Stigand being displaced in manner aboue rehearsed the conquerour well knowing how much it behooued him to the establishment of his new erected throne in England to haue a man wise and faithfull in that place made a speciall choice of him as one in all respects most fit and woorthy which being well knowne to all men the Couent at the kings first nomination readily chose him the nobilitie and courtiers willingly assented and receaued him with great applause and lastly the Pope affoorded him his pall with extraordinary fauour It is said at his first comming the Pope rose vp vnto him and mette him telling him he yeelded him that honour not of dutie but in regard of his excellent learning whereof he had heard great fame Thomas Archbishop of Yorke was present the same time together with ãâã Bishop of Dorchester This Thomas had béene lately consecrated vnto Yorke by Lanfrank and for a certaine time refused to make profession of obedience vnto the See of Canterbury euen vntill by the commandement of the king he was inforced thereunto Now whether it were discontentment and perswasion of a wrong or else enuie at Lanfranks either vertue or good fortune that mooued him hée presently began to make complaint vnto the Pope of a great miury offered vnto his Sée in the demaund of his profession Lanfrank pleaded prescription for his right and offred to make proofe of the same The Pope therefore not willing to trouble himselfe any more with the matter committed the hearing thereof vnto the king who in the yéere 1072. iudged it for Canterbury Sée more of this quarrell in Thomas of Yorke Lanfrank himselfe was consecrated very solemnly at Canterbury all the Bishops in England being present themselues or by their proctors August 29. 1070. Almost 18. yeres he continued Archbishop gouerning his charge laudably and happily till that about the end of his time one action obscured his former praises and furthermore was the cause of many great calamities vnto him It is thought that William the Conqueror left the kingdome of England vnto his yoonger sonne William Rufus at the perswasion especially of this Archbishop who the rather wisht well vnto the yoong prince because he had béene brought vp vnder him in his childhood He is blamed much for putting the eldest sonne Robert from that which might séeme in some sort due vnto him and surely God blessed him not in that action The king thus aduanced by him fel out with him and droue him out of the realme The cause of this displeasure is diuersly reported But most men agree it was none other then this that the king thought him a little too busie in exhorting him to vertue and godlinesse and reprehending his manifold vices Being thus banished he trauatled to Rome and wandred vp and downe many countries till at last by what intercession I finde not he was suffred to come home againe Soone after his return he fell sicke of an ague and so ended his daies Iune 4. 1088. or as Houeden hath May 24. 1089. He was buried at Canterbury in his owne church vnto which he was a great benefactor He bestowed much vpon the fabrike and reparation of the same built much housing for the monkes whose number he increased from 30. to 140. restored the dignities and offices of old belonging to the monastery and recouered vnto the same 25. Mannors that had béene taken from it wrongfully in times past by Odo Bishop of Bayon and earle of Rent Moreouer he built the Archbishops pallace at Canterbury in a manner all he founded two hospitals without the citie of Canterbury and endowed them with competent reuenewes Saint Iohns and Harbaldown He bestowed large mony toward the building of the cathedrall Church of Rochester or rather indéed built it all and did much the particulars I cannot set downe for the abbey of Saint Albons He was a great student writ many learned works and which deserueth especiall remembrance tooke great paines in reforming the Bible the copies whereof were much corrupted throughout England by the negligence of the writers 34. Anselm FOwer yéeres the Sée continued void after the death of Lanfranke and the king pursed the profits thereof In what good moode I knowe not he which was woont to sell all other ecclesiastical promotions as it were by the drum bestowed this Archbishopricke fréely vpon a most woorthy man Anselm abbot of Becco This Anselm was borne at Augusta a city of Burgundy standing at the foot of the Alpes His fathers name was Gundulfe a man of great account in his country and his mothers Hemeberg He came vnto Becco of the like errand as Lanfranke had done mooued thereunto by the great fame of the said Lanfranke and professed himselfe a monke there in the 27. yéere of his age Lanfranke being called away to Cane he was made Prior and soone after Abbot Eluyn the old Abbot being dead In that place he continued 15. yéeres and then was earnestly requested by Hugh Earle of Chester lying very sicke to come into England vnto him to conferre with him and to order certaine affairesof his Hither he came and had much honour done him euery where of all forts of people The king himselfe amongst the rest beside many verball fauours made offer vnto him of the Archbishopricke of Canterbury verily hoping belike that a man giuen to monasticall contemplation and not estéeming worldly pompe would vndoubtedly haue refused the same For it is certaine that after Anselm had accepted the offer pitying belike the spoile and desolation of the church for want of a pastor the king would faine haue retracted his gift and perswaded him with many reasons to leaue it shewing him how the burthen and trouble of the place was greater then he should be able to inoure a man that had spent his time within the wals of a monastery and not experienced in managing of great affaires But he lost his labour Anselm kept fast his hold and was soone after consecrated by Walkelm Bishop of Winchester or as I finde also recorded by Thomas Archbishop of Yorke Decemb. 4. 1093. all the Bishops of the land that could possibly come being present at that solemnity Presently after his consecration the king and he fel out Not long before the king had throwen downe thirty churches to make his new forest néere Winchester This ãâã reprehended him sharply for and besought him to amend that and other faults as namely his simony his extortion his cruelty c. wherein he daily offended God gréeuously and greatly dishonoured himselfe This admonition of his displeased the king very much but his quarrell in shew was none other then this that asking leaue to go to Rome to fetch his pall he had named Vrban Pope whom the king as yet had not acknowledged for Pope and for so doing accused him of no lesse then high treason After great stirre and much adoe betwéene them about this matter it was determined that all the abbots and Bishops of England should be
this order that if any cathedrall Church continued voide aboue sixe monethes it should be lawfull for the Archbishop to conferre it where he list as well as any smaller benefice The procuring of this order cost him a great sum of mony Yet no sooner was his backe turned but the Pope at the kings request reuoked the same Being thus continually vexed thwarted and disgraced he departed into voluntary exile and there bewailing the misery of his countrey spoyled and wasted by the tyranny of the Pope spent the rest of his life in continuall teares Through extreme gréefe and sorrow or as some thinke too much ãâã he fell first into a consumption and after into a strange kinde of ague Whereupon he thought good to remooue from the Abbey of Pontiniac in Fraunce where he had laien euer since his comming out of England vnto Soissy and there departed this life Nouember 16. 1236. eight yéeres after his first consecration His hart and entrailes were buried at Soissy his body at Pontiniac Within sixe yéeres after his death he was Canonised a Saint by Innocentius who appointed the foresaid day of his death for euer to be kept holy in memory of him Lewes the French king caused his body to be translated to a more honorable place then it was first laid in and bestowed a sumptuous shryne vpon him couered with golde and siluer and richly adorned with many precious stones 46. Boniface THe monks of Canterbury at the instance of the king elected vnto the Archbishopricke Boniface the sonne of Peter Earle of Sauoy and vncle vnto the Quéene a man not greatly to be commended for any thing but the nobility of his stocke and the comelinesse of his person For in other respects he was thought vtterly vnfit and vnwoorthy of that place The king therefore doubting least the Pope would reiect him caused in a manner all the Bishops and Abbots of England to write their letters commendatory in his behalfe and so sent him to Lyons where he quickly obtained consecration at the Popes owne hands At his first entrance into this Sée he found the same indebted by the ouerlashing of his predecessors to the value of 22. thousand marks which he tooke for an occasion of both absenting himselfe from his charge and also of raking money togither by all kinde of meanes Departing therefore into his owne country by felling of woods making leases and other such like meanes he made an infinite deale of money promising to imploy the same and whatsoeuer he could saue by liuing priuately at home in the payment of his churches debt By the same pretence also he induced the Pope to graunt him in Commendam the Bishopricke of Ualentia in Prouence and diuers other spirituall promotions But he gaue himselfe to warring and spent all he could make in hyring of soldiers When therefore notwithstanding all these helpes the debt was neuer the lesse he was glad by bribing the Pope with a great summe of money to procure of him a graunt of the profite of all spirituall preferments that should be void within his prouince for the space of seuen yéeres The king a while spurned at this graunt but in the end halfe for feare of the Pope of whom he stood in great awe and partly by sute and intercession he ratified and allowed of the same Hauing béene many yéeres absent he returned into England the yéere 1250. and tooke vpon him to visite all his Prouince in some extraordinarie manner All men knew it was rather to make mony then for any desire of reformation and that caused it to be taken the more odiously He began first with his owne Dioces which he so hampered with straight vnreasonable orders such as he knew men would rather buy out then endure to obserue that euery one said the monks of Canterbury were ãâã iustly rewarded for their folly in electing an vnlearned stranger that was more fit and likely to make a souldier then an Archbishop a great deale Comming then to London he tooke a small occasion to deface the Bishop there with ãâã and reprochfull spéeches and being resisted by the Deane and Chapter of Paules who had appealed from his ãâã to the Pope he made no more adoo but excommunicated them euery one Going the next day about the same businesse to the Priory of Saint Bartholomewes in Smythfield he was met very honorably by the Subprior and all the Conent in their coapes Telling them by and by he came to visite them one of the company answered him reuerently he was very welcome vnto them but they were sory he came for that purpose wherein they must disappoint him They knew their Bishop whose onely office it was to be a very sufficient man for his place and so long they must not entertaine the ãâã of any other This answere though gentle inough so enraged this lusty Archbishop as not being able to containe his anger within any bounds of discretion he ranne violently not to him that had spoken but to the Sub-prior that was next him strucke the poore old man downe to the ground kicked him beate and buffeted him pitifully tore his coape from his backe rent it into a number of péeces and when he had done stamped vpon it like a madde man In this conflict it hapned the Archbishop to stumble and fal backward by meanes whereof his apparell loosening in any perceaued a priuy coate vnder the same His seruitors and attendants taking example of their Lord gaue much like intertainment to the rest of the monks as he had giuen to the Sub-prior By this time the Londoners were vp and taking the matter very ãâã in the behalfe of their Bishop whom this iniury did originally concerne laid such wait for the Archbishop as with much adoo he stole secretly to the Thames side and was conueied by a wherry prouided for him to Lambhith If they could ãâã met with him they had surely hewen him into 1000. péeces He was no sooner come home but he thundred out his excommunications against not onely the whole Couent of Saint Bartholomew but the Bishop of London also as a fauourer of theirs They all agreeing togither determined to send the Deane of Paules a graue and wise man to Rome and by the letters of certaine Bishops they knew the Pope would credite to aduertise him of this strange disorder The Archbishop vnderstanding heereof followed thither apace and entred Rome with great pompe nothing ãâã but the King and Quéenes letters which he had brought his nobility and great linage or if all failed his purse should beare him out in this matter well inough But vnderstanding how odiously it was taken by all that heard it how hardly the Pope was informed against him he fell to intreatie of his aduersaries the Deane of Paules and the rest whom partly by faire promises and partly by threates at last he subdued and made them content to stay their complaint That matter being so ended he dealt earnestly with the
was buried betwéene the two pillers next vnto the stéeple on the north side of the body of the church vnder a marble stone ouer which was built a kinde of tombe or chappell of wood that by the burning of the stéeple was also consumed and quight defaced June 4. 1561. 75. Cuthbert Tonstall CVthbert Tonstall Doctor of Lawe Master of the Rolles and kéeper of the priuy Seale succéeded Richard Fitz-Iames in the Bishopricke of London and was translated to Durham March 25. 1530. Sée more of him in Durham 76. Iohn Stokesley IOhn Stokesley was inthronized July 19. 1530. and departed this life September 8. 1539. He lieth buried in the Lady Chappell vnder a marble inlaid with brasse 77. Edmund Boner EEmund Boner Doctor of Law and Archdeacon of Leycester sometimes Master of the Cardinals faculties had the Bishopricke of Hereford bestowed vpon him at what time he was out of the realme Embassador vnto the Pope from king Henry the eight for renouncing his authority here in England Soone after his returne hauing yet scarcely entred vpon Hereford he was called to London elected October 20. 1539. and installed Aprill 3. 1540. How butcherly he behaued himselfe in that place I referre you vnto the report of Master Foxe He was depriued October 1. 1549. restored by Quéene Mary August 5. 1553. and lastly displaced againe by authority of Parliament May 30. 1559. He died in the Marshalsea September 5. 1569. 78. Nicolas Ridley AFter the first displacing of Bishop Boner Nicholas Ridley Bishop of Rochester was translated to London and installed there Aprill 12. 1550. He was a gentleman of an ancient house borne in the Bishopricke of Durham brought vp in Pembrooke Hall in Cambridge where he proceeded Doctor of Diuinity consecrate Bishop of Rochester September 25. 1547. remooued to London as before is mentioned and lastly died for the constant profession of his faith October 16. 1555. the historie whereof and his whole life ye may read in Master Foxe more at large 79. Edmund Grindall BIshop Boner being the second time depriued Edmund Grindall was elected July 26. following consecrate December 1. 1559. translated to Yorke May 20. 1570. and after to Canterbury Sée more of him in Canterbury 80. Edwyn Sands EDwyn Sands Bishop of Worcester was confirmed Bishop of London July 13. 1570. He sate there about the space of sixe yeeres and was translated to Yorke Sée more in Yorke 81. Iohn Elmer IOhn Elmer Doctor of Diuinity and Archdeacon of Lincolne succéeded He sate almost eightéen yéeres died at Fulham June 3. 1594 and was buried toward the North side of the East part of the church aboue the high altar 82. Richard Fletcher THe Sée of Bristow hauing béene void many yéeres Richard Fletcher Doctor of Diuinity Deane of Peterborough and one of her Maiesties chaplaines was consecrate thereunto in December 1589. translated thence to Worcester in February 1593. and in the ende of the yéere 1594. to London He died suddenly in his house at London being to sée to well sicke and dead in one quarter of an hower June 15. 1596. and was buried in his owne Cathedrall church 83. Richard Bancroft RIchard Bancroft Doctor of Diuinity was consecrate the eight of May 1597. This Bishopricke is valued in the Queenes bookes at 1119 l. 8 s. 4 d. and yeelded the Pope from euery Bishop at his first entrance 3000. florens The Bishops of Winchester THE Cathedrall Church of Winchester according to a report that I finde was first built and erected by King Lucius who abolishing Paganisike embraced Christ the first yere of his raigne being the yéere of our Lord 180. and placing monks in the same alotted for their mainteynance large reuenewes which heretofore had belonged for the most part vnto the Flamines and other heathen priests This Church as the same Author saith was hallowed and dedicated vnto the honor of our Sauiour October 29. 189. by Faganus and Damianus Bishops About the space of 100. yéeres the Church of Christ had peace in this land viz. vntill the raigne of Dioclesian who endeuouring to roote out Christian Religion not onely killed the professors of the same but also pulled downe all Churches and Temples any where consecrate vnto the exercise thereof Amongst the rest this of Winchester at that time went to wracke the buildings thereof being ruinated and made euen with the ground and the monkes and all the officers belonging vnto it either slaine or enforced to fly for the present time and yet afterward to deny Christ. This happened Ann. 289. Not long after the death of this cruell tyrant to wit the yeere 309. it was againe reedified and that with such woonderfull for wardnesse and zeale as within one yeere and thirty daies both it and all the edifices belonging vnto it as chambers and other buildings for the monkes and officers were quite finished in very séemely and conuenient manner The 15. day of March following it was againe hallowed and dedicated vnto the honor and memory of Amphibalus that had suffred death for Christ in the late persecution by Constans Bish as my Author saith of Winchester at the request of Deadatus Abbot of this new erected Monastery 200. yéers and vpward it then continued in the same state to wit vntill the yéere 319. at which time Cerdick the first king of the West Saxons being a Pagan conuerted the Church into the temple of Dagon slew chased away all the monks and ministers of the same Thus much for the first foundation of this Church and the estate of the ãâã vntill the comming of the Saxons Now let vs procéede vnto the discourse of the Bishops whose faries and succession after this time had neuer any notable interruption or discontinuance 1. Birnius THe Prouince or kingdome of the Gewisses or West Saxons containing the West part of England was goucrned along time by one Bishop that was called the Bishop of the West Saxons This Countrey after the Saxons inuaded the same receiued first the faith of Christ in the time of King Kinigilsus by the preaching of Byroius the first Bishop who being a very zealous and deuout man obtained leaue of Honorus the Pope of Rome to aduenture himselfe in preaching Christ vnto Infidels And his promise was to trauaile vnto the most Sauage and Barbarous people in the furthermost part of this I le that amongst them he might sowe the séedes of the Gospell whereupon he was consecrated Bishop by Asterius then Bishop of Genoa But comming thither and finding the countrey of the Gewisses where he first arriued to be altogether Pagans and without any knowledge of Christianity he determined to go no farther to séeke that which euen there he had already met withall It pleased God so to blesse his labours that in a short time not onely great numbers of the common people and many of the nobles but euen Kingilsus the king himselfe beléeued in Christ and tooke on them the badge and cognisance of Christianity by Baptisme Oswald the king of
of his funerals but also the building of his toombe Chappell and all did also see toombe and Chappell destroyed and the bones of the Bishop that built them turned out of the lead in which they were interred Concerning this man many other Bishops of this Church if any desire to vnderstand more I must referre them to a discourse heretofore written by me in Latin of them which is in many mens hands though neuer published 40. Richard Foxe Soone after the death of Bishop Stillington Richard Foxe Bishop of Exceter was appointed his successor and so continuing for thrée yéeres was translated first to Durham and after to Winchester Sée Winchester 41. Oliuer King OLiuer King Doctor of Law and principall Secretary to the king became Bishop of Exceter the yéere 1492. and succeeding him in this Church as well as Exceter was translated hither Nouember 6. 1495. He pulling downe the old Church of the Abbey of Bathe began the foundation of a faire and sumptuous building but at the time of his death left it very vnperfect His successor bestowed some cost on it and William Bird the last Prior there endeuouring what he might by him selfe other to see it finished had euen brought it to perfection when the dissolution of the Abbey had almost ouerthrowen what before was set vp It is great pitty that some good man or other whom God hath enabled vndertaketh not the finishing of it a worke then which I thinke nothings is to be performed with so little cost that were more likely to be pleasing to Almighty God acceptable vnto men memorable with all ãâã This man sate Bishop eight yéeres and is thought to lye buried at Windsor in a little Chappell vpon the South side of the Quier ouer against which place vpon the enterclose of the Quier I find written vnder the pictures of king Henry the sixt and his sonne king Edward the fourth and Henry the seuenth this that followeth Orate pro domino Olmero King iuris professore ac illustri Edwardi primogeniti Henry Sexti ãâã Regum Edw. quarti Edw. quinti Henr. 7. principali Secretario ãâã ordinis Garterij Registrario huius Sancti Collegij Canonicqanno Dom. 1489. postea per dictum illustrillimum Regein Henry 7. ann 1492. ad sedem Exon. commendato 42. Hadrian de Castello POpe Innocent the eight hearing of a certaine dangerous ãâã raised vp against Iames the third king of Scots thought good to send into Scotland one Hadrian de Castello as a man for his wisedome and other good parts likely to appease those ãâã Being at London he was certified of the king of Scots death whom his own subiects had ãâã in battell So resting him selfe a while there he grew into acquaintance with Iohn Moorton the Archbishop of Canterbury He much delighted with his learning and discreete cariage commended him so effectually vnto the king Henry the seuenth as he thought good to ãâã ãâã his Proctor for the dispatch of all his causes at Rome In that place he behaued him selfe so as the King at ãâã in ãâã of his paines and fidelity was ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã vnto the Bishopricke of ãâã ãâã the yeere 1503. and then the yeere following of this See Pope Alexander the sixt in the meane time a little before his translation hither had made him Cardinall Here he continued 12. yeeres vntill that the yeere 1518. he was depriued of this and all other promotions vpon this occasion A Cardinall of Rome called Alfonso Petruccio consptred with certaine other Cardinals the death of Pope Leo 10. Amongst them this our Hadrian was content to make one mooued thereunto as P. Iouius affirmeth not by any grudge or priuate displeasure but onely by an ambitious ãâã that surely he should be Pope ãâã were once dead A certaine witch or wise woman as we call them hauing heretofore foretold him very strangely diuers things that had happened to him selfe other of his friends tooke vpon her to assure him that after the death of Pope Leo it should come to passe that a certaine old man named Hadrian borne of meane parentage preferred onely for his learning wisedome and other good parts should be aduaunced vnto the Papacy These particularities Hadrian was perswaded could agree to none other but him selfe For he being borne at Corneto a poore fisher towne of Hetruria of meane or rather very base parentage onely by vertue and good deserts rose by many degrees vnto the preferments before mentioned The witches prediction fell out true but in an other For Hadrian a Dutchman the sonne of a Erelver of Utright that had beene schoolemaster to Charles the fift ãâã fell out to be the man that succeeded Leo by the name of ãâã the sixt What became of this Hadrian afterward or when he died I find not 43. Thomas Woolsey VPon the depriuation of Hadrian Cardinall Woolsey held this Bishopricke in Commendam fower yéeres euen till that resigning it he tooke Durham Sée more of this man in Yorke 44. Iohn Clerke IOhn Clarke Doctor of Diuinity and Master of the ãâã was consecrate the yéere 1523. A man much emploied ãâã embassages He died in the end of the yeere 1540. being poisoned as it was supposed in Germany when he went Embassadour to the Duke of Clyue to render a reason of the ãâã diuorce from the Lady Anne of Cleue his sister He is ãâã in the Mineries at London 45. William Knight VVIlliam Knight Doctor of Lawe and Archdeacon of Richmund a man likewise much emploied in embassages by king Henry the eight sate sixe yéeres died September 29. 1547. and was buried vnder the great Pulpit which he caused to be built for his toombe In the ãâã place of Welles there is a goodly crosse erected partly by this man as this inscription engrauen witnesseth Ad honorem ãâã omnipotentis commodom pauperum mercatum Welliae freqnentantium impensis Gulielmi Knight Episcopi Richardi Wooleman huius ecclesiae Cathedralis olim Decani hic locus erectus est Laus Deo pax viuis requies defunctis Amen Ann. Dom. 1542. 46. William Barlowe VVIlliam Barlowe Doctor of Diuinity sometimes ãâã Chanon of Saint Osythes hauing béene Bishop of Saint Dauids the space of tenne yéeres or there abouts was translated hether to succéede Bishop Knight and continued here all the daies of R. Edward In the beginning of Queene Mary he was forced to leaue his countrey Bishopricke and all to liue exiled in Germany vntill that by her death the most happy aduauncement of our now Soueraigne he was at once restored to his Countrey and preferred to the Bishoppricke of Chichester There he liued about the space of tenne yeeres and dying the yéere 1569. was buried in his owne Church 47. Gilbert Bourne BIshop Barlow being forced to forsake his Bishopricke here Gilbert Bourne Doctor of Diuinity was appointed thereunto by Queene Mary The nonage of that good king Edward the sixt giuing opportunity to those horrible sacrileges that
they that is he was not a monke Hauing béene Archbishop 20. yéeres he died the yéere 1023. and was buried at Ely 22. Alfricus Puttoc ONe Leoffius then obtayned Worceter Alfricus Puttoc ãâã of Winchester being made Archbishop of Yorke He was very angry with Worceter men for not admitting him to that Sée also which thrée of his predecessors had held in Commendam before him And in reuenge of this repulse caused Hardeknute the king with whom he could do much At a time when they had béen somwhat backwards in payments to be made vnto him to fire that goodly city He is blamed also for another barbarous part of the same king that caused the dead body of his owne brother Harold to be digged vp beheaded then cast into the Thames This they say was done by Alfricus the Archbishops councell He bestowed much money vpon the colledge of Beuerley first in a new sumptuous shrine for the body of Saint Iohn his predecessor and then in purchasing lands to increase the reuenewes thereof viz. some at Milton other at ãâã and againe at ãâã He died at Southwell the yéere 1051. and was buried at Peterborough 23. Kinsius AChaplaine of king Edward the Confessor one Kinsius succeeded Alfrike He built very much at Beuerley to wit the Hall the Church and diuers other edisices gaue many bookes and ornaments to Shyrestone and other churches of his Dioces sate 10. yéeres died at Yorke 1059. December 22. and was buried at Peterborough where he had sometimes lined a monke 24. Aldredus THe Sée of Yorke falling void by the death of Kinsius Aldredus that being first a Monke of Winchester then Abbot of Tauestock was consecrate Bishop of Worceter the yeere 1046. making his way by money and bribes liberally bestowed amongst Courtiers found a meanes to ãâã and abuse the simplicity of king Edward the Confessor and by alleadging the example of his predecessors that had held Worceter in commendam with Yorke obtained licence of him to hold them both wherein so holy a man as ãâã Edward me thinkes should haue beene more precise Hauing preuailed thus farre he went to Rome for his pall together with the Earle ãâã brother to the Quéene Giso after Bishop of Welles and Walter of Hereford The Pope at that time was Nic. the second a great enimy to simony which in this age began to grow very rise Whether he had heard somwhat of Aldredes bribing in obtaining this preferment or whether he fisht it out by strict examination which is deliuered he not onely refused to establish him in his Archbishopricke but also depriued him of the Bishopricke he had before Homewards they came together in one company but with diuers affections Gilo and Walter ioyfull for the honor newly done vnto them for being found men not onely learned ãâã of good conuersation and not culpable of any corruption They were consecrate at Rome with all fauor and honor that might be ãâã the Earle peasiue for his friend whose bribes he had receiued to the others ouerthrow and lastly Aldred almost desperate for so great a calamity as was fallen vpon him Sée the power of Almighty God that not onely raiseth as it were in a moment from the bottome of misery vnto the toppe of happinesse But also doth it by such meanes oftentimes as we thinke more likely to cast vs down farther then to relieue vs any thing at all This iolly company trauailing from Rome toward the Alpes by the way were encountred with a company of good fellowes in a happy hower for Aldred that spoyled them of all they had about them leauing them neither horse nor money nor any thing money worth but their apparrell So there was no remedy but backe to Rome they must againe to furnish them a new for their iourney There Tosti with open mouth exclaimed against the Pope saying there was no reason that farre remote nations should sogreatly stand in awe of his excoÌmunications which théeues and robbers cared not a halfpenny for but contemned openly and derided euen vnder his derided that amongst poore Priests he would play Rex but let rebellious varlets doo what they list If by his meanes quoth he our goods be not restored to vs againe let him giue vs leaue to say that by his fault and misgouernment we haue lost them and we hope that our King will haue such consideration of vs as in the end this iniury if he heare of it shall prooue a greater losse to the Pope then to vs. For my part I will not faile to certifie him of the truth and to ãâã him daily for recompence which out of the tribute the Pope hath of England will soone be made And except he ãâã it better why he should haue any at all I see not Partly by meanes of these threats partly in commiseration and pitie partly by importunity of suite Aldred at last obtained his Archbishopricke had his pall giuen him vpon condition that he should leaue Worceter Into which Sée at his returne he wrought ãâã but hampered him so as heretained almost all the commodity to himselfe leauing Wulstan only 12. mannors to maintaine his state In defence of which dealing he alledged that the lands possessions of the Archbishopricke were so wasted and spoyled by the Danes and other in the time of Wulfere as since that they yéelded little or no profit It could not be altogether true For Alfrike and Kinsius as before you heard built and purchased much hauing no commendam at all This Aldred likewise built much A Hall for the Cannons to dine in together at Yorke and another at Southwell At Beuerley the Hall begun by his predecessors left vnperfect he finished the Presbytery there he raised froÌ the very foundation as also a goodly church at Glocester euen the same which is now the Cathedrall Church This likewise is commended in him that whereas the Cleargy of those times were very vndecently appareled nothing differing from Lay men he brought all the ministery of his prouince to an vniforme and séemely kinde of habit Not many yéeres after his returne king Edward the Confessor died and Harold inuading the dignity royall no way ãâã vnto him was crowned by Aldred Wallian the Conqueror also refusing to receiue the Crowne at Stigands hands whom he called the vsurper of Canterbury desired him to performe that solemnity which he did requiring first an oath of him to defend the Church minister iustice and amongst other things to vse English men as fauorably as Normans This oath it séemed vnto Aldred the king had broken and therefore like a couragious Prelate he stucke not to thunder out an excommunication against him saying that now worthily he had cursed whom once vnworthily he had blessed This bold pranke being reported vnto the king incensed him very much at first but thinking better of it he determined to giue faire words a while and so sent some to entreat for his absolution These messengers came too late for the
the kings inclination followed euer that course which he saw him willing to haue taken and aduanced earnestly that part whereunto the king inclined without respect vnto the matter otherwise Agame whereas the rest of the Counsell called oft vpon the the king to acquaint himselfe with matters of state by resorting to the Counsell and affoording his presence at their deliberations he would aduise him to follow his pleasures let Counsell matters alone to him assuring him that at night he should heare as much of him in one quarter of an houre as if he had been present all day at those tedious wearisome consultations By this trick he won himselfe such authority with the king as he did euen what he list a long time No maruell now if what preferment soeuer fell stood at his refusall The Bishopricke of Tourney in France which city the king had lately taken falling voide ãâã was elected thereunto Within lesse then one yéere after fell first Lincolne whereunto he was preferred the yeere 1514. and then immediately after Yorke which also was presently bestowed vpon him Following the streame still of this good fortune and thinking it best to take his time he procured the Pope to make him first his legate a Latere and soone after viz. the yeere 1515 Cardinall He handled the matter also in such sort with the king as he was content to discharge the Archbishop of Canterbury from the office of Chauncellor and bestowed it vpon him Then as though the Archbishopricke of Yorke and Chauncellorship of England were not sufficient for maintenance of a Cardinall he tooke also vnto him the Bishopricke of Bathe the yéere 1518 holding it and the abbey of Saint Albons with diuers other ãâã liuings in CommeÌdam Fower yéeres and seuen monethes he held Bathe and then resigned it to take Durham Durham also he lastly gaue ouer the yéere 1529. in exchange for Winchester Now yow sée him at the highest It was impossible this greatnesse should be able to beare his owne burthen Presently after his acceptation of Winchester he began to fall and fell so fast as ãâã death had not happily staid him he had quickly fallen ãâã much to much lesse then nothing The king vpon a displeasure how iust God knoweth discharged him sodainly ãâã the office of Chauncellor His goods were all seased to ãâã kings vse and himselfe ready to be attaint by parliament had not Thomas Cromwell after Earle of Essex then his seruant taken great paines in defending him When that ãâã succéeded not he was charged to haue fallen into a Premunire by exercising his power Legantine without the kings licence Hereunto he answered that he had authority thereunto front the king vnder his broad seale as it was well ynough knowen he could prooue though that amongst the rest of his writings were now in the hands of his enemies But quoth he I will neuer stand vpon that point Whatsoeuer I haue I haue it from the king if it be his pleasure to haue me in a Premunire let it be so I must and will be at his mercie Almost halfe a yéere he liued néere London in great penurie one while at Asher a house belonging to the Bishopricke of Winchester and an other while at Richmond the which house the king had lately giuen him in exchange for Hampton court All which time he had scarce a cuppe ãâã drinke in or a bed to lie in but what was ãâã him for ãâã mooueables and houshold stuffe of inestimable valew were all taken away to the kings vse At last he was sent downe into Yorkeshire and there liued all a sommer in reasonable good sort About the beginning of Nouember that yéere which was 1530. the Earle of Northumberland ãâã him of high treason and tooke order to haue him brought ãâã to London but he fell sicke by the way and died in the ãâã of Leicester as it should séeme of a ãâã whereunto a continuall feauer was ioyned When he had béene sicke the space of 8. daies he died Nouember 29. 1530. hauing beene Archbishop 15. yeeres and being within a 4. moneths of 60. yéeres of age His last words are said to be these If I had serued ãâã as diligently as I haue done the king he would not haue giuen me ouer in my gray haires but this is the iust ãâã that I must receiue for the paines and study that I haue had to do him seruice not regarding my seruice to God but onely to satisfie his pleasure In his flourishing time he began the building of two most stately colledges one at Ipswich the other at Oxford and it is great pittie he finished them not Had they beene perfected I thinke they woulde haue béene two of the ãâã monuments of the world And surely it were a woonder that any priuate man should take two such péeces of worke in hand at one time whereof any one might seeme a great matter for a prince to finish had not his receits beene infinite and his helpes otherwise very great I thinke verily and am able to yéeld good reason of my ãâã that if one man had now in his hands the reuenues of all the Bishopricks and ãâã also in England his rents ãâã not arise to so high a reconing as the yeerely receits of this Cardinall Yet was it not his owne purse that gaue him courage to so great an enterprise for his bounty was such as he could not but spend all he receiued The number of his seruants daily attending in his house were well néere ãâã hundred of which there were one Earle nine Lords a great number of Knights and ãâã I reckon not all this while his seruants seruants which it is though grew to a far greater number He obtayned leaue of the Pope to dissolue forty small monasteries the spoile whereof furnished him principally for the building of his colledges but opened a gap withall to king Henry to destroy all the rest as soone after he did The lands he had prouided for his colledge in Oxford though confiscate by his ãâã the king was content to leaue ãâã that colledge or at least wise other for them and became the founder thereof calling it Collegium ãâã ex ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Who so desireth to know more of this great and famous Cardinall let him haue recourse vnto master Stowes Annales of England where his whole life and actions are largely described And I ãâã myselfe beholding to him amongst many other helpes for the greatest part of this discourse which I haue much ãâã gathered thence and would gladly haue inserted the whole but that it very much ãâã my determined proportion To make an end this our Cardinal was buried in the Abbey of Lecester where he died in the body of the church before the quier doore 58. Edward Lee. THe Sée hauing bene void by the death of Cardinall Woolsey almost one yeere the king preferred vnto the same Edward Lee his Almoner a great Antagonist of Erasmus He was well learned but
