By3 117 v,2 3 JlgKa ¦ ScaAi l /»^ 24e founding if a. Cofogt-fcttef.&l&fyQ ' Y^LH«¥]M]I¥IEI^SEir¥« BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE Alfred E. Perkins Fund ORIGINAL LETTERS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF ENGLISH HISTORY. THIRD SERIES. London , BKjhapd Bentley, .1846. ORIGINAL LETTERS, ILLUSTRATIVE of ENGLISH HISTORY INCLUDING NUMEROUS ROYAL LETTERS : FROM AUTOGRAPHS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, THE STATE PAPER OFFICE, AND ONE OR TWO OTHER COLLECTIONS. WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY SIR HENRY ELLIS, K. H. F. R. S. Sec. S. A. PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. THIRD SERIES. VOL. II. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, $ublt£ll)u- in <©rtrinan> to Bin iHajtitg. MDCCCXLVI. LONDON : Printed by S. & J. Bkntlkt, Wilson, and Fley, Bangor House, Shoe Lane. CONTENTS. VOL. II. LETTER PAGE cxxx. The Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk to Cardinal Wolsey, upon the Pacification of the Rising in those Counties " for the payment of Money" .... 3 cxxxi. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey : upon the " Amicable Grant," as regarded the Spirit ualty of his Diocese 7 cxxxn. The Three Ambassadors in Spain, Bishop Tun stall, Sir Richard Wingfield, and Master Samp son, to Cardinal Wolsey ; reporting their first audience from the Emperor, who expresses his great dissatisfaction at Wolsey's general de meanour 12 cxxxin. Richard Pace to Cardinal Wolsey. The King means to quit Woodstock Palace secretly, for the sake of privately conferring with the Cardinal 18 cxxxiv. Tunstall Bishop of London and Dr. Sampson to King Henry the Eighth. They report the death of Sir Richard Wingfield ; with the offers made for the release of the French King 20 cxxxv. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey. Upon '\ the Loan, as it affected the Clergy of Kent 29j cxxxvi. Lord Dacre of the North to Cardinal Wolsey : ac knowledging the receipt of the King's Letters for his brother, Sir Christopher Dacre, and John Pennyngton, Esq., to be admitted Knights of the Shire for Cumberland. The defenceless state of Carlisle 35 VOL. II. b CONTENTS. LETTER PAGE cxxxvn. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey. A Let ter of Thanks and Kindness 38 cxxxvm. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey. Re monstrates against the Cardinal's encroachments upon his authority and jurisdiction as Arch bishop 41 cxxxix. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey, upon the power assumed by the Cardinal, as Legate de latere in Testamentary Causes 43 cxl. Archbishop Warham to his niece the Lady Grevile. A Letter of domestic consolation 46 cxli. Richard Pace to Cardinal Wolsey. The Queen enquires of the Cardinal's health. The King considers the Cardinal's Chapel better provided for the Choral Service than his own 47 cxlii. Pace to Wolsey. The King's thanks for the Child of his Chapel which the Cardinal had sent to his Highness. The Queen's old Almoner. General News 51 cxliii. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey, giving up to him one of the singing men of his Chapel 54 cxuv. Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, to Cardinal Wolsey, complaining of a dearth of Newcastle Coals on the Coasts of Suffolk and Norfolk 55 cxly. Edward Guldeford to his brother Sir Henry, upon the attempt of the Inhabitants of Sussex to re place the Canons of Bayham in their Monastery 57 cxlvi. Thomas Bishop of Bangor and Abbot of Beaulieu to Cardinal Wolsey ; relating to an unjust seiz ure by some of the Cardinal's servants of lands in the parish of St. Keverans in Cornwall, be longing to his Abbey 60 cxlvii. Laurence Stubbs to Cardinal AVolsey. Violent conduct of the Sanctuary Men of Westminster. The Prior of St. Bartholomew's likely to die. Miscellaneous News 62 cxl\ in. Archbishop Warham to my Lord Cardinal of York, in relation to New Ordinances for the King's Mints, affecting the Archiepiscopal Mint at Can terbury 67 CONTENTS. Vll LETTER PAGE cxlix. The same to the same. The Archbishop's Thanks for the continuance of his Mint, by the King's patent of confirmation 70 cl. Edward Lee, the King's Almoner, to Henry VIII., giving an account of his journey to Bourdeaux, on his way to Spain. Apprises the King that a translation of the New Testament, by an Eng lishman, was completed, and would be sent in a few days to be distributed in England, a.d. 1525 71 cli. John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, to Cardinal Wolsey, upon the dissemination of Lutheran books at Oxford 77 clii. Richard Gresham to Cardinal Wolsey : reports the seizure of English Ships at Nieuport, in conse quence of the Arrest of the Emperor's ambassa dors in England. Recommends Joachim Hoch- stetter, a Flemish Merchant, to the Cardinal's kindness 80 clhi. Edward Lord Dudley to Cardinal Wolsey, upon a robbery committed on one of his Tenants 82 cliv. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey, remit ting to him an impostor Monk 84 clv. Richard, Bishop of Norwich, to Archbishop War ham, offering his contribution toward the sum paid by the Archbishop for buying up the copies of Tyndal's translation of the Testament 86 clvi. Edward Lee, the King's Almoner, to Cardinal Wolsey. The difficulty of getting the Cardinal's pensions transmitted to him without diminution 93 clvii. Edward Lee to Cardinal Wolsey, again upon the pensions and losses in payment. The French King desirous to offer to the Cardinal the Pa- palite" of France 95 clviii. Secretary Knighte, afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells, to Wolsey. The King satisfied with Wol- sey's deferring the mention of his intended Di vorce to the King of France. Masters Allen and Cromwell viewed by the King and Courtiers with suspicion 99 Vlll CONTENTS. LETTER PAGE clix. Edward Lee to Cardinal Wolsey. The Pope com plains of the despoiling of St. Peter's Church. His Nuncio's Account of the King of Hungary's defeat and death. The King's brother, the Vay- wode, suspected of holding secret intelligence with the Turk. A projected Meeting between the Pope and the Emperor at Barcelona, to which Wolsey is invited. Difficulty of travel ling in Spain. The Pope wishes Henry VIII. to come 102 clx. Thomas Cromwell to my Lord Legate. The finers of Durham wait his Grace's pleasure. Value of certain lands purchased by the Cardinal. College of Ipswich. Exchange for the Precep- tory of Sandford. Parsonage of Rudby in Cleveland , 107 clxi. John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, to Mr. Crom well. Dr. Nicholas, of Oxford, wishes for a licence to revisit his native Country, Italy. Has been so secret in the matter of the Divorce that the Bishop thinks the granting of the li cence inconvenient Ill clxii. Thomas Cromwell to Mr. Doctor Gardiner, apolo gising, on account of press of business, for not returning to the Cardinal so soon as he was ex pected. A breach of the Thames into the marshes of Liesnes in Kent 113 clxiii. Henry Duke of Richmond to Cardinal Wolsey; entreating his intercession with the King to pro vide him with a suit of harness 117 clxiv. Sir Wm. Bulmer and Sir Thomas Tempest's Ad vertisement to Cardinal AVolsey of the Affairs of the Duke of Richmond 118 clxv. Herman Rynck to Cardinal Wolsey. Two Packets from the King, relating to Luther, conveyed through his hands to Germany. Sends pre pared meats from the Bishop of Cologne, and from himself, to the Cardinal. The Archduke Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, seeks assistance against the Turk. The illness of Thomas Tichytt 127 CONTENTS. IX LETTER pAGE clxvi. Thomas Heneage to Cardinal Wolsey. In waiting on the King. Mistress Anne's message to the Cardinal. The King sends him down to Mis tress Anne, with a dish for her supper She expresses her desire for some of the Cardinal's good meat 131 clxvii. George Duke of Saxony to Henry VIII.; that he had forwarded to Martin Luther the copy of the King's " Responsio," sent to him by the King for that purpose. That he, the Duke, had had it translated into German. He sends to the King a copy of Luther's answer 134 clxviii. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey, that Eli zabeth Barton may be allowed to come to his presence, and speak with him personally 136 clxix. Thomas Cromwell to Cardinal Wolsey. Visits the Monastery of Wallingford. Reports the rising magnificence of the buildings of Cardinal Col lege. Recommends Mr. Byrton for promotion to the benefice of St. Florence, in the Diocese of St. Davids 138 clxx. Cromwell to his friend Thomas Allen for the re turn of a hundred pounds which he had lent to him : and respecting a. Bond to the King, in which Allen had joined with his brother, the Archbishop of Dublin 140 clxxi. Steven Vaughan, at Antwerp, to Mr. Cromwell, in London. Has found an Iron Chest to secure his valuables in 141 clxxii. Henry Sadler to his son Ralph, (afterwards Sir Ralph Sadler,) in Cromwell's service ». 144 :lxxiii. The Marquess of Dorset to his nephew Thomas Arundel. The taking of two Thieves, one of whom had fled to the Lord of St, John's Sanc tuary at Coots 147 ilxxiv. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey, entreat ing, on account of his age and infirmities, to be excused from meeting Cardinal Campegius, and conducting him on his journey towards London 149 CONTENTS. LETTER PAGE clxxv. The Bishop of Bangor to Cardinal Wolsey. The apparently incurable state of Master Pace 151 clxxvi. Sir Henry Guldeford to Cromwell, asking for the ferm of Bilsington Priory 1 55 clxxvh. Thomas Cromwell to the Lord Cardinal, introdu cing his servant Ralph Sadler to him 156 clxxviii. Stephen Gardyner to the Ambassadors at Rome, cautioning them to prevent the intended Advo cation of the Cause of the Divorce ; the ruin it might bring on Wolsey ; and advising them to procure the despatch of the Bulls for Wolsey's College, at Oxford 157 clxxix. Cromwell to Cardinal Wolsey, in recommendation of his kinsman, Dr. Carbot 159 clxxx. John Whalley to Cromwell, then at Calais. The Progress of the King's buildings at the Tower. Cromwell's family and household well. The Prior of Reading imprisoned in Beauchamp Tower 161 clxxxi. Thomas Darrell to Cromwell. The Bells of Bay- ham Abbey taken down 163 clxxxii. Henry Sadler, father of Sir Ralph Sadler, to Crom well : details the particulars of his purchase of a House at Hackney 164 clxxxih. Thomas Baxter to Master Thomas Cromwell, re minding him of old amity : and his promise that Baxter should not lose money by him 166 clxxxiv. Richard Croke to Henry VIII., on the prevarica tion of certain Friars of the LTniversity of Padua, who had taken his Majesty's money to give their subscription as disallowing his marriage with Queen Katherine, but now are for it 167 clxxxv. Steven Vaughan to Cromwell, anxious to know how he is " intreated in the sudden overthrow of my Lord his Master " 17] clxxxvi. Henry the Eighth to Lord William Dacre, recom mending Cardinal Wolsey to him, who was about to repair to his Province 172 ux xxvii. Dr. Thomas Magnus to Cardinal Wolsey, excusing CONTENTS. XI PAGE himself from lending his official house at Sib- thorp, for the Cardinal's temporary residence ... 174 . Edmund Bonner, afterwards Bishop of London, to Cromwell, to borrow some Italian books 177 Robert Brown to my Lord Cardinal. Prepara tions at Southwell for the Cardinal's reception. . . 179 Cromwell to Wolsey. Inquests relating to the Archbishoprick of York. The King's kind in tentions. The Cardinal's College : and his pen sion of a thousand marks from the See of Winchester. Strangwise's clamorousness. The house at Battersey. Cromwell's serious advice. Foreign news. The King's movements. Crom well's declaration of attachment 181 to the Duke of Norfolk. Tyndall escapes the apprehension intended for him by Henry VIII. No access to the Emperor, in conse quence of his fall from his horse. Account of the German towns of Worms, Spire, Nurem berg. The manner of celebrating the Mass in Nuremberg described. The harness and ord nance of the town. Its extraordinary supply of grain 189 Richard Croke to Cromwell, respecting some errors in his Majesty's Work, entitled " A Glasse of theTruthe" 194 The same to Cromwell. The distribution of the " Glasse of Truth " at Oxford : and the diffi culty in persuading persons that it was of the King's writing 197 Stephen Vaughan to King Henry the Eighth. The middle part of a Letter relating to Frith and Tyndal 200 Sir Richard Gresham to Master Cromwell, to move the King for the payment of a debt due to him from the Estate of the late Lord Cardinal 204 Stephen Vaughan to Cromwell. General News. Books put forth by Luther and Melancthon. Has spoken to Tyndal 206 Xll CONTENTS. LETTER PAGE cxcvii. Stephen Vaughan to Cromwell. Desirous to ob tain a knowledge of the French language : and to obtain a copy of Palsgrave's " Eclaircissement de la Langue Franchise" 208 cxcvm. Stephen Vaughan to Cromwell ; to appease his anger, which had been expressed before other persons 215 cxcix. Sir William Godolphin to Cromwell, announcing the sending to him of two Cornish men, at his request, skilled in the feat of wrestling 217 cc. Sir William Godolphin to Cromwell. Sends a thousand pounds weight of Tin to make pewter vessels for his household. Asks a licence for importing Gascoyne Wines. Offers to furnish the King with tried Wrestlers 220 cci. Stephen Vaughan to Cromwell. Arrives at Calais. Friar Peto at Antwerp. The Flemings reported to have put in print an excommunication of the King. Slowness in the payment of Vaughan's stipend. The state of Gravelines. His wife devises some works for the Queen 221 ecu. Ralph Sadler to Secretary Cromwell, requesting him to stand Godfather to his new-born son . . . 225 ccin. Erasmus Forde to Mr. Stedalf, one of the King's Commissioners of Sewers for the County of Surrey, with particulars respecting the issue of the first Commission 227 cciv. Dr. Capon to Cromwell, informing him that the Plate and Ornaments of the College of Ipswich have been sent to the King 231 ccv. Robert Fuller, Abbot of Waltham, to Mr. Crom well, to settle an Exchange with the King for lands belonging to his Abbey. He wishes Cromwell to come over and speak to his Monks, of some of whose consents he is doubtful 235 ccvi. N icholas Glossope to Cromwell, praying his assist ance to become one of the " bedemen " of the Merchant Tailors' Company 237 cevn. Henry Huttoft, Surveyor of the Customs at South- CONTENTS. Xlll LETTER PAGE ampton, to Cromwell. The arrival of a Present of Novelties for the King's Highness 239 covin. John Rokesbie to Cromwell. Sends the term- account from Cambridge for the Education of Christopher Wellifede 243 ccix. Rychard Lyst, lay brother of the Observants at Greenwich, to Anne Boleyn, when Marchioness of Pembroke, respecting the opposition made to the King by the brethren of his House. Asks Anne Boleyn to pray for him. Acknowledges her charity, both to himself and to his mother... 245 ccx. Richard Lyst to Cromwell, when in Calais. Friar Forest will not preach the King's "matter" ... 249 ccxi. Richard Lyst to Cromwell. Still upon Father Foresf s obstinacy. His interviews with the King 253 ccxii. Richard Lyst to Cromwell, still in accusation of Father Forest 257 ccxm. Richard Lyst to Cromwell ; still upon Father Forest 265 ccxiv. Richard Lyst to Cromwell ; anxious to quit his Convent. Exercises his old trade of an Apothe cary 267 ccxv. Bryan Tuke to Cromwell. The state of the Posts, and the King's orders relating to them 270 ccx vi. Henry the Eighth's Letter of summons to Lady Cobham, to ride, with her women, at the Solem nity of Queen Anne Boleyn's Procession to the Tower and Coronation 274 ccxvu. John Tregonwell to Cromwell. The Sentence of Divorce from Q. Katharine passed 276 ccxvm. Sir William Fitzwilliam to Cromwell. Sends a Present, and gives the detail of an Interview with Sir Thomas More. Invites Cromwell to hunt at Byfleet 277 ccxix. Sir William Fitzwilliam to Cromwell ; respecting the vacancy in the Abbacy of Beaulieu in Hamp shire, occasioned by the Bishop of Bangor's death 279 ccxx. Stephen Vaughan to Thomas Cromwell. Hears CONTENTS. ccxxvi. ccxxvii. CCXXVIII. CCXXIX. CCXXX. ccxxxi. PAGE from his wife that the King intends removing him to some fresh legation. Laments it, and explains the penury of his condition. Uncer tainty of the Posts. Students of Louvain satir ize the King and Queen. Severely censures the Appointment made by Cromwell to the See of Chester 281 Thomas Goldwell, Prior of Canterbury, to Crom well, with a Present of Fruit 287 John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, to the Lords of Parliament, in defence of himself, when ac cused respecting the Visions of the Maid of Kent 289 Andrew Boorde to Secretary Cromwell from Bour- deaux. Intelligence of " synystrall matters "... 295 Andrew Boorde to Cromwell. The Opinions, particularly of the Foreign Universities, upon the King's divorce. He himself in Catalonia when the Emperor took shipping for Barbary... 299 Andrew Boorde to Secretary CromwelL His account of his being dispensed of his religion by the Prior of the Charter House 301 Andrew Boorde to Cromwell, from Glasgow, where he was studying Physic. His opinion of the Scots 303 Andrew Boorde to Cromwell, when Lord Privy Seal. After his return from Scotland 306 Andrew Boorde to the Prior of Henton ; who wished him to return to his Religion 308 John Rastell to Secretary Cromwell ; on the pre paration of a little Book to be sent forth under the authority of the King's Commission. Some particulars of his own life 308 Richard, Abbot of Leicester, to Cromwell, with Forty Pounds 313 Archbishop Cranmer to a friend then upon an Em bassy abroad, detailing the story of the Holy MaidofKent 314 Richard, late Abbot of Leicester, to Cromwell, re specting the terms upon which he has resigned his Abbacy, and received a pension 319 CONTENTS. LETTER CCXXXIII. CCXXXIV.CCXXXV. PAGE John, Abbot of Leicester, to the Lord Privy Seal, with a Present of Cattle 320 John, Abbot of Leicester, to Cromwell, on his pay ments to his predecessor in office 321 Edward Lee, Archbishop of York, to Henry VIII., upon the charge made against him that he had neglected to publish the King's supremacy, as well as the abolition of the Pope's authority in his Diocese 324 Depositions taken before Sir Walter Stonor at Wat- lington, in Oxfordshire, of invectives uttered against Queen Anne Boleyn 332 Thomas, Abbot of Michelney to Cromwell, re specting the payment of Money to him for his services 334 John, Bishop of Lincoln, to Secretary Cromwell ; relating to his setting forth of the King's title as Supreme Head, throughout his Diocese 335 Edward Lee, Archbishop of York. That he has sent Injunctions to his Clergy to declare the King's Supremacy, and that the Pope has no jurisdiction : but that the want of learned men in his diocese, from poverty of the benefices, renders him unable to carry out the King's commands in the way His Majesty's Letters import. Obstinacy of the Prior of Mountgrace 337 Archbishop Lee to Cromwell. A Priest of Hol- derness committed for words uttered, sounding toward the advancement of the Bishop of Rome. The Prior of Mountgrace conformable 343 Archbishop Lee to Cromwell. The Pryor of Mountgrace yields 345 Jonathan, or John Friar, a physician, to the Lord Privy Seal ; requesting payment for his attend ance on the late Bishop of Rochester in his last illness : the Bishop's goods having been " con verted to the King's coffers" 346 Whiting, Abbot of Glastonbury, to Secretary Crom well, sending him the Advocation of the Church of Monketon 348 XVI CONTENTS. LETTER PAGE ccxliv. Abbot Whiting to Cromwell, sending him the Grant, under Convent Seal, of the Corrodye which Sir Thomas More had lately held 349 ccxlv. Sir Piers Dutton to the Lord Privy Seal. John Heseham apprehended for speaking against the King's Supremacy 350 ccxlvi. John Hilsey, Bishop of Rochester, to Cromwell : asking for the Mitre, Staff, and Seal of his pre decessor 352 ccxlvii. John ap Rice to Secretary Cromwell upon Dr. Leigh's insolent behaviour in his Visitation 353 ccxlvhi. John Hales, a servant who had been discharged by his Master, to Secretary Cromwell, praying to be taken into Cromwell's service 359 ccxlix. Thomas Legh to Secretary Cromwell. The Monks of West Dereham, in Norfolk, anxious " to be delivered of their Religion." Denny Abbey, Cambridge 362 ccl. Roland Lee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, to Secretary Cromwell, respecting Money which he had laid out upon the repair of Ludlow Castle 363 ccli. Richard Layton to Secretary Cromwell, to provide some service for a kinsman of his, one Christo pher Joy 367 cclii. Bishop Roland Lee to Cromwell. Has been at Presteyne. State of Wigmore and Radnor Castles 369 ccliii. Archbishop Lee to King Henry VIII., still charged with being adverse to the King's title of " Su preme Head " 372 ccliv. Abbot Whiting to Cromwell, offering the Parks of his Monastery to the King to course in 378 CCLV. Abbot Whiting to Cromwell, that he cannot let him have the Advowson of Batcombe in Somerset shire, it having been given away ; but sends him that of Netilton in North Wilts 379 cclvi. The Lord Lisle to Secretary Cromwell. The Sis ters of the House of Religion at Calais desire to depart 381 LETTERS THE REIGN OF HENRY THE EIGHTH CONTINUED. VOL. II. ORIGINAL LETTERS, ETC. LETTER CXXX. The Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk to Cardinal Wol sey, upon the Pacification of the Rising in those Counties "for the payment of Money." [COTTON. MS. CLEOP. F. vi. fol. 325. Orig.~] Pleas it your Grace to be advertised that this day at x. a clock we the Duks of NoriF. and Suff. mett togethers at a place appoynted ij. my les on this syde Bury, with all the company of bothe the Shires, whiche was a right goodly company to loke vpon, at the leste iiijM. whiche were gatherd sithins Tues day in the mornyng. And vnto us cam the inhabi tants of the Towne of Lavenham, and Brant Ely, whiche were offenders, to a greate nombre ; they cam all in theire shirtts, and kneling before vs with pitious crying for mercy, shewed that they were the Kings moste humble and faithefull subgietts, and soo wold contynu during theire lyves; saying that b 2 ORIGINAL LETTERS. this offence by them committed was oonly for lack of worke, so that they knewe not howe to gett theire lyvings ; and for theire offence moste humbly be sought vs to bee meanes to the Kings Highnes for pardon and remission. Unto whome we made a long rehersall, the beste we coulde, to agravate theire heynous offence, declaring the same to bee highe treason and laying the sorest we could to theire charges, aswell of theire evell demeanor againste the Kings Highnes, as of theire rayling words. Fynally we tryed out iiij of the pryncipall of the offenders, and caused th'offenders selfs to take them ond present theim to vs, moste humbly besechyng vs to bee meanes to the Kings Highnes for their pardon. And thus after long proces we gave all the reste leave to departe, save those iiij, with as sharp and sore les sons any more to doo hke offence as we could devyce ; and promised them to bee sueters vnto the Kings Highnes for ther pardon : and forgate not to showe vnto theim howe without cause they had spoken evell and boren displeasure to youre Grace. Rehersing that whoo soo dothe committ any thing hurtfull to the person of any of the Kings Counsaile, committithe treason : and youre Grace being the greatteste of the Kings said Counsaile, th'offence somoche the more. Alsoo we charged theim at theire departing to geve warnyng to all others of other Townes that had committid like offence at this tyme to bee with vs ORIGINAL LETTERS. 5 tomorowe by vij of the clock to submitt theim in like wyse, onles we wold take theim as rebells : and have sent warnyng to Sudbury and to all other Townes that haue offendid theire abouts t'appere be fore vs to morowe by noone besids Melisford churche. And thus doon seing noo more great daunger like to ensue, haue dispeched all our nombre save oon thou sand, whiche bee of the noble men and gentilmen and houshold servaunts. And thus with Godds grace we truste to morrowe to make an ende with all this vnhappy people that this folishely hathe vsed themselffs, and to pacifye this matere according to the words of our Instruc- cions without sitting vpon any Sessions, considering that the words of oure said Instruccions purportithe not that we shuld soo doo vnles that by noo faire meanes the Rebellion mought bee pacified. And where the words conteyned in a Sedule herein closed, whiche were incertid in your Grace's laste lettre to vs, bee somewhat doubtfull howe ye doo meane the same, we beseche your Grace to declare the Kings pleasure to vs therein, and if it be ment that we shuld notise vnto theis people where th'offence hathe been committed that they shuld pay no more than with theire good will they wold graunte, we thinke that all Norff. whiche haue graunted to the moyete and in like wyse a greate parte of Suff. shuld thinke and saye that th'offenders bee moche bettur 6 ORIGINAL LETTERS. handeled then they whiche made the graunte ; whiche shuld cause theim not a litle to grudge and malingne againste vs that haue practised the same with theim. And if it be mentt that the same shuld bee notifyed aswell vnto those that haue grauntid as vnto all others, there muste bee a newe calling of the people, We doubte not but the Kings Highnes and your Grace of youre highe wisdoms woll take suche order in this matir that either suche a reasonable rate may bee appoyntid vnyuersally as bothe maye hee grauntid and paid, orels to commaunde suche Sums to bee taken as the people of theire benevolent mynds woll geve, whiche after oure power opinions shall extende to a right small somme not oonly in theis parties but in all the Realme ; and to saye the truthe if the same shuld bee practised by the Hed Commissioners in euery Shire, the same shuld not bee practised by Mydsomer, and bee soo chargeable to theim that it shuld bee right moche to theire hurt. Ffurthermore we aduertise your Grace that it is comyn to our knowlege by dyvers wayes (the veary certentie wherof we shall enserche to knowe) that not oonly a greate parte of this Shire, and of Essex but in like wyse Cambridge Shire, the Towne of Cambridge, and the Scolers there, were all combyned togathers and thought to haue gathered the nombre of xxM1. men within twoo dayes and twoo nightts. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 4 And to be plane with your Grace we beleve thoughe Norff. and a greate parte of this Shire hathe condiscended vnto the graunte of the moyetie, yet they hering dayly that other Shires woll not condis- cende vnto the same, shalbe of no bettur will to pay this than they were the firste, whiche nowe dothe appere they were never myndid to doo. Ffynally most humble we beseche your Grace that good lettres of thanks may bee sent to the jantlemen of bothe Shires which haue right highely deserued the same : and that with all possible diligence we may bee advertised what the Kings pleasure shalbee that we shall further doo, and we entende not to de- parte out of theis parties vnto the tyme we shall knowe the same. Wrytten at Lavenham the xjtb day of Maye at xj a clock at night. Yours most bownden, By youres asseured, T. NORFFOLK. CHARLYS SUFFOLK. LETTER CXXXI. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey: upon the "Amicable Grant" as regarded the Spiritualty of Ms Diocese. [CLEOPATRA F. VI. fol. 341. Orig.'] *»* To the Clergy, at this time, Commissioners were sent " for the fourth part of their lands and moveables, and in every assem bly," says Hall, " the priests answered that they would pay nothing except it were granted by Convocation, otherwise not : for they said that never King of England did ask any man's goods but by an 8 ORIGINAL LETTERS. order of the law, and this Commission is not by order of the law : wherefore they said, that the Cardinal, and all the doers thereof, were enemies to the King, and to the Commonwealth. This in- famie," he adds, " was spoken in preachings and everywhere." Pleas it your Grace to vndrestand that I have re- ceuid your lettres as well suche as wer directed to Sr Thomas Boleyn, Sr Henry Guldeford, and to me ioynctely ; as also suche as wer directed to me alone. And as toching the Spiritualtie, I wil forber prac tising any farther with them according to your Grace's mynde, til it be seene to what ende shal com the graunte of the Temporaltie, and vntil I haue far ther instructions from the Kings Grace in that behalue. Which good consideration proceding of your Graces forsight, appereth to be very expedient for the furtherance of this mater, and for th'avoiding of many diuerse inconveniences which might the rather insue, if bothe the Spiritualtie and the Tempo raltie wer had in hand toguedyr al at ones for this matier. And in my most herty wise I thanke your good Grace that it wil pleace the same to move the Kings Highnes to bring the Summe appoincted to me to the half therof. Wherby I shal repute meselue gretely bounden to your Grace. And I entieiiy beseche your Grace so to ordre the saide moderation con cerning me as the Kings Highnes thinke no vnkynde- nes or intowardenes in me in that behalf, ffor I had ORIGINAL LETTERS. 9 rather sell all the goods that I haue to do his Grace pleasir than that shuld fortune. As toching the last most fauorable moderation con- cernyng the Temporaltie ; surely it appereth by the same that your Grace is very singular good mediator for the Commons to the Kings Highnes, and that they be muche more bounden to your Grace than they haue witte or reason to consider. God knoweth ther is an indiscrete and inordinate multitude of theym which at euery light fleeyng tale be inclined and kendled to il imaginations, inuentions, and ill at- temptals rather than to good. Ffarther, wher your Graces mynde is that diuers of the saddest sorte suche as of likelyhode wilbe sonest induced shalbe first secretely practised with, iiij. vj. or viij. toguedyr, for this graunte to th'entent spece- fied in your Graces lettres ; veryly I perceue your Graces mynde in that behalue to be very good and substantial, but I fere that albeit that diuerse and many good, honest, and well disposed men woold gladly be contented to ayde the King's Grace to their power at this nedeful tyme ; yet it wilbe harde thus to induce them for ij. causes. One, that none almost dar graunte for fer of the multitude that is vntcwarde, for asmuche as diuerse which haue graunted alredy, haue be put in greate fere and iebar- dy by sediciose persons. And som suche as haue graunted beeing very honest and substantial, haue b 5 10 ORIGINAL LETTERS. be in mynde, for fere of ill disposed people to de- parte oute of this realme for a season, til the rage of suche maliciose folks wer ouer passed. And it wilbe hard to make theym beleve that their graunts shalbe kept secret. And generally al the Commis sioners of Kent be in greate grudge of the people for that they first graunted, sayeng that thorough their light graunting they wer occasion of al the trouble of the Commons, wher as if they had shewed in what pouertie the people wer, the Kings Grace of his grete goodenes wold neuer haue caused this matier farther tobe practised with theym. Th'other cause is that men seeing almoste al the people obstinatly sett not to graunte to the request that hath be made, wilbe lothe to graunte and also to pay their graunte ; wher as they knoweth that other wil nother graunte ne pay. And sur'ly they wil thinke theym selfs not best entreated suche as haue or shal kyndely graunte, if they shalbe charged with the payment of their graunte, and suche as haue shewed theymselues vnto- warde and vnkynde shal escape and nothing pay. Wherupon I desir' your Grace to knowe your pleasir whether we shal, the said causes notwithstanding, procede in secrete practising first with a fewe in numbre as it is aforsayd, or no. Over this wher your Grace writeth that it wer ex pedient that good espial were made and layed for shorte knowlege tobe given if any vnlawful assembles ORIGINAL LETTERS. 11 shuld be made; veraily I made prouision therfore secretely at my late beeing at Canterbury and at Maydeston, as I doubte not but nowe, your Graces pleasir knowen, Sir Thomas Boleyn and Sr. Ed ward Guldeforde wil doo their dueties accordingly in that behalue. And if it might pleace your Grace, it shuld doo no harme, if sadde and substantial men, beeing of good reputacion in their cuntreys, beeing nowe attend- ante on the lawe at Westminster Hal, or els other wise occupied from home, wer commaunded euery man to his quarter, tobe redy and at hand to represse the begynnyng of al maner of vnlauful assemblies, wherin I doubte not but that euery man for his parte wil doo the uttremoost of his power. And if it shal fortune (as God forbede) any greate vnlauful assem- blie tobe made in this partie, which we the Kings Grace's Commissioners shal not be able to represse, your Grace shal haue certeyn knowlege therof with al spede possible, to th'intent that they may be the soner resisted and repressed befor they encreace in power or doo muche harme. Ffinally, in my moste humble wise, eftsones I thanke your Grace for your singular goodenes afor mentionate both concernyng me and also the Com- • "mons. And if I may perceue or vndrestand any wey or meanes, howe to doo to your Grace any maner of acceptable pleasir or seruice in worde or dede, your 12 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Grace shalbe as suer of me to be redy to doo it as the most assured frende or most diligent servaunte that your Grace hath. And loth wold I be thus to write, and subscribe with myne owne hand, if it wer not my true and feithful intent so to doo. Which my good mynde I beseche your Grace to accept in place and som parte of recompense of your manifold goodenes shewed to me at al tymes. At Otford the xij,h day of May. At your Graces commaundement W1LLM CANTUAR. LETTER CXXXII. The Three Ambassadors in Spain, Bishop Tunstall, Sir Richard Wingfield, and Master Sampson, to Cardinal Wolsey ; reporting their first audience from the Emperor, who expresses his great dissatis faction at Wolsey' s general demeanour. [MS. COTTON. VESPAS. C. III. fol. 55. Orig1.] *** Wolsey's occasional coarseness iu his expressions, even to ward foreign Princes, is singularly illustrated in this Letter; whence it should seem that negotiations sometimes stood a chance of being impeded by the violence of his temper. Tunstall, Wingfield, and Sampson, in the present Letter, tell jointly the harsh expres sions complained of by Charles the Fifth, which Wolsey had used to his ambassadors. The Emperor himself was " a liar, who ob served no manner of faith or promise ; my Lady Margaret a ribald ; Don Fernando, his brother, a child, and so governed ; and the Duke of Bourbon, a creature." The English ambassadors endeavoured to soften the fault, but could not deny the words. In addition to this general Letter of the Ambassadors, which it was presumed the King would read, two private ones were added ORIGINAL LETTERS. 13 (preserved in the same volume, foil. 58, 60), one from Tunstall, the other from Sir Richard Wingfield, both written in their own hands, and bearing the same date as the general Letter, namely, June 2nd, entreating Wolsey, " for the establishing of their Master's affairs, and the same of his realm," to write to Charles the Fifth. Tunstall says, " Your Grace's plainliness is not so well taken as it is worthy ; wherfore it were as good to give them good words for good words, keeping secret your thoughts as they do." Pleas it your Grace for such reports as we have harde aftir our repaire to th'emperors Maiestie, as well ffor the fortherance off the Kings great affayres now, as allso ffor the service that we ow most as- suridly to your Grace, we thowght it both conueni- ent and necessarie to writ thes lettris aparte, so to aduertise your Grace off the same. Aftir the delyverance off the Kings lettirs and the Quenes to th'Emperors Majestie, we delyveryd allso your Grace's lettirs in the best maner that we coude. The which his Majestie redde, and afftir seyd vn to vs that som words ware in the seyd lettirs very good concerning hym and his affayres, how be it he coude not a little marveyle off your Grace's othir demeanor towards hym dy vers tyms ; considering the singulier amitie that is betwix the King his brodyr and hym : and besyds all the odyr before, now lately with my lord off Bevyrs, and his othir ij. ambassadors there. Your Grace, he seyd, vsyd very estrange words, as apearith be ther bettirs, and referryd hym to th'ad- uertisement gevyn to me Richard Sampson before. 14 ORIGINAL LETTERS. And sir, trewith it is that afftir the recey ving off his last lettirs owght of Englond, immediately, the sam day, his Majestie sent M. Jhon Lallemand to me with the sayd lettirs, who schewid me iij. articles, and the sam night he sent me the copie off ij. off them the which we send here enclosyd to your Grace. The thryd article he gave not in writting, but th'effect was, concerning th'emperors aspyryng to the Monarchie, and the impechement off the sam to be made be the King's Highnesse, with your Grace's advysement and eyde. His Majestie seyd allso that your Grace hath namyd hym to be a lyar, observing no maner off feith or promesse ; my lady Margarete a rybawde ; Don Fernando his brodyr a childe, and so governid ; the Duke off Burbon a creature. And this reporte was browght be Monsr. de Bewreyne now callyd Monsr. de Rieux, at his last being in Englond. When he desyrid eyde off the Kings Highnesse ffor Monsr. de Burbon of ijC. M." ducats ffor his entree in to Burgendie, afftir the presence off the Ffrence King in Itaha, then he seyd that your Grace aunsword that the Kings Highnesse had othir things to doo with his money, than to spende it ffor the pleasor off such iiij. personages, expressing the forseyd words. His Maiestie seyd morovyr that som things accordyng to the treatie he hath not observyd, the which he confessith. Notwithstanding it hath "Two hundred thousand. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 15 not beyn ffor want off good wyll, but extreme nede hath causyd hym that he coude not accomplis all his promessys, the which schuld not be arrectyd to his onfeithfullnesse be ony frende, considering that it was not in his power. This Sir, with othir words his Majestie spakke, be the which we perceyvyd that off your Grace dyvers tyms he hath harde grevos re ports, and estemith the sam demeanor very estrange. To thes we aunsword to his Majestie, with os effectuall words os we coude devyse, that his Maiestie might be right well assuryd that your Graces ffull mynde and purpos hath beyn at all tyms wheroff His Maiestie hath had good experience, and yet is and withowght dowght wylbe, to studie no lesse ffor the honor, advancement, and exaltation off his Maies tie then ony othir off his own Counseyll. And ther- off we the bysschop off London, and Sir Richard Wyngffeld, durst right well assure his Maiestie. Ffor dyvers and many tyms we seyd that we haue beyn present both opynly before many folkis, and in the presence off ambassadors dyvers tyms, and many tyms in the Kings presence in secrete counseyll, when that your Grace hath seyd and spokyn off the singulier vertues and most honerable demeanor off his Maies tie, os much to his honor and advauncement os coude be devysyd ; and we durst well sey that your Grace spakke it with os good and feithfull mynde towards his Maiestie os coude be thowght. And we nevyr 16 ORIGINAL LETTERS. knew off the contrarie be your Grace. And yet we ij. being in Englond, owthir we both, or oon, fayhth not to be present in all Counseylls. And this we as suryd his Maiestie vppon owr honors and feith to God and the King our Mastre. Wherffor we ware in great marveyle to here ony such reports be your Grace. And we seyd allso that in case ony such words hath beyn or passyd pryvely betwix your Grace and th'ambassadors off his Maiestie, we durst well sey that owthir they ware nothing spokyn os they are re- portyd, or els they are not reportyd according os your intent was in the speking off them ; the which might be declaryd be the circumstance off such words os passyd betwix your Grace and th'ambassadors, the which might gyve occasion ffor lyke words to be spokyn withowght ony yll intent. And it semyd to vs that th'ambassadors hath reportyd much off the worst, or a great deale more then it is, and very little of the good. And a good parte off this aunswer, os we knew be his reporte, before our comyng to his Maiestie, Doctor Sampson, our colege, had gevyn to the sam. So that we both confermyd his formar aunswors, and addyd such more os we thowght both very trew, and conuenient to be sevd. His Maiestie seyd and this repetyd twvse, that be the deads now folowing he schuld perceyve whethir thes reports ware spokyn vndyr such maner os we assuryd or othirwyse. And morovyr he seyd that thes ORIGINAL LETTERS. 17 words must neds procede, owthir that yowr Grace thowght os yow seyd, the which he coude not well beleve, ffor so much that he had gevyn yow no such cause, or wold be loth to doo ; or els that yor Grace spekith such words to threate hym, be such meanes to induce hym to your purpos, the which is not the wey to lede hym ; or els when your Grace is movyd with colera, such words passith yow in a fume and hast, the which he most belevyd be othir tyms that he hath known yow in lyke passions. And moreovyr he seyd that in case he thowght hym- selff so blameworthy and fawtyve os your Grace re- portith, he wold be more angrye. And ffor os much os now off late the seyd Monsr de Rieux hath beyn in Italie with the Frenche King, and then spakke with the Duke off Burbon, and para- venture schewid hym off thes words, reportyd, os it is not vn lyke, in which case lesse the Duke of Bur bon schuld conceyve ony yll opinion off the King's Highnesse or yor Grace. We thinke it schulde be well doon to haue a good aweyte, to the intent to re- dubbe it in tyme iff nede schalbe, seing the Duke off Burbon schall mary th 'Emperors systre, and hath had so good a mynde to serue the Kings Highnesse. It may lyke your Grace to vndyrstonde that we haue sent this bearare Richard Odall oonly furnisched ffor his costs to yor Grace so that iff it schall please yor Grace to retorne or send hym ageyne, remem brance must be had ffor his charges. 18 ORIGINAL LETTERS. ISofar this Letter is in Dr. Sampsons hand ; the remainder is in that of bishop Tunstall.] Syr, yff it wyl lyke your Grace to moue the Kings Hyghnes to send hedyr som gentilman to be ac- quantyd with the Kings affaires to th'entent that M. Sampson the sonner mygth retorne, your Grace in so doinge shold not only do to M. Sampson great pleasor, which longe hath taryyd here, but also do that thynge that mygth wel serve to the Kings pur pose in aquantynge hym that shold be sent with the Kings affaires before hys reuokinge. Touchinge the forther knowlege off the Kings af fairs, We remit your Grace to his lettre which shewith al at lengthe seinge it shal com to your hands. Thus almyghty Jhu preserve your Grace to his pleasor and yorys. Ffrom Tolledo the second day off June. By yor Grac's humble Orators cuthbert London Ep. WYNGFELD K.G. RICHARD SAMPSON. LETTER CXXXIII. Richard Pace to Cardinal Wolsey. The King means to quit Woodstock Palace secretly, for the sake of privately conferring with the Cardinal. [STAT. PAP. OFF. WOLSEY's CORRESP. ix. 2-1. OrigJ] Pleas itt your Grace, the Kings Highnesse haith recevidde thys daye your lettres datidde uppon S. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 19 Peter's nyght. And haith commaundydde me to make thys answere unto them, viz. that he consider- inge the importance off suche thyngis as be com- prisydde in your Graces sayde lettres is contentidde to mete wyth your Grace uppon Fridaye at nyght at Grenwiche ; and desirith your Grace to comaund« provision to be made there for hys suppar and yours, for he wull departe hense secretly wyth a small numbre off his chiambre wythowte ony suche parsons as schulde make ony provision for hym. Hys pleasor is also that your Grace schulde comaunde suche off his Warderope as be in London to prepare the House for hym, wyth suche hys Graces stuffe as is in the Towre at London. I must most humblye desyre your Grace to be so gratiose unto me at thys your meatynge wyth the Kyngis Highnesse as to remembre hym off my neces- sitie : and howe litle I haue to lyue uppon, for per- aventure hys Grace thynkyth that I have that I haue not. Valeat felicissime R™". D. V. Cui me humil. commen. et trado. Frome Wudstokke the last off June, hora x. noctis. E. D. V. Rme- fidelissimus servus RI. PACEUS. To my Lorde Card18 Grace. cito. cito. 20 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CXXXIV. Tunstall Bishop of London and Dr. Sampson to King Henry the Eighth. They report the death of Sir Richard Wingfield; with the offers made for the release of the French King. [MS. COTTON. VESPAS. C. III. fol. 78. Orig.