therof namely that One brother had wel helped another is woorde for woord stollen from thence for William whiche liued before Ealred reporteth that king Ethelstane by persuasion of one that was his cupbearer had banished Eadwine his owne brother for suspicion of treason and had committed him to the Seas and windes in an olde shaken and fraile vessel without saile oare or companion saue one Esquier only in whiche exile he perished and that afterward the King vnderstanding his brothers innocencie and sorowing his owne rashnesse tooke occasion by sight of his cupbearers foote slipping to be auenged of the false accusation euen as it is here tolde of King Edward But Ealred forsoothe was so fully disposed to magnifie King Edward bycause he so muche magnified the Monkishe and single life that he sticked not at greater matters then this affirming boldely that the same King while he hearde Masse at Westminster sawe betwéene the Priestes handes Christe blessing him with his fingers That at another Masse he sawe the seuen sleapers at Ephesus turne them selues on the one side after they had sleapt seuentie yeares together on the other which séeing it was within fiue yeares of so many as Epimenides sleapt Ealred in my phansie is worthy to haue the seconde game at the whetstone Furthermore that S. Iohn Baptist sent to King Edward a King of Golde from Ierusalem whiche he him selfe had sometime before giuen to a poore man that asked almes of him in the name of S. Iohn And suche other matters of like credite whiche bothe for the vanitie of the things them selues being méete to haue place in Philopseudes of Lucian and for the desire that I haue to kéepe order I will pretermit and returne to my purpose Richeborowe in Latine Vrbs Rutupina in Saxon ReptacHester the name being forged as I coniecture either of the Bryttishe woord Rwyd whiche signifieth a net in token that it stoode by fishing or of Rwydd whiche signifieth speede bycause from thence as some thinke is the moste shorte and speedy cutte ouer the Seas MAthew the Monke of Westminster Authour of the woorke called Flores Hystoriarum taketh the place whiche Beda Ptolome and others call Rutupi to be Sandwiche and therefore he applieth to the one whatsoeuer he findeth of the other but bicause Iohn Leland a man generally acquainted with the antiquities of the Realme affirmeth in his worke whiche hee intituled Syllabus in Genethliacon Eaduerdi Rutupi to haue been where Richeborowe now is to whiche opinion I rather incline I thinke good to giue them seuerall titles and to speake of Richeborowe by it selfe leauing to fit place for Sandwiche also suche matter as of right belongeth therevnto The whole shoare of Kent therefore that lyeth ouer against Dunkircke Calaice and Boloigne is of Caesar Iuuenal Lucan Ptolome Antoninus and others called Rutupiae or Rutupinum littus and that place of England whiche Beda taketh to be nearest to the Morines a people of Gallia Belgica whiche at this day comprehendeth Picardie Boloigne Artoys and some parte of the lowe countries is of Iohn Leland interpreted to be Richeborowe not paste halfe a myle distant from Sandwiche toward the East The same man also persuaded partly by the viewe of the place it selfe and partly by the authoritie of one Gotcelinus supposeth that Richeborow was of auncient time a Citie of some price and that it had within it a Palaice where King Ethelbert receiued Augustine As for the title of a Citie I doubt not but that if the ruines of the auncient walles yet extant or the remenants of the Romane coyne often found there did not at all inforce the likelyhoode yet the authoritie of Beda alone which calleth it plainly a citie would suffice But whether it were the Palaice of King Ethelbert when he entertained Augustine he that shall aduisedly read the first Chapter of Beda his first boke of the Ecclesiastical storie shall haue iust cause to doubt for asmuch as he sheweth manifestly that the King came from his Palaice in the Continent out of Thanet to Augustine Leland himselfe confesseth that Richeborow was then within Thanet although that since that time the water hath chaunged his course and shut it cleane out of the Island Now where some men as I said haue taken it to bée Sandwiche I take them to bee greatly deceaued For Richeborowe being corruptly so sounded for Reptsborowe hathe remayning in it the very rootes as I may speake it of Reptachester And Reptachester saith Beda and Rutupi Portus are all one So then Chester being tourned to Borow whiche be in deede two wordes but yet in manner of one signification and effect Rept and Riche haue ome affinitie the one with the other but neyther Riche Repta nor Rutupi can haue with Sandwiche any manner of similitude Thus muche of the name and antiquitie of this poore Towne whiche was in tyme of the olde Brytons of great price and the common Port or