called Lindisfarne now Holy Island where he and diuers of his successors much deale lead their liues He was Bishop seuenteene yéeres during which time he neglected no duety of a good Pastor trauelling vp and downe the countrey euen on foote to preach the Gospel giuing whatsoeuer he could get vnto the poore and by the example of his owne abstinency chastity ãâã and all manner of Episcopall vertues instructing aswell as by word and doctrine He departed this life nt August 31. an 651. for griefe as it is to be thought of the death of king Oswald that was traiterously slaine 12. daies before Beda maketh report of diuers miracles to be done by him which who so desireth to read shal find them and many things more concerning him Eccl. hist. lib. 3. c. 3. 5. 1415. 16. and 17. 2. Finan FIunanus sent likewise thither out of Scotland was Bishop of ãâã after ãâã the space of ten yéeres He first built a church for his Sée in the Island all of timber and couered it with réede He had much to doe with one Conan and other about the obseruation of Easter which they would haue had him to celebrate according to the manner of the church of Rome He would not be induced by any meanes to any alteration 3. Coleman HIs successor Coleman a Scot also was no lesse obstinate in the same matter After many priuate conflicts the yéere 664. this controuersie was discust in a solemne disputation before the king and all his nobles who adiudged the victorie vnto his aduersaries The ãâ¦ã tation is set downe at large by Beda lib. 3 cap. 25. ãâ¦ã induring the disgrace of this foyle ãâ¦ã ricke and returned into Scotland againe 4. Tuda AMongst diuers that came out of Scotland with Coleman this Tuda was one who hauing ãâã ãâã of his ãâã for the place by diligent preaching and vertuous behauiour vnder Coleman vpon his departure was chosen to succéede him He was content to reforme the obseruation of ãâã and to yeelde to some other things which had béene stood much vpon controuerted betwéene the Scots and Saxons Hauing béene Bishop ãâã one whole yéere he died of the plague anno 665. 5. Eata MAny of the Scots that came with Coleman returning with him the rest chose Eata for their Abbot and ãâã at Mailros which place king Oswyn gaue vnto them at the request of Coleman This Eata after the death of Tuda was chosen Bishop both of ãâã and ãâã and gouerned them iointly the space of 3. yeeres After the ende of which terme he gaue ouer ãâã vnto one Tumbert But Tumbert being deposed by a Synod gathered at a place called Twiford Cutbert was elected vnto his See of Hagustald Eata then perceiuing that Cutbert had rather be at ãâã tooke on him once more the gouernment of ãâã and resigned ãâã vnto Cutbert 6. S. Cutbert THis Cutbert is said to be descended of the blood royall of the kings of Ireland being sonne of one ãâã and Sabina his wife that was daughter vnto a king ãâã He was brought vp in the Abbey of ãâã first vnder his predecessor Eata and afterwards vnder ãâã that succéeded Eata there After the death of Boisill he was made Abbot of that Monasterie which he ruled with great care and sinceritie And not content to looke vnto those onely the gouernment of whom was especially committed vnto him He vsed often to trauell into the countrie neere adioyning ãâã on horsebacke sometimes on foote preaching diligently the word of God instructing the ignorant in the way of life and sharpely reprehending vice where he saw cause And his manner was to frequent especially the most rude and barbarous places to which he thought no body else would resort least the people there being altogether neglected might perish for want of their spirituall foode He was a very personable man well spoken and so mightie in perswading as none that euer he delt withall was able to withstand the force of his words Hauing continued this manner of life at Mailros many yéeres at the importunate request of his old master Eata he was content to leaue the place and to liue once more vnder him at Lindisfarne But affecting much an Eremiticall and solitarie life he refused to liue with the rest of the monks and seated himselfe in the Island of Farne a desert place 9 miles within the sea hauing in it neither house nor water Yet there he made a shift to liue labouring with his owne hands till he was chosen Bishop A great while he refused obstinately to forsake his solitarie life euen vntill the king himself comming ouer vnto him partly by force partly by entreatie iuduced him thereunto So with much adoo he accepted consecration at last and receaued the same at Yorke vpon Easter day at the hande of Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury 6. other Bishops assisting him the yeere 684. in the presence of king Egfride and many of his nobles After he had beene Bishop two yeeres he would needes resigne and returned to his Island againe where seene after he ended his life The day of his departure to wit March 20. is consecrate vnto his memory He was first buried at ãâã but afterwards remooued to Durham as hereafter shal be declared The myracles that are ascribed vnto him and many other things not vnwoorthy the reading you shall find in the latter end of the 4. Booke of Beda his Ecclesiasticall history 7. Eadbertus ONe yéere after the resignation of Saint Cutbert the church of Lindisfarne was without a Bishop Edbert was then chosen to succeed him He couered his Cathedrall church with lead not onely the roofe which before was thatched with réede but the walles also He sate tenne yéeres and dying May the 6. 698. was buried beside or rather vnder Saint Cutbert his predecessor whose body the monkes had now placed in a shyrne aboue the pauement of the church After Edbert followed in order successiuely these 8. Edferth or Edfride that liued in Beda his time 9. Ethelwood who died the yéere 738. 10. Kenulfus he died 781. 11. Higbald HIgbald sate twelue yéeres and died an 803. In his time the Danes often spoyled the Church and monastery of Lindisfarne so as the Bishop and monkes were faine to forsake it Taking therefore the body of Saint Cutbert with them they determined to seate themselues in Ireland but being often driuen backe by tempest so as attempting diuers times to crosse the seas they could neuer land there they gaue ouer that enterprise and rested themselues sometime in one place sometime in an other during the time of all these Bishops 12. Egbert 13. Egfredus he died an 845. 14. Eaubert he died an 854. 15. Eardulf 16. Cuthard he died an 915. 17. Tilred he died an 927. 18. Withred 19. ãâã 20. ãâã 21. Aldred he died an 968. 22. Alfsius he died an 990. 23. Aldhunus or Aldiuinus ABout the yéere of grace 990. this ãâã was consecrate Bishop The yeere 995. or nere thereabout
slaughter was committed May 14. 1080. The monkes of Yarrow came and fetched away the Bishops body which they found ãâã naked and coulde hardly know it for the multitude of woundes they caried it to their monastery from whence it was ãâã to Durham and there buried on the south side of the chapterhouse but secretly for feare of the ãâã that ãâã vp and downe the towne and once assaulted the castell when they could not preuaile there they dispersed themselues and for the most part came to euill and vnhappie endes The king in the meane time hearing of this tumult sent his brother Odo Bishop of Bayon with many of his nobles and a great armie to take punishment of this murther which while they sought to reuenge they brought the whole countrey to desolation Those that were guiltie preuented the danger toward them by ãâã so as ãâã of them could be taken Of the rest that staied at home some were vniustly executed and the rest compelled to raunsome themselues to their vtter impouerishing and vndooing This Odo tooke away from the church of Durham at that time certaine ornaments of great value amongst which is especially remembred a certaine crosyer of inestimable price In this Bishops time and by his endenour secular Clerkes were displaced and the church of Durham replenished with monkes the Pope the King and the Archbishop allowing this alteration 29. William Kairlipho THe Sée of Durham hauing béene voide 6 moneths after the death of Walter to wit Nouember 9. following William Kairlipho Abbot of Saint Uincente was elected and receiued consecration at the hands of Thomas Archbishop of Yorke Ianuary 3. following at Glocester the king and almost all the Bishops of the realme being present at that solemnitie The monkes whom he fauoured much for he expelled diuers married priests out of his church of Durham whom Walter was content to beare withall and suffered onely monkes there they praise him for a man of great wisedome learning and vertue Certaine it is that he was very subtile whereby as also by the volubilitie of his toong which he had passing readie at commandement he got very farre into the fauour of the king William the Conqueror and afterward of his sonne William Rufus vnder whom he did euen what he list Unto the later ende of these he prooued very vnthankfull ioyning himselfe with Odo Bishop of Bayon in a rebellious conspiracie against him The rebels being ouerthrowne he was saine for his safegard to shutte himselfe vp within the walles of Durham The king hasting thither by great iourneies besieged ãâã and after a thort time had the towne yeelded by composition wherein it was conditioned that the Bishop and his companie should depart in safety So he got him beyond the seas and liued in ãâã three yeeres viz. vntill September 11. 1090. at what time the king comming to Durham receaued him to grace and restored him to his former dignitie that verie day three yeeres that he had departed thence After that time he omitted nothing whereby he might curry fauour with the king euer applying himselfe that way whither he sawe him to ãâã In all the ãâã betweene the king and Anselm he was the ãâã stirrer against the Archbishop hoping belike so to assure himselfe of the kings fauour and if Anselm should be displaced which he endeuored he thought no man so likely then to succeed him as himselfe But he failed in both of these purposes for the kings displeasure was his death He was summoned to appeere before the king at Glocester at a day before which time for griefe as it is thought he fel sicke When he appeered not and it was told the king he was sick he sware by Lukes face ãâã was his vsuall oath he lied he did but counterfeit he would haue him fetcht with a vengeance It appeered the excuse was true ynough for seene after viz. Ianuary 2. 1095. he died hauing been Bishop fifteene yeeres This man pulling downe to the ground the Church that ãâã had first built began to erect another far more magnificent but liued not to finish it ãâã ãâã ãâã of Scots Turgot Prior of Durham ãâã the first ãâã stones July 30. or as some deliuer Aug. 11. ãâã It is said that lying vpon his death bed as was thought past memory if not dead diuers Prelates that were in his chamber conferred of the order of his ãâã and amongst other things appointed the place of his buriall to be in the ãâã vpon the building whereof he had bestowed so much The supposed dead man ouerheard them and gathering his forces together made shift to breath out these ãâã It shall not please God saith he that you preiudice the honor of Saint ãâã by my buriall for ãâã of wham neuer any of my predecessors would enduret o be laid there Bury you me therefore in the chapter house It was performed accordingly his body was conueighed from Glocester where he died vnto Durham and on the North part of the chapter house there solemnly enterred Within a yeere or two after his first being Bishop he trauelled to Rome and obtayned there licence of Pope Gregorie the seuenth to bring the monkes from Yarrow and Wermouth into the Cathedrall church of Durham He also bestowed vpon them not onely bookes and diuers ornaments for the furnishing of their church but lands and ãâã in sundry places for the confirmation of all which gifts he procured the charter of William the Conqueror vnder Seale 30. Ranulf Flambard AFter the death of William the Sée of Durham stoode voide thrée yeeres and fower monethes The king at last bestowed it vpon one Ranulf rather for the seruice he had done him then for any speciall seruice he could hope he would doo either to God or his church For he was a very wicked man but such a one as had serued his turne notably He was first Chaplaine vnto Maurice Bishop of London and well ãâã of him but not so well as that he would let him haue the Deanery falling voide which he taking very ill in a ãâã left him and by what meanes I know not woond himselfe into the court Being passing subtile and shrewd witted faire spoken and nothing scrupulous but ready to do any thing for preferment It was no hard matter for him to obtaiue any thing of the king William Rufus a very corrupt and vicious prince His first practise was to farme the vacacies of Abbotships and Bishopricks of the king whereby he not onely enriched himselfe but brought great sommes of mony into the kings coffers that neuer were acquainted with that kinde of profite before The king perceiuing him to be a fit instrument for his purposes imploied him daily more and more and at last made him chiefe gouernour of all his realme vnder him so as he had all that authority which now the Lord Treasurer Chauncellor and diuers other officers haue diuided amongst them For it séemes vnto me that few of those offices were
confidently as saith Beda of some great calamitie shortly to fall vpon their nation that they which would not haue peace with their brethren should haue warre with their enimies and should finde death by their swords vnto whom they refused to preach the way of life It came to passe according to his prediction that Edelfride king of Northumbers a Pagan Saxon came against them shortly after with a huge armie ouerthrew them in battaile and slew besides an infinite number of souldiers and men of armes a great many monkes to the number of 1200. that were gathered togither there to fight by praier onely fiftie persons saued themselues by flight Soone after this battaile which some say Augustine liued not to sée he died hauing béene Archbishop 16. yéeres to wit May 25. which day is dedicated to his memorie in our Kalender the yéere 611. or as some deliuer ann 605. He was a man of excéeding tall stature well fauoured and of a very ãâã countenance His body at first was buried without doores néere the church of his monasterie because the church was not yet finished but afterwards was remooued into the north porch of the said church in which place all the bodies of the Archbishops following were laid vntill Theodore who was first buried in the church because the porch was full Upon the tombe of this our apostle was engrauen this epitaph Hic requiescit Diuus Augustinus Dorobernensis Archiepiscopus qui olim huc a Beato Gregorio Romanae vrbis Pontifice directus a Deo operatione ãâã suffultus Ethelbertum Regem gentem illius ab Idolorum cultu ad fidem Christi perdoxit Héere resteth the body of S. Augustine the first Archbishop of Dorobernia that was sent into this land by Saint Gregory Bishop of the citie of Rome approoued of God by the working of miracles and that brought Ethelbert the king and his people from the worshipping of idols vnto the faith of Christ. 2. Laurence SAint Augustine before his death had appointed to succéede him one Laurence a Romaine borne a very godly and well learned man He tooke great paines not onely with his owne charge but also in labouring to reduce the Britons of Wales the Scots and Irishmen to one consent in matters of religion It is likely his diligence might haue done good but that he was disturbed by the death of that good king Ethelbert Eadbald his sonne succeeded him in the kingdome who being a vitious yong man was not ashamed to marrie the wife of his late deceased father This and other enormities when Laurence like a good Iohn Baptist doubted not to reprehend him for he first began to fall out with him and afterwards euen with Christian religion which awhile he seemed to like of well inough but now at last vtterly renounced The people as commonly it commeth to passe following the example of their king they likewise returned to the filthie vomite of their abominable idolatrie although the Archbishop like a good Pastor ceased not by earnest exhortations and what other meanes possibly he might to stay them from this horrible relapse Perceiuing at last that his words did no good but rather incited the king to a more desperate hatred of him and religion He determined to follow Mellitus and Iustus into France that as anon you shall haue occasion to reade were lately banished by the wicked sonnes of good Sebert king of the East Saxons The night before the day of his intended departure he caused his bed to be made in the very church of his monasterie where after many teares and sighes he recommended vnto God the miserable state of his poore church and so sel sléepe It seemed vnto him saith Beda that S. Peter came vnto him and first expostulated the matter with him after chid and reprehended him sharply ãâã purposing to forsake the church committed vnto him and lastly whipped his naked body so terribly as when he waked finding it more then a dreame all his body was gore blood He went immediately vnto the king shewing him his wounds and togither related vnto him the occasion of them This strooke such a terror into the king as by and by he renounced his idols put away his incestuous wife caused himselfe to be baptised and for a farther testimonie and assurance of his vnfained conuersion builded a church in the monastery of S. Peter and dedicated the same vnto the blessed Uirgine Laurence very ioyful of this alteratioÌ sent presently for Mellitus and ãâã into France who comming vnto him one of them Iustus Bishop of Rochester he returned vnto his old charge the other he retained with him hoping to finde meanes he also might be restored to his Sée againe In the meane time euen the same yéere that king Eadbald became a Christian himselfe I meane Laurence died and was buried beside Augustine his predecessor 3. Mellitus AT what time the Britaines refused to ioine with Augustine in preaching of Christ he writ vnto S. Gregorie certifying him that the haruest here was great but the labourers very few and therefore requested him to appoint some that might assist him in this worke of the Lord. He did so and sent vnto him Mellitus an Abbot of Rome Iustus Paulinus Rufinianus and others who arriued in England the yéere 601. To leaue the rest vnto their owne places Mellitus about thrée yéeres after was consecrate by him Bishop of London where king Ethelbert built a goodly church and dedicated the same vnto S. Paul The fourth yéere of his consecration he went to Rome to conferre with Boniface the Pope about diuers things and was by him honourably intertained A yeere or two after his returne died both Ethelbert king of Kent and ãâã that vnder him ruled the East Saxons vnto whose iurisdiction London appertained This Sebert left behinde him thrée wicked sonnes that being neuer baptised came notwithstanding one day vnto the church at Communion time and asked the Bishop what he meant that he deliuered not of that same fine bread vnto them as he was woont to doe vnto their father Saba and did yet vnto the rest of the people He answered that if they would be washed in the water of life as he was and the rest of the people there present then would he ãâã vnto them of this bread also but otherwise neither was it lawfull for him to deliuer nor them to receiue it This notwithstanding they would haue enforced him and when they could not preuatle were so enraged as they expelled him their dominion hardly holding their hands from doing him violence at that time He being thus exiled went first vnto Laurence the Archbishop of Canterburie and finding him in little better case then himselfe was at London departed into France together with Iustus Bishop of Rochester Being sent for soone after by Laurence as aboue said it happened the same yeere that the said Laurence died and he was appointed to succeede him He was a man of great birth but of greater minde excéeding
carefull of his charge despising the world and neuer ãâã for any thing but heauen and heauenly things Hauing beene sicke a long time he died at last of the gowt and was buried beside his predecessor 4. Iustus Ivstus of whom I haue before spoken somewhat was taken from Rochester to supply the place of Melhtus after his decease wherein hauing trauelled painfully the space of twelue yeeres he departed this life Nouemb. 10. ann 634. and was buried in the porch aboue mentioned 5. Honorius AFter the death of Iustus Honorius was made Archbishop a very reuerend man He was a Romane borne very learned and sometimes a disciple of S. Gregory He was consecrate at Lincolne by Paulinus Archb of Yorke He receiued a pall from Rome with letters wherein authoritie was giuen to him and the other Archb. whensoeuer either of them did faile to consecrate another in his place without posting to Rome This man appointed diuers Bishops to diuers countries as in their seuerall places God willing shall be more at large declared He also biuided his prouince into parishes that so he might appoint particular ministers to particular congregations and hauing sate Archbishop almost 20. yeeres died the last day of Februarie or as some other deliuer of September the yeere 653. He was buried amongst his predecessors 6. Deus-dedit or Adeodatus THe Sée was voide after Honorius died the space of 18. moneths An Englishman or Saxon called sometimes Frithona famous for his learning and other vertues was then elected Archbishop and after that named Deus dedit He was consecrate by Ithamar Bishop of Rochester Yorke being then without an Archbishop and died the last day of June 664. hauing atteÌded that charge carefully about the space of 9. yéeres He was the first Englishman that was Archbishop and the last Archbishop that was buried in the church porch of Saint Augustines 7. Theodorus ONe Wigardus an Englishman an ancient and learned Priest was chosen to succéede Deus-dedit and sent to Rome for consecration with letters commendatorie from Egbert king of Kent and Oswy king of Northumberland who also sent presents of great value vnto Vitalianus that was then Pope It chanced he came to Rome at a time when the plague was very hot there and died of the same as did also almost all his companie that came with him The Pope vnderstanding the See had stood long void and carefull to sée it furnished made choice of one Adrian an Abbot of Italy but borne in Afrike a graue man and verie learned He would not be perswaded to take so great a charge vpon him but being importuned thereunto he promised to finde out a man that should be of greater both learning and yéeres then himselfe and in all other respects verie fit for the place He was familiarly acquainted with one Theodore a Grecian borne in Tharsus of Cilicia S. Paules countrey a man well seene in all kinde of good learning 66. yéeres of age Vitalianus notwithstanding refused to allow of him except the other would promise to go into England with him also He was content did so and at his comming thither was made Abbot of S. Augustines Theodore then was consecrate Archbishop Aprill 1. 668. when the Sée had béene voide almost fower yéeres In Maie following they set forward toward England They had many lets by the way and got not thither in a yéeres and a halfe They brought with them great store of bookes both Gréeke and Latin whereof some remaine yet to be seene at this day as namely a Homer so faire and exquisitely written as no print in the world yet extant is thought to be comparable to it either for truth or beautie and diuers other Unto this man all the British Bishops and generally all Britaine yeelded obedience and vnder him conformed themselues in all things vnto the rites and discipline of the church of Rome He was a very stont and rigorous man exercising the authoritie of his place so ãâã as many thinke it a great blot vnto him How he tooke vpon him to place and displace ãâã Bishops at his pleasure as Wilfride Cedda and other see in the beginning of Yorke In his time were held two Synods one at Hereford the Canons whereof you may see in Beda lib. 4. cap. 5. the other at Clyff beside Rochester in which he procured all the Prelates there assembled to set downe their opinions touching the heresie of ãâã wherewith his countreymen the Grecians were much infected They all detested it and gaue their approbation of those fiue famous generall Councels of Nice of Ephesus of Chalcedon and the two first of Constantinople Neuer before this time had England so happie daies nor so many learned men as vnder him and a little after Amongst a great number of other these were of his bréeding Beda Saint Iohn of Beuerley Albinus and Tobias Bishop of Rochester all excellent and very famous men He erected as some say a kind of schoole or Uniuersitie at Creeklade or rather Greekeslade in Wiltshire so called of the Grecians that taught and studied there These men soone after remoouing thence are supposed to haue laide the foundations of our Uniuersitie of Oxford He left sundrie monuments of his learning in writing behind him and appointed many Bishops in diuers parts of this land Hauing continued Archbishop 22. yéeres he died September 19. ann 690. being 88. yéeres of age vntill which time hée would often say he thought he should liue for that in a dreme it was so signified vnto him many yéeres before A litle before his death he sent for Wilfride Archbishop of Yorke and Erkenwald Bishop of London and confessing himselfe vnto them acknowledged that he had doon Wilfride great wrong insomuch as there was no one thing that lay so hard vpon his conscience as that and therefore with teares besought him to forgiue him and to pray for him He was buried within the church of Saint Augustines Abbey 8. Birhtuald ALmost two yéeres the Sée was voide after the death of Theodore Birhtuald Abbot of Reculuer which standeth vpon the mouth of the riuer Gentad was then elect Ianuarie 29. ann 692. and consecrate by Godwyn the Metropolitane of Wales or of France rather as Beda reporteth The yéere following Maie 30. he tooke possession of this his Bishopricke He was a man verie well learned both in Diuinitie and otherwise but not comparable vnto Theodore his predecessor He bare a hard hand vpon Wilfride Archbishop of Yorke as Theodore had done before him and caused his second banishment or at least was some meanes of it He was coniured by the Pope who turned him about and dealt so with him by letters as he made him more earnest for him then euer he had béene against him No Archbishop euer continued so long in this Sée as he He sate 38. yeeres and a halfe Dying then Ianuarie 9. 731. he was buried at Saint Augustines with his predecessors 9. Tatwyn THe same yéere in which Birhtwald died succéeded Tatwyn
North parts there was not séene any either monke or nunne in two hundred yéeres after viz. vntill about the middle of the raigne of William Conqueror Maried priests euery where inhabited monasteries whence for a long time after with much adoe they were hardly remooued This Athelredus as in a manner all his successors was buried in his church of Christ in Canterburie 19. Plegmund PLegmund the most excellent learned man of his time was borne in the kingdome of Mercia In his youth he first dedicated himselfe vnto a solitarie life and liued an eremite in the Island of Chester which of him as it should séeme was woont to be called Plegmundsham He was taken thence to teach Alfred that was afterward king of England Being chosen Archbishop he trauailed to Rome in person and was there consecrate Soone after his returne to requite belike the curtesie he had found there he tooke great paines in collecting the almes of al men wel disposed through the land which the king sent together with much treasure of his owne vnto the Pope by Athelmus Bishop of Winchester appointing a certaine portion of the same to be conueied vnto Ierusalem Marianus then Pope a little before had gratified the king diuers waies He had granted immunitie of tribute vnto the Saxons schoole at Rome and sent sundrie presents vnto him namely amongst other things a péece of the crosse vpon which our Sauiour was thought to haue suffered death By this contribution his kindnesse was sufficiently requited The most memorable action of this Archbishop is that the yéere 905. he consecrated seuen Bishops in one day By reason of continuall warres all the prouince of the West Saxons had béene without any Bishop seuen yéeres Which Formosus the Pope imputing vnto the negligence of the king sent out an excommunication against him He therfore caused Plegmund the Archbishop to call a conuocation wherein it was ordered that the country of the Gewisses which till that time had but two Bishops one at Winchester another at Shirburne should hereafter haue fiue viz. besides the Sées before named Welles in Sommersetshire Criditon in Deuonshire and Saint Petrocks in Cornwall Unto Winchester was appointed Frithstan to Shirburne Wolstan to Criditon ãâã and to Saint Petrocks Athelstan Moreouer at the same time were consecrate with them Burnegus Bishop of the South Saxons and Kenulsus Bishop of Dorchester Plegmund sate Archbishop 26. yéeres and dying ann 915. was buried in his owne church 20. Athelmus AThelm that had béene Abbot of Glastonburie and as before is mentioned was appointed the first Bishop of Wels was chosen to succéed Plegmund in Canterburie William of Malmesbury saith that this Archbishop laide the first foundation of the Abbey of Malmesburie but it séemeth to be more ancient then so He sate nine yéeres died ann 924. and was buried with his predecessors 21. Wlfelmus VVLfelm succéeded Athelm first in Wels and then afterwards in Canterburie also He continued there ten yéeres and died ann 934. 22. Odo Seuerus ODo was ãâã in the countrey of the ãâã Angles His ãâã were Danes of great wealth and nobilitis but ãâã and vtter enimies of Christ and Christian religion insomuch as they disinherited their sonne Odo for kéeping companie with Christians He therefore forsaking his country betooke himselfe to the seruice of a noble man in the court of king Edward the elder named Ethelelm who perceiuing in him a great forwardnesse and excellencie of wit set him to schoole where he profited excéedingly He was not baptised till he was come euen vnto mans estate Soone after his baptisme by the counsel of his Lord and Master he entred into orders and became a Deacon in which office he continued preaching very painfully vntill at last he was made priest Some report that he serued in the wars some while vnder king Edward before he became a cleargie man and it is not vnlikely For after he was Bishop he was thrise in the field did his prince notable seruice He was preferred to the Bishopricke of Wiltshire the Sée whereof was then seated at ramsbury by the special fauour of king Athelston the yéere 920. King Athelston being dead Edmund his brother that succéeded fauouring him no lesse then his brother had done vpon the death of Wlfhelm procured him to be chosen Archbishop A great while Odo refused because he was no monke to take that charge vpon him saying that neuer any man had held that place hetherto but he was a monke Therein he was deceiued For Nothelmus and two or thrée other before him were secular priests not monks But he resolute in this errour and loath to breake the dance was perswaded first to become a monke of Floriake in France and that done accepted of the election He continued Archbishop 24. yéeres in great fauour and authoritie vnder diuers princes Edmund Edward Athelstan and Eadred Towards the latter end of his time Edwyn a yoong Gentleman obtained the crowne with whom he had very ill agréement He caused him to be diuorced from his Quéene some say for consanguinity some alleage other reasons He excommunicated his concubines and causing one of them whom the king doted vnreasonably vpon to be fetcht out of the court by violence burnt her in the forehead with a hot yron banished her into Ireland These things exasperated the king much against him But he was taken away by death soone after and so deliuered from al feare of the kings displeasure He was buried on the south side of the high alter in a tombe built somewhat after the forme of a Pyramis I take it to be the tombe of ieate standing in the grate néere the steps that lead vp to S. Thomas chappell After his death which hapned the yéere 958. Elsinus Bishop of Winchester that could neuer brooke Odo in his life time by bribery corrupt meanes obtained election vnto Canterbury and comming thither spurned at his tombe despitefully vsing these spéeches now at last quoth he thou art dead old dotard and much against thy will hast left thy place vnto a man woorthier of it then thy selfe Our stories report that the next night Odo appéered vnto him in his sléepe threatning a spéedie and fearefull vengeance of this insolency According vnto which prediction it fell out that trauailing to Rome for his pall vpon the Alpes he was so oppressed with cold as he was constrained to put his féete wherewith he had so contumeliously disgraced his deceased predecessor into the bellies of his horses yet at last to die for cold Brithelm Bishop of Wels was then chosen Archbishop a vertuous and méeke man but not very fit for gouernment In regard whereof king Edgar intreated him and he easily condiscended to abide still at his old charge 23. Dunstan VVIth the approbation of all men Dunstan Bishop of London was then elected to this Metropoliticall Sée Of whom I know not how to write that which is deliuered of him is so infinite But I will hold my selfe
which being deliuered he departed into voluntarie exile and bewailed there the miserie of his country vntill such time as king Swanus being dead and Ethelred returning all troubles were appcased So it pleased God to suffer him at last to end his daies in peace the yéere 1020. when he had béene Archbishop about seuen yéeres 29. Agelnothus alias Aethelnotus AGelnothus surnamed The Good was the sonne of an Earle called Agelmare and is said to haue beene Deane of Christchurch in Canterbury which at that time was replenished for the most part with canons wearing the habite and garments of monks but in profession and manner of life differing much from them Therefore when as in that same terrible tithing of the Danes mentioned in the life of Elphege all the monks were slaine except onely fower the canons that were now the greater number gaue vnto their gouernour the name of Deane From this place Agelnoth was taken to be Archbishop Going to Rome to fetch his pall he bought as one reporteth an arme of that blessed father Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo for an hundred talents of siluer and bestowed it vpon the church of Couentry He sustained great paines and cost in repairing his church and monastery destroied and burnt by the Danes and by his good aduise directed king Knute that fauoured him excéedingly vnto many honourable enterprises He died at last hauing sate Archbishop 17. yéeres and vpward October 29. anno 1038. 30. Eadsin EAdsin was a seculer priest and first chapleine vnto king Harold who preferred him to the Bishopricke of Winchester Thence he was remooued to Canterbury soone after the death of Agelnoth He continued Archbishop almost 12. yéeres All which time he was so oppressed with sicknesse as he could not attend his pastoral charge but was faine to commit the same to another and he made choice of one ãâã Abbot of Abingdon whom he termed sometimes Vicarium ãâã sometimes ãâã and sometimes Archiepiscopi ãâã ãâã He discharged not his duty according to the trust reposed in him for he abused much not onely his authoritie but also the goods yea and person also of the Archbishop that committed the same vnto him In regard whereof though ãâã besought the king and other about him very earnestly that he might succéede him not knowing belike how ill he was vsed so well as they yet they would not condescend thereunto but bestowed vpon him the Bishopricke of Rochester Henry Huntingdon saith he was consecrated Archv. But he is mistaken out of all doubt Edsinus departed this life October 28. 1050. was buried in his owne church and after his death made a Saint 31. Robert surnamed Gemeticensis RObert a Norman succéeded by the fauour of king Edward the Confessor with whom he became acquainted at what time he was exiled into Normandy He preferred him first vnto London and then presently after the death of Eadsin vnto Canterburie This man is said to haue laid the first foundation of the Normans conquest in England perswading the king to make Duke William his heire wherunto when the king had condescended himselfe became the messenger of this good tidings vnto the Duke taking Harold with him peraduenture to that purpose that he might so hamper him with an oth as indéed he did and so barre him from all possibilitie of the kingdome This oth Harold afterward broke but he sped thereafter loosing his life and ill gotten kingdome both togither The Archbishop now assuring himselfe of the fauour not onely of the king present but of him also that was to succeede could not indure that any should beare so great sway as himselfe in court and therefore began to deuise how he might ouerthrow Emma the kings mother who onely séemed to ouertop him He began therefore to beate into the kings head that was a milde soft natured gentleman how hard a hand his mother had held vpon him when he liued in Normandy how likely it was that his brother came to his death by the practise of her and Earle Godwyn and lastly that she vsed the company of Alwyn Bishop of Winchester somwhat more familiarly then an honest woman néeded The king somewhat too rashly crediting these tales without any further examination or debating of the matter seased vpon all his mothers goods and committed her to prison in the Nunry of Warwell banished Earle Godwyn and his sonnes and commanded Alwyn vpon pain of death not to come foorth of the gates of Winchester The Quéene made the best friends she could to be called to her answere But the Archbishop so possessed the king as other tryall of her innocency might not be allowed then this She must walke ouer nine plowshares red hot in the midst of the Cathedrall church of Winchester If either she perfourmed not this kind of purgation or were found any thing at all hurt she and the Bishop both should be estéemed guilty If otherwise the Archbishop was content to submit himselfe to such punishment as they should haue endured To make short the Quéene lead betwéene two Bishops in open sight of all the people perfourmed as all our histories report this hard kind of purgation and so acquit herselfe and Alwyn the Bishop of these crimes obiected The king then greatly bewailing the wrong done to his mother asked her forgiuenes vpon his knées restored both her and the Bishop vnto their goods and former places and lastly to make some satisfaction for his fault committed would needes be whipped by the hands of the Bishops there present and receauing thrée stripes of his mother was by her cléerely forgiuen and the wrong promised for euer héereafter to be forgotten Emma now and the Bishop to shew themselues thankful vnto God for this miraculous deliuerance for a perpetual memorial of the same gaue each of them vnto the monastery of S. Swithun nine Mannors in remembrance of the nine plowshares This gift of theirs the king confirmed and gaue moreouer two Mannors of his owne to wit Meones and Portland Now to returne vnto the Archbishop he doubting of the successe of this matter vnder pretence of sicknesse held himselfe at Douer and assoone as he heard how the world went well knowing England would prooue too hot for him he got him ouer into his owne country to the Abbey of Gemetica where he was brought vp and there ouercome it is like with shame and sorrow within a short time after ended his daies and was buried in the Monastery aforesaid hauing beene Archbishop about the space of two yeeres or scarcely so much 32. Stigand STigand was chaplaine vnto king Edward the Confessor and preferred by him first vnto the Bishopricke of the East Saxons at Helmham 1043. and after vnto Winchester the yeere 1047. He was a man stout and wise inough but very vnlearned as in a manner all the Bishops were of those times and vnreasonable couetous Perceiuing the king highly displeased with Robert the Archbishop he thrust himselfe into his roome not expecting either his death depriuation
