i iililii \mm\) >it W^ :iiii«iiitP ■'i'lll'hl'' f HH»IkmfrU4Mli»iltll«l»l»rtli>tlUiilMr' 1 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ILLUSTRATIONS or iHinmmrutal §xAms. PUBLISHED BY THE CAMBRIDGE CAMDEN SOCIETY. Incisa uotis marmora publicis Per fjuae spintus et vita redit bonis Post mortem ducibus. — Hou. J. J. WALTERS, CAMBRIDGE; F. & J. RIVINGTON, LONDON. MDCCCXLVI. t, m C IS T E N T S. BRASSES AND MEMOIRS. PAGE SIR ROGER DE TRUMPINGTON. 1290. (Fropi SS. Mary and Michael, Trumpington, Cambridgeshire) 65 BRITELLUS AVE.NEL, Priest. 1307. (From S. Margaret, Buxted, Sussex) . . 191 JOHN DE GROFHURST, Priest. (From S. Margaret, Horsmonden, Kent) . . 195 SIR JOHN DE NORTIIWODE. Circa 1320. (From SS. Mary and Sexburga, Minster, Isle of Sheppey) 205 A PRIEST. Circa 1330. (From S. Mary, North Mimms, Herts.) ... 59 The LADY HALSHAM. 1395. (From S. George, West Grinstead, Sussex) . . 36 SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. 1399. (From S. Andrew's, Irnham, Lincolnshire) . 143 THOMAS DE CREWE, Esq. and LADY. 1411. (From S. Milburga, Wixford, Warwickshire) 155 WILLIAM DE LODYNGTON, Justice of the Common Pleas. 1419. (From S. Peter, Gunby, Lincolnshire) 199 JOHN MAPILTON, Priest. 1432. (From S. Mary, Broadwater, Sussex) , . 211 DR. NELOND, Prior of S. Pancras. 1433. (From Holy Trinity, Cowfold, Sussex) . . 133 DR. JOHN BLODWELL, Priest. 1462. (From Holy Trinity, Balsham, Cambridgeshire) . 73 ALDERMAN FELD and SON. 1477. (From S. Mary, Standon, Hertfordshire) . . 47 BISHOP BOOTH (of Exeter). 1478. (From East Horsley Church, Surrey) . . 85 CHIEF-JUSTICE SIR THOMAS URSWYK and LADY. 1479. (From SS. Peter and Paul, Dagenham, Essex) ........ 99 JOHN TAME, Esq. and LADY. 1500. (From S. Mary's, Fairford, Gloucestershire) . 115 LORD BEAUMONT. 1507. (From S. Mary's, Wivenhoe, Essex) . . .165 DR. WALTER HEWKE, Priest. 1517. (From the Chapel of Trinity Hall, Cambridge) . 7 SIR PETER LEGH (Knight and Priest) and LADY 1527. (From S. Oswald, Winwick, Lancashire) 93 The COUNTESS OF OXFORD. 1537. (From S. Mary, Wivenhoe, Essex) . . 185 BISHOP GOODRICH. 1554. (From Ely Cathedral) ..... 13 BISHOP PURSGLOVE. 1579. (From S. John, Tideswell, Derbyshire) . . 19 DR. EDWARD HAWFORD, Priest. 1582. (From Christ College Chapel, Cambridge) . 109 ARCHBISHOP UARSNETT. 1631. (From S. Mary, Chigwell, Essex) . . 29 9427G9 CONTENTS. ILLUSTRATIONS, VIGNETTES, INITIAL LETTERS, &c. Font. (From S. Peter's, Colon, as restored by the Cambridge Camden Society) "RooDSCREEN and Loft. (From All Saints, Sherringliam, Norfolk) Cakved Panelli.ng. (From the Reredos of Trinity Hall Chapel, Cambridge) Effigy of Bishop Bateman. (From the Lodge of Trinity Hall, Cambridge) West Door. (From the Abbey of the Holy Cross, Binham, Norfolk) Poppy-Head. Effigy of Bishop Alcock. (From All Saints, Landbeach, Cambridgeshire) Middle Pointed Window. (From the North Transept of S. Denis, Sleaford) . Brass — The Most Holy Trinity. (From S. John's, Tideswell, Derbyshire) Part of West Fkont. (From the Priory of S. James', Castle-Acre, Norfolk) Font. (From S. Mary's, Lynn, Norfolk) ..... Brass — The Adoration of the Shepherds. (From S. Andrew's, Cobham, Surrey) .Merchants' Marks ........ Font. (From S. Mary's, Standon, Hertfordshire) .... Porch and Parvise (since destroyed). (From Kemerton Chm-ch, Gloucestershire) High Tomb and Canopy of Sir Roger de Trumpington .... Porch. (From S. Thomas of Canterbury, Greatford, Lincolnshire) The Bishop's Throne, Exeter Cathedral ... Lid of a Thurible. (From S. Mary's, Ashbury, Berkshire) .... East Window. (From SS. Mary and Andrew, Grantchester, Cambridgeshire) . East Window. (From SS. Peter and Paul, Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire) Piscina and Sedilia. (From S. Mary's, Meysey Hampton, Gloucestershire) Chancel and Sacrarium. (From Bishopstone Church, Sussex) .... ■ Monument. (From S. Andrew's, Irnham, Lincolnshire) ... Font and Cover. (From S. Edward's Church, Cambridge) .... Niche. (From S. Michael's Church, Cambridge) ..... Piscina and Sedilia. (From S. Andrew's Church, Chesterton, Cambridgeshire) First Pointed Doorway. (From All Saints', Barringlon, Cambridgeshire) Chantry Piscina. (From All Saints', North Moreton, Berkshire) Woodwork. (From S. Mary's, Lancaster) ..... Wooden Church of Lower Peover, Cheshire ..... Interior of S. Sepulchre's, Cambridge, (as restored by the Cambridge Camden Society) . FAGE 1^ X 6 7 12 13 y 18 / 18 28 29 y 38 ^ 46 /■ 51 y 58 ^r 64 72 84 92 98 " 108. 114 ^ 132 .,,' 142 156 1C3 183 189 / 193 199 ' 203 211 y 215 /■ INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Hie manus ob patriam pugnando volnera passi, Quique sacerdotes casti, duiii vita manebat, Quiijue pii vates et Phoebo digiia locuti, Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes, Quique sui meinores alios fecere merendo. HERE are few greater drawbacks to the pleasure and the profit to be derived from the study of history, than the (Ufficidty of investing the personages of whom we read, and the scenes into which we are thrown, with their pecu- liar and distinguishing characteristics. Our ideas of the past must be interesting in proportion as they are vivid. We may peruse the most masterly delineations of character, the most acute expositions of causes and effects; we may trace the minute circumstances, which, blending and combining, have brought to pass some great historical event; and after all find that we have been little interested, and, excepting a dry detail of facts, carry nothing away with us. The disposition of the annie^, the nature of the ground, the talents of the generals, the justice of the cause, may be coldly but accurately described, while we feel totally careless as to the event of the battle: but let the magic touch of a Shakspere or a Scott bestow on the actors the breath of life, or let us stand on the spot, and be told by our guide — Here the general's tent was pitched— there the final and decisive charge was made— at our feet are the graves of those who fell ; and how real, how present, does the scene become ! The character of the tree is the same at all seasons of the year ; but it is only the warm breath of spring that can cause it to flush into beauty: the outUne of the lake may be as distinct, but the cloud that hung over it must pass away before it can brighten into azure. 2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. One great deficiency in modern works on liistory, may lie traced to a want of that minute and grapliic description which distinguished the pages of our ancient chroniclers. "V^liat we have gained in pliilosophy, we have more than lost in the powcn- of realisation. The exquisite pictures which aboimd in the stoiies of Froissart, of Monstrelet. above all, of " le loyal ser^iteur du bon Chevalier sans paour et sans reprouche," make us long for the power of feelmg as lively impressions as those which their writings give, and of being able to supply, from our own minds, that A-i^-ichiess which the pages of our modern historians so much want. The knowledge of costume must be allowed to be indispensable to such a power. A^'e smile at the notion that Jvdius C"a?sar has been applauded on the English stage, as he was represented by Booth. Yet the anaclu'onism was hardly more glaring than many which might be pointed out in paintings of scenes in the middle ages, by artists of the highest celebrit}'. Armour and dresses of ever)' age of chi\ airy are mingled together in the same scene ; and too frequently, confused \\ith these, are costumes Avliich never had a real existence at all. It is no wonder that our realisation of the past should be so weak, when oiu- ideas of it are so inaccurate. The i)re(('(li!iij^ remarks may serve to answer a question Avhich in this utilitarian age is frequently jiut. " AN'hat is the use of the collection and description of Mo- numental Brasses'?" It is (nident, that from no other soiu'ce can we obtain so clear an insight into the costume of past ages. We are in no danger, if we apply om-selvcs to this study, of falling into inconsistency and confusion. The Crusader who bled under the walls of iVcre, the A'ictors of Cressy and Poictiers, the knight of Agincourt, — all of them will rise before us as they rcidly were: we shall tlien trace the gradual deterioration of armour through the (-hieftains who strove in tlie wars of the Roses, to those who glittered on llu" Field of the C'lotli III (/old. 'I'Ik II ;iiinllicr series \\ill {■oniiuciice: we shall see tlu" cumbrmis armour of tlm time of tlir Hist James give way to the sturdy buff jerkin and jack-boots of those who fell lor our MartjTed Sovereign, or to the sad-coloured Genevan cloak and steeple \v,\\ of (lie nlicl Puritan. From the same sources, too, we siiall lie alile to paint many a scene in which ecdesia-stics liave borne a ])niHi])al part. S, Tbomas-A-BtH-ket, as he defied King rieni7 at Woodstock, as hr Idl lici'orc our i.ndy'.s altar at Caiitcrliury ; tlie Abbot of Incliaffray, as he gave tiie aljsululion tn tbc Scottisli host at Bannockburn ; INTKODlTToRY REMARKS. 3 \^'olse} , as he issiictl from liis palace of Whitehall ; Latimer, as he preached at Paul's Cross; Laud, as he wi-iit to his martp'dom; — all \\ill start up before us in no fancied or unreal costunio. The merchant of byjfoue centuries, in his long- tlovving robe faced with miniver and his gj^^iciere, and the civilian in his a])- pro])riate gowai, — these too will be added to our pictorial stores. And another and a fairer list yet remains. The (Jueen of \o\c and beauty at many a foi'gott(>n ])assage-of-arms, whose name is now unkno\vn, or oidy recorded in the sliort mcnnorial of a legendal brass; sovereigns who, like Eleanor of C!astile, hazarded th(>ir lives to ])reser\e then- royal husband; like Margaret of Anjou, took up arms to d(>fc>nd his throne from rebels; or like Philippa of Ilainault, to guard it from foreign enemies; — these wiU be oiu's, to reproduce as they actually existed, and to reinvest with Avhat they, doubtless, would have considered as no mean nor unworthy subject of mecUtation and care. Siu'ely, if the study of brasses enabled us only to do thus much, it would be a pursuit well worthy of time and of laboiu-. But, if there be a lesson — as we have just seen that there is — to be learned fi-om effigies, there is assiu-ecUy one also to be learned from legends. It is by no means intended to defend, far less to applaud, the darkness and superstition which dic- tated many of them : but the fervent piety which shines out from that superstition, the deep strain of humility which breathes through these tributes to the departed, the scanty records of their \irtues, the acknowledgment of their unwortliiness, — aU these must be oiu' admii-ation, and ought to be our pattern. Nor is thei'e, perhaps, any study so likely to raise emotions of thankfidness in the breast, as is this. We hardly feel what gratitude we owe to the declaration, that " the " Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, — is a fond tiling, vainly invented, and •• grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the word of "God," till we are acquainted with the horror and misery wliich our ancestors felt in the prospect of this place of torment. The earnest and agonised suppli- cations for mercy, the appeals to the charity of passers-by for their prayers, the generosity which included their- brethren in the frequent termination, " on " toljosc sotolc anlj all Gtftn'stcn sofcDlijs ^l^^esu ftnbe mmii," — all this preaches a powerful though silent sermon on the blessings which we now enjoy. And deeply affect- ing would these prayers be, were it not that, while we grieve over the terror and agony which extorted them, we can form some faint idea of the raptiu'c, with which they who on their death-beds had ref[uestcd that such legends as ■•%ts\i, mercp! la&g, fjclpe!" or "3Jesu, mm}}! ^isn, mmn! mcrcij, 3csu!' might be ii2 4 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. annexed to their effigies, must in a few brief moments have learned, when they entered " the gate of death, which is the porch of life,"* the full meaning of tlie text, "They rest from their labom-s, and their works do follow them." On this accoimt the Puritans, in their frantic ravages, were actually destroy- ing memorials against, instead of exterminating vestiges of, Romanism. "What we have lost by these means in the beauty of our churches, in the feehng of sanctity which pre\-iously attached itself to them, and in the sources of our eccle- siastical and ci\il liistory, is incalculable. But too many, who can turn with horror from their proceedings, do in effect too closely imitate them. For whether a cliurch is destrojed by violence or neglect, whether a brass is torn up as superstitious, or allowed to be stolen as Avortliless, matters little in the effect produced, ^^'itll respect to the former, though it is not now our business to speak, the words of the poet seem so very applicable, and contain so very true an account of the usual course of things, that their quotation may perhaps be forgiven : teiupestas venit, Confringit tegulas, imbricesque ; ibi Dominus indiligens reddere alias nevolt. Venit imber, lavit parietes, perpluunt Tigna, putrefacit aer operam fabri : Nequior factus jam est usus asdium ; Atque baud est fabri culpa. Sed magna pars Moram haiic induxerunt, ut si quid nunio sarciri potest, Us(iuc mantaiit: necjuc id faciunt, doiiicum Parietes ruunt : ajdificantur acdes tota; deiiuo.f Would not the reader tliiiik that the Comedian was describing the gradual decay of a church in the nineteenth century^ But, though tlic ruin of a church cannot be prevented by an intUvidual, the loss or destruction of a brass oftentimes may. It is pamful to think how rapidly the work of diiiiolition is proceeding. Of Brasses, engraved in the elaborate vohunes of Lysons, some liavc totally disajjpcan^d, others liave lost their legend or canopy ; and all this in the short space of thuty years: while of those mentioned in county histories a century or a century and a half ago, very frequently not a trace remains, liul it is to be lioped that a better spirit is awakening throughout our • Vid. Trinity College Commemoration Sermon, 1830, p. 51. t Plaut. Mostell. i. 2. 27—36. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 5 land, and one that nion> disposes the guardians of our churches to regard the legend so frequently engraved over the departed, " propter miscricoriiinin ^fsu reqiUES- "tant in pate!" One short hint may suffice on this head. The number of brasses concealed by the pewing of our churches is probably enormous. The propriety, if any ac- cidcnital repairs should occasion the discovery of an effigy imder a boarded floor, of making a note of its nature and position, cannot be too strongly impressed on those in whose power it may be so to do. An outline of the history of brasses is not needed in this i)lace, because so very able an analysis has been giv(>n in the Appendix to the third edition of "The Glossary of Architecture." But to one question not considered there a few remarks may, on account of its interest, be here devoted. It is this — Do brass effigies contain likenesses of those whom they commemorate? Tlie wiiter of this article, after a carefid investigation of the subject, is compelled (while he stands open to conviction) to return an answer in opposition to that usually given. In his opinion, generally speaking, they do so, more or less. And the three following arguments may be urged in support of that opinion. 1. The very strongly marked features which occur in many effigies. An instance may be particularised in the present work, that of Archbishop Harsnett. If such a face were met ^^itll in a gallery of portraits, every one would at once pro- nounce it a likeness. 2. Very frequently effigies are found of two or three generations in the same family: and the family likeness is remarkable. Now this, considering that the artists must have been different, is in itself a great presumption that the likenesses are real; but it is rendered still greater by the fact that, if a stranger become con- nected by marriage \vith the family, and his effigy exist, the character of the face will invariably be foimd entii-ely different from the preceding ones.* 3. We may ask — Is it likely that the families of the deceased woidd have allowed so plain a face to be represented as is frequently seen, were it not their desire to preserve the likeness] And why should artists, evidently capable of the highest efforts, deviate in the proportion of their figures so far from the beau ideal of the human form, except for the same reason ? • A remarkable example of this occurs in Hatley Cockayne Church, Bedfordshire. 6 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. In proportion as this ^iew of the subject is admitted, brasses will assume a still hisrher interest; and a collection of them will be a kind of portrait gallery of the illustrious of ancient times. In conclusion, the present is not the place for any lengthened account of the following work. Thus much may at least be said in its favour, that the plates ^vill be faithful. They are lithographed, not from dia\vings, but from actual im- pressions. In selecting future brasses, care will still be taken to choose those which have not hitherto been engraved, as is the case with Dr. Walter Hewke; or those of which the engravings are inaccui'ate, as with Bishop Goodrich and Archbishop Harsnett. As far as may be, too, those effigies Avill be preferred which commemorate a known character. But still the collection will be by no means confined to these. Of those to be engraved, there be " that have left a name behind them, that their " praises may be reported : and some there be, who are perished as though they had " never been, and are become as though they had never been born, and theu" children '■ after them."* And now, liavmg conducted the reader by a long and we fear a tedious passage to the entrance of our portrait gallery, we must leave him to be guided through it by other hands. It was om- (hity to prepare him for what he is to expect: and with the hope that his expectations may not be disappointed, that he may find some pleasure and some profit in his researches, we bid him farewell. Trinity College. J, ]yj, N, * Ecclesiasticus. XLIV. 8, 9. ^4n»ijt too k) IQiiw imMpattfifl ¥» .«'«^ t I ^ >/^ DR. WALTEE HEWKE. Est honor et tumulis. The brass represented by Plate I. has been selected for the two reasons — that it is found in one of tht; College Chapels, and that it is remarkable for an unusual maimer of execution ; and of tliis manner it may further be asserted, that it pro- duces iniusual effect. The former of these reasons may be more satisfactory to the writer tluin to the general reader ; but the writer Avill be excused for thus promoting his object of illustrating the University, when he appears before the reader in a work undertaken by a Society which consists mainly of members of the University, and with a subject in hand which, in its kind, is not unworthy of notice. Cambridge lias had its sliarc of tlie works of such as followed " the instructor of every artificer in brass." But with these monumental works the saying has be(ni verified, "sere perennius;" for the name and fame of not a few, entrusted to this kind of monument, have been forgotten, and the persons themselves are to the lining "as thougli they had never been:" albeit the metal is of the bas(>r sort, the passion of men was yet so base as to be attracted by it ; and avarice, acting under the veil of superstition, has left here few exceptions to the dcstruc- tiveness of its operation. Without describmg the small remnant, which indeed 8 DR. WALTER HEWKE. oiu- limits would not permit, we may ckaw the attention of the admii-er of brasses, the practitioner in rubbing, and the student in monumental antiquities — to the following examples : — 1. The effigy of a Priest, in the second chantry from the west on the south side of Kmg's Chapel. The inscription is given in Blomefield's Collectanea Canta- brigiensia, p. 129. 2. The effigy of a Priest, in the third chantry on the same side. This is for Robert Brassie, who died a.d. 1558. Blonief Coll. Cant. p. 13-4. 3. The figure of WUliam Towne, Doctor in Theology, who (Hed a.d. 1496. Blomeiield has, incorrectly, a.d. m.cccc.iiii. The two fu'st lines of the mscription are the same as those of the inscription on the monument of Dr. Hewke. The last words, " cujus anime propicietur Deus," are attempted to be obliterated. Tliis brass is in the second chantiy fi-om the east end, on the north side. There is, besides, in the ante-chapel, against the south wall, a plate bearing several coats of arms, and a long mscription. There are in the Chapel several of this description, and they are generally of a later date. 4. A knight — in the ante-chapel of Caius College : the four shields and in- scription are gon(>, and the work exliibits the disadvantage of its position in the effects of continual friction fi'om treading. 5. In Christ's College Chapel — the effigies of a knight and his lady who was '•' (jentilwoman to the right excellent princesse Margaret Countesse of Richmonde. moder to the most vertoiouse Kyng II(>nry VII ; the said EcUth departed this lyff the yer of our Lord 15 — ." The remainder of the inscription is concealed by the wainscotting. This monument is not mentioned by Blometield. 6. A young man in a robe — the figure of Robert Whalley, Gent. " Notting- hamensis socius quondam liujus (Regimdis) Collegii: obiit anno setatis suae vicesimo octavo 18° die Aug. Anno Dni. 1591." The inscription is in Roman letter, not, as Blomefield gives it (p. 140), in tlie black letter. The robe in form resembles the gown of a Master of .\rts. but th(> sleeve terminates in a square-end shape, and down tlic front on cillu r side is a licli-patterncd border. 7. A Priest — in the ante-chapel. Trinity llall. H. The example presented in the plate, of whicli we cannot treat better than in the words of an old annalist of the Colleg(% and of a well-known antiquary : " Exactly in the middle of the ante-chapel, the head touching tlie west door — a very large grey marble slab, with as large a figure oi' a Priest /// poiitijicdlibits. Over his head are two labels: on the first is this wrote — Sancta Trinitas, uduh Ucus, iiii.serurc iiuliis. DR. WALTER HEWKE. 9 On the second this — Of yowr Charete pray for yc Sowle of Master Walter Hewke, Doctor of Cano. At his i'cct is this fiirthor inscription in verse, in bossed letters — Gloria, Tama, Scolis, Laus, Artes, caatcra mudi Vana nimis valeant, spes michi sola Jhesus. Suscipe Walteru, bone Jhesu, in fine dicru: Qui obiit anno Dfii millesimo quingontesiriio X° — . The two first verses are tlie same as those on Dr. Towne's monument in King's ("oHege ('ha])el."* The stone was removed to its jjrcsent position, as above described, when the Chapel was repaired by Sir Natlianiel Lloyd. Cole thus fixes its old place: "About eight feet from the step of the altar, exactly in the middle, on one of the squares of white marbk> with which tlu; Chapel is paved, is this cut, to sliow the place where he was buried, wlien the old stones were removed into the ante-chapel". -I Walt. Hewke, Gustos. This removal, according to Warren, took place in 1729. He describes the monument thus: — "The stone is nine feet three inches long, and foiu- feet seven inches broad. On the middle of the stone is the figure (as I suppose) of Dr. Hewke (in a cope embroidered with tlie figures of our Saviour [on the clasp] and his twelve Apostles upon it), hi brass, betwecni four and five feet long. The head of the Dr.'s figure is now off: probably it was taken off in the time of Cromwell's rebellion, as ye heads of ye Saints on ye painted glass used to be by people of those times in abhorrence, as they protested, of superstition." — " It appears by the Dr.'s will, that he had his grave-stone by him before he died. Probably, therefore, he had those words of the inscription, ' Qui obiit,' &c., cut designedly with a blank, as we see at the end of it ; which blank was to have been filled up after his death, tho' it seems that has never been done yet: for 'tis plain that the year 1510 could not be the year of the Dr.'s death, since his wiU bears date several years after, viz. lol7."+ A copy of liis will, in Englisli, dated ' primo lune mensis May anno Dni Millo quingentesiino decimo scptimo,' "taken fi-om that in Cambridge Drawer in our TreasiuT," witli the probate annexed, under Archbishop Warliam's seal — the probate, bearuig date Aug. 11, 1.518 — is given in vol. lviii. 150 — 153, followed by • Cole, MSS. VI. 9'2. f Art. 91. X Warren's MS. in Trin. Hall. C 10 DR. WALTER HEWKE. the codicil in Latiii, dated • primo die mensis Miiii, 1517, et a", reg. Regis Hen. 8. post conquestum octavo,' *■ fi-om an old copy in our Master's Statute-Book. I take it to be in Dr. Hei-vey's o^^^l hand-A\Titing," in the same vol., p. 153 — 155. The greater part is occupied by regulations respecting a priest and fellow, to say mass for his soul: he was thus the founder of a feUowsliip called Dr. Hewke's. Ac- cordingly we fold " m the liher de snpervisione sive declaracone status omnium Collegioruvi, ^c. in Officio nitper Cur. Augmentacon. Revencon. Corona; Regice ap. Westmon," tliis notice: — " Doctor Huke ordina\it unum Socium Presbit. habent. pro exhib. per an. c\"i'. 8. Expens. in cxequiis annuatini celebrand. in die Anniversarii 15. 2."* The will commences thus: — " I. Walter Hewke, Doctor of Canon, beymg in good and hole memorie and good heltli of bod\, make this my last -will and testament in this manner follow- yng: i\Tst, I gyve and bequeth my soule to Almyghtie God my maker, to ower blessed lady his mother and vergpi, and to all the blessed company of hevjii ; and my body to be buried wliere it shall please God I may assigne it. And my grave- stone, that is ready bouglit and paide for, to be laide over my body shortly after nn decease, with the image and other scriptui-es made therefore," &c. &c. In a list of the Masters, beginning at 1350, belonging to the INlaster's Lodge, we find — ''12. AValter Huke, 12'" Master, A". 1512, A". 4 Hen. 8. He died Master, 1517, 9 Hen. 8." He was rector of Holywell. His arms are given thus by ^^'arren : — " Arms of Trinity HaU, impaled ^^^th, Or on a ])ile pointing in base gules, between two trefoils slipped vert, three crescents of the field." They occupy No. 7 in the annexed cUagrani : 6 1 11 9 2 11- 7 3 12 10 4. 1.5 H r, n i Hatcnian.t 2 Nick. 3 Sudbury. 4 Gardiner. 5 Parker. 6 Dalling. 7 Hewke. H Hervey. 9 Spiccr. 10 nuniie. 1 1 Goodknape. 12 Mouse. K) Eden. 14 Mopted. ]:> liiisby. • Baker, MSS. xxx. 111. f This prrsori was Hi!«liop of Norwich, and founded the Colh'pe a.d. IS.'jO. The wood-eut at the end of tlii.9 article is taken from a small statue of him in wood, .standing in tlie entrance-hall of the Lodge. It may be added, there is in the Library a MS. account of his 'life and death.' DR. WALTER HEWKE. 11 A word or two on the depository of this monument will not be out of place. The chapel is small, and tlic decoration, though not abundant, has pleasing effect. The pannel represented in the wood-cut at the head of the article is over the comnumion-table. The ceiling is ])annelled and curved; each ])annel containing as in the abo^e diagram the emblazoned shield of some master or beneiiictor, en- riched with gilding. The altar-piece is a large pictiue of 'The Purification,' by an Italian artist not known, taken from a monastery, and presented by Dr. Chetwolde. An engraAing of this interior has been just nuide, — one of a set* which tlie affec- tion of the Students towards their College has caused to be executed, to serve as a memorial to the several existing members of the body. The monuments here are few: one of them claims notice by bearing grave witness agamst the epita})li- writer in this forcible caveat: Epitaphia sunto vera! Ementiri nefas ; Sacer est locus I Extra ementiainini ! This epitaph represents its subject speaking in the person of Nathaniel Lloyd, miles et LL.U., mdccxxxvi. Opposite to this, on the north side, is another epitaph, which, from its sincerity of tone, we may believe, in spite of first appearances, fulfils the above injunction. It is the monument of Thomas Eden, LL.D. Hujusce Collegii custodis olim dignissirai, pariter ac munificentissimi : Quo nemo tuni morura eximia .suavitate et probitate, turn singular! etiam Legum Civilium atfjue Ecclesiasticarum scientia majorem Consecutus est Laudeni ; unde Spartam, quam Apud nos bonorum omnium consensu merito nactus Est, strenue ornavit, nostrumq. Collegium tot Tantisque beneficiis vivus moriens devinxit ; Ut parentis nomen potius quam custodis mereatur. Upon this paternal master a Funeral Oration was made, wherein he is called In jure alter Sulpitius, justitiae potius quam juris consultus, Hippias quidani. And then comes the expression of apprehension — Ne paulo interaperantius videar has laudes prosequi; ne laboret Historiae nostra fides; verusq: Edenus nostcr pro fabula habeatur; • Drawn and etched by J. M. Ince, who has already done much in illustration of Cambridge in the same style. c2 12 DR. WALTER HEWKE. The eiilogy borders rather closely on the line marked out in the opposite in- scription. Having brought forward this as one of the best examples of brasses existing in Cambridge, we may mention that ere long there wiU be one added to tlie number, Avhich A\-ill prove the abOity of modern workmanship in this style, and the modern admiration of this kind of monument. I. I. S. GoTwille and Cahis College. ■«^ tr~^ t ifitr^ai / /Umff /uAf .^mUfs^ BISHOP GOODEICH. Vir erat Justus, mansuetus, liospitalis, misericors, amaus omnes, et amatus ab omnibus. Ron. Steward, Hist. Eli. p. (J7tl. ELANCHOLY as are the ravages committed by the Reformer.s of the seventeenth century on the Cathedral Church of Ely, one monumental brass has had the good fortune (though erected t(^ the memory of a Prelate) to escape then- depredations ; it is that of whicli an engraving is here presented. 'I'lu- stone in which it is embedded lies in the south aisli> of the Choir, between the monuments of Bishop Walter de Luda and Bishop Ileton, and close to the brass effigy of Dr. Humi)hr) TindaL fourth Dean, who had the honour of refusing, in the reign of Queen Elizabi'th, the Bohemian crown. The legend, which is now much mutilated, formerly ran thus : " Thomas Goodricus annos plus minus viginti Ecclesiae hujus Episcopus, lioc loco sepultus est. Duobus Anglia^ illustrissimus regibus, \'ariis et rehgionibus, et rei])ublic;c mimeribus pergratus fiiit : foris enim apud ahos principes sicpe legatus, domi autem cum Regi Edwardo ejus nominis sexto aliquamdiu Consiliarius e.xtitissi't, magnus tandem Anglitc factus Cancellarius. CHiariorne Principi pro])ter singularenn pru- dcntiam, an amabilior ])opido ])ropter integritatem et abstinentiam fuerit adjudi- candum est perquam difficile. Obiit iv die Maii, anno a Clmsto nato iiiillesimo [^qvhigmitesimo^ quinquagesiiuo (|uarto." — Six small scrolls contain tlie words, "Si Deus nobiscum, quis contra nos," and the name " Thomas Goodryk." The arms, which are lost, were — Quarterly, first and fourth, on a fess gules between two lions passant, sable, a fleur-de-hs argent between two crescents or. 14 BISHOP GOODRICH. for Goocbich; second and tliii-d. argent, on a chevron engrailed between two trefoils sUpped sable, tbree crescents or, for Williamson. The effigy, which, with the exception of one small piece in the upper part, is quite perfect, represents the Ml episcopal robes. The alb, which is liandsomely ornamented in the oi-ft-ay, reaches to the feet, which are sandaled; above these is the timic : between the latter and the dalmatic the fringed ends of the stole are \isible: the maniple and chesible are both richly embellished. In the left hand is the pastoral staff adorned \\'itli the vexillum; in tlie right, the Bible and great seal. The following brief account of the life of Bishop Goocbich contains, I beUeve, nearly all that is kno\\Ti of him. Thomas Goodiich was the son of Edward Goodrich, of East Kii'by, in Lin- colnshire, Esq., and Jane, his tliird wife, sole daughter and heiress of T. AViUiam- son. of Boston, Esq. He was born in that village about the year 1484; and early discovering signs of talent and industry, was enlered at Bene't College in the year 1500. But he seems not to have come into residence till some time after, as he did not proceed to B.A. till 1510; thus being a contemiiorary of Cranmer and Ridley, who also took their degrees in that year. It is on record that his rooms were situated in the north-west corner of the Old Court. Ha\ing been elected fellow of .Jesus College, he was appointed Proctor in 1514; and soon after apjiUed himself to the study of civil and common laAv. Perhaps, indeed, his labours op(>ruted to the detriment of his health, for in 1523 a Grace was passed, allowing liim to preach " cooperto capite ob infirmitatem." Six years later, he was one of the SjTidics appointed to return an answer ftom the University of Cambridge, as to the validity of King Henry's marriage with ()ueen Catherine : and his agreement with the wishes of that Monarch probably led, even more tlian his learning, to his rapid jjromotion. For he was almost innne- diately afterwards jjresented to the Kcc-tory of St. Peter's C^heap by (.Cardinal Wolsey, in whose gift, as Conmiendatory of St. Alban's, the living tluni was. His next step was to a Canonry of \N'estmiiister; and he then became Chaplain to the King. Thus far his |)romotioii iii;i\ l>c attributed to Court favour; his next dignity speaks strongly to his worth. On the 6th of .Ajn-il, 153:5. died Nic holas AVest. Bishop of Ely. one of the latest and best architects of the Perpendicular age, as well as a statesman dis- tinguished for his j)olitical and legal talents. A fin(> specimen of his taste remains in tiic Ijcautiful ('lia|)cl whicli Ixars liis name, at the south-east end of RlSnOP GOODRICH. 15 the Choir of Ely Catlicchal. His ucpiicw . Dr. Nicholas Hawkins, was dosi<>;iicd as his successor. 'I'lu" Bisho]) chvt. liowevcr, who was abroad at tlic time on an (Mnbassy, lived not to enjoy liis new dignity, and the See rcmamed vacant for a whole year. .Vt tlie end of that time, on the (itli of March, 1534, the King- granted liis licenci- to tlie Prior and Convent to choose tlienis(>lv(>s a Bisliop, and they thereu])on. on tlie I7th of that month, i-lecteil Dr. Goodrich. 'I'lie election was contirnied by Arcld)is]io]) Cranmer, April 13, and the consecration took place six ilays after, at Croydon.* How zealous a supporter of the Reformation Bishop Goodrich was, may be seen from the mandate wliicli he addressed in the next year to his diocese ; in which he directs, that at Higli ^lass or at vespers, as soon after as may be, a declaration shall be made m English, to tlie intent that the " authoritc of long '• time usurped by th(> Bisshope of Rome in this realme, who then was called " Pope, ys now by (iod's lawe, justly, lawfidly, and on grownde raysons and "cau.ses. by authorite of Parhament, and by and with the hole consent and agree- ■' ment of the Bishops, Prelates, and both Universites of Oxforthe and Cambridge, " and tilso of tlu' hoh^ Clargie of this realme, extinct and ceased for ever." 'I'his document is dated from the Episcopal Palace at Somcrsham, June 27, 1535. In the next year, the duties of the See seem to have be(;onie, from the advancing Reformation, still more onerous ; for on the 20th of October we find William More conseci'ated Sufhagan of Colchester. In 1540, Bisho]) (ioodrich was appointed one of the reiisors of tlie Translation of the New Testament; in the next year he publish(>d a mandate for the uttt>r destruction of '"all images and bones of such as the kjiig's people resorted and offered imto," as also " the ornaments, writings, table monumcnits of myracles or pylgrymage, shrync, covering of shryne, appertaming to the said images and bones."t About this time the Bishop was honoured with a seat in the Privy C'ouncil, and employed in several embassies, particularly in one to France. In 1548, • The Oatli taken at tlie Installation may be worth quoting : " Jurabiti.s secundum formam et vim proesentis Carta; Rcgia;, quod solvi facietis implementa vel eorutn pretia in prsedicta Carta Regia contentas successori vestro Episcopo Eliensi. Ac ctiam orari facietis in missis ot similiter in pauperibus distribui, pro salute animae Fdwardi III., Regis Anglia;. Caeteraque omnia in eadeni Carta contenta observari (idelittr facietis: secundum quod ipsius Carta; effectus et vigor exigunt et requirunt." f Perhaps this mandate was one which would meet with more opposition in Cambridgeshire than in many other parts of the country, which, to any one unacquainted with the real circumstances of the case, would seera likely to be more free from popular superstition. But the whole eastern part \ 16 BISHOP GOODRini. he had a hand in chawiii- up tlu' tiist liturgy of King Edward the Sixth: and. ill 1551. the Great Seal was committed to his charge. So great was his iiitegi-itv- in that office, as almost to have i)assed with the waiters of that time into a proverb. At the accession of Queen Mary, however, the seals were taken from liim; though he retained the Bisliopric till his death, which took place at Somersham. May 10. 1554. That this great and good man should not be frc-e from detractors, is only what miiiht hav(> been expected. The chief points brought against him seem to be two. In the first place, it is alleged tliat \w set the riunous example of aUenating the C'hxn-ch manors, by exchanging the p;Jace, manor, and advowson of llattield for the priories of Ickletou and some others. But tliis had been agreed upon by his predecessor, and was onlx (onii)let(d b\ liini. It is also said, that he would never lia\(' been permitt(>(l to rcnnain unmolested in liis l)ishopric at the accession of Queen Mary, had he not \eered round \\ith the times. Tliis argument, how- ever, pos.sesses but little weight, if we consider his v\cv wt^ak, and then probably dechning health, tlie distance of his palace from the nu^tropolis. and his high character for learning and probity. Burnet, indeed, makes it a hhige on which to hang a long representation of the ambitious and time-serving character of his mind. But that Bishop' Cjoodrich stood forth lioldly in defenct^ of what he con- sidered right, his conduct a few years before his death abundantly proves. '" He was sent," says Masters, --liy tlie Council in 1545), to Sir Thomas Seymour, Lord Hiijii .\dmiral of England, to i)n'i»ave liini for death, after the warrant for liis execution was signed: tn \\hi(li. wlicn ]iv saw liis brother, the Protector's hand fixed, this unnatural treatment ga\(' liini so ill an opinion of him. that, upon the conspiracv in the Coumil l^'ing formed against him, under the conduct of the Duke of NortlMunberland. lie joined witli them, and lent them his house for tlieir meetings." It is also asserted that liis behaviour towards his dependants was arrogant and harsli. Burnet i(erha})s woukl not be a sutiicieiit authority on this matter, were he not supjiorted by the testimony of Archbisho]) Parker and Strype. \i\ mir wlm kmw liini personally, Koliert Steward, the last Prior and of tlir foiinty t«cins, (;v now deserted hamlet of FN'clif, lo tlie traditions res|ieelinn the hirth of S. Ivlheldroila at l^^xnin;;, and tlu; well whieh still hears her name there, niiieli has lieen reincndtered by the' peasants of the present ilay ; and how niucli stronger mu.tt have been the feeling in the lime of Bishop Goodrich. BISHOP GOODRICH. 17 first Dean of Ely, pfivcs a very clifForent charactcn- in the words selected in the motto for this article. It should ever be remembered too, that in the memorable dispute on the use of Ecclesiastical vestments, it was by the advice of Bishop Goodrich that the Primate stood firm against the objections of Hooper. On the whole, if we cannot assign to this prelate that energetic resolution, and unwearied perseverance and courage, which distinguished some of his con- temporaries; still, while the gentle, the persuasive, the longsufFering, are held in esteem, so long will the Anglican Church feel a pride in, and look back with affectionate reverence to, the name of Bishop Goodrich. Brief, qui toutes ses vertus vouldroit descripre, il y conviendroit bien la vie d' ung bon oruteur: car moy, qui siiis dehilc, et pen gamy de science, n'y scauroye atlaindre : mais de ce que fen ay dit, supplie humblement a tons lecteurs de ccste presenle histoirc le vouloir prendre en gre, car fay fait le mietilx que fay peu, mais iwn pas qui estoit bien deii pour le louenge d' ung si parfaict et vertueux personnage. J. M. N. Trinity College. + Sljriat 19 to m? as life mt fartlj, aitb hsti^ tome is gainf b3 §^ o o f fft €^ B <3 S3 s 15- ??fniler tliw tiimc an hfrr dolli Iti 3 i-in-)iB «umt>mf uffsmr ffi ■WJc»U!lUlirfbiiiii> biTmttntlslloBFRT PiiH.hcU.oVE bli lumf anb Uirvt Inimuht «;> b» (urnite run- «l Stliimlf 1 lt«rnmq tilUftrr>i'aiii» hu Ini-i,i; i^i-rtr Ui l.ouii.-n lir tods liai'i ^, tahtr Wn-I.r.\.M liliAiiMiiAVf hijljt bv iismc m u.julo Iv^h I'll" ll'm and )>' lit .'^rboolr i^iO Inm timintatii full lliriro ^ toliiiL' (jturs Rnd thni into tV AbbnTc too* ;jl(iffi> .■<» 1 ttllp "P"" tn S«atlilP«rlir rail ii tohfrt '•'' oviiHtn Until I.An.l for to,™ii.n. (>nf lloHpiTAf, for 10 m.i\nt.tiii tluilm- un(iiitntt ,iiu> (loor <> (;iHi»iiHN"i; tijpn toitit ■ririitr-w.u,!, town irmrfit ^ "'^'HJ'JVju. for thifl* i^nj^ ("l,f,iiii&f iirrrtt rriionu, lyctJj hrvi- tfimpAtft in U^ongb rrnxtl HiiAiii h'tJKOB ("ote hrotmlit lln« iinin iii' hiTf tit yrt trump 'A KiMi: itnv l»n he ii"u(ihl to ,--'onnii hie (iraiK on high (t\fn Icfli* hiinr Vrrfain rrrl'ro iTliipmin munOrtri* t)xi* t«{i< to the- conclusion that death is gain, and that "Christ .T(>sus is life," and the only means of salvation, he goes to his rest bewailed and lamented. Such is the ])icture we should perhaps, on ri-adin^^ this inscription, form for ourselves; nor will we sup])ose it untrue, even thongli on examination his j)ublic conduct be found not altogether such as we shouhl wish; we will su])i)ose "in many things he mif,dit hapjiely erre, as others have done i)ef()re luid after him;' but we will liiipc lli;il he diil ;is conscience l)ade iiiiii ; and when he had doii(> • .Monast. AnL'lic. tdiii. ii. p si-. BISHOP PUUSGLOVE. '2\ wroiif;. Ill' was sorry and hiiuciitcil it. WC will I'lidoavour then to i'ollou Pursjrlovo a littlo moro dosdv, liolli to his I'riory at (jisbonic ami in tiic alter ovonts of his litb, tliough our matrrials aro hut scanty and unsatisfactory. Gisbuni, Ciiscbunic, or (iysbur was under £200, had begun with his courtiers to cast an eye of desire on the richer foundations; all means were accordingly used to persuade the Abbots and Priors to resign their houses, recei\ ing pensions for themselves: Pursglove in an evil hour assented, and resigned (iis- burne on the '2'2nd of December, 1540, receiving for himself a p(>nsion of £'!()(). Vh. 4 T>eo 111., and after- wards the Council of Ratisbon, decreed, tliat they had not rightly the ejiiscopal chai-acter, — their being dei«?ndent on their IJishojJS, and not (hn^ctlj' on the Pope himself, being probably the cause of such a decision. To supply their place when needful, coadjutors wei'e a])pointed, who, taking their titles from countries no longer Christian, and therefore called " Bishops m partibus infideUum," assisted the Bishops who were unable, from whatever cause, to attend to the duties of their s(>es. Thus Thomas Wells, Bishop of Sion,* was coadjutor to the Archbishop of Canterbury in tlie l)egiuning of Henry the Paghth's reign. In 1535, by the advice of Cranmer, an act of Parliament passed for appointing twenty-six Suffragan Bishops to different towns, who again were to take their ancient character, being altogether dependent on their own Diocesan. The Sees were — Thetford, Ips\\-icli, Colchester, Dover, Giuldford, Southampton, Taunton, Shaftesbury, Molton, Marlborough, Bedford, Leicester, Gloucester, Shrew.sbury, Bristol, Penrith, Bridgewater, Nottingham, Grantham, HuU, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Pereth, Berwick, St. Gennams, and the Isle of Wight. This Act was repealed 1, 2 Philij) and Mary, and revived 1 Eliz.; since wliich it has never been repealed,t although sinc'C 1592, when John Sterne was consecrated Suffragan of Colchc^ster, it does not appear ever to have been put in force. The nonjiuing Bishops, however, appointed (about 1690) Dr. George llickes Suffi-agan Bishop of Tlietford, and Mr. Thomas Wagstaff", Suffragan of Ipswich; but this was only that they might keep up the succession without inteifering %nth the Bishojjs in iwssession. AMth j-espect to the nature and pri\Lleges of the office, a few words must suffice. That they were essentially of the first order in the nunistry is clear fi-om this — that in ancient tunes they voted equally with other Bishops at the councils; in modern, they assisted at consecrations, (John Hodgeskins, Suffragan of Bedford, assisting at the consecration of Archbishop Parker and fourteen other Bishops) ;+ — in • Mason, Consecration of Bishops, 90. f Brett, in Drakps's Kbor. J Mason, I'iT. 24 BISHOP PURSGLOVE. both they ordained, only \^'ith the consent of tlicir Diocesan — functions all essentially belonging to the episcopate. In England tlieii- authority Avas limited by a com- mission, which they might not exceed on pain of a " prsemunii-e." Then- appointment was thus made: the Bishop of the diocese nominated two persons, of whom the King chose one. They do not appear to ha^e had any separate income, but usually enjoyed other dignities, and had license to hold two benefices mth ciu"e.* We shall not expect to find in Pursglove a very strong advocate for the Reformation; and let not over-busy zeal be ready to load Ms chai-acter with blame for tliis : let it rather rejoice, with thankful wonder, that a Cranmer and a Ridley were raised up for such a work, and that at the same time the eyes of other good and holy men were more slowly and gradually opened, — thus giving timely delay to a movement, in itself inclining to a fearfid rapidity. Under Queen ^Nlary he appears to have conformed; and we may siuely hope that the wicked deeds of those aAA-fid times gradually weaned him from his errors, and led liim, as we read in his epitaph, to put "liis trust in Christ only for sal- vation;" but when, in 1559, the second year of Elizabeth's reign, "all spiritual persons liokUng preferment were required to take the oath of supremacy," he seems to have slu-unk from it, giA'ing up his preferments ; "f all the Bishops, excepting one, (Kitchen, of Llandaff,) were fellow-sufferers with liim : and if we deem their opinions AATong, yet we shall siu'ely admire their conduct, and that little band of one hundi-ed and eighty-nine out of nine thousand four hundi-ed, Avill be entitled to our spnpathy and respect.^ 'I"]i(M-e is but little more to say; we have attempted to follow Pursglove tlu-ough liis public life, and have seen him acting, as we beUeve, the part of a conscientious man. Let us now go with him to his quiet home at Tideswell. We fancy we see the Bislio]). — for so the villagers still reverently call him, — dealing liberally out his l)ounty and liis wisdom. He thinks inucli. too, of the stirring times through whicli lie has passed; and \\liilc lie begins to look with joy and gratitude on the clianges which the Church lias received. h(> trembles nuich at the; aA\f"ul cloud of discord and disorder now hanging over her ; for he has heard rumours of quarrels about vestments, uliicli are growing worse and worse — and ever and anon there come preachcr.s, who tlimi light of practice; and wlio, even til llir (;[(■(■ of the \cneraWe man, declaim against the order and regularity lie loves, as (lie offsiiring of bigotry and the work of .Antichrist. • Strypo'.i Parker, iii. \'>. f Camden call.'* liim, "Scdis sua.' calamitatom." Pullc-r, j). G9. J Stc Strypc's .'\ritm1.'*, vol. i., [i. 73. BISHOP I'URSGLOVE. 25 But \vi' nmst now k\x\v him. We sec liiiii in ii <;n-(Mi old ago peaccl'iiUy brcathinrious-uiinded men have not much cared, with the dying Hooker, '"to meditat(> tlie number and nature^ of angels, and their blc^ssed obedience and order, without which peace could not be in heaven," and to say from tlieir heart, with him, "Oil, tliat it might be so on earth!" Their religion has been of a far different nature : if, wlieu on their death-bed, they have wished to live, it is not that " they may do tlu^ (Jhiiir/i more service." But they too have done much good ; they ha^e led the way, W(^ trust, to happier times : and when the present generation ha\e gone away, and that glorious light dawns on them, shewmg them that they have often taken friends for foes, and foes for friends, then too, we trust, their children " shall speak often one to another," and shall wonder how it was that theii' fathers dwelt so long separate. Little now remains but to say a few woixls of the church where this " clerk of great renowT:i" now rests in peace. It is a handsome^ building of the decorated character, with the exce])tion of the tower, which appears to have been built some- what afterw^ards. The plan of the church is — a chancel, two transepts, a nave and its aisles, and a tower at the west end. The east window is decorated, and of three lights; and on the nortli and south of the chancel are four decorated windows, each of three lights, with scjuare heads, and very lofty. These have a very fine effect, and, together with the open Avood roof, give to the chancel a noble, lofty, and magnificent appearance. There is a stone altar-screen across the chancel, some feet distant from the eastern wall, containing two very good niches. The chancel also has three sedilia of ecjual height, and a piscina of an ogee arch, cinquefoiled, witli a pinnacle on each side. It will be needless to go through with the details of the rest of the church ; suffice it to sa)-, that the \\hole is of a pure decorated character, with no ]i(n-pen- dicular insertions, even of windows. The north and south windows in the respec- tive transepts, of five lights each, are remarkably good. The tower is perpendicular ; and though tlie details are good, yet the effect of the whole is certainly lost by too much crowding. At each corner of the tower is an octagonal tuiii't, lia\iug an embattled parapet, whence a short spire arises, with crockets and a finiid. Between each of these corner turrets arises another of somewhat similar design, but lighter in its construction, and of less altitude ; these eight turrets on the tower ha\-ing a confused and unpleasant effect. E 26 BISHOP PURSGLOVE. The buttresses of the church haxe triangular heads, and all the parapets arc embattled. There are six bells. The principal monuments in the chmxh, besides that to Bishop Pmsglove, are as follows: — In the chancel is a flat stone to John, son of Thomas Foljambe, who died in the year 1358, and is said to ha^•e contributed towards the building of the church. In the centre of the chancel is an altar-tomb to Sir Sampson MeveriU. The sides of the tomb being open, the figure of an emaciated corpse lying in a winding- sheet appears, carved in stone. On the top is a slab of Piurbeck marble, inlaid with brass plates, containing the sjTubols of the Evangehsts, inscriptions on scrolls, and in the centre the usual representation of the Holy Trinity. This last is engraved at the end of this account. The Father is represented as seated in the brightness of His slorv. bearuie: before Him the cross on wliich the Son is extended. The cross has beneath it a mound, the symbol of the earth. Over the right shoulder of the representation of the Father is seen the Holy Ghost, in the form of a dove, descending. The mscription on this altar-tomb is as foUows; — Under thys stone lyeth Sampson Meverell, whych was borne in Stone, in the feaste of St. Michaell the Archangell, and there chrystencd by the Pryor of the same hous, and Sampson, of Clifton, Esq., and Mayant, the daughter of Philip Staplpy, in the yeare of our Lord Mccciiiiviii., and so livd under the service of NiciioU, Lord Audley, and dame Elizabeth, his wife, the space of xviii yeares and more ; and after, by the assent of John Meverell, his fader, he was wedded in Belsor, the King's man, to Isabel, the daughter of the wofpful knight, Sir Roger Lechc, the xvii day of Pasclie, and after he came to the service of the noble Lord, .John Mountegu, Earl of Salisbury, the which ordeyned the said Sampson to be a capitayne of diverse woi^pfull places in France ; and after the death of the said Earl, he came to the .service of John, Due of Bedford, and soe being in his service, he was at xi great battayles in France within the space of two yeares; and at St. Luce, the said Due gave him the order of Knighthood; after that the said Due made him Knt Constable, and by his commandment he kept the Constable Court of this land till the death of the said Due : and after that he aboade under the service of John StaiFord, Arch- byshop of Canterbur)', and soe enduring in great wofp, departed from all worldly service, unto the mercy of our Lord Jesu Christ, the which d'ed his soul from his body in the feast of Mar..., in the yeare of our Lord MCCCCLxii., and soe his worde may be prouved, that grace passeth cunning. Amen. Devoutly of your charity sayth a paternoster with an avc for all Christian soules, and especiall for the soule whose bons reste under this stone. The only otlicr momimeiit we shall iioti((> is tliat to Thomas Statliam, without date — and that for ])art of the inscription, which well deserves to be transcribed; Thomas Statham, son and h(!ir of the loyal gentleman Statliam, of Edcnstall and Tan.sley, Captain of a troop of horse, which he raised at his owir charge, for the royal King Charles I., and was afterwards a patient sulfrriT of the tyrannies anil sc(|ui'strations of those impious regicides; lineally descended from the ancient and loyal family of Statham, lords of Morley, in this county, and of Statham and Barton, iii Cheshire. BISHOP PURSGLOVE. 