marks. 
 
 With the commencement of the 14th century a 
 succession of statesmen Archbishops arose. Green- 
 field, Melton, and Zouche were all of this type. The 
 importance of the city of York at this period was great. 
 
 M 
 
l62 
 
 YORK. 
 
 It was flourishing as a commercial city. A class of 
 wealthy merchants and rich tradesmen had sprung up, 
 and the craft that came up the Ouse from Hull made 
 it a busy inland port. The wills of the period contain 
 marked indications of the wealth, the luxury, and to 
 some extent the refinement which existed amongst the 
 clergy, the merchants, and the tradesmen of the city 
 and its neighbourhood, all showing the pre-eminence 
 it had attained as a seat of trade and commerce. 
 Owing to the wars with Scotland it became a military 
 centre. It was a political centre also. In 1298 
 Edward I. held a parliament there, and the courts of 
 justice were removed from London and sat in York 
 for seven years. Parliaments were also held there in 
 1299 and 1300, and for a time it was almost the 
 capital of England. The high position which the 
 Archbishop occupied led to his being perforce in- 
 volved in the negotiations with Scotland, and also in 
 the wars by which they were constantly interrupted. 
 
 A question naturally suggests itself when we see 
 those who occupied the highest dignities of the Church 
 employed in secular work of various kinds, presiding 
 over courts of justice, acting as ambassadors or diplo- 
 matists at some foreign court, and even proving their 
 capacity as military leaders in the field, — how fared it 
 with the flock which had been entrusted to their pas- 
 toral care ? what oversight did they exercise over the 
 priests and the people who had been solemnly com- 
 mitted to their episcopal charge ? Viewing the matter 
 as we now do, the anomaly was monstrous, but it would 
 not then be so looked upon. As regarded judicial 
 and diplomatic appointments, the clerg>' were the 
 
ENFORCEMENT OF DISCIPLINE. 1 63 
 
 only class of men whose education fitted them to fill 
 them, and the vast territorial possessions of prelates, 
 like the Archbishops of York and the Bishops of 
 Durham, placed them in positions which involved, 
 almost of necessity, from their proximity to Scotland, 
 no little attention to the res militaris. The routine 
 work of the diocese, such as ordinations, consecration 
 of churches and cemeteries, and the like, was com- 
 mitted by the Archbishops to the care of a suffragan, 
 commonly the poorly-endowed bishop of Whitherne, 
 who was badly paid and too often treated with scant 
 courtesy by the great prelate whom he served. When 
 the chair of York was filled by a primate of great 
 capacity, other things were more carefully dealt with 
 than might have been looked for. We gain a know- 
 ledge of this from the episcopal registers. Attempts 
 were made from time to time to enforce discipline, to 
 punish the refractory, and to promote order, not only 
 in the cloister, or in the case of the secular priest, 
 but likewise as regarded such of the laity as com- 
 mitted grave offences against decency and morality. 
 Curious illustrations occur here and there of practices 
 which had crept in, and of the attitude taken by the 
 Archbishop respecting them. In Greenfield's time, 
 for example, we find a mandate addressed to the 
 Chapter of Ripon, forbidding them to hold market.s 
 in the minster. An image of the Blessed Virgin had 
 been set up in the church of Foston, and crowds 
 had flocked to it in the belief that some peculiar 
 virtues resided in that particular piece of sculpture. 
 The Archbishop prohibits the adoration of the image. 
 It is a remarkable anticipation of the feeling which 
 M 2 
 
i64 
 
 YORK. 
 
 subsequently assumed so strong a form. He issues 
 a citation to the vicar-general of Cardinal Gaetano, 
 the archdeacon of Richmond, concerning the undue 
 burden to which the clergy of that archdeaconry were 
 subjected, when he was on his visitation. They had 
 been compelled, it seems, to find entertainment for 
 his train of fifteen and sometimes four-and-twenty 
 horsemen, each of whom had his dog following him 
 ready for a hunt whenever a stag or a roc-deer might 
 spring from a covert on the road side. And we find 
 penances assigned in many cases where persons of no 
 mean rank amongst the laity had fallen into grievous 
 sin. 
 
 The episcopate of Archbishop Melton was a 
 troubled time for the diocese, owing to the forays of 
 the Scottish marauders, who ravaged many of the 
 towns and did incalculable mischief to the churches 
 and religious houses. It witnessed the rout at 
 Myton on the Swale, that battle which was called 
 "the Chapter of ]\Iyton " from the number of clergy 
 whom his influence pressed into the ranks to oppose 
 the Scots, with an undisciplined zeal which utterly 
 failed to achieve its object. It witnessed also the 
 battle of Boroughbridgc, and the fall of the great 
 Earl of Lancaster, whose execution within sight of 
 his own castle of Pontefract excited such a wonderful 
 amount of sorrow and sympathy in the minds of the 
 people of the North. They regarded him as a saint, 
 but Melton, who failed to view him in that light, 
 issued more than one injunction forbidding the 
 offering of prayer at his tomb. 
 
 In connection with the Minster Melton's name will 
 
WILLIAM LA ZOC'CHE. 
 
 165 
 
 always be remembered. lie lived to witness the 
 completion of the nave, the western end of which, 
 with the flowing tracery of its great window, and the 
 beautiful glass with which it is filled, is his woik. 
 "The nave of York," says Rickman, "from the un- 
 common grandeur and simplicity of the design, is 
 certainly the finest example'' of the decorated style ; 
 " ornament is nowhere spared, yet there is a 
 simplicity which is peculiarly pleasing." Melton did 
 much also for the Minster of Beverley. 
 
 William la Zouche succeeded Melton in 1340. 
 He was another of thtisc i;rcat ecclesiastics who were 
 also distinguished statchuicn. He was in tlie service of 
 the king in early life and had many preferments. He 
 was elected as tk.uir dean by the canons of York in 
 1336, and was con^tantly employed in various 
 capacities by Edward III. In 1346 he was one of 
 the wardens of the marches, and commanded one of 
 the divisions of tlie English army at the great battle 
 of Neville's Cross. 
 
 But he was soon called upon to act in a different 
 capacity, and to do battle, as he best might, willi a 
 more terrible foe. That fearful plague called the 
 Black Death reached England in 1349. It began in 
 the East, it ad\'anced into Europe, and after devas- 
 tating the countries of the continent it came at last 
 to our own shores. More than half the population 
 of England were swept away by that fearful scourge, 
 and the country was filled with consternation. 
 Whilst the dark cloud was )ct gatlicring in the 
 distance, and before the fury of the storm broke 
 upon the subjects of his spiritual rule, Zouche wrote 
 
i66 
 
 YORK. 
 
 like a Christian pastor to warn them of its near 
 approach, to remind them of God's sore judgments 
 upon the sins of men, and to order that in every church 
 and religious house throughout his diocese, pro- 
 cessions, litanies, and prayers should be made that it 
 might please God to avert the pestilence and succour 
 his people. It fell with terrible severity, in the 
 country districts as well as in the crowded towTis. 
 The existing churchyards were insufficient, and the 
 Archbishop of Damascus, who was acting as suffragan, 
 was sent in all haste to consecrate new cemeteries. 
 Pope Clement VI. wrote to the Archbishop of York 
 and gave permission to every person to choose his 
 own confessor, the strictness of parochial order being 
 abrogated for the time. He also allowed him to 
 hold supplementary ordinations to fill the gaps 
 which the pestilence had made in the ranks of the 
 clergy, for they had fallen like the leaves in autumn, 
 and there were not priests enough remaining in the 
 parishes within the northern province to administer 
 the sacraments of the Church. The serious social 
 results of this terrible visitation, the utter disor- 
 ganisation it created in the labouring class, the 
 scarcity which resulted from large tracts of land 
 being thrown out of cultivation, and the strife that 
 followed between capital and labour, are matters of 
 history, but it is beyond our province to enter into 
 their details. 
 
 In the year that witnessed the arrival of this 
 pestilence in England occurred the death of one 
 whose religious writings were singularly popular for a 
 long series of years — Richard Rolle, better known as 
 
RICHARD ROLLE. 
 
 167 
 
 Richard of Hampole, the name of a small hamlet, 
 not far from Doncaster, which was the seat of a 
 Cistercian nunnery. At a hermitage near Hampole 
 he lived a life of great austerity and devotion. 
 Scarcely anything is known of his early history, 
 except that he retired from the world about the 
 beginning of Edward III.'s reign. He was a prolific 
 writer, mostly in Latin. His works comprise com- 
 mentaries on Scripture and on the offices of the 
 Church. But by far the most valuable and interesting 
 portion of his writings are those in his own mother- 
 tongue, not only philologically, but as throwing light 
 upon the religious feeling and mode of thought of the 
 period. He is chiefly known by his long poem called 
 the " Pricke of Conscience." In this he draws a 
 fearful picture of the state of the world, which, as he 
 believed, was fast approaching its end, and gives 
 appalling descriptions of death, the terrors which 
 accompanied the dying hour, even in the case of 
 good men, and the torments of condemned souls. 
 Penitential discipline, austerity, and gloom are the 
 boundaries of the narrow horizon of his life, which is 
 scarcely brightened by a ray offender or happy feeling. 
 He wrote many prose works, also, in the vernacular, 
 amongst them " Piti Job," and a translation of the 
 whole Book of Psalms. One of his treatises is on the 
 active and contemplative life, addressed apparently to 
 some lady of rank and wealth. It is interesting to 
 find the austere hermit telling her that her way of 
 serving God was not by a withdrawal from the world 
 into a monastery, but by the diligent performance of 
 life's active duties. Numerous copies of his works 
 
YORK. 
 
 exist in MS., and several were printed by Wynkyn de 
 Worde. 
 
 The prelate who succeeded Zouche claims more 
 than a few passing words, for he was one of the most 
 eminent of those who have occupied the chair of 
 Paulinus, in learning, in munificence, and, above all, 
 in his earnest zeal for the spiritual well-being of all 
 who were under his pastoral charge. John de Thoresby 
 was a Yorkshireman, and a scion of an honourable 
 house. After filling many high positions, he was 
 advanced successively to the sees of St. David's and 
 Worcester. On the death of Zouche he became Arch- 
 bishop of York, in 1352. With a rare disinterested- 
 ness he divested himself as soon as it was practicable 
 of all secular employments that he might devote 
 himself with singleness of aim to the spiritual work of 
 his great diocese. His first efforts seem to have been 
 directed to bringing to a final close the controversy 
 which had for centuries embittered the mutual rela- 
 tions between York and Canterbury. Through the 
 king's inter\'ention the two Archbishops met at West- 
 minster, and it was arranged that each Archbishop 
 should bear his cross erect in the province of the 
 other. At parliaments and councils the Arclibishop 
 of Canterbury was to sit on the king's right hand 
 with his cross erect, the Archbishop of York on the 
 left. In the open street their cross-bearers were to 
 walk abreast ; in a narrow alley or a gateway he of 
 Canterbury was to take precedence. The pope con- 
 firmed the arrangement, and assigned a distinction 
 which still survives ; the successor of Augustine 
 being thenceforth to be designated Primate of All 
 
JOHN DE THORESUY. 
 
 169 
 
 England, and his brother Archbishop Primate of 
 England. 
 
 Thoresby found his diocese in a state of gi'cat 
 disorganization. It had not recovered from the 
 effects of the " Black Death " and the devastation of 
 the Scottish marauders. There was a gi'eat amount 
 of ignorance which needed enlightenment, and not 
 a little irreligion to be grappled with. The clergy 
 whom he found serving the different parishes were, to 
 say the least, not likely to be of the highest type. 
 They had been hastily ordained to fill up the gaps 
 made by the plague. They were cither utterly regard- 
 less of the reverence due to holy things and places, 
 or powerless to stop their desecration. Of this we 
 have several instances. The Archbishop issues orders 
 to the parishioners of Worksop to abstain from 
 wrestling, archery, indecent dances, and singing in 
 their churchyard, and prohibits the holding of markets 
 on Sundays in the porch and church)'ard of Whitgift. 
 Things were little better even in the Minster itself. 
 The vicars were scandalously careless in their conduct 
 of the services, and when they went about the streets 
 they emulated the dress and swagger of the belted 
 swordsman more than the grave attire and sedate 
 step of the scholar and the churchman. It was no 
 wonder ; they were under no authority and subject 
 to no restraint. Papal provisions had filled the chief 
 places in the church of York with foreigners, who 
 were, of course, non-resident. Between 1342 and 
 1385 the deanery was held by three Roman cardinals 
 in succession. Many of the other dignities in the 
 Minster were occupied in a similar manner. It was 
 
I70 
 
 YORK. 
 
 the same with many a country benefice. The intru- 
 sion of these foreign priests into Enghsh Hvings had 
 long been felt and protested against as a bitter griev- 
 ance, but remonstrances were unheeded by Rome. 
 At last the patience of England was exhausted, and 
 in 1351 the famous "Statute of Provisors " was 
 passed. The resistance with which this was met by 
 the papal court resulted in another statute, the Act of 
 " Praemunire," as it was subsequently called, whereby 
 the prosecution of suits or appeals in foreign courts 
 was made punishable by forfeiture, perpetual imprison- 
 ment, or banishment from the realm. 
 
 Thoresby's great care was to establish proper pro- 
 vision for the instruction of the people in the prin- 
 ciples of the Christian religion. The mandate which 
 he addressed to his clergy, through the archdeacons, 
 on the subject of the gross ignorance which he found 
 prevailing, is a remarkable one. He tells them 
 plainly that it was due to their own carelessness or 
 ignorance, and he urgently requires their obedience 
 to the injunctions he gives, which had been approved 
 by a general council of his diocese and province. 
 Every clergyman with cure of souls was to explain to 
 his people in the plainest manner possible, at the 
 very least on every Lord's day, the articles of faith, 
 the precepts given in both Old and New Testaments, 
 the works of mercy, the cardinal virtues, the sacra- 
 ments of grace, and the deadly sins. The attendance 
 of their parishioners, both men and women, to receive 
 this teaching, was to be diligently urged, as also the 
 careful instruction of their children, as to which 
 inquiry was to be made by the priest at the least 
 
JOHN DE THORESEV. 171 
 
 every Lent. To assist his clergy in the work, <ind to 
 take away any pretence of inability on their part, he 
 drew up a document which he caused to be translated 
 into English, embodying the teaching which he wished 
 to be given. It is exceedingly curious in a philo- 
 logical point of view, and especially as showing the 
 amount of religious knowledge sought to be impressed 
 upon the popular mind. This English version was 
 dispersed, as we learn, " in small pagynes '' amongst 
 the common people. This is interesting as a proof 
 that a certain amount of education existed in the 
 middle, if not the lower, ranks of society. If there 
 had been no readers, this dissemination of their chief 
 pastor's words of instruction would have been an idle 
 and fruitless labour. But the religious writings in 
 prose and verse which belong to the thirteenth and 
 fourteenth centuries furnish remarkable evidence of 
 the way in which preparation was silently and uncon- 
 sciously made for the reception of Wycliffe"s transla- 
 tion of the Bible, and the spread of those writings 
 amongst the masses which eventually led the way to 
 the great religious movement which ended in the 
 Reformation. The Hermit of Hampole's works have 
 already been mentioned. Besides him there was 
 Robert de Brune, a Gilbertine canon, of Sempring- 
 ham in Lincolnshire, who translated from the French 
 a book which he entitles " Handlyng Synne." It 
 was for " lewed " or unlearned men, as he tells us, 
 that he undertook " on Englyssh tunge to make thys 
 boke." Dan Michel's poem called "The Ayenbite 
 of Inwyt," or Remorse of Conscience, is a book of 
 similar character. All of them were designedly 
 
172 
 
 YORK. 
 
 written for Englishmen who were ignorant of the 
 Latin tongue. 
 
 The Minster of York owes much to Thoresby. 
 The state of its fabric when his episcopate commenced 
 was as follows : — " The choir and its crypts were of 
 enriched Norman, the work of Archbishop Roger. 
 The central tower had the Norman piers of Arch- 
 bishop Thomas, and above them the Early English 
 campanile of Johannes Romanus the elder. Perhaps 
 the Norman tower piers were clothed with Early 
 English masonry. The transepts and the nave were 
 the same that now remain ; but the western towers of 
 the nave rose no higher than the roof The next 
 work which was undertaken was to replace the choir 
 of Archbishop Roger by an eastern building on the 
 same scale of magnificence as the nave."^ In 1361 a 
 resolution was passed by the Archbishop and the 
 Chapter declaring that every church ought to have its 
 different parts consistently decorated, and that the 
 choir, which is destined for the offering of the sacrifice, 
 should be more especially ornamented. The absence 
 of a fitting place wherein the daily celebration of the 
 mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary could take place, 
 was also adverted to, and it was agreed to begin such 
 a choir, and that the old choir, which, compared with 
 the beauty of the nave, seems rude, should be taken 
 down piecemeal, as it may seem expedient, and used 
 for the completion of the new choir. It was agreed 
 also that a decayed hall at Sherburn should be taken 
 
 ' Professor ^Yill^s' " Archilccliual History of York Cathe- 
 dral," p. 30. (Pub. Arcli.i:ol. Institute.) 
 
thoresby's work at the minster. 173 
 
 down, and its materials applied towards the comple- 
 tion of the work. 
 
 Thoresby prosecuted this work with unusual dili- 
 gence, and contributed himself very largely to it, exert- 
 ing himself also to obtain substantial assistance from 
 others. Professor Willis comes to the conclusion that 
 the presbytery, or easternmost part of the existing 
 choir, and the lady-chapel beyond, were finished and 
 roofed during the Archbishop's life, previously there- 
 fore to 1373, and twelve years after the foundation 
 stone was laid. He translated the bodies of his 
 predecesssors into his new building, and prepared 
 his own tomb therein. The part of the building 
 between the presbytery and the great tower was 
 not commenced until after Thorcsby's death, and 
 was probably finished about 1400. 
 
174 
 
 YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A NAME belongs to the fourteenth century which 
 cannot be passed over in any attempt to delineate 
 the religious state of England during that period, 
 and more especially so when we remember that to 
 Yorkshire he who bore it owed his birth. The name 
 of John Wycliffe holds perhaps a more prominent 
 position in various ways than that of any other 
 churchman of his day, for he was the precursor of 
 that great movement which in the sixteenth century 
 changed the religious attitude of this country and 
 severed it from any dependence on or subjection to 
 the sovereign pontiffs of the Church of Rome. He 
 is said to have been born at a small %illage near 
 Richmond in Yorkshire, and to have sprung from a 
 family which took its patronymic from a place of the 
 same name on the banks of the Tees in that neigh- 
 bourhood. His early history is obscure. Others, 
 bearing the same Christian and surname, have been 
 confounded with him, and controversial tracts 
 directed against the mendicant friars at a compara- 
 tively early period of his life have been confidently 
 attributed to him " in the absence of all external and 
 in defiance of all internal evidence." The first thing 
 that rests upon distinct historical testimony concern- 
 ing him is that in 1361 he was master of Baliol 
 College in Oxford, and that in the same year he was 
 
JOHN WVCLIFFE. 
 
 instituted to the rectory of F'ylingham in Lincoln- 
 shire, a living in the gift of that society. He devoted 
 himself to the pursuit of learning with an untiring 
 diligence, and achieved the highest reputation. His 
 supremacy as a scholar was undisputed, especially in 
 logic and dialectics, and his deep study of the Holy 
 Scriptures led to his being distinguished among his 
 contemporaries by the appellation of the Evangelic 
 Doctor. The distinction he had gained for learning 
 and talent led to his being employed as one of the 
 royal commissioners,^ who were sent to Bruges to 
 confer with the envoys of the pope on the ques- 
 tion of the claims made by the latter for arrears of 
 the tribute due to Rome under the convention of 
 King John. No payment had been made for thirty- 
 three years. The pope's claim had been distinctly 
 repudiated by the Parliament in 1365. Bishops, 
 Lords, and Commons were unanimous on the point. 
 The issue of the conference at Bruges was that no 
 reservation should be insisted upon by the pope, but 
 the king was also bound to confer no benefices by an 
 arbitrary writ. Wycliffe's part in the negotiations 
 must have given satisfaction to the king, for his pre- 
 ferment speedily took place to a prebendal stall in 
 the collegiate church of A\'estbury, and to the rectory 
 of Lutterworth in Leicestershire. 
 
 On the death of the Black Prince, in 1376, John 
 of Gaunt became a ruling influence in court and 
 
 ' Dr. Lechler considers that Wycliffe's appointment as com- 
 missioner was probably due to the influence of Jolm of Gaunt. 
 "John Wycliffe and his English Prccvirsors," vol. i. p. 231. 
 Translated by Dr. Lorimcr. 
 
176 
 
 YORK. 
 
 council. For political reasons he was desirous of 
 humiliating the Church and abridging the temporal 
 power of the prelates. Wycliffe's views were adverse 
 to the wealth, the grandeur, the worldly influence of 
 the ecclesiastical body, but those views were based 
 not upon a political but a religious foundation. 
 Ecclesiastical abuses were the objects of his un- 
 sparing attack. Accusations drawn from statements 
 made in his lectures and writings were brought 
 against him, and he was summoned to answer the 
 charges before a convocation held at St. Paul's 
 Cathedral, for the purpose of granting a subsidy, on 
 3rd February, 1377. His teaching, as represented 
 by his enemies, was startling enough to those who 
 regarded the pope as the head of Christendom, for 
 he was charged with denying any exclusive power or 
 pre-eminence as attaching to the Church of Rome, 
 and with the bold statement that the gospel was 
 sufficient as a rule of life to all Christians. John of 
 Gaunt supported him when he appeared before con- 
 vocation, and in his zeal for the reformer applied 
 insulting words to the Bishop of London, which 
 were so distasteful to the citizens, with whom John 
 of Gaunt was utterly unpopular, that no conclusion 
 was come to and the convocation broke up. The 
 real object of citing Wycliffe before convocation w-as 
 to fasten odium upon John of Gaunt, a result which 
 was fully gained. 
 
 But his enemies were persevering in their attacks. 
 Papal bulls were procured, enjoining the bishops and 
 the University of Oxford to renew the proceedings 
 against Wycliffe, which was unwillingly done. He 
 
JOHN WYCLIFFE. 
 
 177 
 
 appeared before the bishops at l>ambeth. It was tlie 
 signal for another tumult. On this occasion " he 
 owed to the popularity of his cause the protection 
 which he had before so strangely obtained by the 
 unpopularity of his patron." ^ Nothing was done in 
 the way of condemnation. He was simply dismissed 
 with an injunction to refrain from publishing his 
 opinions. The king Iiad died before the arrival of 
 these bulls, and on the accession of the youthful 
 Richard II. John of Gaunt ceased to exercise open 
 'influence at court or council. 
 
 Dr. Shirley considers that Wycliffe's literary life may 
 be divided into three periods; the first extending to the 
 year 1366 or 1367, or three or four years later than 
 his doctor's degree ; the second to the great schism of 
 the west, and the tliird to the close of his life.^ 
 
 The first of these periods includes all his logical, 
 physical, and philosophical works. In the second he 
 appears as a reformer. The great schism which took 
 place after the death of Gregory XI. in 1378 diverted 
 attention from tlie internal affairs of the English 
 church, and left Wycliffe free for his work. In the 
 first instance he did not enter the lists against the 
 doctrines so much as against the corruptions of the 
 Church of Rome, and at this period he gave a 
 practical form to his earnest endeavours to promote 
 a real improvement in the church of his own country. 
 This was by founding what was really a new order, 
 the "simple priests" whose homely attire, simplicity 
 
 ' "Fasciculi Zizaniorum " (ed. Shirley), p. xxxii. 
 ^ Ibitl. p. xxxix. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 YORl-:. 
 
 of life, ignorance of letters, but genuine earnestness 
 and piety, bore not a little resemblance to John 
 Wesley's lay preachers in a later age. 
 
 But he went further than this. He soon entered 
 upon popular theology. He wrote tracts in the 
 vernacular, and it was at this time probably that he 
 was industriously occupied with his marvellous trans- 
 lation of the Bible. That, and his English tracts, 
 contributed more to form the English language, and 
 to prepare the way for the great movement of the 
 sixteenth century than anything that was done by 
 any one single individual. His version of the Bible 
 was the model, the foundation of the translations 
 which appeared in after years, and rude and uncouth 
 as it now appears it was written in a tongue which 
 was "understanded of the people." To Yorkshiremen 
 it was as a living language more than three centuries 
 afterwards. The writer of these pages well remem- 
 bers being told by Dr. Raine, the eminent northern 
 antiquary, that from his own recollection of the 
 dialect and modes of speech which existed in his 
 younger days in the remoter parts of Richmondshire, 
 he was satisfied that a chapter out of Wycliffe's New 
 Testament would have then been perfectly intelligible 
 to the inhabitants of that district. 
 
 Had this been all, he might not have been disturbed. 
 We read of no interference with Robert of Hampole, 
 for example, for his version of the Book of Psalms. 
 Even Archbishop Arundel in his " Constitutions 
 against Lollards (1408)" does not forbid such transla- 
 tions. He requires only that they should have the 
 sanction of the diocesan, or of a provincial council. 
 
JOHN WVCLIFFE. 
 
 But Wycliffe assailed doctrine. He controverted 
 that which was taught and held concerning the 
 nature of the presence in the venerable sacrament of 
 the Eucharist. His views respecting it were set forth 
 in certain theses which he maintained at Oxford in 
 1 38 1, and they are fully given in the fourth book of 
 his "Trialogus." It was no wonder that they ex- 
 cited hostility, for they clearly contravened the teach- 
 ing which was given by the Church of that day. He 
 was condemned by the authorities of his own univer- 
 sity. His appeal to John of Gaunt was met by the 
 suggestion that he should refrain from speaking con- 
 cerning the Holy Eucharist. He was subsequently 
 prosecuted by Archbishop Courtenay, and a synod 
 was convened at the Black Friars in May, 1382. 
 Wycliffe was not personally summoned to appear, 
 but certain conclusions drawn from his works were 
 condemned, some of his followers severely punished, 
 and he himself banished from Oxford. He retired to 
 Lutterworth. One more attempt is said to have been 
 made to procure a more distinct personal condemna- 
 tion of the great reformer. It has been alleged that 
 he was cited in 1384 to appear before the papal 
 court, and that he wrote a letter to the Pope, ex- 
 plaining his physical inability to comply with the 
 summons he had received. Professor Lechler regards 
 this alleged citation to Rome as a thing v.-hich " must 
 be relegated to the category of groundless traditions," 
 and he discusses with much acumen the assumption 
 that the letter given in Dr. Shirley's " Fasciculi 
 Zizaniorum " was addressed to the Pope. He con- 
 siders that the supposition is unsupported by any 
 N 2 
 
i8o 
 
 YORK. 
 
 internal evidence, and conjectures that it was really 
 either the fragment of a sermon or a declaration 
 addressed to English readers, having "no epistolary 
 feature from beginning to end."^ On the 29th Dec, 
 1384, John Wycliffe sank down under a stroke of 
 palsy during the celebration of mass in his parish 
 church, and on the 31st he quietly passed away. 
 
 Wycliffe was undoubtedly the greatest Englishman 
 of his day. His personal character was free from the 
 slightest shadow of reproach. His bitterest adver- 
 saries never ventured to cast an imputation upon Iiis 
 life and conduct. To attempt any lengthened con- 
 spectus of his dogmatic views and opinions would be 
 impossible within the narrow limits of a book like 
 the present. They are brought forward in the most 
 distinct form in his " Trialogus," but he gave expres- 
 sion to them also in a countless number of tracts, or, 
 as we should now call them, pamphlets. His ideal 
 of the relations of Church and State were brought 
 out in his book " De Dominio Divino." But he was 
 not the autlior of a new system of religion. " He 
 was destructive of the existing system, not recon- 
 structive of a new one. In the translation of the 
 Latin Scriptures and the assertion of the sole author- 
 ity of Scripture, he laid the foundation, but he built 
 ujion it no new edifice. He swept away one by one 
 almost all the peculiar tenets of mediceval Latin 
 Christianity, pardons, indulgences, excommunications, 
 absolutions, pilgrimages ; he condemned images, 
 at least of the Persons of the Trinity; he rejected 
 
 ' "John Wycliffe and his English Precursors," vol. ii. pp. 
 283-286. 
 
■IHE PEASANT REVOLT. 
 
 i8i 
 
 transubstantiation. But Teutonic Christianity had to 
 await more than two centuries and a half Vjefore it 
 offered a new system of doctrine to the reHgious neces- 
 sities of man. Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Calvinism, 
 are forms of faith ; from Wycliffism it would be diffi- 
 cult, perhaps impossible, to frame a creed like that 
 of Augsburg, articles like those of the Church of 
 England, or even those of Westminster, "i 
 
 About two years before Wyclifife's death that re- 
 markable rising took place, called the " Peasant 
 Revolt," remarkable for its widespread nature and the 
 simultaneous character of the rebel movement. The 
 people rose in Yorkshire, as well as in Kent and 
 Devonshire. Tumults arose in York, Beverley, and 
 Scarborough, and each of those places had to pur- 
 chase pardons in 13S2. But it was not a Lollard 
 rising, nor did it spring, as alleged by some, from the 
 preaching of Wycliffe's doctrines. In some places, 
 no doubt, the Wycliflite preachers declaimed loudly 
 against the clergy, but in others the clergy them- 
 selves were vehement in promoting the movement 
 and exasperating the feelings of the people. There 
 was general discontent and ill-feeling, arising mainly 
 from the pressure of taxation, which was intensified 
 by the obnoxious poll-tax which was felt by all. To 
 this was added the grievance of the statute of 
 labourers, which limited the wages they were to 
 receive. But numbers joined the malcontents, as in 
 all insurrectionary movements, who had no special 
 grievance except hatred to the wealthy and govern- 
 ing classes, — fanatic preachers, like John Ball, 
 ' Milman's "Latin Christianity," vol. viii. p. 202. 
 
l82 
 
 YORK. 
 
 wandering craftsmen, and ne'er - do - well artisans. 
 Like those who joined David at the cave of 
 Adullam, "every one that was in distress, and 
 every one that was in debt, and every one that was 
 discontented " came and swelled the tide of disaffec- 
 tion and revolt. It had some terrible results. Sud- 
 bury, the Archbishop of Canterbury was murdered, 
 John of Gaunt's magnificent palace of the Savoy was 
 plundered and burnt, and the Abbey of St. Edmunds- 
 bury utterly devastated. The plunder of this great 
 monastic establishment "shows what vast agricul- 
 tural proprietors the monks had become. A thou- 
 sand horses, a hundred and twenty plough oxen, 
 two hundred cows, three hundred bullocks, three 
 hundred hogs, ten thousand sheep were driven off, 
 and granges and barns burned to the ground."^ 
 
 But the rising was speedily quelled. Richard II. 
 arrested its progress with great courage and ability, 
 and a politic concession to the demands of the 
 people, whose condition he promised to ameliorate. 
 The ultimate results of the rising were of no unim- 
 portant character. " The landlords gave up the 
 practice of demanding base services : they let their 
 lands to leasehold tenants, and accepted money pay- 
 ments in lieu of labour ; they ceased to recall the 
 emancipated labourer into serfdom, or to oppose his 
 assertion of right in the courts of the manor and 
 the county. Rising out of villenage, the new 
 freemen enlarged the class of yeomanry and 
 strengthened the cause of the Commons in the 
 country and in parliament; and from 1381 onwards 
 
 ' Green's "History of the English People," vol. i. p. 481. 
 
THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 rural society in England began to work into its later 
 forms, to be modified chiefly, and perhaps only, by 
 the law of settlement and the poor-laws. 
 
 The embers of the rebellion, however, long 
 smouldered, and at times broke out into a flame 
 large enough to cause apprehension and alarm, 
 especially amongst the clergy. There was no con- 
 certed movement, but throughout the middle and 
 lower classes of the people in particular there was a 
 deep and wide-spread feeling of animosity to the 
 great churchmen and the monastic orders. Vehe- 
 ment denunciations were uttered by wandering and 
 fanatical preachers against their immoral and luxuri- 
 ous lives, and curious calculations were made by 
 them as to the number of earls, knights, and squires 
 who might be maintained for the king's service, and 
 the relief which might be given to the sick and 
 needy, if the wealth of the Church might be divided 
 and applied to these purposes. The ballad-singer 
 chanted his rude rhymes to the same effect, and con- 
 tributed to swell the chorus of disaffection. Neither 
 was it altogether confined to the humbler classes. 
 There were great nobles who sympathized, or affected 
 so to do, with the movement which under the name 
 of Lollardism became so prominent before the end 
 of Richard's reign, and which e\oked in that of 
 his successor such cruel repressive measures. The 
 doctrines of the Church did not escape reproach and 
 contumely. They scoffed at the doctrine of tran- 
 substantiation as involving idolatry, they uttered coarse 
 invectives against priestly celibacy, connecting it with 
 ' .Stubbs' "Constitutional History,'' vol. ii. p. 463. 
 
YORK. 
 
 priestly immorality, they inveighed against the hold- 
 ing of secular offices by the clergy, they characterized 
 the benediction of water and oil, of altar-stones, 
 churches, and church-furniture as necromantic acts 
 rather than religious rites. Prayers for the dead, 
 offerings and worship before shrines and images, 
 auricular confession and vows of chastity were alike 
 obnoxious to them, and the exercise of religious 
 functions by men whose lives were a reproach to 
 their holy calling was vehemently condemned. War 
 was an abomination in their eyes, and against capital 
 punishments they uttered their protest. The articles 
 containing these conclusions of the Lollards against the 
 Church and her ministers, which were presented to par- 
 liament in the nineteenth year of Richard's reign, were 
 the mutterings of the storm which broke upon that 
 Church in all its violence in the sixteenth century. 
 
 Yet it would be alike unjust and ungenerous to 
 believe that the Church was as universally corrupt as 
 these articles would imply. That corruption existed 
 there can be no doubt. The number of ecclesiastics 
 of various ranks was enormous, and the wealth of the 
 Church was great. It could scarcely be that the 
 highest standard of religion and morals was likely to 
 be reached by each individual member of that vast 
 multitude, but we can hardly believe that the holy 
 lives and careful teaching of men like Grosteste, 
 Archbishop Thoresby, and others of like character, left 
 no mark upon their age, no stamp upon the men 
 whom they ordained. And in many a quiet nook of 
 England, and under the shadow of many a stately 
 minster, there were doubtless those whose lives belied 
 
THE CARTHUSIANS. 
 
 not the teaching which their lips proclaimed. The 
 picture which Chaucer painted in unfading colours of 
 the country parson of this very period was surely no 
 imaginary portrait. It must have had its prototype 
 in more than one parish in England : — 
 
 This noble example to his shepe he yaf, 
 
 That first he wrought, and aflcrwanls he taught. 
 
 Out of the gospel he the wordcs caught, 
 
 And this figure he added yet thereto, 
 
 That if gold rustc, what shuld iren do ? 
 
 For if a preeste be foule, on whom we trust 
 
 No wonder is a lewed man to rust. 
 
 Well ought a preest ensample for to yeve, 
 By his clenenesse how his shepe shulde live. 
 
 The great monastic houses of Yorkshire must have 
 furnished a text for many a denunciation on the part 
 of the Lollaid preachers against the self-indulgence 
 and secularity of their inmates. Protests of another 
 kind were not wholly wanting against the scandal 
 which was caused by the decay of piety and the 
 rela.xation of discipline in those great communities. 
 To a protest of this kind against the irregularities 
 which prevailed in St. Mary's Abbey at York the 
 Cistercians of Fountains, it will be remembered, owed 
 their origin. The grey walls of the ruined Priory of 
 Mount Grace, and the tower of its small church, yet 
 survive to bear silent witness to the austerity of the 
 Carthusian rule, which, like that of the Cistercians in 
 a bygone age, sought to call men's minds, if it might 
 be, from all secular distractions, and fix them wholly 
 upon the contemplation of things unseen and eternal. 
 
i86 
 
 YORK. 
 
 It is a ruin which is little known, standing in almost 
 its pristine loneliness on a green plot of level ground 
 under the shadow of the Hambleton Hills, about 
 seven miles east of Northallerton. But it is of 
 singular interest, being a unique example in England 
 of the arrangements of the Order of St. Bruno. 
 There are the two courts, the outer one for the lay 
 brethren, the guest-hall and the domestic offices, the 
 other for the brethren who adopted the rule in all its 
 strictness. The range of their cells is well-nigh 
 perfect, and the small square opening into each for 
 the conveyance of food or other necessaries is so 
 contrived that neither the cloistered inmate, nor he 
 who handed in what was required, could see each 
 other. Absolute privacy was secured. This little 
 priory owed its foundation to Thomas Holand, Duke 
 of Surrey, about 1396, and was endowed with his 
 manor of Bordelby, and the lands of three alien 
 priories. He fell at Cirencester in his gallant attempt 
 to reinstate Richard on his throne, leaving the priory 
 only half finished. The grants of land made by 
 Surrey were subsequently confirmed, in 1440, by 
 Henry VI., when the buildings were completed, and 
 the brethren put in full possession. The body of the 
 ill-fated founder was first interred at Cirencester, but 
 was afterwards brought to Mount Grace, but no tomb 
 is visible to mark the spot. The Carthusian Order 
 never took much root in England. Only nine houses 
 belonged to it at the dissolution. Two of these were 
 in Yorkshire, of which Mount Grace was one ; Hull 
 possessed the other, founded by Michael de la Pole, 
 Earl of Suffolk and Lord Chancellor. Not a vestige 
 remains of the house at Hull. 
 
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 187 
 
 Whatever might be the shortcomings of the eccle- 
 siastics of the fourteenth century as regarded the 
 highest duties of their calHng, they left one mark, at 
 all events, behind them which is yet unobliterated. We 
 owe to them some of the most exquisite and graceful 
 architectural forms which consummate taste and un- 
 sparing munificence have ever achieved. The Early 
 English style gradually merged into that which has 
 received the name of Decorated. We have already 
 noted the work of this character which adds so much 
 grace and beauty to the great mother church of the 
 diocese. We see it exemplified also in the minsters 
 of Ripon and Beverley, the great abbey church of 
 Selby, and the once collegiate church of Howden. 
 We see it in the stately ruins of St. Mary's Abbey at 
 York, of Fountains, of Rievaulx, and of Bolton. 
 But it spread far and wide. Few are the parish 
 churches in this great county which do not bear some 
 mark of the Edwardian period of our ecclesiastical 
 architecture in one part or another of their structure. 
 Towards the end of the century another transition 
 took place ; the flowing and curvilinear lines of the 
 Decorated Period were superseded by the vertical 
 ones of the Perpendicular style, a style which, with 
 various modifications, subsisted until the time of the 
 Reformation, and of which examples exist in tower or 
 window, clerestory or chantry chapel, in more than 
 half of Yorkshire's country churches. It is almost 
 needless to say how prominent are its peculiar charac- 
 teristics in the great minsters which still stand in 
 their solemn beauty, and in the remains which exist 
 of the monastic churches. 
 
YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 After Archbishop Thoresby's death in 1373 the work 
 which he had begun at the eastern end of the minster 
 seems to have been at a stand for a few years. In 
 1377 the church of Misterton was appropriated to the 
 fabric of the choir for ten years. This arrangement 
 was confirmed by a papal bull in 1379 ; the work 
 was, therefore, probably resumed about 1380. It 
 seems to have gone on but slowly. Complaint was 
 made at a visitation of the Archbishop in 1390 that the 
 work was delayed, and that the rents and income 
 devoted to the fabric were diverted from their proper 
 purpose. The conclusion arrived at by Professor 
 Willis is that the western portion of the choir was 
 completed about 1400, and before 1405 that part of 
 the church was roofed in, and much progress made 
 with its internal fittings and decorations.' In the 
 latter year an agreement was entered into with John 
 Thornton of Coventry, glazier, by the Dean and 
 Chapter, for the glazing and painting of the great 
 eastern window, which was to be finished within three 
 years. For this he was to receive 4s. per week, iocs, 
 at the end of each of the three years, and if executed 
 to the satisfaction of the Chapter, he was to receive a 
 gratuity of ;^io in silver. It can scarcely be doubted 
 
 ' Willis, p. 43. 
 
ALEXANDER NEVILE. 
 
 that he received his full honorarium. It still remains 
 uninjured, in all its solemn beauty, singularly rich in 
 design and colour, fitly terminating a choir which is 
 perhaps exceeded by no cathedral in England in the 
 majesty of its proportions. 
 
 Between the death of Thoresby and the year which 
 probably witnessed the completion of the great work 
 which he began, four Archbishops occupied the epis- 
 copal chair, — Alexander Nevile, Thomas Arundel, 
 Robert Waldby, and Richard Scrope. Nevile's life 
 was a chequered one. Little is recorded of him in 
 connection with the diocese except his quarrels with 
 the canons of York and Beverley, and his erection of 
 additional towers and buildings to the archiepiscopal 
 castle of Cawood. He attached himself as a devoted 
 adherent to the cause of Richard II., a devotion 
 which proved fatal to his own interests. Knighton 
 says that he exasperated the party who took up arms 
 against Richard by the advice he had given that 
 sovereign to set aside some Act of Parliament by his 
 own arbitrary exercise of power. However that might 
 be, when he saw that Richard's cause was lost he 
 went into voluntary exile, and after living some time 
 in great poverty he surrendered his see, and Pope 
 Urban V. translated him to that of St. Andrew's, in 
 Scotland. But the Scots, who refused to recognize 
 Urban as Pope, declined altogether to receive Nevile 
 as their bishop, and he passed the remainder of his 
 life at Louvain, eking out the small stipend of a parish 
 priest there by teaching a school. He died in 1392. 
 He was succeeded by Arundel, whose history belongs 
 to Canterbury, to which he was translated in 1396, 
 
YORK. 
 
 being the first Archbishop of York who became 
 Primate of All England. 
 
 Waldby was the next occupant of the archiepis- 
 copal chair. He followed Edward the Black Prince 
 into France, and carried on his studies at the Uni- 
 versity of Toulouse, in which he became Professor of 
 Divinity. He was a learned man, and wrote several 
 works, the titles of some of which are given by Bale. 
 Amongst them is one Confra Wicklrcistas. After 
 having held a bishopric in Aquitaine he was trans- 
 lated to the Archbishopric of Dublin, and from thence 
 to Chichester. In 1396 he became Archbishop of 
 York, but his tenure of that see was a very brief one, 
 for he died in the year following. 
 
 Waldby's successor was a prelate whose tragical end 
 caused his name to be remembered for many a long 
 year with deep and heartfelt veneration by all the 
 inhabitants of the great shire of York. He was a 
 scion of the noble house of Scrope, being the third 
 son of Henry first Lord Scrope of Masham, a soldier 
 and statesman of no mean reputation, who fought at 
 Halidon Hill, Crecy, and Neville's Cross, and was 
 present at the siege of Calais, of which to^vn he 
 subsequently became governor. The future Arch- 
 bishop derived his Christian name from his godfather, 
 Richard, Lord Scrope of Bolton,^ Chancellor of 
 England under Richard IL, and the builder of Bolton 
 
 Richard, Lord Scrope, by his will dated 2nd August, 1400, 
 leaves a bequest to his godson : " Item, Domino Archiepiscopo 
 Ebor. charissimo patri et filio meo, meliorem ciphum meum de 
 murreo, scilicet maser." ,Test. Ebor. i. p. 276 [Pub. Surtees 
 Soc.]. 
 
RICHARD SCROPE. 
 
 191 
 
 Castle, which still survives in almost uninjured massive- 
 ness on the northern ridge of VVensleydale, destined 
 in after years to have a romantic interest attaching 
 to it from its connection with the eventful history of 
 Mary Queen of Scots. In more settled times Arch- 
 bishop Scrope would have left behind him the 
 reputation of a blameless prelate, for he was learned, 
 charitable, and devout, humble-minded, courteous, 
 and affable to all. But in his political relations his 
 conduct was ill-advised, to say the least, if not 
 deserving a harsher epithet. When Richard II. 
 formally renounced the crown in 1399, the Archbishop 
 of York was one of the proctors whom he appointed 
 to present to the parliament a written form in which he 
 absolved his people from all allegiance to him, a 
 document which was signed by his own hand. The 
 deposition of Richard was agreed to. Henry of 
 Lancaster then rose and claimed the crown by virtue 
 of his descent in the right line from Henry III. The 
 assent of the estates was at once given, and Henry of 
 Lancaster was led to the throne by Archbishop 
 Arundel, assisted by Archbishop Scrope. But in 1405 
 great disaffection to Henry prevailed. Preparations 
 for a rising were made in the north by the Earl of 
 Northumberland and Mowbray the Earl Marshal. 
 In an evil hour for himself Archbishop Scrope was 
 induced to join them. Articles of indictment were 
 promulgated by them against the king, in which he 
 was described as Henry of Derby, charging him with 
 being a usurper and a traitor, with complicity in the 
 murder of Richard, and with various acts which had 
 caused distress and misery to the nation at large. 
 
192 
 
 YORK. 
 
 These articles were affixed to the doors of the 
 churches in York and its neighbourhood, doubtless 
 with the Archbishop's cognizance, if not with his 
 absolute sanction. On learning this Henry advanced 
 to the north, calling his forces together to Pontefract. 
 The Earl of Westmorland, with the King's forces, met 
 the insurgents on Shipton moor, and proposed a 
 conference, at which, at the request of the archbishop, 
 Westmorland undertook to lay their demands before 
 the King. The rebel forces were misled by the 
 apparently friendly demeanour of the leaders on either 
 side, and they dispersed, leaving the Archbishop and 
 the Earl Marshal defenceless. They were arrested 
 and brought before the king and ordered to follow 
 him to the Archbishop's own house at Bishopthorpe. 
 A court was ordered to be held in the great hall, and 
 Gascoigne, the chief justice, was commanded by the 
 King to condemn the Archbishop to death. The 
 judge utterly refused, alleging the reverence due to 
 his episcopal character. Henry was furious, and 
 called upon Sir William Fulthorpe (who was not a 
 judge) to pronounce sentence of death upon the 
 prelate, who was made to stand bare-headed before 
 him to receive condemnation as a traitor. The Arch- 
 bishop called God to witness that he was guiltless of 
 any ill-design against the king ; that his sole object, 
 in conjunction with others of the nobility, was to seek 
 from him the reformation of many existing evils, and 
 the redress of sundry grievances. But his protestations 
 were unheeded, and he was condemned to die. All 
 this took place early in tlie day. At noon-tide, on 
 the 8th of June, he was brought out, made to mount, 
 
RICHARD SCROPE. 
 
 without a saddle, upon the back of a worn-out 
 wretched horse, and led to the place of execution, 
 which was a field not far from Bishopthorpe.^ He 
 was not allowed to wear his rochet, which was then 
 the distinguishnig attire of a bishop whenever he 
 appeared in public, but was clothed simply in a long 
 cassock or tunic of blue or violet colour, with a hood 
 attached. When he arrived at the place of execution he 
 knelt down, besought God's pardon for all his sins of 
 omission or commission, and forgave his executioner, 
 whom he requested to strike him with five blows of 
 his sword, in memory of the five wounds of his Lord 
 and Saviour Christ. This was done. At the fifth stroke 
 his head was severed from his body, and a deep thrill 
 of horror agonized every heart in the crowd which 
 witnessed the piteous scene. It was a rude and cruel 
 shock to all the better feelings of their nature. He 
 was a bishop of the church of God, and their religious 
 instincts were utterly revolted by such an act of high- 
 handed tyranny. He was, likewise, their own bishop, 
 endeared to them by his many virtues, his devout and 
 exemplary life, his unfailing kindness. He was a 
 member, moreover, of a great Yorkshire house, and 
 in those days, when the old feudal feelings were still 
 strong and deep, this added yet another element to 
 the bitterness of feeling with which they beheld the 
 bloody tragedy which was enacted in the fields of 
 
 ' A chapel was afterwards erected in the field where the 
 execution took place. This field is at the junction of Bishop- 
 thorpe and Nunthorpe roads, a little below Nun Hill. It is 
 .still called " Chapel Field." Cf. "Walks through the City of 
 York," by the late Robert Davies, F.S.A., p. 114. 
 
 O 
 
194 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Eishopthorpe on that bright June day. Signs and 
 portents were not unnaturally supposed to follow. A 
 crop of barley was growing upon five ridges of the 
 common field adjoining the spot where the execution 
 took place. This was utterly trodden down and ap- 
 parently destroyed by the trampling of the assembled 
 crowd, but it sprang up again and yielded in the 
 autumn an unusual increase. The king was said to 
 have been struck with leprosy the night after the 
 Archbishop's execution. A story is also told by 
 Clement Maydeston that when Henry died, and his 
 body was brought down the river from Westminster 
 on its way to Canterbury for interment, a fearful 
 storm arose. Eight small vessels containing the nobles 
 who followed in the train of the royal corpse were 
 dispersed and almost lost. The vessel which carried 
 the corpse was in so much danger that, in a paroxysm 
 of superstitious fear, the sailors took it out of the 
 coffin and flung it into the sea between Barking and 
 Gravesend, when a great calm immediately ensued. 
 The coffin, covered with a pall of cloth of gold, was 
 taken on to Canterbury and honourably interred ; and 
 Maydeston avers that the monks there always told 
 people that they had the sepulchre of Henry IV. 
 with them but not the body. 
 
 The remains of the Archbishop were laid in the 
 chapel of St. Stephen in the Minster of York. His 
 tomb was regarded with peculiar veneration. Thou- 
 sands flocked thither to make their prayers and offer- 
 ings as at the shrine of a saint and martyr. " The 
 offerings which they made were devoted to the fabric, 
 and thus, ,even in his death, the ill-fated prelate 
 
RICHARD SCROPE. 
 
 195 
 
 contributed to tlie ujDraising of that glorious edifice 
 which he had never neglected during his hfe."i 
 
 These demonstrations of popular feeling were very 
 unpalatable to the king. By his order a strong 
 remonstrance on the subject was addressed to the 
 chapter by Archbishop Arundel, which was also 
 signed by Langley, the Dean of York, in his official 
 capacity of Chancellor. But the tide of popular 
 devotion at the tomb of Scrope was far too strong 
 to be diverted even by royal interference. It went 
 on down to the time of the Reformation, and when 
 shrines and chantries were then stripped of their 
 treasures, no chapel in the minster contained a more 
 costly array of rich and precious things than that in 
 which were laid the remains of the ill-fated prelate." 
 He was never canonized, except by rire vox popiiU, 
 but many an honoured name has been enrolled in the 
 calendar of saints which has failed to secure one 
 tithe of the veneration which was long and lovingly 
 rendered at the shrine of Richard Scrope. 
 
 Yet the acts which led to the Archbishop's condem- 
 nation were treasonable. That condemnation was a 
 direct and unheard-of violation of the canon law, but 
 it was subsequently almost vindicated at Rome. It 
 is true indeed that the king was excommunicated by 
 Innocent VII., but the excommunication was taken 
 off by his successor, Gregory XII., and the bishops of 
 Durham and Lincoln had plenary power given them 
 
 ' " Fabric Rolls of York Minster," p. 193. 
 ' A list of them is given in the "Fabric Rolls of York 
 Minster," p. 225. 
 
196 
 
 YORK. 
 
 to reconcile every one who had any hand in the 
 matter. 
 
 Archbishop Bowet, Scrope's immediate successor, 
 is noteworthy as having issued the last indulgence 
 known on behalf of the fabric fund of the minster. 
 The work gradually advanced to its completion during 
 his own occupation of the see, and the respective 
 episcopates of the prelates who followed him, — 
 Kemp, Booth, and Neville. The munificent offerings 
 that were made at the tomb of Scrope have already 
 been mentioned, and the capitular body made large 
 grants out of their own funds. The choir was already 
 finished, as also the nave. The stately windows of 
 the choir transept — if we may apply that term to the 
 division which they mark between the choir and the 
 presbytery — rivalling in height the elevation of the 
 great east window, date from the earlier half of the 
 fifteenth century. That on the north side, with its 
 splendid glass, representing the life and miracles of 
 St. William of York, belongs probably to Bowet's 
 episcopate (1407-1423). The one on the south 
 side is later, and is said to have been given by the 
 executors of Langley, Bishop of Durham, who had 
 formerly been Dean of York. The life and miracles 
 of St. Cuthbert are the subjects depicted in its glass, 
 through which the sunlight gleams at noontide with 
 so'much brightness and beauty. After the completion 
 of nave and choir the next work undertaken was the 
 re-casing of the great Norman piers of the centre 
 tower. The masonry of Archbishop Thomas was en- 
 cased with Perpendicular stonework, thus giving unity 
 of effect to the internal aspect of the building. 
 
lilSUOP SKIRLAW's WORK AT YORK. I97 
 
 The great tower, which is supported by these piers, 
 was carried on from 1405, and occupied several suc- 
 ceeding years. Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, is said 
 by his biographer, W. de Chambre, to have built great 
 part of the lantern of York Minster. He died in 
 1406, and his will shows a bequest of 100 marks to 
 the fabric. He had probably given large sums during 
 his life, for his arms are placed on the spandril of the 
 lantern-tower, and also in the south-eastern transept 
 of the choir. Chambre speaks of his custom of thus 
 marking his works. The spandrils of the arches on 
 either side of the nave and choir contain carvings of 
 the coats armorial of most of the great houses of the 
 North. The introduction of these insignia into the 
 house of God, whether carved on the wall or gleaming 
 in the window, or graven on the sepulchral brass, has 
 frequently been severely criticised as a manifestation 
 of human pride in the place where, of all others, it is 
 the most incongruous. But the practice had probably 
 a different origin. We gather this from a few words 
 in the will of a York merchant, who orders his 
 executors to buy a cope of ruby velvet for St. Saviour's 
 church, and directs that a shield of his arms shall be 
 wrought upon the border of the cope, so that when 
 the people see it they may feel moved to offer up 
 special prayers for his soul. Now the bearings of all 
 the great Yorkshire houses would be perfectly well 
 known to every citizen in York, and to all who 
 swelled the vast assemblage which filled the great 
 minster's nave and aisles on days of high festival. 
 The saltire of the Neville, the lion rampant of the 
 Mowbray, the bend of the Scrope, the fesse dancette 
 
YORK. 
 
 of the Vavasour, and many others, would at once 
 bring to mind the hving personahty of the leader who 
 wore them on his surcoat, and on whose banner they 
 were blazoned, and some, at least, of the assembled 
 multitude would offer up a prayer for those of the 
 name who had passed away, and who in their day of 
 life had done somewhat towards the uprearing of 
 those stately piers and, arches and that high o'er- 
 arching roof 
 
 The whole of the interior of the Minster must have 
 been completed before 1430. In that year ^neas 
 Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius II. visited York in the 
 course of his travels. He describes its minster as a 
 church which was renowned throughout all the world 
 for the grandeur of its architecture and the majesty 
 of its proportions, and he particularly mentions its 
 "glass walls," obviously referring to the vastness of 
 its eastern window, the stately lights of the chapter- 
 house, and the "storied windows, richly dight," of 
 aisle and clerestory. Their " diaphanous workman- 
 ship," — to use an expression of Dr. Whewell's, — 
 seems to have much impressed him. 
 
 " The south-western tower was erected under Ber- 
 nyngham, the treasurer, from 1432 onwards for an 
 uncertain time. The north-western tower was carried 
 on about 1470; and about the same time the painted 
 vault of the central tower was set up and finished. 
 But the history of the wooden vaults of the pres- 
 bytery, choir, and transepts is lost. The wooden 
 vault of the nave was constructed about 1350. 
 Finally, in 1472, it was thought necessary, as the 
 church had been in fact rebuilt, that it should be 
 
COMPLETION OF THE MiXSTER. 
 
 199 
 
 reconsecrated, which was accordingly effected on the 
 3rd of July, and that day was decreed to be the feast 
 of dedication of the church of York in future." ^ 
 The completion of those western towers was the 
 bringing forth of the cope-stone, so to speak, of the 
 majestic structure, and such as it was when gazed 
 upon on the 3rd of July, 1472, by those who thronged 
 to take their part in its solemn re-dedication, such we 
 see it now, an emblem of the strength, and the 
 grandeur, and the perpetuity of the Church of Christ 
 in this land. In tlie building of our cathedrals, the 
 men of those far-off centuries " expressed all their 
 poetry, their visions, their hopes. The work of an 
 entire people, the cathedral is the noble symbol of a 
 people's faith. These stones speak with an incom- 
 parable eloquence. Disposed in the form of a cross, 
 they tell the world that there is no glory like that of 
 the accursed tree on which the Holy Victim died. 
 The soul is conscious of a boundless exultation 
 beneath these high-arching domes, the spire seems to 
 rise from the choir to heaven, uplifted on the voice of 
 chant and prayer. The cathedral is to the man of 
 the Middle Ages the image of the world renewed 
 by Christ, and being lifted up to God by a grand 
 
 impulse springing from the cross Let us not 
 
 forget that it represents day by day the drama of 
 redemption." 2 
 
 Scrope's immediate successors left no peculiar mark 
 on the diocese. Archbishop Bowet sat for seventeen 
 
 ' Willis, p. 47. He quotes from the Chapter Acts of 2Sth 
 May, 1472. 
 
 ' De Pressense : " Mystery of Sufiei ir.g," p. 140. 
 