or other auoydance without any performance of vsuall ceremonies And whether it were that he mistrusted his title to Canterbury or inercusable couetousnesse I cannot tell certaine it is that he kept Winchester also together with Canterbury euen vntill a little before his death he was forced to forgoe them both Many times he was cited vnto Rome about it but by giftes delayes and one meanes or other he droue it off neuer being able to procure his pall thence so long as king Edward liued William the Conqueror hauing slaine king Harold in the field all England yéelded presently vnto his obedience except onely Kentishmen who following the counsell of Stigand and Egelsin the abbot of S. Augustines gathered al their forces togither at Swanscombe néere Grauesend and there attended the comming of the king who doubted of no such matter euery man holding a gréene bough in his hand whereby it came to passe that he was in the midst of them before he dreamed of any such businesse toward He was greatly amased at the first till he was giuen to vnderstande by Stigand there was no hurt meant vnto him so that he would graunt vnto that contrey their ancient liberties and suffer them to be gouerned by their former customes and lawes called then and til this day Gauelkind These things he easily yeelded vnto vpon this armed intercession and afterward very honourably performed But he conceiued so profound a displeasure against Stigand for it as he neuer ceased till he had reuenged it with the others destruction A while he gaue him very good countenance calling him father méeting him vpon the way when he vnderstood of his repaire toward him and affording him all kinde of gratious and fauourable vsage both in words and behauiour but it lasted not long The first signe of his hidden rancour and hatred towarde him was that he would not suffer himselfe to be crowned by him but made choise of Aldred Archbishop of Yorke for which he alleaged other reasons as that he had not yet receiued his pall c. But the matter was he was loth in that action to acknowledge him for Archbishop Soone after his coronation he departed into Normandy carrying with him Stigand and many English nobles vnder pretence to doe them honour But in truth he stood in doubt least in his absence they should practise somewhat against him And namely Stigand he knew to be a man of a haughty spirit subtile rich gracious and of great power in his countrey Presently vpon his returne certaine Cardinals arriued in England sent from the Pope as legates to redresse as they said certaine enormities and abuses of the English clergy Stigand by and by perceiuing himselfe to be the marke that was specially shot at hid himfelfe a while in Scotland with Alexander Bishop of Lincolne and after in the Isle of Ely At last perceiuing a conuocation to be called at Winchester he came thither and besought the king in regarde of his owne honour and the promise made vnto him at Swanscombe which was not to be offended with him or any other for their attempt at that time to saue him from the calamity he saw growing toward him which he could not impute vnto any thing so probably as his vndeserued displeasure The king answered him with very gentle words that he was so farre from endeuouring to take any reuenge of that or any other matter as he loued him and wished he knew how to protect him from the danger imminent But that which was to be done at that time must be done by the Popes authoritie which he might not countermaund So do what he could he was depriued of his liuings by these legates The causes alleaged against him were these First that he had held Canterbury and Winchester both together which was no very strange thing for Saint Oswald had long before held Worceter with Yorke and S. Dunstan Worceter with London Secondly that he had inuaded the Sée of Canterbury Robert the Archbishop being yet aliue vndepriued And lastly that he presumed to vse the pall of his predecessor Robert left at Canterbury and had neuer receiued any pall but of Pope Benedict at what time he stood excommunicate for simony and other like crimes In the same conuocation many other Prelates were depriued of their promotions as ãâã Bishop of Helmham brother vnto Stigand diuers abbots and men of meaner places All which was done by the procurement of the king that was desirous to place his countrymen in the roomes of the depriued for the establishment of his new gotten kingdome Poore Stigand being thus depriued as though he had not yet harme inough was also clapt vp presently in prison within the castell of Winchester and very hardly vsed there being scarcely allowed meate inough to hold life and soule together That was thought to be done to force him to confesse where his treasure lay whereof being demaunded he protested with great othes he had no mony at all hoping belike so to procure his liberty the rather and then to make himselfe mery with that he had laid vp against such a déere yéere He died soone after of sorrow and griefe of minde or as other report of voluntary famine 17. yéeres after he first obtained the Archbishopricke After his death a little key was found about his necke the locke whereof being carefully sought out shewed a note or direction of infinite treasures hid vnder ground in diuers places All that the king pursed in his owne coffers The bones of this archbishoply entoombed at this day vpon the top of the north wall of the Presbytery of the church of Winchester in a coffin of lead vpon the north side whereof are written these words Hic iacet Stigandus Archiepiscopus he was depriued ann 1069. and died within the compasse of the same yéere 33. Lanfrank STigand being yet aliue but depriued as is beforesaid Lanfranke was consecrate Archbishop This Lanfrank was borne at Papia in Lumbardy twenty myles from Millayn where being brought vp in learning and now come vnto mans state he determined to trauaile Through France he came into Normandy prouoked by the fame and great reports he had heard of Eluin abbot of Becco Upon the way thitherward it was his hap to be encountred with théeues that spoiled him of all he had bound him and threw him into a thicket where he might haue perished with cold and hunger had not God sent some extraordinary company that way that loosed him hauing laien there onely one night Thence he got him vnto the monastery of Becco and for very want and penury was faine to become a Reader of Logike there vntill he was admitted to the place of a monke Soone after that he was made Prior of Becco whence in regard of his singular wisedome and great knowledge in all good learning that those times could affoord he was called by Duke William to be abbot of S. Stephens in Cane a monastery that the said Duke had founded Now
king desirous to haue some honest quiet man dealt first with the Couent praying them to make choice of such a one as he might haue cause to like and after made the same request vnto the Bishops The Monkes though mooued thereto would in no wise ioyne with the Bishops but perceiuing the Bishops began indéede to set foote into the matter appealed to Rome Much adoo there was there about it the space of nine monethes At last the Bishops got a mandate wherein the Monkes and they were commaunded to ioyne together The day of election was appointed but the Monkes for curst hart would not come vnto it So the Bishops procéeded and made choice of Baldwin Bishop of Worcester This election the monkes labored mightily to disanul professing that they liked the man elect very well but they must not indure such a president The king therefore who fauoured Baldwin exceedingly wrought so with one party and the other as the Monkes were content to elect him vpon condition he would renounce all benefite of his former election and the Bishops themselues would confesse the same to be void and of no effect All this was done and he receiued into quiet and peaceable possession of this Metropoliticall sée This Baldwin was a poore mans sonne and borne in Excester He was first a schoolemaster then entred into orders and became an Archdeadon his Archdeaconry he voluntarily resigned and intending to forsake the world became a Cistercian or white Monke Hauing liued so a certaine space he was made Abbot of Ford in Deuonshire From thence he was called to the Bishopricke of Worcester consecrate thereunto the yéere 1181. translated to Canterbury in the end of the yéere 1184. and solemnely installed there May 19. 1185. being the first white Monke that euer was Archbishop Giraldus Cambr. describeth the person of the man in this sort He was of complexion somewhat swarthy his countenance simple and like a plaine meaning man but very comely his stature indifferent well made of body but slender timbred For his maners he was modest and sober of such abstinence as fame durst neuer stamp any sinister report vpoÌ him of few words slowe to anger and very studious from his very childhood It is a woonder that a man of this disposition should be so much troubled as he was with the King he alwaies agreed very well But betwéene the Monkes of Canterbury and him there was much and continuall debate The occasion thereof was this The king greatly misliking the insolency of the Monkes thought to wrest from them the preheminence of choosing the Archbishop in time to come by this deuice He gaue direction vnto Baldwin their Archbishop to beginne the foundation of a Colledge at Hackington now called Saint Stephens being distant from Canterbury about halfe a mile This Colledge it was deuised should haue one prebend erected by the king and by euery seuerall Bishop of that prouince of Canterbury one other which should euer be of the gift and patronage of their founders As for the Archbishop the building of the church and other edifices was appointed vnto him for his share which he intended to performe with great magnificence The ende of this foundation was none other then this that it might be a meane of traducing the right of election of the Archbishop a matter greatly importing the king and the whole realme from the monkes men of little learning lesse discretion and smalest experience in matters of gouernment yet very obstinate and altogether wedded to their owne wils to other men in whom the king and the rest of the Bishops as being their patrones might chalenge an interest For the better execution of this plot it was ordained that this colledge should be dedicated vnto Saint Thomas who was now growen so famous throughout the world as euery man thought himselfe happy that could do any thing to his honor In regard hereof they made no doubt but the Pope would soone be intreated to take from Christ vnto whose name the monastery of Canterbury was consecrate all priuiledge of election and to confer the same with many other vpon Saint Thomas that famous martyr The matter was now very forward and growen to good perfection in so much as the foundations were digged stone timber and other prouision laide ready in place for the building when as the subtile monkes suspecting wherunto this great forwardnesse of the king and Bishops tended made their complaint at Rome That notwithanding on went the worke The church partly built was solemnely consecrate and diuers secular priests such Saint Thomas himselfe was instituted and installed into their prebends when the monks that neuer linne laying on load by requests gifts and al maner of importunate sute to disturbe this platforme procured the Pope to set downe an order that this corporation should be dissolued the buildings thereof rased and made euen to the ground Such were the times the Popes pleasure was aneuitable necessity it must be and was performed It happened then soone after that Vrban the Pope died who was a great protector of the monkes cause Gregory the eight succéeded a man with whom Baldwyn might do very much He determined therfore once more to set on foote his former deuise but in another place He procured of the Bishop and Couent of Rochester for exchange of other land a certaine quantity of ground at Lambhith where the Archbishops pallace and house of chiefe residence is now situate Thither he caused to be brought by water all the prouision of stones timber c. that was intended to the building of the colledge at Hackington and began the foundation of a goodly church there which he liued not to finish King Richard the first to expiate the fault of his rebellion disobedience vnto his father determined to carry a great power into the holy land Baldwyn would néedes attend him thither and did so By preaching counsell liberall almes and continuall erample of a most vertuous life he did great good there vntill at last in the siege of the city of Acon being taken with a grieuous sicknesse he died when he had béene Archbishop euen almost seuen yéeres and was buried there He gaue all his goods vnto the soldiers to be diuided amongst them at the discretion of Hubert the Bishop of Salisbury that soone after succeeded him 41. Reginald Fitz-iocelinc PResently after the death of Baldwyn the King dispatched a messenger from Acon with letters wherein he earnestly prayed the monkes to make election of some such man to succéed as he might haue cause to like And the rather to bring the same to passe he wrote vnto the Archbishop of Roan who the Bishop of Ely being then newly displaced gouerned the realme in his absence to cause all the Bishops of the prouince of Canterbury to méete at Canterbury and to take the best course they might for the placing of some fit man in that Sée The monkes who were excéeding ioyfull to heare of the Archbishops death
comfort of the people lastly a notable refuge of all both high and low against all manner of iniury and oppression Faithfull and loyall he was vnto his Prince louing aud very carefull of his Countrey in which he caused many excellent lawes to be established He it was that first deuised our assise of bread our waights measures of wine oyle corne c. Uery valiant he was also and performed many great seruices in the warres the report whereof I leaue vnto the Chronicles His house kéeping they say was such as the expence thereof was thought to be nothing inferior vnto the kings And yet he performed many great workes of inestimable charge Beside the monastery of Derham before mentioned he also founded another for Cistercian Monkes at Wulferhampton but liued not to finish the same he compassed the Tower of London with a strong wall and a déepe moate so as the water inclosed the same quite round which before that time could neuer be brought to passe he encreased the reuenues of his sée uery much adorned it with many sumptuous and stately buildings and lastly procured diuers notable priuileges vnto the same called in olde English Gled Dangeld Hidage Warpon Bloodwhite Childwhite Uillenage c. Now notwithstanding this his great power and riches with the monkes of Canterbury he had as much to doo as other of his predecessors By intreaty and faire meanes he indeuoured to procure their consent for the finishing of the Chappell at Lambhith begun by Baldwin sor without their leaue to goe about it he knew it was to no purpose To this end he sent vnto them the Abbots of Waltam Reading and Chertsey to debate this matter with them The very mention thereof was so odious vnto them as by and by they made a great complaint vnto the Pope not only of this but many other things also especially of his intermedling in ciuill affaires Hereupon the Pope presently enioyned him without farther delay to resigne all his temporall offices which he how loath soeuer was faine to doo As for the matter of the Chappell after it had hung long in the Popes court the parties grew to a composition that vpon condition it were pulled downe it should be lawfull for the Archbishop to build another vpon a new foundation to endue the same with an hundred pound a yéere reuenues and no more and lastly to place in the same twentie Canons or Prebendaries Mary it was conditioned that no Bishops in any wise should be consecrate there no Abbots admitted no orders administed c. After this the rest of his daies he ended in peace King Iohn that had attempted many times to depose his brother King Richard and was alwaies hindered in those practises by the diligence faithfulnesse and wisedome of this worthy Prelate estranged him selfe a while from him and gaue him no countenance But finding at last how ill he might spare him vsed his counsell receiued intertaiment of him which was very royall at Canterbury trusted him with the gouernment of the whole realme at his departure into Normandy and affoorded him many other gratious fauours Hauing béene Archbishop twelue yéeres sauing fower moneths he fell into a kinde of ague vpon the way as he was riding to Rochester to worke an agréement betwéene the Bishop and the monkes there turned into his mannour of Tenham made his will and lying sicke there onely fower daies departed this life He was buried July 13. 1205. in the South wall of the church beside the quier néere Walter Reynald that long after succéeded him 43. Stephen Langton THe king did so reioice at Huberts death as wheÌ it was first reported vnto him me thinks quoth he I am now in déede king of England But had he knowen either how ill he might haue missed him or how great trouble his death would haue caused him he would rather haue said now I begin to loose my kingdome and would little haue estéemed the wealth he left behind him which although it were bequeathed by testament trauelling to Canterbury in his owne person he seased vpon the same and conuerted it all to his owne vse The monkes in like sort reioyced little knowing how great calamity hung ouer their heads and must shortly fall vpon them by reason of his death For they forsooth hasty and desirous to vse their priuiledge of election as also iealous least the libertie of the same should be disturbed by any requeste of the king secretly at midnight made choice of one Reginald their supprior taking an othe of him not to make his election knowen to any till he came to the Popes presence whether he was aduised to high himselfe as fast as he might This othe notwithstanding as soone as he was gotten ouer the feas he bare himselfe euery where as Lord elect not letting to shew the testimoniall of his election to who so demaunded the same This breach of promise so inceused his ãâã ãâã against him as presently they determined to become futers to the king for pardon of their fault in choosing without licence as also that now he would permit a new election supposing the old frustrate and made void by the ãâã of the elect They did so and easily obtained their request but much the rather bicause they made shew of a readinesse in satisfying the kings desire that wished the Archbishopricke vnto Iohn Gray Bishop of Norwich He was then in the North countrey about some businesse of the Kings Being sent for in all haste at his first comming to Canterbury he was solemnely elected and his election published in the church before the king and an infinite number of people These two elections being presented vnto the Pope he determined to make vse of the monkes debate and discouraging each side for the greater part of the monks were then at Rome some of them ãâã their old election for good others importunately suyng to haue the later confirmed he practised secretly with either of them to be coÌtent to choose yet a third man that he would nominate vnto them that was one Stephen Langton a Cardinall of Rome a man in regard of many excellent gifts both of mind and body very fit for the place and no way to be ãâã if he had orderly obtained the same By birth he was an English man brought vp in the ãâã of Paris greatly esteemed by the king and all the ãâã of Fraunce for his singular and rare learning made Chauncellor of Paris and lastly called thence by the Pope to be a Cardinall of Rome Now when by faire means he could not ãâã with them for they feared the kings displeasure whom they knew to be a hot and violent Prince he began to terrifie them with threatning what by one means or other made them content at last to choose him which done the Pope with his owne hands gaue him consecration at ãâã June 17. Then well knowing how hainously the king would take this matter he writ letters vnto him swéetned with
many gentle intreaties large praises of the new Archbishop and seasoned now and then with some touches of doubtfull threatning if he should oppose himselfe against that was then done This notwithstanding the king in great indignation banished all the monkes of Canterbury seased vpon their goods and lands and forbid Stephen Langton entrance into the realme The Pope hearing of this sent his mandate vnto thrée Bishops William of London Eustach of Ely and Mauger of Worcester wherein he willed them first to admonish and perswade the king to restore the monkes to their goods and places and to giue the Archbishops possession of his temporalties by a day then if he refused so to do to interdict the whole realme They durst not but obey and finding the king resolute in his determination at the time appointed they published the Popes interdiction and as well foreséeing the great trouble to come as the present danger got them out of the land tegether with ãâã Bishop of Bathe and Gyles of Hereford The king immediately seased all their goods and temporalties into his hands and moreouer banished all the friends and ãâã of these Bishops that were likely to yéeld them any comfort or releife During the time of this interdict all seruice ceased throughout the realme except onely Baptisme of children auricular confession and the administration of the sacrament vnto such as lay vpon the point of death The Pope séeing this course preuailed not proceeded to a particular excommunication of the king and not long after depriued him by sentence of all regal authority a thing till that time in no age euer heard of All this while the king esteemed the Popes sword blunt and vnable to wound him till at last he perceiued the French king ready to take aduantage of this sentence and prouiding busily to inuade his dominions His owne people also began to fall from him and to doubt whom in conscience they ought rather to follow their owne ãâã Prince or a forreine intruder a strange and monstrous ignorance Séeing therefore no other remedy he was faine to yéeld receiued the Archbishop restored the other Bishops the monkes and all the rest banished vnto their goods and reueneues and moreouer was content to resigne his crowne into the Popes hands vpon restitution to assure him by his letters patents a yéerely pension of a thousand markes This done he thought all troubles at an end when the worst of all was yet behind For he bare himselfe so bold vpon the Popes fauour which he had bought deerely as he doubted not to oppresse diuers of his nobility with many and continuall wrongs reuoking all former graunts of priuiledges at his pleasure vpon this point that he had receiued his kingdome from the Pope absolutely free from all entanglement of any priuiledges deriued from the same Heereupon the Barons rebelled the Archb. taking their part and when they doubted least they should not make their party good against the king the Pope stucke so close vnto him they procured Lewis the French kings eldest sonne to inuade the realme Him together with the Archbishop and all the Barons the Pope excommunicated This great hurly burly was appeased suddenly by the kings death who died some say of care sorrow some of surfet and some say he was poysoned by a monke His sonne Henry a Prince often yéeres old was receiued to the kingdome Lewis forsaken the Barons vpon promise of obedience vnto their king absolued by the Popes legate Clergy men were debarred a while from ãâã absolution that they might compound for the same which they were glad to do All things being thus quieted this our Archbishop called a conuocation at Dsney wherein many things were decreed to be seene for the most part among the principall constitutions Thither came a certaine yoong man that shewing the marks of wounds in his hands feete and side professed himselfe to be no lesse man then Jesus Christ. He brought also two women with him whereof one tooke vpon her to be our Lady the other Mary Magdalen This counterfait Christ for his labour was woorthily crucified and forced to resemble him in the manner of his death whose life and person he had ãâã immitated and sought to expresse Soone after he translated the bones of S. Thomas Becket from the place where they were first buried in the vndercraft into a goodly sumptuous shrine This was done woonderfull solemnly the king and greatest part of the nobility of all the realme being present During the time of this ceremony all passengers from London to Canterbury were allowed horsemeat at the Arthbishops charge who also caused vessels of wine to runne continually in diuers parts of the city all the day of this translation that who so list might drinke of them This solemnity prooued so chargeable vnto him as neither he nor fower of his successors were able to recouer the debt he cast his Sée and Church into He was Archbishop in all two and twentie yéeres and died July 9. 1228. at his mannor of Slyndon in Sussex from whence his body was conueighed to Canterbury and there buried in the chappell of Saint Michaell This man was admirably learned and writ many notable workes the Catalogue whereof is to be séene in Bale Amongst the rest it is especially to be noted that he first diuided the Bible into Chapters in such sort as we now account them The Archbishops pallace at Canterbury is said to haue béene built in a manner all by this Stephen Langton Moreouer it is deliuered that he bestowed great cost in making a faire horologe in the South crosse isle of the church néere which he lieth buried his monument being situate in a manner iust vnder the altar 44. Richard Magnus VVIthin a fewe daies after the death of Stephen Langton the Monkes with the Kings licence procéeded to election made choice of one Walt. de Hempsham one of their own company presented him vnto the K. who by the aduice of diuers prelates refused to allow of him Which notwithstanding he got him to Rome hoping by one meanes or other to obtaine the Popes confirmation The king hauing notize of his intent sent thither the Bishop of Chester to signifie that he was a man very vnlearned and moreouer infamous for his life and conuersation as namely that he had gotten diuers children vpon a certaine Nunne that his father was hanged for theft and that himselfe had deserued it by taking the part of the rebellious Barons All this would not stay the Pope from giuing him confirmation vntill the kings Ambassadors had promised him a tenth of all spirituall promotions in England to aide him in his wars against the Emperor That being assigned him he straight way pronounced the election voide and by reason of the insufficiency of the elect the right of nomination to be deuolued vnto him selfe by vertue of which title he tooke vpon him at the kings request to name vnto that see Richard the Chauncellor of
Lincolne This Richard was a man very wel learned wise graue well spoken and of good report stout in defending the rights and liberties of the Church and which is not altogither to be neglected of a goodly personage tall straight and well fauoured He was consecrate at Canterbury by Henry Bishop of Rochester in the presence of the king and many of the nobility June 10. 1229. A little while he enioyed that honor to wit two yéeres or there abouts In which time there happened a controuersie betwéene him and ãâã ãâã de ãâã Earle of Kent concerning some lands of the Earle of Glocester the profits whereof the Archbishop challenged as due vnto him in the minority of the Earle Hubert was a man greatly fauored by the king for his long faithfull seruice vnto his father and him selfe namely for defending the Castle of Douer against Lewis the French man he made him Earle of Kent and chiefe iustice of England He had entred vpon these lands The Archbishop first complained of the wrong vnto the king finding no remedy at his hands excommunicated all the authors of this iniury the king onely excepted and got him to Rome The king vnderstanding thereof dispatched messengers thither also to hinder his procéedings there what might be The Pope notwithstanding delighted much with the eloquence grauity and excellent behauiour of the Archbishop graunted presently all his demandes Little ioy had he of this victory Being thrée daies iourney in his way homewards he fell sicke at the towne of Saint Genuna and there died in the Friery where also he was buried It is ãâã that soone after his buriall certaine théeues brake open his toombe and thought to haue robbed him of his ãâã rings c. wherein according to the maner of those times he was buried but that they claue so fast vnto him as by no deuice they could take them from him Beléeue it as you list It shall not be amisse also to note how that in the time of this Archbishop a great number of Italians had possessed them selues of the best benefices of England which being much spited at certaine madde fellowes tooke vpoÌ them by force to thresh out their corne euery where and giue it away vnto the poore to rob and spoile them of their money and other goods It was done so openly and so boldly as it was manifest that some great men were at one end of that businesse The Italians after that time were not so eager vpon Euglish benefices 45. Saint Edmund THe monkes of Canterbury by this time weary of contending with the king soone after the death of the former Archbishop chose of their owne accord Ralfe Neuill Bishop of Chichester aud Chauncellor of England a man very wise and highly in fauour with the king who liking well of this election put him in possession of the temporalties by and by The Pope being requested for his approbation chaunced to inquire of Simon Langton Archdeacon of Canterbury brother vnto Stephen the Archbishop what maner of man this Ralfe Neuill should be who told him that he was a hote fellow stout subtile an olde courtier and very gratious with the king it was much to be doubted therefore he would set the king him together by the eares and cause him to deny the payment of that tribute graunted vnto him by king Iohn This was ynough without more adoo he willed the monkes to choose another neuer alleaging any matter of exceptions against him So to a second election they procéeded and chose one Iohn their Subprior He went to Rome and being examined by certaine Cardinals was adiudged fit ynough for the place Yet the Pope misliked him for his age and perswaded the good old man to forbeare to take vpon him so great a charge in his olde yéeres He yéelded and thereupon a third was elected one Richard Blundy a studient of Oxford Him also the Pope refused because forsooth he held two benefices contrary to the Canons and because it was knowen he had borrowed a great summe of money of Peter Bishop of Winchester wherewith it was thought he féed well the monkes that chose him The Pope then made request vnto such of the monkes as were at Rome to choose Edmund Treasurer of Salisbury a man very wel knowen and indéed famous for his vertue and great learning They neither durst deny the Popes request nor would doo any thing in the matter till they had vnderstood the pleasure of their Prince and conferred with the rest of their brethren He was content to take their silence for a sufficient election and without more adoo sent him the pall into England little thinking of any such matter Both the king and the Couent liking well ynough of the man he was consecrate at Canterbury by Roger Bishop of London ann 1234. He was borne as some say at London and baptised in the same font Thomas Becket his predecessor had beene But other affirme more probably that he was borne at Abingdon in Barkshire sonne vnto one Edward Rich a Merchant his mothers name was Mabell In their elder yéeres they forsooke each other by mutuall consent and betooke them selues to a monasticall life Edmund their sonne they caused to be brought vp in the Uniuersity of Oxford Hauing attained vnto reasonable perfection in the knowledge of Diuinity whereunto his study was chiefely directed he applied himselfe to preaching wherein he tooke great paines namely in the counties of Oxford Glocester and Worcester vntil such time as he was called to the Treasurership of Salisbury Being consecrate Archbishop he presently fell into the kings displeasure by opposing him selfe against the mariage of Elianor the kings sister with Simon Mountfort Earle of Leicester because vponthe death of the Earle Marshal her first husband she had vowed chastity To haue this vow dispensed withall the king procured the Pope to send a Legate into England his name was Otto a Cardinall ãâã also this good Archbishop offended and that so grieuously by reprehending his monstrous couetousnesse his bribery and extortion as euer after he sought to worke him all the mischiefe he might The monkes of Rochester had presented vnto this Archbishop one Richard de ãâã demaunding of him consecration vnto the Bishopricke of their Church The Archbishop denied to affoord the same knowing him to be a very vnlearned and vnsufficient man Héereupon the moonks appealed to Rome which the Archbishop vnderstanding of hasted him thither also Otto the Legate endeuoured to stay him at home and failing thereof did his errand so well at Rome as not onely in that sute but an other also which he had against Hugh Earle of Arundell in an other cause of appeale he was ouerthrowne and condemned in a thousand markes charges to his great disgrace and impouerishment Being at Rome he had complained of many great abuses in England and amongst the rest of the long vacacy of Bishoprickes The Pope séemed willing to redresse these things and namely concerning that matter set downe
Pope to ratifie the dooings of his ãâã The Bishops of his prouince vnderstanding thereof and knowing how great an inconuenience it would be to them and all their Clergy they made a collection of two pence in the marke out of all spirituall promotions in the Prouince to be expended in sute of lawe against the Archibishop In the meane time the king had written his letters earnestly to the Pope in the Archbishops behalfe which so inchanted him with partialitie as the Bishop of London vtterly despairing of any iustice gaue ouer the matter in the plaine field Onely thus much was obtained that he the Chapter of Paules and the Couent of S. ãâã should be absolued from their excommunication Soone after this it hapned that the Archbishop the old malice still boyling in his brest taking a small aduantage excommunicated againe the Deane and Chapter of Paules the indignitie whereof so mooued all the Cleargy as they tooke order to méete at Dunstable and there laying their purses togither gathered the sum of fower thousand markes which they determined to bribe the Pope withall so he would deliuer them from the misery of this vnreasonable kinde of Uisitation The Pope tooke their mony and promised them faire And the Archbishoppe séeing no remedie but he must ãâã clauo pellere by taking the same course fedde him as well on the other side He whose affection was euer woont to be measured according to his rewards so diuided his fauour as he tooke not away from the Archbishoppe all authority of visiting and yet so moderated the same with circumstances as it was like to prooue tolerable inough As soone then as he returned he went forward in his visitation wherein he dealt at the first somewhat mildly but soone falling to his old byas caused euery where such stirs and tumults as it was long after called by the name of the troublous Uisitation At Lincoln he fell out with the Chapter there the Sée being then voide about the gift of prebends and benefices which he chalenged and had euer heretofore in the vacacy belonged vnto them One William Lupus Archdeacon of Lincoln especially resisted him in this matter and appealed vnto the Pope This poore man he so vexed and hurryed with his excommunications and all manner of molestation he could deuise as at last he enforced him to hide himselfe and to steale secretly to Rome where he was so pitied as the Pope was entreated not only to absolue him but to protect him from the violence of Boniface and at last to iudge the controuersie of his side So homewards he got him with assured hope of restoring his church to her auncient priuiledge But being worne out with continual trauel and vexation which he had indured three yéeres vpon the way he died Now while he was abroad in the rest of his prouince his monkes of Christ church in Canterbury had procured of the Pope a Charter of immunity from all visitation This being tendred vnto him at Saint Albons he made no more adoo but cast it in the fire The matter being complained of both to the Pope and the king no redresse could be found The king durst not disgrace him for feare of offending his Quéene to whom he was vncle and the Pope partly for his kinreds sake that were mighty men and his néere neighbours partly because he was his instrument for polling of England and brought him in much money would hardly giue eare vnto any accusation against him This boisterous visitation ended he got him beyond sea and with the money he had scraped togither in the same hired a great number of soldiers to rescue his brother Thomas sometime Earle of Sauoy that was kept in prison by the citizens of ãâã who could not indure his tyranny In this war he had the Popes Buls and excommunications at commandement to assist him of which hauing spent a great many all his money and no smal number of his soldiers to no purpose with ãâã and sorrow for his losse and disgrace home he came Toward the later end of his time he waxed more moderate and applied himselfe in some reasonable sort to the gouernment of his church The realme being filled with strangers of the kings blood by his mother side and their attendants that still snatcht vp all places of preferment especially ãâã He was content to ioine with the rest of the Bishops in a request to the king wherein he besought him to hauc some regard of his owne countriemen among whom he might sinde choice ynough of wise vertuous and learned men The king taking this speech of his in very euill part told him he was content to do as he wished him and because saith he it is indéed great reason that I should fauour woorthy men of my owne nation before any vnwoorthy stranger You and my brother Aethelmar of Winchester men vtterly vnlearned and altens whom I haue preferred for no other respect then kinred or affinity shall do well to giue ouer your places and you shall see I will soone fill them with men you shal take no exceptions against By this and diuers other manifest tokens perceiuing the kings mind to be alienated from him and knowing himselfe very ill beloued of all the commous and clergic in generall waxing weary of England he selled his woods let leases forced from his tenants and others what money he could possibly and hauing gathered great summes by one meanes or other caried it all with him into Sauoy whence he neuer meant to returne againe He liued not long after his arriuall there but deceased in the castle of Saint Helen July 18. 1270. after his first consecration 26. yeeres sixe moneths and sixteene daies and from the time of his first election nine and twenty yeeres He performed three notable things woorthy memory he payed the debt of two and twenty thousand markes that he found his Sée indebted in He built a goodly hospitall at Maidstone called the New workes and indued it with large reuenewes William Courtney long after translated the same into a colledge of secular priests And lastly he finished that most stately hall at Canterbury with the buildings adioining which had onely béene begun by Hubert and little or nothing continued by them that followed but by him at last was throughly perfited 47. Robert Kilwardby Soone after the death of Boniface the Couent of Canterbury by the licence of the king elected William Chillinden their Supprior to succéede him The Pope tooke exceptions against him as an vnsufficient man for the place ex plenitudine potestatis thrust into the same one Robert Kilwardby This Robert was a great Clarke and left many monuments of the same in writing behind him an English man borne brought vp in Paris whence hauing proceeded there Master of Arts he returned and became first a Frier Minor and then Prouinciall of that order here The monkes that many times opposed themselues against their kings and lawfull Princes durst not resist this intruder of
had sent them but to be thankefull vnto him for them and to haue a care to vse them moderately Some there be that haue not doubted to ascribe that notable conquest rather to the vertue and holinesse of this man then to any other meanes either of prowesse or wisedome in other instruments of the same This man that might haue obtained of the king any preferment he would haue craued was so ãâã from ambitious desire of promotion as it was long besore he could be perswaded to take a prebend of Lincolne when it was offred him being before that Chauncelor of Paules in London It is certaine also that he was elected vnto the Archbishopricke without his owne séeking might easily haue made the king for him if he had indeuoured it When some men maruailed that the king should refuse him and preferre any other before him he answered he could very ill spare him he perceiued not he was desirous to be spard Iohn Vfford being sodainly taken away as before is declared the Couent of Canterbury once more chose him the king very willingly allowed of their choice and the Pope hauing not yet heard of this their second election of his owne accord before any request made cast vpon him this dignity Hardly shal you find any Archbishop in any age to haue attained his place in better sort He was consecrate at Auinion by one Bertrand a Cardinal in the church of the Frier minors there That ceremony once perfourmed he hasted him home into England where first doing his duety to the king he receiued of him immediately his temporalties with all fauour From the court he departed to Lambhith to rest himselfe after his long iourney Lying there a while with the Bishop of Rochester he fell sicke and within fiue weekes and fower daies after his consecration died so that he was neuer inthronized at all He was buried in the chappell of Saint Anselme toward the South wall 55. Simon Islip SImon Islip being doctor of law became canon of Paules then Deane of the Arches after that was chosen to be of the priuy counsell of king Edward the third first in the place of secretary and then kéeper of the priuy seale Iohn Stratford lying vpon his death bed foretold he should be Archbishoppe It came to passe within two yéeres after his death though two other were serued before him The monkes with the kings very good liking chose him and the Pope would not refuse him yet being loath to ratifie the monkes election he reiected the same and ex ãâã potestatis bestowed the Archbishopricke vpon him His bulles were published in Bowe church October 4. 1349. and in the moneth of December following he was consecrate by the Bishop of London in Paules church He was inthronized secretly to saue charge For he was a very frugal and sparing man neuer estéeming pompe or outward brauery He was also very seuere When he first visited his owne Dioces he depriued many cleargy men of their liuings He passed thorough the Diocesses of Kochester and Chichester without kéeping any great adoo So that euery one made account he was content to winke at the faults he espied But they found it otherwise For he afterward called home vnto him the offenders and there dealt so with them as all men might assure themselues he would prooue a very austere man in his gouernment Iohn Synwall Bishop of Lincolne standing in doubt of this asperity of his with great cost procured a priuiledge from Rome to exempt himselfe from his authority and iurisdiction But the Archbishop caused the same afterward to be reuoked The Uniuersity of Oxford had presented vnto him the said Bish. of Lincoln vnto whose iurisdiction Oxford then appertained one William Palmorââ for their Chauncellour and prayed him to admit him The Bishop I know not for what cause delayed his admission from time to time and enforced the Uniuersity to complaine of this hard dealing vnto the Archbishop He presently set downe a day wherein he enioined the Bishop to admit this Chauncellor or else to render a reason of his refusall At that time appointed the proctors of the Uniuersity were ready together with this William Palmoââe to demaund admission And when the Bishop of Lincolne came not trusting belike to his priuiledge aforesaid the Archbishop caused his Chauncellor Iohn Carlton Deane of Wels to admit him write to the Uniuersity to receiue him and cited the Bishop to answere before him for his contempt He appealed to the Pope would not come and for his contumacy was interdicted Much money was spent in this sute after wards at Rome The ende was that the Archbishop preuailed and the others priueledge was by speciall order of the Pope reuoked who also graunted vnto the Uniuersity at the same time that the Chauncellor hereafter should onely be elected by the schollers them selues and so presently authorised to gouerne them without the admission of any other This conquest thus atchiued he entred yet into another combate in the same land I meane at Rome He serued Andrew Vfford Archbishop of Middlesex the Administrator of Iohn Vfford his predecessor for delapidations and recouered of him 1101. l. fiftéene shillings two pence halpeny farthing that money he imployed in repairing the pallace at Canterbury He pulled downe the manner house at Wrotham and imploied the stones and timber of the same in ending the building that Iohn Vfford his predecessor aforesaid had begun at Maidstone Toward this and other charges he obtained of the Pope leaue to craue a contribution of foure pence out of euery marke from all the Cleargy of his Prouince But his officers whether of purpose or peraduenture mistaking demaunded and had a whole tenth All this was within a yéere or two of his first comming to the Archbishopricke at which time also in a Parliament held at Westminster the yéere 1350. the old controuersie betwéen him and the Archbishop of Yorke about bearing vp his crosse in the prouince of Canterburybegan to be renewed was compromitted vnto the hearing and iudgement of the king who set downe a finall order for the same viz. that the Archbishop of Yorke should beare his crosse in the others prouince yéelding all preeminence otherwise vnto Canterbury but that in token of subiection euery Archbishop at his entrance should offer an image of gold to the value of forty pound at the shrine of Saint Thomas the same to be sent by some Knight or Doctor of the Law within the space of two monethes after his inthronization Amongst the rest of his actions I may not in any wise forget his Colledge of Canterbury which is now become a parcell of Christ Church in Oxford He built it and endowed it with good possessions appropriating vnto the same the parsonages of Pagham and Magfield He graunted also vnto the Couent of Canterbury the Churches of Monkton and Estrey It is worthy remembrance likewise that when a certaine Countesse of Kent after the Earle her husbands death had prosessed