27 These are tlie niomiments principjilly wortli nuticiiiy in the ihurcli, witli tlic exception, perhaps, of the fiiU-lciigtli effigies of a man and his wife in the south transept. Of these we know nothing, bnt that tradition represents them as the figiu"es of Thurstan de Bower and his \vife, who ar{> said to have built the transept. Nqar tlie cliiu'ch, says Lysons,* is " the grammar-school of Jesns," founded by Robert Pursglo\-e above-mentioned. Tlie rent of the estates b(>longing to Pursglo\o's Charity was, in 1815, £'222. G.v. per annum. Three-fourths of this rent is received by the schoolmaster; the remainder is thstributed to the poor on Chiistmas-day, by the vicar and chiu-ch wardens. And now we have finished, and have told you, to the best of our ability, what we could find that related to Robert Pursglove, the last Suffi-agan Bishop of Hull. We have, indeed, done oiu* best; but still we are glad to take up the words of good old Isaak Walton — " and all readers are requested to believe that ' this Bishop' was worthy of a more worthy pen to have preserved liis memory, and commended his merits to the imitation of posterity." C. C. E. T. C. St. John's College. * Lysons' Derbyshire, p. 279. r AKCHBISHOP HAESNETT. Erat homo ingeniosus, acutus, acer, et qui plurinium et sails liaberet et fellis, nee caudoris minus. Plin. Epist. CCI.ESIASTICAL Architecture, in its gradual decline from the perfection of the Decorated style, to the opposite extreme in the Debased, was naturally accompanied by a corresponding deterioration both in the design and execution of sepulc:hral monuments. I'he altar-tomb, with its elaborate jet graceful canopy, gave way before the tasteless and inelegant monuments of the Elizabethan age: while brasses, in the few instances in wliich their use was retained, instead of the costhness and beauty of earlier examples, displayed a diminution in size, and a coarseness of workmanship, by no means consistent with the notion, that the improvement and advancement of every art and science foUowed the chspersion of the so-caUed darkness of the middle ages. Instances occur also of effigies of a latc> date being engraved on the reverse side of an earUer brass. The contrast thus presented between the two specimens of workmanship on the same plate, is not more remarkable than the bad tastt; and impropriety of celebrating the name and praises of one man, by destroyu.g the monumental record consecrated to the memory of another. The brass however which forms our present subject, that of Archbishop Harsnett from Cliigwell Church, Essex, forms a noble exception to the general chai-acter of contemporaneous examples. The Archbishop, in his will beanng date teb. 1-3. 30 ARCHBISHOP HARSNETT. 1630, gives the following dii'ections for his funeral and monument: "My body I mil to be buried within the parish chiuxh of C'higwell, without pomp or solemnity, at the foot of Thomazme late my beloved wife, having only a marble stone laid upon my grave, with a plate of brass molten into the stone an mch thick, having the effigies of a Bishop stamped upon it, vvith his mitre and crosier-stafF, but the brass to be so rivetted and fastened clear through the stone, as sacrilegious hands may not rend off the one without breaking the other. And I will that this inscription be engraven round about the brass: ' Hie jacet Samuel Hai"snett, quondam Vioarius hujus Ecclesiae; primo indignus Episcopiis Cicestriensis, dein incUgnior* Norwicensis, demuni indignissimus Archiepiscopus Eboracensis.' These injunctions seem to have been faithfully performed. To the legend is added the date of his death ('25tli of May, Anno Dni. 1631); and the inscription imder the feet of the effigy deservedly commemorates — " That of his abimdant humility the most reverend prelate had provided by his will that his epitaph should consist of these very words." Tlie brass, with the stone to which it was to be so firmly fixed, is now removed from the ground, and placed vertically against the north pier of the chancel arch, in order to pi-eserve it from injury. The effigy is fuU sized; and, measiu'ing from the bor(l(^f-, tlu> dimensions of the whole brass are seven feet and a half by three feet and ii lialf The small figures at the corners represent the four EvangeUsts. These how- ever are not to be compared with those of more ancient brasses, with the two for example which remain on the monument of Bishop Goodrich. St. Matthew, at the right shoulder of the figure, is known by his symbol — an angel; St. Mark, by his winged lion ; St. I^ukc, by his ox ; and St. John, by his eagle. The sjTnbols are thus curiously described in an old INlonkish hymn: — Circa thronuin majcstatis Cum spiritibus beatis Quatuor diversitatis A stunt aniinalia. i'orniain prinuiiii a(|uiliiiai)i, Et secundiini looninaiii, Si'd liuiiianani ct boviiiaiii Duo <;(riint alia. liirniii! foniiaiit figiiianiiii Formas evangelLstariini : • In th(; insfTi])tion itsrif tlic words ' dcin indignior' are thrown into ono, ' d(jindignior;' the syllable in, common to liotli tlic words, being only once engraved. ARCHBISHOP HARSNETT. 31 Quorum imber doctrinarum Stillat in ecclesia. Hi sunt Marcus ot Matthaeus, Lucas, et queni Zebeilaeus Pater tibi misit deus : Dum laxaret retia. Forniam viri dant Mattbaeo, Quia scripsit sic de Deo : Sicut descendit ab eo, Qupiu plasniavit, hoiuine. Lucas bos est in figura, Ut prsemonstrat in scriptura ; Hostiarum tangens jura Legis sub velaniine. Marcus leo per descrtum Clamans, rugit in apcrtuni: Iter deo fiat certura, Munduni cor a criniine. Sed Johannes ala bina Ciiaritatis: aquilina Forma, fertur in divina Puriori lumine. Quatuor describunt isti Quadriformes actus Christi : Et figurant ut audisti Quisque sua formula. Natus Iiomo declaratur ; Vitidus sacrificatur : Leo mortem depredatur ; Sed ascendit aquila. The shield at the left foot of the figure contains the Archbishop's arms alone: azure, two bars dancettee, ermine, between nine cross crosslots or. The next contains the arms of the See of Chichester: azuie, a Presbyter John sitting on a tombstone: in his sinister hand a mound, his dexter extended, or; \ni\\ a linen mitre on his head, and in his mouth a sword fesswise, argent; hilt and pommel of the second, the point to the sinister; impaUng Harsnett. Proceeding upwards, the shield, by the EvangeUstic symbol of St. Matthew, contains the arms of Norwich: azure, three mitres labelled, two and one, or; impaling Harsnett. The last shield contains the arms of the Archbishoprick of York: Ruby, two keys in saltire, pearl. In chief a crown royal, topaz ; impaling Harsnett. 32 ARCHBISHOP HARSNETT. The effigy itself deserves particular attention, as being, perhaps, the latest instance in which a Reformed Bishop is exhibited in the vestments, the use of ^A-luch is still enjoined by our Chmxh, in the rubric which refers to the first Book of Common Prayer of King Edward "^'I., and in the twenty-fom-th Canon. The exterior vestment, gathered up oAer the right arm, is the cope, beautifully embroidered with flowers, and ha\-ing a rich flo-ndng border. The cope worn by Doctor Walter Hewke, No. I. of the present series, is of a cUfferent shape, and is adorned in front vrith a series of Saints, in niches. Beneath the cope may be observed the alb, its upper part being frhiged \\-ith lace. His right hand bears a Bible; Iris left the pastoral statf. His Arclii- episcopal rank woidd have entitled liim to a crosier instead of a pastoral staft'. and to a ducal coronet round liis mitre. It is but another testimony to liis " abundant luunilitv," tliat in liis will he expressed his Avish of being represented without these lofty and distinguishing insignia. '1 o i)roceed now to the particulars of his life Avhich have been preserved. Samuel Harsnett was born at Colchester, in the parish of St. Botolph, and baptized on Jan. 20, 1561. He was educated at the Free-school, Colchester, and thence remo\ed to King's college, Cambridge, where he was admitted on Sept. 8, 1576. He migrated however to Pembroke Hall, and became Fellow of that foundation Nov. 27, 1583. He took the degree of M.A. the next year. On October 27, 1584, he preached his famous sermon on Predestination, at Paul's Cross, fi-om Ezek. xxxiii. 11, "As I live, saith the Lord, I delight not in the death of the wicked." In ^larch 1586-7, we find him master of the Free-school at Colchestc^r, th(> place of his own education. This situation however he did not retain long, but returned to Cambridge. lu 1592, he sened the office of proctor. In 1597, Bishop Bancroft, of London, made him his chaplain, and prc>sented him to the living of St. Margaret, Fisli-street, wliich he resigned in 1604, for the rcctoiy of Shcnfield, Essex, given him by Sir T. Lucas, of Colchester. In 1598, he obtained the prebendal stall of Mapesbm-y, in St. Paid's, and in 1604 was made Archdeacon of Es.sex. fii UJ05, he succeeded Launcelot Andrews, Bisho]) of AVinchester, as master of Pembroke Hall, and proceeded D.D., his exercise being excused by a grace of the Senate. He was Vice-Clianc(>llor the same year; and served the sanu> office in 1614, when Bislioj) of Chichester. This latter was the occa.sion of King James the Fu'st'8 two progresses to Cambridge. It appears to lune been principally at ARCHBISHOP HARSNETT. 33 Bishop Ilarsnott.'s instigation thut the Chancellor, the Earl of Suffolk, had invited his Alajesty in the first instance. Of his conduct durinp; the royal vi.sit, it is reported ''that he kept exceeding good cheer," and that lie held out very stoutly against the king, who Avished honorary degrees to be conferred on some unworthy and illiterate members of his srnte; insomuch that even Donne could not obtain a degree withorit some difficidty. In the tinu> of the Icing's second visit, Dr. (iwynnc was deputy Vice-Chancellor for Bishop Ilarsnett; as says the prologue to the famous "Ignoramus:" Litcuiii Episcopi Cicestriensis Procancellarii Cantabrigiensis, Malo fato tunc absentis Alter forte tuin sui)plc'bat Qui vices ejus bene gerebat. His next preferment was the Vicarage of Hutton, Essex, in 1G06. This, together with his Prebend and Archdeaconry, he resigned in 1609, for the Rectory of Stistead, in tlie same county, given to him by Archbishop Bancroft, and which he hekl in coininendam till his elevation to the See of Norwich. In 1609, on November 13, he was chosen to the Bishoprick of Chichester. His consecration was solemnized at Lambeth by Archbishop Bancroft, Launcelot, Bishop of Ely, and Richard, Bishop of Rochester. We come now to the only unfortunate passage in liis life. In 1616, his college exhibited to the king certain charges against him in fifty-seven articles; and in consequence he resigned the mastersliip in June, this year. "I heartily wish," says Le Neve, "I could gratify my reader with a sight of these ai-ticles: but though I have used all decent endeavours to obtain a copy of them, the present possessors, for reasons best known to themselves, do not think proper to make them public." Whatever the natm-e of the charges may have been, it is certain that they did not m any way lower him in the estimation of the king: and from the general tenor of his character, we shall be led charitably to suppose that they were for the most part groundless or trifling; arismg rather from chslike on their part to his religious opinions, (which on some points, as we shall presently see, were at variance with the general feeling in the University,) than from any crime or negUgence on his o^vn. Three years afterwards, in 1619, he was translated to the See of Norwich, on the death of Bishop OveraU. 34 ARCHBISHOP HARSNETT. In 1624. we find him accused to the House of Commons, of "putting down preaching, setting up images, prajing to the east," &c., by the Puritans of his diocese. These charges he answered satisfactorily both to the Parliament and the Coiu^. On November 26, 1628, King Charles the Fu-st promoted him to the Archi- episcopal See of York, as successor to Aixhbishop INIontaigne. His advancement by such a king speaks \cry higMy of his worth. Thomas, Earl of Arundel, is said to have recommended him to his Majesty, and to have had so great an esteem for him, as to have entrusted to him the education of his son. The .Ai-chbishop was confirmed at Lambeth, on January 13, in the ensuing )ear, and was enthroned on April 23, being St. George's day. He enjoyed this liis highest chgnity but a short time, djing, when on a journey, at Moreton-le-Marsh, Gloucestershii-e, on May 25, 1631. His will, to which we have before referred, bears testimony to his charitable and liberal disposition. Unfortunately oiu" limits will not allow an enumeration of Ms numerous legacies to the poor of every place with which he had been connected: but his noble foundations of two free-schools, (the one for teaching chilch-en to read, write, &c. ; the other for Greek and Latin,) besides alms-housi^s at Chigwell. deserve to be commemorated. The qualifications for the office of Latin master are as follows: He must be a graduate in one of the Universities; skilled in the Greek and liatin " tongues ; a good poet ; of sound rehgion — neither Papist nor Puritan ; of a grave behaviour ; of a sober and honest conversation ; no tippler nor hamiter of alehouses ; no pufter of tobacco ; and above aU apt to teach, and severe in his government." lie must teach Lilly's Latin, and Cleonard's Greek Grammar: for phrase and style, infuse into his scholars no other " than TuUy and Terence ; for poets, to read the ancient Greek and Latin, — no novelties, nor conceited modern Avriters." Lysons observes — " Tln" founder's ordinances contain manv regulations for the government of liis schools and the behaviour of tlie scliolars ; professing himself much more solicitous tliat they should l)c instructed in tlu- principles of the Christian religion, and nurtured and di^(i|)lincd in irood mainu'rs, than instructed in good arts." lie also built a gallery for them in the chureli, and enjoined them to attend ser\ ice evei-j' Sunday and Holiday. Ills theolojfical o])inious are shewn i)y the sermon mentioned above, whicli lie wa.s bold enough to ])reach at Paul's Cross, against the scheme of Calvin, and more especially ii^ainst the idea of reprobation. " There is a conceit in the world, beloved," says he, "speakes little jbetter of our gracious (Jod tluiu this; and that ARCHBISHOP IIAUSNETT. 35 is, that God should dosipfno many thousands of soules to hell before they were, not in eye to their faults, but to his own absolute will and power, and to d possession and dispossession of Wm. Somers, at Nottingham ; of Thomas Darling, the boy of Burton, at C'aldwall; and of Katherine Wriglit, at Mansfield and AMiittington; of his dealings with one H(>nry Cooper, at Nottingham, detect- ing in some sort the deceitful trade of these latter days, of casting out devils." liOndon, 1599, 4to. This was answered the same year, in a book entitled " The Triall of Maister Darrell, or a collection of defences against allegations not yet suffered to receive con\enient answers ; tending to clear him from the imputation of teaching Somers and others to counterfeit possession of de^ils, that the mist of pretended counter- feituig being dispelled, the glory of Christ, liis royal power in casting out de\'ils (at the prayer and fasting of his people), may evidently appear." 1599, 12mo. He was also engaged in a similar controversy about Popish possessions, with one Ecbnondcs, alias Weston, a Jesuit; and published a masterly exposui'e of the egregious impostures and infamous juggUng practised by this " Edmondes, and divers Romish priests his wicked associates." It is a curious and intcrestmg fact, that tlie names of the fiends which Shak- spere puts into the mouth of "poor Tom," in King Lear, are all taken from tliis treatise; such as Flibbertigibbet, Modu or Mahu, Smolkin, Frateretto, Hopdance (lioberdidance), Tocobato, &c. The catalogue of fiends in the \^ork itself is as amusing as it is long. There seems no sufficient reason for believing, as has been affirmed, that he owed his first elevation to the Episcopal Bench, to the success of these contro- versies. It is more likely that Aixlibishop Whitgift, whose chaplain he was, recommended him in the first instance to royal favour. The church from which this brass is taken, presents, with the exception of a good Noi-man door on the south side of the nave, no featm-e of great interest. It consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle, and a square tower with a low wooden spire at the west end. The brass is engraved in Morant's History of Essex, i. 170, but not with suf- ficient accuracy. It is also said to be engraved in Ogbome's work. The present • Heylyn's Life of Laud, and Fuller's Church History. 38 ARCHBISHOP HARSNETT. lithograph has the advantage of perfect fidelity, having been reduced according to a scale from an impression of the original. Another reason for its selection has been, that we are thus enabled to present at one \iew three Bishops, later than the Reformation, in theu' proper liabits. It will be seen, by considering these three specimens in order of time, how gradually the full pontificals came into disuse. The font, of which a sketch is here presented, is from Lynn, Norfolk. The arms of the See of Normch are seen in one of the pannels, sun'ounded by a label which beai"s the followuig legend: This Fvxt was gravnted by Samvell Harsnett, Bishop of Norwich, 1627. Trinity College, B. W. I '-• ''V'-'-'^^^mf^ ^ ''""'"'" 'IJISSSI"' ^ LADY HALSHAM. 1395. Non intercedendum puto imagiiiibus qua marmore aut sere finguntur. Tac. Agk. ad Jin. There are few counties -svliicli, to u casual observer, seem more void of ecclesiastical interest, and hold forth less promise of information to the lover of ancient archi- tecture, than that of Sussex. Scattered thhily among its vast commons, or on the bosom of its downs, its churches possess little in then- exterior which can attract the eye ; and it is not till the stranger becomes tolerably famiUar \vith them, that he will form any idea of the architcctm-al beauties concealed beneath the triangular head of the low tower, or the unsightly pitch of the tiled roof. No other county so decidedly proves the care of our ancestors, not only to devote the best of their skill to the erection of God's temples, but to " find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob" in the lovehest or the most sublime spots, and to adapt the character of the buUtUng to that of the scenery which surrounds it. In the woodland districts, the tall spire beautifully contrasts with the groupes of fohage above wluch it rises: among the downs, the soft swell of the hills stands in an equally becoming opposition to the massy embattled tower which nestles at their feet. We coidd wUhngly, did time allow, in con- firmation of this remark describe that monument of piety which the noble family of Popiings have left to all ages in the church which bears their name; or the humbler, yet mthal beautiftd structures of Coombes, and Botolph, and Amberley, and Poling, and Southease: we might point to New Shoreham, ■with its magnificent Norman arcade, a miniature though mutilated cathedral: to its elder sister, with its restored belfry arches: to Steyning, Avith its high pitched 40 LADY HALSHAM. roof: to AVorth and Sompting. with theii- Saxon remains: to Arnndel, with its sepulchral chapel of the Fitzalans, and above all to Chichester, with its five aisles, its shi-ine of S. Eichard, and its lofty spii-e, and ask wliether oiu- comity has not some claims on the attention of the ecclesiastical antiquary. And, of the more immediate subject of our work, ^Monumental Brasses, Sussex possesses, not many in number, but some wliich for size and execution can scarcely be surpassed. That of Prior Nelond, in the chm-ch of Co^^•fold, is one of the largest in England, and wiU appear in a ftitiu'e nimiber of this work : those of Sir- Jolm Shelley at Clapham, of Sir- Jolm de Braose at "NA'iston, of Thomas Baron Camoys at Trotton, are all very interesting and perfect specimens of mihtary costume; wliile the beautiful cross to John Corby, and the etfigy of Dr. John INIapleton, at Broadwater, and that of Thomas Harljoig, at Pulborough, are no less so of ecclesiastical monuments. The brass* which forms the subject of tliis article, is of a character less rich than any of the preceding ; stiU, it is hoped, it "ndll possess some mterest. It occurs in the southern aisle or chapel of S. Mary, in West Grinstead chiu'ch, though it has been removed from its original position, as it now lies north and south. Eighty years ago the canopy and legend were perfect: at present only a few ^^•ords of the latter remain, and the former is much mutilated ; so mucli so, that it has not been thouglit necessary, in the present plate, by achnitting either to contract the proportions of the effigy itself. The execution is very good ; the lines as shai-p as if they had not been cut a day ; for the chapel being railed off, tlie brass is not exposed to th(> wear and tear of continual treading. The chiux-h of A^'cst Gruistead is detUcated to S. George, and consists of chancel, nave, south aisle to botli, and porch and tower at the middle of south aisle : the latter is surmounted by a light sliingle spire. It a})pears to have been for the most part early English, but a good Norman door exists at the north side, and the font, ■^^•hicll is square, and has the basin panelled hi cfrcular liglits, is also of that date. It lias, says llicliman, a perpenchcular wooden porch: it may be added tliat it is a good one, and is evidently th(> jn-ototype of many inferior ])orc;hcs of the same character in churches near it : for example, Cowfold. The decorated insertions of wliicli Hickman speaks are not very decided. Tliere is in the .south ai.sle a legend, the ligiuvs having been disrobed to ilobert llaver- croft and Joan his wife, who died Sept. 3, and Aug. 28, in the same year, 1522. * It is engraved with a considerabU' pcirtiDii ol' the Icgi'ixl iiiid ruiiojiy in Dallaway's Western Sussex, vol. ir, part 'I, page 314': to whieli Imok I laku this opportunity ol' acknowledging my obligation, I'hc brass to .Sir II. Ilal^liairi ami lady is also there engraved, j). .'(16. LADY HALSIIAM. 41 The rostump of our brass is a pood s]iccimcn of tliat which prcvaiknl in the reign of K. Richard II. The liorncd Iicad-dross is more simple than is commonly the case : a most extravagant specimen of this fashion may be seen in the effigy of Beatrice, Countess of Arundel, in Arundel church. Tlie sleeves are tight, and of the simplest form, and not as is usually the case seamed with pearls; the edges of the mantilla and petticoat are unembroidered ; the former is confined over the shoulders by a silkcni cord, attached to two brooches ; the latter fits tight below the Avaist, and then descends in straight folds to the feet ; and the usually accompanyuig dog is sejant at the right side. The legend ran thus : Hie jacet Fliilippa (juoiidani uxor Johis Halshani Arniigeri et una filia' um et hored' Davidis de Strabolge imp' corn's de Atthill que obiit priino die Novembris anno dni niilimo ecc". Ixxxxv. cui' an'e propiciet'r Deus.* Here lietii Piiilippa, sometime wife unto .Tohn Halsliam, knight, and one of the dauglitcrs and coheiresses of David de Strabolgie, sometime Count of Athol, which deceased Nov. I, 1395, on whose soul God have mercy. We proceed to lay before the reader such scanty records of this distinguished lady as we have been able to collect. We must premise that Dugdale's account is so little satisfiictory, and so full of self-contradictions, that it has not been without considerable difficidty that we have been able to reconcile the several events which we have to relate to each other, and to truth : that they may not be repugnant to the latter we have indeed endeavoiu'ed, but whether our endeavoiu' be successfid, it is for others to judge. The family of Strabolgie deriAcs an honourable descent fi'om John de Asceles, who fell a martjT to the liberties of his country, being put to death by Edward I. in 1307 for liis adlierence to Robert Bruce. His son David however appears in his early youth to have joined the English side ; as, shortly after his father's execution he obtained, by the king's favour, the earldom of Athol, and the lands of Strabolgie and Sti'athcrn, on the payment of 5000 marks to Ralph de INIonther- mer, Earl of Gloucester, to whom they had been granted. This involved liim in a constant succession of A^ars aa ith his neighbour's, and in particular with Edward de Bruce; by Avhom he was so much harassed, as in 1317 to petition for and obtain the assistance of .Hexander de Mowbray against that nobleman. In 1318 he married Joan, sister to John Comyn, and one of the heii-esses of Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. He was summoned to parliament in 1322; and, in • The attention of the student in Pal£E0graj)liy may be called to the very unusual contractions, an'e, propiciet'r. 42 LADY HALSHAM. 1338 died seised, in right of liis wife, of many manors in Norfolk, among which we may particidarly notice those of Holkham, the present seat of the Earl of Leicester, and Castle Acre. His son David, then in the nineteenth year of his age, was left to the guardianship of Henry de Beaumont, whose daughter Catherine he married. Soon after, however, while displaying his zeal for Edward III. hy attacking a body of the Scotch troops, he was slam in the prime of life. Da^-id, his son, was only tlu-ee years old at the time of his father's death ; he was brought up by his mother, and married Ehzabeth, daughter of Henry Lord FeiTers. He accompanied K. Edward III. on his French expeditions ; but (as if by the fate of early death which liung over the family,) was carried off by a sudden illness, October 10, 1375, and was followed to the grave within twelve days by his wife, who was buried in Asliford church, Kent. Weever gives the foUomng as her epitaph : — Icy gist Elizabeth Counte d' Athels, le file Seigneur de Ferrers, que Dieu assoit. Que mourst le 22 jour de Octobre, I'an de grace, 1375. Two daughters alone sur^dved — Elizabeth, and Philippa whose effigy we are now considermg. The sisters were, by the death of their fothor, left in a very difficult and dangerous position; for theu- extreme youth, their beauty, and above all, their broad lands, must have rendered them liable to be the prey, as they undoubtedly were the aim, of many a needy adventurer as well under the English as the Scotch banner. Nor were they allowed to choose thcnr own protector ; for Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, in consideration of the sum of i;7()0 paid by him to King Edward HI., obtained from that monarch their guardianship. The enormous price given b\ tlic Earl shews the A\orth which was attached to the lands of which Philippa and Elizabeth were possessed. But, haughty and arbitrary as was their guartlian, he soon found that he liiid to deal with no common spirits ; for, on his return from a journey into Flanders in 1377, a complaint was jjreferred against him by Elizabeth, then only in the sixteenth year of her age, for not making her an allowance sufficient to support her rightful dignity. The king decided in favour of the young petitioner, and five manors with oth(>r lands were assigned flu- Ik-v iiiaiiitcnaiict-. In tli(> following year she gave licr liaiid to Sir Thomas Percy, the Earl's second son. and Ijmthcr to the celebrated Hotspur: and from that marriage the family of Lucy is descended. On Sir Thomas's death, still true to the Percy faction, sh(> married Sir John Scvo])(\ and long survived her gentler sister, though we know not the year of her death. Philippa, shortly after her sister's marriage, was prevailed upon to accept Sir Raljih de Percy, the Earl's youngest son, as her husband ; a match which, considering the LADY HALSHAM. 43 fiery and restless chnracter of tliat noblomaii, Avho had the warhke disposition Avithout the talents of liis brotlier Henry, nnist have been more advantaf^cous to the Percies than ajifreeable to herself She had, says Dnt^dale, an assignation of the manor of Gainsborongh, Lincoln- sliire. West Lenliam and Stykanay, Norfolk, Mitford, with the custody of the castle of FramUngton Etheldeworth, Ilechfclde, and North INIillburn, with two parts of the manor of Pout Eland, the hamlet of Uttle Eland, the towns of Calverdon Valence, and ^lerdesfen ; and rent of sixpence from John de ^litford, for the hamlet of Mol- lesdon ; as also of the manor of Hentesliidgh, with the forest of Lowes, and lUvers scalings in Hurst Eland, Northumberland. Sir Ralph appears to have been generally unfortunate in his expeditions : in the skirmish where Lord James Douglas fell, he was wounded and taken prisoner ; and again in 1389 he experienced the same misfortunes. In the next year he was constituted Warden of the East ^Marches; and in 1392, was one of the Commissioners appointed to treat with the ambassadors of France and Scotland. Dugdale indeed says, that in 18 Rich. II. he had a grant of the custody of Ber\vick-upon-Tweed ; but tliis is impossible, since his Avife, who survived him long enough to marry again, and to have a son by her second husband, died in that year. After this we hear no more of him, and he probably survived this appointment but a short time. That his Avife was impiiUcd rather by necessity than affection to give him her hand, may be gathered from the ciixumstance that no mention of him appears on her monument. On the death of Sir Ralph Percy, it is by no means improbable that Philippa retired to her sister's manor of Brabom-ne in Kent ; for Sir John Ilalsham, whom she married in 1394, had ])roperty near that place. The family of the Halshams, or Hailshams, Ls of considerable antiquity in Sussex, though we hear Uttle of it before the time of K. Richard II. Sir John had pre- viously manied Phihppa Michel, of Coombes, by whom he had one son, Richard. There appears however to have been some question Avith respect to the legal pubUca- tion of the banns ; for Dallaway, in his history of Sussex, informs us " that in Shipley church was held, March 18, 1410, a commission to enquire into the legitimacy of Richard Hailsham. It appears that there was a law-suit between William Urry and Richard Hailsham, Esq., respecting the right to certain premises at Horsham ; and the Court of King's Bench dii-ected a mandate to the Bishop of Chichester to enquire into Halsham's legitimacy. The Bisliop directed a commission to John Eyles, rector of Ardingly, to hold an inquest ui the church of Sliipley for that pm-pose, when 44 LADY HALSHAM. Richard Daas, rector of Coombes, of the age of 61 years, -v^ith other A\-itnesses, Avere exanimed. The result of this enqmry was, that the banns of marriage were duly pubhshed in the chuixhes of Giiiistead and Coombes, and that Richai'd was born in laA\-fiil wecUock." Philippa de Strabolgie married, as we have seen, Sir John Halsham, in 1394; and in that, or the ensuing year, had a son, named Hugh.* We might fairly expect, that a youth passed, and, as far as we learn, so blamelessly passed, amidst oppression and war and tumult would have ushered in a calm and peaceful old age. But such was not to be the case. The next account we find of Lady Halsliam, is that given in her epitaph ; that she de- parted this life on tlie feast of ^111 Saints, 1395, in tlie 34th or 35th year of her age. After her death Su- John married a thii'd time ; all that we learn respecting this marriage being, that the lady's name was MatUda. They were both U\-ing in 141 l.t Su- Richard Halsham died in 1422 : he left one daughter, Joan, afterwards married to Jolni Lewkenor Esq., who fell at the battle of Tewkesbury. Sir Hugh Halsham succeeded Ms brother : he enjoyed the manor for a long ]3eriod of time. He is buried with his wife, in a low altar tomb, in the same cliapel AAath his mother; and the effigies under an elegant canopy stiU exist. His will is dated Feb. 7, 1441, and lie died Feb. 28 of the same year. The arms are curiously represented on banners instead of shields. Of tliose there were formerly three: only one now remains. Halsham quartering Strabolgie, impaling a bend engraUcd. The legend, which is now almost entirely lost, is said to have been this: — Hie jaect Hugo Halsham, miles, qui obiit ultimo die incnsis Februarii anno dni millmo ccccxxxxi et Domina Jocosa ux'r ejus que obiit — die mensis Augusti, anno dni niillnio rcrcxx prinio {]uor' auimab. p'pi'et' Deus, To return to Lady Halsliam. Her bequests are said to have been very large and charitable, though they are not specified. To tli(> jiriory of S. Pancras, at f/\ves, she left a wax taper, vahie 13 pence, and £1. Gs. Sd. yearly, for the health • Dallaway seems to assert that Hugh was older than ){ichard. Hut Philippa Michel was Sir John's first wifi; ; and tlierelore, on this siipjjosition, Sir Hugh must have been her son. This, however, was not the case, for the banner on Sir Hugh's monument quarters the arms of Strabolgie. f For in that year, William Kingston and Aliee his wife sold to thcni I'.'O acres of arable, and 7 of meadow land in W. (Irinstead. — Fed. fin. I. Hen. 4'. LADY HALSIIAM. 45 of her soul for ever ; and she found(Ml* a chantry for two priests, endowing it with fifty marks ; and, for one year, loft a bequest of tM'o ])en(e to any ont^ who should say at her tomb Pater noster, Ave Maria, Domiiie tie iiuqnitate.s, and Miserere met Deus.-\ On the subject of cliautries we may hcr(> offer a few remarks. It is well known tliat it was usual for the lord of the manor to found a chapel, some- times as a transept, more frequently as a south aisle ; or if these existed before, to fomid an altar for them where mass might be said, for the rest of his soul for ever. Thousands of these memorials of piety stUl remain; the piscina',+ whi(;h always mark the position of the altar, the brackets for the tapers, and the niches, are almost as usual in the soutli aisle as in the chancel at the high altar: and the legend, which used to excite the devotion of the passers by, Orate pro mortiiis, quia pium est, has in some instances escaped the sacrilegious fiu-y § of the Puritans. The sums bequeathed were usually applied to the maintenance of one priest, but sometimes of two or more : and the labours of these men, though by a constitution of Abp. Winchelsea they were prevented from mterfering against his will witli the parochial minister, might yet be of considerable service to him. It is supposed that the panise or small room over the porch was frequently the r<'sidence of the chantry priest. It shoidd be obser\c'd that, along with the founder's name, mention was generally ordered to be made of the soids of all the faithful departed ; and we may conceive how beautiful, in the stillness of an autumn evening, when the setting sun gleamed througli the effigies of those " merciful men, whose righteousness hath not been forgotten," depicted on the stained glass of the western window, — ^how beautiful and how consoHng must have been the chanted versicle — Audivi vocem de ca'lo dice/item mihi ; and the response, Beati mortui, qui in Domino moriinitiir : how • A niche, in the usual position, in the chapel of S. Mary, probably belonged to this chantry. In- deed, the whole chapel may have been built by Lady Ilalsham ; though the windows are so much modernised, that it is out of our power to speak with certainty on this point, as it is just possible that one of them may be Early English. f The following legend from Morley, Derbyshire, bears a considerable resemblance to this bequest. " Pray ffor the sowles of Rafe, Godyth, Thomas, Elisabeth, Cicyll, John, and of theyre successors, and for all other Cristen sowles, De profundis, etc.. Pater noster, etc., Ave Maria, etc., et Ne nos, etc., and this orisson, Inclina Dorainse, etc. John Statham ordained this to be said, and more written in divers other bokys." t Some of these will be described in the first part of the Collections of the Cambridge Caradrn .Society. Cambridge: Stevenson, 1841. § .\n example occurs in Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire. 46 LADY HALSHAM. comforting, in the misty darkness of a Avinter morning, it mnst have been to see the gleam of the chantry lamp from the \Tllage-chiu'ch, and to hear on approach- ing the sounds of the morrow-mass — Dominus illuminatio viea, quern timebo ? Domi- nus protector vita mece, a quo trepidaho ? We will conclude wath one remark. Among the numerous and enormous acts of spoliation v,-iih. which the Reformation was accompanied, the secular appro- priation of the chantry funds was not the least. ^A^len we consider that almost every parish church contained one, and many more, (Gloucester had upwards of fifty) of these foimdations, and that to all of these a sum sufficient for the maintenance of one person at least Avas attached, we cannot but regret that the revenues derived from their suppression were not devoted to farthering the iniluence of that church, to wliich they were powerful, though perhaps corrupt, auxiliaries. J. M. N. Downing College. # > y= ,^. -W !5f* ,. ij i 1 ALDEEMAN JOHN FELD, 1477. Te moneant, lector, tot in uno funera libro Tempore quod certo tu quoque funus eris Chytr«os. It belongs to the " diligent and painful " antiquary to meet with many more evidences of the fi'ailty of all things human, than come before the notice of the student in any less contemplative scieiice. lie will often, for instance, in tlie pm'suit of his loved antiquities, find within the walls of some moss-grown church, the recumbent effigy of a mailed knight or stoled priest ; which, though an object of simple wonder or, it may be, of superstitious reverence to the poor villagers, will preach to his practised eye of the vanished greatness or the forgotten piety of an earlier age. The significant sliicld and knightly mail of the one will tell him that here some mighty baron, who in his prime of life had fought for and served Ms king, had retired to spend the evening of his days in the more exclusive service of his God, and had at length been laid to rest in the hallowed church which liimself had built ; or the sacred vestments and upraised chaUce of the other will declare how here some holy ecclesiastic had prayed and died ; who, though dead, yet speakcth to his flock by the name which he left behind him, and who, as heretofore by his voice, doth still by the mute eloquence of his uplifted hands, point them to prayer and heaven. Or again, he wiU kneel to trace that emblem of all our hopes, the Cross, on the coped surface of some stone coffin-lid, and dccyphering the rude legend — llcignnulj tie ^rgcntcin at'st id (Qui rest cf)npcllc fct'rc fist, jput tf)cbalicr ^ninct itlari'c CTljacun parOon pour laliuc pn'ts, — 48 ALDERMAN JOHN FELD, will tell the wondeiing peasants that here he lies buried, who built for them and theirs their sacred church, and avlU bid them love the spot and cherish his pious memory. But, it may be, the hand of violence or the slower finger of time has effaced the chai-acters, and the monument is left to tell its o^vn sad tale of goodness thus unre- membered, or of greatness thus cut off. But, though the name and title be stripped from the moiddeiing tomb ; though the old castle or convent be in ruins, the old manor parcelled out, and the property of strangers ; though noAv a sequestered village hides itself, where once tlu-ove a busy market-toAvn : yet these instances of change serve but to throw out mto broader hght that which does and must remain : stUl there stands the parish church, as it hath stood for centuries, no imfit emblem of that spuitual Chiu"ch, its antitj^ie, in whose faith the dead departed, in whose bright armies the risen warrior and saint wUl ere long muster, when their earth-built chm-ch shall have jielded up their dust. Even thus doth such an one " knit his observations together, and make a ladder of them all to climb to God."* The town of Standon in Hertfordshire, whence the brass which is our present subject is taken, has fallen very far from its former consequence. Situated on the Ermine street, it was in remote antiquity a place of much importance. From the 11th to the 14th of King Edward II., lloger d'Amory, then lord of the maj^or, was sum- moned to parliament. Its Friday's market, and fair on the vigil, day, and morrow of S. Peter ad Vincula, were obtained from King Edward III. by Lionel Ids tliird son, Duke of Clarence, who held the manor by -sirtue of his wife, Elizabeth de Burgh. Such it was once : but now the Roman way is deserted, and known but to the curious anti- quary ; the modern north road has left Standon nearly two miles to the eastward, and there is no longer even a thoroughfare tluough this decayed market-town. The beau- tifid and stately church, liowever, is suited to the former and not the present condition of tlie town, and leads us back in thought to hajjpier days, Avhen men tliought their wealth be.st bestowed in builiUng and adorning temples to their God. It consists of a nave and two aisles, with a noble chancel, reached by eight steps from the nave, the altar being elevated on iJinc inorc If effect alone were to l)e considered in builcHng churches, we niiglit well regret, with sucli an one as lliis in oiir memory, tlie entire absence of chancel^ in many modern cluirclies, or tlie \nmY substitute of what has been well called "a buddin;,' ,li;iiicel '" hi others. But was there not a deeper, a symboli- cal meaning intended to lie conveyed to our minds {fiivdvTa avytrowi) by the arrange- ment of the parts of a ( liuicli, as exhibiti'd in iiU ancient models, which, by neglecting sijcli arrangement, by curtailing sucii tiiii' jjroportions, we either weaken or wholly • BiHhop Earlc. ALDERMAN JOHN FELD- 49 eifacc ? The iinve, \vc are told, typified the woikl, or rather that tempest-driven ship, tlie Chiinli, which alone can land ns on the hright and lofty coast of heaven. What then can more heaiitifnlly, more affectinj^ly represent that coast, than the towcrins: chancel, admittinj? within its hallowed rails* none bnt the holy, and pointmg throngh its eastern window to the Dayspring from on high. This is, however, but a faint ex])ression of the feelings Avhich must crowd on the stranger's mind, as through the western porch of Standon he gazes through the long perspective terminated by the siltar's emblematic height. Besides tills unusual position of the porch at the west end, Standon presents another ]iecnliarity in tlu^ situation of its tower. This is on the south side, at some distance from the church, though connected with it by two low walls. It has five l)ells. The church is dedicated to S. Mary, and is in the diocese of London, deanery of Braughin, and nce of tlie spelling is probably accidental. From whatever cause, he appcnus never to luue ser\ed tlie office of Lord Mayor. Salmon supposes, witli great appearance oi' piobahility. tliat he is the Jolni Feld of Standon, Ksr|.. in tlie liun(h-ed of Braugliin, whose name appears in a list taken in tlie reign oi' King Ilenrv \'I. ol' tliose wlio conld di^pend ten pnnnds per luinnni. and resideil in tli( counts. 'I'liis list he gives from a copy in the Heralds' othce. Having thus disposed of our two facts, wc will proceed to give some description of the brass itself And it is remarkable as being onc^ of tli(> few instancies in which two male persons are represented together. Other exanqik's of tiiis are to be found at Shottesbrooke, r.erksliire. where a knight and a priest are exhibited ; and at East Grinstcad, Sussex, where h\o knights. In this ca.se the effigies represent a father and son; the former a men hunt; the .v /. N9 JVP J. A'" 4- IPl' 7" -I — ^ XX 7 y A. N" 0. N' 7. > A JVf (S. JL W" fi. N' W. N? II. N' 12. ^ w I) — M JV' 1.9 N? 14. y /.). y .V 16. U'^f^^ (' }iiirf\»f iVii^y- f^^t'iJf* ALDERMAN JOHN FELD. 51 latter inheriting probably his father's estate and not liis trade, by virtnc of the estate an escjuire. It is wondin-ful how Sahnon coidd have made tlie following absnrd mistake in describing this brass, particularly when it might have been so easily corrected by tlie inscription. He writes thus, " A large altar-tomb in the north aisle hath in brass the effigies of a gentleman in armour Avith his wife ; under them, three sons and foui" daughters." It does not easily appear how ho could have mistaken the cropped hair, furred gown, and gji^ciere of the merchant, for a lady's dress. After giving incorrectly two out of the three remaining dates in the inscription, he proceeds thus: — "Upon each corner of the stone is a coat of arms: the shield in the dexter upper quarter hath 24 coats, in a chief, or, a lion passant. " Know, gentle reader, that this is simply the coat of arms of the merchants of the Staple of Calais, " barry nebulee of six, argent and azure : on a chief, gules, a lion passant gardant, or." II(> counted the nebules, and supposed each to be a distinct shield of arms ! But our author proceeds still more amusingly. " In the lower dexter something Hke the arms of the kingdom of Man between two lozenges." What he means is the merchant's mark, which the elder Feld bore, being iniable as a merch;mt to carry arms. Whether these marks had any significant meaning, and if so what is the clue to it, are questions which have not yet been solved. In their general character they much resemble each other : in most may be traced something like a mast with flag and yard, while often the merchant's initials form part of the figiu'c, or are added at the side They are by no means uncommon, particularly near London or other great towns. A few, selected at random, are here given that the reader may form his own theory upon them.* The Gentleman's Magazme for December, 1839, while noticing a paper read before the Hull Literary Society on the subject of merchants' marks, by C. Frost, Esq., F.S.A., quotes the following passage fioni Piers Plowman : — Wide windows ywrought, ywriUen full thick, Shining with shapen shields to shewen about, With marks of merchants ymeddled between, Mo than twenty and two twice ynunibered ; There is none herald that hath half swiche a roll. * No. 1, in the accompanying plate i.'* the mark of our own Alderman. No. 2, is from St. Andrew Undershaft, London, in stained glass. No. 3, is from St. Olaves, Hart Street, London, on a monument. No. 4, from St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, London, in stained glass. No. 5, is from Hitchin, Herts. No. 6, from the Holy Trinity Church, Hull. No. 7, from Leominster. No. 8, from Mincliinliauipton, Glou- cestershire. No. 9, from the Holy Trinity Church, Hull. No. 10, from St. Crux' Church, York. 52 ALDERMAN JOHN FELD. The practice of bcaiing these marks in a shield was \iewed with much jealousy by the heralds, who had in the first instance compelled merchants to adopt such (hstinctions, by disallowing then- weai-ing arms. However they could not check the innovation, for we find that merchants began at length to pride themselves as much upon their marks as one of gentle blood upon his arms ; and in some cases tlie mark was even impaled or quartered mth a regular shield.* The mutilated shield above the figui-e of the merchant was charged with the arms of the city of London, which he was entitled to bear as Alderman and once Sheriff". The arms imder the son in the brass, " a fesse between three eagles displayed," are thus blazoned by Edmonson, under the name Felde. " Azure, a fesse, or, between three eagles displayed argent, guttee gules." Edmonson gives another coiit for Felde of Pagan Hall, Gloucestershire: "or, a fesse between an eagle disjilayed with two necks in chief, a stag's head caboshed in base sable." I may here state an ingenious theory, proposed by a friend to whom I owe much antiquarigji lore. " I have little doubt," he says, " that tliis otlu>r coat belongs to another branch of the same family ; and although there is no better authority than Edmonson for it, yet there seems no reason to question its accuracy. These arms give force to a conjecture I have formed, that the family was foreign, Feld being the German of Field. Now the latter coat contains the imperial eagle, sable A\ith two heads ; and antiquary-like, pursvung this train of tliought, I imagine that the fii'st Feld must haxc been a German, Avho settled in (iloucester- shire, and brought Avith him the foreign-looking coat of arms. A member of this family becomes a merchant in London : his son obtains a new grant, retaining the eagles, but A\ith the two lieads reduced to one by the English heralds, because the double- headed eagle in English coats lias generally been obtained in reward for ser\dces done to the empire." This conjecture receives some coiitirmation I'rom tlic fact that Gloucestershire was then, as now, famous for its wool trade. And this brings us by an easy transition to the consideration of tlie merchants of the staj)Ie. And first for the in(>aning of tlie term. " All counnodities of the realm are staple merchandise b)' law and charter; as woolls, leather, wool! fells, lead, tynnc. clotli." But wool being fornun'ly No. 11, from St. Denis' Church, York. No. 12, from Paris, (Dciiys Moreau). No. l;i, tVotn CirtMicester, Ghjucestcrshire. No. li; Croin Anindci, Sussex. No. ],% from Liullow, ,Slirw|)sliir(>. No. IG, ii! the murk of W'yiikyn de Wordc. To this day the wool-packs of ])articiilar merchants ar« goiicniliy distiuguishid by some figure or device, very strongly resembling tlie old nicrehani's iiuirk. • An example of tliis occurs in a brass in Geddington ehiirclr, Norlliaiii)ilousiiire, to 'Ihomas and Mary Maydwcll. ALDERMAN JOHN FELD. 58 the chief article of exportation lioiii Hni,'laiid, came gradually to b(^ considered as the staph'.* The word staple however is used generally for the statutable market for staple commodities. The ^lerchants of the Staple of ( "alais were the most ancient company of foreign merchants. They were incorporated by King Edward III., after the cajiture of Calais, anil had granted to them the arms described above, with the motto " God be our friend ;" for the crest, " on a wreath, a ram argent, armed and unguled, or;" and "two rams armed and unguled, or," for supporters. The next most im])ortant ('ompany was that of the " Merchants Adventurers," incorporated by King Edward IV., and confirmed by Queen Elizabeth. They bore nebulec of six argent and azure: on a chief quarterly or and gules, in 1st and 4th two roses gules, in 2nd and 3rd a lion of England. Crest, on a helmet and wreath a Pegasus argent charged on either wing with two roses proper, and for supporters two Pegasuses as in crest. Motto, " Dieu nous donnc? bonne adventure." (Stow. ii. 259.) The arms of these two companies are often met with, and would puzzle many persons not acqxiainted with them. There were eight other trading companies, wliich it will be sufficient to enumerate in the order of time. The company of the merchants of Russia. The company of tlie merchants of Elbing. The company of the merchants of the Levant. The company of the merchants of Spain. The com]iany of the merchants of the East Indies. The company of New French mercliants adventurers. The company of French merchants. The company of merchants of Virginia. The foUomng ai"e the principal particulars connected with the merchants of the Staple. In the reign of King Edward I. the staple of wool was in Westminster, and we find that the nave of St. Margaret's chiu'ch was rebuilt jointly by the parishioners and this society of merchants. In 1351, 25 Edward III. it was ordered that tlic staple should only be kept at Canterbury, in honour of St. Thomas-a-Beckct : but two years afterwards several other to\vns, Newcastle, York, Lincohi, Norwich, Chichester, Winchester, Exeter, Bristol, and Caermarthen were allowed to have a staple, " to the great benefit of the king, and loss to strangers and merchants. " • By an act of parliament 35 George III. cap 121-, the woolcombers have confirmed to them the singular privilege of being able " to set up and exorcise such trade, or any other trade or business which they are apt and able for in any town or place within this kingdom, without any let, suit, or molestation." 54 ALDERMAN JOHN FELD. Some idea may be formed of the quantity of wool at this time exported, fi'om the fact that a tax of fifty shilluigs upon every sack lea\ing the country, granted to the king for six years, for the recovery of France, produced in that time £1500,000 sterling, or more than a thousand marks sterling a day: Avhence the annual exportation amounted to above 100,000 sacks. In 1363, 36 Edward III. the staple was finally settled at Calais, and twenty-six of the richest merchants in all England were appointed farmers, both of the town and staple, for three )ears. Each of these had six men at arms and four archers, at the king's cost. There were always two mayors, one for the town, the other for the staple. The words Maioris Stapule ville Calesie are not uncommon on monuments, and the title appears repeatedly in state documents of the time, either when the company advanced money for the king, or the king called for their assistance in garrisoning the town. AVe find that in 1377, 51 Edward III. the mayor of the staple fiu'nished the captain of the to-^vn with one himdred biU-men, and two himthed archers of the merchants and theu- servants. It does not appear that Feld e\er became mayor of this society. In 1388, 12 Richard II., in a pai-liament held at Cambridge, a staple at Middle- borough in Holland was also removed to Calais. There were few, if any, of the institutions of our ancestors which were not more or less associated with religion. We have already seen the staple merchants aiding in rebuilding St. INIargaret's, Westminster : and further, the place for the tronage of wool, in I^ondon, up to the 6 Richard III. was so closely connected ^\■iih a church, that to this day the parish bears the name of S. Mary Woolnoth. A\Tiile touching on this subject, it may be not inappropriate to give a translation of a bidl of Pope Martin \ . in 1454, copied l)y Wcever* from a manuscript in the Earl of Exeter's library, which allows the staple-merchants the singular privilege of ha^'ing a portable altar, and a private priest to say mass, administer the sacraments, hear confessions, and enjoin penances. "Martin, Bishop, servant of the servants ofCiod, to his beloved sons the mayor and his deputy, and the constable and other principal persons of the company of the wool- merchants of tlic st;i])l(' of England, health ;ni(l apostolical 1)('nc(liany ol'tlic wooI-mk rcliantsof the staple of England, * An<;i(.iit i'liiicral Monuments, p. ;)10. ALDERMAN JOHN FF.LD. o5 uud to any iii(li\ idual of you and of tlii' aforesaid successors, to Innc a |)ortal)lc altar. with the reverence and honour due to it ; upou w hicli, jjrovidcd tliat it ho placed in a fitting and honourable situation, either in tlie town of Calais, or anywhere else, also be- yond or within the seas, where it niay liajjpen that you or any one of you may be sojourn- ing: foi" :i time, and that a staple for wool of this sort be held ; we grant indulgence by the tenor of these presents to you and to youi- aforesaid successors, to cause to l)e celebrated by means of your o^^^l or any otlier duly-ordained jiriest, masses and otlier divine offices, without infringing on any one else's rights; in tlic presence of yourselves and of the other merchants of the said company presf>nt at the same place for a time, and also in the presence of the successors of yourselves and them, and of your fellow merchants. " Therefore let it not be lawful for any man in anywise to infringe, or in a fool- hardiness to contradict this cartulary of ovu- concession. But if any on(> presume to attempt this, let liini know that he shall incur the indignation of Almiglity God. and of His blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul. Given at Mantua, on the ;3rd of November, in the first year of our Pontificate.'"