200 
 
 VORK. 
 
 years, and is noted, as Godwin tells us, as "the 
 greatest housekeeper of any archbishop that ever sate 
 in York before him. For proofe whereof it is alleaged 
 that he spent usually in his house of claret wine 
 onely, 80 tuns." 1 He was noted also in another way. 
 The spirit of the warrior-bishops who commanded 
 armies in the field still survived in him. In 1417 
 Berwick was beleagured by the Scots, who took 
 advantage of Henry V.'s absence in France. Troops 
 were hastily gathered together for the relief of the 
 place, and though Bowet was so infirm that he was 
 unable to mount a horse or act as a leader, he insisted 
 on being carried in a litter, accompanied by many of 
 his clergy, along the lines of the army, when disposed 
 in battle array, to encourage them by his voice and 
 presence to repulse the enemy. He died at Cawood, 
 in 1423, and was buried at the east end of the minster 
 of York. 
 
 Kemp was the next who filled the archiepiscopal 
 chair. He had previously held the sees of Rochester, 
 Chichester, and London, and was translated from 
 York to Canterbury. He was twice created cardinal, 
 on diiferent titles. His various preferments were 
 tersely summed up in the line — 
 
 " Bis primas, ter prases, et bis cardim functus^ 
 
 His successor, Booth, was followed by George 
 Neville, brother of the great Earl of Warwick, so 
 often called the king-maker. He stands on a bad 
 eminence, as an example of the extraordinar)- abuse 
 of church patronage which prevailed in favour of 
 
 ' "Godwin's Catal.,'" p. 6o~. 
 
GEORGE NEVILLE. 
 
 201 
 
 those who were connected with any of the great 
 famihes who happened to have powerful court interest 
 or influence. Whilst yet a boy of only fourteen he 
 had a papal dispensation to enable him to hold a 
 canonry at Salisbury as well as a stall at York. At 
 three-and-twenty he was appointed Bishop of Exeter, 
 the pope issuing a bull which enabled him to receive 
 the income of his bishopric during the period which 
 elapsed between his nomination and his attaining 
 canonical age for consecration. He became Arch- 
 bishop of York in 1464, and will always be remem- 
 bered in connection with the extraordinary feast 
 which he gave to celebrate his enthronization. God- 
 win gives the bill of fare, which is certainly a curiosity 
 in its way, so multifarious are the viands, so profusely 
 are the dishes multiplied. Geese, capons, mallard, 
 and teal are counted by thousands, as are likewise 
 the venison pasties, and the dishes of jellies, tarts, 
 and custards. He details also the names of the great 
 lords and ladies, prelates, and chief estates of the 
 kingdom, who were entertained by this magnificent 
 Primate of the North, and the arrangement of the 
 tables at which they sat in the proper gradations of 
 their several ranks and dignities. 
 
 During his episcopate the see of York was abridged 
 of a large part of its ancient jurisdiction. St. Andrew's 
 in Scotland was made an archiepiscopal see by Pope 
 Sixtus IV., with twelve suffragan sees dependent upon 
 it. The Tweed henceforward became the northern 
 boundary of the Province of York. Neville stren- 
 uously resisted this arrangement, but the pope was 
 strong enough to carry his point. 
 
202 
 
 YORK. 
 
 The near relationship of Archbishop Neville to the 
 great Earl of Warwick involved him, more or less 
 closely, with the ambitious designs of the latter, and 
 present him in the light of a great temporal prince 
 engrossed with secular and political affairs, rather 
 than as the christian pastor of a great diocese. Yet 
 he was not altogether unmindful of the duties which 
 he owed to those who were under his spiritual charge. 
 A provincial council was held at York in 1466, at 
 which Neville promulgated certain constitutions. By 
 these he enjoined every parish priest to expound to 
 his people in their mother-tongue the fourteen articles 
 of faith, the ten commandments, the two evangelical 
 precepts, the seven works of mercy, the seven deadly 
 sins, cum sua progenie, the seven principal virtues and 
 the seven sacraments of Grace : and he enters into a 
 long explanation of these several points, so that they 
 might know how to teach their people. 
 
 But this is a solitary instance. No other act appears 
 to connect him with the spiritual oversight of the 
 diocese. His name occurs perpetually in the records 
 of the time, but it is in connection with the varying 
 fortunes of the Red or White Rose. The battle of 
 Towton in 1461 appeared to have given a crushing 
 blow to the house of Lancaster, but the restless ambi- 
 tion of Warwick aimed, ere many years were over, at 
 the removal of Edward IV. from his throne. 
 Warwick married his daughter to the Duke ofClarence. 
 At this marriage Archbishop Neville officiated. War- 
 wick's ulterior object was, no doubt, to place Clarence 
 on the throne. Insurrections took place in Yorkshire 
 and elsewhere, and Edward, who was left defenceless 
 
GEORGE NEVILLE. 
 
 203 
 
 in a hostile part of the country was either taken 
 prisoner by or surrendered himself to the Archbishop, 
 who took him to Middleham. But he soon regained 
 his liberty. In. the sequel Henry YI. was brought 
 out from the Tower by Archbishop Neville and Bishop 
 Waynflete. The former was made Chancellor, and 
 preached at the opening of the parliament which Henry 
 was made to hold. The battle of Barnet was the final 
 blow to Warwick, who perished in the field. His brother 
 the Archbishop made his peace indeed after this battle, 
 and the subsequent death of Henry VL, with Edward ; 
 but he was soon thrown into prison at Guisnes or 
 Calais, and his vast wealth and the temporalities of the 
 see were seized by the king. He was released after a 
 time, but did not live long. He died in 1476. 
 
204 
 
 YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Some curious illustrations of the religious and social 
 sides of medijeval life may be gleaned from records 
 belonging to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 
 Not the least interesting of these relate to Gilds, those 
 remarkable associations for mutual help which were 
 so ancient, so widely extended, so popular, and so 
 beneficial in this country. They go back to the most 
 remote antiquity. " The old laws of King Alfred, of 
 King Ina, of King Athelstan, of King Henry I., repro- 
 duce still older laws in which the universal existence 
 of Gilds is treated as a matter of well-known fact, 
 and in which it is taken to be a matter of course 
 that every one belonged to some Gild." ^ In their 
 origin they were merely social unions, without any 
 distinctively religious character. " They were not in 
 any sense," says Mr. Toulmin Smith, " superstitious 
 foundations; that is, they were not founded, like 
 monasteries and priories, for men devoted to what 
 were deemed religious exercises. Priests might belong 
 to them, and often did so, in their private capacities. 
 But the gilds were lay bodies, and existed for lay 
 purposes, and the better to enable those who belonged 
 to them rightly and understandingly to fulfil their 
 
 ' 'English Gilds" (Pub. Early English Text Society), 
 Intiod., p. XV. 
 
GILDS. 
 
 205 
 
 neiglibourly duties as free men in a free state." 1 A 
 curious exemplification of the dominating influence 
 of the lay element is afforded by the laws of three 
 gilds at Cambridge, one of which excludes priests 
 altogether ; another allows them no part in its manage- 
 ment, whilst a third has a rule providing that if their 
 funds prove inadequate to pay a chaplain in addition 
 to the maintenance of the poor brethren, the stipend 
 of the former is at once to cease.- Yet it must not be 
 supposed that the religious element was absent, or 
 scantly recognized ; " the evidences of a simple piety 
 and of a faith that entered into the every-day life are 
 some of the most pleasing traits of the Old Gild- 
 Ordinances." 
 
 The gilds of the fourteenth century were lineally 
 descended from those of an older time. The citizens 
 of York, for example, had a gild-merchant and 
 hanses* in the reign of Henry I., as declared in their 
 charter from John, and the earliest charter of the 
 Great Gild of St. John of Beverley was given in the 
 reign of the former monarch. 
 
 Many particulars respecting the gilds which were 
 in existence in that century may be gathered from the 
 returns made in compliance with the provisions of an 
 Act passed by a Parliament which sat at Cambridge 
 in 1388, which called for details of the condition, 
 property, &c., of all gilds, mysteries, and crafts, 
 together with copies of their charters or letters patent, 
 if any such there were. In pursuance of this, returns 
 
 ' "English Gilds," p. xxviii. ' Ibid., xxix. '■' Ibid., p. xxix. 
 ' A lianse appears to have been a company or society formed 
 exclusively for purposes of trading in the country or abroad. 
 
2o6 
 
 YORK. 
 
 were sent upin January, 1389 which contain, inter alia, 
 accounts of the ordinances of certain gilds in York, 
 Beverley, and Hull. They are singularly interesting. 
 In one we find a record of the kindly provision which 
 was made for " the infirm, bowed, blind, dumb, deaf, 
 maimed, or sick, whether with some lasting or only tem- 
 porary sickness, and whether in old age or in youth." 
 The weekly allowance to each was yd. and it was 
 continued during life. In the ordinances of the 
 Great Gild of Corpus Christi at York we find that 
 eight beds were to be provided for "poor people 
 being strangers," and a poor woman maintained to 
 attend to them. This gild was a later foundation, 
 dating from 1408. It differed in one important 
 particular from the other gilds in having been 
 originated by the clergy, who likewise formed its 
 governing body. But the number of lay persons, 
 male and female, who were enrolled as members was 
 % ery large. 
 
 Its popularity was probably due in a great measure 
 to the magnificence of its pageants and proces- 
 sions. In the year 1415 ninety-six separate crafts 
 joined in the procession, and no less than fifty-four 
 distinct pageants were got up by them for the grati- 
 fication of the people of York. The subjects of 
 eleven of these pageants were taken from the Old 
 Testament, the remainder from the New. Some of 
 the narrow streets of York still retain a touch of the 
 picturesqueness of their mediaeval character. Here 
 and there a house survives with its half timbered front 
 and projecting gables of fifteenth century work. When 
 we gaze upon the quaint examples of the domestic 
 
GILDS. 
 
 207 
 
 architecture of that period, it helps us to realize the 
 scene they must often have witnessed of stately 
 processions of the gild brethren and sisters, clothed 
 in the liveries of their respective crafts and associations 
 winding their way along these ancient streets, bearing 
 aloft their lighted tapers, and chanting their litanies 
 and hymns, as they passed onward to the mighty 
 minster to keep their festal day by an act of solemn 
 worship within its walls. 
 
 One of the gilds of York took its designation from 
 the Lord's Prayer. Oddly enough, as it seems to us, 
 they contrived to found " a play " upon its holy words, 
 " in which play all manner of vices and sins were 
 held up to scorn, and the virtues were held up to 
 praise." The members of the gild bound themselves 
 " to pray for the bretheren and sisteren of the gild, 
 both alive and dead, that the living shall be able 
 so to keep the gild that they may deserve to win 
 God's fatherhood, and that the dead may have 
 their torments lightened." Works of kindliness were 
 to be practised, so that none of the brethren might 
 "perish through lack of help." K corona lucis was 
 to hang in the minster, carrying "seven lights, in 
 token of the seven supplications in the Lord's 
 Prayer, and be lighted, on Sundays and feast-days 
 to the glory and honour of God Almighty, the maker 
 of that prayer, of St. Peter the glorious confessor, of 
 St. William, and of all saints;" and a table "showing 
 the whole meaning and use of the Lord's Prayer" 
 was to be hung on a pillar in the minster. Once in 
 
 ' " English Gilds,'' p. 137-8. 
 
208 
 
 YORK. 
 
 every six weeks they were to meet together to offer up 
 special prayers for the welfare of the sovereign and 
 the good governance of the realm, for the brethren 
 and sisters living and dead, and for all who had done 
 them good or shown them kindness. This gild had 
 no lands or tenements,' nor any possessions, " save only 
 the properties needed in the playing of the before- 
 named play." 
 
 The return made by the Gild of St. John Baptist 
 in York is^ touching in its sim'plicity. Its primary 
 object "is to cherish brotherly love." " No brother 
 shall be so bold as to do wrong to any one, thinking 
 that the gild will back him up." This gild also states 
 that it " has no goods other than what are raised by 
 yearly payments." 
 
 But most of them had property both in lands and 
 houses in addition to the fund which was raised by 
 the yearly payments of the members, and the entrance- 
 money which was paid on the admission of each new 
 associate. 
 
 The Yorkshire returns include three gilds at Bever- 
 ley and three at Hull. There were doubtless many 
 more in the great shire of York, but their returns have 
 not been preserved. Some picturesque touches occur 
 in the returns from Beverley. On the feast of 
 St. Elene the fairest youth that can be found is to be 
 picked out and "clad as a queen like to St. Elene." 
 An old man is to go before him bearing a cross, and 
 another old man carrying a shovel, " in token of the 
 finding of the Holy Cross." These headed the long 
 line of brethren and sisters of the gild as they swept 
 along in solemn procession, " with much music," to 
 
GILDS. 
 
 209 
 
 the Church of the Friars Minors. ' In lii^e manner, 
 on the Festival of the Purification one of the Gild of 
 St. Mary was " clad in comely fashion as a queen, 
 like to the glorious Virgin Mary, having what ma)' 
 seem a son in her arms." Two followed clad as 
 Joseph and Simeon, and two as angels, carrying great 
 lights. Other great lights preceded them, and with 
 much music and gladness they also went on their 
 way to one of the churches.''^ The rulers of this gild 
 were bound to visit "poor, ailing, or weak brethren 
 or sisters who have not enough of their own to live 
 upon," and to relieve them week by week at their 
 discretion out of the gild stock. Eightpence, six- 
 pence, or at the least fourpence a week, was the 
 allowance to be given " to help their needs." ^ 
 
 The ordinances of these gilds vary, as might be 
 e.xpected, in many of their details. Some were almost 
 wholly of the nature of our modern benefit societies, 
 the members making regular payments to the common 
 stock whilst in health and so long as their means were 
 fairly good, and receiving help in their time of sick- 
 ness or their hour of need. Some contributed to works 
 of public usefulness, such as the rej)air of roads and 
 highways, or the renovation of the walls of a town, or of 
 bridges. Instances occur, moreover, of gifts towards the 
 restoration of the fabrics of churches, and we find also 
 the maintenance of free-schools and schoolmasters 
 recorded amongst their acts of charity. One thing is 
 especially observable in all, namely, the self-respect 
 which they sought to inculcate amongst their members. 
 
 ' "English Gilds," p. 148. ^ Ibid., p. 149. ' Ibid., p. 150. 
 P 
 
2IO 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Outward morality at the least, courteous behaviour, 
 industry, and thrift, and attention to religious duties, 
 were imperatively demanded of all who sought enrol- 
 ment on the lists of their members, and a failure 
 to fulfil these requirements was punished by expul- 
 sion. The influence for good which these societies 
 must have exercised for a very long series of years in 
 this country can scarcely be over-estimated ; and it 
 must never be forgotten that they were organised by 
 the spontaneous action of the people themselves. 
 
 Equally curious illustrations of mediaeval religious 
 life may be gathered from the archiepiscopal registers 
 of the period with which we are now dealing. 
 Amongst those which are most noteworthy is the 
 custom which prevailed, to a considerable extent, of 
 a woman becoming what was called a vowess after her 
 husband's death. She came before the Archbishop, 
 or his suffragan^ or some other prelate, or the abbot 
 or prior of some monastery, who were licensed to 
 receive her vow by the primate of the Northern Pro- 
 vince. It was a solemn vow of chastitj', pledging 
 her to remain, in the words of Holy Scripture, "a 
 widow indeed " for the remainder of her life. From 
 more than one of the entries we learn something of 
 the accompanying ceremonial. It took place imme- 
 diately before mass, and the officiating prelate, after 
 the postulant had signed a written promise, gave her 
 his benediction and invested her with a mantle, a veil, 
 and a ring.i But she was not separated from the 
 
 ' " Praefatam Elizabet benedixit, ac sibi clamite (chlamyde), 
 velo et annulo caritatis induebat et ornavit." — "Test. Ebor.'' 
 iii. p. 313. 
 
VOWESSES. 
 
 world, or regarded in any sense as a member of a 
 religious order ; though in some cases it would seem 
 that, for the sake of leading a stricter life, she took up 
 her abode in or near some religious house. The 
 taking of this vow was a thing of very common occur- 
 rence, both in the higher and lower ranks of society. 
 In the case of ladies of rank or high descent, the 
 vow was commonly made before the Archbishop, as 
 in the case of Margaret of Slingsby, whom Archbishop 
 Scrope received at Bishopthorpe, himself celebrating 
 mass in his chapel there, and going through all the 
 customary formalities. When the Archbishop was 
 absent his suffragan usually officiated. We have 
 several of their names. William, Bishop of Pharos, 
 Nicholas, Bishop of Uromore, John, Bishop of the 
 Isles, William, Bishop of Dromore, John, Bishop of 
 Ross, and John, Bishop of Negropont, are amongst 
 those who occur. Bishop William, of Dromore, seems 
 to have acted as suffragan for many years. He was 
 suffragan to Archbishop Neville in 1469, and he was 
 acting in the same capacity for successive prelates 
 down to 1 50 1. 
 
 A record occurs of the vow being made under 
 peculiar circumstances, whilst the husband was still 
 living. One Henry Andrew comes before Archbishop 
 Booth in 1479, solemnly vows to live in chastity 
 from that day forward, and to give himself to 
 "fastyng, prayer, and workes of pety," and to abide 
 stedfastly by his vow, " after the order of hermettes," 
 for the remainder of his life. Mistrsss Alice, his wife, 
 then comes forward and makes her vow, taiupiaju 
 vidua ; each, no doubt, having agreed with the other 
 P 2 
 
212 
 
 YORK. 
 
 to live apart, and to devote themselves to what they 
 regarded as a higher life, and a more acceptable 
 service to their God. 
 
 Other entries occur, in great abundance, in these 
 Registers, relating to dispensations for marriage, 
 which issued, directly or indirectly, from the papal 
 court. The number applied for in one single diocese 
 is enough to show that the granting of these dispens- 
 ations throughout the whole realm must have been a 
 very considerable source of revenue to the Apostolic 
 see. The impediments to marriage, as laid down by 
 the rules of the pre-Reformation Church, were many, 
 and must often have been felt to be very vexatious. 
 If the parties who wished to marry were related in 
 the third or fourth degree of consanguinity, or if one 
 had been sponsor to the other, or to a child of the 
 other, a dispensation must be obtained. And even 
 if they had married in complete ignorance of the 
 impediment that existed, the marriage was null and 
 their children illegitimate. An ex post facto dispensa- 
 tion was needed in such a case to legalise the nuptial 
 tie and to legitimise the issue. It is not at all impro- 
 bable that the inquisitorial interference with private 
 life which, in countless instances, must necessarily 
 have taken place, was one of those minor things 
 which irritated men's minds, and tended to promote 
 that antagonistic feeling towards the church which 
 undoubtedly prevailed to a great extent long before 
 any overt acts against the papal supremacy had been 
 effected by the ruling power. The idea, likewise, 
 that greed was at the bottom of the enforced applica- 
 tion for these dispensations, would not a little tend 
 
CONDITION OF PARISH CHURCHES. 213 
 
 to intensify the bitter feeling which would often be 
 engendered. 
 
 Information is also afforded of a very interesting 
 nature respecting the re-construction of some of the 
 old parish churches, sometimes as to the erection of 
 a hew one on a more convenient site, or the building 
 of chapels or oratories in some outlying corner of a 
 wide and scattered parish. An indulgence occurs 
 under the year i486 which is worthy of note. It 
 refers to the erection of a new and sumptuous chapel 
 at Towton, on the spot where the bodies of a great 
 multitude of those who fought and fell on that bloody 
 field, many of high rank and lineage, had been tlirown 
 hastily into a common grave. Another indulgence 
 for the same object bears date as late as 1502. 
 
 The presentments made at the visitations of the 
 Minster, of the parish churches of York and other 
 parts of the diocese at this period, throw a lurid light 
 upon the religious history of the time. It was a time, 
 be it remembered, when the mighty fabric of the 
 Minster received its completion. It was a period 
 which witnessed many a stately addition, and much 
 costly renovation, as regards the parochial churches 
 in many parts of the diocese. But all this was accom- 
 panied by a manifest decay of piety, of reverence, 
 even of common decency in the celebration of divine 
 offices by the clergy, and that, above all, in the Minster 
 itself The Chancellor, the Sub-dean, and the Succen- 
 tor canonicorum, who are specially bound to reside, 
 do not fulfil their obligation. The vicars choral 
 straggle into choir after the divine office is commenced 
 and slip out before it is ended. Sometimes, even on 
 
214 YORK. 
 
 the greater festivals, no canon is present. No order 
 is taken to repress the tumultuous gathering together 
 of noisy and mischievous boys within the walls of 
 the church even during the celebration of mass. The 
 succentor canonicorum and three others are alleged 
 to have concubines. The inferior ministers of the 
 church, deacons and thurifers, are reported as chattering 
 and talking in the choir, paying no heed to whatever 
 divine office was going on. Certain vicars, who are 
 named, pay no attention when the Bible is read in 
 their common hall, but sit gossiping over the fire all 
 the time the reading is going on. 
 
 There is a melancholy list of defedus ac mince pa- 
 tentes in a very large number of parish churches. The 
 architectural revival of the fifteenth century did 
 not penetrate into every parish. Page after page tells 
 of neglect, decay, and desolation. Sometimes the 
 chancel, sometimes the nave, or the windows, or the 
 tower, the lead on the roof or its timbers, or the 
 furniture of the church are presented as ruinous, 
 defective, and insufficient. In one church we are 
 told that the churchwardens scarcely make provision 
 more than once in the year for the washing of the albs, 
 surplices, and altar-linen. Jangling and talking in 
 service-time is reported in the same church, and 
 complaint is made that when sermons are preached, 
 although notice is duly given to the parishioners, 
 "the most part of them cummeth not at all." In 
 another place we find the parishioners complaining 
 that they have had no parish priest for three quarters 
 of a year. The inhabitants of another parish desire to 
 have their belief expounded to them three times in the 
 
CONDITION OF PARISH CHURCHES. 215 
 
 year, — certainly no unreasonable request, — whilst the 
 dwellers in another complain that "Mr. Vicar abydes 
 not emange us, as a curette awght to do." In another 
 case the vicar is presented as having been absent from 
 his benefice a year and more. Complaints are 
 made of young people being permitted to carry on 
 their sports and games, such as hand-ball and foot- 
 ball, in the churchyards of certain places, and of 
 pedlars being allowed to bring out and sell their 
 wares in the church porch. The presentments are 
 multifarious, and give a remarkable insight into the 
 state of the church during the period they cover. 
 Carelessness, irreverence, and apathy, it is obvious, on 
 the part of the priesthood, prevailed to a very great 
 extenl, and graver accusations as regards morals, 
 on which we desire not to dwell more particularly, 
 are not unfrequently made. 
 
 The Church was undoubtedly losing ground, to a 
 great extent, in the affections of the more religious- 
 minded amongst the people, especially in that great 
 middle class which was day by day rising into greater 
 importance. A revival of spiritual life was urgently 
 needed, be)-ond all question. 
 
 In days gone by the want would have been met, or 
 attempted to be met, by the foundation of some new 
 religious order, which, by the strictness of its rule, 
 and the holy lives of its members, would seek to 
 impress upon men's hearts the lessons of a pure 
 morality and the paramount obligation of religion. 
 But the time had gone by for the foundation of new 
 monastic institutions. The liberality of pious church- 
 men and devout laymen found another channel for 
 
2l6 
 
 YORK. 
 
 their bounty in the erection of new colleges in the 
 Universities for the promotion of learning. Schools 
 also were founded. We have an instance of both in 
 the prelate who occupied the chair of Paulinus in 
 the closing years of the fifteenth century. The founda- 
 tion of Lincoln College, Oxford, which had been begun 
 by Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1428, was 
 completed by his successor Thomas Rotherham, 
 afterwards Archbishop of York, who in 1479 finished 
 the buildings of the college, augmented the number 
 of fellows and gave it a body of statutes. 
 
 Rotherham was a Yorkshireman, born at the town 
 of that name. He held many great preferments, was 
 chancellor in the reign of Edward IV., and became 
 Archbishop of York in 1480. After his elevation to 
 that see he took no part in public affairs, devoting 
 himself entirely to the oversight of his diocese. He 
 cherished a great affection for his birthplace, and in 
 1482 laid the foundation of a college there, which 
 was formally constituted by his own ordinary and 
 metropolitical authority in the following year. He 
 endowed it for a provost and two fellows. The 
 provost was to preach the word of God in the parishes 
 of Rotherham, Laxton, and Ecclesfield, and in other 
 places within the diocese of York. The duty of the 
 fellows was carefully laid down. One was to teach 
 grammar, poetry, and rhetoric ; the other music. Six 
 poor boys were to be maintained in the college until 
 the age of eighteen, and to receive instruction in the 
 subjects mentioned. His primary object seems to 
 have been to train these boys in such a manner that 
 they might hereafter be fitted for the priesthood. But 
 
THOMAS ROTHERHAM. 
 
 217 
 
 in his will he extends the benefits of his foundation. 
 He provides that a third fellow should be appointed. 
 He states that he had observed that there were 
 many quick-witted youths in the place and neighbour- 
 hood whose tastes pointed in the direction of 
 mechanical arts, and pursuits of a secular kind, 
 rather than to the scholarship and learning which 
 constituted a vocation for the priesthood, and he 
 assigned to this third fellow the duty of giving in- 
 struction in those more homely and simple branches 
 of education, writing and arithmetic, free of all charge, 
 to those who should be sent to receive it. The Arch- 
 bishop's will breathes a deep spirit of piety throughout, 
 and no one can read it without feeling that its 
 expression of deep humility and earnest prayers for 
 the blessing of the Most High upon the provision he 
 was making for the training of the young in a place 
 which he loved with an abiding affection, were the 
 utterances of a good and holy man, who was not 
 unmindful of the gifts and blessings he had himself 
 received from the Lord of all. ' The endowment of 
 the college was a munificent one. It escaped con- 
 fiscation under Henry VHI., but it fell never to rise 
 again under Edward VI. 's Act for the suppression of 
 chantries, colleges, and gilds. 
 
 ' "Test. Ebor.'' iv. pp. 138 et seq. 
 
2l8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The latter years cf the fifteenth century and the 
 earlier decades of the sixteenth, on which we are no\r 
 entering, constituted a period of transition, social, 
 intellectual, and religious. The power of the baronage 
 had become weakened by the wars of the Roses. 
 The middle class was rising into more importance. 
 Trade organizations were acquiring greater sdidit)-. 
 The grants of charters of incorporation, which during 
 the reign of Henry VI. were multiplied, gave a more 
 definite character to the municipal institutions of the 
 more important towns and cities, and the rich 
 merchants who dwelt in them began to ally them- 
 selves with the families of the gentry ; and when the 
 rich merchant or the great burgher " found acceptance 
 in the circles of the gentry, civic offices became an 
 object of competition with the knights of the county; 
 their names were enrolled among the religious 
 fraternities of the towns, the trade and craft gilds ; 
 and as the value of a seat in parliament became 
 better appreciated, it was seen that the readiest way 
 to it lay through the ofiice of mayor, recorder, or 
 alderman of some city corporation."! 
 
 But the intellectual development was yet more 
 remarkable, especially amongst the clergy. It is almost 
 
 ■ Stubbs' "Constitutional Historj'," iii. p. 596. 
 
EARLY PRINTING AT YORK. 219 
 
 needless to say how this development was stimulated 
 by the uprising of that mighty art which utterly 
 superseded the slow and laborious toil of the 
 transcribers of the books of Holy Scripture, of manuals 
 of devotion, of historical chronicles, of the treatises of 
 the philosopher and the verses of the poet. The 
 introduction oftheartof printing revolutionized every- 
 thing. It stimulated a thirst for knowledge, and it 
 furnished material wherewith to slake that thirst. 
 " Books, from slow, toilsome, costly productions, 
 became cheap, were multiplied with rapidity which 
 seemed like magic, and were accessible to thousands 
 to whom manuscripts were utterly unapproachable. 
 The power, the desire, increased with the facility of 
 reading."! 
 
 Printing, as we all know, was introduced into 
 England by Caxton, who was carrying on his work at 
 Westminster in 1474. Before the close of the century 
 a press was set up in the city of York. It is an interest- 
 ing testimony to the importance of York, for with the 
 exception of the University of Oxford and the monas- 
 tery of St. Alban's, where books are said to have been 
 printed as early as 1480, it is the only provincial town 
 where the art of typography is known to have been 
 practised previously to the commencement of the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 It speedily put an end to one branch of industry 
 which had long been carried on at YOrk to a very 
 considerable extent. As early as the reign of 
 Edward III. the scriJ>toria of the monasteries had 
 
 ' Milman's "Latin Christianity," ix. p. 348. 
 
220 
 
 YORK. 
 
 ceased to be the only places where books were trans- 
 cribed and multiplied. Numbers of lay persons became 
 engaged in the copying of MSS. So numerous, in 
 fact, had they become, that they obtained the privilege 
 of incorporating themselves as a separate company or 
 society, with their own ordinances and bye-laws. 
 Records of their bye-laws occur in the city archives 
 as early as the beginning of Richard II.'s reign. 
 They carried on a flourishing trade during the 
 fifteenth century, under the name of Text-writers. The 
 craft included several classes of workmen, — the 
 limners, or illuminators of capital letters in the more 
 choice MSS. ; the " notours," who put in the musical 
 notation in the missals and other service books ; the 
 '•■ tumours " and the " flourishers," who added the 
 graceful and delicate ornamentation which so often 
 adds a singular beauty to the wide margin of some 
 choice specimen of the Text-writer's skilful pen. 
 
 The establishment of a printing-press in York dates 
 from about 1496, the year when a Dutchman named 
 Frederic Freez probably settled in that city. At all 
 events we find that in the following year his name 
 was enrolled upon the register of freemen under the 
 designation of " Bokebynder and Stacyoner." It is 
 clear that printing was included under the latter term. 
 Wynkyn de Worde in his will, dated 1534, describes 
 himself as "citizen and stationer"; and we have 
 definite proof as regards Freez. In a legal proceeding 
 to which he was a party a few years after his settle- 
 ment in York he is styled a " buke prynter." No 
 book issuing from his press is however known to be 
 now in existence. 
 
THE NEW LEARN'ING. 
 
 221 
 
 The importing and selling of printed books was 
 carried on in the first decade of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury by a brother of Frederic Freez, Gerard by 
 name, who afterwards adopted the surname of 
 Wanseford. In all likelihood he also was a " buke- 
 prynter." " We may plausibly conjecture," says 
 Mr. Davies, " that the two Dutchmen who ultimately 
 settled at York, had, before they migrated to Eng- 
 land, belonged to that noble band of printers of 
 whoni the great AVynkyn de \Vorde was one, who 
 are said to have worked under Faust and Caxton at 
 Mentz and Koln."^ Certain it is from Gerard's will, 
 which bears date 3rd October, 15 10, that Wynkyn de 
 Worde was an intimate friend of the testator. The 
 statute passed i Richard III.,c. ix., by which foreign 
 printers and stationers were invited to come to Eng- 
 land, and the encouragement given by it to the 
 importation of printed books gave unquestionably 
 no trifling impetus to the progress of the art itself in 
 this country. 
 
 All this was silently preparing the way for what is 
 known as the New Learning. It was assuredly need- 
 ful that some effort should be made to promote the 
 cultivation of a higher literature, both in tlie gram- 
 mar-schools and in the universities of England. In 
 the former no instruction whatever was given in the 
 Greek language, whilst in the latter its study was 
 discouraged in every possible way. It was even 
 declaimed against from the pulpit as an infallible 
 source and fountain of heresy and irreligion. 
 
 ' " Memorials of York Tress," p. 9. 
 
222 
 
 YORK. 
 
 The revival of learning had its origin in Italy, and 
 dates from the Council of Florence (1439-1442), at 
 which an attempt was made to effect the reunion of 
 the Greek and Latin churches. It brought many 
 learned Greek theologians to Italy, some of whom 
 conformed to the Roman communion. Of these 
 Bessarion, Archbishop of Nicsea, aftenvards a car- 
 dinal, was the most eminent. A great impulse was 
 given by these men to the study of Greek. But the 
 movement was not confined to Italy. It spread like 
 an advancing tide from one country to another, until 
 all Europe had felt its impulse. Youths went to Italy 
 from all parts to study classical literature — especially 
 the Greek language. Grocyn, Linacre, and Colet 
 travelled thither from England with that end in view. 
 The latter, who in after days became Dean of St. 
 Paul's and the munificent founder of St. Paul's 
 school, was at this time connected with the diocese 
 of York. Young as he then was, and only in minor 
 orders, he was already canon and prebendary of 
 Botevant in its minster. On his return in 1497 he 
 became acquainted with Erasmus, who was then in 
 England for the first time. It was an acquaintance 
 which soon ripened into the closest friendship. It 
 was shared also with Grocyn and Linacre, as is 
 abundantly testified by the correspondence of that 
 great scholar who occupies so prominent a place in 
 the literary history of the generation immediately 
 preceding the Reformation. 
 
 The intimacy between Colet and Erasmus com- 
 menced at O.xford, where the former was giving 
 lectures upon the Pauline episdes after his return 
 
COLET. 
 
 223 
 
 from his foreign travels. The two had many dis- 
 cussions upon theological subjects, which were con- 
 tinued by letter after Erasmus' departure from Oxford. 
 Colet's views were marvellously in advance of his 
 age. His great object was to dethrone the school- 
 men from the place they occupied in the teaching 
 of the universities and as the groundwork of pulpit 
 instruction, and to exalt in tlieir stead the study of 
 Holy Scripture and a simpler mode of expounding 
 God's Holy Word, free from the scholastic subtleties 
 which too often obscured its meaning and hindered 
 its proper effect upon the hearts of the people. His 
 arguments had evidently great weight with Erasmus, 
 though there was not always an absolute agreement 
 between them. On one point they were unanimous, 
 that the reformation of the Cliurch was a necessity. 
 Corruption of morals amongst churchmen was evi- 
 dently great. Colet speaks of it with a sort of 
 mournful pity, making charitable allowance for 
 human frailty when enforced celibacy was the rule. 
 Laxity of conduct bore its natural fruit. Preaching 
 had fallen into desuetude. It was a novelty when 
 Colet began to preach from the jiulpit of St. Paul's 
 on the festivals of the Church, and the style of his 
 sermons was new also. He interested his hearers by 
 ta'king up a subject from the gospels, and pursuing it 
 through a series of discourses. Crowds flocked to 
 hear him, for his addresses were so simple in their 
 style that they were not above the comprehension of 
 the unlearned citizens, yet so thoughtful as to arrest 
 the attention of those of the highest culture. 
 Amongst his auditors was one whose character is 
 
224 
 
 YORK. 
 
 one of the most attractive of those who eagerly and 
 enthusiastically drank in the New Learning — the 
 author of " Utopia," the future Chancellor of Eng- 
 land, Sir Thomas More, a name which still com- 
 mands the veneration of all who can estimate wit 
 Md learning, and reverence the memory of one who 
 would sacrifice his life rather than forego his con- 
 scientious convictions. 
 
 There were other things besides decay of morals 
 and infrequency of preaching which exercised the 
 minds of thoughtful and serious minded men like 
 Colet, and which he discussed without reserve in the 
 unrestrained intercourse of private life. Of that 
 private life we have a charming picture by the hand 
 of Erasmus. He brings the very man before us. 
 His kindly hospitality, his genial talk with his friends, 
 his personal simplicity of life and his deep religious 
 feeling are most vividly portrayed. The subjects of 
 his conversation were many and varied. Auricular 
 confession, the use of images as aids of devotion, 
 the compulsory recitation by priests of the length- 
 ened offices of the breviary, pilgrimages to the 
 shrines of favourite saints, the adoration of relics of 
 doubtful authenticity or of absolute falsity — all 
 afforded matter for discussion and animadversion 
 when he had a guest like Erasmus at his table, or 
 when they were journeying together to the shrine of 
 Our Lady of Walsingham or that of St. Thomas of 
 Canterbury. The contempt with which Colet re- 
 garded the exhibition of St. Thomas' slipper at 
 Harbledown, and the linen rags at Canterbury \vith 
 which the martyr was said to have wiped his nose, is 
 
COLET. 
 
 22S 
 
 graphically narrated by Erasmus in his Modus orandi 
 Deiivi ; and there can be little doubt that he desig- 
 nates Colet under the name of " Gratianus Pullus " i 
 in his Peregrinatio Religionis ergo. 
 
 But the exjiression of Colet's views was not con- 
 fined to conversation with friends of congenial senti- 
 ments. His public utterances were often bold 
 enough, especially the sermon which he preached at 
 the command of Archbishop Warham before the 
 clergy in convocation in the year 1512. If the men 
 of the New Learning urged on reformation in the 
 mode of teaching in the school or the college, they 
 desired also to see the Church reformed. And 
 Colet's voice in this sermon gave no uncertain sound. 
 It was plain from this discourse that they "looked 
 forward, not to a reform of doctrine but to a reform 
 of life, not to a revolution which should sweep away 
 the older superstitions which they despised, but to a 
 regeneration of spiritual feeling before which those 
 superstitions would inevitably fade away." Colet was 
 soon charged with heresy by the Bishop of London. 
 Warham, however, protected him ; and Henry, to 
 whom the Dean was denounced, bade him go boldly 
 on. " Let every man have his own doctor," said the 
 young king after a long interview, " but this man is 
 the doctor for me."- 
 
 ' " Colet seems to have been remarkable for the plainness ol 
 his attire. We find Erasmus, in one of his epistles, par- 
 ticularly noting this : " Kon nisi fullis vestilnis iitebatur, cum 
 illic vulgo sacerdotes et theologi vesliantur purpura." — Erasmi 
 Ep. Jo. Joniv, id. Jun. 1521. 
 
 2 Green's Hist. ii. p. 88. 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 YORK. 
 
 The foundation of St. Paul's school by Dean Colet 
 was the first great step taken as regarded the education 
 of the youth of England upon a higher and better 
 system. He took counsel with Erasmus at almost 
 every step when he was perfecting his arrangements 
 for his great work. It was the first public school 
 where Greek was taught as well as Latin.i There is 
 something singularly suggestive and touching in the 
 account Erasmus gives of the arrangements of the 
 school. They would scarcely have been so minutely 
 recorded by that great scholar if they had not been 
 unique in their character. An image of the Saviour 
 of the world is placed over the Master's seat, but He 
 is not represented on the cross of shame. Their 
 eyes were to look up to Jesus in the simplicity of 
 the Holy Childhood, — that character in which children 
 to the end of time are to love and venerate him who 
 said, " Suffer little children to come unto Me." The 
 words, " Hear ye Him," were placed above the image 
 at Erasmus' suggestion. Day after day when the 
 school was opened a hymn of praise to Jesus was 
 sung by the scholars with eyes reverently directed to 
 the image of the Divine Child. It was chanted also 
 when the labours of the day were ended. Colet 
 recognised the truth that the art of the sculptor and 
 the painter had a holy use as well as a superstitious 
 application. The latter he condemned,- the former 
 
 ' .See Knight's "Life of Dr. John Colet/' &c. (Oxford, 
 1823), p. 17. 
 
 ^ One of the accusations of heretical teaching brought 
 against him was grounded upon his having condemned the 
 worship of images.— See Knight's "Life," &c., p. S3. 
 
DISIIOP FISHER. 
 
 227 
 
 he vindicated ; and the young scholars wlio sang 
 their matin and vesper hymns before the sculptured 
 representation of their Saviour's form would assuredly 
 be told,— 
 
 Effigiem Christi dum transis pronus houora, 
 At non effigiem sed Quern dehignat adora. 
 
 Education began to be carried out under better 
 auspices at the universities also. Colct had com- 
 menced this at Oxford. A similar impulse was given 
 at Cambridge. Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and 
 chancellor of that university, invited Erasmus thither, 
 who, through his influence, was promoted to the 
 Margaret Professorship of Divinity in 15 11, and sub- 
 sequently to the Greek professor's chair. 
 
 Fisher's name is connected with the diocese of 
 York. He was born at Beverley, and in his earlier 
 life was vicar of Northallerton. Erasmus gives him a 
 noble character, describing him as "rv'y oiiiuiiiin epis- 
 copaliiiiii 'I'irtiituin cii/iiiilatissiiinis." ^ He was con- 
 fessor to the king's grandmother, the Countess of 
 Richmond, and it was believed that it was through 
 his influence with her that the advancement of 
 learning was promoted at Cambridge by the founda- 
 tion of the two colleges of Christ's and St. John's, 
 and of divinity professorships in both universities. 
 In recognition of these services in the cause of 
 learning he was chosen Chancellor of the university 
 of Cambridge. 
 
 Other names occur in connection with York of 
 
 Erasnii Kpist. ad Card. Giimaiil, iiiid cnl. Apr. 1513. 
 
228 
 
 YORK. 
 
 men who loved and lionoured the great scholar wha 
 had so much to do with the revival of learning in 
 England. Christopher Urswick was one. He had 
 held two prebendal stalls in succession, Tockerington 
 and Fridaythorpe, and subsequently became Dean of 
 York and Archdeacon of Richmond. He befriended 
 Erasmus on many occasions, and to him the latter 
 dedicated his translation of Lucian's "Gallus'' in 
 1503. Young, who became Dean of York in 15 14, 
 was another. To him Erasmus inscribed a translation 
 of Plutarch, " De tuenda valetudine."' 
 
 Neither of the two j^rclates who succeeded Rother- 
 ham in the archie])iscopal chair of York can be identi- 
 fied with the great movement which had so much to do 
 with the impending reformation of the Church of this 
 country. Savage, who was translated to York from 
 Rochester, has left no tradition behind him except 
 that he was a mighty hunter. Bainbrigg, who fol- 
 lowed him, had at one time been Dean of York. He 
 afterwards became Bishop of Durham, from which 
 see he was translated to York in 1508. His latter 
 years were passed altogether at Rome, where he 
 acted as an ambassador from the King of England. 
 In 15 II he received a cardinal's hat from the warrior- 
 Pope Julius H. In 15 14 he came to an untimely 
 end by poison, the vengeful act, as it was said, of 
 an Italian priest in his household who had been 
 grievously offended by the Archbishops ungovernable 
 temper. But there is another version of the story. 
 The Bishop of Worcester, who was an Italian, was 
 associated with Bainbrigg in the business he had to 
 transact at Rome. The latter discovered some mal- 
 
WOLSEY. 
 
 229 
 
 versation on the part of his colleague, and reported 
 it to the king. The priest Rinaldo, who administered 
 the poison, was put to the torture, and declared that 
 the dark crime was due to the revengeful spirit of the 
 Bishop of Worcester, who had instigated him to its 
 commission. Cardinal Bainbrigg was succeeded by 
 Wolsey, the most remarkable figure, perhaps, in many 
 ways, which appears on the long roll of the Arch- 
 bishops of the great diocese of York. Yet no Arch- 
 bishop,, probably, saw so little of his diocese as 
 Wolsey. He had been connected, indeed, in early 
 life with the church of York as canon of Bugthorpe, 
 jind afterwards as dean. The latter preferment he 
 resigned when he became Bishop of Lincoln. From 
 thence he was translated to York in 15 14, and held 
 the see of Durham, and afterwards that of Winchester 
 in coiitinendain with it. But, strange to saj', he never 
 was at York during the whole time he was Archbishop, 
 iind the only indication of any care for the spiritual 
 interests of the people who were subject to his epis- 
 copal rule consists in a recapitulation which he issued, 
 about 15 18, of the constitutions of his predecessors. 
 These are given at great length, and their observance 
 strictly enjoined.^ It was not until after his disgrace 
 that he even entered his diocese. 
 
 AV'olsey can scarcely be numbered amongst that 
 band of scholars who, like Colet, Erasmus, Linacre, 
 •Grocyn, and More, gave such an impetus to the culti- 
 vation of learning. His transcendent abilities were 
 •directed to the organization of a great national policy, 
 
 ' Wilkins' "Concili.i," iii. p. 662. 
 
230 
 
 YORK. 
 
 both at home and abroad. But he was too astute a 
 man not to see how important a part was being 
 played by the New Learning which had sprung up, 
 and he took measures to promote its spread by the 
 magnificent foundation at Oxford which bore for a 
 time the name of Cardinal College, and a smaller 
 one at his native town of Ipswich. The endowments 
 attached to these foundations were not, however, the 
 outcome of the cardinal's personal munificence. 
 They came from another source, — from the suppres- 
 sion of forty of the smaller monasteries, — "certain 
 exile and small monasteries, wherein neither God is 
 served ne religion kept." So Wolsey describes them 
 in his letter to the king. 
 
 But it was no high-handed act of mere arbitrar)- 
 power. All was done in due form, the dissolution 
 being sanctioned by two Bulls of Pope Clement VII., 
 one dated April, 1524, the second in March of the 
 following year. A proviso was embodied in them 
 that the consent of the king, and the representatives 
 of the founders of the different religious houses, 
 should be obtained. Letters patent were accordingly 
 granted by the king, and the suppression was effected. 
 
 It was not an act devoid of precedent. Alien 
 priories in England had heretofore been dissolved, 
 and, either by royal grant or by purchase, they had, in 
 more than one instance, come into the hands of eccle- 
 siastics whose attachment to the church was indubit- 
 able, and their revenues applied to educational pur- 
 poses. It was from this source that "William of 
 Wykeham endowed his colleges at Winchester and 
 Oxford. Chicheley and Waynflete endowed in like 
 
WOLSEY. 
 
 manner All Souls and Magdalen. Fisher likewise 
 was the means of procuring the dissolution of certain 
 monasteries on the ground of the corruption of their 
 inmates, and their possessions were devoted by Mar- 
 garet, Countess of Richmond (as has been already- 
 mentioned), to the endowment of the colleges and 
 professorships which she founded in the universities 
 of Oxford and Cambridge. It does not appear that 
 any particular feeling was evoked by these pro- 
 ceedings. But Wolsey was dealing in a more whole- 
 sale manner. The number suppressed at one blow 
 was rather startling, and an uneasy feeling was 
 awakened in the minds of many who had a sort of 
 prophetic instinct that it would be followed, at no 
 distant day, by other blows at the great monastic 
 institutions of the country. A remarkable indication 
 of this feeling is exhibited in a letter addressed to 
 Wolsey by Edmund Whalley, the Abbot of St. Mary's, 
 York, in which he remonstrates strongly against the 
 suppression of a small monastery in Suffolk which 
 belonged to that abbey. It betrays great alarm, and 
 if the little monastery might only be spared he offers 
 the sum of 300 marks sterling towards his Grace's 
 "speciall, honourable, and laudable purpose con- 
 cerning the erection and foundation of the said college 
 and schoole." 1 
 
 It was not long before the forebodings of far-sighted 
 men like the Abbot of St. Mary's were realized. The 
 suppression of these small monastic establishments 
 
 ' "Letters relating to Suppression of Monasteries" (Pub. 
 Camden Soc), p. 3. 
 
232 
 
 YORK. 
 
 was the harbinger of another interference with the 
 religious houses. Further powers of dealing with 
 monastic property were soon obtained. In 1528 
 another bull was granted by the pope which sanctioned 
 the dissolution of as many monasteries as would bring 
 in a yearly revenue of 8,000 ducats, with the proviso 
 that those only should be suppressed whose inmates 
 did not exceed six in number. About the same time 
 a further bull was issued, at the king's request, for 
 the suppression of other religious houses, of both 
 sexes, whose numbers respectively fell short of twelve, 
 and the annexation of their possessions to the greater 
 monasteries. The reason assigned to the pope for 
 making this request was this : — an idea had suggested 
 itself to the king that some of the larger and richer 
 monastic establishments in the great towns should be 
 made episcopal sees, and that the endowments of the 
 latter should be furnished out of the revenues of the 
 former. It does not appear that the pope showed any 
 unwillingness to sanction the proposed arrangement, 
 for in the following year he sent a commission giving 
 the necessary powers to establish as many new sees 
 as might be deemed requisite. 
 
 These proceedings were obviously tentative, but 
 they seem to indicate, not very obscurely, the lines 
 upon which Wolsey would have proceeded with 
 reference to the reformation of the Church of this 
 country, for we can scarcely doubt that the papal 
 bulls were procured at his suggestion. We may not 
 unreasonably, perhaps, assume that the monastic 
 institutions were doomed in his mind to a gradual 
 extinction." Their wealth would probably have been 
 
woLSEy. 233 
 
 utilized in two directions, the promotion of higlier 
 education, and a more effective supervision by the 
 fathers of the Church in the great centres of a growing 
 population. One thing is clear, that there was in 
 Wolsey's mind not even the faintest indication of a 
 breach with the great Patriarchate of the West. And 
 it is noteworthy that this diversion of monastic 
 property to objects totally different to the intentions 
 of those who originally bestowed it met with no dis- 
 approval on the part of the Apostolic see, ominous as 
 were the forebodings of those amongst the churchmen 
 of the day whose conservative instincts were adverse 
 to any change whatever. 
 
 But there was a strong reforming spirit abroad in 
 the land. It was clear that disorders existed in the 
 Church which required purification and healing by 
 some powerful agency. In this country no single 
 leader sprung up, as Luther did in Germany, to attack 
 some definite abuse, as he had done with respect to 
 the system of Indulgences, or to propound some new 
 deductions from Holy Scripture, as when he taught 
 with such energy and fervour his doctrine of Justifica- 
 tion by Faith alone. Those who, like Colet and 
 others of a similar stamp, recognized the necessity of 
 reform and proclaimed with sufficient distinctness the 
 abuses which prevailed on every side, had no defi- 
 nitely-formed idea of uprooting either doctrine or 
 ritual. They were distracted by no doubts respecting 
 either. Their only thought was to eliminate such 
 abuses as existed in either by reverting to a teaching 
 more primitive in its tone, more simple in its language 
 —teaching which, like that of Bede, was founded upon 
 
234 
 
 YORK. 
 
 devout contemplation of the Word of God, rather than 
 the metaphysical subtleties of the schoolmen — 
 teaching which should simplify worship and remove 
 the accretions with which superstition had overlaid 
 the venerable truths of the Church's faith. 
 
 Strangely enough, the hand which was to initiate a 
 change which was destined ere long to result in that 
 great work, the English Reformation, was that of the 
 monarch who, in 152X, had sent to Pope Leo X, his 
 reply to the great German reformer, and received in 
 return the proud title of Defender of the Faith. 
 
YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Whatever Wolsey's ulterior projects might have been 
 with regard to the reformation of the Church, circum- 
 stances arose to give it a direction which, but a veiy 
 few years before, could never have been foreseen. 
 The question of the divorce from Katherine brought 
 Henry VIII. into violent collision with Rome. It 
 ended in his throwing off all allegiance to the pojje, 
 and declaring himself to be the one supreme authority 
 in all matters, ecclesiastical as well as temporal, within 
 his realm of England. There was a sort of fore- 
 shadowing of this bold step in a treaty which was 
 arranged in 1527 between Henry and Francis I., which 
 contained a provision that " whatsoever by the cardinal 
 of York, assisted by the prelates of England assembled 
 and called together by the authority of the king, 
 should be determined concerning the administration of 
 ecclesiastical affairs in the said Kingdom of England 
 .... should, the consent of the king being first 
 had, be decreed and observed : " and corresponding 
 stipulations were inserted in behalf of Francis and his 
 clergy. Herbert, who relates this in his " Life of 
 Henry VIII." (p. 209), remarks : " And here certainly 
 began the taste that our king took of governing in 
 chief the clergy." Some little time elapsed, however, 
 before this " taste " was fully gratified. 
 
 In 1528 Cardinal Campeggio came over to 
 
236 
 
 YORK. 
 
 England to try the divorce. The king had submitted 
 to appear before the I.egatine Court (acting of course 
 under the authority of a papal bull) for the trial of 
 his case within his own realm. But the sentence, 
 which Henry expected would be in his favour, was 
 deferred. 'J"he court was adjourned by Campeggio, 
 and the king was summoned to appear before the 
 pope's tribunal at Rome. This was a degradation 
 which the monarch could not brook. Wolsey was 
 proceeded against for a violation of the Statutes of 
 Provisors and Praemunire as regarded the exercise of 
 his Legatine power in England. His proceedings 
 were no doubt an open contravention of those Acts. 
 Practically, indeed, they were in abeyance, 1 but they 
 remained upon the Statute book, and Henry took 
 iidvantage of them to ruin his great minister. Judg- 
 ment was given against him, and pardon was only 
 granted on condition of his surrender of his property 
 to the Crown. The king seized upon his stately 
 palaces of "i'ork House and Hampton Court, and 
 confiscated the vast wealth which he had accumulated. 
 He was allowed however to retain the Northern primacy 
 and to reside at Cavi-ood, one of the residences 
 attached to it, a few miles from the city of York. 
 
 ' "Tlic need of p.ipal support to their disputed tide, which 
 had been felt by the Houses of Lancaster and York, had held 
 these statutes in suspense, and the Legatine Court of Wolsey had 
 openly defied them. They were still, however, legally in force; 
 they were part of the parliamentary tradition ; and it was cer- 
 tain that parliament would be as ready as ever to enforce the 
 independent jurisdiction of the crown."— Green's " Hist." &c., 
 ii. p. 147. 
 
WOLSEV. 
 
 Here lie took up his abode, and was making arrange- 
 ments for his enthronization in the minster, when he 
 was arrested by the Earl of Northumberland on a 
 charge of high treason, and left Cawood on that melan- 
 choly journey which was ended by the death of the 
 great cardinal at Leicester Abbey on the 29th Nov., 
 1530. He was succeeded at York by Edward Lee, the 
 king's almoner, a canon of York and Chancellor of 
 Salisbury, who was consecrated on the loth Dec, 1531. 
 He had been sent the year before to Bologna along 
 with the Earl of Wiltshire and Dr. Stokesley (bisho]) 
 elect of London), to lay before the pope and the 
 emperor the decision of the Universities in favour of 
 the King's new marriage. 
 
 Wolsey's condemnation had some far-reaching 
 consequences. With that strange adherence to 
 technicalities which so often besets the legal mind, it 
 was held by the judges that the nalion was involved 
 in the penalties of Pramunire by having accepted 
 Wolsey's authority. A general pardon was issued, 
 but, either by design or oversight, it did not include 
 the clergy. Early in 1531 they were summoned to 
 appear in convocation. They were pardoned, it is 
 true, but at a prodigious cost. The Province of 
 Canterbury was required to pay 00,000, and that 
 of York 8,840. They were required also to 
 acknowledge the king to be " sole protector and 
 supreme head of the Church." Great reluctance was 
 exhibited to an acquiescence in the latter demand, 
 and after a prolonged debate in the southern convoca- 
 tion, it was only at last accepted on the understanding 
 that the words quantum per Cliristi legem should 
 
238 
 
 YORK. 
 
 be inserted as a qualification. Tliis took place 
 March 22ncl, 1531. 
 
 The York convocation hesitated still longer before 
 they consented to recognize the title claimed by the 
 king. The month of May arrived before they came 
 to any conclusion. The see of York had not yet been 
 filled up, and Tunstall, the Bishop of Durham, appears 
 to have taken a leading part in their deliberations, to 
 which his learning, ability, and high position well 
 entitled him. Tunstall considered that the qualifica- 
 tion quantum per Christi legem licet, was not free from 
 ambiguity, that it might relate cither to spirituals or 
 temporals, or both ; and he was desirous that the 
 acknowledgment of the king's supremacy should be so 
 expressed as to leave no doubt as to its being 
 absolutely limited to civil and secular jurisdiction. 
 On this ground he entered his protest against the 
 demand. But the Northern convocation ultimately 
 submitted to the requirement of the king, as 
 their brethren of the South had already done. 
 
 This was the first stroke of the axe which event- 
 ually severed the connection of the Church of 
 England with the Apostolic Sec. It was done at the 
 suggestion of one of the boldest, most astute, and 
 most unscrupulous ministers who have ever directed 
 a nation's policy. ^Volsey's fall was the occasion of 
 Cromwell's rise. The earlier life of Thomas Crom- 
 well had been a chequered one. His origin was 
 obscure. His youth was partly spent as a soldier in 
 the wars of Italy, partly in commercial pursuits in the 
 Low Countries ; and, on his return to England, he 
 was emjiloyed by Wolscy in the management of the 
 
THE DIVORCE QUESTIO.V. 
 
 business transactions connected with that suppression 
 of the smaller monasteries which was carried out in 
 1524- 
 
 The suggestion made by Cromwell to Henry met 
 with no unwilling acceptance, for it offered a solution 
 of the difficulties which surrounded him with refer- 
 ence to the divorce question. His counsel was 
 that the king should repudiate papal jurisdiction 
 altogether, and obtain the freedom he desired by a 
 judgment issuing from his own ecclesiastical courts. 
 It was not long before this was accomplished. The 
 death of Archbishop Warham in 1532 opened the 
 way for the elevation of one whose name, next to 
 that of Cromwell, occupies a more prominent place 
 in the annals of the divorce, and generally as regards 
 the English Reformation, than that of any other 
 single individual. Warham was succeeded in the 
 primacy by Cranmer. He had recommended him- 
 self to Henry by having sometime before expressed 
 himself in favour of a settlement of the controversy 
 respecting the divorce by a reference to the two 
 universities, whose decision should be accepted with- 
 out its being submitted to the final adjudication of 
 the pope. He had also written a book in which he 
 laid it down that the dispensation for Henry's mar- 
 riage with Katherine being contrary to the law of 
 God, and the decisions of councils and fathers of 
 the Church, must be regarded as utterly devoid of 
 authority. He had also been sent to Rome to main- 
 tain the king's cause at the papal court. On the 
 30th March, 1533, he was consecrated Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, application having been previously made 
 
240 
 
 YORK. 
 
 in the accustomed manner for the papal bulls- 
 authorizing the consecration, the delivery of the pall, 
 and other customary formalities. No opposition was 
 offered by the pope, and the bulls were issued. 
 They required ititer alia that the Archbishop elect 
 should take an oath of canonical obedience to the 
 pope. This obedience Cranmer certainly never 
 meant to pay, but he took the oath nevertheless, 
 salving his conscience by making a previous protest 
 in the presence of some chosen witnesses that in 
 so doing he did not intend to bind himself to any- 
 thing contrary to God's l.nv, to the king's authority, 
 or to such reforms as he might deem salutary to the 
 Church of England. No special pleading can acquit 
 Cranmer of disingenuousness, not to say of dis- 
 honesty, in thus dealing with a solemn oath. 
 