~\ *»* Sir Richard Wingfield was one of the Commanders against the Cornish rebels in the 12th of Henry the Seventh. In 1511 King Henry the Eighth appointed him Marshal of the Town and Marches of Calais, and in the next year, being a knight of the King's body and of the Privy Council, he was one of the King's ambassadors to treat with the Pope and Emperor. In 1513 he was at the siege of Tournay, and was joined in the same year with Sir Gilbert Talbot in the Deputyship of Calais. He was also appointed, with Brandon Duke of Suffolk, to receive the Queen dowager of France, to settle her dowry, and conduct her to England. In 1520, when Henry the Eighth's household was reformed, he was the first of the four " sad and ancient knights " who were made gentlemen of the King's bed chamber. He was also Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ; and in 1522 was elected into the Order of the Garter. He died, as the present Letter shews, at Toledo, in 1525. He married to his first wife, Catharine, youngest daughter of Richard Woodvile Earl Rivers, coheir to her brothers, and widow, first, of Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham, and afterwards of Jasper Hatfield Duke of Bedford, by which marriage Sir Richard Wingfield stood in near connection with his sovereign. His second wife was Bridget daughter and heir to Sir John Wiltshire, Comp troller of Calais. The early negotiations described in this Letter for the delivery of Franois the First are not unamusing. Pleasith it your Highnes to vnderstond that the xv"'. day of this monith our companyon Maister ORIGINAL LETTERS. 21 Wyngfeld, Chancelor of your Duchie fell syk in to a flyx, and the next day we were convided to a greate feste to the bishop of Avila, whider we went and Maister Wyngfeld with vs, thinking hymself strong ynough thervnto, where he dud ete Millons and drank wyn without water vnto them, and afterwardes dranke here, whiche is made here by force bytter of the hoppe for to be preservyd the better agaynst the intollerable hetis of this contrye. And albeit he did ete but verey moderatly ; yet after our retorne home not oonly his flux began to encreace vpon hym, but also the feuer toke hym farvently. Wherupon Phi- sicions were callyd for help, who after they perceyved the fever to bee contynuall without intermission and the flux to encrease to a voyding of blud, mynestred vnto hym suche medicynes as they thought moost convenyent; and after th'Emperor, hering of his disease, sent all his Phisicions vnto hym to vysyte hym, but for no thing that all they cold doo, the fever could be remedyed, nor yet mean found to make hym slepe, or sleke his perpetuall and ardent thurst ; wher vpon he made hym mete to God, and receyvyd all the sacramentis of holy churche, and the xxth day of this monyth whiche was Mary Magda- lens day dipartyd owte of this transitory lyf: of whom your Highnes hath a marveilous great losse, seing the great wisdom and experience that he had in all your affayres, and how at this tyme he myght 22 ORIGINAL LETTERS. here so evil haue been lakkyd, seing the greate waight of your affayres that we now haue in hande. And next your losse of suche a person of that matu- ritie and sadness that he was of, We repute vs at this tyme to have the next losse, seing we shall lak the substantiall advise and counsaile that we myght haue had of hym ffrom tyme to tyme to our noo litle com- forth and the great advauncement of our charge comytted vnto vs ; whiche, we pray almyghtie God that nowe, syns he is goon, we may soo addresse that it may be to the contentacien of your Highnes, wher- in our good will and diligence shall not lak, God willing. Surely we never sawe nor herde in our lif any man of any degree or condicion make a better or more devoute ende of his lyf towardis God then he dyd. He made suche a Declaracion of the goodnes and mercy of God, and so humble a summyssion of hymself vnto the same, whiche he dyd both in Frenche and Italyon, that the curate and those of other nacions ther being present to a good nombre were movyd all to teris. We pray Almyghty God to haue mercy of bis soule and to graunt vs grace when he shall call vs to his mercy to folow tli'example that we have sene in hym. A lytell before his dethe he wrote a Letter vnto your Highnes to pray the same to bee good and gra- ciouse to my Lady his wif and his childer, whiche your Grace shall receyue herwith. We have buried ORIGINAL LETTERS. 23 hym as honorably as we could devyse of things to be had here, bicause he was bothe of your Ordre and your Ambassador. His will was to bee buryed at the ffreres Obseruaunts, bilded in this Citie by the late King of Aragon and quene Elizabeth pro sepultura Regum, wher no man is buryed without lycence of th'Emperor, for th'opteynyng wherof after we sent to know his pleasure, he not oonly gladly gaue lycence but also comaundyd he shuld be buryed within the cyrcuit of the quere, which place is foundyd and re- seruyd for buryall oonly of Kings. Whiche thinge he dyd in the honor of your Highnes, and never bi- fore was grauntyd to no pryvate person. Thre daies bifore the said Maister Wyngfeld fell syke, my Lorde Chancelor sent for vs in an Evenyng to com to speke with hym, where he shewyd vs howe th'Emperor had gyven hym in commaundement to communicate vnto vs suche things as had ben pur- posyd the same day by the Presydent of Parys, whiche was arryvyd two daies byfore : declaring vnto vs how that daie in the mornyng, in the chambre of the "Vice Roy of Naples, within the Curte, the said President had purposyd that sense Almyghtie God had by his prouidence ordeynyd that his Maister the Ffrenche King was commyn in to the captiuitie of th'Emperor, who of his clemence and benignitie was content to herkyn to the deliuery of hym vpon reasonable offres to be made, there were ij. waies for 24 ORIGINAL LETTERS. his deliuery, oon was the way of clemence and lihe- ralitie, if th'Emperour wold restore hym of his goodd- nes, without raunsom, to his libertie, and make of hym an assured and boundyn frynde, for evyr joyn- yng with hym in abaunce, it shuld be to the perpe- tuall renome and glorious fame of th'Emperor for euyr. The odyr way was the way of justice, that sens he was content to herkyn to his delivery, eydyr to set his raunsom at a somme of money reasonable for his redempcon, whiche, though it were right great, the Realme would here, though they shuld sell for it all their juellis, or ellis levyng that way, to make hym restore suche things as he uniustly de- teynith, and to satisfie suche wrongs as may be laide to his chargis whiche he wold be redy to doo, desyr- inge to know whiche of thes waies th'emperour wold take. Wherunto the Chaunceler afiirmyd to haue made answer that as vnto the first way of clemence and liberalitie that he had spokyn of, he thought that th'Emperor wold not take that way, nor that he wold bye soo dere fame and renome. And as vnto the secund way, he thought also that for money oonly he shuld not be delivered, but that he must restore to th'Emperor suche as he deteynith of his : and also content and satisfie his confederatis. Wherupon he saide that they fell to treat of restitution to bee made to th'Emperour first : and that albeit th'Empe- ORIGINAL LETTERS. 25 ror might demaunde Languedoc and Prouynce, with many other pecis, yet he said th'Emperor wold only goe to matier freshe in memory, and werin he suf- feryd manifest wrong, as vnto the Duchie of Burgoyn and restitucion of the morgage of Picardie, or the money lent on the same, with extincting of reasort of pecis to be restoryd. Opon all whiche matiers, and specialli of the right of the Duchie of Burgon the Chanceler shewid vs at length what he had purposed and what was answerid by the President. Whiche reasons and argumentis perticulerly here we shalnot nede to reherse seing they conteyn matiers in Lawe, and be the self same that were purposyd at Caleis by the Chauncelors of bothe Princis before my Lorde Legate your Lieutenaunt at that time, and wherof my said Lord Legate hath a boke alredy drawn by th 'Emperor's chauncelor conteinyng all those argu ments with many moo yet not purposyd. The Chancelor saide that after long debating they de- partyd for that tyme, nedyr falling to any poynt nor lyke to com to any. And as vnto the Due of Burbon, he saide the President answeryd that he was subiect to Fraunce and that the Realme wold not treat with hym, but wold put it to th'Emperor, he to geve him as reason shuld require. We askyd hym if he had spokyn any thing of your Highnes and what Commyssion he had brought or had. To that he said that he had noo commission to treate VOL. II. c 26 ORIGINAL LETTERS. with us, nor yet with them, for peax, but oonly to treat vpon such pointis as myght sounde to the de- liuery of the Frenche King's person, and to prepare all things to bee more ripe at the commyng of Madam de Alancon, whiche shall bring full pouer from all the astats of Fraunce to conclude all things and to offre reason to all partis. After the decesse of Maister Wyngfeld within iij. daies the Chauncelor sent for vs a gayn whider I the bishop of London went, bicause I Doctor Sampson lay syke of a fever. And to me the said bishop the Chauncelor saide, that sens our former being with hym ther had been an nother metyng with the Frenche men, wher he had brought suche reasons as by mouth had been made on th'Emperors parte for the Duchie of Burgoyn in to writing, whiche he said th'Emperour was content shuld be red vnto them, but he wolde not in any wise that any copie shuld he gevyn of them nor entre further in dispute with them, but that he wold first be restoryd to his Duchie of Burgoyn, wherof he was dispoiled, and than dis pute after if they wolde. Whereunto I saide I thought th'Emperor havyng his enemy in his hande made the best argument that could be, and to suche arguments must he styk if he entende to get any thing; for, in disputing he shall have wordis for wordis ; and paper for paper if they fall to writyng. To that the Chancelour said that the Presydent de- ORIGINAL LETTERS. 27 siryd soore to have a copie therof offring to make answer by wryting, which was denyed vnto hym. Whiche paper he red vnto me, conteyning the same reasons that were made at Calais, and spokyn by mouth at their former meting. After he shewyd me how the Cardenall de Salmats, the Popis Legate, was arryuyd at Barcelon to com hidyr to bee at this great assembly for an vniuersall Peax, whiche wold be here shortly, and that the Frenche King shuld tary and be kept at Madrill, in the Castell there, whiche is xij. legs hense. Also a verie credible person hath shewid vnto vs how the Vice Roy of Naples hath in devising with the Doagier of Portingale said unto her that bettyr it is for her to take the French King, whiche is a great Prince and the Maister, then the Due of Bur bon which is but a subiect and servaunt, hauing at this tyme little to take to, nor sure of no estate. Th'Emperor oon daie when we wente vnto hym, Mr Wyngfeld being yet in good health, demaundyd of us if we had any newis ; to whom we saide that we had none sens we had receyuyd lettres that cam in company of Spinolosa wherof we had made decla- racon vnto hym bifore, touching your answer to the demaunde made by the said Spinolosa for traduccon of my Lady Princesse, at which tyme he saide vnto vs that he was not contente that Spinolosa had left owte the oon parte of his inctruccons adioynyng ther- c 2 28 ORIGINAL LETTERS. unto and saing that yor Highnes and he must eyder presse the ennemye to cause hym to com to reason whiche requirith furniture of money ; ffor attaynyng wherof it semyd to his counsell eyther of the ij ways remytted to Spinolosa might haue seruyd, or ells if neyder of those ii. wais plesid you, then to contynue the aliaunce betwixt you, and ye bothe to herkyn to suche condicons of peax as may be attayned ; wher- unto he could be content as ye wold think best. He hathe also said that he wilbe moderate in his de- maundis for himself in this peax, to the intent he may better styk to his confederats, and that he will soo bee ; it appereth seing nowe he leuith owt the de- maunde of Languedoc, wherof he affermith to haue an old investiture to the Kingis of Aragon, and lyke wyse he leuith owte the demaund of Prouince, hauing therof lyke inuestiture, bicause he wilnot hurte the Due of Burbon, whiche demaundith the same by a later tytle : stykking oonly vpon suche pointis as befor touchyd, wherin ther wold be no difficultie, th'Emperor condescending to the aliaunce demaundyd by Fraunce as it may appere to yor Highnes by the articles of the Frenche Kings offres hertofore, sent with our former Lettres vnto you. We beseche your Grace to haue in your rememberaunce to send vs a particuler Comyssion of the truxe to be sent exchanged at the conclusion of the truxe desired by the Frenche men and thought expedient to th'Em- ORIGINAL LETTERS. 29 peror as we haue wrytten heretofore in our laste Lettres of the xth of this Monyth. Th'Emperor hath gevyn in reward to the seruaunts of Maister Wyng feld, suche as doo retorne in to England agayn, thre hundreth Ducats to help them homewardis. And thus almighty Jfiu preserue your Highnes to his pleasure and yours with encrease of much honour. From Tolledo the xxviij* daie of July. By your Grace's moost humble seruaunts and subgectis CUTHBERT LONDON. RICHARD SAMPSON. LETTER CXXXV. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey. Upon the Loan, as it affected the Clergy of Kent. [COTTON. MS. CLEOPATRA. F. VI. fol. 342. Orig\] Please it youre Grace to vnderstand that I haue assembled a xj. Deaneries nexte adioynjngto Cantur- burie and to thee see coosts, and perceive them veray wel mynded to this Loone, as it becomithe the King's subiects to bee. But ther substaunces of ther goods is not correspondent to ther good mynde. A more powre sorte of so great a nomeber in the clargie a man cannot lieghtly see, and as I can perceive the cause is, forasmoche as al the chiefe benefices be appropried to religiouse houses, and to th' exhibition 30 ORIGINAL LETTERS. of the Vicars is so smal a portion assigned that they can scantly live withal. And if ther bee any good vicareige, diuerse of the said religiouse howses op- tainethe dispensations of the See Apostolike, to kepe them in ther own hands, and bee served by religiouse men, and so they haue almoost al good parsonages and vicareiges in ther hands, For in al the said Deaneries be but xxij'1 benefices at the soome of xl11, and of thoos same xxij'1 vj or vij be so decaied that nowe they be nothing like to that value. And foras- moche as al the religiouse men, to whoos places many good benefices be appropried, by a bil sende vnto me enclosed in the King's Grace instruccions, be hooly exepte from my examination at this tyme, and th'ex- amination of them al is reserued vnto youre Grace, ther shuld a consideraton be hade in the tyme of suche loones as they shal make, of the value of ther benefices appropried. For if ther loone be not ac- cordinge to the value of ther benefices, then shulde they bee in better caas then the powr clargie ; whiche shulde cause the said clergie to gruge if they knew it, and so diuerse of them spake it openly. And in caas the heds of religiouse houses within my dioces, for ther benefices appropried to ther Monasteries had not been excepte, but mought apere before me, and ben contributors to this loone, by reason of ther be nefices appropried, the soome of the lone within my dioces shuld ferr excede the som that it shal draw ta ORIGINAL LETTERS. 31 nowe. For the value of the benefices within the diocesse of Canterburie and the iurisdicton peculiar of the same with portions and pensions appropried and assigned to Monasteries and other religiouse places within the said dioces and iurisdicton peculiar, ouer and aboue other churches, benefices, portions, and pensions whiche the said Monasteries and reli giouse houses haue in likewise to them appropried and assigned in other diocesses to noo smal nomeber, amountethe to the soome after the taxe M.ix.c.iijH. xvs. ijd. The clargie can in nowise bee induced to swer par- ticulerly what graines they hathe, for thay saiethe they might be forsowron for on pecke of corne more or lesse. Likewise they saiethe they cannot declare or shewe what value ther plate is, lacking weights to wey it withal, excepte they shulde resorte to soome good townes for it, whiche thinge perauenture shuld bee as chargeable to them as a great parte of ther plate is worthe, and this, lacking weights, they may be for- sworon. Also if they shuld swere for ther catall, they dredithe to bee forsworon, for oon shepe more or lesse ; and so in al other things if they shuld swere perticu- lerly they might lieghtly fal in to perjurie. I thinke veraly that the othe geven generaly of al ther move ables, as money, iewells, vtensiles, ornaments, debts, and other things comprised in the othe shalbe more beneficial to the loone, and ther conscience better 32 ORIGINAL LETTERS. salued, then to swer upon euery particular thinge: for now they valuethe ther goods to the vttermoost for fear of perjurie, whiche if they committ, I shewed them that they shuld be priued from suche benefices as they haue nowe, and inhabiled from al other. Ther appered before me nieghe the nomeber of iijC. preists to whom as yet I haue not declared ne shewed what shalbe ther loone, leest perauenture (in caas I hade so disclosed it) they being so great a noember wolde make more gruge and busines then nede shuld bee ; and so other Deaneries not yet ex amined shuld lerne of them that bee examined, to what some the loone drawith to, and so shuld I not so wel ne so sone knowe the substaunce of euery person as I shal now doo, the some of euery mannys parte of the loone not knowen. And for the said cause per auenture it shal not be expedient to depute Col lectors forthewith in the said Deaneries that be ex amined, vntil I have hooly examined al the Deaneries in my dioces and Peculiers, leest percaas by the meanes of knowlege how other becharged with ther loone, suche as bee not examined wilnot so lieghtly bee induced to confesse ther substaunce as they wil when they know not how they shalbe charged withe ther loone. And when al the said clargie is exam ined then percaas it may be expedient that ther be deputed certain Collectors to levie the soomes of ij or iij Deaneries attoons, and in nowise to assemeble any ORIGINAL LETTERS. great multitude. For it greatly greuith not the clergie to shewe the value of ther promotons and sub staunce, but consideringe they haue but litul, and shall departe frome a good parte of that litul, then perauenture they wilbegine to gruge, and percaas some of the laymen whiche be charged with the loone wil gruge also, and so might ther bee a gruge in the clargie and in the lay people boothe. If your Grace thinke it so good, the said Collectors may first cal them that may beest spare it, and of likelihoode wil soneest graunte to the said loone, and the same collectors shal induce them that makith the loone as neghe as they may, that in no wise they that makith the loone disclose or shewe to any other that hath not made ther loone, after what rate they made it, as they tendre to avoide the King's Graces hieghe dis- pleasir in this behalfe. Youre Grace may bewel as sured that no man wil deliuer to the said Collectors upon ther promes or writings any parte of the loone to the Kings vse without his Grace writing. Wher- for I thinke it necessarie that when the said Collect ors shal demaunde the said loone that they haue the Kings Writing vnder his Graces previe seale, leving a voide place for the name of hyme that makith the loone ; and an other voide place to putin the soome that the Collectors shal receive. And vnto suche tyme as the Collectors shall haue the said previe seale they can do nothing. Wherfore youre Grace may c 5 34 ORIGINAL LETTERS. make suche spede in sending therof as youre Grace shal thinke beest. Also some that shuld appere at this tyme cannot appere for aege ; some for sikenes ; some be absent beyonde the See, some in the Universitees of this Realme, some in lords seruice. I haue deputed Commissioners to examen as many of them as be within my diocess, and for thoos that bee absent, I haue caused ther fermors to appere before me, by whome I knowe the valew of ther promotions within my diocess. And as toching the value of ther bene fices without my diocess, and the value of ther move ables, I cannot knowe, for ther fermers be therof ig- noraunte. And therfor in my powr opinion it shuld be wel don that they or their proctors shuld be ex amined in places wher ther benefices liethe, wher they cannot so wel hied the value of ther benefices and clooke ther periurie to ther ordinaries as they might to me, that knoweth not the value of ther be nefices, ne yet can lieghtly come to the knowlege therof. Also anenste suche persons that hathe bene fices in my dioces by me examined within the same, havinge other benefices in other diocesses, and before the tyme of ther loone remouithe frome my said dio cess to ther other benefices in other ordinaries diocess, I cannot vse the censures of the Churche, neither suspende, ne interdicte, ther churches being in an other ordinaries diocess, for that apperteynithe to the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 35 ordinaries in whos diocess ther said churchis bee in. Wherfore I cannot finde that it is sufficiently pro- uided for in the Kings Graces Instruccons for this caas. And finally now that I haue doon with the said xj Deaneries before recited, I am coome to Otforde to assemeble and examen other Deaneries and the clargie within my Peculiers. At Otforde the xiijth day of August. At your Graces commaundement WILLM. CANTUAR. LETTER CXXXVI. Lord Dacre of the North to Cardinal Wolsey : ac knowledging the receipt of the King's Letters for his brother, Sir Christopher Dacre and John Pennyng- ton, Esq., to be admitted Knights of the Shire for Cumberland. The defenceless state of Carlisle. [STAT. PAP. off. iv. 25. Orig.~] *»* The date of this Letter is probably in or about 1525, at which time Sir Christopher Dacre, as appears from several of his Letters, was in the West Marches. All the Indentures, Writs, and Returns to Parliament, both for Cumberland and Westmoreland, being lost,3 no approximation to date can be obtained from that source. My Lorde, pleas it your Grace to knowe that where as the King is Highnes hathe writen 'to haue my a See Nicolson and Burn's Hist, of Cumberl. and Westmoreland, vol. ii. pp. 561 579. 36 ORIGINAL LETTERS. broder Sr Xpofer Dacre knight and John Pennyng- ton squier admytted Knights of hys shyre of Cum- breland t'appere at his highe Corte of Parliament now to be holden. My lord, seing my being in these parties of North- umberlond attending vpon my Lorde Treasourer and my lord Warden, and cannot be from them as yete for serving the King is said Highnes, as they canne and I truste they wol reaporte, my said Bro der during this tyme of warr may not be spared in myn absence from the West Marchies ; in considera tion wherof I humbly besiche your Grace for his pardon of the same, and that it wol like your Grace to suffre Mr. Hennage or suche oon of your seruaunts to be in his rowme for the said shyre as your Grace shal nominate. And as vnto John Pennyngton he is shiref of Cumberland for this yere, and whidder it may stande with the lawe he be oon of the Knights for the shyre (and ansuer at the said Highe Corte of Parliament or noo) I referr that to your Grac's pleas'". My lorde the Mair and his bredren of the Kings Citie of Carlisle, at the proclamyng of warr betwene this Realme and Scotlande, moved me for help of gonners, gone powder, bowes, arrowes, and billis, for suretie and defence of the same Citie, with repara- cions and vpholding of the walls, making of buluerks and skowring the dyches of the same, whiche ar now ORIGINAL LETTERS. 37' in great ruyne and decaye ; and without remedy oon- les the Kings Highnes provide for the same in tyme, or emynent dangier falL To whom I ansuered that in tyme of nede I shulde help them with ayde of men in the same Citie, but as for any artillery or ordi nance I neithre had ne couthe help them with noon. And as I moved your Grace at my last being with youe for help of gonners, ordinance, and artillery for them, promysing the same being sent shuld be kept in sure houses, and I to see they shuld not be ex pended without sene daungier whiche God willing I shal performe ; and at the end of the warr to be re- delyuered at the Kings pleasr. In consideracon wher of I humbly besiche your Grace be good mean and sollicitor vnto the Kings Highnes for the expedition of ther reasonable and necessary petitions, at this tyme sent with two of ther bredren Citizens of the same. And the hooly Trinite preserue yor Grace. At Morpith the iiij*. day of Aprill. Your seruand, THOMAS DACRE. To my lorde legate is Grace Cardinall of Yorke. 38 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CXXXVII. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey. A Letter of Thanks and Kindness. [wolsey's cokbesp. vol. xvi. fol. 10. Orig.'] *V* The exact date of this Letter is not discoverable. It was, no doubt, written earlier than 1526, since in that year Hampton Court was no longer Wolsey's " most wholsome Manor": he had given it to the King. Pleace it your Grace to understand that I have hitherto differred to make awnswer unto your Graces laste letters bicause I hadd thowght now streicte after Cristemas to have awaited on your Grace, and to have commoned with the same in di verse matiers which I hadd rather shewe by mowthe than comytt to Letters, but my sikknes woll not suffer me soo to doo onles I shulde do contrarye to the counsaile of my Phisition, and put myselfe in ie- pardie. Nevertheles if God send me any amendement I purpose to geve attendaunce on your Grace abowght the Purification of our Lady, and than to supply suche things as I omitte in thes Lettres. Firste as it is my very duetie and office of kinde remembraunce, I thanke your Grace as hartelie as I can, for your Grac's remembraunce. I thanke your Grace as har telie as I can for your Graces manifold favors shewed ORIGINAL LETTERS. 39 unto me manye weyes hertofor and now specially that it hathe pleaced the same, not only to advise me to make myne abode in hiegh and drye grownds as Knoll and such other, but also to offer unto me of your singuler benignitie and goodnes a pleasaunte lodging in your mooste holsome Maner of Hampton Courte, wher I shuld not disease nother be diseased ; there to contynue for the atteignyng of my healthe aslong as I shuld thinke it expedient ; by whiche ex cellent benivolence and gratitude, expressing evident ly your Graces very tender love towards me and my servaunts, I repute my selfe so moche bownden to your Grace as I thinke meselfe far unable to deserve or requyte your Graces said favors and greate huma- nitie. Albeit at altymes I wolbe ready and glad with good harte and mynde (and so your Grace shall finde me suer) to do your Grace any service or pleasur that may lie in my litell power. Whiche my benevolence I beseche your Grace to accepte and take in stede and place of mutuell benificence wher my power is insufficient. And I entierlie thanke your Grace that it hath pleaced the same to write unto me in your laste let ters that your Grace wolde give ordre to your officers that as large and ample favor shalbe shewed to my nephieu Archiediacon of Canterbery as to other archiediacones towching thair compositions withe your Grace for thaire jurisdictions. And for a con- 40 ORIGINAL LETTERS. elusion to be taken for my said nephieu his jurisdic tion, I have nowe sent this berar on of his procura- tours to your Graces officers to geve attendaunce on thayme in that behalfe. As towching myne Officer, the Deane of my Courte of th'Arches, I truste I have geven hyme suche admo nition as he woll remember during his liefe ; and he well ware to busie hymselfe in any matiers whiche may sounde to your Graces discontentation and dis- pleasur. And that your Grace hathe not delt extre- melie with hyme, but only treyned hyme withe con- tinuall attendaunce for his lernyng to be more cir cumspect in tyme to come, and that for my sake your Grace hathe also discharged hyme of thesaid attend aunce, I hartelie thanke your Grace ; affirmyng with out color or similation that nother he, nother any other officer, kinnesman, or servaunte of myne shall continew in my service or favor whiche wol her after willinglie fall into your Graces displeasure Or indig nation. And so I have declared unto thayme meselfe, shewing how good and gratiouse I finde you towards me, and how that it hathe pleased your Grace to write unto me that ye woll be as good unto thayme as they can reasonably and justely desire, so that they use and ordre thaimeselves accordingly towards your Grace and yours, and as they owe to doo. In whiche good and favorable mynd I beseche your grace ever to contynue as ye shall have me ever your perpetuall orator. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 41 I have nowe latelie sett up writings bothe at Knoll, Otford, and Shorham againste suche as misintreted a certaine apparitor of yowr Grace in thies parties, that the said misdowrs appere bifor me within xv. daies under the peyne of cursing. And I truste by that meanes, orels by other espials, to trie thayme oute if it be possible, and than further to ordre theyme soo that al other shalbe ware by thaime of suche wilful- nes and contemptuose temeritie. At my Manor of Knoll the xijth day of the Monethe of January. At your Grace's comaundment WILLM. CANTUAR.' To the mooste reverend father in God and my very singuler good lorde my Lord Cardinall of Yorke Ligat de latere his good Grace. LETTER CXXXVIII. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey. Remon strates against the Cardinal's encroachments upon his authority and jurisdiction as Archbishop. [MS. COTTON. CLEOP. F. II. fol. 173. Orig.] Pleace it youre Grace to vnderstande, I am in formed that youre Grace intendithe to interrupte me in the use of the prerogatives in the whiche my pre decessors and I in the righte of my Churche of Can terbery hathe been possessed by privilege, custume, and prescription tyme out of mynde. And for the interruption of the same youre Grace is mynded, as I 42 ORIGINAL LETTERS. am informed, to depute Doctor Alan, whiche if your Grace shulde so do, consideringe that not only all myne officers of my Courts th' Arches and th' Audience, bot also the Comissarie of my Dioces of Kente, and I my selfe, not only in matiers of suetea of instance of parteis, but also in causes of correction dependinge before me and them, be continually inhibited by youre officers, I shulde have nothinge left for me and my officers to do, but shulde bee as a shadoo and ymaige of an Archebisshop and Legate, voide of auc- toritie and jurisdiction. Whiche shulde bee to my perpetuall reproche, and to my Churche a perpetuall prejudice. Wherfore in asmuche as I truste verely in youre greate goodnes that youre Grace wool not be so extreme against me and the right of my Churche before named, I beseche youre Grace, the premisseis considred, to differ and respecte this ma tiers, tyll I may have communication in this behaulfe with your Grace, when it shall please youe at youre leysure ; and youre pleasure known, I wilbe redy to give attendance on youre Grace. Besecbing you also to give credence to my chapellane, Maister Wellys, this berar, in such matiers as he woll shewe youre Grace on my behaulf. At my Maner at Croi- don the xvijth day of Marche. At youre Grac's comaundment WILLM. CANTUAR'. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 43 LETTER CXXXIX. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey, upon the power assumed by the Cardinal, as Legate de latere, in Testamentary Causes. [STAT. PAP. off. wolsey's corresp. xvi. 13. Orig.~\ Pleace it your good Grace to vnderstand that I have receyved your moost honorable and loving Let ters dated at your Graces place beside Westminster the seconde day of this moneth of Marche, by which I perceyve how graciosly ye take in good part my fre and playne writing to the same. Whereof in my moost hertie wise I thank your Grace assuering you that onles I had had in your Graces undoubted favors and benignite towardis me verey singulier trust and confidence to write without displeasire not only the playnes of my mynde, but also suche reports as were brought vnto me, I wold in no wise have attempted to disclose my said mynd and reportes so openly. And where your Grace adviseth me from hensfurth to give lesse credence to all thoes that have made suche untrue reaports as bee conteyned in my said letters, studieng more to make division than to norisshe good amite and accorde betwixt your Grace and me, suerly albeit I rehersed in my said letters suche reaports as were writen and spoken unto me, and none otherwise as I shall aunswere affore God. Yet 44 ORIGINAL LETTERS. I trust it can not bee gathered of my said Letters that I gave any firme credence to thoes report. For unfaynedly whatsoever surmises, sinister reports, or insinuations have been made or shalbe made unto me, by whatsoever menys they com, they have not and shal not rayse, kendyll, or ingender in me any part of grudge of mynde towards your Grace, orels any mystrust in your singulier goodnes, favors, and benivolence towards me ; whiche evidently towards me and myne by substanciall experiment appereth dayly more and more ; whiche your Graces manifold good dedes bee more depely fastened in myne hert -and remembrance than can bee removed by any words or reaports. Whiche your Graces goodnes I am not able to recompense with any other thing than with my feithful hert, true love, and dayly prayer for your Grace : whereof your Grace being thus so good lord unto me shalbee so well assuered as far as my litell power shalbe able to extende as of any thing in this worle, orels I were far unkynd and un- thankfull. And I beseche your Grace to think none otherwise in me but that I esteme and set by the favor of your Grace a hunderth tymes, and incomparably more than by the priuat cause of Jane Roper or any suche. And forasmuche as your Grace writeth that your Grace is contented at my desire to forbere further proceding in the principal matier of John Ropers ORIGINAL LETTERS. 45 testament, tyl I may awaite on your Grace after Ester. I hertly thank your Grace and entend there for to bee shorter in writyng at this tyme, and to differ my ful aunswer tyl I may have present con ference and communication with your Grace, trusting that none of your Graces counsail whiche is groundly lerned hath or wol persuade unto your Grace that by vertue of your Legacy, notwithstanding the composi tion that I made with your Grace as Legate de latere, ye may procede severally in knowledge of testamentarie causes, whiche heretofor have only apperteyned to the jurisdiction of my prerogative ; and that without any breche of the said composition, if any lerned wol affirme and prove the same, suerly he hath seen other Lawes or other vnderstanding of Lawes than I could ever know or perceyve, and yet I have taken som payne to loke for such matiers. Finally I trust when I shal com to your Graces presence so to declare my mynde to the same in every thing that your Grace of your goodnes shalbe right wel contented and pleaced therwithall, by the grace of God, who preserve your Grace in highe honor and dignite, long life, and good health : as good as I can desire to have meself. At my Churche of Cantre- bury the vjth day of Marche. At your Graces comaundement WILLM. CANTUAR'. To the moost reverend Father in God and my very singulier good lorde, my Lord Cardinal of Yorke and Legate de latere is good Grace. 46 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CXL. Archbishop Warham to his niece the Lady Grevile. A Letter of domestic consolation. [stat. pap. off. misc. corresp. 3 Ser. vi. 98. OrigJ] I commende me hertily to you : and have receued yor letters by this berar, by the which I haue vndre- stand of the late deceasse of your husband wherof, God not offended, I am right sory. Howbeit ayenst the hand and ordinaunce of almighty God no man can or oweth tobe. And I wil aduise you to take the same paciently and wisely, and not to make ij. sorowes of one, wherby ye may displease God, hurte yourself, and doo no good to your husbands soule. In this case it shalbe good and commendable for you to use yourself wisely and discretely, and not to take suche grete hevynes or indiscrete sorowe as men may note any indiscretion or lacke of wisedom in you : but rather so to order yourself as men may judge you to be a sadde and a wise yong woman, which may be bothe for your owne honesty and also for your frends. As touching your desir to have my chapelaine Mr Golde to contynue with you for a season to assist you in your besynes and maters, I am contented that he tary with you as long as ye shal thinke necessary and convenient ; and any thing that I can doo for you by my counceile or otherwise ORIGINAL LETTERS. 47 upon knowlege of your mynde therein I shalbe glad to doo it, the rather if I may perceue that ye order yourselfe at this tyme like a wise woman discretely. At Knol the viijth day of Aprile. Yor WILLM. CANTUAR. To my Neese the Lady Grevile. LETTER CXLI. Richard Pace to Cardinal Wolsey. The Queen en quires of the Cardinal's health. The King considers the Cardinal's Chapel better provided for the Choral Service than his own. [wolsey's corresp. ix. 9. Orig.~\ *** This and the two succeeding Letters display the care which both Henry the Eighth and Wolsey took in improving the Service of their Chapels. It seems to have been sufficient if either of them heard of a voice likely to improve the melody of his Choir, whether in man or boy, to impress the party who possessed it. There is a passage in Cavendish's Life of Wolsey which suffi ciently illustrates the Cardinal's care. " Now I will declare unto you," says Cavendish, " the Officers of his Chapel, and singing men of the same. First, he had there a Dean, who was always a great clerk and a divine ; a sub-dean ; a repeater of the quire; a gospeller; a pistoller; and twelve singing priests. Of scholars he had first, a Master of the children; twelve singing children ; sixteen singing men ; with a servant to attend upon the said children. In the re-vestry, a yeoman and two grooms ; then were there divers retainers of cunning singing men, that came thither at divers sundry principal feasts."2 Sir John Hawkins says, " Beside the higher dignitaries of the Church, such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops ofDur- a Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, Singer's edit. vol. i. pp. 35, 36. 48 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Iiam and Winchester, and probably some others whose station might require it, there were several among the principal nobility who seemed to emulate Wolsey in this particular, and had the solemn choral service performed in the chapels of their respective palaces and houses. One of these was the Earl of Northumberland, whose great possessions and ample jurisdiction seem to have been adequate to, and to warrant every degree of magnificence under that of a King. The evidence of this fact is contained in an ancient manu script purporting to be the Regulations and Establishment of the Household of Henry Algernon Percy the fifth Earl of Northumberland at hiscastles of Wresill and Lekingfieldin Yorkshire, begun a. d. 1512. By this it appears that the Earl had his dean and his sub-dean of the chapel, a gospeller and pistoller, gentlemen and children of the chapel, an organist, and, in short, the same officers and retainers as were employed in the royal and other chapels.' Dr. Burney, in his History, enters into some further particulars of the Earl of Northumberland's choir. " This magnificent noble man," he says, " dying in 1527, his son, the sixth Earl, whose pas sion for Anne Boleyn is supposed to have occasioned his disgrace at Court, seems to have been treated with great insolence and in dignity by Cardinal Wolsey, who by an extraordinary stretch of power, to which the Earl thought it prudent to submit, demanded his Choral Books for the use of his own chapel. Letters concern ing this requisition are still preserved in the family, in which the Earl says, " I do perceaff my Lorde Cardinalls pleasure y s to have such Boks as was in the Chapell of my lat Lord and tfayther (wos soil Jhesu pardon). To the accomplychment of which, at your de- syer, I am conformable, notwithstandinge I trust to be able ons to set up a chapell off myne owne. I shall with all sped send up the *Boks unto my Lords Grace as to say iiij. Antiffonars,c such as I think wer not seen a gret wyll ; v. Grails ;A an Ordeorly ;e a Manual; viij. Processioners." f Among the regulations given to the Royal household, much about the same time, it is directed that when the King is on journeys or progresses, only six singing boys and six gentlemen of the choir shall make a part of the royal retinue ; who " daylie in absence of the residue of the Chapel, shall have a Masse of our Ladie before b Hawkins' Hist, of Music, vol. iii. pp. 6;, ;3. « Antiphoners. J Graduals. " Ordinal. ' Bumey's Hist, of Music, vol. ii. p. 571. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 49 noon, and on Sondaies and holidaies, masse of the day, besides our Lady-masse, and an anthempne in the afternoone : for which pur pose no great carriage of either vestments or bookes shall be re quired." " In Wolsey's own retinue, when he went to France in the 13th Hen. VIII., we find the children of the Chapel, to the number of ten, with Mr. Pigot, the master of the chapel. They accompanied him to Calais, and from Calais to Bruges.11 Pleas itt your Grace aftre the wrytynge off my lettres sende unto your Grace yesterdaye, I dydde speke wyth the Qweans Grace, and made unto herre your commendations in most convenient maner and her Grace verraye lovyngly, boith in wurdis and countenance, dydde inquire off your Graces goodde helth, and was marvalusely gladde to here off the same. My Lorde, yff itt were not for the personall love that the Kyngis Highnesse doith bere unto your Grace, suerly he wolde have owte off your Chiapell, not chyldren oonly, but also men. For hys Grace haith playnely schewydde unto Cornysche, that your Graces Chiapell is bettre than hys : and providde the same by thys reason, that yff ony manner of newe songe schulde be broght unto boith the sayde Chia- pellis for to be sunge ex improviso, then the sayde songe schulde be bettre and more suerly handlydde bi your Chiapell than bi hys Graces. Cornyshe istud s Warton's Hist. Eng. Poet., 4to. edit. vol. jiii. p. 158, from " Ordenaunces made for theKinges household and chambres." Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Laud. K. 48. fol. It is the original on vellum. In it Sir Thomas More is mentioned as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. h Hai-1, MS. Brit. Mus. 629- VOL. II. D 50 ORIGINAL LETTERS. plane verum nullo modo concoquere pot. Quoniam nihil aliud majoris momenti in presentia tibi (Amplis- sime pater) scribendum est, claudet epistolam dulcissi- ma Musica. Valeat feUcissime R*™ D. V. Cui me humil. commend, et trado. Ex Redynge xxv. Marcij. E. D. V. Rme fidelissimus servus RI. PACEUS. To my Lorde Cardinals Grace. *„* Cornish, mentioned in this Letter, was the Master of the King's Chapel. Sir John Hawkins says there were two of the name, the elder and the younger. Among the Harleian MSS., No. 1709, is a Music-book which formerly belonged to King Henry the Eighth's Chapel, in which, at fol. 51 b., there is a " Salve Regina," at the end of which we have "finis quoth W. Cornysshe." Dr. Robert Fayrfax's MS., formerly Ralph Thoresby's, written toward the end of the fifteenth century, and now in the British Museum, (MS. Addit. 