place of arriuall out of Fraunce whereof we finde no other note in latter hystorie either bicause the same was long since before the comming of the Saxons neglected when as the Romanes had lost their interest within this Realme Or else for that soone after their arriuall it decayed by reason that the water chaunged his course and lefte it dry So that nowe most aptly that may be sayde of this towne neare to the Isle Thanet whiche Virgil some time wrate of Tened it selfe Diues opum Priami dum regna manebant Nunc tantum sinus statio malè fida carinis A wealthy land while Priams state and kingdome vpright stoade But nowe a bay and harbour bad for ships to lye at roade But nowe I will make towarde Sandwiche the first of the Portes as my iourney lyeth and by the way speake somewhat of the Fiue Portes in generall The Cinque Portes I Finde in the booke of the general suruey of the realme whiche William the Conquerour caused to be made in the fourth yere of his reigne to be called Domesday bycause as Mathew Parise saieth it spared no man but iudged all men indifferently as the Lord in that great day wil doe that Douer Sandwiche and Rumney were in the time of King Edward the confessour discharged almoste of all maner of impositions and burdens whiche other towns dyd beare in consideration of suche seruice to bee done by them vpon the Sea as in their speciall titles shall hereafter appeare wherevpon although I might groūd by reasonable coniecture that the immunity of the hauē Townes which we nowe cal by a certaine number the Cinque Portes might take their beginning from the same Edward yet for as muche as I read in the Chartre of King Edward the first after the conquest whiche is reported in our booke of Entries A recitall of the grauntes of sundrie Kinges to the Fiue Portes the same reaching no higher then to William the Conquerour I will leaue my coniecture and leane to his
which was wont to be commonly said Vnicum Arbustum non alit duos Erythacos For in déede one whole Citie nay rather one whole Shyre and Countrie could hardly suffice the pride and ambitious auarice of such two Religious Synagogues The which as in all places they agréeed to enrich them selues by the spoyle of the Laitie So in no place they agréed one with another But eche séeking euerie where and by all wayes to aduaunce them selues they moued continuall and that moste fierâ— and deadly warre for landes priuileges reliques and suche like vaine worldly préeminences In so muche as he that will obserue it shall finde that vniuersally the Chronicles of their owne houses conteine for the moste parte nothing else but suing for exemptions procuring of reliques strugling for offices wrangling for consecrations pleading for landes and possessions For proofe wherof I might iustly alledge inumerable brawles stirred betwéen the Religious houses of this Citie wrastling sometime with the Kings sometime with the Archbishops oftentimes the one with the other â—l which be at large set forth by Thomas Spot the Chroniâ—ler of S. Augustins But for asmuch as I my self delighâ— litle in that kind of rehersal do think that other men for the more part of the wiser sort be sufficiently persuaded of these their follies I wil lightly passe theÌ„ ouer labor more â—argely in some other thing And bycause that the Monasâ—erie or Priorie of Christes Churche was of the more fame I will first begin with it After that Augustine the Monke whiche was sent from Rome had found suche fauour in the sight of King Ethelbert that he might fréely Preache the Gospell in his Countrie he chose for assembly and prayer an olde Churche in the East part of this Citie whiche was long time before builded by the Romanes and he made therof by licence of the King a Churche for himselfe and his successours dedicating the same to the name of our Sauiour Christ whereof it was called afterward Christes Churche After his death Laurence his successor brought Monkes into the house the head whereof was called a Pryor whiche woord howsoeuer it soundethe was in déede but the name of a second officer bicause the Bishop himselfe was accompted the very Abbat For in olde time the Bishops were for the moste part chosen out of suche Monasteries and therefore moste commonly had their Palaces adioyning and gouerned as Abbats there by meanes whereof it came to passe that suche Abbies were not only muche amplified in wealth and possessions but also by fauour of the Bishoppes their good Abbates ouerloked all their neere neighbours as hereafter in further course shall better appeare I finde not that any great coste was done vpâ—n this Churche till Lanfrancs dayes who not only buided it almoste wholy of newe and placed Benedictâ— Monkes therein the number of whiche hee aduaunced from thirtie to one hundreth and fourtie but also erected certaine Hospitals whiche hee endowed with one hundreth