 At this time Henry had already been married to 
 Anne Boleyn. The ceremony took place privately 
 on the 25th January, 1533. It was commonly 
 reported that Cranmer had officiated at this mar- 
 riage, but that was not the case.' His subservience 
 to the monarch's wishes was, however, speedily 
 shown. Katherine was cited to appear at an 
 ecclesiastical court held at Dunstable under the 
 presidency of the new primate, duly licensed by the 
 king, but she stedfastly refjised to obey the citation. 
 
 ' Cranmer writes to Hawkins, the English ambassador at 
 the court of the Emperor Charles V., "it has been reported 
 throughout a great part of the realm that I married her; which 
 was plainly false, for I myself knew not thereof a fortnight 
 after it was done." — Ellis, " Orig. Letters," 1st series, ii. p. 
 89. 
 
APPEALS TO THE POPE FORBIDDEN. 24 1 
 
 At tills court the authority of Rome was deliberately 
 and advisedly ignored, and Cranmer pronounced a 
 judgment on the 23rd May, 1533, whereby Henry's 
 first marriage was declared null and void. The 
 coronation of Anne Boleyn took place at once with 
 all the pomp and circumstance that could be given to 
 the ceremonial, Cranmer placing the crown upon her 
 head. 
 
 It is needless to say that these jjroceedings gave 
 dire offence at Rome. Clement VII., as might have 
 been expected, at once reversed Cranmer's sentence. 
 But Cromwell's policy had already followed up the 
 line that was indicated by Henry's forcing upon the 
 two convocations the acknowledgment of his head- 
 .ship over the Church. An Act had been passed (23 
 Hen. VIII., c. 20., a.d. i 531) whereby the payment of 
 annates or first fruits to the pope had been forbidden. 
 Another enactment followed (24 Hen. VIII., c. 12, 
 A.D. 1532) relating to appeals. The preamble of 
 this statute recognized in no doubtful terms the 
 rightful claims of that " part of the body politic 
 called the spiritualty, now being usually called the 
 English Church," to manage its own affairs, " with- 
 out the intermeddling of any exterior person or 
 persons." By a further statute (25 Hen. VIII., c. 19) 
 the free action of the Church in her legislative capa- 
 city was utterly crippled. Heretofore, the Archbishop 
 of either province could call his clergy together to 
 meet in synod whenever he thought fit to do so ; the 
 king at the same time having the right to summon 
 the clergy of both provinces by a royal writ to parlia- 
 ment, and likewise to direct the summoning of the 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 YORK. 
 
 convocations by the Archbishops. And such man- 
 dates were occasionally issued. But it was now pro- 
 vided that convocation could only be assembled by 
 the king's writ ; that not a step could be taken with 
 regard to making any new canons or ecclesiastical 
 regulations of whate^■er kind, without license from 
 the Crown ; and that when made they would be 
 devoid of ^orce without a formal sanction from the 
 same supreme authority. 
 
 This statute was the harbinger of one which 
 speedily followed (26 Hen. YIIL, c. i) — that which 
 was to concentrate in the Cro\\Ti the supreme authority 
 over things spiritual as well as things temporal. This 
 great statute enacted that the king " shall be taken, 
 accepted, and reputed the only supreme head on 
 
 earth of the Church of England with full 
 
 power to visit, repress, redress, reform, and amend all 
 such errors, heresies, abuses, contempts, and enormi- 
 ties which, by any manner of spiritual authority or 
 jurisdiction, might or may lawfully be reformed." 
 
 Before the royal assent was formally given to this 
 act, measures were carefully taken to ascertain the 
 feeling of the clerg)-, of the universities, and of the 
 monastic bodies respecting so great and momentous 
 a change as it involved. The renunciation of the 
 papal authority and the proposition that Holy Scrip- 
 ture gives no sanction to the exercise on the part of 
 the pope of any higher jurisdiction than that of any 
 other bishop met with general acceptance. Lee, the 
 Archbishop of York, fonvarded a declaration to this 
 effect from the convocation of the northern province, 
 dated June ist, 1534. The convocation of Canter- 
 
FATE OF FISHER AND MORE. 
 
 243 
 
 bury drew up and sent in a similar declaration. 
 Several bishops did the like, as emanating from their 
 respective dioceses, as did also several capitular 
 bodies, together with four and thirty abbots of the 
 most important monasteries. The universities of 
 Oxford and Cambridge likewise expressed their 
 assent. The number of dissentients was inconsider- 
 able. Of these the most eminent, amongst ecclesias- 
 tics, was the venerable Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, 
 who was beheaded soon afterwards, on the 22 nd 
 June, 1535, upon a charge of high treason. His 
 main crime was that he refused to take the oath 
 imposed by the act of 25 Hen. VIH., c. 22, which 
 maintained the succession of Anne Boleyn's children, 
 and implied of course the absolute nullity of Henry's 
 marriage with Katherine of Arragon. The next 
 victim of the act was Sir Thomas More, who was 
 beheaded July 6th, 1535. 
 
 They were not the only sufferers. The opposition 
 to the new doctrine of the king's supremacy was 
 most strenuous on the part of the Carthusians, who, 
 whatever view may be taken of their conclusions on 
 that point, were assuredly the jiurest and holiest by 
 far of all the monastic orders of the period. They 
 soon found the weight of the king's hand. Houghton, 
 the Prior of the Charterhouse, was hanged on April 
 2 7) 1 535- Two of his monks shared his fate on 
 June 18, and nine others suffered the penalty of 
 death on August 4 following. 
 
 The way was clear now for the carrying out of 
 Cromwell's plans as regarded the monastic houses. 
 They were at the mercy of the king. No longer 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 YORK. 
 
 could they plead papal exeniplion from episcopal 
 visitation. All jurisdiction was now vested in the 
 Crown. It was soon to be exercised by his ruthless 
 and powerful minister. In 1535 the sovereign 
 assumed the designation of Supreme Head on earth 
 of the Church of England, and appointed Cromwell 
 his vicegerent, or vicar-general, in all matters eccle- 
 siastical. He lost no time in sending commissioners 
 to hold a visitation of the monastic houses throughout 
 the country, to examine into their state, moral and 
 religious, and to scrutinize the mode in which they 
 had managed their property and administered their 
 revenues. Articles of inquiry, 86 in number, were 
 placed in the hands of the visitors. They were of 
 the most minute and stringent character. 
 
 Dr. Layton and Dr. Legh were the visitors in the 
 diocese of York. Particulars respecting some of the 
 houses they visited may be gleaned from the letters 
 which Cromwell received during the time they were 
 engaged in their work. The Abbot of Rievaulx 
 refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the visitors, 
 and was, moreover, ill reported of by the whole 
 neighbourhood for his " dissolute living," and his 
 wrongful dealings, both as regarded the monks under 
 his rule and others, tenants, apparently, upon the 
 estates of the monastery.^ The Prior of Bridlington 
 writes a most humble letter to the great minister, and 
 sends a " poor token," — in other words, a bribe — by 
 his brother, the bearer of the epistle, in the hope, 
 doubtless, of securing as good terms as might be. 
 
 ' "Letters relating: to the .Suppression of Monasteries " (Pub. 
 Camden .Soc), p. 61. 
 
THE ABBOT OF FOUNTAINS. 
 
 Layton writes to report that in Yorkshire they "fynde 
 gret corruption emongiste persons religiouse, even 
 lyke as we dyde in the sowthe." ^ They were pro- 
 ceeding on the day on which he wrote to visit 
 St. Mary's Abbey, where they were led to expect 
 " much evil disposition, bothe in thabbot and the 
 convent." He reports also, by the way, as it were, 
 that the Dean of York and the Treasurer of the 
 minster were squabbling one with the other as to the 
 terms on which the former was to resign the deanery 
 in favour of the latter. A joint epistle from the two 
 visitors enters at some length into the delinquencies 
 of the Abbot of Fountains,^ who is charged with 
 having dilapidated his house, wasted the woods upon 
 the monastic estate, and only a week before their 
 arrival had embezzled jilate and jewels out of the 
 sacristy of the church, and sold them to a London 
 goldsmith. His private life was also immoral. They 
 made him acknowledge his delinquencies, and advised 
 and almost insisted upon his resignation. But there 
 was some difficulty as to finding a suitable successor. 
 Fountains was a great monastery, and was not one 
 which was then to be suppressed. "There is never 
 a monke in that howse," they told Cromwell, " mete 
 for that rowme." They suggest, however, the appoint- 
 ment of a former monk called Marmaduke Bradley, 
 then a prebendary of Ripon, whom they describe as 
 the wisest monk in England, and, what was probably 
 of greater importance, one who was ready to give 
 ' " Letters," &c., p. 81. 
 
 - William Thresk, or Thiisk. He was afterwards executed 
 for his share in tlie Pilgrimage of Grace. 
 
246 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Cromwell 600 marks if he would make him abbot, to 
 be paid down at once after his election. He had also 
 given them to understand that he was in a position to 
 pay the first-fruits to the king (amounting to ^1,000) 
 without fail within three years. The visitors further 
 intimate to Cromwell that if Marmaduke were made 
 abbot he would have the prebendal stall at Ripon to 
 dispose of. Marmaduke became the head of Foun- 
 tains, but he quite declined to give up his prebend. 
 " The wisest monk within England," saw plainly 
 enough that the monastic houses were doomed. "Of 
 very trewthe," said he to Cromwell, " this howse that 
 I am preferred in, is so farre in danger, all maner of 
 wayes, that I have raither wyll to resign the abbotship 
 than my prebend." It ended in his retaining both.^ 
 
 The report of the commissioners was laid before 
 Parliament. As regarded the state of the greater 
 monasteries it was not, on the whole, unfavourable. 
 The lesser houses were described as being, for the 
 most part, dissolute in their lives, wasteful as regarded 
 the management of their property, and heedless of the 
 obligations which their vows imposed. The charges 
 made as to relaxation of morals were of the most 
 repulsive character. That there was only too much 
 room for accusations against the clergy and many of 
 the monks for immorality is a thing that cannot be 
 gainsaid, for there is evidence respecting it of a much 
 more unimpeachable character than that which is 
 furnished by the \isit0r3 of the monasteries. We 
 
 ' "Memorials of Founlains .Vbbey " (Put- Surtees Soc), i. 
 p. 2S6. 
 
MORALS OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 247 
 
 find, for example, a strict injunction given by Arch- 
 bishop Lee to the treasurer of the jNIinster of Ripon, 
 at a visitation held there little more than a twelve- 
 month after these visitors had made their round, by 
 which he was required at once to dismiss a certain 
 Joan Calverlcy from his house, and to abstain from 
 her company. Grave scandal had evidently been 
 created by her living under his roof Special injunc- 
 tions were given at the same time to the vicars-choral 
 of Ripon, who were bidden to eschew alehouses, 
 cards, and dice, and, above all, to forbear " suspect 
 ■company of women." The Ripon Chapter Acts con- 
 tain, moreover, many instances of penances being 
 assigned to priests for offences springing out of the 
 system of enforced celibacy. 
 
 But there can be little doubt that the case was made 
 as bad as it could be against the monks. The general 
 condition of the religious houses was better probably 
 than was represented. In some cases the visitors 
 themselves were constrained to express their admira- 
 tion of the holy, useful, and industrious lives of the 
 inmates of some of the smaller establishments (which 
 yet, almost in the same breath, they had denounced as 
 incurably corrupt), and suggested that it were well 
 that these should be maintained for the benefit of 
 their respective neighbourlioods. It is scarcely 
 credible, moreover, that if the monasteries were such 
 sinks of iniquity as it was sought to make them out, 
 the gentry throughout the country would have 
 cultivated the friendly and neighbourly relations with 
 abbot and prior and monk which they unquestionably 
 <lid, or that they would have sent their children 
 
248 
 
 YORK. 
 
 to be instructed in the schools carried on within their 
 walls. 
 
 But their doom was sealed. Remonstrances no 
 doubt were made in more quarters than one. In 
 April, 1536, we find Lee, the Archbishop of York, 
 pleading with Cromwell for two within his jurisdiction.^ 
 One was the foundation of St. Oswald's at Nostell, 
 which he represents as being not of necessity a religious 
 house, but a libera capella archiepiscopi, of which the 
 prior is removable at his pleasure : and that, if he 
 thought fit, he could at any time make it into a 
 college of secular canons. The other was Hexham, 
 the position of which on the Borders rendered its 
 maintenance, in every point of view, most desirable. 
 The Archbishop's letter refers also to other matters. 
 His archiepiscopal authority had been invoked by 
 Cromwell to check tlie abstraction of movables, and 
 plate and jewels, on the part of many of the abbots 
 and monks, who, seeing that the storm was about to 
 break, were disposed to do as much as might be for 
 their own private advantage. The Archbishop seems 
 to have done all he could, by private as well as public 
 admonition to the members of the different monastic 
 houses, to put some restraint upon these fraudulent 
 proceedings, which had evidently been carried on to a 
 very considerable extent. The Lord Mayor of York 
 and other citizens, and specially the Master of the 
 Mint there, were also warned of the risk which would 
 be incurred if they became receivers of goods thus 
 embezzled. The letter concludes with a reference to 
 the injunctions about preaching which had issued from 
 * " Letters," &c.. pp. 123-5. 
 
INJUN'CTIONS ABOUT PREACHING. 249- 
 
 the vicar-general. The Archbishop, it seems, had 
 done his best to restrain the preaching of" novelties," 
 but "yet they preach," said he, and some were 
 contumacious enough to say that they would get the 
 king's license to preach : but he hopes no such 
 license would be granted without his privity. Some,- 
 he complains, allege that they have license of my 
 Lord of Canterbury. It is somewhat amusing to see 
 the way in which the old jealousy of Canterbury still 
 animates the Northern primate: — "if they have, 
 none shalbee obeyed here, but onlie the kinge's and 
 you res." 
 
 The injunctions which had been issued on the 
 subject of preaching were very stringent. The 
 supremacy of the king in ecclesiastical matters was to 
 be prominently brought before the people, and no one 
 was to maintain the papal authority. On the subjects 
 of purgatory, honouring of saints, clerical celibac}', 
 justification by faith, pilgrimages, and alleged miracles, 
 the lips of the preachers were to be sealed for a year. 
 The marriage of the king, sanctioned as it had been 
 by the determination of the most learned universities 
 of Christendom, the convocations of the two pro- 
 vinces, and the assent of the lords spiritual and 
 temporal, and the commons of the realm in Parlia- 
 ment assembled, was no longer a matter for argument, 
 but was to be accepted as " a thing of mere verity and 
 so to be allowed in all men's opinions." On one point 
 alone had they free liberty of speech, — namely, the pre- 
 tended claim of the pope to pronounce upon the king's 
 divorce, on which a preacher was not only permitted 
 but enjoined to animadvert without let or hindrance. 
 
250 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Tlie suppression of the smaller monasteries speedily 
 followed the report given in by the visitors. The Act 
 of Parliament for this dissolution was passed in 1536 
 (27 Hen. VIII., c. 28.) Three hundred and seventy- 
 six of these religious foundations fell under this 
 enactment, and their possessions Avere vested in the 
 Crown. The yearly revenue from their estates was 
 estimated at ^^32,000, and their goods and chattels 
 were valued at about ^100,000. 
 
 It was an act which provoked a deep feeling of 
 indignation amongst the people generally, but most 
 especially in the north of England. The number of 
 religious persons whom it sent adrift in the world was 
 very large. Monks and nuns wandered about the 
 country in all directions, seeking food and shelter 
 from those who sympathized with the pitiful stories 
 they had to tell of being forced out of the home 
 where they had fondly hoped to end their days. The 
 jDCople witnessed also, in many neighbourhoods, the 
 desecration of the churches attached to the monastic 
 houses, sometimes their absolute destruction ; and, 
 where this did not take place, their application to the 
 meanest and most ignoble uses. It issued ere long 
 in an insurrection of a very serious character. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The movement which followed the dissolution of the 
 monasteries began in Lincolnshire. AVild stories 
 were told, and met with ready credence, that the next 
 step contemplated by the ruling powers was the pulling 
 down of the parish churches, and the abstraction of 
 their jjlate and ornaments. The clergy throughout 
 the northern counties did all they could to foment 
 disaffection. It was not a very difficult task, for other 
 grievances, of a secular kind, were subjects of com- 
 plaint. There was great discontent on account of the 
 difficulties and complications arising from the working 
 of the Statute of Uses. A change, moreover, was going 
 on in the country, which was breaking up the old system 
 of things. The development of trade had led the 
 owners of property to see that it would be to their 
 advantage to enclose the commons and turn their corn 
 land into pasture. The small farms began to be 
 absorbed by the larger holders, and the occupants of 
 the former found their occupation gone. As in all 
 such changes. Government was blamed, and Cromwell 
 in particular met with no small share of popular hatred. 
 The great nobility hated him as an upstart, the lower 
 class ignorantly blamed and abused him as the author 
 of changes by which they were injuriously affected, 
 but which arose in reality from a variety of causes 
 which no Government could control. 
 
252 
 
 YORK. 
 
 The first outburst took place at Louth. At the end 
 of September, 1536, a nunnery near that town had 
 been suppressed by the visitors, who left two of 
 Cromwell's servants behind them to complete the 
 work. This was followed by a great disturbance, 
 which ended in their being put into the stocks 
 and afterwards imprisoned. But more violent acts 
 followed. Gatherings of the people took place at 
 Caistor and at Horncastle, and an oath was demanded 
 from all of fidelity to the king, the commonwealth, 
 and Holy Church. The numbers were swelled by 
 the clergy at the head of their parishioners, and the 
 tumultuous assemblage was eagerly joined by ejected 
 monks in large numbers. At Horncastle the rising 
 assumed greater proportions. Here the country 
 gentry, with Mr. Dymoke, their high sheriff, Thomas 
 Makerell, the Abbot of Barlings, with his canons, all 
 in armour, were gathered together ; one of the 
 retainers of the abbey carrying the banner which 
 became so famous for the badges which it bore, — the 
 chalice, and the five wounds of our Blessed Lord, a 
 plough, and a horn. The plough was to show their 
 sympathy with the grievances of the husbandman, 
 and the horn was an allusion to the name of the place 
 ■where they were assembling in so much force and 
 with such determined resolution. For it was here 
 that they formulated their demands upon the Crown. 
 They were six in number: — (i.) The restoration of 
 the religious houses. (2.) A remission of the subsidy. 
 (3.) No more tenths and first-fruits to be paid by the 
 clergy to the Crown. (4.) The repeal of the Statute 
 of Uses. (5.) The removal of men of villein descent 
 
PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE. 
 
 253 
 
 from the Privy Council. (6.) The deprivation of 
 certain bishops whom they stigmatised as heretical, — 
 Cranmer, Latimer, Hilsey, the Bishop of Rochester, 
 Brown, Archbishop of Dublin, and Longlands, their 
 own diocesan. These articles were accepted with 
 shouts of joy by the insurgents. The first act of 
 absolute violence occurred at Horncastle. It was 
 the murder of the Chancellor of Lincoln, who, as 
 Cromwell's mouthpiece to the clergy of the diocese, 
 was peculiarly obnoxious to them. A simultaneous 
 outbreak, possibly a preconcerted one, took place at 
 Lincoln. The bishop's palace was attacked and 
 pillaged, the city speedily became the head-quarters 
 of the insurgents, and here they awaited the king's 
 answer to the demands which they had transmitted 
 to him. 
 
 The duty of maintaining the peace of the county 
 rested with Lord Hussey, the chief of the Lincoln- 
 shire nobles. On receiving the news of the insurrec- 
 tion the king wrote to Lords Hussey and Shrewsbury 
 to do all they could in raising troops to overawe the 
 rebels. Hussey's sympathies were with the insurgents, 
 and he simply did nothing. Shrewsbury had antici- 
 pated the king's commands, and done his best to 
 gather a force together. He remained at Nottingham. 
 In the meantime the Duke of Suffolk advanced with 
 great promptitude to Stamford, where he arrived on 
 the nth October. The rebels were reported to be 
 about 60,000 in number. But their very strength 
 proved their weakness. There had been no fore- 
 thought, no arrangement. The individuals composing 
 that formidable host had no provisions, except the 
 
254 
 
 YORK. 
 
 few days' rations they had brought from their homes, 
 and when their scanty supplies were exhausted they 
 rapidly dispersed. 
 
 Suffolk now sent the king's answer to the articles 
 which had been sent from Horncastle. It was an 
 unflinching denial of all that they had asked. No 
 restoration of the suppressed houses need be looked 
 for. It was a most presumptuous act to attempt to 
 interfere with the king's prerogative of appointing 
 whom he would as his counsellors. The Statute of 
 Uses was above their comprehension. The subsidy 
 was granted by Parliament and must be paid. And 
 he concluded by commanding that the ringleaders 
 should be given up to be punished as they deserved, 
 and the rest to return to their homes and not imperil 
 their lives or incur the forfeiture of their goods by 
 wilful persistence in their rebellious action. 
 
 A debate was held. The wiser heads amongst 
 them saw that the enterprise had little or no chance 
 of success, though some hot-headed persons were 
 very anxious to attack Suffolk at all hazards. But 
 caution carried the day. Some of the most prominent 
 leaders, Abbot Makerell and his canons amongst them, 
 were given up, and a free pardon was given to the 
 others. Thus, "in less than a fortnight a rebellion 
 of 60,000 had subsided as suddenly as it had risen. 
 Contrived by the monks and parish priests, it had 
 beeii conducted without concert, without practical 
 skill." 
 
 But the spirit which stirred up this abortive rising 
 in Lincolnshire was dominant also in Yorkshire, and 
 in that great county the insurrection assumed more 
 
ASKE BECOMES LEADER. 
 
 formidable proportions. Its leader was a man of 
 more than ordinary courage and ability, — Robert 
 Aske, the son of a Yorkshire gentleman of ancient 
 descent and high connexions. Aske happened to be 
 in Lincolnshire when the outbreak took place, and 
 must have entered into it with no small amount of 
 zeal, for the district between the Humber and Kirton 
 was placed under his command. When Suffolk 
 entered Lincoln it was clear that the power of the 
 Lincolnshire rebels was broken, and Aske made his way 
 back into Yorkshire. He there found that addresses, 
 issued without his authority, but purporting to bear 
 his signature, were posted in all public resorts, calling 
 upon the people in impassioned terms to rise in 
 defence of the Church and of their own means of 
 living, and to bind themselves by the same oath which 
 had been imposed by the leaders of the Lincolnshire 
 rising. Aske's name was well known, and these 
 forged addresses did their work. The bells were rung, 
 calling the people to arms, and beacon fires were 
 lighted on all the points of vantage from the 
 Humber to the Cheviot Hills. All the towns in 
 Yorkshire and the other northern counties were in a 
 state of wild excitement, and Aske had literally no 
 choice in the matter save to accept the position forced 
 upon him and accept the leadership of that which 
 was rapidly becoming no inconsiderable army. The 
 Pilgrimage of Grace was making its onward march 
 in the great shire of York. 
 
 The king now wrote to Lord Darcy of Templehurst, 
 as he had previously done to Lord Hussey, repu- 
 diating the idea which prevailed that he intended to 
 
256 
 
 YORK. 
 
 meddle with the parish churches, and urging him to 
 take measures for the suppression of the insurrection. 
 Lord Darcy was adverse to the breach with Rome. 
 He had no direct instructions from Henry, and he 
 determined upon a policy of inaction, and shut him- 
 self up in Pontefract Castle with a small body of 
 retainers. The Archbishop of York was with him. 
 
 On the 15th October Aske advanced upon York 
 at the head of the main body of the insurgents. The 
 inhabitants of that city were all favourable to their 
 cause, and its gates were at once opened to them. 
 The monks and nuns were invited to take possession 
 again of the homes from which they had been expelled, 
 and they sang their office that very night in the chapels 
 of their convents. By this time the king had heard 
 of Lord Darcy's inactivity, and wrote to him in great 
 displeasure. Darcy replied that the insurgents were 
 60,000 in number, that Pontefract was untenable, 
 and that it was impossible for him to procure sup- 
 plies. The Duke of Suffolk having possessed himself 
 of Lincoln, Shrewsbury was in a position to advance, 
 and wrote to Lord Darcy promising to relieve Ponte- 
 fract if he would hold his ground. Pontefract Castle 
 was an important stronghold, and the rebel leader 
 knew this as well as Shrewsbury. He knew also 
 what Shrewsbury's intentions were, and he marched 
 at once thither and demanded the surrender of 
 the fortress. If it were refused it should at once 
 be stormed. Wore than one conference between 
 Lord Darcy and Aske took place, but the firmness 
 of the latter prevailed and Pontefract was surren- 
 dered. Lord l^arcy and the Archbishop of York 
 
SKIPTON CASTLE BESIEGED. 
 
 were sworn to the oath by which the insurgents 
 bound themselves, and the former became at once 
 one of the chief leaders of the insurgents. 
 
 Hull was the next place which was seized upon by 
 the rebels, and one town after another was given 
 up to them, for the feeling of the inhabitants was 
 wholly with them. Skipton Castle, the fortress of the 
 Cliffords, was the only one which held out for the 
 king. A thrillingstory is toldby Mr. Froude (" Hist." 
 iii. p. 141) of an attack made by the insurgents upon 
 this stronghold. Lady Eleanor, Lord Clifford's young 
 wife, with three young children, and several other 
 ladies, were staying at Bolton Abbey when the in- 
 surrection broke out. It became known to the 
 assailants where they were, and notice was sent to 
 the Earl that they would seize upon them and hold 
 them as hostages for his submission, and that on the 
 day following, Lady Eleanor, her children, and the 
 ladies, should be brought before the castle in front of a 
 storming party, and that if Lord Clifford refused to 
 surrender, they should be subjected to indignities 
 worse than death. A brother of Robert Aske was, 
 however, one of the garrison. He knew the country, 
 and set forth at dead of night to Bolton Abbey, 
 brought the ladies by unfrequented paths, eluded 
 the vigilance of the besiegers, and brought them safely 
 within the walls of the fortress. Unfortunately for 
 this stirring narrative, it is not easily reconciled with 
 certain dates in the Clifford pedigree. Lady Eleanor 
 was not married until a year after the siege, and it 
 does not appear that she ever had more than one 
 child, a daughter, who was not born until 1 540. 
 s 
 
258 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Lord Shrewsbuiy had advanced as far as Don- 
 caster, but his force was insufficient to admit of his 
 going further northward without reinforcements. The 
 Duke of Norfolk was sent down to his assistance. 
 He joined him on the 25th October, but was charged 
 by the king to avoid an engagement unless he were 
 absolutely certain of success. 
 
 Aske was now joined by representatives of the 
 best blood of Yorkshire, — Lord Scrope of Bolton, 
 Lord Latimer, Lord Lumley, Lord Conyers, Sir 
 Thomas Percy, and many other well-known names, 
 such as Fairfax, Constable, Evers, Bulmer, Tempest, 
 Monckton, Mallory, Norton, &c., &c. The Cliffords, 
 the Dacres, and the Musgraves were the only great 
 houses who stood aloof and heldto the king. 
 
 It was determined to march to Doncaster and con- 
 front Lord Shrewsbury and the Duke of Norfolk. 
 The insurgents' army presented an imposing array. 
 Sir Thomas Percy, a younger brother of Henrj-, 
 Earl of Northumberland, led the advanced guard 
 of 5,000 men with the holy banner of St. Cuthbert 
 upreared in their midst. The men of Holderness 
 and the West Riding followed, with Aske and Lord 
 Darcy at their head. The rearguard consisted of 
 a body of horse, 12,000 strong, from the dales of 
 Richmondshire and* the bishopric of Durham. Sir 
 Marmaduke Constable stated afterwards : " We were 
 30,000 men, as tall men, well horsed, and well 
 appointed as any men could be." 
 
 The insurgents far outnumbered the force which 
 v, as in front of them, and their leaders appear to have 
 thought that Shrewsbury and Norfolk would yield 
 
CONFEREN'CE AT DONCASTER. 259 
 
 to their demands rather than risk an attack. Aske 
 and the cooler heads amongst his followers were far 
 from desirous of being the first to attack, urged though 
 they were to do so by the clergy who accompanied 
 their army. Had they yielded to the pressure thus 
 brought upon them they would have forfeited all 
 claim to the character of loyal subjects, which, in 
 spite of appearances to the contrary, they ostenta- 
 tiously professed themselves to be. 
 
 For two days they confronted each other without 
 a blow being struck on either side. At the end of 
 this time a herald came from the Duke of Norfolk 
 offering to meet four of them in conference, in the 
 town of Doncaster. Aske proposed an open con- 
 ference on Doncaster bridge. After some negotiation 
 this was agreed to. It took place on October 26th. 
 The parley lasted from midday until darkness was 
 closing in around them. The result was that a long 
 series of articles containing their grievances and de- 
 mands which they had handed in, was to be laid 
 before the king by Sir Robert Bowes and Sir Ralph 
 EUerker, whom the Duke of Norfolk engaged to 
 present to their sovereign, and to do what he could 
 to gain them a favourable hearing. 
 
 The articles were explicit enough. Some of them 
 were of no great weight or moment, but there was 
 no mistaking the animus of those which desired the 
 destruction of the heresies of Luther, Wycliffe, and 
 Huss, and sought to have certain books destroyed 
 written by Bucer, Melancthon, and Tyndal, and the 
 extirpation of Anabaptist heresies. The suppressed 
 monasteries were to be restored, with their buildings, 
 s 2 
 
26o 
 
 YORK. 
 
 lands, and goods ; and, above all, the Lord Cromwell 
 and Sir Robert Rich were to " have condign punish- 
 ment as subverters of the good laws of this realm 
 and maintainers of the false sect of these heretics 
 and first inventors and bringers in of them. ' They 
 prayed also that a due meed of punishment should 
 be awarded to Doctors Legh and Layton for their 
 extortions, their bribery, and their abominable 
 conduct in connexion with the suppression of the 
 religious houses. 
 
 The king was on the eve of starting for the north 
 to take the personal direction of affairs when the 
 messengers arrived. He was politic enough to receive 
 them graciously, and kept them by his side for a 
 fortnight. By the end of that time he had brought 
 them over to his own views, and sent them back 
 with private letters to the leaders of the insurrection, 
 expressive of his hope that they would return to their 
 allegiance, and merit thereby the exercise of his 
 clemency towards them. But there was an evident 
 mistrust of the sincerity of Henry's smooth words 
 and promises of clemency. The whole of the country 
 north of the Humber was in a feverish and unsettled 
 state. Hull was strongly garrisoned under Sir Robert 
 Constable, and Aske took every possible care to keep 
 the communications open between Hull and York, 
 and between that city and the bishopric of Durham 
 as far north as Newcastle. It was rumoured that 
 Lord Darcy intended to advance upon Doncaster. 
 and that Aske and Constable would cross over into 
 Lincolnshire, and prevent Suffolk from reinforcing 
 Lord Shrewsbury. 
 
PARLIAMENT AT PONTEFRACT. 
 
 261 
 
 The king sent orders to the latter to maintain his 
 position at Doncaster. Shrewsbury would have 
 preferred falling back upon the Trent, but the king 
 was determined that there should be no appearance 
 of a retreat. Schemes were now on foot for the 
 seizure, or for the murder, of Aske. A trusty messen- 
 ger was despatched by the Duke of Norfolk to Lord 
 Darcy, suggesting that he should deliver up Aske, 
 living or dead, but if possible living. Darcy indig- 
 nantly refused to stain his honour by acceding to so 
 base a proposition. He sent a message to the king 
 to the effect tluit if peace were desired it would be 
 well that an answer to the insurgents' petition should 
 be returned without delay. The result was that 
 EUerker and liowes were sent back with some un- 
 meaning e.\i)res:,ions intended to pacify the insurgents 
 for the time, and an assurance that the Duke of 
 Norfolk, with otiier commissioners, should be the 
 bearers of a final reply at tlie end of November. 
 
 The great body of the insurgents were now be- 
 coming weary of inaction, and much irritation began 
 to prevail amongst them, which caused some uneasi- 
 ness to their leaders. A council was held, at which 
 the main question was whether or not to await the 
 arrival of the king's commissioners, and to receive 
 his final reply to their demands. It was at last re- 
 solved that the reassembling of the insurgent forces 
 should go on in order to ensure security for their 
 leaders when tliey met the commissioners. A parlia- 
 ment and convocation were summoned, which met at 
 Pontefract. The meeting of the latter took place in 
 Pontefract church, and was presided over by the 
 
262 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Archbishop of York, who, in his sermon, boldly ex- 
 pressed his conviction that the meeting was illegal, 
 and that the rising was treasonable. His utterances 
 were so distasteful to some of the men-at-arms who 
 were present that he was dragged out of the pulpit 
 by them, and narrowly escaped with his life. The 
 clergy were unanimously opposed to the views of 
 their diocesan, and drew up a manifesto condemning 
 everything that had been done in the way of reforma- 
 tion, and a similar document was adopted with shouts 
 of applause by the parliament assembled within the 
 walls of the castle. 
 
 These resolutions were presented to the Duke of 
 Norfolk and the other commissioners assembled at 
 Doncaster by Lord Darcy and Aske. Norfolk was 
 in a position of some difficult}'. The king had 
 yielded so far to the representations of his Privy 
 Council as to concede a free pardon and a parliament 
 at York. Further he would not go, and he had sent 
 secret instructions to Lord Derby and the Duke of 
 Suffolk to reinforce Shrewsbury with all speed. In- 
 directly, Norfolk seems to have allowed the insur- 
 gents to believe that the whole of their demands had 
 been granted, and that the object of the Pilgrimage 
 of Grace had been achieved. 
 
 But with regard to the demands for the restoration 
 of the abbey lands and the replacing of the monks, 
 Henry was absolutely and determinedly opposed. He 
 was willing to give a favourable consideration to the 
 social and economical reforms which their articles sug- 
 gested, but not an inch would he recede from the van- 
 tage ground which he had gained for the reformation 
 
INTERVIEW OF ASKE WITH THE KING. 263 
 
 of tlie Church. He promised also tliat a parliament 
 should be held at York in the ensuing year, and that 
 he would himself be present at it. A permanent 
 council, moreover, was to sit at York, to adjudicate 
 upon all questions relating to local claims or differ- 
 ences. All the chief leaders in the insurrection were 
 invited to come up to London and "learn from the 
 king himself the bearing of the measures against 
 which they had clamoured, the motives which had 
 led to their adoption, and the extent to which the) 
 would be further carried." ^ 
 
 Lord Darcy and Sir Robert Constable evidentl) 
 mistrusted Henry. The former refused to go to 
 London on the score of ill-health ; the latter assigned 
 no satisfactory reason, but simply withdrew to the 
 shelter of a fortress on the Yorkshire coast. Of the 
 three chiefs, " Aske alone, the truest and the bravest, 
 ventured to the king's presence," and gave him a 
 plain, straightforward account of the feelings and 
 expectations of the people, and of his own conduct 
 throughout the rising. On his return into Yorkshire 
 he found a profound distrust of the king's intentions 
 prevailing among the people, and a feeling of grave 
 uncertainty respecting the pardon which it had been 
 represented to them the king was prepared to grant. 
 The wave of disaffection which had overflowed the 
 northern counties was not yet stilled, and the letter 
 which Aske addressed to the king, detailing all the 
 causes for uneasiness which still existed, concludes by 
 an expression of his conviction that the d.inger was 
 
 ' Froude's "Hist, of England," iii. p. I7«. 
 
264 
 
 YORK. 
 
 not over, and that he greatly feared that things would 
 even yet come to a bloody end. 
 
 The rebellion was, in fact, far from being extin- 
 guished. It was true that most of the leaders who 
 went up to London had been persuaded to acquiesce 
 in the king's proceedings. But a bitter feeling of 
 exasperation at this existed amongst the clergy, which 
 was shared by no inconsiderable number of the laity. 
 Sporadic risings took place in the early months of 
 1537. Musters were made in Cleveland. Placards 
 were jiosted on the church doors and other public 
 places, and the people were led to believe that Nor- 
 folk, who was coming down as the first president of 
 the Counc il of the North, was to be accompanied by 
 an overwhelming force, and was armed with full power 
 to execute all who were against the king from Don- 
 caster northwards. 
 
 Matters were further complicated by the rash action 
 of Sir Francis Bigod, of Mulgrave Castle, who, on his 
 own responsibility, without consultation with Lord 
 Darcy, Aske, or Constable, gathered a number of 
 people together and made them an inflammatory 
 harangue. His chief confederate was Hallam, who 
 was a retainer of Sir Robert Constable, but a man of 
 little note or importance. Sir George Lumley was 
 led to join them. He made an ineffectual attempt 
 to seize Scarborough. Hallam endeavoured to sur- 
 prise Hull, but was taken prisoner. Bigod obtained 
 possession of Beverley, but his proceedings were dis- 
 claimed and denounced by the three great leaders of 
 the late insurrection; his followers lost heart and left 
 him ; and he also was captured by the king's troops. 
 
DISPERSION OF THE INSURGENTS. 
 
 265 
 
 This rash and ill-advised undertaking proved the 
 ruin of the cause for which Darcy, Aske, and Con- 
 stable had ventured so much. They did their best 
 to maintain order amongst the people, but their very 
 efforts in this direction were regarded by the clergy 
 and tlie country people as evidences of treachery to 
 the cause, and Aske in particular was fatally com- 
 proniised by his generous but futile efforts to save 
 Hallam from execution. 
 
 The Duke of Norfolk arrived at the head of a 
 powerful army. He found disorder prevailing every- 
 where. Northumberland, Hexhamshire, Richmond- 
 shire, and \Vcstmoreland were covered with bands of 
 armed marauders. Carlisle was attacked, but the 
 rebels were beaten back by Sir Thomas Clifford. 
 Norfolk pushed his troops forward, a panic seized the 
 insurgents, and they dispersed without risking a 
 battle. Martial law was now proclaimed, and a mes- 
 senger was sent to the king with information as to the 
 state of affairs. 
 
 Henry's answer was ruthless enough. He was de- 
 termined that, as Norfolk had evidently now got 
 the country under control, there should be little risk 
 of any future outbreak. It is obvious that the chief 
 blame for stirring up the commotions which had now 
 taken place, as well as for the first promotion of the 
 insurrection, was laid to the charge of the members 
 of the various monastic orders. A short shrift and a 
 speedy gallows was to be their doom. " Forasmuch 
 as all these troubles," said the king, have ensued by 
 the soUicitation and traitorous conspiracyes of the 
 monkcs and chanons of those parties ; we desire and 
 
266 
 
 YORK. 
 
 pray you at your repaire to Salleye, Hexam, New- 
 minster, Leonerdcoste, Sainet Agathe, and all suche 
 other places as have made any maner of resistance, 
 or in any wise conspired, or kept their houses with 
 any force, sithens th' appointment at Dancastre, you 
 shall, without pitie or circumstance, nowe that our 
 baner is displayed, cause all the monkes and chanons, 
 that be in any wise faultie, to be tyed uppe, without 
 further delaye or ceremony, to the terrible exemple of 
 others." ^ His directions were carried out. Trafford, 
 the Abbot of Sawley, was hanged at Lancaster on the 
 loth March, 1536-7. The Prior of Hexham suffered 
 likewise. Seventy-four individuals, clerical and lay, 
 suffered in Cumberland and Westmoreland. Hallam 
 and others were executed at Hull. Sir Francis Bigod 
 and Sir George Lumley, with others, were sent to be 
 tried in London. 
 
 It is needless to say that the Pilgrimage of Grace 
 was a movement the progress of which was watched 
 with intense anxiety at Rome. Its commencement 
 synchronised with Reginald Pole's appointment as 
 cardinal. He subsequently had a legate's commission 
 given him by the pope, and it was left to his own dis- 
 cretion whether to go to England or to give such 
 counsel and help as he could to the insurgent leaders 
 from the safer position of a foreign shore. 
 
 Pole maintained correspondence with England. 
 Whether Aske and his fellow-leaders in the insurrec- 
 tion were amongst those from whom he received 
 despatches appears uncertain, but we find that 
 suspicion, of one kind or another, so far rested upon 
 ' Lemon's " St.ite Papers," i. p. 537. 
 
FATE OF LORD DARCV, ASKE, ETC. 267 
 
 them as to lead to their arrest, which took place in 
 April, 1537. They were committed to the Tower. 
 The position they had occupied led naturally to their 
 every action being watched with a jealous eye, and 
 there was much to cause suspicion. They had taken 
 no part in promoting the peace of the country. 
 They were aware that outbreaks were in preparation 
 in Cleveland and elsewhere, but they reported nothing 
 respecting them to the Government. It w^as known 
 that Aske had interfered at Hull to prevent the 
 execution of Hallam, and it was also known that 
 Constable would render no assistance in suppressing 
 Bigod's rash and ill-advised outburst. Moreover, — 
 and this was perhaps the most damning fact of all — 
 it was known that, during the first insurrection, Lord 
 Darcy and Aske had possessed themselves of artillery 
 belonging to the king, and that it was still in their 
 hands. 
 
 Sir John Buhner and his wife (who was a natural 
 daughter of Stafford, Duke of Buckingham), who 
 had been engaged in some plot in Cleveland, were 
 also arrested and taken to London about the same 
 time, as were also Sir Thomas Percy, Bigod, Thirsk, 
 Abbot of Fountains, the Abbot of Jervaulx, and 
 several others. They were tried on the i6th May, and 
 condemned to die. Lord Darcy suffered on Tower 
 Hill on 30th June, 1537. The two abbots and the 
 other gentlemen just mentioned were hanged at 
 Tyburn, and Lady Bulmer was burnt in Smithfield. 
 In the month of July, Aske and Constable were sent 
 into Yorkshire, and delivered into the hands of the 
 Duke of Norfolk. Constable was hanged in chains 
 
268 
 
 YORK. 
 
 at Hull. Aske was drawn through the streets of 
 York on a hurdle, and suffered at the usual place of 
 execution without the walls of that city.i 
 
 Aske was undoubtedly the best and ablest of 
 those who took the lead in the bold but fruitless 
 enterprise which sought to replace the monks and 
 nuns in the houses from which they had been ex- 
 pelled. It was a rebellion, unquestionably, against 
 the chief authority in the realm, yet one cannot 
 altogether refuse to sympathize with the feeling which 
 dictated their opposition to what seemed to them an 
 arbitrary exercise of royal power. They had lived 
 all their lives in the neighbourhood of religious 
 houses, whose inmates they had been taught from 
 their earliest years to respect, if not to venerate. 
 They knew the kindly charities which were dispensed 
 by monastic hands. Many of them had received 
 their education within monastic walls. Their fathers, 
 in many cases, had endowed those houses, and most 
 of them must have had kinsmen in the monasteries, 
 and sisters or female relatives in the convents of the 
 nuns. They resented, therefore, with most bitter 
 feeling the forcible ejection of monk and nun from 
 their quiet and holy homes. They recognised only 
 the good which they knew to exist, they refused to 
 listen to the informer's story of discreditable conduct or 
 corruption of morals. But their gallant efforts availed 
 not, and the Pilgrimage of Grace was made in vain. 
 
 ' It will easily be recognised that the foregoing sketch of the 
 rise, progress, and termination of the Pilgrimage of Grace is 
 largely indebted to the admir,'d)Ie summary of the incidents 
 connected with it contained in Mr. Fronde's " liistoiy," vol. iii. 
 
YORK. 
 
 269 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the prominent part 
 taken by many of the heads of religious houses, and 
 by the monks and clergy in the Pilgrimage of Grace 
 did much to hasten the completion of Cromwell's 
 scheme for their general suppression. In the same 
 month which witnessed the execution of Aske, we 
 find Dr. Layton writing to the great minister soliciting 
 the appointment of himself and Dr. Legh as visitors 
 of the great monasteries which were left untouched 
 by the dissolution of 1536. The letter is dexterously 
 enough worded. He flatters Cromwell by an expres- 
 sion of his conviction that " the kynge's hyghnes 
 hath put his onely truste in him for the reformacion 
 of his clergie," and he goes on to vaunt the fitness 
 of Dr. Legh and himself for the work which was 
 required : — there was not a monastery, cell, priory, 
 or any other religious house in the north, witli which 
 they were unacquainted. They knew the country 
 well, and that characteristic of its inhabitants which 
 he designates as "the rudenes of the pepuU ; " in 
 other words, the sturdy independence which, after the 
 lapse of three centuries, still honourably distinguishes 
 the people of the north, and of Yorkshire in par- 
 ticular. He tells him, moreover, that they had 
 friends and kinsfolk in different parts of the country 
 
270 
 
 YORK. 
 
 who would readily assist them in case of " any 
 stoborne and sturdy carle " being found troublesome 
 and refractory. The two worthies duly received their 
 commission from Cromwell and commenced their 
 visitation, which was continued through the year 
 1538. From the beginning to the end they were 
 two of the most active agents who were employed 
 in the work. 
 
 It went on rapidly. The Abbey of Jervaulx was 
 forfeited to the Crown by the attainder of its abbot, 
 who, as has been already mentioned, suffered on the 
 gibbet at Tyburn. Before a month was over, Sir 
 Arthur Darcy^ wrote to Cromwell that he had been 
 present with the lord lieutenant at the suppression 
 of that great and famous house. He gives a graphic 
 picture of the place. It had one of the fairest 
 churches he had ever seen, standing in the midst of 
 rich and beautiful meadows, with the waters of the 
 Ure gliding by, and a " grett demayne " around, 
 diversified, no doubt, with ancient timber and green- 
 wood coverts of thorn and holly. He had an eye 
 also to other advantages which the place presented. 
 The monks, it seems, were famous for their breed of 
 horses. There was a wide extent of common-land on 
 the high ground singularly suitable for the summer's 
 run of the brood mares and their foals. In winter 
 they could have shelter in the woods on the low 
 
 ' Sir Arthur was the second son of the Lord Darcy who took 
 so prominent a part in the Pilgrimage of Grace. Father and 
 son took different lines. Sir Arthur appears to have been sent 
 down to the north to assist in pacifying the country after the 
 rebellion was put an end to. 
 
FALL OF THE GREATER MONASTERIES. 27 I 
 
 ground, where the grazing was unequalled ; and he 
 expresses his conviction that the king's highness 
 could find no place in England which would contri- 
 bute so much to the improvement of the royal stud. 
 From Jervaulx he went to Selby, in which he had a 
 more personal interest, having received a grant of it 
 from the king. 
 
 Jervaul.K Abbey was speedily dismantled. In 
 November of the same year. Richard Bellasys, who 
 was apparently an assistant commissioner in conjunc- 
 tion with Layton and Legh, tells Cromwell that he 
 had stripped all the lead from its roofs, and made it 
 up for sale. The taking down of the buildings he 
 thought had better be deferred until spring, and he 
 wishes to have Cromwell's opinion as to where the 
 bells were to be sold, whether in the country or in 
 London. 
 
 On the 8th December the commissioners write 
 from Selby that they had dissolved the houses of 
 Hampole, St. Oswald's (Nostell), Pontefract, Foun- 
 tains, St. Mary's-in-York, Nun Appleton, and Selb}-. 
 But they were in some difficulty as to dealing with 
 the shrines, their commission not giving them any 
 .special power respecting them. As far as they had 
 gone they had seized upon their contents to the kings 
 use, but they desire to have their commission enlarged 
 in that particular, so as to meet any awkward resist- 
 ance that might be offered. On the 15th of the same 
 month they tell the vicar-general that they had quietly 
 taken surrenders from, and dissolved the monasteries 
 of Worksoj), Monk Bretton, St. Andrew's at York, 
 Byland, Ricvaulx, Kirkham, and Ellerton, together 
 
272 
 
 YORK. 
 
 with the friars' houses at Tickhill, Doncaster, Ponte- 
 fract, and the city of York ; and that not a murmur 
 had been heard. Nay, they were even " thanckefully 
 receyvede," as within the next few days they intend 
 more fully to certify him. The lead and bells at 
 Bolton Abbey were, it seems, to be reserved, whether 
 for the king's highness' benefit or for that of his vicar- 
 general is not quite apparent. 
 
 Wherever it was practicable surrenders were taken 
 from the heads of the religious houses. It was 
 Cromwell's policy that the dissolution should wear 
 the semblance of a voluntary act, so as to escape the 
 odium which was sure to be incurred by a forcible 
 expulsion. It was a policy which Cranmer evidently 
 entered into. We find him requesting Cromwell to 
 refrain for a time from the expulsion of the prior of 
 the Carthusian house in the Isle of Axholme, telling 
 him that through the influence of friends he hoped 
 to procure his voluntary resignation.^ 
 
 The inmates of the different monasteries and 
 nunneries were sent out into the world with pensions, 
 the amounts of which were fixed apparently by the 
 commissioners, and regulated, according to their in- 
 structions, in proportion to " the rates and revenues 
 and possessions of the howses and the quality of the 
 personnes." The maximum seems to have been 
 _;^ioo per annum. This, at least, was the paj-ment 
 to Marmaduke Bradley, the Abbot of Fountains — 
 that great and rich foundation, the nett yearly income 
 of which was certified in 1535 as amounting to 
 
 ' " Letters Relating to the Suppression of Monasteries,"' 
 P- 173- 
 
FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 
 
 ^998. 6s. yd. The heads of houses of much less 
 annual value received similar pensions. At Whitby, 
 out of a revenue of ;^437 ; Selby, out of ^729 ; 
 Gisborough, out of ;^628 ; St. Leonard's Hospital, 
 York, out of ^362 — the respective heads had ;^ioo 
 a year reserved to them. In some cases, where the 
 estates of the monastery brought in less than ;^3oo, 
 the pension assigned was ^1^50. Lesser amounts 
 were given in some cases. The Abbot of Coverham 
 had only ;^24, but the income of the house was only 
 ^160. The Abbot of Kirkstall got less still — 
 J[\,\(>. 13s. 4d., out of a revenue of ^^329. Probably 
 his absolute refusal to quit the place, and his deter- 
 mination to live in the gate-house rather than do so, 
 had something to do with the slender annuity allotted 
 to him. 
 
 . Fountains Abbey may be regarded as a typical 
 example of those great monastic foundations which 
 were scattered, not very sparsely, over the whole of 
 England. Their possessions were great, and their 
 influence in their respective neighbourhoods was pro- 
 portionate. Tlie mitred Abbot of Fountains or of 
 Selby ranked with the peers of the realm, and sat in 
 the same House of Assembly with them at West- 
 minster ; and when he was at home within the walls 
 of his monastery his state and retinue were princely, 
 his hospitality unbounded. Some idea of the style in 
 which a great abbot lived may be formed by a glance 
 at the lists of the plate which fell into the king's 
 hands at the Dissolution. Exclusive of the various 
 articles used in the services of the Church, — chalices, 
 patens, crosses, censers, images, and reliquaries. 
 
274 
 
 YORK. 
 
 some of them richly jewelled, which amounted, accord- 
 ing to a valuation made not long before the sup- 
 pression, to the sum of /^S^9- ^SS- sd., — the plate 
 at Fountains in the abbot's custody, in the buttery 
 and the frater-house, was valued at nearly ^197. iis. 
 This comprised drinking-cups and goblets, spoons, 
 dishes, and- other articles used at table. The extent 
 of domain which the monks of Fountains farmed was 
 very large. The same record tells us the amount of 
 their live stock, which numbered 2,016 horned cattle. 
 1,146 sheep, 86 horses, and 79 swine.^ 
 
 The landed estates of this monastery were very 
 large. Besides the domain around the abbey, there 
 were manors and granges scattered all over York- 
 shire, which were let to tenants. Wide tracts of 
 woodland, parts of which were ancient forest-ground, 
 intermixed with copse wood, furnished timber. Nid- 
 derdale yielded lead ore, which was smelted and 
 carried in boats down the river Ure to York, and 
 from thence down the Ouse to Hull. The monks of 
 Fountains had long enjoyed the privilege of a free 
 passage on the rivers " Jore and Ouse," by virtue of 
 a charter granted them by Edward, Earl of Cornwall, 
 dated 13 Edward I.^ 
 
 Henry VHI.'s original intention as to the disposal 
 of the vast possessions which came into his hands 
 by the suppression of the great monasteries was to 
 devote them to purposes of general utility, religious, 
 educational, and eleemosynary. A paper is in exist- 
 ence which indicates what his ideas were, especially 
 
 ' "Memorials of Fountains Abbey" (Pub. Surtees Soc), i. 
 p. 294. ' Ibid., p. 402. 
 
A BISHOPRIC OF FOUNTAINS PROJECTED. 275 
 
 as regarded the foundation of new bishoprics. ^ The 
 paper is corrected by the king's own hand, and is 
 accompanied by a hst, altogether in his handwriting, 
 of thirteen new sees which he contemplated. 
 
 One of these was to be endowed out of the pos- 
 sessions of Fountains Abbey and the revenues of the 
 archdeaconry of Richmond. Its bishop was to have 
 jurisdiction over that archdeaconry and the county of 
 Lancaster. The scheme must have been pretty well 
 matured, for a specific detail of the intended founda- 
 tion may be seen amongst the Augmentation Office 
 Papers. Another paper, respecting the erection of 
 certain new bishoprics,^ mentions his intention of 
 founding a see for " Gysborowe cum Beverley." Six 
 only, as we know, were actually erected ; Chester 
 (to which was assigned the district intended for 
 Fountains), Gloucester, Bristol, Oxford, Peterborough, 
 and Westminster. 
 
 The scheme for the redistribution of the revenues of 
 Fountains is very precise, with the sole exception of 
 the amount of income to be assigned to the bishop, 
 which is left blank. But he was probably intended 
 to have an annual income of ^^333. 6s. 8d., as was 
 proposed for the sees of Chester, Colchester, Dun- 
 stable, Shrewsbury, Bodmin, and Southwell. 
 
 The Dean was to have p^ioo a year. Six preben- 
 daries had each ;^20 per annum, and six petty canons 
 each j£io, the one who acted as sacristan having 
 
 ' Cotton MSS. Cleop. E. iv. f. 305. See " Letters Relat- 
 ing to the Suppression," &c., pp. 262, 263. 
 
 "Chapter House Records," vol. cclxiii. p. 43. Cf. "Me- 
 morials of Fountains," &c., pp. 304, 305. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 YORK. 
 
 £,2 more. An epistoler and gospeller had each 
 ^6. T3S. 4d. An annual stipend of the same amount 
 was L;ivcn to each of the six singing men, and 
 ^3. 6s. 8d. to each of the children of the choir, with 
 a salary of ^10 a year to their master. A school- 
 master " to tech gramer " was to be attached to the 
 foundation with a stipend of £,20. Provision was 
 made for servants' wages and for four almsmen be- 
 longing to the churcli. The sum of £20 was to 
 be distributed yearly amongst poor householders, 
 and a like sum to be expended in the making of 
 highway.s.i 
 
 But the l)etter instincts which jjrompted the king 
 to ai)propiiate the possessions of Fountains to an 
 object so much in accordance with a religious founda- 
 tion were overmastered by the love of money and 
 the exigencies of the royal exchequer. A purchaser 
 offered himself in the person of a London merchant. 
 Sir Ricliard Gresham, and he received a grant of the 
 site of the monastery, the domain adjoining, and a 
 considerable portion of the estates, bringing in alto- 
 gether a rental of £1^'^ annum, for which he 
 was to pay at the rate of twenty years' purchase, viz., 
 ^7,000. The particulars are given in a letter from 
 Sir Richard to Cromwell. ^ The grant was made, and 
 the scheme for the bishopric was heard of no more. 
 
 The year 1538, which witnessed the suppression or 
 surrender of most of the greater monasteries, is the 
 same which dates the issue of an injunction by the 
 vicar-general for the keeping of registers in all parish 
 
 " Cf. " Memorials of Fountains Abbey," pp. 304, 305. 
 5 Ibid., p. 306. 
 
PARISH REGISTERS ORDERED. 
 