* The same Pope set forth also the following form of absolution, to be ])ronoun((^d by the priest to an}' of these merchants when dangerousl}' ill : — " I, by the authority of Almighty God, and of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. and of our Lord Martin the Fifth, Pope, to me especially committed in this behalf. according to the extent of tlie power committed unto me, and as much as 1 may and can, absolve thee, if thou shoiddest die at this time, from all the punishments • Martiiius Episcopus, servus servoruni Dei, dilectis filiis .Maiori I't ejus locum t( iieuti, ac Coiistabu- lario ceterisque Principalibus Societatis Mercatorum lanarum Stapule Aiiglie saluteni, et Apostolicain benedictionem. Sincere devotionis aft'ectus queni ad nos et Romaiiam geritis Ecclesiam non indigne luerctur, ut petitioiiibus vestris, illis prajsertim quas ex devotionis feruore prodire conspieimus, quantum eum l)«o possumus fauorabiliter animamus. Hinc est quod nos vestris devotis supplicationibus inclinati, ut lietat vobis et j)osteris vestris Maiori et eius locum tcnenti, ao Constabulario, nee non Principalibus socic talis Mercatorum lanarum Stapule Anglie, ac vestruni ac eorundem posterorum cuilibet habere altare portatile, cum debita reverentia et honore : super quo in villa Calestie seu alibi etiam in transmarinis seu cismarinis partibus, ubi pro tempore vos vel aliquem vestrum esse vel declinare, et hujusmodi Stapulum lanarum teneri contigerit, in locis ad hoc congruentibus et honestispositis; per proprium vol alium saccrdotem ydo- neum Missas et alia divina officia, sine juris alieni preiudicio ; in vestra ct ipsorum ae aliorum Mercatorum dicte societatis ibidem pro tempore presentium, ncc non vestrorum et eorundem posterorum ac Merca- torum familiarium presentia ; facere celebrari vobis et predictis posteris tcnore presentium indulgemus. Nulli ergo omnino homini liceat banc paginam nostre concessiouis inl'ringere, vel ei ausu tcmerario contraire. Si quis autem hoc atteuiptare presumserit, indignationem omnipotentis Dei, et beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolorum eius se noverit incursurum. Dat Mant. 3 Non. Nouemb. Pontificatus nostri ann. prime. 56 ALDERMAN JOHN FELD. of purgatory which are due to thee in purgatory for the sins and offences wliich thou hast committed against God : and I restore thee to that innocence in Avhich thou wast at what time thou wast baptized. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."* These cm-ious documents may be at once new and interesting to many persons, to whom the form of a Papal bull is imkno-s\Ti; but one of this character must be distingmshed from such extravagant assumptions of power as would lay a kingdom under interdict for msufficient reasons, and teacli that it would be lawful for a subject to slay a king. These privileges were granted dming the mayoralty of John Weever, whose epitaph at Deptlbrd his namesake has preserved : — Orate pko anima — Wever — mercatoris et maioris stapul. ville Callis. Weever is at needless pains to distingmsh between this honourable body, and jiedlars, whoni he thus describes : — • •• There are a company of notable skanderouns, which greatly desu-e to be stUed merchants, and these are such as run fi-om house to house, from market to market ; such as hamit faires and all publick meetings ; with packs and fardels upon their backs, fUled Avith counterfeit and adidterate wares, with Avliich they cheat, deceive, and cosin the poore countrej' ])eople ; and these are called pedlars, quod pedes iter conficiunt — because they go on foot." As the capture of Calais was the cause of the incorporation of the company, so was the recapture of its fall. It lingered on tlirough the reigns of Queen Eliza- beth and King James 1., under the title of "Merchants of the. Staple of Eitffland" and then became extinct. Several late monuments to staple - merchants may be seen in All-IIaUows' Barking church, London, of the dates 1518, 1546, 1552, 1555: and in St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, (Stow, ii. 104), there is one to Joliii Robinson, 1592, who is described as a merchant of tlie Staple ft/* £«r//rt«(^/. Little indeed liavc we made out of the ])ers()nal history of the father, and still less can we tell of the son. The tiguri' of the latter is slightly turned towards liis father, whirh attitude is unusual, lie is represented in armour of the time of King Edward H'.. whidi differs from tlic cnilicr fasliions in the following parti- • Ego autlioritatc Dei oiiiiiipulcntis it buatoiuni IVtri t't I'auli AposUiloriiiii tjus, ct Domini nostri Martini I'apu Qiiinti niilii in liac parte specialitcr coinmissa, seciinduni quod potcstas niihi tradita .se cxtutidit, et (luanttini dfhco ct possum, si ista vice inoriaris to ubsolvo :il) omnibus ponis Purgatorii, (pic tibi in Purgatorio dcbcntiir jiropter culpas ct offcnsas quas contra Dcum comiiiisisti ; et te rcstituo ilii inn((cciitic in (jua eras tcmjiorc qno baptizatiis fuisti. In nomine Patris, et I'ilij, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. ALDERMAN JOHN FELD. 57 culars. llis licad is baiv; his body aniiour. (>xcept the elbow plates, is covered by the emblazoned tabaid, a loose sureoat, with the arms embroidered both before and behind and on cadi sleeve. Beneath this are seen the tuilles, escallopcd. His legs are iunned in cuisses, escalloped fijenouilleres, and jambs, and his feet in soUerets. The toes are here pointed, thou<;h by this time the cnstoni of having them very broad generally ])revailed. The spnrs are rouelle. One mark of tliis style is the long sword, suspended immediately in front of the figure, diagonally from the right to the left. The anclaec or dagger is worn on the left side. The hands are elasped in prayer, and without gauntlets. The merchant is in the fidl civic dress of the period : a long loose robe, with stiff collar and skxnes edged A^th fur, fastened down the middh^ and confined round tlie waist by a studded belt, from wliich depends on the right side a rosary, and the gypciere or tasselled pui-se. Over this is a graceful mantle, lined with miniver, buttoned on the right shoidder, from which being thrown open across the breast, it falls in folds over the left arm. The hair is cropped short, and the beard shaved instead of being forked, in which fashion, as we learn fi-om Chaucer as well as from the majority of brasses, merchants generally wore it.* The family of each is represented beneath their respective effigies; that of the Alderman, consisting of two sons and one daughter; that of the Esquire, of two sons and two daughters. The only thing observable in these small figures, is th(> wired head-dress of the time worn by the girls. The beautifid brass at Wimington, Bedfordshire, (engraved by Lysons in the Magna Britannia, I, LH), to Roger Curteys, Lord of that manor, and sometime Mayor of the Staple at Calais, may be profitably compared with the one before us. The date of his death is 1391, so that he must have been one of the earliest mayors of tlie company. His beard is forked, and his feet rest upon a dog ; in which particidars, as well as in having mittens, he differs from the later example. His robes, though not so rich, appear to be the same, but the mantle being less ftdl displays the anelace on the left side, while on the other hand, there is not the usual rosary and gypciere on the right. Above the figure are two shields, the dexter healing liis merchants-mark, the other his arms. It would not appear that the family of Feld ever held any manors in the neighbourhood, and of tlie natiu'e of their connexion with Standon we must be content to remain in ignorance. It may seem strange that the son, possessed of sufficient property to claim the title of Esquire, and fiither of a numerous progeny, • It is almost impossible not to be struck with the strong family likeness between tlie father and the sod exhibited in this brass. r o8 ALDERMAN JOHN FELD. should have left no ftirther memorial behind him. Yet this vnR be no matter of surprise to those who have been accustomed to trace the historj' of any manor fi-om the crowded monuments of a sepulcliral chapel : they will liave seen already but too many instances of decayed branches, and even extii'pated families, in one troubled line of hereditary succession. We may conclude with a moral, whicli our lionest merchant would doubtless have gladlv preached to us. AVe have at least a negative testimony to his worth. " The evil that ni^n do lives after them — The good is oft interred with their bones ;" and if tlirrc were ^^anted any confirmation to the assertion of so great an authority, it \\(iuld soon b(^ foimd, were tfne to try to recover from Time's storehouse the lost passages of one man's life. Many are the persons whom such a search would bring to light, rescued from oblivion only by their vices, remembered by the fla-onicler only to be branded and condemned. And if the praise or dispraise of l)osterity be anything, it may add one more incitement to a good life, to remem- ber that the accidental preservation of our epitaph may lead, after the lapse of more than three centvu'ies, to an investigation of our life and character ; and tliat the picture tlien drawn of us may be more full, and at the same time more blame- wnrthv. tlian the sketch we thus conclude of our Merchant of the Staple. Trinity College. B. W SSS!^^ ^-iKtr:r:n^^;= H! ^ ^^ titi V r III ill •J-Ji- I A PEIEST FROM NORTH MIMMS, Circa 1340. CTIic bice of tl)cm tl)nt ben bngDoU Us no rcprctfc bnlo tde gootl. jFor eucrp man i)is oiunc tocikcs Shall bcarc : anD tlius as of ll)c cicrfees 5ri)c goot) men ben lo commence, ■anD all tilcsc oilier goti amcnljc. jFot lliet be to ll)e ttotlBes cie ®bc mt)?taur of ciamplarie, STo tcuUn anB inhcn bcHc ' , ISctlDcne tl)c men, anti tl}c gotl(;etic. GowER. Conf. Am. Prol. A WELL known story is told in some of tlie valleys of the Alps, concernino- the (liscovei-y of \\\v body of a youuff man wlio had fallen down a precipice in the mountains some fifty years before the discovery was made, and was then foxnid preserved in a strong case of ice, exhibitinst flower of the village and tlic hero of the canton, were about to join their hands in wedlock, then both in their teens. 60 A PRIEST FROM NORTH MIMMS. Sometliing similar to this is presented by tlic contemplation of those monu- nental records which ftmiish the subject of this work, as indeed by every form of imitative art. It has arrested for us the distinguishing features of one like ourselves, before they have been consigned to dissolution, and ha\c ceased to tell their tale of character and passion, wliich gave life to the circle of which those featui-es were once the centre. The crowned head recalls still to a king, if he ^^'ill look upon it ^^'isely, the cares and anxieties and duties, as well as the fortune and pride, of Princes ; even though he go not fortli now, as his predecessors (hd, in mail or helmet, and though the might of a military conqueror be exchanged for the pacific coimsels of a constitutional sovereign. The merchant will look with curiosity on his forerunner of three or more centimes, and mark there the triumphs, as he deems them, of commerce and civilization. The priest ■w'ill gaze A\itli still more inten^st on the counte- nance and vestments of one Avho was once, with little difference, what he is now, minister of the same Lord, teacher of the same faith, administrator of tlie same sacraments : and build upon the comparison inquisitive and profound speculations on the differences wliich seem to chstinguish that period li'om his oAvn, on the trials and ]ierpetuity of the militant Church of Christ. The Priest of whom a\c have now to give a description, might, a\(^ think, provoke iuAidious comparisons with his modern antitype, so far as external deco- ration is concerned. INIodern costume gains in simplicity and sobriety, it is to be hoped, what it loses in professional character and in beauty ; but we scarcely tliink it can be denied that it loses in these. A priest looks more like a priest under the ancient vestments, just indeed as a merchant looked more like a merchant, and a maid differed from her mistress : it is the ti'ii- (leiicy of modern progress to assimilate as well as to equahze; and, within the limits necessary for k(>e])ing every thing and person to their just work. w(> have no mind to object to tliis. "\Vc would not, and W(> cannot resist this onward tendency of cixilizalion, anil are tliankful for our fri-edoni. Still we may be allowed, to remark as a subject of congratulation, that in projiortion as iiirn ;ii(! coming more to regard their duties, they connect the p(>rformance of tliciii with greater reg;ii(l for th(> externid liuins which were devised I'oi- |)utting ill mind of ihiiii: :iiiil lh:it In iiiid later than 1330. The effigy is vested in tlie Eucharistic robes, the alb, the chesible, the stole, 'the maniple; the oAay of the priest is riclily worked in (juatrefoiled circles. The canopy contains on the dexter side, S. Peter, S. .John the E\an- gelist, (known by the chalice and serpent,) and S. Bartholomew ; on the sinister, 62 A PRIEST FROM NORTH MI.MMS. S. Paul ('rtith his sword), S. James (^vith his cockleshell), and S. Andi'ew. Above is the blessed Virgin and child. A^-ith two angels swinging censers. The cliaHce is remarkable, not being held as usual in the clasped hands, but placed below them. In this respect it differs from a brass in Wensley church, ^\ liicli othei'O'ise it greatly resembles, in which the chalice is placed aboA'e the hands, and the latter are not clasjjed, but crossed.* The arms, a saltire between four cross-crosslets fitchees, shew the family to have been Russe or Brampton: it was probably the former. The stag crouchmg at the feet, may refer to the following legend of S. .\idan, concerning whom Archbishop a Voragine thus Avrites in the Golden Legend : — Sanctus autem puer Aidus, qui et Aiilaniis a inultis vocabatur, elevata voce in canipis legebat; et rum venator cum canibus cervum in illo loco persequeretur, cervus ad puerum lassus divertit : et quasi auxilium ab eo postulans coram eo in tcrram genua flexit ; et canibus ubicjue in vanum discurrcntibus cervus illiesus evasit. Fol 2. There is a remarkable similarity between tliis figure and that on an altar- tomb in Beverley minster, represented in the Glossary of Architecture. If tlic reader require some more particular account of the person thus com- memorated, we must do our best to satisfy lus curiosity out of but scanty mat(M-ials. Suppose liiin then to have been born in the village where his body now reposes; tlie younger son of the propri(-tor of a ricli domain, probably of a branch of the noble family which still, und(>r the name of Do I\oos, u])holds tlic premier Barony oi' England. Ilis elder brother, of a martial and impetu- ous spirit, earlv won his s])urs in battle with the Iiitidel, and yiehlcd liis life and his inheritance before tlie Wiills of Joppa. Tlie secular \my.v whuh thus descended to liis younger lnotlier, had no attractions for onc> already weaned from the world. He had been at an early age destined for th(> ])riestliood, and liad recei\('d his first instructions from a holy man, maintained in his fatlier's house, who had instructed and anuised him by imparting the knowledge oi' polislicd ;nts then newly cultivated in I'raucc and Italy, and had cnUglitened his niiiiil with pliilosophy, taste, and learning, imbibed in the schools of Padua. His ^pnpil, the licro of our story, was sent in Hke mann<-r to Cambridge; f'ambridge, how (Hffcrent from what Cambridge is now! No sooner is he S(>ttled down in Hugh de IJalsham's new foundation, tlian lie a])])hes himself to tlie study of rhetoric and logic in oljechence to llic will of I lie pious founder. Rarely is his ])lace in his own college cha])!'! t found xacant at canoni- * There is a drawing of this beaulil'ul brass in t'rater'.s Si)ceinuiis ol l^ngli^ll Ecclesiastical Costumes, t Rebuilt in i;J50, and dedicated lo our Lady of Grace : now known by the name of Little St. Mary's C'liurc!i. A PRIEST FROM NORTH MIMMS. 63 ciil hours, thougli somctiiucs, fur tlic sake of tla- more niiijcstic service and superior choir he visits the Grey Friars' church, (now tlie bowlin"--"-rcen of Sidnej.) or that of the Carmelites, (now S. Catharine's Hall). Or, on a summer's evening, lir will stroll through the ])l('asant fields which border tlie Cam, and • attend vespers in the new church by the Children's Well; or in some dark chanibcr of (Jod's hous(\ or Knapton Place, or Oving's Inn, or S. Gre- gory's Hostel, will discuss with some friend the last thesis of Master Ililley, the Carmelite, De essrntiali differentia ProhahiJitatis et PossibiJitatis ; or doubt how far Master ^^'illiam Kingsham, tlie Dominican, had solidly refuted the Sorites at Tythagoras's school. Then he will indulge his arcliitectural taste by loitering near the rising churches of Grauntecestre and Trompingtoun ; and peradventure Sir Roger de 'I'rumpington, Avhen a boy, might not be iniknown to our youthful collegian. Tluis the years roll pleasantly and pcnicefully away; he sees his beloved University rising in power and wealth, though little that has beconu' matter of history occurs during his residence. Galfridus de Pakenham indeed paves the town, th(> cliurch of S. Mary ad Castra is l)iuiit by tlie Jews, who are in consequence expelhnl the University, and king Edward I. [lajs a A'isit of two days to the castle : but scarcely another event of great interest occurs. The proi)erty which had descended to him, and Avhich he was still in condition to enjoy, he took the necessary steps for devoting to the service of God. Among these provisions one was to rebuild and endow the church of his birth-place, of wliicli he became afterwards the pastor, instead of the patron. Here, in (>\change tor the gifts of wealth and luxury, he tasted tlie blessed- ness of him who has authority to ^isit the bed of death and sickness, or the abode of sin and shame; the converse and oversight of an affectionate flock that took the word of (xod from his mouth, and the blessed sacraments from his hand, replaced the endearments of domestic joys: and as he ministered in holy things to them o\(>r whom he might have been lord, he felt no doubt how much such serAice was above such sovereignty, and how tridy that life was well spent and rich enough in bles.sings, which had kept before his eye so constant and pro- mising a hope of hea\en. Such examples, even in our days of worldly calcula- tion and selfishness, are not without their counterpart, whether we seek it among those \\li() in collegiate retirement dechcate theh- hearts and understanding to God's service, leaving the busy world, which holds out to them no equivalent for that more durable blessedness of which so often it perils the attainment ; or among those who, mourning over the spmtual destitution of God's people, spare not of their sid)stance to restore the houses of God in th(> land. .\iid 64 A PRIEST FROM NORTH MIMMS- there, his course finished, he Ues interred amidst the harvest of which he had sown the seed, amongst those his spiritual children whom tliis brass, his only memorial, served to remind of him who had led as well as pointed them the way to heaven. Yes, his only memorial; for, lest the reader of these pages should marvel too painfully as to the soiu'ces from which we have derived these particulars, or. more boldly distrustful should venture to enqmi-e our authority, we think it right at this point to acknowledge, that not one word of what we have said has any historical or traditional foxmdation, and in all probabUity not one syllable is true. But we hope it may be pardonable to have penetrated into the regions of fancy in search of the shadows of tilings that were, wherefi-om to sketch a picture of what might have been ; to borrow the Ughts and shadows for the outline of a character to which some might probably be found in that day to answer, if not he whom it professes to recall; wliich might on a fail- average represent the priest of many an humble village of the 14tli century, if it do not in every respect, and mth perfect accuracy, recal the cliaUced Priest of North Mimms. T. T. Trinity College. fl,^ •«->»•"- SIR EOGEE DE TKUMPINGTON, AND THE MILITARY BRASSES OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 2190. Victorious men of earth, no more Proclaim how wide your empires are : Though you binde in every shore, And your triumphs reach as far As night or day; Yet you proud monarchs must obey, And mingle with forgotten ashes, when Death calls yee to the croud of common men. Shirley. That the Monumental Brass represented on the opposite page was designed to commemorate one of the Trumpington family, is sufficiently apparent fi'om the arms affixed to Ms sliield and ailettes, whilst the label upon the latter denotes that he was the eldest son. There are three of the family who are mentioned as haAing floiuished at the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth century. The first of whom any mention is made is a Roger de Trumpeton, who held by military ser\ice the manor of Moggerhanger in Bedfordshii'e, the manor of Tudeliam in Suffolk, and the manors of Gratton (Gii'ton) and Trumpington in Cambridgesliire.' He died in the year 1289, leaving a son and heir named Egidius de Trompeton, who was then twenty-two years old. The same year the king received liis fealty for the lands and tenements that his father held before him.^ In 1:314, he was summoned to perform military ser\ice against the Scots.' ' Calend. Inquis. post mortem, 17 Edw. I. ' Rot. Origin. 17 Edw. I. ' Pari. Writs. K 66 SIR ROGER DE TRUMPINGTON. In 1316, he was certified to possess the aforesaid manors of his father.' In 1322, he is spoken of as knight, when he was returned by the Sheriff of the county of Cambridge, as being in prison, and therefore unable to attend the muster at New- castle-upon-TjTie.^ And in 1324, he was summoned to attend the great council at Westminster. Beyond this there is nothing of importance known about him. He left his manors before mentioned to Ms son, Roger de Trumpyngton, and his heirs.' In a roll of arms of the reign of Edward II., the arms of She Giles de Trom- pintone, tu-e described as " azm-e, cruside de or, a ij trompes de or."* It is qxiite clear therefore that the present brass cannot be intended for Egidius, or Sire Giles de Trompintone. The fii-st time the name of his son Roger do Trompeton occiu-s, is at the battle of Boroughbridge, in 1322, when he is taken prisoner in arms against the king, and upon the roU of battle his armorial bearmgs are thus described, " dazur ii trompes dor croiselee dor i label dargent."^ For this offence he was sentenced to a fiuc of two himdred marks, and obhged to find six bondsmen who Avould each be surety for Mm in the same sum. It was on such considerations only, that Ms life was spared. In 1324, he is retm-ned by the Sheriff of Bedfordshire as holding lauds there, haAing now mherited the property of his father, but not resident.'' In the next year he is summoned as from the county of Cambridge, to jKn-form military service in Guyenne, having obtained a pardon upon the con- dition of serving the long in his war.' After this no mention is made of luni, but in the next reign we find his widow Matilda adducing proof before the king's justices at Bedford, of her right to the manor of INIoggerhanger, in that county, from its having been bequeathed to herself and husband by Sire Giles. It would appear at first inquiry, naturally enough, that the brass now engraved was intended to commemorate the imjiortnnt pt^rsonage last described, as the arms on the back of tlie Boroughbridge RoU accord with these upon his ailettes and shield. Yet there is too much inconformity in the costume to favour the supposition : and besides this, we have fortvmately had left to us a few important notices relative to the first Sir Roger Trumpington that authorise us on ground sufficient!}- r(>asonable to assign the memorial in question to him. Nor have we any reasons for sup])osing that the doctrine of hcM-aldic differences was so rigidly adhered to in these (nniier tinuvs as to make it iini)n)bul>lc that the label inserted in the arms as borni> by the grand- ' Pari. Writs. ' Ibid. ' Placit. de quo warrant, p. 48. * Nicolas' Roll of Arms, tomp. Edw. II. p. ,50. ' Pari. Writs, p. 1!)9, Appcmlix. • Pari. Writs, !>. G59. ' Id. p. 69'2. J^ '^7 ','. i^ i SIR IIOGEU DE TRUMPINGTON. 67 son might not also liavo been used by the grantlfather, and who might very hkely have been also entitled to these arms as an elder son liimself. The file may liave been used appropriate!)' by either of them. There is, however, a circumstance that cannot be overlooked in the history of tlie grandfather, and it is one of the most interesting kind, for it is known that he really was a crusader, as we find in Rymer a safe conduct for liim with Prince Edward to the Holy Land ; and, as if there should be no deficiency of proof, the hero liimself is mentioned as one of the thirty-eight knights Avho figured in the tournament of Windsor park in the 6th, Edw. I., 1278, on which occasion the ailettes (par allet) or little wngs of leather tied on the slioulders by silken cords were furnished liim by Milo, the cuiTier. The price of these, we are told, was eight pence, and the cost of the whole suit of armoui- fiunished him at the King's charge for the occasion was nineteen shillings, consisting of a tunic, sm-coat, a pair of ailettes, a crest, a shield, a helmet of leather, and a sword of balon." The whole of these facts taken collectively, lead us to assign, without any hesitation, the brass in the Church of Trumpington, to Sir Roger, who held its manor, and died in the year 1289. About which period the sepulchral memorial to him was executed. The sepulchral brass of Sir Roger de Trumpeton is one of the five specimens, now remaining, which represent the deceased Avith his legs crossed. From having them in this position, it has been imagined that aU of the warriors thus repre- sented joined in the Crusades. Of this, however, unless in the present instance there is but insufficient evidence. The plate of our hero shews him wearing the amiilausa, or surcoat, over his hauberk of mail. The head, covered by the coif-de-mailles, rests upon the heaume, which is attached by a chain to a narrow cingulum or girdle round the waist; an example imique in England, and probably in other countries. On the back of shoulders arc ailettes or Uttle wings chai'ged with his arms. The shield on the left shoidder is sustained by a gigiie or narrow strap, and the sword, which diago- nally crosses the body, by a broad belt. His chaucons of mail are covered at the knees by genouailles of plate, and he wears a simple pryck spur. As a work of early art, this monument is highly interesting, and with the exception of a stiU richer one m Acton churcli, Suffolk, the finest of the series. That of Bacon at Gorleston in Suffolk, is not perhaps so worthy of notice as a work of art, but must yet be considered extremely curious. In the church of Westley Waterless is a very beautiful brass representing Sir John Creke ; — the defunct with uplifted and naked hands, standing by the side of his wife, under a canopy that formerly had cusps and crockets, though it is now so ' Archaeol. v. xvii. p. 299. 68 SIR ROGER DE TRUMPINGTON. much mutilated that most of these are gone. He wears a small and liighly oma^ mented bacinet. His hauberk, coming to a point before, is made of banded mail : the arms and legs are protected by pieces of plate strapped over the mail. The feet are partly covered by mail and pai-tly by plate. Under the hauberk he wears a gambeuon, and over that a jupon, wliilst over all we find the cyclas.' The costume of this brass bespeaks a particular period, and its extraordinary resemblance in every respect to the brass to Sir John Dabernoun,^ the date of which is ascertained, enables us immediately to assign it to the same age. In fact, there are perhaps but tlii-ee years' cUfference between them. The arms upon the shield indicate that it was put down to one of the family of Crek, Crake, or Creyk. Mr. L}sons therefore is in error when he says the bear- ino-s of this family are diiferent from those here represented ; for the common ordi- naries aU prove the contrary. In 1289, John Creke claims before the king's Justices the manor of Westley Waterless which belonged to his father Walter. In 1310-1311, a grant is made to liim by the crown of the custody of the lands held in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon, which were held by Waltar Langton, Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry.^ In 1316, he is mentioned as Lord of the Township of Westley, and joint Lord of Pampesworth, or Pampisford, in the county of Cambridge." In 1319, he has granted to him the custody of the Royal Castle of Cambridge.^ In 1320, he is Sheriff of the County and Knight of the Shire,^ and obtains his writ for his expences in attending Parliament.' In 1321, he is again retui-ned member.^ In 1322, he joins with many others in forcibly entering upon the manor of Saham (Soliam), upon winch occasion there was a spccid commission of oyer and terminer for trjing him." In the same year he is retm-ned by the Sheriff as aged and infii-m, and unable to perform military service in person against the Scots, as directed by thv general summons, (15 Edw. 11).'" In 1324, he is agam retm-ned Knight of the Sliii-e:" and after this Ave find Mm no. longer mentioned. Besides this, he was often assessor and collector for the county, as well as conservator of the peace, and one of the king's Justices of oyer and terminer. ' A reprpscntation of this brass is given in "An endeavour to ehu^sily the Sepulchral Remains in Northamptonshire and the Midland Counties." — Parker, Lomloii, Plate 2. ' See .Stothard, Monumental Effigies, Plate GO. ' Rot. Orig. p. I8f5. * Id. p. '250. • ■'• Pari. Writs, vol. II. p 32^, '• Id. vol. 1, p. 221. " Id. vol. I, p. 229. " Id. vol. 1, p. 2.'57. ' Iine family, in the small church of HoRSEHEATH, is in several respects a remarkable one. It represents the defunct, clad in a jupon with escallo]ied edges, worn over an haubergeon or short shut of mail, wliich is apparent at tlie lower extremities, and at the shoulders. He wears a conical bacinet, to wliich is attached the haubergeon. He has epaulieres on his shoidders, brassarts on his arms ; coutes or coudes upon his elbows, and gauntlets di^ided into fingers upon his hands, which are raised in the attitude of prayer. A liiuidsome baudrick decorated with quatrefoils passes round the waist, and buckling ui front, the ends hang down before. His cuissarts are made of pourpoint, ami this unusual example of costume enables us to assign the date of the present brass to about the close of the fourteenth centuiy. It in all probability is intended to re- present Sir John dv. Argenteine, who died in the year 1382.' The two brasses to the Chejiies in the church of Drayton Beauchamp in Buckinghamshire, are very like it: one of these, to Sk Thomas C'heyne, the beloved standard-bearer of Edward III., beai's the date of 1375, and there is so much uniformity botli of style and costume betwixt them, that the Horseheath brass may reasonably be assigned to this period. Belonging also to the same time, and similar likewise in the characteristic filature of the pourpointerie, is the brass to Sir INIiles Stapleton, 1365, (engraved by Cotman, v. I. PI. 4,) and formerly in the church of Ingliam, Norfolk. Nor is that to Sir John Cobham, in Cobham church, Kent, much different, tliough it is the latest of the series, belonging in fact to the year- 1407. The pourpoint is more commonly represented in effigies than in sepulchral brasses. Examples of it may he seen in the effigies of Sir Oliver Ingham (1343), in one in the abbey church of Tewksbuiy, in that of Sir- Humphrey Littlebuiy in Holbeach chm-ch, Lincolnshire, and in two effigies in the priorial church of Abergavenny. The term pourpoint is deri\ ed from the Latin 2>erptinctum, or scAvn through, as the garment being made of silk, cloth, or leather, it was padded or sewn through. Below the poiu'point, the deceased is represented in genouailles, which have their upper and lower edges ornamented mth studs. His legs are covered by jambres, and his feet, resting on a lion, wear pointed soUerets, composed of five lames of steel. The sword hangs straight on the left side of the body. There was formerly an angel represented as a supporter for the head, but nearly the whole of the figure is gone, and unfortimately, Avith the exception of one unimportant word, the whole of the inscription round this higlily interesting brass is destroyed. In the chirrch of Wisbeach St. Peter, is a fine brass to the memory of Sir ' Collectanea Topographica, vol. Ill, p. 40. 70 SIR ROGER DE TRUMPINGTON. Thomas Braunstone, constable of the castle there in the fifteenth centm-y. It represents him in a plain conical bacinet, to which is attached a camaU or tippet of mail. He wears a jupon with plain borders, imder wliich he has a haubergeon. His genouaUles are highly decorated, so are his shoulder pieces, coutes, and baudrick. He has gussets of mail over the instep, and besides a richly ornamented sword on liis left side, an anelace on his right. His gaimtlets have embroidered cuffs ; there are gads or gadhngs on the fingers. This figure, which is six feet and a half high, stands under a crocketted canopy, the greater part of which is gone : but the inscription as follows still remains : — Icy gist Thomas de Braunstone jadis conestable de Wicebeche qi mourist le vingt septieme jour de May I'an de nostre seignour mil cccc primer. De I'alme de qi Dieu par sa grace eit mercy. Amen. There is so much similarity between this brass, and the two fine ones to the Smnbornes, in the church of Little Horkesley, Essex, that there is every reason for tliinking they are all by the same artist. In Linton church, Cambridgeshire, there is a brass exhibiting a very good specimen of the plate armour of a knight at the beginning of the fifteenth centurj\ He is represented entii-ely in plate, and this enables us to fix the date of the brass itself somewhere between l-llO and l-i30, as there are several others in existence of like character, having inscriptions which assign them witliin these periods. He has epaulieres on his shoulders, and palettes between the arms and the body. There are brassarts on the arms and wrists, and fanlike pieces on the elbow. The uplifted hands, are clothed in gauntlets that have gads or gadhngs, and have cuffs embroidered with cusps. From the hip to the thigh the deceased wears taces, formed as was customary of sLx lames. The sword-lx^lt, ornamented -vvitli quatrcfoUs, goes diagonally across the body from the hip to the top of the thigh. The legs arc encased in greaves or bainbergs, the thighs in cuisses; the knees are covered with genouaiUes, and the feet have pointed sollerets. The knight seems to have been supported by a lion, but as part of the beast and a portion of the figure of the kiiiglit himself is concealed by a pew, this point is rather uncertain. Tlio most remarkable feature in this s(']iulchral brass is the nnrrow fringe of chain maU lianging from the gorget round his neck, and fi-om this circum- stance it is certaiidy deserving of attention. Th(> arms belonging to the present brass, lead us to think it was intended to commemorate one of tlie Paris family. The brass measures t^vo U'vt seven inches in length. Not uiilikf the last mentioned liiiicial monuinent, is a brass to the memory of Baldwynn .St. George, in llic climcli of IIaii.ev St. George. The points of difference appear to hv tiiesc Instead of palettes, as in the former instance, SIR ROGER DE TRUMPINGTON. 71 WO have roundels, or circular plates, over tlie arm-holes; the diagonal sword-belt is plain instead of being ornamented, and in addition to a sword on the leit side a small misericord is suspended from the right. The inscription underneath, which is as foUows, enables us to assign these two brasses, as well as the fol- lowing ones, to a particular time; — Hie jacet dnus Baldewinus Seyntgeorge miles qui obiit xviij die mense ffebruar Anno dni MCCCCXXV. It is two feet seven inches long. In all respects similar, with merely the exception of not having the mise- ricord, is a brass in the neighbouring chiu-ch of Cockayne Hatley St. Mary. There is every reason for thinking that both these brasses were executed by the same artist. The present one is three feet long. By far, howtner, the finest example of plate-armour will be found in the sumptuous brass at Hinxton, to the memory of William Skelton and his two wives, who lie on each side of him. He was a person of great importance, being Seneschal or Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster, in the reign of Henry the Fifth. The only difference in the costume of this and the two preceding knights, consists in the present one shewing the extremities of the petticoat of mail imder- neath the tuilles. In every respect it is a very fine sepidchral memorial, and its inscription fixes the date in the year 1416. It measures three feet seven inches long. There are two other brasses in Cambridgeshire like the foregoing, but they shew such complete uniformity in their representation of the plate-armour worn at the period, that it is unnecessary to describe them. The chiu'ches of Bal- SHAM and Weston Colville have each fair specimens like those already notic(>d. In the chuixh of Quy is a good brass to who died in the year He is represented bare-headed, and in the usual attitude, with uplifted hands. He wears a gorget or hallacret of plate round his neck. The left shoulder has a gusset of mail over the arm-pits, and the shoulders themselves are protected by pieces, Avhich have pass-guards; each of the shoulder-pieces is sometliing different. The coutes are heavier than they were fifty years previously, and the faces are broader in the lames, and fewer in number. In addition to these we have tuilles or toiles over each thigh. The sword is susjiended by a handsome belt, that hangs from each side the body. The petticoat of mail is Aisible below the taces. The thighs have ciusses of plate ; the knees have genouailles, and the shins jambres. Underneath are represented twelve sons and four daughters. This brass measm^es three feet long. It is a very capital one of the period. 72 SIR ROGER DE TRUMPINGTON. In the church of Sawston is a higlily interestmg, though mutilated, brass to a knight in the year 1450. He is represented in a complete suit of plate, mth very remarkable elbow-pieces, lai'ger perhaps than any others that have hitherto attracted notice, though not so rich as those worn a few years later, namely in 1484, by Sh- Thomas Peyton, as sho«Ti in his brass at Isleham. This latter monument is highly beautiful, and deserves carefid examination. It pre- sents a good instance of the moton and the placard.' The sepulclu-al brass of John Burgo}-n, m Impington church, represents him Avith naked uplifted hands, in the attitude of prayer. He is bai-e-headed, and wears a hausse-col or gorget of chain mail round the neck. The upper part of his body is covered by a surcoat emblazoned with tlu-ee talbots, the arms of Burgoyn. Underneath is a tight body- vestment ornamented with pourpoint be- twixt the wi'ist and the elbows. He has cuisses upon his thighs, and rather tastefully shaped gcnouailles on his knees. The legs ai'e protected by jambs, having gussets of mail over the insteps, to admit of free action for the lower parts of the limbs. He has poulains or broad-toed shoes on his feet, anil rowel spiu"s. Seven sons are placed underneath, and two daughters imder the figiu'e of his wife, who lies by his side on the same slab. The inscription is parti- ally destroyed : all that remains of it at present is — Hie Jacent Johannes Burgoyn Armiger, et Margareta uxor ejus qui quidcm Johannes obiit de- cimo sexto die mcnse Octobre anno domini milessimo quingentesimo quinto et predicta Margaretta obiit die mense anno domini inillcssimo quingentesimo quorum No doubt the termination was " animabus propicietur deus." The length of the figures is three feet each. Escutcheons of the arms were formerly let into the slab, over the heads of each figure. This brass of John Burgoyn bears great analogy to tliose of Sir Ralph Verney ^ and wife, 1546, in tlie intei-esting church of ^ildbury, county of Herts: to that of "William Catesby ^ and wife, in the church of Ashby Ledgers, county of Northamp- ton ; and to that of Sir Thomas Blcnerhassct " in Franse church, county of Norfolk. ' For a more full account of these and other pieces of armour described in tiicse notices of the military bra.'3. C. 11. 11. ■Si. Johii't College. Note. — Descriptions of two instances, Sir Henry I'jiglysh, at Wood Ditton, and the Pary's brass in HiLDKit.siiAM cliurch, ari: wanting to make the account complete : these will be given in a future number. i + Jtutcmg tioctoi W am iv» miiymnif mig^ ^1 fe&l^ i "" w* A^ m X ml e HmuSuuHtnaUuiiil'." ,'vcmTOat: raw (mum ■' : ■' .:■u^dttUnllt^^:ttll^■atl^m:• , / . ' iiat liitiV imliT iimoK li(am-> s- j?,nau pi» itiauti o iioltae. fimcto mUitra ? 5t tt lum quAutinamtauli'in to:- s - Viuofrds ttmiuu(9\niui9toiii|tt(iifri •'• 5ft ^omt nnfffivqmte ips hm- minu.- CTiUtK 011PJV6 Jig .iga' mp mb DR JOHN BLODWELL. BALSHAM CHURCH, CAMBRIDGESHIRE. O mifiaToupyov ov Til f.uTtXtj? ap' i)V, oarth. Yet even these casual and brief accounts, individually unimportant and uninteresting though they may appear to be, wUl when carefidly arranged and compared not unirequently fru-nish valuable and unexpected aid in the illustration of contem- porary customs, characters, and events. And as biography is usually more or less directly connected with and illustrative of history, so especially avlU all particulars relating to the lives of emment Chui-chmen who floiu-ished before the time of the Reformation, be received with interest by those who are desirous of obtaining an accurate and unprejudiced view of the tnie religious principles and observances which marked the unreformed but sincere faith of our pious forefathers. Hence L 74 DR. JOHN BLODWELL. it is not ■nitliout some feeling of disappointment that we are compelled to avow the ill-success wliich has attended oiu* own endeavours to obtain authentic infor- mation respecting the life of Dr. John Blodwell, the subject of the following brief memoir. In fact, as this divine does not appear either to have been an author, or to have taken any active and conspicuous part in contemporary events, ci\il or ecclesiastical, but few and scanty particulars, and these for the most part mere documentaiT records of appointments to certain preferments in tlie Church, can at this distant period be obtained, m addition to the meagre accoimt wliich the time-worn legend on the Brass itself fiu-nishes of the " auncient clerke" who has so long slept tmhonoiu'ed and forgotten below. John Blodwell (or perhaps, more properly, John de Blodwell) was born at the ^•illage of Llan-y-blodwell,' near Oswestry, in Shropsliii-e, on the confines of North Wales ; of which country the inscription on the Brass testifies that he was a native. Since we learn from the same somxe that he died '• vetvdus," and " caecus," and kno^v that he Avas appointed to an important ecclesiastical dignity as early as 1418, we cannot safely assign a later period for the time of his bu'th, than about the year 1380.2 The inscription above alluded to' fiu'ther informs us that he re- ceived a foreign education, having studied the law at the ancient and celebrated University of Bononia (now Bologna), whence he retired to "practise" at Rome. Whether we are to understand by this that he actually practised the ciiril law in that city, and subsequently, from some imlinoAvn circumstances, devoted himself to the ser\ice of the Chuixh ; or whether he there prosecuted, as a preparation for Holy Orders, the study of the Canon law, — ^is a question which the great obscmity of the second verse of the legend renders it difficult to determine. However this may have been, we find liim in 1418 installed as Dean of St. Asaph's, in which diocese he was born; tliis being the first preferment recorded, although he must doubtless have previously exercised the functions of a priest in a humbler sphere. It appears however that neither his name nor appointment to the above dignity is registered in the Red-Book of that chm-ch. The list of Deans is given very im- pci-fe(-tly by Wharton, in his Ilisforia de Episcopis et Dccatiis AssavoisibKs, ])ublislied in l(i95 ; more completely by Browne AVillis, in his Ilisfon/ of St. Asa p/i, {1110); ' Willis's Survey of St. Asapl), by Edward Edwards, 1801, vol. i. p. KiS. Tlic village "takes its name from Offa's Dyke, Plaid- If'/il, or wall of contention. OH'a's Dyke ran farther into the marches here than in any other part of it, and this might have occasioned contests between the English and Welsh."— //>(>/. [). 379. ' That he died at a very advanced age may fairly be inferred from the facts adduced below, p. 83. ' i-ee p. 77. DR. JOHN BLODVVELL. 75 but most fully and accurately by Edward luUvards in his edition, already referred to, oftlielatt(>rw()rk; who alone gives Blodw ell's name imd the date of his installation, though he does not inform us fiom what sources he derived his information. In addition to tlie above preferment Blodwell was successively promoted to, and pro- bably enjoyed at once, several high and lucrative dignities. We find him collated to the preb(nidal stall of Ciu-borough in the cathedral church of Lichfield, in May 25, 143:2;' to that of Warham in the church of Hereford,^ in 14:3.3 ; and elected a Canon of St. David's;' but the date of this last appointment is not ascertained. " In the registry of Durham," (says Edwards,") " I find Blodwell styled Dean of St. Asaph's ; and by the name and title of Dean of St. Asaph he appear(>d to, and ansAvercd as, one of the proctors or deputies of Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, in the council held at Basil." This was in 1433. The name of Blod- well does not, as fixr as we are aware, occur in any of the voluminous accounts of this protracted council: it appears, however, that in this very year, 1433, eight Doctors of Di\inity were sent fi'om England to fill up certain vacancies caused by the death of some of the first English Delegates ; and it is extremely probable that Blodwell was among the number of these, ^ In the year 1439 we find oiu* divine recorded as holding the valuable rectory of Balsham f plurality of C'liiu-ch preferment being, there is reason to fear, in those times not regarded in the unfavoiu-able light in which we are now justly inclined to view it. Probably in the same year he was appointed vicar-general to Lewis de Luxembui-gh, who was elected to the bishopric of Ely in 1438, and allowed by a dispensation from Pope Eugene IV. to hold it in commendam, being at the same time Archbishop of Rouen and Cardinal.' Mention is made of one A^'ilham ' Willis's Cathedrals, (ed. 1727,) p. 432. Harwood's Lichfield (1806), p. 222. « Willis, ibid. p. 602. Blomefield, Collect. Cantab, p. 203. ' Willis's Survey of St. Asaph, by Edwards, vol. i. p. 168. Blodwell's name however is not found in the list of dignitaries of this Church in Willis's History of St. David's, his Cathedrals, or in Le Neve's useful but imperfect work, Fasti Ecclesia Anfflicance. ♦ Willis's Survey, &c. p. 168. The document cited by him does not appear to have been made public. '■■ Duck's Life of Archbishop Chicheley, (reprinted in Bates' Vilte sekctorum virorum, 1681,) p. 42. " Inde de decernendo anipliore legatorum numero cum synodo egit Henricus, quod e legatis superioribus aliquot BasiliiE fatis cesserant. Ergo delecti sunt octo doctores Theoloyuv, et juris utriusque, Basileam transmittendi." See Collier, Ecclcs. Hist. pp. 661, 666. Fleury, lib. cviii. c. 133. <" Bentham's Ely, p. 171. Blomefield, ut supra. ' This dispensation was confirmed by a patent from Henry VI., in J 441, (see Rymer's Foedera, vol. X. p. 841,) but tlie promotion was opposed by Archbishop Chicheley. The Cardinal was the only l2 76 DR. JOHN BLODWELL. Erai-d, prociu'ator-general to tliis Prelate ;i and of a \icar-general, John Faber;- but nothing is said of Blodwell by the same authorities. We learn however that in the capacity of -sicar-general, alias administrator in the temporalities ^ of Ely, Blodwell appomted John Cliicheley in Nov. 22, 1436, and "William Astham, or Wright, in Oct. 11, 1439, to the rectory of Hadstock, then, as at present, in the gift of that see ;"' and we fiu'ther find^ that " there is an origmal parchment in the archives of Corpus CoUege, Cambridge, relating to a dispute held before his (Bp. Luxemburgh's) \-icar-general, Jolm Blodwell, doctor of decrees," Dean of St. Asaph's, and rector of Balsham, Aug. 12, 1439, between the prior and convent of Barnwell and that College, concerning St. Botolph's Church in Cambridge, when the patro- nage thereof was adjudged to belong to the latter." To this document we have not had an opportunity of procuring access; but, fi"om its nature, no information can be expected fi-om it relating to the life or other preferments of Dr. Blodwell. There is reason to believe that shortly after this period increasing age and infirmities induced him to resign the whole of his preferments, or such of them at least as required from him active duties, which he Avas becoming incapable of performing. The epitaph indeed states that he was long afflicted with blinchiess — longo tempore caecus — and probably this severe privation was the cause of his retiring about the same time to Balsham, where he had a residence (perhaps the episcopal manor- house hereafter to be mentioned) assigned for his use, and a pension reserved for his maintenance dm-ing the remainder of his life.' Here then did our vencu-able priest, in the autumn of his days, enjoy the calm tranquillity of a peaceful home : and here we may picture to ourselves the aged servant of God, a daily attendant Bishop of Ely who ever held that see as Perpetual Administrator; and he died in \\\3. Uymer, Feed, xi. p. 44-. Bentham's Ely, p. 168. Collier, p. GGG, 668. ' Kyraer, I'oed. x. pp. 696, 737. = Wharton, Angl. Sacr. i. p. GG8. Tlic office of Vicar General is included in that of a Chancellor, and is to administer jurisdiction purely spiritual hy the authority of the IBishop. A Procurator General (if the title be correct, which appears questionable) seems to have been connected witli the jiroai- rationes, or visitations. ' The propriety of this title, as applied to the vicar-general, again appears doubtful ; for the Prelate himself was " Perpetual Administrator in the temporalities and spiritualities" of the diocese. ' Blomcfield, Coll. Cant. p. 203. Newcourt's Ilepcrtorium, vol. ii, fol. 292. It will he observed that the date l-iSG is inconsistent with th:it of Luxemburgh's appointment to tlie see. '^ Bentham, p. 171. •■■ By Blomitield he is styled LL.D. and D.D. He does not appear to have received either degree from our English Univcrsitii'-s. ■ See Blomcfield and Edwards, ul supra. DR. JOHN BLODWKLL. 77 at tlic ser^•iccs of the ^'illat;c church, in wliich ho was prepared and wilUng soon to He down to rest, and illustratuig by his cxami)lc those precepts of piety and resignation, wliich he was no longer able to inciJcate by his ministry upon the simple mhabitants of that secluded spot. He died, as the epitaph further informs us, April 16, .v.u. 1462. The Brass, of which we present an engraving, is still in good preservation, though somewhat worn and effaced by the heedless feet that have almost daily trod the sacred spot for nearly four centmies. We are however fortunate in possessing the account of a writer' who visited and described this fine monument 140 years ago, when it was yet more perfect than at present. The Brass exhibits a marginal legend, and, at the feet of the efiigy, twelve additional elegiac verses — an obscure doggrel composition — the letters of which are partly incised, and partly in relief, the metal having been chiselled aAvay so as to leave them standing. The former legend is given by liysons" and Edwards;'' the whole of both, though inaccurately, by Blomefield.' Blomefield's transcript we annex entu-e : — Egregius doctor hoc qui sub marmore pausat, John Blodwell, longo tempore cecus erat. Hie residens vetulus, dein' ecclesias hujus hospes, Cui deus hospitium sit, requiesque dies. Qui obiit xvi die mensis Aprilis, anno dni. milleno cecelxii. Cui deus eternam det miserans requiem. Amen. Cambria rae genuit, docuit Bononia jura, Praxim Roma dedit, varia quina loqui. Hec tua pompa labor, docuit laus, fama, salutis Vis, genus, era, decor, vana caduca putes. Quid florens etas ? brevis est : omnis caro fenura. Ignorans mctas, curris ad ima senura. Sors pluat ambita, nichil omni parte beatum, Invenit hac vita, preter amare deum. Quem pius orando poscas functo miserori, Et to non quando consimiiem fieri. Ut noscas memores vivos hac lege teneri, Est hodie oineres, (jui fuit ignis heri. In the tliird line of the marginal legend, the Brass has " decor ecclesie, bonus hospes." The words hie residens seem to have been correctly explained by Blonu>field to allude to his residence in the \THage of Balsham, as stated before. The hist word in the ' Blomeficld, Collect. Cant. p. 203. ^ Magna Britannia, vol. ii. part 1, p. 68. 5 Willis's St. Asaph, i. p. 168. * Willis's St. Asapli, i. p. 203. 78 DR. JOHN BLODWELL. foiuih verse is to us not very intelligible. Edwards gives deus : the Brass however unquestionably has dies, which may perhaps signify the " day of heaven," " eternal day." In the next line milleno is millmo, (i.e. millesimo). The second verse of the other legend is likewise extremely obsciu'e. The letters are very difficult to read, but certainly make 7iacio quina. The last word in the thii"d verse is salutes, to rhjine with j}iites in the foui-th. Blomefield's docuit appears to be do sint, in two words ; although the space between them is so small that they may readily be mistaken for one. The precise sense intended to be conveyed by tliis couplet is by no means e\ident at first sight ; it has, however, been suggested to us, that a dialogue between two persons is mtended ; and this very ingenious hypothesis, wlule it at once accoimts for the different manner in which the respective speeches are engraved on the Brass, at the same time furnishes a tolerably satisfactory solution of some passages, which are, on any other supposition, perfectly uninteUigiblc. Still the words nucio quina iu the second verse present insm-mountable difficulty. We cannot help suspecting that the brass-cutter has, in this instance at least, Avhatever may be thought of dies for deus, mistaken his copy, and engraved quina for jmma. This word would give not only an easy, but a peculiarly apt meaning ; smce, in reference to the study of the c\\nl law, Rome fi-om ancient associations might so weU be styled " the most eloquent nation." In this point, however, we cannot go beyond mere conjecture. It mil be observed that the verses of each distich, A\ith the exception of the first and perhaps also the foiu'th, contain a double rhyme, both in the middle and at the end. This singular caprice, as it must have greatly augmented the difficidty of the composition, must perhaps be admitted in part as an excuse for the em])loyment of woi-ds which suited sound considerably better than sense ; as, for exampk", salutes in tlie third, and amhita in the fourth. Of the whole legend we sliall venture to append the following tr;mslation, from the ])en of the same ingenious fiiend to whom we are indebted for the discovery of tlic true clue in interpreting the original : — This auncyent Gierke of grete renowne, y' slepeth liere belowc, John Blodwell hyghte, long time was biynde, gyf yee y troutli woldc knowe. liiglit dere was iicc to Ilolye Ciiurclie, niostc passingo f'rankc to giicste, God of iiys grace in Heaven's bryghte daye him graunte eternall reste. Whyche decessyd y" fifte daye of Aprill, the yerc of our Lorde 14'62. Crist give hym lygiit and reste In heaven with the bleste. Amen. (B.) Wales at tlie firsle did give mee birthc, Bologna lawe mee taughte, At Rome y" practise of y' lawe, y' citie famed, I soughte. (A.) rrcnd, thys thy pompc ys labourc. DR. JOHN BLODWELL. 