of vicar Generall then to the Deanry of the Arches the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon the Parsonages of Croydon and Clyff and lastly the Bishopricke of Rochester From Rochester he was remooued to Worcester his vncle yet liuing and ioying much in this his aduancement the yéere 1 63. FroÌ thence some say he was translated to London but that I take to be mistaken Simon Sudbury was Bishop of LondoÌ before he came to Worcester and so continued till that after his death he succeded him in Canterbury Thether this man was aduanced by the Popes onely authority presently after Simon Langham was made Cardinall viz. the yéere 1368. At two seuerall synods he preached in Latine very learnedly The later of those sermons he could hardly end for sicknesse where with he had béene so much troubled before as for two yeeres space he was faine to kéepe his chamber almost altogither Not being able to resist the force of this tedious wearing disease any longer he paid the debt of his mortality October 11. 1374. hauing continued in this Sée almost seuen yéeres He was buried ouer-against his vncle betwéene two pillers vnder a faire marble tombe inlaid with brasse which is lately defaced by tearing out the brasse I remember that some sixtéene yéeres since I read the Epitaph engrauen vpon the same This man procured the Uniuersitie of Oxford to be exempt from the iurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincolne and al authority of gouerning the same to be committed vnto the Chauncellour and Proctors 58. Simon Sudbury PResently after the death of William Wittlesey the monks of Canterbury elected for their Archbishop a certaine Cardinall that was an Englishman borne but throughly Italianate hauing lead his life in a manner altogither at Rome I take it his name was Adam Easton The king with this choice of theirs was so gréeuously offended as he determined to banish them the monks I meane out of the realme and to confiscate their goods Gregory the 11. that then was Pope though he fauoured his Cardinall to shield the poore monkes from the danger of such a tempest was content to refuse this election and to bestow the Archbishopricke by way of prouision vpon Simon Sudbury Bishop of London whom he knew the king liked well inough This Simon was the sonne of a gentleman named Nigellus Tibold so that his true name was Simon Tibold But he was borne at Sudbury a towne of Suffolke in the parish of S. George and of that ãâã tooke his name according to the manner of many cleargy men in those daies He was alwaies brought vp at schoole and being yet very yoong was sent by his father beyond the seas to study the canon lawe and hauing procéeded Doctor of that faculty became houshold Chaplein vnto Pope Innocent and one of the Judges or Auditors of his Kota The said Pope by way of prouision thrust him first into the Chancellorship of Salisbury and then afterward viz. the yéere 1364. into the Bishopricke of London He receiued the bulles of his translation thence June 6. 1375. Two synods or conuocations were held in his time at both which he preached in Latin very learnedly Sixe yeeres one month and ten daies he gouerned the Sée of Canterbury laudably and at last was most vnwoorthily slaine or rather wickedly murthered by a company of villanous rebels By the instigation of one Iohn Ball a seditions malcontent and hypocriticall preacher the baser sort of the commons arose in diuers parts of the realme and intending to destroy all gentlemen lawyers cleargymen and whosoeuer were of any account either for their riches linage or authority in the common wealth came vp to London appointing for their leaders Wat Tyler Iacke Straw Iohn Lister Robert Westhrom c. The king vnderstanding of their comming sent vnto them to know the cause of their repaire in so great numbers They answered they were to impart vnto him certaine matters greatly importing the state of the common wealth which if he would vnderstand he should spéedily resort vnto them The king hauing receiued this saury answere began to consult with his friends whether he were best to goe to them or not The greater number ãâã him to goe But the Archbishop and Sir Robert Hales Treasurer of England ãâã him saying it was a thing not onely ãâã and shamefull for a Prince to be commanded by such rascals but also dangerous vnto his person to commit himselfe to a route of seditious people that hauing once broken the bands of all duty and alleageance feared no more to violate the sacred maiesty of their annointed prince then to wrong their neighbours of farre meaner condition of whom they had already slaine spoiled and robbed an infinite number for wich cause they thought it more safe for the king more honorable and euery way more expedient to gather some power together spéedily and to set vpon them who being yet vnprouided of armour destitute of good leaders and without all skill or experience of warlike affaires would soone be dispersed and ouerthrowen This spéech of theirs I know not by what tell-tales was carried vnto the rebels who sware by and by they would haue off the heads of these cruell counsellers So in all haste to the Tower they came where the court then lay requiring with great outcries the Archbishop and the said Sir Robert Hales to be deliuered vnto them The Archbishop hauing heard some inckling of their intent the day before had spent all that might in prayer and iust when they called for him was saying of masse in the chappell of the Tower That ended and hearing of their comming Let vs now go saith he vnto his men Surely it is best to dye séeing to liue it can be no pleasure With that in came these murtherous rebels crying where is the Traytour where is the Traytor He answered I am the Archbishop whom I thinke you seeke but no Traytor With great violence then they drew him out of the chappell and caried him to the Tower hill Séeing there nothing but swords and weapons and hearing nothing but Kill kill away with the Traytor c. Yet he was not so ãâã but with great ãâã he could go about to perswade them not to imbrue their hands in the bloud of their Archbishop their chiefe ãâã that ãâã ãâã offended them to his knowledge nor ãâã so cruell a death at their hands assuring them that all the ãâã would be interdicted for it that the ãâã ãâã ãâã be punished ãâã or last by the temporal Law and lastly that though both these failed God the iust Iudge would ãâã it ãâã in this or the world to come if not both He was a man admirably wise and excéeding well spoken But these varlets were so egerly bent as the very songs of the Syrens would nothing haue mooued them at all from their intended course Séeing therefore nothing but death before his face with comfortable words forgiuing the executioner that scarce euer requested him so to doo with a very
yet depending the Archbishop died Iuly 31. 1396. at Maidstone when he had sate 12. yéers lacking one moneth The old worke at Maidstone first built by Boniface his predecessor for an Hospitall he pulled downe and building it after a more stately manner translated it into a Colledge of secular priests which at the time of the suppression was valued at one hundred thirty nine pounds seuen shillings fixe pence by the yéere The church of Mepham quite fallen downe he repaired againe and built certaine almes houses néere it for the vse of poore people Toward the reparation of the body of his Church and cloysters he gaue 1000. marks He gaue also vnto the same Church a certaine image of siluer waighing one hundred and thréescore pounds ãâã vestments thirtéene coapes of great value besides a number of bookes He lieth buried vpon the South side of Thomas Beckets shrine at the féete of the blacke Prince in a goodly toombe of Alabaster 60. Thomas Arundell BY the Popes prouision Thomas Arondell Archbishop of Yorke was remooued to Canterbury about Christmas after William Courtneyes death His bulles were published at Canterbury Ianuary 11. Soone after his crosse was deliuered vnto him at Westminster by Henry Chillinden the Prior of Canterbury with ãâã solemnity in the presence of the king and many nobles February 10. following he receiued his pall ãâã the 19. of the same moneth he was inthronised at Canterbury with great pomp He was sonne vnto Robert Earle of Arundell and Warren first Bishop of Ely then of Yorke Sée more of him there He was scarce warme in his seate when by the kings displeasure he was dispossessed of the same In the second yéere of his translation a parliament was held at London The king there accused the Duke of Glocester the Earle of Arundell that was the Archbishops brother and diuers other of high treason Now because cleargy men were forbidden by the Canons to be present at any triall or iudgement vpon life and death the matter being once proposed all the Bishops departed the house as their maner was in like cases The Archbishop being absent vpon this occasion was condemned togither with his brother of high treason for which his brother was presently executed and he commaunded within forty daies to depart the realme vpon paine of death He thus banished got him to Rome and found such fauour with the Pope as first he was content to write earnestly vnto the king for his restitution and when he could do no good that way he translated him to the Archbishopricke of Saint Andrewes in Scotland intending to heape so much ecclesiasticall liuing vpon him by benefices c. in England as he should be able to liue in state honorable ynough The king vnderstanding of his intent writ a maruellous sharpe letter vnto the Pope telling him plainly he must repute him for his enimy if he yéelded any maner of succour vnto him whom he knew too well to hate him deadly That letter so wrought with the Pope as after that time he neuer indeuoured to prefer him farther and moreouer at the kings request made Roger Walden Deane of Yorke and treasurer of England Archbishop He was consecrate inthronised c. held Synods and did all things belonging vnto that place the space of two yéeres It hapened in the meane time that the king Richard the second wos deposed or at least inforced to resigne his crowne vnto Henry Duke of Lancaster that after possessed the same by the name of king Henry the fourth Boniface the Pope vnderstanding then of the fall of king Richard pronounced the said Roger to be an intruder and vsurper of the Archbishopricke and by his omnipotent bulles restored Thomas Arundell vnto the same againe As for Roger Walden that was now a Bishop without a Bishopricke for it is Character indelebilis he liued so a while til at last by the kind endeuor of the Archb. his charitable aduersary he was promoted vnto the Bishopricke of London which he enioyed but a short time being taken away by death within one yere after About a twelue moneth after the Archbishops restitution a conuocation was held at London whether the king sent the Earles of Northumberland and Westmerland that told the cleargy they came from the king but not of that errand that courtiers were woont to be sent for to that place they came not for money but onely to signifie the kings harty and fauorable goodwill vnto them and to request their daily prayers for him and the good estate of the realme This new broome with swéeping so cleane at the first was so worne out vnto the stumpes in a yéere or two as not contented with a bare tenth the next conuocation after he was very angry that a more liberall allowance was not made vnto him and began to hearken vnto the sacrilegious motions of certaine impious politicians that intending to cast the burthen of all subsidies and other kind of tributes vpon the cleargy letted not to say openly in the parliament house how the laity was not able to yéeld any thing vnto the kings coffers for that the cleargy had all the wealth of the land in their hands And therefore the king must either take from them their temporalties or else lay all the burthen vpon them that onely were able to beare it The Archbishop that was vndoubtedly a woorthy prelate wise and very stout rose vp and prooued by manifest arguments that the contributions of the Cleargy were after the proportion of their ability much more liberall then the subsidies or other paiments of the temporalty in many respects For saith he we pay the tenth of our liuings oftener then they pay fifteenths and though we serue not in the warres our selues our seruants and tenants do neither are we altogither idle in as much as we pray daily for the king and the realme as well in time of peace as war The prolocutor of the parliament house at that time was a knight called Sir Iohn Cleyn that hauing béene a cleargyman sometimes without any dispensation forsooke the calling became a soldier This prophane Apostata was not ashamed to say it was no matter for their praiers so the king might haue their mony I sée now quoth the Arch. whither the fortune of this realme tendeth the prayers of the church being despised which should appease the wrath of God iustly kindled against vs by the daily monstrous iniquities of our age Perceauing then that the king who at his first comming to the crowne had made many open and publike protestations of his loue to the church and his intent to defend and protect the same to the vtmost that he I say began to harken somewhat too patiently to these wicked motions he turned him toward him and making lowe obeisance humbly besought him it would please his maiesty to remember those gratious and most honorable spéeches wherein he had often signified his resolute determination of protecting the church from all iniury
as also his othe taken to the same purpose at the time of his coronation the danger and dishonour of breaking the same and lastly that he should feare to offend him by whom kings raigne and before whose tribunall all princes and monarchs neuer so great must one day come to be iudged The king seemed to be somewhat mooued with these words and desiring the Archbishop to take his place againe well quoth he howsoeuer I doe otherwise I will leaue the church in as good estate as I found it The Archbishop then turning him about vnto the proloquutor and certaine other knights of the lower house that accompanied him You it was faith he and such as you are that perswaded the last king to take into his hands all such celles in England as appertained vnto any religious houses of Fraunce or Normandy assuring him it would so stuffe his coffers as he could not want in many yéeres after and there is no question but the land belonging to such celles was woorth an infinite summe of mony Howbeit it is certaine and well inough knowne that within one yéere after he had taken that course he was not the value of halfe a marke the richer and how he thriued afterwarde otherwise I néede not tell you After that time there were no other attempts against the church in his daies But the clergy were so terrified with that wauering doubtfulnesse of the king as they durst not but grant him a tenth euery yéere after and though there were no other occasion the Archbishop was faine to call a conuocation euen for that purpose His end being as some report it was very miserable his tongue swelled so big in his mouth as he was able neither to eate drinke nor speake in many dayes before his death and died at last of hunger about the end of Ianuary 1413. when he had sate one moneth aboue 17. yéeres He lyeth buried on the North side of the body of Christchurch in Canterbury at the West end whereof toward the North he built a faire spire stéeple called to this day by the name of Arundell steeple and bestowed a goodly ring of fiue belles vpon the same the first of them he dedicated to the holy trinity the second to the blessed virgin the third to the Angel Gabriell the fourth to Saint Blase and the fift to Saint Iohn the Euangelist 61. Henry Chichley AFter the death of Thomas Arundell Henry Chichley Bishop of Saint Dauids was elected by the Couent of Canterbury to succéeds him Now though many Lawes had béene made against the Popes vsurped authority in bestowing Ecclesiasticall preferments by way of prouiston Yet durst not this man consent vnto this election so made but committed the matter vnto the Popes determination who first pronounced the election of the monkes void and then bestowed the Archbishopricke vpon him This Henry Chichley was borne at Highamferrys in Northamptonshire brought vp in New Colledge in Oxford where he procéeded Doctor of Law and first preferred vnto the Chauncellorship of Salisbury Hauing beene imployed much in Embassages and other businesses of the king wherein he euer behaued himselfe wisely and to the kings great good liking by his meanes he was made first Bishop of Saint Dauids and then Archbishop He receiued his pall at the hands of the Bishop of Winchester the 29. of July 1414. and bought of the king the fruites of the vacacy which was halfe a yéere for sixe hundred markes The yéere 1428. he was made Cardinall of Saint Eusebius the Popes Legate but refused to exercise his power Legatiue further then he was authorised thereunto by the king He was a man happy enioying alwaies his princes fauour wealth honour and all kinde of prosperity many yéeres wise in gouerning his Sée laudably bountifull in bestowing his goods to the behoofe of the common wealth and lastly stout and seuere in due administration of iustice In the towne of Nigham ferrys where he was borne he founded a goodly college for secular priests which he endowed with large reuenues He built also in the same towne an hospital for poore people which he likewise endowed liberally and his brethren Robert and Wil. Chichley citizens of London his executors gaue much land vnto the same These two foundations finished he began two other at Oxford one called Bernard College now knowne by the name of Saint Johns college and All Soules college which yet continueth in such state as he left the same one of the fairest and seemeliest of our Uniuersity He bestowed much money in repairing the library at Canterbury and then replenished the same with a number of goodly bookes He gaue vnto his Church many rich ornaments and iewels of great price and built a great part of the Tower called Oxford Tower in the said Church William Molash Prior there that I may take any occasion to record so good a déede the yéere 1430. furnished that Tower with a goodly bell called to this day Bell Dunstan The ãâã of that bell at the lowest brim is two yards and somewhat more But to returne to Henry Chichley no Archbishop euer enioied that honor so long as he did in 500. yeeres before him He sate 29. yéeres and dying Aprill 12. 1443. was laid in a very faire toombe built by him selfe in his life time standing vpon the North side of the Presbitery On it I find engrauen this Epitaph Hic ãâã Henr. Chicheley Ll. Doctor quondam Cancellarius Sarum qui anno septimo Henr. 4. Regisad Gregorium Papam 12. in Ambassiata transmissus in ciuitate Sanensi per manus ãâã Papae in Episcopum ãâã consecratus est Hic etiam Henricus anno 2. Henr. 5. Regis in ãâã sancta ecclesia in Archiepiscopum postulatus a ãâã Papa 23. ad eandem translatus qui obijt anno dom 1443. mensis Apr. die 12. Coetus sanctornm concorditer iste precetur Vt Deus ipsorum meritis sibi propiciatur 62. Iohn Stafford EVgenius 4. the Pope of his absolute authority translated then from Bathe and Wels Iohn Stafford lately also made Cardinall as I finde reported at leastwise He was sonne vnto the Earle of Stafford borne at Hooke in Dorsetshire in the parish of Abbots bury and brought vp in Oxford where also he procéeded Doctor of lawe A while he practised in the Arches euen vntill Henry Chichley the Archbishoppe made him his vicar generall there By his fauour also he obtayned the Deanry of Saint Martins in London and the prebend of Milton in the church of Lincoln King Henry the fifth a little before his death began to fauour him much found meanes to preferre him first to the Deanry of Wels then a prebend in the church of Salisbury and afterward made him one of his priuy counsell first kéeper of the priuy seale and in the ende Treasurer of England This renowmed king being taken away by vntimely death though he found not his passage so cléere yet he still went forward in the way of preferment and obtained
non vendam neque donabo neque impignerabo neque de nouo infeudabo velaliquo modo alienabo in consulto Rom. Pontifice sicut me Deus admuet c. With what ceremony the crosse was woont to be deliuered sée before in William Courtney pag. 104. This Archbishop died February 15. 1502. the second yéere after his translation at Lambhith His body was conueighed to Feuersam by water conducted with 33. watermen all apparelled in blacke a great number of tapers burning day and night in the boate and from thence was caried to Canterbury where it was buried in the middle of the place called the martyrdome vnder a faire marble stone inlaid with brasse He bequeathed to his Church a siluer image of 51. ounces waight and appointed 500. l. to be bestowed in his funerals He built the most part of Otford house and made the yron worke vpon the coping of Rochester bridge 67. William Warham VVIlliam Warham a gentleman of an ancient house was borne in Hamshire brought vp in the Colledge of Winchester and chosen thence to New Colledge in Oxford where he procéeded Doctor of Law Intending then to vse and put in practice the knowledge he had gotten at the Uniuersity he became an aduocate or Doctor of the Arches and soone after Master of the Rolles While he was in that office King Henry the seuenth sent him Embassador to the Duke of Burgundy to perswade him that he should not beléeue the false reports of his Duchesse and to signifie how notably she had abused him and all the world in setting vp two counterfeits against him Lambert that made himselfe the Earle of Warwicke who was then to be séene in the Tower safe ynough and Perkin Warbeck whom she had taught to name him selfe Richard Duke of Yorke that was certainly knowen to haue béene murthered by his wicked vncle long before In this businesse he behaued himselfe so wisely as the king greatly commended him for the same and the Bishopricke of London happening to be void soone after his returne home he procured him to be elected thereunto He had not beene Bishop there two whole yéeres when Henry Deane the Archbishop died to whose place also by the kings speciall indeuour he was aduaunced He was inthronised March 9. 1504. with woonderfull great solemnity The day before his comming to Canterbury the Duke of Buckingham that was his high steward came thither attended with seuen score horse to sée all things in a readinesse The said Duke had also the office of chiefe Butler and therefore being vnable to doo the duties of both he deputed Sir George Bourchier vnto the Butlership Him selfe tooke great paines to sée that nothing might be wanting requisite for the performance of this ceremony in most magnificent manner The next day which was Sunday he met the Archbishop ouer against Saint Andrewes Church and dooing low obeysance vnto him went before him to Christ church At the great gate néere the market place the Prior and Couent receiued him honorably and caried him to the Church whether he went from Saint Andrewes Church barefoote said masse there and was placed in his throne after the accustomed manner From Church he was attended by the Duke as he was thetherward The cheere at dinner was as great as for money it might be made Before the first messe the Duke him selfe came ridinginto the hall vpon a great horse bare headed with his white staffe in his hand and when the first dish was set on the table made obeysance by bowing of his body Hauing so done he betooke him to his chamber where was prouision made for him according to his state With the Archbishop sate the Earle of Esser the Bishop of Man the Lord Aburgauenny the Lord Brooke the Prior of Canterbury and the Abbot of Saint Augustines The Duke at his table was accompanied with the Lord ãâã Sir Edward Poynings the chiefe Justice of England named Phineux Sir Wilham Scot Sir Thomas Kemp and others A great many other guests were serued in other places noble men and knights at one table Doctors of Diuinity and Law at another and Gentlemen of the country at a third besides an infinite number of meaner calling placed by them selues according to their seuerall degrées But to let passe these matters and to come vnto his gouernement all the time of King Henry the seuenth vnder whom he liued Archbishop some thrée yéeres he enioyed all manner of prosperity being in so great fauor with his Prince as no man greater He dying and his sonne Bing Henry the eight succeeding Cardinall Wolsey that was then but Almosuer and Deaue of Lincolne diued so cunningly into the bosome of the yong king as by and by he ouertopped the Archbishop and quickly wound him out of all authority First by the kings meanes he got from him the Chauncellorship of England Then being Cardinall and the Popes Legate a latere by speciall commisson he set vp a new court called Curia ãâã vnder colour whereof he drewe ãâã ãâã of iurisdiction throughout England into his owne hands and appointed Officials Registers c. in ãâã Dioces who tooke vp all causes and suffered other ãâã to whom the iurisdiction of right appertained to sitte still without either regard or profit This deiection of the Archbishop wherein men estéemed him for the time very vnhapy fell out to his great good the others immoderate greatnesse was the cause of his destruction At what time the K. ãâã to be diuorced from his first wife D. Catherine she ãâã choice of this our Archb. Nicholas West Bish. of Ely two lawyers and of I. Fisher ãâã of Rochester and Henry Standish Bishop of Assaph Doctors of Diuinity to assist and direct her in that sute they did so and behaued themselues in such sort as neither the king had cause to be offended with their ouerforwardnes nor she to blame their stacknes or negligeÌce But the Cardinall that was ioined with Cardinall Campeius in commission wherein they were authorised by the Pope to examine the circumstances of that cause he I say being more slacke in his procéedings then the king expected he should so incensed him against him as shortly after he was content first to take the aduantage of a Premunire against him then to cause him to be arrested of high treason whereof sée more in Yorke Soone after the Cardinals death there was a conuocation held wherein the cleargy was aduertised that they all had fallen into apremunire by yéelding vnto the Cardinals power legantine neuer allowed by the king They determined therefore to redéeme the penalty they had incurred with the paiment of 118. thousand pounds whereof the prouince of Yorke should pay eightéene thousand and Canterbury the rest which was 100000. l. When this gift was to haue béene presented they were certified that the king would not accept of the same except they declared in a Canon that he was supreame head of the church Long this matter was hammering But at last they
agréed to giue vnto him this new title and inserted the same into the instrument of their gift In the conuocation many canons were made against Lutherans and many motions for renouncing the Popes authority wherein the greatest part being fearefull of resoluing either way the connocation was often prorogued After many adiournments it was once more put ouer from Aprill till October 5. In which meane space the Archbishop died at Saint Stephens néere Canterbury in the house of William Warham his kinsman Archdeacon of Canterbury That house at that time belonged vnto the Archdeaconry but by what facrilegious meanes I know not was long since nipped away from the same so that the Archdeacon except he be otherwise prouided for them by his Archdeaconry is now houselesse But to returne vnto our Archbishop he was buried without any great funerall pompe giuing mourning clothes onely to the poore and laide in a little chappell built by himselse for the place of his buriall vpon the North side of the Martyrdome and hath there a reasonable faire toombe He purchased much land for his kinred and bestowed very much in repairing and beutifying his houses with faire buildings euen to the value of thirty thousand pound as he professeth in his will for which cause he prayed his successor to forbeare sute for dilapidations against his executors They were the Duke of Norfolke and the Lord Windsor He continued Archbishop eight and twenty yéeres and died in the sommer the yéere 1532. 68. Thomas Cranmer A Famous and memorable man succéeded William Warham Thomas Cranmer Doctor of Diuinity whose life is written at large by Master Foxe and others I should loose labour therefore in writing any long discourse of the same Briefly to set downe that which I cannot omit without interrupting my course you shall vnderstand that he was borne at Arstacton in Nottingham shire of a very ancient house which as it should séeme came out of Normandy with the conquerour for it is certaine that in the time of this Archbishop a certaine French gentleman named Cranmer came into England bearing the same armes that the Archbishop did who gaue him great intertainment and did him much honour He was brought vp in Iesus colledge in Cambridge Being yet very yoong he maried and so lost his fellowship in the said colledge But his wife dying within one yéere he was receiued into his old place againe For the maner occasion of his aduancement his diuers imployments before his actions in the same his lamentable fal his heroicall and ãâã combats and lastly his constant death I will as before I said send the Reader vnto Master Foxe who hath exactly set downe all the particularities of these things Onely thus much heare that he suffered most vnworthy death at Oxford March 21. 1556. being the first Archbishop that euer was put to death by order of lawe in England except onely Richard Scroope Archbishop of Yorke 69. Reginald Poole CArdinal Poole was the sonne of sir Richard Poole who was cosin germaine vnto king Henry the seuenth and Margaret Countesse of Salisbury that was daughter vnto George Duke of Clarence the second brother of king Edward the fourth They caused him to spend some time in Magdalen colledge in Oxford and being yet very yoong sent him beyond sea by trauell to get both learning and experience in the world In the meane time king Henry the eight that fauored him much as being néere of kinne vnto him both by father and mother before his departure had bestowed vpon him the Deanry of Exceter He had béene in Italy lying for the most part at Padua the space of 7. yéeres at what time the king hauing abolished the Popes authority sent for him home he not comming proclaimed him Traytor and gaue away his Deanry vnto another This losse he estéemed little of Petrus Bembus an old acquaintance of his was become the Popes chiefe secretary who so commended him vnto his master that shortly after he was content to make him a Cardinall perswading himselfe belike that he would prooue a good instrument for English matters as occasion should serue And surely if he regarded the woorthinesse of the man in respect of his manifold rare and excellent partes he could not lightly preferre any man lesse obnoxious to exceptions For he was not onely very learned which is better knowen then that itnéedeth many wordes but also of such modesty in outward behauiour and integrity of life and conuersation as he was of all men both loued and reuerenced I know well that Pasquill played his parts with him and fathered a brat or two vpon him but without any probability at all He was made Cardinall Maye 22. 1536. The Pope employed him then in diuers Embassages vnto the Emperor and the French King wherein he did his best endeuour to ioine them against his owne soueraigne the King of England and not content therewith he dealt so busily with his letters amongst his friends in England wherein he dehorted them from the Kings obedience and all conformity vnto reformation as it turned many of them to great trouble and amongst the rest cost his mother her head It pleased not God that any of his platformes should take successe And therefore partly malcontent and partly also weary of the paines and continuall danger these Embassages forced him vnto he procured the Pope to make him Legate of Uiterbio where he determined to leade the rest of his life quietly But he was disappointed of his purpose The Pope Paul 3. summoned a Councell at Trent Cardinall Poole and one or two other ioyned with him must néedes be his Uicegerents there He for his part was nothing so resolute in matters of religion as men expected he would In the question of iustification he professed to be on our side and perswaded one Morell to be of his opinion a learned Spaniard that lay in the same house he did and that was sent out of Spaine of purpose to defend the Popes quarrell in disputation wherein he was estéemed excellent Soone after his returne from the Counsell it hapned the Pope to die A great faction there was at that time in the college of Cardinals some taking part with the Emperour and some with the French king Cardinall Poole was altogither Imperiall All that side and diuers that were indifferent gaue him their voices for the Papacy whereunto when they had elected him orderly he forsooth found fault with them for their rashnesse and perswaded them to take further deliberation in so great and waighty a matter Héereof the French party taking aduantage began to cry out it was reason regard should be had of many French Cardinals and other that were absent and could not possibly repaire vnto the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã had lately ãâã ãâã as it were in ãâã and that it was ãâã to ãâã feared if they elected any man that were altogether ãâã vnto him it would be a cause of great sturres and ãâã One of their company
of Thomas Beckets chappell 70. Matthew Parker MAtthew Parker was borne at Norwich August 6. 1504. and brought vp by his mother for his father died he being but twelue yéeres of age in the Uniuersity of Cambridge He was first a Bible clerke of Corpus-Christ College there and afterwards fellow His first preferment was the Deanry of Stoke which he obtained by the fauor of Queene Anne Bulleyn whose Chaplaine he was That Colledge though he resisted it what he might was suppressed in the first yeere of King Edward the sixt After the death of that noble Lady King Henry her husband tooke him for his Chapleme in which place he also serued King Edward his sonne By these two Princes he was preferred vnto many other good Ecclesiasticall promotions as a Prebend in Ely by King Henry the eight the Mastership of Corpus christi Colledge where he was brought vp by the election of the fellowes but commandement of the same king and lastly the Deanry of Lincolne with the prebend of Coldingham giuen him by king Edward the sixt Besides these liuings he had also the Parsonage of Landbeach foure miles from Cambridge by the gift of the Colledge whereof he was Master These liuings he quietly enioyed till the second yeere of Queene Mary at what time for being married he was depriued and liued poorely all the time of her raigne That terrible fire being extinguished that consumed so many zealous and learned men and the Archbishopricke left void by the death of Cardinall Poole this Matthew Parker then Doctor of Diuinity sometimes Deane of Lincolne and Master of Corpus-christi Colledge in Cambridge as afore said was thought méetest for that high place and preserment He was consecrate thereunto December 17. 1559. held the same fifteene yéeres ãâã moneths and deceased Maye 17. 1575. being 72. yéeres of age He founded a Grammer Schoole at Rochdale in Lancashire Unto Corpus christi Colledge in Cambridge where he was brought vp he procured thirtéene schollerships built the inward Library and two faire chambers in the same Moreouer he gaue to the Library of that Colledge a great number of Bookés some printed other written but very rare and much to be estéemed for their value and antiquity He gaue them also thrée hundred and ten ounces of plate double guilt the perpetuall patronage of S. Mary Abchurch in London land for the maintenance of two fellowes aboue the ordinary number a leasse for seuentéene yéeres worth fourtéene pounds eight shillings de claro and one hundred pounds to mainetaine a fire in the Hall there from Allhallowentide till Candlemas He tooke order for the preaching of fire Sermons yéerely in the Rogation weeke in fiue seuerall Churches in Norfolke Unto the City of Norwich where he was borne he gaue a Bason and Ewer double guilt weighing one hundred seuenty three ounces and fifty shillings yee ely reuenew to be deuided among poore people of the same City Unto Gunnell and Caius Colledge a pot double guilt of fifty sixe ounces together with a neast of goblets and certaine bookes To Trinity Hall a Scholers place a Cuppe waighing fifty thrée ounces a neast of goblets and bookes likewise To the Uniuersity fifty written bookes of great value and fifty printed And otherwise bestowed much money vnto charitable vses not necessary particularly to be remembred Upon the reparation of his pallace at Canterbury which was now greatly derayed he bestowed one thousand foure huÌdred pound At Lambhith also he repaired and built much to his great charge But aboue any thing I may not forget his great care of preseruing antiquities vnto which his care we are beholding for most of our ancient histories that but for him were euen vpon the point vtterly to perish He lyeth buried in the Chà ppell belonging to his house at Lambhith vnder a faire marble stone 71. Edmund Gryndall IN the moneth of February following Edmund Gryndall Archbishop of Yorke was translated to Canterbury This man was borne at Saint Bees in Cumberland fellow first then ãâã of Penbroke Hall in Cambridge of which ãâã he was for one yeere one of the Proctors A while he was chaplame vnto Master ãâã Bishop of London who preferred him vnto the seruice of king Edward the sixt In the end of which kings raigne there was an intent that the said Bishop should haue beene remooued to Durham and it was thought that Master Gryndall should succeede him in London But the death of that good king disturbed the progresse of this platforme and in steed of the expected honourable aduauncement forced him to a voluntary exile in Germany where he liued all the raigne of Quéene Mary She dying our now gratious Princesse happily succéeding he was appointed vnto the gouernment so long before intended elected thereunto July 26. 1559. and enioyed the same about eleuen yeeres viz. vntill May 20. 1570. at what time he was remooued to Yorke There he sate almost sixe yeeres and as before is mentioned was once more translated to Canterbury Two yeeres before his death he became blind and died at Croydon where also he was buried July 6. 1583. being 64. yéeres of age hauing continued Archbishop seuen yéeres and almost a halfe In the place where he was borne he founded a frée schoole which he endowed with thirty pound land To Quéenes colledge in Oxford he gaue twenty pound lande to maintaine a fellowe and two schollers to be taken out of his said schoole He gaue them also the greatest part of his bookes and 87. ounces of plate besides forty pound debt which he forgaue them To Pembroke Hall in Cambridge he gaue two and twenty pound land for the maintenance of a Gréeke lecture of a fellow and two schollers to be likewise taken out of his schoole To ãâã he also gaue some bookes and forty ounces of plate To Magdalen colledge in Cambridge he gaue fiue pound land for one fellow to be taken from his schoole To Christs colledge there fiue and forty ounces of plate To eight little almeshouses in Croydon fifty pound to be bestowed in land for their reliefe and lastly to the city of Canterbury an hundred pound to be imployed vpon a stocke to set the poore on worke 72. Iohn Whitegift SOone after the death of Edmund Gryndall Iohn Whitegift Doctor of Diuinity Bishop of Worcester was appointed to succéede him and his translation confirmed September 23. following He was borne at Grymsby in Lincolnshire brought vp a while vnder Master Bradford in Penbroke Hall and afterwards became fellow of Peter house in Cambridge The yéere 1567. he procéeded Doctor of Diuinity and being chosen Master of Pembroke Hall within the compasse of the same yéere was called to the gouernement of Trinity colledge In the meane time he had béene reader of both the diuinity lectures first the Lady Margarets after the Quéenes Ten yéeres he continued Master of Trinity colledge in which space he was twice Uicechauncellour and the yéere 1573. by the gift of her Maiestie whose chaplaine he was