and fourtie poundes by yere and repaired the walles of the Citie it selfe And here by the way it is to be noted out of Mathewe Westminster that there were Monkes in this house euer since the time of Laurence the second Archebishop although some reporte that Elfricus was the first that expulsed the Seculer Priestes and brought the Monkes in place Not long after Lanfrancs time succéeded William Corboile during whose gouernment this lately aduaunced building was blasted with flame but he soone after reedified it of his owne purse and dedicated it with great pompe and solemnitie in the presence of the King and his Nobles After him followed Theobaldus whome Pope Innocent the second honoured with the title of Legatus natus and then commeth Thomas Becket the fift in order after Lanfranc by whose life death and burial the estimation of this Church was aduaunced beyond all reason measure and wonder For not withstanding that it had beene before that time honoured with the arme of S. Bartholmew a Relique that King Canutus gaue with the preseÌ„ce of Augustine that brought in Religion with the buriall of eight Kentishe Kings that succéeded Wightred and of a great number of Archebishops after the time of Cuthbert Likewise afterward with the famous asseÌ„bly at the homage done by the Scottishe King William to King Henrie the second and at the Coronation of King Iohn with the seueral Mariages also of King Henrie the third and King Edward the first and finally with the interrements of that Noble Edward called commonly the Blacke Prince of King Henrie the fourth yet the death of this one man not martyred as they feigne for the cause only and not the death maketh a Martyr but murdered in his Churche brought therevnto more accesse of estimation and reuerence then all that euer was done before or since For after his death by reason that the Pope had canonized his soule in Heauen and that Stephan Langton had made a Golden shrine for his body on earth and commaunded the Annuall day of his departure to bee kept solemne not only the Lay Common sort of people but Bishops Noble men and Princes as well of this Realme as of forreigne partes resorted on Pilgrimage to his tumbe flocked to his Iubile for remission In so muche that euery man offering according to his abilitie and thronging to see handle and kisse euen the vilest partes of his Reliques the Churche became so riche in Iewels and ornaments that it might compare with Midas or Craesus and so famous and renowmed euery piller resounding Saint Thomas his miracles praiers and pardons that now the name of Christ was cleane forgotten and the place was commonly called Saint Thomas Churche of Canterbury I passe ouer the stately buildings and monuments I meane Churches Chapels and Oratories raised to his name the lewde bookes of his lyfe and iestes written by foure sundrie persons to his praise The blasphemous Hymnes and collectes deuised by churchemen for his seruice and sundrie suche other thinges whiche as they were at the first inuenâ—â— to strike into the heades of all hearers and beholders more then wonderfull opinion of deuotion and holynes So now the trueth being tried out and the matter well and indifferently weighed they ought to worke with all men an vtter detestation both of his and all their hypocrisie and wickednesse For as touching himself to omitte that which truely might be spoken in dispraise of the former part of his lyfe and to beginne with the very matter it selfe whervpon his death ensued it is euident bothe by the testimonie of Mathewe Paris a very good Chronicler that liued vnder King Henrie the third and by the foure Pseudo Euangelistes themselues that wrote his Iestes that the chiâ—fe cause of the Kings displeasure towardes him grew vpon occasion that he opposed himself against his Prince Gods lawfull and Supreame minister on earth in maintenance of a moste vile and wicked murther The matter stoode thus Within a fewe of
can they not their sinnes nor so rowes all poore soules of shake Nor all contagious fleshly from them voides but must of neede Muche things congendred long by won derous meanes at last out spread Therefore they plagued beene and for their former faultes and sinnes Their sundrie paines they bide some highe in aire doe hang on pinnes Some fleeting bene in floodes and deepe in gulfes themselues they tyer Till sinnes away be washt or clen sed cleane with purging syer Eche one of vs our paenance here abide that sent we bee To Paradise at last wee fewe these fieldes of ioye do see Till compasse long of time by per fect course hathe purged quite Our former cloddred spots and pure hathe left our Ghostly Sprite And senses pure of soule and sim ple sparkes of heauenly light Nowe therefore if this Bishops Poetrie may be allowed for diuinitie me thinketh that with great reason I may intreate that not onely this woorke of