75) (S.) Yea I trust in my goodc laiue. Wealthc, raiike, strengthe, bcautye, what bee they ? (A.) A sliadowe and a name. (li.) What is the flower of lyfc ? (A.) Mosto briefe : all fleshe, Hee sayth, is grasse : Man wotteth not lyfs endys, yet hee lettyth lyfe to passe. (B.) Wiiat it' Iiys fate poure honours downe? (A.) Yet thys hee findyth styll, That, save y" love of God, no goode but hath its taste of ill. Whom praye of charitye to take thys deade into Hys grace. And that thysclfc maye never come into the like sad case. That yce may learne for them y' lyve God's lawe is still y° same, Lo here hys ashes lye to daye that yestermorne was flame.' The following; is the description of the Brass given by Blomefielcl. " In the nave lies a noble grey marble, almost covered with brass; in the middle of it is a priest in an extraordinary rich cope, with Hon's heads erased in ovals upon it, and eiglit saints down the sides of it, viz. St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Margaret, &c.; and on the pillars supporting the canopy are also eight saints — St. John the Baptist, St. Peter, St. Asaph the Bishop, St. Brigid, St. John the Evangelist, St. Andi'ew, St. Nicholas the Bishop, and St. Winefiide : on each side of his head is a sliield, both ahke, scenmigly, of a Hon rampant, in a bordure engrailed, but they are so worn, I cannot be positive ; if so, they are the arms of Gray, Bishop of Ely, who lived in those times."" It is probable that the saints, whose effigies are ' The inscription as written on the Brass is here given, the different style of engraving mentioned above being represented by the difference of type. Cambria me genuit, docuil Bonmiia jura, Praxim Roma dedit, nacio quina loqui. Hee tua pompa labor, do sint lausfama salutes. Vis genus era decor, vana caduca putes. Quid florens eias, brevis est ols caro fenu : Ignorans metas, curris ad ima senum. Sors pluat ambita, nichil oi parte beatuni Invenit hac vita preter amare deuni. Quern pius orando poscas functo misereri Et te non quando consimilem fieri. Ut noscas inemores vivos liac lege teneri Est hodie cineres qui fuit ignis heri. - Collect. Cant., p. 203. Gray was Bishop of Ely from 145* to 11-78. His arms are given by Bentham, (p. 176, and Appendix, p. 45,) a lion rampant argent, in a field gules, a bordure engrailed argent. The shields are now entirely gone from Blodwell's brass : it is however most probable that they were his own, the Blodwcll arms being given by Edmonson, "party per pale argent, and gules a lion rampant counterchanged." 80 DR. JOHN BLODWELL. sculptui-ed upon the supporters of the canopy, are selected designedly, either as the patrons of, or othcrAvise connected with, the various churches to wliich oiu' ecclesiastic belonged ; and that those represented on " the cope full of ymagerie," were actually embroidered iipon the vestment which he wore. Before we conclude oiu" description of this magnificent Brass, we cannot forbear to remark the striking contrast which is observable between the pompous affectation and the deep devotion respectively characteristic of our modern and the more ancient epitaphs. In the former, the reader is called upon to admire an elaborate and exaggerated detail of inimitable virtues, imparaUeled charities, and unmatched excellencies; in the latter, to pray. Here we find only the pious aspii-ation, the humble hope for forgiveness, and the earnest invitation to the li^'ing to offer up prayers for the welfare of the departed soul; prayers, we doubt not, fervently breathed by many a pious member of that holy Church, in whose commimion to live and to die was once as much the hope and desire of the faithfid, as to pray for it is now but too often made a scorn and a reproach by heretics and blasphemers. The \Tllage of Balsham claims a very remote antiqxiity. It is recorded in history as the place where the Danes committed great barbarities in the year 1010, Avhen that formidable Danish army, called from its leader Thurldll's Host, landed in the reign of Etheldred at SandAvich, and engaged near Ringmere with Ulfkettel, general of the east Angles, whose troops were immediately routed and fled. The men of Cambridgeshire however fought manftilly; but the Danes were ultimately victorious, and in their route towards Essex halted at the village of Balsham. where tlie lu^lpless inhabitants were slaughtered without distinction of age or sex. One man however is said to have taken his post upon the steps of a church then standing, and heroically defended himself against tlic attacks of the whole host.' The manor of Balsham was given to the chm-ch of Ely by Lcofleda, daughter of Duke Brithnoth, and wife of Osw)' ; and was requued to supply the abbey \nth provisions for two weeks in the year.'' After the foundation of the see of Ely, in tlie reign of Henry I., tliis was one of the ten manor-houses or episcopal residences assigned to the Bishops of Ely ;^ and it continued annexed to the see until the year 1600, when it was alienated by Bislio]) llet(m in (>xchange with the crown," and subsequently procured by I'hoinas Sutton, the muniticent founder of the Charter House, in which institution the presentation is still vested. ' Lysons, Mag. Brit. ii. jiarl I, pj). 5, G, 85. Canidi'ii, i. p. 'A'JO, I'd. 1772. ' Bcrithain's Ely, p. 93, 94'; Append, p. 2. Lyson.s, p. 8'1-. ■■ Buritham, p, KJIf. ' H''iitli:iiii, ]>. iy(i. DR. JOHN BLODWELL. 81 This ullage has given birth to no less than four distinguished ( Imrclunen ;' namely, Hugh de Ikdsham, Bishop of Ely, well known as the founder of St. Peter's College ;' William of ' Bolsam,' who was Bishop successively of Llanilatf and Rochester, and confessor to Richard II.; John of Balsham, educated at Peter House, and aftei"wards Bisliop of Rochester, who died in 1404; and Nicholas of Balsham, a Carmelite fi-iiu-, and aft(n-wards Prior of the Carmelite foundation, which now forms part of (Jueens' College, who died in 1489. It is supposed that no other ^'illage in the united kingdom can claim a like honour. The church, which is dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity, is said by I^ysons to have been rebuilt by John de Sleford, master of the wardrobe to Edward III., and rector of Balsham, who di(>d in 1401, and was buried in the chancel of the church. Here a magnificent Brass still records, in terms Avhich in this as in other cases must be understood with limitations,^ that " ecclesiam struxit ;" to which it is added, " hac nunquam postea luxit," apparently implying that he died on or before the completion of the work. The nave is the only portion of the chirrch which can be assigned to the above period ; for the chancel, which is a good spacious structure of the decorated style, is apparently of too early a date to be regarded as the Avork of this ecclesiastic. The east window is very fine, divided into five lights, and has recently been restored, and adorned with stained glass, with admii-able taste and judgment. The tracery is of a form commonly found in early decorated w^ork, consisting of a succession of imiform qiuitrefoil apertm-es. On each side of the chancel are three decorated windows of two lights, and of the same design ; but the flowing tracery which they contain is unlaappily blocked with plaster. Above these are tiers of not very graceful square- headed windows. The piscina is a small and plain single one; and the sill of the south-east Avindow, which is carried considerably lower than those of the rest, and has a mutilated moidding running horizontally underneath the lights, ap- pears to have been used, as in all probability was not unfi-equently the case, instead of sedilia of more elaborate design. The lower portion of the opposite window is blocked with plaster, and partially obstructed by two large sculptured fragments, probably removed from one of tlie gild chapels or chantries, of which ' Carter's Cambridgeshire. ' A slab, containing a small and ancient brass effigy of a knir/ht, close to the tomb of Blodwell, is vulgarly supposed to cover the grave of Hugh de Balsham. This is a most erroneous tradition. Hugh was elected Bishop in 1257, having previously been Sub-prior of the Convent, and died June IG, 1286. He lies buried in Ely Cathedral. See Bentham, p. H9; I.ysons, ii. p. 67. ' Glossary of .■\rchitccture, p. 189, (ed. 3rd.) M 82 DR. JOHN BLODWELL. the church had formerly two,' and to which several other pieces of well-carved clunch, now preserved in the church, may probahly be assigned. The upper of these fragments, both of which are elaborately worked in clvmch, and have been mistaken for the remains of an Easter Sepulchre, appeal's to be the crown or head of a niche ; the lower one resembles an eagle or some other large bird, but is very much mutilated. The chancel contains some remarkably fine carved oaken stalls and misereres, the gift of John de Slcford. The rood-screen, with the pro- jecting woodwork forming the under part of the loft, is in fuie preservation, and presents a good specimen of that once important appurtenance to a church, now so rarely met with in a perfect state. There are also upper and lower rood- doors, and a staii'case, on the south side, which have as yet fortunately escaped both Puritan ravages and modem improvements. The screen is divided into seven compartments, and is placed under a fuie lofty di'op arch, which springs from clustered piers, wth octagonal semishafts. This arch, and the whole of the nave, wliich is very beautiful, are of later date than the chancel, and are of a style not mconsistent with the supposition of their having been buUt by Sleford. The pier-arches, six in number on each side, are very elegantly turned, but scarcely of such light and lofty proportions as we commonly meet with in tliis style. They are of decidedly perpendicidar character, and spring from clustered piers, -with engaged octagonal shafts on stilted bases. The arch labels are bold, and terminated by well-carved heads. The clerestory has lately been rebuilt, and contains twelve good perpendicular windows, of two Ughts each, the tracery of which is said to be of precisely the same form and design with that of the origi- nal ones ; and if so, it indicates an early era in the perpendicular style, comci- dent perliaps with tlu; death of John dc Sleford, who, as we ha\e stated, proba- bly built this portion of the church. The clerestory likewise contains some curious corbels, excellently wrought in clunch. In each of the aisles there are .seven pi r])(ii(li(iilar windows of threes lights, in a most lamentable state of dilapi- dation, the mullions being broken and in some places patched with timber, and the heads of all being blocked ^vitll plaster. It is to be hoped that in the good work of restoring these, which w(> are hapjjy to add is in coiiteniplation, jnir- ticular care will be paid to the ])reservation of tlie staiucxl glass, which some small fragments yet visible in the north aisle give reason to suppose that they contain. 'I'lif loof of the iiislcs is of vei'y good carved timber, witli cielcnl com- partments between tlic rafters, and bosses at llii' intersections. The tower is a ' Blomdiclc], Coll. Cant. p. 198. DR. JOHN nLODWE[,L. 83 massy square strurture, of the early English style, and is flanked by enormous buttresses, some of" which are unsightly, but perhaps necessary, additions of a much later age, having been erected by John Sutton, the foimder of the Charter House, whose initials, with the date 1598, may be seen on the nortli side of the tower. An elegantlj- foliated capital of an Early Enghsh shaft, and a very beautiful corbel, were foimd in making the recent repairs: the latter is now placed in the north-east corner of the clerestory. It is not improbable that the nave of this church has been three times rebuilt ; since we find notice of a church at Bal- sham in the reign of Etheldred, and may certainly infer the existence of a nave coeval with the tower, if not of a third with the chancel, removed when the present was built ; though the latter is by no means a necessary- conclusion. In 1643 the puritanical hypocrite, William Dowsing, was employed by the par- liament to demolish all " remnants of popery " off"ensive to tender consciences ; and it appears that he paid a pious visit to Balsham church, where he overthrew " divers superstitious pictures," crosses, and sculptures, and levelled the chancel steps. How he came to spare the fine brasses still remaining in tlie church is difficult to say; but their preservation is attributed by Blomefield to the inter- ference of the then rector, Dr. Templer, who is said to have been a temporising indindual. and to have fallen " too much into the humoiu" of those times.'" ^Ve shall make no apology to our readers for subjoinhig the following extract from the register of Balsham parish. "On the 8th of August, 1836, excavations were made at the heads of each of the tombs of John Blodwell and Hugh de Balsham, in the body of this church, to the depth of three or four feet ; and tliere, under the respective slabs, the skulls and other bones of each body were discovered, with part of a wooden coffin under Hugh de Balsham's, and a large nail sticking in it. It appeared that they had both been buried in wood, under a rough vault of chalk and flint, cemented with mortar ; and that fine gravel had been thrown in over the coflin to fill it up. No arms of any kind were found under the knight ; but his bones were large and strong, and the teeth sound and perfect. No remains of funeral garments were found in the grave of the ecclesiastic, and his skull was thin and old, and only two teeth remained. They had never been disturbed before, and were closed up again without moving the slabs." On the east side of the church-yard there stand close together four remark- able and very ancient tomb-stones, which are supposed to cover the graves of as many kniglits templars. One of these was hkewise opened, and wth very simi- lar result. "WTiether mere curiosity justifies these experiments upon the mould- ering ashes of the mighty dead, appears somewhat questionable; but we are assured by one present at the exhumation, that the remains were duly reinterred, and that nothing was cUsturbed. It is however much to be regretted that these ' Blomefield, p. 198. 84 DR. JOHN BLODWELL. interesting monuments have been so grievously mutilated through neglect or wanton mischief, that the crosses sculptured upon them are now almost entirely defaced. A general chsregard for the preservation of sacred antiquities, and not the least so of sepulchi-al remams, has been a striking characteristic of our times. Perhaps hardly a week has passed which could not bear witness to some new act of demolition iri our churches. And the spoilers have not considered that in their heartless work of improvement (as they miscalled it,) they ai-e ^iolating the respect due not only to the sanctity of the tomb, but to the wishes of those who, in selecting the least perishable materials for the construction of then- monuments, evidently designed that they should be destroyed by time alone. Had tlie insulted dead anticipated in Ufe that the monuments erected over their graves would ever be treated with le-vity or disregard, we should perhaps meet with many such inscriptions as the memorable one upon the tomb of Shakspere : — Good friend, for Jesu's sake forbear. To stir the dust that's buried here : Blessed be he that spares my bones, And cursed be he that moves these stones. The heathens of old paid the most religious regard to the sepulchres of their departed ancestors. To let them fall into the hands of the enemy was a disgrace worse than death itself. The war cry of the Greeks at Salamis was eEilN 'eaii, ghkai iTPoroNiiN — in modem language, our churches and our fathers' tombs ! Is not this a reproach to ourselves, who, thougli we might not willingly jield them to an enemy, yet hesitate not to let them be desecrated and dcstrojed by the hands of friends 1 We might have hoped that Puritan fanaticism would have read us a better lesson. We trust we may hope that otlier feelings, commiMiced in the present, will grow and prevail in the succeeding generation. May we henceforth learn to venerate and preserve wth religious care these and otlier remaining monuments raised by our forefathers to perpetuate the memory of good and holy men : and may we never again be doomed to witness sucli rock- less havoc as the infiituated agents of lawless dissent, sedition, and insubordi- nation in past ages committed u]ioii the sacred ajipurtcnanccs of our Englisli rliurches, tliose goodly works of pious hands, destroyed only because they were ancient, and hated only because they were holy! 1'. A. P. .SV. John't College. BISHOP BOOTH. 1478. ^accm OiUxit: pax sit ctcrnB sibi. The Brass of Bishop Booth, of which an engraving is given on the opposite page, is the only one now remaining of five Avhich formerly existed in the church of East Horsley. Of the other four there were still three at no distant period, as they are mentioned, and their legends given, in Manning's History of Surrey. The time however of their destruction we are unable to state, but they were most probably removed at the repairing of the churcli, when the flooring, which was below the level of the gromid in the church-yard, was raised to a considerable height, and the present brass no doubt owes its preservation more to its position in the north wall of the chancel, than to any reverence which seems to have been she^^^l for the memorials of the departed ; for the coat of whitewash with which it is disfigured, is a proof of the treatment it would have received had it been placed elsewhere. The tillage of East Hor.sley is situated in the hundred of Woking in the county of Surrey, and was for many years the occasional residence of the Bishops of Exeter, who seem to have possessed an estate here at a very early period. We read of its existence as early as 1243, when William Brewer, Bishop of Exeter, was sum- moned to shew by what right he held the manors of Chideham in Sussex, and the moiety of the manor of Horslegh in Sui-rey; and one of the brasses now de- stroyed commemorated Robert dc Brentyngham, a brother of Thomas de Brentyngham, who was Bishop of Exeter in 1370.' ' The following is the legend given in Manning's History of Surrey, vol. iii. p. 34: "Hicjacet Robertus de Brentyngham frater Ileve'ndi patris Thomae Exon ep'i cujus a'i'e p'picietur Dcus." 86 BISHOP BOOTH. The church, which is dedicated to S. Martin, originally consisted of a chancel, nave, and north aisle. The latter has been modernized, and the whole building so much defaced as hardly to retain any features of interest. The chancel is Early EngUsh, and has thi-ee lancet windows remaining on each side. The chancel arch is of the same date, but poor. There is an Ehzabethan altar-tomb \\-ith the recum- bent effigies of a knight and his lady, but tlie name is invisible. These however must represent " Thomas Cornewailis, Esq., sometime pensioner and groome porter unto Queen EUzabeth of blessed memoiy, and lady Katherine his wife, one of the daughters of Thomas Lord Wryothesley, Earle of Southampton, Lord Chancellor of England.""' Under the monument of Bishop Bootli stood formerly a square altar-tomb wthout inscription, which some have thought to be his, but it would seem erroneously, as we find from AVeever that he was biuried in the church of S. Clement Danes, London. Weever gives his inscription thus : — " Hie jacet corpus venerabilis ... Jo.... Booth Legum Bacalaureus, Episcopus Exon ob. primo April. 1478."* The Brass itself is interesting as belonging to the few Episcopal ones now remain- ing, and though it cannot lay claim to the beauty of the three which have appeared in the first number of this work, yet it is well worthy of our notice on account of the jiecuUar posture of the figiu'e, which enables us to see the back part of the clicsible.^ The legend accompanying it is so very common that we shoidd hardly liave ex- pected to find it on the monument of a Bishop. It runs thus when divested of its contractions, Quisquis eris, qui transieris, sta, pcrlege, plora : Sum quod eris, fueramque quod es : pro me precor ora. We wiU now proceed to lay before our readers so much of the life of Bishop Booth as the scanty memorials left of him will enable us to give ; and we can only regret that we have been able to discover little else than a list of the valuable preferments he successively enjoyed. In looking back to the history of the Church in the times in which he lived, there is scarcely anytliing wliicli sm-prises us so much as the accumulation on a favourcnl few of those dignities and emoluments which arc now more widely and more properly diffused. There is much cause for rejoicing in this ; stiU, we ought never to forget that the pro])erty thus possessed, was not, in most cases at least, squanderid in luxury and self-indul- ' .Manning's Surrc;y, vol. iii. p. 34-. ' VVeever's Funeral Monuments, p. i-H (copied verbatim J. ' We are only aware of two other cases in which a similar view is given : in a small brass in the cliurrh of IJttle Wilbniliam, Cambridgeshire, and in Kingston church, Surrey. BISHOP BOOTH. 87 gence, but ttowed back in a ricli aiid copious stream on that Church from which it Avas first derived, and was employed perhaps not the less piously to the pro- motion of God's glory, or less profitably to the extension of the Church's influence, because it was in the hands of a few. The churches which they built in such number, and yet with such unsparing liberality, the colleges they endowed, the hospitals they founded, " memorials of their love towards man and their zeal towai'ds God," ought at least to make us careful of blaming a system which, however defective, brought forth such noble fruits, untU, by an imitation of their zeal and a practice of their charity, we shaU have supplied those spiritual wants in oui" land, wliich they would never have suffered to arise, but which we regard almost A\'ith indifiference. The family of Bishop Booth' seems to have settled at a very early period in the counties of Lancashu-e and Chesliire; and the first of that name we have met with is "Wilham, son of Adam de Booth, about the year 1275. From that period we find frequent notices of them in the history of those counties, either as being returned representatives to Parliament, or as filling important offices in their in- ternal government. We \vill however pass them all by until we come to ,Tohn do Booth, of Barton, the grandfather of oui- Bishop, who lived in tlu^ time of Richard II. lie married Joan, daughter of Su* Henry Trafibrd, of Traffbrd, in tlie county of Lancashire, and by her had seven sons and five daughters. The fact of two of his sons being made Archbishops of York is, we think, a sufficient excuse for giving a brief notice of their lives, the more so as it is very probable that their influence had a good deal to do Avith the subsequent advancement of Bislioj) Booth. The eldest of the above seven sons was Thomas Bootli, who was knighted in the reign of King Henry VI.; the second was Sir- Robert Booth, the father of the more immediate subject of this article, whose heu's eventually succeeded to the family property. He settled at Dunham Massey in the county of Cheshii-e, and was buried -nath his wife in the parish church of WUmslow. Of the rest Ave Avill only mention the tliird son, William, Avho in the course of his life seems to have enjo)(>d several Aaluable preferments in the Church. He Avas originally intended for tlac laAv, and studied some time at Gray's Inn, London; but, dislilcing it, he removed to Cambridge, and, having taken holy orders, became Chancellor of St. Paul's. It is needless to enumerate his various preferments; we AA-ill only mention that in 1447 he Avas appointed to the see of Lichfield and Coventry, and five years after Avas translated ' The following are the different ways of writing the name ; Booth, Bothc, Botli, Bouth, Bouthe, Boothe. 88 BISHOP BOOTH. to that of York, where he lived for twelve years. He died at his residence at Southwell in 1464, and was buried in the collegiate church of that place in the chapel of S. John the Baptist, which he had built at his o^vn expense. He was a liberal benefactor to his see, and spent large sums of money in adorning the archiepiscopal palaces at Southwell and York. His charity to the poor seems to have kept pace with his increased means, and at his death he directed his executors to build a house for the officiating chaplam of Eccles, the place of his biilli, where he had pre^iously founded a charity wliile livmg. On the death of his first vrife John de Booth married again ; and by his second wife Maude, daughter of Sir John Savage, he had one son, Lawrence, whose name frequently occui's in the history of those troubled and distracted times. He was educated at Pembroke Hall,' in the University of Cambridge, the master- ship of Avhich, at the request of the College, he held to the day of his death; an honorable testimony to his merit, as, from his necessary absence, he could have resided but seldom in the College. He was, however, a very generous benefactor to it, and he most successfully exerted his influence in obtaining for it the liberal patronage of King Henry VI. In 1450 he was made Keeper of the Privy Seal, and in 1453 Chancellor to Queen Margaret. In 1457 we find him, after enjojing several other dignities, raised to the see of Durham, where he resided tor twenty jears. It was during this time that those unhajjpy ci\il dissensions were at their height which, after years of bloodshed, \'iolence, and cruelty, at last ended in the expulsion from tlie throne of a good and innocent king, and tlie iinal o\erthrow of the noble house of Lancaster. Attached as he was at first, both by afiection and gratitude, to the ruling powers, and afterwards decjily involved in the interests of the suffering jiarty, he naturally fell under the (lis]>leasure of Edward IV. But this did not last long; for we find that, after he had been deprived for tliree years of the temporal revenues of the see, they were again restored to liiiii ; and so soon did he gain the confidence of that monarch, that in 1473 111' wa.s made Lord Chancellor, and in 147(5 promoted to the Archiepiscopal See of York, which h<' lidd till bis dcatli tin- l!)t]i of May 1480. Like his relation and predecessor in tliis see, he seems to have used the wealth and influence liis high station afl'orded him in a manner every way worthy of our admiration. This University is much indebted to one whom she can ' This College, from tin nuinlHir of its Masters who liavc subsequently been Bi.sliojis, lias been appropriately ealled tlie " /'rc/alical Colhgr." 'llie lil'e of one of tiicse, Arelibishop Harsnctt, who was siiccfssor of Lawn tiec Booth in tlic see of York, has already ajjpeared in tiie first nunil)er of this work. BISHOP BOOTH. 89 number among her Chancellors; and liis own College bears witness to his luibomided liberality. While at Durham he did much for the beauty of his cathedral, and tlie benefit of his iliocese ; and \\ lien Archbishop of York he pui'chasetl the manor of Battersea, near London, where lie built a palace for his successors in that see, ap])ointing out of it a stipend for tlie mainte- nance of two chantry priests to celebrate mass in Southwell church, for the souls of his brotlier AV'illiam and liimself At the time of the R(>fbrmation, when these memorials of fervent piety Avere either destroyed or a])])ropriated, the stipend was transferred to the benefit of the school at GuUdford. In his vnH he commends his soul to God Almighty, S. Mary, S. Peter, S. Paul, S. William, S. WUliid, and all other saints, and orders his body to be burietl by the side of his half-brother William, in the Chapel of 8. John the Baptist at Southwell. We now come to the subject of this article. John Booth, Bishop of Exeter, was, as we have before said, the third son of Sir Robert Booth, b)^ Dulcia, the daughter of Sir Richard Venables. The eldest son was Sir AVilliam Booth, Knight, who built or enlarged the chapel on the south side of the chancel of th(^ church of BoA\'den in Cheshire, where he was buried.' Of the early life and education of Bishop Booth nothing is kno^^^^ ; and indeed the first notice given of him is tliat of his being made in 1453 Prebendary of Strensall in York, just one year after his uncle Wilham Booth had been raised to that see. It is probable that in the next year he was presented to the li\ing of Barnack, in Northamptonshire, as we find the following entry iu a list of the rectors of that parish: — " Mag. John Bothe, CI. ti Mart. US*."" In 1457, on the resignation of Lawrence Booth, who had just then been made Bishop of Durham, he was collated to the Prebend of Wistow, which he quit- ted the same year on occasion of his being made Treasurer of the diocese of York, an office of considerable profit and dignity. Tavo years later he Avas ad- mitted Archdeacon of Richmond. We next find him filling the important post of Warden of the Collegiate Church of Manchester, a town then perhaps ' Weever gives tlie following inscription from the church of S. Clement Danes : — " Orate pro anima Willelnii Booth, militis fratris Episcopi Exon. qui ob. 6 April. 14-78."' Sepulchral Monuments, p. 41-5. The circumstance of the brothers (lying within a few days of each other is remarkable. ' This may however refer to an uncle of the same name, sixth son of John de Booth of Barton, who was Prebendary of Lincoln about this time, and has been by some erroneously supposed to have been Bishop of Exeter. N 90 BISHOP BOOTH. just rising into importance. This Collegiate church, or as it was then called, The College of the Blessed Virgin of ^lanchester, was founded in 1432 by Thomas de la Warrc for one warden, eight fellows, four clerks, and six choris- ters. He ordained that " Divine sendee shall be celebrated in the said chuixh everj- day, for the good health of tlie King, and of the Bishop, and of Tliomas de la Warre, and for the souls of their ancestors, as also for the souls of aU the faithful departed for ever." Among the names in the original license, we find those of John do Booth and Eobert de Booth, who would seem to be the irncle and father respectively of the Bishop. The form of the Chapel is a cross, with chancel, nave, and two aisles, and is a perfect specimen of the perpendicular style of architecture which prevailed at that time. The first Warden was John Huntington, who lield the office for thirty-seven years, and whom Bishop Booth succeeded. Five others followed up to the time of the Reformation, when it shared the general fate of monastic institutions. It was dissolved by King Edward VI., but happily restored by Queen Mary, when the last Warden, who had been ejected, was again reinstated. Queen Elizabeth renewed the charter, and changed its name to Chi'ist's College. A new charter, di-awii up by Archbishop Laud, was granted in the time of King Charles I. ; and thus amended it has remained up to our day, with the exception of a few years between 1649 and 1660. Bishop Booth held this office but a short time before he was raised to the see of Exeter. He was consecrated by Thomas Bouchier, Archbishop of Canter- bmy, on the 22nd of February, 1466. At this time his uncle, the Bishop of Dur- ham, must have been under the displeasure of the King, and we are therefore surjjrised to find one wlio had hitherto been zealously attached to the house of Lancaster preferred before others (and no doubt many could have been found) who had supported the opposite ])arty. But it may be that the Pope, who had on a former occasion appointed Ids uncle Bishop of Durham, contrary to the recommendation of King Henry VI., again exercised his authority in this case, or ])erha])S the King himself was willing to gain over to his sid(> tlie incmhers of a family possessed of such great influence and consideration. If this was the case, how far Bishoj) Booth could accept favours from the ruling powers ^^^thout a sacrififc of priTiri])]r. it is difficult to say: but however this may be, lu^ was one of a large iuuiibcr ulio, when tlie hopes of the house of Lancaster were finally extin- guished, tendered their allegiance to that of York ; and we are unwilling to believe that in so doing he was iiillucuccil liy a sole view to his own interest; at nnv ratf> su( li docs not seem to have been tlie ruse wilh his uncle, who suffered BISHOP BOOTH. 91 considerably in support of the cause to which ho was attached. The following document relating to the above subject is extracted from Rymers' Focdera, xi. 559 : Rex omnibus Ballivis et Fibelibus suis, ad quos, etc. salutimi. Sciatis quoil Nos, de gratia nostra special!, ct ex cert;i scieiitia et niero Motu nostris, Pardonavi mus, Remisiniits, ct Relaxavimus yier pra3seiites Jolianni Uotlie Episcopo Exoniciisi, alias dicto Johanni liothc, Episcopo Exoniensi, Magistro, Custodi, sive Gardiano Collegii sive Ecclesia; CoUegiata; beata; Mariae de Maincestre, seu quocumque alio nomine censeatur, omnimodos transgressiones, offensas, provi- sioncs, mesprisiones, contemptus, impptitioncs, fines, ct redemptiones, per ipsuiu Joliamwm ante haic tempora contra formam aliquorum provisionum, ordinationum, sive statiitonini de provisoribus sive contra provisores quovisraodo editorum sive factorum, aliquo modo perpetrates, lactos, sive tbrisfactos seu forisfaciendos. Necuon omnimodas perquisitioncs, acceptationes, lectiones, publicationes, iiotificationes, et execu- tiones quascumque aliquarum literarum sive Bullarum Apostolicarum quarumcumque. Ne etiam omnimodas actiones et demandas, quas nos solus vel nos conjunctim cum aliis personis vel alia persona versus ipsum Johaimem, ratione praemissorum, vel alicujus corumdeni, habemus, seu habere poterimus in futurum. Ne omne id quod ad nos pertinetin liac parte nolentes quod idem Johannes, aut ejus notarii, factores, fautores, auxiliatores, abbcttatoros, et consiliarii, in hac parte per nos, vel ha;redes nostros, justiciarios, esciEtores, vicecomites, aut alios ballivos seu rainistros nostros vel hffireduin nostrorum priedictorum quoscunique f'uturis teraporibus occasionentur, molestentur, impetantur in alitpio, seu graventur: nee eorum alitiuis occasionetur, molestetur, inipetatiir in aliquo, seu gravetur ; statute de provisoribus, aut aliquibus aliis statutis, ordinationibus, provisionibus, sive actibus, in contrarium factis, ordinatis, seu provi- sis, aut aliqua alia re, causa, vel materii quacumque, non obstantibus. In eujus, &c. How Bishop Booth conducted himself after liis appointment we do not know ; but as he does not appear to have taken any part in pubUc affairs, we may sup- pose that he gave himself entirely up to the care of his diocese, especially as we are told by an old writer that he " governed his church wondrous well."' He is said to have built the Bishop's throne in the cathedral, a drawing of which is given at the end of this article; but when we compare the style in which it is built,' which is purely decorated, with that which existed at the time, we are led to believe that it is cither the work of a much earher period, or else (which is not improbable) that it was brought from abroad, and placed where it now ' Catalogue of the Bishops of Exeter, by .John Vowell, alias Hooker. ' The baptistery at Luton, Bedfordshire, is another instance of a work of a particular style being attributed to a time when it is well known to have fallen into disuse. It is decorated, and is said to have been built by Anne Boleyn, but with what truth may be questioned for the above reason. The Colle- giate church of Manchester, built, as we have said, in the early part of the fifteenth century, is a good specimen of the style which universally prevailed at that period. 92 BISHOP BOOTH. stands, a memorial, and we believe the only one, of the Bishop's zeal for the beauty of his cathedral. Mr. Rickman in spealdng of it says, " The Bishop's thi-one is an xmcommonly rich example of wood-work, of great lightness, but yet of sufficient boldness for its size; wliich is perhaps superior to any in England, rising to the spring of the arches of the clerestory windows, or near sixty feet from the ground." It is said, and we suppose Avith some truth, that no iron whatever was employed in its erection, all the naUs being made of wood. AVe have now anived at the close of the Bishop's life. Ha\ing lived to wit- ness the death of his once loved and amiable sovereign, followed closely as it was by the murder of the youthful prince, and being weary of the troubles into which the kingdom was tlirown by the wars between Edward IV. and the Earl of Warwick, he retii-ed to his residence at East Horsley. How he spent his time here, though we are not told, it is not cUfficidt to imagine. Withchawn from the world, which could offer him nothing worthy of his regard, his life we may believe was spent, as such retirements ever should be, in the daily observance of the Church's sendees, in the exercise of that hospitality, charity, and piety which so well become a Cliristian Bishop, and in the practice of all those virtues which can alone give present peace, or hope of fritiu'e happiness. We have now endeavoured, as well as we were able, to lay before the reader all that is known of the life of Bishop Booth, In the absence of frdler informa- tion, it woidd be presumptuous in us to attempt a sketch of his character, how- ever much we might have wished to do so. History, mdeed, says little about him ; hut lining as he did at a time of much corruption, both in doctrine and practice, the absence of all censure is at least a negative testimony in Ms favour ; and when joined wth the brief but expressive praise of the chronicler mentioned above, wiU warrant us, we trust, in giving him a ]ilace among the many pious and devoted Bishops of the unreformed EngHsh Church. J. G. Y. Trinittj Colle^r |jd» liJM «itlito Ec MmM A tSi- ^i .;f<^<. \y\-_ taaj Mji^j) nmMP W(^^ tmi^vt ^ i ' iw tm Wxt]M^'^^m fl#tlf SIE PETEK LEGH, KNIGHT AND PRIEST. 1527. When I was younge, I ventered life and blood, Both for my Kinge, and for my countrey's good. In elder years my care was cheif to be Souldier for Him that shed His blood for me. Epitaph in Oxhill Church, WamirJishire. In the associations connected with the relics of British family antiquity, few are calculated to impress themselves more forcibly on the imagination than those resulting from a survey of the ancient manor-house, whether the casteUated or half-timbered structiu'e of the fifteenth century, or exhil)iting the quaint ogee finished gable fronts of the age of Elizabeth, or the numerous pedimental gables with lup knobs prevalent in the reigns of her successors James and Charles. In many instances also the moated area indicates the site to have been preoccupied in more remote times by a mansion, lowly perhaps in pretension, but in which secuiity and strength were considered more essential than either [)crsonal convenience or comfort. But whetlrer a structure of early or late date, a certain defuied locality with reference to another object may be so fi-equently noticed as to force itself on our attention. For the situation of the old manor-house was often, more generally perhaps than otherwise, in the immediate vicinage of the village church; and to this circimistance, and to the attendance at the daOy ministrations of rehgious offices therein, we may partly attribute that fervent desire evinced in former ages to transmit for the contemplation of a remote posterity, or, as perchance it may have happened, only for the gaze of strangers, the names and titles, rank and 94 SIR PETER LEGH. callings of successive members of a line of ancestry by sculptured monuments, incised slabs, and engraved brasses. By such were pourtrayed the features and costume, ecclesiastical, military, or civil, as it might be, of the individuals thus represented, in suppliant recumbency, "with hands uplifted on the breast in attitude of praj'er;" a posture well befitting the hallowed sanctuary containing such memorials, where at the earliest dawii of life the infant was carried to the font for initiation by holy and mystical rites into the Church, and where, after life's turmoil ended, whether in youth or manhood or old age, his remains were consigned to the tomb, in the chancel or some side aisle or family mortuary chapel, there to crumble and dissolve amidst kindred dust, until it should please the Lord of life to raise them. In the parish church of Win\\ick,' near Warrington, in the county of Lancaster, in a chapel which appears to have served as a biu-ial-place for many of the Leghs of Lyme, an ancient Cheshire family, we meet with the singular sepulchral memorial, the subject of this notice. Tt is that of a Sir Peter Legh, Knight Banneret, for there were others of that name and title, the knov^ni records of whose life, few and simple, are briefly detailed on the slab wliich covers his remains. We are left in ignorance of the year of his buth : he is stated to have married EUen the daughter of Sir John Savage, of Clifton, and after her death, wluch occurred in 1491, he seems to have renounced a mere .secular lif(% and to have entered into holy Orders, not as a lay brother of any par- ticular monastic order or fraternity, — a customary practice in an earlier age with many of wealth rank and importance, who wished to retire from the world, — but to have been regularly ordained in due course priest, and to have died in 1527. Thus far speaks his sepulchral slab. From other sources^ we collect that his marriage took place in 1467 ; that by his wife he had issue three sons, the eldest of whom Peter succeeded him, and one daughter; and that on the death of his grandfather. Sir Peter Legh, Knight, in 1478 he became possessed of the family estates in Cheshire and Lancashire. We infer that he must have been an aged man of fourscore years and upwards at the time of his death, from the fact of his marriage having taken place sixty years before that event ; and this brief memoir is all we have been able to compile of his life. ' We are unable to (urnisli any descriiitive account of this ciiiirch, wliich wp have reason to believe is a fine and interesting structure, from the want of an u|ipcirtiiiiily of iirrsoiiaily visiting it. For the iiame reason our notice of the sepulchral brass under review is somewhat deficiiuit. ' In Burke's History of the Landed Gentry, vol. ii. p. 68(5, is an account of the family of Legh, of Lyme. SIR I'ETER LEGII. 9", On th(> lai-nfo flat slab which Hcs over tho grav(> of this Sir Pctci- Logh. in the- L(\i:;li ("liapcl at Winwick, are the inhiid brass (>ffic,ri(>s of liimsclf and his lady, the latter of whom was not however buriivl at AN'inwick. These eftigies are two feet four inches in height. That of Sir Peter l.egli is most remarkable, inasmuch as it represents both his secular and, in after Ufe, rehgious profession. He is pourtraycd as clad in the plain, cumbrous, and inelegant body armour in the fashion indicative of the close of the fifteenth century : great part of tliis armour is howe\ cu- concealed by the sacerdotal v(-stmcut which is worn over it. The head of tlie knight is bare, and the long and straiglit-cut hair is pecuUarly characteristic of the period in which lie lived: round his neck is a gorget or haussc col of mail, and below this the upper part of the breast-i)late is just visible : the hands, wliich are uncovered, are held up on each side, and a plain ^•ambrace witli a raised rim at the wrist protects the lower part of each arm ; the elbow-piece below tliis is equally plain; attached to the left side is a cross-hilted sword, whilst the legs and feet are incased in plain jambs, and round broad-toed or duck-bill shaped sollerets, a fasliion of that age. The chesible or exteiior vestment worn at the celebration of mass by those alone of priestly rank, (for the uppermost vestment of the deacon was the dalmatic fringed at the borders, whilst that of the subdeacon was the tunic), is in this very singular instance worn with and over the armour, but no other sacerdotal vestment or appendage, either alb, stole, maniple, or amice, is visible. This chesible approximates in fashion and shape to those worn at a later rather than those of an carher period, and is plain, with the exception of a simple zigzag-pattern border. The armorial shield, represented as lying on the breast of this effigy with crosses plain, engrailed, and patonce, reminds us of the knight described iu the Faerie Queene : " And on his breast a bloodie crosse he bore, The deare remembrance of his dying Lord, For Whoso sweete sake tliat glorious badge ho wore. And dead, as living, ever Him ador'd : Upon his shield the like was also scor'd." This shield contains six different quarterings, the tinctures of \\lii(h are not very clearly expressed. The effigy of the lady represents her attired in the pedimental h(>ad-dress ])ointed in front, ' with a veQ or head-cloth falling back on the- sliouldc:rs ; a kirtle or 't> ' Was this the head-dress called a beake9 In the order for apparel in time of mourning, made by Margaret, Countess of Hicliniond, (8 Henry \'III.) mourners were ref|uir(-I^, witli Orah' before and another beliinil, inantlis witli trains, and hoods and tippets, diflVriiig in length and tlic manner in wliieh they were lined, according to the rank of the mourner; but in no maniuT of wise were beakes to l)e us('d lor the deformity of the same. Elsewhere thi- tippet is said to be instead of bchc. — StrutCs Ilorilii An(/(:l-(yiman, vol. iii. pp. Ifia, 107. ' At the coronation of the I>ady Elizabeth, the royal consort of King Henry the Seventh, she is de- ocribcd as apparelled in "a kyrtill...and a inantell... fastened byfor her brest with a great lase curiously wrought of gold and silk, and riehe knoppes of guide at the ende taselled." — Lcland's Cvllcctaneu, vol. iv. p. 'iW). SIR PETER LEGH. 97 pro animahus, S^c. In the quaticfoil compartments are contained the evangelistic symbols. In that at the angle just preceding the commencement of the epitaph is the figui-e of an eagle, with wings outspread, and a scroll depending from the beak; at the opposite angle is the tigm-e of a man with wings: the hau- on his head is long and cut straight round, in the fashion of the age, and he bears a scroll; in tlie next compartment is the figure of a calf, with outspread wings, couchant on a scroll ; and in the fourth and last compartment is the figure of a Hon, with wings outspread, and a scroll. Representations of the evangcUstic symbols, after the form described in the Apoca- lypse, and in the mystical vision of Ezekiel, are still extant in some ancient mosaic work at Rome, executed at an early, though perhaps not clearly ascertained, period.' They are also to be met with in the illuminations of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. The lion has been generally considered to represent St. Mark, the man St. Matthew, the calf St. Luke, and the eagle St. John ; but the early fathers of the Church, in their comments, have cUfFcred as to the personal appUcation of these symbols ; ^ and the opinion of St. Augustine was that the Uon signified St. Matthew, and the man St. Mark. In the latter part of the fifteenth, and early part of the sixteenth century, representations of these symbols engraved in brass were employed not unfrequently to decorate, as in the instance before us, sepulchral slabs with inlaid brasses near the angles of the verge of which they were severally disposed. The inscription roimd the verge of the slab is in Gothic or black-letter charac- ters, and some of the words are abbreviated ; it may however be read as follows : — >Jl Orate pro animabus probi viri domini Petri Legh militis hie tumulati, et domine Elene uxoris ejus, filie Johannis Savage militis cujus quidem Elene corpus sepelitur apud Bewgenett^ 17 die mensis maii anno Domini millesimo cccclxxxxi. The inscription is continued on the brass plate just beneath the efiigies ; — Idem quidem Petrus post ipsius Elene mortem in sacerdotem canonice consecratus obiit apud Lyme in Hanley xi die Augusti anno Domini m" v"^ xxvii". The Arabic numerals used for a date occur once only in this epitaph, though intro- duced about the middle of the fifteenth century ; they were not even at this period very common, and do not appear to have become so much before the middle of the sixteenth century. ' Ciampini Vetera Monumenta, vol. i. p. 191. - Ibidem. ' Bewgenett, or Belliginett, is discovered to be a village in Sussex. It is mentioned in the history of Richmond, that the wife of this Sir Peter Legh died and was buried at Bewgenett. O 98 SIR PETER LEGH. In conclusion we may remark that when, amongst other ancient symbols of Chris- tianity, those which have been described became discarded, they were superseded, as oiu- monuments from that time plainly evince, by pagan emblems, urns, obelisks, inverted torches, personifications of the cai-dinal ■vii'tues, allegorical conceits, and other heathen devices, the visible results of that feeling which Lord Bacon has described as " a superstition in avoiding superstition." The ^^gnette below is the representation, on a reduced scale of two-fifths of the size of the original, of the cover of an ancient thurible, which has recently been discovered in the chest in Ashbury church, Berkshue. The remaining part or body of the thurible was missing. The lower part of this cover is. of a domical or hemispherical shape, and round it is inscribed in black letter characters " Gloria tibi Domine." Attached to the rim wliich encircles the verge are three small rings, to which the chains or cords were afiixed by wliich it was waved to and fro. From the lower or domical part issues a pentagonal-shaped lantern or turret embattled, mth window openings on each side, and small pmnacled buttresses at the angles ; and above this appears a small obeliscal, or four-sided spire, also open on each side for the fumes of tlie frankincense to escape from. It is appai-ently of the fifteenth century, and the fasliion and make tend to show how closely designs of an ecclesiastical nature were anciently followed in tlie construction of the minor articles of church furniture. Rughy. M. H. B. I ' [dotth^ f^ I SIE THOMAS UllSWYK, Knight. CHIEF BARON OF THE EXCHEQUER, 1479. I was anointed king at nine months old ; My father and my grandfather were kings ; And you were sworn true subject unto me ; And tell me, then, have you not broke your oath ? King Henry VI. Part III. The memoir which accompanies the brass of Alderman Feld' shews the rise of a citizen of London to wealth and distinction by commercial pursuits. In the present instance we have to trace the progress of a member of a learned profession, through the means of the ancient and once-important municipal offices of the city, to the attainment of the highest judicial stations in the land. The sketcli we have drawn is made up fi"om scanty materials, and but few and brief notices of the public events of the life of the individual pourtrayed. Our readers will form their owai conclusion, whether they regard the Chief Baron as a person raising liimself by perseverance and talent from the practice of an advocate to a seat on the judicial bench ; or as a keen lawyer seeking his preferment by attention to the AVorkings of great political changes, and unscrupulously attaming rank and office, purchased at the sacrifice of his allegiance to his sovereign. As nothing of the private life of the subject of this memoir has reached our notice, and being in ignorance of his parentage, we must confine oui'selves to the pubhc ' Page 49. 100 SIR THOMAS URSWYK. events of his life. It is probable that his family came from the north of England, as an Adam de Ursse^vJ•k appears to have held a tenement in Westmoreland, in the reign of Edward I.,' and a Robert Urswyk, Knight, an estate in Yorksliii-e, in that of Heniy IV.' The first notice of Thomas Urswyk, wliich we meet mth in the Records of the Corporation, is his election to the office of Common Serjeant of the city of London, by the Court of Common Coimcil, on Wednesday the 27th June, 31 Henry VI., 1453, to which office he was sworn, on the following day, by the Court of Aldermen of the same city.^ For the information of those who may not be acquainted with the nature of the above appointments it may be proper to observe, that the office of Common Serjeant was then of gi-eat importance, masmuch as he was Counsel to the Coi-poration, " on all occasions \\itliin and without the precincts and liberties of the city.''" In truth, he may be considered as bearing the same rank, in respect to the city of London, as the Attorney-General does to the supreme government of the country. The important interests of the Corporation of London, it may naturally be concluded, would not be entrusted to any but a barrister of eminence ; and from the circumstance of his obtain- ing the above appointment, we may fairly conclude that Urswyk was at that period dis- tinguished by his talents and legal knowledge. The office, it ^vill be observed, was in the gift of the Court of Common Council, a body constituted of representatives elected by the diffijrent wards of the city;^ and the election ofUrs\\yk to tlus his first promo- tion, at least shews his popidarity A\ith the great body of the citizens. He held tliis post for two years, Avhen Thomas Billmg, the Recorder, having resigned his office on being made a Serjeant-at-Law, with the probable view of seeking advancement in the higher courts of the realm, UrsAvyk was elected Recorder by the Court of Aldermen, on Thm-sday, the 3rd of October, 33 Henry VI., 1454. He is styled " a discreet and circumspect man," and he is stated to have been elected to this high office " for his prudence and affability." At the time of whicli we are writing, the duties of the ' Inquisitioncs post Mortem, 35 Edward I., No. 88. ♦ Ibid. 4- Henry IV. No. 15. ^ From information politely presented by H. Woodthorpc, Estj., Town-elerk. * See Allen's London, vol. ii. 285, where an account of the duties of the officers of the city is given from a pamphlet published by the Corporation in 1 789. '' As the institutions of London are closely founded on tlu^ ukhIcI of the constitution of the kingdom of England, it may \w. as well to observe that this court assimilates with the House of Commons, as the Court of Aldermen does with the Lords: the resemblance was more close in ancient times, when the upper house of the Civic legislature possessed its spiritual Alderman, l-'ollowing up the same analogy, the Recorder, of whom we shall have to speak, may !)