 277 
 
 churches for the entry of every wedding, christening, 
 and burial which took place within such parishes. 
 Records had been heretofore kept in the religious 
 houses under di.ferent names — Leiger-book, Necro- 
 logy or Obituary, Chronicle, &c. — in which the 
 deaths of eminent persons were entered, the names 
 of persons buried within the precincts of such houses, 
 and sometimes of those who were married there. 
 Entries of this sort were sometimes made in the 
 missals and psalters used in parish churches. But 
 all these were casual entries only, without any system 
 or order, and those made by the monks were, of 
 course, at an end. It is not altogether improbable 
 that Cromwell in his earlier days may have become 
 acijuainted with the fact of parochial registers being 
 kept in some countries on the Continent. The great 
 Cardinal Ximenes, Archbishop of Toledo, ordered in. 
 1497 that a register should be kept in every parish. 
 In France there appear to have been registers as 
 early as 1308, but wliether the practice was universal 
 is uncertain.' Possibly they may have been kept in 
 Italy also. The injunctions seem to have met with but 
 partial obedience. In the diocese of York there are 
 twenty-four parishes only whose registers date from 
 the year when Cromwell's order was issued, and 
 seven in the year following. Many, no doubt, may 
 have perished from one cause or another, but so far 
 as an inference may be drawn from the books which 
 have survived the incuria which has been fatal in so 
 many cases, it might seem that register-books were 
 
 Cf. Burn's " Hist, of Parish Registers in England," p. 3. 
 
278 
 
 YORK. 
 
 not kept in the different parishes of the diocese with 
 any degree of regularity until the reign of Elizabeth. 
 A very large proportion only date, indeed, from the 
 middle of the 17th century.^ 
 
 The fall of the greater monasteries appears to have 
 been accepted with a sort of apathetic resignation 
 on the part of the people generally. No movement 
 followed in the north as after the dissolution of the 
 smaller houses. The way in which the king dealt 
 with those who took a prominent part in the Pil- 
 grimage of Grace was too recent to be forgotten. This 
 completion of the scheme devised by Cromwell for 
 the extinction of monasticism was carried out, there- 
 fore, without any overt act of opposition. That there 
 was a deep undercurrent of regret at the disappear- 
 ance of the communities of good and charitable reli- 
 gious, of both sexes, from their midst, and of utter 
 repugnance to the ruthless manner in which it was 
 carried out, cannot be doubted. Even some of the 
 most prominent of the men of the New Learning, 
 Latimer amongst others, pleaded earnestly for the 
 preser\-atlon of some of the religious houses, as centres 
 of kindly hospitality and loving charity, and places 
 where the young might be safely placed for education 
 and training. But such appeals were in vain. It is 
 quite clear that tlie king and his astute minister were 
 bent especially upon one line of policy, viz., to esta- 
 blish a complete independence of the Pope of Rome. 
 The destruction of the monasteries was essential to 
 this scheme. The exemptions from episcopal control 
 
 ' Cf. Lawton's " CollecLio rerum Ecclesiasticarum in Dicecesi 
 Eboracensi," &c. Loudon, 1842. 
 
BREAKING VV OV MONASTIC PROPERTY. 279 
 
 which from tune to tune they had received, rendered 
 them in point of fact subject to no earthly authority 
 save the pope alone. The continuation of their 
 existence, therefore, would have imperilled Henry's 
 project in no small degree, and it went on to its 
 completion. 
 
 Another reason for the acquiescence of the country 
 at large was, no doubt, the breaking up and re- 
 distribution of the monastic property which took 
 place. All fell, in the first instance, into the hands of 
 the Crown. Much was retained by the king, espe- 
 cially the amount of the plunder of shrines and altars, 
 and the plate which garnished the cupboards and 
 dining-tables of the great abbots and priors. Large 
 sums were realised also by the sale of the lead which 
 covered the roofs of the churches and monastic 
 buildings, and of the bells which hung in the towers of 
 the former, and all went to swell the hoard which 
 was accumulating in the royal treasury. The vast 
 landed property of the different religious houses fell, 
 in like manner, into the king's hands. Some of the 
 estates were retained by the Crown, many were 
 granted to those who were high in royal favour, 
 and many were sold, as was the case with a large 
 portion of the land belonging to Fountains, to suc- 
 cessful merchants, who wished for an investment for 
 the wealth they had accumulated. Many of the richer 
 yeomen also bought portions, larger or smaller, as 
 suited their means, of the abbey lands. In this 
 way a new order of gentry sprung into existence, 
 and in Yorkshire, as in other parts of England, 
 families now of high standing and connexions in 
 
28o 
 
 YORK. 
 
 their respective counties owe the commencement of 
 their importance to the progenitor who made a suc- 
 cessful speculation in the land of some monastic 
 house. 
 
 Henry has often been abused in no measured terms 
 for the prodigality with which he made grants of 
 abbey lands to his favourites, and for the cupidity 
 which led him to traffic, as he did, in the sale of vast 
 portions of them. It is true enough that he did so ; 
 but although it does not in the least extenuate his per- 
 sonal lust of wealth, his unjust appropriation of pos- 
 sessions given for far other purposes, and his profusely 
 extravagant misuse of his ill-gotten gains, the distri- 
 bution which it ultimately involved of the wealth 
 which came into his hands was far from being an un- 
 mixed evil. As Mr. Surtees well says, " had their vast 
 revenues remained vested in the crown, the sovereign 
 would, at this day, have been independent of Parlia- 
 ment, whose control over the monied revenue of the 
 crown forms, if properly exercised, one of the surest 
 bulwarks of British liberty. ''i 
 
 If the suppression of the monasteries had been the 
 outcome of a religious spirit on the part of those by 
 whom it was organised, one result might surely have 
 been looked for, viz., the application of some portion 
 of their great revenues to religious uses. It might 
 have been thought that a suitable provision would 
 have been made for the small chapels, which had 
 been erected from time to time, in the remote corners 
 of wide and scattered parishes, to supply the spiritual 
 
 ' " History of Diiiham " {General Hist.), vol. i. p. Ixix. «. 
 
OVERTURES OF Gl-UMAN REFORMERS. 28 1 
 
 needs of those who lived far away from tlieir parish 
 church. Competent provision might have been made 
 also for increasing the income of incumbents in those 
 large and populous parishes, whose tithes had become 
 the property of monastic bodies. But no attempt 
 was made, no suggestion apparently offered in this 
 direction. The tithes got into lay hands, and the 
 Church of England to this very day feels the loss, and 
 has reason to deplore the omission. The little sub- 
 sidiary chai)els soon fell into decay. In more than 
 one corner of this great diocese, their ruined walls 
 yet remain. In others they have passed out of 
 existence, leaving but a name, such as " Chapel 
 garth," to identify the spot where their walls were 
 reared by the piety of a bygone age. It is true that 
 a few new bishoprics were subsequently founded, and 
 where these were established a dean and chapter 
 took the place of a prior and his monks, but that 
 was all. 
 
 The proceedings of Henry and his vicar-general 
 with respect to the dissolution of monastic founda- 
 tions did not pass unobserved abroad. The bull of 
 excommunication which Pope Paul III. had issued 
 against the king, was now ratified and put in force. 
 In the same year (1538) three divines came over 
 from Germany, to see if a common formula of faith 
 could not be framed. Some overtures of a similar 
 kind had previously been made (in 1534), which for 
 political reasons were not altogether discouraged by 
 the king, and it was probably thought by the German 
 reformers that a more favourable time had now- 
 arrived for coming to a cordial co-oi^eration. Several 
 
282 
 
 YORK. 
 
 conferences took place. The Germans made the 
 Augsburg Confession their basis. It is divided into 
 two parts — confession of faith and condemnation of 
 what they deemed abuses. As to articles of faith, 
 there seemed some possibility of agreement. When 
 they came to discuss the abuses, it was clear that no 
 unity of action was likely to result. Communion in 
 one kind only, private masses, and the celibacy of 
 the clergy, were strenuously opposed by the German 
 divines. Henry was as strenuous in maintaining 
 them. Cranmer's views were much in accordance 
 with those which were advocated by the foreigners, 
 but he was powerfully opposed by Gardiner and 
 Tunstall. The king wrote an answer, with the assist- 
 ance of the latter, to the German envoys, clearly 
 showing that as regarded both ritual and dogma, 
 his sympathies were with the " Old Religion," not 
 with the " New," and the negotiations came to an 
 end. 
 
 This was probably the most adverse circumstance 
 which occurred in this reign, as regarded the pro- 
 gress of the Reformation. It was a decided triumph 
 for the men of the Old Learning, and it soon culmi- 
 nated in the passing of a cruel and barbarous statute, 
 called the ''Six Articles," enacted "for the abolishing 
 of diversity of opinions." They assert (i) that after 
 consecration no bread and wine remain in the Eucha- 
 rist; (2) that communion in both kinds was not 
 necessary ; (3) that no priest be allowed to marry ; 
 
 (4) that vows of chastity are binding by God's law ; 
 
 (5) that private masses are necessary; and (6) that 
 auricular confession is both expedient and obligatory. 
 
PERSECUTION IN THE DIOCESE OF YORK. 283 
 
 Preaching or disputing against these Articles was 
 made felony. 
 
 The revival of persecution followed. A noted case 
 occurred in the person of Lambert, a sacramentary, 
 the term applied to one who denied a corporal 
 presence in the Holy Eucharist. The wave of per- 
 secution extended to the diocese of York. Valentine 
 Frees, a son of Frederick Frees, the first printer who 
 settled in York, was one of its victims. Valentine 
 "was admitted to the freedom of the city of York 
 by patrimony in the year 1539." Opposite to his 
 name in the margin of the city register is written the 
 following note : " Combustus erat apud Knavesmirc, 
 propter heresem." Fuller, in his account of the 
 Worthies of York, speaks of Valentine Frees and his 
 wife as martyrs. "They were both of them," he says, 
 "born in the city, and both gave their lives therein at 
 one stake for the testimony of Jesus Christ, probably 
 by order from Edward Lee, the cruel archbishop. I 
 cannot readily call to mind a man and his wife thus 
 marryed together in martyrdome, and begin to grow 
 confident that this couple was the first and last in 
 this kind." Foxe, in his "Acts and Monuments," gives 
 a frightful description of the cruelties inflicted upon 
 Edward Frees, the brother of Valentine, "who," he 
 says, " had been apprenticed at York to be a printer, 
 and was afterwards a novice monk."^ 
 
 The whip with six strings, as this statute was 
 called, was wielded at first with a sanguinary hand, 
 but ere long the severity of its working was practically 
 
 ' Davies' "Memoir of the York Press," p. 8. 
 
VOKK. 
 
 much modified, owing, probably, to the influence of 
 Cranmer. But it continued in force until the end 
 of Henry's reign. Cranmer's pliancy, and the per- 
 sonal regard which the king entertained for him, 
 saved him from suffering under its lash, though his 
 sympathies were all along with the reforming party. 
 Bishops Latimer and Shaxton, who were not so time- 
 serving, and far more honest and outspoken, were 
 imprisoned. 
 
 The work that was done in Henry's reign as re- 
 garded the reformation of the Church may be briefly 
 summed up under three general heads : — (i) the 
 effort that was made by Cranmer to procure recogni- 
 tion for the reading of the Scriptures in the verna- 
 cular; (2) the publication of certain manuals of 
 doctrine ; and (3) of the primers, or manuals of devo- 
 tion. It was in the year 1534 that Cranmer induced 
 the convocation of the southern province to join 
 in a request to the king that an English version of 
 the Bible might be authorised for general distribution. 
 Tyndale's translation of the New Testament was 
 divided by the archbishop into several parts, which 
 were distributed amongst the bishops for correction. 
 This was favourably received by most of them, of 
 whom Gardiner was one. But Stokesley, Bishop of 
 London, entered a strong protest against the project, 
 on the ground that the reading of the Scriptures 
 " doth nothing else but infect the laity with heresy," 
 and Cranmer's design at that time fell to the ground. 
 In the following year the whole Bible was privately 
 printed by Coverdale, and in 1536 the convocation 
 again appealed to Henry on the subject. In 1537 
 
MANUALS OF DOCTRINE AND DEVOTION. 285 
 
 Cranmer presented to the monarch an English Bible 
 " of a new translation and a new print," usually called 
 Matthew's Bible, the use of which was allowed. Two 
 years subsequently the same version, carefully revised, 
 with an able preface by Cranmer himself, and com- 
 monly known as " Cranmer's," or "The Great Bible," 
 was fully sanctioned by the king, and permitted to be 
 set up in the churches.^ 
 
 Two manuals of doctrine were issued by authority, 
 one in 1537, called "The Institution of a Christian 
 Man.'"' This was superseded in 1543 by a second, 
 entitled " The Necessary Doctrine." The first was 
 the most favourable to the views of those who had 
 reforming tendencies, the second more in accord with 
 the Old Learning. In plan it was the same as the 
 " Institution." 
 
 These were formularies of doctrine. Books ot 
 devotion were also published in the vernacular, 
 under the name of primers. The first was printed 
 in 1535, and was of a reforming tendency. It was 
 suppressed by authority. Another, called Hilsey's 
 Primer,^ was published in 1539, at the instigation of 
 Cromwell, which was more favourable to the Old 
 Learning. This, however, was superseded by the 
 famous one which came out in 1545, under the 
 
 ' Cf. Hardwick's " Reformation," pp. iSl, 182. 
 
 * A copy of this is in tlie Bodleian, with alterations in 
 Henry VIII. 's own hand, together with Cranmer's notes upon 
 these alterations. 
 
 ^ Hilsey, or Ilildesley, succeeded P'isher as Bishop of 
 Rochester in 1535. He lived till 1538, and was succeeded 
 by Nicholas Heatli, who subsequently became Archbishop of 
 York. 
 
286 
 
 YORK. 
 
 distinct authority of the king. It is a proof of the 
 reviving influence of the reforming party. The 
 principle is avowed in the preface of the book that it 
 is lawful for people to pray in their own language. 
 The Litany in English was incorporated with it, and 
 the king's directions were that no other manual of 
 prayer was to be used throughout all his dominions. 
 
 The issue of these manuals seems to be regarded 
 by many writers as a sort of preparation for the 
 public offices of the Church being conducted in the 
 mother tongue. This may no doubt be true to some 
 extent. There was an evident desire for uniformity 
 of usage. In 1541 the Southern Convocation de- 
 cided that the Use of Sarum was to be observed 
 throughout the province of Canterbur}', and in the 
 following year the king ordered an examination and 
 revisal of all mass-books, antiphoners, and breviaries. 
 Superstitious collects and versicles were to be ex- 
 punged, and their place supplied by services " made 
 out of the scriptures and authentic doctors." Por- 
 tions of Holy Scripture in English were likewise 
 ordered to be read. It would seem, indeed, that 
 new service books were actually prepared before the 
 end of Henry's reign. 
 
 It is, perhaps, worth noting that in the account 
 roll of Thomas Merser, Canon Residentiary of York, 
 for the year 1543-4, there is an item for the purchase 
 of " thre processioners in Englishe.'" 
 
 But as regarded private manuals of devotion in 
 English, they were familiarly known and used under 
 
 ' "Fabric Rolls of York Minster," p. 1 11. 
 
PRIMERS. BIDDING PRAYER. 287 
 
 the name of Primer, long before the Reformation 
 period. The word was in common use certainly 
 before the middle of the 14th century. It was 
 used by Piers Ploughman, and it occurs perpetually 
 in the bequests given in wills of the northern coun- 
 ties. From the very earliest times there is indeed 
 abundant evidence that the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, 
 and the Ten Commandments were taught to the 
 people in their own tongue. And when they assem- 
 bled for worship in their churches on Sundays and 
 Holy days, they had instruction given them as to the 
 proper objects of prayer, in what was called the 
 Bidding of bedes, or Bidding-prayer, in which they 
 were taught to remember before God their spiritual 
 pastors, their fellow parishioners, their kinsfolk and 
 friends, to beg a blessing on the labours of the 
 husbandman, that God would send fair weather, and 
 avert the stormy wind and tempest ; they were to 
 pray also for those in debt or deadly sin, that God 
 would turn their hearts, and for those who were 
 godly that he would " give them good perseverance 
 in their goodness," and that He would have mercy 
 upon all departed souls. ^ 
 
 ' Cf. York Bidding-Prayers, given in " Lay-Folks' Mass- 
 Book," pp. 62 et seq. It is worthy of note that in the York 
 Bidding-Prayer, anterior to the Norman Conquest, the Lord's 
 Prayer alone is prescribed at its conclusion. In 1405 a Pater- 
 iioslcr and an Ave are mentioned; whilst in 1445-50 five Aves, 
 in one instance, are directed to be said without the Lord's 
 Prayer. 
 
288 
 
 YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The year before Henry's Primer was issued wit- 
 nessed a vacancy in the see of York, by the death of 
 Archbishop Lee, who died in 1544. Nothing was 
 done by him in the northern province to promote 
 the spread of the Reformation within its borders. 
 His sympathies were all with the Old Learning. He 
 had indeed, like many other prelates, acceded to the 
 king's wishes and issued his mandate to the Arch- 
 deacon of York ad pradicandtim abolitionem auctori- 
 fatis Roinani pontificis, and had declared the king's 
 supremacy, but we do not find that he took any part 
 in the efforts which were indirectly made under 
 Cranmer's cautious guidance for the reformation of 
 the Church's services. His episcopate was marked 
 by the issue of new statutes under the Great Seal in 
 1541, with the authority of Parliament, for the 
 rectification of certain abuses which had crept into 
 the internal administration of the Minster by the 
 Dean and canons. Whether the Archbishop took 
 any part in procuring their issue does not appear. 
 They are said to be due to the influence of Richard 
 Layton, who was appointed in 1539 as successor to 
 Dean Higden. They are addressed to the Arch- 
 bishop and the Dean and Chapter. The chief reason 
 for the framing of new statutes seems to have arisen 
 
NEW STATUTES FOR YORK MINSTER. 289 
 
 from the prodigious expenses in which a canon was 
 involved in his first year of residence. A succession 
 of entertainments was expected from him, and ban- 
 ijuets of the most costly character ; and to such an 
 extent liad this abuse prevailed that no one could 
 pretend to fill the office, unless he were prepared to 
 expend one thousand marks in maintaining this 
 profuse hospitality. The revenue attached to each 
 separate prebendal stall was utterly inadequate to 
 meet this outlay, and the consequence was that most 
 of the canons abstained altogether from keeping 
 residence. This left the government of the Church 
 in the hands of one or two residentiaries only, and 
 the non-residentiaries were gradually ousted from 
 their proper share in its rule, and likewise as regarded 
 the disposal of the livings in the patronage of the 
 body. There were also other breaches of ancient 
 statutes and usages. The new statutes provided that 
 each canon was to protest his residence without any 
 hindrance being thrown in his way by the fear of the 
 expenditure it had heretofore involved; an abuse 
 which was now abolished. Provisions were embodied 
 as to certain details, — as to the number who were to 
 be in residence at one time, the number to be present 
 at the services, and the time residence was to last. 
 The vicars choral were to receive a definite money 
 payment from each canon who was in the greater 
 residence, in lieu of being entertained by him at his 
 table. The Chancellor of the church was to have 
 the power of selecting preachers, but without pre- 
 judice to such customs as obtained with regard to 
 the discharge of that function by any member of the 
 u 
 
290 
 
 YORK. 
 
 body. One thing was distinctly recognised, namely, 
 that each canon, residentiary or non-residentiar}-, had 
 an equal right to be called to the meetings of chapter, 
 and to take part in the deliberations and acts thereof, 
 as fratres et fiiembra cjusdem ecdcsice. No power was 
 to be exclusively arrogated by the residentiaries. 
 
 The arrangement of the stalls in the chapter house 
 bears its silent witness to the equality of the members 
 of the capitular body. All are on the same level, all 
 precisely alike. There is not even a raised seat or a 
 loftier canopy for the Dean himself. He was simply 
 primus inter pares. 
 
 Lee's episcopate was further marked by the aliena- 
 tion to the Crown in 1542 of the manors of Beverley, 
 Southwell, Skidby, and Bishop Burton. This was 
 done in exchange for lands which had belonged to 
 certain dissolved priories. It was an exchange not 
 altogether disadvantageous to the see of York, but 
 the alienation of episcopal property was an evil pre- 
 cedent, which was carried out by his successor in a 
 very unscrupulous manner. Archbishop Lee was 
 buried in the minster. 
 
 He was succeeded by Robert Holgate, who was 
 originally a Gilbertine monk of Sempringham, in 
 Lincolnshire. He subsequently became one of the 
 king's chaplains, was promoted to the see of LlandafF 
 in 1537, and from thence translated to York in 1544. 
 A somewhat remarkable ceremonial took place in 
 Lambeth chapel when Holgate was made Arch- 
 bishop. It consisted in his investment with the pal- 
 lium by the hands of Cranmer. It was done in 
 the presence of the Bishops of Westminster and 
 
PALLIUM GIVEN BY CRANMER, 29 1 
 
 Chichester, and Mr. Anthony Huse, registrar. It is 
 curious as showing the importance attached to inves- 
 titure with the palhum, as conveying the plenitude of 
 archiepiscopal power, and also as showing the posi- 
 tion which Henry intended the Primate of All Eng- 
 land to occupy after his final rupture with Rome. 
 Hitherto the pallium had been given by the Apostolic 
 See, a most solemn promise of obedience to the Pope 
 being previously made by the Archbishop elect. The 
 Archbishop of Canterbury was now, it seems clear, 
 to act as alterijcs orbis apostoliciis et patriarcha, 
 A special service took place on the occasion. 
 After certain versicles and collects the pallium was 
 asperged with holy water and blessed by the primate. 
 The iraditio pallii commenced as follows : — Ad 
 honorem Dei PaU-is Omnipotentis, Filii et Spiriliis 
 Sancti, Inicineratceqiie Virginis Maria et totiiis av/es/is 
 exerdtus, ac illustrissimi et serenissimi in Cliristo 
 principis et domitii nostri Henrici VIII., &c., cui soli 
 et nulli alii obedientiatn et fidelitatem debes, &c. 
 
 Henry, nevertheless, was only reverting to the 
 original practice. The pall in its origin was not 
 a sacerdotal but an imperial robe. It was first 
 bestowed by the emperors only, afterwards by the 
 popes with their permission. Its use as a sign of 
 metropolitan dignity was much later than the original 
 custom of bestowing it as a distinction of honour or 
 compliment.i 
 
 ' See "Gent. Mag." (Nov. i860), vol. Ixiv. p. 522. The 
 particulars of the ceremonial taken from Cranmer's Register 
 were communicated to that publication by Professor Stubbs. 
 The oath taken by Holgate is printed in Wilkins' " Concilia." 
 U 2 
 
292 
 
 YORK. 
 
 When Henry appointed Holgate to the arch- 
 bishopric he was probably well assured of his com- 
 plaisance, for within a month after he took possession 
 of the see of York he alienated to the king thirteen 
 manors in Northumberland, forty in Yorkshire, six in 
 Nottinghamshire, and eight in Gloucestershire, re- 
 ceiving in exchange a grant of thirty-three impropria- 
 tions and advowsons which had come into the hands 
 of the Crown at the dissolution of the monasteries.^ 
 The see was impoverished by Holgate's acts, but a 
 very considerable increase of his own private property 
 was the result. A large portion of his wealth was 
 subsequently applied, nevertheless, to the endowment 
 of educational and eleemosynary foundations in the 
 diocese over which he presided. 
 
 In 1545 an act was passed for the suppression of 
 collegiate foundations, hospitals, chantries, and gilds. 
 But its provisions were not carried out to any great 
 extent until the following reign. In the year in which 
 it was passed we find IMarmaduke Bradley (Abbot of 
 Fountains at the time of its dissolution) giving up the 
 whole of the dividend (except ten marks) which he 
 received as canon residentiary of Ripon, for two 
 years, in order to help forward the restoration or re- 
 building of the great centre tower of the minster of 
 that town. He is described as sole residentiary and 
 president of the chapter. Presentations continued 
 to be made to chantries and prebendal stalls. We 
 find a chaplain instituted to one of the Ripon chant- 
 Professor Stubbs gives a reference to De Marca, lib. vi. c. 7, 
 as to the origin and use of the pall. 
 
 ' Cf. Drake's ;" Hist, of York," p. 452. 
 
DEAN AND CHAPTER OF RIPON. 293 
 
 ries in 1546, and in the same year Archbishop Hol- 
 gate granted to Sir Ralph Sadler^ the next presentation 
 to the prebendal stall of Stanwick in the church of 
 Ripon — an arrangement which was ratified by act of 
 chapter under the presidency of Marmaduke Bradley. 
 Henry VIII., as we may also infer, did not contem- 
 plate the suppression of the collegiate church of 
 Ripon. In the same year in which the act was 
 passed for the dissolution of chantries, collegiate in- 
 stitutions, Sec, he made a grant to the Archbishop of 
 York for the time being of the patronage of the hos- 
 pitals of St. Mary Magdalene and St. John Baptist at 
 Ripon, and of all the prebendal stalls in its minster, 
 together with full power to visit and reform abuses. 
 It would also seem that the monarch intended the 
 president of the chapter to have the title of dean, 
 the body of canons or prebendaries having the desig- 
 nation of " Dean and Chapter " given to them in this 
 grant. ^ 
 
 Excepting as is hereinbefore mentioned, no pro- 
 gress was made with regard to the reformation of the 
 public offices of the Church. Henry clung to the last 
 to the ancient ritual, and, as is well known, his will 
 bears testimony to this fact. But the men of the New 
 Learning were biding their time, and it was not long 
 in coming. Henry died on the 28th January, 1547, 
 and Edward VI. was not long on the throne before 
 
 ' See " Ripon Chapter Acts " (App.), p. 351-4 [Pub. Surtees 
 Soc] Sir Ralph Sadler's name is well known in connexion 
 with his " State Papers," published in 1809, with a Memoir by 
 Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 ' Cf. Drake (App.), p. xciv. 
 
294 
 
 YORK. 
 
 the stately accents of the old Roman tongue ceased 
 to echo within the walls of the lofty minster and the 
 lowlier fabrics of the parochial churches. 
 
 Before proceeding to enter upon any account of 
 this great change, a few words may fitly be recorded 
 here respecting what is known as " The Use of 
 York." 
 
 In England, as in France and other countries of 
 Europe, there were diversities of ritual prevailing in 
 different dioceses, both as regarded the missals, the 
 breviaries, the manuals used by the parish priests in 
 the celebration of the occasional offices of the Church, 
 the pontificals, or books containing exclusively epis- 
 copal offices, and the processionals. To these may 
 be added antiphoners, psalters, and hymnals. In 
 England the Use of Sarum prevailed generally in the 
 southern province. In addition to this there were 
 Uses peculiar to the dioceses of York, Lincoln, Here- 
 ford, Bangor, and others. There can be no doubt 
 that in early times the bishop of a diocese exercised 
 his own discretion with regard to the arrangement of 
 the services used in the churches within its limits, 
 the festivals of saints admitted into their calendars, 
 the musical notation of their hymns, the colours of 
 the vestments of their priests and those of the hang- 
 ings of the altars at which they served. In all these 
 matters there were considerable variations at different 
 periods, even in the same diocese. The rubrics, in- 
 deed, scarcely appear to have become fixed until 
 printed editions took the place of manuscript copies. 
 But notwithstanding all these variations there was a 
 real and substantial agreement. With regard to the 
 
THE USE OF YORK. 
 
 York Use, Canon Simmons expresses his conviction 
 that it was " in the main the ancient Gregorian Mass, 
 according to the Roman rite of the eighth century ; 
 ■or rather that it was the use secimdum rituni sacri 
 palatii, which, with most absolute self-confidence, was 
 enforced by a high-handed exercise of royal supre- 
 macy in the dominion of Charles the Great ; and 
 further, that it was very probably introduced at York 
 by Archbishop Eanbald II. at the instance of his 
 old master, Alcuin.''^ Archdeacon Freeman- con- 
 siders that the Liturgical office introduced into this 
 country by St. Augustine was not the Roman, but 
 a sister rite, formed in the south of France, by the 
 joint action probably of St. Leo and Cassian, about 
 two hundred years before (420), having a common 
 basis, indeed, with the Roinan office, but strongly 
 tinctured with Galilean characteristics, derived long 
 ago from the East ; and probably enriched also, at 
 the time, by fresh importations of Oriental usages. 
 He says that its Galilean origin is incontestably proved 
 by the English diocesan Uses, the contents of which 
 are frequently utterly different from the Roman ; 
 whilst they correspond in very many particulars with 
 usages preserved in various French and Spanish 
 churches. It is important to bear in mind, as bear- 
 ing upon this subject, the record Bede gives of the 
 question Augustine, after his return to Rome, sub- 
 mitted to Gregory the Great with reference to the 
 diversities existing between the Galilean and the 
 
 ' " Lay Folks' Mass-Book " (Pub. Enrly Engl. Text Soc), 
 P- 352. 
 
 - "Principles of Divine Service,"' ii. p. 404. 
 
296 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Roman liturgies. The answer given by the pope 
 allowed him liberty of action : — Ex sitigiilis quibtisque 
 Ecclestis qiix pia, qua religicisa, qucB recta sunt, elige ; 
 et hcBC, quasi in fasciculum collecta, apud Anglonuit 
 mentesiti consuetudinem depone}- No iron rule of rigid 
 uniformity was imposed by the great and wise pontiff 
 who then sat in the chair of Peter, yet in the texture 
 of each liturgy there was a golden thread of unity 
 discernible which vindicated its claim to having been 
 woven in the same loom, however diverse the hues 
 of other portions of its fabric. The part called 
 the Canon MisscE, the most sacred part of the whole 
 action, containing as it does the consecration of the 
 elements and the form of the reception of the Holy 
 Eucharist, is common to all the Uses, with some few 
 variations. When the country came under the govern- 
 ment of one head, greater uniformity in liturgical 
 practice insensibly followed. To this the Use of 
 Sarum largely contributed. A form was drawn up 
 and promulgated about the year 1085, by Bishop 
 Osmund of Salisbury, for use throughout his diocese. 
 His great reputation for sanctity of life and theolo- 
 gical learning led eventually to its adoption far be3'ond 
 the narrow limits of the diocese for whose beneSt it 
 was originally framed. But although the Sarum Use 
 became thus extensively adopted, the other diocesan 
 Uses, more especially those of York and Hereford, 
 held their ground with more or less tenacity down to 
 the time of the Reformation. In the diocese of York 
 occasional instances occur of the introduction of the 
 
 ' " Hist. Eccl.," i., c. xxvii., § 60. 
 
THE USE OF YORK. 
 
 297 
 
 Sarum rite. In one or two cases it met with sonic- 
 thing hke animadversion. The church of Layer- 
 thorpe, a suburb of York, was returned as possessing 
 a missal, but it is stated at the same time 7ion est de 
 usic Ebor. In the Minster itself the altar of St. John 
 of Beverley was reported as being duly furnished 
 with its missal, sed est i/isiifficiois, ijuia 71011 de iisu. 
 Many legacies occur, however, of Sarum rituals of 
 one sort or other, bequeathed to different churches. 
 Uiuim Missale dc itsu Sarum is left to the high altar 
 of the church of Easington, and a similar bequest, 
 together with a processional, a manual, and a gra- 
 dale, each of like use, is made to the parish church 
 of Gedling in Nottinghamshire, which then formed 
 part of the diocese. Archbishop Rotherham seems 
 to have regarded the Use as a matter of indifference. 
 He gave two missals to his college at Rotherham — 
 one of York, the other of Sarum Use. 
 
 It would obviously occupy too much space in a 
 work like the present to enter into a detailed examina- 
 tion of the diversities of the York Use, some of 
 them minute and of no great significance. It may 
 be sufficient to point out some of its peculiarities 
 \vhich have been thought worthy of notice by Arch- 
 deacon Freeman. The Sarum Use begins with the 
 hymn, Veni Creator. The York ritual defers it till 
 the oblation. The word officium is used for introit. 
 The elements were brought in after the introit, being 
 received by the acolyte and placed by him upon the 
 altar, when the corporal was spread ; differing widely 
 from the Roman Use, which directs the celebrant 
 himself to place all on the altar at the very first, the 
 
298 
 
 YORK. 
 
 corporal not being spread until after the creed : but 
 the English Uses agree in this with the French and 
 Spanish, where the elements are prepared and set on 
 before the Gloria in excelsis. " As we approach the 
 oblation and consecration," says Archdeacon Free- 
 man, " the differences become more striking and 
 interesting. In the Roman Use the ' Bread and Cup ' 
 are offered separately, but in the English, as in the 
 East, and as in the French, the Irish, and the monas- 
 tic Uses, simultaneously. ... A beautiful cus- 
 tom obtained in the York Use of the choir saying to 
 the celebrant, at this juncture, 'The Lord hear thee,' 
 &c., ' remember thy offering, and accept thy burnt 
 sacrifice ' : the other Uses and the Roman having a 
 similar prayer at the Tersandus, and at the words, 
 'Accept these gifts.' ' ^ When the priest comes to the 
 consecration of the elements, the Use of York, in 
 common with the other English Uses, enjoins that the 
 bread and wine should be "lifted up," in the manner 
 of one offering a sacrifice, at the words. " He took 
 bread and gave thanks," &c. This appears to recog- 
 nise that the Act of consecration consists "in the 
 imitation of our Lord's action and words, such as we 
 gather them from Scripture, from tradition, or from 
 analogy," — not in the mere repetition of words only. 
 The rubric of the Roman Use expressly says, " He 
 uttereth the words of consecration, Hoc est eniin 
 Corpus Meum." One only amongst the Uses of this 
 country, that of Bangor, as given by Maskell, has a 
 rubrical note to the like e{(ect,^Iltec sunt verba con- 
 secrationis. 
 
 ' " Principles of Divine Service,'" ii. p. 419. 
 
THE USE OF YORK. 
 
 But the most remarkable divergence of the English 
 Uses from that of Rome consists in the absence of 
 any rubrical direction for the adoration of the elements 
 after consecration. In the Roman Use the words are 
 express : — Prolatis verbis consecrationis, statiin Hostiam 
 consecraiam genuflexus adorat. All that is said in the 
 English Uses is that the sacrament is to be lifted up, 
 so as to be seen by the people. Even this direction 
 is altogether absent from more than one copy of the 
 York Use. It is an omission which undoubtedly bears 
 testimony to the antiquity of the ritual of the diocese ; 
 " no mention of the elevation being made by the 
 early ritualists, Alcuin or Amalarius, or Micrologus ; 
 nor is there any allusion to it in the old Ordines 
 Romani, or the sacramentaries of Gelasius or Gregory. 
 It is commonly said that the first order upon the 
 matter, and introduction of its observance, was based 
 upon the famous decree of the Council of Lateran 
 (about transubstantiation), under Innocent III."i A 
 rubric respecting elevation occurs indeed in one copy 
 of the York Use, of the 15th century, which belongs 
 to the library of Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge,- 
 It is a MS. which obviously belonged originally to 
 the Minster of York, and is remarkable for the fulness 
 of its rubrics, which is not a general characteristic of 
 the other existing copies, for they are distinguished 
 rather by the brevity and paucity of their rubrical 
 directions. It corresponds more with the Use of 
 Saruni than any of the other manuscript or printed 
 
 ' IMaskell, " Antient Liturgy," &c., p. 92. 
 ' See "Missals, &c., Ebor." (Pub. Surtees Soc), vol. i. p. 
 186. Cf. also the Preface, p. x. 
 
300 
 
 YORK. 
 
 copies. Some of the rubrics in this MS. are interest- 
 ing. One, e.g., refers to the attendance of the city 
 clergy at the minster on St. John the EvangeHst's day ; 
 another to the boy-bishop's service on Innocents' day.^ 
 
 The words directed in the York Use to be said by 
 the priest at his reception of the Holy Sacrament 
 must not be left unnoticed. They are Corpus et 
 sanguis Domini nostri, &c., custodiat corpus me urn et 
 aiiiniani nieani, &c. The mention of " body and 
 soul " is peculiar to the York Use, and the expression 
 has been retained in our English Liturgy. It is found 
 also in the ancient Missa, published by Flaccus 
 Illyricus. See Bona, p. 385, App. (ed. Antwerp, 
 1739). It occurs likewise in the Mozarabic Rite. 
 
 Of the Manual according to the Use of York there 
 seem to have been but two editions printed ; one by 
 Wynkyn de Worde, London, 1509; and one by 
 Cachet, at York, without date, but probably later than 
 1 5 16, as there is no evidence of that printer having 
 settled at York before that year. Five copies of 
 Wynkyn de Worde's edition are known : of that 
 printed by Cachet an unique copy is preserved in 
 Archbishop Marsh's library, Dublin. There are also 
 four manuscript copies in existence. One of these is 
 in the Minster library at York. Some curious notes 
 are written on its outside leaves. One is of interest 
 to the philologist, for it contains an example of the 
 use of a peculiar term for the publication of banns of 
 marriage, which is not yet extinct in Yorkshire. The 
 
 ' This was a very popular service. The minster of York had 
 a little mitre and a cope of tissue, pro cpiscopo pucrorum, and 
 nine miniature copes were provided for the children who 
 ministered in his train. 
 
THE USE OF YORK. 
 
 301 
 
 people in the rural districts still speak of it as putting 
 in the " spirrings."! The MS. note referred to con- 
 tains a form of address by the priest before commenc- 
 ing the marriage service, which uses this very word : — 
 "Frendys, it is noght unknawn unto yow .... 
 tliat N. and N. . . . has bene ' spirred ' thre 
 solemne dayes in y= kirke, no lettyng ne none 
 ympedyment fond," &c. 
 
 The destruction of the York service-books, of what- 
 ever kind, has been all but complete. The accom- 
 plishment of tliis was unquestionably due to the 
 determined Protestantism of Archbishop Grindal, as 
 we shall hereafter see. 
 
 The Breviary, or Portiforium, as it was more 
 generally called in this country, was, it is almost 
 needless to say, the book containing the offices of 
 devotion which were recited at the canonical hours 
 by the secular clergy, as well as by the members of 
 monastic houses. These offices consisted of prayers, 
 psalms, hymns and canticles, and lessons taken from 
 Holy Scripture or the writings of the fathers of tlic 
 Church. The canonical hours were seven in number, 
 Matins, Lauds, Prime, Tierce, Sext, Nones, \'espers, 
 and Compline. Their use goes back to remote 
 antiquity. Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers gave to each 
 its own peculiar name (one of which still survives on 
 the pages of our prayer-book), Uhtsang, Primesang, 
 Undersang, Middaysang, Noonsang, Evensang, and 
 Nightsang. From the earliest times of which we have 
 
 ' Derived from spcei; spcir, if not directly from Old Noi'se 
 <pyria, Suio-Gothic, S/d/y'n, to make inquiry, to nsk for infor- 
 mation. In " Prompt. Parviilorum" we have " Speryn or aske 
 after a thing." — See Atkinson's " Cleveland Glossary.'' 
 
302 
 
 YORK. 
 
 any record the clergy were repeatedly admonished as 
 to the duty of their solemn recitation. They are 
 mentioned in the Excerpts of Archbishop Egbert, of 
 York, in the pastoral epistle of ^Elfric, and in the 
 canons enacted by King Edgar. The laity also were 
 strongly urged to be present. 
 
 Until the issuing of the successive bulls of Pius V., 
 Clement YIIL, and Urban VIII., which imposed 
 the use of an amended edition in all churches under 
 the Roman obedience, — with the exception of such 
 brev-iaries as could adduce a prescription of 200 
 years, — the bishops of each diocese had power to 
 alter or add to the services adopted in the churches 
 under their episcopal rule. 
 
 York, amongst others, had its own breviarj'. In 
 the general structure and sequence of its different 
 parts it was similar to those which were in use alike 
 in England and throughout the churches of Europe. 
 The chief differences consisted in the commemo- 
 ration of local saints, each with their peculiar lections, 
 hymns, collects, and prayers. This applies equally to 
 the missals. 
 
 The feasts peculiar to the York Use, as found in 
 the calendar of the missal, were as follow : — Festa 
 Jamiarii. Trans. S. Willelmi, in Dom. pro.x. post 
 Epiph. Pauli, iv Id. Jan. Germanici, xiv Kal. Feb. 
 Emerentianse, x Kal. Feb. Babillje, ix Kal. Feb. 
 Polycarpi, vii Kal. Feb. Februarii. Gilberti, ii Non. 
 Feb. Martii. Albini, Kal. Mar. Aprilis. Trans. Wil- 
 fridi, viii Kal. Mali. Maii. Bedse, vii Kal. Jun. Junii. 
 Petrocii, ii Non. Jun. Willelmi, vi Id. Jun. Willelmi 
 Oct. xvii Kal. Jun. Julii. Everildis, vii Id. Jun. 
 Marthse. vi Kal. Aug. Ai/giisti. S. Petri, Oct. \i Id. 
 
THE YORK USE. 
 
 Aug. Hilda;, viii Kal. Sept. Aidani, ii Kal. Sept. 
 Septembris. Evurtii, vii Id. Sept. Adriani, vi Id. Sept. 
 Mauritii, Id. Sept. Octobris. Platonis/ Kal. Oct. 
 Pelagise, viii Id. Oct. Austrebertse, xiii Kal. Nov. 
 Hilarionis, xii Kai. Nov. Germani Cap. iii Kal. Nov. 
 Novembris. Willcbrordi, vii Id. Nov. Martini Papa;, 
 iv. Id. Nov. Fest. Reliquiarum, xiv Kal. Nov. 
 
 The Ripon Use seems to have been simply that of 
 York, with a special office for St. Wilfrid. 
 
 The calendar of the York breviary has a few varia- 
 tions from that of the missal. In the month of May 
 occurs the feast of St. John of Beverley, which does 
 not appear in the missal, whilst the name of the 
 Venerable Bede, which has a place in catalogo 
 sancfoi-iiin in the latter, is absent from the former. 
 In October, Plato appears as Piatus, in conjunction 
 Nvith SS. Germanus, Remigius, Vedastus, and Bavo ; 
 
 ' It is hardly necessary to explain that the great Pagan philo- 
 sopher who bore this name was never canonised. St. Plato 
 was an Abbot at Constantinople. Yet one is irresistibly re- 
 minded, on meeting the name " Plato " in the Calendar, of the 
 striking words of Erasmus in his " Convivium Religiosimi " : — 
 "Ego nonnunquam ofi'endo qusedam vel dicta a veteribus, vel 
 scripta al) elhnicis, ctiam poetis tarn caste, tarn sancte, tarn divi- 
 nitiis, ut mihi non possim persuadere, quin pectus illorum, 
 quum ilia scriberenl, numcn aliquod bonum agitaverit. El 
 fortasse latius se fundit spiritus Christi quani nos interpretamur. 
 Et multi sunt in consortio sanctorum, qui non sunt apud nos in 
 catalogo.'' 
 
 The probability is, however, that IVa/o is a mistake of the 
 transcriber, and that 5'. I'ia/, or Pialns, — for so the name ap- 
 pears in the calendar of the York Breviary, — is meant. .St. 
 Piatus is one of the patron saints of the church of Tournay, in 
 Belgium. He was born at Beneventum, and went as a niis- 
 sioner into Gaul. He was martyred at Tournay, .\.u. 299. 
 
304 
 
 YORK. 
 
 and the name of Paulinus, Archbishop of York, is 
 recorded on vi. Id. St. Wilfrid follows on iv. Id. 
 Some of the saints are briefly described, e.g. Paulus 
 as primus heremita, confessor, non poiitifex; Babillaas 
 Episcopus ; Everildis as virgo, non viarlyr; Pelagia as 
 viatroia ; Austreberta as virgo, non martyr ; and 
 Germanus as Bishop of Capua and confessor. The 
 translation of St. John of Beverley is celebrated on 
 viii. Kal. Nov. In December, the name of St. Barbara 
 appears, but the note is appended, no)i in nsu Ebor. 
 The calendar specifies after the name of each saint 
 the rank assigned to the festival and the number of 
 lections appropriate to it, v>hether three or nine. 
 
 The Portiforium appears to have been frequently 
 used by devout laymen. Bequests not unseldom 
 occur in mediaeval wills of the " Portous," or " Porti- 
 forium," which the testator had used for saying his 
 matins or evensong. Richard, Lord Scrope, who died 
 in 1403, leaves to his son Roger the book, quo usus 
 fui ad dicendum matiiti7ias meas et vesperas.^ 
 
 "The Pontifical of any church," says Maskell,- "is 
 amongst the scarcest of its books existing; and this 
 is no less true of those abroad than at home." This 
 is easily accounted for. It was not a book belonging 
 to the church, but was the private property of the 
 bishop. Neither was it ever printed. No edition 
 exists except those which, from time to time, have 
 been published of the forms authorised by the Church 
 of Rome. Only two pontificals belonging to the 
 diocese of York are known to be in existence ; one 
 
 ' "Test. Ebor.,"' p. 278. 
 
 - " Monumenta Rituali.i,'" i., Inlrod., p. cxiv. 
 
THE YORK USE. 
 
 of great antiquity, that of Egbert, Archbishop of 
 York, the MS. of which is preserved in the library of 
 Paris. Egbert's pontifical is rich in benedictions, 
 many of which are of great beauty. The other is 
 that of Cardinal Bainbrigg. But although they 
 belonged to Archbishops of York, neither of them 
 can be designated as peculiarly a York Use, except as 
 regards the insertion, for convenience sake, of offices 
 more properly belonging to the missal or ihe manual. 
 It is obvious that these would be of the use of the 
 diocese. Diversities are found to exist, in several 
 particulars, from the Ordo lioinanus:, but this is the 
 case, less or more, with all the known pontificals, 
 whether of English or Scotch Use. 
 
 We take our leave here of the stately services 
 which, for centuries, had accompanied the celebration 
 of the Holy Eucharist within the glorious choir of the 
 Minster of York, and the daily recitation of the offices 
 for the different hours by the canons and their vicars. 
 It is difficult to form an adequate idea of the splendour 
 which must have characterised the former on days of 
 high solemnity, when the Archbi.shop was received in 
 state at the great western entrance by the Dean and as 
 many members of the Metropolitical Church as could 
 be gathered together, and conducted in solemn pro- 
 cession to the high altar, there to celebrate the ponti- 
 fical mass ; but we may gather some notion of the 
 magnificence of such functions when we read in an 
 inventory which was compiled soon after the year 
 1500, of the jewelled mitres, the processional crosses, 
 and the extraordinarynumberof embroidered copesand 
 vestments of costly material and varied hues which were 
 
 X 
 
3o6 
 
 YORK. 
 
 possessed by the church of York, and worn by those 
 who accompanied the Archbishop, in seemly order, in 
 those great processions.^ The same inventory con- 
 tains a Hst of the costly images and reliquaries which 
 adorned the various shrines and altars, and the rich 
 tapestry which hung around them. Even the coming 
 forth of the Dean from his house to officiate on a day 
 of high festival in the minster was marked by no little 
 pomp and circumstance. The antiquary, Dodsworth,^ 
 tells us in his "Notes" that his grandfather had "scene 
 Dean Higden attended to the church on a Christmas 
 day by fifty gent, before him in tawney coates garded 
 with black velvet, and thirty yemen behind him in 
 like coates garded with saffron." ^ 
 
 But the splendours of a day of high festival were 
 not always followed by that careful observance of 
 decency and order at the ordinary offices which the 
 rules of the Church imposed. Presentments were 
 made from time to time as to the negligent perform- 
 ance of duty on the part of both canons and vicars.* 
 
 ' Cf. York "Fabric Rolls," pp. 212-35. 
 
 ^ One of the most indefatigable of local antiquaries. He 
 was born in 1585, at West Newton Grange, in Ryedale, and 
 travelled over Yorkshire, making church notes, before the com- 
 mencement of the civil wars, when so much destruction of 
 stained glass, &c., was wrought by the hands of the Puritans. 
 His vast collection of notes, extracts, and copies of MSS. were 
 secured by Lord Fairfax, and eventually given to the Bodleian 
 Libraiy by Henry Fairfax, Dean of Norwich. 
 
 ^ MS. in Bibl. Bodl., vol. cxxv., fol. 1046. Higden was 
 Dean of York from 1 5 16 till his death, in 1539. 
 
 * Cf. Illustrative Documents appende<l to York " Fabric 
 Rolls." 
 
CARDINAL QUIGNON'S BREVIARY. 307 
 
 The daily offices,— so beautiful in their theory, which 
 called upon the priests of God to commence their 
 songs of praise as soon as the midnight hour was past 
 and before the faintest streak of a summer's dawn 
 could be seen in the eastern sky, and to continue 
 them at stated intervals till the darkness of night 
 closed in, — were too often carelessly attended and 
 negligently rendered. Far-sighted men must have 
 seen that a reaction was at hand. There was a 
 growing conviction in the minds of many thoughtful 
 persons, both clerical and la}', that it would be well if 
 the offices of the Church could be made more simple 
 in their form, less complicated in their structure. 
 The idea was not altogether discouraged at Rome. 
 The sanction of Pope Clement VII. was given to a 
 revision of the breviary by Cardinal Quignon, and 
 his work was published with that pope's approval in 
 1535. Its use was sanctioned also by Paul III. on 
 condition of a license from the Apostolic See being 
 obtained. The cardinal's arrangement reduced the 
 number of lections to three, on all occasions, one 
 from each Testament and one from a homil)-. The 
 length of the Scripture lections was materially in- 
 creased, giving increased prominence to the teaching 
 of the inspired writings. It was abolished, however, 
 in 1568 by a bull of Pius V. There can be no doubt 
 that our Prayer-book owes to this breviary a portion 
 of its preface, and the idea, in all probability, of its 
 table of lessons. 
 
 X 2 
 
3o8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Ik Januaiy, 1547, Edward VI. ascended the throne. 
 He was but nine years old, and however precocious 
 he miglit be, it is obvious that the steps, which so 
 rapidly followed for carrying out the innovations 
 which had for a considerable time been contemplated 
 by Cranmer and others, were really the acts of his 
 uncle, the Protector Somerset. But all was done in 
 the kings name, and every opportunity was seized 
 for prompting the boy-king to the utterance of senti- 
 ments in unison with the views of the reforming party. 
 His first Parliament did not assemble until November, 
 1547. But the intervening time was not allowed to 
 pass without something being done. During this 
 period, Ridley attacked the old opinions in his ser- 
 mons. Certain alterations were made which were 
 studiously put forth as emanating solely from the 
 royal authority, (i.) A book of homilies was issued. 
 This was not so much a formulary of faith as a 
 practical work, but it went a good deal beyond the 
 '• Necessary Erudition,'' published in the last reign, 
 laying down very strongly the cardinal doctrine of the 
 Reformers on the subject of justification by faith. 
 The book was attacked by Gardiner as being in- 
 consistent with the " Necessary Erudition." (2.) It 
 was ordered that Erasmus' Paraphrase should be 
 
EDWARD VI. 'S INJUNCTIONS. 
 
 put in all churches. (3.) A translation of Justus 
 Jonas' Catechism was published under Cranmer's 
 authority. It was undisguisedly a Lutheran summary 
 of instruction. 
 
 Other steps were taken in a like direction. A 
 general visitation was held under royal authority, and 
 injunctions were issued which were grounded generally 
 upon those which were put forth by Cromwell, as 
 vicar-general, in 1538, with certain additions, amongst 
 which the most noticeable are directions for the study 
 of the New Testament by the clergy, the reading of 
 the Lessons and the Epistles and Gospels in the 
 vernacular, the prohibition of processions, the taking 
 down of shrines, the putting up of alms-boxes in the 
 churches, and the provision for moving testators to 
 give to the poor-man's box instead of making betjuests 
 for masses pro salute aniimr.. The injunctions autho- 
 rised the Book of Homilies and directed that chantry 
 priests were to employ themselves in teaching the 
 young. A form of bidding-])rayer was ordered, in 
 ■which, it may be noted, prayers for the dead were 
 specially retained. 
 
 Special injunctions were transmitted to the Dean 
 and Chapter of York. Their attention having been 
 first drawn to the general ones issued by royal 
 authority, it was ordered that when sermons were 
 preached " the Pryme and Houres " might be omitted. 
 A library was to be made in some convenient part of 
 their church within a twelvemonth, and they were to 
 provide copies for it of the works of Augustine, 
 Chrysostom, Jerome, and others of the fathers, to- 
 gether with those of Erasmus and " other good 
 
YORK. 
 
 writers." Two English Bibles were to be provided 
 for use in the choir, and two other copies placed in 
 some convenient part of the body of the church for 
 the use of the laity. Sermons were to be preached 
 regularly every Sunday, the dean preaching two every 
 year — on Christmas day and Easter day. Night 
 services were forbidden. Instead of rising at mid- 
 night for matins, that office was to commence at six 
 in the morning in summer and seven in winter. No 
 cope or other vesture was to be worn over their 
 surplices in the choir services.^ On the days when 
 nine lessons had been the rule, six only were to be 
 used. One mass alone was to be said daily, and the 
 hour fixed was nine in the forenoon. Ev^ensong and 
 compline, without any responds, were to be sung at 
 three in the afternoon, and in the winter half-year, at 
 two, or half past. No anthems were to be used except 
 such as were specified in the injunctions, or might 
 hereafter be ordered by royal authority. A godly, 
 retired, and contemplative life was earnestly pressed 
 upon the clergy connected with the minster. All 
 sermons and lectures, whether at visitations, chapters, 
 or on any other occasion, were to be in the mother- 
 tongue. 
 
 Similar injunctions appear to have been sent to all 
 the cathedral churches. Their meaning was clear 
 
 ' It had been the custom for secular canons to wear a black 
 woollen cloth cope over their surplices in choir, excepting at 
 Easter and Whitsuntide, and other high festivals and great saints' 
 days, when the black cope was laid aside and a rich silk one 
 worn in its stead for the procession and the grand high mass. — 
 Cf. Dr. Rock's " Church of our Fathers," ii. pp. 84, 85. 
 
ACTS OF PARLIAMENT IN 1 547. 31I 
 
 enough. It must have been obvious to all the clergy 
 that changes were in contemplation as regarded almost 
 every detail of the services of the Church ; and the 
 main characteristics of those alterations were unmis- 
 takably indicated, that is to say, giving the people 
 the offices of the Church in the vernacular, and the 
 abbreviation and general simplification of all her 
 services. 
 
 Edward's first Parliament, which sat in November, 
 1547, repealed the statutes which were in existence 
 against the Lollards ; got rid of that which made the 
 " Necessary Doctrine " obligatory ; abrogated, in fact, 
 every statute relating to religion, so that the king and 
 his advisers might begin dc novo with their work. 
 Heresy, however, was still left punishable by common 
 law. An act was passed relating to the administration 
 of the Eucharist. This had two objects in view : one 
 to put a stop to the indecent attacks made upon it ; 
 the other to restore to the people their share in it by 
 adding a form in English for reception by the laity in 
 both kinds. No other change was at this time made 
 in the mass. 
 
 An important alteration was made as to the election 
 of bishops. The conge d'elire was done away with, and 
 the Crown invested with the sole power of appointing 
 to bishoprics by letters patent, showing in a very 
 marked manner the tendency that existed to exalt the 
 secular power above the spiritual. 
 
 A very severe act was passed against vagabonds, 
 which is said to have been directed against the wander- 
 ing monks and mendicant friars. 
 
 York came in for a share of legislation. The 
 
312 
 
 YORK. 
 
 preamble to the statute of i Edw. VI., c. 9, describes 
 it as a decaying place, and states that many of the 
 parochial clergy were ill-provided for. Power was 
 therefore given to the lord mayor and recorder, the 
 ordinary, and six justices of the peace, to unite as 
 many parishes and pull down as many churches as 
 they deemed fitting ; the materials of such as were 
 destroyed to be applied to the repair of other churches 
 and of bridges, and towards the relief of the poor. 
 
 A statute was also enacted for getting the remainder 
 of the chantry and hospital lands, and the property 
 of gilds and confraternities, into the king's hands. 
 Cranmer was very anxious that this measure should 
 be delayed until the king attained his majority, with a 
 view to their revenues being applied to the augmenta- 
 tion of poor benefices, but his efforts were fruitless. 
 The one good result of the dissolution of these various 
 foundations was the foundation of grammar schools 
 in different places. But by far the greater part of the 
 chantry lands, &c., fell into the hands of needy and 
 unscrupulous courtiers, whose loud professions of 
 reforming zeal were the outcome, not of godliness, 
 but of greed. The needs of the royal exchequer 
 were also supplemented out of the spoils which were 
 furnished by their seizure. At York, the shrines and 
 altars were stripped of their costly and beautiful plate 
 and ornaments, which were broken up and sent to the 
 mint to be turned into coin. Churchwardens in the 
 various parishes soon followed suit, laid hands upon 
 chalices and other church furniture, vestments, bells, 
 &c., and turned them into money. But the confisca- 
 tion of the gild property, together with that of the 
 
QUESTION OF CLERICAL CELIBACY. 313 
 
 hospitals, was a yet greater wrong. As Professor 
 Stubbs well says, "whatever may have been the results 
 of the stoppage of monastic charity, it was one un- 
 questionable cause of the growth of town pauperism. 
 The extant regulations and accounts of the gilds 
 show how this duty was carried into effect ; no doubt 
 there was much self-indulgence and display, but there 
 was also effective relief The charities of the great 
 London companies are a survival of a system which 
 was once in full working in every market town.''^ 
 
 The convocation which sat in this year memorialised 
 the archbishop that the canon law should be altered, 
 that they should have a share in the legislature and 
 sit in the House of Commons, and that they might 
 have a hand in revising the services. The question 
 of the celibacy of the clergy was brought under dis- 
 cussion. A proposition to do away with it was carried 
 by a considerable majority, fifty-three being in favour 
 of it and only twenty-two against. In the convocation 
 of 1549 a similar motion had seventy supporters. But 
 the sanction of the legislature was required, and two 
 acts were passed respecting it. The first alloived 
 marriage, but inserted a clause to the effect that a 
 single life was preferable. The second act omitted 
 this clause. 
 