5465,) has two Songs, for three voices each, by William Cornyssh, junior, " Ay be sherewe you, be my fay," fol. 109 b. and " Hoyda, joly rutturkyn," fol. 114 b. At the end of Marsh's edition of Skelton's Works, 8vo. Lond. 1568, is, "In the fleete made by me William Cornish otherwise called Nyshewete chapelman with the moste famose and noble Kyng Henry the VII., his reygne the xix. yere, the moneth of July, A treatise bitwene Trouth and Information." Sir John Hawkins says, it contains a Parable abounding with allusions to Music and Musi cal Instruments, and is in many respects a curiosity. It seems to be a complaint of Cornish himself against one that had falsely ac cused him, who is distinguished by the name of Information, as Cornish is by that of Musike. Dr. Burney, when giving an account of the Fayrfax manuscript, says, " Most of these Musicians" (whose works the volume com prises) " seem to have been mere secular Composers, as I have met with none of their names, except that of Fayrfax, among those for the Church. Cornyshe, indeed, seems more a secular composer than the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 51 rest ; and, if we may judge of his private character, by the choice of his poetry from Skelton's ribaldry, he may be supposed a man of no very refined morals, or delicacy of sentiment. His compositions, how ever, though clumsy and inelegant, if selecting such words be forgiven, are not without variety or ingenuity, for so early a period of Coun terpoint. He seems the first who had the courage to use the chord of the sharp 7lh of a Key, with a false 5th. He frequently changes the measure, like the French in their old Operas, and still more like them, composes in a kind of rondeau, returning several times to the same short strain. Purcell near two hundred years later did the same." ' Stowe in his Annals, edit. 1631, p. 487, writes, that Cornish of the King's Chapel, probably the elder, is said to have written op probrious Rhimes in despight of Richard Empson, the famous pro moter, temp. Hen. VII., at the request of the then Earl of Kent. LETTER CXLII. Pace to Wolsey. The King's thanks for the Child of his Chapel which the Cardinal had sent to his High ness. The Queen's old Almoner. General News. [stat. pap. off. wolsey's corresp. ix. 10. Orig.] Pleasitt your Grace the Kings Highnesse haith comaundydde me to make answere unto your Grace's lettres sende to hym bi the berer heroff. And furst, hys Highnesse doith geve unto your Grace as harty thanks for the chylde off your chiapell as ye dydde hartly sende hym unto his Highnesse. And hys Grace sayes that he wolde nevyr have desyrydde hym, but compellydde bi pure necessitie and lakke off i Burney's Hist, of Music, vol. i. p. 551. D 2 52 ORIGINAL LETTERS. chyldren. And for that at itt pleasydde your Grace to sende the sayde chylde unto hym at thys tyme wyth so lovynge and lowly wrytynge, hys Highnesse is singularely well contentidde ; insomuche that he dyde reherse unto the lordis beynge with hym thys nyght your Graces most kynde wrytyng in thys cause. As touchynge your Graces wrytynge enempst the Qweans olde Almoner, hys Grace is contentidde that your Grace do therin accordynge to your own wryt ynge : butt hys Grace wull innowyse that the sayde almoner shall continue in the Qweans service, but for the tyme mentionydde in your Graces lettres ; and his Highnesse haith schewydde unto me the cause whye ; whyche I neade not to reherse unto your Grace, as well knowen to the same. And thus the Kings pleasor knowen herein, your Grace maye wryte unto the Qwean as itt shall lyke you. The Kynges Grace is verraye well contentidde wyth suche newes as your Grace haith sende unto hym frome Spagne and Flaundres, and accordynge to your Graces desyre doith sende unto the same agayne the Lettres of Monsr. de Monteignge. Hys Highnesse is sory that my Lady Margaret haith delt so hardely wyth Monsr. de Berghes hys Graces goodde frynde. Hys Grace doith yeve harty thanks for your diligence in sendynge unto hym suche newes : and desyrith your Grace to continue the ORIGINAL LETTERS. OO same : and hys pleasor also is that your Grace schulde provide horsis to be sett betwyxte his Highnesse and your Grace, to th'intent he myght have the soner knowliege of such importante tydynges : wheroff he shewith hym selfe to be verraye desyrose. I have declarydde unto hys Highnesse in the best maner I coiuth devise (accordynge to your Graces coinaundment) boith the deligince and wysedome usydde bi your Grace in devysynge off suche lettres that schall nowe be sende owte off the realme, not wythstandynge suche disseasys as be specifyede in your Grace's Lettres to me. And thys thynge was not so well tolde butt itt was better acceptidde and approvidde, in so muche that hys Grace is singularly well contentidde with every thynge. Hys Grace is not contentidde wyth the Scotts for there evyl intreatynge off the Qweane hys suster: and is desyrose to see the Lettres that sche dydde latly sende unto my Lord Dacres. I do remitte unto your Grace all the Lettres sende unto me, signydde, wyth ij. passeports demaundydde bi the Scotts. As touchynge your Grace's comaundment in your kynde Lettres directidde unto me, that I schulde continually aduertise the same as I have begunne off occurrents here : I trust not to be notidde negligent herin, but to do faythfully my dewtie unto your Grace as ye have bounde to do. I have spokyn to Cornysche for to intreate your 54 ORIGINAL LETTERS. chylde honestly, i. otherwyse than he doith hys owne. He haith promisydde unto me so to do. Valeat feU cissime R™. D. V. Cui me humil. commen. et trad. Ex Abyndon the xxix. off Marche, x. hora noctis. E. D. V. R™. fidelissimus servus RI. PACEUS. To my Lorde Cardinals Grace, &c. LETTER CXLIII. Archbishop Warham to Cardinal Wolsey, giving up to him one of the singing men of his Chapel. [ibid. Supplem. xvi. 36. Orig.'] *»* What the King had done to Wolsey in demanding a child for his Chapel, Wolsey did to Archbishop Warham in demanding from his private Choir " one Clement, who sung a basse part." Pleace it your good Grace to knowe that by my felowe maister doctor Benet your chapelaine I have undrestand that your Grace is desirose to have one Clement of my chapel, which syngeth a basse parte. For the singular grete kyndenes that I fynde in your Grace, not only the said Clement but also any other servaunte of myne which can or may doo your Grace any service or pleasur shalbe alwey at your Grace* comaundement. Wherfore according to your Graces mynde I nowe send the said Clement to your Grace with thies my lettres, humbly beseching the same ORIGINAL LETTERS. 55 tobe good and graciose lorde to hym, if it be your pleasir to have hym to contynue stil in your Graces service. Assuring your Grace that he is of very sadde, vertuose, and honest behavior, and so hath continually used hymselue for al the tyme that he hath be with me in service. Ther is not in my howse a better ordred or yet a better condicioned person. If ther be any other service or pleasir that I can doo for your Grace upon knowlege of your Graces pleasir therin I shalbe glad the same t'accom- plishe to the best of my litle power. At Knol the vjth day of December. At your Graces coinaundement WILL~M. CANTUAR. To the most reuerend Fadre in God and my very singular good lord my Lord Cardinal of Yorke, and Legate de latere, is good Grace. LETTER CXLIV. Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, to Cardinal Wol sey, complaining of a dearth of Newcastle Coals on the Coasts of Suffolk and Norfolk. [ibid. vol. xi. Pt. i. 212. Orig.] *»* The importance to which the Coal-trade of Newcastle had arisen in the time of Henry the Eighth may be judged of from this Letter. The earliest mention of Newcastle Coals is found in Gardener's England's Grievance, who states that on Dec. 1st, 1239, Henry the 56 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Third granted a charter to the townsmen of Newcastle-upon-Tyne for liberty to dig coals in the vicinity of that place. There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the statement, but as the Patent-roll of that year, the 23d of Henry III. has been lost, it cannot now be verified with the record. Anderson, in his Dictionary of Commerce, is quite mistaken in asserting that Henry the Third, in 1234, confirmed a charter from his father, King John, to Newcastle, in which coal is first mention ed. The charter of King John, alluded to, dated at Westminster, 2d July, in the 18th year of his reign, makes no mention whatever of coal. Stowe, in his Annals, under the 34th Edw. I., says, '' This year, 1306, upon sundry complaints of the Clergy and Nobility resorting to the City of London, touching the great annoyance and danger of contagion growing by reason of the stench of burning sea-coal, which divers fire-makers in Southwark, Wapping, and East Smithfield now used to make their common fires, because of the cheapness thereof, and to forbear the burning of bavins and fire-coal, the King express ly commanded the Mayor and Sherifs of London forthwith to make proclamation, that all those fire-makers should cease their burning of sea-coal, and make their fires of such fuel of wood and coal as had been formerly used." An order for a similar proclamation in the following year, occurs in the new edition of Rymer's Fcedera, vol. i. Pt. ii. p. 1017, during the time of the Queen's sojourn in the Tower. " Ne quis rogos in Civitate London, praesumat accendere dum Regina in Turri London. moram fecerit." A few years afterwards, as Brand informs us, sea-coal appears to have been used in the royal palace at London. He refers to the " Petitiones in Parliamento," A.D. 1321 and 1322 : ten shillings' worth of that fuel, " carbon de Mer," having been used at the King's coronation, and neglected to be paid for. (Hist. Xewc. vol. ii. p. 254.) In 1379, the trade in this article had so increased that a duty of sixpence per ton, every quarter of a year, was imposed upon all ships coming from Newcastle-upon-Tyne with coals. Brand, ut supr. vol. ii. p. 265, says, "A.D. 1546, orders were sent from the King to the Mayor of Newcastle, Robert Brandling, and Henry Anderson, to forward three thousand chaldron of coals to Bullein in France.'' ORIGINAL LETTERS. 57 Pleas it your Grace to be aduertised that this berer, deputie for the costs of Suff. and Norff. and other Counties of this Realme, hath byn with me with the supplicacon and peticion of th'enhabitaunts of the said coostes, purporting the great losses and enpouerisshement that may ensue vnto the Kings subjects by reason of the derthe of Cooles callid New Castell cooles, which Peticon after my poer mynd is entended much for a coinyii weale, for I am enformyd the coostes here in thees parties ar gre- vously enpouerysshed by reison of skantines of the said ffewell of coles. Wherfor' I beseche yor Grace to be good lord herin and to putt your helping hand for the reformacon of the same, the rather for my sake. From Henhamhall the xxv. day of Sep- tembre. by youres assured CHARLYS SUFFOLKE. To my Lorde Cardinall is Grace. LETTER CXLV. Edward Guldeford to his brother Sir Henry, upon, the attempt of the Inhabitants of Sussex to replace the Canons of Bay ham in their Monastery. [ibid. misc. corresp. 3 Ser. vol. iv. 71. Orig.] *** Bayham Abbey was suppressed under a bull of Pope Clement the Seventh among the smaller Monasteries which were appro priated to the endowment of Wolsey's two foundations at Ipswich 58 ORIGINAL LETTERS. and Oxford. Its spiritualties were then valued at 271. 6s, 8d, per annum ; its temporal possessions at 1252. 2s. 8xd.; making a total of 1522. 9s. i\d. Henry the Eighth's grant of Bayham Abbey, with one or two of the smaller Kentish monasteries, to Wolsey, was dated Feb. 8th, in his seventeenth year. A. D. 1526. Hall notices the riot at Bayham alluded to in the following Let ter. He says, " You have hard before how the Cardinal! sup pressed many Monasteries, of the whiche one was called Beggam in Sussex, the whiche was verie commodious to the countrey : but so befell the cause, that a riotous compaignie, disguysed and un- knowen, with painted faces and visures, came to the same Monas- terie, and brought with them the Chanons, and put them in then- place again, and promised theim that whensoever thei rang the bell, that thei would come with a great power, and defend them. This doing came to the eare of the Kynges counsail, whiche caused the Chanons to be taken, and thei confessed the capitaiaes, whiche were emprisoned, and sore punished." Hall's Union of the Fam. of Lane, and Yorke, edit. 1548, Hen. VIII. fol. 143. Brothir Sir Harry, in my harty maner I reco- mend me unto you. This it may like you to be advertised that sense my last wrytyng to you I have had more perfecte knoleage of the riottuose demea nors in Bayham. The Chanon, Sir Thomas Towres, as yet dothe contynue there, wiche Chanon was not in the said howse by the space of thre yeres passed bifore the subpressyng of the same. And, as I am enformed, the same Sir Thomas hathe contynued bithe space of on yere and more at Buksted in the service of Doctor Rotys where he ys person ; and the said Chanon came streight from Buksted to Baycham. Ther hathe byn there, of diuerse parisshes, above CC. persons wiche were opynly seen, bisydes those ORIGINAL LETTERS. 59 wiche were in secrete places not ferr from the howse. As it ys reported, the substaunce of his assistances came from Buksted, Rotherfild, Fraunte, Wbdhurst, Tyshurst, Pepynbury, Bryncheley, Horsemonden, Lamburhurst, Maydston, and of diverse other places of the Hundrythe of Marden ; as Goodhurst, Stapul- hurst, and other. And also Bowser, withe his two sonnes, wiche dwellithe at Sowthefrythe Gate. And vppon Mondaye last passed ther were too of the howsehold servaunts of the lord of Burgavenny at Goodhurst, wiche axed opynly amongs company howe they wold do, whether they wold take parte with the newe Abbot or not. My cosen Darell and I do dayly send secretely amongs theym, to th'intent to knowe asmoche of ther purposes as we can, bysydes som other that ys amongs theym, wiche dothe aduer- tese us of ther demenors from tyme to tyme ; and over that I do send you the copye of a bill her- inclosed wiche was sett uppon my Cosen Harry Darrells gate. This berer can showe you more at lenght, by mowthe, to whom it may plese you to gif credence ; for the circumstaunce of thus mattir were to longe to write unto you. But in my next Lettre I shall advertese you of the playnes. The Chanone and his company saythe theym selfes that every man of every parisshe betwix theym and Bramburough wilbe rede to be with theym when they have nede, all hooUy. Mr. Tresoror knowithe that 60 ORIGINAL LETTERS. quarter bettur then ye do if ye list to enquere of the Cuntrey. And thus the blessed Trenyte haue you in his kepyng. Wrytyn at Halden the viij day of June. EDWARD GULDEFORD. To my right worshipfull brother Sir Harry Guldefford Knight, Comptroller of the Kyngs most honorable Howsehold. LETTER CXLVI. Thomas Bisliop of Bangor and Abbot of Beaulieu to Cardinal Wolsey ; relating to an unjust seizure by some of the Cardinal's servants of lands in the parish of St. Keverans in Cornwall, belonging to his Abbey. [stat. pap. off. wolsey's corresp. i. 106. Orig-.] %* Lanechebran, or Lan-a-kebran, alias St. Kevran, in the deanery of Kerrier in Cornwall, was a society of secular Canons, at or about the time of the Conquest, dedicated to St. Achebran.8 It afterwards, by grant from Richard Earl of Cornwall, became a Cell of Cistercian monks, subordinate to the Abbey of Beaulieu. This letter of remonstrance to Wolsey was successful. The manor here, as parcel of the possessions of Beaulieu Abbey, continued with it till the Dissolution. It was granted, 2 Eliz., to Francis Earl of Bed ford. The ninth division of the charters in the Register of Beaulieu, in the Duke of Portland's possession (fol. 121 to 143) relates to the church of St. Kevran, beginning with the grant of it from Richard Earl of Cornwall. a Domesd. Surv., torn. i. fol. 121. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 61 Please it yo1' benyiig Grace and speciall goodnes to understand that one of your servaunts lernyd in the temporall lawe namyd M. Skewes, in the name of one Reskymer, liekwies servant to yor Grace, hathe caused latlie a wrong and a injuriouse entre to be hadd and taken in certen londs lieng in the pariche of Sent Keverans in Cornwall, gyffon to the House of Beauleu be Ric. Erie of Cornuall, son to Kyng John ffowndor of that Monastery. Wiche hathe be pos- sessid of the same more then iiij C yer. And this gentylman hathe writon to me that the benefice ther wiche is impropperid to Beauleu, he myndithe to giff hit to the fyndyng of Scolars, and fenythe that sum tyme ther wasse a Cell of Monks, whiche is very ontrewe, as I shall well prove be good mater of Re- corde, and with all the aunceant men of that Cown- trey. And right gret marvell I have what movyth hym thus unjustly to troble me and my tenantts in that poore Lordshipe. Wherfor for asmuche as yor Grace is the very pure fonten and well of trew jus tice, and the same only restyng in your most gracious hands, I therfor most humblie and in the most lowlist maner that possible is for any poore man to do, be seche your Grace not to suffer the seyd gentyhnen, nether any other in ther behalf, to do the poore Howse wrong, nor to make any farther enterprise or cruell invacion into the said londs ; but, accordyng to the good order of the Kynges Lawes, and bithe 62 ORIGINAL LETTERS. same to be orderid and answerid. Your high magni ficence euer in tymes past hathe be gracious Lord unto me, wiche byndithe me duryng my lief to praye for your Grace, and shall. And in this thyng wher in dependithe the very welthe or utterlie destruccion of the for namyd Monastery, I hertelie beseche you to be my gracious Lord. And I and all your por religius and most obediant beedmen, the brethr of that Howse, shall duryng or lieffs most hertely praye to God for the long contenuance of your most gra- cius preservacon. The xxviijth day of Juny. Yor most humble creatur and daylie beedman THOMAS BANGOR. To his most gratius Lord My Lord Cardynalls Grace, Archbusshoppe of Yorke, Lord Legat and Chauncelor of Englond. LETTER CXLVII. Laurence Stubbs, to Cardinal Wolsey. Violent con duct of the Sanctuary Men of Westminster. The Prior of St. Bartholomew's likely to die. Miscel laneous News. [ibid. stat. pap. off. xi. p. i. 202. Orig-.] *»* Something of the state of Westminster in the time of Henry the Eighth may be learned from this Letter. Even Wolsey's own residence was hardly safe from the depredations of the Sanctuary men and their accomplices. Laurence Stubbs, the writer, describes himself in it as President of Magdalen College, Oxford, to which office, according to Wood, he was elected Nov. 21st, 1525. Wolsey must have known him at Magdalen College during the latter part of his own residence there ORIGINAL LETTERS. 63 as fellow. Stubbs took his Master's degree in 1502 ; was proctor in 1504 ; and D J>. 1513. In the interim he was presented to the rectory of Fobbing in Essex, Sept. 6th, 1511. From the 8th to the 19th of Henry the Eighth he held office in Wolsey's household, having the charge of the Napry. The circumstances attending his election as President of Magdalen College are not fully explained. He speaks of Mr. Burges as his competitor in the present Letter. From an observation of Antony a Wood, it seems probable that he resigned to prevent his election from being set aside. Wood says, " After he had resigned, one John Burgeis, B.D. and fellow, was chosen President, and by the name of President he occurs in a char ter dated 10th July, 1527 : this happened, I think, by some contro versy about Stubbs's election." Wood's Coll. and Halls, by Gutch, 4to. Oxf. 1786, p. 315. The Prior of St. Bartholomews, in Smithfield, mentioned as in extremis, must have recovered, as he did not die till 1532. Pleasith your Grace to understond that all your servaunts here be in good order and helthe, loved be God, and within the towne of Westminster no pesti lence plage renynge," save in ij howsys. Syns your Grace departinge ther hath been here great assembles and bushments of persones, sus pect of felony, which have usid the company and familiarite of Sentuary men, and at ij sundre dayes did rescue such vacabunds as the cunstables for ther mysdemenors wold have imprisoned in the Gate-House. Which after I had knowlege of, I consalled with Mr. Stuse and Mr. Cromvell, and togedders we spak with th'abbot and Sir Hugh Vaghan, therein; wheruppon ther was a watch cofiiandment nightly to be kepid and is so kepid by the inhabitants of the same town as by the lawe thei reigning. 64 ORIGINAL LETTERS. awght to do, and in yers past have ben accustomed to do. And theruppon the seid suspect assembles and bushments did brek and avoid; and syns the Sen- tuary men have ben more stratlie kepid in than thei wer afore, beforce wherof on Mulsey that was the Kings servaunt, beinge a Sentuary man at Westm., hath refusyd the same, and goth abrode, who, as I here, hath a gret nombyr of unthrifty persones belong ing unto hym, of whom Sir Hugh Vaghans servaunts yesterday and this mornynge take viij that had stalled horses, and hath theym in hold. It is mouch suspect thes bushments intended to have don sum displeasor at your mancion called York Place. This last night, as I am credible informed, on of my Lord Stewerts servaunts at Chelsey in his awn house war sore wonded with such persones which wer folowid to the Sentuary, but yet thei be not takyn nor known. Of the seid bushments, Sergier and Ser- vington of th'yns of court, and on Pen that war your late controllers servant and lay in wayt to have slayed Mr Cromvell, as I do here, wer thei that made the seid rescuys upon the constables. And it is seid that the seid Sergier and Servyngton be abrode with a great nombre of suspect persones with theym. Pleasith your Grace further to knowe that the Prior of Seint Bartholomewys in Smythefeld is very sore seke and liklye to dy shortly. The frends of the Cellerer of the same house, callid William Fynch, ORIGINAL LETTERS. 65 hath ben with me and offerd to gi your Grace CCCK towards the beldinge of your honorable College in Oxford, or to such other use as it may like your Grace to apply it, for your gracious favor towards hym and hys preferment to the seid Priory when it shalbe voide, allegynge that the Convent ther will be glad to elect hym afore any other if thei may have there fre eleccon. The seid Cellerer was many yers chaplein to the seid Prior. Also Dr Barrye late resi- denciary of Southwell is deceased, by whos death ther is in your collacion a Prebend in York, callid Osbalwyk, of the yerly valor of xliiij . marks : and another prebend in Southwel of like valor, callid Dunham ; and also a parsonage callid Mydilton of the yerly cler valor as I here of xK of the patronage of the Provost of Beverley. The Prior of Launde is rydyn towards the cost for provision of your salt stere. I delyuered hym ccxl1'. for the same provision. As yet syns your departinge I have recevid no money save only for your facult3 cK and of the pre rogative lxJi, I have writtyn to your recevor of Duresme but I here nothinge from hym nor from York. Your beldinges at Yorke Place, Hampton Court, Moore, and Tytynhangre be in such for- wardnes as may appere unto your Grace by bills therof herin enclosid, and I understand by Mr Cromvell who is now comyn from Oxford that he 66 ORIGINAL LETTERS. hath certifid your Grrace of the forwardnes of that belding. And in the most humble wise I do thank your Grace for my restitucion of the possession of my Presedentship of Magdalen College at Oxford which I am and ever shalbe redy to leve at your gracioux comaundment by caus I shall may the better apply your besenesses. My lord of Wynchester myndid to have preventid your Visitacion ther, which Doctor Claybrok hath substancially begon and contynued I trust to yor pleasor, and Mr. Burges the latly pretendid to be elect, and his electors, be fain in such contempts towards your Grace and brech of the statuts ther, as, without your mercy be to theym shewid many of theym shall not only be expellid hut abide further correxion. The said Mr Burges yit detenyth lxxv^ of the College mony to defend hym self, with which he take out of the seid College chest callid Cista pro placitis defendendis ; and I do think is not able to make recompence and restitucon therof. As knowith the Holy Trinitie who have your Grrace in hys blessed tuicyon and graunt prosperously to com home again with such spede in your affares and besenesses as your gracioux mynd shall desyre and covit. Writtyn at your mancion of York Place aforeseid the vj,b day of August. Yor most humble servaunt LAURENCE STUBBS. To my Lords good Grace. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 67 LETTER CXLVIII. Archbishop Warham to my Lord Cardinal of York, in relation to New Ordinances for the King's Mints, affecting the Archiepiscopal Mint at Canterbury. [ibid wolsey's corresp. xvi. 52. Orig-.] *** What the particular occasion was which gave rise to this and the succeeding Letter is not stated, further than that Warham speaks of " new ordinances of late made," and which seemingly can only refer to the Writ which was issued to Wolsey, 24th July, 1526, commanding him to carry into effect the King's design of reducing his money to the standard of foreign coins, and to determine the rate, value, fineness, lay, standard, and print, as by him and the Council should be thought requisite. The writ was to be a sufficient warrant to the Cardinal. At the same time a warrant passed the great seal, to the master, warden, and other officers of the Mint, which recited the above, and commanded them to carry into execu tion the determination of the Cardinal and the Council, as well in fineness, value, and goodness, as in standard, print, and fashion. The warrant to be a sufficient authority and discharge, any act, statute, law, ordinance, or other thing to the contrary notwithstand ing. See Pat. 18 Hen. VIII. m. 27. dors. The Archbishops of Canterbury had had from very early times the privilege of striking money. The earliest of their coins known is a penny of Jeanberht, the thirteenth archbishop, who was consecrated in 763 and died in 790. It is supposed that at some time in this period the kingdom of Kent must have been subject to OfTa, King of Mercia, as his name appears on one side, and the archbishop's on the other. jEthilheard, his successor, 790 to 803, struck coins, some of which have Offa, and others the name of Coenvulf, as successive sovereigns of Mercia on the obverse, and the archbishop's on the reverse. Vulfred, who succeeded in 803, put his own effigies and name upon the obverse ; his moneyers name, saeberht, or that of the place of mintage, on the opposite side. Ceolnoth, who succeeded in 830, was the next archbishop whose 68 ORIGINAL LETTERS. coins continue to exist in no less than twelve varieties. Like Vul- fred's, they have the archbishop's bust and title on the obverse, and on the reverse the moneyer's name, sometimes alone, and sometimes with the name of the Mint. Of Ethered, 871 to 891, a single coin only is known. It has on the front his name and title. On the reverse the moneyer's name. Plegmund, who sat from 891 to 923, struck several varieties of coins, but his bust does not appear upon any of them. The obverse, in all, has his name and title, with the moneyer's name invariably upon the reverse. From the laws of Athelstan it is clear that that monarch allowed to the archbishop of his time two moneyers, but no archiepiscopal coins of this reign have been discovered. Coins certainly continued to be struck, at least at intervals, by succeeding archbishops, as is evident from records and from documents in the Exchequer ; but ap parently without any marks which might distinguish them from the general coinage of the realm. Cardinal Bourchier, who was archbishop from 1454 to 1486, has sufficiently distinguished the coins of the archiepiscopal mint during his time, in one instance, in the reign of Edward the Fourth, by placing the Bourchier knot under the royal bust, upon a half-groat ; and in Richard the Third's time, if the coin engraved by Dr. Pegge may be relied upon as genuine, by putting a B. for Bourchier upon another coin of the same denomination. Cardinal Morton, 1486 to 1500, designated his coinage by an CD upon the reverse, in the centre of the cross. Warham, who sat from 1504 to 1532, put the letters W. A. for Willielmus Archiepiscopus, at the sides of the shield of arms upon the reverse. Cranmer followed in a similar manner, marking his coins with T. C, either for Thomas Cranmer, or Thomas Cantuariensis. With Cranmer this mint finally closed. Compare Pegge's Assemblage of Coins fabricated by authority of the Archbishops of Canterbury, 4to. Lond. 1772. Ruding's Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain, 4to. Lond. 1840, vol. i. p. 303 ; ii. pp. 181, 182. Please it your good Grace so it is I am enformed that ther be newe ordynaunces of late made, aswell concernyng the King's Graces Mynte in his Towre ORIGINAL LETTERS. 69 of London, as other Mynts in other places of this his Grace's Realme in tymes passed used and contynued for the comon and usuall cwrse of the Kings graces coyne from hinsforthe. Forasmuch as I doubte not but that your Grace well knowithe that by the graunts of dyuerse Kings, the King's Graces noble progenitors I and my predecessors Archiebisshopps of Canturbery have alwayss hadd in the Palace of Can terbery a Mynte for coynage, to thegrete comoditie and ease of the Kings Graces subjects within this Countie of Kent and otherwise ; to th'entent that I wold gladly that my said Mynte shuld in lyke maner and forme be ordred according to the said new Ordynaunce. I beseche your good Grace to shewe and declare your graces ferther pleasur and mynde in this behalff to my servant Ewyn Tomson, this berar, kepar of my said Mynte. Vppon knowlege wherof I have cohi- aunded hym to folowe the same in every thing ac cordingly. In good faithe my Lord I desire not this for any grete profete or advauritage that I shall have by this coynage, but only for the ease of suche the Kings Graces subjects as may more commodiousely reasorte to Canterbery than to the Tower. At Knoll the xvijth day of November. At your Grace's Comaundement WILL~M. CANTUAR.' To the mooste reuerende father in God, and my very singuler good lorde my Lorde Cardinall of Yorke, and Legate de Latere his good Grace. Misc. Corr. Stat. Pap. Off. 2 Ser. iv. 650. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 213 to mayntayne my poor mother ys but lityll above 1" ; for Alenton and Holbroke be but xx11, Kayston xviij", my prebend in Polles iiij", and my wages xx11 markes, and was indettyd viijxx and vij". Item, that I haue resigned Aschefordeby and receyuyd afore the hande Holbroke and all my wages to apparaill me, and to bere my charges in my journey. "Item, that Master Humfray Wyngfeld tolde me hym sellf that he wold gyve me but xxa " for Holbrok, where as I have hadde all redy, and schall have above liiju off Syr John Maxwell, and cowld have more than 1. for Holbroke, yff Master Humfraye hadde not the advowsion. Item, that yff I schould resigne Alenton and Holbroke, and have for them 1", I should be in a great danger other to fall all at ones, and nother be abyll to helpe my sellff nor my poore mother, or ellys to be compellyd to resigne Kayston to, for yff yt should be a yere or their abowts, or euer I hadd any promocion by the Kyng or my Lorde Cardinall, yt wold be a yere after or ever I hadde any profites off that benefice. " Item, you schall devise all the meanes you can, bothe with the Dukes Grace and the Quenes, to borowe me xl. markes at the leste xxx" and you can, and beseeche hys Grace to take Aldyrton and Holdbroke in to hys owne hand vnto he be payed. Master Hum fraye Wyngfeld ys my fermer at Holbroke, and the fermer of Alder- ton shall not fayle to paye hyt wheras yt schall please his Grace. " But you may promise to my Lords Grace in my name that the next promosion that ever I have, other by the Kyng or my Lorde Cardinall, whyther yt nede a dispensation or not, yff he wyll comande me so to do, I schalbe contented to resigne the benefice of Holbroke when Master Humfray Wyngfeld wyll have me, so that he wyll nowe, at the Quenes Graces request and my Lordes be con tent that I may at thys tyme depart from no mo but Alderton oonly. " Howe behyt you may schewe the Quenes Grace that very sory I wold be to forsake all the thyngs I have in Suffolke and that I most humbly beseche her Grace to remember my sewt made to hyr for the benefice of Kawston in Northfolk, and whyther hyr Grace do yett vnderstande that my Lords Grace ys myndid to dispose Kawston to any other off hys chappellaynes."c * * * * * JO. PALSGRAVE. c Ibid. Misc. Corresp. 3d Ser. vi. 0. 214 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Right worshipfull Sir, I humblye commende me unto youe, and praye youe that whereas I am muche desirous t'atteyne the knowlage of the Frenche tonge which is to me so muche the more difficulte as ney ther by any sufficient instructer ne any treatise here tofore made, I maye be easily lede to the knowlage of the same, and at my beyng at London made not a letle labour to Mr Palsgrave to have one of his books whiche he made concernyng the same, whiche in no wise he wolde graunt for no price, that ye wUbe so good Master to me as to healpe me to have one of them, not doubtyng but though he unkyndly denyed me one, he wiU not denye youe one. I perceyve that Palsgrave hathe wiUed Pynsou to sell none of them to any other person then to suche as he shaU comaunde to have them, lest his proffit by teching the Frenche tonge myght be mynished by the sale of the same to suche persons as, besids hym, wern disposed to studye the sayd tongue. If I had one, I wolde no lesse exteme it then a JeweU, wherfore I hartely praye youe to healp me to one, and for the same I shall sende youe some other thing to youe of muche more value. If it please youe to cause WiUyamson to bring the same to my brother, William Pratt, he wiU convey it to me at all tymes. Syr, I humbly comende unto your goodnes the me mory of my lovyng frende, WiUyam Claye, who in- original letters. 215 tendith on thisside Whitsontyde to departe towards Ingland, and wyU resorte unto youe, for to desire youe to be good Maister vnto hym in his right, and none otherwise. I departed from London upon the Tewysdaye and cam to Andwerpe the Saturdaye then next foUowing, where I remayn your most humble and obedyent servant. And thus I hartely praye for the contynuance of your health and prosperete. At Andwerpe, the xiij daye of ApreU. Syr, I remember Mr Palsgrave gave youe one of his books, whiche if it please you to geve me I wer muche bounde to youe. Your most humble Servant s. VAUGHAN. To his right worshypfull Maister, Mr. Crumwell in London. LETTER CXCVIII. Stephen Vaughan to Cromwell ; to appease his anger, which had been expressed before other persons. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xiv. 29. Orig-.] After myn humble commendacons, where it hathe lately plesed youe to take sore displeasure withe me for one onely fawte, the first and laste that ever I comytted against youe ; and for the same so sharply to thretyn me bifore other men, to my extreme hurte and displeasure : it maye be your pleasure to 216 ORIGINAL LETTERS. consyder, that I am a poore man, which confesse to have receyved large benefits at your hands, and to be most sory of men for your displeasure ; and as I ney ther dyd this wilfully, ne arrogantly, ne ever thought so, or othewyse to do any against you, so when your passion is asswagd, so bere me your favour; withe the contrary wherof yow may at your pleassr undo me, and besids me, my wyfe and chUdren, which for one fawte in so long tyme as we have byn acquaynt- ed, and I so long your servant, were to sore a punyshment. I doubte not but yow consyder no man to be without fawte, and as men in grete hete and passions be not assured of themselfls, no more was I whan a smaU occasion was offred to me. U you thinke men have suche fawts and can hardely avoyde them, let it by your wisdome be pardoned in me ; whiche am, as I boldely dare saye, and so wyll prove myselff, though the powrest, and to syght symplyest, yet not the vnassurest or vn trustiest of your frends. Yowe have sore abasshed and astonyed me. I wyll not write how great hurte you have done me. And thus sorrowfully I byd yow fare well in God, who turn your harte gentyU to your poore frends. From London, this present Frydaye. Your olde servant, s. VAUGHAN. To the right worshipfull Master Crumwell, Secr> to the Kyngs Highnes. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 217 LETTER CXCIX. Sir William Godolphin to Cromwell, announcing the sending to him of two Cornish men, at his request, skilled in the feat of wrestling. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xiii. 75. Orig-.] *** The Godolphin family was settled at Godolgan Hall, in the parish of Breage, in Cornwall, for several descents, when it became extinct in the male line by the death of David Godolgan, whose only daughter married John Rinsey, Esq. This John took the name of Godolgan, and was great-grandfather of John Godolgan or Godolphin, Sheriff of the County in 1504, supposed to have been the first of the family who adopted the present spelling of the name. Sir William Godolphin, grandson of John, the writer of this and the succeeding Letter, was several times chosen Knight of the shire, and five times served the office of sheriff. He distinguished him self by his military prowess, particularly at the siege of Boulogne. Carew says, " He demeaned himself very valiantly beyond the seas, as appeared by the scars he brought home, no less to the beautifying his fame, than to the disfiguring of his face." My devty with dev reuerens yn my most vmbyll wysse don, plesyzth hyt yowr Maysterschyppe to onderstond that I recevyd yowr gentyll and lovyng Letter to me derectyd, datyd the ffurste day of June, by yowr seruant Herry; the tenor ther off was to have ij. proper ffelowes for the fett of wrastelyng. 1 have send to yowr Maysterschyppe ij. off my liovsold seruants, whyche yowr seruant Herry dyd very well know that yn thes partes thay wer takyn ffor the beste and the suryst ffor that ffett. Yowr Maysterschyppe may truste them ffor ther truthe, I wilbe bound yn as VOL. II. l 218 ORIGINAL LETTERS. moche as I am worthe. Ther Ynglysse ys not per- ffett. I coud not macke no fferder serche to try any better then thes, the tyme was so schorte, as yowr seruaunt Herry can aserten yow ; but in contenent a pone the syzth off yowr letter y causyd wrastelyng gamys to be mad, to the entent I wolde have the beste. Yff hyt wolde plesse yow to avertes the Kyngys good Grace, yff he commaunde me by hys letter or oder wysse to serve hym yn thys jernay, I wilbrynge with rr^ yj. or vUj"1. Ther schalbe no better off ther bygnes come owte off that partes, and at my comyng uppe yowr Maysterscyppe schaUe see them aU tryyd by ffor any man see them doo any ffett ; and yff ye lyck any off them better then thys ij. ye schalhave yowr plesar yn thys and yn aU that ever I can doo whyUe I leve, God wyUyng, how ever have yow yn hys blessyd keppyng with longe lyffe and prosperyte. Wrytyn at my powr howsse, the xmjth day off June. Yowrs to hys lytyU power will'm godolphyn. To the worschypphull Mayster Thomas Cromwell, one of the Kyngs moste honerabyll Counsell, be thys delyuyd. *** Cornwall and Devonshire are now the only counties of Eng land in which the practice of wrestling is really preserved. In early times the exercise was universal : and in the reign of Henry the Eighth was even considered a necessary accomplishment for a warrior. Sir Thomas Elyot in his " Governour," 12° Lond. 1546, ORIGINAL LETTERS. 219 says, " Undoubtedly it shall be founde profitable in warres, in case that a capitayne shall be constrained to cope with his adversarye hande to hande, havyng his weapon broken or lost. Also it hath beene sene, that the weaker person by the sleyght of wrestlynge hath overthrowen the stronger, almost or he coulde fasten on the other any violent stroke." The Mareschal de Fleurange in his " Histoire des choses memo- rabies advenues du Reigne de Louis XII. et Francois I." speaking of the interview between the latter king and Henry VIII. in 1520, says, "Apres les jouxtes, les luiteurs de France et d'Angleterre ve- noient avant, et luitoient devant les Rois et devant les Dames, qui feust beau passe-temps, et y avoit de puissans luiteurs ; et parce que le roi de France n'avoit de puissans luiteurs ; et parce que le roi de France n'avoit faict venir de luiteurs de Bretaigne, en gaignerent les Anglois le prix. Apres allerent tirer a l'arc, et le roi d'Angleterre lui-meme, qui est ung merveilleusement bon archer et fort ; et le faisoit bon veoir. Apres tous ces passe-temps faicts, se retirerent en ung pavilion, le roi de France et le roi d'Angleterre, ou ils beurent ensemble. Cela faict, le roi d'Angleterre prist le roi de France par le collet, et lui dit : ' Mon frere, je veulx luiter avec vous,' et lui donna une attrape ou deux : et le roi de France, qui est un fort bou luiteur, lui donna un tour et le jetta par terre, et lui donna ung merveilleux sault. Et vouloit encore le roi d'Angleterre reluiter; mais tout cela feust rompu, et fallust aller souper." Pe- titot, Collect, des Memoires relatifs a l'Histoire de France, torn. xvi. p. 352. This royal wrestling match is supposed to have made a most un favourable impression upon the mind of Henry the Eighth, The recollection of the exhibition of wrestling, at the interview of 1520, probably occasioned the offer in Sir William Godolphin's second Letter to supply His Majesty with six or seven wrestlers when he should go again to Calais. L 2 220 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CC. Sir William Godolphin to Cromwell. Sends a thou sand pounds weight of Tin to make pewter ves sels for his household. Asks a licence for import ing Gascoyne Wines. Offers to furnish the King with tried Wrestlers. [ibid. misc. corresp. xiii. 76. Orig.] My devte with dew reuerence yn my moste vmbyU wysse don, plesyth hyt yowr Mayster schyppe to vnderstond that y have made iiij peces off tyn ffor yowr Maysterschyppe to make yow sum peuter wessell ffor yowr howssold, contaynyng yn wayth a thovsand pounde and above. The merkys off the sayd iiij peces ys a bowe and a brode arow yn hyt yn the tone syd, yn oder syd a horsse schow. Y schalle send them vppe to yow with the ffurst tyn that comyth to London oute of owr contray, and a letter with whom I doo send them, hertely desyryng yowr Maisterschyppe, as y am always bold to put yow to payne, to move the Kynge ys good Grace yff hyt wolde plesse hys Grace off hvs goodnes to geve me a licens ffor serten Gaskyn wynys to be delyuered by twyne Myhelmas and Candelmas, ffor now ys the tyme to macke provicion ffor hytt. Hys Grace schalle tacke avantage by the custom ther off, and also y shalbe yn redenes to doo hys Grace servys yff ORIGINAL LETTERS. 221 hys Grace go ouer to Calys, yn a owr ys warnyng, with a vj or viijtb tryd Wrastlers yff y have any com- moundment ther to, besechyng yowr Maysterschyppe that ye be not dysplessyd with me for my rudnes to be so bold to wryt ouer to yow and to put yowr Maysterschyppe yn remembrans off yowr gentyU offer to me at my last beyng yn London, ffor a licens for me and ffor my ffrends. Besechyng owr Lorde Jhu longe to contynew yow in helthe with honour and longe lyffe, y wrytyn at Godolphyn, the xij* day off Julij, by yowr assuryd bedman will"m goddolphin. To the ryzth worschypphull Mayster Thomas Cromewell, one off the Kynge ys moste honerabyll Cown- sell. LETTER CCI. Stephen Vaughan to Cromwell. Arrives at Calais. Friar Peto at Antwerp. The Flemings reported to have put in print an excommunication of the King. Slowness in the payment of Vaughan's sti pend. The state of Gravelines. His wife devises some works for the Queen. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xiv. 47. Orig.] %* This Letter must have been written in or about 1532. Friar Peto, Peyton, or Peter as he was sometimes called, mentioned in the second paragraph, has been already noticed in the first series of ORIGINAL letters. these volumes. He was then an Observant Friar of Greenwich, bold and clamorous upon the King's second marriage ; agamst which, having now fled, he is represented to have put forth a book in print. The Editor, however, upon very diligent enquiry, has met with no work whatever which bears Friar Peto's name. Nor is any published work ascribed to him by bis biographers. Strype says, he was, afterwards, confessor to Queen Mary. Pope Paul the Fourth nominated him a Cardinal, June 13th 1557, as well as to the bishoprick of Salisbury after the decease of bishop John Salcot alias Capon ; but to this latter preferment he was never admitted. Paul the Fourth likewise entertained the design of making him Le gate in the room of Cardinal Pole. Dodd, in his Church History, says he died in France, when on his way to England, in April, 1558, Ciaconius says he died at Canterbury. See Wood, Athen. Oxon. ed. Bliss, vol. ii. col. 778 ; Dodd, Ch. Hist. i. 480 ; Ciaconii Vitas et Res gestae Pontif. fol. Rom. 1677, vol. iii. col. 865 ; Hist, minor Provinciae Angliae Fratrum Minorum a Franc. D. a Sancta Clara, torn. i. § 25. p. 53. Right worshipfull Sir, after myn humble commen- dacions. The xxx. daye of July we arryved at Calleys, where immediatly at my comyng upon lande I met with certeyne marchaunts of myn ac- quayntance comyng from the Marte, of whome I de- maun dyng what newes, they answered, " We harde evyn now of a Skott in Calleys, that warr shuld be proclaymed in Englonde bytwene the same and Skotland ;" they not beleuyng the newes and intend- yng farther to provoke the partie to declare how he knew it, the Skott answered that truthe it was, and to prove the same sayde he had aboutt hym the copie of the same proclamacion, with many other Ught comunicacons. Wheruppon I ymmedyatly went ORIGINAL LETTERS. unto my Lorde Deputie and cawsed hym to sende for the same Skott, and to kepe hym in prison tyll the Kyngs pleasure wer knowen therin ; wherof I suppose my Lorde Deputie doth advertise you. Be fore me one day, passed out of Englonde unto Cal leys ij.graye friars, whos passing I cowlde not but have suspected and tolde the Lorde Deputie therof, who told me that he knew the cause of theyr comyng, wherwithe I was answered. Fryer Peto, accompanyed with an other fryer, re- sydethe in Andwerp, where at his libertie he writethe and hath putt foorthe in prynte a booke agaynst the Kyngs greate matter, whiche is all redy a brode, as I am enfourmed. At my comyng to Andwerp I shull sende one to the Kyngs Hieghnes. The Flemyngs (as I have also lerned) have put forthe in prynt an Excommunycacon agenst the Kyngs Mte. If I fynde it to be true, I wyll also sende one to his Hieghnes. Here I reste half a daye for the easyng of my horse, comyng from the See. The next daye we departe erly. I pray yow cawse hawte Maister Tuks servant to paye my laste yeres stipende. I desyred my father to receyve it, whome I cannot se lacke. Yow know how bare a lyvyng it is for me gevyng suche attendaunce. His Grace, I doubte not, emongs other of his ser vaunts, by your good medyac5n, wUl remember my poore lyvyng, who cannot (thoughe I shulde spende all 224 ORIGINAL LETTERS. that ever I have) but serve faithfully and truly. In the meane season, if his Grace wolde graunte me a lycence for a M1. undrest clothes, whiche myght he worthe to me peradventure fiyftie pounds, it wolde some what helpe me. At Gravelyng upon Saynt Jamys evyn, a love daye (as they saye) was made between the Capitayn of the Castell, whiche is a Spanyarde, and the inhabitauntts thereof; and he vpon the daye of Saynt Jamys re ceyued out of his howse with procession. The paysans about Gravelyng, whiche for the buyldyng,of the Castell there and mayntenance of the garison wer wont, and yet do, paye wekely every Saturdaye fiyftie poundes, lately grudgyng thereat, denye any longer to paye the same. What wyll come therof I cannottell. My Lord Deputie for the Kyng my M'. and your sake entertayned me veraye well, and depeched me immedyatly upon the syht of your lettre. Your plesure maye therfore be to remember the same after your wisdom. No maner of newes shall by the waye scape me. My wyfe and aU hers in myn absens I commende unto you. She devysed certayne works for the Quene her Grace, whiche although she dyd bryng unto her Grace to be seyn, was neyther seyn ne her good wyll and humble servyce knowen. Your pleassr maye be to have her in remembrance with her Grace, who in ORIGINAL LETTERS. 225 her facultie I dare well saye can serve her better then any woman in the Realme, whiche her Grace yet knowethe not. And thus the holy Trynytie preserve you in long lyfe, good healthe, and muche worship. From CaUeys, the xxx. daye of July. Your olde servant STEVEN VAUGHAN. The Skott (of whom before is made mencion) as I wrott this lettre was tolde me to be an Augustyn ffryer of the place besids yow. It wer good to know of the Pryour what he is. To the right worshipfull Maister Crumwell. LETTER CCII. Ralph Sadler to Secretary Cromwell, requesting him to stand Godfather to his new-born son. [MS. COTTON. TITUS. B. I. fol, 343. Orig.] Sir, after myn humble commendacons, with like request that it may please you to gyve me leve to trouble you amongst yor weightie affaires with these tryffells. It is so that my wyf, after long travaile, and as paynefull labor as any woman could have, hathe, at the last, brought fourth a ffayre boy ; beseching you to vouchesauf ones agayne to be gossip vnto so poure a man as I am, and that he may here your name ; trusting ye shall have more reioyse of him then ye l5 226 ORIGINAL LETTERS. had of th'other, and yet there is no cause but of great reioyse in th'other, for he dyed an Innocent, and enioyeth the ioyes of heven. I wold also be right glad to have Mr. Richards wyf, or my Lady Weston to be the godmother. Ther is a certen superstycious opynyon and vsage amongst women, which is, that in case a woman go with childe she may chrysten no other mannes childe aslong as she is in that case : and therfore not knowing whether Mr. Rychards wyf be with childe or not, I do name my Lady Weston. I desyre to haue one of them, because they do lye so nere Hackney. To morrow in the after none . shalbe the tyme ; and thus the HoUe Trynyte pre serve you in long lyf and good helth, with moch honor. At Hackeney, this Saterday, at nj. of the clocke at after none, with the rude and hastie hande of yo1 most assured and faithfull seru'nte during his RAFE SADLEYR. To the right honorable and his singuler good Mr., Maister Secretarye, be this youen. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 227 LETTER CCIII. Erasmus Forde to Mr. Stedalf, one of the King's Commissioners of Sewers for the County of Surrey, with particulars respecting the issue of the first Commission. [st. pap. off. misc. corresp. 3 Ser. iii. 151. Orig.] *t* The first statute in which the frame of a Commission of Sewers was really set down, is believed to be that of the 6th of Hen. VI. c. 5. But the first of essential value to the community, and considered here as the first, was that of the 23 Hen. VIII. c. 5, the carrying out of which by Cromwell is so strongly illustrated in the present Letter. Manning, in his History of Surrey, has not mentioned Erasmus Ford, among the owners of Norbiton Hall. The last and few sur vivors of the stately range of elms, of the loss of many of which he so feelingly complains, were recollected by persons now living, a. little more than sixty years ago. Jhus. Master Stedalff, all weys my dewti consydered, Sir, I am bold to wryte vnto yow, as to on of the Kyngs Commysioners of Sewers, of the extreme handelyng of dyuerse pore men where of I am on my selff. Sir, yf yt wyll please yow caU to remembrans how Mr. Cromwell, on of the Kyngs most honorabyl Counsell, came in to Sothewerke, and browght with hym the Kyngs Commyssyon consernyng the Statute of Sewers, under the Kyngs brode Seall, by vertu where of he caUed personally beffore hym Mr. Skote and me, with many other dyuerse honest gentylmen and substancyall men, and gave us our charge wysly 228 ORIGINAL LETTERS. and substancyally, and sware us. At whyche tyme, lyke a nobyll cownseler, comffortyd us, and bade us ffeare no man but only God and our Prynce, and he wold se us take no wrong of no man. And as con- sernyng any mater that was consernyng our charge, we schuld begyn with our Prynce indifferently as we wold doo with aU other, the menyst men, consernyng a Comen welthe. Where vppon I and my ffellowys have in grost and made a booke consernyng our othe and charge ; where we begyn with our most drede and Souereyng Lorde the Kyng, and flynde hys weyers vnlawfuU, and comen purprestures to hys own streme, as in our Boke of Presentment of Sewers yet mor playnly apers. Now, as we have don with hys Grace, we have ffolowed bothe poor and ryche, and charytably aU them that we have presentyd. I take yt on my sowle we haue don to [no] man of malys, but we have at this day good and substancyaU wytnes that whyle they be a lyve wyU byde by every artycle in our Boke to be trew ; whyche hathe cost us labor, travell, besynes, study, and large money to come to the lyght of trewythe of every thyng. Now ffor our reward, suche men as we sett a worke and commaundyd them in the Kyngs name ageynst ther mynds, escuyng dawnger, to bryng us in to the weyers to come to the lyght and trewythe of every the powr men by color hathe ben a restyd with latitathis ; suche wrytts made that I and my ffelowys ORIGINAL LETTERS. 229 cowld skantly bayle them, or helpe them, at last with expences and charges browght them agrede, to my coste and payn. And yet as I am credably infformed serten powre men be in suyt at Westmyster Hall, as I am credably infformed by the Curate of our Chyrche, and that the Master of Seynt Thomas Spettell told hym he sewythe them ffor ffyschyng in a common watter parssell of Tamys, as all the holde men in the County wyll depose, and hathe deposed. And more over Mr. WeUs, of Kyngston, was in case to be indyted at a Sessyons at Croydon, ffor pre- sentyng of a Steyre that on Dean of Kyngston, taker of tymbre and bords ffor Hampton Corte, hathe made and incrochyd in to Tamys ffar a bove all other menys Steyres; and also dyuerse barge men com- playnyd lykeweys ther on, in putyng ther barges in joberdy, as yt more playnly apers in a bok of Sewers of Tamys. But to ffere us he seys we be ffalse har- lotts, and sayd to me he wyU bryng the Kyng hym selff to see yt to prove what ffalse harlotts we be. Now consernyng my selff, how unkyndly, how crewelly and vncherytably, with owt any offence geven on my be halff, to my knowlege the sayd Dean cam to my cheff howse caUed Norbeton Hall, and sewyd non awctoryte, and neuer mocyoned me, my tenaunt, nor non of myn, but lyke an hemprowr enters in to my grownd bordered abowzthe with elmys, the cheff pleasor of all my howse, vnknowlegyng to hys ,Mr. 230 ORIGINAL LETTERS. the surveyor of Hampton Corte, and sore a geynst hys wyll and mynd, that the poryst man schuld be so used, hathe pluckyd, ouerthrown, dygyd uppe by the rootts xxxv. of my purest and ffeyrest elmes that he and hys worke men cold fiynd, to my hygh dyspleasor, hyndrans, and great lose. I am a powre man, yet not with standyng my pouerty, I wold rather a geve xxxv. nobylls, to have borowd yt of xxxv. men, and yf I wer ryche, rather to have lost xxxv1'. Yf thes maters be not redrest, accordyng to Mr. CromweUs promyse, ffor my parte rather then every lewd ffelow schuld thys handeU me, I hade leuer ffor sacke the Country then to leve with scham to set me a worke in the Kyngs name, and ffor hym doyng nothyng but ryght accordyng to our othes, to see them thus handeled. Syr, I am seke of an Agew and haue on good daye, a nother yll daye ; wher ffor I am not of strengh to make suyt to Mr. CromweU, as my dewty ys, but I wold trust yff this mater may come to his Master- schypps knowlege, of hys honor he most nedds doo sum thyng to bryng men in better rest and quyetnes, whyche God geve hym grace so to doo, and preserve hym long lyff. In hast at Dytton, by your ffrend and seruaunt and bedman to Mr. CromweU Erasmus forde, gent. To tie right worschypfull Mr. Stedalff, on of the Kyngs Comyssyoners of Sewers in Surr', this lctt' be dd'. In haste. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 231 LETTER CCIV. Dr. Capon to Cromwell, informing him that the Plate and Ornaments of the College of Ipswich have been sent to the King. [ibid. 2d Ser. v. 126, Orig.] Right worshipfull and my verey syngler good lower1 and frend M. Crumwell, in moost harty and lovyng wise I commend me to you, evyn so thankyng you for all kyndnes, acerteynyng you that the xijth day of this present moneth of Nouembre, the bishop of Norwiche hath sequesterd the oblacions of our Ladyes chapell, and hath sette a seale upon the boxes of Offeryngs ; not withstandyng as yet I have the keyes of theym, and I have made promyse to hym to take none of the sayd offeryngs till I knowe of my Lord his Graces pleasure therin: and the sayd xijth day, a chapleyne of the sayd Bishopis brought me a lettre from hym, the copie wherof I have sent to Mr Doctor Marshal to shew it vnto my Lords Grace, to know his pleasure and advise in that behalf, prayeng you that I may be advertised a>lsweU of my Lords mynd and pleasure, as also of your good advise and counseill what ys best to be done herin, &c. Also the xiiij* day of this moneth came hyder to the CoUege Comyssioners from the Kyng, viz. M. John Wellysburn, esquier for the body with the a lover. 232 ORIGINAL LETTERS. King, and M. Thomas Halle of Gippswiche, and with them vj. yomen of the gard, and theyr servaunts, to the nombre of xviij. persons and above. The sayd Commissioners have vewed and takyn an Inventory of all the plate, juells, coopes, vestments, books, and of all the stuff of howsehold ; and also of all the stuff belongyng to the bieldyngs, viz. Cane stone, rowgh stone, lyme and sand, iron, lead, lath, tymbre of all sorts, and bords of all sorts. Item, they have trussed and takyn with theym thise parcells followyng, viz. xxxiij. coopes of the richest and best, item iij suetes of the richest and best vestments, item a doce and redoce of riche clothe of golde, item a rich canapie of white sylver and golde of nedle worke, item ChapeU plate and juells, viz. the great crosse of syluer and gylt, and the lesser crosse, an image of S' Katheryn, an image of our Lady, a large monstrance, Uj. cha- lyces of syluer and gylt, a payer of fayer cruetts sUuer and gylt, a goodely Pax of sUver and gylt, a payer of coverd basons sUver and gylt, ij. sensers sylver and gylt, and ij. sensers silver and parcel gylt, a fayer ship of silver and gylt. Item, in howsehold plate, viz. a fayer standyng cup with a cover of sylver and gylt, twoo large bowlls of silver and gylt, with oon cover, ij. salts of silver and gylt with oon cover, and nj. large bowUs with oon cover of silver and parcell gylt ; all the whiche parcells be delyvered by Indenturs made betwene us and the Commissioners hands at the same, ORIGINAL LETTERS. 233 wherof they have the oon part, and I do kepe th'oder part therof. And they say how the Kyng desirith but to have the sight of the forsaid parcells, and, that done, they suppose the Kyng will retorne all the same ageyn to the CoUage. Nevertheless I have relynquesshed no title therin, nor in none other thyng that belongeth to the CoUage. How be it they have charged me with the remeynor of aU the stuff above named, remeynyng in the CoUage at this present day of makyng hereof untyU the Kyngs pleasure be farder knowen therin. Also they bare me styfly on hand for a while that I shulde have in custody of my Lords treasure above xM'i, whiche I pleynly declared vnto theym that I never had accordyng to the very trowth. They con- tynewyd here the space of v. dayes, in the which tyme I enterteyned theym aswell as I cowde, whiche hath byn to the costs and charges of me and the Col lage above xx". marcs in rewards as other wise, aswell to the gentUmen and yomen of the gard, as also theyr servaunts to the nombre of xviij* persons; and so they departed towards London. As towching my Lady Caston she utterly denyeth that ever she received eny money of you for the lease of Panyngton, nor she will not delyver me your lettre, but kepith it still. First she wold not be a knowen that she had eny lettre, and after that I was adver- 234 ORIGINAL LETTERS. tised by the lettres of Mr. Sub-deane and of Mr. Rush of that bargayne you made with hir, and of the xx". nobles you payd to hir, and of the lettre you sent to me by hir, then she eskewsed her self and sayd how she had left the sayd lettres at London, but stiU she yet denyeth that she made no bargayn with you, nor no money received of you for her title of Panyngton, but sayth still how she hath as good right to the same yet as ever she had. Fardermore, upon Sonday the xxjsl day of No- vembre, at nyght, Sir PhiUp Tylney, Mr. Lyonel Talmage, and Mr. Everarde of my Lord of Norfolks counseill, they repayred to the CoUage tc me, and brought a Dede indented to be sealed, the which I have sealed and done accordyng to my Lord his Graces lettres ; and the same nyght at souper I enter- teyned theym with as good fassion and there as my witts wolde serve me, and on the morow they desyred me to ryde with theym to Felyxstow, Falcynham, and the Marshe, to geve theym possession in aU the same accordyng to the sayd dede. And all theyr desier in the same I have done and accomplysshed with the best maner I cowde, and that done they retornyd home with me agayne, makyng to theym the best chere that I cowde devise for theym in the Collage, so that I trust they were right weU con tented therwith. And I dought not but they will make good reaports therof to the Duke his Grace. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 235 Sir, I trust upon Saterday at nyght next comyng after the date herof, to be at London; doyng the best I can in the meane season to sette all thyngs here in good ordre ayenst my departure. As know' the hooly Trynite who ever have you in his blessyd tuyssion. At Gippiswiche, the xxij. day of No- uembre. I pray you have me coinendyd to good Masf Rushe. By yowre ownne assewridU to the best off his power. w. CAPON. To the right worshipfull and hys syngler good lover and frend, MaistT Thomas Crumwell. LETTER CCV. Robert Fuller, Abbot of Waltham, to Mr. Cromwell, to settle an Exchange with 'the King for lands be longing to his Abbey. He wishes Cromwell to come over and speak to his Monks, of some of ivhose con sents he is doubtful. [ibid. xiv. 42. Orig-.] %* Robert Fuller was the last abbot of Waltham. He received the temporalities of that Monastery, Sept. 4th 1526. He was after wards elected Prior of St. Bartholomew in Smithfield, and held the Priorate in commendam with his Abbey. He surrendered Waltham to the King, March 23, 31st. Henry VIII. The Harleian MS. 3739 contains what has been considered the first of five volumes of a Chartulary of Waltham Abbey, compiled 236 ORIGINAL LETTERS. by Abbot Fuller ; but there seems no good reason for supposing that he ever went further in it than the volume which is preserved in that collection. It is a folio, on paper. At the end, foil. 382, 394, 407, 423, 427, and 430, are other deeds and indentures of Abbot Fuller's own time ; the three first concern the manor of Stanstead Abbot, in Hertfordshire, exchanged with King Henry VIII. for the suppressed Priory of Blackmore, with 6ome of its possessions, in 1532, afterwards confirmed by Act of Parliament: that at folio 429, relating to the exchange of Copped Hall with King Henry VIII, for the farms called Cane-fields, and Woods at Pancras, by London, and the manor of Dame Elyns in Little Warley, Essex, is probably the negotiation alluded to in Abbot Fuller's Letter, which Cromwell's presence was to settle with those monks, whose consent was thought likely to be doubtful. Right worschipfuU, my dewty of recommendation premysed, with as herty thanks for your benyvolent favors as may be written. It may please yow to be advertised that I have accordynge to your letter as sembled my Convent together for the ensealynge and consentynge to the dede of, and for the departure of the lands comprised in the same dede, according to the purport therof. More over as consernynge theyr consent for the exchange of such lands as the Kyngs Highnes wolde have at this instant tyme, I do moche dought them. Wherfor it may please you to take the payn to cum over and speke with them in the Kyngs behalffas your polytyk wisdom shall thynke best, and then to perceve the matter that restyth in theyr heds ; I suppose aU thyngs wiU prove the better to suche conformyte as must folowe for the same, as owr Lord God knowith who ever kepe you in helthe, ORIGINAL LETTERS. 237 and send you his most blessed favor. At my Monas tery of Waltham, the last day of Decembr. By your assuryd dayly bedsman Robert Abbat of Waltham. To the right worschipful Mr. Crumwell, on of the Kynges noble Counsell, and my most especyall frynde delyver this. LETTER CCVI. Nicholas Glossope to Cromwell, praying his assist ance to become one of the " bedemen " of the Mer chant Tailor's Company. [ibid. 2d Ser. xiii. 66. Orig.] %* This Letter, however humble the writer, is one of interest ; inasmuch as the information it affords may hereafter assist in tra cing more particulars than we at present know of Cromwell's family. Glossope says, "Sir, my mistress, your mother, was my aunt. Thomas Allcock's wife of Wirkeworth in the Peak, was my god mother and my aunt both." In a Letter which follows this, in the State Paper Office, he calls himself a servant of the Earl of Lincoln, and mentions my Lord of Norfolk, my Lord of Wiltshire, and my Lord of Windsor, also, as his good lords. These three noblemen, he says, had put him to my Lord of Lincoln. Jhu 1533 to Mr. Cromell. My dute remembered I lowly recommend me unto yowre good, &c. Sur, I sende yow xij Banbery chesses tone hallfe softe and the th'other hallfe hard, where of I wolde to 238 ORIGINAL LETTERS. God they were w' xx. thowsend pounde vnto yowr Mastershyppe. Sur, yt ys so that I am of age XX aumost iiij. yere. I am impotent and lame of the gowte and the crampe, with sore paynes, and wone of my yes ys gone de claro, and the other very feble and nowht. Sur, I beseke yow in aU myte Jhu's name that yow woU helpe me iiij. nobles more of my mas ters the taylers, for I haue iuj. nobles payd me every yere, I thanke yowr mastershyppe and them ; or ells ij. nobles more in a yere to make evenexl3., and wold heUpe me weU toward my lyvyn to be ther bedman with a chamber and iiij. quart3 of coles in a yere amonste the bedmeru Sur, I have a fetherbeed with a boullster for Master WyUam Wellyfed sone that ys at Cambreg at yowre mastershype fyndeng, Wyllam. Sur, my mystres, yowre mother, was my auntte. Thomas Allkokes wyffe, of Werkworth in the Peke, was my godmother and my Auntte bothe ; where for I beshe yowre mastershypp that yowre mastershyp wyll loke up on my byU at the instance of owre blessed Lady of svmshon, as shortely as may be, and senddyng vnto Master Hubbulthorne, for he wyll sarue yowre commandement with the master of the feloshypp of my masters the tayllers ; they to wyll do yowre commaundement with my masters the Wardyngs. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 239 Thus blyssed Sentt John Bapptysse have yow in kepyng nyght and day. Amen. Be yowre true beedman NYCOLLAS GLOSSOPPE. To thye ryght worshyppfull my syngular good Master Cromell. LETTER CCVII. Henry Huttoft, Surveyor of the Customs at South ampton, to Cromwell. The arrival of a Present of Novelties for the King's Highness. [ibid. 2 Ser. XVIII. 422.] %* The chief curiosity attaching to this Letter arises from the presents it enumerates. Two musk cats, three little monkeys, a marmozet, a shirt of fine cambric, a chest of Nuts of India, each greater than a man's fist, and three pots of earth, painted, called " Porsland." This last present affords the earliest distinct mention we are acquainted with of the introduction of Oriental Porcelain into England. Mr. Albert Way, writing to the Editor of the present volumes, says, " The earliest mention of Oriental Porcelain, as known in Europe, is, to the best of my knowledge, supplied by an Inventory of valu able effects of Jehanne, Queen of Charles le Bel, King of France, who died 1370. 'Item, un pot a. eau de pierre de pourcelaine, S. un couvercle d'argent, et horde" d'argent dore", pesant j. marc. iiij. onces xvij. estellins, prisi€ xiiij. fr. d'or. ' Item, nn aultre pot a vin de pierre de pourcelaine, plus blanche que I'autre, gamy d'argent dore", bien ouvre", prisie" viij. francs d'or.'1 "In England I had supposed porcelain to have been unknown a Leber, Invent, p. 136. 240 ORIGINAL LETTERS. until the time of Elizabeth ; but the passage from the Letter to Cromwell which you have had the goodness to communicate to me, has thrown a new light on the subject. The description, ' potts of erthe paynted,' reminds me that in the Inventory of ' parcels deli- veryd to my Lordes Grace' (Wolsey), by Robert Amadas and Cor- nelis, his goldsmiths, the Item occurs ' deliveryd at his going over seye, at Canterbury, the garnyshing of a potte of erthe with silver and gilte, the silver waying 40oz. d. the oz. yj«. viijd. £] 3 10s.' This was in the 17th Hen. VIII. 1525 ; and it is very probable that the pot in question was of Oriental manufacture ; for, with the exception of the Italian wares, which do not appear to have been exported to other countries at so early a period, there was no European fictile manufacture which supplied objects that could have been regarded as luxuries and rarities worthy to be garnished with the precious metals. This Inventory is given in Gutch's Collectanea Curiosa, ii. 323. "Amongst New Years' Gifts presented to Elizabeth 1587-8 were costly Cups of cristal and agate, &c. At the same time Lord Treasurer Burghley presented one porrynger of white ' porselyn,' garnished with gold ; the cover of gold, with a lion on the top thereof. Mr. Robert Cecill gave one cup of green ' pursselyne,' the foot, shank, and cover silver gilt. Mr. Lychfelde gave one cup of ' pursseline,' the one side painted red, the foot and cover silver gilt.1* " Shortly after this time Oriental porcelain became apparently well known in England. Mr. Douce supposed its introduction to have occurred in consequence of the capture of certain Spanish car- racks during the reign of Elizabeth. See his Illustrations of Shak- spere. " In the Unton Inventories, 1620, mention is made of ' pursslin stuffe,' ' Chinie stuffe,' ' fruite purslen dishes,' &c. " It appears by the early Dictionaries that Oriental Porcelain, and the Italian ornamental ware called maiolica, were frequently confounded together : the latter being much in use for fruit-dishes, towards 1600. "William Thomas, in his Italian Dictionary, 1550, gives the word Porcellana without any reference to China, but to a herb so named. Florio, in 1598, under the same word, mentions 'fine China dishes called Porcellan dishes.' Compare the word Maiorica ' Nichols's Progresses of Q. Elii. ii. 528. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 241 in the same. Minsheu has a curious mention of ' Porcellana ' in his Spanish Dictionary, and in one of his Spanish Dialogues, being a conversation between a gentleman and lady regarding the com parative merits of plate, and ' China metal, or earth.' This is in 1599." Mr. Way, in another Note to the Editor, says, "It occurs to me to mention that the most ancient specimen of Oriental Porcelain known to me to exist in England, or I should rather say example of the ancient use in England of this ware, is the following. Amongst the curious Cups at New College, now in the Warden's house, with plate given by the founder, curious ' Nuts ' set in parcel-gilt mount ings, &c, there is a basin of opaque light-green coloured Oriental Porcelain, which, by the character of the silver-gilt mountings, must have been in use in this country some time during the fifteenth cen tury. I would have requested permission to search the Inventories, in order to trace the donation of this curious vessel ; but I can scarcely think it so far back as Wykeham. " The mention of Oriental China in a letter from Alfonsus Cia- conius to a Cardinal, dated from Paccieco, A.D. 1570, and given by Martene, (Amplissima Coll. III. col. 1324,) is not a little curious. He describes all the rarities brought to Lisbon from the Indies by the Portuguese fleet, the bezar, the Cocoa-nuts, canes, unicorns' horns, Chinese books, and ' Vasa Murrhyna ex China qua? poreel- lanas patrio sermone appellantur.' That is, I conclude, in Portu guese, for no Chinese word is known resembling the name Porce lain ; and Ciaconius seems to have lived in Portugal, and formed a Museum of these striking rarities at Seville. It shows us that Por celain was a rarity worthy to be commended to his Eminence, and probably little known in Italy." Macpherson, in his History of the European Commerce with In dia, 4to. Lond. 1812, pp. 87, 88, speaking of the renewal of the East India Company's privileges in 1609, probably gives us the earliest notice of a porcelain dinner-service. He says, " The Company, en couraged by so favourable a charter, built the greatest ship that had ever been constructed in England for the merchants' service, being of the burthen of a thousand tons. The King, attended by his nobles, witnessed the launch, and gave her the name of the Trade's Increase. When she was afloat, the King and his retinue were en tertained on board her with a magnificent dinner, provided by the VOL. II. M 242 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Company, and served in dishes and plates cf China ware, which was then quite new in England." The Nuts of India mentioned in this Letter were, of course, Cocoa Nuts. After aU dewe recommendac5ns had, my dewty remembred, pleassith it your Mastershipp I have receyvid yours of the xxixft. day of August, and, ac cordingly, with aU the circumstans, euery thyng therin comprised shalbe fulfilled. And to acertyn you of the newilties pretended for a present unto the Kings Highnes is this. First, ij. Muske Catts, iij. lytyll Munkkeys, a Marmazat, a shert, or an upper vesture of ffyne cambryk wrought with whytt sylk in euery part, which is very fayre for a suche lyke thyng. More, a chest of Nutts of India contayneng xl. whiche be greater then a man is fFyste, and iij . potts of Erthe payntid, caUyd Porseland, whiche is all. Howe be it as the Merchant seythe be fore they shalbe presentid, ther shalbe to every one of those things certeyn prparis, as cheynys of gold and sylver, with colors and other thingis acording for the furnetor of the same. And more, he hathe in a litell barke C. cassis of Suger whiche is aU that he hath. And in all these he shalbe orderyd acordyng yor commaundment. Moste lowly thanking yor Mastershipp for your late acustumyd bountefull goodnes shewid unto your bedman, the Abbot of Beauly now being, for the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 243 which I was by my letter a peticioner for, not dowt- ting but he shall dayly concider your moste favorable acte shewid unto hym in the same. And as to my parte ther shalbe ever redy my poore harte, with all other effects to the uttermost of my power, whiche know' our Lorde who ever preserve your Master shipp to longe and prosperus lyffe. Written the iiijth- day of Septembr. By your seruant, HARRY HUTTOFT. To the right worshipfull his singler good Master, Mr. Crumwell, of the Kings most noble Counsell, this be dd'. LETTER CCVIII. John Rokesbie to Cromwell. Sends the term-account from Cambridge for the Education of Christopher Wellifede. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2d Ser. xxxv. 8. Orig.] Right worshipfull Maister CrumweU, in my laulest manere that I cane, my dewty remembrede ; I recom- mende me unto youre Maistershippe, evere beinge gladde too here of yowre gude helth, for the whiche I shalbe a daily orator too Almyghty God, gyvynge youe gret thanks abundly for youre kyndnes, not only for youre kyndnes schewede me at London, but also for yowre gude rewarde, etc. H 2 244 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Maister Crumwell, the cause of my wrytynge to youe at this tyme is this : too certefye youe that I have sent the Bill of aconts for Christofor Welly- fede this terme, wiche is wery gret ; the cause is this, it chancede one of my pupiUs did dye of the plage in my house, with whome CristoforWeUifede, beinge my pupill, was partly conuersant ; therfore I culde not be in certante who was infectyt, and who was clere. I did put Cristofor Wellifede in a place alone ; for he cause if he hade bene in cumpany infectyt he schulde have bene in more jobertye (so being alone). They wold not take hym under ijs. iiijd or ijs. vnjd. the weke. As touchynge his other exspences, dubuU costs was requyrit necessaryly, wiche he schulde not have bene at if we hade taryde in the towne. No more to youe at this tyme, but oure Lorde Jhesus have youe in his kepynge. Wrytten at Cambrege, the xvj"1. day of September. By youre daUy orator, JOHN rokesbie. To the right woorschipfull and his synguler gude master, Master Crumwell, abydynge at London, be this Letter delyuerede w* spede. Frome Cambridge. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 245 LETTER CCIX. Rychard Lyst, lay brother of the Observants at Green wich, to Anne Boleyn, when Marchioness of Pem broke, respecting the opposition made to the King by the brethren of his House. Asks Anne Boleyn to pray for him. Acknowledges her charity, both to himself and to his mother. [MS. COTTON. CLEOPATRA. E. IV. fol. 28 * *. Orig-.] *„* Several Letters are now to be laid before the reader, in suc cession, from one Richard Lyst, a lay brother among the Observant Friars of Greenwich. King Henry the Seventh, by a charter, bearing date 1486, after reciting that his predecessor, King Edward the Fourth, had, by the Pope's licence, given to certain Minorites or Observant Friars, a piece of ground adjoining to his palace, on which were some ancient buildings, and that the Friars having taken possession of the same, and having begun to build several mansions in honour of the Virgin Mary, St. Francis, and All Saints ; he had granted and confirmed to them the said premises, and had founded a Convent of Friars as above described, to consist of a warden and twelve breth ren at the least. Henry the Eighth and Katharine of Arragon were great favourers both of the Convent and their Order. Henry the Eighth's partiality has been already expressed in his Letter printed in the former volume, addressed to Leo Xth. Katharine shewed her partiality by making Father John Forest, the warden of the house, her confessor ; and is said, when resident at Greenwich, often to have risen at midnight, and joined the Friars in their devotions. Forest, and the greater part of his Convent, returned this affection for them by openly es pousing her cause when the business of her divorce was agitated ; but two or three, of whom Richard Lyst was one, took the other side, and espoused what might be called the cause of Anne Boleyn. Henry became at last so enraged, that he suppressed the whole Order throughout England. 246 ORIGINAL LETTERS. The Convent of Greenwich was dissolved August 11th, 1534. On the accession of Queen Mary the Observant Friars appeared again in public, and returning to Greenwich, began to form themselves into a community. The Queen reinstated them in their possessions, founded their Monastery anew, and repaired it at her own cost, out of gratitude for the unshaken attachment which the general body had shewn to her mother. Queen Elizabeth expelled the friars, and suppressed this house finally, June 12th, 1559. These Letters contain many particulars of Friar Forest not here tofore known : with the detail of some of his interviews with Henry the Eighth ; and shew the circumstances which finally led to his sad catastrophe. Richard Lyst says, " I was in time past my Lord Cardinal's ser vant, and also dwelled in London in Cheapside eight years, and made many waters for my Lord Cardinal ; and much Ipocras also ; and served him of much spice ; and I was both a grocer and an apo thecary.' In his Letter to Anne Boleyn as Marchioness of Pembroke, he expresses his intention to become a priest, which now, he says, he could do, as his affiance to a young woman, since dead, had hitherto prevented it. Upon his liberation from his Convent, Lyst became a student in Clare Hall, Cambridge : took his first orders at St. Awdry's at Ely, and finally became a secular priest. The last we know of him is, that he was presented by Stokesley, Bishop of London, to the vicar age of St. Dunstan's in the West, London, Feb. 5th, 1535 : and that he was alive, and resigned that preferment in 1556. The prosperows grace, comforte, and consolacyon of the Holy Goost be wyth youre Grace nowe and ever for a meke salutacyon at thys tyme. Moost honorabyll, I wrote vnto yowre Grace of a sarten chanc happyedamonge vs here, and sens that tyme I haue sent the Kyngis Grace, and also my Lorde yowr father worde there of, prevely, by Doctor Goodryche, the effect of the forsayed mater ; and soo I vnder- ORIGINAL LETTERS. 247 stande nowe that yowre Grace hath knowledge of all the hole mater also. How be yt I haue grete mervell that the mater ys so sklendyrly lokyd vpon as yet. Also, Madam, I haue harde saye of dyvers persons, more than a yere past, that the Kyngis Grace was mynded to remove vs from Grenwyche to Christis Churche yn London, and so to put this place to the yowse of a Coledge ; and yn my jodgement, yf his Grace be thus mynded, yet hit may be don wyth owt ony offens agaynst God or grete noote of the people ; consydyrynge vndyr what maner som of owre com pany have yowsyed them selfe both agaynst God, the Kyngis Grace, and yow. And yf there had byn a place of owre relygion yn London, there shulde haue byn avoyded many ynconvenyens that has chansed and byn don by owre brether, agaynst dyssyplyne and the observans of owre rewle ; and yf yowr Grace cowde helpe to brynge this to passe, yn my jodge ment yow dyd a goode acte, and a merytoryows deede. Also I wrote vnto yowre Grace that I was yn som trowbyll by the reason of the pyttyows chans happyned amonge vs, and trewly as yet my trowbyll doth contynew, and rather yncrease than mynyshe ; yn so moche that skant ij. nyghtys yn a weke I can take my naturall rest, and yf thus my trowbyll shulde longe contynnew I feare there shulde chans vnto me som ynconveniens of syknes or dysease. I beseche yowre Grace to pray for me, for I do dayly for you, 248 ORIGINAL LETTERS. for I trust by the grace of Gode and helpe of goode prayer to haue remedy. By the reason that I haue som learnynge and yn- telligens I haue often tymes spoken and answeryd yn the Kyngis cawse and yowrs, and by the reason there of I haue suffryd often tymes rebewkys and som trowbyll, but all that I haue suffryd yn that cawse, and for yowre sake, hath byn rather comforde and plesewre vnto me than otherwyse ; and so hit shulde be to every trew lover yn the cawse of his frynde. Also, Madam, often tymes yn derysyon I haue byn callyd yowre chaplayne, how be hit as yet I never toke no ordyrs to be pryst, but wyth the grace of Jesu I do yntende yn tyme to come, and I trust wyth yn this ij. yere and lasse to saye an hondyrde massys for yowre prosperowse state, both spyrytuall and cor- poreall ; for nowe I am at lyberte to be a pryst, where as before I was bowude the contrary, by the reason that I was made shewre to a yonge woman yn the way of maredge, before I came to relygyon ; but now she ys departed to the mercy of God. Also yowre Grace shaU vndyrstande that I am yn det xls. for clothynge and other thyngis necessary for my poore mother, but I am half asshamyde and more to begge ony more of yow be cawse yowre Grace hath byn so goode and benyfyssyall vnto my poore mother yn tyme past. Neuertheles yf that hit shall plese yowre Grace of yowre goodnes to haue my ORIGINAL LETTERS. 249 poore mother yn remembyrans nowe wyth yowre charytabyll almes, that hit maye be dolyverede other too Master Doctur Gooderyche, won of the Kyngis Chaplayns, or els to Master Cole, sub-deane of the Kyngis Chappell. And thus yowre Grace havinge my poore mother and me in remembyrans ow shall bynde vs moore affectuowsly to be faythfull orators to Jesu for yow, who haue yow yn his blessid kepynge, nunc et in eternum. Amen. By yowre assuryd and faythfull orator, RYCHARD LYST, lay brother amonge the freres yn Grenwiche. To the mo[st] onerabyll Lady - of Penbroke be thys dd. LETTER CCX. Richard Lyst to Cromiuell, when in Calais. Friar Forest will not preach the King's "matter." [ibid. fol. 29. Orig-.] Jhs. The grace and comforde of the Holy Goost be with yow now and ever, amen. Syr, I yowre poore beed- man, as yet onknowne unto yow, hartyly have me re commended, beynge gladde to here of yowr prospe- rows comford and consolacyon both spirituall and temporaU, whiche I beeseche Jesu to contynew yn yow at hys moost mercyfull wyll and plesewre. Syr, 250 ORIGINAL LETTERS. yowre Mastershippe shall undyrstand that Father Forest, whiche doth nother love nor favor yow, hath labured dyvers maner of wayes to supplant and brynge Father Larans, whiche ys the Kyngis fay thf uU trew subject, owt of favor, both with the Kingis Grace, and wyth aU owre fathers and brether ; and also, as moche as yn hyme ys, to expulse hym owt of oure Covent of Grenwiche ; and hys orygenaU and cheffe cawse ys, be cawse he knoweth that Father Larans ys provyded, and also wyU preche the Kyngis mater when soo ever hit shall please his Grrace to com- mande hym ; and so the very trewth ys that Father Forest wyll not preche the Kyngis mater hym selffe to his honowre, nor yet suffer Father Larans by hys wyU soo to do. Also yf yow here that Father Larans have ony commandment to goo from owre Covent of Grenwiche to dwell yn ony other place, than goode hit were yow to mossyon the Kyngis Grace to geve yn contrary commandment, that he may remayne here styU at Grenwiche ; for that shaU be to the Kyngis honowre and to the comforde of us that doth favor the Kyngis Grace and cawse. Syr, yf the Kyngis Grace dyde knowe the goode qualytees and grace that Father Larans hath, both 3^11 hys learnynge, preach- ynge, and pollytyke wytte, I suppose hys Grace sholde not esteme hym lytyll, and that shall hys Grace well knowe when he shall here hym preche, for he hath a common custum yn hys prechinge ever ORIGINAL LETTERS. 251 to drawe the hartis of the Kyngis subjectis to favor hys Grace. Also I trust to Jesu that Father Larans shaU do the Kyngis Grace as moche honoure and plesewere as Father Peyto, Father Elstou, and Father Forest, and hys felows hath don the Kyngis Grace dyshonoure and dysplesewre. Also, farthermore, as towchinge the onfaythfulnes, yndyscressyon, and faynyd favor, as consernynge agaynst the Kyngis Grace of Father Forest, I dyd wryte of unto my Lady Marcas of Penbroke, whiche I suppose hath suffycy- ently ynformyd the Kingis Grace and yow also. Also I have harde Father Forest dyvers tymes report that you dare not dysplese hym for feare lest he shulde barke agaynst yow and yowre dedys yn hys precheynge ; and also he hath sayede many tymes that he wolde never take the Kyngis part, nor favor hys cawse, the more shame and confusyon to hym ; for I have hard the Kyngis Grace say my selfe that he promessyd hym both to favor hys cawse, and to preche there yn. Also I suppose that yowre Master shippe dyd here of the last indyscrete sermonde that Father Forest made at Powlles Crosse, where I was present my selffe with hym ; howe ondyscretly he usyd hym selfe, more lyker barkynge and raylynge than prechinge ; spekynge and raylynge over large of the decaye of this realme, and off polynge downe of Churches ; and also three tymes in his sermonde yn maner towchinge pertykelarly the mater and besynes 252 ORIGINAL LETTERS. betwene Master Doctur Le and hys wyffe ; havynge noo more knowledge of that mater, but wonly of hys wyves ynformacyon and complaynt, the whiche I harde myselfe. Also Father Forest hath reported dyvers tymes that you be the mayntener of Doctur Le agaynst hys wyfe yn the forsayed mater ; these forsayede thyngys wyth other moo, yn very trewth, to abyde by yf nede be before hys face, he hath spoken and reported dyvers tymes by yow. Also I thynke hyt were very convenyent and necessary that the Chanslar of London were spoken unto no more to assygne Father Forest to preche at PowUes Crosse : owre fathers have ofton tymes assynyd mee too assosyat Father Forest when he hath goon forth yn prechynge, be cawse thay have supposyd yn me som yntellygens and learnynge, and many a tyme when he hath preched I have sytten undyr the pulpyt wyth a payre of redde earys, be cawse I have harde hym soo often breke Master Precyens bede ; therefore yn my jodgement hit ys more convenyent for hym to syt at home with hys bedys than to goo forth and preche. Als I pray yowre Mastershippe have me mekely re commended unto my Lady Marcus Pembrok, unto whom I am myche bounde unto, and also that poore mother of myne, by the reson of hyr charytabyll be- nyfytes. Alsoo I have other thynges pertaynynge to owre relygyon whiche very fewe doo knowe of, whiche secretly I doo yntende to shewe unto yow or unto ORIGINAL LETTERS. 253 the Kyngys Grace when I may have convenyent tyme and place. Syr, I pray yow sende me worde secretly yf yow have resevyd this my present lettyr. No more to yowre Mastershipp at this tyme, but Jesu have you yn hys blessyd kepynge. Wrytten in Grenwich, the seventh day of November. By your beedman, and faythfull orator and subiecte to the Kyngis Grace, RYCHARDE LYST, lay brother amonge the Observant frerys of Grenwiche. Unto the ryght worshipfull . . . Cromell, now beynge in Calys, wyth spede. LETTER CCIX. Richard Lyst to Cromwell. Still upon Father Forest's obstinacy. His interviews with the King. [ibid. fol. 30.] Jhs, 4 d. Februarie. Gracia perpetua, pax Saluatoris nostri Jesu Christi sit semper vobiscum pro humiU recommendacione. Right worshipfull, hit ys weU knowen unto yowr Maystershippe that I have both wryten unto the Kyngis Grace and unto yowre Maystershippe, and also sent worde secretly by mowth by Master Doctur Goodryche of a serten chans and byssynes happyned 254 ORIGINAL LETTERS. amonge us, and I do gretly mervell that as yet the forsayed mater ys so superfyssyally and sklendyrly lokyd uppon ; fyrst, consydyrynge the offens agaynst God, owre neybowre or brother, that men shulde be so punyshid and yntretyd amonge us, and for so lyght a cawse to be put yn jebordy both of sowle and body; secondaryly consydyrynge the offens and dyshonowre don agaynst the Kyngis Grace, owre soverand, and my Lady Marcus of Penbroke, and part of sume of owre famyly and company, as Father Peyto, Father Elstou, and Father Forest, and other. Trewly, good Master Cromell, hit grevyth my hert very soore, to se, per- seve, and knowe the onkyndnes and duplyscyte of Father Forest agaynst the Kyngis Grace ; consyder- ynge as I knowe howe goode and benyfyscyaU his Grace hath byn both to hym and to his poore fryndys, and that of longe tyme ; trewly Father Forest maybe ashamyd and confowndyd yn hym selfe yf his on kyndnes and duplyscyte were knowon both agaynst the Kyngis Grace and yowre Maystershippe also, and that can I fuU well and trewly ynformed both the Kyngis Grace and yow, yf hit shulde plese his Grace and yow to here me. Also upon Monday last, Father Forest was wyth the Kyngis Grace, and he sayed that he spake wyth his Grace halfe an owre and more, and was well re- teynyd of his Grace, and that the Kyngis Grace dyd sende hym a grete pece of beffe from his owne tabull, ORIGINAL LETTERS. 