Virgils Aeneides But Homers Iliades Ouides Fastes Lucians Dialogues also may be made Canonicall for these al excell in suche kinde of fiction Tong Castle or rather Thong Castle in Saxon þƿangceastse in Brittish Caerkerry of Thwang and Karry both whiche woords signifie a Thong of leather THe Brittish Chronicle discoursing the inuitation arriuall interteinment of Hengist and Horsa the Saxon captaines mentioneth that among other deuises practised for their owne establishmēt and securitie they begged of King Vortiger so muche land to fortifie vpon as the hyde of a beast cut into thonges might incompasse and that thereof the place should bee called Thongraster or Thwangraster after suche a like manner as Dido long since beguiling Hiarbas the King of Lybia builded the Castle Byrsa conteining twentie and two furlonges in circuit of whiche Virgil spake saying Mercatique solum facti de nomine Byrsam Taurino possint quantum circundare tergo c. They bought the soile Byrsa it cald when first they did beginne As muche as with a Bul hide cut they could inclose within But Saxo Grammaticus applieth this Act to the time of the Danes affirming that one Iuarus a Dane obteined by this kinde of policie at the handes of Etheldred the Brother of Alfred to build a fort And as these men agrée not vpon the builder so is there variance betwéen writtē storie cōmon spéeche touching the true place of the building for it should seem by Galfrid Hector Boctius Ric Cirencester the it was at Doncaster in the North Countrie bicause they lay it in Lindsey whiche now is extended no further thē to the North part of Lincolne shyre But common opinion conceaued vpon report receaued of the elders by tradition chalengeth it to Tong Castle in this Shyre Wherevnto if a man do adde that both the first planting and the chief abiding of Hengist and Horsa was in Kent and adioyne thereto the authoritie of Mathewe of Westminster which writeth plainly that Aurelius Ambrose the captaine of the Britons prouoked Hengist to battaile at Tong in Kent he shall haue cause neither to falsifie the one opinion lightly nor to faithe the other vnaduisedly And as for mine owne opinion of Doncaster which is taken to be the same that Ptolome calleth Camulodunum I thinke verely that it was named of the water Done whereon it standethe and not of Thong as some faine it Whiche deriuation whether it be not lesse violent and yet no lesse reasonable then the other I dare refer to any resonable and indifferent Reader To this place therefore of right belongeth the storie of King Vortigers Wassailing whiche I haue already exemplified in the generall discourse of the auncient estate of this Countrie and for that cause do thinke it more méete to referre you thither then here to repeate it Tenham in Saxon TynHam that is to say a Towne or Hamlet often houses as Eightam had the name of EaHtHam a Hamlet or Towne of eight dwellings AT Tenham was long since a mansion house pertaining to the Sée of Canterbury where in the time of King Iohn Hubert the Archebishop departed this life as Mathewe Parise reporteth who addeth also that when the King had intelligence of his death he brast foorth into great ioy and sayde that he was neuer a King in deede before that houre It séemeth that he thought him selfe deliuered of a shrewe but litle forsawe he that a shrewder shoulde succéede in the roome for if he had he woulde rather haue prayed for the continuaunce of his life then ioyed in the vnderstanding of his deathe For after this Hubert followed Stephan Langton who brought vpon King Iohn suche a tempestious Sea of sorowfull trouble that it caused him to make shipwracke bothe of his honour crowne and life also The storie hath appeared at large in Douer before and therfore needeth not nowe eftsoones to be repeated Shepey in Latine Insula ouium Oninia in Saxon Sceapige the I le of Sheepe SExburga the wife of Ercombert a King of Kent folowing the ensample of Eanswide the daughter of King Ethelbald erected a Monastery of women in the I le of Shepey called Minster whiche in the late Iust and generall suppression was founde to be of the yerely value of an hundreth and twentie pounds This house and the whole Ile was scourged by the Danes whome I may well call as Attila the leader of the like people called him self Flagellum Dei the whip or flaile of God thrée times within the space of twentie yeares and a litle more Firste by thirtie and fiue sayle of them that arriued there and spoyled it Secondly and thirdly by the armies of them that wintered their ships within it Besides all whiche harmes the followers of the Earle Godwine and his sonnes in the time of their proscription landed at Shepey and harried it It shoulde séeme by the dedication of the name that this Ilande was long since greatly estéemed eyther for the number of the Shéepe or for the finenesse of the fléese although