his company out of all question the city was fired the greatest part thereof being burnt downe to the ground togither with the Nunnery the Monastery of Saint Grimbald and more then 20. other Churches some say 40. This hapned vpon the 2. day of August 1141. Soone after his men burnt and spoiled the Nunnery of Warwell and himselfe returning to Winch. tooke off from the crosse that was burnt in the new Monastery 500. l. of siluer 30. marke of gold thrée crownes with so many seates of fine Arabike gold set with precious stones All this he put in his owne purse Now to remember his good déedes also you shall vnderstand that he founded that woorthy Hospitall of Saint Crosse néere Winchester In which place some thing had beene built long before to some such good vse But it was destroied by the Danes and quite ruinated til this Bishop reedified it or rather laide new foundations in the same place ann 1132. and endowed it with the reuenew it now hath He also built the castell of Farnham destroied afterward by king Henry the 3. but reedified by the Bishops of Winch. He was a man as of great bloud so of a great and high minde He contended often with the Archbishop of Canterbury for superiority vnder colour that he was the Popes legate a latere and as some deliuer a Cardinall Matthew Westm. reporteth that he obtained of Pope Lucius the title of an Archbishop receauing from him a pall and authority ouer seuen churches But what or which they were I finde not In the 47. yéere of his consecration he fell sicke dangerously whereof the king Henry the 2. hearing came to visite him But he was so farre from yeelding the king thanks for this great grace as he gaue him no lookes but frowning nor spéeches but very sharpe and curst reprehending him with very bitter words as the causer of Thomas Beckets death Yet such was the great méekenesse of this prince as he not onely tooke very patiently this reproofe but long after thought much of the same And surely no great maruell The memory of a dying mans words abideth long How much more of a Bishop a graue wise and ancient prelate He departed this life August 6. 1171. where he was buried I know not 38. Richard Tocline alias More AFter the death of the former Bishop the Sée stood void thrée yéeres many other Churches likewise at the same time stoode long voide At last the yéere 1173. by the instance of two Cardinals the king granted licence of frée election vnto them all Unto Winchester was then chosen Richard Tocline Archdeacon of Poitiers by some called More by other Richard de Iuelcester He was consecrate at Lambhith the yéere following viz. 1174. togither with thrée other Bishops Geffery of Ely Robert of Herford and Iohn of Chichester He died December 22. 1187. or as his Epitaph hath 1189. He lieth entombed in the north wall of the Presbytery iust vnder Wina where is ingrauen this that followeth Obijt anno Dom. 1189. Presulis egregij pausant hic membra Ricardi Tocline cui summi gaudio sunto poli 39. Godfridus de Lucy HE was sonne vnto Richard Lucy chiefe Justice of England consecrate Bishop of Winchester Nouember 1. 1189. and died an 1204. so he sate 15. yéeres This man purchased of king Richard the first the mannors of Wergraue and Menes which in times past had belonged vnto his Sée of Winchester but I know not how had béene alienated from the same Moreouer he became a great benefactor vnto the Priory of Westwood in Kent founded by his father 40. Peter de la Roche THis man borne in Poytiers being a knight was consecrate Bishop of Winchester at Rome an 1204. A notable wise prelate and of such authority vnder king Iohn first and Henry the third after as none greater in those times He with two other Bishops viz. Philip his countreyman of Durham and Iohn Gray of Norwich animated king Iohn to withstand the Popes excommunication but they were all faine to cry peccaui at last The yéere 1214. king Iohn made him chiefe Justice of England the nobles of the realme grudging very much that a stranger borne should rule ouer them After the death of king Iohn king Henry being a childe the realme was long gouerned almost altogether by this Bishop For William Earle Marshall dying he was chosen in his roome Protector of the king and realme And afterwards the king being growen to yéeres of discretion relyed altogither vpon his counsell He had a nephew or as some say a sonne named Peter d' Orinall Treasurer of England in maruellous great fauour also with king Henry Yet as court fauours are variable so were they often disgraced and often restored againe to the height of worldly happines I meane the Princes great and entire fauour The yéere 1226 he tooke his voyage to the Holy land and being absent fiue yéeres at his returne was receiued with ãâã and all signes of great ioy He died June 9. 1238. at Faruham when he had sate Bishop the space of 24. yéeres and was buried according to his owne appointment very meanely and euen obscurely in his owne church In his death saith M. Paris the counsell of England receiued a great wound What good soeuer happened vnto the church either by peace or warre in the Holy land at the comming of the Emperour Fredericke it is specially to be ascribed vnto the wisedome of this Bishop Againe saith he when as discord betwéene the Pope and the Emperour threatned the destruction of the whole church he was the speciall meanes of compounding a peace betwéene them Now of the religious houses he built and being built enriched with reuenewes for their maintenance These be the names Hales of the order of Premonstratenses Tickford of the same order Saleburne of the order of Saint Augustine viz. Canons regular and a goodly hospitall at Portsmouth Againe he remooued the Church of S. Thomas the Martyr in the holy land from a very vnfit place vnto a more conuenient and reformed the statues of the company belonging to the Church causing the Patriark of Hierusalem to take order that whereas they were heretofore méere lay men now they should be vnder the Templers and of their society And lastly he bestowed great cost in fortifying and repayring the Towne of Joppa a notable succour and refuge of the Christians in those parts He made a worthy and memorable will giuing vnto euery of the foresaid places a huge summe of money for the least that he gaue was vnto the house of S. Thomas of Acon vnto which he beaqueathed 500. marks All this notwithstanding he left his Bishopricke very rich his houses furnished and his grounds ready Stocked for his successor Thus farre M. Paris 41. William de Raley THe Sée being thus voide by the death of Peter derupibus the king Henry the 3. dealt very earnestly with the monks of Winchester to choose in his place the Bishop elect of Ualentia
the Quéenes vncle But they were agréed vpon W. de Raley Bishop of Norwich and tooke exceptions against the elect of Ualentia calling him virum sanguinum When the king heard of their intent he was excéeding angry and made great hauocke of the Bishops temporalties swearing he would haue his will at last or they should neuer haue Bishop The monks then séeing him so obstinately set against the Bishop of Norwich determined to alter their purpose and were content to choose Ralfe Neuill Bishop of Chichester the kings Chauncellor wherein they were so farre from contenting him as he was much more incensed against them then before and not against them onely but the new elect also from whom immediately he tooke the great seale and gaue it to another As for the election not without great charges he caused the same to be ãâã and made void at Rome Much adoo there was for the space of fiue or sixe yéeres about this matter At last the monkes séeing no end and being resolued against the Ualentine they procéeded to election againe and chose according to their first determination the Bishop of Norwich This election was suddenly made and quickly confirmed at Rome Yet the king ceased not to spurne at the same commaunding the Mayor of Winchester to forbid the new Bishop entrance which he did and was by him excommunicate for his labor and the whole City interdicted In the meane time the Bishop fealt the burthen of the Kings displeasure so heauy vpon him in England as he thought good to flie the realme He got him into Fraunce and was honorably receiued of the king there At last by the intercession of Boniface the Archbishop and the Popes earnest letters vnto the King and the Quéene he was restored to the Kings fauor and obtained licence to returne For recompence of this benefite and his fatherly care the Bishop saith Matth. Westm. in thankfulnesse bestowed vpon the Pope 6000. markes which he in good nature tooke euery penny without disdainefull returne of one denier The payment of this money and the charges of his trouble stucke so close vnto him as though he liued very priuately in all his life long he was neuer able to recouer himselfe out of debt He died about the twentith day of September 1249. at Turon whither he had withdrawen himselfe with a very small traine almost a yéere before It is recorded of him that being néere death he had the Sacrament brought vnto him And perceiuing the Priest to enter his chamber with it he cryed out stay good friend let the Lord come no néerer vnto me it is more fit that I be drawen vnto him as a traytor that in many things haue been a traytor vnto him His seruants therefore by his commaundement drew him out of his bed vnto the place where the Priest was and there with teares he receiued the Sacrament and spending much time in prayer afterward he so ended his life when he had béene Bishop about the space of sixe yéeres for he was translated ann 1243. so that the Sée was void fiue yéeres 42. Ethelmarus THe King being certified ef his death sent immediately two of his Chaplaines to Winchester to perswade the monkes to elect Ethelmarus the sonne of Hugh Earle of March and Isabell the Quéene his mother so that he was halfe brother vnto the king a man saith M. Paris in respect of his orders yéeres and learning vtterly vnsufficient By that time they had labored the matter the space of a fortnight the king himselfe came vnto Winchester and in the Chapter house made a most earnest request in the behalfe of his brother The monkes too well remembring what great trouble sorrow they had endured for denying the kings last request some of them beaten and sore wounded many tormented with hunger and laden with chaines in long imprisonment besides continuall charges of sutes and trauaile and knowing wel they should haue no assistance at Rome so long as the Kings purse was better then theirs they resolued though they knew the man most vnfit to gratifie the King and so no man daring to say no with one consent he was elected He had at that time other spirituall liuing equiualent in reuenue to the Archbishopricke of Canterbury which that he might kéepe and yet receiue all the profits of the Bishopricke of Winchester he determined not to be consecrate at all but to hold it by his election and so did indéed for the space of 9. yéeres In the meane time he and the rest of his countreymen with whom the realme was much pestered were growen very odious as well with the nobility as the commons not onely for that their infinite wealth and immoderate preferment was much enuied but much more for their pride and insolency which a man can hardly beare in his owne friend much lesse in an alien and stranger whom men naturally dislike much sooner then their owne Countreymen Amongst the rest this ãâã bare himselfe so bold vpon the King his brother as he gaue commaundement to his seruants to force a clergy man out of the possession of a benefice whereunto he pretended some right and if he withstood them to draw him out of his possession in contumelious manner The poore man loath to loose his liuing defended it so long til by my Lord Electes men he was slaine himselfe and his people so soare beaten as within few daies one or two of them died This fact and other like brought all the Pictauians into such hatred as the realme ãâã ready to rise against them which perceiuing to auoid the teÌpest growing towards them the yeere 1268. they all ãâã the realme Ethelmar sent ouer for his treasure whereof he had laide vp great store but much of it came short being intercepted at Douer and taken away from those to whom it was committed The yéere after the departure of the Pictauians viz. 1259. the monkes of Winchester thought good to procéed to the election of a new Bishop And knowing it was to no purpose to make choice of any but such as the king fauoured elected Henry de Wingham then Chauncellor of England But he although he doubted not of the kings fauour in regard that another being elected it might prooue litigious refused to consent vnto their election alleaging his owne vnwoorthines for want of learning The king was content to allow of him condicionally that some stay might be made for a time to sée whether his brother Ethelmar might attaine consecration of the Pope While the king stood vpon these vncertaine tearmes Henry de Wengham became Bishop of London the yéere 1259 2. yéeres after viz. 1261. Ethelmar died He tooke order his hart should be brought to Winchester where it was intoombed in the South wal of the presbytery as this Elogium witnesseth Obijt anno Dom. 1261. Corpus ãâã ãâã cor nunc tenet istud ãâã ãâã morte ãâã ãâã 43. Iohn Gernsey IOhn Gernsey or Iohn of Oxford for so also I find him
called was consecrate Bishop an 1265. at Rome where it is said he paid vnto the Pope 6000. markes for his consecration and so much more vnto Iordanus the Popes Chauncellor Presently vpon his returne he was suspended by Ottobonus the Popes legate for taking part against the king in the Barons wars he enioyed a small time his honor so déerely bought the yéere 1268. he died in Italy and was buried there at Uiterbium 44. Nicholas de Ely RIchard Moore a Doctor of Diuinity was then chosen Bishop But Fryer Peckham at that time Archbishop of Canterbury tooke exception against him for holding of many benefices And said that a man of such conscience as were fit for that place would rather content himselfe with lesse liuing then load himselfe with the cure of so many soules He being refused Nicholas de Ely hauing béene scarcely one yere Bishop of Worcester was called to this church He sate 12. yéeres died an 1290. his body was buried at Wauerly his hart lieth entoombed in the South wall of the Presbytery with this inscription Intus est cor Nicholai Episcop cuius corpus est apud Wauerley One of his name was first Chauncellor then treasurer of England about the yéere 1260. I assure my selfe it was he 45. Iohn de Pontissara ABout this time the Pope began to take vpon him the bestowing of Bishoprickes for the most part euery where This Iohn de Pontissara was placed by him vpon his absolute authority He was a great enimy vnto the monkes of his church whose liuing he much diminished to encrease his owne He died the yéere 1304. hauing sate néere 24. yéeres and lyeth buried in the North wall of the Presbytery His toombe hath this Epitaphe engrauen Defuncti corpus tumulus tenet iste Ioannis Pountes Wintoniae presulis eximij Obijt anno Dom. 1304. 46. Henry Woodloke HEnry Woodloke succéeded him Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury being banished the realme by king Edward the first who charged him with treason this Bishop became an intercessor for him and in the request he made to the king in his behalfe chaunced to call him his good Lord which the king tooke so haynously as by and by he caused all the Bishops goods to be confiscate and renounced all protection of him How he recouered the kings fauour againe I finde not Not long after the said king dying by the permission of the foresaid Archbishop he crowned king Edward the second Ianuary 22. 1307. and died an 1316. the 13. yéere of his consecration 47. Iohn Sendall VVAlsingham called this man Iohn Kendall he was Chauncellor of England and died 1320. hauing scarcely sate fower yéeres 48. Reginaldus Asserius THe Pope then thrust in Reginald de Asser his legate the king being very angry that the Pope tooke so much vpon him in these things He was consecrate by the Bishop of London Walter the Archbishop refusing to afford it vnto him sate little aboue two yéeres and died an 1323. 49. Iohn de Stratford IOhn de Stratford Doctor of Law succéeded When he had continued in this seat 10. yeeres an 1333. He was translated to Canterbury Sée more of him in Canterbury 50. Adam Tarlton alias de Orlton ADam de Arlton Doctor of law borne in Hereford was consecrate Bishop of Hereford September 26. 1317. In a parliament holden at London an 1324. he was accused of treason as hauing aided the Mortimers with men and armor against the king When he should haue béene arraigned a thing till that time neuer heard of that a Bishop should be arraigned the Archbishops of Canterbury Yorke and Dublin with their Suffragan Bishops came vnto the barre and violently tooke him away Notwithstanding the accusation being found true his temporalties were seased into the kings haÌds vntill such time as the king much deale by his machination and deuise was deposed of his kingdome If he which had béene a Traytor vnto his Prince before after deserued punishment for the same would soone be entreated to ioyne with other in the like attempt it is no maruell No man so forward as he in taking part with Isabel the Quéene against her husband king Edward the second Shée with her sonnes aud army being at Oxford this good Bishop stept vp into the pulpit and there taking for his text these words My head grieueth me he made a long discourse to prooue that an euill head not otherwise to be cured must be taken away Hauing gotten the king into their power he fearing least if the king at any time recouered his liberty and crowne againe they might receiue condigne punishment counselled the Quéene to make him away Whereunto she being as ready and willing as he to haue it done they writ certaine letters vnto the kéepers of the old king signifieng in couert termes what they desired They either not perfectly vnderstanding their meaning or desirous to haue somewhat to shew for their discharge pray them in expresse words to declare vnto them whether they would haue them put the king to death or no. To which question this subtill foxe framed this answere Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est If you set the point betwéene nolite and timere it forbiddeth if betwéene timere and bonum it exhorteth them to the committing of the fact whereupon the king was made away and most pitifully murthered by thrusting a hot spit into his fundament And who then so earnest a persecutor of the murtherers as this Bishop that when diuers of his letters were shewed against him eluded and auoyded them by sophisticall interpretation and vtterly denied that he was any way consenting to that haynous fact How cleanely he excused himselfe I know ãâã But sure I am he was so farre from receiuing punishment as within two moneths after viz. in Nouember 1327. he was preferred vnto the Bishopricke of Worcester sixe yéeres after that he was translated thence to winchester by the Pope December 1. 1333. at the request of the French king which king Edward taking in very ill part for that the French king and he were enimies deteined from ãâã his temporalties till that in a parliament at the sute of the whole cleargy he was content to yéeld them vnto him He sate Bishop of Winchester 11. yeeres 7. moneths and 17. daies and being a long time blind before his death departed this life July 18. 1345. 51. William Edendon THe same yeere William Edendon was consecrate Bishop a man in very great fauour with King Edward the third being treasurer of England he caused groats and halfe groats to be coyned the yeere 1350. coyne not séene in England before but they wanted some thing of the iust sterling waight which was the cause that the prices of all things rose then very much And where as many other times the like practise hath béene vsed in so much that fiue shillings hath now scarce so much siluer in it as fiue groats had 300. yéeres since no maruell if things be sold for treble the price
that height of tyranny that he not onely placed but displaced Bishops at his pleasure And his meanes to do it was by ãâã them to some other Bishopricke peraduenture of lesse value and peraduenture nothing woorth at all So was Alex. Neuill perforce translated from Yorke to S. Andrewes in Scotland whence wars being at that time betwéene England Scotland he was sure neuer to receiue peny And so he translated Iohn Buckingham from Lincolne to Lichfield a Bishopricke not halfe so good But he choosing rather to haue no bread then but halfe a loafe in a very malecontent humor and great chafe put on a monkes cowle at Canterbury and there liued priuately the rest of his life To his Bishopricke of Lincolne was then preferred Henry Beaufort sonne to Iohn of Gaunt by Katherine Swinford the yéere 1397. He was brought vp for the most part at Aken in Germany where he studied the ciuill and canon law many yéeres and comming home was preferred to Lincolne very yoong He continued there seuen yeres presently vpon the death of W. Wickham was translated to Winch. June 23. 1426. he was made cardinal of S. Eusebius receiued his hat with great solcÌnity at Calis the Lady day following A man of great frugality and therefore excéeding rich King Henry the fift in the latter ende of his raigne by great and continuall warres being waxen much behind hand and greatly indebted began to cast a couetous eye vpon the goods of the Church which at that time were growen to the full height and there wanted not many that incited him vnto the spoile of the same This wealthy Prelate best knowen by the name of the rich Cardinall supplyed his want out of his owne purse to diuert him from that sacrilegious course and lent him 20000. pound a great deale of money in those daies He was also valiant and very wise Pope Martin the fift determining to make warre vpon the Bohemians that had renounced al obedience vnto the Sée of Rome made this Cardinall his Legate into that Country and appointed such forces as he could make to be at his commandement Toward the charges of this voyage the Clergy of England gaue a tenth of all their promotions and furnished out 4000. men and more with this power he passed by Fraunce dooing there some seruice for his Prince and Countrey into Bothemia the yéere 1429. There he remained certaine moneths behauing himselfe very valiantly till by the Pope he was discharged In his youth he was wantonly giuen and gate a base daughter named Iane vpon Alice the daughter of Richard Earle of Arundell Her he maried after vnto Ed. Stradling or Easterlling a knight of Wales But this asdone before he entred into orders Toward his latter end he imployed his time altogether either in matters of Counsaile businesse of the common wealth or the seruice of God and the Church committed vnto him Amongst other good déedes it is remembred that he built an hospitall in Winchester which he presently endued with land to the value of 158. l. 13. s. 4. d. of yéerely rent He died Aprill 11. 1447. when he had beene Bishop of Winchester 43. yéeres and from the time of his first consecration 50. yéeres Except Thomas Bourchier that was Bishop 51. yéeres I read of no English man that euer enioyed that honor longer He lyeth buried in a reasonable stately toombe behind the high aulter of his Church at Winchester toward the South the inscription is much defaced of it remaineth onely this Tribularer si nescirem misericordias tuas 54. William Waynflet A Woorthy Prelate succéeded him William Waynflet Prouost of Eaton colledge then lately founded by king Henry the sixt who for his great wisedome and integrity was long Chauncellor of England He was sonne and heire vnto Richard Pattyn a gentleman of an ancient house brother vnto Iohn Pattyn Deane of Chichester and Richard Pattyn that liued at Basâo in Darbishire where he left as I haue heard a posterity behinde him It appéereth hereby that his name was not indéed Waynflet but Pattyn It was an ancient custome euen till those daies that cleargy men should take their surname according to the place where they were borne and amongst monkes and fryers it continued till the very suppression of monasteries This William whether Waynflet or Pattyn was brought vp first in Winchester schoole then in New colledge in Oxford His fellowship there he left to become schoolemaster of Winchester but was taken by king Henry the sixt to teach in his new college of Eaton whereof at last he made him as before is said Prouost He continued Bishop many yéeres and would haue done much more good then he did had he not béene hindred by those continuall warres betwéene the houses of Lancaster and Yorke in all which stormes he stucke alwaies vnto his patron and first preferrer king Henry the sixt And after his death king Edward the fourth knowing the faithfull affection and true hart he alwaies bore vnto Henry the sixt his enimy carried euer a hard hand vpon him Time notwithstanding and the reuenewes of that goodly Bishopricke enabled him to the foundation of that excellent and stately colledge in Oxford dedicated vnto Saint Mary Magdalene to the which I thinke the world hath not any one colledge in all perfections comparable He died as I haue béene told August 6. 1486. hauing first séene the house of Lancaster to his great ioy restored againe to the crowne in king Henry the seuenth So that betwéene the consecration of William Wickham and the death of William Waynflet his next successor sauing one it is 119 yéeres A strange thing that thrée men should hold one Bishopricke sixscore yéeres He lieth buried in the North part of the roome beyond the high Aulter ouer against the Cardinall in a very faire toombe the Epitaphe whereof is quite defaced 55. Peter Courtney IN the moneth of Nouember 1477. Peter Courtney the sonne of ãâã Philip Courtney of Powderham knight and Elizabeth his wife daughter to Walter Lord Hungerford was consecrate Bishop of Exeter whence he was translated to Winchester in the latter end of the yéere 1486. At Exeter he bestowed much money in finishing the North Tower vnto which he gaue a goodly bel called after his name Peter bell He died December the 20. 1491. hauing gouerned the Dioces of Winchester the space of fiue yéeres and was buried in his owne Church whereabouts I know not 56. Thomas Langton THe Bishopricke hauing béene voide somewhat more then one yéere Thomas Langton Bishop of Salisbury was preferred thereunto He was consecrate to Salisbury the yéere 1485 sate Bishop of Winchester seuen yéeres and was remooued to Canterbury but died of the plague an 1500. before his translation was perfited He built a very faire Chappell in the South side of the Lady Chappell in the Cathedrall Church of Winchester in the middle of which Chappell his body resteth in a very sumptuous toombe of Marble This Thomas Langton was some
without the Isle to his soldiers After seuen yéeres resistance the Saxon gentlemen some vpon promise of pardon submitted them selues others betaking themselues to flight the place was deliuered into the possession of the Conqueror ãâã Reges plectuntur Achimi For the fault of these noble men the poore monkes must be punished to be restored to their lands and to enioy their Auncient priuileges quietly they were faine to giue the king 1000. marks For making which money they were constrained to sell all the platc and siluer that was in their Church The king also fearefull least from the same place the like trouble might happen vnto him hereafter appointed them to maintaine a garrison of 40. soldiers which they did vntill such time as himselfe called them away to imploy them else where which was fiue yéeres after Theodwinus was the eight Abbot Godfry the ninth and Simon the tenth After whose death the place stoode voide seuen yéeres Richard the sonne of the Earle Gilbert was then made Abbot 1. Heruaeus BY this time the reuenues of the monastery were growne to be very great Their yéerely receit was not so little as 1400. l. which summe contained then more mettall and would goe farther in those daies then 6000. l. of our money Of that 1400. l. the Abbot allowed scarce 300. vnto the monks conuerting the rest vnto his own vse This Richard therefore if his minde were any thing so great as his linage could not but disdaine to liue vnder the iurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincolne to whose Dioces Cambridgeshire at that time appertained But he had reasonable pretences for his ambition He caused the king to be told that the Dioces of Lincolne was too large for one mans gouernment that Ely were a fit place for an Episcopall Sée c. These reasons amplified with golden Rhetoricke so perswaded the king as he not onely consented himselfe that this monastery should be conuerted into a Cathedrall Church and the Abbot made a Bishop but also procured the Pope to confirme and allow of the same After that Richard the Abbot had with great paines and more cost beaten this bush a great while the birde that he had so long and earnestly thirsted after fell to another mans share Himselfe was taken away by death when the matter was growen to good perfection and ready to be finished The Bishop of Lincolne a while hindred the procéeding of this businesse but his mouth was stopt with thrée Mannors which the king being liberall of another mans purse was content to bestow vpon him such as héeretofore belonged vnto the monastery of Ely viz. Spaldwich Bickleswoorth and Bokeden these were giuen to the Sée of Lyncolne in recompence of the losse the Bishop sustained by exempting of Cambridgshire from his iurisdiction And that the reuenues of the new Bishop might notwithstanding this gift be no lesse then the Abbots were but rather greater they diuised to diminish the number of monks which were then 70. and to draw them downe vnto 40. Richard the 11. and last Abbot being thus taken away when he would most gladly haue liued King Henry the first with the consent of the monks appointed this Bishopricke vnto one Heruaeus that had beene Bishop of Bangor and agréeing ill with the Welchmen was faine to leaue his Bishopricke there and séeke abroad for somewhat elsewhere He was translated the yeere 1109. sate 22. yéeres and died August the 30. 1131. 2. Nigellus THe Sée hauing béene voide then two yéere Nigellus Treasurer of England and Nephew vnto Roger Bishop of Salisbury was placed therein May the 28. 1133. He was receaued with such ioy into his city of Ely that all the stréete where he should passe was hanged with curtaines carpets and tapestry the monks and clergy of his Church meeting him with procession By reason of his imployment in matters of state and Counsell he could not attend his pastorall charge and therefore committed the managing gouernment of his Bishoprick vnto one Ranulphus somtime a monk of Glastonbury that had now cast away his cowle a couetous wicked man For his faithfulnes vnto his patrone and first preferrer king Henry this Nigellus is much to be commended When as Stephen Earle of Bloys contrary to his oath and promise to king Henry the first his vncle vsurped the crowne due to Maude the Empresse king Henries daughter This Bishop could neuer be induced to forsake her but most constantly stucke vnto her and endured much for her sake Sée more heereof in the life of Roger Bishop of Salisbury Notwithstanding those his great troubles he found meanes to erect an hospitall for Regular Cannons in that place where Saint Iohns Colledge in Cambridge now standeth the foundation of which house was afterwards twise altered first by Hugh Norwold his successor who placed therein a certaine number of schollers to cohabite with the Cannons giuing allowance for their maintenance and afterwards by Margaret Countesse of Richmond and Darby who new built it partly in her life time and partly by her executors after her death endowing it with in a manner all the reuenues it possesseth and raising it vnto that beautie and perfection which now it hath This man was Bishop 36. ãâã and ãâã 29. day of May 1169. hauing long before séene the issue of his Lord and first patrone King Henry restored to the crowne in Henry the 2. He is saide ãâã haue bene buried before the alter of Saint Crosse in his owne church Sée more of him in the discourse of Richard his sonne that was Bishop of London 3. Galfridus Rydall AFter his death the Dioces of Ely continued without a Bishop fiue yéeres The yéere 1174. Geoffry Rydell or Rydall Archdeacon of Canterbury was consecrate Bishop a very lofty and high minded man called therefore commonly the proud Bishop of Ely He bestowed great ãâã vpon the building of the new worke of his Cathedrall church toward the West and vpon the stéeple which he built ãâã vnto the battlements He died intestate at Winchester the 21. day of August 1189. a fower daies before the ãâã of king Richard the first leauing in his coffers great ãâã of ready money viz. 3060. marks of siluer and 205. marks of gold All which the king was content to take vnto ãâã tò helpe to beare the charges of his coronation He sate Bishop 14. yéeres 10. moneths and 14. daies 4. William Langchamp THe last day of December the same yéere William Langeshamp Chauncellor of England was consecrate Bishop of Ely One greatly fauoured by King Richard the first and a man very worthy of that fauour for many ãâã parts in him had not those his vertues béene matched and ouermatched with as many great and notorious ãâã When the king tooke that his famous voyage to ãâã he made this Bishop Chauncellor before chiefe Iustice of the South part of England and Protector of the Realme in his absence And least he should want any Authority that might be giuen him he procured
gentlemen of great worship whom he matched vnto his néeces and kinswomen ãâã ãâã ãâã himselfe happy that he ãâã ãâã to be well acquainted with his porters and officers was accounted ãâã small matter This man once downe and standing in ãâã of his friends help had no man to defend him no man to speake for him no man that mooued a ãâã to ãâã him out of the present calamity and trouble The ãâã Iohn was ãâã to haue ãâã him some farther notable ãâã and ãâã Neither was there any man that for his ãâã sake ãâã it The Bishops diuers of them his ãâã regarding notwithstanding his calling and place would not suffer it but causes him to be set at liberty ãâã not long after he got him ouer into Normandy where he was borne there rested himselfe after all this turmoile till the returne of king Richard with whom he made such faire weather and so ãâã excused all things obiected against him that in short time he was as greatly in fauor with him as euer heretofore The yéere 1197. he was sent Embassador to the Pope together with the Bishop of Durham and other and falling sicke by the way died at Poytiers the last day of Ianuary one ãâã aboue seuen yeere after his ãâã He was buried in a monastery of the order of the ãâã called ãâã 5. Eustachius THe Sée was then ãâã one whole yéere ãâã somwhat more The ninth day of August ãâã after ãâã death Eustachius Deane of Salisbury was elected but not ãâã till the fourth Sunday in Lent the yéere following A man saith Florilogus very well séene aswel in ãâã as diuine and holy learning He was one of them ãâã pronounced the Popes excommunication against king ãâã interdicted the whole Realme For dooing thereof he ãâã the kings displeasure would lye so heauy vpon him as ãâã was no ãâã in the realme and therefore got him ãâã the seas This fell out the yéere 1208. After ãâã yéeres ãâã king Iohn being reconciled to the Pope he ãâã home ãâã the yéere 1213. and liued not long after ãâã sate ãâã yéeres wanting nine ãâã and departed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the third day of ãâã 1214. The ãâã at the West end of the Cathedrall Church was of his building 6. Iohn de Fontibus AFter his death Galfridus de Burgo Archdeacon of Norwich and brother vnto Hubert de Burgo or Burrough Earle of Kent and chiefe Justice of England was elected Bishop of Ely But before the publication of this election one Robert of Yorke was also chosen who held the temporalities of the Bishopricke without consecration and disposed of benefices that fell and all things belonging to the Sée as Bishop for the space of fiue yéeres The Pope at last disanulling both these elections conferred the Bishopricks March 8. 1219. vpon Iohn Abbot of Fountney a iust and vertuous man He was Treasurer of England for flue yeeres and died the yéere 1225. He is said to be buried before the aulter of Saint Andrew 7. Geoffry de Burgo HE being dead Geoffry Burrough before mentioned was againe elected and obtayned consecration which he receiued vpon Saint Peters day the yéere 1225. Of him ãâã Virgil giueth the same testimony that Matthew Westm. doth of his predecessor Eustachius that he was vir in ãâã ãâã humanis literis eruditus a man well learned both in diuine and prophane literature He gaue two hundred acres of Moore in Wisbich marsh to the augmentation of the priory of Ely He continued Bishop about thrée yéeres and dying the 17. of May 1229. was buried vpon the North side of the Quier 8. Hugh NorWold HVgh Norwold Abbot of Saint ãâã succéeded him and was consecrate by Ioceline Bishop of Bathe and Wels togither with Richard Archbishop of Canterbury and Roger Bishop of London vpon Trinity sunday 1229. ãâã the tenth of June This ãâã is much commended for his house kéeping and liberality vnto the poore which may well séeme strange considering the infinite deale of ãâã spent by him in building of his church and houses The presbytery of the cathedrall church he raised from the very foundation and built a steeple of wood toward the ãâã at the West end of the church This noble worke he ãâã in seuentéene yéeres with the charge of 5350 l. 18 s. 8 d. And the seuentéene daie of September ãâã he dedicated ãâã as we commonly call it hallowed the same in the ãâã of the king Henry the third and his sonne Prince Edward the Bishops of Norwich ãâã ãâã and many other great personages All these and an infinite number of other people of all sorts he feasted many daies togither in his pallace of Ely which he built euery whit out of the ground and couered it with lead In Ditton and other houses belonging to his Sée he also bestowed much money He died at ãâã ãâã 9. day of August 1254. being well contented as he professed now to depart the world after he had séene the building ãâã his church finished which ãâã so earnestly desired He sate two moneths aboue 25. yéeres and was buried in the ãâã ytery which he had built 9. William de Kilkenny ABout the middle of October following ãâã de Kelkenny that then for a time supplied the ãâã of the Chauncellor of England was elected by the monkes vnto the Sée of Ely and was consecrate the fiftéenth of August beyond the seas He was chaplaine vnto the king a councellor of speciall credit with him and as the ãâã of Ely reporteth I find it no where els Chancellor of England A goodly man of person well spoken very wise and learned in the lawes He enioyed that preserment a small time being sent Ambassador into Spaine he died there vpon Saint Mathewes day 1256. when he had béene Bishop one yeere one moneth and sixe daies He tooke order his hart should be brought vnto Ely and buried there 10. Hugh Balsam NEwes being brought vnto the Court of the death of William de Kylkeny The king by and by dispatched his letters vnto the Prior and Couent of Ely requiring them in very gratious manner to choose for their Bishop Henry de Wingham his Chauncellor vsing many reasons to perswade them thereunto But they preferring their owne knowledge before the kings cemmendations the 13. day of Nouember made choise of Hugh Balfam or de ãâã for so also I find him called their Prior one as they perswaded themselues most fitte for the place Hereat the king being greatly displeased refused to accept of their election and caused the woods of the Bishopricke to be cut downe the parks to be spoyled and ãâã to be made of all things Many times he vrged them to a new election telling them it was not fit that a place of that strength should be committed vnto a simple cloyster man that had neuer béene acquainted with matters of state The new elect therefore got him ouer the sea to Rome hoping there to obtaine that which in England would not be affoorded