255 and also that he mette with my Lorde of Norfoke, and that he toke hym in his armys and bade hym weUcom. Also I undyrstonde that Father Forest hath geven the Kyngis Grace cownsell to sende be yond the see for won of owre relygion whose name ys Father Hey, whiche was owre comyssary ; and yf his Grrace so doo, I thynke yt shall not be to his honowre; for he was rewlyd a grete part by Father Forest when he was here last ; and so he dyd lytyll good here amonge us, nother too the Kyngis honowre, nor yet proffet to owre relygion ; and as farre as I can perseve, he ys all on the Quynes parte and agaynst the Kyngis cawse. And so I undyrstand that the Kyngis Grace hath poynted wyth Father Forest to be wyth hym agayne upon Satyrday next, for to reseve wryttynge from the Kyngis Grace for the forsayed Father Hey ; and therefore yf hit plesyd the Kyngis Grace and yow to sende for won Father Hurlston, whiche ys a precher and a father of owre howse, and also for me, we shulde ynforme the Kyngis Grace the very trewth of Father Forest, howe he hath usyd hym selfe both agaynst the Kyngis honowre and yowre worshippe also ; I wolde that Father Hurlton and I spake fyrst wyth the Kyngis Grace and you, or ever Father Forest com againe to the Kyngis presens. Also I harde reportyd of dyvers persons, more than a yere past, that the Kyngis Grace was mynded to re move us from this place of Grenwiche to Cristis 256 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Church yn London, and soo nowe yf his Grace be so mynded yet he may doo hit wyth owt ony offens agaynst God or ony grete note of the people ; and his Grace may put this place to som other use at his plesewre ; for yf there had byn a place of owre rely gion in London, by the reason thereof there shulde have byn avoydyd many ynconvenyens that hath chansed by owre brether agaynst the observans of owre rewle ; and so all suche ynconvenyens agaynst the observans of owre rewle yn tyme to com shulde be avoyded yf there were a place of owre relygion yn London. Also I dyd sende the Kyngis Grace the copy of the ondyscret dereccyon of brother Raynscroft that dyed in preson ; and yf the Kyngis Grace wolde have folowyd somthynge of my poore advyse and cownsell, that forsayed mater shulde have byn more substan- syally handyllyd, both to the Kyngis honowre and avoydyng of aU suche crewelte and onmercyfulnes yn tyme too com for ; the forsayed mater ys very pytlyows and susspissyows also, consyderynge both the susspecte prosses after the deede was don, and the maner of the deede don his selffe. Also I wrote unto youre Master shippe how that I was yn dyssolacyon and trowbyU by the reason of the forsayed pyttyows chanse happyned amonge us, and yet my troubyll doth contynnew and rather yncrese than mynyshe, yn so moche that skant two nyghtys yn a weke I can take my naturall rest ; and yf my trowbyll shulde contynnew longe, I feare son) ORIGINAL LETTERS. 257 ynconvenyens of syknes to chans unto mee. Also Father Larans sent me worde that he was yn a redynes to preche the Kyngis mater when so ever hit shulde plese the Kyngis Grace or yow to commaund hym ; and trewly yn my jodgement the forsayed Father Larans ys more abyll to do the Kyngis Grace ho nowre, and yow worshippe, than three suche as Father Forest ys. Also yn tyme to come I desyre youre Mastershippe to be goode to a poore mother of myne in a sarten cawse of pytty, whiche hath hade wronge by a serten marchant of London ; and yow thus doynge shall bynde me to be a faythfull orator to Jesu for yow, who have yow yn his blessyd kepyng nunc et in perpetuum. Amen. Yowre owen to the extremyte of his poore power RYCHARD LYST, lay brother amonge the freres yn Grenwiche. .... ght worshipfull . . . Cromell be yis dd. LETTER CCXII. Richard Lyst to Cromwell, still in accusation of Father Forest. [ibid. fol. 30. Orig.] Jhs. Sit Spiritus Sancti gracia pro salutatione debita. Ryght worshipfull, I undyrstande that whan Father 258 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Forest was last wyth the Kyngis Grace, his Grace layed serten thynges agaynst hym, and wyth hym his Grace was not content ; and so whan Father Forest came hoome he shewed shuche thyngis unto the warden of owre howse yn wrytynge that the Kyngis Grace had shewyd unto hyme, and Father Forest cawsyd the warden of owre howse to declare and shewe suche thyngis before us aU of the Covent; but there was noe thinge, nother wryten nor shewyd, that was agaynst Father Forestes partyckyller person, for yf the Kyngys Grace dyd lay ony thynge to Father Forests charge pertyckelerly, he hath perverted and turnyd that from hym unto the hole relygyon, whiche for the moost parte hath not offendyd yn no such thyngis that Father Forest cawsyd to be re hersed amonge us oopenly. Also, yn lykewyse, Father Forest rehersed before us all, yn owre chapter howse, suche thyngys that yow spake to hym before my Lorde of Norfoke ; and so yn lykewyse yf yow layed ony thynge pertyckyUer to Father Forestes charge, he turnyd hyt from hym clene unto the relygyon; and that ys hys old maner, to put aU blame from hym, and yet he ys moost fawty hym selfe. Also I per se ve very well that Father Forest ys sore offendyd and set agaynst yow, be cawse yow have byn playne with hyme and shewyd hym the trewth ; but thankyd be God you need not to care for hys dysplesewre. Also Father Forest hath sayed that he wyU labur to ORIGINAL LETTERS. 259 the Kyngis Grace to get all suche lettyrs owt of yowre handys that I and other have wryten unto yow of hym, declarynge unto yow but wonly the trewth, and thys he wyll do for that yntent to have owre pertyckyUer knowledge, be cawse he wold have us punnyshed; all thowghe we have wryten no thynge unto yow but trewth ; for yow shall undyr stand that owre fathers have made suche a statute and lawe amonge themselfe, for the punnyshement off brether, soo that what brother so ever there be that dooth manyfest or shewe ony acte or dede don secretly yn owre relygyon, or yet make ony com- playnte of ony of owre relygyon to ony secular per son or persons, all thowghe the deede or complayntes be never soo trewe, yet all suche shall be grevosly punnyshed yf thay may be pertyckyllerly known. And therefore yf Father Forest do get knowledge of owre pertyckellyer persons that have wryten unto yow of hym, or yet get owre letters from yow, than we shall have the onmercyfuU punnyshement of these yndyscrete statutys ; but we truste that the Kyngys Grace and also yowre Mastershipe wyll be good unto us, and not suffur Hs to be punnyshed for spekynge and shewynge of the trewth, whiche we have don for a goode yntent, pretendynge the Kyngis honowre and yowre worshipe also. Also yow shall undyrstand, that yf so be that the Kyngys Grace had not had knowledge of the prevey chans that happyned amonge 260 ORIGINAL LETTERS. us, and yowre Mastershipe also, many of owre prech- ers, I understand yn owre relygyon wolde have ooponly, now this Lent, have preched agenst the Kyngis mater on the Queynes parte ; but thys for sayed preve chans, as consernyng brother Raynscroftys deth, ys a grete staye and stoppynge morseU for Fa ther Forest yn specyall, and us aU yn generaU ; yn soo moche nowe that noone of us all, as farre as I can per- seve, dare nother saye nor do ony thynge that shulde offende the Kyngys Grace, yowr Mastershipe, or yet ony that belangeth unto the Kyngis Grace or yow. And the comon sayinge amonge us ys, that hyt ys to be feared that the Kyngis Grace will make a grete matter becawse of the suspecte deth of brother Raynscrofte, and be cawse also that the Kyngis Grace hath knowledge of suche another lyke chance that happenyd yn the Covent of Rychemond sixteen yeres past. Also you shaU understand that wythyn lasse than thys three quarters of a yere past, there is five of owre brether gon over the watter owt of owre relygyon, three of them owt of thys howse, and two owt of Rychemond ; and I thynke yf thay had byn well yntreted of owre fathers thay wold not have takyn that way, and so sens I understond thay have goton capssytees and exemsyons owt of the relygion. Also I desyre yowre Mastershipe that when yow have reede and understand suche lettres that I have sent unto yow, that yow wyll burne them, for yow shall ORIGINAL LETTERS. 261 not neede to reserve non of them for no cawse ; for I do yntend shortly hereafter yf I may have conve nyent tyme, to wryte a longe pystyll to Father Forest, where yn shall be contaynyd suche fawtys and trans- gressyons that he hath commytted amonge us ; of the whiche for my tyme I haue experyens and trewe knowlege of, and becawse he was never punyshed for suche fawtes and transgressyons that he hath don, nor yn no wyse wold not be, but ever he hath avoyded correccyon and punnyshement by won means or other, therefore, yet I shall put them yn hys re- membrans, that nowe thys holy time of Lent he maye be sory for them and make som amendes unto God, and to the relygion whom he hath offendyd. Also yn my forsayed pystyU shall be contaynyd the very trew wordys and forme how onfaythfuUy and ondyscretly he hath usyd hymselfe agaynst the Kyngys Grace, and yowre Mastershipe, as I have trewe experyens of, for my parte, and also to brynge suffyssyent re- corde for ferther proffe yf neede requyre ; and I shall reserve a copy of the forsayde pystyll that I shall wryte to Father Forest, of the whiche you shall have a syght of. Yf he take hyt not well secundum Evan- gelium, as I thynke, his perfeccyon wyll not extende thereto. Also yowre Mastershipe shall undyrstand that sens the fyrst tyme that yow rebewkyd Father Forest for suche wordys that he yndyscretly reported by yow, whiche I gave yow knowledge of, he wold 262 ORIGINAL LETTERS. never speke unto me sens that tyme, nor yet shew noo tokens owte ward that he ys yn charite with me, and therefore seynge that he wyU not speke, therefore I wyll wryte my mynde unto hym. Also Father Forest hath reported behynd my backe, sayyng that I have accusyd the relygyon of murthur prevely, unto the Kyngys Grace and to yow, and also that I have sklandyryd and defamyd the relygyon, and therefore he hath ooponly sayed that I shaU be confowndyd and punnyshed to the exampull of aU other ; and so thus he hath sklandyred mee, and put me yn a grete noote amonge all my brether, and set them agaynst me, both yn this howse and at Rychemond. Also he nor yet non other can not teU that I gave the Kyngis Grace and yow fyrst prevey knowledge of the deth off Raynscrofte, excepte the Kyngis Grace, yow, or ells doctor Goodryke, have don, whiche I thynke veryly have not, for I sent the Kyngis Grace and yow worde by master Doctur Goodryke how both the Kyngis Grace and yow sbuld com to the know ledge of the forsayd deth of Raynscrofte by an other meane than by me. We have a yonge man a precher yn thys howse whose name ys brother Thomas Peer- son, which doth not favor the Kyngis cawse, but ys agaynst hyt as moche as he dare ; yn soo moche that when the Kyngis Grace was last here at Grenwiche the forsayed brother reproved and rebewkyd Doctur Corant for prechyng of the Kyngis mater agaynst the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 263 Quyne, and this brother dooth Father Forest favor moost of ony yn thys howse ; yn so moche that when Father Forest was last wyth the Kynge, he toke the forsayed brother wyth hym and commended hym to hys Grace hyly for hys learnynge : and this comyny- cacyon betwene Doctur Corant and this forsayed brother was yn owre howse, yn owre lybrary, but hit was before that the Kynge and yow had knowledge of the deth of brother Raynscrofte. Also Father Forest and the warden of owre howse have made labur to have me owt of thys howse, and to have me sent to Sowtehamton, but I have fownd remedy there- agaynst as yet. For yf yt shuld be my chans to perseve to be put to ony trowbull or punnyshement yn tyme to come by the reson of the labur and fals ynformasyon of Father Forest, yet as longe as I ame yn this howse I may make som shyfte to helpe my selff by the reson of som fryndes or accoyntans that I have ; and yf I shuld be sent to ony other Covent farre offe, as thay do yntend, I ame yn a dowte howe I shuld be or- dyred, be cawse Father Forest hath put me yn suche a grete infamy and noote amonge the fryres, and set the relygyon agaynst me. I beseche yowre Master shipe to be good unto me yn tyme to com, yf hit be my chans to neede ony supportacyon or helpe, for aU that I have done yn tyme past, I have don for a good yntent, and pretendynge the Kyngis honowre and yowre worshipe, and also the onowre of the moost 26i- ORIGINAL LETTERS. onerabyll lady Marcas of Penbroke ; and to set Father Forest and the relygyon at a good staye agaynst the Kyngis Grace, the onerabyll lady Marcus, and yow, whiche hath byn offended by dyvers of owre relygyon yn tymes past : and so yf hit had byn or were possy- byll yn me to have doon ony moore to the Kyngis onowre and to yowre worshippe, and to the prefer ment of the Kyngis cawse, hys Grace and yow shuld have fownde hyt affectuowsly to the extremyte of my poore powre, yf I shuld, as I have doon partly, put my selffe yn som danger yn the prosecusyon thereof. And so I am the Kyngis and yowres, and shaU be to the extremyte of my power wyth the grace of Jesu, who have yow yn hys blessyd governans and kepynge. Amen. I praye yowe to pardon me nowe be cause I am so proUx and longe, for I do yntende to trowbyll yowre Mastershippe no more with no wryttynge be tween thys and Ester, except hit be for som urgent or necessary cawse. At Grenwiche, yn hast, the eighteenth day of February. Also hit shulde he grete comforde unto me to speke with yowre Master shipe, yf hyt were yowre plesewre som tyme when yow com to Grenwiche. By yowr owne to the extremyte of his power rychard lyst, lay brother. Worshipfull Mast. Cromell. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 265 LETTER CCXIII. Richard Lyst to Cromwell ; still upon Father Forest. [ibid. fol. 28. Orig.] Gracia Domini nostri Jesu Xp~i sit semper vobiscum pro humili recommendatione. Ryght Worshipfull, so it is as I was purposyd, and accordynge to my promes, I have wryten my mynde to Father Forest be cawse he wolde not nor yet wyll speke unto me, but trewly he hath not regarded my forsade wrytynge or pystyll, nor yet payne that I have taken after the forme of the GospeU, but after his maner dysdaynyth both me and my Wrytynge also. And therefore I have, and also wyll take a further prosces wyth hym after the Gos peU, becawse Father Forest hath byn extrem yn seeyng grete puiiyschement of other men for smale fawtys and ynperfeccyons, therfor I thowght hit was necessary to wryte unto hym for to put hym yn re membyrans of greter fawtys and ynperfeccyons that he hath commytted and don hym selfe. And so nowe, accordynge to my promes, I have sent unto yowre Maystershippe the coppy of the forsayede pystyll that I dyde wryte and sende to Father Forest, and so yf hit be yowre plesewre here after at yowre leaser to reede the forsayed pystyll, than yow shall perseve by suche thyngis there yn trewly conteynyd what maner a man Father Forest ys, and how he hath VOL. II. N 266 ORIGINAL LETTERS. mysordyred hym selfe yn many condissyons, booth agaynst God, owre relygion, the Kyngis Grace, and also agaynst yowre Mastershippe. And so accordynge to that knowledge here after, yow maye use yowre selfe unto hym, yf he shulde here after chans to mysorder hym selfe ony moore, other agaynst the Kyngis Grrace, or yet yowre Mastershippe. Also there ys a goode father of owre relygyon, a Frenche- man, com from beyonde see unto us, whiche ys chosen and assygnyd to be owre mynyster, head, and rewler here yn this Provens, and I trust he shaU doo muche goode amonge us yf he wyll be yndyfferent secundum veritatem, as I trust he wyU, and helpe to refurme Father Forest specyaUy, and also som other thingis necessary to be refurmyd amonge us. And so yf hit were the Kyngis plesewre and yowrs, goode hit were and also convenyent the Kyngis Grace and also yowre Mastershippe to speke wyth owre forsayde newe my nyster, and to ynforme hym under what maner he schude vse hym selfe amonge us, as consemynge the Kyngis Gracis onowre. Also yf hit were yowre plesewre to helpe to reforme Father Forest, and to get hym removyd owt of this Howse, other to Newerke or to NewcastyU, I thinke yow schulde do a meryto- ryes deede, and have grete rewarde of goode there fore, and many thankys and prayers of many yn owre relygyon. And as for my parte I have don and yet wyll doo as moche as ys yn me possybyU to the fur- ORIGINAL LETTERS. 267 thurans and accumplyshment of the same wyth the grace of Jesu, whooe have yow yn his blessyd kepynge. Amen. Wryten yn Grenwiche, upon Ester even. By yowre owne poore beedman to his power, rycard lyst, lay-brother. To the ryght worshipfull - - - ster Cromell be this dd. LETTER CCXIV. Richard Lyst to Cromwell ; anxious to quit his Con vent. Exercises his old trade of an Apothecary. [STAT. PAP. OFF. MISC. coebesp. 2 Ser. xxiv. 820. Orig.] J'h's. Sit Spiritus Sancti gracia pro salutatione debita. Ryght Worshipfull, so hit ys I am yet in trowbyll and dyssolacyon, and I thynke veryly that I shall not be delyvered there of as longe as I am yn this state and amonge the Freres. I wrote unto your Mayster shippe yn tyme paste as consernynge the effecte and cawse of my trowbyll, whiche was by the reason ol the chaunce that happyned amonge us as towcheynge the deeth off brother Ravynscrofte. My grete trow- byU ys all in the nyght, yn so moche that contyn- newaly iij. or iiij. nyghtys every weke I am so fearfully trowbyllyd dyvers maner of wyse, so that yn maner I can not have no naturall rest, and this forsayed trow- N 2 268 ORIGINAL LETTERS. byll I have boron and suffryd ever sens the forsayed brother Ravynscroft dyed. And so I have longe hoopyd and trustyd to have had remedy, and to be delyvered of my forsayed trowbyU, but trewly my trowbyll doth styU contynewe and rather yncrease than mynyshe ; and so I thynke veryly that there ys noo nother remedy but I must departe from the Freres and also chaunge my state, for I doo gretly feare som ynconveniens to chaunce unto me yf I shulde contynewe thus as I do, beynge so soore trowbyUyd and vexyd: and trewly, goode Mayster Cromell, I thynke veryly onfaynydly as my conscyens gevyth me illumynacyon, aU thyngis necessary consy- dyred, that I shaU serve God and serve my sowle better yn an other state than I am yn nowe, and to be delyvyred of my trowbyll also. And yf hit be my chaunce to departe from the Freres and chaundge my state, as I do yntende, yet I trust both the Kyngis Grace and the Quyne wyU be goode and graciows unto me, and yowre Maystership also, yf hit be my chaunce to neede ony supportacyon or helpe here after : for trewly to the extremyte of my poore power I have sylyd both the Kyngis honowre and the Quynes and yowre Maysterships worschippe also, as the Kyngis Grace and the Quyne doth knowe partly, and yowre Maystershippe also. Father Forest, yowre lytyll frynde and lasse lover, and myne also, for all hys grete crakys he ys nowe ORIGINAL LETTERS. 269 farre inowghe from us. Also the copy of the longe pystyll that I sent unto yowre Maystershippe as con- sernynge Father Forest was both redde and expownyd before owre newe mynyster and all the fathers yn owre Howse, and layed to Father Forestys charge, and many other thyngs also, and so Father Forest accord ynge to hys deservynge was deposyd, and put owt of hys offes, and expulsyd, and sent to an other Covent of owrs yn the North partyes. Also I have made and composyd iij. Glassys wyth watyrs, and I have sent ij. of them unto the Quynes Grace for a poore token ; and soo nowe by my kyns- man, the berer of thys letter, I sende unto yowr Maystershippe the thrydde glasse with watyr, for a poore tokon. I was yn tyme past my Lorde Cardy- nalls servant, and also dwellyd yn London yn Cheepe- syde viij. yeres, and made many watyrs for my lorde CardynaU, and moche Ipocrease also, and servyd hym of moche spyce, and I was both a groser and a poty- caryar ; and so now I have exersysyd won poynt of myn oold occupacyon yn makynge of the forsayed Watyrs, whiche watyrs wyll kepe yn there vertu and strength thys ij. yeres yf thay be wyll kepte. I have many thyngis necessary to shewe unto yowre Mayster shippe when hit shall be my chanse to speke wyth yow, whiche be over tedyous to wryte. I beseche yowre Maystershippe to have me meekely recommended unto the Quynes Grace, and desyre 270 ORIGINAL LETTERS. hyr Grace to remembyr my poore mother hyr con- tynuewall beedwoman. No more to yowr Maistershippe at this tyme, but I beseche Jesu to preserve and kepe yow at his mer- cyrfull wyU and plesewre. Wryten in Grenwiche, the xx" day of Maye, By yowr owne poore beedman, RYCHARD LYST, lay brother amonge the Freres. I beseche yowre Maystershippe for the tendyr and swete love of Jesu, yet yn tyme to com to have me yn remembyrans, and to be goode mayster unto me, yf it be my chaunce here after to lacke supportacyon or helpe, and yow so doynge shaU bynde me to be yowi perpetuall beedman. Ryght worshipfull Maystr Cromell. LETTER CCXV. Bryan Tuke to Cromwell. The state of the Posts, and the King's orders relating to them. [IBID. xliv. 282. Orig.] Right worshipful Sir, in my best maner I re- comende me unto you. By your lettres of the xij" of this moneth, I perceyve that there is grete defaulte in conveyance of Lettres, and special men ordeyned to be sent in post, and that the Kings pleasr is that ORIGINAL LETTERS. 271 Posts be better appointed and laide in all places most expedient, with comaundment to alot wushippes, in al places, on payn of life, to be in suche redynes and to make suche provision of horses at al tymes as no tract, or losse of tyme, be had in that behalf. Sir, it may like you to understande the > Kings Grrace hathe no moo ordinary posts, ne of many days hathe had, but bitwene London and Calais, and they in no wags save the post of London in xijd. and Calais iiijd. by day; but riding by the jorney: whereof most parte passe not ij. in a moneth. And sens Oc- tobre last the posts north eward every on at xijd- by day. Thise in wags be bounde but to on horse, whiche is inough for that wags ; albe it som of them have moo. I never used other ordre but to charge the towneshippes to lay and appoint suche a post as they wol answer for ; and Butler, the Kings messen ger for thise northeward, was sent, when I laide them, to see them sufficient. And surely the Postes northeward, in tyme past, have ben the most delegent of al other. Wherfore, supposing by my conjecture that the default is there, I incontinently sent thorough them a writing, sharpe inough, shewing their defaults, the Kings high displeaser, and the daunger. I also wrote al the towneships that way semblably, towching obeyng of placards and other writings sent for provi sion of post horses. Nowe, Sir, if the default be ellis where where posts lye, I, upon knowlege had 272 ORIGINAL LETTERS. from you, wol put to it the best remedy I can : hut if in any other wayes Uke ordre shalbe taken, I pray you advertise me ; ffor, Sir, ye knowe wel that except the hakney horses bitwene Gravesende and Dovor, there is no suche usual conveyance in post for men in this realme, as is in the accustumed places of France and other parties. Ne men can kepe horses in redy- nes withoute som way to bere the charges ; but when placards be sent for suche cause, the constables many tymes be fayn to take horses oute of plowes and carts, wherin can be no extreme diligence. This I write lest the tract shulde be imputed there it is not ; but, Sir, not taking upon me to excuse the Posts I wol advertise you that I have knowen in tymes past folks whiche for their own thanke have dated their Lettres a day or ij. or more bifore they wer writen, and the Conveyers have had the blame. As to Posts betwene London and the Corte, there be nowe but ij. wherof the on is a good robust felowe, and was wont to be diligent, evil intreated many tymes ; he and other posts, by the herbigeors, for lak of horserome or horsmete, withoute whiche diligence can not be. The other hathe ben the most payneful felowe in nyzt and day that I have knowen amongs the messen gers. If he nowe slak he shalbe changed, as reason is ; he sueth to the Kjngs Grace for som smal Uving for his olde service, having never had ordinary wages til nowe, a moneth or litle more, this posts wages. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 273 It may please you to advertise me in whiche of them ij. ye fynde default, and he shal be changed. I wrote unto my lorde of Northumberlande to write on the bak of bis pacquetts the houre and day of the de- peche, and so I did to other, but it is seldome ob served. I wol also desire you to remember that many tymes happen ij. depeches in a day on way, and somtyme moo, and that, often seasons, happen countrea posts ; that is to ride bothe northeward and southewarde. This is moche for on horse or on man. My lorde of Northumberlande hathe sent a post, my Lorde Dacres an other in the nek of hym, they of Berwike a iij.de, and somtyme Sir George Lawson, aparte, an other, and in the same tyme depeches from hens northewarde. Nowe I have advertised you of the premysses, it may please you I may knowe the Kings further pleaser, and I shall according to my most bounden duetye diligently obeye the same by Godds grace who preserve you. At my poore house, the xvijtb day of August, 1533. Al at your commaundment, BRIAN TUKE. . Sir, I have also received other your lettres of the xij"1 and xiij* ; the on, concerning ordre for lettres of the Frenche ambassador northeward, whiche shalbe performed ; and other for iijcli. for W. Gonson whiche shalbe paid. Sir, it is shewed me the Kings a Counter. N 5 274 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Grace rekoneth I receyved uijMl>. in th'eschequer the last terme : Sir, it was but ijMii. wherof Gonson had ixcli. and the rest, with moche mor, was assigned by warants or ever it was receyved ; and I have paid sens litel lak af vMJi. To the right worshipful M. Thomas Cromwell squier, Counsaillor to the Kings Highnes, and Master of his Joyels. LETTER CCXVI. Henry the Eighth's Letter of summons to Lady Cob- ham, to ride, with her women, at the Solemnity of Queen Anne Boleyn's Procession to the Tower and Coronation. [MS. HARL. 283. fol. 96.] Henry R.a By the King. Right dere and welbeloved we grete you well. And forasmoche as we be determyned upon the fest of Pentecost next commyng to kepe and do to be celebrate at Westminster, with aU due circumstances of honor, the Coronacion of our derest wif the lady Anne our Quene, as to her astate and dignite dothe appertain, and have appointed you amonges other, at the same tyme to give your attendance on horsebak, in suche place as to your degree apperteneth, We therfore desire and pray you, to put yourself in suche ¦ The King's signature to this, and to the Letter to Lord William Dacre, -have in both instances been put by stamp. ORIGINAL LETTERS. Xii) a. redines, as ye may be personally at our maner of Grenewich the Fryday next before the said feest, then and ther to geve your attendance upon our said Quene, from thens to our Towre of London the same day, and on the next day to ryde from the same our Towre, through our cite of London unto our maner of Westmynster ; and the next day, Witsonday, to go unto our Monastery ther, to the said Coronacion ; providing for yourself and your women, some faire white or white gray palferes or geldinges, suche as ye shaU thinke most fyt to serve for that purpose. And as concernyng the apparell of your ownn palfrey, ye shalbe furnished therof by the Master of the horsses with our said derest wif the Quene, at any your re- paire or sending hider for the same in every behalf, saving for your bitt and your bosses ; trusting that for the lyveraies and ordering of your said women, aswell in their apparell, as in their horsses, ye woll in suche wise provide for them as unto your honor and that solempnite apperteineth ; and your ownn robes and lyveraies shalbe delivered at any tyme, when ye shal comme or send for the same, by the keper of our great warderobe ; not failling hearof as ye entende to do us pleasure. Yeven, under signet, at our manor of Grenewich, the twenty-eighth day of Aprill. To our right dere and welbiloved the lady Cobham. 276 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CCXVII. John Tregonwell to Cromwell. The Sentence of Di vorce from Q. Katharine passed. [STAT. PAP. OFF. MISC. corresp. 2 Ser. xliii. 229. Orig-.] Ryght worschipfull, aftre dew commendacyons thes shalbe t'aduertyse you that my Lord of Cantur bury, this day, at x. of the cloke before noon, hathe gevin a sentens yn this great Cavse of M atrimonye, wherby he hathe declaryd the same Matrimonye to be agenst the lawe of Godd : and therfor hathe de- vorsyd the Kyngs Highnes from the noble Lady Katheren. My Lord of Cant, hathe vsed hime selff yn this matter very honerable. And to saye the trowthe euery man (sent hether by the Kyngs Grace) hathe handelyd him selff with as myche diUigens and towardness in this behalff as any men myght have don. We trust that a sentens schalbe gevyn for the Kyngs seconde Contracte of Matrimonye befor the feast of Penticost. The processe of the same ys partly devised hear asfar as the tyme wiU suffer, as knowythe our Lord, hoo preserve you. Scribled yn hast at Dunstable, with the rewde honde of your owne with hert, xxiij° die Maij. JOHN TREGONWELL. To the ryght worshipfall Mr Thomas Cromwell, on of the Kyngs most ho nerable Cowucell, be this dd wh spead. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 277 LETTER CCXVIII. Sir William Fitzwilliam to Cromwell. Sends a Pre sent, and gives the detail of an Interview with Sir Thomas More. Invites Cromwell to hunt at Byfleet. [ibid. misc. Ser. 2. xi. fol. 71. Orig.] Master Crumwell, I comend me unto you in my moost herty maner, and my wife hath sent unto you at this tyme a disshe of ffowle of her owne fat ting, which is not soo good ner soo fat as she wold it were. Nevertheles, she desireth you t'accepte the same in good part. By Sondaye at night, I trust to sende you a piece of aReddere; ffor I coulde have no tyme convenient to kille and sende you any herwith. Sir, soo it is, Sir Thomas More yesterday sent unto me and shewed how that he was verrey desireux to speke with me to my house at Westmr., orells that I wold appointe sum place where he might mete and speke with me. Wherupon this daye, at my comyng hider, forasmoche as by his house was in maner my next waye, I toke a boot and went up unto hym, and caused my horses to mete me on the other side of the water. And at my cummyng unto hym, he shewed me that the cause he was so desiroux to speke with me in consisted in two things. The oon was, he had a suyt unto you, wherin for that he knewe that ye bee 278 ORIGINAL LETTERS. my verrey frynde, and that he trusted ye wold bee the bettre unto hym in the same for my sake, he de sired me to speke or effectuelly to write unto you in his favor; sayeing that his owne mynde verrely gave hym that ye wold bee good unto hym in that behalf; th'effect wherof he did not open ner declare unto me. And the other was, that a gentilman of late and sythens the gyving up of his Office of Chauncellership hath ordred and used hymself verrey evill and uncurtesly towards hym, and otherwise then me semeth oon gentilman shuld do to an other, as I shall shewe you at your and my next meting. Furthermore, yf it maye please you to take the payne to bee with me in these parties for your recre- ac5n, bifor my reatorne to the Court, which I right instauntely require you to bee, surely I wold bee right glad therof, and to me ye shalbe as right hertely welcome as your owne herte can desire. And though percaas ye cannot conveniently bee with me befor my said reatourne yet I praye you not to faiUe to come aftre my departure, and to bringe with you the At torney of the Duchie and iij. or iiij. other good fel- lowes, such as ye can bee contented to bee mery withall : where ye shall fynde my wif and my broder: unto whom I am assured ye shall not oonly bee right hertely welcome, but also I trust and doubt not but that they will make you as good passe tyme in hunt ing as they can possibly devise. As owr Lord knoweth ORIGINAL LETTERS. 279 who sende you as well to doo as I wold doo my self. At Byflete the iijdc day of July. Yor hovne assevred WILLM FFYTZWYLLM. To the right worshipfull Maister Crumwell. LETTER CCXIX. Sir William Fitzwilliam to Cromwell ; respect ing the vacancy in the Abbacy of Beaulieu in Hampshire, occasioned by the Bishop of Bangor's death. [misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xii. 73. Orig.] %* Thomas Skeffington, consecrated Bishop of Bangor June 17th, 1509, was also Abbot of Beaulieu in Hampshire. He died in the month of June 1533. John Browning succeeded him in the Abbacy, and was himself succeeded about 1535 by Thomas Stephens. Whether Browning was the abbot of Waverley who was so strongly recommended to Henry the Eighth by Sir William Fitzwilliam, the present editor has not satisfactorily ascertained. Maister Crumwell I comende me unto you in my moost herty maner, advertising you that I being en- formed of the decease of the late Abbot of Beaudeley, Bishopp of Bangor, whom I knewe to have been in the Kings displeassur in tymes passed for offences by the said Abbot doon, against his Grace's game in the parties where the said Abbot dwellid, I chaunced in comunycacon with the Kings said Highnes to saye 280 ORIGINAL LETTERS. that I knewe a man which was not oonly a vertuous man, a clear lyver, and a goode husbonde, but also he that had bene ever good to his Graces game, and yet diverse of his Highnes grounds lye abouts and nere unto his House, as the forrest of Wolmer, the Chace of AUsholt, and the forrest of Windesoure, with others, whom I thought mete to bee Abbot of the said house of Beaudeley. And his Highnes de- maunded of me who that was, and I shewed his Grace th' Abbot of Waverley. And his Highnes sayed that trouth it was, and that I coulde not have named a better nor a meter man for the said purpose then he is, and as I judge was well contented with the same, and willed me to write unto you that ye shall put his Grace in remembraunce at his cuming to London that he maye speke with you in that behalf, and take an ordre in the same, sayeng that the said Abbott shuld have it. Maister Crumwell, I assure you the mocon I made in the premisses proceded oonly of my self, without any labor to me made by the said Abbot, and without any mede or affection, but oonly for the vertioux and clene lyving I have seen in hym, and also for that I knowe hym to bee a verrey good husband, and alweyes hath beengood to the Kings game. Soo as I trust and doubt not but that he shall not oonly use hym self to the contentation of the Kings said Highnes, but also to the welth of the house he shalhavc charge of. Wherfor it may please ORIGINAL LETTERS. 281 you, to have hym in remembrance unto the Kings said Highnes at his Grace's comyng to London. And thus I wiU byd you as right hertely to fare well as I wold doo my self. At Windesor, this Thursday, the xx,h day of August. Yor hoone aseured WYLLM. FFYTZW~LLM. The right worshipfull, and myn assured good frynd, Maister Crumwell. LETTER CCXX. Stephen Vaughan to Thomas Cromwell. Hears from his wife that the King intends removing him to some fresh legation. Laments it, and explains the penury of his condition. Uncertainty of the Posts. Students of Louvain satirize the King and Queen. Severely censures the Appointment made by Crom well to the See of Chester. [ibid. xiv. 19. Orig.] *»* The most striking portion of this Letter is the paragraph which relates to the appointment of a bishop of Chester. The pre sent See was not erected till August 4th 1541, after Cromwell's death ; but the See of Lichfield having anciently been fixed at Ch*es- ter, the bishops of it were often afterwards familiarly so called. Even Leland terms Eccleshall Castle the palace of the bishops of Chester. Vaughan appears evidently to allude to Cromwell's re commendation of Rowland Lee to the King, to fill the vacancy occa sioned by the death of Bishop Blythe. That Lee subsequently en titled himself to the caustic character described by Vaughan will appear from his own Letters. 282 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Right worshipfull Sir, humble commendacions pre mised, two dayse before the date hereof I receyved by a servaunt of myn certeyn lettres from my wyfe by the whiche she certifiethe me that the Kyngs Grrace is mynded to sende me agayn from hence aboutt his affayres, to what place she cannottell. If it be true, my sorrows shall increace, the rather the cause I am sklenderly furnyshed and prepared therfore, specially of horses, besids my great expenc of money whiche is wasted and spent in this voyage above that I receyued of yow for the same, forty marks sterlyngs ; besides the losse of my horse whiche neyther be able further to cary me, ne yet to be solde for any price. Agayn, now is wynter aU redy comen, whiche withe his ve- hemency shall, to muche werynes and displeasure yet cleuyng to my body, add and putt muche more ; and suche peraduenture by other accidentts as shall altogether tere and breke my bodye, not made of the strongist (as yow know) but rather of the wekeste sorte. Neuertheles, if it so please the Prynce to comaunde me, my body shaU soner fayle than my wiU and mynde, whiche shall remayne infracted to my lyves ende. And that beyng so purposed by the Kynge, I then desyre and pray yow to prouyde that I have no heuyer burdens charged upon me then I am able to carye. If any legacon by me be to be done on the Kyngs behalf to any Prynce or other personages, lett ORIGINAL LETTERS. 283 the same be sent me in the same tongue from yow, that you wolde I shulde do yt, and that myn in struccions be not suche as maye reyse on my behalf any doubte, but so playne and of such sentence and menyng as doubte may be putt awaye, withe suche other answers and objeccons as the importance of the matter shall requyre. Of these two poyntts I praye yow lett me be sure and that I fayle not of them : if yow will have my mynde strongly furnysshed to enter into any matter to say of parfait instruccons, and my legacon sent in suche tongue as I shall nede to do the same. And whether (if the matter succede not, as the Kyngs Grace maye desyre) I shall ymedyatly returne or abyde. Agayn, lett me be in no nede of money or sent owt lyke a wretche, or lacke spedy answer from yow. Thes thyngs or any of them lackyng or happenyng wyll sore pynch me. If I go into Douche-land agayn, if you wolde helpe me to haue Shurlande sent hither to me, you shulde muche ease me, and shulde be a mete and good instrument for me in very many things to werke by, and with me shulde he muche better serve the. Kyng then where he ys. The Kyngs Hieghnes hathe hetherto had litle mynde of my poore lyvyng, my charges in his servyce hathe farre surmounted my pencion. I never had hitherto but xxK. judge yow whether so small a some hathe payd the same. If his Grace shortly mende it 284 ORIGINAL LETTERS. not, I am like to spende that poor and smallgaynes that my wyfe and aU hers withe great care and labour do purchase and gett ; which happenyng shulde shrowdly discomfort her, and make her think to have mett with an easy fortune.3 Those I se dayly that lest serve and deserve be soneste and best rewarded. Yow maye hereunto peradventure answer, his Grrace wiU herafter lok upon me. I had rather have than hope. Prynces mynds be chaungeable, et interim ego miser crucior. The postys here complayn upon yow, that bryng- yng lettres from hense to yow cannot be payde. If yow provyde not that bryngyng lettres they maye be payde, sithe a smaU thyng wiU pay them, loke to have veraye few lettres caryed unto yow. But eyther the same shalbe imbeseled, broken, or opened ; the things therein discovered, and yow not knowyng how it shall come to passe. Here inclosed do I sende yow wrytten in a letle pece of paper certeyn Verses whiche the lewde and malycious studyents of Lovayn spitefully pricke upp • The foUowing short extract of a letter from Sir Thomas Wyat to Lord Crom weU, dated Brussels, 22 Jan. 1540, will give a notion of the unexpected expenses which an ambassador was sometimes liable to. " And here I think it not unmeet to advertise your Lordship what comfort I W at my comyng, for the disease I have long had. First, my house-rent standeth me after the rate little lack of one hundred pounds by the year, without stabling; be sides, the least fire I make to warm my shirt by stands me a groat. In my dirt money I lose in the value eight shiUings and eight pence every day, for thnt tie Angel is here but worth six shillings and four pence ; a barrel of beer that in Eng land were worth twenty pence, it costs me here with the excise four shilling* i ¦ bushel of oats is worth two shillings ; and other things be not unlike the late." ORIGINAL LETTERS. 285 upon Dores and Corners in Lovayn, again the Kynge and Quene theyr Majests, whiche if yow wiU yowe may shew theyr Graces. This that followithe is superfluous, thoughe my mynde be suche as condissendethe not to sylence. You have lately holpen an erthely beste, a moUe, and an enemy to all godly lernyng, into th'offyce of his dampnacon, a papiste, an Idolater, and a flesshely preste, unto a Busshop of Chester. Remember God in aU your facts. Lett none affections of persons lede yow to condissende or worke so evyll a dede. Yow cannot vndo that yow have done. Suche op- presse innocentts when they be lyfte upp into the dignyties of the worlde, and sytt therin as tyrants to destroy realmes, people, and kyngdomes. Who know ethe more of the Busshopps iniquytie then yow ? Who knowethe more of theyr tyrannye, falsed, and untrouthe agaynst God, Prynce, and man, then yow ? And shulde yow helpe, in this tyme specially, to in- creace the nomber of wycked men, where there is a lacke and so greate a nede of good and vertuous men ? Be yow sorye for it, and helpe hym withe your good counsayll ; for I am more sorye for this dede done by yow, then for aU the things that ever I knew yow do. Whiche I promyse yow upon my faythe to God I wryte not for any malyce to the man whome yow have so holpen, but rather to shew yow my judge ment therin. This declaracon of my mynde may 286 ORIGINAL LETTERS. perchaunce, rayse and styrr yow agaynst me, while the ffleshe shall debate withe reason, but lett yowr reason pacyently consyder the wryter and his most trustye and frendly mynde towards yow, and the veray offyce and duetie of every Christen man to an other, and then the wryter shall withe muche hope abyde your judgement. Always havyng in your re membrance how great a treasure it is to possesse a trustye frende, though he be poore, and how evyU a thyng to possesse the harte of a flatterer : of whose poyson all or the more parte of men of poore or esty- macon in the worlde taste and drynke of in the blynde cuppe of affection. Love where yow be truly loved ; and hate not honest love, for it is good and godly. And fare yow well with long contynuance and increace of aU your godly entreprises. From the towne mencyoned in my last lettres, the first day of November. You know from whome. Maister Hackett sendethe yow a penncar and an inkhorne of sylver for a remembrance, whiche my servaunt, this berer, shall delyver yow ; with also a lettre as I thinke from Christofer out of Germany, whiche a straunger delyuered me in Andwerp from S taber. To the right worshipfull Maister Thomas Crumwell in London.b h Indorsed— From Mr. S. Vaughan, declaring how dangerous it is to trust Papists. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 287 LETTER CCXXI. Thomas Goldwell, Prior of Canterbury, to Cromwell, with a Present of Fruit. [STAT. PAP. OFF. MISC. CORBESP. V. 57. Orig.] V* Archbishop Warham's inthronization feast has been often quoted as a specimen of ancient luxury. The bill of fare is pre served in Gutch's Collectanea Curiosa, and in the last edition of Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. i. p. 113. From the Letter before the reader, it should seem that, in point of plenty, Cranmer's inthroniz ation feast was hardly inferior. The Prior of his Church, in conse quence, could procure neither Swans nor Partridges to forward as a present to his patron. He could send him only a few Kentish apples, of the sort called "Pome riall." Thomas Goldwell, the writer of this Letter, was chosen Prior of Christ Church Canterbury, in 1517, and he continued in the govern ment of the House till 1540 ; the year in which the Priory was dis solved. In the 26th Hen. VIII., 1535, he, with sixty-eight others, on Sept. 12th signed the Act of Succession and Supremacy.