auncient foreigne writers ascribe not muche to any parte of all Englande and muche lesse to this place eyther for the one respect or for the other But whether the Shéepe of this Realme were in price before the comming of the Saxons or no they be nowe God be thanked therefore worthy of great estimation bothe for the excéeding finenesse of the fléese whiche passeth all other in Europe at this daye and is to be cōpared with the auncient delicate wooll of Tarentum or the Golden Fleese of Colchos it selfe and for the aboundant store of flockes so incresing euery where that not only this litle Isle whiche we haue nowe in hande but the whole realme also might rightly be called Shepey Quinborowe called in Latine Regius Burgus in Saxon CyningburH That is to say The Kings Castle AT the West ende of Shepey lyeth Quinborowe Castle the occasion of the first building whereof was this King Edward the third determining aboute the thirtéenth yeare of his reigne to
reigne of King Henrie the first the King him self and a great many of the Nobilitie and Bishops being there present and assembled for the consecration as they call it of the great Churche of Sainct Andrewes the whiche was euen then newly finished And it was againe in manner wholy consumed with flame about the latter ende of the reigne of King Henrie the seconde at whiche time that newely builded Churche was sore blasted also But after all these calamities this Citie was well repaired ditched about in the reigne of King Henrie the third As touchinge the castle at Rochester although I finde not in wryting any other foundation therof then that which I alledged before recon to be mere fabulous yet dare I affirme that ther was an old Castle aboue eight hundreth yeres agoe in so much as I read that Ecgbert a king of Kent gaue certeine landes within the walles of Rochester castle to Eardulfe then Bishop of that See And I coniecture that Odo the bastard brother to king William the Conqueror whiche was at the first Bishop of Borieux in Normandie and then afterwarde aduaunced to the office of the chiefe Iustice of Englande and to the honour of the Earledome of Kent was eyther the first authour or the best benefactour to that which now standeth in sight and herevnto I am drawne somewhat by the consideration of the time it selfe in whiche many Castles were raysed to kéepe the people in awe and somewhat by the regarde of his authoritie whiche had the charge of this whole Shyre but most of all for that I reade that about the time of the Conquest the Bishop of Rochester receiued lande at Ailesford in exchaunge for grounde to builde a Castle at Rochester vpon Not long after whiche time when as William Rufus our Englishe Pyrrhus or Readhead had stepped betwéene his elder brother Robert and the crowne of this realme and had giuen experiment of a fierce and vnbridled gouernment the Nobilitie desirous to make a chaunge arose in armes againste him and stirred his brother to make inuasion And to the ende that the King shoulde haue at once many yrons as the saying is in the fire to attende vpon some moued warre in one corner of the Realme and some in another But amongst the reste this Odo betooke him to his castle of Rochester accompanied with the best both of the English and the Norman nobilitie This whē the king vnderstood he sollicited his subiects specially the inhabitants of this country by al faire meanes and promises to assist him so gathering a great armie besieged the Castle and strengthened the Bishop and his complices the defendants in suche wise that in the ende he and his company were contented to abiure the Realme and to leade the rest of their life in Normandie And thus Odo that many yeres before had béene as it were a Viceroy and second person within this realme was now depriued of al his dignitie driuē to kéepe residence vpon his benefice till suche time as Earle Robert for whose cause he had incurred this daūger pitying the cause appointed him gouernour of Normandie his owne countrie After this the Castle was much amended by Gundulphus the Bishop who in consideration of a Manor giuen to his Sée by King Williā Rufus bestowed thrée score poundes in building that great Towre whiche yet standeth And from that time this Castle continued as I iudge in the possession of the Prince vntill King Henrie the first by the aduice of his Barons graunted to William the Archebishop of Canterburie and his successours the custodie and office of Constable ouer the same with frée libertie to builde a Towre for him selfe in any part therof at his pleasure By meanes of which cost done vpon it at that time the Castle at Rochester was muche in the eye of suche as were the authors of troubles folowing within the realme so that from time to time it had a parte almost in euery Tragedie For what time King Iohn had warre with his Barons they gotte the possession