paine of death no man should héereafter be so hardy as to bring into the realme any kinde of writing from the Popes court Some notwithstanding contrary to this prohibition deliuered letters to the Bishop of Rochester then Treasurer of England from the Pope concerning this matter and fearing the woorst had armed themselues This ãâã they shrunke away and fled but were soone after ãâã and diuersly punished some dismembred other faire and well hanged The Pope hearing of this was so incensed that he wrote a very sharpe letter vnto the king breathing out terrible threats against him if he did not presently reconcile himselfe vnto the Bishop and cause full amends to be made him for all the losse he had sustained either by the Countesse or him in these troubles The king was too wise either to doe all he required or vtterly to despise his authority The ãâã he knew was not for his honor nor so farre had this tyrant incroched vpon the authority of princes the other for his ãâã Warned by the examples of king Iohn Henry the emperour and other he thought good not to exasperate him too ãâã and so was content to yéeld vnto somewhat But before the matter could grow to a full conclusion it was otherwise ended by God who tooke away the Bishop by death He deceased at Auinion June 23. 1361. and was there buried ãâã béen Bishop euen almost 17. yéeres 19. Simon Laugham INnocentius translated then Reginald Bryan Bishop of Worcester vnto Ely But he died before he could take benefit of the Popes gift Iohn Buckingham afterward Bishop of Lincolne was then chosen and was reiected by the Pope who preferred to this Sée Simon Laugham Abbot of Westminster He continued here but fiue yeeres being in that space first Treasurer then Chauncellor of England and was remooued to Canterbury Of his translation some merry fellow made these verses Laetentur ãâã quia Simon transit ab Ely Cuius in aduentum flent in Kent ãâã centum Sée more of him in Canterbury 20. Iohn Barnet AT what time Simon Laugham was translated to Canterbury Iohn Barnet was remooued from Bathe to succeede him in Ely He was first consecrate Bishop of Worcester 1362. and staying there but one yéere obtayned Bathe 1363. and lastly Ely 1366. He was Treasurer of England Being a very old man before his comming to Ely he liued there notwithstanding sixe yéeres in which tune he bestowed the making of fower windowes two in the South side and two in the North side of the Presbytery He died June 7. 1379. at Bishops ãâã lieth buried vpon the south side of the high altar in which place there is to be soone a goodly toombe monstrously defaced the head of the image being broken off I take that to be Barnets toombe 21. Thomas Arundell AFter the death of Iohn Barnet the king writ earnestly vnto the couent to choose Iohn Woodrone his confessor But they elected Henry Wakefield Treasurer of the kings house This election was made voide by the Pope who placed of his owne authority as I ãâã deliuered Thomas Arundell Archdeacon of Taunton sonne vnto Robert ãâã of Arundell and Warren being an aged gentleman of two and twenty yéeres old and as yet but a Subdeacon How be it some report that order being taken by parliament about this time for the ratifying of capitular elections and stopping the iniurious prouisions of the Pope that this Thomas ãâã was chosen orderly and consecrate at Otford by the Archbishop William Witlesey Aprill 6. 1375. Hauing ãâã there sowertéene yéeres thrée moneths and eightéene ãâã he was translated to Yorke and after to Canterbury He left for an implement of his house at Ely a woonderfull sumptuous and costly table decked with gold and precious stones It belonged first vnto the king of Spaine and was sold to this Bishop by the Blacke Prince for 300. markes He also bestowed the building of the great gate house in the house at Holburne Sée more of him in Yorke and Caterbury 22. Iohn Fordham THe Sée had béene void but fowertéene daies when Iohn Fordham Bishop of Durham was translated to Ely by the Pope He was first Deane of Wels consecrate Bishop of Durham May 29. 1381. and inthronized there in September 1382. He was Treasurer of England and to his great griefe was displaced from that office the yéere 1386. and Iohn Gilbert Bishop of Hereford made treasurer Seuen yéeres he continued at Durham and September 27. 1388. was by the authority of the Pope translated to Ely in which Sée he sate seuen and thirty yéeres two moneths and 24. daies He died Nouember 19. 1425. and lieth buried in the West part of the Lady chappell It appéereth by this reckoning that he was Bishop in all from the time of his first consecration 46. yéeres and vpward Sée more of him in Durham 23. Philip Morgan THe king then and manie noble men commended vnto the couent William ãâã doctor of law the kings confessor and kéeper of the priuie Seale who was after Bishop of Lincolne But they chose Peter their Prior. That election being disliked at home by the Archbishop he was fame to seeke vnto the Pope whose manner was litle or nothing to regard elections but to bestow any Bishoprick or other preferment that fell according to his owne pleasure if it were not filled before the auoidance might come to his knowledge According to this custome hauing no respect of the election of the couent of his owne authoritie he thrust in Phillip Morgan into this Bishopricke This man being doctor of law was consecrate Bishop of worcester 1419. and soone after ãâã death viz. before the end of the yeere 1425. remoued as is aforesaid vnto Ely He was a very wise man gouerned there with great commendation nine yeeres sixe moneths and fower daies And departed this life at Bishops ãâã October 25. 1434. He was buried at charter house in London 24. Lewes Lushborough PResently after his death the Monks elected Robert Fitz hugh Bishop of london who died before his translation could be perfected The king then writ for Thomas Rodburne Bishop of saint ãâã which notwithstanding they make choise of another to wit Thomas Bourchier Bishop of worcester whose election the Pope confirmed but the king vtterly refused to restore to him the temporalties of that see And so for feare of a premunire he durst not receiue the popes bulles of confirmation but renounced all his interest by this election The king then appointed this Bishopricke vnto Lewes Lushbrough Archbishoppe of Roan Cardinall and Chauncellor both of Fraunce and Normandy that was some way I know not how kinne vnto him By his meanes a dispensation was gotten of the Pope to hold Ely in commendam with his Archbishopricke He enioyed it sixe yéeres and sixe monethes and then died at Hatfild Septem 18. 1443. He is said to haue bene buried betwéene two marble pillers beside the altar of reliques 25. Thomas Bourchier THomas Bourchier being now once more chosen without
life time but many yéeres after his death 2. Robert Bloett IT happened soone after the death of ãâã the king William Rufus to fall dangerously sick at Glocester And thinking he should die began seriously to repent him of his dissolute and vicious life forepassed Especially he shewed great griefe for his Simony and sacrilegious oppression of the church and Cleargy men In this good moode he bestowed the Archbishopricke of Canterbury hauing kept it voide fower yéeres vpon Saint Anselm and Lincolne vpon Robert Bloet or Bluet his Chauncellor When he recouered he much repented his repentance wished they were in his hands againe and tell to his old practises as ãâã as euer heretofore This Robert Bloet was a man passing wise liberall ãâã curteous and very personable but vnlearned light of behauiour and much giuen to lust Bale reporteth he had a sonne named Simon base borne no doubt whom he made Deane of Lincolne He dedicated his church bestowed very much in furnishing the same with ornaments requisite Unto the 21. Prebends founded by his predecessor he added 21. more and very largely endued or as some deliuer founded the Abbey of Eynsham besides Oxford vnto the which monastery he remooued the monkes of Stow. Againe he bestowed the mannor of Charlton vpon the monkes of Bermondsey and gaue vnto the king 500 l. or as H. Huntingdon hath 5000. to cléere the title that the Archbishop of Yorke laid vnto the iurisdiction of his Sée He was consecrate the yeere 1092. sate almost 30. yéeres and died at last suddenly Ianuary 10. 1122. Riding by the kings side talking with him neere Woodstocke he shranke downe spéechlesse and being caried to his lodging died in a manner presently His bowels were buried at Eynsham his body was conueghed to Lincolne and there in his owne church solemnely interred Upon his toombe was engrauen this Epitaphe Pontificum Robertus honor quem fama superstes Perpetuare dabit non obiturus obit Hic humilis diues res mira potens pius vltor Compatiens mitis cum pateretur erat Noluit esse sui Dominus studuit pater esse Semper in aduersis murus arma suis. In decima Iani mendacis somnia mundi Liquit euigilans vera perenne vidit 3. Alexander ROger that famous Bishop of Salisbury was now so great a man with the king Henry the first as being able to do with him what he list he easily entreated him to bestow the Bishopricke of Lincolne vpon one Alexander his owne brothers sonne a Norman borne whom not long before he had made Archdeacon of Salisbury and chiefe Justice of England He was consecrate at Canterbury July 22. 1123. The next yéere after his Cathedrall church so lately built and yet scarcely finished was burnt and horribly defaced by casuall fire This man repayred it againe and added vnto it a speciall ornament a goodly vault of stone which before it had not and therefore was the more subiect vnto fire He also increased the number of his Prebends purchased vnto his church certaine mannors and other lands But his chiefe delight was in building of castels wherein he imitated his vncle the Bishop of Salisbury This humor was the vndoing of them both To leaue the other vnto his owne place Alexander built a stately castle at Banbury another at Newarke and a third at Sleford William Parââs reporteth that he also founded two monasteries but what or where I finde not These castles were such eie-sores vnto king Stephen as they prouoked him to picke a quarrell otherwise vnto the Bishops to clappe them vp in prison where the other died and to bereaue them at once of these munitions and all their treasure whereof they had hoorded vp great store They that kept the castle of Newarke refused to deliuer it at the kings summons till such time as the Bishop intreated them to yéeld signifying and it was true indeede that the king had sworne he should nether eate nor drinke before he had possession of the castle Hereupon they set open the gates vnto the king and then with much adoo hauing lyen by it certaine moneths he was at last released of his imprisonment After that ãâã the ãâã of his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã himselfe wholy to ãâã ãâã ãâã the ãâã of his church performed that which ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã made it simply the most beautifull church of England at that time He was thrice at Rome to wit the ãâã 1142. and 1144. where he behaued himselfe so as he pleased both the king and the Pope very well The first time he was ãâã the Pope gaue him authority to call a ãâã as his ãâã and especially ãâã vnto him the redresse of certaine ãâã for the effecting whereof he caused ãâã canons to be made very necessary for those times A third iourney he made vnto the Pope lying then in Fraunce in the moneth of August 1147. where through immoderate heat of the weather during the time of his trauell he fell ãâã and with much ãâã getting home not long after his returne he died hauing sate Bishop about the space of 24. yéeres I ãâã in Henry Huntingdon certaine verses written in commendation of him which I thinke not amisse here to be inserted Splendor Alexandri non tam renitescit honore Quam per eum renitescit honor flos namque virorum Dando tenere ãâã thesauros cogit honoris Et gratis dare festinans ne danda rogentur Quod nondum dederit nondum se credit habere O decus ô moruoo directio quo veniente Certa fides hilaris clementia cauta potestas Lene ãâã doctrina placens correctio dulcis Libercasque decens venêre pudorque facetus Lincoliae gens magna prius nunc maxima semper Talis ille diu sit nobis tutor honoris 4. Robert de Chisuey AFter Alexander succéeded Robert Archdeacon of Leycester surnamed by some de Chisuey or Chisueto by others de Taueto Querceto or Euerceto for so diuersly I finde him called a very yoong man He was consecrate in September 1147. and died Ianuary 8. 1167. This man added one Prebend vnto those that were founded by his predecessors purchased a house for himselfe and his successors ãâã vnto the temple at London and built the Bishops pallace at Lincolne in a manner all He left his Sée indebted vnto one Aaron a Iew the summe of 300 l. a great deale of money in those daies and his successors were faine to see it discharged long after 5. Geoffry Plantagenet THe Sée of Lincolne continued then void after the death of the said Robert almost seuenteene ãâã in so much as all men were of opinion there should neuer be any more Bishop there A certaine conuert of Tame reputed a very holy man and halfe a prophet in regard of many things he had strangely foretold this man I say had giuen out that the said Robert lately deceased should be the last Bishop of Lincolne This prediction of his many men ãâã when not long after the
death of the Bishop before mentioned they saw Geoffry king Henry the second his base sonne and Archdeacon of Lincoln elected vnto that Sée But he contenting himselfe with the large reuenewes of that rich Bishoprick neuer sought consecration well knowing he might so sheare the fleece though he listed not to take the charge of feeding the sheepe Seuen yeeres he reaped the fruits of that See by colour of his election and then by his fathers commaundement resigned all his interest in the same became an entire courtier for eight yéeres more at last returning to the church againe became Archbishop of Yorke See more of him there 6. Walter de Constantijs ABout the latter ende of the yéere 1183. when all men now assured themselues the prophecy of that conuert of Tame must needes fall out true Walter de Constantijs Archdeacon of Oxford was elect and consecrate Bishop of Lincolne He was very fearefull to accept of the election thinking assuredly he might not liue to be Bishop in regard of that vaine and false prophecy before mentioned Being yet scarce warme in his seate the Archbishopricke of ãâã was ãâã vnto him a place of much higher dignity but of lesse reuenues then Lincoln a great deale ãâã the power and force of ambition that could prouoke this man notably ãâã to forsake riches and content him selfe with ãâã place ãâã ãâã lesse wealth but a litle more honorable He was translated to ãâã the next yeere after his comming to Lincolne viz. 1184. 7. Saint Hugh TWo yéeres after the departure of Walter to Koan the Sée of Lincolne continued void Upon Saint Matthewes day 1186. one Hugh the first Prior of the Charterhouse monkes at Witteham in Somersetshire was consecrate Bishop of the said Church This Hugh who by his integrity of life and conuersation and the opinion of diuers myracles wrought by him hath purchased vnto himselfe the honour and reputation of a Saint was borne in a City of Burgundy called Gratianopolis By the aduise and direction of his Father who hauing buried his wife had made himselfe a regular Channon he also entred the same profession being yet very yoong But waring elder he betooke him selfe afterwards vnto the straight and seuere orders of the Carthusians or Charterhouse monkes as we commonly call them In that kind of life he not only obserued all things requisite by the rule of their order but so farre surmounted the same in performing much more then it required as he grew very famous farre and néere for his extraordinary abstinence and austerity of life It chaunced the report thereof to come vnto the eares of king Henry the second who building a house for Carthusian monkes at Witteham aboue mentioned thought good to send Reginald Bishop of Bathe into Burgundy to intreate this holy man to accept the place of the Prior of this new foundation With much adoo he assented and came ouer with the Bishop The king who for the opinion he had of his holinesse vsed often priuately to conferre with him remembring how great wrong he had done the Church of Lincolne in so long kéeping it without a Bishop determined to make amends by giuing them a good one at last and procured this Hugh before he vnderstood of any such thing toward to be elected Bishop of that Sée He gouerned very stoutly and with great seuerity yet so as he was more reuerenced and loued then feared His excommunications were very terrible vnto all men and the rather for that it was noted as I find deliuered some notable calamity otherwise did lightly follow them His Church of Lincolne he caused to be all new built from the foundation a great and memorable worke and not possible to be performed by him without infinite helpe Moreouer he gaue vnto the King 1000. markes to acquite him and his successors from the yeerely payment of a Mantell of Sables wherewith by an auncient custome they were woont euery newyeares tide to present him The yeere 1200. he would néedes make a voyage to Carthusia the chiefe and originall house of their order In his returne home he fell sicke of a quartane ague at London and there died Nouember 17. 1200. His body was presently conueighed to Lincolne hapened to be brought thither at a time when king Iohn of England and William king of Scots were mette there with an infinite number of the nobility of both realmes The two kings for the great reuerence they bare vnto his holynesse would needes set their shoulders vnto the beere and helped to cary his coarse from the gates of the City vntill it came to the Church doore There it was receiued by the Prelates caried into the quire and the funer all rites being ended buried in the body of the East part of the Church aboue the high Aulter neere the aulter of Saint Iohn Baptist. The yeere 1220. ãâã was Canonised at Rome and his body being taken vp October 7. 1282. was placed in a siluer shrine Who so listeth to read the miracles that are ascribed vnto him may find them in Matth. Paris that describeth his life at large in his report of the yeere 1200. Amongst many things omitted for breuity I can not let passe one thing which I finde elsewhere deliuered concerning him how that comming to Godstowe a house of Nunnes neere Oxford and seeing a hearse in the middle of the quire couered with silke tapers burning round about it he asked who was buried there Understanding then it was that faire Rosamond the Concubine of king Henry the second who at her intreaty had done much for that house and in regard of those fauours was ãâã that honours ãâ¦ã her body to be digged Vp immediately aââ buried in the Church yard saying it was a placâ a great deale tâo good for a harlot and it should be an example to other women to terrifie them from such a wicked and filthy kind of life 8. William de Bleys VVIlliam de Bleys ãâã and Canon of the Church of ãâã was elected Bishop of the same Church the yéere 1201. but not consecrate till ãâã day 1203. He died vpon ãâã ãâã 1206. 9. Hugh de Wels. HVgh ãâã of ãâã and sometimes ãâã of England ãâã the yéere 1209 at what time king Iohn ãâã to ãâã Stephen ãâã ãâã for Archbishop of ãâã whereof sée more in ãâã ãâã this the elect of ãâã to repaire ãâã the Archbishop of Roan for consecration ãâã this ãâã of the King he got vnto Stephen Langton and of him was consecrate The king hearing of it ãâã vpon his ãâã and kept him ãâã from them till the yéere 1213. This Bishop and Ioceline of ãâã laying their purses together ãâã a ãâã hospitall at ãâã ãâã more thereof ãâã the life of the said Ioceline ãâã ãâã ãâã a ãâã in his Church of Lincolne I haue ãâã ãâã ãâã of a ãâã made by him 1211. in which ãâã ãâã great ãâã to his friends ãâã kinred he ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 5000. markes He ãâã long
after to ãâã ãâã ãâã 7. 1234. ãâã then he was ãâã in ãâã ãâã Church 10. Robert Grosse-teste IUne 11. following to wit the yéere 1235. Robert Grossetest or Grosthead Archdeacon of Leycester was consecrate Bishop of Lincolne A man famous for his excellent learning and vertues otherwise He was borne in Suffolke of very meane or rather base parentage In his youth according vnto the maner of all students in those times he trauelled into Fraunce partly to increase his knowledge in other learning but especially to attaine the French toong which was then almost as common here as the English At his returne he was made Archdeacon of Leycester and afterwards as before is mentioned Bishop of Lincolne In his time the tyranny of the Pope was now growen to the full height and ãâã What for appeales vnto Rome bribes at Rome no iurisdiction here could punish any fault neuer so ãâã No iurisdiction or other preferment was likely to fall but the Popes reseruation would take it vp before hand and bestow it at last vpon some stranger happily a childe that would neuer come néere it all his life long The yéere 1252. notice being taken of this matter the spiritual promotions of strangers within this realme were found to amount vnto the summe of 70000. markes by the yéere whereas the kings yeerely reuenewes at that time came not to the third part of that summe At these and other intollerable abuses he repining very much thought good in person to go to Rome acquaint that Pope with his grieues He did so was heard with saire promises dismissed But when at his return he found no maner of redresse of those things he complained he feared not to write vnto the Pope a very sharpe Satyricall letter shewing how farre he had degenerated from the holinesse of his predecessors and exhorting him earnestly to reforme the monstrous enormities that flowing from Rome as from a corrupt and poysoned fountaine infected the whole Church This Epistle if any man desire to sée it is to be found in Matth. Paris The Pope hauing read it grew into great choller and breathing out many threats intended some terrible reuenge of this so intollerable a reproch as he tooke it vntill such time as one Gyles a Cardinall of Spaine ãâã vnto him vsed these words Holy father it shall not doo well in my opinion to take any hard or extreme course against this man It is but too true that he hath written He is ãâã religion a Catholike as well as we but for life and conuersation so farre ãâã vs as it is thought Christendome hath not his like Againe he is knowen to to be a great learned man an excellent Philosopher well séene in the Gréeke tongue as well as the Latine a profound Diuine and a diligent preacher These things are well knowen to all the Cleargy both of Fraunce and England We haue no iust matter against him we are not able to touch him yea though we were it ãâã not wisedome We shall doo well to remember how ãâã it is quod ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã est ventura that there shall one day be a departure and let vs take héede that we giue not the occasion My aduice therefore is that we ãâã content to winke at this matter and euen let him alone Some say his counsell was followed and the matter passed ouer in silence Howbeit it is also reported and both may be true that afterwards vpon some new quarrell ãâã he was suspended at Rome excommunicate and horribly persecuted And indéede it is certaine that he would neuer be iuduced to obey any of those monstrous and vnreasonable bulles Of ãâã discoursing sometimes with his familiars he would very confidently affirme that the Pope was an Heretike yea and Antichrist So Matth. Paris ãâã Notwithstanding these broyles he was a continuall and diligent Preacher writ bookes to the number of all most 200. l. the Catalogue whereof you may finde in Bale and yet tooke infinite paines in attending matters of gouernment and iurisdiction so farre ãâã as by the Pope he was not hindred He died at last at his mannour of Buckden October 9. 1253. giuing all his bookes an excellent library vnto the Frier Minors at ãâã He lyeth buried in the ãâã South ãâã of his Cathedrall Church hath a goodly ãâã of marble with an image of brasse ãâã it The Pope not ãâã to persecute him after his death was once of the mind ãâã digge vp his body againe vntill by the perswasion of ãâã other his mind was altered But sée the iust iudgement of God vpon this wicked Pope it was Innocent 4. Lying at Naples in his way toward ãâã the kingdome whereof in hope he had now deuoured this bishop appeared vnto him in the night strake him a great blow vpon the left side which shewed all bloudy in the morning and soone after the Pope died This Bale reporteth out of Ranulfus Fabian and others Matthew Paris ascribeth diuers myracles vnto him doubtteth not to account him a Saint although the Pope ought him not so much goodwill as to affoord him Canonisation Doubtlesse he was an excellent man and deserueth the commendation giuen vnto him by the consent of all writers Not to trouble my selfe with any longer discourse concerning him I will set downe this briefe Elogium of Matthew Paris He was saith he Domini Papae Regis redargutor manifestus Praelatorum correptor Monachorum corrector Presbiterorum director clericoruÌ instructor scholarium sustentator populi predicator incontinentium persecutor scripturarum sedulus perscrutator Romanorum ãâã contemptor In mensa refectionis corporalis ãâã ãâã ãâã hilaris ãâã In mensa vero spirituali deuotus lachrymosus contritus In officio pontificali sedulus venerabilis ãâã Much more you may reade of him in Master Foxe 11. Henry Lexinton THe King now was very earnest with the Chapter of Lincolne to elect Petet d'Egueblank Bishop of Hereford vnto that their Sée They alleaged he was a stranger vnderstood not the English tongue and was moreouer an euill man not gouerning well the charge already committed vnto him In regard hereof they humbly besought the king to hold them excused and made choice of Henry Lexinton their Deane He was chosen December 30. 1253. consecrate May 17. following died August 8. 1258. was buried at Lincolne in his owne Church The yéere before his death he offred some kind of hard measure vnto the Uniuersity of Oxford by ãâã certaine liberties that of old belonged vnto it For redresse hereof they were forced to make their complaint vnto the King lying then at Saint Albons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Matthew Paris a ãâã of ãâã ãâã was ãâã ãâã the ãâã of their petition and as ãâã ãâã ãâã bold to ãâã vnto the king vsing these ãâã vnto ãâã in priuate I beseech your grace euen for Gods sake to haue compassion vpon the Church now tottering and in great danger of vtter subuersion
was a man learned stouts and wise ynough but not so straight and carefull a censurer of his owne manners and conuersation as he should be No doubt our monkes that were the onely writers of those times speake no better of him then he deserues yet they commend him much for his religious and penitent ende he made Trauelling toward Rome in his owne countrey of Normandy he fell sicke and perceiuing his end to approch sent for diuers religious persons vnto whom he acknowledged the loosenesse of his life and with continuall teares greatly lamented the same hartily requested them to pray for him gaue all his money and goods vnto the poore and lastly put on a monkes cowle thereby thinking to make the monks amends for all the trouble vexation he had wrought them He died at Beccummer hill or as R. Homden reporteth at Betherleuin March 27. 1199. and was buried at Cane in the 14. yéere of his troublesom gouernment The yéere 1193. he was robbed of an infinite deale of treasure néere Canterbury trauelling toward king Richard that was then prisoner in Germany And not long after being banished the realme for taking part with king Iohn rebelling against his brother king Richard then prisoner in Germany he was saine to buy restitution vnto his place with the summe of 5000. markes 41. Geffry de Muschamp THe monkes soone after the death of Bishop Hugh recouered their places againe got them a new Pryor and procéeding to the election of a Bishop made choice of one Geffry de Muschamp Archdeacon of Cleueland He was consecrate at Westminster saith one March 15. 1199. But Matthew Paris whom I rather beleeue saith it was at Canterbury June 21. He died the yéere 1208. and was buried at Lichfielde 42. Walter de Gray THe yéere 1210. Walter de Gray was elected vnto this Sée translated to Worcester the yéere 1214. and afterwards to Yorke Sée more of him there 43. William de Cornehull HE was consecrate Ianuary 25. 1215. died Iune 19. 1223. and was buried at Lichfield 44. Alexander de Sauensby ALexander de Sauensby whom Bale calleth Alexander Wendocke spent much time in diuers Uniuersities as namely in Tholouse Bononia and others in which he had the reputation of a great Philosopher and a profound Dinine He writ diuers workes well esteemed of in times past In them he maketh report of diuers visions strange apparitions he had séene ãâã ãâã He was consecrate at Rome vpon Easter day 1224. In his time a great controversie was raised betwéene the monkes of Chester and the Cannons of ãâã about the election of their Bishoppe which euer since the remoouing of the Sée from ãâã had belonged vnto the monkes After the spending of much money vpon this sute in the court of Rome the matter was ordered there by diffinitiue sentence in this sort It was agreed that they should choose alternis vicibus the monkes one time and the cannons of Lichfield the next But in all elections as well at Lichfield as at Couentry the prior of Couentry was allowed to giue a voice and it must be the first voice This Bishop was founder of a house for the Gray fryers in the Southwest part of Lichfield died at Andeuer December 26. 1238. and was buried at Lichfield 45. Hugh de Pateshull SOone after the death of the forenamed Alexander the monkes of Couentry with the good liking of the cannons of Lichfield elected for their Bishop one William Raleigh About the same time the Couent of Norwich that Sée also being voide chose him likewise and he accepting the second offer as the better of the two left Lichfield By reason hereof a new controuersie arose betwéene the monkes of ãâã and the chapter of Lichfield whether the turne of Couentry wer serued in this election or no. Each party standing vpon their title Lichfield men elected their Deane and the monks one Nicholas ãâã that was afterwards bishop of Durham Sée more of him there This Nicholas Fernham hauing notice of the election presently renounced the same The Deane that was a very good man hearing great ãâã of the said Fernham and thinking he refused to consent vnto the election because the title séemed doubtful and litigious neuer ceased importuning his chapter till they also ãâã named him This notwithstanding Nicholas Fernham ãâã in his ãâã both parties through the kings ãâã were induced to consent vnto the choice of Hugh Pateshull Treasurer of Paules that had béene Treasurer and was at that time Chauncellor of England He was sonne vnto Simon Pateshull sometime Lord chiefe Iustice of Englane In the beginning of the yéere 1240. he was consecrate Being yet in his best age and full strength he was taken away by vntimely death December 7. 1241. hauing sate not fully two yéeres A man for his life conuersation vnblamable and not vnlearned yet misliked in our histories because in that little time he gouerned he shewed himselfe more fauourable vnto his cannons of Lichfield then the monkes of Couentry 46. Roger de Weseham THe king now made earnest request for the election of Richard Abbot of Euesham and keeper of the great Seale Some chose him but the greater part agréed vpon a monke thot was chaunter of Couentry The Abbot by the meanes of the king and his owne purse notwithstanding the insufficiency of his election had now obtained the Popes fauour for his consecration at what time he was taken away by death in Riola a city of Gascoigne hauing first resigned the custody of the great seale into the kings hand After his death with consent of all parties there was chosen one William de Monte Pessulano a vertuous and learned man him also the king misliked Once more they procéeded to election and by perswasion of Robert Grosthead Bishop of Lincolne made choise of Roger de Weseham Deane of Lincolne a man very commendable saith Matthew Paris both for life learning There had beene much ado in former times betweene the Deanes and the Bishops of Lincolne This Bishop thinking the reason thereof to be the greatnes of their liuing endeuoured the more earnestly to preferre this man that the Deanry being void he might somewhat weaken ãâã same by disposing elsewhere the parsonage of Aylsbery that heretofore belonged vnto it This Roger Weseham was allowed of by the Pope consecrate at Lyons the yéere 1245. before the king euer heard of any such thing toward For they had concealed it from him of purpose thinking if he might once get notice of it the businesse was like neuer to be effected Hauing sate about 11. yéeres and being now waren old and very sickely he resigned his Bishopricke vpon ãâã day 1256. Two yeeres after he died of a palsey whereof he had laine sicke a long time 47. Roger de Molend alias Longespe VPon his resignation the king laboured earnestly to preferre Philip Louell his Treasurer vnto this Bishopricke The Monkes of Couentry that of all other men could not like of the said
Louell for what cause I know not that they might be sure to auoyd him as also at the request of Richard Earlé of Cornewall the kings brother elected Roger Molend one to whom the king and the said Earle were both vncles Him the king readily accepted and so March 10. 1257. he was affoorded consecration This man was borne and brought vp altogether beyond the seas ãâã reason whereof he was vtterly ignorant of the English ãâã Being therefore called vpon to be resident vpon his Bishopricke the yéere 1283. he made that his excuse but it might not serue his turne Iohn Peckham Archbishop of ãâã not onely forced him to residence but reprehended him excéeding sharply for his neglect and carelesnes of his charge He sate long and died a very old man the yéere 1295. 47. Walter de Langton THe Pope meaning a good turne vnto Iohn Bokingham Bishop of Lincolne of his absolute authority tooke vpon him to translate him to this Sée from Lincolne which was then worth thrée Lichfields He chose rather to forsake all and became a monke at Canterbury Upon his refusall Water Langton Treasurer of England was preferred thereunto and consecrate December 22 1296. He liued in great authority vnder king Edward the first that fauoured him much But his sonne Edward the second molested and disgraced ãâã all that euer he might His father dying in the North countrey commaunded this Bishop to couduct his corpse vp to London and when he had so done for reward of his ãâã he caused sir Iohn Felton Constable of the Tower to arrest him seased vpon all his goods and imprisoned him first in the Tower then in the Castle of Wallingford of which imprisonment he was not released in two yéeres after In his fathers life time he had often reprehended the yoong Prince for his insolent and dissolute behauiour which good admonitions he taking in ãâã part wronged and disgraced him many waies namely one time he brake downe his parks spoyled and droue away his deere c. The Bishop complained of this outrage vnto the king his father who being greatly displeased therewith committed the Prince his sonne for certaine daies And this was the cause of the grudge betwéene the yong king him About that same time or I thinke a litle sooner viz. the yere 1301. he was accused of certain heinous crimes before the Pope and compelled to answere the accusation at Rome in his owne person Though the proofes brought against him were either none or very slender yet well knowing whom they had in hand Nonerant ãâã prae ãâã bouem valde ãâã saith Matth. ãâã they were content to detaine him there so long as it forced him to spend an infinite deale of money and yet was neuer a whit the néerer at last For the Pope remitted the hearing of the cause to the Archbishop of Canterbury and yet referred the determination of the same vnto him selfe at last The tempests of those troubles being ouer blowen the rest of his time he liued for ought I find quietly and being happily ãâã from the Court attended onely the gouernment of his charge Unto his Church of Lichfield he was a wonderfull great benefactor He laid the first foundation of the Lady Chappell there and at his death left order with his Executors for the full finishing of it He compassed the cloyster of Lichfield with a stone wall and bestowed a sumptuous shrine vpon S. Cedda his predecessor with 2000. l. charge He ditched and walled all the Cathedrall church round about made one gate of great strength and maiesty at the West part of the close and another but a lesse on the South part He builded the great bridge beyond the Uineyard at Lichfield ann 1310. He gaue his owne house or pallace vnto the Uicars for their dwelling and built a new for him selfe at the East end of the close He ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã being altogether ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã the mannour place of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the ãâã by the ãâã at London He ãâã vnto the high ãâã at Lichfield ãâã ãâã and two ãâã of ãâã ãâã worth 24. l. ãâã about with ãâã stones to the value of 200. l. besides many copes ãâã of ãâã price He ãâã vpon the ãâã a ãâã cup of ãâã ãâã ãâã a pension of 20. s. by the yeere And ãâã ãâã both vnto them and his Church many charters and ãâã ãâã from the king He ãâã at London ãâã 16. 1321. ãâã was buried in the Lady Chappell which he built 48. Roger Northbrough THe yéere 1313. Roger Northborough then kéeper of the great seale was taken prisoner by the Scots in the battell of ãâã Being afterwards clerke of the Wardrobe so I find him called and treasurer of England by great sute and the kings often ãâã ãâã he ãâã meanes to shoulder into this ãâã He was consecrate June 27. 1322. sate almost 38. yéeres a very long time and died in the end of the yéere 1359. 49. Robert Stretton SOone after the death of the former Bishop Robert Stretton a Canon of Lichfield by the importunity of the blacke Prince to whom he was Chaplaine was eleccted Bishop there a man very ãâã ãâã vnworthy so high a ãâã in all respects The Pope hauing notize of his ãâã by speciall mandate prohibited his consecration Here upon the new elect was faine to make repaire vnto Rome The Pope him selfe examined him but was ãâã earnestly requested by the blacke Prince to ãâã his sute as ãâã he could not with ãâã honesty allow of him yet he was content to leaue him to the ãâã of the Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop would by no ãâã ãâã to ãâã him any testimony of sufficiency At last ãâã much adoo he procured the Pope to authorise two other Bishops for the allowance or reiecting of him who they were I can not call to remembrance and they by the excéeding great importunity of the Prince admitted him to consecration which he receiued September 26. 1360. Sée more of this matter in Thomas Lylde Bishop of Ely He sate Bishop here 25. yeeres 50. Walter Skirlawe VVAlter Skirlawe Doctor of Law was consecrate Ianuary 14. 1385. remooued to Bathe and Wels the yéere following and soone after to Durham Sée more of him in Durham 51. Richard Scroope RIchard Scroope Doctor of Lawe brother vnto William Scroope Earle of Wiltshire and Tresurer of England was consecrate August â 1386. Sate here 10. yéeres and was translated to Yorke His life and lamentable death you may sée there more at large described 52. Iohn Brughill IOhn Brughill a Frier preacher was first Bishop of Landaff and Confessor vnto king Richard the second translated to Lichfield in the moneth of September 1398. and sate there 17. yéeres 53. Iohn Keterich IOhn Keterich a Notary of Rome and Archdencon of Surry was consecrate Bishop of S. Dauids the yéere 1414. and translated thence to this Sée in the moneth of May 1415 The yéere 1417. he was at the Councell of Constance