(• rcganh il as the Chancellor. SIR THOMAS URSVVYK. 101 Record(>r were scarcely inferior to tliosc of the Judges of the land. The citizens were bound by oath to sue each other in the local courts of th(> city ; and having from an early period possessed the power of making their wills, it followed that many ques- tions relating to the rights of property came under the judicial notice of the Recorder : and besides this important branch of jurisprudence, the mercantile law of the day was in great measure administered by the same functionary.' It was a necessary consequence that the post should be occupied by a barrister of experience and know- ledge ; and, as might reasonably be expected, the appointment formed in most cases a stejjping-stone to higher preferment. The Recorder was in general raised to the bench of one of the Courts of Westminster Hall ; the last who received such prefer- ment being Sir- James Eyie, 1763, who was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer. In the year 1461, the Recorder Urswyk sat in the Parliament holden at Westminster, as a representative of the City of London. We ha^e now arrived at a period when the subject of our memoir had reached the highest preferment and distinction which the Corporation of London had it in its power to bestow ; and it would have been pleasing if the events of his life had stopped at this period. We are now compelled to view liim rather as a political character, taking an active part in the affairs of a troubled period, which neither his office of Recorder, nor his Parliamentary duties, strictly required. From liis intercoiu'se with the citizens and mercantile men in connexion with the metropolis, the Recorder probably derived a bias in favour of the claims of the house of York: it is to be observed, that what might be styled the com- mercial interest of the country was then rising into importance, as the feudal state, weakened and shaken by the long civil contention of the rival roses, was fixUing rapidly into ruin. In common with Crosby, the London merchant, and HaUc, the great woolman, of Salisbury, the Recorder might have felt a partiaUty to that prince, who promised to commerce fa\'oui- and protection. Still, the sovereign to whom Ursv^7k owed allegiance was King Henry VI., a prince whose misfortunes, amiable disposition, and piety, deserved far different treatment from a great legal functionary, whose duty it would have been rather to have confirmed ' See City Law, 1 2mo. 1658, p. 3; Bridall's ,S>rrM/«/// Juris Anfflicani, p. 112. The Mayor and Aldermen are nominally the Judges of the City Courts, but the law is administered without their aetual intervention by the Recorder, who was without doubt the Justiciary whom the citizens were authorized to appoint by charter of Henry I. (Norton's Commentaries, 337— 318) ; although this author inclines to the opinion that tiie Portreve (now the Mayor) was the otKcer contemplated by this charter; a suppo- sition not at all warr.inted by the constitution of the city. If the office of Recorder was not creatid in pur- suance of this cliartcr, there will be a difficiilty in accounting for its origin. 102 SIR THOMAS URSWYK. the people in loyalty and devotion to a sovereign who himself had succeeded by hereditary title, than to have aided with his influence the troubles attendant on a disputed succession ; but the Recorder seems to have regarded the rising sun of the house of York as the siu-est beacon to preferment, and deemed that he secured his own interest more etfectually by deserting the weak and falhng monarch, and lending the poA^er which Iris office gave him to assist the improving fortunes of Edward IV. In the year 1471, after the temporarj- restoration of King Henry the Sixth through the agency of the Earl of WarA\'ick, we find Urswyk placing his part on the stage of poHtics ; and here for the first time his character appears in an unfavour- able point of \-iew. The meek Henry was then in the city of London, residing in the Bishop of London's palace, in Aldersgate street, in company Avith the Archbishop of York (George Nevill). The chronicle of the fu'st thirteen years of the reign of King Edward IV., by Dr. Warkworth, Master of St. Peter's college in this University, recently pub- lished by the Camden Society of London, details the circumstances of tliis eventful year in a simple and expressive style, and shews that at least in one instance Henry was far from being that imbecile character which he is usually repre- sented to be; but on the contrary could act ^^ith energy and promptitude when circumstances r(^qvured him to do so. We find him lodging in an episcopal palace, with no guard l)ut churchmtm, his Avife and even his valiant son absent, adopting a course which u more active and enterprising monarch could not have improved: — " On the wennysday next before Esterday,' Kynge Ilerry, and the Arcliebysschoppe of Yorke with hym, roodc aboute Londone, and desirede the peple to bo trow -unto hym : and every manne seide thei A\ailde." This demonstration of loyalty, so simply but forcibly recorded by the chronicler, would probably have effected a favourable change in the fortunes of tlie unhap])y king, had it not been frustrated by the craftiness of the Kecorder. Tlie populace, it appears, had armed tlunuselves, and occupied the city for the king; but fearing so imi)ortant a demonstration would have power- fully assisted the monarch's cause, the Yorkist party determined by stratagem to defeat this honest bur.st of loyalty. 'I'hc narrative goes on to say, that " Urswyke, recordere of London(\ and diverse Alck^rmen, such that hade reule of the cyte, commaundede alle the peple that were in liiirnes. kejjyngc tlu^ cite for Kynge Ilerry, r-vcry manne to goo liome to d}nere.' 'I'lic sim[)le pco[)le duped by so reasonable a request retired to their homes, and during the brief space of time occupied by ' April 10. SIR THOMAS URSVVYK. 103 their repast, the Recorder was not idle, " and in dyner tyme King Edwarde was late in, and so went forthe to the Bisslioppes of 1 ^ondone palece, and ther tokc Kynge Herry and the Arcliehisschoppc of Yorke, and i)ut them in wavdo, tlie Tlnirsday next before Esterday."' The character of tlie llecorder Urswyk appears to have been in no wise deficient in that energy and determination so generally sliewn by those engaged in an nnrighteous cause: this is fully evinced by the promptitude with Avhich he seized tlie brief inteiTal of retirement of the armed and loyal citizens, to enable Edward to secure the person of his rival. The prison and grav(» of a king arc not far removed ; it proved so in the present instance : the fallen king, after being carried by his conqueror to the field at Barnct — undoubtedly with the atrocious hope of liis being killed by soiue accidental blow, "beynge," as Dr. Warkworth informs us, " in the forwarde dui'j^nge the battaylle" — was, to the great disappointment of Edward, not hurt ; " he was broughte ageyne to the Toiu-e of Londone," where he was soon after dispatched, by the agency of the unscrupulous Glocester. This i)iece of service rendered to the new king undoubtedly paved the road to Urs\vyk's preferment, as we find him soon after resigning his civic office, prepara- tory to receiving the reward for his treachery to " King Herry." The attack of the bastard Falconbridge on the city, on the 5th of ^Nfay, 1471, and his repulse by the citizens, induced Kmg Edward personally to bestow honours on such of the Aldermen of London as constituted his party; and with tliem Thomas Urs^vyk the llecorder was kniglited, on the 19th of June, 1471, 11 Edward IV. He resigned his office of llecorder, and received as a reward for his services to the city, as weU in peace as war, a gift of two pipes of wine for the first year, and one pipe for each year in future, which gift the citizens, with ' Tlie Historie ofllie Arrival ofEdivurd IV. in England, and the finale recoueri/e of his Kingdomesfrom Henry VI. a.d. mcccclxxi., also published by the Camden Society of London, which is evidently the pro- duction of a Yorkist, and designed as an apology for the transactions of the period, does not particularly no- tice the Recorder Urswyk, or the part he took in the admission of Edward into the city. Glossing over the fact, that the great body of the citizens were favourable to the deposed monarch the author goes on to say, that " the Maior, Aldarnien, and other worshipfull of the citie, determined clerly amongs them selfe to keepe the citie for the kynge [Edward] and to open it to hyui at his coniynge " (page IG.) The reasons assigned by the author for this line of conduct plainly enough shew that the calculating functionaries con- sidered their own interests and safety as paramount to their allegiance to Henry. Tlie treaehery of the Archbishop of York, and his making liis peace with Edward, are facts on which this aiitlior ])artieularly dwells. The manner of Edward's entrance into the Bishop's palace corroborates Warkworth's account of the demonstration exhibited by the citizens, as another author informs us that he entered by a postern gate, doubtless fearing that if he had approached by the ])rincipal entrance, he might have attracted the attention and excited the opposition of tiie loyal body of citizens. 104 SIR THOMAS URSWYK. their usual caution, declared was not to be drawn into a precedent. This is the last public mention of Sir Thomas Urswyk in connexion mth the city, and on the same day on which this resignation took place Humphrey Starkey was elected to the post of Recorder, when it should please Urswyk to resign. On the 22nd of May, 1472, Sir Thomas Ursw^'k was appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer.' He held this preferment for seven years until his death in 1479. The Brass alone affords evidence of the extent of his family : from the figures of the children, represented as usual in two groups beneath the portraitures of the Cluef Baron and his wife, we learn that it consisted of four sons and nine daughters. All the sons must have died in the lifetime of their father, as at the time of his decease five of his daughters succeeded to his real estate as co- heirs in coparcenery. At the time of Sir Thomas Urswyk's decease, his property was considerable. His country residence was probably at Mark's HaU, near Romford, in Essex, in which county liis possessions were situated. The manor-house, of wliich a view is given by Lysons,^ was a structiu-e of considerable antiquity, and surrounded by a moat: it was taken down in 1808. The estates of Sir Thomas Urswyk con- sisted of a messuage, called Le Lee, alias Le Lee HaU (in Hatfield Broad Oak), with upwards of three hundred acres of land, and fifty shillings rent, in the vUls of Hatfield Regis, Hahngbury Parva, and Matching, held of Anne, Duchess of Buck- ingham, as of her manor of King's Hatfield:^ a messuage, called Lithe Hall, and fifty acres of land, whereof thirty were holden of the manor of Bourcliiers Hall, and the other twenty, lay in Little Laver :* the manor of Uphavertnge, or Gobions, in Romford, held of Elizabeth, queen of Edward IV.: it consisted of a messuage, two hundred and t\v(>nty-two acres of land, and a rent of eight shillings and one jjenny :'• the manor of Marks, situate in Romford Town Ward, where, as we before i-emarkcd, was his residence. To this latter estate there belonged two messuages ; a windmill, three hundred and sixty acres of land, and one hundred and ten shUlings rent.'' The manor of Achew}'s, or Mile End, in Stepney, was in 1472 conveyed by William Peche to Thomas Urswyk, Recorder of London, and others ;'' and in 1467 we ' Dugdale Orig. p. 70. ' Environs of London, vol. iv. p. 187. ' Morant, vol. ii. p. 507. * Morant, vol. i. p. 1 45. * Ogl.ornc, 133. Esch. 18 Kdw. IV. No. 51. Lysons, vol. iv. p. 188. ' Ogl)orn(;'s Ebspx. p. 1 U2. Lysons' Environs, vol. iv. p. 187. '' (1. 1 1. I'^dw. IV. ni. v. Lysons' Environs, vol. iii. p, ■1'2.'). SIR THOMAS URSWYK. 105 find Mm conveying, with others, the manor of EwcU, or Tyleliousc, in Stepney, Middlesex, to John Burcester.' It is probahk- from the circnmstancc of the joint tenancy that these two latter estates were lield in trnst, and were not the uulividual property of Sir Thomas UrsAvj'k, as there is a certainty of his having so held the manor of PatUngden, or Paddlngton Bray, in Abinger, Surrey, in conjunction with Thomas Yonge, one of the Justices of the Common Pleas, Sir John Say,* Thomas Brian, Serjeant-at-Law, William Edwards, Alderman of London, and others, as trustees for John Yonge, one of the Aldermen who received the lionour of Knighthood with UrsAv^'k on the 19th of June 1471. Three of the daughters appear to have died in the lifetime of their father. His coheirs were Catherine, the wife of Henry Langley ; Ann, wife of John Dorwood ; EHzabeth, Jane, and Mary, the latter being unmarried at the decease of their father. The name of Urswyk perished wth the Recorder, and his property was conveyed to strangers. The church of Dagenham consists of a chancel and nave : the latter with the tower was rebuilt in a bad gothic style about the beginning of the present century ; the former has been modernized. The Brass of Sir Thomas UrsAvyk lies on the ledger of a plain altar-tomb, situate in the chancel : the dado of the tomb is without oma^ ment at present, and the brass, as given in our engraving, is the only memorial exist- ing. The style of the figure is not unUke that of Alderman Feld, and as in that example is attired in a long go^vn, reaching to the feet, and girt about the waist : over the shoulders is thrown a mantle, which being held up in consequence of the hands being raised in the attitude of prayer, displays the lining, in this case of silk. The hood, the distinguishing mark of judicial costume, is wanting. It is to be seen in the effigy of Judge Gascoyne, in Harewood Church, Yorkshire, and in tliat of Sir Peter Arderne, in Latton Church, Essex. The lady is attired in a gown, low at the bosom, and exceedingly small at the waist ; the sleeves have large cuffs nearly covering the hands, which, like those of the husband, are placed in a devotional position. The hair is drawn backwards from the forehead, and gathered into a caul or cap of very rich work, and is covered >vith one of those extraordinary veils, stiffened with starch and distended with wires, which has acquired the appellation of the butterfly head-tlross ; her neck is adorned ' CI. Ed. IV. sec. 23. L}-sons' EDvirons, vol. iii. p. 425. * The splendid Brass of Sir John Say and his lady exists in Broxbourn Church, Herts. In point of costume the lady greatly resembles the effigy of Lady Urswyk, except that the mantle is emblazoned with the armorial bearings of herself and husband. P 106 SIR THOMAS URSWYK. witli a licli necklace of pearls and jewels, and the whole figure affords a good specimen of the extraordinar}^ richness of dress for wliich the ladies of this period were cUstinguished. The comparative youthfulness of the portrait, when yaewed in connexion ^\•ith the numerous fomily depicted beneath, is very striking. At the feet is a dog, doubtless of the same kind as the " small houndes " wliich were the favourites of the gentle Prioresse so beautifidly depicted by Chaucer ; and like that fair portrait, the present lady seems to have " hadde a fayre forehed — almost a spanne brode, I trowe." The foul- sons represented below the effigy of the Judge arc uniformly attired in long go-\\Tis, bound round the middle with gu'dles, the common dress of youths of the day. The group of daughters present more variety in cos- tume. The first is a nim, who, in consequence of her profession, if living at her father's decease would have been deemed in law to have suffered a civil death, and consequently would not have been a coheir to his estates. The next two daughters are, in point of di'ess and appearance (excepting the mantle), the counterparts of their mother: their attii'e, being hke hers matronly, shews that they were the two married daughters, Catherine Langley and Ann Dorwood. The remaining daughters are represented with long hair streaming down tlieir backs, as maidens are usually represented in sepulchral brasses. To make up the number, tluee must be supposed to have died in the lifetime of their father; and it will be observed that three of the chilch'en in the female group ai"e j)laced in the back ground ; these may be considered as representing the deceased daughters. There were originally four shields u[)()n the brass, of which but two now exist. Two were at the head of the stone: of these one remains, which is charged with t1i(> following armorial bearings ; a chevron between three cross crossletts. The others were at the feet, and the one which has not been removed is f;harged with Quarterly, first and fourth [argent], on a bend [sable] tliree lozenges [of the first], each charged with a saltirc [gules] : second and tliird ... a bend engrailed . . . between two goats' heads erased . . ., impaling the coat before described ; whi( h ai-e the arms of Sir Thomas Urswyk and his lady." ' Mrs. Oghornc, in tho portion of tlir Iiistory of Essex publislicd t)y her (p. 58), describes tlie arms of the feninie in tliis coat as Sable, a clievron between tliree crossletts argent, and attributes it to the name of Southworth : she suggests also that the second coat quartered with the arms of Urswyk may be liadcliff'c. No authority being given for either appropriation, or any evidence tiial I.ady Drswyk's name was originally SoutliHorth, it is probable that these names were luerely taken from Ldniondson's, or some other Ordinary of Anns. SIR THOMAS URSWYK. 107 The inscription on a ledge of brass, surrounding the tomb, has been entirely removed. From Weever ' it would appear that a fragment remained in his day ; which he gives as follows: — ?^ere Ii'ftfi S>ir Stomas (Blrstot'rfic, Bnigfit, HUcorlJct of Uonlion, tofto tiitti Supposing Weever to be con'ect, it is difficult to account for the inscription omitting to notice the higher preferment wliich Ursvryk held at the time of his decease. This scanty memoir is all that we can collect of the acts of Sir Thomas Urs'wyk. It would have been more pleasing if any deed of charity, atoning in some measure for the recorded treachery to his liege sovereign, had reached our days. Deprived of this, we have furnished all that we find of him ; and if that little is imfavourable, it is to be regretted. Still, brief as it is, a lesson may be learned from the lustory of a man, doubtless possessing talent and learning, rais- ing himself to stations of distinction, enjoying his acquirements for a few years, his wealth and possessions passing away, and in the next generation his name clean put out. ' Funeral Monuments, p. 601. E. I. C. London. cm to til iiuuuhuufucvat brtTfuvff iiiuuue. Q\m [fDiUt\m\ urtvuR mu kn\m tcfiit QUO iifuio \m\if< fvtit\t fvupluiY lirtiitovini)?. liu rlt iillti luut i?. rum t^co i1t ».^luittcl)iv^ir^ ifsijiditz^duo^iaoiia'aUouc C, Hiillmajidpl a Liilir'.i>r«,ph-y DR. HAWFORD. Si quid sane ^ nostris Christianae charitalis inodum votumque non custodientibus odiose et peiniciose patimini, noii esse illos nostros cito dixeratn, sed aut luturos si se correxerint, aut in fine separandos si in malitia perdurarint : nos tamen nee propter pisces malos retia rumpimus, nee propter vasa in contumeliam facta domum niagnam dcserimus. Quod si vos quoque illos a quibus talia catliolica patitur non esse vestros eadem regula dicitis, probate animum vestrum, corrigite crrorem, aniplcctiniini unitatem Spiritus in vinculo pacis. Nam si nee vos illi contaminant, nee nos isti, non nobis invicem alienis criminibus calumniemiir: in una cbaritate frumenta crescamus simul; usque ad ventilabruni paleani toleremus. — S. Augustin, de Uuilate Eccksite adv. Donalistas, lib. i. Of the supposed' subject of this Brass, Edward Ha^vford, Doctor in Divinity, who was Master of Clmst's College during the &st half of the reign of Elizabeth, fi-om A. D. 1559 to 1581, little is known that could enable us to pourtray his individual and personal character. But the miiform complexion of the acts to which his name stands attached in an age of extraordmary religious excitement, leaves us in no doubt as to the class of divines to wliich he shoidd be referred, or as to the principles that directed his public conduct. Commencing his period of authority at the time when the Reformation was finally established in the University, we find him, in ' We say "supposed," because it is by no means certain that the effigy is that of Dr. Ilawford, though the College tradition assigns it to him, and the legend which is placed at his feet contains his epitaph. But tliat tradition may have arisen from the supposition that the separate pieces — for they are disunited, thougli near each other — belonged originally to the same brass ; whereas their relative position may have been the result of accident or convenience. Still, as the person to whom it is commonly attributed is one whose character possesses some academical interest, — and if it do not represent him, it is impossible to say whom it does, — it has been thought right to give some account of him; more especially as the effigy, though plain, is curious both for its attitude and vestments. The hands thus uplifted represent the figure in the act of repeating the Lord's Prayer: and this, which may appear at first sight unlikely in the case of a Priest after the Keformation, tends on the other hand to confirm the appropriation of the brass to Dr. Hawford, who laboured (as we shall see) under an imputation of favouring the more ancient practices of devotion. no DR. HAWFORD. conjunction witli the illustrious "\Miitgift and others, strenuously endeavouring to check the torrent of ecclesiastical disaflfection, which under the Pui'itan leaders was then acquiring fearfid strength in Cambridge, as elsewhere; and which, in the generation that followed his decease, attained an ascendancy that Avas fatal for a wliile to oiu" Church and monarchy. The name of Dr. HaAvford as Vice-ChanccUor appears at the head of the signatm-es to a letter to Cecil the Chancellor, dated January 18, 1563, requestmg royal sanction to an enactment that the Heads of Houses might have the yearly nomination of two " ancient and fit men," from whom the Eegent Masters should elect the Vice-Chancellor, with similar regulations for the annual election of Proctors and Taxors. The want of such a regulation, which had been in force ui Queen ]\Iary's time, had appeared in the tmnultuous combination of the younger Regents to overpower tlieir superiors, and place factious persons in the posts of liighest authority ; in which, to use the quaint but expressive words of the letter, "there had of late manifestly appeared not only ambition in seeking the Vice- Chancellorship, and a kno-\vn and confessed faction about it, but also bitter con- tention and displeasure, rising of importune' and untimely labouring ; which things in such a place sorely blemished the Gospel, and the preaching thereof." The next conspicuous notice of Dr. Hawford is in 1570, in the tumults con- sequent on the proceedings of Thomas Cartwright, fellow of Trinity College, Avho, in his theological prelections as Lady Margaret's reader, zealously inculcated on the youth of the University the absolute unlawfulness of the prelatical govern- ment, as well as the liturgical offices, of the Chiu'ch, and the boimden duty of replacing tliis asserted antichristian polity by one in which all ministers were equal. This man's s]ieculations, now known to the Avorld almost entirely through the immortal reply of Hooker, met with an able opponent on the spot in Dr. Wliitgift, then INIaster of his College ; who, however, vainly challenged the Puritan lecturer to a fair public cUsputation on th(> points lie called in question. The statutes by which this disorder was at Icngtli successfully suppressed had l)een procured to meet this evil by himself and Hawford, and other leading men of the University : and in proportion to the success of these new statutes Avas the acrimonious resentment of tlae anti-episco]ial party against all that were concerned in framing them. Among the most \irul(iit of tlie opponents was I'iilward Dering, felli)\\ of ('hrist's College, wlio, in a lett(>r to the Chancellor, of iSovcrnbcr 18, 1570, bitterly inveighs against tlie Heads concerned, placing in the forenujst rank of offenders his own Master, witli Dr. Porsse, Master of Peter- house, Dr. Caius, the second founder and tlieu Master of Uonville and Caius DK. IIAWIORD. Ill College, Dr. Harvey of Trmity Hall, and Dr. Itliol of Jesus. Of tlicse he says plainly, that " they are al ithcr enemies luito God's Gospel, or so faint professors, that they do littel good in the Churche. I wUl not touch them now with private fawtes, but I do know so manie, as yf yow fear God, it would greevc yow to se sutche masters of coUedges. If D. Harvie have scarce chosen one Protestante to be Felow these twelve years : if D. Pearsse keepe sutche Curates as flee away beyond the seas: yf D. IlaAvford could not be brought to take away nether Popishe bookes nor garmentes without great importunity ; and in the end, al tin- best and ritchest he hath conveied none of the Felowes know whether : yf greater crimes than tliese are as easie to be scene in them as thcr open doings are easie to be knowen, I trust your honour will not alow of sutche accusers against a true preacher. D. May, and D. Chaderton, two other of the lieads, ther is smalle constancie ether in ther life or in ther religion. I am sorie. Sir William CecUl, that yow cannot see ; the Lordc sonde yow clecrc cics, that yow once delight in the bewtie of his temple. Yf yow bcleeve not sutche men sparinglie, yow wil in the ende be deceavyd grcatlie. D. Whitgifte is a man whom I ha\e loA^yd, but yet he is a man, and God hathe suifred him to faU into groatc infirmities. So froAvarde a minde against Mr. Cartwright, and other suche, bewrayeth a con- science that is ful of sicknes. His affections ruled him, and not his learninge, when he framed his cogitations to get mo statutes." Considering the mass of contentiousness and uncharitableness which the impugned statutes were the means of remo\ing from the University, the sympatliies of this -wi-iter are so evident as almost to preclude the necessity of vincUcatmg these venerable persons from his aspersions. That Dr. Ha-\vford, after striving vainly against the Pm-itan fellows of his society to preserve the decent accompaniments of divine worship, should convey these, with other reUcs possibly of a former age, beyond the reach of their Vandalic fanaticism, will not appear wonderful or censurable : and it is no bad presumption for the irreproachable cor- rectness of his Life and manners, that an accuser of such a spirit can do no more than msinuate, without sjiecify'ing, " greater crimes" than tliis. Two years after, in 1572, we find Dr. Plawford, when deputy for the '\^icc- Chancellor (Dr. Kelk of Magdalen, who was absent) successfully resisting a bold attempt of the Puritan party in Cambridge, to set aside; tlie operation of the statutes by the alleged authority of the Chancellor. In tlic appointment of Barnaby lecturers, (whose office was not then a sinecure, but possessing considerable influence over the stutUes of the Uni\-crsity,) it was the object of tlie party to overpower the voice of the heads by the adthtion of others tlirougli whom they might secure a majority. The two Proctors, who were in that interest, went q2 112 DR. HAWFORD. up to London to effect this, if possible, with the Chancellor ; and ha\ang been well re- ceived, without waiting for the decision of the Bishops to whom Burleigh referred the matter, they returned to Cambridge on the eve of the nomination, and assvu-ed the dejiuty Vice-Chancellor, that it was the Lord Burleigh's jileasure that the Heads should not elect in the manner prescribed by the statutes, AAithout calling in the Presidents of those Colleges from which the Masters were absent. After this, to use the words of Strj-pe — " Dr. Hawford asked them if they had any letter from the said lord to him, to testify this that they said. To tliis they answered that he had such business that he could not write. Then said Dr. Hawford to them, that their bare assertion was not sufficient warrant for liim to break a statute. They said again, that they ought to be credited therein, because they were public persons : and ui fine they told him, that if he Avould not call in the Presidents, they woidd do notliing in the congregation of the next day." Agreeably to this threat, at the congregation of the morrow, the senior Proctor, Mr. Beacon, after declaring to the Eegents and Non-regents tlie " pleasure of Lord Burleigh," that the additional electors should be called in, denounced as nidi the previous nomi- nation made by the Heads: and w^hen called by Dr. Hawford, as deputy Vice-Chancellor, to the scrutiny for the election of those who had been regidarly nominated, he publicly refused ; whereupon the congregation was dissolved without election made. This attempt of a professedly liberal party to override by mere arbitrary power the operation of a standing law will strike many as not without parallel instances in other times: but the instruction as to the temper of the faction is not complete, unless we add that tlie Chancellor disavowed what Mr. Beacon had declared in his name, and directed the Vice-Chancellor by public letters to inquire into this act of the Proctor. The only otlier proceedings of moment in w-hich the name of Dr. Hawford occui's are two censures of factious teachers in the University. The former of these instances is in 1572, when he was associated with Dr. Byng, the Vice- Chancellor, and nine other heads, in the exjiidsion of one Chark, fcUoAV of Peterhouse, for asserting broadly in a sermon at St. Mary's, after much note of preparation, that Bishops, Aix-hbishops, and Metropolitans, were introduced into the Cliurch by Satan, and refusing to retract the assertion diuing the seven Aveeks that Avere given him for reconsideration. The other case is tliat of a Puritan fciloAV of St. Jolm's, namffl Cork, avIio Avas reproA-ed publicly in l.'u-') by "\Mutgift, as Vice-Cliancellor, l)y. Hawford, and Dr. Goad, for having taken tlu> opportunity of a lecture on the I'ipistle to the HebrcAVS to make defamatory reflections on his master, Dr. Still. Still, who afterAvards succeeded Whitgift at Trinity, when DR. IIAWFORD. 113 the latter was elevated to the See of Worcester, liad like him incurred the dishke of tlie anti-ecclesiastical faction, hy maintaining the ancient discipHne, and enforcing the obnoxious statutes. The foUowing inscription over the mortal remains of Dr. llawford, if it fail to add materially to our knowledge of his character, is at least a good testimony on the part of his College to his faithful stewardship of their property : Cui tola quoiidaiii fucrat hoec cura? domus Eum sepultmn parva pars domus tegit : Quo nemo prsses extitit frugalior. Haufohdus hie est: ossa sunt: is cum Deo est. Obiit Feb. 14°. anno 1582, post 24 annorum moderationem. The effect of such masters as Hawford on the state of affairs in Cambridge, may be estimated from a very significant contrast observable in the period that im- mediately followed his decease. Under the then Heads of Houses, influenced by Fulke and AVhitakcr, and yet including some of those " faint professors" and of " small con- stancie," as Bering calls them, wlio, while under the guidance of Whitgift and Hawford, had acted as we have seen, it is no longer the Puritan assailant of the Church that is called to account for his sentiments publicly expressed at St. Maiy's and elsewhere, but the vmdicator of ancient principles against Puritanism. We find Barret in 1595, and soon afterwards a more important person, the Margaret Professor, Dr. Peter Baro, subjected severally to harsh inquisitorial proceedings, which even such men as Andrewes and Overall were unable to avert, and which only the Archbishop's authority prevented from terminating in deposition, for no other crime than that of not yiekUng implicit subjection to the Calvinian definitions and standards of doctruie, and maintaining, in accordance with the same authority that set forth the Ai-ticles, the concurrent judgment of the Fathers and ancient Doctors as of greater weight than that of the modern systematists. And Avhile hostile measures were adopted towards ch\-incs of this character, the men who hke Covell re- peated the offence of Cartwright and Chark, by virulently assaihng the orders of the Church in lectures or sermons at St. Mary's, found no academical authority to repress, or even rebuke, their violation of duty. The issue in the reigns that followed is painfully instructive. May we be enabled to know the Church's real friends, and to preserve in this our ancient scat of learning the genuine Anghcan testimony to prinutive Catholic truth. A^'. 11. M. Trinity Cotiege. DESCRIPTION OF THE VIGNETTE. The Vignette on the opposite page represents the Decorated East Window of the chui-ch of SS. Peter and Paid, Fcnstantou, Himtingdoushire, In the seven 5e/J^fo^ated lights the architect may be understood to have symboUsed the seveti gi'aces of the Spirit. The traceiy consists of a circle, the emblem of eternity, containing two inter- lacmg equilateral triangles, the well-known symbols of the Holy Trinity. Eacli of these triangles contains a circle composed of six foils, referring to the six attributes — blessing and honour, glory and power, wisdom and majesty; and three trefoHs, which again refer to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity : as the six attributes are a second time represented in the six foils which lie round the interior of the ch'cumference of the large cuxle. Finally, the work of each Person of the Blessed Trinity, in the regeneration of man, is twice represented in the three eightfoils, which occur twice between the traceiy and lights, the number eight being, from the time of S. Ambrose do\\aiwards, the symbol of regeneration. It may be proper to add, that it is the intention of the Cambridge Camden Society to restore this beautiful "Window, wliich is at present mutilated and blocked. The expense will be considerable, because the upper part has been destroyed by the lowering of the roof of the Chancel. (See ' A Few Words to Churchwardens,' p. 10.) But it is hoped that a sufficient sum will be raised to remove the present cieling, and throw open the whole window. FA Falsjdil TJiUjrlinslitli > . f lU^ litk" u> Ihe Qpcm i'" m^moig^j Mijjypsmiiu Mnpnitu mg mm Mo? epiiair m ^vt^fl gigo ^itioc |:^ : J5 1 "^ Yea 11-5=? pi I Q aifiuu^ inMilu'i?) ?}mio ftatmm anllimo msr ^fDtiiak\c[mio iinmo iiiiovmu (M\m uh" \m jm ^mig juiiv^ 3 iM mi^ 'mm iilat" ?mi^rap ojuXmm*^ I '^ i mM M M W^ loS^ atae M m yvm ^ ot. Drag_j# ws^ V(®^ J JOHN TAME, Esquire, 1500. S. MARY, FAIRFORD, GLOUCESTERSHIUE. Si commondatur Domino qui Ecdificavit synagogam, quanto est commendatior qui tcdificavit ecclesiam ? Et si is merctur gratiam qui inipietatis receptaculum pra^stitit, quanto majorcm meretur gratiam qui religioni doniicilium pra'paravit? Et si ille calesti misericordia visitatur qui construxit locum ubi Christus semper negatur, quanto magis visitandus est qui fabricari fecit tabernaculum ubi Cliristus quotidie prtedicatur? De fratribus vero nostris Sanctis viris Vitaliano et Majano quid dicara? Scio illos gloriam ab iioniinibus nou quserere, nisi a solo Deo, sed tamen laudem eorum etsi ego taceam ipsa opera loquuntur. S. Ambuosii Sermo lxxxix., De Dcdicatione Basilicce. {Op- '21G. G.) Ix leading the gentle reader through our monumental picture gallery, we have been guided by our wapvard fancy rather than by any fixed order of exhibition. Despisuig alike chronology and classification, we have stopped before any strildng portrait, be it of lady, knight, or j)riest, and have woven from scattered materials our simple memoir- of its subject, for good or ill. And it may b(! we have by this desultory method given a more graphic picture of oiu- heroes and their times, than had we followed a more regular aiTangement. By drawing out into high reUef, as it were, a single figure from the tapestry of history, and grouping around it its varied conditions and compUcated relations, Ave have secured the nWdness and rcahty of scidpture in place of the shadowy stillness of a mere delineation. In strict analogy with wliich process, we have further not scrupled to give greater prommence to the effigies themselves in our engravings, than their originals would strictly allow. Viewed as works of art alone, monumental brasses demand our admiration, more for the fidehty of theii' representations and for the 116 JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. ^ictol•y achieATd in tliem over a most stubborn and untoward material, than for any intrinsic beauty of design or execution. Doubtless the comparative wortb- lessness of modem attempts' at imitation of this class of sepulchral memorials raises our admiration of those skilful artists who could give, c^en in the harsh brass, many proofs of gracefid taste and delicac}' of workmansliip. Still the greatest admu'er of theii" works cannot but confess, that -s^'ith an unjielding sheet of metal as the material, and a graver's tool as the only instrument, it would be impossible for any to gi\"e more than an outline (though, we allow, a most true and faitlifid outHnc) of the subject represented. In a work then such as oui-s, which professes chiefly to illustrate the costumes of past times, it seems natural if not necessary, to give, by shading or other means, those embellishments to our portraits which we may be sure theii' artists would have secm'cd to them if they could. Adhering closely to the transmitted outhne, and merely adding the graces of light and shade, we seem, so far from doing injustice to our pattern, to be can-jing out with our superior ad\'antagcs the wishes of the original designers. For it is most observable, that the very earliest brasses show an attempt at shading, though necessarily of a most coarse character; consisting indeed merely of crossed Imes. But we have thus the best authority for shatUng as a principle, and may feel assured that the effigies we present are more vivid representations of their artist's ideal than the natiu'e of his materials ever allo^^■ed Mm to pourtray. So far incompatible indeed was shading found to be witli brass as a material, that the later specimens, wliich are generally elaborately shaded, (such for example as those in Llanrwst church,) are so deficient in energy and life, as to be no less insipid to the ordinary obser^•er than worthless to the man of taste. Tlie subject of our ])n>scnt memou- is recommended to us, as well by the beautv and perfect preservation of his monument, as by the ])iety of his cliaracter and the interesting nature of tlie discussions to wliicli liis liistory will give rise. He was one of tlio-.c piiiicely mercliants of England wlio did so much for the prosperity of thi ir c:ountry ; and he li\cd ui times when nu-n thought it their first duty to consecrate a great part of then- acquired wealth to Hiiu WIio gave it them. Many are the beautiful cliunlics tliiougli our land wliicli were raised ' One exception to tliis slatfiiuiit oiiglit to bo made. A beautiful siiecinien of modern art, in tliis brancii of sepulcliral memorials, has recently been executed by Messrs. llardmaii and llifFes, of Birmingham, from the design of Mr. Piigin, in memory of a truly venerable clergyman, the Reverend S. Ilopkinson, late Vicar of Haeconby, in Lincolnshire. This very fine and correct Brass will shortly be ))laced in tlie Chancel of Haeconby church, by William Ho])lvinsoa, Esquire, of Stamford. JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. 117 by successful merchants as tokens of tlu'ir gratitude. "NMiu will forget the pious Canning, builder of S. Mary Redcliffe; or Keble, who built S. Mary Aldermary; or Curteys, who built Wymington ; or oiu- o\vn Tame, who built Fairford"? And we might tell of other names, of John Norbnry, and John Ilende;' of John Taverner, of Hidl, who was so rich as to build a " carrack like those of Gene- way," and of many others ; and above all, " now thinke I on the sonne Of marchandy, llichard of Whitingdon, That load sterre and chicfe chosen Houre."' All countries indeed can boast of their munificent merchants. Florence tells of Falco Portinaii and the illustrious Medicis; Genoa of the Lomelini; Padua of Scrovigno ; aiul France of the famous Jaques Ic Coem-. But it was England alone which had cause to boast of a body of merchants, unequalled throughout the world for integrity, generosity, and faith. Very few particidars are recorded of the life of the Englisli merchant now before us: whether he was one of the "Brotherhode of S. Thomas Bccket," or u merchant adventurer, or of the company of the Staple, we cannot tell ; though the fact of his having origuially com(> from Gloucestershire, a wool-working dis- trict, and ha\ing at the close of liis life bought land in the same county, and encoiu-aged tluit branch of trade, seems to inclme us to the latter opinion. It would be extremely interesting were we able to trace the life of a great merchant of this period: Tame liimself might probably have been one of the first English merchants who traded to Italy in 1485, when Laurentio Strozzi was made English Consul at Pisa."* But we are compelled to forego these engaging speculations, and to state what little is actually recorded. " Tame, of Fayiford, up by Crekelade, came out of the house of Tame of Stowel," says Leland:^ and again, "The elder house of the Tames is at Stowell, by Northlechc in Glouc.shire." Jolm Tame was a merchant of London, and accorcUng to Bigland,^ he served the office of sheriff in that city. But this asser- tion has not been verified. In 1492, soon after the siege of Bulloigne,' which took place in 1491, (7 Hen. VII.) Tame captured a vessel bound for Rome from the LoAv Countries. He was, we may presume, sailing under letters of marque ; a practice wliich though authorized, nay encouraged, seems scarcely defensible on the principles of justice. But at this early period we must be backward to try a large class of actions by the same rules as we should apply to ourselves. International law was then but little understood; and indeed, without a formal * Rymer, vm. 488. ^ "The policie of keeping the sea." Hakluyt, fol. 19.5. * Rymer, xii. 261. '- Itin. vi. 18. "• Collections, p. 568. ' Hollnshed, ii. 775. H 118 JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. treaty of peace, it seemed as if the natural state of things were war. We have bnt little idea of the perils which at tliat time attended a sea vojage ; whether from privateers, or the sudden change of pohtical relations, or the Algerine corsairs, who had already begun that system of jiiracy which Bai'barossa was so soon to extend to a nearly incretUble amount. A\ hen a sailor returned safe home fi-om such nudtiplied dangers, we cannot wonder that his first impidse w'as to build his votive chapel to " Our Ladye of Deli\ crance," to whose aid he piously, though erringl}, attributed his preservation. Grateful monuments Hke these are now never heard of; but the spirit which dictated them is a characteristic of the age of which we now are speaking, and formed a moving principle in each man's life. " See again that ancient chapel, on the brow of the wild and dangerous coast, where scarcely a blade of grass is found to grow. Beaten with the winds, the rain, and the waves, it stands soHtary between the sea, the earth, and heaven. Its origin is unkno^\^l. INlonument of the piety of ages of faith, it attests some secret of providence, or some mystery of grace.'"* But to return to our captured vessel: it was freighted with a beautiful set of twenty-eight stained-glass windows, intended (as the story goes) for a present to the Pope. Tame brought the glass, and the workmen who were accompanymg it, to England: and it would seem that this was his last voyage, since avc find liiiii now retm-nuig to his native county, and studying how to make the best use of the costly treasiu'e he had obtamed. But he did not take long to deliberate : he cUd not resolve to build a cloister near his house to contain it, or in any way to spend it on himself, but he commenced in the vciy next year rebuilding his parish-church of Fairford. on a plan of costly magnificence, suited to the beautiful windows whicli he intended thus to consecrate to God. It is not easy to determine the exact time at \\hi(li tlie manor of Fairford came into his possession ; not even whether it was before or after his last cruise. He bouglit it, we find, fi-on; King Henry VII., to whom it had been conveyed by fine from Anne, widow of Richard Ne\il, the great Earl of M'arwick, (;3 Hen. VII.) who had inherited it from her brother, Henry Beauchamj), Duke of Warwick. The manor of Rendcombe he oljtained l)y grant from tlie Crown, to whicli it liad reverted after the attainder oC tlic Earl of AN'arwick. It is also recorded, tliat in 13 Hen. MT.. .Tolm and Ecbnond Tame le\ie(I a tine of land in llatherop, an adjacent village. .lohn Tame married Alice Tuynilioe, whose eiiigy also ai)])ears on the monument, and died in the year 1500 (1.3 Hen. VII.), seised of Fairford and Kendcombe. ' Mores Catliolici, lib. in. JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. 119 We shall delbr as yet speaking of the monument erected to him, or of the more noble monument which he had himself founded, the church in ■which he lies. He did not live to witness tlu> completion of the building: but his son and successor Edmund, afterwards knighted, was no less able than willing to accom- plish his father's designs. Sir Edmund Tame not only finished the chur(-h of S. Mary, Fairford, but lie built two others; one at llendcombe, liis other paternal manor, and another at Barnsley, a village half-way between the two places." Here also he built an inn for his accommodation on the continual journies to and fi"o while his churches were builduig: for this pious man did not scorn the personal superintendence of the erection of houses of prayer. And rightly did he judge, that to share this work was one of the greatest pri\ileges we can have, — a Avork in which kings and jiiiests and nobles have ere tliis laboured with their hands, and have thought this toU. their greatest praise. In the words of the Homily of the place and time of Prayer, " our godly predecessors, and the ancient fathers of the primiti\c Chiuxh, spared not their goods to build churches; no, they spared not to venture their lives in time of persecution, and to hazard their blood, that they might assemble themsehes together in churches." It appears that Sir Edmund also built the George Inn at Fairibrd, and the Swan at Cirencester, probably to encourage the resort of traders to these marts, and so to benefit the neighbourhood. Indeed, as to honour God seems to have been the fii'st object of this pious family, so to do good to their neighbours seems to have been the next. They so fostered the trade of Fairford,' that it is reported to have rivalled that of Cirencester; and in the words of Leland,' " Fairford never flourished afore the cumming of the Tames into it." The buUiUng of the churches of Rendcombe and Barnsley, is sometimes attri- buted to a Sir Giles Tame; but no such name occurs in what we find of the family. A ^IS. Visitation in the Harleian MSS. (1543) gives this pedigree: "' Jolui Tame, of Fuirford, in com. Glos. married Allis, d. of Twyniho, and had tico sons, Williapi Tame; and Sic Edm. Tame, Knight; who married Agnes, daughter of Su' Edward Gvcvill, Kt." ' Rudder, pp. 1.00 and 623. ' " Before the comynge of John Tame, when he settled the trade and manufacture of wool and clothing, it (Fairford) never flourished ; but bj' his endeavours and his son Edmund, there was as great a trade drove there as at Cireneester." (MS. Itin. A. Wood, (pioted in " Account of Fairford," 1791.) And in Bigland's Collections we read (p. 569), " .Some think that tiie George Inn, in Fairford, was a chauntrie- house for priests to celebrate for the soules of the Tames Note, that in the oleic house at the west ende of the churche at Cirencester, are in every window therein old coatcs of amies, viz. of the Tames of Fairford, with the impalements of that family. It is an olile house, I)uilt with a great deal of timber, known now by the name of the Swan, in temp. Hen. VIII. i)y Sir E. Tame, who built Fairford churche." (A.Wood's MS. Itin.) "" Itin. ii. 22. r2 120 JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. There is here no recognition of a Giles Tame, and it is not possible that a later descendant conld have built the churches. Eudder (p. 623.) doubts whether Sir Edmund or Sir Giles Tame built them, but inclines to the latter opinion, because the letters E T occur on a window in the south of the Chancel at Rend- combe. His doubt is careless; and his inference from the initials, though acci- dentall}- right, inconclusi\e : since, had it been a Giles, E woidd stiU have stood for Egidius ; in which form also the name woidd ahvays have occurred on any solemn occasion. The probability is, that the notion of a Giles Tame arose from a con- ftision between Edmundus and Egidius, which woidd be very easy in their con- tracted forms. Indeed this is the only way by which we can explain the very inaccm-ate statements which occiu* in the usual lists of the liigh-sherifts of the county. We find fi-om Sir Eobert Atkjms,^ in liis list of sheriffs, IJOo, Edmund Tame Esq.; 1519, Sir Giles Tame; 1523, Sia- Edmond Tame; 1536, Sir Edward Tame; 1541, Sii- Edward Tame. FuUer' assigns to the year 1505 (22 Hen. VII.) an Edw. Tame, arm. This mistake of Edwardus for Edmundus, Atkjiis, as we see above, has corrected. Fuller puts down E(/idius Tame miles for 1519, (12 Hen. VIIL), and Edw. Tame miles for 1523, (16 Hen. YIII.) One rarely finds so strange a confusion as this between three names, which all refer to the same person. It can however be easily cor- rected: Edmund Tame Esquire, served the office in 1505, and again in 1519, Avhen he is d(>scribed as miles. These dates, by the way, are the only clue to the period when he received knighthood. He served for the third and last time in 1523. "Sir Edmund Tame hath a very fair house at llencumbe rark.'"' He seems to have greatly extended his father's property, since we find him, at his death in 1534,° (26 Hen. VIIL), seised of numerous manors; namely, Dowdeswell, which lie liad purchased, and w here he le\ ied a fine in 20 Hen. \TI.; Eastleach Turville, Harnhill. Xympsfield, and Upton in Tetbury.' His first wife was Agnes, daughter of Sir Edward Grevil. It is r(>markable tliat there are two monuments in the cliurch to this knight: one a large brass, on which he is repi'escnted in a tabard between his two wives in manth^s, bearing tlieir respective arms; and the other a smaller mural brass, with tlic tliree figures kneeling at faldstools, and uttering, ' State of Gloucostprshirn, p. 7.5. ' Wortliics, p. 3G7. ' I.olanil, Itin. ii. 25. '' Some mistake exists aijout the ilatu dI' his diatli. His sfcnrid cijitapli states that lie died on Iho 1st of October, 1.533, 26 Henry VIII. I'.Mt that month in 1.533 was the 2,5 Henry VIIL The County historians liave consetjuently corrcctid the ii gciid to 15;H', according to the regnal year. ■> Rudder, i)p. Ill, 133, ITO, 51G, 730. JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. 121 each in separate labels, a sentence (if the beautiful iJraycr, " jesu loudk that MADE us," "and with THY BLOOD US BOUGHT," "FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASS." His second marriage is recorded onlj- on these monuments; tlie lady is mentioned ill tile leyi'iul as Elizabeth, and from the arms we may assign to lier the name of 'I'yriiigham. Edmund Tame, Es(piire, son to the above, succeeded him, and was high-sheriff in 1536 (29 lien. VIll.) and 1541 (3-i Hen. VIII.) Fuller agam mistakes by calling him Edir. and miles. He married Catherine, the daughter of Su- William Dennis, who sui\i\ixl him, and was subsequently married to Su- Walter Buckle. After his death she took a tliii-d husband, Roger Lygon, Esquire. Edmund Tam(% Esquire, died without issue, leaving three sisters co-heiresses : Margaret, married to Sir Humphrey Stafford ; j.ilice, married to Sir Thomas Varney ; and Isabel, the wife of Lewis Watldn, Esq.'^ The manor of Fairford passed from his widow through several holders into the famUy of the Barkers, who have since taken the name of RajTnond-Barker, and have been great benefactors to the church and parish. Lcland had foreseen the speedy extinction of the Tame family. In a passage quoted above" he goes on to say, " Tame that now is at Fareford hath be maried a xii yere and hath no child. Wherefore be likchhode Sir Hum- phre Stafford sou of old Staford of Northamptonshire is like to have the landes of Tame of Faireforde. For he married his sister; and so the name of the Tames is like sore to decay." And again about the elder branch, " Mr. Home of Oxfordshu-e, dweUing by Langeley, hath maried this Tame's daughter and heir, and shaul have by her a 80 li Lande by the yere." Having given tliis slight sketch of this church-builchng flxmily, it will be appropriate briefly to describe the church itself, and the windows for which it is so justly famous. Contrived piu-jiosely for the reception of the glass, the plan is necessaiily somewhat cramped; and the comparatively late date of the buikUng does not allow us to gi\e it any great architectural praise. The chui'ch consists of a Chancel, Na^e, a Tower between them, and two Aisles, which extend ^\'ithout any external break to about half the length of the Cliancel. This arrangement, necessary to secure the required number of mndoAvs, somewhat injures the effect of the exterior, and makes the distinction between Chancel and Nave less marked than might have been wished. The entire length is a himdred and twenty-five feet, and the breadtli is fifty-five feet. The moidd- ings throughout the church are by no means rich: tlu; sedilia, three in number, « Atkyns, p. iSl. ^ Itin. vi. 18, 122 JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. ai-e plain to ugliness; and the piscinse are remarkable for their extreme small- ness and entii-e fi-eedom from decoration. To make up for this, however, the fittings of the chiu'ch are of the most beautiful and costly character. The Chancel is friiTushed A\'ith fourteen elaborate misereres, and a Rood-screen, and lateral parcloses of exquisite design and m remarkable preservation. The whole floor is paved in chequers of blue and white marble; and the roof of every part is excellently carved wood, Avith good corbels both for the principal and secondary rafters. The position of the Tower, with the Aisles extending beyond it so as to leave its massy piers in disagreeable prominence, considerably spoils the view of the interior; and the original defect has been sadly increased by the erection of an organ gallery at the eastern extremity of the Nave. We may notice here a very * ciuious arrangement of the staircase to the Rood-loft and belfry-tm-ret : it -winds externally round the south-east pier of the lantern. The view of the Nave, mth its fine western -window, its lofty arches and the large clerestory, so beautiful a feature of this style of architecture, is very noble. The Aisles are divided, in a line with the Rood-screen, by two parcloses, and their eastern extremities were formerly chantry chapels ; the steps on which the Altars were raised and their appurtenances yet remaining. By an rmusual arrange- ment the northern chapel or Aisle belongs to the lord of the manor, the Chancel to the impropriator, and the south Chancel-aisle to the vicar. The Tower is the principal feature on the exterior: its plan is square, the edges however being taken off and adorned Avith niches. There is a pierced embattled parapet, with four angular pinnacles. Tliere are four shields on the greater string courses, in bold relief Tliat on the Avestern side is charged with the anns of Tame (Avhich avc shall afterAvards describe), the founder; that on the north bears Quarterly, first atid fourth, a bend; second and t/rird, a fret. On the south is Chech/, a chevron; and on the east Three chevronels for Clare, Earl of Gloucester, avIu) at one time held the manor. There is an I'laborate south-Avestern porch, Avith a parvise over it. This has been since thrown open to tlic church, and is furnished Avith a projecting gallery, Avhich serves as a pew. It is obvious that the limited nature of our ])aper Avill not alloAv of a minute dcscriptif)u of the; beiiutirul Glass itself It lias been treated of in a quarto pampldet, published in 17!)], wliidi bears the title of "An Account of Fairford." This is now somewhat scarce, and is not of great value; thoiigh it does not perliaps deserve so disparaging u notice as Avas given to it in the contemporary Moiillily RcAicAv. JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. 