 By far the most important work carried on at this 
 time was the preparation of the Book of Common 
 Prayer. It was entrusted to certain commissioners, 
 composed of both parties, who met at Windsor. 
 Ridley tells us that they were all agreed that the 
 
 ' " Constitutional Hist.," iii. p. 6cx3. 
 
314 
 
 YORK. 
 
 worship should be in the vernacular. Probably, after 
 a time, the men of the Old Learning withdrew them- 
 selves. Their instmctions were to revise the old 
 services, purify and retrench them. The Missal of 
 Sarum, that of York and other Uses, the Consultation 
 of Herman, Archbishop of Cologne, the Breviary of 
 English Use, and, as there is reason to believe, the 
 reformed breviary of Cardinal Quignon, formed the 
 chief materials for their work. There seems to be 
 evidence that this first book of Edward VI. was 
 sanctioned by convocation. It was formally autho- 
 rised by an Act of Parliament in January, iS4g. This 
 was the first Act of Uniformity, and it provided that 
 the book should come into use on the Whit-sunday 
 following. 
 
 The form which it contained for the celebration of 
 the Holy Communion was evidently intended to pro- 
 voke as little as might be any antagonistic feeling. The 
 old name of "the Mass " was retained. The altars 
 and their furniture remained as they were, and the 
 priest who celebrated was to be apparelled in a cope 
 or vestment over his alb ; and his assistant ministers, 
 if such were present, were to be arrayed, as heretofore, 
 in albs with tunicles, thus presenting to the eye what 
 the worshipper had always been accustomed to see. 
 The service began, as we now have it, with the Lord's 
 Prayer and the Collect for Purity. An introit, or 
 psalm proper to the day was then sung, followed by 
 the Lesser Litan}-. After this came the Gloria in 
 excelsis, succeeded by collects, one for the day or 
 season, the other for the king, preceding the Epistle, 
 Gospel, and Nicene Creed. A sermon or homily 
 
FIRST PRAYER-BOOK OF EDWARD VI. 3 15 
 
 followed, to which exhortations on the subject of 
 communion might be added at the discretion of the 
 minister. It is worthy of note that one of the rubrics 
 with regard to this implies that daily communion was 
 to be observed in cathedral churches and other places, 
 referring probably to collegiate institutions, such as 
 Ripon, Beverley, Southwell, &c. The offertory came 
 next, comprising the sentences, the oblation of the 
 alms and elements, the daily and proper prefaces, and 
 the Sanctus. Then came one long continuous prayer, 
 analogous to the Canon Missa, which embraced the 
 prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church, the Prayer 
 of Consecration (special direction being given for omis- 
 sion of the elevation or showing of the Sacrament to the 
 people), the first thanksgiving in our present Post- 
 communion, and the Lord's Prayer. After a mutual 
 blessing on the part of priest and people, a short 
 lesson, " Christ our Paschal Lamb," was said by the 
 priest, followed by the Invitatory, the Confession, 
 Absolution, Comfortable Words, and prayer of Humble 
 Access. Then came the Priest's Communion, followed 
 of course by that of the laity, during which the Aginis 
 £>ei v/CLS sung, together with certain sentences of Holy 
 Scripture. What is now the second thanksgiving in 
 our Post-communion followed, the whole concluding 
 with the Benediction. 
 
 The daily offices of the Church were reduced to 
 two. Matins and Evensong, names which still survive 
 in the calendar of our Prayer-book, and were con- 
 structed out of those contained in the Breviaries of 
 English Use. The morning office was a condensation 
 of matins, lauds and prime, and evensong, in like 
 
3i6 
 
 YORK. 
 
 manner, was an abbreviated form of vespers and 
 compline. 
 
 It could be no matter of surprise that the issue of 
 this book caused a great sensation. It was followed 
 by insurrections in different parts of the kingdom, 
 the most serious of which were in Norfolk and 
 Devon. Some of these risings were not purely of 
 a religious character. There was much distress 
 amongst the labouring classes, and they had a 
 strong feeling that, somehow or other, it was con- 
 nected with the suppression of the monasteries and 
 the rise of a new order of landholders, who had not 
 the same sympathy with the poor as had been mani- 
 fested by the religious orders. They were now called 
 upon to make a complete change in the mode of 
 worship to which they had been accustomed, and 
 they could not disconnect it from previous dis- 
 arrangements of the established order of things 
 which they had witnessed, and which they regarded 
 with the utmost antipathy. The insurrection in 
 Devon was the one most distinguished for religious 
 fervour. The insurgents published certain articles, 
 whicii were answered by Cranmer. They desired 
 the re-enactment of the Six Articles, the mass to be 
 used as heretofore, the Blessed Sacrament to hang 
 over the high altar, and Communion to be in one 
 kind only. 
 
 The reformed service appears, however, to have 
 come, on the whole, into general use almost im- 
 mediately. But a new set of assailants arose. A 
 provisional arrangement which was adopted at the 
 Diet of Augsburg in May, 1548, called the Interim 
 
VESTMENT CONTROVERSY. 
 
 Aiignstanuni, gave great offence to a large number of 
 foreign Protestants, who left their homes in con- 
 sequence and came over to England, where they 
 appear to have met with a kindly reception by 
 Cranmer, and other eminent persons of the New- 
 Learning. Those of the greatest note amongst these 
 refugees were John i Lasco, Bucer, and Peter Martyr. 
 John a Lasco was allowed to minister in London to 
 the foreigners ; Bucer was appointed divinity pro- 
 fessor at Cambridge ; and Peter Martyr to the same 
 chair at Oxford, where the latter carried on disputa- 
 tions on the subject of the doctrine of the Holy 
 Eucharist, strongly condemning the teaching that 
 grace was conferred by the Sacraments. It was a 
 mode of expression, however, which Bucer, who 
 took higher views respecting the Eucharist, did not 
 scruple to use. 
 
 \\\ 1550 a controversy arose respecting vestments, 
 owing to the pertinacity of Hooper, who after the 
 passing of the Six Articles Act, had retired to Zurich, 
 where, under the teaching of Bullinger, he imbibed 
 the Swiss theology in all its fulness, and advocated its 
 principles with unflinching zeal and energy. He was 
 appointed to the bishopric of Gloucester, but de- 
 murred to the episcopal garments. Pressure was 
 brought upon Cranmer to dispense with the dress and 
 to consecrate him, but this the primate refused. A 
 compromise, however, finally took place and he 
 received consecration. 
 
 Another question was mooted about altars, in 
 which Hooper took an active jiart, in conjunction 
 with Ridley, who had lately been appointed Bishop 
 
YORK. 
 
 of London, and who took energetic measures for 
 their removal. An order of council was obtained 
 directing them to be taken dowTi and replaced 
 by wooden tables, with the view of rooting out 
 the idea of a propitiatory sacrifice in the Holy 
 Eucharist. 
 
 As a concession to the reforming party, of whom 
 Hooper was the most prominent partisan, a revision 
 of the Prayer-book was determined upon. It had 
 been persistently urged upon Somerset and Cranmer 
 by Calvin, " who thought himself wiser than the 
 antient church, and fit to dictate religion to all 
 countries in Christendom.'"i It was urged forward 
 also with much pertinacity by the foreign refugees, 
 and a committee was appointed for the purpose, who 
 prosecuted their labours during 1550 and 1551. 
 Peter Martyr and Bucer were consulted during its 
 progress. The latter, however, died early in 1551, 
 before the work was completed. It was submitted 
 to Parliament and sanctioned in 1552, and was 
 ordered to be brought into use on All Saints' day in 
 that year. 
 
 The office for the Holy Communion as given in 
 the first Prayer-book was considerably modified, in 
 the direction, certainl)-, of tlie anti-Roman views of 
 the more advanced section of the reforming party, 
 who were especially anxious that there should be as 
 little ground as possible for the service being sup- 
 posed to favour the doctrine of the real presence in 
 the Holy Eucharist. This was especially marked in 
 
 ' These are Collier's caustic words. — " Eccl. Hist.," ii., 
 P- 309- 
 
SECOND PRAYER-BOOK OF EDWARD VI. 319 
 
 the form of administration. The words heretofore 
 used, "The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ," &c., 
 were omitted, and their place supplied by "Take and 
 eat this in remembrance," &c. As Hardwick ob- 
 serves, " the old formula was quite compatible with a 
 belief in transubstantiation ; the new formula, on 
 the contrary, was made consistent even with the lax 
 hypothesis of Zwingli."i But it is quite clear that 
 those who undertook the task of revision had no idea 
 whatsoever of transforming it into a service which 
 was incapable of being accepted by those who held 
 higher views with regard to Christ's presence in the 
 Eucharist. The preamble of the statute, which 
 authorises the book of 1552, speaks of the first book 
 in no ambiguous terms as "a very godly order, agree- 
 able to the Word of God and the Primitive Church." 
 As Collier says, " there is no stroke of censure, no 
 charge of superstition, no blemish, either with regard 
 to doctrine or ceremonial thrown upon it."^ The 
 truth is, no doubt, that this revision was a com- 
 promise. It was intended, if it might be, to satisfy 
 the scrupulous consciences of those who had adopted, 
 in a greater or lesser degree, the religious opinions 
 which were held by the foreign reformers, without 
 absolutely provoking the active hostility of those 
 whose views were more in accordance with primitive 
 antiquity and Catholic teaching. 
 
 The more prominent changes in the new service- 
 book were the leaving out of the name of "The 
 Mass " from the title of the Communion office, the 
 
 ' "Hist. Rcf.," p. 211. - "Eccl. Hist.," ii. p. 320. 
 
YORK. 
 
 introduction of the Decalogue at its commencement, 
 the transferrence of the Oblatory thanksgiving to the 
 Post-communion, the omission of the invocation of 
 the Holy Spirit in the Consecration prayer, and the 
 withdrawal of any direct prayer for the souls of the 
 departed. The alteration of the words of adminis- 
 tration has already been mentioned. In addition to 
 these changes a surplice was now the only vestment 
 required to be worn by the officiating minister, and a 
 rochet by a bishop. Chasubles and copes, stoles and 
 tunicles, were to disappear. The offices for Morning 
 and Evening Prayer were now to commence with 
 certain sentences of Holy Scripture, and a general 
 confession, followed by a form of absolution. The 
 form of exorcism was left out of the baptismal office, 
 and that of extreme unction withdrawn from the 
 office for the visitation of the sick. Other minor 
 changes were also made, and a declaration was added 
 at the last moment, before the issue of the book, ex- 
 plaining that, although communicants were directed 
 to kneel at the reception, no adoration was intended 
 to the elements, or to any real and essential presence 
 in them of Christ's natural flesh and blood. 
 
 Another work that went on was the construction of 
 Articles of Faith, which Cranmer was instructed to 
 prepare. They were published in 1552. AVhether 
 they were ever authorised by convocation is doubtful. 
 They were forty-two in number, and were founded to 
 a great extent upon those which were discussed in 
 1538 between the German divines and the English. 
 It is said to have been a favourite scheme of 
 Cranmer's to get such a confession of faith established 
 
holgate's injunctions. 
 
 321 
 
 as all the reformers, both at home and abroad, might 
 join in. 
 
 A catechism was published at the end of the 
 articles, which is attributed to Poynet. It rested 
 only upon the royal authority. 
 
 Simultaneously with the drawing up of the articles 
 another work was carried on by certain commissioners, 
 who were entrusted with the task of revising the canon 
 law, bringing it into an organised form, and adapting 
 it to the then existing requirements and constitution 
 of the Church of England. The code which they 
 drew up bears the name of Reformatio Legum Eccle- 
 siasticaruin. It was completed before the death of 
 Edward, but in consequence of that event it never 
 was authorised by the legislature. 
 
 We do not find that Archbishop Holgate took any 
 prominent part in the work carried on by Cranmer 
 and the other leaders of the reforming party, but 
 there is evidence that he was thoroughly in harmony 
 with them. The injunctions which he issued to the 
 capitular body at York on the 15th August, 1552, 
 when the second book of Common Prayer was on 
 the eve of publication, show this plainly enough. 
 Provision was to be made by the Chapter for the 
 delivery of divinity lectures, at which the attendance 
 of the vicars choral, deacons, and other inferior 
 ministers of the church of York was enforced, and 
 they were to be examined once a month, either by 
 some of the canons or by the divinity reader himself, 
 to ascertain the amount of knowledge they had gained 
 therefrom. Preaching was much insisted upon, and 
 a cycle of preachers was arranged for the several 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Sundays of the year, very much in the form of that 
 which is now in force. Each vicar choral under the 
 age of forty years, and each of the deacons, was 
 enjoined to commit to memory every week a chapter 
 of St. Paul's Epistles, in Latin, " after the translation 
 of Erasmus." A similar task was imposed upon the 
 choristers, who were each to learn a chapter of the 
 Gospels and Acts, in English, every week, or at the 
 least every fortnight ; and they were to be examined 
 as to their proficiency, every Sunday, or at any rate 
 at the fortnight's end, by the master of the choristers. 
 The examination of the vicars choral the Archbishop 
 reserved to himself or to some competent person 
 appointed by him. Even those above forty years 
 old were not permitted altogether to escape, for they 
 were to read their weekly chapter with such an 
 amount of care as to be able to give a fair account 
 of it when called upon. Devout preparation for 
 weekly, or even more frequent communion was 
 urgently pressed upon all the members of the 
 Church, of whatever degree. Every vicar choral 
 was to have an English Testament of his own. 
 Those of them who were celibates and lived together 
 in common were to read daily a chapter therein after 
 dinner and supper, and the like practice was enjoined 
 upon those who were married and lived in their own 
 houses, so that the wives and servants of such might 
 have the advantage of listening to the daily reading 
 of the Word of God. 
 
 No ornate singing was to be allowed at any of the 
 services of the Church, at which nothing but plain 
 song was to be used, so as " that which shalbe songe 
 
holgate's injunctions. 323 
 
 and redde may be well herde and understande of the 
 laye and ignorant people." A singular prohibition is 
 added, — the organ was silenced both at Morning 
 Prayer, at the celebration of Holy Communion, 
 and at Evening Prayer ; the Archbishop enjoining 
 that " the said playnge do utterlie cease and be left 
 [in] the tyme of divyne service within the said 
 churche." The master of the choristers, who had 
 acted as organist in times past, was bidden " to serve 
 God in such vocacion as he can conveniently and 
 may," though he was still to assist in the singing, 
 especially on Sundays and festivals. The clerical 
 tonsure was abolished. No ecclesiastic connected 
 with the minster was thenceforth to " shave his 
 crowne, under payne of censures of the churche." 
 Everyone, whether canon, vicar choral, or other 
 minister or official, belonging to the church, was to 
 subscribe the articles of religion which had been set 
 forth. 
 
 All canopy and tabernacle work, within the niches 
 of which the venerated images of the Blessed Virgin 
 Mary and saints and martyrs had stood, especially 
 over the high altar, was to be taken down with all 
 convenient speed, and the spaces which had been 
 occupied by its costly and beautiful carving trans- 
 formed into a plain, flat surface, on which sentences 
 of Holy Scripture were to be painted. 
 
 The Archbishop shows much anxiety about the 
 speedy furnishing of the library with suitable books, 
 specifying, in particular, " the ancient doctors of 
 the churche," — those, namely, who wrote within the 
 first six centuries of the Christian era. Certain 
 y 2 
 
324 
 
 YORK. 
 
 later commentators are particularly enumerated, — 
 Musculus upon St. Matthew, John Brentius upon 
 St. Luke, Calvin and Bullinger upon the Epistles, 
 and Erasmus' Annotations upon the New Testament 
 — as works which were to be at once provided for 
 the common use of all who should frequent it. 
 
 The animus of the whole of the injunctions is un- 
 mistakable. Holgate, it is clear, sympathised heart 
 and soul with the foreign reformers and the changes 
 they had set on foot. The stately services of the 
 minster were to be reduced to as low a level as might 
 be, and when Calvin and Bullinger were put forward 
 as authorised expositors of Holy Scripture, it is 
 obvious that the " New Learning " in its more exagge- 
 rated form was being inculcated as vigorously as pos- 
 sible by the prelate who at this particular juncture 
 occupied the episcopal chair of York. 
 
 Of the reception which Holgate's injunctions met 
 with on the part of the capitular body, and of the 
 extent to which they were carried out, we have no 
 account. Little, probably, was done, for the young 
 king died on the 6th July, 1553, not quite a twelve- 
 month after their issue. His death extinguished for 
 a time all the hopes and aspirations of the reformers, 
 and brought back at once, for a brief season, the 
 services of the olden time. 
 
YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 After the death of Edward VI., Lady Jane Grey 
 consented, with much reluctance, to be proclaimed 
 queen ; but she relinquished all claim to the title 
 after a brief tenure of the honours of sovereignty for 
 only thirteen days. His sister Mary succeeded, dating 
 her accession from the day of her brother's decease. 
 A speedy change took place as to religious matters. 
 When Parliament met after the queen's coronation, it 
 was opened with a celebration of High Mass, in ac- 
 cordance with the form always observed on such 
 occasions in her father's time. The statutes which 
 had reference to the divorce of Katherine of Arragon 
 and the queen's legitimacy, and others which related 
 to the marriage of the clergy, communion in both 
 kinds, and the establishment of the two books of 
 Common Prayer, were abrogated, — every statute, in 
 fact, concerning religion enacted in her brother's 
 reign, was repealed. A royal proclamation to this 
 effect was issued on the 5th December following, 
 which also notified the re-establishment of the mass 
 throughout the kingdom. Another proclamation was 
 directed against any obstruction being offered or dis- 
 turbance made when the priests were saying mass or 
 performing any sacred function. The nation at large 
 appear to have accepted the restoration of the mass 
 
326 
 
 YORK. 
 
 and the other old services and usages with great 
 unanimity and contentment. In the autumn of the 
 following year (1554), Cardinal Pole arrived in Eng- 
 land, bringing with him the formal documents issued 
 by Pope Julius III. for the reconciliation of the nation 
 to the see of Rome. They were produced before 
 Parliament by the cardinal on the 30th November, 
 when both Houses received on their knees the abso- 
 lution which he was authorised by the Apostolic See to 
 pronounce after he had received, through its represen- 
 tatives, the submission of the nation. On Advent 
 Sunday a solemn service was held at St. Paul's, when 
 the apostolic benediction was imparted by the car- 
 dinal to the assembled multitude in the presence of 
 the queen, the lord mayor, and aldermen, and others 
 of importance in the city, Bishop Gardiner preaching 
 the sermon. A few days afterwards both Houses of 
 Convocation made their submission to the Holy See 
 with all due form and solemnity. 
 
 But there was one concession the queen could not 
 obtain. The Houses of Parliament acquiesced in an 
 acknowledgment of the papal jurisdiction, though it 
 was by no means a unanimous feeling in the Lower 
 House ; but they steadfastly resisted anything which 
 wore the semblance of a resumption of the lands of 
 the monastic houses, the chantries, and the gilds. 
 Those lands had now been dispersed, had been 
 bought and sold and re-sold, and thousands of her 
 subjects, of all ranks and degrees, regarded them- 
 selves as their rightful owners. Mary was constrained 
 to forego her own feeling on the subject, and the con- 
 sent of the pope was obtained that the church lands 
 
REFORMERS GO INTO EXILE. 
 
 3-7 
 
 might remain without let or hindrance in the hands 
 of their present holders. 
 
 All that Mary was able to accomplish in the way 
 of restitution was the re-establishment of the Monas- 
 tery of Westminster, under the government of Abbot 
 Feckenham. The Dominicans were also replaced in 
 Smithfield, the Observant Friars at Greenwich, the 
 Bridgettines at Sion House, and the Carthusians at 
 Sheen. The Hospitallers, or Knights of Jerusalem, 
 had likewise some of their lands restpred. In each 
 case the property was in the hands of the Crown. 
 
 But measures fraught with evil omen to the reform- 
 ing party were soon put in force. Some of the 
 bishops, indeed, conformed, but others were arrested 
 and imprisoned, Holgate, the Archbishop of York, 
 being one. Others made their escape in company 
 with the foreign refugees who, at the very beginning of 
 Mary's reign, were ordered to depart from England 
 within a given time on pain of imprisonment and for- 
 teiture of all their possessions. Multitudes of those who 
 sympathised with their religious views, and perchance 
 had gloomy forebodings of an impending persecution, 
 accompanied them into exile. They took refuge at 
 various places, Strasburg and Frankfort, Basle, Zurich 
 and Geneva, being amongst the chief places where they 
 received a kindly and generous welcome. Amongst 
 the most prominent of the English refugees were 
 Bishops Coverdale, Barlow, Poynet, Scory, and Bale, 
 certain deans and archdeacons, and a great number of 
 clergy, the names of some of whom subsequently be- 
 came well known, such as Jewel, Grindal, and Sandys, 
 Nowell and Pilkington, Whittingham and John Foxe. 
 
YORK. 
 
 A policy of extermination was ere long decided 
 upon ; nor was it long before it was carried out in 
 the most ruthless manner. It would be a repulsive 
 task to recapitulate the horrors of the persecution 
 which took place, and happily, as far as Yorkshire is 
 concerned, it is needless, for it is all but absolutely 
 free from the atrocity of the stake and the faggot. 
 One sufferer only is recorded. A page of the parish 
 register of Richmond contains a brief entry of a 
 poor man named Snell, who was " brent " there in 
 September, 1558. 
 
 That Mary had great provocation from the fana- 
 ticism of the more extreme adherents of the reforming 
 party is unquestionable. " They heaped on the 
 queen, her bishops, and her religion every indecent 
 and irritating epithet which language could supply. 
 Her clergy could not exercise their functions without 
 danger to their lives ; a dagger was thrown at one 
 priest in the pulpit, a gun was discharged at another, 
 and several wounds were inflicted on a third while he 
 administered the communion in his church. The 
 chief supporters of the treason of Northumberland, 
 the most active amongst the adherents of Wyatt, 
 professed the reformed creed ; an impostor was 
 suborned to personate Edward \T. ; some congrega- 
 tions prayed for the death of the queen ; tracts filled 
 with libellous and treasonable matter were transmitted 
 from the exiles in Germany ; and successive insurrec- 
 tions were planned by the fugitives in France."^ 
 
 Evidence enough exists of the truth of these words 
 
 > Lingard's " Hist. Engl.," v. p. 239. 
 
THE MARIAN PERSECUTION. 
 
 of Dr. Lingarcl, but no provocation can be allowed 
 to extenuate the cruelties which were perpetrated, 
 and which have left a deeply-rooted prejudice in the 
 English mind against a religion which it associates 
 with them. The best of our English Roman 
 Catholic writers have not been slow to express their 
 abhorrence of that relendess persecution. " As to 
 the number and character of the sufferers," says Mr. 
 Tierney, " certain it is that no allowances can relieve 
 the horror, no palliatives can remove the infamy that 
 must ever attach to these proceedings. The amount 
 of real victims is too great to be affected by any 
 partial deductions. Were the catalogue limited to a 
 few persons, we might pause to examine the merits of 
 each individual case, but when, after the removal 
 of every doubtful or objectionable name, a frightful 
 list of not fewer than two hundred still remains, 
 we can only turn with horror from the blood- 
 stained page, and be thankful that such things 
 have passed away." ^ Dr. Lingard speaks almost as 
 strongly. 
 
 But at that period, and long afterwards, toleration 
 for diversity in religious views was a thing unknown. 
 As Lingard truly says, " the extirpation of erroneous 
 doctrine was inculcated as a duty by the leaders of 
 every religious party." ^ The reforming party, when 
 they had the upper hand, were quite as ready to burn 
 those who held heretical opinions as were the Roman 
 Catholics. Two persons suffered that cruel death in 
 Edward VI. 's reign on account of their religious 
 
 ' Tierney 's Ed. of " Dodil's Church Hist.,'' vol. ii. p. 107. 
 ' "Hist. Engl." V. p. 259. 
 
33° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 opinions, — Joan Bocher, and a Dutchman called 
 Peter van Paris. Joan Bocher's execution was 
 pressed on Edward by Cranmer, who quoted from the 
 law of Moses that blasphemers should be stoned, 
 and that Joan had rushed with violence against the 
 Apostles' Creed, and deserved the punishment of a 
 blasphemer. It has indeed been alleged in extenua- 
 tion that these people were Anabaptists, who certainly 
 held opinions subversive of civil government, but 
 there can scarcely be any doubt that they really 
 suffered on account of holding erroneous theological 
 views. If Mary's victims had been counted by units 
 only, her persecution would have left little or no im- 
 pression, probably, on the public mind, but the 
 numbers were so appalling that the impression 
 remains even yet ineffaceable. 
 
 The line taken by Archbishop Holgate, as indicated 
 above, was certain to place him in an obnoxious atti- 
 tude, as regarded the new sovereign. He was, more- 
 over, a married ecclesiastic, and one of the first acts 
 of Mary's reign was to deprive the married clergy of 
 their preferments. Holgate was accordingly deprived 
 of his archbishopric, and in addition to that was 
 committed to the Tower, chiefly because of his 
 opposition to the queen's title to the Crown. He 
 remained a prisoner for a year and a half, when he 
 was released, it is said, on the intercession of Philip. 
 He retired to Hemsworth, in Yorkshire, where he is 
 supposed to have been born, and where he probably 
 died in the year 1556, v.hich is the date of the pro- 
 bate of his will. But no sepulchral memorial exists 
 to mark the place where his body lies, nor is there 
 
HEATH BECOMES ARCHBISHOP. 331 
 
 any record of his interment in the Hemsworth parish 
 register. 
 
 The charitable foundations in Yorkshire associated 
 with his name were not altogether the outcome of 
 posthumous liberality. He obtained letters patent 
 from Henry VIH. for the foundation of three 
 grammar-schools in the year 1546, at York, Old 
 Malton, and Hemsworth. Each school was to be 
 a separate corporation, with statutes and ordinances 
 to be framed by the archbishop. Lands of the 
 annual value of ^24 were given to the schoolmaster 
 of Hemsworth. These schools are still in existence, 
 under a revised system of government adapted to 
 the requirements of the present day, and are doing 
 good and useful work. Hemsworth hospital was 
 founded under the provisions of his will, in which he 
 laid down minute provisions for its regulation. The 
 property bequeathed for its maintenance has much 
 increased in value. It accommodates ten brethren 
 and ten sisters, who have each a house and ^^40 
 a year. The management of the charity is now 
 vested in trustees, under a scheme drawn up by the 
 Court of Chancery in 1857. 
 
 The vacancy caused by Archbishop Holgate's de- 
 privation was speedily filled by the appointment of 
 Nicholas Heath. He had been successively Bishop 
 of Llandaff, Rochester, and Worcester. Of the latter 
 see he was deprived by Edward VI. for refusing to 
 take the oath of supremacy, but was restored by 
 Mary. The bull of Pope Paul IV. confirming his 
 election to the see of York bears date the 21st June, 
 1555, and is the last instrument. of the kind relating 
 
332 
 
 YORK. 
 
 to this see. The pallium was sent to him in the 
 October following, and he was enthroned by proxy 
 on the 22nd January, 1555-6. 
 
 Archbishop Heath was a learned and most e.xem- 
 plary prelate, devout in the exercise of his own 
 personal religion, but mild and tolerant as regarded 
 the conscientious convictions of those who took oppo- 
 site views. It is believed that the immunity which the 
 North of England enjoyed from the cruel persecu- 
 tions which disgraced the later years of Mary's reign 
 was due, to a great extent, to the gentler nature of 
 Heath in York and Tunstall in Durliam, neither of 
 whom were in accord with the ruthless determination 
 of those who sought to extirpate the reforming 
 element from the country by the fires of Smithfield. 
 
 Heath had, in some ways, considerable influence 
 with Mary. He induced her to restore to the see the 
 Ripon lordship and seven manors which had been 
 alienated from it, as well as Southwell and five other 
 manors in Nottinghamshire. 
 
 Mary's death took place on the 17th November, 
 1558. Her reign is one whose records, as regards the 
 mode she took to force her own religious views upon 
 those of her people whose convictions were adverse 
 to them, can never be regarded without a shudder, 
 but her personal virtues were many. Mulier sane 
 pia, says Godwin, clemens, vioribusqiie castissimis, et 
 iisquequaquam laudanda, si religionis errorem non 
 species. 
 
 When Elizabeth ascended the throne she was met 
 at once by the religious difficulty, but she did not at 
 once make a change. The ceremonies of her coro- 
 
Elizabeth's accession. 333 
 
 nation were carried out after the old forms, and the 
 mass went on as it had done during the reign of her 
 sister, the queen attending its celebration in the 
 accustomed manner ; the only alteration which was 
 made being an order that the Lord's Prayer, the 
 Creed, the Litany, the Commandments, and the 
 Epistle and Gospel for the day, should be said in 
 English. She also required that the elevation of the 
 host should be omitted. No disposition was shown 
 to break with the Apostolic See. Her accession was 
 announced to the pope in the usual form. But this 
 brought up at Rome the whole question of the divorce 
 and of her own legitimacy. Paul IV. demanded 
 that her claim to the throne should be submitted to 
 the judgment of Rome. This demand of the pope 
 was met as her father would have met it. A parlia- 
 ment met in January, 1559, and passed an act which 
 recognised the legitimacy of Elizabeth and her 
 rightful accession to the throne. 
 
 Another important statute followed, which re-esta- 
 blished the royal supremacy. The queen, indeed, laid 
 aside the title of Supreme Head in the hope of soften- 
 ing the opposition of the more scrupulous among 
 the clergy, and declared in the injunctions which she 
 issued in the same year, that she did not challenge 
 any more authority than "under God to have the 
 sovereignty and rule over all manner of persons born 
 within these realms ;" a statement which was further 
 explained in Article XXXVH., in the form in which 
 it subsequently appeared in 1562. But the oath of 
 supremacy, enjoined by the act, was a stumbling-block 
 which the bishops, with one single exception, could 
 
334 
 
 YORK. 
 
 not get over. All refused it except Kitchen, the 
 Bishop of Llandaff. As might have been anticipated, 
 their refusal was followed by deprivation. Some few 
 suffered a short imprisonment, but Bonner was the 
 only one treated with actual severity. He was con- 
 demned to perpetual confinement, which, according 
 to Heylin, was done more for his own personal safety 
 than in the way of punishment, the popular feeling 
 against him being so strong that his life would have 
 been in danger, had he appeared in public. 
 
 Archbishop Heath now ceased to preside over the 
 see of York, and went into an honourable retirement 
 at Cobham in Surrey, where he had a small estate. 
 But he was always treated with the utmost respect by 
 Elizabeth, who visited him at Cobham on more than 
 one occasion. 
 
 The statute establishing the royal supremacy paved 
 the way for another important measure, the first step 
 to Avhich consisted in the appointment of a committee 
 for the revisal of the two Prayer-books of Edward VI., 
 and the formation of a new order of service for the 
 public worship of the Church of England. Secretary 
 Cecil had the general direction of the proceedings 
 of the commissioners, and in Parker's absence through 
 illness, Guest, a man of great learning, and after- 
 wards Bishop of Rochester, was the mainspring of 
 the work of revision, ^\^len the book left the hands 
 of the committee to be submitted to the queen, it 
 was more in accordance with the views of the reform- 
 ing party than her majesty approved. It enjoined 
 the surplice, but specified no other vesture as being 
 allowable at the celebration of Holy Communion. 
 
REVISION OF COMMON PRAYER. 
 
 335 
 
 and standing or kneeling at reception by the com- 
 municants was treated as a matter of indifference. 
 In tlie end, Edward's second book was taken as the 
 general basis of the whole, but with certain changes. 
 The principal alterations were that the services were 
 to be said " in the accustomed place of the church, 
 chapel, or chancel," instead of " in such place as the 
 people may best hear and a direction was given 
 that " at the time of the communion, and at all other 
 times in his ministration," the minister was to " use 
 such ornaments in the church as were in use by 
 authority of Parliament in the second year of King 
 Edward VI." The words used at the delivery of the 
 elements in the two prayer-books of Edward were 
 combined, " lest," says Heylin, " under the colour of 
 rejecting a carnal, they might be thought also to 
 deny such a real presence as was defended in the 
 writings of the antient Fathers." For a similar 
 reason, "the declaration on kneeling" was left out, 
 much to the dissatisfaction of many amongst the 
 reforming party. The prayer in the Litany for deli- 
 verance " from the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome 
 and all his detestable enormities," was expunged, 
 and the form of oath in the Ordinal was altered. It 
 was entitled " The oath of the queen's sovereignty," 
 instead of "the oath for the king's supremacy," and 
 is directed "against the power and authority of all 
 foreign potentates, " instead of " against the usurped 
 power and authority of the Bishop of Rome." 
 
 The Book of Common Prayer, as finally issued, 
 was a fusion of the two books of Edward VI., and 
 was authorised for use throughout the realm, by the 
 
336 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Statute known as Elizabeth's "Act of Uniformity," 
 which enjoined the attendance of all persons who had 
 no lawful excuse or hindrance, at their parish church 
 or chapel, and penalties were imposed upon those 
 who wilfully absented themselves. Under the pro- 
 visions of this act the book was to come into general 
 use on St. John Baptist's day next following. It was 
 at once ordered by the queen to be read in her 
 own private chapel, which was done on Sunday, the 
 1 2th May, and three days afterwards it was used at 
 St. Paul's l)efore "a very august assembly of the 
 Court." 
 
 Tliere wa', very little opposition. Only 189 out of 
 the whole body of the clergy refused compliance, and 
 resigned their livings. 
 
 Shortly aftenvards, the queen appointed Matthew 
 Parker Arclibishop of Canterbury, and he was con- 
 secrated at Lambeth on the 17th December, in the 
 same year. Early in the following year (1560), 
 Thomas Young was translated from St. David's to 
 the see of York, on the recommendation of Parker. 
 He was one of those who went into exile in Mary's 
 reign, taking refuge in Wesel, in company with 
 Scory and about a hundred others, "all contented, 
 seemingly, with King Edward s liturgy, for they never 
 used any other."' Parker, apparently, was "satisfied 
 of his ability, prudence, and resolution. The Court 
 manifested an equal confidence, by appointing him 
 President of the North. 
 
 The next important step which was taken was the 
 
 ' Soames' "Elizabethan Hist.," p. 20. He quotes from 
 -Strypc's " Me:n.," iii. p. 238. ^ Ibid., p. 21. 
 
REVISION OF EDWARD VI. 's ARTICLES. 337 
 
 revision of the Forty-two Articles of Edward VI. As 
 finally agreed upon by the southern convocation, they 
 were, as we have them, thirty-nine in number. The 
 northern convocation does not seem to have had 
 any direct influence as regards the revision. The 
 Archbishop of York and his suffragans of Durham 
 and Chester, subscribed in the synod of the southern 
 province on the occasion, but there appears reason 
 to believe that the northern clergy were consulted by 
 their primate at the beginning of February, 1562-3. 
 
 Considerable modifications took place at this time 
 in Edward's Articles. " The statements of the Church 
 were amplified on certain doctrines, more especially 
 those in which her teaching had been misrepresented; 
 other subjects were omitted altogether, owing partly 
 to the disappearance of the forms of misbelief at 
 which they had been levelled, and partly to a mani- 
 fest anxiety of the compilers to abstain, as far as 
 might be, from scholastic questions : while, in refe- 
 rence to the Eucharist, of which the statement may 
 in every case be taken as one of the best criteria 
 for deciding the special character of all confessions 
 issued at this period, the Church of England occupied 
 a more distinct and independent place than in the 
 previous list of Articles. The Romish theory of 
 transubstantiation was repudiated quite as strongly as 
 before : the theory, alike of Romanist and Lutheran, 
 touching the manducation of our Lord's Body by the 
 wicked, was no less obnoxious to the majority of the 
 synod : yet, in order to establish a position equally 
 removed from Zwingli's, they determined that the 
 Body of Christ is after a heavenly manner given, 
 z 
 
338 
 
 YORK. 
 
 taken, and eaten in the Lord's Supper, and at last 
 withdrew a clause which in the former Articles 
 denied the possibility of ' the reall and bodilie 
 presence (as thei terme it) of Christes flesh and 
 bloude),' upon the ground that His humanity is 
 locally restricted to the place of His glorification."' 
 
 The reformation of the Church of England, as far 
 as her public ministrations were concerned, may be 
 said, speaking in general terms, to have been com- 
 pleted by this revision of the Articles of religion, 
 though they were not definitely imposed by law ; nor 
 was subscription made obligatory upon all the clergy 
 until the year 157 1. 
 
 Elizabeth's Prayer-book was, however, very far from 
 satisfactory to a large body of men, who yet, at that 
 time, had no formed idea of separating themselves 
 from the reformed Church of England. That body 
 was chiefly composed of those who had gone into 
 exile in Mary's reign to escape the persecution which 
 then took place. At Geneva. Zurich, and elsewhere, 
 their aversion from all that savoured of the doctrines 
 of the Church of Rome became strengthened by 
 their constant and intimate intercourse with foreign 
 Protestants. They had become accustomed, more- 
 over, to join in a form of worship which was bare of 
 ceremonial and devoid of such observances as bore 
 any resemblance to those of the Roman ritual, 
 and they could not away with a book which com- 
 pelled them to put on vestments which they abhorred 
 and to use words and gestures which they hated. 
 
 ' Hardwick, "Hist. Ref.," pp. 230, 231. 
 
OBJECTIONS TO THE PRAYER-BOOK. 339 
 
 The antipathy which they entertained against cope 
 and surplice, against the cross in baptism, against 
 kneeling at reception of Holy Communion, against 
 organs in churches, against the keeping of Saints' 
 days, and against the use of gowns and square caps 
 as their ordinary outdoor apparel, was expressed in 
 no measured terms, and made the subject of petition 
 and remonstrance addressed to the houses of convo- 
 cation. Their conduct, moreover, in celebrating 
 divine worship was lawless in the extreme, and had 
 got to such a height in 1564 that the matter was laid 
 before the queen, who was greatly incensed at such 
 insubordination, and gave directions to the Arch- 
 bishops of Canterbury and York to take measures 
 for the maintenance of order and uniformity, and en- 
 joined that none should hereafter be admitted to any 
 ecclesiastical preferment who refused to promise 
 compliance with the rules and orders laid down in 
 the Book of Common Prayer and authorised by the 
 Act of Uniformity, and obedience to the enactments 
 of that statute. 
 
 The bishops, as a body, were probably averse to 
 the use of any vestment except the surplice, and dis- 
 inclined to enforce the use, in common life, of a dis- 
 tinctively ecclesiastical dress upon the clergy ; but 
 they were astute enough to see that the action of the 
 extreme section of the reformers, if it remained un- 
 checked, would end in the destruction of episcopal 
 authority and the establishment of popular supremacy 
 in its place. They therefore supported the queen in 
 her determined resistance to the clamour which was 
 raised. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 YORK. 
 
 There was dislike enough to the new service-book 
 in the diocese of York, though concealed for a time 
 under the veil of an outward conformity. But it was 
 on the part of a different set of people, and the out- 
 come of a totally different state of religious feeling. 
 The Puritans, as the extreme reformers began to be 
 termed about the year 1565, had gained little or no 
 footing in the North of England. The sympathies of 
 its inhabitants were at that time wholly with the old 
 religion. Sir Ralph Sadler writes, in 1569, that 
 " there be not in all this countrey ten gentilmen that 
 do favour and allowe of her Majestie's proceedings in 
 the cause of religion." ^ He describes the lower 
 orders also as being strongly imbued with the " olde 
 popish doctryne." Nowhere, indeed (to use the 
 words of Surtees), did "the first pale and struggling 
 ray of the Reformation break with more unwelcomi.- 
 lustre " than in the northern counties, the attachment 
 of whose inhabitants to the ancient faith was deep 
 and strong. It was a feeling which " lay like lees at 
 the bottom of men's hearts, and if the vessel were 
 ever so little stirred came to the top." ^ 
 
 The " vessel " was " stirred by the ill-starred 
 enterprise of the Earls of Northumberland and West- 
 moreland in 1569, the objects of which were to rescue 
 Mary Queen of Scots from the custody of the Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, to subvert the government of Elizabeth, 
 and to re-establish the ancient faith. The feeling 
 which " lay like lees at the bottom " was manifested 
 by the way in which so many of Yorkshire's gallant 
 
 ' " State Papers," ii. p. 55. ^ Lord Bacon. 
 
REBELLION OF 1569. 
 
 sons gathered round the standard of the two earls, 
 eager to do battle for what they believed to be a 
 good and holy cause. But it was an inauspicious 
 movement, " begun without foresight, conducted 
 without energy," and it was speedily crushed, as 
 will be seen in the following chapter. 
 
340 
 
 YORK. 
 
 There was dislike enough to the new service-book 
 in the diocese of York, though concealed for a time 
 under the veil of an outward conformity. But it was 
 on the part of a different set of peoijle, and the out- 
 come of a totally different state of religious feeling. 
 The Puritans, as the extreme reformers began to be 
 termed about the year 1 565, had gained little or no 
 footing in the North of England. The sympathies of 
 its inhabitants were at that time wholly with the old 
 religion. Sir Ralph Sadler writes, in 1569, that 
 " there be not in all this countrey ten gentilmen that 
 do favour and allowe of her Majestie's proceedings in 
 the cause of religion." ^ He describes the lower 
 orders also as being strongly imbued with the " olde 
 popish doctryne." Nowhere, indeed (to use the 
 words of Surtees), did " the first pale and struggling 
 ray of the Reformation break with more unwelcome- 
 lustre " than in the northern counties, the attachment 
 of whose inhabitants to the ancient faith was deep 
 and strong. It was a feeling which " lay like lees at 
 the bottom of men's hearts, and if the vessel were 
 ever so little stirred came to the top.'' - 
 
 The " vessel " was " stirred ' by the ill-starred 
 enterprise of the Earls of Northumberland and West- 
 moreland in 1569, the objects of which were to rescue 
 Mary Queen of Scots from the custody of the Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, to subvert the government of Elizabeth, 
 and to re-establish the ancient faith. The feeling 
 which " lay like lees at the bottom " was manifested 
 by the way in which so many of Yorkshire's gallant 
 
 ' " State Papers," ii. p. 55. ^ Lord Bacon. 
 
REHEI.t.ION OF 1569. 
 
 sons gathered round the standard of the two earls, 
 eager to do battle for what they believed to be a 
 good and holy cause. But it was an inauspicious 
 movement, " begun without foresight, conducted 
 without energy," and it was speedily crushed, as 
 will be seen in the following chapter. 
 
342 
 
 YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A GREAT amount of sympathy was felt at this time, 
 on the part of those who clung to the old religion, 
 for Mary, Queen of Scots, whose misfortunes attracted 
 no little share of attention. The Duke of Norfolk, 
 the head of the ancient nobility of England, had 
 been sent to the Tower. His main offence was 
 his aspiring to the hand of the Queen of Scotland. 
 The Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland were 
 in favour of this alliance. Elizabeth, having some 
 suspicion as to their ulterior views, summoned them 
 both to Court. This caused great apprehension in 
 the minds of the two earls, who became impressed 
 with a conviction that the queen was really aiming 
 at their lives and the confiscation of their property, 
 for it was reported ihat the queen's troops were on 
 their way to seize them. Upon this they hastily armed 
 their retainers and marched southwards, gathering up 
 recruits as they advanced. Their force became con- 
 siderable. Sir Ralph Sadler, writing on the 26th 
 November, 1569, reports to the queen that the 
 number of the rebels was estimated at about 6,000 
 foot and 1,000 horse. They made their way to 
 Durham without opposition, entered the cathedral, 
 destroyed the English service-books, and caused 
 mass to be celebrated. They did the like in many 
 of the parish churches. A detachment of the in- 
 
REBELLION OF I569. 
 
 343 
 
 surgents took possession of Hartlepool, the main 
 body marching into Yorkshire. They advanced as 
 far as Clifford Moor, near VVetherby, and issued pro- 
 clamations, setting forth the objects they had in view, 
 namely, the restoration of the old religion and the 
 removal of the evil counsellors by whom the queen 
 was surrounded, professing at the same time loyalty 
 and devotion to her majesty's person. Amongst the 
 Yorkshire gentry who joined them, the most important 
 was Richard Norton, of Norton Conyers, a man of 
 ancient lineage, and one who had occupied many pro- 
 minent positions. He was old, but he entered into 
 their plans with all the ardour of youth. A devoted 
 attachment to the ancient faith, and strong personal 
 regard for the Earl of Northumberland, were the 
 chief motives which impelled him to join the insur- 
 gents. Eight gallant sons followed him. Camden 
 describes him as " an old gentleman, with a reverend 
 grey head, bearing a cross with a streamer." 
 
 " The Nortons aiicyent had the cross, 
 And the five wounds our Lord did beare. " 
 
 A like banner had waved over the heads of those 
 who took part in the "Pilgrimage of Grace," in which 
 Norton himself and some of the older insurgents 
 had very possibly been engaged. Northumberland's 
 father had perished in it. He himself had been 
 restored in blood and to the earldom by Queen 
 Mary. But he was not deterred by his father's fate 
 from engaging in a similar enterprise. 
 
 The Earl of Sussex, meanwhile, was advancing 
 with 3,000 men to meet the rebels, followed by the 
 
344 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Earl of \Varwick with a larger force. The Earl of 
 Cumberland and Lord Scrope were holding Carlisle, 
 Sir Henry Percy and Sir John Forster were in com- 
 mand of Berwick and the East Marches, and Sir 
 George Bowes was raising troops on the queen's side 
 in the Bishopric of Durham. 
 
 Many of the gentry supported the queen's cause 
 who had scant sympathy with the religion she had 
 established, actuated no doubt by motives of ordi- 
 nary prudence, for not a few of them must have 
 recognised the rashness of the scheme of the two 
 earls. But their known attachment to the ancient 
 faith appears to have affected Sir Ralph Sadler with 
 many misgivings : " though their persons be here 
 with us,'' he writes, " I assure you their harts for the 
 most part be with the rebells .... if the father be 
 on this syde, the soon is on the other ; and one 
 brother with us, and the other with the rebells." ^ 
 
 But if some who joined Sussex were but half- 
 hearted adherents, their lukewarmness was surpassed 
 by the indecision and want of generalship displayed 
 by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland. 
 Instead of maintaining their hold of Hartlepool, 
 as was feared by both Sadler and Cecil, they 
 allowed it to be retaken and garrisoned for th^ 
 queen. The news of the approach of Sussex and 
 his troops seems to have struck a panic into 
 them, and they retreated from their position at 
 Wetherby in the direction of Raby. Their forces 
 then were numerically superior to those of Sussex, 
 
 ' " State Papers and. Letters," ii. p. 55. 
 
DISPERSION OF THE INSURGENTS, 
 
 345 
 
 but by their irresolution they threw away their only 
 chance of success, and all the subsequent history 
 of the campaign is a record of disastrous failure. 
 
 After retiring from Wetherby they laid siege to 
 Barnard Castle, which was held by Sir George Bowes. 
 Want of provisions obliged him to surrender, but the 
 rebels profited little by this apparent advantage. 
 Sussex was advancing in their rear, and on hearing 
 that his forces had reached Northallerton the in- 
 surgents lost heart and dispersed in all directions. 
 The earls fled into Scotland. Lord Westmoreland 
 found an asylum with Ker of Farnihurst, and after- 
 wards took refuge in Flanders and entered the ser- 
 vice of the King of Spain. He died in extreme 
 old age in 1600, having become indebted for the 
 very means of subsistence to the ])recarious bounty 
 of a foreign court. The miserable failure of his 
 attempt to overthrow his sovereign's power resulted 
 in the utter ruin of the great house of Neville. The 
 Earl of Northumberland was betrayed and sold to 
 the Regent Murray. He was eventually taken to 
 York, where, without any form of trial, the attainder 
 being regarded as sufficient, he was beheaded in an 
 open space called the Pavement in that city on the 
 22nd August, 1572. His head was set on Mickle- 
 gate Bar, and his body buried in St. Crux Church, 
 which adjoins the place of his execution.' 
 
 Richard Norton, the patriarchal standard-bearer of 
 -the rebel host, escaped to Flanders with two of his 
 
 ' The Earl was succeeded in his honours by his brother, Sir 
 Henry Percy, who, during tlie reljellion, was active on the 
 queen's side. 
 
346 
 
 YORK. 
 
 sons. His estates were at once confiscated. From a 
 letter of the Duke of Alva to the King of Spain 
 (14th Feb., 1570), it appears that he had granted 
 pensions to them. His son Christopher suffered at 
 Tyburn in company with his uncle, Thomas. The 
 others were imprisoned for some time, but eventually 
 liberated, having probably compounded for their lives 
 by a money payment. The queen did not suffer her 
 desire of vengeance to overbear her frugal instincts. 
 The directions given by the Earl of Sussex to Sir 
 George Bowes as to the number of rebels to be 
 executed in North Yorkshire contains this special 
 proviso : — " Amongst whom you maye not execute 
 any that hathe freholds or noted welthye ; for so is 
 the Quene's Majestie's plesier, by her specyall 
 comandement."! But upon those "of the meaner 
 sorte," as they are called in one of the letters, the 
 hand of punishment fell heavily. The return of 
 those who had joined the rebels in Richmond and 
 Richmondshire amounted to 1,241, of whom 231 
 were executed. This is exclusive of 300 who suffered 
 in the Bishopric of Durham, neither does it include 
 many who were executed in other parts of North 
 Yorkshire. The lists of the latter are imperfect. 
 Her Majesty was determined, it is obvious, to strike 
 hard, and to render any future revolt against her 
 government all but impossible. It was a stern and 
 ruthless policy, but it was successful. No other rising 
 disturbed the peace of her reign. 
 
 The see of York had at this time been vacant 
 ' Sir Cuthbert Sharp's " Memorials of the Rebellion of 
 1569," p. 144. 
 
ARCHBISHOP GRINDAL. 
 
 347 
 
 about two years by the death of Archbishop Young. 
 He had left no mark upon the diocese of a spiritual 
 or political character. He was chiefly remarkable for 
 the enrichment of his family out of the estates of the 
 best prebendal stalls, and for his wanton destruction 
 of a venerable remnant of antiquity, — the great hall 
 of the palace at Bishopthorpe, built by Archbishop 
 Thomas I. in the eleventh century. His object, says 
 Harington, was plumbi sacra fames,— the gain to be 
 derived from the sale of the lead which covered its 
 roof. 
 
 The queen was well aware of the hold which the 
 Church of Rome maintained upon the affections of 
 the great majority of the inhabitants of the northern 
 diocese, and she resolved upon sending as Young's 
 successor a determined opponent of the doctrines 
 and ritual of that Church. The action taken by the 
 pope at this time tended, doubtless, to strengthen 
 such a resolution. It was believed at Rome that if 
 all who sympathised at heart with the insurrection of 
 the two earls in 1569 had rallied in force around their 
 standard, victory might have crowned their efforts ; 
 and with a view, probably, of weakening Elizabeth's 
 hold upon the loyalty of her subjects, Pius V. pub- 
 lished, in March, 1570, a bull of excommunication 
 and deposition, forbidding her people to obey her on 
 pain of being themselves excommunicated. 
 
 The prelate whom her majesty sent to York was 
 Edmund Grindal, a learned, conscientious, and pious 
 man, but strongly imbued with Puritan views. He 
 was translated from London in June, 1570. He 
 had been one of the Commissioners in 1558 for the 
 
348 
 
 YORK. 
 
 revision of the Prayer-book, and his appointment to 
 York was strongly urged, through Cecil, by Matthew 
 Hutton, the Dean of that church. 
 
 The new Archbishop at once held a visitation of his 
 diocese, having previously issued a lengthy series of 
 articles of inquiry, sixty-five in number, to be answered 
 by the churchwardens, with especial reference to the 
 services and fittings of the churches. The injunctions 
 he subsequently gave, both to clergy and laity, are 
 very explicit, and show very plainly his strong anti- 
 Roman spirit. All altars were to be " utterly taken 
 downe .... even unto the foundation," and the 
 altar-stones broken and defaced. Rood-lofts shared 
 the same fate. The churchwardens and minister of 
 each parish have stringent orders given them that 
 " antiphoners, masse-bookes, grayles, portesses, pro- 
 cessionals, manualls, legendaries, &c., which served 
 for the superstitious Latine service, be utterly defaced, 
 rent, and abolished." He enjoins a similar destruc- 
 tion of all vestments, albs, tunicles, and stoles, as well 
 as of paxes, censers, crosses, candlesticks, holy-water 
 vessels, images, and other monuments of supersti- 
 tion and idolatry," and he follows it up by a special 
 query as to whether a cope is worn by the minister, 
 and whether he uses at the Holy Communion " any 
 chalice heretofore used at masse." When we read 
 these injunctions it is not difficult to account for the 
 extreme scarcity of copies of service-books according 
 to the " Use of York." 
 
 How Grindal reconciled his destruction of vest- 
 ments, albs, and tunicles, and his practical abolition 
 of their use, with the " Ornaments rubric " which 
 
grindal's injunctions. 
 
 349 
 
 had been deliberately reinstated in the Book of 
 Common-prayer, one rather fails to see. He does 
 not, indeed, in so many words forbid the use of a 
 cope or vestment, but the surplice is the only vesture 
 the wearing of which he prescribes. The truth is 
 that, in common with most of Elizabeth's bishops, 
 his sympathies were with the Puritans, and he was 
 bent upon using all his power as Ordinary to eliminate 
 every gesture, every custom, every outward semblance, 
 even in trifling matters, of conformity to usages of 
 the olden time. The " Ornaments rubric," which, 
 as heretofore mentioned, the queen insisted upon 
 having re-introduced into the Prayer-book, was very 
 unpalatable to the reformers, and it is curious to 
 note the special pleading employed to reconcile them- 
 selves to it. Sandys (afterwards Grindal's successor) 
 writes to Parker : — " Our gloss upon this text is, 
 that we shall not be forced to use them, but that 
 others in the meantime shall not convey them away, 
 but that they may remain for the queen." If a 
 "gloss " like this had been put upon any rubric by 
 the opposite party, it would assuredly have been 
 characterised as disingenuous and Jesuitical, or desig- 
 nated by any other opprobrious epithet that most 
 readily suggested itself. 
 
 The Archbishop gives a sort of grudging permis- 
 sion that where the churches are very small the 
 minister might say the Morning and Evening office 
 "in his accustomed stall in the queere ; " but in 
 all other cases " a decent low pulpit was to be 
 erected and made in the body of the church out of 
 hande, wherein the minister shall stande with his 
 
35° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 face towardes the people, when he readeth Morning 
 and Evening Prayer." 
 
 The aggregation of the three services of Morning 
 Prayer, Litany, and Communion was due to Grindal. 
 He directed that there was to be " no pause or stay " 
 between these services, which were all to be said 
 continuously. 
 
 Some curious glimpses are afforded of customs 
 which then prevailed. Fairs and markets were appa- 
 rently held on Sundays and holy-days. The practice 
 was not absolutely forbidden, but he orders that no 
 wares were to be shown or sold until Morning Service 
 and sermon were over. No " guisers," or lords of mis- 
 rule, were to be allowed to come into the church or 
 churchyard to dance or play any unseemly part. No 
 corpse was to be rested at the foot of the town or 
 village cross on its way to the church for interment. 
 Parish-clerks were required to be able to read the 
 first lesson, the psalms, and the epistle, and also the 
 answers to the suffrages, according to accustomed 
 use. 
 
 A visitation was also held of the Dean and Chapter 
 of York, and a series of injunctions issued to that 
 body. They bear date loth Oct., 1572, and, for the 
 most part, follow the lines of those given by his pre- 
 decessor Holgate. The Archbishop makes the recep- 
 tion of Holy Communion obligator^' upon all the 
 members of the church of York on certain days spe- 
 cified, viz., All Saints', Christmas-day, Epiphany, 
 Purification, Easter-day, and Pentecost, and on the 
 first Sunday of each month wherein none of these 
 festivals occur. But although these days are of obli- 
 
grindal's policy. 
 
 35t 
 
 gation, so to speak, he allows of a celebration of 
 Holy Communion on any other Sunday or Holy-day, 
 "as to the good disposicion of the governors and 
 ministers of the saide church shall seame expedient." 
 He gives a revised list of the preaching turns of the 
 dignitaries and prebendaries of the church, and 
 directs a review of their ancient statutes by the Dean, 
 the Precentor, the Chancellor, and three of the Canons, 
 whose names he specifies ; so that those which are 
 " not necessarye, superstitious, or unprofitable,'' may 
 be expunged. The statutes, as revised by this com- 
 mittee, were to be confirmed by his archiepiscopal 
 authority, and publicly read in chapter four times in 
 the year. There is nothing, however, to show that 
 these revised statutes were ever framed. 
 