* On a new foundation of the Church, when a Dean and twelve prebendaries were placed in the room of the Prior and Convent, he was offered one of the Canonries, which, Hasted says, he seems to have refused, since he was allowed to retire from his office with a pension of £80 per annum. He is presumed to have died before 1553, as his name does not appear in the Exchequer return of pen sions to members of religious houses then still payable. Goldwell was a little compromised in the affair of Elizabeth Bar ton, as we learn from a letter of his to Cromwell, preserved in the Cottonian MS. Cleopatra E. iv. fol. 79. He probably owed his'es- cape at that time to the favour shown to him by Cromwell. . The "Pome riall," upon the most diligent inquiry, appears to be no longer known in Kent ; but Mr. Masters of Canterbury assures the editor that he recollects a tree there, so named, forty years ago, in a garden adjoining to his father's. From the name, it might be taken for a French apple ; only that, a Rym. Foed. torn. xix. p. 497. 288 ORIGINAL LETTERS. in the List of Fruits cultivated in 1767 by the Fathers of the Char treuse in Paris, we read, " La Royale d'Angleterre est un Pomme d'une grosseur extraordinaire, plus longue que ronde ; elle est tenure et legere." b Gerard, A.D. 1597. p. 1274, mentions Malum regale, the King of Apples. Master Crumwell, in the hardest maner I can I commend me unto youre goode Mastership, and like wise thanke you for the great goodenes that I do fynd in you toward me and oure Churche here, for the whiche I am more bound unto you than I am able to recompens. The cause of my wrytyng unto you nowe is to sertifie you that my mynde was to send unto you ayenst this holy fest of Cristmas comyng som pleasure in wildfoule as I coude a provided for you to do you pleasure with all : but so it is that by reason of my Lord of Caunterbery's intronizacon, whiche was the last weke, our swannes and partriches, with suche other thyngs, be consumed and spent, so that I have nothyng nowe to send unto you but onely fruts of the erthe. We have one frute growing here with us in Kent, the which is caUed a Pome riall He is called a very goode apull, and goode to drynke wyne withall ; wherfore I do nowe send unto you, as to my speciall frend, twenty of them by my servaunt and yours, John Antony, berer herof, to drynke wyne with all this Cristmas, as shall please you most best: l> Catalogue des Arbres a Fruits les plus excellens, le plus rares, et le plus estimes, qui se cultivcnt dans les Pepinieres des reverends Peres Chartreux de Pans. 12mo. Par, i;(i;. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 289 besechyng you to accept them for a poure token of me, whiche lovith you in his hart, and do dayly pray for you, and will do while I lyve, as the Holy Trinite knowith, who ever preserve and kepe you in helth and long life to his pleasure. From Caunterbary, this present Thursday, the xth day of December. Be your bedman THOMAS, • Prior of Crystys Churche att Canterbary . To the right wurshipfull Master Thomas Crumwell, Councellour to our Soue- reign Lord the Kyng, this be dely- uered. LETTER CCXXII. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, to the Lords of Parliament, in defence of himself, when accused re specting the Visions of the Maid of Kent. [ms. cotton, cleop. e. vi. fol. 166. Orig.] My Lordes, after my most humblie commenda tions unto all your good Lordeshippes that sitt in this moost high Courte of Parliamente, I besech yow in like maner to heare and to tendre this my sute, which by necessitie now I am dryven to make unto all your Lordeshippes in writyng, bicause that I maye not, by the reason of my disease and weake- nes att thys tyme, be present myself before yow with- VOL. II. O 290 ORIGINAL LETTERS. owten perill of destruction of my bodie ; as hereto fore I have writen to Maister Cromewell, which gave me comforte to obtaine of the Kynge his Grace re spite for my absence to then I be recovered. If I might have bene present myselfe I doubte not hut the greate weakenes of my bodie with other menyfold infirmities, wold have moved yow moche rather to have pitie of my cause and matter, whereby I am putt unto this greviouse trooble. So it is, my good Lordes, that I am enformed of a certayne bill that is putt into this highe Courte against me and other, concernyng the matter of the Nunne of Canterburye ; which thynge is to me no Utle hevy- nesse, and most specialUe in this pitiouse condition that I am in. Nevertheles I trust in your honors, wisdomes, and consciences, that ye wiU not in this highe Courte, suffer any Acte or Condempnation to passe agaynest me to then my cause may be weU and duely herd. And therof in my moste humblie wise, I besech all yow my Lordes, in the wave of charitie, and for the love of Christe. And for the meane ceason, it maye please yow to consider that I sought not for this womans commjTige unto me, nor thought in her any maner of deceatte. She was the parson that by many probable and likely conjectures I than reputed to be right honeste, religiouse, and very good and vertuouse. I verilye supposed that such feaning and craftye compassynge of any gyle or ORIGINAL LETTERS. 291 fraude hadd bene fair from hir. And whatt defaute was this in mee soo to thynke, when I hadde soo meny probable testimonies of hir vertue. First, the brute of the countree which generallie caUed hir the Hooly Mayde. Secounde, hir entresse into religion upon certayn visions which was comonly saide that she hadde. Thirdde, for the good religion and learning that was thought to be in her goostly father, and in other vertuouse and well learned preistes, that then testi fied of hir holynesse as it was commonly reported. Finallie, my Lorde of Canterburie that then was, both hir ordinarie, and a man reputed of highe wis dome and learnynge, told me that she hadde meny greate visions. And of him I learned greatter thynges then ever I herd of the Nunne hirself. Your wisedomes I dowte nott here seeth playnely that in me ther was no defawte beleve this woman to be honeste, religiouse, and of good credence. For sithen I am bownden by the law of God to beleve the best of every parson unto then the countrarye be proved, moch rather I aught so to beleve of this woman, that hadde then so meny probable testimo nies for hir goodnes and vertues. Butt here itt wilbe said, that she told me such wordes as was to the perill of the Prynce, and of the Realme. Surely I am right sorye to make any re- hersall of hir wordes, butt oonly that necessitie soe o 2 292 ORIGINAL LETTERS. compelleth me now to doe. The wordes that she told me concernyng the perill of the Kynge his High nesse was theis. She said that she hadde a Revelation from God that if the Kynge went forth with the pur pose that he entended, he showld not be Kynge of Englaunde seven monethes after; and she told me also that she thanne hadde bene with the Kynge, and shewed untill his Grace the same revelation. Thoughe this were foorgied by hir or by any other, what defawte is in me, that knew noo thyng of that foorgyng. If I hadd gevyn hir any counsaiU to the foorgyng of this Revelation, or had hadde any knowleage that it was feaned, I hadde bene worthie greate blame and punysshement. Butt where I nather gave hir any counsaiU to this matter, ner knew of any foorgynge or feanynge therof, I truste in your greate wisdomes that ye wiU not thynke any defawte in me towchyng this poynte. And as I will answere before the Throone of Christ, I knewe not of any malice or evill that was entended by her, or by any other earthly creature unto the Kynges Highnesse ; naither hir wordes did so sounde that by any tempo- rail or worldly power such thynge was entended, but oonly by the power of God ; of whome as she than said, she hadde this Revelation to shew unto the Kynge. Butt here itt will be said, that I shold have shewed the same wordes, unto the Kynge his Highensse; ORIGINAL LETTERS. 293 verily if I hadde not undoutedly thought, that she hadde shewed the same wordes unto his Grace, my duetie hadde bene soo to have done. But when she hir self, which pretended to have hadde from God this Revelation, hadde shewed the same, I saw noo necessitie why that I shold renewe it agayne unto his Grace. For hir esteamed honestie, qualified, as I said before, with soo meny probable testimonies, affirmyng unto me that she hadde tolde the same unto the Kynge, made me right assuredly to thynke that she hadde soo shewed the same wordes unto his Grace. And not oonly hir owne saying thus persuaded me, but hir Prioresse wordes confirmed the same ; and ther servaundes also reported unto my servaundes that she hadde than bene with the Kynge. And yett besides all theis, I knew it not long after, by some other that soo it was in deade. I thought therfor that it was not for me to rehearse the Nunnes wordes unto the Kynge agayne, when his Grace knew theim aU readie; and she hirself hadde told theim hym before. And surely dyverse other causes dissuaded me soe to doo, which are not here oppenly to be rehearsed. Nevertheles, when thei shalbe herd, I dowt nott but thei all togeder will clearelie excuse me as concernyng this matter. My sute therfor unto all yow, myn honorable Lordes, att this tyme, is that noon Acte of condemp- 294 ORIGINAL LETTERS. nation concernyng this matter be sufferde to passe agaynst me in this highe Courte, before that I he herde, or elles some other for me, how that I can de clare myself to be giltles herin. And this I moost humbUe besech yow aU of youi charitable goodnesses, and also that if paraventure in the meane tyme ther shalbe thought any negUgence in me, for not revelyng of this matter unto the Kynge his Highenesse, ye, for the punysshement therof, which is now past, ordayne no new lawe, but latt me staunde unto the lawes which hath bene heretofore made, unto the which I must and will obeye, besechynge allwaye the Kynge his moost noble Grace, that the same his lawes may be minis tered unto me with favor and equitie, and not with the strayttest rigor. Me neadeth not here to adver tise your mooste highe wisdomes to loke upp to God, and upon your owne sowles, in ordaynyng such lawes for the punysshement of negligences, or of other deades which are all ready past ; nor yet to loke upon your own perilles, which maye happen to yow in lyke cases. For ther sittith not oone Lord here, but the same or other like maye chaunce untiU hymself, that now is imputed to me. And therefore eftsoones, I besech all your benigne charities to tendre this my moost humblie sute, as ye wold be tendred if ye were in the same dauugior your selves ; and this to do for the reverence of Christ, for the discharge of your ORIGINAL LETTERS. 295 owne sowles, and for the honor of this moost highe Courte ; and finalUe for your own sureties and other, that hereafter shall succede yow. For I verily trust in Allmyghtie God that by the succor of his grace, and your charitable supportacions, I shall soo declare myself, that every noble man that sitteth here shall of good reason be therwith satisfied. Thus our Lorde have yow all, and this moost honorable Courte, in his protection. Amen. Your moste hummyl peticioner JOH. ROFFEN. LETTER CCXXIII. Andrew Boorde to Secretary Cromwell from Bour- deaux. Intelligence of " synystrall matters." [stat. pap. off. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. iv. 120. Orig-.] *** Wood, in the Athense Oxonienses, has furnished a large por tion of the materials at present known for a Life of the eccentric Andrew Boorde. He says that Boorde was born at Pevensey, in Sussex ; but Hearne corrects him, and says it was at Bounds-Hill in that county. Whether he was really bred at Winchester School seems doubtful. It is more certain that he was of Oxford, which he left without a degree, and entered himself a brother of the Carthusian Order at the Charter-House in London, where continuing till he was weary of the severity of his order, he left it, and for a time returned to the study of Physic in his old University. Soon after, having determined upon rambling, he travelled through most parts of Eu rope, and even into Africa ; and on his return settled at Winchester, where he practised as a physician, and is said, though upon what authority does not appear, to have been consulted in that capacity by King Henry VIII. In 1541 he was living at Montpelier in 296 ORIGINAL LETTERS. France, where he is supposed to have taken the degree of Doctor in Physic, in which he was afterwards incorporated at Oxford. He subsequently lived at Pevensey, and again at Winchester, where, as in other places, it is said to have been his custom to drink water three days in the week ; to wear constantly a shirt of hair ; and every night to hang his shroud and burial-sheet at his bed's feet, as if he had continued a Carthusian. Poynet, Bishop of Winchester, however, and Bale, denounced his moral character ; and such se verity of discipline, it must be owned, seems hardly recoucileable either with the later events of his life, or with the general tenor of the Letters now before the reader. Boorde at last became a prisoner in the close ward of the Fleet, from what cause we know not ; but he died there in the month of April, 1549. From his Will, dated the 11th, and proved the 25th of that month, he appears to have been possessed of two tenements, at Lynn, in Norfolk, of-some tenements at Pevensey, which had been left to him by his brother, and of a house and chattels in and near to Winchester. It is signed by six or seven witnesses, who are designated by no description or addition, but who were probably fellow prisoners. Hearne says the appellation of " Merry Andrew " had its origin from him. His printed works were — I. " A Book of the Introduction of Knowledge," 4to. Lond. 1542, dedicated to the Princess Mary. Reprinted in 1814. In the seventh chapter of this Work, he speaks of another Book of his which had been lost. The particulars are curious, inasmuch as they relate to the very person to whom this and the four follow ing Letters are addressed. He says, " But concerning my purpose, and for my travelling in, thorow, and round about Europe, which is all Christendom, I dyd wryte a Booke of every regyon, countre, and provynce, shewing the miles, the leagues, and the distaunce from cytie to cytie, and from towne to towue. And the cyties and townes names, with notable thynges witliyn the precyncte or a bout the said cities or townes, with many other thynges long to reherse at this tyme, the which boke at By shop's Waltam, viii myle from Win chester in Hampshire, one Thomas Cromwel had it of me. And because he had mani matters to dyspache for al England, mi boke was loste, the which might at this present tyme have holpen me, and set me forward in this matter." CromweU was now dead. In the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 297 third Letter subsequeut to this he speaks differently. He says, " Also I thank your Mastership for your great kindness that you shewed me at Bishop's Waltham, and that you gave me licence to come to you once a quarter." Boorde was evidently a rattle-headed man, whose acquaintance Lord Cromwell found little occasion for cultivating. 2. "A compendious Regiment or Dietary of Health, made at Mountpyller." 8vo. 1542. Two editions of this work were printed, apparently about the same time, but without date, by Robert Wyer, in 12mo. Copies of both are in the Library of the British Museum. One of these is without a preface ; the other has one, " To the precellent and army- potent prynce lorde Thomas duke of Northfolck, Andrew Borde, of Physicke doctour, doth surrender humyle commendacyon. " For asmuch as it pleased your Grace to send for me (to Syr Ro bert Drewry, knyght), whiche was the yeare in the whiche lorde Thomas cardynall bishop of York was commanded to go to his see of York, to have my counceyll in Physycke in certayne urgent causes, requyryng to the sauyte of your body ; at that tyme I beyng but a yong doctour in my scyeuce or faculte, durst not presume to my- nyster any medysone to you without the cownceyle of Mayster Doctour Butte, whiche had a long continuaunce with you and a great cognysaunce." — Here the Museum volume is imperfect. 3. "The Breviary of Health," 4to. Lond. 1547, which passed through various editions between that time and 1598. A second Part, under the title of " The Extravagants," was first printed in the edition of 1575. 4. "The Princyples of Astronomye." 12mo. Rob. Copland, Lond. Wood says he wrote " a Book of Prognosticks," and another " Of Urines." " The Merry Tales of the Mad Men of Gotham " are al§o ascribed to him, as well as " A right pleasant and merry History of the Mylner of Abington, with his Wife and his fair Daughter, and two poor Scholars of Cambridge," printed at London, in quarto, by Richard Jones. Of the pedantic style which Boorde occasionally assumed the fol lowing is not an unamusing specimen, from his " Breviarie of Health :"— " A Prologue to Phisitions. " Egregious doctours and masters of this eximious and archane o 5 298 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Science of Physick, of your Vrbanitie exasperate not yourselves against me for making of this little Volume of Phisicke ; consider ing that my pretence is for an utilitie and a common-wealth. " Avenzoar sayeth, every Phisition ought to know first learning, and then practise, that is to say, first to have Grammer to under stand what he doth read in Latin. Then to have Logick to discusse or diffine by argumentation the truth from the falshoode, and so i converse. And then to have a rhetorick or an eloquent tongue, the which should be placable to the hearers of his words. And also to have Geometry, to ponder and waie the dregs or portions the which ought to bee had concerning numeration : but above all things next to Grammer, a Phisition must have surely his Astronomy, to know how, when, and at what time, everye medicine ought to be ministred ; and then finally to know Natural! Philosophy, the which consisted] in the knowledge of naturall things. And all these things had, then is a man apt to studie Phisick by speculation. And speculation obtained, then boldly a man may practise Physick." Acordyng to my dewte coacted, I am (causeys consideryd) to geue to yow notycyon of certyn synys- trall matters, contrary to or realme of Ynglond, spe- cyally a zenst our most armipotentt, perprudentt, circumspecte, dyscrete, and gracyose Souereyng Lord the Kyng ; for sens my departvng from yow I haue perlustratyd Normandy, Frawnce, Gascony, and Leyon, the regions also of Castyle, Biscay, Spayne, paartz of Portugale, and re turnyd thorow Arogon, Nouerne, and now am att Burdyose. In the whych partyes I hard of dyuerse credyble persons of the sayd countryes, and also of Rome, Ytale, and Alman, that the Pope, the Emprowre, and all other Crystyn Kyngs with ther peple (the French Kyng except) be sett azenst our Souereyne Lord the Kyng, apon the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 299 which in all the nacyons that I haue trauelled a greatt army and navey ys preparyd, and few frendys Ynglond hath in theys partes of Europe, as Jesus yor lou' knowth, who euer haue yo' Master and you with the hole realme vnder hys vyngs of tuyssyon. From Burdyose, the xx. day of June, by the hond of yor seruantt and bedman ANDREW BOORD. I humyly and precordyally desyre yor Mastershepp to be good master (as yow euer haue byn) to yr faith- fuU bedmen Master Prior of the Cherter howse of London, and to Master Doctor Horde, Prior of Hynton." To his venerable master, Master Thomas Cromwell, Secretary to or Souereygne Lord the Kyng, be this Byll dd. LETTER CCXXIV. Andrew Boorde to Cromwell. The Opinions, parti cularly of the Foreign Universities,upon the King's divorce. He himself in Catalonia when the Em peror took shipping for Barbary. [ibid. iv. 119. Orig.] *»* Boorde's mention of being in Catalonia when the Emperor took shipping against Barbarossa, gives the date of 1534 to this Letter. » Edmund Herd was the last Prior of Henton, in Somersetshire, who, March 31, 1540, with nineteen monks, surrendered his House to the King. He received a pension of £44 a-year. 300 ORIGINAL LETTERS. The Postscript is perhaps the most curious part. Boorde not only sends to Cromwell the Seeds of Rhubarb from Barbary, where he says the plant was treasured, but with directions for transplant ing the roots when grown, and rearing the Plant, two hundred years at least before the later culthation of the Plant was known in England. Collinson, among the Memoranda in his " Hortus Collinsonianus," 8vo. Swansea, 1843, p. 45, says, " True Rhubarb I raised from seed sent me by Professor Segisbeck of Petersburgh, in 1742 :" by an other memorandum it appears that the seeds really came from Tar- rtary, and that four plants were transplanted next year.'- Honerable Syr, after humily salutacyon I certify yow that sens I wrott to yor Mastershipp from Burdy- use, by the servaunt off Sr John Arundell, in Corwall, I haue byn in dyuerce regyons andUnyuersytes for lern- ing, and I asseure yow the Unyuersites off Orlyance, Pyctauens, Tolosa, Mowntpyller, and the reuerend fa ther off the hed Charterhowse, a famuse clerck, and partt of the Uniuersyte off Parys doth hold with our Souerayne lord the Kyng in his acts, that in so much, att the Vysytacyon off our Lady last past, in Tolosa, in the cheff skole, callyd Petragorysensis, the Kyng of Nauerr and his Qwene beyng present!, the gretyst articles that any cowld lay agenst our noble Kyng wer disputyd and dyffynyd to the honor of our noble Kyng, as I shall shew yow att my comyng to yow. I was in Cathalonya when the Emprowe tok sheppyng in to Barbary the which Emprow, with all the Kyngs in the Courtes of whom I have byn, be our re- doubtyd Kyngs frends and louers; incypyentt per- ORIGINAL LETTERS. 301 sons doth spek after their lernyng and wytt. Certy- ffyng your Mastershepp after my laboure I am syk, or els I wold haue come to yow and putt my selff fully in to your ordynaunce ; as sone as I am any thyng recoueryd I shall be at your comaundmentt in all causes, God succeryng, who euer kepp yow in helth and honor. By yor bedman, ANDREW BORD, prest. I haue sentt to your Mastershepp the seeds of reuberbe the which came owtt off Barbary. In thos partes ytt ys had for a grett tresure. The seeds be sowne in March thyn, and when they be rootyd they must be takyn vpp and sett -euery one off them a foote or more from another, and well watred, &c. To the ryght honerable Esquyre, Master Thomas Cromell, hygh Secretary to our Souereyne Lord the Kyng and Masf of Rolls, be this Lettres dyrectyd. LETTER CCXXV. Andrew Boorde to Secretary Cromwell. His account of his being dispensed of his religion by the Prior of the Charter House. [ibid. 123.] After humyle salutacyon wh dew reuerence. Accordyng to my promyse, by my letters maade att Burdyose, and also att London this presentt month dyrectyd to yor Mastershepp, I, Andrew Boorde, somtyme monk of the Charterhowse of Lon- 302 ORIGINAL LETTERS. don, am come to yor Mastershepp commynttyng me fully in to Goddis hands, and yors to do with me what yow wyll. As I wrott to your Mastershepp, I browth Letters from by zend see, but I haue nott, nor wyll nott, delyuer them vnto the tyme yow haue seen them : and knowing the ouerjplus of my mynd, I haue suffycyentt record that the Prior off Charter- howse off London last beyng, off hys owne meere mocyon gaue me lycence to departe from the relygion, wheruppon I wentt ouer see to skole, and now I dyd come home by the grawnte Charterhowse where y was dyspensyd of the relygion in the Prior Batman- sons days. Att the sayd Howse in thi renewyng that lycence I browth a letter, yow to do with me and ytt what you wyll, for I wyU Iryd no thyng from yow, be ytt with me or agenst me. I was also xv. zeres passyd dyspensyd with the relygyon by the by- schepp of Romes bulls to be suffrygan off Chychester, the which I neuer dyd excute the auctore. Zett all this nott withstondyng I submytt my selff to yow, and yff yow wyll haue me to that relygyon I shall do as well as can, God succeryng ; who euer keppe your Mastershepp in prosperouse helth and honer. By yor beman, the sayd andrew, prenomynatyd. Suo honorifico Magistro Thomas Cromell armigero, summo Secretario Humanis- simo nostro Regi Henrico octauo, Ma- gistroque Rotulorum dignissimo, ha? Litterula? siut tradendae. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 303 LETTER CCXXVI. Andrew Boorde to Cromwell, from Glasgow, where he was studying Physic. His opinion of the Scots. [ibid. 2 Ser. iv. 121. Orig-.] After humly salutacyon with dew reuerence, I certifye your Mastershepp that I am now in Skot- lond, in a lytle Vnyuersyte or study, namyd Glasco, wher I study and practyse Physyk, as I haue done in dyuerce regyons and prouinces, for the sustentacyon off my lyuyng ; assewryng yow that in the partes that I am yn, the Kyngs Grace hath many ze and in maner all maner of persons (exceppt some skolasty- call men) that be hys aduersarys, and spekyth per- lyus wordes. I resortt to the Skotysh Kyngs howse, and to the Erie of Aryn, namyd Hamylton, and to the lord Evyndale, namyd Stuerd, and to many lords and lards, as well spyrytuall as temporall ; and truly I know ther mynds, for thei takyth me for a Skotysh mans sone, for I name my selff Karre, and so the Karres kallyth me cosyn, thorow the which I am in the more fauer. Shortly to conclude, trust yow no Skott, for they wyll yowse flatteryng wordes, and all is falholde. I suppose veryly that yow have in Ynglond by zend x. thowsand Skotts, and innu merable other alyens, which doth (specyally the Skotts) much harme to the Kyngs leege men thorowh 304 ORIGINAL LETTERS. ther ewyll wordes ; for as I wentt thorow Ynglond I mett and was in company off many rurall felows, Englishmen, that loue nott our gracyose Kyng; wold to Jesu that some war ponysshed to geue other example ; wolde to Jesu also that yow hade never an alyon in your realme, specially Skotts, for I neuer knew alyon goode to Ynglonde, exceppt thei knew profytt and lucre shold to them, &c. In all the partes of Crystyndom that I have trawyUyd in, I khow nott v. Englyshmen iiihabytors, exceppt only skolers for lernyng. I pray to Jesu that alyons in Ynglond do no more harme to Ynglonde. Yff I myght do Ynglond any seruyce, specyally to my so- ueryne lorde the Kyng and to yow, I wold do ytt to spend and put my lyff in danger and juberdy as far as any man, God be my judge. You haue my hartt, and shalbe sure of me to the vttermust off my poer power, for I am neuer able to mak yow amends ; for when I was in greatt thraldom, both bodyly and goostly, yow, of yowr gentylnes, sett me at liberte and clernes off conscyence. Also I thank your Mas tershepp for your grett kyndnes that yow shewde me att Bysshepps Waltam, and that yow gave me lycence to come to yow ons in a qwarther. As sone as I come home I pretende to come to yow to submytt my selff to yow to do with me what yow wyll, for, for lak of wytt, peraduenttur I may in this wrettyng say that shall nott contentt yow ; but God be my Judge ORIGINAL LETTERS. 305 I mene trewly both to my souerynge lord the Kyng, and to yow. When I was keppt in thrawldom in the Charterhowse, and know nother the Kyngs noble acts, nor yow, then stultycyusly thorow synystrall wordes I dyd as many of that Order doth ; butt after that I was att lyberte manyfestly, I aperseuyde the ingnorance and blyndes that they and I war yn, for I could neuer know no thyng of no maner off matter butt only by them ; and they wolde cause me wrett full incypyently to the Prior of London when he was in the Tower before he was put to exicucyon,1 for the which I trust yowr Mastershepp hath perdonyd me, for God knowth I was keppt in prison stray tly, and glad I was to wrett att theyr request ; but I wrott nothyng that I thowght shold be a genst my Prince, nor yow, nor no other man. I pray God that yow may prouyde a goode prior for that place of London, for truly ther be many wylfull and obstynatt yowng men that stondyth to much in ther owne con- saytt, and wyll not be reformyd, butt playth the chyldryn, and a good Prior wold so serue them lyk chyldryn. News I haue to wrett to yow but I pre- tende to be with yow shortly, for I am halff very b off the baryn contry, as Jesu Cryst knowth, who euer keppe yow in helth and honer. From Leth, a myle a John Houghton, prior of the Carthusians, was hanged and quartered at Tyburn, 27th April, 1535, 27 Hen. VIII., for opposing the King's supremacy. b Weary. 306 ORIGINAL LETTERS. from *Edynborowh, the fyrst day of Apryll, by the hand off your poer skoler and seruantt. Andrew boorde, preest. To the ryght honerable Esquire, Mr. Thomas Cromwell, High Secretory to the Kyngs Grace. LETTER CCXXVII. Andrew Boorde to Cromwell, when Lord Privy Seal. After his return from Scotland. [ibid. 2 Ser. iv. 124. Orig.] Reuerently salutyd with love and fere, I desyre your Lordschepp to contynew my good Lorde as euer yow haue byn ; for God be my judge yff I knowe what I myght do that myght be acceptable to yow I wold do ytt ; for ther ys no creature lyuyng that y do loue and fere so much as yow, and I haue not in this world no refuge butt only to yow. When I cam to London owtt off Skotland, and that ytt plesyd yow to call me to yow as yow cam rydyng from Westmestre, I had ij. horsys stolyn frome me, and I can call the persons that hath bowght them ; butt I can nott recouer my horses althowh they that bowght them dyd neuer toll for them nor neuei bowth them in no markett, but priuely. Also ther be yn London ccrtyn persons thatt owth me in mony and stuff Iiij1'. the which my frends gave me. I do ORIGINAL LETTERS. 307 aske my dewty off them, and they callythe me apos- tata and aU to nowght, and sayth they wyll troble me, and doth slawnder me by hynd my bak off thyngs that I shold do xx". zers agone : and trewly they can nott proue ytt nor I neuer dyd ytt ; the matter ys that I shold be conversantt with women. Other matters they lay nott to my charge. I desyer yow to be good lord to me, for I wyll neuer complayne for- ther then to yow. I thank Jesu Cryst I can lyue al- thowh I neuer haue peny off ytt. Yff any off your seruauntts cowld gett ytt I wold geue ytt to them. Your fayghtfull seruantt, Master Watt Thomas, dwellyng in Wrettyll, knowth all the hoole matter, and so doth hys son dwellyng in the Temple. I com- mytt all to yow, to do with me and ytt what ytt shall plese yow ; desyeryng yow to spare my rude wret- tyng, for I do presume to wrett to yow on your gen- tylnes ; as God knowth, who euer kepp yow in helth and honer. Frome Cambrydg, the xiij. day off Au gust, by the hond off yor bedman and seruantt to the vttermost off my poer power. ANDREW boorde, preest. To the ryght honerable Lorde, the Lord of the Pryue Seale, be thys byll dyrectyd. 308 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CCXXVIII. Andrew Boorde to the Prior of Henton ; who wis, him to return to his Religion. [ibid. misc. corresp. 3 Ser. i. 136. Orig-.] Venerable Father, precordiaUy I commend me unto you with thanks, &c. I desyre yow to pray for me, and to pray all your Couentt to pray for me, for much confidence I haue in your prayers, and yff I wyst that Master Prior off London wold be good to me, I wold see yow more soner than yow be ware off. I am not able to byd the rugurosyte off your relygyon. Yff I myth be suffryd to do what I myth with outt interrupcyon, I can tell what I had to do ; for my hartt ys cum to your relygyon, and I loue ytt, and all the persons ther, as Jesus knoith who euer kepp yow. Yors for euer, A. BORD. To the ryght venerable father, Prior of Hynton, be this bill delyveryd. LETTER CCXXIX. John Rastell to Secretary Cromwell; on the prepara tion of a little Book to be sent forth under th authority of the King's Commission. Some particu lars of his own life. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xxxv. 12. Orig.] *»* This is rather an important Letter, as it gives us a certain insight into the real history of John Rastall, lawyer and printer, the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 309 brother-in-law of Sir Thomas More. " Rastall is sometimes called a lawyer," says Chalmers, " and, besides being a printer, certainly had a considerable hand in composing or compiling some law books." The present Letter removes all doubt as to his uniting his profes sion with his trade ; and he particularly alludes to different pieces which he had printed, not included in, nor adverted to, in Herbert's Typographical Antiquities. He says he had decayed the trade of his living ; " for wher be fore that I gate by the Law in pleading in Westminster Hall forty marks a year, that was twenty nobles a term at least, and printed every year two or three hundred ream of paper, which was more yearly profit to me than the gains that I got by the law, I assure you I get not now forty shillings a year by the law ; nor I printed not a hundred ream of paper this two year." He says he was an old man, and looked not to live long : he re garded riches as much as he did chips, save only to have a living to live out of debt. He distinctly ascribes the falling off of his income to his compiling divers books " concerning the furtherance of the King's causes, and oppressing the Pope's usurped authority." Bale describes him as a zealous papist. He became a convert to the reformed Religion, in consequence of a Controversy with John Frith. He died in 1536. Pleasith it your Maystership to understand that as touchyng my boke which ye delyuered me to be reformyd, I must besech you to gyff me a lityll leyser this x. or xij. days, for the matter is weyghty and re quireth good lernyng, wherfor I purpose to corober it with mo auctorytees, and to add many mo thyngs therto, that when I shall bryng it to you agayn it shall be another maner Boke than it was. Also I must desyre you of two petycions, one is, when ye shall shew it to the Kyngs Grace, or to other of hys Counsell, yf ther shalbe found any dowts therin that 310 ORIGINAL letters. I may be herd to replye therto to satysfye such argu ments and reasons as shalbe alegyd to the contrary. My second petycion is, that as I have takyn payn in the drawyng therof, that I may be made priuey to the perfityng therof, when it shalbe sent forth by the auctoryte of the Kyngs Commyssyon. For yf it may be brutyd that it commyth of the Kyngs mynd, and that hys Grace hath studyed the matter, I trust it wyll do as grete good as any lytyll Boke that hath bene yet put abrode. And when it shalbe so put in execucon, me thinkith it wold do verey weU that there shuld be x. or xij.Ml of those boks of this charge printyd and gyfFyn in to euery shyre of Englond, sparklyd abrode among the people, which may be done under the cost of CM. Also I must besech you to be content that I may move you now of another matter touchyng my selff. Yt is not unknowen unto you that I have spend my tyme and gyffyn mx bysynes principaUy this iiij. or v. yers in compylyng dyvers boks concernyng the fortherauns of the Kyngs causis and oppressing of the Popes usurpyd auctorite, and therby gretly hyn- dered myn own bysynes, that, as I shall answer afore God, I am the wors by it by a C11. and above. And beside that, I have decayd the trade of my lyffyng; ffor where before that I gate by the law in pledyng in Westm' Hall xl. marks a yere, that was xx. nobles a terme at the lest, and printyd euery yere ii. or iijC. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 311 reame of papyr, which was more yerely profet to me than the gaynys that I gate by the law, I assure you I get not now xls. a yere by the law : nor I printyd not a C. reame of papyr this ij. yere. Therfore Syr, yf it please you to consider, I have longyd and leynyd unto your Maystership specyally before any other of the Kyngs Counsell thys iiij. or v. yers, and though I have not done unto you so good servyce and pleasure as other men have done, yet I have done it wyth as good a mynd and wyll as some other which make more of them selffs than I do : and I purpose yet styU to contynue my hert and good mynd unto you with all the wit and power that I have, as long as I see that ye cleve to Gods causis and the Kyngs so surely and truly as it apperith that ye do. Syr, I am an old man, I loke not to lyff long, and I regard ryches as much as I do chypps, save only to have a lyffyng to lyff out of det ; and I care as mych for worldly honor as I care for the fleyng of a fethyr in the wynd. But I desyre most so to spend my tyme to do somewhat for the commyn welth, as God be my Juge. Wherfore this I hertely now be seche you. Yf it please the Kyngs Grace that this boke of thys charge shalbe set forth, or any part therof, and also imprintyd accordyng as I before here have shewd, that I may have the printyng therof; it is but for a penyworth work a peny, for I shall peradventure in the printyng therof remember some 312 ORIGINAL LETTERS. poynts to be amended with councell which a nother printer, that hath not studyed it, shall not so sone fynd. Also, yf it lyke you, I have devysyd certeyn prayers in English to be put in Primers of dyuers sorts of small prise, wherof some of them be im- printyd all redy in a lytyl Primer which I did send unto the Court, which be to bryng the people which rede them from the beleue of the Popes neughty doctrine ; for I do consyder that the most part of the people be loth to bye any such boke ; and yet yf they be gyflyn to them they wyll skantly rede them. Therfor when the matter in Englyssh is put in Primers, which they use to bryng with them to the Church, they shalbe in a maner compeUyd to rede them. Therfore, yf the Kyngs Grace wold do the cost to print iiij. or v. M1., and to gyff them a mong the people, which wold not cost above C1'., it wold torn the mynds of the people and bryng them to the ryght beleue ; and do as much good as the prechyngs do. Therfore, I besech you let me know your mynd and pleasure in all these premyssis, when it shall please you to send for me ; and I shall indevor my selff to the best of my power for the accomplyshment of any thyng that ye shall command me to do by Godds grace, who ever preserve you. Yor verey true seruaunt and louer JOHES RASTELL. Unto the ryght honorable Maisf Cromwell, Chefe Secretary to the Kyngs Grace. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 313 LETTER CCXXX. Richard, Abbot of Leicester, to Cromwell, with Forty Pounds. [ibid. 2 Ser. xxii. 539. Orig.] V Richard Pexal became Abbot of St. Mary Leicester March 3rd, 1509. He occurs in 1533. The Abbey was called ordinarily St. Mary de Pre" or de Pratis, near Leicester : founded by Robert de Bossu, Earl of Leicester in 1143. Right honorable Sir, I humbly recommende me unto your Maistership with my daily prear for your goodnes shewed to me, beseching you in the way of charite of your good contynuans in the same. And where as I have been enformed it shulde be your plesure that I shulde sende fourty pounds to your Maistership, by the whiche you moght the soner stey myn aduersite and troble, whiche is deyly wroght a yence me for myn offices. The sayd fourty pounds I have send you by this beyrer, humbly be sechyng your Maistership to use it as you shall think best for my quietnes in Crist, and that I may have of the Kings Grace or of your Maistership a pro- teccion that myn ordinary have no suche stroke in my howse as he hath had to the disordre of me and myn, and you shall be loked vppon therfore at your own pleasure; and I shaU as I am erst bownden deyly prey for your Maisterschip, whome our Lord God have in his blessyd kepyng with prosperus long VOL. II. P 314 ORIGINAL LETTERS. lyfe and encrease of honour. At Leycester Abbey, the ix. day of July, by yor dayly beydeman Richard th' Abbot of the same. To the right honourable Maisf Crumwell, the Kyngs Counsaillor. LETTER CCXXXI. Archbishop Cranmer to a friend then upon an Embassy abroad, detailing the story of the Holy Maid of Kent. [MS. HARL. 6148. fol. 40.] Master Archedekyn in my right hartie wise I commende me vnto you. Theis be to assertayne you of such newis as be here nowe in fame amonges vs in Englaude. And firste, ye shall understande that att Canterburye, within my Dioces, abowte viij. yers paste, ther was wrowght a great myracle in a mayde by the power of God and our Lady, named our Lady of Courte up stret, by reason of the whiche myracle ther is stablyshed a greate PUgrymage, and ever syns many devoute people hath sowghte to that devout forsaid Lady of Curte of strett. The myracle was this. The mayde was taken with a grevous and continuall sykenes and in duryng her said sykenes she hadd dyuers and many transes, spekyng of many high and godly thyngs, tellyng also wonderously by the power of the Holy Goste (as it was thowghte) thyngs done and said in other placeis, wher as nether she original letters. 315 was herself, nor yett harde no reporte therof. She had also in her transes many strange visions and reuelacions, as of Heven, Hell, and Purgatorye, and of the state of certeyne sowles departed, and amonges all other visions, one was that [she] shuld be conveyed to our Lady of Courte of strett, where she was pro mised to be heled of her sykenes, and that Almyghtie God shuld wourke wonders in her. And whan she was browghte theder and layde before the ymage of our Lady, her face was wonderfully disfigured, her tong hangyng owte, and her eyees beyng in a maner plucked owte and layd upon her cheks, and so greatly defored. Than was ther harde a voice spekyng within her belie as it hadd byn in a towne, her lippes not greatly movyng, she all that while contynewyng by the space of iij. howers and more in a traunce, the whiche voice whan it tolde any thyng of the joyes of Heven, it spake so swetlie and so hevenly that every man was ravysshed with the heryng therof ; and con trary whan it told any thyng of hell, it spake so hor- rybly and terribly that it put the hearers in a great feare. Yt spake also many thyngs for the confirma- cion of Pylgrimages and Trentalles, heryng of Masses, and Confession, and many such other thyngs. And after she hadd lyen there a long tyme, she cam to herself agayne, and was perfectly hole, and so this myracle was fynyshed and solemply ronge, and a boke written of aU the hole storie therof, and putt p 2 316 ORIGINAL LETTERS. into prynte, which euer syns that tyme hath byn comonly sold and goone abrod amongs all people. After this myracle doon, she hadd a comandement from God in a vision (as she said) to professe her self a Nune, and so she was professed, and hath so con- tynewed in a Nunrye at Canterburye called Saincte Sepulcres ever syns. And than she chose a Monke of Christes churche, a doctor in diuinitie, to be her goostly father, whose councell she hath used and evermore folowed in all her doyng. And evermore syns, frome tyme to tyme, hath hadd aU moste euery weke, or at the fortheste euery fortenyght newe visions and revelacSns, and she hath hadd eften tymes trances and rapts, by reason wherof and also of the great perfectnes that was thoughte to be in her, dyvers and many, aswell great men of the realme as meane men, and many lerned men, but specially dy verse and many religious men, had great confidence in her, and often resorted unto her and eofhuned with her to th'entent thei myght by her knowe the wiU of God, and cheifly concernyng the Kynge's mariege, the great heriseis and sysmes within the realme, and the takyng away the Uberties of the Churche. For in theis iij. poyntes standeth the great nombr of her visions which were so many, that her goostUe father culd scantly write theym in iij. or iiij. qwere of paper- And suerly I thynke that she did marvelously stopp the goyng forward of the Kings marieg, by the reason ORIGINAL LETTERS. 