123 However, it has broii tliouglit well to reprint a very curious document, which would seem to be coeval with the erection of tlu> clnucli, and wliich gives a very fair account of tlie general subjects of the imhiting. It will !)(• read by many with much interest, as showing how much information these ' storied windows' really can convey; and particularly inasmuch as it presimies a much greater knowledge of Scripture history than our ])rejudices would have led us to expect to find at so early a period. The roll is copied exactly from Hearne's edition of Eopcr's Life of Sir Thomas More; and the account of the way in which he obtained it, and the arguments for its authenticity, have been given in his own Avords from his prefatory remarks. " I had often heard," he says, " this Glass mention'd in common Discourse, especially w^hen I have been talking Avith learned and curiovis Men, Avho gene- rally agreed tliat it Avas the fuicst of it's kind they had seen in England. This CTiaracter raised my Curiosity, and I immediately resolv'd to vicAv it my self; Avhich indeed I did Avith that unusual Satisfaction, that I staid at the Place tAvo Days for no otlicr cud Init (o examine every thmg distinctly. The ingenious Mr. John ^lurray of London (a Gentleman to Avhom I am oblig'd upon several other Accounts) Avas pleas'd some time agoc to offer me freely and vohmtarily, AAithout nry asking for it, a Copy of a MS. Description of the Windows in this Church, Avhich he had procur'd in his Travels into these Parts, as he makes it his Business to pick up many other Things of the same kind. I very readily accepted of liis Idnd Offer, and haAing transcrib'd it, I took it Avith me to Fau-ford, and found it to agree very exactly in aU it's Circumstances Avith the Story that was told me by a Person of very great sincerity, and far advanced in Years, Avho sliew'd mc the Chiu'ch, and said, that Avhat he related Avas verbatim the same that Avas contain'd in a Parchment Roll that lay formerly in the Chiuxh, tho' convey'd aAvay since. From hence I gathered that Mr. Murray's Copy (Avhich is in Paper) Avas taken originally fr-om tlu; said Parchment Roll. Avliich it may be had layn in the Church ever since it's first Foundation by John Tame Esq., and liis Son Sir Edmund Tame Knight. Finding tliis Description to be so authentick, I soon resolv'd to make it publick, and accord- ingly I thought it proper to subjoyn it to the present Work, at the same time premising some few Observations of my OAvn: amongst Avhich I have forgot to insert one thing, and that is, that as the Painting of this Glass (avWcIi Avas taken in a Ship by the beforemention'd John Tame Esq., Avho Avas a Merchant, as it was carrying to Rome) is reported to have been design'd by one of the eminentest Masters of Italj-, so the most celebrated Sir Anthony Van D)k oi'teu 124 JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. affirm'd (and no body was a greater Master or Judge in these Affairs) both to King Charles the First and others, that many of the Figiu-es were so exquisitely well done, that they coixld not be exceeded by the best Pencil. This made several cmious, as well as virtuous and religious Persons very sohcitous about the Presers^ation of the Glass in the late Rebellion; and yet after all theii- care some of the best Figures were utterly lost, which is the reason that some Defects (that are filled up -s^ith modern plain Glass) appear in several Places. One of the chief of those that took so much pains to secm-e this Glass, was ■\A"illiam Oldisworth Esq., who is buried in this C'luirch." A Description of flic Painted Glass fVimhics in Fairfurd Church, in the County of Gloucester. (FROM AN OLD MS.) First Window.' — The Serpent tcmiDting of Eve to eat tlic forbidden Fruit. God appears to Closes ill the firy Bush, and commands him to put off his Shoes, for the Ground whereon he stood was holy Ground, he being then keeping his Father in Law Jctkro's Sheep. Then there is .Josuah that succeeded INIoses, and the Angel that guided him to War. There is Gideon's Fleece under Josuah. Next is Sheba a Queen of the South, who came to hear, and try the great Wisdom of King Solomon. 2d. Window.— The Sahitation of Zacharias and his Wife EHzabeth. The Bu'th of .John Baptist. !Mary going to visit her Couzen Elizabeth when she was conceived of her child. Next is Joseph and Mary going to be contracted. There is the Contraction and the Witnesses to the Contract. 3d. AViXDOW. — The Salutation of the Angel Gabriel to our \'irgin Mary when she conceived in her Womb. The Almond Branch bloonu-th in the Flower Pot. The Birth of our Saviour- lying in a Manger. The Oxen feeding in the Stalls, and the Shciih(>rd with his Crook that brought the glad tydeings. The Wise Men that were guided by the Star, came to offer Gifts to our Saviour sitting in his iSIother's Lap, Gold, Myrrh and Frankincense. Here is listening Herod that desired the Wise Men when they found our Saviom- should come and teU him, that he might Avorship him, but God put it into their Hearts, that they went into their otvti Countrcy another way. Next is the Circumcision of our Saviour when he was eight days old, Simeon receiving liini in tlie Teni]iU', the Purification of JIary offering a pair of Tiutle Doves to him in a Cage. 4th. Window. — God warned Joseph to take the young Child and liis Mother to fly into Egypt from the Destruction of Herod. There is the Asse that carryed them. There is likewise Mary with tiie Babe in iier Lap, and Joseph gathering the Fruit from the Tree to feed them in the Wilderness, the branches lieing so high tliat he could not reach, an Angel in the Tree bowed tin m ddun to liim. 'I'hcre is the Destruction of ihc Male Childi-cn. Herod destroyed all the Male ('iiildreii tiiat were two Years old anil under. Tliere is the ' This witidow is the fifth from the west in tliu north of tiie North Aisle. JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. 125 Assumption of our ^'irg^n INIary, and the Antiont of Days over it. There is Joseph an disapproval of their superiors, we probably owe the commencement of the ravages wliicli tlic puritan successors of their principles were more cUsasti'ously to prosecute, will not excite surprise. The gradual growth of puritanism, and the steps taken to repress it, may be seen from a comparison of the injunctions of King Edward VI., in lo47, with those of Queen Elizabeth in 1559. The writer lately quoted* shows how the change of (^x])ression in the two sets is an index to the progress of opinions in the interval of their publication, and among other things as to churcli-oniament, which we are now considering. " Pui'suing the comparison," he says, " we shall find other symptoms of tlie puritan being now in the ascendant. Tlius, according to Edward's commands, images, shrines, pictures, and the like, arc to be destroyed, nor any memory of the same to be left in walls and glass windows. EUzabetli however adds, that ' the walls and glass windows shall be iic\ertheless preserved [or restored],' as though the crusade against all ecclesiastical i>iii;iiii(iits had already begun." The iiijunclion ' continues, "and tlicy shall (aIhiiI all llnir parishioners to do the like, within tlunr several houses." W'c have a curious description left us, which one of these early puritans ^ Strypc, Aiiiials, anno I. '5.39, i. 185. * Blunt's Sketcli, &ti. ]>. 'M9. Bisliup Sparrow's Collection, p. 7i. JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. 129 wote as fact, because lie wislicd it to be fact; unless, percluuic(<, he thought he could deceive posterit)-, by ante-dating in the page of history a state of things wliich he saw approaching, and of which he could not contc^mplate, as we can, the final overthrow and extinction. ^^'illiam Harrison, in his Description of England prefixed to Holinshed's Chronicle," professes to give a picture of the parish- churches of his time. " As for our churches themselves, belles and times of morning and e\ening prayer remaine as in times past, saving that all images, shrines, tabernacles, rood-lofts, and monuments of idolatrie are removed, taken downe, and defoced; onely the stories in glass windows excepted, which for want of sufficient store of new stuffe, and hy reason of extreame charge that should grow by the alteration of the same into white jyanes throughout the realm, are not altogether abolished in most places at once, but by little and little suffered to decaie, that white (/lass may be jrrovided and set up in their roomes. Finally, whereas there was wont to be a great partition betweene the quii-e and the bodie of the churche; now, it is either very small or none at all: and, to say the truth, altogether needless, sith the minister saith his service commonlie in the bodie of the church, ^^ith his face toward the people, in a little tabernacle of wainscot provided for the purpose." Happily our churches never came to this: so far from llood-scrcens being all destroyed, we have many specimens of this Anglican ornament erected after this \vriter's time : and his mercenary statement about stained glass, Faii-ford alone could disprove.' It is not our intention to continue the present investigation, however interest- ing, or to attempt giving any idea of the heartless devastation committed upon stained glass by the puritan faction. They have left us enough to make us more painfully miss what is lost. But it is a curious fact, singidarly illustrative, we think, of our times, that the rage which prevailed a few years since for the toy called the ' kaleidescope', did irreparable injury to such stained glass as remained. One wonders at the childishness almost more than the irreverence of these churcli- destroyers on a small scale. « Folio, 1588, book ii., cap. i., p. 137, col. 2, line 30. ■" The passage above quoted is very curious, botii as showing what we may well take for a fact, that morning and evening prayer were continued after the reformation, which some have of late times denied; and as being a very early mention of that genuine offspring of puritanism, tiie reading- pew, or rather reading-/)!(e. — This opportunity may be taken for the announcement of a pajjcr sliortly to be published by the Cambridge Camden Society upon the subject of Pues. It will give an hi-'torical account of their introduction, and will show the many evils which their use has entailed on the Church. 130 JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. The science of painting on glass may be said to have perished together with several other ecclesiastical ai'ts shortly after the great disunion of the Western Chuich. It had akeady passed tluough several stages, and its perfect develope- ment, as is so often the case, was attended mth considerable loss of some of its more characteristic early beauties. An able sketch of the art may be foimd in the Glossary of .\rcliitecture ;" and the 'Traite Historique de la Pcmture sur verre,' by M. Lenoir,' may be consulted with advantage.' The Fairford glass is in perhaps the thu-d stage of the art, that namely in which comprehensive designs were displayed in a wliole windoAV, (as the Last Judgment in the great west window,} instead of ha\dng single figm-es, each with a distinct canopy, base, and background, in a separate compartment. The windows of Kmg's College Chapel, Cambridge, offer a most beautifid specimen of the same style. In both these instances many of the colours, particularly the blue and the ruby red, arc less brilliant than in earlier examples. The east Avindow of S. Margaret's, Westminster, is a little later in date, but may well be compared with these. Much valuable information about later glass-stainers in England will be found in Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting.* He Avishes to show that the art has never been lost : but if not altogether the art, no one will deny that the spii-it of ancient stained glass Avas gone : ' The first interruption given to it,' he says, ' was by the reformation, which banished the art out of churches ; yet it was in some measure kept up in the escutcheons of the nobility and gentry in the \vindows of their " I. 238. " Moiiumens Fran9ais, i. p. 3G1. ' After the first burst of the French Revolution liad passed, there was an effort made, and that with partial success, to stop the wanton devastation which had been committed : and in this we may see a better trait than was ever exhibited under the cold and heartless blight of our great rebel- lion. '%e citoyen Lenoir," himself a fierce republican, thus writes about S. Denis. " Les mutilations coramises sur les monumens des arts ont ete artreuscs. Je citerai pour cxcmple les destructions exercees avec acharncment dans la ci-devant abbaye de Saint Denis .... Tout y est ravage, malgre les soUicitudes do la Commission des Arts, qui, a plusieurs reprises, y a envoye des eommissaires conscrvateurs . . . . Des pavfcs mosaifjues, executes dans le douzienie siecle, out ete urraches. Ces barbares n'ont-ils pas voulu detruire les vitraux antiques, pour en retirer environ 600 livres de plomb, soi-disant pour faire des balles? Enfii), la faulx du tems qui toujours travaillc, n'aurait pas d6truit pendant vingt siecles, ce que six mois de barbaric ont ])erdu. La Commission des Arts, ^ qui la posterite devra bcaucoup a heureusement port6 sur Ic ciiamp sa main preservatrice sur ces vitraux, les plus aneicns (|U(; nous eonnaissons." — In a note he (|uotos the following passage about the sack of Rome, in 1527, by tlie Constable de Hourbon : "Ma la disgra/.ia del saeeo di Roma porro che fusscro infract! i vetri daili neniici per levarc il pioud)(> da foniiare liaile da mosquetlo.'' lb. p. 370. ' Dallaway's Ed. ii. p. 31. I JOHN TAME, ESQUIIIE. 131 seats." lie hero assigns the tiuo caust' of the tailuiv: it is only wlien an art is consccratod to God that it is successfully practised. Secular jiatronagc has never been sufficient to rous(> that true genius which is to l)e kindled only by higher and holier motives tlian uu-re temporal gain. There were several glass-stamers, of whom ^^'alpole mak(>s much account, of the name of Oliver; and a family named Price furnished many windows in Oxford with stained glass. Bernard and Abraham \'an Linge miglit, perhaps, under a more genial influence, have dis- played a very high excellence ; and the windows by the former in Lincoln's Inn Chapel, are worthy of a bettei- age. Against the mutilation of S. George's, Windsor, and other beautiful buildings, for the insertion of what are well called ' bad transparencies', it is at this day not necessary to exclaim. We have reason to be proud of several artists now, who have caught the spirit of ancient art, and bid fair to aid on by a natural reaction the very ciuTent of Church fecUng A\hich has not only given birth to their efforts, but has taught us to appreciate their woi'th. The noble conduct of the Chapter of Westminster, in encouraging in so princely a manner the revival of the art, demands the greatest gratitude from all its lovers. And there are not a few cathedral and other churches which will soon, by the pious exertions of their guardians, give a field for the greatest exertions. There can be little doubt tliat the artist who most strictly adheres to ancient models, who is content to imitate where he caimot hope to excel, will be recog- nized as the most successful in this dignified emulation. In the mean time, one cannot but deplore the want of a more complete history of the science, and of what would be of the greatest value, a catalogue raisonnee of such stained glass as our churches yet present. There are many artists who would gladly go for tints and di'aperies and devices, were they but duly guided: and there are many unknovpn churches (I mention at random Eaton Socon) which would prove a perfect study to one even far advanced in the art. But we have wandered so far from our hero that we had nearly forgotten to gi\e the promised description of his monument. The brass lies on a fair marl)l{» altar-tomb, north of the Chancel (the most usual burial-place of the founder), under the arch wliich opens into the extended northern Aisle. The lateral parclose before-mentioned forms a Tudor arch, spanning the length of the monument, supported by corbels of angels bearing open books. The length of the slab is six feet nine inches ; the breadth, three feet seven inches ; and the height, three feet six inches. The north and south, tlie longer, sides have each three shields, in circular panels; on both, counting from the east, the shields bear (i.) Twj/nihoe, (u.) Tame, (iii.) Tame impaling Twijnihoe. The west has 132 JOHN TAME, ESQUIRE. Tame. On the horizontal brass, as engraved, the shield over the husband is his o^^^l, " Ai-gent. a cbagon vert, a lion azure cro^Tied gules, combatant." The shields were originally enamelled \\\ colom-s, but few traces remain: the dragon, however, is clearly vert, and his tongue gules. Edmondson gives a coat for Tame of Oxfordsliire. " Or, a dragon vert, a lion rampant azure croA^Tied or, combatant," which is obviously and herakbcaUy wrong. ^luch doubt seems to exist with respect to the wife's arms, and indeed to her family. We cannot find the tinctm-es, and choose Muscoi^y ducks, among several rival names, as the denomi- nation of the bii-ds. It reads, " — a chevron — between thi-ee Muscovy ducks — '. The two ai-ms arc impaled in the shields at the feet of the figures. The legend, which is on the shehing ledge of the slab, and is read from the outside instead of in the usual way, is thus translated: — ii* Pray for the soules of John Tame Esquire and Alice hys wyfe -nhych John decessyd on the eighte daie of the moneth of Maie in the yere of our Lord 1500 and in the yeare of King Henry the seventh 16, and the aforesaide Alice decessyd on the twentieth daie of the month of December in the yere of our Lorde 1471 on whose soules God have mercy. Ffor Jhus love pray for me: I may not pray now: pray ye With a Pater Noster ande an Ave That my paynes relessid may be." The concluding pathetick couplet is repeated, with a slight difference, at the feet of the figures. It is remarkable that the wife should be represented vnth. so ohl u fixcc, since lier deatli preceded her husband's by nearly thirty years. Her di-ess is peculiarly simple and elegant, with the exception of the wired head-ckess, which is of an early and unpleasing form. It now only remains to say, that the accompanying vignette represents the beautiful decorated piscina, sedilia, and magnum siMlile of the church of S. Mary Meyseyhampton, a parish adjacent to Fairford, and interesting both for its fair church and as having had Heylyn for its vicar. The drawing however acquires a yet greater interest from the fact, tliat tliis beautiful architectural ornament has been lately brought to light from a mass of plaister, and that by the same fair hand which has favoured us with thv sketch. 15. \V. Trinity Collegi: K-^^^inliUum Onmiv liif ilarait ct mcumu^;''.s?>^jiSii^^f^:3^2itKuniho ii? borne. hmB imi Vydxmmym^y-m ■^%>-^ 1-^ DR. THOMAS NELOND, TWENTY-SIXTH PRIOR OF S. PANGEAS AT LEWES, AND RECTOR OF COAVFOLD, SUSSEX. " Et foys assavoir a tous !cs Iccteurs de ce petit livret, quo les clioses, que je (lis avoir veues et sceues, sont vraies, et fermement ong les doiveiit croire. Et les austres choses, que je ne tesmoyne que par oir, prenez les en bon sens, s'il vous plaist. Prlant au Dieu, qu'il lui plaise nous donner ce qu'il sceit nous etre necessaire, tant aux corps, que aux flnies .Toinville, Vie de S. Louis, p. 279. Matster Peter Nelond, cytizen of London, and goldsmith, to ye ryghte wurschypfiill Maystcr Johan Brookys, Alderman of ye scide citye, gretynge. Ryghte Wurscliy])full, In min ryghte harti wise I commcnde mee untoe yowe. And where yee wj-lled yat I sholdc sette foorthe soncbie min aventures and oyer passagys of mi travjll yat han bifallen me, ye same, Godde willinge, I shall assaye to doe. But fjrste plesyth yowe to bee enfoormed, yat mi dere broder, Syr Thomas Nelond, late Pi-jor of Seint Pancras atte Lewes, is departyd out of this miserabyll world, of whoos sowlc iliu have merci : ye whiche as liit hath not oonly made me suche pytcfull dole of liartc, as up to jis daye mi -wjtte colde not attaj-ne untoc, so hath hit causyd mee moche paJTae and tra^-jl and no small joumaye hytherward. Yee knowe yat on Seint Marke's eve I dide departe from my poore hows in Powle's, leavJTig ryghte sorweftiUi thi suster, mi bedfelowe, mistrj'S Kate, (to whom of dere love holde mee commended,) and beruag with me certayne pixes, for ye which ye chapter of Bosham ' hadde agreed and covenantid. Item, one salt cellare, ' Bosham is well known to antiquaries as occurring in the Bayeux Tapestry. It was the spot whence Harold set forth on his unfortunate expedition to Normandy ; and lying as it does at the head of Chichester harbour, presented every convenience for embarkation. We V h , tliat when S. Wilfrid first preached the Gospel in Sussex, he found a small convent at Bosenham : the monks of which had made, however, T 134 DR. THOMAS NELOND. marveylous faJTe, all of pure golde, sette abo^yte with clivers grete rubies. Item, one reliquaii-e, fayreli cliacyd, of silver, with theis woordes, Benedictus dmis in oiieribus suis. Item, one grete golde patjii. Item, two faire chalicys. Yat nyghte, I and my prenticys laye at Sheene, wiicr I hadde letterys of commcndacyon from mi broder, nowe w' Godde : and ye nexte daye, after Highe INIasse ended, did the Pryor preche very godli : alsoe, after refection hadde, thd I bringe foorth my warys, ye whyche weren of alle nienne moche admiiyd. And so the next daye to Eyegate, a litel Priorie, where was mervylous grete festyng. Thencefoorth cUde wee passe a veri salvage countrie till atte ye laste upon Holii-ood daye, (praisid therefor bee but small progress in evangelizing that country. The church is in many respects curious : to members of our Society it is particularly interesting, as one of the Anglo-Saxon remains for tlie first time visited and described by us. (The otliers are, Somerford Keynes, Gloucestershire, and S. Botolph's, and Bishopstone, Sussex.) The general character of the church, which consists of Chancel, Nave, two Aisles, Tower at west end, and south porch, is Early English: the east window, noticed by Rickman, is of five lights, and very beautiful. The twelve prebendal stalls still remain, thougli sadly mutilated and hidden by pues : they arc of good Perpendicular character. At the east end of the south Aisle is a small Crypt of the same date wth the church. The tower is a very fine specimen of Anglo-Saxon masonry: the arch into it, now blocked, is of the same character with that figured at p. 3-t of Bloxam's Catechism. The bcU'ry windows have, unfortunately, been modernized; but on the west, north, and south sides of the second stage is a baluster window, which, though blocked, has the " long and short" work distinctly marked in the inside. On the east, just above the weather moulding, is a single circular-headed light, of exactly similar character to these. The height of this tower is forty-two feet, its dimensions seventeen by eighteen ; and it is surmounted by a shingle spire, said to be fifty-four feet high. There is no interior staircase : all the woodwork is astonish- ingly bold and elaborate. Who can reflect with common patience, that in the late repairs (Sept. 1841), this fine s])ire nearly fell a sacrifice to the rage for improvement, and was preserved only because it was less expensive to repair than to demolish ! Having mentioned this Anglo-Saxon remain, it may not be amiss to say a few words on the others which our Society have been the first to describe. Somerford Keynes, GLoucESTKUsiiiKt:, has a door in the north side of the Nave, wliich retains very evident traces of long and sliort work. S. Botolph's, Sussex, is a snudl building, principally of Early English character: tlie Chancel arch may, however, be pronounced Anglo-Saxon, from its corres])oniU'nce with the western arch at Sompting, wiiich is undoubtedly of that date. The Tower has on the south side a few remains, or rather traces of long and sliort work, and the windows, though nmtilated, have, on the north and soutli sides, been baluster. Bisiioi'STONE, Sussex, is an extremely interesting church. It consists of Sanctum Sanctorum, Chan- cel, Nave, north Aisle to the two latter ; south Transept, now used as porch, and Tower at west end. The Anglo-Saxon remains are at the east end of the north aisle, where are some blocked windows of tlie same character with that at VViekliam, Berks, figured in Bloxam's Catechism ; and in the Tower, which has a baluster window on each side, several traces of long and short masonry, and two enormously massy arches into the Nave, one above the other, the upper being twice the thickness of the lower. The vignette at the end of the next article represents the Sanctum Sanctorum ami Cliaiiccl of this Church, looking from the west. Mr. Rickman has observed on the fact, that a very largo proportion of Anglo-Saxon churches begin with till: liUir I!, a remark corroborateil by llnce out of four ye order, adniinistracyouii, provisioun. and husbancMe of ye seidc hows: wliercat ye Prior dide snnlc. And whanne wee weren cum to ye yate of ye priory, there cam foorth to mete Probably, among all the records of tliat fatiJ year, none remains which mori! strikingly sets forth the coldblooded villainy of the church destroyers, than the following letter, addressed to Thomas Lord Cromwell, to whom the king had granted the revenues of this Priory. My Lord, — I luimblie comniende mee to your lordshypp. The last I wrote to your lordsliip was the 20th of this present month, by the hands of Mr. VViilianison : by which 1 advertise your iordsliypp of the length and greatnesse of this church, and sales ( say ?) we had begun to pull the whole doune to the ground ; and what manner and fashion they used in pulling it doune. I told your lordshy])]) of a vault on the right side of the High Altar, yat was borne witii foure pillars, having about it five Chapels, wliiche be compassed in with walls seventy stepys of lengthe, that is, feet two hundred and ten. All tiiis is douiu; Thursday and Friday last. Now we ar a plucking downe an higher vault borne up by four thick and grosse pillars, fourteen feet from side to side, about in circumference forty-five feet. This shall doune for our second work. As it goeth forward, I will advertise your lordshypp i'rom time to time, that your lordshypp may know with how many men we have done this. We brought from London seventeen per- sons, three carpenters, two smiths, two plummers, and one that keepeth the furnace. Every one of these attendeth to his owne office : ten of tliem heweth the walls, about the whiche are the three carpenters. These make props to underset where the others cut away : the others break and cut the walls. These men are exercised much better than other men we find in the countrie. Wherefore we must both have more men and other tilings also that we have need of. All the which I shall witiiin these two or three days shew your lordshypp by word of mouth. A Tuesday they began to cast tiie lead : and it shall be done with such diligence and saving as may be ; so that our trust is that your lordshypp shall be much satisfied with what we do. Unto whom I most humblie commend myself: much desiring God to maintain your health, your honour, your hearts ease. At Lewes, March 24', 1538, (i.e. \5\>9). Your lordshypp's serveant, .lOIIN PORTMARUS. Such was the heartless brutality on which a fashionable historian of the Reformation (M'Crie) thus comments : " But, even although the irregularities committed in that work had been greater than have been represented, I must still reprobate the spirit which disposes some persons to dwell with cease- less lamentations upon those things, which, in the view of an enlightened and liberal mind, will sink and disappear, in the magnitude of the incalculable good which thence arose." The "irregularity" of confiscating £1091, (such was the revenue of the Priory,) dedicated to the service of God in the good of His holy Church, and of beating down the venerable building, where, ] ! C 1^2 DR. THOMAS NELOND. yis place. Wherefore, restying yowi-e lo\inge fiiende, I commende yowe veri hartely to Godde, "Who have yowe in Hys holi kopynge. PETER XELOND. Atte Lewes, ye feste of Seynt Austyn, mccccxxxiii. J. M. N. Downing CoUege, SIE ANDEEW LUTTEELL, IRNHAM CHURCH, LINCOLNSHIRE. " A goodly Knight, all armd in harnesse meete, That from his head no place appeared to his feete." lloOtv av opdwi dp^aifitSa auSpa dya6du jVuivouz'xts, os Jmi/ t£ toOi iauToO iup(uviu oi' dptrnv, kuI ti'iv riAivTt'iv dirrl xijs- TioK Juii/Ttow iTioTiipias liXXa Jaro; AoKtl poi xpnuai Kara (/iiio-iK, oiVirE/) dyuBo's tyiviro, o'utw kuI tvuiViiv auTov. a'yoHds c' lyiuiTo Old to \ivai e'f dyaSuiii. ti]v liyiuiLUV oil/ irpuixoi/ auxou iyKconid^io/xii/. — Plato. • The Brass to which we desire next to call the attention of oixr readers has been selected as a peculiarly valuable and interesting example, not only from its antiquity, its fine state of preservation, and the beauty of its execution, but because we beheve it has hitlierto been so little known to the curious in monumental remains, that the accompanying engraving of it is the fii-st that has been published. Situated in a retired \-illage in the south of Lincolnshire, and externally of impretending appear- ance, the little countiy church in which this noble specimen of ancient art is laid down has perhaps rarely been visited by the dihgent foot of an " Old MortaUty," or by the chance-directed wanderer in search of the hallowed relics of a more devout and reverential age. A closer inspection however will ]irove, that to either of these Irnham church presents abundant objects of interest amid aU the ruin and decay which have now disfigui'ed its fair proportions and laid its ancient glories in the dust. A description of the humblest vUlage church may command a place in ova- department of ecclesiology ; and in the present instance a short account of a building of more than ordinaiy architectural merit shall form at once a preface to and an apology for the somewhat dull biographical details which we have to lay before tlie reader. Nor should we deem our account superfluous, or our task unrewarded, could it lead even to the partial restoration of a chui-ch which, were the saints and heroes of old u2 144 SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. ^vho now sleep w"itliin its sacred walls to rise from the dead, they would fail to recognise as the fair fane where once their hones were laid to rest. The chiu-ch of S. Andrew, Irnham, is a small but remarkably interesting struc- tiu'e, apparently erected about the year 1260, as the geometrical tracery of the windows and some coeval portions of Eaiiy EngUsh character sufficiently indicate. The building consists of a Chancel, Nave, north Aisle, north Chantry (a Perpen- dicular adtUtiou, formmg an Aisle to the Chancel), a north Porch, and a Tower at the west end. The east window, from its peculiar moiddings and tracery, is a cuiious example of the earhest development of Decorated work; but the lower parts of tliis, and of two similar ones in the south wall, have been wantonly blocked with masonry — probably to save the expense of glazing. What they have been may be imagined from some small fi-agments of stained glass which they yet contain, as if a lasting testimony and reproach to the work of the spoiler. The labels seem to have terminated externally in the beautiful, but now almost defaced, de\ice of a ciu'led oak leaf' There are three Early English sediUa, with fohated capitals to the central shafts ; an aumbrye, of later Decorated character, remarkable for being still employed for the reception and custody of the church- plate, according to ancient usage ; and two sepulclii'al monuments, one a triangular trefoliated canopy, under whicli is a plain oblong slab like a stone coffin, probably covering the ashes of the founder;- the other, a most exquisite specimen of art, ' The love that the architects of the thirteenth century had for imitating in stone the vegetable pro- ductions of nature, is very observable, and is highly charactcristick of an age when the wildest valleys and most unfrequented woods were selected as the fittest places for retirement from the world. The foliage of tiie forest and the acts of the blessed Saints were almost the only objects which the eye or the mind could select for representation ; and it will be found accordingly that these furnished almost the sole subjects for architectural onibellisliment towards the close of the Early English style. Nor was the skill and taste displayed in that age in traiisforniiiig rude stone into living clusters of leaves and flowers ever surpassed, if at all etjualled, in later times, as a comparison of tlie Clioirs of Ely and Lincoln Cathedrals with those of any other Church will abundantly prove. ■ This may be inferred from the style and ])osition of the monument. Founders' toml)s are generally towards the east end of the Chancel, undistinguished by either armorial bearings or inscri])tion — as if the only privilege they claimed for the holy work was sepulture in the most sacred part of the church. It is liowever to be ri'niarked, that sucli tombs are almost invariably placed in the nortli or south t'lunicel wall, as if with the intention that the body should lie only partially in llic Chancel, to wliicli sucii sanctity was attached that none but priests were allowed to be buried there. It is not very uncommon to find a stone coffin by or under the Chancel walls, upon making repairs or .Tlt(M'ations near the spot; and there can be little doubt it is in all such cases the founder's tomb. In (Jreatford cliureii, Lincolnshire, there is an ancient Lombardick slab-stone on the floor near tlu' north wall of the Chancel, witli an inscription now illegible, but which is proved to \»- the founder's tomb by tlie almost defaced represeiitatidu (}!' a (•hur(!li rudely carved u])on the surface. — I he above remarks apply chiefly to earlier examjiles. SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. 145 rcpresontcd, tliough somewhat iiupi-rfecth , in our \dgnette, it l)ciug impossible for any drawing on so small a scale exactly to delineate all the elaborate foiiiis and delicate ramifications of its beantifiil tracery-work. 'I'he proportions are eight feet and a luxlf in height by seven and a half in width, and it projects at present from the wall abont two feet. It is clear however, both from its present appc^arance and from a description given of it on the authority of Gervase Hollos, in 1790,' that a great part of this fine fabric has been intercepted by the masonry wliicli blocks up tlie Chantry arcli under which it stands on the north side of tlie Chancel. The monument consists of three arched and recessed compartments, between pin- nacled buttresses, the fini;ils of which merge in a projecting embattled cornice of nich-hcads, and alternate with those of three triangular canopies which rise behind as many others of a projecting ogee form, and surmount the arched com- partments. The whole space from the croA\Tis of the latter to the cornice is one luxiu'iant confusion of crockets, finials, and exquisitely carved open work, in tlie form of foliage of various devices and composition, such as oak leaves and acorns, roses, &c. The roof under the recessed compartments, and the inside of the projecting canojiies, is finely groined ; and upon two of the finials surmounting the latter are diminutive figures of the Saviour on the Cross, and the Blessed Virgin and Child. The sides or ends are filled up with opcm work, representing a rose-tree creeping and intertwining amongst trellis-work. Below the arched recesses the workmanship is of a much plainer character, and the basement appears, from some mutilations upon it, not shewn in the engraving, to have been stripped of its exterior ornaments. To whom this monument Avas erected wc have been unable to ascertain ; but it is evident, from the arms upon it, that it belongs to one of the LuttreU family; and from the style, which is Deco- rated, it should seem to be older than the Brass of Sir Andrew. Under the Chancel arch are the remains of a very fine Rood-screen, cut dowTi, as is so frequently the case, to the level of the pews, but still exhibiting ' "The Topographer," for 1790, Vol. in. p. 260. It is there stated tliat there are two escutcheons upon the monument, which do not now appear, namely, tlie first (juarterij-, 1st and Uh sable a saltier or, for Belesby, 2nd and 3rd argent on a chevron sable three boars' heads couped (and erected) or, for Swinford, empaling azure a bend between six martlets argent, for Luttrell ; and the second, three pallets and four mullets in bend, for Thimelby, quartered with the bearings, as above, of Belesby, Swinford, and Luttrell, empaling a lion rampant. (The tinctures are supplied from stained glass in tiie Chantry, and other sources.) At present, the monument only exhibits two shields, one charged with the arms of Luttrell, the other with a lion rampant. If the above bearings were ever upon this nidnununt, it is pro- bable they were added in a later age, since the connexion of these families with the LuttrelU was not before the beginning of the fifteenth century. 146 SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. some excellent carved work of early Perpendicular style. A spiral stone stair- case remains perfect in a polygonal Kood-turret on tlie north-east corner of the Aisle, wliich was crossed, as was sometimes the case,* by a wooden gallery to the Rood-loft. The NaA'e piers are octagonal, with corresponding capitals and bases, the arches obtusely pointed, each of two plain chamfered orders or mem- bers, and apparently of early Decorated work. The north Aisle is lighted by two very good windows of three lights, having tracery of as many quatrefoiled cii'cles under a lancet arch ; but the lower parts are blocked, and the earth has been suffered to accumulate to tlie sill, giving the mterior a dank and forlorn appearance, pecuUar to ancient English churches in the nineteenth centin-y. The Nave and the Chancel roofs are of low-pitched open timber; the latter has angels with sjjread wings projecting horizontally from the cornice, — that most beautifid. and significant device, by which the heavenly host were represented as favourably regarding the prayers and praises of tlie worshippers below. The interior stUl contains the old open seats of goodly oak, which now but too seldom remain in all then- elegant simphcity to bear testimony against the modern innovation of deal pew^s Avith tlieir cushioned and cbaperied appurtenances. The origmal design of the church comprised a south Aisle, which however has either been demoHshed at an early period, or (as it was not the fashion of those times wantonly to destroy churches) never completed : for a very elegant Early English doorway,* ornamented with the tooth-moulding, is inserted under one of the blocked Nave arches, the others being pierced with windows, each of three lancet liglits under a common dripstone. The Tower is probably about a century older than the rest of the churc'h, as the Belfrj' arch is transitional Norman, of semicircular form, springing from piers with good foliated capitals; and vestiges of early Belfry Avindows, now blocked, may be traced on three sides of the Tower, the upper part of which is a Perpendicular super- structure. A few words remain to be said of tlie north Chantry, which is a good buikhng of pure Perjiendicular style. It contains som(> elegant modern mui-al tablets to the Arundel, Conquest, and Thimelby families ; but the most interesting object is a very perfect specimen of that rarest of church antiquities, an iUtar-stonc. It was found lying iijjsidc down in tlic cliurrh, and was nioAcd to its present position, erect against the north wall, some years ago. The slab is six feet two inches long by two feet ten inches bn)a. 9. SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. U7 'I'lir \\\)\)vr edge is chamfered off, and the usual five crosses pattee upon its surface remain perfectly distinct and mimutilated. On the floor in tlie middle of tliis Chantry tlie tJrass of Sir Andrew Luttrell is now laid, but it was originally placed in the centre of the Nave, where an inscrii)tion on a slab states its removal to the place it now occupies. The dimensions of this splendid Brass are not less than eight feet fotir inches in length, by two feet eight wide; the length of tlie effigy, five fec^t six inches, which, owl liv ftfwroi dm, might be sup- posed to represent the exact height of the living indi\'idual; but we arc not disposed to limit oiu- stalwart warrior to any such puny jjroportions. The Brass, as we have ali-eady stated, is in excellent preservation, with the exception of the supporters to the canopy, of A\hich that on the right hand of the effigy has been mutilated, though represented as entire in the engra\'ing ; and the pin- nacles which surmounted them are entirely gone. The Knight is represented armed at all points in the style used in the reign of King Edward III. Upon the head is the bacinet or conical steel cap, to which is attached the camail or short tippet of chain mail. The arms are encased in brassarts or rerebraces, fastened by straps imderneath, and having gussets of mail below the shoulders," which are protected by epaulieres of three jointed lames. Below the elbows, ^vhich are defended by coutes, the arms are vambraced; and the hands, raised in the attitude of prayer, have gauntlets with divided fingers defended by plate, and ^^■ith embroidered cuffs. Below the cuirass or breast-plate, a richly ornamented baudrick or sword-belt confines the jupon closely over the thighs ; and below this, which entirely covers the cuirass, and is escalloped round the lower edge, is just ■sisible the short apron of mail which hung from the waist over the liips. The baudrick is fastened in fi-ont by a square buckle, and the end, turned in a loose knot, hangs down in front. From tliis depends a ponderous' sheathed sword, with the hand-guard or cross-bar projecting fi'om the hilt on one side only. The thighs are protected by cuisses, the knees by genouaiUes, the shins by grea^•es or steel boots; and the feet are cased in pointed soUerets of five lames. Each foot is armed with a roweUed spur-, and the effigy is supported by a lion couchant.' Underneath is a very brief legend: "Hie jacet Andreas Louttrell, miles, Dominus de Irnnam, qui obiit sexto die septembris, anno Domini mUesimo ccc. nona- '^ It may he tliat the artist intended to represent the haubergeon, or short sliirt of mail, appearing in this part and below tlie jupon. ' For a more full and general illustration of military Brasses, see No. 11. of liie present series, p. 66, seqq. 148 SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. gesimo (1390). ciijus animse propicietur Deus." In the Chancel is another and much smaller Brass of a Knight in armour. The legend has been removed with the legs below the knees; and its present length is only one foot seven inches. The figiu-e is habited entirely in plate; there are palettes over the armpits, from the cuii-ass depend taces, and on the right side is a misericord or dagger. There are neither armorial bearmgs nor inscription to identify the indi\idual; but the st)"le of the armour belongs to the early part of the fifteenth centuiy. Having searched in vain for any notices of the smallest interest about the life and achievements of oiu- valiant Kjiight, we proceed, in strict compliance wdth the motto we have selected, to lay before our readers some particidars respecting his more renowned ancestors, of whom fi-equent mention is made in early documents, while their less celebrated descendant appears to have verified (mthout disparagement be it said) the weU-knovvn adage of Homer, that sons are usually inferior to their fathers. The ancient family of the Luttrells trace their descent from a Norman chief of the name of Loterel, who was in the army of King WiUiam L, at the battle of Hastings, and whose name is recorded in the Roll of Battel Abbey.' Of his immecUate descendants not even the names are recorded; but mention is made of one Sir John Luttrell, who held in capite the manor of Hoton Pagnel, in Yorkshire, in the reigns of Kings Henry I. and Stephen, by service of four knights' fees and a half; and a Sir Andrew LuttreU is said to have founded an Abbey of Prsemonstratenses at Croxton, or Crokestone, in Leicestershire, in the reign of Henry II., together vvith a dependent cell at Hornby, in Lancashii'e.' King John also appointed a Sii- Andrew Luttrell sheriff of the county of Lincoln ;' but it is altogether uncertain who and what these two latter personages were, and the facts themselves are questionable. In the reign of King Kichard I., Sir Geoflry Luttrell, Knight, resided at Gamelston, in Nottinghamshire, where he held several estates, besides considerable landed property in the counties of Derby, Leicester, and York. But all these estates were confiscated in the sixth year of tliat monarch's reign. Sir Geoffry liaving joined with John, Earl of INIorton, the Idng's brother, in rebellion against liis sovereign while engaged in the wars with tin- Saracens; and "\Mlliam Briwere, " Lodge's Irish Peerage, Vol. iii. p. 399. Burke's Commoners of England, Vol. ii. p. MS. Savage's History of C'arli;inii)ton, ]). 490, &c., a work to wliicii tiic writor is under considcriil)!!! oblif^ations. '■' Lodge. IJurton's C'ataiogui; of Uciigious Houses, ])rinted at the end of Sjiced's Reign of Henry VIIL Leiand, Collect., Vol. r. p. 72, ed. Hcarnc. liiis however is doubted by Tanner, Notit. Monast., j). lit. ' Madox, Hist, Exclieq. SIR ANDRFAV LUTTRELL. 117 sheriff of tho rounty of Nottingham, rendered an acconnt of 34 shillings, the produce of those lands." Upon the Earl's accession to the throne as King- John, Sir Geoffry paid fifteen marks to the exchequer to have seizin of his lands in Nottingham, in the possession of -nhich he was reinstated, witli tho addition of property in Glaniston, Normanton, Bridesarke, Brigclurd, anil Key- worth/ From the frequency with which the name of "Galfridus Lutrel" occurs in tlie Fine Rolls and other documents of King John's reign,' he appears to have been a knight of considerable wealth and importance ; and from his being m one instance styled one of the King's ftuthful councillors,' he seems to have held an honourable post in the service of his royal master. In the second year of King John he was appointed overseer of the expenses incurred by inclosing a royal park at Bolsover;" and in the fifth year we find him allowed the annual sum of ten pounds for life, out of the Treasury, for his support in the King's service. Two years afterwards he accounted for the scutage of Wales for seven knights' fees and a half, being the moiety of the barony of William Paganel, whose second daughter and co-hciress, Trethesenta (or Frethesenta, as it is Avritten in the Fine Rolls) he had married. Tliis lady indu-ectly brought into the family the manor of Irnham,' which long gave the title of Baron (by tenure) to the Luttrell family. She survived her husband, and afterwards married Henry de Newmarch, - Hist. Carhamptoi), p. l^l. ^ Ibitl, Pipe Rolls of 1 John. Dugclalc's Baronage, &c. * Fine Rolls of the Tower of London, p. 552 (anno 1215). "Gaufr's Lutrel datdno Regi quatviginti viij libf "t xiij sol ~t iiij°' defi p maritaij sede genite filie Hiigois de Tuit;" — i.e. "Geoffry Lutrel offers the Lord the King so many pounds, shillings, and pence for the marriage of the second daughter of Hugo de Tuit," of whom Sir Geoffry was probably guardian. Again, p. 556, " D. Galff Liitrell xx unc aui' p hnda tr'a do Cratelach cum nemore :" i. e. " Geoffry Lutrell offers 20 ounces of gold for possession of the land of Cratelach, with the wood." (See Cal. Rot. Pat , p. 6, where it is called " boscus de Cratclarch in Tiedmundia in Ilibernia.") Many similar fines are recorded as paid by Sir Geoffry to his rapacious sovereign. * Hardy's Fine Rolls of the Tower of London, p. 565. 6 Pipe Rolls, 2 John. ' Irnliani was claimed by the .son and successor of Sir Geoffry as his right, as being the heir of Maurice de Ghent, Gant, or Gaunt, Baron Falkingliam in the county of Lincoln, whose father, Robert de Berkcly, married Alicia, daughter of Alicia, the sister of Frethesenta and wife of Robert de Gaunt. Upon the death of William Pagnel, Robert de (Jaunt obtained Irnham, from whom it descended to Maurice de Gaunt tiirough his mother Alicia. Maurice was twice married, but died without issue in 1229; and the manor of Irnham reverted with other estates to the descendant of Frethesenta. At the Conquest Irnham belonged, according to Camden, to Ralph Patranel, wiio obtained it from William I., whom he ha title of first Baron Irnham.' He also laid claim to several manors in Somersetshire, whereof Maurice de Gaunt had died seised, and upon payment of one hundred marks he had livery of the same. He gave the manor of Stockland, with the advowson of the church, to the master and bretlu-en of the hospital of S. Mark, of Billes^vyke, in Bristol, which had been founded by Maurice de Gaunt." And he gave the manors of Croxton and Ber- standby to Philip de la Mare," a rich and powerful Baron, whose daughter PetronUla' he had married. In the twenty-sixth year of Henry III. he had orders to equip himself with horses and arms, in order to attend the King into France. In the thirtieth year he conditioned with the King to be excused serving as bailiff, sheriff, justice, or any office of provincial magistracy whatever, for which exemption he paid the King thi'ee marks of gold ; notwithstanding which he was appointed sheriff of Lincolnshii-e in the thirty-fifth year of Henry's reign;" and about that time he attended the Kmg on the expedition of ElvejTi. On collecting aid' ' Rymer, Vol. i. p. 139. See also pp. 137, 138, 140, ed. Clarke. The letter is dated from Dover, Sept. 13, in the Cal. Rot. Pat., p. 7. * Hist. CarhamptOD, p. 493. Ryuier, Vol. i. p. '210. " Fecimus jurare in animani nostrani Galfridum Luterel," &c. * Lodge. Hist. Carhampton. Burke. Fishers Key to the History of England, &c. « Lodge, p. 400. Testa de Nevill, p. 307. ' He is called "Andreas Luttrell nianerii de Irenha," in 1231, in the Tower Fine Rolls, p. 212; and he is fined twenty-four marks in 1229. Ibid, p. 192. * Hist. Carhampton, p. 494. ^ Dugdale, Monast. ii., p. 604. These manors had been given to Sir Geoffry by King John. ' Lodge. Dugdale's Baronage. 2 Lodge, p. 400. ' Aid was one of the incidental services to which persons holding knights' fees were liable, and con- sisted of a certain payment for (among other things) making the lord's eldest son u knight. Sir Andrew therefore paid a certain sum for each knight's fee. x2 150 SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. for making Prince Edward a Knight, he ansAvercd twenty-five pounds for twelve knights' fees and a half of the barony of Maurice de Gaunt, and tliirty pounds for fifteen others, his own original fee/ Sir Andi-ew died in 1264,° leaving his wife and two sons, Geofii'y and Alexander, his survivors. Of these Sii' Alexander, in the fifty-foiu'th year of Henry III., signed first the Cross for the seventh and last Crusade, together Avith the King's eldest son and many of the prime nobility." The year after Sir Andrew's death, a mandate Avas issued from Henry, dated Maix-h 7, 1265, to William de Wenling, to seize all the lands held in capite from the King by Anchew Loterel.' The same year an inquisition Avas held after the demise of Andrew LuttreU, AAho Avas found to have died seised of Irnham." It is worthy of mention that there is still a local trachtion that a Sir Antkew lAittrell was burnt to death in a neighbouring mansion called Bulby Hall, to Avhicli, Avith the Avood in which it stood, he had set fii-e in a feud Avith a baron, the occupant of it. Tliis smgular story is told of the Sir Andi-CAv to Avhose memory the Brass in IiTiham church Avas placed ; but there Avere many Sir Andi'CAV Luttrells of this familv : and no notice of such an occurrence is to be fomid in the family docu- ments in the possession of the present Lord of Irnham. The arms of Luterel of Nottinghamsliii'c and Derby in the time of Richard I. Avcre, or a bend between six martlets sable, borne also by Sir Geofi'ry" in the time of King John. They are assigned to a Su- Andrew of DeA-on in the Parlia- mentary Writs ;' " Andi-cAV Luterel, de or, a une bende et vi me los (martlets) de sable." The bearings of a Sir Geoffiy are " de azui- a une bende et vi m' los de argent." In the Rhyming Pedigree, tliose of the heirc^ss of a Humplii-cy LuttreU, who married Sir William Wodehouse of Kimberly, are thus given : " LuttreU she gives six martlets twixt a bend Of sable set within a golden ground." '1 he arms of Su- Gcoffry, azure and argent, Avere formerly borne by the Luttrells of Somersetshire, and occur in stained glass in the Chantry of Irnham cluirch. The Luttrells of Dunster Castle noAV bear or and sable: the same bearings, ' Diigdale's Baronage. Lodge. Hist. Carlianipton. ■ Burke's Extinct and Dormant Peerage. Fisher's Key, &c. ' Lodge. Diigdale. •» Fine Rolls of tlie Tower of London, Vol. ii. p. 4-20. " Cal. Iriquis. post Mort. Vol, i. ])[>. '27, 28. ' Fisher's Key to the History of England. ' Vol. I. p. 410. See Niciiolas' Uoll of .