 The policy on which Grindal acted in the govern- 
 ment of his diocese is obvious enough, namely, to 
 draw as definite a line of demarcation as possible 
 between the principles on which he acted and the 
 practices which he approved, and those which had 
 any affinity to the Church of Rome. He could 
 recognize no tei-tiuin quid. There was no party then 
 in the Church of what we should now call a high 
 church type. There were no indications at that time 
 of the existence of such a school of thought. At the 
 period when Grindal commenced his work in the dio- 
 cese, those of his clergy who conformed to Elizabeth's 
 book, and accepted the vestments prescribed by it, 
 were probably all, at heart, favourers of the Old 
 Religion, looking forward with some vague and unde- 
 fined hope to its eventual re-instatement. Against 
 ecclesiastics of this sort his injunctions were directed. 
 
352 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Those who sympathised with their diocesan were 
 diametrically opposed to such men, and with their 
 own good will would have abandoned the use of the 
 surplice itself, if such a contravention of the Act of 
 Uniformity could have been openly tolerated. The 
 publication of the Bull of Pope Pius was deeply 
 resented by all the reforming party. They regarded 
 it as a deliberate insult to their sovereign, and as 
 loyal subjects were determined to make their separa- 
 tion from the Church of Rome as definite and com- 
 plete as possible. In this they were upheld by all 
 the bishops without exception, and by none more 
 strongly than Grindal. AVe may unhesitatingly date 
 the commencement of Yorkshire Puritanism from his 
 episcopate. 
 
 The publication of the Bull was speedily followed 
 by the passing of a statute forbidding the recogni- 
 tion of any Bull or other instrument obtained from 
 the Bishop of Rome, or any person claiming to act 
 under his authority. Offenders against this enact- 
 ment were to be deemed guilty of high treason, to 
 suffer death as traitors, and to forfeit all their posses- 
 sions to the queen. 
 
 Other things at this time evoked strong antagonistic 
 feelings on the part of the queen and her advisers 
 against the adherents of the Church of Rome. One 
 was the repugnance which they exhibited to compul- 
 sory attendance at the services laid down in the book 
 of Common Prayer. The other was the establish- 
 ment of a college at Douay by William Allen, after- 
 wards Cardinal, for the reception of English students 
 to be trained for the priesthood, with a special view 
 
THE COLLEGE AT DOUAY. 
 
 353 
 
 to the exercise of their ministry in their own country. 
 It began at first upon a small scale, but the numbers 
 increased rapidly after a time, and it appears from 
 the registers that loo priests had been sent to the 
 English mission by the middle of 1580. 
 
 It was no unworthy motive, from his standpoint, 
 which led ^Villiam Allen to encourage English 
 students to resort to Douay. There appears no 
 reason to suppose that he had then, at any rate, any 
 ulterior views with regard to subverting the govern- 
 ment of Elizabeth. But he knew that numerically 
 those who clung to the ancient faith were in a 
 majority, especially in the north of England, and he 
 knew also how systematically any freedom in the 
 exercise of their religion was kept down by the strong 
 hand of power. As years went on the old priests were 
 dropping off, and the bishops of Mary's time who 
 survived were under restrictions which tjuite put it 
 out of their power to keep up the priesthood in 
 England by conferring orders. In the natural course 
 of things, therefore, religion, as Allen understood the 
 term, would disappear. To obviate this was his 
 design. But his project and its result did not escape 
 the watchful eyes of tlie queen and her counsellors. 
 They could not dissociate it from political machina- 
 tions, which they believed to be connected with it. 
 The fear of a movement in favour of Mary, Queen 
 of Scots, the odium theologiciim against all that be- 
 longed to Rome on the part of the Puritan faction, 
 and, above all, the detestation that had been aroused 
 in the popular mind a very few years before by 
 the atrocious massacre of the Huguenots at Paris on 
 2 A 
 
354 
 
 YORK. 
 
 St. Bartholomew's Day, all combined? to determine 
 the government to propose enactments against the 
 Roman Catholics of still greater severity than those 
 which were already on the statute book. 
 
 The first thought of taking the life of the Queen of 
 Scots seems to have sprung out of the panic caused 
 by the Bartholomew massacre. Sandys, then Bishop 
 of London, afterwards Archbishop of York, writes on 
 the 5th September, 1572,10 Lord Burleigh, offering 
 certain suggestions as to what he deemed needful to 
 ensure the safety of the queen and the realm. The 
 first was "furthwith to cutte of the Scottish Quene's 
 heade : ipsa est fundi nostri calainifas." Others follow, 
 all directed against the Romanists : — " the chiefe 
 Papistes of this realme to be shutte uppe in the 
 Tower, and the popishe olde bushoppes returned 
 thither," and as the climax of the whole, the Pro- 
 testants, who, he says, are the only faithful servants 
 her majesty has, "are to be comforted, preferred, and 
 placed in autoritie, the Papistes to be displaced, "i 
 
 A new penal statute was passed in 1581. It was 
 severe in the extreme. It was made high treason to 
 withdraw any of her majesty's subjects from the 
 religion established by her authority to the religion of 
 Rome. It was even high treason if any one embraced 
 the latter of his own free will, without any external 
 persuasion or allurement. Aiding such an act, or con- 
 cealing their knowledge of it for more than twenty days, 
 made persons liable to be punished for misprision 
 of treason. Any priest saying mass was to forfeit 200 
 
 ' Ellis' "Original Letters" (2nd series), iii. p. 25. 
 
PENAL STATUTES. 
 
 355 
 
 marks, and be imprisoned for a year, and subse- 
 quently for an indefinite period, if his fine remained 
 unpaid. Any lay person willingly hearing mass was 
 to pay a fine of loo marks, in addition to a year's 
 imprisonment. Every one above the age of i6 who 
 failed to attend the worship of the Church of England 
 as established by law, was fined ;£2o for every 
 month's absence from it. One-third of the forfeitures 
 went to the queen, one-third to the poor of the 
 parish, and one-third to the informer. If they 
 remained unpaid, the delinquent was imprisoned 
 until he either paid or conformed. 
 
 Another act was passed in 1585, directed against 
 all Jesuits, seminary priests, and others who had 
 received their orders in the Church of Rome. All 
 such were at once to leave England, and such as 
 remained were to be regarded as traitors and suffer 
 accordingly. No person was to receive, relieve, or 
 maintain them, and those who did so were to be 
 treated as felons, and suffer death and forfeiture as 
 in cases of felony. Any one who was aware of any 
 priest being within the queen's dominions, and 
 failed to report it to the nearest magistrate, might be 
 fined and imprisoned at the queen's pleasure ; and 
 if the magistrate neglected to make it known to the 
 President of the North or of the Marshes of Wales, 
 as the case might be, he was to forfeit 200 marks. 
 
 A further statute was passed in 1593, "for the 
 restraining of popish recusants " to some fixed abode. 
 If they went more than five miles from their dwell- 
 ings they were to forfeit their goods, chattels, and 
 lands. Non-compliance was treated as felony. Any 
 2 A 2 
 
356 
 
 YORK. 
 
 one suspected to be a Jesuit or a priest, who refused 
 to give a direct answer when questioned on the 
 subject, was to be imprisoned without bail until he 
 made up his mind to make a definite reply. 
 
 The persecution — for it deserves no milder appella- 
 tion — which the working of these statutes involved, 
 cannot be characterised as anything but a religious 
 persecution. The provisions of the act of 1581 
 make no mention of any treasonable designs against 
 the queen's person or government. It was their 
 religion which Elizabeth was determined to root out, 
 and however little the Puritans loved the book of 
 Common-prayer, they were ready enough to sup- 
 port any enactments which tended to obliterate a 
 form of worship which they hated with yet greater 
 intensity. Toleration for the Romanist there was 
 none. There is not a vestige of any recognition of 
 freedom of thought or liberty of conscience. And 
 the way in which these penal statutes were carried 
 out during the remainder of her reign must ever 
 remain as a stain and a blot upon its history, what- 
 ever extenuation may be alleged in the shape of 
 political necessity or expediency. The Romanists 
 estimated the number of those whose hearts were 
 with the Old Religion throughout the country as 
 amounting to two-thirds of the population."^ It is 
 probable that their calculations were not far from the 
 truth. It is utterly unlikely that all, or even a majority 
 of these people, had any idea of repudiating Elizabeth 
 as their sovereign, or refusing their allegiance ; and 
 
 ' See Card. Allen's "Answer to the Libel of English 
 Justice," p. 171. 
 
SEVERE TREATMENT OF ROMANISTS. 357 
 
 Cardinal Allen distinctly denies that any questions as 
 to depriving or excommunicating princes formed a 
 part of the syllabus of instruction at Douay, " no, not 
 so much as in generalities, and much less the particu- 
 larising of any point in our queen's case."^ It is 
 observable also that all the unfortunate sufferers, of 
 whose words at the supreme moment of their existence 
 any record remains, protested their loyalty to the 
 queen's person. Whatever view we may take of the 
 religion they professed, it were ungenerous to the last 
 degree to suppose that they all died with a lie in their 
 mouths. 
 
 The statute of 1581 was soon acted upon. The 
 first who suffered was Cuthbert Maine. From the 
 catalogue contained in Chaloner's " Memoirs of Mis- 
 sionary Priests, &c.," it appears that 188 altogether 
 were put to death in Elizabeth's reign. Of these, 41 
 were executed at York. It is a large proportion to be 
 furnished by one county, wide though its area is. Of 
 these, 26 were in holy orders, the remaining 15 being 
 lay persons, one of whom was a female. This dis- 
 proves the statement made by some writers that none 
 except priests were executed in Elizabeth's reign. 
 Ciiving shelter and sustenance to priests, as they went 
 to and fro to minister the rites of religion to the 
 scattered members of their Church, was usually the 
 sole offence of which these lay persons could be 
 proved guilty. The only privilege they had was that 
 they were simply hanged. Their offence was only 
 felony. They had not to endure the ghastly and 
 
 ' See Card. Allen's " Answer to the Libel of English 
 Justice," p. 64. 
 
3S8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 appalling barbarities inflicted upon the priests, whose 
 crime was adjudged to be treason. Amongst the 
 lay persons who suffered, the account ot none is so 
 piteous as that of Mrs. Clithero, a gentlewoman of 
 good Yorkshire descent. She was charged with 
 relieving priests, and refused to plead, that others 
 might not be brought into peril of their lives by her 
 conviction. Under the brutal law then in force in 
 such cases she was pressed to death, a fate which she 
 endured with wondrous constancy and patience. 
 
 But the number on whom death was inflicted by 
 no means exhausts the list of sufferers. Forty are 
 recorded by Chaloner as having died in prison ; in 
 almost every case the result of disease occasioned by 
 the filthy and abominable state of the dungeons in 
 which they were confined : " Some of which," says 
 Canon Raine, " had no light and no ventilation ; 
 several were partly under water whenever there was a 
 flood."! 
 
 It may easily be imagined that there was a fearful 
 amount of suffering endured by those who escaped 
 the hangman's cord and the butcher's knife. Torture 
 was not unfrequently applied; the rack and the 
 scourge added their horrors to the miserj' of the 
 prison-house, to say nothing of the spoiling of their 
 goods and possessions and the enormous fines im- 
 posed upon them. 
 
 The descent of the Armada upon the coasts of 
 England intensified the feeling of the queen and her 
 advisers against the unhappy Romanists ; although 
 
 ' "Depositions from York Castle" (Pub. Surtees Soc), 
 Pref., p. xxxii. 
 
SERMONS PREACHED TO RECUSANTS. 359 
 
 " Hallam points out how in every county they rallied 
 to the standard of the lord-lieutenant, imploring 
 that they might not be suspected of bartering the 
 national independence even for their religion itself; 
 and then he adds, with a justice that must come 
 home to every unprejudiced mind, ' It would have 
 been a sign of gratitude if the laws depriving them 
 of the free exercise of their religion had been, if not 
 repealed, yet allowed to sleep, after these proofs of 
 loyalty. But the execution of priests and of other 
 Catholics became, on the contrary, more frequent, 
 and the fines for recusancy were exacted as rigor- 
 ously as before.' This is indeed only too true, for 
 in the last six months of 1588 the number of martyrs 
 for their religion amounts at least to thirty-one, of 
 whom twenty-one were priests."! 
 
 Towards the end of Elizabeth's reign (1599) an- 
 other mode of dealing with them was tried at York. 
 It was almost grotesque in its simplicity. Lord 
 Burleigh, who was then Lord President of the North, 
 ordered the prisoners in York Castle, fifty-three in 
 number, to be brought into the Castle hall once 
 a week to hear a sermon. The Archbishop himself 
 preached, as well as some of the higher ecclesiastics 
 of the diocese. As might have been expected, their 
 eloquence, however admirable, their arguments, how- 
 ever cogent, bore no fruit. The prisoners remon- 
 strated, but in vain. Then they stopped their ears, 
 which roused the lord president's wrath in no small 
 degree, and he abused them in no measured terms, 
 
 ' " Church Quarterly Rev.," viii. p. 120. 
 
36o 
 
 YORK. 
 
 calling them swine and hogs for despising the Word 
 of God, and threatened them with heavy punishment 
 for their insolence. It is even said that some of 
 them, and many were men of birth and education, 
 were gagged to stop their expressions of dissent from 
 what they heard : " no very likely method," as Dr. 
 Whitaker observes, " to predispose men's minds for 
 the reception of the truth, "i 
 
 Fifty sermons in all were they compelled to listen 
 to. At the end of the last they were told that it was 
 my lord's pleasure the sermons should cease till the 
 spring, an intimation which they probably received 
 with no little satisfaction. We do not find that the 
 preaching was ever resumed. 
 
 ' " Loidis and Elmete," p. 26. 
 
YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Every reader of English history is aware of the 
 perple.xities and troubles which the turbulent and 
 unreasonable demands of the Puritans brought upon 
 Elizabeth during many years of her reign. At first 
 there was no formed intention of separating them- 
 selves from the Church of which they professed to be 
 members. What they wanted was to carry out the 
 reformation of that Church further and further, in 
 conformity with German and Genevan discipline. 
 Dissent may be said to date from about 1566, but it 
 did not assume anything like a definitely organised 
 form until 1580, when the sect called Brownists arose, 
 who were the first actual Separatists. In 1593 the 
 offence given by the Mar-prelate publications occa- 
 sioned the passing of a severe statute against Non- 
 conformity. But concerned as we are with the 
 diocese of York only, a passing notice of it may be 
 sufiicient, since, as we have seen, the religious diffi- 
 culties with which her majesty had to deal in Yorkshire 
 were exclusively connected with the recusancy of the 
 Roman Catholics. 
 
 One result, however, of the Puritan controversies 
 of this period must not be left unnoticed. They gave 
 rise to the great work of one whose learning, whose 
 calm dispassionate wisdom, and irreproachable life 
 shed a lustre over the reformed Church of England, 
 
362 
 
 YORK. 
 
 which remains undimmed after the lapse of three long 
 centuries. The " Ecclesiastical Polity " of Richard 
 Hooker is a text-book still. It is the book, of all 
 others, which placed the reformed Church of England 
 on her true footing, as a witness against the meagre- 
 ness and narrowness of the Separatists and the 
 extravagant claims of the Church of Rome. English 
 theology underwent a gradual but decisive change in 
 the hands of Hooker. " The results of his publica- 
 tions were great and presently perceptible. A school 
 of writers immediately sprung up, who by express 
 reference, or style, or tone of thought, betray their 
 admiration of Hooker ; Covel, Edwin Sandys, Field, 
 Raleigh, and others ; and what was infinitely more 
 important, Hooker had his full share in training up 
 for the next generation Laud, Hammond, Sanderson, 
 and a multitude more such divines : to which suc- 
 cession and series, humanly speaking, we owe it that 
 the Anglican Church continues at such a distance 
 from that of Geneva, and so near to primitive truth 
 and apostolical order."' ^ 
 
 A few words must now be said concerning the 
 occupants of the archiepiscopal chair of York who 
 owed their elevation to Queen Elizabeth. Young 
 and Grindal have already been mentioned. When 
 the latter was translated to Canterbury after the death 
 of Parker, Sandys, Bishop of London, became his 
 successor. He was enthroned by proxy on the 
 15th March, 1577. The new Archbishop had been, 
 as we know, one of the refugees in Mary's reign, and 
 
 ' Preface to Keble's Hooker, p. civ. 
 
ARCHBISHOP SANDYS. 
 
 retained a sufficient amount of sympathy with the 
 foreign reformers, but not to the same extent as his 
 immediate predecessor in the see of York. His first 
 care was to make a general visitation of his Province. 
 In the course of this he attempted to revive the old 
 claim of the Northern Primate to exercise metro- 
 politan authority at Durham. But he was stoutly 
 resisted by Whittingham who was then its Dean. 
 His resistance was met by the allegation that he was 
 disqualified for his position, for it was said that he 
 had been " made minister by a few mean men and 
 lay persons in a private house at Geneva." Certain 
 it was that he had never received episcopal ordination, 
 which was strongly objected against him by the Arch- 
 bishop. Commissioners were appointed to inquire 
 into the matter. Matthew Hutton, who was then 
 Dean of York, boldly defended Whittingham's ordi- 
 nation, and averred that in his judgment "he was in 
 better sort ordained than our ministers in England, 
 and that his ministry was much better than the Arch- 
 bishop's." Sandys would fain have deprived Whit- 
 tingham of his deanery, but Lord Huntingdon (then 
 Lord President) and Dean Hutton were strongly 
 averse from such a proceeding, chiefly on the ground 
 that it would lower the Church of England in the 
 estimation of foreign reformers to have their orders 
 thus discredited. 
 
 The Dean of York and the Archbishop thus came 
 at once into collision, and the result was a series of 
 thirteen Articles directed by the latter against the 
 refractory head of the capitular body. He was charged 
 with refusing to assist the Archbishop in the govern- 
 
364 
 
 YORK. 
 
 ment of the Province, and openly thwarting him in 
 the High Commission Court, saying " that he needed 
 neither the favour of the Archbishop nor yet the lord 
 president, and therefore he would join with neither 
 of them." The articles also threw out more than a 
 hint that the Dean practised usury, — in other words, 
 money-lending upon interest, — a practice which the 
 Archbishop conceived to be unscriptural and tried to 
 put down. There were other charges of more trifling 
 character. One was really more a credit than a dis- 
 grace to him, for it accused him of favouring recusants 
 and giving several of them notice when processes 
 were about to be issued against them. No one could 
 imagine that his religious sympathies were in the 
 smallest degree in accord with theirs. It was simply 
 an act of kindly and Christian charity, all the more 
 striking from its being, perhaps, the one solitary 
 instance recorded at that time of its exercise by a 
 high ecclesiastical dignitary, of strong Puritan views, 
 on behalf of the persecuted adherents of the old 
 religion. The Dean was obliged to make a formal 
 submission to the Archbishop, but the inflexible inde- 
 pendence of his character was in no wise altered, nor 
 his manly and straightforward expression of opinion 
 in any degree affected thereby. AVhittingham's death 
 put an end to the discussion of his case, and it was 
 never finally adjudicated upon. 
 
 The " prophesyings " which Grindal much en- 
 couraged, and which eventually brought him into 
 such disfavour with the queen, were countenanced 
 to some extent by Archbishop Sandys. They were 
 apparently very innocent proceedings, consisting in 
 
SANDYS. PIERS. — HUTTON. 365 
 
 the assembling of the clergy of a neighbourhood at 
 each other's houses, for devotional exercises and the 
 discussion of difficult or controverted passages of 
 Scripture. Something of this sort seems to have 
 been in use at the archidiaconal visitations in the 
 York diocese, with the sanction of the Archbishop. 
 
 Archbishop Sandys died at Southwell on the loth 
 July, 1588. He left behind him the reputation of 
 great learning and piety. " He was," says Fuller, 
 " an excellent and painful preacher, of a pious and 
 godly life, which increased in his old age ; so that 
 by a great and good stride, whilst he had one foot in 
 the grave he had the other in heaven. He was buried 
 in Southwell. It is hard to say whether he was more 
 eminent in his own virtues, or more happy in his 
 flourishing posterity." 
 
 Piers, bishop of Salisbury, was his successor, who 
 was enthroned in February, 1588-9, and occupied the 
 episcopal chair until his death in 1594. He is said to 
 have been a master of all kinds of learning, primitive 
 and austere in his personal habits, and so liberal in 
 his charities that he left scarcely enough behind him 
 to pay for the erection of a monument to his memory. 
 In one respect he formed an honourable exception to 
 many of the prelates, not only of his own time, but 
 of other periods also, — for it is recorded of him that 
 he leased nothing from the church, nor hurt its 
 revenues. 
 
 Matthew Hutton, who, as Dean of Y ork, was such 
 a thorn in the side of Archbishop Sandys, became 
 Bishop of Durham, at the particular request of Lord 
 Burleigh, in 1 589. On the death of Archbishop Piers, 
 
366 
 
 YORK. 
 
 he was translated to York, in 1595. In the following 
 year, on the death of the Earl of Huntingdon, he 
 was appointed Lord President of the Council of the 
 North. 
 
 "Those who have written least favourably of 
 Button's character," says Surtees, "allow him the 
 credit of strong talent, sound learning, and a manly 
 and persuasive eloquence. His ungovernable violence 
 of temper, which has been recorded on more than 
 one occasion, has given some writers room to impute 
 to his whole character a shade of sour and puritanic 
 asperity. Yet the author of the beautiful and pathetic 
 letters in favour of Lady Margaret Neville ^ can scarce 
 be accused of want of feeling. It is not always easy 
 to define the exact bounds between human virtues 
 and human frailties : and if a strong consciousness of 
 talent, and a reliance on his own powers, sometimes 
 broke forth into asperitj- and violence, Hutton's con- 
 duct on other occasions is equally stamped with an 
 honourable independence of sentiment which was by 
 no means general in his age or profession. That 
 prelate was no sycophant who durst preach before a 
 court on the instability of kingdoms and the change 
 of dynasties, and durst ring in Elizabeth's ear the 
 funereal knell of a successor." - 
 
 The " funereal knell " which Archbishop Hutton 
 sounded in Elizabeth's ear was prophetic. The great 
 Queen passed away on the 24th ISLirch, 1603. 
 
 ' Daughter of the Earl of Westmoreland, whose part in the 
 Rebellion of 1569 was the ruin of himself, his family, and the 
 great house of Neville. 
 
 - Surtees' " Hist. Durham,'' i. p. Ixxxiv. 
 
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF RIPOX. 367 
 
 The accession of James VI. of Scotland was at 
 once proclaimed. No opposition was offered either 
 by the Romanist or Puritan party. The latter had 
 great hopes that the new sovereign would be on their 
 side. The former welcomed him with a petition for 
 toleration. The latter presented what was called the 
 Millenary Petition, praying for the redress of what 
 they deemed abuses in the service-book and cere- 
 monial of the Church of England. Of this the 
 Hampton Court conference was the result. The 
 issue of it was a Royal Proclamation, declaring the 
 exceptions taken by the Puritans to be of little weight, 
 — though a few trifling concessions were made, — and 
 requiring all his subjects to conform to the Liturgy 
 of the Church as established by law in the realm. 
 
 James had not been long on the throne before we 
 find him remedying to some extent the mischief 
 which had been wrought at Ripon by Edward VI. 's 
 act for the dissolution of collegiate foundations and 
 chantries. The possessions belonging to the church 
 of Ripon were leased out by the crown, a wretched 
 pittance being reserved for the minister who con- 
 ducted the parochial services. Archbishop Sandys, 
 supported by Lord Burleigh, endeavoured to procure 
 from Elizabeth an endowment suitable to an extensive 
 and populous parish. Promises, which were never 
 fulfilled, were all that he obtained. In 1596 a pro- 
 ject was mooted for the foundation of an Ecclesiastical 
 College at Ripon. Many eminent persons, including 
 men like Dean Nowell, Hooker, and others of similar 
 position, took much interest in the scheme, but it 
 was never carried into effect. The spiritual needs of 
 
368 
 
 YORK. 
 
 the great parish of Ripon were, however, brought 
 before James' notice, and the result was that on the 
 2nd August, 1604, his majesty constituted the lately- 
 dissolved college of secular canons a collegiate church, 
 to consist of a dean and six prebendaries, with a grant 
 for their maintenance of a considerable portion of the 
 possessions of the old foundation. 
 
 In the same year (1604) the Book of Canons was 
 passed by both Houses of Convocation, and ratified 
 by the king. This was the v.-ork of Bancroft, who 
 was then Bishop of London. It is a condensation of 
 various articles, injunctions, and synodical acts pro- 
 mulgated in the reigns of Edward VI. and Elizabeth. 
 The Book of Canons was made binding upon York, 
 although the Northern Convocation had not been 
 consulted. This gave considerable umbrage to the 
 clergy of the northern province, and they preferred a 
 claim to make canons for themselves. This having 
 been conceded, they at once adopted the canons as 
 passed by the Southern Convocation. 
 
 The most obnoxious part of the book to the Puritan 
 party was the stringent requirement of subscription, 
 ex 07111110, to the three articles contained in the Thirty- 
 sixth Canon. Refusal was punished by deprivation 
 xinder the provisions of the statute of i Elizabeth. 
 Many ministers went into voluntary exile, and others 
 became avowed Nonconformists. 
 
 Shortly after the passing of the Book of Canons, 
 Bancroft was translated to Canterbur}- in succession 
 to Whitgift, who had died on the 29th February, 
 1603-4. 
 
 On the 1 6th J^muary, 1605, York became vacant 
 
ARCHBISHOP MATHEW. 
 
 by the death of Archbishop Hutton, w ho left a large 
 landed estate behind him. " I neither praise nor 
 envy an episcopal fortune," is Surtees' remark : 
 " Hutton, however, only succeeded in that which 
 most of his contemporaries tried to effect : his son, 
 Timothy Hutton, served the office of sheriff of York- 
 shire in 1607 : and the family of Hutton, of Marske, 
 have ever since ranked with the first gentry of the 
 North Riding.'' 1 
 
 Another Bishop of Durham succeeded to the pri- 
 macy of York. Bishoii Toby Mathew was appointed 
 in July, 1606. He was an able controversialist, and 
 one of the most eloquent preachers of his day, and 
 in private life was singularly beloved for his steady 
 friendship, his great liberality, and his remarkably 
 genial temperament — the "cheerful sharpness of wit," 
 as Sir John Harington expresses it, " that so sauced 
 his words and behaviour." Both Fuller and Sir John 
 have preserved several of his jests, for he was always 
 
 Spargens sales cum cacliinno, 
 Lepido ore et concinno. 
 
 The record of one may be allowed here in con- 
 nection with his elevation to York :— he said it was 
 /or lack of grace, for, according to a homely northern 
 proverb, York has the higher rack, but Durham the 
 deeper manger. 
 
 The discovery of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 
 excited the fears and inflamed the prejudices alike of 
 the king, his council, and the people generally against 
 the Roman Catholics. It occasioned the imposition 
 
 ' Surtees' " Ilist. of Durham," i. p. Iwxiv. 
 2 L 
 
37° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 of the oath of allegiance to the king as a temporal 
 sovereign, which was required to be taken by all his 
 subjects. Blackwell, the archpriest, and several 
 others submitted to the oath, but a brief was soon 
 issued by Paul V. forbidding it to be taken. Great 
 severity in the treatment of the Romanists followed. 
 Upwards of fifty were imprisoned at York for refusing 
 the oath, and of these forty died of their sufferings 
 in prison. The " Notes of a Prisoner " tell us that 
 " some were pressed by extreme hunger, others were 
 forced to lie on the ground in prison until their putrid 
 flesh adhered to their clothes. "i Three laymen and two 
 priests were executed at York during James's reign. 
 
 The adherents of the ancient faith lived at this 
 time under the strictest surveillance. Lists of re- 
 cusants were carefully compiled and returns made 
 to the authorities. The record of those in the 
 county of York, taken from the original MS. in the 
 Bodleian, was published by Mr. Peacock some years 
 ago. It shows, as he observes in his preface, " that 
 the inquisitorial proceedings of the Government 
 officials were not confined, as so many fancy them to 
 have been, to persons who, from their high position, 
 had it in their power factiously to oppose the Govern- 
 ment in Church and State, but that poor farm- 
 labourers, servant-maids, tailors, and fishermen, were, 
 as much as their social superiors, the objects of strict 
 scrutiny." 
 
 ' "Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers" (3rd series), 
 p. 329- 
 
 - "List of the Rom. Cath. in the co. of York in 1604" (ed. 
 by Edw. Peacock, F.S.A. Lond. 1872). Pref., p. vii. 
 
cosin's visitation articles. 371 
 
 Archbishop Mathew dealt kindly with those of his 
 clergy who held Puritan views. He is said to have 
 encouraged those who were active promoters of the 
 exercises, as they were then called— a species of lec- 
 tures which, in the hands of judicious men, need 
 scarcely have excited the jealousy which they did. 
 
 Amongst the clergy who occupied prominent posi- 
 tions in the diocese during his episcopate a name 
 occurs which cannot be passed over without notice. 
 It is the well-known name of John Cosin. He became 
 archdeacon of the East Riding in 1625, and his 
 Visitation Articles, issued in 1627, are worth noting 
 as illustrating the state of the clergy of that period. 
 " Lax habits of life must have been far from un- 
 common. Many must have ministered without having 
 
 had episcopal ordination The particularity of 
 
 the query as to the daily saying of the service by the 
 clergy is noteworthy. . . . Other queries throw light 
 upon prevailing irregularities, as, for example, those 
 which note the slovenly habit, apparently not infre- 
 quent, of omitting nearly the whole of the opening 
 exhortation, and the license, which seems to have 
 been not unusually taken by some, of exercising their 
 individual discretion as to what Psalms and Lessons 
 should be used. To these may be added the stringent 
 questions which are put as to the constant use of the 
 surplice. It is matter of special inquiry whether it is 
 used at the Holy Communion by the celebrant, and 
 by the minister assisting him, and likewise whether 
 it is worn at weddings and funerals." 1 
 
 ' " Cosin Correspondence," Introd., pp. xviii. xix. See also 
 pp. 106, et scq. (Pub. Surtces Soc.) 
 
 2 B 2 
 
372 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Associated as Cosin's name is with what in modern 
 days is known as " advanced ritual/' it is certainly 
 noteworthy that there is not the faintest attempt in 
 these Visitation Articles to enforce the observance 
 of the rubric, so persistently retained by Queen 
 Elizabeth, which seems to make the use of vestments, 
 other than the surplice, more than permissive at the 
 celebration of the Holy Communion. 
 
 Archbishop Mathew died at Cawood on the 29th 
 March, 1628, and was buried in York Minster. 
 
 Charles I. was now on the throne, having succeeded 
 his father in 1625. The prelate whom he selected 
 as successor to Archbishop Mathew was George 
 Monteigne, who was likewise translated from Durham. 
 He had previously occupied the episcopal chairs 
 of Lincoln and London. His archiepiscopate was 
 a singularly brief one. He was elected on the 
 6th June, 1628, enthroned on the 24th October 
 following, and died on the 6th November in the 
 same year. 
 
 Monteigne was succeeded by Harsnett, probably 
 at the instance of Laud, whose influence with Charles, 
 as regarded Church matters, was already great. Hars- 
 nett was a man of very considerable learning and 
 ability, and unquestionably took the same line as 
 Laud, both in doctrine and ceremonial,- and like him 
 was disposed, apparently, to root out Puritanism from 
 his diocese by the strong hand of power. His feel- 
 ings as regarded the ministers who held and taught 
 Puritan doctrine were certainly the reverse of chari- 
 table. He writes to Lord President Conway that 
 " the Church is infested with the men of Dan and 
 
ARCHBISHOP NEH.E. 
 
 373 
 
 Bethel, whose hearts are over seas,i and he wishes 
 that their hearts and bodies were confined together."- 
 The days were now gone by when the northern 
 province was governed by prelates who sympathised, 
 less or more, with the Puritan portion of the clerg)'. 
 Harsnett did not live long enough to do much as 
 regarded the diocese of York, in the way of purging 
 it of "the men of Dan and Bethel," for he died 25th 
 May, 1631. 
 
 But he was succeeded by one who carried out 
 Laud's policy with great determination and no little 
 intolerance. Neile, who had held five bishoprics in 
 succession, was translated from Winchester to York 
 soon after Archbishop Harsnett's death. 
 
 Puritanism had by this time gained a considerable 
 hold over certain classes in Yorkshire. Many Roman 
 Catholics, no doubt, still existed, but in places like 
 Leeds and Hull, and amongst such of the gentry as 
 had accepted the Reformation, the predominant form 
 which their religion assumed was undoubtedly of a 
 Puritan type. 
 
 They must have been greatly exercised by much 
 which they saw and heard during Neile's episcopate. 
 A few instances may be briefly recorded. A new 
 church had been built at Leeds by a Mr. John Har- 
 rison, a native of that town. It was consecrated by 
 the Archbishop on the 21st September, 1634. The 
 sermon on the occasion was preached by Cosin, 
 
 ' This is an allusion to the voluntary exile into which many 
 of the Puritan ministers went, rather than submit to subscription 
 to the Three Articles. 
 
 ' S. P. Dom. Charles I., cl. 28. 
 
374 
 
 VORK. 
 
 Todd, the incumbent of the new church, preached 
 in the afternoon, but as in the case of Hooker and 
 Travers at the Temple, " the forenoon sermon spake 
 Canterbury, and the afternoon Geneva." The Arch- 
 bishop was furious. He considered Mr. Todd's 
 sermon a direct attack upon the morning preacher, 
 an affront to his diocesan and to the discipline 
 of the Church of England, and he suspended the 
 luckless incumbent at once, on the very day of the 
 commencement of his ministrations in the new 
 church. 
 
 Constant communications passed between Neile 
 and Laud on subjects relating to the diocese of York, 
 and the difficulties which from time to time presented 
 themselves to its ruler. Amongst these, about the 
 year 1636, were certain embarrassments connected 
 with some foreign settlers in Hatfield Chase, a wide 
 tract of country in the south-eastern part of York- 
 shire, between the Don and the Trent, which com- 
 prised a large extent of morass and fen. often more 
 or less submerged when the waters of those rivers 
 overflowed their banks. Cornelius Vermuyden, a 
 native of the isle of Tholen, near the mouth of the 
 Scheldt, who had been engaged in the draining of 
 the great fens of Cambridgeshire, entered into a treaty 
 with the Crown to reclaim the Chase and the low- 
 lying district beyond it. Several of Vermuyden's 
 countrymen were associated with him in his under- 
 taking, the principal one being a Sir Philibert Vernatti, 
 and they brought over a number of French and 
 Flemish workmen to execute their works. 
 
 Neile complained bitterly of strangers being thus. 
 
FOREIGN SETTLERS IN YORKSHIRE. 375 
 
 brought into England, taking the bread out of the 
 mouths of English subjects. Two hundred families, 
 he tells Laud,i were already settled, and more daily 
 expected to land at Hull and Harwich. But worse 
 than that, they had set up for themselves the form 
 and discipline of the French Protestant Church. 
 They used Sir Philibert Vernatti's barn as their place 
 of worship, whither the whole company resorted on 
 Sundays, baptising in a dish, and administering the 
 Sacrament after their homely manner of sitting. Their 
 church affairs were under the government of a 
 minister, three lay-elders, and three deacons. The 
 barn was in Lincolnshire, just over the Yorkshire 
 border, and they alleged that they had a license from 
 Bishop Williams, of Lincoln, Laud's great rival. Sir 
 Philibert was desirous, however, of having a regular 
 chapel built for their use within the Yorkshire 
 boundary, and applied to the Archbishop for his 
 sanction. "Yes," was his grace's answer, "if you 
 will all conform to the Church of England, — if not, — 
 No." Neile encloses a letter he had received from 
 their pastor, M. Bontemps, which set forth, very 
 naturally, that as the greater number of the settlers 
 were utterly ignorant of English, it was only fitting 
 that they should be permitted to worship after their 
 own form and in their own tongue, and that Vernatti 
 had obtained a grant from the king, permitting them 
 the free exercise of their religion. Notwithstanding 
 this, Neile had the incredible folly to interdict them, 
 and told Laud in one of his letters, with great 
 
 ' S. P. Dom. Charles I., cccxxvii. 47. 
 
376 
 
 YORK. 
 
 complacency, that very many resorted to the churches 
 of the parishes where they dwelt, and there behaved 
 themselves very devoutly, even those who did not 
 understand English ! ^ 
 
 In the end, however, he was circumvented. These 
 settlers, who seem to have been a very harmless and 
 industrious set of people, built themselves a chapel 
 at Sandtoft, a central situation for the whole of the 
 Levels, as the reclaimed land is called. It was in 
 the diocese of Lincoln, where Neile's interdict was 
 inoperative. But a small colony soon acquires the 
 language of the country in which they have made 
 their home, and the appointment of a M. de Vaneley, 
 in 1 68 1, as minister of the chapel, is the last of which 
 we read." The building soon afterwards fell into 
 decay, and no trace of it now remains. 
 
 Charles I. seems to have taken great personal 
 interest in all matters relating to the Church and her 
 
 ' S. P. Dom. Charles I., cccxxxi, 71. The archbishop would 
 1)6 well assured of Laud's sympathy in the whole matter. The 
 view of the latter was that the liberty granted by the Govern- 
 ment was not intended to be continued to their children and 
 posterity ; and that indulgence to them as regarded the free 
 exercise of their religion " makes an ill impression on the 
 English, and confirms them in their stubbornness and non- 
 conformity" (Collier, ii. 753). 
 
 ' One of the ministers of the chapel at Sandtoft, John Conrad 
 Werndly, who may probably be identified with M. de Vaneley, 
 published in 1693 a translation of " Liturgia Tigurina, or the 
 Book of Common-prayers and Administration of the Sacra- 
 ments, &c.," as performed in the city and canton of Zurich. 
 It probably contains the forms used by him at Sandtoft. 
 When this little book was published he was minister of 
 Wraisbury-cum-Langley, in Bucks. 
 
CHARI.KS l.'s IXTERKST IN CHURCH MATTERS. 377 
 
 discipline. Ceitificates of the state of the Northern 
 Province were duly forwarded by Neile to the king, 
 who evidently read them with great care, marginal 
 notes, in his own hand, being frequently found in 
 their pages. The Archbishop tells his majesty ^ that 
 as regarded his declaration for settling questions in 
 doctrine, a watchful eye is kept, if any fly out, to call 
 them to account. The royal injunctions about 
 catechising had brought many ministers to catechise 
 as well as preach. With regard to the latter function, 
 the rule is, " Either observe his majesty's direc- 
 tions in every particular, or have no sermon." He 
 complains much of the negligence of churchwardens 
 in not presenting those who come to sermons, but 
 absent themselves from the public prayers. The 
 royal declaration permitting recreations on Sundays 
 after divine service is received with reluctance by a 
 few ministers, but with a request for time to consider 
 the matter more fully, and to read the book lately 
 written by the Bishop of Ely, after the perusal of 
 which they promise either to conform or to submit to 
 censure. 
 
 One thing is noteworthy. He reports to the kingthat 
 during the past year there had been ^6,562. 15s. 7d. 
 expended in the repairing and adorning of churches 
 in the archdeaconries of York, East Riding, and 
 Nottingham, and a large sum in that of Cleveland, 
 of which he had not received exact particulars. 
 He mentions also that when he visited Southwell he 
 had taken order for a choir service there. 
 
 S. r. Dom. Charles I. cccxii., 84. 
 
378 
 
 YORK. 
 
 From the reports sent in by the suffragan bishops 
 of the province/ we gather that the clergy generally 
 must have been of a very low stamp. The Bishop 
 of Sodor and Man says that reading the service 
 distinctly is as much as most of the Isle of Man 
 clergy can do. They have had no opportunity of 
 obtaining a learned education. They cannot preach, 
 so he had ordered them to read the Homilies, and 
 had required every parish to provide a copy. On St. 
 John Baptist's day he found that gross superstitions 
 were practised. What their nature was we are not 
 informed, but he had forbidden them and ordered 
 the services of the Church and sermons in their 
 stead. Bishop Potter, of Carlisle, reports general 
 conformity in his diocese, but states that the wretched 
 stipends attached to most of the benefices oblige him 
 to admit mean scholars to the diaconate, rather than 
 allow the people to be utterly mthout divine service ; 
 and he complains much of the supineness of the 
 churchwardens, who never present absentees from 
 church, and of the magistrates, who never punish 
 them. Bishop Morton, of Durham, says that he 
 can hardly procure a sufficient number of competent 
 ministers to lecture in the market towns. Bridge- 
 man, the Bishop of Chester, gives the most satisfac- 
 tory account. He had brought most of the churches 
 in his diocese to a state of uniformity and decenc)', in 
 which he had essential help from the laity, who had 
 most cheerfully contributed many thousand pounds. 
 
 The king spent some time in York on several 
 
 » S. r. Dom. Charles I. cccxiv., 85. 
 
ROVAL LETTER TO CHAPTER OF YORK. 379 
 
 occasions, and more than once "kept his Maunday" 
 there. The ancient ceremonials were duly observed. 
 Two bishops washed the feet of certain poor men in 
 one of the aisles of the minster, whose number corre- 
 sponded to the years of his majesty's age, and handed 
 to them the royal gifts of bread, fish, clothing, and 
 money. His majesty touched great numbers for the 
 Evil at the same time. 
 
 In the course of one of his visits to York, he 
 addressed a letter to the Dean and Chapter,^ strongly 
 animadverting upon their having allowed dwelling- 
 houses to be erected in the closest proximity to the 
 walls of the minster. One, indeed, had been actually 
 built inside the church, in the transept, which he 
 ordered at once to be taken down. No enclosed 
 seat was to be permitted in the choir, except one on 
 the north ' side, beyond the stalls, for the lord 
 president's lady and her suite. " Other women of 
 quality " were to be accommodated with moveable 
 benches or chairs. His majesty also issued an order" 
 commanding the attendance of the lord mayor, 
 recorder, and aldermen of York, at the minster 
 service on Sundays and holy-days, and that they 
 should behave in accordance with the canons of the 
 Church. They were forbidden to bring the ensigns 
 of their authority within the walls of the minster, and 
 were to manifest their conformity by receiving Holy 
 Communion at certain solemn times every year. 
 
 The services of the minster seem to have been 
 kept up at this time with considerable care. The 
 
 ' S. P. Dom. Charles I., ccxxxix. 56. 
 2 Ibid., ccclxiii. 9. 
 
38o 
 
 YORK. 
 
 journal of three Norwich gentlemen^ who tarried at 
 York in the course of a tour they were making 
 through the northern counties, shows that they were 
 much impressed by the sight of the minster on a 
 Sunday and the rank and dignity of the congregation. 
 They speak also of its sumptuous ornaments and 
 vestments, rich communion cloths, and "coapes of 
 embroider'd velvet, cloth of gold, silver, and tissue, 
 of great worth and value." The king had about this 
 time given I, GOO "for the makeing of an organ, 
 and provision of other ornaments for the said 
 church." 
 
 Charles was evidently always kept au fait by Arch- 
 bishop Neile with the general state of the diocese, 
 sometimes through Laud, sometimes by communica- 
 tions directly addressed to himself On one occasion 
 Neile writes a letter to his majesty,- telling him that 
 he finds no inclination in his diocese to innovate in 
 anything which concerns either the doctrine or disci- 
 pline of the Church of England ; but adds the some- 
 what contradictory information that too many of his 
 Majesty's subjects in Yorkshire have gone to New 
 England,^ amongst whom was "one Rogers," who 
 
 ' The original MS. is preserved amongst ihe Lansdowne 
 ]\ISS. 213. Plut., l.xxiv., B. It was printed many years ago 
 in a publication called the "Graphic Illustrator." 
 
 ^ S. P. Dom. Charles I., ccccxii. 45 (i). 
 
 ' The emigration had commenced in 1620, when the May- 
 fio'ii'cr conveyed the " Pilgrim Fathers," as they were subse- 
 quently called, to that far-off shore. They were driven to leave 
 their native land by the enforcement of subscription to the 
 "Three Articles," which has already been mentioned, and 
 other galling and oppressive dealings with them. 
 
ARCHBISHOP NEILE's POLICY. 
 
 had been incumbent of a living worth ^^240 per 
 annum. For two years he had tried in vain to re- 
 claim him, refusing to receive his resignation. But 
 he had just received a letter from him, written on 
 board ship, thanking his grace for the counsel he had 
 given him, but telling him that his resignation must 
 now be definitely accepted, for he was then actually 
 commencing his voyage. The king's marginal note 
 upon tliis communication is, "An honester man must 
 be put in his place." 
 
 The Archbishop gave much umbrage to some of 
 the country gentlemen by his refusal to consecrate 
 their private chapels. Sir Henry Slingsby had made 
 a request to that effect, partly, as it would seem, for 
 the convenience of his large household, and partly 
 because Mr. Thriscross, who had formerly been 
 Archdeacon of Cleveland and Rector of Kirby 
 Moorside — a very excellent, but somewhat scrupulous 
 person — had declined to officiate there on the ground 
 of its being unconsecrated. But Neile absolutely 
 refused ; " having," as he said, " express command 
 not to consecrate any, least it may be occasion of 
 conventicles."! 
 
 Laud was, no doubt, the prompter of every move 
 which his brotlier Archbisliop made in the northern 
 province. The latter was said to be pradicator 
 inirabilis, but he was evidently a weak man, with no 
 small amount of bigotry and intolerance. Laud was 
 a man of far higher powers of intellect, but equally 
 intolerant of opposition to his own cherished views 
 
 ' "Diary of Sir Hen. Slingsby" (ed. D. Tarsoii';, M.A., 
 Loiul., 1836), p. 19. 
 
382 
 
 YORK. 
 
 on ecclesiastical doctrine and discipline. Rigid con- 
 formity to rubric and canon, even to the minutest 
 particular, was what both the primates longed to 
 obtain in their respective provinces. " Unity," said 
 Laud, "cannot long continue in the Church when 
 Uniformity is shut out of the Church door." To 
 establish the latter was their great ambition, but the 
 stern application of the rod of discipline was their 
 only inodus operandi. They brought men into the 
 High Commission Court and into the Bishops' Courts, 
 they suspended and they excommunicated. That no 
 small debt of gratitude is due to the great divines of 
 the seventeenth century, of whom Laud was un- 
 questionably one of the most prominent, though not 
 the most lovable, is indubitable. To them we owe 
 the preservation of a sounder system of theology and 
 the maintenance of a more seemly ceremonial than 
 sectarian narrowness and prejudice would have allowed 
 to be perpetuated ; but they inherited the evil tradi- 
 tions of the Tudor era as regarded their mode of 
 working. They failed to see that "it is not the 
 mother's learning, but the mother's love and tender- 
 ness which educate and nourish the child ; so it is 
 the love and pastoral care of the Church, and not her 
 theology and learning, that will find their way home 
 to the hearts of any religious community." They 
 were too short-sighted, moreover, to recognise that a 
 great middle class was day by day rising up around 
 them into increased importance and prominence in 
 the country, and exhibiting intellectual quahfications 
 of no mean order, — a class which could not brook 
 the arbitrary mode of action which was unhappily 
 
 * 
 
NEILE ADVOCATES PERSECUTIOX. 383 
 
 adopted by so many who occupied the highest posi- 
 tions in the Church. It would be difficult indeed to 
 estimate the number of individuals thus repelled and 
 estranged, who, by gentler handling and the exercise 
 of a wiser policy, might probably have been retained 
 as members of the Church of England. 
 
 Neile even vindicated persecution, and that of the 
 most cruel kind. We have it under his own hand. 
 In a letter to Laud (August 23, 1639),! he speaks of 
 the proceedings taken in the case of Legate, who 
 was burnt for heretical opinions in James' reign ; 
 — '•' whose punishment, I am persuaded, did a 
 great deal of good in this church :" — and he goes 
 on to say, " I fear the present times do require like 
 exemplary punishment, which I refer to your grave 
 consideration." 
 
 When we find such sentiments uttered by a man 
 holding one of the very highest positions in the 
 Church of England, we can scarcely feel much sur- 
 prise at the reaction which followed, or wonder 
 greatly at a feeling being aroused which, within a 
 few short years, resulted in the expulsion of the 
 bishops from the House of Lords, and the banish- 
 ment of the clergy from their benefices. 
 
 Other causes combined, beyond question, to bring 
 about the civil war which so soon ensued, and 
 which ended in the subversion, for a time, of the 
 Monarchy and the Church of this country ; but the 
 attitude so persistently maintained by the authorities 
 of the latter, in their relations with the Puritans, can 
 
 ' S. P. Dom. Charles I., ccccxxvii. 78. 
 
386 
 
 YORK. 
 
 citadel or accede to his demands, and he was obliged 
 to retire. Archbishop Williams had by this time taken 
 up his abode at Cawood Castle, one of the residences 
 attached to the see. Shortly after the king's abortive 
 attempt to obtain possession of Hull, warning was 
 given to the Archbishop, late one night, by Ur. Feme, 
 that the younger Hotham had laid plans for attacking 
 the Castle, and had vowed to take his grace's life in 
 revenge for the language he was said to have used 
 with reference to his father and himself and the refusal 
 of the former to admit the king within the gates of 
 Hull. Cawood was not provisioned for a siege, it was 
 in bad repair and althogether incapable of defence. 
 The Archbishop thought discretion the better part of 
 valour, hastily gathered some of his baggage together, 
 and, guarded by a few horsemen, was out of the place 
 before midnight. He fled into Wales, as to a tempo- 
 rary refuge, " until," as his biographer Hacket might 
 have applied the words, " this tyranny were overpast" 
 But he never saw his diocese more.^ He died at 
 Glothaeth, in Carnarvonshire, on the 25th March. 
 1650, and was buried at Llandegay, near Bangor. 
 
 To attempt any account of the great civil war which 
 was now imminent, is beyond the province of this 
 work, and would be inconsistent with its object and 
 limits, although York, and the great county of which 
 it is the capital, had no unimportant share in its his- 
 tory. Most of the great houses of Yorkshire's nobility 
 and gentry, with a few exceptions, were on the side of 
 the king. Many of the vtoyeti gentry, especially those 
 
 ' Racket's "Life of Archbishop Williams," part ii. pp. 
 186, 187. 
 
THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 
 
 387 
 
 who had but recently taken rank, as it were, amongst 
 the untitled aristocracy of the country, were with the 
 Parliament, their political and religious sympathies 
 inclining them to adopt that cause. 
 
 It may be sufficient to summarize very briefly the 
 sequence of the more prominent events which for a 
 time obliterated episcopacy from the great shire of 
 York, and placed it, as regards religious matters, in the 
 hands of the Presbyterian preachers. 
 
 The war went on with varying fortunes. Negotia- 
 tions were attempted from time to time, but without 
 success ; for each party mistrusted the other. 
 
 In 1643 an assembly was summoned by Parliament 
 to sit at Westminster, consisting of 30 laypersons and 
 121 divines, who were to deliberate as to some plan 
 for "the settlement of the government and liturgy of 
 the Church of England and the clearing of the doc- 
 trine of the said church from false aspersions and in- 
 terpretations." In the same year an oath, called the 
 Solemn League and Covenant, which was really a 
 pledge to overthrow the Church, was imposed upon 
 all who held civil or military offices, and upon such 
 of the clergy as had been permitted to retain their 
 benefices. 
 
 On the 2nd July, 1644, the battle of Marston Moor 
 was fought. It was a disastrous day for the Royalists 
 and the death-blow of their cause in Yorkshire. The 
 city of York had been beleaguered by Fairfax and the 
 Earl of Manchester, and after the defeat of the 
 king's forces at Marston, the siege was carried on with 
 renewed vigour. Preparations were now made for 
 storming the defences. The environment had lasted 
 2 c 2 
 
388 
 
 YORK. 
 
 for eighteen weeks, and its gallant defenders, finding 
 that the place was no longer tenable, capitulated, 
 and were allowed to march out with the honours of 
 war. Special guarantees were given, it is said at 
 the instance of Lord Fairfax, that neither churches 
 nor other buildings should be defaced by the 
 Parliamentarians. The garrison retired to Skipton. 
 
 On the 3rd January, 1644-5, the Directory for 
 public worship was established, by an Ordinance of 
 Parliament bearing that date. That it might have full 
 effect, a further Ordinance was passed, in the August 
 following, forbidding the use of the book of Common- 
 prayer altogether. They were not content with its 
 prohibition in public worship. They went further than 
 this : — it might not be used in a man's own house, to 
 lead the devotions of his family and household, or 
 even, as it seemed, for his own individual edification 
 and comfort. All Prayer-books belonging to churches 
 and chapels were to be delivered up within a month, 
 and their use forbidden under heavy penalties ; _;^5 
 for the first offence, ^10 for the second, and a year's 
 imprisonment for the third. Ministers who did not 
 observe the Directory were to- forfeit 40s., and 
 preaching, writing, or printing anything against it was 
 punishable by the imposition of a fine, of which the 
 maximum was ;£s°i the minimum ^5. 
 
 Even Neal, the historian of the Puritans, is 
 ashamed of this infamous law, which he pronounces 
 "equally to be condemned with the severities and 
 oppressions of the late times," and he goes on to say 
 that, though it might be right enough to abrogate the 
 public use of the Prayer-book, it was highly unreason- 
 
USE OF THE PRAYER-BOOK FORBIDDEN. 389 
 
 able to forbid the reading it in private families or 
 closets.1 He might well say so. The Puritans vehe- 
 mently contended for liberty of conscience, but it was 
 on their own side only. The spirit of their Ordinance 
 was as harsh and intolerant, as much opposed to 
 the genuine spirit of Christianity, as any statutes or 
 canons passed in the reigns of Elizabeth, James I., 
 or the king whom they were now doing their best 
 to dethrone. 
 
 The suppression of the form of worship according 
 to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of Eng- 
 land was very speedily followed by the execution of 
 the great prelate who was so obnoxious to the party 
 who effected it. Laud was beheaded on the loth 
 January, 1644-5. 
 
 The battle of Naseby was fought on the 14th June 
 following. It was practically the final blow to Charles' 
 power. Some of the garrisons in the hands of the 
 Royalists still held out, indeed, and partial successes 
 here and there afforded gleams of hope to the more 
 sanguine amongst them. Negotiations went on from 
 time to time, but they ended in nothing. On the 
 ist January, 1649, a High Court of Justice was set up 
 to try the sovereign, and on the 30th of the same 
 inonth his head was struck off on the scaffold at 
 Whitehall. 
 
 Diocesan rule had ere this ceased in Yorkshire as 
 elsewhere throughout the country. Some few ministers 
 who were contented to accept the Directory retained 
 their benefices. Amongst them was Mr. Todd, who 
 
 ' Nenl's "Hist. Pur.," iii. p. 158. 
 
39° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 was so summarily suspended by Archbishop Neile 
 {ante, p. 374). But a large proportion of the loyal 
 clergy were ejected, and many subjected to great 
 privations. 
 
 Amongst the more eminent of the Yorkshire clergy 
 thus dealt with may be mentioned John Neile, a son of 
 the archbishop of that name. He was archdeacon of 
 Cleveland, canon of York, and rector of Beeford. 
 Like many others, he was deprived of the means of 
 subsistence, and earned a precarious maintenance by 
 teaching, until the Restoration reinstated him in his 
 preferments. He eventually became Dean of Ripon. 
 Robinson, the vicar of Leeds, was amongst those 
 ejected, which seems remarkable, for his sympathies 
 were certainly with the Puritans. But he probably 
 did not go far enough, and Leeds was undoubtedly a 
 stronghold of the more advanced men of that school. 
 He was replaced by Peter Saxton, who held that 
 benefice from 1646 to 165 1. He is worthy of 
 a brief mention on account of an arrangement 
 proposed during his incumbency — possibly at his 
 instance, certainly, as we may presume, with his 
 sanction — for the division of the great parish 
 of Leeds, though it never was carried into effect. 
 The idea was suggested by a commission which 
 was granted for the purpose of surveying and sub- 
 dividing the great parishes of the North of England 
 the original reports of which are in the Lambeth 
 library. The object was to break down all distinction 
 between the parish churches and their subsidiary 
 chapels, to form as many parishes as there were places 
 of worship, and to provide a competent maintenance 
 
RESTORATION OF CHARLES II. 
 
 in each for a resident preaching minister.^ It was a 
 far-sighted and admirable scheme, projected though 
 it were by men who had httle affection for the Church 
 of England, in our sense of the term, and was a re- 
 markable foreshadowing of a plan which has been 
 carried out in our own day, notably in Leeds, and in 
 other wide and extensive parishes in different parts of 
 England. 
 
 In 1660 the restoration of Charles II. to the throne 
 of Great Britain took place, and was followed by the 
 restoration of the Church of England to her rights 
 and privileges. The bishops were reinstated in their 
 sees, and those which had become vacant by the 
 deaths of their occupants were filled up without delay. 
 Archbishop Williams, as has already been mentioned, 
 died in 1650. The Northern primacy was bestowed 
 by the king upon Accepted Frewen, Bishop of 
 Coventry and Lichfield. He was elected Archbishop 
 of York on the 22nd September, 1660, and enthroned 
 on the nth of the following month. 
 
 The Presbyterian party were much discontented at 
 the prospect of the Book of Common-prayer being 
 again recognised as the form which was to guide the 
 public worship of the people of England, and made 
 many complaints to the king upon the subject. They 
 alleged the burden that a set form of prayer imposed 
 upon tender consciences, and though they admitted 
 that a Liturgy, if consonant to the Word of God, 
 might lawfully be used, it ought not to be enforced 
 with over much rigour, but that the minister might 
 
 ' See Whitaker's " Loidis and Elmete," pp. 34, 35. 
 