317 of her visions which she said was of Gode, persuad- yng theym that cam vnto her how highly God was displeased therwith, and what vengeance Almyghtie God wold take vpon all the favorers thereof, inso- moche that she wrotte lettres to the Pope callyng upon hym in God's behalf to stoppe and lett the said mariege, and to vse his high and hevenly power therin as he wold avoyd the great stroke of God whiche than hanged redy ouer his hedd if he did the contrarie. She had also cofnunicacon with my Lorde CardinaU and with my Lorde of Canterbury, my predecessour, in the matier, and myn opinion with her fayned visions and godly thretnynges she stayed theym very muche in the mateir. She had also secret knowlege of dyvers other thynges, and than she fayned that she hadd knowlege therof from God, insomuche that she conceyved lettres and sent theym furthe makyng dyuers people beleve that those lettres were written in heven, and sent from thens to earthly creatures. Nowe abowte Mydsomer laste, I heryng of thies matiers sent for this holy Maide to exafnen her, and frome me she was hadd to Master Cromewell to be further examynde there. And nowe she hath confessed all, and uttered the very truthe, which is this, that she neuer had vision in all her lyff, but all that e,ver she said was fayned of her owne ymagy- nacdn, only to satisfie the myndes of theym whiche resorted unto her, and to obtayn worldly prayse ; by 318 ORIGINAL LETTERS. reason of the whiche her confession many and dyvers both religious men and other be now in troble, foras moche as thei consented to her myschevous and fayned visions, which conteyned muche perUous sedi- cion, and also treason, and would not utter it butt rather furder the same to their power. She said that the Kynge shuld not contynew Kyng a moneth after that he were maried, and within vj. monethes after, God would stryke the realme with such aplagge as neuer was seen. And than the Kyng shuld be distroyed. She toke vpon her also to shewe the condition and state of sowles departed, as of my Lorde Cardinall, my late Lorde of Canterburye, with dyuers other. To shewe you the hole storie of all the matier it were to long to write in ij. or nj. lettres, you shall knowe further therof at your com yng home. As towchyng the Byshopryks that be voyd, ye shall vnderstand that Doctor Salcott the abbott of Hydde, is electe bysshop of Banger, Doctor Lee, the lawer, is electe bisshop of Chestre. Ther is as yett none electe bissop of Elie. You shaU knowe at your comyng home who shalbe. The ParUament is not holden this terme, but is proroged to the xv. day of January. The Queenes Grace was browght abowte the xiij. or xiiij. daye of Septembr of a Princes. I myself was godfather, the old Duchesse of Northfolke and my Lady Marques Dorset were ORIGINAL LETTERS. 319 godmothers. The Duke of Richmond hath maried my Lady Mary, the Duke of Northfolkes daughter. From Laniethe the xx. daye of Decembr. A0, xxv. Reg. LETTER CCXXXII. Richard, late Abbot of Leicester, to Cromwell, re specting the terms upon which he has resigned his Abbacy, and received a pension. [stat. pap. OFF. Misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xxii. 546. Orig.] To yowre honorabull Maistershipp, recommenda cions in right lowly wise perposyd, and my deily prier. After my bownden dewtie ever consideryd, soo ytt ys that in accomplishment of the Kings most gracius pleisure, and also by yowre advice, I have made resignacion apon a pencion of one C. lib. in trust my successor shulde bere me chargelesse in all causis ; and that the said C. lib. shulde come clerely to me, my lorde myn Ordinary hath taxyd my seyd pen cion perticulerly to pay to the Kings subsidye xiij. lib. ; and forbicawse ytt ys taxyd by ytt selfe, and nott with the hows, my successor vtterly denyyth to pey for ytt, butt wolde in any wise I shuld pey for ytt my selfe. Wherefore, yf ytt wolde pleyse yowre gudde Maistershipp to be soo gudde as to wright to my seyd successor in that behalfe, I dowtte nott butt he will euer pey ytt and exonerate me thereoffe. My ser- 320 ORIGINAL LETTERS. vande, George Dawkyn, certifyed me that yowre Maisterschip ever seyd the C. lib, shulde clerely com withowt any resolucions or charges otherwise. Yf I be constreynyd to pey ytt, ytt shalbe moche to my peyne as God knowyth, whoo encrease yowre honor to his pleysure. Att Leic. Monastery, the xix. day of Aprill. Yowre beedman, richard, late Abbott of the same. To the right honerabull and my singler gudde maister, Mais ter Thomas Crumwell. LETTER CCXXXIIL John, Abbot of Leicester, to the Lord Privy Seal, with a Present of Cattle. [ibid. xxii. 549. Orig.] %* John Bourchier occurs Abbot of Leicester in 1534 ; on Aug. 11th, in which year he, with certain members of his Convent, sub scribed to the King's Supremacy. He surrendered his House in 1539. Nichols says, he was one of the last surviving Abbots, hav ing received a general pardon from the Crown, as late as the month of August 1584.1 Right honorable and mye most assured good Lord, my due duetye duelye remembred, I, firmely trust- yng yor good Lordshippe to be merye, most humblye desyre yor good Lordshippe to haue in knowledge that I yor fast oratour, haue sent you a brase of fatt oxen, and a score of fatt wethers ; the whiche I do not send for a sufficient present, your honour and • Nichols, HUt. Leic. vol. ii. Pt ii. p. S75. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 321 honorable benevolence towards me considered, but for a declaration of mye harte assuredlye lincked to your good Lordshippe. O that God wold revele the secrecye of mye harte to your prudent wisdom, that you myght see mye prone and redye mynde to do you other ser- uice or pleasure worthye acceptation if it war in me ; for surelye mye harte suffysethe myen insufficient pour, not doubtyng therfor your honorable humany- tie to accept mye hartye harte, do hartelye desyre to continue your benevolent goodnes towards me and my pour house, and so do commende your good Lord- shipps prosperous continuaunce to the blessed tuition of Almightie God. Scry bled the vj. daye of Maye bye. Your good Lordschypps prest and bedisman, john, Abbot of Leic. To the ryght honorable and my most assured good lord, mye Lord of the Kyng his Pryvey Seale. LETTER CCXXXIV. John, Abbot of Leicester, to Cromwell, on his payments to his predecessor in office. [ibid. 547. Orig.] Most wurschipfuU and mie most assured good Maister, mie dewtye most humblye remembred, plea- sithe it your good Masterchipe to undrestand that I, according to mie promisse, have labored for the good wills of mie brotherne to sealing of Yngwordsbye P 5 322 ORIGINAL LETTERS. ferme for Mr Richard :a thei continuaUie with stub- borne and wilfuU opinions boldUe denyythe it. Now I, percyvyng noo remedie, noo hope, at their hands, but that thei will still dwell in their wilfuU opinions, nothing regarding your Maisterschips pleasure therin, have takyn from them aU theyr keys to the Comen Seale ; soo that now if it be your pleasur that I schaU seale it and send it vpe to your good Mrshipp, withought their consents, and that you will bare me harmeles agaynst their complaynts, I wiU send it, God wiUyng, for y wiU never goo from mie promisse during this mie Uef. Wher as your Maisterschip hathe writin to me of late, marveUng that I woold, agaynste equite and conscience, compeU mye prede- cessour to pai his portion to the Kyng at the Collec tion, I never went abought it : for it is not in me to mak him to pai it, nother to ease him yn it : I have nothing to doo in it : it is a mater of the bishops doing : the bischope mai ease him if he will, but I cannot, except it be your Maisterschips pleasur that I schoold pai for him, which I am not able to doo. I am bye my House a thousand pound in debt. I must pai thes debts : I must yearly e pai to the Kyng his Highnes, for my restitution, a hundrethe pounds thes iiij. years: I must pai yearlye a hundrethe pounds to my predecessour : and xlij.1' to collectours yearlye for the Kyng. I must pay wages to CC. ¦ Cromweh's nephew. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 323 persons in my House, and fynd them meat and drinck. Alas ! Sir, what a great thing is this for me to doo, and to pai my predecessours dews also. He is but oon man, and kepithe but on man and on boye abought him, and is ought of debt: he hathe a hundrethe pound yearlye. Besids that I fynd hym wod and cole, all implements to his house : I fynd hym horses, with aU things apperteynyng to them : I have loved him, cherisched hym, and mad of him as never did man in Leycestr' of another : I never had good dische but he had part : I never had thing to his pleasur but that I gaue it him : every dai I went to his loging to comfort him : that thing that I coold dyvyse to his comfort I all ways dyd : and it vn- natturallye, and that pryvylye, I makyng much of him according to my old vsage, hath complayned to your Maisterschip apon me, for that whiche lyythe not in me to helpe. Your Mrshipps lettr willyth me to seale his yndenture. I sealyd it the third dai after myen enstallation, wcb endentur his own counceill had newlye dyvysed befor my comyng. Herfor I humblye desyr your good Mrschip to be mie god Mr as you haue tofor tyme ben and to considr myen extreme and intolerable charges. Thus Jesu haue your god Mrschip in his tuition with much encrease of helth and honour, by your prest, john, Abbot of Leycestr. To the most worschippfull and mie singular good Mr, Mr Crumwell, deliuer this. 324 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CCXXXV. Edward Lee, Archbishop of York, to Henry VIII, upon the charge made against him that he had ne glected to publish the King's supremacy , as well as the abolition of the Pope's authority in his Diocese. [ms. cotton, cleop. e. vi. fol. 236.] V* The King, since the Reformation has been recognised by law, particularly by the Statutes of 26 Hen. VIII. c. 1, and 1 Eliz. c. 1, to be the supreme governor of the Church of England ; by which, whether any new powers were assumed, or ancient rights only as serted, has been long disputed, but left without decision. How tremblingly alive both Henry and Elizabeth were to the maintenance of this Supremacy was shown, by the one in acts of vindictive cruelty, not only to those who denied, but to the clergy, from the highest to the lowest, who neglected, or who even forgot to enforce it in their discourses: by the other, in the rude and jealous treatment of her bishops. Elizabeth seems never to have forgotten how few of the hierarchy attended her Coronation. Please it youre Highnes to undrestonde that the viijth daye of June, I received by th'ands of Sr. Fran- cise Bygott, youre moste honorable lettres, by tenor wherof I perceivej that youre Highnes is enformed and so dothe take it, that wher as the same youre Highnes, as well by convocations of your clergies of bothe Provinces, as by yr highe Courte of ParUa- ment, is declared the Suppreme Hed in yerthe of the Churche of Englond ; and also by the cler- gie of the saide Convocations, it is avowed, that the Bisshoppe of Rome, by Gods lawe, hathe no ORIGINAL LETTERS. 325 more jurisdiction wth in this realme than anie oodre foreyne bisshoppe ; and therfore ordre taken by youre highe Courte of Parliament, by the consent of the Lords spirituaU and temporall, and the Coniens in the same assembled, as well for the unitynge and knittenge of youre sayde stile and title of Suppreme Hed to youre imperiall crowne, as for th'abolishe- ment of the saide bisshoppe of Romes autoritie and jurisdiction ; yet I neverthelesse, nodre remembringe my consent given to the same, by my subscription and profession signed w' my hande, and sealed w' my seale, have not doone my dewe endevorment to teache the same, ne cawse to bee tawght w'in my dio cese and Province, so that theforsaide truethes myght bee imprinted and roted in the harts of the igno- raunte people, your Highnes subgietts. Wherefore youre Highnes comaundeth me, not onlie to preache the forsaide things in my parson, and also to comawnde oodre to preache the same, but also to give comawndement in youre Highnes name, to all maner of prelats and eccliasticall persons w'in my diocese and Province, to declare and cawse to be de clared everie Sondaye, and therew1 to open to the people youre Highnes juste and raysonable cawss, mouenge the same to refuse and to exclude ouzt of youre realme all the jurisdiction and autoritie of the gaide bisshoppe of Rome. And ferthremore youre Highnes coinawndethe me to cawse all collects and 326 ORIGINAL LETTERS. places of the massebooke wher anie mention is made of the saide Bisshoppe of Rome to bee rased ouzt, and nodre the sayde collects, ne anye oodre thinge wherbie the saide Bisshoppes autoritie is magnified, to bee had anie more in vse, but to bee vttrelie sup pressed w' silence : and besids this, your Highnes in the same youre most honorable Lettres gevethe ordre for scolemaisters, howe they shall instill and inculke the forsaid truethes in to the harts of theyre dis ciples, to th'entente, that so beeinge enplanted and roted in tendre aige, they may so allwaies con-- tinewe. In moste humble maner prostrate, I beseche youre Highnes to take in good parte my answer. I trust your Highnes is not unremembred, that aboute this tyme the last yere, anonne afire my retorne from youre Highnes, my Lorde of Canterburie by youre comawndement sent to me a booke, wherin was an ordre for preachinge, and in the same, forme divised as well for preachers as curatts for the beads, in whiche forme, youre Highnes style and title of Sup- preme Hedde is mentioned ; and ferthre in the same booke, your Highnes hathe given comawndement, that every preacher sholde afore Easter last paste, oones in solempne audience declare the vsurped jurisdiction w* in this realme of the Bisshope of Rome, and youre Highnes juste cawses to decline from the same, and also to open and declare suche ORIGINAL LETTERS. 32 ( thinge as myght avowe and justifie youre Highnes refusall of mariage w' the Princesse doager, and law- full contracte of newe w' youre moste deere wief Qweene Anne ; and in the same an ordre also geven for the suppression of the generall sentence. Aftre the recepte of wiche booke, the Sondaye nexte folowinge, whiche was than the seconde Sondaye aftre Trinitie Sondaye, I went from Cawod to Yorke, and ther in my owne parson, declared as well your Highnes cawse toochinge the matrimonie, as also youre refusaU of the Popes jurisdiction, furnish- inge bothe so at lengthe, that I trust that no thinge that needed to bee opened and spoken, was left un spoken. And to th'entent, that I wolde have the thinge the more spred abrode, I forthw' opon the recepte of the forsaide booke, sent to Yorke to pub- lishe ther, that I wolde bee ther Sondaye next folow inge, and cawsed the churches to make an eende of theyre service, in suche tyme, as everie man myght have oportunitie to bee at the Sermon, and speciallie reaquired the Mayor and his brederne, and youre faithefull chapeleigne and servants, M1'. Magnus, and Sr. George Lawson to bee ther ; and there and than afore a greate multitude, and as it is to be supposed in that multitude werr a greate nowmbre of sondry parts of the contree wiche never lack in that citie, it may bee thowght ther was the greater nowmbre, bicause it was noysed that I sholde preache, takenge 328 ORIGINAL LETTERS. occasion of thees words in the gospell of that daye, Uxorem duxi, ideo non possum venire. I so vttered, explaned, declared, and opened bothe the forsaide maters, and the injuries doon to youre Highnes by the Bisshoppe of Rome, Clement, that youre saide chapeleigne and servants, Mr. Magnus, and Sr. George Lawson, thowght that the audience was satisfied. Thees ij. bee my witnesses heerin, w' a verie greate multitude besids them, that I nothinge fayne heerin. As for your Highnes title of Supreme Hed, I tooched not than, forsomutche, as no ordre was geven than, but onlie to make mention therof in the prayors ; and it is well knowne to all that have herde me preache ever sins my firste comynge in to my diocese, that for more speede of tyme, and more vtteraunce of mater, I never have made prayours in anie sermond, but proceded forward w' ouzt stoppe, ne have anie thinge or not mutche rehersed in Laten, but in Eng- lishe it in cowrse, for the same purpose. Also opon the recepte of the same booke, forthwith I coffiaunded my officers and oodre that coulde write to make ouzt a great nowmber of the said books, and cawse to bee delivered to everie preacher w'in my dyocese a hole booke, chargenge them to doo accordinge to the in struction therof, and generallie to everie curate a booke compriseinge as mutche as tooched theyre oharge, and if he werr a preacher, he had the hole. And I assure youre Highnes, I have not yet herde, ORIGINAL LETTERS. 329 but that everie oone of the saide curats, folowethe theyre books in everie poynte, and specialUe praye for youre Highnes as chief Hedde of the Churche, and aU oodre things observed in the same, and yet I have doone my diligence to herken and knowe, if it werr oodrewiese. And I doo not knowe but all the preachers have doone theyre duetie, and to the great nowmbre of them I spake myselfe, and deliverid them books, and charged them. And ferther I charged all curatts and oodre, that they sholde suffre no man to preache in theyr chirches, to th'entent that all that wolde preche sholde bee constrayned to come to me, that I myght deUver them the forsaid instruc tions. And never yet anie had Ucence of me to preache but he had suche a booke delivered hym. To everie howse of Fryers and oodre reUgious hows, wher anie preachers werr, I gave books, and likewise to all that I knewe or coulde lerne to bee w' in my dyocese, w* charge that they sholde folowe the booke. Whan anie reUgiouse men came to me for cownsell, I tolde them what I had doone, and gave them coun- seU to doo the same. Of divers sorts have come to me, bothe Observants and Cartusians, and oodre. Opon good Fridaye last past, I charged the treaso- rer of Yorke, that he sholde leave ouzt the colett Pro Papa, lykewies I charged the Deacon that songe the hymne " Exultet Angelica " in the halowinge of the Paschall, that he sholde leave ouzt mention therein 330 ORIGINAL LETTERS. made de Papa. The truethe of aU thees things may bee examined and knowne, if it shall so please youre Highnes. By wiche it shall appeer, I trust, that I ame not in suche blame as youre Highnes imputethe to me ; enformed by them padventure, that bee nott my frends. Your Highnes somwhat knowethe me. I have beene allwayes open and playne, and hidreto I dare avowe I never deceived you, nor herafter shaU in anye thinge that I take vpon me, as my lernynge and conscience woll serve. And nowe aftre the receipte of your most honorable Lettres by Sr. Francise Bygott, I forthw' cawsed Lettres to bee made to my Lordes of Duresme and Carlisle, and to aU Archideacons, gevenge to them on your Highnes behalfe streight comaundement, to folowe trueUe and syncerUe th'ef- fecte of suche comawndments as yor Highnes hathe given me in youre most honorable Lettres, and have charged aU Archideacons to see that aU things ac cording to the tenor of youre said most honorable comawndement bee doone w* ouzt delaye, and have charged them to deUver books to aU curats and oodre of th'olde instructions, putting to them all that is nowe encreased in thees youre Highnes last most honorable Lettres, so that I trust, aU things shaU bee doone accordinge to youre Highnes comawndement, w' all speede, efficacie, and diligence, wherunto I shall herken. And for my parte, I have on Sonday last paste wiche nexte folowed the receipte of ytf ORIGINAL LETTERS. 331 Highnes most honorable Lettres declared all things comprised in the same, so that I trust, the audience was satisfied. I cawsed the Citie to bee warned afore, and diverse of the contree werr present, and youre faythfuU chapeleigne and servants Mr. Magnus and Sr. George Lawson, I speciallie required to bee ther, as in deede they werr, and can reaporte what they thinke therof. Ther werr also present th' abbott of Saincte Maries of Yorke, the Treasorer of Yorke, Sr. Francise Bygott ; thees werr there, youre servants and chapeleignes and many oodre. I truste youre Highnes shaU never fynde in me, but that I promyse I shall fulfiU, and all things doo w' good harte that I maye doo at youre Highnes comaundement, God not offended. And most humblie prostrate I be seche youre Highnes to bee so graciouse good lord, not to beleve any complaynts of me, afore yow have herde my answer. The tyme is nowe suche, that some men thinke, they doo highe sacrifice, whan they may bringe in to youre highnes displeasr suche a poore preest, as I ame ; but I trust in oure Lorde, that youre Highnes dothe not so take it, and that oure Lorde woll con- tinewe your Highnes gratious mynde towards youre poore preests and chapeleignes, and that he shall sende to them that cawselesse provoke the grevouse displeasr of youre Highnes againste youre saide preests, bettre grace hereaftre. For wiche, and for 332 ORIGINAL LETTERS. the continuall keepinge of your Highnes in his go- vernaunce I shaU as I ame most bownd, continuallie praye. From Bisshopsthorpe the xiiij"1 of June, 1535. Yor Highnes most humble prest and beadman EDOUARDE EBOR. LETTER CCXXXVI. Depositions taken before Sir Walter Stonor at Wat- lington, in Oxfordshire, of invectives uttered against Queen Anne Boleyn. [stat. pap. off. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xl. 630. Orig-.] The sayng of John Dawson, of Watlyngton, in the Countie of Oxon, examyned by Sir Walter Stonor, Knyght, the xiiijtb day of June, in the xxvjtt yere of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, King Henry the viij'h. The said John Dawson saithe that of Fryday, beynge the xijth day of June, in the yere above wryttyn, oon Johane Hammulden, wyff unto Water Hammulden, of Watlyngton afore said, in the pre- sens of the said John Dawson, WiUm. Goode, con stable of the said Town of Watlyngton, Thomas Dawson, and John Awodd, said that she was sent for to oon Burgyns wyff, in Watlyngton, when she was in labor with chylde, which was abowte Whittson- ORIGINAL LETTERS. 333 tyde was a twelvemonthe. And the said Burgyns wyff said to the said Johane Hammulden that for her honeste and her connyng that she hadd, she myght be mydwyff vnto the Quene of Inglond yf hitt were Quene Kateryn ; and yf hitt wer Quene Anne she was to goode to be her mydwyff, for she was a hoore and a herlott of her lyvyng. And the said John Dawson and Willm. Goode broght the said Johane Hammul den before Sir Walter Stonore Knyght, and the said Burgyns wyff also, and there the said Johane Ham mulden confessyd before the said Sir Walter Stonor Knyght, Thomas Coke Esquyer, Willm. Edmunds, gentylman, stewerd of the Towne of Reddyng, that the said Burgyns wyff spake the same words, saying ferther that apon her faythe she wolde never have uttryd the words had not the said Burgyns wyff said uppon a tyme that she wolde burne the said Johane Hammulden tayle, and doo her other displeasure. Item, the said Burgyns wyff upon her examyna- cyon denyith that ever she spake any suche words, butt she saith that there is oon Dollfyns wyff that said abowte Midsomer last past, in the xxv". yere of the reign of our Sovereign Lord the Kyngs Grace that hitt was never mery in Inglond sythyns there was iij. Quenes in hitt. And then the said Johane Hammulden sayd there wolde be ffewer shortly, which words the said Johane Hammulden denyith, Also, there is no reycorde of neyther of their say- 334 ORIGINAL LETTERS. ings; but what your pleasure is to be doone with theym, I pray you that hitt may be known for they remayne in the Constables warde. To the ryght worschypfull Maister Thomas Cromwell, Esquyer, Se- cretere to the Kynges Hyghtnes, thys be delyuered. LETTER CCXXXVII. Thomas, Abbot of Michelney to Cromwell, respecting the payment of Money to him for his services. [rare, xsix. 156. Orig-.] *»* Thomas Yve was the last abbot of Michelney, who, with Richard Coscob, prior, John Montacue,and eight others, subscribed to the King's supremacy, July^, 1534, 26 Hen. VIII. ; and after wards to the surrender of their House, Jan. 3, 1538. Most humble recomendacons with aU hartely thanks for your manyfold goodnesse towards me at all tymys. Advertysyng the same that I have receuyd your mynde by Mr. Doctor Lee, concernyng forty pownds by Sargeante Thornton promysyd to your Master schyppe yn parte of recompens of your paynys taken for me. Trewly, and by the faythe of an honest man, I payyd to hym on C*i. for your use onely, whoo axyd noo lesse of me for your paynys; where apon I dyd sende for the executor to fore Mr Doctor, and he confessyd the resayte of the money, affyrmyng that hytt ys payyd to your Master schyppe. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 335 Wherefore, I most hartely beseche you of your gen- tilnesse to schewe to this berer, Mr Cuffe, your mynde there yn, and of the receyte of the sayde money, so that apon your further certyfycate I maye by yor good helpe optayne the sayd money. And as concernynge your fee whiche I persayue by Mr Doctor that Mr Sargeante Thornton dyd promyse, I never dyd knowe thereof, butt supposyd yor Master shippe to have byn contentyd with the sayde sum. AU behytt I am contentyd to gyve you a fee, besech yng you for a tyme to take hytt yn good worthe. This berer knoweythe as it stondythe with me. And thus the Holy Trynyte preserve you. At Mochelney, the xvtb daye of June, by your owne to the moste of hys power and dayely orator, THOMAS, Abbott. To the right worschipfull Master Cromewell, this be delyuered with spede. LETTER CCXXXVIII. John, Bishop of Lincoln, to Secretary Cromwell; re lating to his setting forth of the King's title as Supreme Head, throughout his diocese. [cotton, ms. cleop. E. vi. fol. 260 b. Orig-.] Right worshipfull Master Secretary, my duty remembred vnto your good Mastershippe, with my humble thanks for all your goodnes towards me, and 336 ORIGINAL LETTERS. in all my causes ever shewed. Pleasith itt the same to undrestand that I have, accordyng as I am bound en, and as the King his Grace commaundement was by his Lettres, sence the receyte of the same, sett forthe and caused to be declared thrughoute my Dioces hys tytle, dignite, and style of Supreme Hede in erthe immediately undre God, of the Chirche of England, and shall soo contynue. And, forasmoche as the last Lettre of declarac5n in EngUshe whiche your Mastershippe sent unto me laste, must goo in to soo many severall places within my Dioces, that aU the clerks I have ar nott hable to wryte them in long processe of tyme, I have caused twoo thousand of the same to be putt in prynte for the spedy and good settyng forward therof, and have sent unto you a Paper of the same : beseching you I may have know lege of your pleasure by this berer, my servaunt, wheddre itt be your pleasure I shaU undre this forme in prynte, send forthe the same or nott. And your pleasure knowen, itt shalnott be long in doyng, God willing. Over this I have in meane tyme sent forthe in dyverse parts of every shire within my Dioces the same in wryting, as many as all my clerks kowde in the meane season wryte, and ar doyng styU. Thus the Holy Gooste preserve yor good Mastershippe. Wryten at Wooborn, the xxv'' day of Junij. Your bedisman and priste, JOHN LINCOLL. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 337 LETTER CCXXXIX. Edward Lee, Archbishop of York. That he has sent Injunctions to his Clergy to declare the King's Su premacy, and that the Pope has no jurisdiction : but that the want of learned men in his diocese, from poverty of the benefices, renders him unable to carry out the King's commands in the way His Majesty's Letters import. Obstinacy of the Prior of Mount- grace. [ibid. fol. 239. Orig.] Ryght honorable, aftre my hertiest comendation, by my chapeleigne, Mr. Braynesbie, I advertised you, what hathe been doon heere, for th'advauncements of suche things as the Kyngs Highnes hathe comawnd- ed, and nowe I sende to you by this bearer ij. books ; oone wiche compriseth Articles, wiche everie curate, and all oodre ecclesiasticall parsonnes shall declare to theyre audience, and everie preacher shall extende and furnishe as his lernynge woll serve. A noodre booke I have conceived, of breve declaration to the people as well of the Kyng's stile and title of Su preme Hed, as also that the Bisshoppe of Rome hathe no jurisdiction in this realme by the lawe of God ; wiche declaration shalbee spred abrode, that all cu- rats and oodre that can perceive it and vttre it, maye at lest reade it to theyre audience, VOL, II. Q 338 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Doubtlesse many of oure curats can scant perceive it. Manye benefices bee so exile, of inj*i. vi;. vjli. that no lerned man wolle take them ; and, therfore, wee bee fayne to take suche as bee presented, so they be honest of conversation and can competentlie vnder- stonde that they read, and minister sacraments and sacramentalls observenge the due fourme and rizt, althowghe oodrewies they bee not all perfecte, but must resorte for cownsaile. And in aU my Diocese, I doo not knowe seculer preests that can preache, anie nowmbr necessarie for suche a Diocese ; truelie not xij ; and they that have the best benefices bee not heere resident Wiche thinge considered, I trust the Kyngs Highnes wolbee content if I doo the best that I can doo. I write this, bicause his Highnes in his moste honorable Lettres comaundethe me to comawnde and charge aU ecclesiasticall persons to teache and preache the verie syncere worde of God, and to sett forthe and declare his Highnes title, dignitie, and style of Supreme Hed ; and also his Highnes juste renunciation of the Bysshoppe of Romes vsurped autoritie and aU oodre foreyne powers ; and aftrewarde his Highnes in the same his most honorable Lettres, writethe, that if en- ^tierlie all his saide comawndement bee not brieflie executed and put in ure, bothe by my selfe and all oodre ecclesiasticall persons, in all places with in my Diocese and Province, his Highnes woU ascribe the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 339 defaulte therof onlie to me ; and laye the same to my charge. This to doo, youre greate wissedome can consider passethe my power, that is my power to doo. I have doone as the tyme hidreto hathe served, and woll doo. I have declared all thees things in my owne person. I have sent forthe comawndement to aU Bisshopps within my Diocese a to see the Kyngs comaundement in all poynts executed with in theyre Dioceses, and to all Archdeacons within my Dyocese, to see the same executed in theire Archdeaconries, and bothe of them to charge all ecclesiasticall per sons, exempte and not exempte, beeing within theyre jurisdiction to execute the Kynges saide comawnde ment, everie man for his parte ; and if I may knowe that anie of them doo not theyre duetie, I shall punishe them my selfe as I can, and ferther advertise the Kyngs Highnes and his moste honorable cown- saile therof. But you knowe, I can not bee in all places, ne I shall peradventure heere of all defaults that may bee made, ne I can put in theyre heds lern yng and cunneng to preache that have it not alredie, and therfore in this behalf I trust his Highnes woU not blame me, ne laye it to my charge, if anie omitte to doo that they can not doo. As I have writen afore, I doo not knowe in all my Dyocese xij. seculer preests preachers, and fewe friers, and almoste none of any oodre religion. But a meaning Province. Q 2 340 ORIGINAL LETTERS. yet if anie ecclesiasticall parson within my Province doo omytt to execute the Kyngs commawndement to the best of his power, if I, knowinge therof, doo nodre punishe hym, nor signifie his negligence or contempte to the Kyngs Highnes, or to his most honourable Cownsaile, than I muste yelde my selfe to blame; but I trust this blame shall not bee fownde in me. I coulde not take of the Kings Lettres sent to me, that I was charged in my owne parson to preache and sett forthe this mater everie Sondaye and solempne feaste, but syns I have seen more playne Lettres ad dressed to ooders, I shall not fayle to preache everie Sondaye and solempne feaste, in oone place or oodre, and nowe and than at my CathedraU Churche, and shall cawse all oodre, that can preache, doo the same to the vttremoste of my power. This shaU I not fayle to doo, God wiUinge, and to continewe till the Kyngs pleasure bee ferthre knowen. I have alredie charged my brodre Deane for the CathedraU Churche, that the Kyngs comawndement bee executed ther everie Sondaye and solemne feaste, and liekwiese within all theyre jurisdiction. I have also taken ordre, that aU Deanes rurall shall herken whidre men doo theire dueties, and if oodre- , wiese, to advertise me therof, and I truste some of my freends woll doo the same. I entierlie praye you to put this to youre olde goodnes shewed to me, that I may haue by youre cowmfortable Lettres some releeve ORIGINAL LETTERS. 341 of the greate charge wiche the words of the Kyngs Lettres importe, wiche you knowe, I can not al- thowghe I wolde fulfill ; and I trust his Highnes woll not so charge me that 1 can not avoyde to runne in to his indignation and displeasure wiche I shall never wilfulUe deserve, in anie thinge that I may doo, God not offended. The declaration of the injuries doone by Clement, I durste not overpasse, the Kyngs pleasr not knowne, bicause they bee comprised in th'instructions of the laste yere. And therfore, I have put them in, that aU the curats and oodre ecclesiasticall persons may declare aswell the justification of the Kyngs cawse of matrimonie, as also th'expresse injuries doone to his Highnes by the Bysshope of Rome. Hidreto onlie the preachers have doone it, and in my mynde it is not to bee forborne, but howe longe his Highnes pleasure shalbee, that this shalbee still declared, It maye Ueke you that I may knowe, and theraftre I shaU in aU things doo, to th'uttremost of my power. Doctor Langrige, my chapeleigne and Archideacon of Cleveland, hathe beene in his Archideaconrie preaching and setting forthe the Kyngs comawnde ment, and deliveringe of books, some writen, some to bee writen : and amongs oodre places, I gave hym speciaU comaundement to resorte to the Pryor of Mountgrace to deUver to hym a booke. The said Pryour received the booke, but he alowed not the 342 ORIGINAL LETTERS. thinge, and saide he trusted that none of his broderne wolde alowe anie suche things, the said Archideacon did his best to alure hym, but he coulde not bringe it to passe. I, therfore, have sent my lettres to the saide Pryor, the copie wherof you shaU receive with thees ; and if I can recover hym, I doubte not but it shall well stonde with the Kyngs approved mercye and pitie, that I shall recover hym if I can, oure Lorde give his grace. The saide Archideacon shewethe me also, that to the monasterie of Gisbourne came nij. curats of his Archideaconrie, and pretended, that they werr sore thretned if they published anie suche things as they werr cofhawnded to doo, but yet the saide nij. curats required th' Archideacon to spare them to Saincte Thomas daye, and than they wolde see whider they that made suche thretnyngs continued in theyre opinion, and if they did, that then they wolde forthwith certifie me. As soone as they shaU certifie me, I shall advertise you, if it be lieke to growe to anie businesse. I trust they woll bettre remembr. them selfe. And thus I comende you to the keep- inge of oure Lord. From Bisshopsthorpe, the firste of Julie, 1535. Yor owne assured EDOUARDE EBOR. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 343 LETTER CCXL. Archbishop Lee to Cromwell. A Priest of Holdemess committed for words uttered, sounding toward the advancement of the Bishop of Rome. The Prior of Mountgrace conformable. [ibid. fol. 241 . Orig-.] Ryght honorable, aftre my hertiest comendation, yesterdaye I receyved Lettres from Sr. Raufe Evers th'elder, Sr. John Constable of Holdernes, Sr. Xpofer Hyliorde, and Sr. Raufe Ellerker the yonger, of cer tayne words spoken by a preest of Holdernesse, sowndinge towards th'avauncement of the Bysshoppe of Rome, wiche words werr thees, " They saye ther is no Pope. I knowe weU ther was a Pope." The sayde preeste beeinge examined by them, denied not the words as they saye, and hathe subscribed a bill comprisinge the saide words, with the circustance of the utteraunce of the same. Wherfore bicawse he dwellithe with in my libertie of Beverlaye, they sent hym to my Jayle ther, wher I have comawndid hym to bee kepte suer till the Kyngs pleasr, or his moste honorable Cownsells, bee knowne. A servaunte of Mr. Payges, wiche came from thense this daye, say- ethe that he nowe repentithe his words, sayenge that he spake them afore he herde of the Kyngs comawnde ment. I doubte not, but that the above named gen- 344 ORIGINAL LETTERS. tlemen have advertised you heerof afore the comenge of my Lettres accordinge to theyre duetie. The Pryor of Mountgrace this daye was with me, and I fynde hym verie conformable and applienge to all thinges. In some things he required to bee satis fied, in wiche I truste he was satisfied, and so hold- ethe hym selfe well content, and full wieseUe consi- derethe that it besemethe not hym to stonde in anie opinion againste so manie, not onUe beeing of good lernynge, but also some of goode Uvenge, and hering that the House of the Chartrehouse of London, and oodre Howses of his religion bee stayde, he is mutche cowmforted. And forbicause ther bee in everie Howse as he supposethe some weake simple men, of small lernynge and Utle discretion, he thinkethe, it sholde doo mutche good if oone Doctor Hord, a Pryor of theyre religion, whom aU the reUgion in this realme dothe esteme for lerning and vertue, werr sent not onlie to his Howse, but to all oodre Howses of the same reUgion ; he saide (wiche I suppoase is true) they woll give more credence, and woU rathre applie theire conscience to hym and his judgement, than to anie oodre, althowgh of greater lernynge, and the rathre if with hym bee joyned also some oodre good fadre. This he desired me to move to you, and verelie I thinke it sholde doo mutche good. For manye of them bee verie simple men. I have taken hym a booke of declaration to reade amonges his ORIGINAL LETTERS. 345 broderne, to staye them with. I trust all bee well in Cleveland, for I heere nothinge therof nowe ; as I shall heere, I shall give advertisement to you. And thus oure Lorde have you in his keepinge. From Bysshopsthorpe, the ix* of Julie, 1535. Yor owne assured EDOUARDE EBOR. LETTER CCXLI. Archbishop Lee to Cromwell. The Pryor of Mount- grace yields. [stat. pap. off. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xxi. 355.] Right honorable, after my hertiest commendation, I have writen to you by Teshe, my Registre, that the Priour of Mountegrace is yelded, recognising that it besemethe not hym to stond in opinion agaynst as well many good and learned men, as also agaynst many faders and convents of his religion. Mr. Bigod, this bearer, perceivethe the same in hym, oonelye he requirethe (wiche I have writen to you heretofore) that for the alureing of some his simple brodren Doctor Hord, a priour of their religion, in whome they have greate confidence maye come thidre. The sayed Prior hathe the same desiered of Mr. Bigod. His comeng shall more worke in them than anye learneng or autoritie as the Priour thinkethe, and I 346 ORIGINAL LETTERS. can weU thinke the same. And thus our Lorde have you in his continuall kepeng. From Thorpe, the viij"1 of August, 1535. Your own ever assured EDOUARDE EBOR. To the right honerable my verie good frend Mr. Secretarie. LETTER CCXLII. Jonathan, or John Friar, a physician, to the Lord Privy Seal; requesting payment for his attendance on the late Bishop of Rochester in his last illness : the Bishop's goods having been " converted to the King's coffers." [ibid, misc, corresp. 2 Ser. xxii. 79. Orig.] My syngular good Lorde, after my most bownden duetye to your Lordshipp, this shalbe to advertyse thesame, that wher as of late the Bysshope of Roches- tre at what tyme he was sycke requyred me to loke to hyme, and to gyue attendaunce on hyme bothe nyzht and day, promysynge to recompence my labour and payne, and wher aftre he was departede," all hys goodys war taken upp by Mr. Gostwycke and con- uerted to the Kyngs coferys ; so that for xij. dayes labour, and iiij. nyzts watchynge, as yet I have reco- ueryd no thynge ; in so motch that except your Lord- shype be good to me I shal bothe lose my labour, my 1 He was beheaded June 22. 1535. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 347 frende, and also my physycke ; and truely if Physy- cyens shuld take no monye for them that they kyll, as well as for them that they save, theyr lyvyngs shuldbe very thyfie and bare, therfor I beseche your good Lordshypp, as to send to Mr. Gostwycke that I may have som recompence and rewarde for my payns. And I beseche your Lordshyppe it maybe so motche the mor lyberall, becawse it shalbe the last payment ; for of them that scape, we may take the lesse, be cawse we hope they shale ons cum agayne in to our handys. I beseche your good Lordshypp as I have in many other thyngs, ever fownde your Lordshype good to me, so also in this my poor request lett me not be destitute of your wonte favor and goodnes towarde me, as I shal dayly pray for the preservatyon of your heal the, the whiche I pray God longe to mayn- tayne and kepe in all honor and felycyte. From London, the xvj'h of August. Yor Lordshypp hys most humble seruant, jono". fryar, Physycyen/ To the ryght honorable and my syngular good lorde, the Lorde Pryuy Seale. ¦ Tanner, in his Bibl. Brit. Hib. p. 297, 298, noticing Johannes Frerus Cantabri- giensis med. doctor MDLV. says, " Doctor Joh. Frieras pater M D. in carcere mor- tuns. D. Joh. Frierus filius exulat f atavii. Nic. Sanderus De visib. monarchia, p. 676." It is possible that the elder of these two may have been the writer of the present Letter. 348 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CCXLIII. Whiting, Abbot of Glastonbury, to Secretary Crom well, sending him the Advocation of the Church of Monketon. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xiv. 60. Orig-.] %* The reader is now, and a few pages hence, to be presented with four or five early Letters of Abbot Whiting, whose ultimate fate has been so often deplored. Richard Whiting was chosen Abbot of Glastonbury March 3, 1524, upon the death of abbot Richard Beere. The Letters immediately before the reader must have been writ ten in 1535 and 1536, or thereabout. It is a great misfortune to the Historian that, in too many instances, through the whole reign of Henry the Eighth, more than in most other reigns, the writers of Letters omit the date of the year in their Correspondence. Right wurshipfull, in my hartiest wise I recom mend me unto you and so thanke you for aU goodnes here bifore towards me and this Monastery, right hartely praying you so contynue hereafter : and bothe I and all my brethren shall contynually pray unto Almyghtye God for your dayly preseruacon. Also this shalbe to aduertise you that I have recevid youre right lovinge lettres of this bringer, by whom I have (according to your pleasure in the same) send unto you the Advocacon of the Parisshe Churche of Monketon whiche of trewthe is the ffirste that hathe been graunted oute of this Monastery as far as I can fynde knowleage. I wulde it were a thing of such ORIGINAL LETTERS. 349 valor as myght do you singuler pleasure, but as it is ye have it with all my harte. And any thing that I have, or may do you pleasure with, at any tyme, it shalbe alwayes redy at youre wUl and comaundment to the best of my power, as knoweth Almyghty God, who alwayes have you in his blessid tuicion with honor. At Glastonbury, the xxvj'h day of August. Your feithfull bedisman ric. Abbot ther. To the right wurshipfull Master Cromwell, Secretary vnto the Kyngs Highness, be this delyuered. LETTER CCXLIV. Abbot Whiting to Cromwell, sending him the Grant, under Convent Seal, of the Corrodye which Sir Thomas More had lately held. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xiii. 58. Orig.] Right worshipfuU, in right hartye wise I recom mend me to you, and this aduertise you. According unto the pleasure and comaundment of the Kings Highnes, by his most graciouse letters and yowrs therewith directid unto me, I have here send unto you the graunte of the Corrodye under Covent Seale, whiche Sir Thomas More lately hada oute of this Monastery, after suche coursse and fforme as a Sir Thomas More was beheaded 5th July, 1535. 350 ORIGINAL LETTERS. always heretofore hath ben vsed in this Monastery trustyng ye wulbe content and pleasid therewith. Wuld God it were, for your pleasure, a farre better thing. Master Cromwell, I have also here sent you by this bringer th'arrerages of Sir Thomas More, fyve pounds whiche were due to be paied at Myghel- mas last paste, and other fyve pounds due to be payed at Mighelmas next comyng, whiche laste five poimds shall stond in yowre pleasure where he shall have it that shall enjoye this new graunt or not. It hath been herebifore alwayes used to be paied at Myghel- mas, as knoweth our Lord, who have you alwayes in his blessed tuicion. At Glastonbury, the ix'b daye of Septembre. Yours euer to my power with my prayers Ricd- Abbot of Glaston. To the right wurshipfull Master Crumwell, Esquyer, Principall Secretary unto the Kings Highnes, be this delyuered. LETTER CCXLV. Sir Piers Dutton to the Lord Privy Seal. John Heseham apprehended for speaking against the King's Supremacy. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. ix. 106. Orig-.] Please it your honorable lordship, that where heretofore the Kyngs pleasure was by your com- original letters. 