and was one of the 30. electors that chose Martyn the fift Pope authorised thereunto by the councell together with the Cardinals He sate almost 5. yéeres was translated to Exceter 54. Iames Cary. AUery little while one Iames Cary was Bishop of Couentry and Lichfield He happened to be at Florence with the Pope at what time newes was brought thither of the Bishop of Exceters death and easily obtained that Bishopricke of him being preferred vnto Lichfield but very lately He enioyed neither of these places any long time Neuer comming home to sée either the one or the other he died and was buried there 55. William Haworth WIlliam Haworth Abbot of Saint Albons was conse crate Nouember 28. 1420. and sate 27. yéeres 56. William Boothe WIlliam Boothe was consecrate July 9. 1447. sate 6 yéeres and was translated to Yorke Sée more of him there 57. Nicholas Close NIcholas Close consecrate Bishop of Carlioll 1450. was translated from Carlioll hither the yeere 1452. and died the same yéere 58. Reginald Buller REginald Buller or Butler for so some call him was consecrate Bishop of Hereford the yéere 1450. being Abbot of Glocester before He was translated to Lichfield Aprill 3. 1453. and sate there 6. yéeres 59. Iohn Halse IOhn Halse was consecrate in the moneth of Nouember 1459. sate 32. yéeres and lieth buried at Lichfield 60. William Smith WIlliam Smith was consecrate 1492. sate 4. yéeres and was translated to Lincolne See more there 61. Iohn Arundell IOhn Arundell was consecrate Nouember 6. 1496. and translated to Exceter 1502. See more in Exceter 62. Geoffry Blythe GEoffry Blythe Doctor of Lawe was consecrate September 7. 1503. The yeere 1512. he became Lord President of Walles by the appointment of king Henry the eight and continued in that place till the yeere 1524. at what time it seemes he died The yeere 1523. he was attached for treason but happily acquitted He ãâã buried at Lichfield 63. Rowland Lee. ãâã Leigh Doctor of Lawe succéeded A man samons for two things He ãâã King Henry the eight vnto Quéene Anne Bulleyn which happy marriage was the occasion of that happinesse that we now enioy vnder our noble soueraigne Queene Elizabeth their daughter Againe it is to be remembred of him that being made President of Wales the yéere 1535. in the time of his gouernment and peraduenture partly by his procurement the countrey of Wales was by Parliament incorporated and vnited to the kingdome of England the liberties lawes and other respects made common vnto the Welch with the naturall English This Bishop died Lord President the yeere 1543. and was buried at Shrewsbury 64. Richard Sampson AFter him Richard Sampson Bishop of Chichester became Bishop of Lichfield He was translated March 12 1543. This R. Sampson being a Doctor of Law and Deane of the Chappell writ some what for the kings supremacy and was aunswered by Cochloeus He writ also commentaries vpon the ãâã and vpon the Epistles to the ãâã and ãâã He was consecrate Bishop of ãâã the yéere 1537. and presently vpon his remooue to this ãâã made President of Wales In that office he continued till the second yéere of king Edward at what time he began to shew him selfe a ãâã notwithstanding his ãâã writing ãâã against the Pope He died at ãâã September 25. 1554. 65. Ralf Bane RAlf Bayne Doctor of Diuinity borne in Yorkeshire brought vp in S. Iohns Colledge in Cambridge reader or professor of the ãâã tongue in Paris was consecrate Bishop of Lichfield soone after the death of the other He ãâã vpon the Prouerbs of Salomon and dedicated his worke vnto Francis the French king Hauing béene Bishop almost fiue yéeres he died of the stone at London and was buried in Saint Dunstans Church there 66. Thomas Bentham THomas Bentham was consecrate March 24. 1559. ãâã died February 21. 1578. 67. William Ouerton William Ouerton Doctor of ãâã succéeded This Bishopricke is valued in the Exchequer at 559. l. 17. s. 2. d. ob farthing and in the Popes bookes at 1733. ducates or Florenes The Bishops of Salisbury 1. Aldelm AFter the death of Headda the fifth Bishop of Winchester it pleased Iua king of the west Saxons to ãâã his Dioces which before contained all the country of the west Saxons into two parts The one of them he committed vnto Damell allotting vnto him Winchester for his Sée and that Dioces which now doth and euer since hath belonged vnto the same The other part containing the counties of Dorset Somerset Wiltshire Deuon and Cornwall he ordained to be gouerned by a Bishop whose Sée he established at Sherborne and appointed vnto the same one Aldhelme a neere ãâã of his owne being the sonne of Kenred his brother This Aldhelm spent all his youth in trauaile and hauing visited the most famous vniuersities of Fraunce and Italy became very learned in Poetry especially he was excellent and writ much in Gréeke and Latine prose and verse He delighted much in musicke and was very skilfull in the same But his chiefe study was diuinity in the knowledge whereof no man of his time was comparable to him After his returne he became first a monk and after Abbot of Malmsbury for the space of fower and thirty yéeres The yéere 705. he was consecrate Bishop of Sherborne and that as it séemeth vnto me at Rome For it is remembred that while he staied there for the Popes approbation the same Pope his name was Sergius was charged with getting of a bastard for which fact he was bold to reprehend his holinesse sharpely He writ diuers learned works mentioned by Beda h. 4. c. 19. and died the yéere 709. 2. Fordhere HE liued in the time of Beda who saith he also was a man very well séene in the knowledge of the scriptmes The yéere 738. he attended the Quéene of the west ãâã vnto Rome After him succeeded these 3. ãâã 4. Ethelnod 5. Denefrith 6. Wilbert He was at Rome with Wlfred Archbishop of Canterbury an 815. 7. Alstane A famous warrier He subdued vnto king Fgbright the kingdomes of Kent and the East Saxons He fought many battailes with the Danes and euer ãâã had the victory namely at a place in Somersetshire then called Pedredsmouth now Comage he slue a great number of them the yéere 845. King Ethelwlf being at Rome in pilgrimage he set vp his sonne Ethelbald against him and forced the father at his returne to ãâã his kingdome with his sonne He died the yéere 867. hauing sate Bishop of Sherborne 50. yéeres A man ãâã wise valiant carefull for the good of his country and ãâã liberall He augmented the reuenues of his Bishopricke wonderfully 7. Edmund or Heahmund slaine in battell by the ãâã the yéere 872. at Meredune 8. Etheleage 9. Alssy 10. Asser. This man writ a certaine Chronicle of ãâã amongst diuers other works wherein he reporteth of him selfe that he was a disciple and scholler of that famous welchman Iohn that hauing studied long in Athens perswaded king Alfred
to institute a vniuersitie at Oxford and him selfe became the first publique ãâã there He writeth furthermore that he was ãâã Chauncellor vnto Asser the Archbishop of Saint ãâã his néere kinsman who both endured great vexation and trouble at the hands of one Hemeyd a mighty man of those parts that tyrannised intollerably ouer the cleargy there By reason thereof waring weary of his office he left his countrey and comming into England to king Alfred became schoolemaster of his children vntill such time as ãâã Bishop of Sherborne dying he was preferred to his place Unto this man the said king gaue the mannors of Wellington Buckland and Lydyard in Sommersetshyre which since haue come vnto the Bishops of Wels whereof one Buckland yet remaineth vnto that See By his exhortation also that good king did much for the Uniuersity of Oxford alotting diuers stipends vnto the readers and professors there This Bishop died the yéere 883. and was buried at Sherborne 11. ãâã or Sigelm trauelled into India to the place of Saint Thomas his buriall carried thither the almes or ãâã of king Alfred and brought home many pretious stones of great price 12. ãâã or ãâã He died 898. After Ethelwald the Sée of Sherborne stoode void seuen yéeres by reason of the Danish wars The yéere 905. Plegmund by the commaundement of king Edward the elder consecrate seuen Bishops in one day as I haue before mentioned in Canterbury elsewhere Thrée of them were appointed to Sees newly erected all taken out of the Dioces of Sherborne One had iurisdiction ouer Cornewall another ouer Deuonshire and a third ouer Sommersetshire Soone after that a fourth was placed in Wiltshire hauing his Sée some say at Ramsvery others say at Sunnyng and some other at Wilton So Sherborn had now left vnto it only Dorsetshire and Barkshire Of the rest we shall speake God willing seuerally in their particular places But these Bishops of Wiltshire because their See at last returned backe againe whence it first sprang I will deliuer them and their succession next after Sherborne Sherborne 13. Werstane He died 918. ãâã by the Danes in ãâã 14. Ethelbald 15. Sigelm Florilegus mentioneth one Sigelm to haue been slaine by the Danes the yéere 834. I beléeue he ãâã it ãâã 934. 16. Alfred He died 940. 17. ãâã This man was made Abbot of ãâã by Dunstan then Bishop of London Being ãâã to the Bishopricke of Sherborne he displaced ãâã priests and put in monkes It is reported that when he lay a dying he cried out suddenly I sée the ãâã open and Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God immediately after those wordes giuing vp the ghost an 958. 18. Alfwold He died 978. and was buried at Sherborne 19. Ethelrike 20. Ethelsius 21. Brithwin or Brithwicke He died 1009. 22. Elmer 23. Brinwyn or Birthwyn 24. Elfwold He was a man of great temperance and ãâã for the which in that luxurious age he was much admired After his death these two Sées ãâã againe ãâã and made one Wiltshire 1. Ethelstane He died 920. 2. Odo that became Archbishop of Canterbury the yéere 934. 3. Osulf He died 870. and was buried at ãâã 4. ãâã He died 981. and was buried at Abondon 5. Alfgar or Wolfgar 6. ãâã ãâã to ãâã 989. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 7. ãâã or Aluricius he succéeded his predecessor in Canterbury likewise the yeere 995. 8. Brithwold a monke of Glastonbury a great benefactor of that Abbey as also of the Abbey of Malmesbury He died 1045. and was buried at Glastonbury 9. Herman a Flemming Chaplaine vnto King Edward the Confessor was the last Bishop of this petty Sée He labored to haue his See remoued to Malmsbery and had once obtained it of king Edward the Confessor but by a countersute of the monkes there he was disappointed Uery angry with this repulse he left his Bishopricke and became a monke at Bertine in Fraunce But hearing soone after how that Elfwold Bishop of Sherborn was dead he returned home againe and with much adoo obtained that Sherborne and his Dioces might once more be vnited together againe 1. Herman THe fore named Herman liuing vnto the time of William Conquerour when as he gaue commaundment that all Bishops should remooue their Sees from obscure townes to the fairest cities of their Dioces made choise of Salisbury there laid the foundation of a Church which he liued not to finish Salisbury saith W. of Malmsbury is a place built on the toppe of a hill resembling rather a Castle then a Towne compassed about with a strong wall and well prouided otherwise of all commodities but wanteth water so vnreasonably as a strange kind of merchandise it is there to be sold. This place we now call old Salisbury whereof nothing remaineth at this time but certaine desert ruines How it decaied we shall haue cause hereafter to discourse 2. Osmond OSmond being a knight and a Norman by birth came into England with King William the Conquerour He had béene Captaine of Say in Normandy and by the foresaid king was made Chauncellor of England Earle of ãâã and after Hermans death Bishop of Salisbury He was a man well learned and passing wise in regard whereof he was alwaies of the ãâã counsell and might seldome be spared from the Court He continued the building begun by his predecessor and at last finished the same adding vnto it a library which he furnished with many excellent bookes This new Church at olde Salisbury was finished and in an ãâã hower dedicated very solemnly by the foresaid ãâã ãâã with Walkelin Bishop of Winchester and Iohn of ãâã the yéere 1092. In an euill hower I say for the very next day after the steple of the same was ãâã on fire by lightning That he afterwards repaired and furnished his Church with all maner of ornaments At last he departed this life Saterday December 3. 1099. and was buried in his owne ãâã His bones were after remoued to new Salisbury where they now lye in the middle of the Lady Chappell vnder a Marble stone bearing this onely inscription ANNO. ãâã Aboue any thing I may not forget that amongst diuers bookes he writ as the life of Saint Aldelme the first Bishop of Sherborne c. he was first Author of the ordinale secundum vsum Sarum It séemeth he was made a Saint ãâã his death For I find his name in our Calender the foresaid third day of December 3. Roger. KIng Henry the first being yet a priuate man and seruing his brother in his wars in Normandy it chaunced him and his troupe to turne into a Church in the Subburbes of Cane to heare seruice Roger that rich and mighty Bishop of Salisbury that was afterwards serued the cure there at that time for some very poore salary This ãâã Curate well knowing how to fit the deuotion of soldiers was so ãâã at his businesse as he had made an ende of his worke before some of the company were aware he had begunne They all
de Mortiuall consecrate 1315 died 1329. 20. Robert Wyuyl AT the request of the Quéene the Pope was content to bestow this Bishopricke vpon Robert Wiuyll a man not onely not furnished with competent giftes of learning but so vnpersonable saith Walsingham as if the Pope had but seene him he would neuer haue cast so high a dignity vpon him He sate a long time to wit flue and forty yeeres and vpward in which it were a great maruaile he should not perfourme some thing memorable About the yéere 1355. he ãâã William Montacute Earle of Salisbury with a writ of right for the castle of Salisbury The Earle pleaded that he would defend his title by combat Whereupon at a time appointed the Bishop was faine to bring his Champion vnto the ãâã prouided for this purpose He was clothed all in white sauing that ouer the rest of his apparrell was cast the coate armor of the Bishop After him came one with a staffe and another with his target The Earle likewise brought in his Champion much in like sort and all things were now ready for them to goe together when vpon a sodaine by commaundement of the kings leters the matter was staid for a time Before the second meeting the parties fell to agréement The Bishop gaue vnto the Earle 2500. markes to leaue the castle with his apurtenances vnto him and his successors for euer Beside this he also recouered the chace of Béere and the castle of Sherborne which had beene detained from his Sée euer since king Stephen tooke it violently from Rogre his predecessor for the space of 200. yéeres He died the sixe and fortie yeere of his consecration September 4. 1375. and lieth buried vnder a faire marble stone in the middle of the quire néere the Bishops See On the South side close by him lieth Bishop lewell who as I haue heard desired to lie beside him 21. Ralfe Erghum RAlfe Erghum Doctor of law was consecrate at Brugis in Flaunders December 9. 1375. and was translated to Wels September 14. 1388. Sée more there 22. Iohn Waltham IOhn Waltham Master of the Rolles and kéeper of the prtuy ãâã succeeded The yeere 1391. he became Treasurer of England and so continued till he died king Richard the second loued him entierly and greatly bewailed his death In token whereof he commaunded that he should be buried in Westminster among the kings many men much enuying him that honour He died the yeere 1395 and lieth iust beside king Edward the first vnder a flat marble the inscription whereof is though partly defaced not yet quite perished How he resisted W. Courtney Archbishop of Canterbury in his visitation and the successe thereof sée more in the said W. Courtney 23. Richard Meltford THe yéere 1388. in the Parliament called the Parliament that wrought woonders the Barones apprehended so many of the kings fauorites as they could come by ãâã ãâã to prison The lay ãâ¦ã the most part they caused to be executed But the Cleargy men lying by it a while by the next turne of fortunes wheele were not onely set as high as they were before but some of them much higher Amongst the rest Richard Metford a man of ãâã eminent place otherwise then by the kings fauour was imprisoned a great while in the Castle of Bristow Soone after his inlargement the king found meanes first to aduance him to the Bishopricke of Chichester and then after Bishop ãâã death to translate him vnto Salisbury where he sate about 12. yéeres and died 1407. 24. Nicholas Bubwith NIcholas Bubwith Bishop of London and Treasurer of England was translated to Salisbury the yéere 1407. and from thence to Wels within the ãâã of the ãâã yéere Sée more of him in Wels. 25. Robert Halam VPon the remooue of Bishop Bubwith one Robert Halam became Bishop of Sarum Iune 6. 1411. he was made Cardinall He died at the Councell of ãâã the councell being not yet ended September 4. 1417. 26. Iohn Chaundler AT what time Bishop Halam died Martin the ãâã was not yet chosen Pope By reason whereof the Papacy being after a sort void and so the Popes ãâã ãâã ãâã the Chapter of Sarum had the liberty of a frée election and chose one Iohn Chaundler who sate Bishop about 10. yéeres 27. Robert Neuill RObert Neuill consecrate 1427. was translated to Durham 1438. 28. William Ayscoth VVIlliam Ayscoth Doctor of Lawe and Clerke of the Counsell was consecrate in the Chappell of Windsor Iuly 20. 1438. The yéere 1450. ãâã happened the commons to arise in sundry parts of the realme by the stirring of ãâã Cade naming himselfe Iohn ãâã A certaine number of lewd persons tenants for the most part to this Bishop intending to ioyne themselues to the rest of that crew came to ãâã where he was then saying of masse What was their quarrell to him I finde not But certaine it is they drew him from the altar in his albe with his stole about his ãâã to the top of an ãâã not far off and there as he ãâã on his ãâã praying they ãâã his head ãâã him to the ãâã and ãâã his ãâã shirt into a number of pieces tooke euery man a ragge to keepe for a monument of their worthy exploit The day before they had robbed his cariages of 10000. markes in ready money This barbarous murther was committed Iune 29. the yeere aforesaid 29. Richard Beauchamp RIchard ãâã succeeded He built a beautifull and sumptuous chappel on the South side of the Lady chappell and lieth buried in the same vnder a very faire toombe of marble 30. Leonell Wooduill LEonell Wooduill consecrate the yéere 1482. was sonne to ãâã Earle ãâã and brother to ãâã the Queene of Edward the fourth A neere ãâã of his hath assured me that Stephen Gardmer Bishop of Winchester was begotten by this man who to couer his fault married his mother vnto ãâã ãâã one of his meanest followers and caused another of better sort to bring vp the childe as it were of almes When or how he left his Bishopricke I finde not 31. Thomas Langton THomas Langton Doctor of Lawe was consecrate 1485. and translated to Winchester 1493. Sée more of him ãâã 32. Iohn Blythe IOhn Blythe was consecrate February 23. 1493. and died August 23. 1499. He lieth buried vpon the backe side of the high altar and hath a faire toombe not standing after the maner of other toombes East and West but ouerthwart the church North and South for which cause some call him the ouerthwart Bishop 33. Henry Deane HEnry Deane Doctor of Diuinity Abbot of Lanthony sometimes Chauncellor of Ireland and then Bishop of Bangor was translated to Salisbury the yeere 1500. and within two yéeres after to Canterbury Sée more of him there 34. Edmund Audeley THe yéere 1480. Edmund Audeley a gentleman of the auncient house of the Lord Audeleys became Bishop of Rochester Thencs he was translated 1493. to ãâã and from Hereford the yéere 1502. vnto Salisbury He lieth buried in a goodly
and Somersetshire alotted vnto him for his Dioces He sate here 10. yeeres and after the death of Plegmund was remooued to Canterbury Sée there more of him and this new erection After him followed these 2. Wifelnius who succeeded Aldelm both here and at Canterbury He liued here nine yéeres and there 14. a man saith Pol. Virg. famous as well for vertue as learning Sée more of him in Canterbury 3. Elfeth 4. Wlfhelm 5. Brithelm He was a monke of Glastonbury and became Bishop of Wels the yéere 958. He gaue vnto the Abbey of Glastonbury his nurse the iurisdiction of the Countrey adioyning and made it an Archdeaconry annuall to be bestowed vpon a monke of Glastonbury and he to be elected yéerely by the Couent ãâã ãâã the yéere 959. was elected Archbishop of Canterbury Whereof see more in Dunstan of Canterbury He continued Bishop here 15. yéeres and died 973. 6. Kinewardus or Kinewaldus Abbot of Middleton became Bishop of Wels the yéere following sate 11. yéeres and died 985. 7. Sigar He was Abbot of Glastonbury sate also 11. yéeres and died ann 985. 8. Alwyn called by some Adelwyn and by others ãâã 9. Burwold His toombe is to be séene with his ãâã engrauen vpon the South side of the Quier at Wels. 10. Leoningus translated to Canterbury the yéere 1012. Sée more of him there 11. Ethelwyn expelled his Bishopricke by Brithwyn recouered the same againe from him and shortly after his restitution died 12. Brithwyn who entring into peaceable possession of this Sée presently vpon the decease of Ethelwyn with in 13. daies after died him selfe also 13. ãâã Abbot of Glattonbury 14. ãâã whom some name Bodeca He was a Saxon of Germany or as some deliuer borne in ãâã In his time king Edward the Confessor gaue vnto this Church the mannors of Congresbury and ãâã He was consecrate the yéere 1031. sate 27. ãâã 7. monethes and seuen daies and was buried vpon the South side of the high Aultar in ãâã It ãâã his toombe is the highest of those ancient monuments that we sée vpon the South outside of the Duier 15. Giso Giso a Frenchman of Lorraine borne in a village called Saint Trudo within the territory of Hasban was sent Embassador to Rome by king Edward the Confessor to to be resolued there of certaine doubts concerning matter of religion about the time that ãâã died Being so absent he was elected Bishop by the Chapter of Wels and receiued consecration at Rome April 4 being Easter day 1059. together with Aldred Archbishop of Yorke and Walter Bishop of Hereford At his returne he found the estate of his Church very miserable Harald the queenes brother that afterwards became for a while king of England being yet a priuate man Qâid Domini facient audent qui talia ãâã Upon what occasion I know not had spoyled the Church of all ornaments chased away the Canons and inuading all the possessions of the same had conuerted them to his owne vse so that the Canons remaining which fled not for seare of this tyrant they were onely fiue they I say were faine to begge their bread The Bishop complaining vnto the King of this outragious hauocke found cold comfort at his hands ãâã whether it were for feare of Haralds power or his wiues displeasure he caused no restitution at all to be made Onely the Queene was content to giue of her owne Marke and Modesly vnto the Church After the death of king Edward Giso was faine to fly the land till such time as ãâã the ãâã vsurper being vanquished and slaine William the Conqueror was a meane to restore not only him to his place and countrey but his Church also to all that the other had violently taken from it except some small parcels that I know not by what meanes had beene ãâã vnto the Monastery of Glocester Yet in stead of them also he was pleased to bestow vpon the Church the mannour of Yatton with the Patronage of the benefice there and moreouer caused one Ealsi to restore vnto the same the mannour of ãâã which long since had beene altenated from it by some ãâã practise as it should seeme Giso being thus setled tooke great paines in recouering such other things as had béene ãâã from his church in procuring charters of confirmation for the better assurance of what already they had and procuring such things as séemed to be wanting Namely of one ãâã a Courtier he found meanes to obtaine the ãâã of Coonth-Nicolas ãâã and Lytton Then ãâã the state of his church so well amended he thought good to augment the number of his Canons and for their better ãâã built then a cloyster a hall and a dorter or place for their lodging Lastly he appointed one Isaac by the name of a Prouost to be their gouernor Hauing béene Bishop the space of 28. yéeres he departed this life and was buried vpon the North side of that place where the high altar then stoode I take his to be the highest of those olde toombes that lye vpon the outside of the quier toward the North. 16. Iohn de Villula HE that succeeded Iohn de Villula a Frenchman borne in Tours and a phisician heretofore by his profession not content to do nothing toward the amendment of the state of his church vsed all the meanes he might to impaire and diminish the same The cloyster and other buildings ãâã by Gyso for his canons he pulled downe and in the place where they stoode build a pallace for himselfe and his successors forcing them to séeke dwellings abroad in the towne But the greatest wrong of al other was that neuer acquainting them with it he procured his Episcopall Sée which ãâã had béene seated at Welles to be remooued to Bathe and whereas all his predecessors had béene knowen by the names of the Bishoppes of Welles hee renouncing Welles entitled himselfe Bishoppe of Bathe which city he bought of the king for fiue hundreth markes and founded in the same a monastary for the receit of his new remooued Episcopall throne This monastery was first built by Offa king of Mercia ann 775. and being destroyed by the Danes who burnt and razed to the ground almost all the monasteries of England was afterwardes an 1010. reedified by Elphegus that at last was Archbishop of Canterbury His building stoode no long time For the yéere 1087. both it and in a manner all the city was consumed and vtterly destroyed by fire in such sort as this Bishop building it a new from the ground and augmenting the reuenues which before were little or nothing vnto a competent proportion may not vnworthily séeme to be the founder and author of the same He had scarcely or indeed not ãâã it wheÌ being a very aged man he was taken away by ãâã to wit Dec. 29. 1122. hauing sate 34. yeres He was ãâã in the church himselfe had built 17. Godfry ONe Godfry a Dutchman and chaplaine vnto the Queene was then by her meanes preferred to this See
robbed the cathedrall churches of England of I dare say the tone halfe of that they possessed had béene an occasion of the vtter ruine and destruction of this See if Bishop Barlow taking aduantage of the death of some men in the ãâã ende of king Edward and Bishop Bourne making vse of the zeale of Quéene Mary in tendring the state of the church had not béene the meanes of recouering what is now left vnto the same euen the lands of the Bishopricke in a manner euery whit all the land belonging to the Archdeacon of Welles and some land of the Chapter to wit the parsonages of Duluerton and Longsutton And it is supposed that this man had he stoode vp but a little while longer had recouered diuers other possessions to his See that now are thought to be lost irrecouerably He was a benefactor vnto the Uicars close to the almehouse and began the foundation of a certaine colledge in the canonicall house that standeth néere the market place but was hindered by the death of Quéene Mary and his depriuation from finishing it Being displaced for not subscribing according to order he was committed to the custody of master Carey Deane of her Maiesties chappell liued with him many yéeres and died at Sylferton in Deuonshire where he lieth buried September 10. 1569. 48. Gilbert Barkley IT pleased then the Quéenes Maiestie that now is in the beginning of her most happy raigne to nominate vnto this See one Gilbert Barkley borne in Norfolke but descended of the auncient and most honorable house of the Lord Barkley at least wise as the armes assigned vnto him by the Heraulds do seeme to testifie He sate somewhat more then 20. yéeres and growing into a lethargy which diminished much of the vigor and strength as wel of his minde as his body certaine moneths before his decease at last departed this world Nouember 2. 1581. being 80. yéeres of age and was buried vpon the North side of the high altar in his owne church where we sée a hansome monument of frée stone built ouer him 49. Thomas Godwyn THomas Godwyn my déere and most reuerend father was borne at Okingham in Barkshire and brought vp first in the frée schoole there then for a little while vnder one Doctor Layton Deane of Yorke who sent him to Dreford and so long as he liued which was not past a two or thrée yéere exhibited vnto him there He being taken away it pleased God to prouide for him otherwise by raising vp friends that procured him to be chosen fellow of ãâã colledge Towards the latter ende of king Edwards raigne forsaking that place he tooke on him the teaching of a free schoole at Brackley directing his studies partly to diuinity and partly also to Phisicke the practise whereof in Quéens Maries time when he might not be suffred to teach any longer maintained him his wife and children honestly He receiued orders and his first spirituall preferments at the hand of Bishop Bollingham then of Lincolne after of ãâã in the beginning of her Maiesties raigne that now is By her gratious appointment he became first Deane of Christchurch in Oxeford in the seuenth then of Canterbury in the ninth yeere of her raigue and lastly Bishop of Bathe and ãâã being consecrate thereunto September 13. 1584. Hauing sate fixe yéeres two moneths and sixe daies he departed this mortall life Nouember 19. 1590. at Okingham the place where he was borne and there lyeth buried vpon the South side of the chauncell vnder a marble and néere vnto a monument fixed in the wall farre more answerable vnto the ability of him that set it vp then vnto the vertues and deserts of him to whose memory it was erected 50. Iohn Styll THe Sée hauing continued voide two yéeres and somewhat more Iohn Styli Doctor of Diuinity and Master of Trinity college in Cambridge was consecrate therunto in February 1592. He yet liueth in the same This Bishopricke is valued in the Queenes bookes at 533 l. and 15 d. and paid to the Pope for an Income onely 430. slorens although in those daies it were one of the richest Sees of England The Deanry of Welles was first erected in the time of king Stephen about the yéere 1150. as before is deliuered and one Iuo made the first Deane after whom haue succeeded these 2. Richard de Spakeston 1160. 3. Alexander 4. Leonius 1205. 5. Ralph de Lechlade 6. Peter de Ciceter 7. William de Merton 1236. 8. Ioannes Sarracenus 1241. 9. Gyles de Brideport 1255. 10. Edward de la Knoll 1256. 11. Thomas de Button 1284. 12. William Burnell 1292. 13. Walter de Haselshaw 1295. 14. Henry Husee 1302. 15. Iohn de Godeley 1303. 16. Richard de Bury 1333. 17. Wibert de Luttleton elect 1334. 18. Walter de London 1336. 19. Iohn de Carlton William de Camell elect 1361. refused the place 20. Stephen de Penpel 1361. 21. Iohn Fordham 1379. 22. Thomas de Sudbury 1381. 23. Nicolas Slake 1396. 24. Thomas Stanley 1402. 25. Richard Courtney 1409. 26. Walter Metford 1413. 27. Iohn Stafford 28. Iohn Forest. 1425. 29. Nicolas Carent 1448. 30. William Witham 1467. 31. Iohn Gunthorp 1472. 32. William Cosyn 1498. 33. Thomas Winter 1525. 34. Ridhard Woolman 35. Thomas Cromwell 1537. 36. William Fitz-Williams 1540. 37. Iohn Goodman 1548. 38. William Turner 1556. 39. Robert Weston 1566. 40. Valentine Dale 1574. 41. Iohn Herbert 1589. The Bishops of Exceter This discourse following is taken for the most part Verbatim out of Master Iohn Hookers Catalogue of the Bishops of Exceter THe Countries of Deuonshire Cornwall after their conuersion vnto Christian religion were a while vnder the iurisdiction of the Bishop of the West Saxons whose See was established at Dorchester Afterwards Winchester being appointed a Cathedrall Sée about the yéere 660. All the West countrey was alotted to the gouernment of the Bishop of that Church and so continued vnder him till that the yéere 705. Sherborne was made a Cathedrall Church Two hundred yeeres they were subiect vnto the Bishop of Sherborne to wit vntill the yeere 905. At what time Plegmund Archbishop of Canterbury by the commaundement of the king as else where I haue declared more at large erected diuers new Sees namely at Welles in Somersetshire one in Cornewall another and a third in Deuonshire The See of Athelstan the Bishop of Cornwall was for a while S. Petrockes in Bodmyn and afterwards Saint Germanes Werstan Bishop of Deuonshire placed him selfe first at Tawton but soone after remooued to Credyton now called kyrton The successors of Athelstan in the Dioces of Cornwall as I find were these Conanus Ruydocus Aldredus Britwyn Athelstan he liued the yéere 966. Wolfi Woronus Wolocus Stidio Adelredus Burwoldus About the yéere 1040. or soone after Saint Peters church in Exceter was appointed the Sée for both Deuonshire and Cornwall And hath euer since that time so continued NOw to come vnto the particular history of this church you shall vnderstand that
amongst many religious houses erected heretofore in and about the City of Erceter thrée there haue béene sometimes within the seite and circuite of that place which is now called the close of Saint Peters The first of these was a house of Nunnes where the Deanes house the Callander Nay or Uicars close doo now stand The second was a Monastery for monkes supposed to be built by king ãâã the third sonne of king Ethelwo ph about the yéere 868. And the third was also for monkes to witte of the order of Saint Benet founded by king Athelstan the yéere 932. thereabout where the East parts of the Church now called the Lady chappell standeth Of this foundation thus one writeth Hanc vrbem primus Rex Athelstanus in potestatem Anglorum effugatis Britonibus redactam turribus muniuit moro ex quadratis lapidibus cinxit ac antiquitus vocatum ãâã nunc Exeter vocari voluit ac ibisedens mansum quoddam de dit ad fundandum monasterium pro monachis Den Sancto Petro famulantibus Now besides the great charges he was at in building He gaue also sufficient lands and reuenewes for their liuing whereof Morkshut and ãâã be yet remaining and are appertaining to the Treasurer of the said Church But after the time of King Athelstane the Danes with great hostility and cruelty hauing ouerrun this land this City and Church was much infested and troubled for with no lesse cruelty did the Danes pursue the English men and Saxons then did the Saxons before pursue the Britaines And then the monkes not able to endure the same fled and forsooke their house séeking places of refuge and better safety And so was this monastery lest destitute and forsaken for sundry yéeres vntill the time of king Edgar He making a progresse into these West partes to visite Ordogarus Earle of Deuon whose daughter he had maried came to this City ann 986. and pittying their distressed state restored them their house and liuelihoods And appointed ãâã who afterwards was Bishop To be their Abbot After that they continued together although in great troubles vntill the time of king Swanus the Dane He with a great troupe and Army of his Danes came to this City ann 1019. besieged it and at length hauing taken the same spoyled destroyed and burnt both City and Monastery But yet shortly after it was againe restored For King ãâã being aduertised of the great cruelties done by his Father ãâã did at the request of one of his Dukes named ãâã make restitution vnto Atheiuoldus then Abbot both of lands liuings and priuileges as appeareth by his Charter dated ann 1019. About thirty yeeres after this king Edward the Confessor comming to Exceter by the aduise of Leophricus Bishop of Crediton sometimes Lord Chauncellor of England and of his priuy Councell partly for the better safety of the Bishop and his successors and partly to prouide a more apt place for the monkes translated the Bishops Sée from Crediton to Exceter and sent the monkes to Westminster The Bishop then thus remooued from the old and placed in the new indoweth his new Sée with the lands and liuelihoods of his former Church pulled downe the two monasteries néere adioyning the one of Nunnes the other of monkes and addeth them to his owne Church After Leophricus his successors following his example did euery of them for the most part indeuour the augmentation and increase of their Church some in liuelihoods some in liberties and priuileges some in buildings and some in one thing some in an other ANno 1112. William Warwest the third Bishop of Exceter began to enlarge his cathedrall church which at that time was no bigger then that part which is called the Lady Chappell and laied the foundation of that which is now thequier Anno 1235. or there abouts William Brewer ãâ¦ã and a Chapter of ãâã and twenty prebendaries He appropriated to the Deanery Brampton and Coliton Rawleigh For the prebendaries he purchased lands allotting to ãâã of them the like portion of fower pound by the yéere Anno 1284. Peter Quiuill Bishop finding the Chauncell of his church to be builded and finished to his hands built the lower part or body of his church from the quier westward He alsos appointed a Chanter and a Subdeane in the church to the one he impropriated Painton and Cudleigh and to the other the parsonage of Cgloshalle in Cornwall Moreouer he impropriated the parsonage of Saint Newlin in Cornwall and of Stoke Gabriell in Deuonshire to the Chancellor of the church for reading of a Diuinity Lecture Anno 1340. Iohn Grandisson Bishop did increase the length of his church from the sont Westward and vaulted the roofe of the whole church so ending and fully finishing the same ABout the yéere of our Lord 1450. Edmund Lacy began to build the Chapter house and George ãâã finished it The Cloisters were built by the Deane and Chapter Hereby it appeareth that from the first foundation of this church vnder king Athelstane vntill the time that Bishop Graundsone ãâã the building thereof it was aboue 400. yéeres which notwithstanding so vniformely the same is compact as if by one and the same man it had béene plotted begun continued and ended A Catalogue of the Bishops of Deuonshire VVErstanus called by some Adulphus the first Bishop of Deuonshire was consecrated Bishop of this Dioces an 905. and had his Sée at Bishops Tawton In the yéere following viz. 906. he died and was buried in his owne Church PVtta after the death of Werstanus was elected and consecrate Bishop and had his See at Tawton He tataking his iourney towards Crediton to sée the king or as some say Vsfa the kings licutenant was by the said Vffas men slaine Upon his death the See was remooued to Crediton EAdulphus brother to ãâã Duke of Deuonshyre and Cornewall and founder of Launceston was consecrated Bishop of Deuonshire but installed at Crediton where he had his See and continued Bishop two and twenty yéeres He died the yéere 934. and was buried in his owne church EThelgarus an ãâã succéeded Eadulphus This Ethelgarus after he had beene Bishop ten yéeres he died and was buried in his owne church ALgarus an 942. after Ethelgarus was constituted and installed Bishop at Crediton And hauing beene Bishop about ten yeeres died and was buried in his owne Church ALfwoldus as Matthew of Westminster writeth was next Bishop after Algarus and consecrated by the aduise of Dunstane ann 952. He died 972. and was buried in his owne church ALwolfus sate nine yéeres after Alfwoldus and was buried in his owne church SYdemanus Abbot of Saint Peters succéeded In this mans time the Danes ouercame and spoyled the whole countries of Deuonshire and Cornewall burned the towne of Bodwyn and the cathedrall church of Saint Petroks with the Bishops house Whereupon the Bishops See was remooued from thence to S Germans in which place it continued vntill the remoouing and vniting thereof vnto Crediton Sydemannus
Lordship Thus by policy he purchaseth the mannor of Bishops Clist by a deuise gayneth Cornish wood and by power wresteth the patronage of Sowton from the true ownor This Bishop after he had occupted this See about 23. yeeres died July 22. 1280. and was buried in his owne church in a sumptuous tombe of Alabaster standing vpon the South side of the entrance into the Lady chappell Upon it this Epitaphe following is yet to be séene Olim syncerus pater omni dignus amore Primus Walterus magno ãâã hic in honore Edidit hic plura ãâã laude statuta Quae tanquam ãâã seruant hic omnia tuta Atque hoc collegium quod Glaseney plebs vocat omnis Condidit egregmm pro voce data sibi somnis Quot loca construxit ãâã quot bona ãâã Quam sanctam duxit vitam vox dicere quae scit ãâã ãâã ãâã gens Exomensis Et chorus turbae quod natus in hac fuit vrbe Plus ãâã ãâã festum ãâã Gabrielis Gaudeat in ãâã pater iste fidelis PEter Quiuill ann 1281. was consecrated Bishop of Erceter He first instituted a Chaunter and a Subdeane in this Church To the one he impropriated Painton Chidleigh and to the other the rectory of Eglosheyl in Cornewall He was a liberall and a speciall Benefactor to the Hospitall of Saint Iohns in Exceter as well in goods as in liuelyhoods He first began to enlarge and encrease his Church from the Chauncell downewards and layed the foundation thereof In his time ann 1285. Walter Lichlade the first Chaunter was slame in a morning as he came from the morning seruice then called the Mattens which was woont to be said shortly after midnight vpon which occasion the king earne vnto this City and kept his Christmas in the same And thereupon a composition was made betweene the Bishop and the City for inclosing of the Church yard and building of certaine gates there as appeareth by the said composition bearing date in festo ãâã ãâã Mariae 1286. The king at ãâã sute of the Earle of Hereford who at his ãâã here was lodged in the house of the Gray Friers which then was neere the house of Saint Nicholas obtained of the Bishop that they should be remooued from thence to a ãâã wholesome place without South gate whereof after the kings departure grew some controuersie because the Bishop resused to performe his promise made to the king This man also impropriated the parish of Saint ãâã and the ãâã of Stoke Gabriell and vnited the same to the office of the Chauncellor of the Cathedrall Church that the said Chauncellor should continually read a lecture within the said City of Diuinity or of the Decretals In the eleuenth yeere of his Bishopricke he died being choked in drinking of a ãâã ann 1292. He was buried in the middle of the Lady Chappell Upon his toombe is written ãâã tegit Petrum ãâã ãâã ãâã The Franciscanes or Gray Friers of this City imputed his death to his hard dealing with them For whereas he had promised the king to prouide a conuenient place sor them to build their house in and had willed their warden named Deodatus to seeke out and make inquiry for the same yet notwithstanding when he had so doone because the same was in his Sée swaruing from his said promise he vtterly denied to performe the same being diswaded by Peter Kenefield a Dominicane or a blacke Frier and ãâã vnto the said Bishop For he enuying the good successe of the Franciscanes aduiseth the Bishop that in no wise he ãâã permit them to enioy the place which they had gotten ãâã saith he as vnder colour of simplicity they créepe into the harts of the people and hinder vs poore Preachers from our gaines and liuings so be ye sure that if they put foote ãâã your Liberties they will in time find meanes to be ãâã from out of your Liberty and iurisdiction The Bishop being soone diswaded vtterly forbiddeth them to build or to doo any thing within his Sée or liberty About two yéeres after the Bishop kept a great feast vpon the Sundaynext before Saint Francis day And among others was present with him one Walter Winborne one of the kings chiefe Justices of the bench who was present when the Bishop at the request of the king made promise to further helpe the Franciscanes He now in their behalfe did put the Bishop in mind thereof and requested him to haue consideration both of his owne promise and their distresse The Bishop misliking this motion waxed angry and did not onely deny to yeeld thereunto but wished himselfe to be choked what day soeuer he did consent vnto it It fortuned that the same weeke and vpon the day of Saint Francis eue the Bishop tooke a certaine Sirope to drinke in too hasty swallowing thereof his breath was stopped and he foorthwith died The Franciscanes hearing thereof made no little adoo about this matter but blased it abroad that Saint Francis wrought this miracle vpon the Bishop because he was so hard against them THomas Bitton Deane of Welles the yere following was elected Bishop and the See of Canterbury being voyd He was consecrated by I. Roman Archbishop of Yorke He left no memoriall of any great things done by him sauing that he continued the building of his church Fourteene yéeres after that he had occupied this See he died September 21. 1307. and was buried vnder a faire Marble inlayed with brasse before the high aultar VVAlter Stapleden a man learned wise and of great parentage was consecrate Bishop of Exceter March 18 1307. The inthronization or installation of Bishops was a Ceremony of great Solemnity in these ãâã the particularity whereof it shall not be ãâã once for all to describe in this man At Eastgate he alighted from his horse and went on foote to Saint Peters church All the way where he should passe being laid and couered with black cloth on each hand he was conducted by a gentleman of great ãâã and Sir Hugh ãâã who ãâã to be ãâã of this ãâã went next before him At broade gate he was receaued by his Chapter and Quier in their ornaments with Te Deum and so caried into the church The vsuall Ceremonies being performed there at his pallace a great feast was prepared for the entertainement of such noblemen and other parsonages of account as repaired hither at that time It is incredible how many oxen tunnes of Ale and Wine are said to haue béene vsually spent at this kind of solemnity Euen so much as the whole yéerely reuenue at this time would not suffice to pay for This Bishop was greatly in fauour with king Edward the second who made him first of his priuy Councell then Lord Treasurer of England and imploied him in diuers Embassages of great importance The yéere 1329. he was sent Embassadour to the French king and ioyned in commission with the Quéene for the conclusion of a peace betweene these two princes That