392 
 
 YORK. 
 
 be permitted "also to make use of those gifts for 
 prayer and exhortation which Christ hath given him 
 for the service and edification of the Church." Much 
 negotiation took place, but no final settlement could 
 be arrived at. At last a warrant was issued on the 
 25th March, i66r, appointing a conference at the 
 Savoy, to take into consideration the exceptions 
 taken by the Presbyterian party against the Book of 
 Common-prayer, the question of episcopal jurisdic- 
 tion, and some lesser matters relating to ceremonial. 
 Twelve bishops, as many Presbyterian divines, and 
 nine other divines on each side as coadjutors, to fill 
 the places of absentees, constituted tlie conference. 
 Archbishop Frewen of York was at the head of the 
 Church of England clergy. Long discussions took 
 place, but a reconciliation was found to be unattain- 
 able. 
 
 No practical result having followed the conference, 
 a review of the Prayer-book was ordered to be taken 
 in hand by the Convocations of Canterbury and York. 
 The Archbishop of York, Bishop Cosin of Durham, 
 and the Bishops of Carlisle and Chester were invited 
 to assist at the deliberations of the Southern Convo- 
 cation. The co-operation of the Lower House of the 
 Northern Convocation was requisite, and five members 
 of the Lower House of York were empowered to 
 attend and act as proxies for their brethren. The 
 revision was completed on the 20th December, 1661, 
 and after receiving the subscriptions of the bishops 
 and clergy of both Houses and of both Provinces, was 
 submitted to the king in council and received the 
 royal approval. 
 
ACT OF UNIFORMITY PASSED. 
 
 393 
 
 The Act of Uniformity was at this time under dis- 
 cussion by the Lords/ and a copy of the book with 
 the Great Seal attached was dehvered to them with a 
 message from the king. The act received the royal 
 assent on the 19th May, 1662. 
 
 It is needless to say that, with the sole exception of 
 the altered Table of Lessons, which in our own time 
 has taken the place of the former arrangement, the 
 Prayer-book of 1662 is identical with that now in use. 
 
 Those who withdrew themselves after the enact- 
 ment of this statute, or were turned out of the bene- 
 fices they occupied on the day of St. Bartholomew, 
 1662, were, for the most part, the best and most 
 conscientious of the Puritan party. This was con- 
 spicuously the case in Yorkshire. Many who were 
 eminent in a very high degree for piety and learning 
 refused to conform. A few may be mentioned. The 
 foremost on the list is undoubtedly Mr. Edward Bowles. 
 He was the recognised leader of the Nonconformists, 
 but was universally esteemed, even by those who most 
 
 ' If the Lords had had their own way, the provisions of the 
 Act of Uniformity would have been far less stringent than those 
 finally passed. A letter from Afr. R. Neile to Bishop Cosin's 
 secretary (April 29, 1662) tells us this: — "The great divell 
 that scareth them is the Act of Uniformity, which is now in the 
 house of Commons, who liave thrown out botli the provisoes 
 whicli in one of yours you so rightly guessed. The Pu[ritan] 
 Lords are much troubled at it, but the Commons are resolute, 
 and will pass noe Bills of concernment (as for money or the 
 like) till the Bill of Uniformity be passed." And he adds a 
 postscript : — " Dr. Sand[croft] saith the Presbyterian ministers 
 in Suffolke now begin to say that the Lords' house is the house 
 of the Lord, and soe they pray for itt." (" Mickleton MSS.," 
 A. Ixx.) 
 
394 
 
 YORK. 
 
 differed from his views, for the singular excellence 
 and consistency of his character. Of this no stronger 
 proof can be given than the offer which was made 
 him, shortly after the Restoration, of the Deanery of 
 York. H e was well known in that city, for during the 
 Commonwealth he was a very frequent preacher at 
 the Minster and at All Saints' Pavement, the church 
 in which the Solemn League and Covenant was taken 
 by the citizens of York. He was also chaplain to 
 Thomas, Lord Fairfax, the great Parliamentary 
 general, by whom he was greatly beloved. Another 
 was Thomas Calvert, rector of the last-mentioned 
 parish, who was a highly accomplished Oriental 
 scholar, and on that account was familiarly designated 
 as Rabbi Calvert. To these must be added Matthew 
 Poole, the author of the "Synopsis Criticorum." 
 He was highly esteemed by Lord Fairfax, who 
 bequeathed him ;^io " towards the carrying on of his 
 Synopsis of the Cretics." There were others also, 
 of somewhat lesser note as regards learning, but of 
 equal excellence and piety. Amongst these Oliver 
 Heywood occupies no undistinguished place. Peter 
 Williams may also be named, who was a native of 
 York, and Shaw, the Vicar of Rotherham, who 
 mentions in his autobiography that he once had 
 "very terrible threatening language '' used to him by 
 Archbishop Neile. 
 
 A vast amount of sympathy was felt by very many 
 of the better class of persons in Yorkshire, for men 
 such as those thus briefly indicated, who were either 
 ejected, or whose conscientious convictions forbade 
 conformity. There was much to incline pious and 
 
RESULTS OF ACT OF UNIFORMITY. 39S 
 
 thoughtful persons in the direction of Puritanism. 
 "Intolerance on the one hand, and a total absence 
 of all earnestness and zeal in God's cause on the 
 other, were looked upon with dislike by good and 
 sober-minded men. And there were few places in 
 England in which the national church was, at that 
 time, at a greater disadvantage than in the city of 
 York. The Minster clergy did no credit to their 
 office or their religion," ^ and contrasted most un- 
 favourably with the austere piety, narrow though it 
 might be in many points, of the good men whose 
 public utterances in the churches were now silenced. 
 
 There was great irritation of feeling caused by the 
 working of the " black Bartholomew Act," as it was 
 called, amongst other classes of the community, whose 
 rancour was oftentimes more genuine than their piety. 
 In October, 1663, an insurrection was organised on 
 a considerable scale. Farnley wood, near Leeds, was 
 their rendezvous, and liberty of conscience was their 
 war-cry. But they had no leader of any standing or 
 position, and the rising was crushed almost as speedily 
 as it arose. A special assize was held in the winter 
 of that year, and a large number of the insurgents 
 tried and convicted. Twenty-two were executed in 
 Yorkshire, many imprisoned for a length of time, and 
 others bound over to good behaviour. 
 
 The most prominent amongst the sectaries who 
 took part in the political and religious demonstrations 
 of the time were the Quakers. We find them 
 perpetually indicted at the York assizes for holding 
 
 ' Canon Raine's "Memoir of Mr. Justice Rokeby" (Misce!- 
 lanca, Pub. .Surtees .Soc, pp. 4, 5). 
 
396 
 
 YORK. 
 
 their conventicles, which they went on doing with 
 wonderful pertinacity, in spite of all prohibitions, pains, 
 and penalties. The authorities utterly failed to 
 suppress them. They flourished in spite of all their 
 efforts, and abounded at that period in very many 
 parts' of Yorkshire where, at the present day, there is 
 scarcely a representative of the sect to be found. 
 The adherents of the Society of Friends appear to 
 have then belonged chiefly to the lower middle 
 class. It was almost the only form of dissent known 
 at that time in Yorkshire, with the exception of 
 Presbyterianism. 
 
 Archbishop Frewen's episcopate was not a long 
 one. He died at Bishopthorpe on the 28th March, 
 1664, and was buried in the Minster. 
 
 His successor, Richard Sterne, was translated from 
 Carlisle. He is memorable as having been chaplain 
 to Archbishop Laud, and having attended him on 
 the scaffold. He died i8th June, 1683. 
 
 The next Archbishop's career was somewhat re- 
 markable. When little more than a boy, John Dolben 
 left Oxford, where he had a studentship at Christ 
 Church, joined the ranks of the Royalist army, was 
 present at the siege of York, and fought at Marston 
 Moor, where he was dangerously wounded. He 
 afterwards received Holy Orders, and by one of 
 those strange chances, as we call them, which some- 
 times occur in life, his next entry within the walls of 
 York, long years after, was in far different array and 
 with far different surroundings. Strange memories 
 must have been awakened in the Archbishop's mind, 
 as he passed under the archway of Micklegate bar on 
 
CONVENTICLE AND TEST ACTS. 397 
 
 his way to be enthroned in the Minster, when he 
 looked back upon that summer's night in 1644 when, 
 as a weary and wounded fugitive, he formed one of 
 the thronging crowd of defeated Royalists who were 
 pressing through its narrow portal to seek refuge and 
 shelter within the walls of York. 
 
 During the period covered by the episcopates of 
 these three last-named prelates, severe measures were 
 passed affecting alike the Nonconformists and the 
 Roman Catholics. In 1670 the act against con- 
 venticles received the royal assent. Its provisions 
 were very stringent. Five persons or more assembled 
 in a house, over and above the family or household ; 
 and five or more in a house, field, or place where 
 there was no family or household, were held to con- 
 stitute a conventicle. As in the case of the Act of 
 Uniformity, the House of Lords agreed, indeed, to 
 the passing of the bill, but not without indications of 
 strong repugnance to its bitter and intolerant spirit. 
 A record of this occurs in a letter written by a chaplain 
 of Bishop Cosin (April 14, 1670) : " I heard the great 
 hum when the words Le Roy le veult were spoken at 
 the passing of the Act against Conventicles." ^ Fresh 
 impetus was given by the passing of this statute to 
 the persecution of dissenters. In 1673 the Test Act 
 was passed, under the provisions of which no office 
 could be filled by any one who had not communi- 
 cated according to the rites of the Church of England. 
 This affected equally the Nonconformists and the 
 Roman Catholics. The former were perpetually 
 
 ' "Cosin Correspondence," Introd., p. xxx. 
 
398 
 
 YORK. 
 
 indicted for holding their meetings in private houses. 
 This was often the case in York, where their numbers 
 were very large. Whole congregations were some- 
 times seized, and the principal members fined and 
 occasionally imprisoned. Similar proceedings took 
 place at Leeds, Wakefield, and other places. 
 
 Deep feelings of indignation were aroused by these 
 vexatious acts, resulting in strong expressions of 
 antipathy on the part of the populace against the 
 clergy of the Minster. Mobs do not discriminate, 
 and a prohibition which was simply intended to pro- 
 mote common decency within the walls of the 
 Minster was made the pretext for a violent and 
 unmanly attack upon one of its dignitaries. It was 
 then the custom — not quite extinct in some cathedrals 
 within living memory — for people to assemble and 
 walk up and down the nave on Sundays whilst service 
 was going on in the choir. Lake (aftenvards one of 
 the seven bishops sent to the Tower) was then a 
 Residentiary, and endeavoured to put a stop to this. 
 The perfenndtim ingetiium Ehoracensium was aroused 
 by this interference with their freedom of action ; the 
 mob attacked Lake's house, stripped off the tiling, 
 and it was thought might have actually murdered him 
 if his rescue had not been effected by the Deputy 
 Governor of the Castle. 
 
 The penal statutes against the Roman Catholics 
 were most rigorously enforced at this period. Real 
 or pretended plots were constantly supposed to be 
 discovered, and the result was the harshest possible 
 treatment. The houses of the gentry were searched 
 for horses and arms, and the oath of allegiance syste- 
 
ARCHBISHOP DOLBEN. 
 
 399 
 
 matically put to them ; oftentimes the result of the 
 basest conduct on the part of informers, whose one 
 sole object was to secure money for themselves out 
 of the penalties that were levied on the unhappy 
 recusants. 
 
 Archbishop Dolben's tenure of the chair of York 
 did not extend over many years, but he showed him- 
 self not unworthy of his high office during his some- 
 what brief episcopate. The injunctions he gave to 
 the capitular body of York show a deep anxiety that 
 the great mother church of the diocese should be, as 
 he expresses it, " a seminary and nursery of Christian 
 virtue." There was evidently not a little laxity and 
 no little carelessness on the part of some of the 
 higher clergy of the Minster. The Archbishop com- 
 plains " that many of them when they are to preach 
 doe spend the time of prayers in the vestry or else- 
 where, not comeing into the quire till they are called 
 to the pulpit, to the offence of the congregation and 
 lessening the esteeme of the holy offices of the 
 church," and he earnestly enjoins reformation in that 
 particular. He likewise draws attention to the in- 
 junctions of his predecessor. Archbishop Holgate, on 
 a yet higher subject, the weekly celebration of the 
 Holy Communion, in accordance with the rubric; 
 and he directs that from the first Sunday after the 
 following Easter, each Lord's day should witness such 
 celebration in future. 
 
 His exhortations were not wholly fruitless. There was 
 one at least among the dignitaries of the Minster who 
 had a deep regard for all that concerned the public 
 worship of the House of God. Dr. Comber was then 
 
400 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Precentor, so well known as the author of a book of 
 no little repute in its day, the " Companion to the 
 Temple." In his desire to promote obedience to 
 his diocesan's earnest injunctions on the subject of 
 weekly communion, he had constant encouragement 
 from his friend Denis Granville, Dean of Durham. 
 He was fortified also by a knowledge of the success 
 which had attended Dr. Beveridge's efforts in this 
 direction in his parish church of St. Peter's, Cornhili, 
 and by Dean Tillotson's establishment of the practice 
 in the Cathedral of Canterbury. But in spite of 
 archiepiscopal injunctions and his own earnest en- 
 deavours, it was up-hill work. In May, 1684, we find 
 Comber writing to .Sancroft : — "We are here very happy 
 in him [Archbishop Dolben], for he is very active in his 
 station, but still the weekly communions do not take. 
 I have moved it with modesty and am not denyed, 
 but the thing is deferred for a while. I hope it 
 may shortly do." It was no wonder that there were 
 obstructives amongst the older members of Chapter. 
 It appears from a letter of Comber to Dean Granville 
 that, previously to 161 7, when Dean Meriton ordered 
 a monthly Sacrament, it had not been the custom to 
 have a celebration of Holy Communion in the Minster 
 except on the Great Festivals, and the Precentor 
 evidently had misgivings as to the expediency of 
 forcing on more frequent communions without some 
 previous preparation. He concludes some very 
 sensible observations by the remark, " You must think 
 of bene as well as sape, or else religion will rather lose 
 than gain by reviving this long sleeping rubric." In 
 the end, however, its revival was accomplished, but it 
 
DECLARATION FOR LIBERTY OK CONSCIENXE. 40I 
 
 fell into desuetude again in the course of the next 
 century.' 
 
 On the 6th February, 1685, Charles II. died, and 
 James II. ascended the throne. He had not been 
 long seated there before the see of York became 
 vacant by the death of Archbishop Dolben, which 
 took place on the nth April, 1686. No nomination 
 of a successor was made until the very eve of James' 
 departure from the shores of England never to return, 
 in the hope, possibly, that he might be able eventually 
 to fill the northern primacy by the appointment of a 
 prelate of his own religious views. 
 
 During the vacancy of the see of York the jurisdic- 
 tion passed into the hands of the Dean and Chapter, 
 and when the king issued, on the 4th April, 1687, 
 his celebrated " Declaration for liberty of conscience," 
 a letter was addressed by Cartwright, Bishop of 
 Chester, to Dr. Tobias Wickham, the Dean of York, 
 urging him in the strongest terms to prevail upon the 
 Chapter to send an address of thanks for it to the 
 king, couched in similar terms to those which he, in 
 conjunction with Bishop Crewe and some other 
 prelates, had induced their clergy to adopt. But as 
 far as York was concerned his efforts were futile, 
 mainly owing to the firmness of an individual member 
 of the chapter. Dr. Comber " so effectually opposed 
 this attempt that not a single individual set his hand 
 to the address," with the sole exception of the 
 Dean. 
 
 In the following year, James issued his second 
 
 ' It was resumed in 1841 by order of Archbishop Harcouit. 
 2 D 
 
402 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Declaration of Indulgence, and required it to be 
 publicly read in all the churches. When the order 
 was received at York, a meeting of the clergy was held 
 to deliberate upon the course to be pursued. The 
 Dean declined to give an opinion. Dr. Comber then 
 invited a number of the clergy to meet at his house 
 for further consultation, the result of which was that 
 all present refused to read it, and agreed to send a 
 paper to every parish containing their reasons for 
 coming to that conclusion. The issue was that the 
 royal command was obeyed by very few indeed in the 
 diocese of York. 
 
 The Roman Catholics, naturally enough, availed 
 themselves of the liberty given by the king's Declara- 
 tion. The number of ^•icars apostolic appears to 
 have been enlarged. The northern district was 
 assigned to James Smith (Bishop of Callipolis in 
 partibtis), who made his entry into York about this 
 time with considerable ceremony. He was met by a 
 number of the priesthood, who sang a Te Deiim, and 
 conducted him processionaliter to a chapel where the 
 rites of the Old Religion were solemnized. The bishop 
 was vested in full pontificals, and carried a large silver 
 pastoral staff, given by Catherine of Braganza.i The 
 Protestant zeal of Lord Danby was strangely moved 
 by the sight, and he rushed impulsively forward and 
 
 ' Her arms, in a widow's lozenge, surmounted by a crown, 
 are engraved on one side of the staff, and those of Smith on the 
 other. Dr. Smith's nomination as a bishop is said to have been 
 due to the Queen-dowager's influence, and she made him a 
 present of 200 guineas on the day of his consecration. See 
 Dodd's "Church Hist.," p. 468. 
 
ARCHBISHOP LAMPLUGH. 403 
 
 wrested it from him. It is now preserved in the 
 Minster vestry. 
 
 The king's ill-advised order for the reading of his 
 Declaration in the churches led, as we all know, to 
 his contest with the bishops, their committal to the 
 Tower, their trial and acquittal. The enthusiastic 
 expression of delight with which the people hailed 
 the liberation of the prelates showed James in an 
 unmistakable manner the light in which they regarded 
 his acts, and his utter unpopularity. There was 
 another reason. An heir was at this time born to the 
 crown, and the feeling of those who were opposed to 
 James' rule became intensified by the probable 
 contingency, which that event involved, of their future 
 sovereign being of like faith with his father and trained 
 to pursue a like policy. An invitation was at once 
 addressed to the Prince of Orange, signed by Lord 
 Danby and others, praying for his intervention, and 
 promising support both in money and arms. The 
 news soon reached England that he was preparing to 
 land troops upon her shores. It was originally in- 
 tended that the disembarkation should take place on 
 the coast of Yorkshire, and preparations were made 
 accordingly by Lord Danby. But adverse winds 
 occasioned his course to be altered, and he landed 
 at Torbay on the 5th November, 1688. 
 
 James soon found that resistance would be hope- 
 less, and he left his kingdom on the 23rd of the 
 December following. One of his last acts of sove- 
 reignty was to translate Bishop Lamplugh to the see 
 of York, which had now been vacant fully two years. 
 Lamplugh was Bishop of Exeter, and tried to arouse 
 2 D 2 
 
404 
 
 YORK. 
 
 the county of Devon to oppose the landing of the 
 Prince of Orange. His efforts were fruitless, but they 
 doubtless recommended him to James, who imme- 
 diately nominated him to the northern primacy, and 
 he was enthroned on the 19th December, a very few 
 days before his royal master's departure from the 
 shores of England. 
 
 The writ for proclaiming William and Mary as 
 King and Queen of Great Britain arrived in York on 
 the evening of the 17th February, 1688-9. It was 
 the commencement of a new era — an era of political 
 and religious freedom, and of consequent moral and 
 social progress, unequalled in any previous period of 
 our country's history. 
 
YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The accession of William and Mary was soon followed 
 by the passing of an act imposing an oath of allegi- 
 ance, to be taken by all persons who exercised any 
 public functions. Ecclesiastics who refused to comply 
 with this enactment within a certain time were to be 
 suspended, and if six months elapsed after suspension, 
 without such compliance, deprivation followed. A 
 large number of the clergy entertained great scruples 
 with regard to this oath. They had sworn allegiance 
 to James, and the question how far they were justified 
 in transferring their allegiance to the new sovereign was 
 embarrassing to them in the highest degree. After 
 much anxious thought and consultation, Archbishop 
 Bancroft and eight of his episcopal brethren absolutely 
 refused to take the oath, and submitted to the depriva- 
 tion involved by their non-compliance. 
 
 Their example was followed by many conscientious 
 and scrupulous members of the clerical order, who 
 became known by the name of "Non-jurors." Their 
 number amounted to about four hundred.^ 
 
 ' The Non-jurors maintained their principles, and carried on 
 a succession of bishops down to a comparatively recent period. 
 Cartwright, one of their last bishops, died in 1799; and 
 Lathbury (in his "History of the Non-jurors," p. 412) says 
 that he had "been informed by a gentleman residing in the 
 West of Engl.ind, that a non-juring clergyman was living so 
 late as the year 1815," 
 
4o6 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Archbishop Lamplugh of York was amongst the 
 prelates who swore allegiance to William and Mary, 
 notwithstanding the part he had taken in opposition 
 to the landing of the former (ante, p. 403). A few of 
 his clergy remained steadfast in their allegiance to 
 James. From a list given in the Appendix to Hickes' 
 " Life of Kettlewell," it appears that there were thirty- 
 one Non-jurors in the diocese of York. The most 
 eminent in point of position was Dr. Crowbrough, 
 Archdeacon of Nottingham and Canon of York and 
 Southwell. 
 
 The names just mentioned of "Hickes" and 
 " Kettlewell," although neither were beneficed in the 
 northern province, cannot be passed over in any 
 notice, however brief, of the Non-jurors connected with 
 Yorkshire. Both were born within a few miles of North 
 Allerton, both educated at the grammar-school of 
 that town, both fellows of Lincoln College, O.xford, 
 and each occupied no inconspicuous place amongst 
 those who, at this particular juncture, submitted to 
 deprivation rather than forego their conscientious 
 convictions. Dr. George Hickes was Dean of Wor- 
 cester, and his life-long friend, John Ketdewell, was 
 Vicar of Coleshill in Warwickshire. The former was 
 one of the most eminent scholars of his day ; 1 the 
 latter held no mean place as a man of learning, but 
 was still more honourably distinguished for the singular 
 simplicity and sanctity of his life. 
 
 All attempts to conciliate the Non-jurors failed. 
 
 ' Dr. Hickes wrote many controversial works, but is now 
 chiefly remembered by his books on the Northern Languages, 
 especially his "Thesaurus Linguarum Vet. Septentrionalium." 
 
tillotson's scheme for comprehension. 407 
 
 Sancroft's deprivation was followed by the appoint- 
 ment of Tillotson to the primacy. The latter was a 
 Yorkshirenian by birth, and his early training in a 
 Puritan home predisposed him to sympathise more 
 cordially with the Nonconformist party than with 
 churchmen like Sancroft or Ken, Hickes or Kettlewell. 
 He took a prominent part when the Bill of Compre- 
 hension was proposed, and the Houses of Convocation 
 were summoned to deliberate upon it, as also when 
 the question of a review of the Book of Common- 
 prayer and the Canons was mooted, with a view of 
 making such concessions to the Dissenters as might 
 result in their union with the Church. Some of the 
 alterations proposed were not undesirable, yet we may 
 well be thankful that the majestic cadences of the 
 prayers and collects escaped "being made anew" by 
 Patrick, Burnet, and Stillingfleet, and receiving the 
 finishing touches of Tillotson, '■ who polished over 
 whatever was left rough in the compositions with his 
 smooth language and flowingness of his easy elo- 
 quence." 1 But every obstacle was interposed by a 
 large majority of the Lower House. In the face of 
 this opposition, comprehension was hopeless, and the 
 whole scheme fell to the ground. The Northern Con- 
 vocation appears to have had no hand in the matter. 
 
 Archbishop Lamplugh died in 1691, and was 
 succeeded by Dr. John Sharp, then Dean of Canter- 
 bury. Like his friend Tillotson, he was a native of 
 Yorkshire. Other bishoprics had been previously 
 offered him. But in each case the vacancy was caused 
 
 ' Life of Tillotson (in "Wordsworth's Eccles. Biog.," iv.' 
 p. 680). 
 
4o8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 by the deprivation of the occupant of the see, and 
 Sharp's personal feelings were so averse from succeed- 
 ing to a bishopric which was vacant in such a manner 
 that he absolutely refused these offers — much, it was 
 said, to the royal displeasure. No such reason 
 interfered with his acceptance of York, when, through 
 Tillotson's intervention, he received an intimation 
 that the king had nominated him to that high position. 
 He was enthroned on the i6th July, 1691. 
 
 Archbishop Sharp was no common man. His 
 personal religion was deep and genuine, his diligence 
 in his episcopal work unwearied, and he was especially 
 conscientious in the disposal of his patronage. He 
 made himself minutely acquainted with the character 
 of his clergy throughout his wide diocese. Residence 
 upon their benefices was strongly urged, and he set 
 his face, as far as he could, against pluralities, except 
 in the case of small and contiguous livings. He was 
 a true son of the Church of England, as deeply 
 attached to her formularies, and as exact in their 
 observance, as were men like Laud, or his predecessor 
 Neile ; but, unlike them, he was singularly tolerant as 
 regarded those who dissented from the Church, hating 
 anything that "had but the appearance of bitterness 
 and violence against their persons," and detesting "to 
 hear them vilified and maltreated in the pulpit, which 
 he abhorred should be prostituted to such purposes."^ 
 
 The list of prelates who presided over the diocese 
 of York during the remainder of the century, after he 
 was taken to his rest in 17 14, presents no one who 
 stands out to view in any very marked and prominent 
 
 ' "Life of Archbishop Sharp," i. p. 357 (London : 1825). 
 
THE CHURCH IN THE LAST CENTURY. 409 
 
 manner as emulating the example and carrying out 
 the traditions of Archbishop Sharp's episcopate. The 
 holders of the northern primacy, with perhaps one 
 solitary exception, were prelates of the highest re- 
 spectability in character and attainments, and filled 
 their high office with all suitable dignity of demeanour, 
 but they can scarcely be said to have been distin- 
 guished by any peculiarly episcopal qualifications, as 
 we now understand that term. It was the same, with 
 some brilliant exceptions, throughout the Church at 
 that period. Apathy was the characteristic of the 
 1 8th century. Staiout, point du zele might have been 
 inscribed on its banners. And as it was with the 
 prelates, so was it with the clergy. Most of the higher 
 class of clergy were, no doubt, gentlemen and scholars. 
 But the system of pluralities, that damnosa hereditas 
 of mediaeval times, was yet in full vigour. Many an 
 ecclesiastic held a living, or livings, which, after his 
 induction, he never visited, delegating the performance 
 of their parochial services to curates on meagre 
 stipends, of inferior social position, and slender attain- 
 ments either in scholarship or theology. The inimit- 
 able pictures drawn by Fielding's pencil of Parson 
 Adams and Parson TruUiber, caricatures though they 
 be, were taken from real life, — the one presenting a 
 portrait of the better class of the humbler country- 
 clergy of the day, the other of their lowest type ; — one, 
 simple in habits, not altogether unscholarly, or regard- 
 less of clerical obligations : the other, coarse and 
 vulgar, in no degree removed, socially, from the level 
 of the lower class of farmers amongst whom they 
 lived, and to whom they presented the ministrations 
 
YORK. 
 
 of the Church in the most slovenly and perfunctory 
 manner. 
 
 We can easily imagine how startling to such men 
 must have been the appearance of a man like John 
 Wesley in their parishes, and how vehement would 
 be their denunciations against an enthusiasm which 
 they did not share and an earnestness which they 
 could in no wise comprehend. But the feeling was 
 not confined to the Parson Adamses or Trullibers. 
 The clergy, generally, were full of prejudices of the 
 narrowest description. They hated Nonconformists 
 as intensely as they detested Romanists ; and although 
 Wesley was an ordained clergyman of the Church of 
 England, his contempt for all the formalities of her 
 discipline, his open-air preaching in the market-place 
 or on the village green, when the pulpits of the 
 churches were closed against him, and the excited 
 fervour of his disciples, their groans of contrition 
 when conviction of sin was awakened within them, 
 and their shouts of exultation when they deemed 
 that the burden of that sin was removed, caused him 
 to be regarded by the great majority of clerg}', both 
 in town and country, as a fanatic of the wildest 
 description and his teaching and preaching as sub- 
 versive of all ecclesiastical decency and order. 
 
 The history of John Wesley is too well known to need 
 recapitulation. He seems always to have taken a great 
 interest in the Yorkshire people. His journals show 
 how laboriously he traversed that great county in the 
 hope of awakening some deeper feeling of religion 
 amongst its inhabitants. His success varied in York- 
 shire as elsewhere. Sometimes he was kindly treated 
 
JOHN Wesley's work. 411 
 
 by the clergyman and gladly admitted to his pulpit. 
 But that was the exception, not the rule. In other 
 places he was mobbed, reviled and abused in all 
 possible ways, and the poor people who gathered 
 round him were subjected to the like indignities. 
 
 But all this violence ceased in time. The move- 
 ment spread. Societies banded together under John 
 Wesley's rules, became established in one town, village, 
 and hamlet in Yorkshire after another, long before 
 the death of their originator ; and, at the present day, 
 there are few counties in England where the W esleyan 
 system, in one or other of the branches into which 
 it has become divided, has a stronger hold upon 
 certain classes of the population. 
 
 Yet, indirectly, Wesley's work has benefited the 
 Church of England. It had an awakening effect. It 
 was a rude awakening, at the first, undoubtedly, but it 
 was a real one. It was followed by other movements 
 in the Church itself. It was succeeded by the Evan- 
 gelical revival, and subsequently by the Oxford move- 
 ment, each needful in their day, each characterized 
 by genuine earnestness and real piety on the part of 
 both leaders and followers. The result has been 
 that the Church has, by slow degrees, become more 
 elastic, more tolerant, and — may we not add ? — more 
 efificient, than she was a century ago. All this 
 surely betokens a future in that Church's history 
 which, as we may venture to hope, may be character- 
 ized by a truer appreciation of the great principles of 
 the Gospel of Christ, by a purer and brighter exhibi- 
 tion of mutual forbearance and more enlarged 
 toleration. 
 
412 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Since the commencement of the present century, 
 many public measures have been passed, affecting, in 
 a greater or lesser degree, the spiritual and material 
 interests of the Church of England. Foremost amongst 
 these was the Repeal of the Test Act in 1828, which 
 abolished, we may hope, for ever, the degrading law 
 which made participation in the holiest rite of the 
 Church a passport to the exercise of civil functions 
 and temporal offices. Then followed the Statutes 
 which did away with the holding of benefices in 
 plurality. They have given, step by step, resident 
 incumbents to parishes where, in numberless cases, 
 no holder of the benefice had resided within the 
 memory of man. Many a parish in this great diocese 
 was thus circumstanced ; but a vast change for the 
 better has been wrought in that respect, affording an 
 augury of lasting good as the fruit of those wise 
 enactments. 
 
 The most important act, peculiarly affecting the 
 diocese of York, was that which gave effect to the 
 recommendation of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners 
 for its division. A new see was founded at Ripon in 
 1836, and a large district placed under the rule of 
 its bishop, containing the important towns of Leeds, 
 Halifax, Bradford, Wakefield, and others, and the 
 wide tract of country comprised within the limits of 
 the old Archdeaconry of Richmond. On the like 
 recommendation the county. of Nottingham was dis- 
 severed from the diocese and province of York, and 
 given to the diocese of Lincoln. This took full effect 
 in 1841. 
 
 Dr. Longley, afterwards successively Bishop of 
 
CATHEDRALS ACTS. — CONVOCATION. 413 
 
 Durham, Archbishop of York, and Primate of All 
 England, was the first Bishop of Ripon. The anxious 
 work involved by the organization of a new diocese 
 could not have been committed to worthier or more 
 able hands. Carefully, wisely, considerately was that 
 work accomplished, and when he left Ripon for a 
 higher position in the Church, his departure was 
 followed by the deepest regret on the part of all who 
 had come under his charge, or who had enjoyed the 
 privilege of his friendship. 
 
 Other important statutes, passed in 1840 and 1841, 
 dealt with the cathedrals of England. Considerable 
 changes took place under their provisions in the 
 Minster of York. The canons, with the exception 
 of the four residentiaries, were deprived of their 
 prebends, or separate estates, and of the patronage 
 of the livings belonging to them in right of their 
 stalls. Their other rights and privileges were left 
 undisturbed. 
 
 In 1852 the Houses of Convocation were allowed 
 to meet for consultative purposes, a privilege which 
 had been denied to them since the time when so 
 much excitement prevailed amongst their members 
 respecting Bishop Hoadley's celebrated sermon and 
 and the subsequent "Bangorian controvers)-." The 
 idea did not commend itself to Archbishop Musgrave, 
 and the Northern Convocation only met pro forma 
 whilst he held the see. Under Archbishop Longley 
 it was placed on the same footing as that of the 
 Southern Province, a privilege which has been 
 continued under the primacy of his successor. 
 
 Concerning the qualifications and diocesan ad- 
 
414 
 
 YORK. 
 
 ministration of the prelates who now occupy the 
 chairs of York and Ripon it would be unbecoming 
 to speak. " Addressed to living merit the voice of 
 legitimate praise can scarcely be distinguished from 
 that of flattery." 
 
 One observation may yet be permitted. Never, 
 certainly, since the Reformation, have so many 
 organizations, diocesan, archidiaconal, ruri-decanal 
 and parochial, been set on foot and maintained in all 
 the dioceses of England, as in the present century, 
 for the spread of religion at home and abroad, the 
 extension of education, and the various ministries of 
 mercy which have been devised for the mitigation of 
 human miseries, the promotion of temperance and the 
 rescue of the fallen. The object of each finds always 
 the readiest sympathy and the most cordial help from 
 the chief pastors of our Church, and in no period 
 more than our own has the personal activity of the 
 episcopate been brought to bear upon the masses of 
 the population with a more unselfish devotion or a 
 more ceaseless energy. 
 
 In all these manifestations of Christian love, the 
 great diocese whose more prominent historical features 
 it has been the object of these pages to portray, is 
 assuredly not one of the least conspicuous. 
 
 Concede, qu.«sumus Domine, famulo tuo metro- 
 politano nostro, ut pr/edicando et exercenuo 
 qvje recta sunt, exemplo bonorum operum a.mimas 
 suorum instruat subditorum, et .«tern/e rkmijne- 
 
 RATIONIS MERCEDEM, X Te PIISSIMO PASTORE, PERCI- 
 
 piAT : PER Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
 
LIST OF 
 
 BISHOPS AND ARCHBISHOPS OF YORK. 
 
 1. Paulinus 
 
 {Fled inlo Kc7it in 663. 
 No bishnp of York for 
 above thirty years). 
 
 2. S. Wilfrid 
 
 Chad {appointed during 
 IVilfricPs protracted ab- 
 sence from his diocese ; 
 resigned in 667). 
 
 S. Wilfrid {d/iven out) 
 
 3. Bosa {retired about 
 
 686) 
 
 S. Wilfrid {reinstated) 
 Bosa {restored) 
 
 4. S. John of Beverley 
 
 5. Wilfrid II 
 
 Archhishops. 
 
 66s 
 
 6. Eel)ert 732 
 
 7. Albert 766 
 
 8. Eanbald 780 
 
 9. Eanbald II. ... 796 
 
 10. Wulfsius 812 
 
 11. Wigmund 831 
 
 12. Widfherc 854 
 
 13. Ethelbald 895 
 
 14. Redewald or Lothe- 
 ward (Uncertain) 
 
 15. Wulstan ... (Uncertain) 
 
 EnthroiK 
 
 16. Oskytel 
 
 17. Ethehvold {omitted 
 in some of the ancient 
 lists). 
 
 18. Oswald 
 
 19. Adulph 
 
 20. Wulstan II. 
 
 21. Alfric Puttoc 
 
 22. Kinsius 
 
 23. Aldred 
 
 24. Thomas of Bayeux 
 
 25. Gerard 
 
 26. Thomas II. 
 
 27. Thurstan 
 
 28. S. William of York 
 {deposed) 
 
 29. Henry Murdac 
 
 S. William {rein- 
 stated) 
 
 30. Roger de Pont 
 L'Eveque {dicdin 1 181. 
 See vacant ten years)... 
 
 31. Geoffrey Plantagenet 
 {See vacant nine yean). 
 
 32. Walter de Gray 
 
 33. Sewall de Bovill ... 
 
 34. Godfrey de Ludhara 
 
 35. Walter Giffard 
 
 36. William Wickwaine 
 
 37. John Romanus 
 
 38. Henry de Newerk 
 
 A.D. 
 
 972 
 
 993 
 1002 
 1023 
 1051 
 1060 
 1070 
 1 100 
 1 109 
 II 14 
 
 1144 
 1 147 
 
 1 154 
 1191 
 
 1216 
 1255 
 1258 
 1266 
 1279 
 1286 
 1296 
 
4i6 
 
 YORK. 
 
 39. Thomas deCorbridge 
 
 40. William de Green- 
 field 
 
 41. William de Melton .. 
 
 42. William la Zouche... 
 
 43. John de Thoresby . . . 
 
 44. Alexander de Neville 
 
 45. Thomas Arundel ... 
 
 46. Robert Waldby ... 
 
 47. Richard Scrope 
 
 48. Henry Bowet 
 
 49. John Kemp... 
 
 50. William Booth 
 
 51. George Neville 
 
 52. Lawrence Booth ... 
 
 53. Thomas Rotherham 
 
 54. Thomas Savage 
 
 55. Christopher Bain- 
 brigg 
 
 56. Thomas Wolsey 
 
 57. Edward Lee 
 
 58. Robert Holgate (de- 
 prived in 1554) 
 
 59. Nicholas Heath {de- 
 prived in 1 560) 
 
 60. Thomas Young 
 
 61. Edmund Grindal ... 
 
 62. Edwin Sandys 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1300 
 
 1304 
 1316 
 1340 
 I3S3 
 1374 
 1388 
 1397 
 1398 
 1407 
 1426 
 1452 
 1465 
 1476 
 1480 
 1 501 
 
 150S 
 1514 
 1531 
 
 1545 
 
 1555 
 1561 
 1570 
 1577 
 
 Accession or 
 Enthronement. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 63. John Piers ... 
 
 64. Matthew Hutton . 
 
 65. Tobias Mathew . 
 
 66. George Monteigne. 
 
 67. Samuel Harsnett . 
 
 68. Richard Neile 
 
 69. John Williams 
 {See vacant ten years) 
 
 70. Accepted Frewen . 
 
 71. Richard Sterne 
 
 72. John Dolben 
 
 73. Thomas Lamplugh 
 
 74. John Sharp... 
 
 75. Sir William Dawe: 
 Bart 
 
 76. Lancelot Blackburne 
 
 77. Thomas Herring 
 
 78. Matthew Hutton 
 
 79. John Gilbert 
 
 80. Robert Hay Drum 
 mond 
 
 81. William Markhara.. 
 
 82. Edward Venables I 
 Vernon -Harcourt \ 
 
 83. Thomas Musgrave... 
 
 84. Charles Thomas 
 Longley .. ... 1S60 
 
 85. William Thomson . 1863 
 
 1589 
 1595 
 1606 
 1628 
 1628 
 1632 
 1641 
 
 1660 
 1664 
 1683 
 1688 
 1691 
 
 1714 
 1724 
 1743 
 1747 
 1757 
 
 1761 
 1777 
 
 1847 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ACCA, accompanies Wilfrid to 
 Rome, 78, 79 
 
 Adalgis, King of Friesland, 63 
 
 Addi, 39 ; Earl, 85 
 
 Adrian, Pope, 89 
 
 yElla, Bishop of Dorchester, 66 
 
 ^ona, 55, 60 
 
 Agatho, 48, 49 ; Pope, 63 
 
 Agilbert, Bishop, 48, 49, 53 
 
 Aidan, 29 ; made IBishop of 
 Lindisfarne, 30, 31 ; his 
 death, 36 ; characteristics of 
 monasteries founded by him, 
 44 . I 
 
 Aire, river, 6 
 
 Albert, Archishop, 19, S9 ; 
 carries on school at York, 
 
 91 ; adds to library, ib. ; re- 
 stores Minster of York, 91, 
 
 92 ; his death, 92 ; 
 Alchfled, 39 
 
 Alchfrid, 39, 42, 47, 48 
 
 Alcuin, 2, 89 ; his work at ] 
 school of York, 91 ; his emi- 
 nent scholarship, gathers 
 MSS. for library, 91 ; leaves : 
 York, 92 ; goes to Char- 
 lemagne, ib. ; his letters to 
 Eanbald II., 93 ; dies at 
 Tours, 94. 
 
 Aldhelm, of Malmesbury, 78 
 
 Alfred the Great, his campaigns 
 against the Northmen, 97 
 
 Aldfrid, King, 72, 74 ; sum- 
 2 
 
 mons a synod, 76, 78 ; his 
 death, 80 
 Aldred, last Saxon archbishop 
 of York, 102 ; held Wor- 
 cester along with York, ib. ; 
 reproached for this by Pope, 
 a.; degraded, ib.; plundered 
 by robbers, ib. ; returns to 
 Rome, ib. ; high-spirited con- 
 duct of his companion. Earl 
 Tosti, ib. ; resigns Worcester, 
 ib.; his munificence, 103 ; 
 crowns Harold, ib. ; crowns 
 William, 104 ; his death, 
 1 06 
 
 AUlwin, prior of Winchcombe, 
 114; roitoics ruined church 
 at J arrow, 1 15 
 
 Alle,t;iance, to William and 
 Mary, nath of, refused by 
 Sancroft and eight bishops, 
 405 ; example followed by 
 number of clergy, 
 
 Allen, William, Cardinal, esta- 
 blishes college at Douay,352 ; 
 his motives, 353 
 
 Altars, replaced by wooden 
 tables, 318 
 
 Alva, Uuke of, 346 
 
 Andrew, Henry, makes vow 
 "after the order of her- 
 mettes," 211 ; Alice, wife 
 of, becomes a vowess, ib. 
 
 Angles, religious belief of, 21 
 
 E 
 
4i8 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Anglesey, 12 
 
 Anglia, East, 10 ; becomes a 
 
 Danish kingdom, 96 
 Anlaf, 97 
 
 Annates, payment of, forbid- 
 den, 241 
 
 Appeals to Pope, forbidden, 
 241 
 
 Archbishops of York, succes- 
 sion of statesmen, 161 ; 
 secular character of, 162 
 
 Architecture, Ecclesiastical, in 
 fourteenth century, 187 ; 
 examples of, in Yorkshire, 
 ib.; its singular beauty, il>. 
 
 Armada, descent of, upon 
 coasts of England, 358 ; 
 loyal feeling exhibited with 
 regard to it by Roman Ca- 
 tholics, 359 
 
 Armorial bearings in churches, 
 probable origin of, 197 
 
 Articles of Religion, drawn up 
 by Cranmer, 320 ; revision 
 of Edward VI. 's, 337; modi- 
 fications made in them, ib.; 
 no direct influence exercised 
 by Northern convocation, ib. 
 
 Arundel, Thomas, Arch- 
 bishop, 189; first Archbishop 
 of York who became Primate 
 of All England, 190 
 
 Aske, Robert, becomes leader 
 of Pilgrimage of Grace, 255; 
 advances upon York, 256 ; 
 joined by chief nobility and 
 gently of Yorkshire, 258 ; 
 his interview with Henry 
 VIII., 263 ; committed to 
 Tower, 267 ; execution of, 
 268 
 
 Athelstan, 97 ; seeks prayers 
 of clergy of York, ib. ; makes 
 a vow at Beverley, ib.; his 
 victory at Brunanburgh, 98 ; 
 gives great possessions to 
 
 churches of York and Ripon, 
 ib. 
 
 Augustine, preaching of, 13, 
 38 
 
 Augustinian canons, founda- 
 tion of houses of, in York- 
 shire, 127 
 
 Austerfield, 76 
 
 Avon, river, 43 
 
 Axholme, Isle of, Carthusian 
 house in, Cranmer's letter 
 to Cromwell respecting, 272 
 
 B. 
 
 Bainbrigg, Cardinal, Arch- 
 j bishop of York, 228 ; his 
 1 end, ib., 229 
 j Bamburgh, Bebbanburgh, 9 ; 
 1 fortress of, 30 ; church of 
 
 St. Peter at, 33, 36 
 Bancroft, Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, framed Book of 
 
 Canons, 368 
 Barlings, abbot of, sec Makerell, 
 
 Thomas 
 Barnard Castle, siege of, 345 
 Bayeux, Odo, bishop of, 109 ; 
 
 Osbert, canon of, Osbert, of 
 
 ib., 132 
 Bebbanburgh, see Bamburgh 
 Bee, Anthony, Bishop of Dur- 
 ham, 133 
 Becket, Thomas a, 1 33 
 Bede, Venerable, his eminence 
 
 as an historian, 95 
 Bellasys, Richard, an assistant 
 
 commissioner with Layton 
 
 and Legh, 271 
 Benedictine rule, restoration of, 
 
 in Northumbria, 114-116; 
 
 encouraged by Thomas of 
 
 Bayeux, 116 
 Bernicia, 9, II, 12, 20, 24, 27, 
 
 28, 34, 43, 62 
 
INDEX. 
 
 419 
 
 Bcrtwald, Archbishop, succes- 
 sor to Theodore, 76, 78, 80 
 IJerwick, 344 
 
 Bessarion, Archbishop of Niccca 
 
 222 
 Betti, 39 
 
 Beverley, Beverlac, Pedwarl- 
 lech, 84, 85, 97, 98 ; manor 
 of, alicnatetl to tlie Crown, 
 290; minster of, 1S7 ; St. 
 John of, bishop ,,f Hexham, 
 66, 74, 80, 84 ; I'.is pupils, 
 84 ; his work at, 84, 85 ; 
 his death, 85 ; his canonisa- 
 tion, lOI 
 
 Bible, English version of, re- 
 quest of convocation at Cran- 
 mer's instance that Henry 
 VIII. would autliorise its 
 general use, 284 ; tlie Great, 
 set up in churches, 2S5 
 
 Bidding-prayer, antiquity of its 
 use, 287 ; instruction fiven 
 by it, ,1.. 
 
 Bigod, Sir Francis, rash action 
 of, 264, 266, 267 
 
 Bishop-Burton, manor of, alien- 
 ated to the Crown, 290 
 
 Bishoprics, founded by Henry 
 VIII., 275 
 
 Bisliopthorpc. 146, 211 
 
 Bocher, Joan, lier execution 
 urged on Edward YI. by 
 Cranmer, 330 
 
 Boleyn, Anne, her marrincje 
 with Henry VIII., 240 ; lier 
 coronation, 241 
 
 Bolton Abbey, 187 ; traditions 
 about, 127, 128 
 
 Boniface, Archdeacon, 47 
 
 Bontemps, M., pastor of the 
 settlers in Hatfield Ch.ase, 
 375 
 
 Booth, Archbishop, 211 
 Boroughbridge, battle of, 164 
 BoSA, Abbot of Whitby, made 
 
 Bishop of York, 62, 64, 66, 
 \ 74 ; reinstated as Bishop of 
 j York, 75 ; his death, 80 
 1 Bosham, monastery at, 69 
 Bowles, Mr. Edward, leader 
 of Nonconformists, withdrew 
 after Act of Uniformity 
 passed, 393 ; high esteem 
 in which he was held, //'. ; 
 his career, 394 
 Bowes, Sir George, 344; sur- 
 renders Barnard Castle, 345 ; 
 Sir Robert, 259 
 t BoWF.T, Archbishop of York, 
 fabric of Minster carried on 
 towards completion in his 
 time, 196 ; profuse hospitality 
 of, 200 ; warlike spirit of, 
 ; death of, il>. 
 Bradley, Marmaduke, Preben- 
 dary of Ripon and Abbot of 
 Fountains, 245, 246 ; his 
 contribution to restoration of 
 greattower of Ripon Minster, 
 292 
 
 Breviary, offices contained in, 
 301 ; used by devout laymen, 
 304 ; Cardinal Quignon's re- 
 vision of, 307 ; sanctioned 
 by Pope Clement VII., ib.; 
 Prayer-book indebted to it 
 for portion of preface and 
 probably idea of table of 
 lessons, ib. 
 
 Bridgeman, Bishop of Chester, 
 his report of his diocese, 378 
 
 Bridlington, Prior of, tries to 
 make terms with Cromwell, 
 244 
 
 Brigantes, tract of country oc- 
 cupied 1)y, e ; Roman occu- 
 pation of, 
 
 Britain, M.d, five English 
 states of, 12 
 
 Brownists, sect of, first actual 
 separatists, 361 
 
 2 E 2 
 
420 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Bruges, conference at, 175 ; 
 Brune, Robert de, his English 
 
 writings, 171 ; 
 Brus, Robert de, 127 j 
 Jiuckingham, StafTord, Duke [ 
 
 of, 267 
 
 Bulls, papal, statute forbidding 
 their recognition, 352 
 
 Bulmer, Sir John, arrest of, 
 267 ; execution of, 16.; Lady, 
 burnt in Smithfield, /'/'. | 
 
 Burgh, 119 
 
 Burleigh, Lord, orders sermons ; 
 to be preached once a week i 
 to recusants in York Castle, 
 359 
 
 C. 
 
 Cadwalla, makes descent 
 upon Isle of Wight, 72 
 
 Cadwallon, King of North 
 Wales, 23 ; his atrocities, /i'. ; 
 makes himself master of 
 Northumbria, 24, 27 ; his 
 overthrow and death, 28 
 
 Casdmon, monk of \Vhitby, his 
 poetic gifts, 66, 67 
 
 Caistor, 252 
 
 Calatria, district of, <).3 
 
 Calder, river, 6 
 
 Calixtus, Po])e, his action with 
 reference to Archbishop 
 Thurstan's refusal to yield 
 to Canterbury, 124 
 
 Calverley, Joan, 247 
 
 Calvert, Thomas, great Ori- 
 ental scholar, 394 
 
 Campeggio, Cardinal, comes 
 to England to try divorce, 
 235. 236 
 
 Campodunum, 20 
 
 Canons, book of, drawn up by 
 Bancroft and ratified by 
 James I., 368; very ob- 
 noxious to Puritans, ifi. 
 
 Canons, secular, origin of, 90 
 Canterbury, 25 
 
 Carlisle, 265 ; see of, erected, 
 13 r ; incursions of Scots 
 hinder bishop entering his 
 diocese, t7>. 
 Carthusians, number of their 
 
 houses in Yorkshire, 186 
 Cartwright, Bishop of Chester, 
 his leiter to Dean of York, 
 401 
 
 Catechism, Poynet's, 32 1 
 Cathedrals, statutes relating to, 
 413 ; changes made by them 
 in York Minster, li. 
 Catherine of Bragaiua, gave 
 pastoral staff to Bishop Jame- 
 Smith, 402 
 Catterick, 26 
 Cawood Castle, 386 
 Cedd, 39, 41 ; Bishop of Lin- 
 disfarne, t/i. ; takes part in 
 synod of ^Vhitby, 49 ; foun- 
 ded monastery of Lasting- 
 ham, ill. ; dies there, 52 
 Celestine, Pope, his commission 
 of inquiry about Archbishop 
 Geofiry, 137 
 Celibacy of clergj-, discussion 
 in Convocation respecting, 
 313; acts passed about it, 
 
 Ceonwulf, King of Northum- 
 
 btia, 86, 87 
 Chad, Abbot of Lastingham, 
 j consecrated to see of York. 
 
 54 ; his diligence, ; retirc> 
 I from York, 57 ; made Bishop 
 of Lichfield, li. ; his death. 
 id. 
 
 Chantries, foundation of at 
 
 York and elsewhere, 148 
 Chantry-lands, wrong done by 
 
 their confiscation, 312, 313 
 Charles L, accession of, 372 : 
 I his interest in Church mat- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 421 
 
 lets, 377, 3S0 ; keeps his 
 Maunday at York, 379 ; 
 beheaded, 389 
 Charles II., Restoration of, 
 391 
 
 Charterhouse, Ilonghton, rnor 
 of, lianged for opposing 
 King's supremacy, 243 
 
 Chaucer, his picture ot country 
 parson, 185 
 
 Chester, 12; Victory of Ethel- 
 frith at, 9 
 
 Cheviot, 20 
 
 Church, the Columban, its 
 form and discipline, 44, 45 
 
 Church, the, corruption of, 
 when LoUardism prevailed, 
 184 ; characteristics of, in 
 the l8th century, 409 ; work 
 carried on at present time in, 
 414 
 
 Cistercian order, rise of in 
 Yorkshire, 1 28 
 
 Clement, Pope, 135; ^ I., 
 Pope, his letter to Aicli- 
 iiisliop Zouche at time of 
 " the riack Death,'' 166 
 
 (-'lergy, ejection of, 390 
 
 Cleveland, musters made in, 
 264, 267 
 
 Clifford, Sir Thomas, 265 ; 
 Lady Eleanor, 257 
 
 fjoifi, destroys idol shrine at 
 Coodmanham, 18 
 
 Coldingham, 61, 65 
 
 Colet, John, Dean of St. Paul's, 
 his early connexion with 
 York Minster, 222 , friend- 
 ship with Erasmus, /i>., 223 ; 
 views as to rcfoimation of 
 Churcli, 223 ; his preaching. 
 
 ; Erasmus, description of 
 his private life, 224 ; sermon 
 before convocation, 225 ; 
 charged with heresy, ii. ; 
 supported by the King and 
 
 j Archbishop \Varham, i/t. ; 
 
 i founds St. Paul's School, 
 
 I 226 ; Erasmus's description 
 of the school, ii., 227 
 
 I Collegiate foundations, chan- 
 tries and gilds, suppression 
 of, 292 
 
 Colman, liishop, 45 ; takes 
 part in synod of Whitby, 
 49 ; resigns Lindisfarne, 52 ; 
 founds monastery in Ireland, 
 I //<, ; dies there, 
 
 Comber, Dr., part taken by 
 him in revival of weekly 
 Communion in York Minster, 
 399, 400 ; his opposition 
 to James Il.'s Declaration, 
 401 
 
 Common Prayer, Edward VI. 's 
 first book of, 313 ; sources 
 of, 314; authorised by 
 Act of Parliament, 7'i. ; 
 account of, 3 1 5, 316 ; insur- 
 rections after its introduc- 
 tion, 316; assailed by foreign 
 l'rotC5tants,3i7 ; second book 
 of, account of, 318, 320; 
 revival of in Elizabeth's 
 reign, 334 ; its chief charac- 
 teristics, 335 ; Puritan an- 
 tipathy to it, 338 ; use of it 
 forbidden, 3S8 ; Neal's re- 
 marks on this, 3S8, 3S9 ; 
 review of it ordered in 1661, 
 392 ; its completion and 
 approval, 
 
 Constable, Sir Marmaduke, his 
 report of strength of insur- 
 gents, 258 ; .Sir Robert, 260, 
 2C3 
 
 Constantine, King of Scots, 
 97 
 
 Conventicles, Act against, 397, 
 reluctantly passed by House 
 of Lords, 1/1. 
 
 Convocations, Northern and 
 
422 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Southern, met for joint dc- ' 
 liberation, 143 ; large pay- ' 
 ments required from clergy 
 after Wolsey'scondemnation, 
 
 237 ; great hesitation of York 
 Convocation as to acknow- 
 ledging King's supremacy, 
 
 238 ; statute forbidding as- 
 semblage of, without Royal 
 licence,242 ; their acceptance 
 of Royal supremacy, ib., 
 243 ; allowed to meet for 
 consultative purposes, 413 ; 
 Northern, formal meeting 
 only allowed by Archbishop 
 Musgrave, 413 ; consultative 
 meetings restored under 
 Archbishop Longley, ib. 
 
 Gorman, 29 
 
 Cosin, John, Archdeacon, his i 
 Visitation Articles, 371 ; his ' 
 sermon at Leeds, 373 j 
 
 Courtenay, Archbishop, prose- 
 cutes Wycliffe, 1 79 j 
 
 Coventry, 188 
 
 Coverdale's Bible, printing of, 
 284 
 
 Cranmer, Archbishop, succeeds ; 
 Warham, 239 ; his previous j 
 history, ib. ; takes oath of 
 canonical obedience to Pope, 
 240 ; wrote preface to Great 
 Bible, 28s 
 
 Cromwell, Thomas, his early 
 history, 238 ; suggests re- 1 
 pudiation of papal jurisdic- 
 tion, 239 ; appointed Vicar 
 General, 244 ; sends com- 
 missioners to examine mo- [ 
 nastic houses, ib. . I 
 
 Culdees, Canons of York called, I 
 91 
 
 Cumberland, Earl of, 344 
 Cuthbert, St., made Bishop of 
 Hexham, 71 ; allowed to 
 remain at Lindisfarne, ib. ; ; 
 
 King gives him Creyke, city 
 of Carlisle and territory of 
 Cartmel, 
 Cwenburga, Edwin's first wife, 
 13 
 
 Cwichelm, sends assassin to 
 slay Edwin, 14 
 
 D. 
 