351 mandment gyven unto me that I shuld take certain persons for suspect of treason, amongest whom one John Heseham was named and specifyed, whiche John at that tyme fledde out of this cuntrey that I cold not mete with hym ; and nowe is comyn in agayn, and I therefore not only for that, but also for dyuerse tretowrous and sedicious wordes that he hath spoken, which was, ' That if the spirituall men had holden togeder the Kyng cold not have byn Hed of the Churche ; and also that the Bysshop of Roches- tre and Sir Thomas More died martirs in the quarrell aforesaid,' I have takyn hym and commytted hym to the Castell of Chestre, there to abyde the Kyngs pleasure and yours therabout shalbe forther knowen unto me ; whiche I shalbe euer gladde t'accomplysshe duryng my lyf by the grace of our Lord God, who preserve your gud Lordship in honor long to con tynewe. From Dutton, the xxiij"1 day of September by yor assured. perus dutton, K. To the right honorable my Lord Pryvey Seale, this be dely- vered. 352 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CCXLVI. John Hilsey, bishop of Rochester, to Cromwell : asking for the Mitre, Staff, and Seal of his predecessor. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 iSer. xxxv. 29. Orig-.] *»* John Hilsey was a Dominican or Black Mar, first at Bristol, and afterward at Oxford, where the House was eminent for its learning, and where he took the degree of Doctor in divinity in 1532. He seems to have been an early intimate of Cromwell, and held a frequent correspondence with him. Wood says, being pliable to the King's humour in opposing the Pope and his interests in England, he was elected Bishop of Ro chester after the decollation of John Fisher, and received the tem poralities Oct. 14th, 1535. Strype says he was consecrated in Sep tember the same year, which would correspond with the present Letter. Wharton thinks erroneously that he was not consecrated tHl 1537. He died in 1538. His principal work was a Manual of Prayers, or Primer, in Eng lish and Latin, dedicated to Lord Cromwell, and published at his command, in 8vo. 1539. A smaller Primer in English, abstracted from this Manual, was also printed in 1539, for the training of children. He likewise wrote a tract, " De veri Corporis esu in Sacramento," which was also dedicated to Lord Cromwell ; " Resolutions con cerning the Sacraments ;" and " Resolutions of some Questions re lating to Bishops, Priests, and Deacons."1 My good Mr. I thanke your Mastershyppe for aU your goodnes shewyd unto me yn all my neads. Yff hytt may plese your Mastershypp to be soe good unto me as to geve me my predecessours Myttre, Staff, and Seale, hytt wylbe to me a grete comfortt that am • See Wood's Ath. Oxon. edit. Bliss, vol. i. coll. 112, 113. Herbert's Ames, vol. i. pp. 658, 559, 669, 570, vol. iii. p. 1789. Burnet. Hist. Ref. p. 249. Tann. Bibl. Brit. Hib.p, 404 ORIGINAL LETTERS. 353 nott able to bye syche thyngs, and I shaU contynewe my dewty to pray for your Mastershyppys welfare longe to contynewe; also I desyre yor Mrshyppe thatt you wyll take noe dysplesure wythe my power shute, for nede makythe me boldre apon your Master shyppe then I wold be, as God knowythe, whoe defende you frome all evyUs and yncrease you yn all goodnes. Wretyn the xxiiij. day off Septembre by the hand off your oratour. JOHN ROFFENC. To my ryght hon'able Mr Cromwell, Primare Secretary unto the Kyngs Hyghnes. dd. LETTER CCXLVII. John ap Rice to Secretary Cromtvell upon Dr. Leigh's insolent behaviour in his Visitation. [ibid. xxxv. 60, Orig.] *.* The reader will naturally ask who was John ap Rice, the writer of this Letter. The chief that the Editor has found of his History is comprised in the following Petition, of a date a year or two subsequent to his complaint of Dr. Leigh's insolent behaviour. He was, however, joined with Leigh and Layton, as will be seen by one or two future Letters from him, in their Visitation of the Mo nasteries. " Consideracions to be alleged to the Kings Highnes on the be half of John ap Rice, ffirst howe that he wrote for his Ma.* profes sions for all the Busshops, Abbots, Priors, and other Ecclesiasticall Governors and persons within this Realme, and kepeth the same without fee or rewarde. "Item, that he wrote divers Instruments concernyng the Kings 354 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Highnes mariage with Quene Jane, of the baptisme of the Prince, of my Lady Maries renunciation of Appeale, and divers boks of Leages betwene the Kings Matie and outwarde Princes. " Item, he wrote th'examinacions of the late rebells that cam to the Towre, and of the moste parte of the Prisoners that cam thither any tyme thies iiij. or v. yeres. " Item, he rode in poste to Hull, tyme of the late commotion, for th'examinacon and to see th'execution of the traitor Halom and his complces. And made divers other Jorneys about the Kings Highnes affaires to all the partes of the Realme. " Also he made a breve Docket to the Kings Maae out of all his Highnes late Visitacion, compendiously touching the name, th'order, the state, the nomber, and the detects of every religions House within this Realme. And for these he never molested the Kings MaUe with any sute or request untill this tyme. And nowe compelled to do the same by reason of the decaye of his office, which cheffely consisted in elections of Abbots and Priors, now abolished."' After my due and right humble commendackins, please it your Mastership to be advertised that I have this daie received your Lettres by the which I doo apperceave that ye are not content with me for that I have not revealed vnto you Mr. Doctor Leghes demeanor, procedings, and maner of going. Sir, allthough I were divers tymes mynded to be in hande with your Mastership for certain abuses and excesses which I sawe in the same, as I thought it my duetie, yet divers causes did discorage and retracte me from so doing. Firste I sawe howe litle the complaynts of other, as of th'abbot of Brueton where he used him self, me thought, very insolentUe did succede at your hands, and thinking that his demeanor at Bradstok, • Stat. Pap. Off. Misc. Corresp. 2 Ser. 64. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 355 Stanley, and Edington, where he made no lesse ruffeUng with the hedds than he did at Brueton, shulde of all lykelyhood come likewise to your know lege, and yet sawe nothing said unto hym therfor: and also supposyng that you considering howe he was one of theym that depraved me heretofore with your Mastership for no juste cause but for displea sure which he bare towardes me for certain causes which I woll declare unto you at more leysure, wolde have thought all my reaporte by hym to pro- cede of malice. And therfor because I wold that the matier shulde have come to your eares rather of other men than of me, I spake of certain his abuses to divers of my companie nyghe about you, and called divers of my ffellowes, your servantes at Lon don, to come with me and see all his procedings, gesture, and maner of going thens at Westminster and at Powlles. And myself being hyndered with you not long agoo, was affrayed to attempt suche an enterprise with you, not being commanded by you afore so to doo, leste he with his bolde excuse, wherin he is I adsure you very redy, wolde have overcome me being but of smaU audacity, speciaUy in accusations, whereunto I am nothing propense of nature, though the matier were never so trewe. 1 can prove by some that ye woU truste, that I wolde have shewed you his demeanor, but for that I was afrayed that ye wolde have taken it to procede of malice. I loked allweys 356 ORIGINAL LETTERS. whan ye shulde have comaunded me to shewe you that. For many times it happeneth that a man intend ing but well hath incurred displeasure by doing his duetie. Also I am fearefull I am not eloquent in accusations as some men be ; but nowe that ye cofnaunde me I dare boldely declare unto you that I thinke to be amysse in the said Mr. Doctor, and what I require in hym. Firste. In his going he is too insolent and pompa- tique, which bicause he went so at London in the face of all the worlde, I thought ye had knowen ; and afore your own fface many tymes. Than he handleth the ffathers where he cometh very roughely, and many tymes for smaU causes, as th'abbots of Brueton and Stanley, and Mr. of Edington, for not metyng of hym at the doore where they had no warnyng of his comyng. Also I require more modestie, gravitie, and affabiUtie, which wolde purchase hym more re verence than his owne setting foorth and Satrapike countenance. The man is yong and of intolerable elation of mynde. As concernyng his taking, I thinke it excessive in many things. First for the election of the Prior of Coventrie he toke xvTi. : for the election lately at Bevall the Charter House xxl;., beside his costes vjis. At Vale Royall xvK., beside his costes vjn., and his rewarde unknowen to me. And at Tarrent, for the ORIGINAL LETTERS. 357 election there, xx*i., beside his costes iiijM. And bicause I knewe there by one Fissher, that was soUici- tor in that matier, that your plesure was he shulde have no lesse for Tarrent, I thought he toke the other but according to your pleasure. And surely, he asketh no lesse for every election than xx". as of duetie : which in myn opinion is to moche and above any duetie that ever was taken by any director heretofor. Also in his Visitacions he refuseth many tymes his rewarde though it be competent, for that they offer hym so litle, and maketh theym to sende after hym suche rewardes as maye pleas hym. Ser, surely reli gious men were never so affrayed of Doctor Alen as they be of hym, he useth suche rough fasshion with theym. Also he hath xij. men way ting on hym in a lyvery, beside his owne brother, which muste be rewarded specially beside his other servauntes ; and that I thinke to greate a trayne to come to small Houses withall. How moche he toke at every House I am not privey, but of fewe. And as for any licences that he gave sen he cam foorthe laste, he gave none but to th'abbot of Woborne, untill he might come to you and obteigne of you a licence to goo abrode. And in some things I suppose that he foloweth not your instructions. As where I toke that ye wold have all those, booth men and women, that were xxij. 358 ORIGINAL LETTERS. yere old, and betwene that and xxiiij. they shulde choyse whether they woll tarye or goo abrode. And he setts but religiouse men only at that libertie. Also he setteth a clause in his Injunctions that aU they that wiU, of what age so ever they be, maye goo abrode, which I harde not of your instructions. Of his doing hereafter, and of aU other things that I shall reken worthie th 'advertisement, I shaU adcer- tayne your Mastership of as I shall see cause, now that you commaunde me so to doo. And as for myn own dealing and behaviour, I truste ye shall here no juste cause of complainte against me. One thing humbUe desiring yor Mastership that ye geue no light credence tiU the matier be proved, and my defense hard. And if it had not been for troubling of you, I wolde have so declared unto you the circumstance of my first accu sation and th'occasion therof, that ye shulde have ben well persuaded that all the same proceded of a greate and a long conceyued maUce ageinst me, and of ne maner of trouthe, or worthie correction. And being so sodenlie taken, and you so long bifore incensed by the meanes of myne aduersaries, I was so abasshed that I had not those things in my remembraunce that war for my defense : and praye you moste humbUe to persuade yourself that, I havyng so many and so greate benefits at your hande, and hanging onlye upon your good successe, can not, but yf I were the moste vnnaturall person in the worlde, doo or suffer ORIGINAL LETTERS. 359 to be doon to my power any thing that myght be any impechement of your honor or worship, which I ' praye God evenso to preserve as I wolde myne owne liff. And thus Allmightie God have your Mastership in his blessed keping. From Wardon Abbeye, this xvj'b of October. Yor moste bounden servaunt JOHN AP RICE. To the right honorable and my singlar good maister, Mr Secretarie to the Kinges Highnes . LETTER CCXLVIII. John Hales, a servant who had been discharged by his Master, to Secretary Cromwell, praying to be taken into Cromwell's service. [ibid. 2 Ser. xvi. 5. Orig.] %,* Christopher Hales, Esq., the master of this servant, was the Attorney General who sued out the writ of premunire against Wol sey. He was appointed to that office in 1530, and resigned his patent, upon becoming Master of the Rolls, in 1537. Cromwell did not become the King's Secretary till the end of 1533. This Letter has therefore been placed amongst those of 1535. John Hales, somtyme seruaunt to Master Hales, the Kyngs Attorney, praieth God to preserve your Mastership in helthe and honor. Your Mastership may thynk me very rude to trouble you with my symple lettres, whose wisedom is so many waies occupied in the Kyngs affaires. 360 ORIGINAL LETTERS. Neverthelesse (myn instant cause tendred) I trust your godenes will not be offended. And wher (as your Mastership knoweth partly) I have served my foreseid Master by the space of ix. yeres and more, and have taken paynes bothe day and nyght to con tent and satisfye his mynd to my great bodyly hurt, and havyng no reasonable gayne or lucre under hym, nor other thyng to trust unto, in case my seid Mas ter shuld decease, or I shuld be visited with sicknes, as I have ben, to the no UteU cost of my parentis and frends, not havyng of my seid Master by aU the tyme of my sickenes the value of a myte ; wherfore in exchuyng of aU pareUs that myght ensue, in the Wednesday being the xxiij"1 day of September last past my seid Master beyng at the Monastery of Seynt Austens of Caunterbyry, I desired the Trea- saurer of the same Monastery (whom my seid Master favoureth and wUl here above all men) that foras moche as my Master preferred som men which he never knewe, and som men which never had deserved somoche of hym (as I had don) to dyvers sondry gode Uvyngs, and wold do nothyng for me, but dayly onerat me with more paynes without any maner of profett, and because that he thre or four tymes uppon displeasure taken for losyng of his doggs had seied and sworen that he wold remembre it, if he and I lived, which hitherto I hadd found very true, that it would pleace hym to be gode Master unto me ORIGINAL LETTERS. 361 and to geve me leave to depart with his gode wyll. Whereuppon in theseid Wednesday, after that he had dyned, I did onn his ridyng garnements and trussed his male, and was cariyng it to his horse, and he re voked me and seied, in the presence of theseid Trea saurer, theis words folowyng, 'Master Treasaurer sheweth me that thou woldest depart from me. Thy servyce is not so necessary but I can forbeare it, wherfore depart by and by.' And so I did, wher fore I come unto your Mastership desiryng thesame to admytt me into your servyce, because that if I shuld repaire for servyce unto any other of my seid Masters frends, or any other beyng in lasse authorite then he is, and shuld be received, my seid Master is of such nature and disposicion that he wold cause me to be forthwith put out, or els wold take displeasure with hym that reteyned me. In consideracion wherof if it wiU pleace your godenes to accept me into your seruyce, your Mastership shall bynd me to be your faithfuU and delegent seruaunt to the uttermost of my powre. To the right honorable Master Crumwell, Secretary to the Kings Highnesse. VOL. II. 362 ORIGINAL LETTERS. LETTER CCXLIX. Thomas Legh to Secretary Cromwell. The Monks of West Dereham, in Norfolk, anxious " to be deliver ed of their Religion." Denny Abbey, Cambridge. [ibid. xxii. 479. Orig-.] My dewty presupposyd, I recommend me hartely un to your good Mastership, thanckyng you for your manyfold benefyts and goodnes euermore shewid vn to me, certefying you that I intend with that expedi- tyon that maye be, accordyng to your confidens and trust conceyvyd in me, to constitute and make a new Abbot in the Monastery of Dereham, so that it maye please your Mastership to send me word whyther yt please you to preferre any frend of yours whom ye shall thyncke most mete or convenyent for suche a rome. Prayyng also your Mastership as my desyer was in my last Lettres, of farder knowlege of your intent and mynd as consernyng thes Relygious per sons whiche instantly, knelyng on ther knees, howld- yng up ther handys, desyre to be delyuered of suche relygyon as they ignorantly have taken ; or for lacke of age, havyng no dyscretyon, have ben, thorowgh fayre speches and flateryng intysyngs, yoked : sayyng also ther lyvyng after that maner ys ayenst ther con- scyens, and myght better please God and the world a brode : whom, after myn opynyon, wax- better to be ORIGINAL LETTERS. 363 at large and dymyssed from ther bondage then so vnrelygiously to remayne a yenst ther conscyens ; and chyefly in Denye Abby. Also the hole Uniuersyte off Cambryge be very joyfuU of your Injunctions, whiche saye that ther cam never vn to the Unyuersyte so lawdable, so good, and godly a purpose for the comon wel the of all the Stu dents ther in, savyng iij. or iiij. of the PharysaycaU Pharysys, from whom that blyndenes that ys rotyd in them ys impossybyU, or eUs very hard, to erady- cate and plucke awaye. Yet they saye they woU doo well. Thus Jhu preserve yor good Mastership. From Cambryge, the xxvij"1 daye of Octobre, Yor euer assureyd THOMAS LEGH. To the Right honorable Master Thomas Cromwell, Chief Secretary vn to the Kyngs Grace, and Master of his Rollys. LETTER CCL. Roland Lee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, to Se cretary Cromwell, respecting Money which he had laid out upon the repair of Ludlow Castle. [ibid. xxv. 1000. Orig.] V Roland Lee was the son of William Lee, of Morpeth, in Northumberland, treasurer of Berwick. His mother was Isabel, the daughter and heir of Sir Andrew TroUop, Knt. He was trained in academical learning at St. Nicholas's hostel, in Cambridge, where he afterwards took the degrees of bachelor and doctor of canon-law. R 2 364 ORIGINAL LETTERS. He was ordained priest in 1512. In 1522 he was admitted to the rectory of Ashdon, in Essex, at the presentation of the Prior and Convent of Lewes. In 1528 he was installed in the archdeaconry of Cornwall ; and in 1532, at the King's presentation for that turn, instituted to the vicarage of St. Sepulchre by Newgate. Lee seems to have been an early protege" of Cromwell. In one or two of his Letters which are extant, he thanks Cromwell for kindness done to his family; and from the following Note, addressed "to his loving frend Mr. Thomas Cromwell," it should seem that he was either employed in Wolsey's service, or was at least about the Cardinal at the time of his fall. " My lovyng frend, yesternyght last I came from my Lords Grace, who desyres you to send hym knowledge of your good speed con cernyng hys pardon, &c. He thinks long to here from you. Yours assuryd Rowland Lee."* In 1533 he joined Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn in marriage, for which service he was rewarded with the bishoprick of Lichfield and Coventry, to which he was consecrated April 19th, 1534, and received the temporalities on May the 8th following. In the next year he was made President of the Marches of Wales. In this, as well as in various succeeding Letters, much will be seen of the state of Wales and its neighbourhood at the time he ruled. Lee was the first who abridged the Welsh gentry of their long names. Wearied with their numberless aps, he ordered the last name only to be retained.1" His Letters indicate him to have been a man suited for any service. In one which is not printed in these volumes, he says, " Although the theves (as this berar can tell you) have hanged me by Imaginacion, yet I truste to be even with them shortely in very dede." He died at Shrewsbury Jan. 24th, 1543, and was buried there. * Stat. Pap. Off. Misc. Corresp. 2 Ser. xxi. 406. b Pennant, in his Tour in Wales, specifies the circumstances in his Account of Tremostyn. " Before I quit the House," he says, " I must take notice that Tho mas ap Richard ap Rowel ap Jevan Vychan, lord of Mostyn, and his brother Piers founder of the family of Trelaerc, were the first who abridged their name, and that on the following occasion. Rowland Lee, Bishop of Lichfield, and President of the Marches of Wales, in the reign of Henry VIII. sat at one of the Courts on a Welsh cause, and wearied with the quantity of Aps in the jury, directed that the panel should assume their last name, or that of their residence : and that Thomas ap Richard ap Howel ap Jevan Vychan should for the future be reduced to the poor dissyllable Mostyn, no doubt to the great mortification of many an antient line."— Tour in Wales, 8vo. edit i. p. 17. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 365 Herbert, in his Typographical Antiquities, vol. i. p. 433, mentions "Injunctions given by the Bishop of Coventry and Lychefelde, throughout his diocesse." 4to. 1538. Moste harty recommendacions and like thanks ffor your manyfolde gentlenes, and nowe of late ffor my Surveor, etc. Where at my laste being at the Courte, it pleased you of your goodenes, att my poor request, to move the Kings Highnes ffor a Warraunt of an hundreth pounds ffor the reparacions of the Castle of Ludlowe, which ye sent me directed to Sir Edward Crofte, Knight, receyvour of the Erledome of the Marche ; whereuppon, I entending none other then the accomplishment of my Masters pleasure, in- contynently boughte viij. foother of Leede, and the same have bestowed uppon the saide Castell, and ffarther repayred the same ffor this tyme as I truste it was not thies hundreth yeres, and so wolde have contynued if I might have had my money which at this tyme is nygh lxK. But Mr. Crofte sayeth, and so dothe the auditor, Mr. Turner, that ther ys as- signements of the hole receyts as to the Kings house holde, and the Lady Dowager. So that, before God, I am compeUed to borowe and paye the sayde money of myne owne : wherin if I have not your helpe I am att no lytle after dele. Wherfore I hartely praye you to directe your Lettres as weU to the sayde Sir Edwarde Crofte as to the Auditor aforsaide, to paye to me the saide C*;. And I truste I shall not only 366 ORIGINAL LETTERS. beware at a nother season, etc. but also for the same ymployed as your truste is in me. I truste my Lorde of Northfolke will reporte our diUgence here, with whoose Grrace I comuned at large, and tolde his Grace all that I wrote to you off concernyng theves in thiese parties. And att that tyme Geffrey Harley putt upp his suppUcacion to his Grace, who called Mr. Englefild and me, and bade us if he were a thief that he shuld be hangid, which is not onlike if grace come not ffrom you. I praye you comende Master Englefild incontynently after Christemas, ffor I per- seyve that then Mr. "Vernon muste be absent. And thus ffare ye aswell as I wolde my self. In haste, ffrom Ludlowe, the ixth daye of Novembre. It was tyme thyes reparacions were doyne, for I promisse you it whold a cost the Kyngs Grace fyve hundreth of hys pownds with in short tyme, or eUs aU a goyne to nowght, where in I trust I have doyne my part as zee shall by other that have seyne and waveyd the same. Yowrs most bownden, ROLAND CO. ET LICH. To my moste entierly beloved ffrende, Master Secretary. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 367 LETTER CCLI. Richard Layton to Secretary Cromwell, to provide some service for a kinsman of his, one Christopher Joy. [ibid, xx. 276.] *„* Richard Layton was one of Cromwell's most active commis sioners for the visitation and suppression of Religious Houses.' His character may be read in his Letters. His origin was humble. In one of his letters he says that, had it not been for Cromwell's pa tronage, he might have been " a basket bearer." How he obtained orders we are not told. He was collated to the sinecure rectory of Stepney by Stokesley Bishop of London, in 1522, and to the pre bend of Kentish Town in the Cathedral of St. Paul, under the same patronage, in 1523, In 1534 he became archdeacon of Bucks, and on July 27th in the same year was collated to the rectory of Harrow on the Hill in Middlesex, being then LL.D. ; and in 1539 was ad mitted to the prebend of Ulleskelf in the Church of York, prepara tory to holding the Deanery of that Church, which he received July 26th following. Wood says he was chaplain and counsellor to King Henry the Eighth, " and did much to please the unlimited desire of that King." In 1540 he was one of the Committee of Convocation appointed to investigate the circumstances of Henry the Eighth's marriage with Anne of Cleves. He died in 1544, possessed of every one of the preferments above enumerated. In a volume of Excerpts from the Register of the Dean and Chapter of York, MS. Harl. 6971, is a Memorandum dated 27th March 1544, that " Severall Jewells and plate appertaining to the Churche of York, pawnd by Rich. Laiton, late Dean, for a certain term of years, are now, by consent of the Prebends, ordered to be redeemed with money extracted out of the chest of Divident." If it may please your goodness to be advertissede that a kinsman of myne, callede Christofor Joy, hathe bene student in Fraunce and Flanders this xj. yerrs 368 ORIGINAL LETTERS. paste continewall, and writts and spekith bothe the langageis; naturaUy well lerned e in civil; sobre, dis crete, vara wyse, and a goodly gentilman ; haveyng to mayntayne hym xxxvj1'. yerly and a hundreth pownds in his purse, but nother father nor mother lyvyng, nor frende or acqwayntance in this worlde to helpe hym, but onely me, or to speke for hyme, in- tierly desyeryng to serve yowe above aU creaturrs lyvyng. I moste humbly beseche yowe to accepte and take hym unto your servyce. In casse your Mastershipe be oppressede with multitude of servants, that then hit wolde please yowe to put hym to the Kings servyce ; for surely a man of his qualities is not mete to serve any man within this realme but other your Mastershipe wiche can deserne and dayly hath to do with men of such sorte, or ells the King. Thus I am bolde to write unto yowe for my frende, trustyng more of your goodnes then of my desertts : Quia aequo animo accipies quicquid scripsero. And thus I pray Gode long to preserve yowe. This Saint Thomas day by your moste humble servant and poire preste, RICHARDE LAYTON. To the right honorable Mr. Thomas Cromwell, ChefFe Secretarie to the Kings Hignes. *»* Layton in a subsequent Letter solicits Cromwell to assist in obtaining for Joy " to be one of the Kings newe sperrs, which I here say the King admittetli dayly. He shall gyve yowe for youre ORIGINAL LETTERS. 369 paynes therein taken xl. pounds." Layton solicits at the same time for " the Chancellorship of Sarum " for himself. " For your travaile therein taken I shall gyve yowe an hundreth pownds." A Letter of Edward Lee, Archbishop of York, to Lord Cromwell, when Privy Seal, in the State Paper Office, dated from Cawood, 7th Oct. 1537, acquaints us with the preferment which was at last obtained by Joy. " In my late journey to preache in the West parts, I have from thens come to Rypon, and there have taken some ordre, wiche our Lorde contynewe. It was time, for oonlie Craggeley had the rule and ordre there, and the custodie of all the juells and stuff belonging to that Churche ; a man full of need, and hidreto not of so good qua lities as behove to bee in the governoure of suche a churche, albeit he now promysethe to amende, and so I trust he woll. " If your lordshippe wolde provyde some oodre lyvenge for oone Joye, wiche against th'ordinance of that Church is prebendarie there, beinge no preest, your lordshippe sholde have the prebende at youre comaundment. This Joye is the Kings servaunte, and kynsman to Dr. Layton." LETTER CCLII. Bishop Roland Lee to Cromwell. Has been at Pres- teyne. State of Wigmore and Radnor Castles. [ibid. 2 Ser. xxv. 963. Orig-.] Moste hartely I recommende me unto you, and certifye the same that I have receved your gentle Lettres by the Messenger, and according to the con tents therof I shall see every thing accomplished as shall apperteigne by Godd's grace. And ffarther advertising you that I have bene in Wales, at Pres- teyne, where I was right hartely welcomed with aU the honest of that parties, as Sir James Baskervile R 5 370 ORIGINAL LETTERS. and many other, without any speares or other ffashion as heretofore hath ben used, as at large this berer shall enforme you; which jorney was thought moche daungerouse to some, but, God wilUng, I entende after Easter to lye oone moneth at Presteyne, even emong the thickest of the theves, to doo my Master suche service as the strongest of them all shalbe affrayed to doo as to fore, God willing. And ffrom thens to Herforde, Monmouth, and Chepstowe, for this somer, which wilbe costely. Wherfore if the Kings Highnes wiU have this Countrey reformed, which is nygh at a poynte, his Grace may not stick to spende oone hundreth pounds more or lesse for the same. In my going and retorne to Ludlowe, I was at Wigmore, and vewed the Castill, and truly the Kings Highnes must neds repayre and helpe the same, which is in maner utterly decayed in logyngs, and aU for reparacyon in tyme. Yet the waUs be reasonably goode, and the leede therof wiU helpe, the tymber is at hande greate plenty. So, the Kings Graces plea sure knowen, ffor money, I shall see the same weU doon, if wee of this CounsaUe might have a wairaunt to bestowe suche money as we shuld gett to the .Kings Graces use uppon the same and other, then ye shall undrestonde our diligence, I truste, both ffor the Kings advauntage and his Grace's honour. Radnor Castell is not to be repayred, but only ORIGINAL LETTERS. 371 a prison house amended, which must neds be doon : ffor ther have ben loste no lesse by eviU keping then viij"1 theves, and have no place to kepe them. All may not be brought to Ludlowe, ffor many considera- cons which were to long to write. I suppose that xxfi. or xl." marks wolde make ther a goode prison, which is no greate some. Item, the Kings Grace hath here an Armorer att his coste and charge, and had delyvered to him certen harnesses, but no man here knoweth howe moche. Ther be also, in Sir Richard Herberts custodye, two hundreth harnesse lyeng roting, and he being now sicke, I sent to him to knowe the truthe ; and me thinketh hit were more mete they shulde be here with the Armorer to be kepte, who hath wages ffor the same, then ther with hym, who woll give a sclender accompte ffor the same. Ther be also, as I am credibly enformed, other harnesses at Thornebury, although I dowbte not they be well, yet yt is, after my symple mynde, con venyent they were together. Here be xl." or 1.'" Bowes, not a Bill, nor Goon, but oone great Goone, which my Lord Ferrers brought downe, nor goone powder nor stones. Here be certen sheves of Ar- rowes lefte, so that hit appereth a goone without powder or stones, shafts without bowes, Almayne Revetts without gorgetts, or apprones of mayle : if I shulde nede to doo my Master service I must goo 372 ORIGINAL LETTERS. seke hit of other; ffor here is not of his Grace's owne. But if it might stonde with his pleasure I thinke hit right necessary that this Castell shulde not thus be lefte. And that that his Highnes pleasure shalbe, to my litle witt and power shalbe accomplish ed. Wherin, and in every of thies, I beseche you to enforme his Gra'oe\tliat in tyme to come no faulte be layed to me in not relating the same to his Majestye. And in other things this berer, my trusty servaunt, shall enforme you of my mynde, to whom I hartely praye you to geve credence. And thus I comytt you to God, who sende you a mery Newe Yere to your harts comforte. From Ludlowe, the xxvj"1 daye of Decembre. Yowrs most bownden ROLAND CO. ET LICH. To my moste entierly beloved ffrende, Master Secretary. LETTER CCLIII. Archbishop Lee to King Henry VIII., still charged with being adverse to the King's title of " Supreme Head." [MS. COTTON. CLEOP. E. VI. fol. 234.* Orig-.] Please it your Highnes to vnderstonde that Doc tour Layton, at his and Doctoure Leghe his beeinge with me as your visitours, the xiij"1 of Januarie, sore ORIGINAL LETTERS. 373 and verie streictlie examyned me of certayne wordis, whiche bee pretended to bee spoken by me to the GeneraU Confessoure of Syon, or to some oodre sent to me from hym, viz. that I wolde stonde againste your title of Supreme Hed, as weU due, as yelded to youre Highnes by youre Highe Parliament and clergie, even to the deathe, if I thought that I might therin prevayle ; wiche wordis bee confessed and avowed by the sayde Confessoure, that odre I sholde speake them to hym, or to some oodre -cownsayleng with me from and for hym ; and this examination the saide Doctoure Layton purposed to me, as he sayde by th'autoritie and comawndement of your Highnes. Wherein, aftre most humble thanks prostrate geven to youre Highnes, that of youre accustomed naturall goodnes you first examyne me afore you condemne me, I avowe and assure youre Highnes in verbo sacer- dotis, and by that faiethe that I owe to God and you, I never spake with the saide Confessoure, ne sent anie cownsayle to hym, ne have received anye messinger from hym, or from anie in Syon for anie suche maters ; nodre towchinge youre style or title of Sup- preme Hed, ne in anie oodre maters cocernynge youre Highnes ; ne have had more or lesse to doo with hym, ne with any of Syon, neque per me ipsum neque per interpositam personam,, syns my fyrst comenge from London in to my Dyocese. This afore and in the sight of hym I avowe, that knowethe aU things, 374 ORIGINAL LETTERS. open and secreate, what cownsaile I have geven to them that have come to me for cownsell, they can reporte, iiij. Charterhouse Richemounte, Coven- trie, Hull and Mountgrace. To whome I have aU- wayes sayde, what cownsayle shaU I give you, but to doo as I have doone myself, and as manie oodre have doone, bothe greate lerned men and taken for good men; and that they myght not thinke, that suche men wolde doo, but that they myght avowe. And where ij. of them, the Pryours of HuU and Mount- grace, weere sore bent rathre to die, than to yelde to this youre roj'all style, the tone that is the Pryour of HuU, desieringe of me cownseU, I anonne turned from his stiffe opynion, and made hym yelde with thanks by utteraunce of the words above written with some oodre ; and for the toodre that is the Pryoure of Mountgrace I sent, and where at his comenge he desiered of me that he myght aUege suche things as moved hym, I herde hym a length and as he saide afore ij. or iij. of my chapeleignes, my brodre also beeing present, he was weU satisfied, and to confirme hym I shewed hym some things wherof he took note, and saide he wold doo his best to tourne some of his broderne, wiche were yet stiff, albeit nowe as I here recovered. And if Syon had sent to me for cown sell, they sholde have had the same cownsayle. For I doo not yet so litle sett by my poore honestie, ne anie so symple, as I trust your Highnes thinkethe, ORIGINAL LETTERS. 375 to vttre suche words that sholde implie that I had doone against my conscience, wich folowethe vpon the pretended words if I had spoken with them. But as I have sayde, they to whome I have given cown- sayle knowe well that I ever have counselled them to doo as I myself and oodre Bisshoppes have doone, and that in no wiese they sholde sticke. And I ame sure there is no man that woll reaporte, that I have geven anie oodre cownsayle, and I have declared to some of them that have doubted, that they myght with save conscience so doo, wiche thinge so beeinge, howe can it stonde that I shoulde declar that I wolde die for the contrarie parte, if I myght prevayle. It is more liekelie that to some of them whome I have fownde stiff, and pretendinge that they wolde or sholde rathre die than yelde, that I wolde saye, that as it is allowable to die for the trowthe, whan the cawse is good, and the grownde suere ; for it is folie to die, the cawse beeinge evell and the grownde un- suer. For that I have often sayde, that thees cawses bee no cawses to die for, not only my chapeleignes and youre Highnes trustie chapeleigne Mr. Magnus and oodre may bee witnes, but also my sayde chape leignes have herde me saye, that I marvailed that the late Bisshoppe of Rochestre was so stiffe to die in thees cawses w* ouzt good grownde, where as in oodre highe maters of the fayethe and errours against the same, he hathe dissimuled, and hathe not been content 376 ORIGINAL LETTERS. w' suche as have writen againste them, for the fa- voure whiche he bare to the partie in whos books they were fownde. In wiche cawse he sholde not onlie not have dissimuled ne have favored the partie, but rathre have died, than have suffred suche errours to growe, of whiche sorte there were diverse and sondrie in oone mannes books againste whome manie clercs in diverse Regions and some Universities have writen. Thees words and the oodre generallie have I spoken in the presence of sondrie parsonnes whiche bee farr discrepant from the words layde to me by the Confessoure of Syon, wiche in this behalf be- haveth not himself lieke a Confessoure. And if the saide Confessoure woll prove this thinge he must shewe what tyme, and where I spake thos words, or by whome he sent to me for cownsell. I never spake w' hym syns I came ouzt of Spayne ; he never axed me cownsell nodre by hymself ne by anie oodre in his dayes, ne anie of that house. And tooching the pretended words, odre thos words must bee spoken or this cownsell geven whyles I was in thos parts, or syns I came in to my Dyocese. Nowe for the first parte, all the while I was in the Southe, there was no suche mater toochinge your Highnes title of Suppreme Hed purposed8 to hym ne to anie Monasterie, ne whan I was last in the Sowthe, " proposed. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 377 by your Highnes comaundement anie suche thinge was moved to them, till the Statute was made, wiche was a wynter aftre, and so it is not lieke that he sholde cownsell with me for suche a mater, wiche at that tyme was not moved to hym, ne manie monethes aftre. And for the seconde parte, if he sent to me in to my Dyocese, than he must name and shewe the mes- singer, and liekelie it is that if he sent a messinger to me that he sent also lettres desierenge my cownsell, and than it is to bee supposed that I wolde answere hym by writenge, wiche he must shewe, but I knowe he can not. Orells he must hate answere by mowthe, and than a wiese man had neede to be messanger, whose name and qualities he must declare. I doubt not he can doo none of all thoos things. For with anie of Syon I never medled in thoos mateis, ne with anie oodre, but to whome I have geven playne cownsell to doo as I have doone ; and some I have exhorted and by raysons drawen to the same. And whan so ever I have preached of your Highnes title, or of anie oodre your Highnes maters, I have not barelie purposed the thinge, but have sett it forthe with scripture and oodre good grownds ; and that oodre maye doo the same, I have made and published some books, wiche your Highnes never comaunded me to doo, and therfore it is lieke that it proceded of my good will and assured opinion in the same. Your Highnes hathe somtyme fownde me not all 378 ORIGINAL LETTERS. applieng to your pleasure, not of frowarde will, but as my opinion was than, but therwith I trust your High nes hathe fownde me ever playne, and I trust God, that hathe governed me hidreto, woll give me his grace never to bee false or double to my Soveraigne Lorde, and my so gratiouse naturall Prynce. And so, most humblie prostrate, I beseche your Highnes to take me and not to conceive for this sur- myse anie displeasor againste me, wiche sholde bee to me dedlie discowmforte ; ne to have anie oodre opinion or suspition of me, ne to open your eares to any suche complaynts. For as I'have, so shall I ever, in worde and deede evermore declare my self yor Highnes true and faithfull subgiett, redie in all things to advaunce your Highnes pleasures and comaundements, God not offended, to whos continuall tuition, as I ame most bownde, I daylie commend your Highnes. From Cawod, the xiiij111 of Januarie, 1535. Yor Highnes most bownden prest and chape- leigne edouarde ebor. LETTER CCLIV. Abbot Whiting to Cromicell, offering the Parks of his Monastery to the King to course in. [stat. pap. off. Misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xiii. 62. Ortg-.l My veray goode Lorde, after due recommendacions unto your goode Lordeshippe. This is advertisinge ORIGINAL LETTERS. 379 youe thatt where I have, in the right of my Monas- terie, certen Parkes with game, alwayes att my mooste high and soverayngne Princes pleasure and comaundemente, in case his Grace shulde have course (att his will) in thies parties, and my frindes pleasure ; which game by dispoyle is moch decayed, as this bringer my ffrinde can full well declare, whom I hartely besech your good Lordeshippe credite. And in that your favor and remedie which may be by your goodnes hadde, ye shall bynde me gladly to requite the same as my litle power shall extende, wherof I shall nott faile, as knowith Jbu whoo ever preserve you in moch honor. Att my poore house of Sturmester Castell, the xxvj. day of January. Yor assured bedeman ric. Abbott off Glaston. To the right honorable Sr Thomas Lord Crumwell, Lorde Privey Seales goode Lordeshippe, be this dd. LETTER CCLV. Abbot Whiting to Cromwell, that he cannot let him have the Advowson of Bat combe in Somersetshire, it having been given away ; but sends him that of Netilton in North Wilts. [ibid. 2 Ser. xiii. 65.] My right singler good Lorde, after due commen- dac5ns, pleaseth you to be aduertised thatt I have 380 ORIGINAL LETTERS. received yowre gentle lettres dated the vjlh day of this moneth, purportinge th'empetracon of th'advou- sante of Batcombe in Somersetshire, together with an advousante redie writen, which ye desired to be graunted and sealed under owre Convente Seale. The truth, my veray e good Lorde, is thatt Mr. Doctor Tregonwell, (att his instaunte desire and contempla- con,) hath obteigned the same for a nygh frinde of his, thatt we cannot accomplishe youre desier therin ; nor almooste with any suche other thatt ar worth thanks. Butt my good Lorde wee have one parsonage lyinge farre from us in North Wiltishere, called Netilton, yett remaynyng in oure houses to gyve, th'advousant wherof wee have sente vnto youre Lorde shipp by this bringer. Trustinge moche, and neuer- theless hartely prayinge youe contently t'accepte the same, which we wolde were as goode as anye wee may yeve for youre pleasure, as knowith our Lorde God, whoo preserve youe in contynuaunce of lyf with moche hono1'. Att the rude house of Sturmester- castell, the Xth day of February. Yo' owne assured ric. Abbott off Glaston. To the right honorable Sr Thomas Cromwell, Knight, Lorde Cromwell's good Lorde shippe, be this dd. ORIGINAL LETTERS. 381 LETTER CCLYI. The Lord Lisle to Secretary Cromwell. The Sisters of the House of Religion at Calais desire to depart. [ibid. misc. corresp. 2 Ser. xxiv. 832. Orig.} *»* Calais had formerly various Houses of religion, but the only one of ancient date appears to have been the Nunnery of the Sisters of St. Dominic. Expilly, Dictionnaire Geogr. Hist, et Politique des Gaules et de la France, fol. Amst. 1764. torn. i. p. 35, says, " Les Filles de l'Ordre de Saint-Dominique sont etablie a Calais depuis long- temps. On pre'tend que six filles du celebre' Monastere de cet ordre, qui avoit e'te' fonde" a Terouenne, par Mahaut, femme de Robert Comte d'Artois et frere de Saint-Louis, vinrent apres la demolition de cette ville, se refugier a Calais ; qu'elles y ve"curent en commu- naute' sous le nom de ' Fiu.es devotes,' jusqu'en 1620 ; qu'en vertu de lettres-patentes elles furent revues en qualite" de ' Religieuses hospitalieres.' " The other Houses of Calais were all of very late foundation. The Minimes were established there in 1611 ; the Benedictines of the Observance in 1641 ; the Chambre de Pauvres in 1660. Right honorable, after moost hartie recommenda cons, this shalbe to advertise yow that divers of the Susters of the House of Religion without the Gates here will departe their wayes in to the cuntreys where they were borne, because they wilnot be obbedient to the Kings Acte. And I having knowlege that they will departe, have not only cawsid th'executors of Sir Hughe Conwey to take an Enventory of all the substaunce of stuffe within the same, but also com manding theym that they ner nether of theym departe 382 ORIGINAL LETTERS. from the same Howse untill tyme the Kings pleasor may be knowen for the same. And thoughe it is thought by me and the Kings Councell here, for as- moche as they be the mooste parte straungers they weer better be hense then here, yet unto suche tyme that I may be advertised from you of the Kings plea sor therin they shall still remayne. Beseching yow that I may be advertised therof as sone as you goodly may, and I shalnot ffaile, God willing, to se the same observed to the best of my power, as our: Lorde knowth, who preserve yow. Written at Callis, the xxiiij11 day of Marche. Yor owne to command ARTHUR LYSLE. To the right honorable Maister Crumwell, of the Kings Previe Councell, and his Princepall Secretary. END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. LONDON : Printed by S.