of this Castle and cōmitted the defence therof to a noble man called William Dalbinet whome the king immediatly besieged through the cowardise of Robert Fitz Walter that was sent to rescue it after thrée monethes labour compelled him to render the péece The next yere after Lewes the Frenche Dolphine by the ayde of the Englishe Nobilitie entered the same Castle and tooke it by force And lastly in the reigne of King Henrie the thirde Simon Mountford not long before the battaile at Lewes in Sussex girded the citie of Rochester about with a mightie siege and setting on fire the wooden bridge a Towre of timber that stoode thereon wanne the firste gate or warde of the Castle by assaulte and spoyled the Churche and Abbay But being manfully resisted seuen dayes together by the Earle Warren that was within and hearing soudainly of the Kings comming thitherwarde he prepared to méete him in person and lefte others to continue the siege all whiche were soone after put to flight by the kings armie This warre as I haue partly shewed before was specially moued against strangers whiche during that kings reigne bare suche a sway as some write that they not onely disdayned the naturall borne Nobilitie of the Realme But did also what in them lay to abolishe the auncient lawes and customes of the same In déede the fire of that displeasure was long in kindeling therfore so much the more furious when it brast foorth into flame But amongst other things that ministred nourishment therto this was not the least that vpon a time it chaunced a Torneament to be at Rochester in which the English men of a set purpose as it should séeme sorted them selues against the strangers and so ouermatched them that following the victory they made them with great shame to fly into the Towne for couert But I dwel to long I feare in these two parts I will therefore nowe visite the Religious building and so passe ouer the bridge to some other place The foundation of the Churche of S. Andrewes in Rochester was first layd by King Ethelbert as we haue touched before at suche time as he planted the Bishops chaire in the Citie and it was occupyed by Chanons till the dayes of Gundulphus the Bishop who bycause he was a Monke and had hearde that it was sometimes stored with Monkes made meanes to Lanfranc the Archebishop and by his ayde and authoritie both builded the Churche and Pryorie of newe threwe out the Chanons and once more brought Monkes into their place following therein the example that many other Cathedrall Churches of that time had shewed before And this is the very cause that William of Malmesburie ascribeth to Lanfranc the whole thanke of all that matter for in déede bothe he and Anselme his successour were wonderfully busied in placing Monks and in diuorcing Chanons and Secular Priests from their wiues the whiche in contempte
the first yeares of King Henrie the seconds Reigne the Clergie of the Realme had committed aboue a hundreth seuerall murthers vpon his subiectes as it was infourmed him for remedie of whiche outrage the King by assent of his Nobilitie and Bishops of whiche number Thomas Becket himself was one tooke order at Claredowne that if any Clerke from thencefoorth committed felonie or treason he should first be degraded and afterward deliuered to the Lay power there to receaue as to his offence belonged Not long after it chaunced one Philip Broic a Chanon of Bedford to be apprehended for murther and to be brought before the temporal iustice where he not only shewed no remorse of the wicked fact but also in hope of Ecclesiasticall exemption gaue very euill language to the Iudge the Iudge complained therof to the King the Chanon belike made meanes to the Archebishop For the King no sooner endeuoured to put his Lawe in execution but the Archebishop bothe forgetfull of hâ—s duetie to God and his Prince and vnmindefull of his owne oth set him selfe against it affirming plainly that he neither could ne would suffer it Hereupon the Prince waxed wrothe and by litle and litle his indignation so kindeled by matter that the obstinacie of the Bishop daily ministred that in the end it was to hote for Becket to abide it Then speedeth he himself to Rome and poureth into the Holy Fathers bosome complaint of moste grieuous oppression extended against the Clergie The Popes Holynesse sory to discourage so good a Souldiour as the Bishop was and withal lothe to loose so mightie a friend as King Henrie was by letters and Legates praieth commaundethe persuadethe and threatneth reconciliation and attonement whiche after great a doe by the meanes of the Frenche King and other his instruments was in a sort brought to passe Then Thomas Becket retourneth with the Kings fauour into the Realme from whence he had six yeares before departed without licence and therefore without or rather against Lawe and immediately séeketh to reuenge