\rms, ]) '>,'). " .Sire AndnMi Loterel de or a une bende c vj 1111 11 los de sable." SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. \')\ argent and sable, belong to Tempest of Broiighton. The change of tinctures has doubtless resulted from differencmg the escutcheons at an early ix'riod. Sii- Andrew was succeeded by his eldest son, Geoffry, at that time thirty years of age.' lie must therefore have been a different individual fiom a Sir Geoffry mentioned in the year 1222.' A mandate from Henry HI. is preserved, dated May 1, 1265, respecting Geoffry, son and heir of Andrew I.uttrell, paying homage to the King, and having his lands restored from the custody of William de Wenling, already mentioned.' He married a daughter of William de Gray/ by whom he had issu(\ Towards the close of his life he became non compos mentis' and was placed under the care of his younger brother Alexander; but beyond these unimportant notices nothmg appears to be known about him. Sir Alexander is recorded as seised of certain lands in Devon, in the seventeenth year of Edward II.' He was succeeded by his son Sir Robert Luttrell, Knight, third feudal Baron of Irnham, and Lord of Hoton-Pagnell, LuttrcUstown, and other places. This personage was the first and last of Ms illustrious family who was created a Baron by writ. In the fifth year of Edward I., 1277, Eobert Luttrell, serviens, acknow- ledged the service in respect of two Knights' fees in Hutton or " Oton," and Irnham, performed by himself and three servientes in the expedition against Llewellin, Prince of Wales; and was ordered to attend the muster before the Constable and Earl Marshal at Worcester, on the first of July." In 1282, he was again summoned to perform military service against the Welsh, and to attend the muster at Worcester the 17th day of May." In 1287, he was summoned to appear with horses and arms at a militaiy coimcil at Gloucester, before Edmund, Earl of Cornwall,' July 15th. In the nineteenth year he was summoned to go in person against the Scots, and to attend muster at Norham on the third of June ;' and in the twenty-second of the same reign he was ordered to attend the King, amongst other great men, to advise in council upon urgent afiiiirs, immediately upon the receipt of the writ, dated June Hth. In the same year, he was excepted from the general summons of persons hokUng ' Hist. Carhampton. ' Fine Rolls of the Tower, p. 83. ♦ Fine Rolls of the Tower, Vol. u. p. 425. ' Dugdale's Baronage. Escli. '23. Edw. I. « Fisher, Loilge, Burke, &c. There is this curious entry in the Cal. Rot. Pat. of 50 Henry HI. " Galfridus Lotterel fatuus." This event therefore happened in 1266. ■" Cal. Chart. Rot. p. 271. ^ Pari. Writs. Hist. Carhampton, p. 501, from which work this account of .Sir Robert is almost wholly extracted. ■^ Rymer, 10 Edw. I. ' Ibid. 15 Edw. I. - Ibid. 19 Edw. I. 152 SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. by military sendee, which was then ordered to be made for the King's expedition into Gascony. In 1295, he had Parliamentary summons on June 24:th and Sept. 30th,' and again in 1296.' Upon a resolution taken in 1294:, for the expechtion to France, he had orders to be ready A\nth horses and arms at Portsmouth, on the 1st September ensuing." He died in 1297, leading thi-ee sons: GeofFry, then about twent)'-one years of age, Guy, and Robert, afterwards Rector of Irnham. Sir Robert died seised of lands and tenements in Gamston and Brigeford, Avith the advowson of the church there, and several other estates. Some feAV notices of this indi\-idual occur elsewhere,^ but are not worth recording. The year of his death an inquisition' was taken on Robert Luterel, who was found to haAC held Imham; and in 1298, the lands of Robert LuttreU, then a minor, occur as in custody of the Kuig ;** Avhich seems to refer to the thu-d son of that name. In the year 1297, Su- Geoffiry Luttrell, fouith Baron of Irnham, was returned as heir of Robert Luttrell, and as liolding lands or rents to the amount of tAventy poimds yearly value and upwards, either in capite or other Avise, in Nottingham, Lincoln, and Derby,° and as such was summoned to perform military serAdce in person, AAath horses and arms, in Scotland, and to attend the muster at Not- tingham on the soA'enth day of July. In 1300 he was returned from the wapentakes of Strafford and TickhUl, in Yorksliii-e, as holding lands to the amount of forty pounds and upAvards annual value; and on these grounds was summoned to perform military serAice against the Scots, and to attend the muster at Carlisle, June 24. Again, in 1301, he Avas required to be present at Berwick against the Scots.' In the tliird and seventh (according to Lodge the second and fifth) years of EdAvard II. he Avas again summoned to attend the royal army against the Scots; and from this period tiU 1326 various mihtary and other summonses occiu" dii'ected to Galfi-idus Luterel." In the ninth yeo^r of this reign he Avas, Avith other barons, amerced, " pro pluribus defaltis," in the sum of forty sliillings." He Avas patron of the church of S. AndrcAV, at Irnham, and of Christ church, York.' In the tliirteentli ' Fisher's Key, &c. Dugdalc. Pari. Summons. Ryiiicr. 23 Edw. I. ' Palgravc's Writs of Mil. Summons, Vol. i. p. 719. Kymer. 22 Edw. I. ''• Placit. de quo Warrant., Vol. ii. p. 4'26. Rot. Hundred,, Vol. i. p. 259, 260. Dugdalu Monast. Vol. II. p. 792. Esch. 25 Edw. I. no. .S.5, &c. " Cal. huiuis. post .Mort., Vol. I. p. ISl', 165, 172, 173. « Abbrftv. Rot. Orig., Vol. i. p. 99. ' Pari. Writs, Vol. i. p. 719. Hist. Crhanipton, p. 503. ' Ibid. 2 Ibid, Vol. II. Div. iii. p. 1128. See Rymer, 3 Edw. II., 7 Edw. II., 10 Edw. II. ' Madox, Hist. Excheq. •• Drake's Eboracum. SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. 153 of Edward II., by his deed dated at Irnham on tlu> first Sunday after Trinity, he settled tlic iiuiuors of Gamston and Brigeford, witli th(> advowson of the (liurcli in the hitter phicc<, and all his lands and tcniements in 15asiugfi(>ld and elsewhere, which his mother, the Lady Joan, wife of Sir Robert, lield for life, on Guy Luttrell, his brother, during his OAvn life ; afterwards to his own (>ldest son Andrew, and Beatrice his wife, daughter of Sir Geoffry Scrope, of Mashani, and the heirs of then- botlies ; in default of which, to Gcoflry his second son, and Constance his wife, sister of the said Beatrice, and the heirs of their bodies. Sii- Geoffry married Agnes, daughter of Su- Richard Sutton, Knight, and left issue three sons, the before-mentioned Andrew, and Geoffry, and John.' The eldest son, Sir Andrew, fifth Baron, succeeded. Of him nothing is recorded, except that he gave Irnham, with some manors in Leicestershire, to the Abbat of Croxton." His eldest son of the same name was the sixth Baron : lie married Hawisia, daughter of John le Despenser.' Scarcely anytliing is known of this individual; but he is said to have died in 1397," leaving Sir Andrew his son and heir, the seventh Baron of Irnliam. He also died very shortly afterwards, in 1399;'' and it is to this indi\idual, according to Lodge,' that the Brass in Irnham Church was executed. But the Brass records the death of Sir Andrew in 1390; and we are therefore of opinion, that it is either the fifth Baron of that name, the date of whose death is not recorded, or the sixth, supposing the date assigned to his demise to be erroneous, whom this monument was mtended to commemorate. Upon the former supposition, Sir Andrew must have died at a very advanced age ; and no less than three Bai'ons of the same name have deceased within a period of less than ten years: upon the second, contemporary evidence of the highest authority nnist be assumed to be inaccurate. The only remaining solution of the difficulty is, to imagme that the brass-cutter engraved the date 1390 for 1399, by omitting the word " nono" after " nonagesimo." But beyond these conjectures we have no means of identifying the individual, or of reconciling these discrepancies of date. To have arrived at so abrupt and unsatisfactory a conclusion respecting one who ought to have been the primary subject of this memoir, after having carried the reader through a series of perhaps dull and tedious details ; and to have penetrated further into the darloiess of a remote than of a less distant period, will not impress ' Esch. 19Edw. III. '' Esch. 37 Edw. III. A Sir Andrew was summoned against the Scots, 29 Edw. III. Rynicr. ' Esch. 4. Rich. II. ' Esch. 1 Hon. IV. => Esch. 1 Hen. IV. ' Irish Peerage, Vol. tii. p. W3. 154 SIR ANDREW LUTTRELL. him with a favourable opinion of either the success or the pertinency of our labours. Still we have done all that lay in our power ; and the result must be attributed rather to the accidental deficiency of documentary e^•idence than to any fault of our OA\ii, or even perhaps to any lack of greatness and notoriety in the indi-^idual of whom history happens to have preserved no specific notices. Nor do we conceive that there are just grounds for regarding as Indignum genere, et praeclaro nomine tuntuni Insignera, one of whom, at least, no crimes are recorded, if no a irti;es arc kno\\n. F. A. P. S. JoMs College. JOOTl C^- 31|[ C^^ &>&. ■ej' ?laliam .^^ ^m ■^^ oliiit ^^ THOMAS DE CEEWE ESQ. AND LADY. " At Sessions ther was he Lord and Sire, Full often time he was knight of the Shire. An anelace and a gypciere all of silk Heng at his girdle white as morwe milk ; A shereve had he ben, and a countour. Was no wher swiche a worthy vavasour. Prologue to Canterbury Tales. In these lines Chaucer enumerates the offices borne by the Frankeleinc, Avho made one of that merry company. " who wended on their pilgrimage To Canterbury with devoute courage." We do not pretend to appropriate to the subject of the present paper the graphic description of a bon vivant of the fouileenth century, which precedes the lines above quoted ; on the contrary, if we may trust the proportions of liis figure, handed down to us by the brass, they by no means bear the traces of mucli good cheer. We \vill therefore leave to the Pilgrim Frankeleinc, his " fat partriches in mewe," his " breme," his " luce," and " morning sop in wine," and only draw the parallel so far as it relates to the offices borne by them, which \nll be found to be very similar. The accompanying engraving is taken from a brass in the Parish church of S. Milburga, at Wixford, a small village on the river Arrow, about three miles from its junction mth the Warwickshire Avon. Tlie church consists of a Chancel, Nave, and Cliapel forming a South Aisle, dedicated to S. Jolm Baptist. The latter was built by Thomas Crewe, and contains his tomb, wliich is a raised v 156 THOMAS DE CREWE AND LADY. slab of grey marble, nine feet by four; into wliich the brass effigies of himself and wife, about five feet in height, are inlaid. The manor of Wixford, at the end of the 14th century, belonged to the Clopton family.' Thomas de Crewe had only a life interest in the property m right of liis wife Juliana, whom Dugdale supjjoses to have been Avidow of John de Clopton, the precethng owner. Thomas de Crewe appears to have sprung fi-om the ancient familj of Crewe in Cheshu-e, although I am not able to identify him with any incUAidual of that race. There were then many flourishmg branches of them, and Thomas was a common name amongst them. His connexion is clearly evidenced by the second and third shields at the head of the tomb, both of which, in Dugdale's time, bore a lion rampant; the only remains of which are uoav the claws, teeth, and tongue. The arms of Lord Crew, of Crew, are still azure a lion rampant argent. Dugdale also must have considered him to be of that family, since the plate in his great work on the Antiquities of Warwickshire representing this tomb and various sluelds which then existed in the east window of the Chapel, was pre- sented by John Crewe, of Utkinton, Cheshire. I have not been able to discover Juliana do Crewe's family name, as there are no means of ascertaining the tinctui'cs of the coat impaled with Crewe at the head of the tomb. Bromley, of Badington,' in Cheshire, bore quarterly per fesse indented gules and or; also, Acton, of Acton, Gloucestershire,'' bore the same with tlie tinctiu'es argent and azure, to cither of which families she might have belonged; but such conjectures are useless, as there may be many similar shields with different colours. Tlie tomb was clearly erected at the time of Jidiana's death, and during the life-time of Thomas de Crewe, as the date of her death is complete, Avhilst that of Thomas was left blank, and the requisite nuiu(>rals were never added. The Idllowiiiii; brief description of the armour on tlir nioiiuiuent may not be uiKKceptable to some readers. On his head is a basinet, of the conical fonu of the period, with an opening for the face ; the gorget is of plate, and not of mail, the camail or mail ti])pet having become generally disused about the reign of Henry tlie I'"iith. 0\al palettes, with a cross of S. George, protect the shoulder- joints. Till' anil and hand arc defended by brassarts, (-Ibow ])ieces, vambr.aces, und cuffed gauntlets : the l)rassarts sjutw the Imcklcs which fastened them. TIic cuira.ss is somewhat gloljose, and is coutinncd by a skirt of taces or ovcrlajijtint; plates. Tlun (iimc in succession ciiisses, gcnouilliei'es, jambs, and ' Dugdale's Aiitii|. ot'Wiirw. |i. ('>'V2. " Ormorod's CliL'.'iliire. ' Sir 'I'liiiiiins .VtUviis's (iliniii'strrsliii'c. THOMAS DE CREWE AND LADY. 157 sollerets, all of plate, as the defence of the lower members. Tlie baldrick, or sword belt, seems to have been accidentally omitted, so tliat the sword and misericord have no support. The Lady's costume consists of a long gown, covering the feet, and made to tit the shape. Tlie sleeves are tight, worked at the seam, witli long cuffs over the hand ; over this is a mantle, held together at the throat by tasselled cords. Her hair is gathered into an embroidered net; over which the mantilla faUs in graceful folds. The mantilla or veil is usually found in the many varieties of female head- dresses in tlie fourteenth, and seems to have been retained during a considerable part of the fifteenth century. According to Stowe, the fashion of long-trained gowns was introduced into England a little before this time by Anne of Bohemia, Queen of Richard the Second. His words are as follow :' " In this Queene's " dayes began the detestable fasliion of piked shooes, tyed to their knees with '• chaines of siluer and gilt. Also noble women used high attire on their " heads, piked homes, with long-trained go^vnes, and rode on side-saddles, after " example of the Queene, who first brought that fashion into this land(;, for before "women were used to ride astride like men." The earliest notice of Thomas de Crewe states tliat in the second year of Henry the Fourth, he was attorney^ to Margaret, widow of Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick ; she died in l-lOG," and was buried with her husband in Warwick church. Margaret Beauchamp' was a daughter of Lord Ferrers, of Groby ; it was therefore doubtless in honour of her, that the arms of Ferrers of Groby (viz. gules seven mascles conjunct three three and one or) were placed in the east window of the Chapel at Wixibrd. Li the sLxth year of Henry the Fourth, Thomas de Crewe' sat as knight of the sliire in the parliament held at Coventry. The King's object in calling this parliament was, of coiu-se, to get supplies for his expensive wars. According to Walsingham," whose account Stowe translates almost verbatim, " the King sent Ids mandate to the Sheriff's, that they should return no knight or burgess who had any knowledge of the laws of the realm, by reason whereof it was called the Layman's Parliament." It met at Coventry, on the Gth of October, 1404, in a great chamber within the Priory of Coventry.' The Cliancellor, in presence of the King, Lords, and Commons, opened Parliament with a spcecli to the ♦ Stowe's Annalos, ann. 1.382. ^ Dugd. Antiq. Warw. ex Rot. Pat. 2 lien. IV. « Dugdale's Baronage, p. 238. ■" lb. ' Dugd. Antiq. Warw. ex Rot. Claus. (i Hon. I\'. » Walsinghara, p. 371. Ed. 1603. Stowe's Annalus, an. 1404. ' Rolls of Parliament, G Hen. IV. y2 158 THOMAS DE CREWE AND LADY. following purport : he began with a declaration of the King's determination to support Holy Church in all her liberties and franchises, as held and used in the time of his predecessors. After a similar declaration ^^ith respect to the Lords spiritual and temporal, the Cities and Burghs ; the Chancellor proceeded to state the King's wish to consult with the "wise men" of his realm, on the danger arising fi-om the rebellion in "Wales, and the war with France and Bretagne. The Commons having elected WiUiam Stunny speaker, proceeded to deliberate: they granted the King two-fifteenths, and two " dismes," besides taxes on several commodities; they however required it to be paid iato the hands of Thomas de FurnyvaU and Jolm Pelliam, who were appointed to see the supplies, bona fide, expended for warlike purposes. Having thus pro^'ided for the defence of the realm, they examined the state of the King's revenue, and found that great part of the ancient inheritance of the crown had been scandalously alienated. The remedy adopted was a severe one : all grants and letters patent since the fortieth year of Edward tlie Third were called in, to be confirmed or disallowed by the council, according to the apparent deserts of the original receiver of the grant. After a variety of other business had been transacted, the parliament was dissolved by the Chancellor. The above sketch of the proceedings of the Commons House at Coventry is extracted from the Rolls of Parliament: Walsing- ham,' whom other authors have followed, states, that before they granted the subsidies mentioned above, they endeavoured to induce the King to supply his wants out of the lands and temporalities of the clergy. They affirmed, that they spent their goods and hazarded their liv(>s for the King, " whilst the clerks sat idle at home, and helped the King never a whit." To tliis Thomas Arundell, Archbisho]) of Canterlniry, answered that the clergy oftener granted tenths than the laity fifteenths, and that more of tlieir tenants tliaii of tlic laity served in the wars ; and beside this, tliat they prayed day and night for the King and all who faithfully served him. The remainder of tliis curitms scene I sliall give from Stowe': — "And when the Speaker of the Parliament, named John Cheyney, said witli a loudo voyce, and angry coinitcnance, that he little regarded the jirayers of the Cliureh, the Archbishop of Canterbury answered : Oh (quoth he) now 1 perceive plainly to what end the fortune of this realm will come, when the suffrages of the Church are excluded and little set by, wherewith the Godhead is wont to be appeased : surely tlic kingdoiiie never conlinueth firme and .stable that is voydc of prayers and devotion : notwithstanding thou which settest at naught the religion of the clergie, thinke not without punishment to take away * W'iil.siiigliaiii. ^ btovves Aiuuilus, an. IIUI. THOMAS DK CREWE AND LADY. 159 the possessions of the Churcli, Cor it' tlic Arch-Bishop of Cantorljury li\c, tliou slialt hiivf evill tiiking of anything that is his. Then the Ai-dibisliop, considering that the Kinge did winke at these thingcs, rose up and kneeled downc before the Kinge, desiring him to consider how gratiously and by Cod's favor hee had attained the Jvingdome, that he would consider his first promise, which was that hee would preserve to every man tiuir right and title so fiir as lay in him. lie also willed him to remember tlie oath which hee voluntarily made, which was that he woidd honour and maintain tlie Churcli, and would cherish and defend tlu' ministers thereof : he required him to consider the danger and dishonour of breaking an oath, ^\■hcrefore he desired him to permit and suffer the Church to enjoy the privileges and liberties, which in time of his predecessors it did enjoy, and to feare that Kinge by whom all kinges do reigne. When the Archbishop had said these and like words, the King commanded him to goe againe to his seate, and said that liis intent and pm-pose was to leave the Cluux-h in as good state or better than he found it. And then the Ai-chbishop, speaking to the Knights and Burgesses, said : You, and such as you, have given such counscU unto our King and to his predecessors, to confiscate the goods and lands of the cells which the Frenchmen and Normans did possesse in England, and said that by them he should heape up great riches, as indeed they were worth many thousands of gold. Notwithstanding, it is most true that the King at this day is not the richer thereby of halfe a marke ; for you have extorted, or at least begged, them out of his hands, and have appropriated the said goods unto yourselves, so that it may be con- jectiu'ed that your request to have our temporalities, is not for the King's profile but for your owne covetousnesse ; for without doubt, if the King (as God forbid he should) fulfil your wicked purpose, he should not be one farthing the richer the next year following : and surely I will sooner let my head be cut off, tlian that the Church should be destitute of the least right that pcrtaincth to it. The Knights of the Parliament hearing tliis saying of the Archbishop, and seeing the constancy of their Metropolitan, held their peace, but yet persisted in minde to have their purpose : which the Archbishop perceiving, wanne the favour of certaine of the tcmporall Lords to assist him, who constantly avouched that by theii- consents the Church should never be spoiled of the temporalities, and so it came to passe, that there was no more mention made afterwards of any exactions of the Tcmporalties, but contrariwise, the knights of the parliament who had shewed themselves so importunate in that crrour, confessed unto the Archbishop their fault and malice, desu'ing him to forgive them." There is no record of the above debate in the Rolls of ParUament, and yet some such scene must have taken place, othenvise Walsingham, a contemporary- historian, would not have given it with so much circumstantial detail. It will be observed, that the names of the Speakers do not agree, but doubtless many explanations might be offered which would remove that discrepancy. The whole affair seems to show that the tenets of Wiclif had made considerable progress in England, remindiag us lus it does of his well-known opinions rcspectmg the poverty of the clergy.' * Vaughan's Life of Wiclif. 160 THOMAS DE CREWE AND LADY. It is ciuious to notice the blustering beha\ionr of the Commons gradually softening, as first of all the King, and then the Lords declared against them, won over b}' the gallant bearing of the Aixhbishop. To him. Likewise, who regards histoiy not merely as the " old almanack " some would fain believe it, it is deeply interesting to watch the Avorking of a principle, whether evil or good, through successive generations. The blow thus for a time averted fell within the brief space of little more than a hunch'ed yeai's. And after the lapse of more than four centuries, the same contest has been renewed in our time, which was fought in the Lajnnan's Parliament at Coventry. There are still John Cheyneys among om- senators, " men who regard little the prayers of the Church," who grudge the contribution the country claims yearly ftom then- ample funds, and would be glad to ease their biu-den by laying a sacrilegious hand on the scanty resources of the Church. I offer no apology for detailing so fully transactions in which Thomas de Crewe was involved, (as they are not to be found in the ordinary histories of the time,) although we cannot trace the part -which he individually took in th(>m. In the following year, the seventh of Henry the Fourth, Thomas do Crewe was a Commissioner' for enquiry into the King's debts, which I imagine must have been connected with the recall of tlu^ letters patent mentioned in the account above. In the eighth'' year of Henry the Fourth he was justice of peace for the sliire. To this office' he added the Shrievalty of Warwickshire and Leicester- sliire in the first year of Henry the Fifth. In 1415 he was Steward* and of the Council to Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, which connexion is commemorated by the first coat at the head of the tomb, viz., quarterly, first and fourth, gules a fcss between six cross croslets or; second and third, cheeky azure and argent, a chevron ermme. The Beauchamps orif^inaUy (in 1298) bore the field seme of cross croslets, which afterwards dege- nerated into six. The fomth shield, which has now disappeared from th(> head of the tomb, bore a cross of S. George in Dugdale's time. In the Cotton Library there is a very curious MS. containing the life of Ilichard Beauchamj), illustrated by fifty-three; delineations, by John Rous, wlio died in 1-193. These have been engraved by Stiiitt.' in his " Manners and Customs," and represent the fliicf incidents in tlir life of a wnrrior rcTinwnrd above tlie rest of liis race, l)nu<\. Aiiti"|. VVanv. i-\ Hot. I'iii. 7 llcii. IV. '' IWd. v\ Hot. Pat. ' Il>iniough y-wis, And mochel more ; for litel hevinesse Is right ynough to moclicl folk, I gesse. "Ye," qudd our Iloste, "sire Monk, no iiKirc of this; Your talc annoycth all this comiiaguio : Swiclii' talking is not wortli a liotcrfly, For therein is tliere no disport or game." ' Dugdalo's Baronage, p. 24.5. ♦ Ibid, ex Rot. Ciaus. G lieu. V. ' Dugdalc's Antii]. Warw. p. 0,32. ' Cant. Tales. Tlie Noiuie"s Procste's Prologue. T. P. B. S. John's College. V^^^lff teii m ^ ■"tt >^ nvaaivy Jill .i^r^:- mviiiaqi Jtpaiiai '^^^ . m^^^'^^X Ji)%i)uv -]mitnmu\ni.^ffl a ^ ^ m\i i\\m\\\\: )iuuiumi^JiX« ^^- m\]]H\ ^¥^^: W\S^^ M ^^ fi^nioii Jij^-raK LORD BEAUMONT and the COUNTESS of OXFOED. S. MARY'S, WIVENHOE, ESSEX. The Brasses laid down to perpetuate the memory of William Viscount Beaumont and the Countess of Oxford, his wife, are among the finest now remaining in England ; and it is much to be regretted that time, which antiqnates the works of men's hands, has not been suffered gradually to corrode these beautiful memo- rials. The rapacious plunderer has been busily employed in removing from the monumental slabs a considerable portion of the saleable metal, and doubtless several detached pieces which were carelessly thrown aside among some rubbish in the church would soon have vanished, had they not been speedUy replaced under the superintendence of a member of our Society, and at the expense of Thomas Stapleton, Escj. descended from the Viscount's sister Joan, who married Lord Level of Titchmarsh. The two large slabs on which these Brasses are fixed, occupy the whole space Avithin the Altar-rails in the Chancel of Wivenhoe church, Essex; and have been moved twice ^\'ithin the last fifty years, which may in some measure account for the injuries which they have suffered. First the slabs were raised, and the ])ones of Lord Beaumont and the Countess of Oxford exhumed in 1797, for the purpose of making a vaidt for the family of the Rev. N. Corsellis, the then lord of the manor ; and again in 1833, in order to increase the height of the vault. Much as we condemn this act, we must add that the remains were decently re-interred. The effigy of Viscount Beaumont is in a complete suit of plate-armour of the time, with the exception of helmet and gaimtlets. His body is encased in a cuirass, to which arc attached four taces, from the lowermost of which depend z2 166 LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. a couple of tuiles, and imderneath them may be observed tlie petticoat of mail. A gorgeret of the same is round his tlu'oat. His arms are protected by paul- cbons, rerebraces, coudes, and vambraces, covering respectively tlie shoidders, upper arms, elbows, and lower arms. On his thighs are ciusses, on liis knees genoidl- lieres, and on liis legs jambs, wliile his feet are covered with sollcrets and armed ■with spm's. On his breast-plate may be noticed the lance-rest. At his left thigh is liis long, or ai-ming sword, attached to a transverse belt; and under his head his toiu-nament helmet, surmounted by his crest on a wreath, -nith mantUngs. But this Brass is peculiarly interesting from the representation of an elephant bearing on his back a wooden castle fiUed A\ith armed men, and trampling upon a broom-cod. The Lords Beaiunont used the badge of an elephant, and quartered with their paternal bearings the arms of the Iving of Jerusalem.' This coat was borne by the Lords Beaumont, in illustration of their lineal descent from an ancestor who had been crowned King of Jerusalem. In a roll-of-arms of the time of Edward III. the bearmgs of the King of Jerusalem are emblazoned thus, (Targcnt ove tine croice marteUee ctor et pottdree de croicelettes d'or;' and on the seal of Lewis de Beaumont, Bishop of Durham, is a shield with these bearings. In Canterbury Cathedral, on one of the bosses in the Cloisters is sculptured an elephant, argent, armed or, the trappings of the first; on his flank an escutcheon charged with a cross potent inter four plain crosses (elsewhere liumettee) of the second; on his back a castle triple-towered of the first :^ and on other bosses this coat is quartered Tvith aziure, semee-de-lis, a Hon rampant or. John de Brienne, King of Jerusalem or Acre, married to his second wife the Infimta Uonna Berenguela de Leon, sister of S. Ferdinand HI. King of Castile and Leon, and the castle on the back of the elephant is doubtU^ss illustrative of this descent, de (joules a iin chastel de or (triple-towered) being the arms of the Kingdom of Castile. The family, which had name fi"om Brienne-sur-Aube in Champagne, bore " azure, a lion ' In allusion to the anus of the King of Jerusalem, the writer of a Freneli lleralilie work observes — " Ces arnioirics sont Si enquerir ; c'est-a-dii'c, qu'en voyant de telles armes centre Tu-sajjo du bhuon, on est port*- h .s'enqu^rir ou h. deniander la rai.son de eetto maniero extraoi-dinaire." ' Roll of Arms (of the reii^n of Edward III.) in the possession of Stacey Grimaldi, Esii. F.S.A. Coll. Top. et Gen. Vol. ii. Lond. IM.};"). ^ Tliis boss is cHji^aved in Willcnient's II(ral times repeated. The shield a/.ui'c, a cross j)otcnt between four cnxsaes humettee or, (juartering Beaumont, was also on the whidow of the church of Loughborongli, com. Leic. LORD BEAUMONT AND THK COUNTESS OF OXlOltD. 1G7 raiiipaiit or. somcr of billets of the same," and we have the same einblazoiuiieiit for th(^ eoat of the descendants of Alfonso, Comte d'Eu, eldest son of John de Brienne; hence the substitution in the shield of senu>e of fleurs-de-lis ibr seniee of billets, retaining the colour, will have been a difference merely in tlie cliargcs of the paternal coat by way of distinction for a yoimger brother. It is certain that Lewis de Brienne thus differenced the arms of his father A\ith()ut regard to his marriage mth Agnes de Beavunont, the heiress of the Vicomtcs of Beaumont- au-Maine, and that from him tlu> coat of Brienne was derived to his descendants in France and England, who used the surname of Bcnmnont ; for it appears from the seal of Ralph, Vicecomes BeUimontis, affixed to a deed of the year 1210,' that a shield clievrone, alias a cinq chorrons briscs, was the origiufd coat of Beau- mont. Henry de Beaumont, who settled in England, and was the first of the name summoned to Parliament, was a younger son of Lewis de Brienne and Agnes de Beaumont, and as such differenced his paternal coat by a bend gobone. In a Boll of Arms of Peers and Knights in the reign of Edward II. from a contemporary MS. comjjilcd between the second and seventh years of that King's reign, we have the arms of Sh-e Henri de Beumond thus emblazoned, de azure, flurette de or, a un lion rampaund de or, e un haston gohoune de nrqent e de goulesJ' Again, in a RoU of Arms compiled in the reign of Edward HI. i;387 — 1350, we have Monsire de Beaumont, port d'asure, a une lyon rampant d'or, floret d'or; une hasten gohonne d'or et de gules de six pieces;" and his seal exhibits the same charges in 1366. But in a Roll of Arms of the reign of Richard II. Lc Sire le Beaumont has his escutcheon emblazoned simply " Azure, semee-de-lis, a lion rampant, or,'" and the shield on the seal of John de Beaumont, K. G. 1383, is tlie sanu>. The arms of the Vicomtes de Beaumont, the progenitors of Agnes, do not appear to have been usually quartered by the issue of her marriage with Lewis de Brienne, either here or abroad; and hence the colours are unkno\\n. The introduction of the broom- cod is doubtless allusive to the descent of Viscount Beaumont from the royal house of Plantagenet, eqiuilly as the emhottlcd canopy mentioned below and ornamented with two elcj^hants, is again t}pieal of Castile and Jerusalem. Above the head of the effigy is a shield-of-arms with four reign of King Henry the then King. His godfathers were the Abbot of Crowland' and Bartholomew Brnkesby;° and the godmother of the said William Avas Anne, AA'ife of Sir "\\'illiani Porter, Knight.' He also added, that ou tliat Feast-day of S. George, Avlien tlie said William Beaumont Avas born, he the said Thomas Avas sent by John, Lord Beaumont, with uhdiii hi was then staying, to see the attire of tlie said church, iiiid to ccrtiiy his said Lord thereof; and that lie in compliance Avith his Lord's ■ .(nhn Litlingt.in, Al.b.il of ( 'rou laml. I IL'T-I -l-fi9. ■' Barthohmiew Hrokesby, armiger, li.-id littii-^ "f iirotoetion, dated lltli .luue, .'? Henry V. 1215, he being then engaged to aeconipaiiv the king hi his rxpedition into France lie died 27 Henry VT. 1448. (Ksc. 27 llcnnf VI. n. l.'$.j ' Sir William I'ortcr, of Colyweston, in the county of Nortiiani|iiiin. Knight, Avas one of the executors of the will of King Henry V., and wa.s Ca[)tain of Vernon in Normandy duiiiig the occupation of the English. Anne was probably the wife of his son of (lie same name, who liad .succeeded to his inheritance 14 Henry \ I I 1 10. (Use. 14 Henr;i Vl. ». 12.) LOHO BI.Al'MONT AM) Till: COUNTESS OF OXFORD. 169 commands came to tlu> said clmrch, and found it ornamented round alxait with silken and golden draperies, and the Font of the said church decked on the top with a certain cloth of gold of a red and handsome colour; and he there found Robert AVitham, Esq., John Trenthall, and many other servants of tlie said Lord de Beaumont, fatlier of the said AMlUam; and the said Robert and John tohl liim that the said WilHani liad been born on S. George's day. Tliomas Walcote, of Pykw-orth, nnide a like deposition as to th(! day, year, and place of tlu> birtli of the said William Beaumont, and ackled tliat lie liini- self saw the Abbot of Crowland, the godfather of the said William, perform tlie ceremony of the baptism of the said "\A"illiam. Thomas Bowett deposed, tliat he was present and saw Anne tlie godmotlicr of the said William lifting the said A^'illiam from the holy Font. John Robjiason, of Kyrkeby, deposed that he saw ISIargaret, late wife of Sir WiUiam Armeyn, Knight," carrying the said W^illiam to the said church to be baptized. Henry Everard LaA-yngton deposed to his carrying a certain lighted torch before the person of the said William from the said church of Eddcnhain to the manor of Grymesthorp. Simon Messyngham, of Sempringham, said that he carried a pair of gold basins and the covers from the manor of Grimsthorp to the said church of Eddenham, to wash the hands of the godfathers and godmothers of the said William after the baptism. John Trusse said that he carried two cloths, called carpets, to spread round the Font of the said church ; and the menial servant of the Abbot of Crowland deposed that he was then the menial ser\ant of the Abbot, and rode with the said Abbot to Grymesthorp on the day of the said Feast. The mother of WUliam, second Viscount Beaumont, was Elizabeth, the only issue of Sir William Phelip, Knight of the Garter, and of his wife Joan, the younger daughter and coheir of Thomas, Lord Bardolf, who was executed in the reign of Henry IV. and whose attamder had not been reversed. Many of his lands were, however, restored to his daughters and their husbands, under a special limitation, to the heu'S of their bodies, and by King Henry VI. Sir William Phelip was created Lord Bardolf, apparently with a similar limitation of the title to himself and wife and the heirs of their bodies; but lie was never summoned to Parliament, nor do any Letters Patent appear to have been enrolled. He died fith Jun(% 19 Henry VI. 1441, leaving Henry, the eldest son of John, ' Sir William Armine, junior, Kiiiglit, of Osgodby, in the county of Lincoln, married Margaret, ilautjliter of William Langham, of Coiiisholra ; he died 16 Oct. 1468, and wa.s buried in the cathedral of Lincoln. 170 LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COITNTESS OF OXFORD. Viscount Beaumont, liis next heir, then in the eightli year of his age: where- upon the said Viscount, by reason that no small damage and loss liad befallen him by the decease of Elizabeth his wife, daughter of William Pheli]), late Lord Bardolf, and by reason of liis good and continuous ser\'ice, by letters patent of the lOtli of August following, obtained a grant fi-om the King of the custody of all the castles, manors, lands, &c. which after the death of the said 'S^'illiam PhcHp and Elizabeth, and of Joan late wife of the said Sir William Phelip, then li\'ing, and of Anne wiic of Sir Reginald Cobham, Knight, then lining, ought to revert then or hereafter to Henry his son, and son and heu- of the siiid Elizabeth, or to any heir of the body of the said Henry, or for defect of such issue, he being dead, to ^^"illiam the younger son of bun the said discount and Elizabeth, and brother of the said Hemy, or any heir of liis body, or for defect of such issue, the said Henry and William the sons being dead, to Joan daughter of the said Viscount and Elizabeth, and sister of the said Henry and "SMUiam, to hold tdl some one heir of the said Elizabeth was of fuU age. Henry de Beau- mont died in the following year, and on a brass plate in the church of Bennington, in Suffolk, was the following inscription recording his burial : — "?Dic facet IL^rnricus Ije Jjelloiiiuutr, filius rt ftcics •3o'J''""'S Kittcomitis 13caumont ct I;li5abtil)c iLxon's t(us filie et Jjcictiis 3aiilliclmi ^L'fjrlip, IDomiiit trc Uariolplj, ct Ijmtiis tcrraruin Dc I^rpinaljam ; qui obiit FI'" titc Bcccmbiis anno Bomini itl.ccccvlit cujus aniinc propicictiir Dens." The mothc>r of Sir William Phelip, Lord Bardoljih, was the only daughter of Sir Thomas Erpingham, K.G., and having died in the lifetime of her father, her son, after the death of Sir Thomas, slain 4th of Jidy, 1428, inherited the lands of Erpingham. Joan, Lady Bardolf, siu-vived her husband and her t'ldest grand- son, and was deceased 12th of March, 25 Henry VI. 144()-7, wlicii. ujnm tlie taking of the inquisition after her death, the jurors found that AN'illiam de Beaumont, son of Elizabeth her daughter, was her cousin and next heir, and then of the age of nine years and up^vards. By virtiu^ of the grant above recited John, \'iscount Beaumont, in 1447 presented to the church of Castor-Bardolf, com. Norfolk, as guardian of his son AN'illiam, Lord Bardolf, and to a moiety of the church of Gcdling, roiti. Notts, 2(>lli nf .lunc, 1455, by reason of the mhiority of William de Beaumont, Lord Bardolf, his son; which title of Bardolf is found attached to the subject of this memoir in all e\idences of a date subsecjuent to the demise of .loan. Lady Banldlf. 'I'iius tiie jurors u])on the several incpiisitions taken after the death of Anne, widow of Sir Ueginald Cobliam, Knigl it, deceased, who (lied (ith of November, 32 Henry VI. 1454, made return that Wdliam, son LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFOIID. 171 of John, Viscount Beaumont, now Lord Bardolf, was cousin and next heir of tliu said Anne, viz. son of Elizabeth, daugliter of Joan, sister of the said Anni>, and of the age of sLxteen years. In 1456 and 1457 John, Viscount Beaumont, pre- sented to the church of North Rungton, com. Norf., an adxowson which attended his son's inheritance in that county, as his guardian, and the Honour Avas still in liis custody at the time of his death, lOtli of July, 88 Henry VI. 1460, he having fallen in the battle of Northampton. On the 2nd of September following, the king's wiit was issued to the Escheator of the county of Lincoln, Riehard Fyssheburn, Esq., declaring that, " AVhereas WilHam Beaumont, Knight, Lord Bardolf, son of John, late Viscount Beaumond, and of Elizabeth his wife deceased, cousin and heir of Joan, Lady Bardolf, wlio was a tenant in capite at the time of her decease, viz. son of Elizabetli, daughter of the said Joan, and cousin and lieir of Anne, relict of Sii- Reginald Cobham, Knight, viz. son of Elizabeth, daughter of the said Joan, sister of the said Anne, says he is of fuU age and asks of Us the lands and tenements which are of his inheritance, and in the custody of John, Viscount Beaumont, through Our commission, to be restored to him; therefore it is Our pleasure that the said AViUiam, who was born at Eden- ham, in the said county, and baptized in the church of the said \dll, as he alleges, should make proof thereof before you." The Escheator was further enjoined by the writ, upon a certain day and at the place which he should fix upon, to take this prohatio (ctatis, and to gi'^'e warning to the said John " to be there present to make appear if he has any ground of his own, or knows of any thing he can allege, wherefore We ought not to restore the said lands and tenements with the appurtenances to the said WiUiam, as to one who is of full age, if he be of full age." Pursuant to this wait, proof of the age of the A\ithm-named AViUiam, Lord Bardolf, was taken before the Escheator at Folkingham, on the 13th of September next ensuing, when it was proved by several witnesses that he was twenty-two years of age on tlie 2ord of April last past, and whose evidence, of which the particulars have been already detailed, is inserted in the prohatio. The return of this writ was made 20th of September following, with this endorse- ment: Execucio istius proharioiiis pafct in qiuidam prohacione huic brevi consuta. Ac ulteriius vobis certijico quod infrascriptus Johannes Vicecomes mortuus est. Ricardus Fyssehurn, armiger, Escaetor. Consequent upon this certificate, a second writ was issued to the same officer, dated 26th of September next following, commanding him to give warning to John, Bishop of Hereford, Leo, Lord AA'eUcs, Ricliard Bingliam, Robert Staunton, Richard AValcote, Richard Denyngton, Thomas Garwell, and (ieorgc Ilorncby, executors of the will of the said John, late Viscount Beaumont, to be before A A 172 LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. US in our Chanceiy within the quindenes of St. ]Michael next ensuing, wherever it shall then be, to shew cause why they ought not to restore the said lands and tenements to the said William, as to one who is of fidl age ; and of whicli writ execution as directed is endorsed.^ Subsequently the King, by his letters patent, tfisteW at Westminster. 15th day of November, 39th of his reign, granted licence to William Beaumont, Knight, son and heir of John, Viscount Beaumont, late deceased, to have Livery of seizm of all and singular the castles, manors, and other the possessions of his late father, and to receive all the issues and profits of the same from the time of the death of the said John, late Viscount Beaumont, save only the homage and fealty due to the king in this behalf; such Uvery to be sufficient and valid, the same as if sued out of the chancery in due course of law, notmthstanding the omission of any inquisition j^ost mortem, or other usual pro- cess. By writ, teste'd at "NA'estminster 18th of December, 39 Henry VI. 1460, WiUielmus Vicecomes de Beaumont was constituted one of the Justices ad pacem in the county of Leicester. It should be observed that, in the interval between the battle of Northampton and the date of tliis last writ, in wliich Lord Bardolf is for the first time designated by his father's title of Viscomit, Parliament had sat; but as the writs of summons bear date at Westminster, 30th of July, 39 Henry VI. 1460, and consequently before legal proof of the death of Viscount Beaumont or of th(; age of Lord Bardolf had been obtained, and before any act of homage had been rendered, the name of the subject of tliis memoir is not in the list, either as Viscount Beaumont or Lord Bardolf On the 29tli of March, 1 Edward IV. 1461, being Palm Sunday, he Avas present at the battle of Towton, on the Lancastrian side : whert^forc, in the Parliament begun on AVednesday, 4th of November in that year, Henry, Duke of Exeter, Henry, Duke of Somerset, Thomas Com-teney, late Earl of Devonshire, Henry, late Earl of Northumberland, \A^illiam, Vicecoiinte Beaumont, Thomas, Lord Roos, John, late Lord Clyffbrd, Leo, late Lord Welles, .lolni, late Lord Nevill, with many others, were attainted; for that on the said day, in a field between the towns of Sliirbourne in Elmet, and Tadcastrc in the sliirc of York, called Saxton Field and Towton Field, ac- companied with the Frenchmen and Scots, the King's enemies, against their faith and ligeance, tliey flicic rcaicd war against King Edward, their righteous, true, and natiir;i] lord, to have destroyed him iiiKJ deposed him of liis royal estate, crown and dignity ; and all castles, manors, and lands, of wliich they, or feoffees to their use, stood seized on the day of the accession of Fdward IV., 4th of ' Esc. 38cty'J, lloni^ VI. u. TO. LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. 173 March, 14()1, wort' dcclarccl forfeit to the king. Viscount Boaumont, who had been taken prisoner at the battle of Towton, succeeded in niakinii; his escape, but not till the 14th of November following, according to the statement in I'jlome- iield ; if so, we may attribute it to the circumstance of the near rclationsliip of his wife to Edward l\. that liis life was spared m the interval. By letters patent, dated at AVestminster, 5th of March in the second jear of his reign, 1462, King Edward enfeoffed Thomas, Aixhbishop of Canterbury, and George, Bishop of Exeter, our dear kinsmen, and our beloved Joan, wife of Sir- William Beaumont, Knight, late Lord Beaumont, daughter of Humphrey, late Uuke of Buckingham, in the manors of Stowe-Bardolf, llungton and Farewell, Whynburgh and Mat(-sliall, Canteley, Strumpeshagh and Castre-Bardolf, in the county of Norfolk; llkcteshall, Denyngton and Brundisshe and Gretyngham, in the county of Suffolk, Reskington and Digby, Westburgh and Cathorp, in the county of Lincoln, which were of late belonging to Thomas, late Lord Bardolf, or to WilUimi riielip, late Lord Bardolf, (the manors and demesnes of Plumpton, Ber- lyng, and Bercombe, in the county of Sussex, and an inn in London, near Paul's wharf, being excepted and reserved,) to have and to hold to the aforesaid Arch- bishop, Bishop, and Joan, and to the heirs of the body of the said Joan, to the use and profit of the said Joan and of her said heirs ; and so that if the said Joan should die without heir of her body, then all the said manors, demesnes, lands, tenements, and the rest of the premises (except as before excepted) should remain to the said William Beaumont and the heirs of his body, lawfully begotten, for ever, with remainder, in default of such issue, to the king and his heu's. In 1463, William Iluick was presented to the church of Castor St. Edmund, by Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Joan, wife of William Beaumont, Lord Bardolf, under this feoffment ; in 1465, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, pre- sented John Smith to the church of Cantley. The mother of Joan, Viscountess Beaumont, was Anne, daughter of Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland, and sister of Cecily, Duchess of York, mother of Edward IV., who, after the death of the Duke of Buckingham, slain at the battle of Northampton, 10th of July, 1460, remarried Sir AValter Blount, Lord Montjoy, to whom she was second ^^•ife. By wTit, tested at AVestminster, 16th of July, 3 Edward lA^. 1463, Richard Quatermayns, Richard Fowelcr, and others, were, together with the Sheriffs of Norfolk and Suffolk, Herts., Oxon., Cantab., and Lincoln, appointed commissioners to enquire concerning the lands of which William, late Viscount Beaiuriont and Lord Bardolf, was seized in fee, in the said counties, on AA'ednesday tlic 4th day of November, 1461, when he was attainted by Act of ParUament. Pursuant aa2 174 LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. to this writ, inquisitions were taken at Thame, com. Oxon., on the 5th of November, 1463; at Cockley-Cley, com. Norf., on the 20th.; at Whatton, com. Herts., on the 25th. ; at Cathoq), com. Lincoln, on the 26th. ; at Denyngton, com. Suff., on the 28th of the same month; and at Wilbraham, com. Cant., on the 6th of December following ; when the jurors found him to have been then seized of the manors of Haiileton, com. Oxon., Stowc-Bardolf, Whjiibergh, INIatcshall, Can- telee, Strurapeshagh, Castre, Eungton, Fareswcll manor in Fyncham, Erpingham, Hanworth ami Wykmere, com. Norf, "Wliatton-at-Stone, com. Herts., Ryskington Dygby, Wcstburgh, and Cathorp, com. Lincoln, Denyngton, Brundysshe, Ilketshall, Clopton and Cretpigham, com. SufF., and Wilbraham, com. Cantab. ; all wliich inquisitions were delivered in to Chancery on the 15th of December, 3 Edward IV. 1463. Li the next regnal year inquisitions respecting divers other lands, and the interest of Viscount Beaumont in the same on the 4tli of March, 1 Edward IV. 1461, Avere taken before Thomas Stratton, the Escheator of the coiinty of ISIiddlesex, on the 5th of September, 1464, at Westminster ; before William Assheby, Escheator, on the 14th and 15th at Loughborough, and at Nuneaton ; before William ^lerston, Escheator for the county of Sussex, on the 15th at Lewes ; before John Gylyot, ]\Iayor and Escheator of the county of the city of York, on the 20t]i at York ; before Matthew Philip, INIayor and Escheator of the city of Loudon, on tlie 25tli of the same month at the Guildhall of the city of London ; before Jolni Burgh, Escheator for Lincolnshire, on the 15th of October, 14(54, at the Castle of Lincoln ; before John Nevyll, Escheator of the county of Nottingliam, on Wednesday the 23rd of January, 1465, at Shclford ; and before llobert Staunton, Escheator for Leicestershire, on the 18th of February, at IlaUougliton. In Middlesex he was found to liave held, under a feoffment, the manor in Ed- monton, called Wilbyes, witli its ap])urtenances in Tottenham, of which William I-ord ITiistings liiul liail ;ill tlie issues since the accession of Edward IV. ; in Leicestersliire, the manor of Ijoughborough, with the advowson of the church of Walton-upoii-tlic-wold. ;iii(l nf tlie cIhutIi of Cosyngton, the manor of Shepes- licid, a nioict) of the Honour called Winchester Fee and the manor of Whytiugton, and ill reversion, the manors of AVliitwick, Bochaston, and Newton, Ilokelscote and Donyngton, Merkesfield, llotby, nnd I'caniuinioir. wliich Katherine, Duchess of Norfolk, held in dower of the inheritance oC the said William, late Viscount Beaiunont, of the eiulowment of John, late Viscount Beaumont, once lier husband ; in Warwickshire, a moiety of the Honour called \\'in(hester Fee ; in Sussex, the manors of I'lunipton and Bercombc and IJerling ; in the county ol' the city of York, tlie manor of Bolton Percy ; in Loudon, a tenement called the Ncwe LORD BEAUMONT AND TIIK COUNTESS OF OXFORD. 175 lime, ill tlu" paiisli of 8t. Beuiu^t, in Tliamcs-strcct, otherwise called Beaumuucl I line; in Lincolnshire, nmler a feoffment, the manors of Grimsthorp, Aylesthorp, and Southorp, witli the reversion of the manor of Edcnham, wliich hist, Katherine, Duchess of Norfolk, held in dower; in Nottingham, the manors of Shelfortli, Stoke-Bardolf, Gedlyng, and Carlcton ; and in Leicestcrsliire, the manor of Ilal- loughton. An iiupusition respecting the manors of Folkingham,* A^'elborne, and several others in tlie county of Lincoln, taken at the same time as tlie above, is now missing, tliough formerly among the archives of the Tower of London ; and another respecting the manor of WUloughby, in Suffolk, the manor and Honour of Wyrmgey, and the manor of Scrowby, in Norfolk, bears date in the fifth year of the reign of Edward IV. Katherine, Duchess of Norfolk, the widow of John, Viscount Beaumont, named in the above inquisitions, was another of the daughters of Ralph, Earl of "Westmoreland; and though she had been three times married, and was then far advanced in years, yet in the month of January 1465, she took for her fourth husband, John Wydville, brother of the Queen of Edward IV., a youth only twenty years of age. William of Worcester records their union in these words, in his Annals of the Fourth Regnal Year of King Edward : Mense Januarii, Katherina, Ducissa Norjfolchi(P, juveucula cetatis fere LXXX. ainiontm, maritata est Johanni Widevile, fmtri Regina;, cetatis XX annorum. 3Iarit(n/lum diabolicum ! vindicta Bernardi inter eosdem postea ])atuit" Sir John Wydville having hccn beheaded with his father, 12th August, 9 Edward IV. 1469, leaving his aged partner yet surviving. The letters patent above recited of the 4th of March, 2 Edward lY. 1462, having been found invalid, others were granted to the same feoffees on the 21st of March, 4 Edward IV. 1464, whereby the said manors, A\-ith Erpingham and Wickmere, in Norfolk, Halton in Oxfordshu-e, WUbraham in Cambridgeshire, and \\Tiatton-at-Stone in Hertfordshire, were settled to the same uses as before, with remainder, in default of issue of the body of Joan, to her husband, WiUiam Beaumont, Knight, late Lord Beaumont, and the heirs of his body. Subsequently, by letters patent dated 8th of September, 7 Edward IV., the manors named in the grant of the 4th of ISlarch, 2 Ed- * Folkingham had been the caput of the ancient Barony of Gant, and its castle was afterward the chief feudal seat of the Lords Beaumont. Leland, in his Itinerary, Vol. I. f. 28, writes as follows: — " From Grimesthorpe to Sempringham a V miles and a Mile theus, sumwhat inwarde on the lifte Ilond, is the Castell of Fokingham, siimtjnne the Lorde Bardolphes, syns the Lord Bellenionts, now longging to the Duke of Northfolk. It hatii bene a goodly House, but now it faUeth onto iiiine, and it stondeth even upon the egge of the Fennes." Again, Vol. viii. f. 110 c, "Master Brudcnald told me that the Busseys of Lincolnsliire had 2 castells in tliat parte, whereof one was at I'okngiiam, that sins the Lord Bellemont had, and now the Duke of Noithfolko hath it as a pece of attayntyd Land in Gifte." 