 Damascus, Archbishop of, 
 suffragan to Archbishop 
 Zouche, 166 
 
 Danby, Lord, 402 
 
 Danes, incursions of, 95, 96 
 
 Danish names of places, 96 ; 
 blood, bishops of, 99 
 
 Darcy, of Templeliurst, Lord, 
 25s, 256 ; a leader in Pil- 
 grimage of Grace, 257, 258, 
 262, 263 ; execution of, 267 ; 
 Sir Arthur, 270 ; his account 
 of Jervaulx Abbey, ib. ; 
 grant of Sclby made to, 271 ; 
 
 Death, the Black, 165, 166 
 
 Declarations, James II. 's, ill 
 received in diocese of York. 
 401, 402 
 
 Deira, 9 ; conquest of, ib., II, 
 12, 20, 28, 34, 43, 47, 62 
 
 Deniseburn, 28 
 
 Derwent, river, 6, 47, 104 
 
 Dicul, 69 
 
 Diocesan rule, ceases in York- 
 shire, 3S9 
 
 Directory for public worship, 
 establishment of, 3SS 
 
 Dispensations for marriage, 
 frequency of, 212 
 
 Dissent, commencement of. 
 361 
 
 Diuma, 39 
 
 Doctrine, two JIanuals of, 
 
 issued, 285 
 DoLBEN, Archbishop, his early 
 
 life, 396, 397 ; anxioos to 
 
INDEX. 
 
 raise character of Minster 
 clergy, 399 ; orders Weekly 
 Communion, ib. ; his death 
 401 
 
 Domesday survey, 113 
 Don, river, 6 
 Doncaster, 20 
 Dorchester, 66 
 
 Douay, college of, 352 ; its 
 objects, 353 ; its numbers, 
 
 Driffield, 80, 119 
 
 Dromore, Nicholas, Bishop of, 
 
 211; William, Bishop of, 
 
 ib. 
 
 Dunstan, 98 ' 
 
 Durham, church of St. Nicholas 
 
 at, 157 
 Dymoke, Mr., 252 
 
 E.\DBALD, 13 
 
 Eadbert, Bishop of He.xham, 
 74 
 
 Eadfrid, son of Edwin, 13 ; 
 
 baptised by Paulinus, 20 ; 
 
 murdered by Penda, 23 ; 
 
 bishop, 80 
 Eadhed, Bishop of Ripon, 62, 
 
 64, 74 
 Eadwulf, 80 
 
 Eanbald, Archbishop, 92 ; 
 II., Archbishop, 93 ; state 
 of diocese in his time, ib. 
 
 Eanfleda, Queen, 36, 37, 46, 
 48 
 
 Eaufrid, 24 ; put to death by 
 
 Cadwallon, ib., 27 
 Kasington, church of, 297 
 East Anglia, 42 
 Eata, Abbot of Ripon, and of 
 
 Lindisfarne, 48, 52, 62, 71 
 Ebba, Abbess of Coldinghani, 
 
 65 
 
 Eboracum, see \ ork 
 
 Ecgfrid, 61 ; his campaign 
 against the Picts, 71 ; slain 
 at Nechtansmere, ib. , 
 
 Eddi, biographer of Wilfrid, 
 55. 59, 60 
 
 Edinburgh, II 
 
 Edmund, 98 
 
 Edred, 98 
 
 Edward the Elder, 97 ; the 
 Confessor, loi ; his death, 
 103 
 
 Edward VI., accession of, 308 ; 
 injunctions issued to clergy, 
 309 ; special injunctions to 
 Dean and Chapter of York, 
 ib., 310 ; changes in I^Iinster 
 services, ib. ; repeals statute.^ 
 against Lollards, 311; powei 
 given to Crown to appoint 
 bishops by letters patent, ib. ; 
 act against vagabonds, ib. ; 
 his death, 324 
 
 Edwin, King, his dream or 
 vision, 10 ; his government 
 II ; marries Ethelburga, 13 ; 
 attempt to assassinate him, 
 14 ; history of his conversion, 
 15-1S; erects church at 
 York, iS ; his baptism, ib. ; 
 slain at Hxthfekl, 23 ; buried 
 at Whitby, 24 ; Earl, 104, 
 heads an insurrection against 
 William the Conqueror, 105, 
 loS 
 
 Egbert, Archbishop, 2, 86 ; 
 appointed by CeoKvulf, ib. ; 
 Bede's letter to, 86, 87 ; 
 receives pall from Rome, 87 ; 
 his works, 87, 88 ; founds 
 school and library at York, 
 88; first prelate who had 
 mint at York, 89 ; his death , 
 ib. 
 
 Egremond, boy of, 127 
 Ejected ministers, sympathy 
 felt for, 394, 395 
 
424 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Elfleda, Abbess, 74, 80 
 Elfwy, IIS 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, accession of, 
 332 ; royal supremacy re- 
 established, 333 ; oath re- 
 fused by all the bishops 
 except one, 334 
 
 Ella, King of Deira, 9 
 
 Ellerker, Sir Ralph, 259 
 
 Elmete, 12 
 
 Ely, 61 
 
 England, became one kingdom 
 under William the Con- 
 queror, 108 
 
 Eoforvvic, Si-e York. 
 
 Eorpwald, 22 
 
 Erasmus, 222, 224, 225, 226 ; 
 
 made Margaret Professor of 
 
 Divinity, 227, 228 
 Erconbart, King of Kent, 46 
 Erconwald, 73 
 
 Eric, son of Harold Blaatand, 
 98 
 
 Ermenburga, Queen, second 
 wife of Ecgfrid, 61 ; her 
 hatred to Wilfrid, ii. ; taken 
 ill at Coldingham, 65 ; re- 
 tires into a monastery after 
 Ecgfrid's death, 71, 72 
 
 Ethelbert, King of Kent, 13 
 
 Ethelburga, Queen, 13, 14; 
 gives birth to a daughter, 
 14 ; flight into Kent, 25 
 
 Ethelfrid, 24, 27 
 
 Ethelfrith, 9, 10 ; defeated by 
 Redwald, 11 
 
 Ethelred, King of Mercia, 69, 
 77, 78 ; becomes Abbot of 
 Bardney, 79 ; succeeded by 
 Kenred as King of Mercia, i/>. 
 
 Etheldreda, Queen, gives land 
 at Hexham to Wilfrid, 59 ; 
 takes the veil at Coldingham, 
 61 ; becomes abbess of Ely, 
 id. 
 
 Ethelric, 9 
 
 Ethelwalch, King of Sussex, 
 69 ; receives Wilfrid, ii. ; 
 
 gives him land at Selsey, 70 ; 
 
 his death, 72 
 Ethelwin, 35 
 Eugenius 1., Pope, 47 
 Evesham, monastery of, 115 
 
 F. 
 
 Fairfax, Lord, 387, 388; 
 his bequest to Matthew 
 Poole, 394 
 
 Farnley, rendezvous of insur- 
 gents after Act of Uniformity 
 passed, 395 ; severe repres- 
 sive measures, //'. 
 
 Fenton, stall of, 160 
 
 Ferne, Dr., 386 
 
 Finan, Bishop, 38, 39, 41; his 
 death, 45 
 
 Fisher, bishop of Rochester, 
 his connexion \\ith York 
 diocese, 227 ; Erasmus' 
 estimate of his character, 
 ik ; confessor to Countess of 
 Richmond, il'. ; 231 ; be- 
 headed, 243 
 
 FlTZHERJiERT, WlI.I.IAM (S. 
 
 William of York) arch- 
 bishop, election of, disputed, 
 131 ; retires, 132; restored, 
 ill. ; welcomed by the people, 
 i7'. ; supposed to be poisoned, 
 ?7'. ; canonisation o(, 133 
 
 Fleming, Richard, Bishop of 
 Lincoln, 216 
 
 Forster, Sir John, 344 
 
 Forth, Firth of, 9, 11, 43 
 
 Foston, church of, 163 
 
 Fountains Abbey, foundation 
 of, 129, 187 ; wealth of, 273, 
 274 ; extent of domain and 
 amount of live stock, 274 ; 
 landed estates of, i/'.; pro- 
 ject of Henry VHI. for 
 
INDEX. 
 
 425 
 
 founding a bibhopiic of, 275, 1 
 276 ; Marmaduke Bradley, 
 abbot of, 245, 246 ; William 
 Thirsk, abbot of, his delin- 
 quencies, 245 ; his execution, 
 267 i 
 
 I'ranciscan order, settlement 
 of, in England, 150 ; receive 
 grant at York from Henry 
 III., 151 ; their popularity, 
 numbers, and mode of work- 
 ing, 153 ; social influence, 
 154 ; style of preaching, 15S ; 
 learning discredited by them, 
 but afterwards cultivated, j 
 156 ; ceased to observe vow 
 of poverty, I 
 
 Kreez, Frees, Frederick, 
 earliest printer established 
 in York, 220, 283 ; Gerard, \ 
 brother of, 221 ; Valentine, | 
 and his wife, burnt at York, ■ 
 283 ; Edward, brother of, ik ] 
 
 Friesland, 63 
 
 Fulford, Water, 103 
 
 Fulthorpe, Sir William, 192 ; : 
 condemns A r c h b i s h o p 
 Scrope, ib. ! 
 
 G. i 
 
 (iAETANO, Cardinal, 164 ; 
 
 Gai, plain of, 43 
 
 (;ant, Walter le, 127 
 
 ( Jascoigne, Chief Justice, 192; 
 refuses to condemn Arch- 
 bishop Scrope, zi. 
 
 Gateshead, monastery at, 36 1 
 
 Gaunt, John of, his influence I 
 after death of Black Prince, I 
 •75! 176; his sujjport of 
 AVycliffe, 176 
 
 Gedling, church of, 297 [ 
 
 Geoffrey (Plantagenet) 
 Archbishop, 136 ; his birth j 
 and early career, ii. ; becomes , 
 
 Archbishop, i7>. : feuds be- 
 tween him and Bishop Pud- 
 say, ii., 137 ; dissension^ 
 with dean and chapter of 
 York, 137 ; accused of neg- 
 lect of spiritual duties, li. ; 
 gives kind reception to 
 Eustace de Flay, 1 38 ; his 
 relations with King John, 
 139 ; retires into Normandy, 
 \\'here he dies, ;/'. 
 Gerard, Archbishop, 119; 
 comes into collision with An- 
 selra about submission to 
 Canterbury, ; endows 
 additional stalls in York 
 Minster, ?/: 
 Gil'FARD, Archbishop, his at- 
 tempts to reform abuses, 157 
 Gilds, particulars respecting, 
 
 204-210 
 Gilling (in Richmondshire), 
 
 monastery at, 35, 37 
 Glendale, 20 
 
 Glothacth, in Carnarvonshire, 
 386 
 
 Gloucester, St. Oswald's church 
 at, 133; ol'ficers of, excom- 
 municated by Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, li. 
 Goodmanham, 18 
 Gray, Walter de. Arch- 
 bishop, 140 ; his early life 
 and preferments, ; his part 
 as to Great Charter, //'., 141; 
 .adviser of Henry HI., ib.; 
 his Register, ib. ; state of 
 diocese, Pope's claim to 
 dispose of vacant benefices, 
 
 142 ; discontent as to this 
 and consequent outbreaks in 
 Yorkshire, ib. ; his policy, 
 
 143 ; his conciliar relations 
 with his chapter, ib. ; his 
 action as to clerical celibacy, 
 144 ; and as to medieties, 
 
426 
 
 YORK. 
 
 145 ; increases number of 
 chapels or oratories, ib. ; ! 
 supported by Gregory IX., 
 146 ; gives Bishopthorpe to 
 the see, ib. ; work at Ripon, ■ 
 ib. ; founds sub-deanery and i 
 sub-chantorship of canons, 
 ib.; his work at transept of 
 the minster, 147 ; founds a 
 chantry,//'. ; his death, 150 
 Gree.nfielu, Archbishop, for- 
 Ijids markets to be held in 
 Ripon Minster, 163; pro- 
 hibits worship of an image 
 of B.V. M. at Foston, ib. ; 
 action respecting burden laid 
 on clergy of Richmondshire 
 at archdeacon's visitation, 
 164 
 
 Gregory IX., 142, 146 
 
 Grey, Lady Jane, her brief 
 sovereignty, 325 
 
 Gresham, Sir Richard, buys a 
 large portion of Fountains 
 Abbey lands, 276 
 
 Grindal, Archbishop, 347 ; 
 holds visitation of his dio- 
 cese, 348 ; issues injunctioris, 
 ib. ; their strong anti-Roman 
 character, ib. ; his Puritan 
 .sympathies, 349 ; his direc- 
 tions as to the morning ser- 
 vices, 350; orders as to fairs 
 and markets on Sundays, ib. ; 
 his injunctions to dean and 
 chapter of York, ib., 351 ; 
 his policy, 351 
 
 Grocyn, 222 
 
 Gunpowder Plot, prejudices 1 
 against Roman Catholics I 
 much inflamed by, 369 ; fol- ; 
 lowed by requirement of oath 
 of allegiance to the king as 
 temporal sovereign, and by 
 great severity against the j 
 Roman Catholics, 370 
 
 Gysborovve cum Beverley, pro- 
 ject for a bishopric of, 275 
 
 II. 
 
 II.^DRIAN, head of monastery 
 near Naples, 55 
 
 Ha;thfeld, see Hatfield 
 
 Halfdene, takes possession of 
 Northumbria, 96 
 
 Hallam, a confederate of Sir 
 Francis Bigod, 264 ; taken 
 prisoner, ib.; executed, 266 
 
 Hampole, Hermit of, seeKoQe, 
 Richard 
 
 Hampton Court Conference, 
 result of, 367 
 
 Harold Blaatand, 98 ; Har- 
 drada, makes descent upon 
 Yorkshire, 103 
 
 Harold, coronation of, 103 : 
 attacked by William of Nor- 
 mandy and Earl Tosti, ib. ; 
 slain at Hastings, 104 
 
 Harrison, Mr. John, builds 
 new church at Leeds, 373 
 
 Harsnett, Archbishop, his 
 strong feelings against Puri- 
 tanism, 372, 373 ; his death. 
 373 
 
 Hartlepool, Hereteu, 36, 43 
 Hatfield, Hcethfeld, 23, 25 ; 
 Chase, drainage of, 374 ; 
 French and Flemish settlers 
 '"i 375 ) their religion, ib.; 
 apply for leave to build 
 chapel, ib. ; leave refused by 
 Archbishop Neile, ib. 
 Harwich, 375 
 
 Haymo, studies under Arch- 
 bishop Wulstan II., lOI 
 
 Heath, Arclibishop, 331 ; hi- 
 tolerant character, 332 ; his 
 influence with Queen Mar)-, 
 ib.; goes into retirement on 
 accession of Elizabeth, 334 : 
 
INDEX. 
 
 427 
 
 respect paid him by Eliza- j 
 beth, ib. 
 
 Heavenfield, 28 
 
 lieiii, Abbess, 36, 37 
 
 Henry II., 133 ; III., 141 ; 
 writes to Archbishop Gray, 
 143 ; IV., his condemnation 
 of Archbishop Scrope, 192 ; 
 stories relating to, 194 ; ex- 
 communicated by Innocent 
 VII., 195 ; excommunica- 
 tion taken off by Gregory 
 XII., ib. 
 
 Ilenry VIII., brought into 
 collision with Rome by 
 divorce question, 235 ; sum- 
 moned to Rome, 236 ; pro- 
 ceeds against Wolsey, ib. ; 
 seizes his palaces, ib. ; de- 
 clared Supreme Head on 
 earth of Church of England, 
 242 ; rejects all demands for 
 restoration of abbey lands ; 
 262 ; promises a parliament 
 at York, 263 ; original in- 
 tention of, as to monastic 
 property, 274, 275 ; scheme 
 for a bishopric of Fountains, 
 275 ; bishoprics actually 
 founded by, ib. ; excom- 
 municated by Paul III., 
 281 ; death of, 293 
 
 Ilereteu, see Hartlepool 
 
 Hexham, 27, 59, 60, 66, 74; 
 privilege of Sanctuary at, 60, 
 64 ; Prior of, 266 ; Richard 
 of, 61 ; shire, 59 
 
 lleywood, Oliver, 394 
 
 Hickes, Dr. George, notice of, 
 406 
 
 Higden, Dean, 288 ; stately 
 procession of, on Christmas 
 Day, to the Minster, 306 
 
 Hilda, Abbess of Streones- 
 halch (Whitby), 18; head of 
 sisterhood at Hereteu, 36, 
 
 43, 49 ; death and character 
 of, 66 
 
 Hilscy, Hildesley, Bishop of 
 Rochester, draws up a 
 Primer, 2S5 
 
 PIoLGATE, Robert, Arch- 
 bishop, his former prefer- 
 ments, 290 ; remarkable 
 ceremonial when made Arch- 
 bishop, ib., 291 ; impover- 
 ishes see of York, 292 ; 
 grants next presentation to 
 stall of Stanwick to Sir 
 Ralph Sadler, 293 ; sym- 
 pathy with reforming party, 
 321 ; his injunctions to 
 capitular body at York, ib., 
 322, 323 ; destroys images 
 in Minster, 323 ; anxiety 
 about suitable books for 
 library, ib., 324; imprisoned, 
 327 ; his release, 330 ; retires 
 to Hemsworth, ib. ; his 
 charitable foundations, 331 
 
 Honorius, Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, 22 
 
 Honorius HI., Pope, desires 
 Archbishop Gray to remove 
 married clergy, 144 
 
 Hooker, Richard, " Eccle- 
 siastical Polity " of, 362 
 
 Horncastle, 252, 254 
 
 Hospitals, great number of, 
 148 ; arrangements of one at 
 Northallerton, 148-150 
 
 Hotham, Sir John, governor 
 of Hull, 385 
 
 Houghton, Prior, see Charter- 
 
 Howden, collegiate church of, 
 187 
 
 Hull, 264, 375 ; seized by in- 
 surgents, 257 
 
 Humber, the, 8, 9, 11, 12, 22, 
 97 
 
 Hunwald, 35 
 
428 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Hussey, Lord, 253 
 
 HUTTON, Matthew, Arch- 
 bishop, previously Dean of 
 York, 348 ; his feuds with 
 Archbishop Sandys, 363, 
 364 ; his character, 366 ; his 
 death, 369 ; leaves large 
 estates behind him, ib. 
 
 Ida, the Flame-bearer, 9 
 Idle, river, battle on banks of, 
 
 Institution of a Christian man, 
 28s 
 
 lona, monastery of, 27, 2S, 
 
 29, 30, 37 
 Isles, John, Bishopof the, 211 
 Italy, influx of youths into, for 
 
 sake of study, 222 
 
 J- 
 
 James, the Chantor, the Dea- 
 con, carries on Paulinus" 
 work in Richmondshire, 26, 
 27. 39 
 
 lames I., accession of, 367 ; 
 constitutes dean and pre- 
 bendaries at Ripon, ib., 36S; 
 requi res con form i ty toLit u rgy 
 from all his subjects, 367 
 
 James II., accession of, 401 ; 
 issues declaration for liberty 
 of conscience, ib. ; its re- 
 ception by Dean and Chapter 
 of York, ib.; issues a second 
 declaration, to be read in all 
 the churches, ib., 402; his 
 contest with the bishops, and 
 iheircommittal to theTower, 
 402, 403 ; leaves his king- 
 dom, 403 
 
 Jarrow, 115 
 
 Jervaulx, abbey of, forfeited to 
 
 the Crown, 270; account of 
 its situation, ib.; Abbot of, 
 executed, 267 
 John VI., Pope, 78 ; XIII., 
 
 Pope, 99 
 John, King, 139, 140, 141 
 Justus, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, 14, 22, 38 
 
 K. 
 
 Kathekine of Arragon, 
 Queen, 235 ; cited to appear 
 before Cranraer at Dun- 
 stable, 240 ; her marriage 
 declared void, 241 
 
 Ke.mi', Arclibishop, 200 
 
 Kcnred, 79 
 
 Kent, Christianity planted in, 
 
 13. 46 
 Kentwin, 69, 72 
 Kepier, hospital of, 157 
 Ker, of Farnihurst, 345 
 Kettlewell, John, notice of, 406 
 Kilham, 119 
 
 KiNsius, Archbishop, loi ; 
 builder of tower at IJeverley, 
 ib. ; benefactor to Southwell, 
 ib. 
 
 Kirkhain Abbey, 127 
 Kitchen, Bishop of Llandaff, 
 
 took oath of supremacy to 
 
 Elizabeth, 334 
 Knaresburgh, council held at, 
 
 80 
 
 Kyniberga, 39, 42 
 
 L.^KE, canon residentiary of 
 York, attacked by mob, 398 ; 
 reason of it, ib. 
 Lambert, a sacramentary, 283 
 Lamplugh, Archbishop, no- 
 minated by James II., 403 ; 
 swore allegiance to William 
 
INDEX. 
 
 and Mary, 406 ; Iiis death, 
 407 
 
 Lancaster, Earl of, execution 
 of, 164 
 
 Langley, Bishop of Durham, 
 window tjiveu to Minster by 
 executors of, ig6 
 
 Lastingliam, monastery of, 49, 
 
 Laud, Archbishop, communi- 
 cations between him and 
 Archbishop Neile about 
 church matters in Northern 
 province, 374 ; Ills influence 
 with Neile, 38 1 ; their mode 
 of ruling the clergy, 382 ; 
 their unwise policy, 3S3 ; 
 execution of, 389 
 
 Layerthorpe, church of, 297 
 
 Layton, Dr., appointed to 
 visit monastic liouses in 
 Yorkshire, 244 ; his reports 
 to Cromwell, 245, 246 ; re- 
 ceives commission to visit 
 greater monasteries, 269-- 
 273 ; sends account to Crom- 
 well of dissolution of greater 
 monasteries, 271-272; Rich- 
 ard, 2SS 
 
 Learning, revival of, 222 ; be- 
 gan in Italy, il>. 
 
 Lee, Arcliljishop, succeeds 
 Wolsey, 237 ; his injunction 
 to treasurer and vicars choral 
 of Ripon Minster, 247; his 
 letter to Cromwell on matters 
 connected with visitation of 
 monasteries, 248 ; as to 
 preaching, 249 ; charged 
 with cruelty by Fuller, 283 ; 
 his sympathies, 288 ; new 
 capitular statutes issued in 
 his time, ih.; alienates cer- 
 tain manors to the Crown, 
 290 
 
 Leeds, 12; new church at. 
 
 373 ; scene at its consecra- 
 tion, 374 ; proposed division 
 of parish of, 391 
 
 Legate, case of, burnt in 
 James L's reign, 383 
 
 Lcgh, Dr., appointed visitor 
 of monastic houses in York- 
 shire, 244 
 
 Leprosy, its prevalence, 150 ; 
 hospitals for those afflicted 
 with, ib. 
 
 I'Espee, Walter, 127 
 
 Lilia, 14 
 
 Linacre, 222 
 
 Lincoln, 22 ; Chancellor of, 
 murdered, 253 ; and Lindsey 
 transferred to province of 
 Canterbury, 11 1 ; shire, 375 
 
 Lindisfarne, island of, 30, 33, 
 52 ; desolated by the Danes, 
 92, 95 
 
 Lindsey, Lindisse, 22, 33, 62, 
 64 
 
 Llandegay, 3S6 
 
 Loidis, region of, 43 
 
 Lollardism, llie Lollards, 183, 
 184 ; articles against the 
 Church Ijy, 1S4 
 
 LoNGLEV, Dr., first Bishop of 
 Ripon, 412 ; afterwards 
 Bisliop of Durham, Arch- 
 l)ishop of York, and Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, 413 : 
 his higli character, ib. 
 
 Louth, 252 
 
 Lupus, Abbot of Ferrieres, his 
 letter respecting church of 
 York, 96, 97 ; mentions 
 libr.iry at York, 97 
 
 Lutterworth, rectory of, 175 ; 
 Wycliffe dies at, 180 
 
 Lyons, 46, 47 
 
 M. 
 
 Makerell, Thomas, Abbot 
 of Barlings, 252, 254 
 
43° 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Malcolm. King of Scotland, 
 108 
 
 Man, Isle of, 12 
 Manchester, Earl of, 387 
 Marches, the East, 344 
 Mar- prelate publications, result 
 of, 361 
 
 Marston Moor, battle of, 387 
 
 Mary, Queen, accession of, 
 325 ; re-establishes the mass, 
 ib.; all acts passed in Ed- 
 ward VI.'s reign about reli- 
 gion repealed, il>.; failed to 
 efifect restoration of monastic 
 property, except some which 
 was in the hands of the 
 Crown, 327 ; persecution 
 carried on by, 328 ; provo- 
 cation given her by reforming 
 party, ib. ; her death, 332 ; 
 character, ib. 
 
 Mary, Queen of Scots, 340 ; 
 sympathy for, 342 ; sugges- 
 tion made by Bishop Sandys 
 for taking her life, 354 
 
 Maserfield, 33 
 
 Mass-books, &c., revision of, 
 ordered by the king, 285 
 
 Matthew's Bible, use of, al- 
 lowed, 285 
 
 Mathew, Toby, Archbishop, 
 369 ; his eloquence, ib. ; ge- 
 nial character, ; his death, 
 372 
 
 Melrose, 48, 59 
 
 Melton, Archbishop, 164; 
 forays of Scotch in his time, 
 ib.; rout of Myton on Swale, 
 ib. ; his completion of nave 
 of York, 165 ; his work at 
 Beverley, ib. 
 
 Meschines, William of, 127 
 
 Mercia, 69 
 
 Merser, Thomas, Canon Resi- 
 dentiary of York, item in 
 account roll of, 286 
 
 Michel, Dan, his poem in 
 English, 171 
 
 Middle classes, development 
 amongst, 218, 219 
 
 Millenary petition, 367 
 
 Monastic orders, their industrj- 
 as agriculturists, 151 ; their 
 mines and furnaces, 152; 
 great wealth of, 
 
 Monasteries, state of, as re- 
 ported by the visitors, 245- 
 247 ; popular feeling as to 
 suppression of smaller, 250 ; 
 fall of the greater, 269 ; 
 reasons which led to their 
 destruction, 279 ; pensions 
 assigned to inmates of, 272, 
 273 
 
 Monkbridge, hospital at, 159 
 
 MoNTEiGNE, Archbishop, his 
 brief archi episcopate, 372 
 
 Morcar, Earl, joins in insurrec- 
 tion against ^Villiam the 
 Conqueror, 104, 105, 108 
 
 More, Sir Thomas, beheaded. 
 243 
 
 Morton, Bishop of Durham, h\i 
 report of his diocese, 378 
 
 Mulgrave Castle, 264 
 
 Mount Grace, prioiy of, 185, 
 186 
 
 MURDAC, HenrV, Arch- 
 bishop, 131, 132 
 
 Muriel, mother of Thomas of 
 Bayeux, 109 
 
 Myton on Swale, rout at, 164 ; 
 the chapter of, i!>. 
 
 Naseby, battle of, 389 
 Nechtansmere, 71 
 Negropont, John, Bishop of, 
 211 
 
 Neile, Archbishop, 373 ; sus- 
 pends Mr. Todd, 374 ; his 
 
dealings with foreign settlers 
 in Hatfield Chase, 375 ; 
 sends reports to the king 
 about state of diocese, sums 
 collected for repairs of 
 churches, &c., 377, 378; 
 refuses to consecrate private 
 chapels, 381 ; vindicates per- 
 secution, 383 ; John, ejected 
 from his benefices, 390 ; be- 
 came dean of Ripon, ib. 
 Xevile, Alexander, Arch- 
 bishop, 189 ; quarrels with 
 canons of York and Reverley, 
 ib. ; surrenders see of York, 
 ib. ; translated to St. An- 
 drews ; Scots refuse to re- 
 ceive him ; dies in poverty at 
 Louvain, ib. ; GEORGE, 
 Archbishop, his enthronisa- 
 tion feast, 201 ; Scottish 
 jurisdiction taken from York 
 in his time, ib. ; injunctions 
 to his clergy, ib. ; his death, 
 203 
 
 Nicxa, Archbishop of, see Bes- 
 
 Nicholas III., Pope, 160; gives 
 away stall of Fenton at York, 
 ib. 
 
 Nidderdale, lead mines in, be- 
 longing to Fountains Abbey, 
 274 
 
 Nonconformists, severe deal- 
 ings with, 397, 398 
 
 N'on-jurors, origin of, 405 ; 
 number in diocese of York, 
 406 
 
 Norfolk, Duke of, sent to quell 
 Pilgrimage of Grace, 258 ; 
 gets country under control, 
 265 ; severe treatment of 
 rebels, 266 ; aspires to hand 
 of Mar)', Queen of Scots, 
 342 ; sent to the Tower, 
 
 North.illerton, hospital at, 14S ; 
 
 grammar school of, 406 
 Northmen, fusion of, witli 
 
 population of Northumbria, 
 
 Northumberland, Henry, Earl 
 of, 258 ; his enterprise 
 against Elizabeth, 340 ; be- 
 trayed to Regent Murray, 
 345 ; beheaded at York, ib. 
 
 Northumbria, 9, II, 13, 23, 24, 
 30 
 
 Norton, Richard, joins insur- 
 rection under command of 
 Earls of Northumberland and 
 Westmoreland, 343 ; Cam- 
 den's description of, ib. ; 
 escapes to Flanders, 345 ; 
 fate of his sons, 346 
 
 Nottingham, 253 
 
 O. 
 
 Odd, Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, 99 
 OfTor, Bishop of Worcester, 66 
 Orange, Prince of, intervention 
 of, sought by Lord Danby 
 and others, 403 ; his landing, 
 ib. 
 
 Osfrid, 13 ; baptised by Pau- 
 linus, 20 ; slain at Hajthfeld, 
 23 
 
 OsKYTEL, Archbishop of York, 
 99 
 
 Osred, So 
 
 Osric, cousin of Edwin, 24 
 Oswald, St., King and martyr, 
 
 27 ; overcomes Cadwallon, 
 
 28 ; rules over Bernicia and 
 Deira, 28 ; his care for his 
 people, 29, 31 ; completes 
 basilica at York, 31 ; cha- 
 racter of, 32 ; falls in battle 
 at Maserfield, 33 ; his canon- 
 isation, ib. ; archbishop, 99 
 
432 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Oswestry, 33 
 
 Osvvin, King of Deira, 34 ; 
 retires to Gilling, 35 ; mur- 
 dered, ib. ; Bede's character 
 of, ib. ; buried at Tyne- 
 mouth, 37 ; canonised, ib. 
 
 Oswy, King of Bernicia, 34-36; 
 his marriage, 37 ; founds 
 monastery at Gilling, ib., 41 ; 
 his vow, 42 ; his victory over 
 Penda, ib. ; founds twelve 
 monasteries, 43 ; places his 
 daughter Elfled under care 
 of Hilda, 48; presides 
 at synod of Whitby, 49-51 ; 
 his death, 61 
 
 Ouse, River, 8 
 
 Oustrefelda, synod at, 76, 77 
 Oxford, Baliol College in, 1 74 ; 
 Lincoln College in, founda- 
 tion of, 216 
 
 P. 
 
 Pallium, origin of, 291 
 Parish cluirches in Yorkshire, 
 condition of in fifteenth cen- 
 tury', 214; lax conduct of 
 their incumbents, 213, 214 
 Parish Registers, Cromwell's 
 orders for keeping of, 276- 
 278 
 
 Parker, Matthew, made Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, 336 
 
 Parochial system, anterior to 
 Norman Conquest, 113 
 
 Paschal controversy, 38, 39 
 
 Paul III., Pope, excommuni- 
 cates Henry VIII., 281 
 
 P.VULINUS, 2 ; accompanies 
 Queen Ethelburga to North- 
 urabria, 13; his consecration, 
 14 ; his personal aspect, //'., 
 his preaching to Edwin and 
 his court, 17; his missionary 
 labours in Northumbria, 19- 
 
 22 ; made Bishop of York, 
 20; accompanies Ethelburga 
 in her flight, 25 ; made 
 Bishop of Rochester, ib, ; 
 receives information that the 
 Pope had conferred the pal- 
 lium upon him, 25 ; his 
 death, ib. 
 
 Peada, his conversion and bap- 
 tism, 39, 42 
 
 Pedwarllech, s/^e Beverley. 
 
 Penda, King of Mercia, invades 
 Northumbria and encounters 
 Edwin at Haethfeld, 23 ; his 
 hatred to Christianity, 33 ; 
 attacks Bamburgh Castle, 
 34 ; falls at Winuaedfield, 42 
 
 Penal statutes against Roman 
 Catholics, 354, 355 
 
 Percy, Sir Henr}-, 344 ; Serlo 
 de, Prior of \Vhitl)y, 116 : 
 Sir Thomas, 258, 267 ; Wil- 
 liam de, 116 
 
 Pharos, William, Bishop of, 
 211 
 
 Pickering, 119 
 
 Piers, Archbishop, 365 
 
 Pilgrimage of Grace, its causes. 
 251; outburst of, 252; ac- 
 count of, 252-268 ; anxiously 
 watched at Rome, 266 
 
 Pius II., Pope (.Eneas Syl- 
 vius), his description of York 
 Minster ; 198 ; V., Pope, ex- 
 communicates Queen Eliza- 
 beth, 347 ; resentment caused 
 by his action, 352 
 
 Pluralities, acts doing away 
 with, 412 
 
 Pocklington, 119 
 
 Pole, Michael de la. Earl of 
 Suffolk, founds Carthusian 
 house at Hull, 186 ; Reginald, 
 made cardinal, 266 ; formally 
 reconciles nation to see of 
 Rome, 326 
 
I'ontefract, castle of, 164 ; par- 
 liament and convocation held 
 at, 261, 262 
 Pontifical, scarcity of copies of, 
 304 ; Egbert's, 305 ; Card. 
 Bainbrigg's, ilt. 
 Font L'Eve.jur, Archbishop 
 Roger de, 133 ; conflict with 
 Archbishop of Canterbur;-, 
 il>. ; controversies with Scot- 
 tish bishops, 134 ; love of 
 building, 135 ; architectural , 
 work at York and Ripon, ii. ' 
 Toole, Matthew, author of 
 " .Synopsis Criticorum," 394 
 Portiforium, see Breviary 
 Potter, Bishop of Carlisle, his 
 
 report of his diocese, 37S 1 
 Pnemunire, act of, 170 
 
 433 
 
 340 : unreasonable demands 
 pf' 361 ; great hold gained 
 in \ orkshire by,at the begin- 
 ning of I7;h centur\-, 373 
 PLTTcr, Alfric, Archbishop, 
 benefactor to church of 
 Beverley, 10 1 
 
 (JlAKERs, prominent part 
 taken by, in political and 
 religious demonstrations, 
 395 ; abounded in Yorkshire, 
 396 
 
 Preaching, stringent injunc- 
 tions as to subjects of, 249 
 
 Primers, publication of, 2S5, 
 2S6 ; early use of the word, 
 287 
 
 I'rmting, early introduction of, 
 in York, 219 ; put an end to 
 craft of Te.\t-writers, il: ; 
 prepared way for New Learn- 
 ing, 221 
 
 Province, Xorthem, slate of, 
 in Charles I.'s reign, 37S 
 
 Provisors, statute of. 1415, 170 
 
 Puch, Earl, 85 
 
 Pudsay, Hugh. Bishop of 
 Durham, 135 ; his feuds with 
 Archbishop Geoffrey and 
 the Dean and Canons of 
 "Vork. 136, 137 
 
 Puritan party, Puritanism, an- 
 tipathy of, to Elizabeth's 
 Prayer-book, 338 ; lawless- 
 ness in celebrating Divine 
 worship, 339 ; oiders given 
 for uniformity, //'. ; little hold 
 of, in Xorth of England, 
 dunng Elizabeth's reign. 
 
 REKELLIOXof 1569, objects of, 
 340 ; progress of, 342 ; dis- 
 persion ol insurgents, and 
 flight of their leaiiers, 345 ; 
 number of rebels executed, 
 346 
 
 Recusants, severe treatment of, 
 
 in James I.'s reign, 370 ; 
 
 sermons preached to, in 
 
 York Castle, 359 
 Rcdwald, King of East Anglia, 
 
 10 ; protects Edwin, ii. ; 
 ! tempted to murder him, ib. ; 
 
 22 
 
 Reformation of the Church, 
 work done as regards it in 
 Henry YlII.'s reign, 284; 
 adverse feeling to, in Xorth 
 of England, 340 ; testimony 
 of Sir Ralph Sadler, 16. 
 
 Reformatio Legum, 321 
 
 Reformers, German, overtures 
 made by, with view to com- 
 mon formula of faith, 28 1 
 
 Reforming party, took refuge 
 abroad in Marj 's reign, 327 ; 
 names of chief of them, ifi. 
 
 Rcinfrid, 115; gathers a com- 
 
 F 
 
434 
 
 YORK. 
 
 munity together at Whitby, 
 ii6 
 Retford, II 
 
 ]^evolt, the Peasant, account 
 of, 181-184 
 
 Richmond in Yorkshire, 174; 
 archdeaconry of, 1 14 ; extent 
 of, ill. ; archdeacon of, see 
 Gaetano, Cardinal ; Alan, 
 Earl of, 116; ^^argaret, 
 
 Countess of, 227, 231 ; 
 
 shire, 178 
 
 Rievaulx Abbey, 187 ; Abbot 
 of, refuses to recognise juris- 
 diction of visitors, 244 
 
 Ripon, monastery of, given to 
 Wilfrid, 47, 48 ; destroyed, 
 98 ; canons of, mentioned 
 in Domesday, 114; chapter 
 of, 163 ; Minster of, 187 ; 
 its suppression not con- 
 templated by Henry VIII., 
 293 ; Hospital of St. 
 Mary Magdalene at, 293 ; 
 Hospital of St. John Baptist 
 at, ; formation of see of, 
 412 ; district assigned, li. 
 Dr. Longley, first bishop of, 
 I'l). 
 
 Ritual, the ancient, attachment 
 of Henry VIII. to, 293 
 
 Robinson, vicar of Leeds, 
 ejected, 390 
 
 Rochester, 22 ; church of St. 
 Andrew at, 25 
 
 Rolle, Richard, hermit of 
 Hampole, account of life and 
 writings of, 166, 167, 171 
 
 Romans, the, occupation of 
 Yorkshire by, 5 ; traces 
 existing, id., 7; little trace 
 of Christianity amongstthem, 
 7; power of, and its decline, 
 8 ; retirement of, ii. 
 
 Romanus, Bishop of Rochester, 
 22 ; chaplain to Queen Ean- 
 
 fleda, 48, 49 ; John, his 
 work at York Minster, 147 ; 
 Archbishop, his work at the 
 minster, 158 ; resists papal 
 provisions, l6o; his feuds 
 with dean and canons, ii. ; 
 quarrel referred to the king, 
 ii. ; mode of visitation of 
 chapter settled by arbitra- 
 tion, 161 ; his struggle with 
 Bishop Bee, ii. 
 Roman Catholics, their repug- 
 nance to compulsory atten- 
 dance at Church of England 
 services, 352 ; persecution 
 of, in Elizabeth's reign, 356, 
 358 ; rigorous enforcement 
 of penal statutes against, 
 398- 399 
 Romille, Cecilia, 127 
 Ross, John, Bishop of, 211 
 RoTHEKHAM, Thomas, Arch- 
 bishop, 216, 217; founds 
 college at Rotherham, 216 
 
 S. 
 
 Sadler, Sir Ralph, 293, 340, 
 342 
 
 Sancroft, Archbishop, depriva- 
 tion of, 407 
 
 Sandtoft, chapel built at, for 
 French and Flemish settlers, 
 376 
 
 Sa.n'dvs, Archbishop, his sug- 
 gestion for taking the life of 
 
 . ^lary. Queen of Scots, 554 ; 
 his visitation of Northern 
 Province, 363 ; objects to 
 Dean Whittingham as not 
 episcopally ordained, ii. ; 
 his feud with Dean Hutton, 
 ii., 364 ; his death .md 
 character, 365 
 
 Sarum, Use of, prevailed gene- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 435 
 
 rally in Southern I'rovincc, 
 294 ; drawn up by Osmund, 
 Bishop of Salisbury, 296 ; 
 occasional introduction of, 
 in diocese of York, 297 
 
 Savage, Archbishop, 228 
 
 Savoy Conference, 392 
 
 Sawley, Trafford, Abbot of, 
 hanged at Lancaster, 266 
 
 Saxton, Peter, Vicar of Leeds, 
 390 
 
 Scarborough, 264 
 Scheldt, river, 374 
 Scotland, 27 
 
 Scottish sees, dcclaiid imlu- 
 pendent of all authoiity ex- 
 cept that of Rome, 135 
 
 ScROPE, Richard, Arch- 
 bishop, 189,211 ; his descent, 
 190 ; joins Earl of Northum- 
 berland and Earl Marshal 
 against Hen. IV., 191, 192 ; 
 arrested and condemned to 
 death by command of the 
 king, ib. ; account of his 
 execution, 193 ; feeling of 
 the people, ib., 195 ; buried 
 in the minster, 194 ; popu- 
 lar veneration at his tomb, 
 195 ; treasonable character 
 of his acts, il>. ; of Bolton, 
 Richard, I.ord, 190 ; of 
 Masham, Henry, first Lord, 
 190 ; Lord, 344 
 
 Selby, Abbey of, Abbey church 
 of, endowed by William 
 the Conqueror, 116; a 
 mitred abbey, 119, 
 187 ; abbot, laxity of his 
 conduct, 157 
 
 Selsey, 70 
 
 Sempringham, in Lincolnshire, 
 171 
 
 Sergius, Pope, 76 
 Sharp, Archbishop, 408 ; ex- 
 cellence of his character, ib. 
 
 Shaw, \'icar of Rotherhani, 
 394 
 
 Shrewsbury, Lord, 253; ad- 
 vances to Doncaster, 258 ; 
 Duke of Norfolk sent to 
 assist, ib.; Earl of, 340 
 
 Sigcbert the Good, conversion 
 of, 41 
 
 Sixlus IV., Pope, makes St. 
 Andrews an archiepiscopal 
 see, 201 
 
 Six Articles, statute of, 282 ; 
 persecution under, 283 ; 
 severity of its working modi- 
 fied by Cranmcr's influence, 
 284 
 
 Skidby, manor of, alienated to 
 the Crown, 290 
 
 Skipton Castle, story of attack 
 by insurgents upon, 257 
 
 Slingsby, Margaret of, becomes 
 a vowess, 2 1 1 
 
 Smith, James, bishop in farti- 
 lus, his entry into York, 
 402 : pastoral staff of silver 
 wrested from him, ib., staff 
 now in minster vestry, //'. 
 
 Snaith, 1 19 
 
 Sodor and Man, Bishop of, 
 his report of his diocese, 378 
 
 Southwell, 22, loi ; canons of, 
 114; privileges obtained by 
 church of, 121 ; manor of, 
 alienated to the Crown, 290 
 
 Stamford, 47 ; Bridge, battle 
 of, 104 ; traditions of, ib. 
 
 Stephen, reconstructs abbey of 
 York, 116 
 
 Sterne, Archbishop, 396 
 
 .Streoneshalch (Whitby), synod 
 held at, 48 
 
 Suffolk, Duke of,- brings king's 
 answer to insurgents, 254 ; 
 takes Lincoln, 256 
 
 Supremacy, the Royal, recog- 
 nised by the two convoca- 
 
 2 F 2 
 
436 
 
 YORK. 
 
 tions, several bibhops, capitu- 
 lar bodies, and monasteries, 
 243 ; strenuously opposed by 
 Carthusians, ih. 
 
 Surrey, Thomas Holand, Duke 
 of, founder of Carthusian 
 house at Mount Grace, 186 
 
 Sussex, Karl of, sent to quell 
 the insurrection of 1569, 
 343 ; his directions to Sir 
 George Bowes as to execu- 
 tion of rebels, 346 
 
 Swale, the river, 26 
 
 Swidbert, 75 
 
 T. 
 
 Tees, river, 9 
 
 Test Act, passing of, 397 ; 
 repeal of, 412 
 
 Teutonic nations, religious 
 belief of, 21 
 
 Theodore, Archbishop, of Can- 
 terbury,55 ; his great ability, 
 ib. , 56 ; makes a visitation 
 of Korlhumbria, 1/'. ; his 
 plans for partition of great 
 diocese of York, 62 ; con- 
 secrates three additional 
 bishops, ib. ; appoints two 
 more bishops, 64 ; exercises 
 power as primate of all 
 England, 71; expresses wish 
 for Wilfrid to visit him in 
 London, 73 
 
 Tholen, isle of, 374 
 
 Thomas (of Bayeux) Arch- 
 bishop, 109 ; his love of 
 learning, ib. ; gees to Rome 
 to receive his pall, 1 10 ; 
 lays question of subjection of 
 York to Canterbur)' before 
 the Pope, ib. ; Pope refers it 
 to a national synod, III ; 
 arrangements as to boun- 
 daries of diocese, ib.; state 
 
 in which he found the min- 
 ster of York, ib., 112 ; his 
 energy in reorganising and 
 rebuilding, 112; places a 
 Dean at head of canons, ib. ; 
 provides for increase in num- 
 ber of canons, 113; assigns 
 districts to archdeacons, 114; 
 his death, 118 
 
 Thomas II., Archbishop, 119; 
 resists Canterbury's claim to 
 submission, 120 ; reconsti- 
 tutes Hexham, 12 1 ; founds 
 two stalls at York, //'. ; his 
 death, ib. 
 
 Thoresby, John de, Arch- 
 bishop, 168 ; brings contro- 
 versy between Yoik and 
 Canterbury to final close, 
 168 ; disorganisation in his 
 diocese, 169; extent of papal 
 provisions, ib., 170; care for 
 religious instruction of his 
 people, 170, 171 ; teaching 
 to be given in English, 171 ; 
 his work at York Minster, 
 172, 173 ; his death, 188 
 
 Thornton, John, of Coventry, 
 engaged to fill great east 
 window of minster with 
 stained glass, 188 
 
 Thriscross, Mr., Archdeacon of 
 Cleveland, 381 
 
 Thurstan, Archbishop, has 
 longdisputes about obedience 
 to Canterbury, 123, 124 ; 
 part taken by, in the Battle 
 of the Standard, 125 ; seeks 
 to reorganise monastic or- 
 ders, 127 ; friend of St. Ber- 
 nard, il>.; founds Fountains 
 Abbey, 128, 130; his anxiety 
 to promote religion, 1 30 ; 
 procures erection of see of 
 Carlisle, 131 ; revives see of 
 Whitherne, ib. ; his death, ib. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 437 
 
 Tillotson, appointed to the 
 primacy, 407 ; his sym- 
 pathies with Nonconformity, 
 ib. ; part taken by him in re- 
 vising common prayer, ib. ; 
 opposed by Lower House of 
 Convocation, ib. 
 
 Todd, Mr., incumbent of new 
 church at Leeds, 374 ; his 
 sermon, ib. ; his suspension, 
 ib. 
 
 Tosti, Earl, accompanies Arch- 
 bishop Aldrcd to Rome, 102; 
 slain al Stamford Bridge, 104 
 
 Trumherc, 37 
 
 Trumwine, bishop of Aber- 
 
 corn, 64, 71, 72 
 Tuda, Bisliop of Lindisfarne, 52 
 Tunbert, Bishop of Hexham, 
 
 64 ; his deposition, 70 
 Tweed, 22 
 
 Tyndale's translation of New 
 Testament, favourably re- 
 ceived by most of the bishops, 
 284 ; protest against, by 
 Stokesley, Bishop of London, 
 ib. 
 
 Tyne, valley of, 27 
 U. 
 
 Unikormity, Act of, passed in 
 Elizabeth's reign, 336 ; Act 
 of, passed in 1662, 393 ; its 
 results as regarded the Puri- 
 tans, ib. ; irritation caused 
 by its working, 395 ; con- 
 sequent insurrection near 
 Leeds, ib. 
 
 Ure, river, 6 
 
 Urswick, Christopher, Dean of 
 York, friend of Erasmus, 228 
 
 Uses, diocesan, 294 ; varia- 
 tions in, at discretion of 
 bishops iu early times, ib.; 
 substantial agreement in, ib. 
 
 Utta, 36 
 
 V. 
 
 Vanelev, M. de, minister of 
 chapel at Sandtoft, 376 
 
 \'ermuytlen, Cornelius, re- 
 claims Hatfield Chase, 374 ; 
 brings French and Flemish 
 workmen over, ib. 
 
 Vernatti, Sir Philibert, 374, 
 375 
 
 Vestment controversy, 317 
 
 Victor, Pope, loi 
 
 Vitalian, Pope, 55 
 
 Vowesses, religious profession 
 as, made by widows, 210 ; 
 mode of reception by arch- 
 bishop or prelate authorised 
 for purpose, ib. ; instance of 
 vow made by a woman during 
 husband's life, 211 
 
 W. 
 
 Walcher, Bishop of Durham, 
 his interest in revival of 
 Benedictine rule, 115 
 
 Waldby, RoBERi', Arch- 
 bishop, 189; his learning 
 and works, I go 
 
 Warham, Archbishop, 225 
 
 Warwick, Earl of, 200, 202, 
 203, 344 
 
 Went, river, 6, 42 
 
 Werndly, John Conrad, minis- 
 ter of chapel at Sandtoft, 
 376 ; his translation of 
 " Liturgia Tigurina," ib. 
 
 Wesley, John, rise of his sys- 
 tem, 410 ; his interest in 
 Yorkshire people, ib. ; hold 
 of his system in Yorkshire, 
 411 ; result of his work upon 
 Church of England, //'. 
 
 Wessex, 69 
 
 Westbury, collegiate church of 
 175 
 
438 
 
 YORK. 
 
 Westminster Assembly, 387 ; 
 synod held at, 133 ; gro- 
 tesque scene at, respecting 
 claims of York and Canter- 
 bury, 134 
 
 Westmoreland, Earl of, enter- 
 prise of, 340 ; his flight into 
 Scotland, 345 ; his end, ib. 
 
 Wetherby, 345 
 
 Whalley, Edmund, Abbot of 
 St. Mary's, York, remon- 
 strates against suppression of 
 smaller monasteries, 231 
 
 Wharfe, river, 6; valley of, 128 
 
 Whitby, 74 ; synod of, 48, 51 
 
 Whitherne, bishopric of, left 
 under York when Scottish 
 sees were removed from 
 archbishop's jurisdiction, 
 135 ; Bishop of, poorly en- 
 dowed, 163 
 
 WiCKWAiNE, Archbishop, 157; 
 his reforming zeal, ib. ; at- 
 tempts to reform monastery 
 of Durham without success, 
 ib. ; roughly handled at Dur- 
 ham, ib. 
 
 Wickham, Dr. Tobias, Dean 
 of York, 401 
 
 Wighard, 55 
 
 Wight, Isle of, 72, 73 ; land 
 
 given to Wilfrid in, 73 
 WiGMUND, Archbishop, 96 
 Wilfrid, St., early history 
 of, 45, 46, 47 ; becomes 
 Abbot of Ripon, 48 ; takes 
 part in synod of Whitby, 
 49 ; consecrated to see of 
 York at Compiegne, 53 ; on 
 returning finds see occupied | 
 by Chad, 54 ; retires to i 
 Ripon, 55 ; studies architec- 
 ture and church music, ib.\ 
 takes jiossession of York on 
 Chad's retirement, 57 ; re- 
 stores church of York, ib.; 
 
 builds Ripon minster, 58 ; 
 crypt there, 59 ; builds 
 church at Hexham, ib. ; de- 
 scription of it, 60 ; his per- 
 sonal habits, ib.; appeals to 
 Rome against Theodore's 
 division of his diocese, 63 ; 
 thrown into prison on his 
 return, 64 ; banished from 
 Northumbria, 65 ; evange- 
 lises Sussex and becomes 
 Bishop of the South Saxons, 
 69> 70 > goes to visit Theo- 
 dore, 73 ; returns to North- 
 umbria, administers see of 
 LiTidisfarne, 74 ; resists 
 Theodore's decrees for parti- 
 tion of diocese of Northum- 
 bria, 75 ; acts £ts Bishop of 
 Mercia, ib. ; consecrates 
 Swidbertfor Frisian mission, 
 ib. ; appeals again to Rome, 
 77 ; decision of council, 78 ; 
 falls sick at Meaux, 79 ; 
 council at Knaresburgh re- 
 specting his claims, 80 ; full 
 claims not admitted, ib. ; 
 had see of Hexham and mo- 
 nastery of Ripon, ib. ; latter 
 years of, death, and cha- 
 racter, 81-83; bishop of 
 York, 66, 85 
 William the Conqueror, 104 ; 
 his landing in Sussex and 
 march to Hastings, ib.; de- 
 feats Harold, tb. ; promise 
 exacted at his coronation by 
 Archbishop Aldred, 105 ; 
 fortifies a castle in York, ib.; 
 attacked by Sweyn, King of 
 Denmark, ih.; his fury on 
 hearing of the loss of York 
 and slaughter of hi» garrison, 
 107; his vengeance, ib.; 
 vale of York devastated, 
 108 ; his church policy, 108, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 439 
 
 109, 117 ; hisattitude towards 
 the Pope, 109 
 
 William Rufus, lays foundation- 
 stone of St. Mary's Abbey, 
 York, 116 
 
 William and Mary, proclaimed 
 at York, 404 ; imposition of 
 oath of allegiance and its 
 results, 405 
 
 Williams, Archbishop, 375, 
 385 ; his eminence in public 
 affairs, ih. ; brief connexion 
 of, with York, ib. ; his flight 
 from Cawood, 386 ; takes 
 refuge in Wales, ib.; death 
 of, ib.; Peter, 394 
 
 Winchcombe, 114 
 
 Wini, Bishop of Winchester, 
 54 
 
 Winuaedfield, battle of 42, 49 
 Wisk, river, 6 
 
 WoLSEY, Tho.mas, Cardinal 
 Archbishop, 229-237 ; early 
 connexion with York, 229 ; 
 founds colleges at Oxford 
 and Ipswich, 230; suppresses 
 smaller monasteries, un- 
 easy feeling about it, 231 ; 
 obtains further powers to 
 deal with monastic property, 
 232 ; policy as to church 
 reformation, ib., 233 ; pro- 
 ceedings against him and 
 confiscation of his property, 
 236 ; allowed to retain York, 
 ib. ; his arrest, 237 ; his 
 death, ib. 
 
 Worcester, 66 ; see of, held in 
 conjunction with York, and 
 policy of Dunstan and Os- 
 wald respecting it, 100, loi ; 
 Sampson, first Norman 
 Bishop of, 1 19 
 
 Worde, Wynkyn de, 220, 221 
 
 Wulfhere, 72 
 
 Wui.STAN, Archbishop, 98 ; 
 
 deposition of, 99 ; II., Arch- 
 bishop, writings of, 100, loi ; 
 his rules called laws of 
 Northumbrian priests, loi ; 
 encourages literature, ib. 
 Wycliffe, John, account of his 
 life and works, 174-18 1. 
 
 Y. 
 
 York, Yorkshire, county of, 
 shire of, extent of, 3 ; natural 
 features of, ib. ; appearance 
 of in early times, 4, 5 ; 
 traces of its early inhabit- 
 ants, 6 ; Roman occupation 
 of, ib. ; Ebrauc, Eboracum, 
 Eoforwic, city of, its early 
 importance, I ; chief city of 
 Brigantes, 4 ; great Roman 
 military centre, 6 ; high rank 
 of, in Roman Britain, 7, 8 ; 
 state of under the Danes, 99, 
 100 ; stormed by the North- 
 men, 107 ; commercial, mili- 
 tary, and political import- 
 ance of, 161, 162 ; siege of, 
 387; minster of, 158; new 
 nave commenced, ib. ; source 
 of funds for work at, 159; 
 chapter-house of, 160; pro- 
 gress of work at, after Thores- 
 by's death, 188 ; glazing of 
 great east window, ib. ; 
 great tower of, 197 ; Skir- 
 law's work at, ib. ; comple- 
 tion of interior work of, 198; 
 visit of /Eneas Sylvius to, 
 ib. ; completion of western 
 towers of, ib. ; construction 
 of nave roof of, ib. ; final com- 
 pletion of, 199; re-dedication 
 of, ib. ; state of clergy con- 
 nected with, 213, 214; new 
 statutes for, 288-290 ; splen- 
 dour of mediaeval services in. 
 
440 
 
 YORK. 
 
 305, 306 ; care for its ser- 
 vices in Archbishop Neile's 
 time, 380; Charles I.'s gifts 
 to, ib. ; clerg)' of, their 
 general character at the Re- 
 storation period, 395 ; anti- 
 pathy of populace of Vorlc to 
 them, 398 ; the Use of, 294- 
 305 ; opinions as to its origin, 
 295 ; peculiarities in, 297- 
 
 300 ; IManual according to, 
 300; printed and manuscript 
 copies of, ib.; curious note 
 in a copy in minster library, 
 
 301 ; Breviaiy according to, 
 
 302 ; its general structure 
 and peculiarities, 303 : 
 service books. Archbishop 
 Grindal's order for destruc- 
 tion of, 301 ; Abbey of St. 
 
 Mary's at, land given to, by 
 William Rufus, I16; a mi- 
 tred abbey, ih. ; disorders in, 
 129 ; withdrawal of certain 
 monks from, and their set- 
 tlement near Ripon, ib., 130 ; 
 report of visitors as to, 245 
 Young, Thomas, Archbishop 
 of, 336 ; destroyed great 
 hall of Bishopthorpe, 347 ; 
 John, Dean of York, 228 
 
 Z. 
 
 ZoucHE, William la. Arch- 
 bishop, 165 ; one of the com- 
 manders at Neville's Cross, 
 ib.; his energetic action 
 when "the Black Death" 
 reached his diocese, ib. 
 
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