himself vpon suche the Bishops as had in his absence assisted the king Whiche when the King being then in Normandie vnderstoode it chaunced him in greate griefe of minde to caste out some woordes that gaue occasion and hardines to Reginald Bere William Tracy Hughe Moruill Richard Bryton foure of his Gentlemen to addresse themselues for his reuenge These foure therefore passed the Seas came to Canterbury found out the Bishop followed him into his Churchâ— and vpon the Staires of the same did him very cruelty and dispitefully to deathe This shortly is the chiefe substance and circumstance of all this Tragedie drawne out of our owne Countriemen and Thomas his fauourers howsoeuer otherwise Erasmus led by some sinister information hathe reported it as shall hereafter appeare in Otford Wherein as I can not on the one side allowe this murther executed not by any publique Minister of Iustice but by a priuate and iniurious arme So on the other side I report me to al indifferent Godly Readers whether suche a lyfe deserued not suche a death and whether these Popishe Parasites that haue painted foorth his prayses make not themselues thereby parteners of all his pride and wilfull rebellion I might here rest long vpon diuerse other thinges concerning the King and this Archebishop namely how that he suffered the King to holde his stirup twise in one day in Normandie but in Prato Proditorum as Mathewe Parise very pretely writeth it Howe the King came with bare and bléeding féete to Canterbury to purge himselfe of the murther Howe he bared his body to the Monkes of this house and receaued of euery Religious Person there foure or fiue stripes in whiche selfe yeare by the way their whole churche was consumed with fire and some other matters besides which make manifestly for the proofe of great presumption in the Clergie and of vile abiection of the Princes of those dayes But bicause that I am fearefull that I growe to long I will leaue Saint Thomas him selfe and after a fewe woordes more of this Churche step ouer to Saint Augustines After Thomas this Church found thrée especiall mainteiners of the building William Courtney which by his Testament bequeathed one thousand Markes towards the amendment of the bodie of the Church the walles and the Cloister Thomas Arundel which erected one of the Bell Towers gaue fiue Belles and Christened them after the Popish manner And Henrie Chicheley who both repaired the librarie with books and building and did great cost vpon one of the Bell Towers also Nowe to Saint Augustines Augustine hauing thus established a Sée for him selfe and his successours obteined further of King Ethelbert for the better furtherance of the seruice that he had in hand a Churche that then stoode betwéene the walles of the Citie and S. Martines wherein the King himselfe vsed before to make his prayers and offer sacrifice to his Idoles This Church he purged from Prophane abuse name as they say and dedicated it to the seruice of God and to the honour of Saint Pancrace Neither ceassed he thus but shortly after intreated the same King to build a Monasterie in the soyle adioyning whiche he also appointed to the honour of Saint Peter and Saint Paule and placed Monkes therein This Monasterie in memorie of his benefite lost the first name and was euer after called Saint Augustines Nowe whereas the true meaning bothe of the King and Augustine was that this Church for so much as bothe then and long after it was not their manner to burie their dead within the walles of any Citie a thing forbidden of olde by the law of the twelue tables should be from thencefoorth a common Sepulchre to all their successours as well in the Kingdome as in the Archebishopricke yet suche was the fauour of the Bishops folowing Augustine towards their own church that in the processe of time Saint Augustines was defrauded of the Sepultures bothe of the one the other For in Brightwaldes dayes the buriall of the Kings was taken from it and Cuthbert the Archebishop in his life begged of King Eadbert that for the aduauncement of Sainct Iohns a newe Churche that he had erected for that purpose and for the execution of iudgements by the Ordale and whiche was afterwarde fired with the flame of Christes Churche wherevnto it was neare adioyning the Bishops also might from thencefoorth be buryed there And for the more suretie to attaine that his desire he tooke order in his life by othe of all his Couent that they shoulde suffer his corps to lye thrée dayes in the grounde after his death before any Bell shoulde be rong or other open solemnitie vsed that might notifie his departure to the Monkes of S. Augustines Onely Ieanbright the fourtéenth Bishop whom other copies cal Lambright was conueyed to the grounde at Sainct Augustines by this occasion After the death of Bregwine the Archebishop this Ieanbright then being Abbat of