176 LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COLTNTESS OF OXFORD. ward IV., were vested in these feoffees, ^iz. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, George, Archbishop of York, Henry, Earl of Essex, Sir Henry Stafford, Knight, and Sir John Stafford, Knight, sons of Hiunphrey, late Duke of Buckingham, and Sir AYalter Blount, Knight, Lord INIontjoye, to hold the same for the term of the lives of the said ^^'illiam Beaumont and Joan, and of the sur\ivor of them, to the use of the said Joan, mth remainder to the heirs of the body of the said Joan for ever. These letters patent were, however, gi^en up by the feoffees to be cancelled in the follo^Aing year at the King's requisition, when others were issued to Thomas, Cai'dinal and Archbishop of Canterbury, and the above-named feoffees, dated 4th of December, 8 Edward IV., 1468, granting them the same manors to hold for the term of the life of the said Joan, and to her use without impeachment of Avaste, -ndth remainder to the heu-s of her body, jjaying a fine of 205. 4rf. only to the King in this behalf. The exclusion of Lord Beaumont, first fi-om the benefit of the entail upon the heirs of his body, and afterwards from his tenancy for life in these estates, was, it seems, followed by a divorce fi-om his wife, who not long after remarried Sir "\A'illiam Knj^'et, Knight, of Buckenham Castle in Norfolk. In the " Historic of the ArriA'all of Edward IV. into England, and the final recovery of his kiugdomes fi-om Henry VI. a.d. 1471," mention is made of WiUiam, Viscount Beaumont, by the name of Lord Bardolf ; for during the King's stay at Nottingham in the month of March, his scouts brought him word that tliere was within the town of Newark, the Duke of Exeter, the Eai-1 of Oxford, the Lord Bardolf^ and other, wdth great fellowship, to the number of 4000 men. They did not, however, abide the coming of thi" King, but fled out of the town ; and " afterward, in the time of the King's being at Warwick, came to the Earl of Warwick to Coventry the Duke of Exeter, the Marquis Montague, the Earl of Oxford, with many others in great number." The battle of Barnet, fought on Easter Sunday, 14th of April 1471, having ended in the defeat of the Lancastrians, the Earl of Oxford ffed and took into the country, and so went nortliwards, and after that into Scotland ; and when we subsequently meet with liim in the west of England, Viscount Beaumont was stUl his companion. The presence of the latter at the battle of Barnet is also to be inferred from tlie proclamation of the 27tli of April, dated from A^'est- minster, and .addressed to tlie Sheriff of Kent, in wliicli King Edward IV. signified the entrance of Queen Margaret into the realm, and of her having moved and levied war against him; and furtlicr notified and declared the said Margaret, Edward her .son. Henry, late Duke of I'iXeter, I'lduumd B(>aufort, caUing him Duke of Somerset, Jolin, Earl of Oxenford, John Courtney, calling him Earl r,orxD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. 177 of Devonshire, William, lato Viscount Beaumont, and others, to be his open and notorious tniitors, rebels, and enemies, and forbade all persons to assist them and their adherents. Queen Margaret had landed at Weymouth on Easter Day, 14tli of April, the day of the battle of Barnet, and had proceeded on her route to Exeter and Bristol. From Bristol, on hearing of the King's advance, the army was moved upon Tewksbiuy, where, on Saturday the 4th day of May, the battle of Tewksbiu-y was fought, when the party of Edward I\'. was finally triumphant. In the i;]th of Edward IV. 1473, the Earl of Oxford, who had sailed from Scotland to France, where he was worshipfully received, was on the sea with certain ships, and got grcnit good and riches, and afterward came into the west countiy, and with a subtle point of war, got and entered St. Michael's Mount in Cornwdl, on the 30th of September in that year, in which he maintained himself for some length of time. "Wliereupon the King, by letters patent, dated at West- minster 7th of December (nisuing, commissioned John Fortescue, one of the esquires of oiu" body, John Crokker, Knight, and Henry Bodrugan, Esq., to undertake the siege and reduction of the said Mount, empowering them to admit to pardon all rebels being in the said Moiuit, who were wilUng to surrender themselves and make oath of fealty, save and except the said John, late Earl of Oxford, W^illiam Beaumond, late Lord Bardolf, Knight, George, Thomas and Richard Veer, brothers of the said late Earl of Oxford. The siege lasted fi-om the 24th of September, till the 15th of February, 1474, when the Earl was fain to yield up the said Mount, and put himself in the King's grace ; for if he had not done so, his own men wovdd have brought him out. And so was the Earl aforesaid, "the Lorde Bemonde," two brothers of the said Earl, and Thomas Clifford, brought as prisoners to the King. The Earl of Oxford was sent to the Castle of Hammes, in Picardy, where he was closely confined till the 2nd year of Richard III., 1484-5, when he got away and joined the Earl of Richmond; and though there is no positive evidence of the fact, the conjecture may be safely entertained that the attainted Viscount Beaumont was throughout his com- panion. In 1475 John Ward was presented to the church of North Rungton, by the feoffees of Joan Beaumont, daughter of Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham ; and in 1477 Andrew Jenney was presented to the church of Cantley, by Sir WilUam Knpet, and Joan, daughter of Humphrey, Duke of Bucks. Sir William Knyvet resided at Buckenham Castle in Norfolk, and was builder of the South Aisle, Porch, and Tower of S. Martin's Church, in New Buckenham ; in the east 178 LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. window of the Aisle were the effigies of the founder and his three Anves, -with this inscription over their heads: '■^ Orate pro onimabiis Willi Knevet, militis, Alicie filie Johannis Grey, et domine Johanne Jilie Hmnfridi Dncis Bucks., et domine Johanne sororis et unius heredum Uni T/io. Courtnej/, imper Comitis Devon, uxoriim dicti Wiin." His iirst wife died -ttli of AprU, 147-4, and the subsequent marriage with Lady Beaumont will have been prior to the date of the above-mentioned presentation: hence, in a letter dated 25th of August, 18 Edward IV. 1478, Sir John Paston WTites to his brother, John Paston, word, " that the Duke oflF Bokj-ngh'm shall come on PUgrpnage to "WalsjTigh'm, and so to Bokenh'ra Castle to my Lady, hys sustr.'" In the will of Anne, Duchess of Bucldngham, who died 20th of September, 20 Edward IV., 1480, her daughter Beaumoud and her daughter Beaumond's son, Edward Knyvet, are severally named; and Joan was yet living, the wife of Sir "William Knyvet, in the first of Richai-d IIL, 1483, when, as ha\ing been in the company of her nephew Henry, Duke of Buckingham, in the rising begun at Brecknock, 18th of October, in that year, he was denounced as a traitor and a rebel in an act of attainder, drawn up in the Parhameut begun on the 23rd day of January following, 1484. To save his life. Sir "William Knyvet and Joan, his wife, were in that year parties to certain fines for passing the castle of Buckenham to the king, and the manor of HOburgh, com. Norf, to his favourite, Sir James Tyrell : but in the fu'st year of Henry VII., 1485, in an act to restore these estates to Sir "V^'Uham KnjTct, Knight, passed in the ParUamcnt begun on tlie 7th day of November, she is spoken of as late his wife, and was consequently then deceased. They had issue five children, Edward, Charles, John, Anne, and Elizabeth. By his tliird wife, the widow of Sir Roger Clifford, Sir "William Knyvet liad no issue, and his son by his first, Edmund Knyvet, was drowned in his lifetime in a sea-fight. In his wiU, dated 18th of September, 6 Henry VIII., 1514, proved 19th of June, 1516, he directs his body to be buried in the parish chiirch of our Lady, in "Wymondliam, Avliich was also the church of the Monas- tery ; and his son. Sir Edward Knyvet, Knight, made a beepiest for prayers to be said in the same church for his own soul and for the soul of his father. Sir \\ illiiiiii Knyvet, Kniglit, and Duiiu' Jone, his niollicr. at whose feet he is said, by Blomefield, to have been buried. ' Fonn'.s Orif,'iiial l>ottci-s (if tlio Pa.ston I'iuiiily, Lonil. 4t<). 17H7, \'<)1. ii. p. 270. — It is singular that tlif! writer of this letter stiould have fulleii into the mistake of railing Lady Reaninont sister of tlic Diiki; of Huekingliam, of uhom lie is speaking; whereas she Wius, in fact, his aunt, i.e. sister of Humphrey, Karl of Stalfonl, hi-* father, slaJM at the liatlle of St. Alban's, M Henry VL 145G, eldest .ton and heir apparent of Humjilu'ey, tirtt Duke of liuckingiiaiu. LORD BEAUMONT AM) Till; COUNTESS OF OXFORD. 179 In the abovL'-mcntioiifd rarliamcnt, .Sir \\ illiaiii IJcaunioiit, Kiiiglit, upon his petition, was restored to his name, dignity, estate, and inheritance, his attain(h-r being wholly reversed, and enactment made, that no letters patent, granted by reason of the same, shonld be any longer of force to his prejudice. Oi' the \\Tits of sunnnons to this first Parliament of Henry VII., which bear date on the 15th of September, 1485, one was addressed to "William, Viscount Beaumont ; and he was present in Parliament on the 9tli of November following, when, with the other peers, he made oath to harbour no felon, and to refuse all maintenance to retainers, being entitled on the rolls, Viscount de Beaumont. On the 24:th day of April, 1 Henry VII. 1486, Viscount Beaumont took to wife, at "Westminster, Elizabeth Scrope, daughter and coheiress of Sir Richard Scrope, Knight, second sou of Sir Henry Scrope, fourth Baron Scrope, of Bolton in Yorkshire. He also continued to be regidarly smnmoned to Parliament until 12 Henry VII. 1497, inclusive: yet, in the Parliament begun Friday, 9th of November, 3 Hem-y VII. 1487, a Bill concerning the custody of the lands and tenements of William, Viscount Beaumont, was presented to the King in form of words as foUoAV : — ""Whereas William, Viscount Beaumont, in the tyme of King Edward the Fourth was, by auctoritic of Parliament, by an Actc of Atteyndre, atteynted of High Treason, and by the same forfeited to the same late King all his inheritance, of the wliiche the King our Soveraigne Lord, by force of the same Act, was seized fro the begynnyng of the Reigne of our Soveraigne Lord unto tlie tyme that our said Soveraigne Lord, trusting that the same Viscont wold have ben of good and sadde disposition and rule, and tliat he haddc been of discrccion to have ruled himself and his lyvelodc to his Honour and profitte, without alienation or anything doing to the disherltaunce of him or his heirs, caused the same Acte of Atteyndre to be reversed, and the same Viscont to be restored, as well to his Name and Estate, as to his said inhcritaunce. Sith the which restitution our said Soveraign Lord hath ccrteyn know- lechc that the same Viscont is not of sadness ne discretion neither to rule and kepe himself nor his said lyvelode, but sith that tyme hath aliened, wasted, spoiled, and put away great part thereof full undiscretly to the disheritaunce of him and his Heire, and by all likelihode, if he should have his libertie thereof, would hereafter demeane the residue in like wise. In consideration whereof, and forasmuche as oure said Soveraign Lord is bounde to see and provide that suche persones as have Enheritaunce, and be not of sadness and discretion to rule and kepe the same without alienation or disheritaunce of their heires it be, by the advyse of the Lords Spirituall and Temporall and Commyns in this present Parliament assembled, and by auctoritic of the same ordeyncd, stablishcd, and enacted, that the King, oxir Soveraign Lord, or such as his Grace shall depute, have the rule, disposition, and guyding of all the lyvelode and enheritaunce whereunto the said Viscont was restored by the Acte of Restitution made for him in the Parliament holdcn in the first yere of the reigne of 180 LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. our said Soveraign Lord, during the tyme of the life of the said Yiscont, to the honour, sustinaunce, and profitt of the said Tiscont ; and that the same Mscont, by all that same tyme, have none auctoritie ne power to gife ne graunte any parte of the same to any persone without the assent or aggrement of our said Soveraigne Lord, while the said 'S'iseont is in the kepiug of oiir said Soveraigne Lord, or the assent and agrement of suche as his Grace shall depute to have the rule of the said lyvelode and enheritaunce. Savyng to every of the King's Liege people, other than the said Viscont, suche right, title, and lawfull interesse as they have in or to any of the premisses." And which Bill received the Royal assent. The person deputed by the King to have the rule of the lands and inheritance of the Lord Beaumont, was John de Vere, Earl of Oxford above-mentioned, who as such deputy presented in 1493 John Cooke to the rectory of North Rungton. In the ParUament begun 14th of October, 11 Henry VII. 1495, the custody not only of the lands and tene- ments, but of the person of Viscount Beaumont, was the subject of provision in another Act, in the preamble to which the previous Act is recited ; but by reason that the said Act did not specify under what form the King's licence should pass in that behalf, nor how the person of the said Viscoimt should be kept, ordered, guided, and demeaned, and if left at large thereby might follow such demeanour, which were not to the King's honour nor to the worship of this land, considering that he is a person descended of the noble blood of this land, it was now fiu'ther enacted that the King, or such as ho should depute, should have the rule and governance of the person of the said Viscount, as well as of his said liveUhood and inheritance, during his life ; and that no gift or grant to be made by the said Viscount should be valid without the King's licence first had under his great seal. By force of which Act the King, by letters patent, dated Uth of December, 1495, granted to John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the custody of the ])erson of Viscount Beaumont, and of his honours, manors. &c. during his life. From these proceedings we are made acquainted A\ith the melancholy fact that the mind of the nobleman, the subject of this memoir, had given way und(>r the vicissitudes of liis fortunes, and that it had evc-ntually become necessary, after first incapacitating him fi'om all concern in (he direction of his estate, to appoint a committee over his person. The nobleman under whose leading hr Imd I'ouglit. and whose long term of imprisonment he is said to have shared, was appropriately chosen by tlic uioniiirh to nndertake this office ; and consequent upon this a])pointmeiit will have been the removal of Viscount Beaumont and his lady to tlie manor-house of the Earls of Oxford at A\'ivenlioe, in the county of Essex. ^V'(; are tlius cnaljled to account for his sc^pulture in a church wide apart from LORD BEAUMONT AND TIIK COUNTESS OF OXFORD. 181 his hereditary demesnes, iuul in w liicli iioiic of his ilhistrious ancestors lay interred, being that of the parish wlicrc the closing years of iiis protracted Ufe were passed in the sechision which his mehmcholy state required ; and hence his name is altogetlier omitted from the list of Peers summoned to the Parliament which sat on the 25th of January, 19 Henry VII., lo()4, though then still alive." He died in the seventieth year of his age, on the IDth day of December, 23 Henry \11., 1007, without leaving any issue by either nuirriage. Joan, his only sister, married first, John, Lord Level, who died 9th of January, 4 Edward IV., 1405, and secondly, before Pith of November, 5 Edward IV., 1465, Sir William Stanley, of Holt, K.G., younger brother of Thomas, first Earl of Derby. She died 6 Edward IV. 14GG, having had issue by her first husband — 1. Francis, Lord Lovel, born in 145(5, advanced to the dignity of Viscount Level, 4th of January, 22 Edward IV. 1483, K.G., attainted in Parliament begun 7th of November, 1 Henry VII. 1485, was missing from the time of the battle of Stoke, fought Kith of June, 2 Henry VII. 1487, havmg had no issue by his wife, Anne, Viscountess Lovel, daughter of Henry, Lord Fitz-hugh, living his relict, 11 Henry VII. 1495; 2. Joan, wife of Sir Bryan Stapleton, of Carlton, com. Ebor., Knight, deceased before 13th of January, 1 Richard III. 1484-5, the date of the Ucence for her husband's second marriage, leaving issue; 3. Frideswide, wife of Sir Edward Norres, of Yattenden, com. Berks., Knight, deceased before 20th of December, 23 Henry VII. 1507, leaving issue. By writ, dated 5th of July, 1 Henry VIII. 1509, John More, serjeant-at-law, Thomas Jakes, and Thomas More were jointly appointed commissioners to enquire concerning the lands and tenements held by \\'illiam, late Viscount Beaumont, deceased, on the day of his death, in the county of Middlesex ; and accordingly an inquisitio post mortem WiUielmi, Vice- comitis Beaumont, et domini de Bardolf, was taken before them at Westminster, '' John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, guardian to William, Viscount Beaumont, presented Richard Harper to the Rectory of North Rungton, com. Nortf., in 1496, Robert Walker, in 1504, and WiUiain Gniunge, in 1506 ; to the Rectorj' of Cantley, com. Noi-ff., the assignees of John, Earl of Oxford, presented William Pratt, in 1507; and to a moiety of the Rectory of Gedling, com. Notts., the same Earl presented, 18tli of June, 1507, racione custodie WiUielmi, Vicecomitis Beaumont. Loland, in his Itinerar\-, Vol. vi. f. 71, has tliis notice of "Lord Bellomont:" — "There was syns the Bcllomontos Erles of Warwicke, a Baron of great Landes of that Name, and the last of them in King Henry the VH. time was a man of simple Witte. His wife was after marled to the Erie of Oxforde. The chiefest House of this Lord Beaumonte, as I leniid, was at Beaumancr yn Lcyrcestre, or Lincolnshire. This Beaumont hatl faire Possession in the Noi'th Cuntcrcy. — Sir Nicliolas Caro had of the Landos of this Beaumont that the olde Countes of Oxford had yn yointor— Birlyng in Kent, wher the late lorde of Burgeyny lay, longid to this Beaumontes. Lewins of Cantewarbyri told me tliat Syr Nicholas Caro and other 3 geutiliiieu claymid the Landes of this Beaumontes by Hcires General." 1! H 2 182 LORD BEAUMONT AND THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. in tlie said comity, on the 1st of October follo\^'ing, by the jurors on which it was foimd that he had been seized of the lands called Le Beamounfs lands, in the AiUages and fields of "Westminster and St. Giles, and of the manor of "Willoughbyes m Edmonton and Tottenham, and that afterward the said Viscount died without heir of his body ; and that Francis I^ovel, late Viscount Lovel, would have been his next heir, if lie were living, and not attainted of high treason, and that to him in such case the said manor and premises would and ought to descend ; but that by reason of the attainder, the whole now was and ouglit to continue in the King's hands. It was also found that the said Viscount Beaumont died on the 19th of December, 23 Henry VII., and that Sir Brian Stapylton, Knight, and John Norres, Esq., were then his next heu's. ^4z. Brian, son of Joan, daughter of Joan, sister of the said Viscount, and John Xorres, son of Frideswide, another daughter of the said Joan, sister of the said Viscomit.' From Sii- Brian Stapylton, eldest coheir of William, Viscount Beaumont, the present Baron Beaumont is lineally descended, who was summoned to Parlianumt, in the fourth year of the reign of the present Sovereign, by the name, style, and title of Miles Thomas Stuplcton de Beaumont, chevalier ; but the dignity of Viscount, which was limited to the heirs male of the body of John, Lord Beau- mont, became extinct upon the death of the subject of this memoir. ' III otluT iiKjuisitioiis tlic Lady Beaumont, her daugliter, • ;i pursle of sable, her best feather-bed and other fnrniture." Of the inheritance of her first husband, Elizabetli, Countess of Oxford, held in doAver the manor of TIIF. COUNTESS OF OXFORD. IST Loughborough, com. Leicester, with the advowsou of the church tliore, and when again left a widow by the deatli of the Earl of Oxforil. lOtli of ^Nlarch, 4 Henry VIII. 1513, this manor and advowson of her dower were secured to lier 1)\ Act of Parliament in 1514, and again in 1523. " The Earl of Oxford, by his will dated as above, and proved 10th of May, 1513, directed his body to be buried at the Higli Altar of our Lady's chapel in the priory of Cohn-, in Essex, in a tomb which he had made for himself and IMargarct (daughter of llichard, Earl of Salisbmy) his late ^\ife, where she then lay buried. His relict, who survived him many years, by her will dated 30th of May, 29 Henry VIIL 1537, proved 6th November following, directed her body to be buried in the church of Wivenhoe, by the body of her husband, William, late Viscount Beaumont. She ordered her executors to deliver to the curates, &c. of every parish adjoining to the place of her burial, such sums as should be thought con\enient for the relief of poor and impotent persons of the said parishes. And her executors were ordered to pay to the curates, &c. certain sums of money for the poor of every parish where she was patroness and had lands, to pray for her soul, her father's, mother's, and husband's soul, and all Christian souls. She ordered to be sung or said for her own soul, for the souls of her parents, and for her husband's soul, two hundred masses, viz. fifty of the Trinity, fifty of the Holy Ghost, fifty of tlu> Five Wounds, and fifty of the Requiem, and the sayers thereof for every mass to have 12 pence. She bequeathed to the picture of the blessed Lady of Walsingham, in honour of God and her, the ring with which she was married, or the value thereof, to be dis- tributed to the poor people within the town of Walsingham. To the parish church of Wivenhoe she bequeathed her best chalices, her two Altar-cloths of crimson velvet, her best vestment, her best cope of crimson velvet, and a fruntelet of the same suit. She was also a benefactor to other churches and religious houses. To John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, she bequeathed seven tappets of counterfeit arras of the story of Solomon, &c., bought by her of the Bishop of Elie's executors ; the pax of silver gilt, and a box of silver to put the Sacrament of the Altar in, her little cross of gold, having closed in the same a piece of tlie Holy Cross, which she daily wore about her neck. Also her shavmg bason of silver, weighing 24 ounces. To her godson. Lord Bulbeck, she gave a gold ring with a rose of diamonds. To the Lady Dorothy, his mfe, a tablet of gold. To ^ Leland, in his Itinorarv, Vol. vni. f. 109, h. says, " Lughborow wa.s of the BoUcmoiint's lands, and the late old Countes of Oxford had it in Do%\to. BewTiiancr, where Leonard Gray by the Kyng's loa^e dyd dwell, was algo the Lord Bellemonts, and so was the great pasture betwyxt Leircestre and Groby, called Belleniont's Lease." 188 THE COUNTESS OF OXFORD. her godson, Alberic de Vere, his brother, her gold ring with a sapphire of divers squares, and to the Countess of Suixy, his sister, a tablet of gold. To her god- daughter, EUzabeth Darcy, his sister, a ring with a diamond, and to the Lady Anne Vere, his sister, a tablet of gold. To her god-daughter, Frances Howard, a tablet of gold with the assumption of our Lady and St. Francis. To her sister, Elizabeth Vere, her image of our Lady of Pitie; and to her niece, \Mngiield, her ring with five joys of om* Lady, mth a table diamond. To her sister Mary, wife of Sir William Kmgston, Knight, her "Jesus" of diamonds, set in gold. To her sister, Jane Brews, a bason and CAver, chased and gilt ; and to Sir John St. Clere, Knight, a bason and ewer of silver, chased and gilt. After these and othcn- legacies were fulfilled, the overplus was to be disposed of among the poorest of her servants and in deeds of charity, at the discretion of her exc'cutors, Sir William Kingston, her sister [Mary] Kingston, Philip Parrjs, Esq., John Rider, and ilargaret Eider. She appointed overseer of Inn- will, Thomas Cromwell, Lord Cromwell, and Lord Privy Seal, and bequeathed to hiiu 10 pounds. On a slab, under the arch which separates the Nave from the Chancel, is the brass figure of a chaliced Priest, with this inscription : " C^f ro djan'te prnn for t|)E :^oule of ^yv SDtomas iSSlcsiEleii, prcst, (iTftaplcyn to tljc reijgJ)! honorable labile anii (L'ountcsse of ©.xtnforii, toJ)itl)E iJfpartEti out of if)is toorlJj tlje V iaij cf ftbruarij, if yer of o' lorii inli.u.x.xb on toljos xoulc Jlju Ijabe mf|i am en." We beg to return our sincere thanks for the kind attention shcAvn, and tlie valuable information communicated to us, by that well-known and indefatigable antiquary, Thomas Stapleton, Escj., F.S.A. R. D. D. Downing College. VIGNETTE. FROM S. ANDREW'S, CHESTERTON, CAMBRIDGESHIRE. The engraving represents an elevation view of the very elegant Piscina and Sedilia, discovered in the present year during the repairs of the Chancel of S. Andrew's church, Chesterton. Their existence was not suspected before, as not the least trace of them was visible, from their having been filled in with masonry, and plaistered over uniformly with the rest of the internal wall. They are built of clunch, and are in such a dilapidated state, that we believe it has not yet been determined, as we sincerely hope it will be, to restore them to their original beauty. The subject has been selected in order to record their existence, should they again be consigned to oblivion. Many restorations are introduced in the dravnng ; but all, it is beUeved, consistently with the fragments and vestiges discovered on a careful examination. The drawing is carefiUly reduced to a scale of half an inch per foot. "iTtr iaixt true ,J. If r in tf' 'WMluft" I g I iflO fttnn' ftoi^lpMySwh' BEITELLUS AYENEL, l^l^TEST. FR01\[ EUXTED. SUSSEX. tueraT );rti; yfj Krt\vflt0i}vtti tiinpovi' o0au o tKatrrov «(v to crw/i' u incmorials wliich those Churchmen of yore, wliose modest and Oliristian-like monuments it is our pleasant task to commemorate, liave left behind; some there are whose names arc living, and will live ei? uTravra TvXciaTijjni yjpovov, a treasure and a household word, sigiiiiicative of high deeds done, or stern self-denial undergone, in order that, if it so pleased Providence, those that came after miglit th(>reby be the happier. Others there are who are not so famous, but yet have left a good name, for they built some church, or they gave some land, or they founded some ho.spital, or they endowed some benefice. And some, avc fear it might be found Avere we to look too narrowly into their annals, were but Christians in their baptism and their burial. Another class there is, more felicitous than the last, of Avhose monuments all that avc know, and all that we can say, is, " Their memorial is perished with them." All theii* virtues and their foibles, their good deeds and their follies, to us exist no more. And it is rig) it tliat such a diversity sliould exist; otherwise our book would not be a true type of the world. To the last-mentioned class belongs the pious Brass of a long-departed 192 BRITELLUS AVENEL, PRIEST. Ecclesiastic in Biixted Church, which Ave have depicted. Of him we know notliLiig : let us therefore imagine somewhat, and stride from his monument to draw instruction. The style shows it to be of Decorated age, Avhen the mighty Plantagenets were reigning; but Uttle thought he of their prowess, sa\'e as a good subject should always venerate his sovereign ; his care was his remote parish in woody Sussex. He died, we see, on the Feast of S. Mary Magdalene, whose penitence and faith he had proposed to himself for imitation. At the corners of the tomb are the Evangelical symbols, the fit emblems of his profession and pleasing duty. His effigy is on tlie Cross, which manifests the dutiful course of his Christian life till the day of his death, which befell him not unprepared ; for, mark, his hands arc uplifted in prayer — the death that every man would msh to die. He is clothed in his priestly dress ; to the last he devoted himself to the high duties of his calling, and most conspicuous is his chesuble, that dress significant of love. His cross, you see, is budding with flower and leaf; so that his Ufe was not cheerless and gloomy, but enlivened mth the conscious- ness of duties fVilfiUed and rewards to come. Then fere thee well. Christian Priest! may neither neglect nor Puritanic violence disturl) thy remains, nor injiu-e the modest and beautiful mcnnorial, bright with emblems of our highest liopes, which (.'ovars them ; ami may it at last be found tliat all we have said of thee is truth, or less than truth. A. J. B. PI. Trinity College. » JOHN DE GROFHUEST, PRIEST. Reader, beliold the effigy of John de Grofliurst, Priest, a simple benefactor to a simple village church, who did his good deeds in a narrow circle, and hoped but ft)r the perpetual gratitude of a district benefited by his Cliristian liberality. Rector he was of Horsmonden long time ago, a member of a gentle family in that parish; and lie gave his paternal Manor of Lewisheath to Bayham Abbey, that the holy Premonstratensians of that house might provide a Chaplain ever to shew forth, as he, good man, expected. The Lord's death, until His coming again, in Horsmonden church and Lewisheath chapel: and wlien he died they laid him in his own chancel, before the Altar; and they depicted him in priestly vestments, treading the young lion under his feet, like a good Christian warrior, and holding in his hands the Bread of life: and they inscribed his simple memorial upon his breast, that all good kindly souls that had profited by his bequest might, as they read it, remember him in their devotions, till he and they should be consummated at Doomsday. But, alas, not only has his name now perished from his tomb, the work of our generation or of our own fathers, for sixty-three years ago it still was read' upon his brass; but the hand of the spoiler has been upon the houses of the Lord, and within two centuries of the founder's death Lewisheath chapel fell, and the plough tore up the sacred spot, and the solemn chant ceased in Bayham's choir; and, worse tlian this, (for Christian men have worshipped in half-whispered voice, when martyrdom was the expected end of all,) the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the holy place was defiled, and a cold heap of grass-grown stones in a broken apse is all that rests to indicate where once the Altar stood. ' It is given by Hasted in his laborious History of Kent, published in 1 782. CO 196 JOHN DE GROFHURST, PRIEST. But turn we away from this our ten times repeated tale of other dajs, and awaiting in patient confidence the days when we shall reap in joy, let us in the mean while refresh our eyes by bending them upon the unchangeable beauty of the English land, and thank The Lord that, while so physically fair, she was and will again become the isle of saints: ovc€ rif uX\>; Ntjitoic '1' Trairijfft BpErai'i'i'Boc; i(ro^up(4£(. The village and the village church seem one inseparable idea: we are told that the tillage clusters round the church, or tliat the church on its green hillocks crowns the village, and both appear to Inn'e gro^^^l up together, — and one or the other description is equally true; but, strange to say, it is not so at Horsmonden. This rural parish has its green, a very picture of an English village green, and the old warm coloured houses skirt the Saxon forum ; but w'here is the chuiTh, tlie fair Edwardian church 1 A good mile or two away, disporting itself amongst hazel and old oak woods, below the brow of yonder opposite hill. How it came there, or why the village is where it is, nor we nor village gossips can solve. Sufficient that the site of the church is one of extreme beauty ; and not the less so in this case from its isolation: upon a gentle rise, backed with deep-shaded woods of oaks, it proudly lifts its stately tower, while on the other side the interpenetrating sweep of hop and arable and pasture land slopes down to the infant Medway beneath ; and further on the loftier lieight of Goudhurst, with its fortress-like town, tenninates a landscape of great and peculiar beauty ; a beauty arising not so much fi-om any marked and striking features of natural conforma- tion (not that we mean, far from it, that the outline is at all tame), as from a general harmony of parts and prevalent richness of clothing, and a thorough English prestige. The "NVeald of Kent cannot, like northern England, boast of wide sweeping moors and broad lakes, and its " thousand petty rills Tli. 208, acq. f Those wlio hc'liove tliat " a curse and not a blessing" is inherited liy the liolders of i liiirch property, will receive confirmation in that belief by tracing the liistory of this property. It was ultimately given back to Goi» by Sir Rowland Ilayward, who left it in the hands of trustees for charitable purpo.scs : and it has since been known by the name of the Ilayward Trust. I SIR JOHN DE NORTIIWODE, KNIGHT. 207 cycliis. Bon(>atli the cychis is the liauberk, whicli is made of banded mail, and beneath that the jupon. The shoulders are protected by epaulieres, and the elbows by coudcs. The elbows to the wrists are cased in scaled mail, and the hands, which are raised in the attitude of prayer, are without gauntlets. The legs are crossed and covered with greaves, which are connected witli sollcrets of three lames, and are secured by straps passing round the leg and buckled at the side. The heels are armed Avith roweled spurs, and beneath the feet is a lion. The shield is secured to the left side by a narrow ornamented strap, which passes over the right shoulder. Beneath it is a sword, which is sustained by a broad belt, and ornamented with a ci'oss patee at the bottom of the sheath. The dress of the knight's lady is remarkably simple and elegant. It illustrates Mr. Shaw's remark, that the reign of Edward II. had nothing very decided in the character of its costume, but might be considered as a period of transition between the reign of Edward I. and that of Edward III. The liair is parted in the middle, a portion of it being plaited and turned up to the top of the head. She wears a wimple, which at that period was becoming very unusual, and a spenser of fur, called 'vaii-'; beneath which we may perceive the petticoat. It is doubtful whether she bears the vair heraldically or not. Her upper robe or mantle is gracefully gathered up on the right side, but how it is maintained in that position is not apparent. A small pattern runs round the hem, and likewise roiuid the oval slits which serve as sleeves, and through which the arms pass; the hands being joined in the attitude of prayer. At her feet is the small • liounde' as usual. We shall now proceed to say something of the reputed original of this fine brass. It has been supposed by some that it commemorates Sir Roger de North- wode, and his mfe, the Lady J3ona. It would be very interesting if this were the case, as it appears that Sir Roger gained great distinction in Palestine, where he fought under Richard Cceur-de-Lion. But the character of the armour is evidently of a later date, and must be referred to the time of Edward II. If this be so, we may suppose it to represent Sir John de Northwode, wiio appears to have acquired some distinction in the reigns of Edward I. and Edward II. We have not, however, selected this brass on account of any interest attaching to Sir John ; for, if he illustrated his family by great and valiant deeds in the field, or by sage counsels in the cabinet of his sovereign, or by great services to the Church, history has failed to do him justice. Though the family of Northwode is frequently mentioned in Kentish archives, it is seldom under more exciting circumstances than the honourably discharging the duties of sheriff, ov jironounciiig D D 2 208 SIR JOHN DE NORTHWODE, KNIGHT. on the subtleties of parish boundaries. What we know of him shall be briefly laid before our readers. The family of Northwood, of Northwode in Milton, derive their descent from Stephen de Shepey, who obtained a grant of the manor of Milton from Richard I., and built a moat-house, which he encompassed with a park, or rather forest, which he stocked with ^^ild boars after the manner of the time. This domain being on the northern side of the parish, gave occasion to the owner to adopt the name and style of Stephen de Northwode, afterwards Northwood and Norwood. The manor further gained the name of Northwode Chataigniers, from the celebrity of its chestnut-trees. Stephen de Northwode lived to an advanced age, and shortly before his death granted two acres of land as a site for a chapel, and ten acres for the maintenance of a chaplain, that prayers might be said for the repose of his soul, and the souls of King Richard and King John, who had given him that land for his services. He also assigned the small tythes of this parish for the same purpose.* He was succeeded in the property by his son, Roger de Northwode, who was in the train of the Kentish gentlemen who fought at Acre with Richard Ca?ur-de- I.ion. He was buried, according to tradition, in Minster church, as was his wife, the Lady Bona, who was a sister of Sir W. AVauton. Sir Roger d^e Northwode, son of the above, on his accession to the property on the death of his father, procured the tenure of his lands to be changed from gavelkind to knight's service. We find him (32 Hen. III.) entering into a com- position with the Abbat and Convent of S. Augustine, at Canterbury, for the prosecution of his grandfatlier's design for the endoAvment of the chapel and chaplain mentioned above, and for providing an indemnity to the mother church of Milton, of which the said Abbat and Convent were patrons, f It would appear that the pious intentions of Stephen de Northwode had not been carried into effect, but that the land appropriated for tin- chapel and its endowment had been taken possession of with the rest of the estate. Upon his death (13 Edw. I.) lie was found by inquisition seized of the manors of Nortliwode within and Northwode without, in the Isle of Sheppey, held of the King in capite by the service of the twentieth part of a kniglit's fee.| He also possessed the manor of Hcryetsham, held of tlie King in capite by the service of half a knight's fee, and the yearly rent of 19.v. from the manor to the Abbat and Convent of Cluist's Church, Canf<'rl>ury. J * Kcgi.it. .Moil. Sti. Aug. Cant. j). 4.04, quoted in Hasted. t Rcgist. M"ip. Sti. Aug. Cant. J Hot- l''»ch. SIR JOHN DE NORTIIWODE, KNIGHT. 20!) Sir Joliu ik> Noitlnvode, son of Sir Roger, wlio, as wc supijosc, is represented ill tiie brass whieh we have described, served with some distinction in the Scottisli wars in the reign of Edward I. His name occurs in the list of the barons invited by Edward I. to be present at the coronation of himself and his queen on the Sunday next after the Feast of S. Valentine the Martyr. His lady was included in the invitation, for the entry is — " Johni de Northwode ct Consorti sue."* Sir John was present with Edward I. at the siege of Carlaverock, ^^■hen he was knighted by the king for his valour. He served as sheriif four times, and received a summons to Parliament as a Baron of the realm, from 6 to 12 Edw. l.f He married Joane, daughtt>r of Guncelin de Badlesmere, governor of C^hester, and sister of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who acquired notoriety by his wealth and by his crimes. His loyalty had long been suspected at court, and was put to the test on the occasion of Isabella, queen of Edward H., going on pilgrimage to Can- terbury. The Queen had sent forward her messengers to Sir Bartholomew, who was governor of Leeds castle, to demand accommodation on her arrival : they were refused admission; and some, wliilst endeavouring to force an entrance, were killed. For this act of treason against his sovereign, which was deeply aggravated by the peculiar circumstances of the case, he was seized by an armed levy sent against him by the King, and executed. + Sir John de Northwode died a.d. 1318, and was found at his death to hold two parts of the manor of Heryetsham of the King in capite, by the service of two parts of one knight's fee, and suit to the Court of the Manor of Ospringe from thi-ee weeks to three weeks, as of the Honor of Peverel. He was succeeded by his grandson Sir Roger, who, (20 Edw. III.) jointly with William de Clynton, Earl of Huntingdon, possessed the other part of this manor in right of his wife, Juliana de Leyborne, and paid aid for it on occasion of the Black Prince being granted his spurs. He was summoned to Parliament 34 Edw. III., haAing married Juliana, daughter and coheiress of Geoffrey de Say, by whom he left issue a son. Sir John de Northwood, who succeeded him, and was summoned to Parliament from 37 — 47 of this reign. He died possessed of this manor 2 Rich. II., and left issue by Joane his wife, a daughter of Robert Hert of Feversham, Roger, who succeeded him : Roger left issue John de Northwood, who iftarried Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Frogenall, by whom he had issue a son of the same name, who dying without issue, his two sisters, one • Rymer's Foedera, ni. 59. f Iliid. iii. 74. J Walsingham, p. 315 : fiuotod in Rapin, i. 395. Tho Radlesmere arms are — Azure, a fleece Or between two bars genielles Gules. 210 SIR JOHN DE NORTHWODE, KNIGHT. of whom married John Barley of the county of Hertford, and the other, Sir John Norton, Knt.. became his coheiresses ; and in the division of the property the latter became, in his wife's right, possessor of the Milton estates. These coheu'esses bear for their arms — Ermme, a Cross engrailed Gules. Such is the brief account we are enabled to offer of the family of Northwode of Milton. By the failm-e of heirs male, the property continued for a long period to be held by the Norton family. A collateral branch of the Northwodes was settled in the Isle of Thanet : they became possessed of part of the Milton estate. We will conclude by obser%'ing, that this is one of the seven cross-legged brasses kno^vn to exist. Many others doubtless have been carried oflF by the church spoiler, and some perhaps are still in existence, buried under an accu- mulation of pues. A very fine brass, of the early part of the fifteenth century, was lately discovered at Hastings m the church of All Saints, by the removal of the mayor's pue. Successive corporations had dozed over this fine monument for upwards of two centuries. As a secondary incitement to the good work of pue demolition, we may reasonably hope to be often rewarded with such discoveries. J. J. B. Trinity CoUeye. ILLUSTRATION. Perspective view of the church of Lower Peover, Cheshire: interesting as being one of the very few wooden churches in the country. ■^11* ^k wiTr m rtqmr i lului fUttpUhni huimlalnt' : liiis fcdfftf ; "ilfitov uiiii l)llnl(^lIl^ HOHua]ai\i(l).tttitD;: lilniimivlliiiiii inMul :liiauij'mt uliw.'itralw luiri'lflif ummlHlal . gipitr[ifi6:irlu^jipi[uci» y ;• 'Hiuuui»l,illcno;:;liiuann8 vdiiotinio l,i'tujgr«ijiliri-ii JOHN MAPILTON, PEIEST. The accompanying Brass is from the church of S. Mary, Broadwater, once the centre of a small and secluded population, before the tide of fashion set in for the coast of Sussex, and church-less toAvns started into existence, where scarcely a fisherman's hut was known of old. Now, S. Mary claims allegiance from Worthing as its mother church: how far she finds a duteous child it is not for us to say. The church wall well repay a \isit to any one who, even %vithout the zeal of a professed Ecclesiologist, may like to trace the history of architecture in England in the different styles presented to his view in this large and interesting build- ing, from the massive Norman of the tower to the debased Third Pointed of the canopied high tombs of the Dclawarr family, in which we find an admixture of Italian details, proving but too plainly that the days of Christian architecture were then numbered. The brass of a Priest in processional vestments will not be likely to escape the notice of such a idsitor. It belongs to a period at which the art of working monumental brasses was brought to the greatest perfection; and though comparatively simple in its design, nothing can exceed the elegance and freedom of tlic canop) under which the figure stands. The chief peculiarity of the vestments is the introduction of a maple leaf and the letter " M " alternately in the ornamented border of the cope, evidently in allusion to the name of the Priest here repre- sented, John Mapilton. It is well knoA\Ti how common rcbusses of this kind are in the architectural ornaments of the middle ages. We may, perhaps, be allowed to doubt how far they are in character with a sacred vestment, even 212 JOHN MAPILTON, PRIEST. when we find one employed by those who, iu ;xll matters of taste and feeling, have shewn themselves so fai* our superiors. But who was John Mapilton, whose name is thus preserved to us? We must protest against being called upon to furnish a history of all those whose brasses we introduce to public notice, otherwise we should be in almost as pitiable a condition as painters and sculptors, who, according to the Moslem creed, will be obliged hereafter to provide souls for their figures. We must be content to confess our ignorance of all that concerns John ]Mapleton, beyond the few particulars to be gathered from his legend, which runs thus; Hie jacet in requie, John Mapilton, tumulatus. Istius Eeelesije Rector nuper vocitatus. Dona Magistratus sibi Cancellaria prestat. Regis erat gratus. Cunctis hoc plebs mauifestat. Conjugis Henrici regis hie Cancellarius exit. Qui perscripta legis, quis erat sua fama retexit. Migrat fclicis ortu Christi genetricis Anno niillono centum quater bis x duodeno. W^e learn thus that he was sometime rector of the church in which he lies, a magistrate, and an author, in fiivour with the King, in repute among the com- monalty, and, finally, the Queen's chancellor ; and that he departed this life on the Feast of the Nativity of our Lady (the 8th of September), in the year 1432. These are slender materials truly for a biography, and yet they are all we have to give. We may reasonably conclude that the Henry referred to, was the fifth of that name, as he died in 1422, leaving his son an infant. The Queen, who had Sir John for her chancellor, must thus have been Catharine of Valois, wooed and won, as the chroniclers tell us, in so warlike and unloving a manner, and 80 soon left in widowhood. Clearly, our Priest must have been a man of no small repute in his o«ni day, but neither his royal jiatronage, nor his legal fame, wouUl have preserved even his name from oblivion liad it not been for the faithful and tenacious monumental brass. It is possible tliat lie may June trusted to his writings for remembrance amongst posterity; lir may have looked to them as " monumentum a^rc ])i'nMmius," but the issue has shewn that, if so, he undervalued the services of that metal, whilr; he was too sanguine in his anticipations of j)ost]iumous renown. Even tlie sul)ject of liis writings is unknown to us ; they are as if they had ne\er been. It may be that the MS. lurks still in some une.\j)lored corner of a neglected JOHN MAI'ILTON. I'UIF.ST. 213 library, to gladden tlio eyes of some future antiquary and perliaps appear before the world under the auspices of some learned and august society. If tliis should ever be tlie case, v/c may be enabled to gather snnu> autlientic information as to his birth, and parentage, and education, and othir points on which biographers love to dwell. Meanwhile we may indulge our curiosity in vain. How he rose into notice; how his life was spent, whetlier in the labours of his holy calling amidst the rustics of Broadwater, or amidst courts and camps; whether in his attendance on liis Sovereign he forgot his duties to a still liiglier Power, or on tlie other hand was a true and honest councillor, fearless in rebuking vice, ready as the minister of peace to check and temper his master's thirst for war and bloodshed — we cannot tell. The chroniclers who have told us of those stirring times help not our enquiries. Monstrelet, and Speed, and Stow may ahke be searched in vain. Most of all, if it had been permitted us, we should have wished to hear, how he performed the duties of his priestly office, what he was as jjastor of his flock, how his time was spent, and what was his mannc^r of life. Few records could be more interesting to us than tlic [)arochialia of a country parson in the fifteenth century. It is a subject of which we are extremely ignorant. Many records and chronicles of monastic life have been preserved to us; we are almost as familiar with the interior Ufe of Citeaux or Clugni, and Croyland and S. Edmundsbury, as if we had ourselves been brought up within their precincts. But of the studies, and ministrations, and habits, and influence of the secular and parochial clergy of the same period Ave know next to nothing. We may even yet be allowed to possess the diary of some George Herbert of the fifteenth century: John Mapilton may have been such a parson as he was in the seventeenth. Let us hope that it was an age in which many such were to be found. We fear however that the warning which had been sounded before the close of the preceding century was not uncalled for, and was but httle heeded. We can hardly doubt but that a time-serving and secular s])irit had spread mdely among all ranks of the clergy, even when they were free from other faults. No greater proof can be given of this than the subservience shewn to the caprice of Henry VIII. in the folloA\-ing century. The rights and privileges of the Church could not have been trampled upon as they were if her own servants had been true to her; if she had had champions now to maintain her cause, like those who of old had stood up so manfully and successfully against her oppressors. The nation at large would not have permitted the spoliation of EE 214 JOHN MAPILTON, PRIEST. their Church if tliey had been taught their duties towards their brethren and their God. It may be tliat tlie Rector of Broadwater was more true to his sacred obU- gations than most of his age. We would fain give him the advantage of his obscurity. At the same time it cannot but be confessed that even in the character of his epitaph there is sonrething which leaves not altogether a pleasing impres- sion on our minds. There is too nuich of the laudation, so common in a later age, and on the other hand there is but little of the tone of a more Catholic period. We lind no prayer for mercy, no expression of reliance on our Lord's Cross and Passion. But here we must leave John Mapilton, hoping for his forgiveness if we have wronged his memory, and thougli unasked, let us drop the prayer, Requiescat in P.vce, G. H. H. Trinity College. ILLUSTEATION. INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, CAMBRIDGE. (As restored hi/ the Qitnbridye Camden Society.) Tliis beautiful \iew was taken, very soon after the completion of the restora- tion, by G. F. Weston, Esq., B.A. of Christ College. It exhibits the Eound Church %'iewed from a point in the sui-rounding aisle a little south of the west door: and the Chancel with its Altar (since destroyed) and its East window, and part of the north aisle, are seen beyond. The Round Church was consecrated a.d. 1101. The chancel and aisles are of Thud Pointed character. It is known to most that this church, since its restoration, has been again defiled by mean and unne- cessary seats, by incongruous tables of Commandments, and by mural monuments of the worst kind. The original debt has not been cleared off: the burden of it is allowed to rest on the Chairman of the Restoration Committee. Thus a restoration, perhaps the most interesting and successful of oui- times, has become, not so much an ornament to tlie Town and University, as a disgrace to them for the apathy and tastelessness which allowed a beautiful \vork of art to be mutilated, and for the parsimony which suffered such a debt to lie upon one who ought the least to bear it. However the restored church remains a monument of what, even in these days. Christian Art can effect to the glory of God, and has been the mother, by the force of the example which it shows, of very many other restorations. The pre- sent lithograph will perpetuate the memory of the appearance of the church immediately after its restoration. 'iU> EPILOGUS. Sit labori terminus! Facientes Dei Jussa et Ecclesiae, quod debemus Ei, Tumulum monstravimus esse domum spei, Veruni coemetenum, portain requiei. Longe late Angliam uovimus Sanctorum, Multa teiiipla visimus, operas majorum, Ubi dulce dormiunt anims justorum, Et liunc librum pretium tulimus laborum. Inter ha;c et alia, qua nil rcfert scire, Visi nobis dies sunt loetiores ire, Novi pulchritudine campus sc vestire, Aquas Sol hesperias grandior subire. Nostrum fait interim sacrosancta tccta Atque Tabemacula visere dilecta, Vanitate sajculi paululum rejeeta, Ubi clamant omnia, Deum tuum specta I Rutilabant Martyros ex antiquo more, Rutilaliat Virginum dulci Chorus ore, Confessorum iiuincrus vitrco splendore, Et micabat aureo laqucar colore. Mortis habitaculo adstct \'ita; Lignum : Illud sit solatium flentibus benignum ; Niliil est Catholico monumento dignum, Nbi sit Ecclesise Triumphantis signum. 217 EPILOGUS. Procul sit memoria cuncta terrenorum, Stirpis, matrimonii, sobolis, factorum ; Quantus in otficio pacis vel bellorum, Quantus in di\-itiis ; — nil decobit hor\im. Ubi semel ultimum ad Tribunal statur, In quo poenitentiaa nuUus locus datur, Reus coram Judice anne gloriatur? Servus coram Domino tale fabulatur ? Apage papavora, — apage mcBrorem, — Fractos aut'er lapides, — forreum soporem ; Spem fidemque statuse spirent et amorem, Marmor det angelicum, quod potest, decorem. UrniB, tsedae, vincula (juid cum libcratis ? Quidve flos deeiduus habet cum Beatis ? Ubi ver perpetuum, cxpors vita fatis, Et iEternum gaudium Iinmortalitatis. Omnibus fidelibus requiem oreraus, Et sic ad propositam metam fostinemus, Ut cum illis, simulac cursum peragemus, In excelsis gloriara Deo conclamenius ! J. M. N. Trinity (*o!leye. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBR,\RY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. JUN 16 laciu NON-R ih. DUE 2 WKS jlill t • ** u u 4 1990 FROM DATE RECEIVED ■ Form L9-40m-7,'56(C790s4)444 --NB Ecclesio logical 18U2 Society, Cam -. S17i bridge - Illustrations of jionumental brasses r BINOERY iVtAY 15 igS9' 3 1158 00578 4144 UC SOUTHI HN Rf riinNAI I IBRAHV FACILITY ' I'ilili'llii'llllf ll'Hil "" D 001067 713 6 *IB 1842 E17i ^r^ _^ „.iv ■iili ii|i: UliiiiDiiiUiilillt