being ordered and brought to passe according to his desire he returned home leauing the Quéene with the French king her brother to perfect and finish the agréement already made She whether weary of her hust and or prouoked by the insolency of the Spencers and other fauorites about the king had long since determined to depose her husband from the kingdome if possibly she might and to set vp her sonne Prince Edward Hauing therefore rid away this Bishop whose loialty and faithfullnesse to his soueraigne she well knew was vnmooueable she began to put in practise the execution of this long plotted designement and in the end to be short exploited the same While these matters were a brewing it happened the king to take his iourney to Bristow and he thought good to commit the gouernment and custody of the citie of London to the fidelity of this Bishop At what time therefore the Quéene began to approach néere vnto the city with her power he required the Maior to send vnto him the keies of the gates The Commons who altogether fauoured the Quéenes party hearing this and perceauing the Bishop purposed to withstand her set vpon him violently drew him into Cheape side and beheaded him there together with Sir Richard Stapleton a Knight his brother Then they caried his body to his house without Temple bar and buried if basely in a heape of sand in the backside of the same house In this sort did this woorthy prelate loose his life in defence of his Prince and that by their meanes who of all other were bound in the strongest bands of duty and alleageance to haue done as he did I meane the Queene and the Prince her sonne They shortly after whether regarding his calling or destring to make semblance of disliking the manner of his death or happily mooued with some remorse of conscience commanded his body to be taken from the place where it was first ãâã and being conueighed to Exceter with all funerall pompe there to be solemnly enterred He lieth ãâã vpon the North side of the high Altar in a faire toombe of free stone And his brother before mentioned lieth ouer against him in the North wall of the North Isle This murther was committed October 15 1326. And his funerals were solemnised at Exceter March 28. following The yéere 1316. he erected two houses in Oxford for the better increase and aduancement of learning the one named Hart hall the other Stapledons Inne now called Exceter college in which he placed thirteene fellowes and a Rector whom he appointed to be chosen annually This foundation is much encreased of late yeeres by the liberality of Sir William Peter late principall Secretary and others Moreouer it is to be remembred that he was a speciall benefactor vnto the hospitall of Saint Johns in Exceter to which he impropriated for the releeuing of certaine poore children the Rectory or personage of Ernscombe IAmes Barkley desceÌded of the noble house of the Lord Burkley was consecrated March 15. anno 1326. by Walter Raynold Archbishop of Canterbury at the commanndement of ãâã the Queene The Pope very angry here withall did so ãâã the Archbishop as he died for griefe and anger soone after Neither did the new consecrate Bishop stay long behinde him for he died also the 24. of June following A man reputed very godly and wise He was buried as some say in his owne church but others deliuer that he neuer came hither at all IOhn Grandesson being in Italy with Pope Iohn the 22. after the death of Iohn Barkley he at the kings request bestowed this Bishopricke vpon him and caused him tobe consecrate at Rome October 18. 1327. He was borne and descended of the auncient house of the Grandessons Dukes of Burgundy His Father was named Gilbert the brother of Otho the great Lord Grandesson which Gilbert ãâã into this Land was well intertained by the king and nobility By meanes of Henry Earle of Lancaster with whom he came into England he maried the Lady ãâã daughter and one of the heires to Iohn Tregos Lord of the Castle of Ewias néere Hereford East and by her had issue fiue sonnes and foure daughters of which this Bishop was one who was borne in the parish of Aishpertone in the Dioces of Hereford He was from his childhood very studious became earned and wrote diuers bookes one intituled ãâã ãâã an other ãâã minores and a third de vitis sar ctorum He was also very graue wise and politike And thereby grew into such credit with Pope Iohn that he was not onely of his priuy counsell but also his Nuntio or Embassadour in matters of great waight and unportance to the Emperor to the king of Spaine Fraunce England and other the mightiest Princes of Christendome Being on a time sent in an Embassage to king Edward the third he so behaued him selfe that the king neuer ceased vntill he had procured him from the Pope and then he gaue him the Archbeaconry of Nothingham and other great liuings he made him one of the priuy councell and in the end preferred him to his Bishopricke After this some matter of dislike falling out betwéene Pope Clement the sixt and the King he for his approued wisedome was sent in Ambassage to the Pope ann 1343. for an intreaty of a peace and an amity betwéene ãâã to be had and with such wisedome he did his message that he obtained his purpose and made a reconciliation After his returne home to his Bishopricke he spent his time altogether in adorning and beautifying of his Church or building and erecting some good monument or other He founded the Colledge of S. Mary Otrey and endowed the same with great and goodly liuelihoods He was a liberall Benefactor to the Uicars Chorall of his owne Church as also to the Colledge of Glaseney in Peryn he builded the two last Arches in the West end of his Church vaulted the roofe of all the Church and fully ended the buildings of the same Leauing it in such sort as we sée it at this day TheÌ also he inriched it with plate and other ornaments of inestimable value Moreouer he built a faire house at Bishops Taingtonwhich he left full furnished vnto his successors and did impropriate vnto the same the Parsonage of Radway to the ende as he setteth downe in his Testament Vt haberent Episcopi locum vbi caput suum ãâã si forte in manum regis eorum ãâã caperentur Before his death he made his last Will wherein he gaue such large and bouteous legacies to the Pope Emperor King Queene Archbishop Bishops Colledges Churches and to sundry parsons of high estates and callings that a man would maruell considering his great and chargeable buildings and workes otherwise how and by what meanes he could haue attained to such a masse of wealth and riches He was alwaies very frugall kept no more men or horses about him then necessary and euer despised the vanity of all outward pompe But this it was
of K. Henry the eight whose Chaplaine he then was and Deane of his Chappell as also of his Church He was Doctor of the Lawes very well learned wise and in great fauor with the king who sent him sundry times in embassages to forraine Princes He was Lord President of Wales and had the gouernment of the kings onely daughter the Lady Mary Princesse of Wales Of all the Bishops in the land he was accounted the best Courtier and although he were well reported for his learning yet better liked for his courtlike behauior which in the end turned not so much to his credite as to the vtter ruine and spoyle of the Church For of two and twenty Lordships and Mannours which his predecessors had left vnto him of a goodly yéerely reuenew he left but thrée and them also leased out And where he found thirteene houses well furnished he left onely one house bare and without furniture and yet charged with sundry fees and Annuities By these meanes this Bishopricke which sometimes was counted one of the best is now become in temporall lands one of the meanest He was a great fauourer of learned men and especially of Diuines whom he preserred in his Church aboue others He was very bounteous and liberall vnto all men but especially vnto Courtiers vnto his owne kindred and countreymen He bestowed much also as wel paines as cost in building Sutton Coltstil the towne where he was borne in procuriug the same to be incorporate and endeuouring to set vp the making of ãâã there all which prooued to little purpose as I haue heard In his time after the death of king Henry the eight there was an alteration of religion by king Edward the sixt whereof ensued rebellion and a commotion in this Diocesse which in some part was imputed to this Bishop because he lay farre from his Diocesse and dwelled in his owne countrey Whereupon he resigned the Bishopricke into the kings hands after he had béene Bishop about thirty yéeres and liued by the rents of the temporality of the Bishopricke which when he ãâã he did reserue vnto himselfe for terme of his owne life After the depriuation of Miles Couerdale in Quéene Maries time he was restored to his Church and for the better setling of the Romish Religion did here stay for a while But his minde was so addided to his owne countrey that he returned thither shortly after and made his onely abode there practising what he could to settle there the making of ãâã But whether it were that that kind of trade fitteth not that countrey or that God would not blesse a practise founded vpon such horrible sacriledge it fell out in triall to be more chargeable then profitable and so was soone giuen ouer This man being very olde died in a pang at Sutton ãâã before mentioned the yéere 1555. and was buried there MIles Couerdale after the resignation of Voysye was by king Edward made Bishop of this city and consecrate an 1550. After that he had béene Bishop about 3. yéeres king Edward died then Quéene Mary hauing the crowne the religion was altered and he depriued For a farther discourse of his life and especially his deliuerance out of prison at the sute and importunate request of the king of Denmarke I commend the Reader vnto Master Foxe Of his death onely thus much that not caring to returne to his Bishopricke in the beginning of her Maiestie that now raigneth he setled himselfe at London and there leading a priuate life he died at last a very old man and was buried in Saint Magnus church IAmes Turbeuill a gentleman well borne Bishop Voysey being dead was consecrate an 1556. He was very careful to recouer some part of the lands of his Bishoprick which his predecessor wasted and did obtaine of Queene Mary to him and his successors the seefarme of the mannor of Crediton After that he had beene Bishop about two yeeres Quéene Mary died he was displaced and after lead a priuate life many yeeres VVIlliam Alley reader of Diuinity in the cathedrall church of Saint Paule was consecrate Bishop of Exceter an 1561. He lieth buried vnder a large marble towards the South side of the presbytery VVIlliam Bradbridge Doctor of Diuinity and Deane of Salisbury was consecrate March 18. 1570. He died in a manner suddenly at Newton Ferries June 27. 1578. and was buried in the North side of the high altar neere Bishop Lacy in which place there is a seemely monument of freestone built ouer him IOhn Wolton cannon residensary of the church of Exceter was consecrate in the beginning of Aug. 1579. He sate Bishop almost 14. yéeres died March 13. 1593. and lieth buried toward the Southside of the presbytery néer theplace where we see a monument of touch and free stone erected vnto the memory of him GEruase Babington Doctor of Diuinity and Bishop of Landaffe was translated to this church in February 1594. and hence to Worceter October 4 1597. VVIlliam Coton Doctor of Diuinity and cannon resident of Paules was consecrate in Nouember 1598. This Bishopricke by a new valuation rated in the daies of King Edward the sixt is now esteemed in the Exchequer but at 500 l. yet paid heretofore vnto the Pope after 6000. ducats Foelix first Bishop of Norwich A Catalogue of the Bishops of Norwich collected for the most part out of M. Alexander Neuill his Norwicus by R. T. SIgebert king of the East Angles after the death of Corpwald returning out of Frannce where he liued in banishment and obtayning his kingdome brought with him one Foelix a Burgundian with whom he had liued familiarly during the time of his eryle and made him Bishop of the East Angles which conuerting the people to the faith of Christ had his Sée at Dunwich When he had béene Bishop 17. yéeres he died ann 649. and was buried at Soham now called Some a monastery afterward destroied by the Danes his body was then remooued to Kamsey After him succéeded Thomas which sate fiue yeeres Bonifacius 17. yéeres Bissus after the death of Bonifacius was preferred to this dignity after whose decease the Bishopricke which before was but one was diuided into two the one hauing his Sée at Elmham the other at Dunwich The Bishops of Elmham were 1. Bedwyne 2. Northbertus 3. Headewlacus 4. Neathilferthus 5. Eanferethus 6. Athelwolph 7. Alcarus 8. Sybba 9. Humferthus 10. Humbyrctus 11. Weremundus 12. Wilredus The Bishops of Dunwich were 1. Acceius 2. Astwolfus 3. Aerdredus 4. Cutherinus 5. Aldberthus 6. Eglasius 7. Heardredus 8. Aelphunus 9. Tydferthus 10. Weremundus 11. Wylredus In this estate it remained vnto the time of Humbertus Bishop of Elmham and Wylred Bishop of Dunwich at what time it was restored to the former estate and of two vnited againe into one Athelfus being the first which enioyed the same in the time of king Edwyn and had his Sée at Elmham after whom succéeded 2. Alfridus 3. Theodredus 4. Theodredus 5. Athelstanus 6.
Commendam for sower yéeres 12. Rogerus de Skerwyng ROgerus de Skerwyng was the next Bishop of Norwich being preferred thereunto an 1265. In his time there was a dangerous sedition raysed betweene the citizens of Norwich and the monks of the Cathedral church the history whereof is briefly this In a faire that was kept before the gates of the priory there happened a fray in which some seruants of the couent flew certaine citizens A Jury being empanncied hereupon found them guilty and the officers tooke order for the apprehending of the murtherers if they might be met withall The monkes greatly offended herewith first excommunicated the citizens then shutting the gates not onely prepared themselues to defence but also began to offend the other shooting at the passengers first and afterward issuing out of their gates killing diuers persons and spoyling many houses The citizens greatly incensed herewith fired the gates entred the monastery and after a long conflict a great number being flaine on both sides preuayled rifled the priory and set fire on the same in diuers places at once This fire consumed not onely the celles and offices of the monkes but the almes house also the steeple and greatest part of the cathedrall church The king hearing of this tumult king Henry the third with all speede posted thither and caused diuers citizens to be hanged drawen and quartered Amongst the rest that were executed a woman that first carried fire to the gates was burned The monkes for their part appealed to Rome and so handled the matter that they not onely escaped punishment but also forced the citizens to pay them 3000. markes after 500. markes a yeere towarde the reparation of their church and to present them with a Pare of gold of seuen pound waight This end was made by king Edward the first his father being now dead at the request and solicitation of the Bishop who died an 1278. hauing sate 13. yeeres 13. William Middleton AFter him succéeded William Middleton Archdeacon of Canterbury He reedified the church being so destroyed and prophaned in the time of Bishop Roger and hallowed the same in the presence of the king and many of his nobles In the 11. yeere of his consecration he departed this life the last of August 1288. 14. Radulphus de Walpoole IN his roome Randulph de Walpoole was elected by the monkes and consecrated 1288. When he had gouerned with great commendation the space of 11 yeeres he was by Boniface the Pope translated to Ely and liued scarce three yeeres after his translation See more in Ely 5. Iohn Salmon THe Pope hauing translated Radulph to Ely placed in the See of Norwich one Iohn Salmon Pryor of Ely The yéere 1319. he became Lord Chauncellor ãâã England and continued so about ãâã yéeres This Bishop built the great hall and the chappell in the Bishops pallace ãâã a chappell at the West ende of the church in which he ordayned fower priests to ãâã masse continually He died in the monastery of Folkstan an 1325. July 6. 16. Gulielmus Ayerminus IT is reported by some that after the death of Bishop Salmon Robert Baldooke king Edwards Chauncellor was elected by the monkes and receiued his temporalties the yéere 1325. But it seemeth likelier which other affirme that he renounced his election of his owne accord William ãâã by the Popes authority was then placed in this Sée and made Chauncellor by the king He gaue two hundred pound for order to be taken that two monkes the cellerers of the couent should alwaies sing masse for his soule Hauing sate almost 11. yeres he died March 27. at ãâã neere London 17. Anthony de Beck AFter him Anthony de Beck Doctor of Diuinity ãâã to the court of Rome obtayned this dignity at the Popes hands This man behaued himselfe so imperiously in the place that he bereaued the monkes of diuers auncient long enioyed priuiledges suffring them to do nothing but what seemed good vnto him plucking downe and preferring amongst them whom he listed Neither could he onely be content thus to tyrannize ouer them but ãâã to haue his acctions reformed or called in question by any others He openly withstood Robert Winchesley Archbishop of Canterbury in his visitation affrming that he would not answer to those things which were obiected against him vnlesse it were at that court of Rome This boysterous and vnruly ãâã purchased him such hatred of all men that at the last he was poysoned by some of his owne seruants 18. Gulielmus Bateman VVIlliam Bateman Doctor of the Ciuill Lawe borne at Norwich and Archdeacon of the same was next elected Bishop by the ãâã consent of the whole Couent a man of ãâã ãâã and so great constancy that he could not by any meanes be brought to Impaire and diminish the priuileges and liberties of his church although he were oftentimes by many of the nobility ãâã thereunto alway to the vttermost of his power resisting and punishing the sacrilegious drifts of them which attempted the same Amongst the rest it is remembred that the Lord Morly hauing killed certaine deere in one of his parkes and ill intreated his kéepers he forced the noble man to cary a burning Taper in his hand through the streetes of Norwich vnto the high Altar Though the king became an earnest intercessor for him yea mingling sometimes threates with requests nothing could mooue the Bishop from following his determined course Furthermore whereas the estate of his Bishopricke was very litigious before his time he neuer rested vntill he had rid it from all ãâã and contention obtaining also of Pope Clement all the fruits and reuenues of the vacant churches in Norwich which he left vnto his successors He builded Trinity hall in Cambridge giuing certaine lands for the maintainance thereof and prouoking other meÌ to imitate his good example he perswaded one Gonwell to found another hall in the same vniuersity which of late at the costs and charges of Iohn Caius a learned Phisition hath béene very much enlarged At what time king Edward the third laid claime first vnto the crowne of Fraunce he made choise of this Bishop to informe the Pope of his title In this voiage he died at Auinion the yéere 1354. In this mans time happened that great plague memorable in all our histories whereof as some doubt not to affirme there died so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the city of Norwich there died ãâã ãâã to the number of 57104. persons ãâã the first of Ianuary and the first of July 1348. 19. Thomas Percy HEnry Duke of Lancaster bearing a great affect on ãâã Thomas Percy brother to the Earle of Nortumberland ãâã of the Pope for the Monks refused him that this dignity ãâã be vestowed vpon him This ãâã gaue vnto the repairing of the church which in his time was greatly defaced with a violent tempest the some of ãâã hundred markes and obtained of the rest of the cleargy a great ãâã to the same purpose He departed this
Hart. AFter him succéeded Walter Hart Doctor of ãâã by whose wisedome and discretion the malitious humours of the malecontent ãâã before ãâã wel ãâã were now altogether extinguished He ãâã the church and during his life maintained ãâã ãâã at Cambridge with all things necessary for them at his owne charges He departed this life the sixth of May. 1472. in the 26. yéere of his Consecration and was buried in his church of Norwich néere vnto the ãâã ãâã which he ãâã ãâã 27. Iames Goldwell THis man ãâã 25. yéeres Of him otherwise there ãâã no remembrance 28. Thomas Ian. This man died the first yéere of his consecration 29. Richard Nyx AFter the decease of Ian Richard Nyx ãâã of whom I finde little woorth the rehearsing He hath the report of a vicious and dissolute liuer was blinde long before his death sate 36. yéeres and died an 1536. 30. William Rugge NExt vnto Nyx William Rugge was preferred vnto this dignity he sate Bishop 14. yéeres deceased an ãâã 31. Thomas Thyrlbey RVgge being dead Thomas Thyrlbey Doctor of Law the first and last Bishop of Westminster was remoued from thence vnto Norwich He sate about 4. yeeres and the yeere 1554. was translated to Ely See more in Ely 32. Iohn Hopton THyrlbev being ãâã to Ely Iohn Hopton was elected Bishop of Norwich he sate 4. yeeres and died the same yeere that Queene Mary did for griefe as it is supposed 33. Thomas Parkhurst AFter him T. Parkhorst succéeded which by the prouidence of God being preserued from many great dangers and afflictions which he suffered in the daies of Quéene Mary was by our gratious Soueraigne Queene Elizabeth preferred vnto this place consecrate September 1. 1560. He died an 1574. hauing sate Bishop almost 15. yeeres 34. Edmund Freake MArch 9. 1571. Edmund Freake Doctor of Diuinity was consecrate Bishop of Rochester Thence presently vpon the death of Bishop Parkhurst he was remooued to Norwich and thence also the yéere 1584. vnto Worceter where he died about the 20. of March 1590. and ãâã buried vpon the South side of the body of the church there vnder a seemely monument néere the wall 35. Edmund Scambler EDmund Scambler houshold ãâã a while vnto the Archbishop was consecrate Bishop of Peterbourough Ianuary 16. an 1560. vpon the translation of Bishop Freake he was preferred vnto Norwich 36. William Redman William Redman Archdeacon of Canterbury ãâã The value of this Bishopricke in the Queenes bookes is 899 l. 8 s. 7 d. farthing and was ãâã at Rome in 5000. ducats The Bishops of Worceter WVlfher the first Christian king of Mercia being dead Ethelred his brother succéeded him in the kingdome He by the perswasion of Osher gouernor of Wiccia diuided his countrey which till that time had neuer had more then one Bishop into 5 parts or Diocesses which he appointed vnto fiue Bishoprickes whereof one was Lichfield erected 4. new Cathedral Sées one at Dorchester another at Leicester another at Sidnacester and the fourth at Worceter And for the first Bishop of Worceter choice was made of one Tatfrith a man of great learning who died before he could be consecrate After his decease Boselus was chosen and consecrate by Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury This was done as our histories deliuer for the most part the yéere 679. 1. After ãâã before mentioned these succéeded 2. ãâã consecrate 692. 3. Saint ãâã consecrate ãâã This man went to Rome with Offa king of Mercia there got licence of Constantine the Pope to build a monastery in Worceter and so did the same that is now the cathedrall church 4. ãâã consecrate 717. This man liued in the time of Beda 5. Mylredus ãâã reporteth one Deuehertus to haue béene Bishop of Worceter the yéere 766. but I thinke it an error 6. Weremundus 7. Tilherus 8. Eathoredus He gaue I comb vnto his church 9. Deuebertus 10. Eadbertus or Hubertus He gaue Croley 11. Alwyn or ãâã He built the chappell of Saint Andrew at Kimesey 868. 12. Werebertus called by ãâã ãâã and ãâã was consecrate vpon ãâã being June 7. 872. He was greatly estéemed of king Alfred for his singular learning and translated at his request the Dialogues of Saint Gregory into the Saxon or English ãâã 13. Wilferth He died an 911. 14. ãâã Abbot of Barkley 15. Kinewold he gaue Odingley vnto his Church 16. Saint Dunstan ãâã to London 958. and afterward to Canterbury Sée more of him there 17. Saint Oswald The yeere 971. he became afterward of Yorke and yet held Worceter still in Commendam till his death Concerning him and his two next successors See more in Yorke 18. Aldulf was also Archbishop of Yorke 19. Wulstan he likewise held Yorke ãâã like sort He is by some surnamed or rather I thinke nicknamed Reprobus 20. Leofsius he died at ãâã Aug. 19. 1033. ãâã was buried at Worceter 21. ãâã Abbot of Parshore the sonne of ãâã sister his predecessor He died December 20. 1038. 22. ãâã first a monke of Winchester and after ãâã of ãâã nephew vnto Brithwaldus Bishop of Saint Germans in Cornewall was consecrate Bishop of Crediton or Deuonshire 1032. He was greatly in fauour with king ãâã and attended him in his pilgrimage to Rome After his vncles death he procured Saint Germans to be vnited vnto his Sée and as it séemeth vnto me held not onely both them but Worceter also to which he was preferred 1038. vntill his death The yéere 1040. he was accused for procuring or consenting vnto the death of Alfred the eldest ãâã of king ãâã Some say he purged himselfe of that accusation others say he was depriued of his liuings as ãâã guilty and returning to ãâã died there But I take the third report to be truest to wit that he was once displaced and afterwards vpon better examination of the cause restored againe He died 1046. at which time euen iust when he gaue vp the Ghost there was such a horrible ãâã of thunder and lightning as men thought the day of doome had béene come He was buried at Tauestocke vnto which monastery he had béene a great benefactor 23. Aldred the yeere 1060. was translated to Yorke Sée more of him there 24. Saint Wulstan Alfred being constrained to giue ouer Worceter before he might obtaine the Popes approbation for Yorke as in Yorke you may see more at large he determined at his departure to fleece it and then to foyst in some simple fellow into that roome such a one as might seeme likely to swallow his gudgyn quietly He esteemed Wulstan Pryor of Worceter such a one and the king graunting free licence to choose whom they liked best he easily procured the consent of the cleargy and commonalty of the Dioces for his election This plot neuer so cunningly layde had not the successe that was expected For ãâã prooued nothing so tractable as he thought yéelded not to all that he demaunded and yet neuer synne wrangling and complayning vntill partly in his time partly in his
translated to Canterbury 740. He bestowed a goodly monument ãâã his predecessors and caused this Epitaph to be engrauen vpon the same Qui quondam extiterant famosi altique per orbem Corpora ãâã hominum hic marmor obumbrans Tumbaque mirifico ãâã fabricata ãâã Desuper exalto ãâã cum colmine ãâã Hos ego Cuthbertus sacri successor honoris Inclusi titulis exornauique ãâã Pontifices ex his ternos sancta infula cinxit Nomina sunt quorum Walstoldus Torhere Tirtill Regulus est quartus Milfrith ãâã coniuge pulchra Quenburga senis haec extitit ordine quinta Sextus preterca est ãâã filius Offrith 6. Podda 7. Ecca 8. Cedda He died 857. 9. Albertus 10. Esna died 885. 11. Celmund 12. Vtellus 13. Wlfhard 14. Benna 15. Edulf 16. Cuthwulf 17. ãâã 18. ãâã 19. Cunemund 20. Edgar 21. ãâã 22. Wlfhelm 23. Alfrike 24. Athulf 25. Ethelstan 13. yéeres before his death he was blinde and gouerned by a deputy He builded the Cathedral Church of Hereford from the ground died at his mannor of Bosanbirig February 10. 1055. and was buried in his owne church 26. ãâã chaplaine vnto Duke Harald succéeded him Mat. Westminster giueth this testimony of him that he was vndoubtedly Deitamulus in omni religione perfectus ecclesiarum amator pauperum recreator viduarum orphanorum defensor oppressorum subuertor virginitatis ãâã ãâã king of Wales hauing ouerthrowen the forces of the English men about two miles from Hereford immediately assaulted the city tooke it slew the Bishop and seuen of the Cannons that denied him entrance into the church and held it against him spoyled it of all the reliques and ornaments that were portable and lastly fired both church city and all This Bishop being yet scarce warme in his seat was thus slaine June 16 1056. when he had béene Bishop but onely twelue weekes and 4. daies 27. Walter After the death of Leofgar the Sée continued voyd fower yéeres and was gouerned by Aldred Bishop of Worceter He being translated thence to Yorke Walter borne in Lorraine and chaplaine to Queene Edith was consecrate at Rome by the Pope the yeere 1060. His ende was much more vnhappy then his ãâã He chaunced to fall in loue with a certaine comely woman that he met in the stréete A long time he contended with this vile and ãâã affection and he thought he had quenched the same when a small occasion renewed it to his destruction Hauing certaine linnen to cut out this woman was commended to him for a very cunning seamster He sent for her and his old ãâã of ãâã desire easily kindling by this little sparke he ãâã errands to ãâã his men out of the way while he set vpon her first with words and they not preuayling by force She resisted what she might but finding him too strong for her thrust her sheeres into his belly and gaue him his deaths wound This W. Malmesbury telleth by hearsay of an vncertaine relation adding moreouer that the king being desirous it should be esteemed false forbid the report of it No other ãâã liuing néere those times maketh any ãâã of this so memorable an accident and therefore it is possible to be vntrue 28. Robert surnamed Lozing was also borne in ãâã had trauailed and read in diuers Uniuersities beyond the seas and being much fauoured by William the Conqueror for his manifold good parts especially his learning was preferred by him vnto the Bishopricke of Hereford whereunto he was consecrate December 29. 1079. This man was well séene in diuers kinds of good learning but in the Mathematiques he was excellent and writ diuers discourses in that kind much admired in those daies There was a great league of friendship betwéene him and Saint VVulstan who certified him of his owne death in a dreame as our stories report called him to his buriall and assured him he might not stay long after It fell out true for within halfe a yéere after ãâã other he deceased June 26. 1095. Now he foresaw the death of ãâã Bishop of Lincolne by Astrology and therefore refused to come to the dedication of his new church I haue related in Lincolne Sée Lincolne He built his church of Hereford anew following the platforme of the church of ãâã or Aquisgraue and lieth buried in the fame by the Northwall a little aboue the chappell of Bishop Stanbery as the inscription at least wise importeth For my part I am ãâã that he rather ãâã in that toombe which is ascribed to Bishop Raynelm for that the Image of the same holdeth the signe of the church in his hand which me thinkes argueth the builder of the church to be in that place enterred 29. Gerard nephew vnto VValkelin Bishop of Winchester succéeded Uery shortly after his comming to Hereford he was remooued to Yorke Sée Yorke 30. Rainelmus King Henry the first bestowed then this Bishopricke vpon one Roger his Larderer Within a day or two after not yet consecrate he fell sicke at London and being loth to die before he were a complete Bishop earnestly requested ãâã the Archbishop to affoorde him consecration which foolish demand he could not but laugh at and answered with silence Much against his will he died vnbishopped twelue daies after his nomination He being dead the king gaue this Bishopricke intended to him vnto ãâã the Queenes Chauncellor He receiued it as the maner had then long beene at the kings hands and was inuested into it by the deliuery of the ring and the crosier Anselm the Archbishop refused to consecrate him and diuers other that obtayned their preferments in like manner as in his life you may read more at large He was so farre from importuning him in this matter as being now perswaded his election to be vnsufficient he renounced the same deliuering againe into the kings hand the ring and crosier that he had receiued Herewith the king was so offended as presently he banished him the realme After much adoo betweene the king and ãâã a reconciliation at last was wrought and this man consecrate with diuers other the yeere 1107. He was very vertuous deuout and of good report except onely for his housekeeping wherein he was not so liberall as his neighbours wished him He died October 28. 1115. of the gout wherewith he was much tormented long before his death and was entoombed in the out side of the South partition of the Presbytery if haply his toombe be not mistaken for Bishop Roberts and Roberts for his 31. Geoffry de Clyue Chaplaine to king Henry the first was consecrate December 26. 1115. A man of great temperance ãâã ãâã ãâã well his houses and ãâã the ãâã belonging to his Sée into a ãâã good order being much wasted and ãâã in the time of his predecessors He ãâã a ãâã ãâã ãâã vnto the ãâã and left much wealth ãâã him which better might haue béene bestowed vpon them He died February 3. 1119. and was laid in the North wall a little aboue Robert his predecessor 32.
the certaine time I know not and drawing toward his end deliuered vnto the poore with his owne hands whatsoeuer he had in the world leauing him selfe scarce clothes to couer him He was euer a great almes man and notwithstanding his great building a great house keeper also Neither was he lesse carefull of the spirituall Temple of Christ then the materiall he was a very painefull Preacher yéerely visiting his whole Dioces preaching in euery place thrice reprehending and punishing sinne seuerely and lastly performing such other pastorall duties as he thought vnto his charge might belong 4. Seffridus Abbot of Glastonbury was brother vnto Ralfe Archbishop of Canterbury He was consecrate Aprill 12. 1125. 5. Hilarius This man onely of all the Bishops in England was content absolutely to allow of the declaration after published at Clarindon without mention of that odious clause saluo ordine fuo but was shrewdly bayted of his brethren for his labor as in the life of Thomas Becket you may read more at large 6. Iohn de Greenford Deane of Chichester was elected the yéere 1173. consecrate 1174. and died 1180. 7. Seffridus the second succéeded In his time to witte October 19. 1187. the Cathedrall Church together with the whole City was once more consumed with casuall fire The Church and his owne palace he both reedified in very good sort 8. Simon de Welles was elected Bishop December 22. ann 1198. 9. Richard Poore Deane of Salisbury was consecrate 1215. translated to Salisbury 1117. and after to Durham Sée Durham 10. Ralfe first Officiall then Prior of Norwich succéeded him in Chichester He gaue to the Church a Windmill in Bishopstone and died 1222. 11. Ralfe Neuil al. de Noua villa was elected Nouember 1. 1222. and consecrate the yéere following being then lately made Chauncellor of England by the consent and good liking of the whole realme for the great opinion they had of his vprightnesse and sincerity whereof indéede he yéelded such proofe in the execution of that office as neuer any man held the same with greater commendation About the yeere 1230. he was chosen Archbishop of Canterbury but was so farre from ãâã that dignity corruptly as he refused to giue the monkes money to pay for their charges in certifying this election vnto the Pope Now he missed it see Canterbury in the life of S. Edmund After that he was elect Bishop of Winchester See the successe thereof in William de Raleigh of Winchester He died February 1. 1244. at London in that house which is now knowen by the name of Lincolnes Inne He built it from the ground to be a house of receite for himselfe and his successors when they should come to London After his time I know not by what meanes it came to the possession of Henry Lacy Earle of Lincolne who somwhat enlarged it and left it the name it now hath This Bishop moreouer builded a Chappell and dedicated it to Saint Michaell without the East gate of Chichester and was otherwise a great Benefactor vnto his owne Church 12. Richard de la Wich After the death of Ralf Neuil the Canons of Chichester to curry fauour with the king chose a Chaplaine of his for their Bishop one Robert Passelew a man wise inough and one that had done the king much good seruice but so vnlearned as the Bishops of the realme ãâã much to be ioyned with him procured his election to be disanulled and Richard de Wiche to be chosen This Richard de Wiche was borne at Wiche in Worcetershire of which place he tooke his surname and was brought vp in the vniuersities of Oxford first and Paris afterward Being come to mans state he trauailed to Bononia where hauing studied the Canon Law seuen yéeres he became publique reader of the same After that he spent some time at Orleans in France and then returning home was made Chauncellour vnto Saint Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury as also of the vniuersity of Oxford He was consecrate by the Pope him selfe at Lyons 1245. and so gouerned the charge committed to him as all men greatly reuerenced him not onely for his great learning but much more for his diligence in preaching his manifold vertues and aboue all his integrity of life and conuersation In regard of these things as also of many miracles that are fathered vpon him he was canonised and made a Saint some seuen yéeres after his death He deceased Aprill 2. 1253. the ninth yeere after his consecration and of his age the fifty sixt He was buried in his owne church and the yeere 1276 his body was remooued from the first place of buriall and laid in a sumptnous shrine 13. Iohn Clypping a Canon of Chichester succéeded him This man amongst other things gaue vnto his church the Mannour of Drungwick vpon which he built much at his owne cost euen all the Mannour house there 14. Stephen Of whom I find nothing but this that he was excommunicate the yéere 1265. for taking part with the Barons against the king 15. Gilbertus de Sancto Leofardo died the yéere 1305. He was saith Matthew Westminster a father of the fatherlesse a comforter of mourners a defender of widdowes a releeuer of the poore a helper of the distressed and a diligent visiter of the sick especially the poore vnto whom he resorted more often then vnto the rich He ascribeth also diuers miracles vnto him beléeue him as you list He raised from the foundation the Chappell of Saint Mary 16. Iohn de Langton sometimes Chauncellor of England builded a costly window in the south part of the church This Bishop or at least he that was Bishop of Chichester the yéere 1315. excommunicated the Earle Warren for adultery whereupon the Earle came vnto him with armed men and made shew of some intent to lay violent hands vpon him The Bishops men perceiuing it set vpon them and by their Masters commaundement put both the Earle and his men in prison 17. Robert Stratford Archdeacon of Canterbury Channcellor of the Uniuersity of Oxford and Lord Chauncellor of England at what time he was preferred to the Bishopricke of Chichester made suite he might with the kings good fauor giue ouer his office which was graunted him but not long after it was layd vpon him againe He died the yéere 1361. 18. William de Lenne alias ãâã Doctor of law and Deane of Chichester was translated to Worceter 1368. See Worceter 19. William Reade was sometimes fellow of Perton colledge in Oxford where he gaue himselfe most part vnto the study of that Mathematikes that to so good purpose as he hath the reputation of the most excellent Mathematician of his age In his riper yéeres he fell to Diuinity and ãâã Doctor in that faculty He built the castle of Amberly from the ground left his picture many tables and Astronomicall instruments to Merton colledge where I heare they are yet kept 20. Thomas Rushooke a Fryer preacher Doctor of Diuinity and Confessor vnto the king was first
Bishop of Landaff and the time certaine I know not afterward remooued thence to Chichester He was drouen away from the ãâã by the Barons and his goods confiscate by Parliament in March 1388. 21. Richard Mitford was translated to Salisbury the yéere 1395. Sée Salisbury 22. Robert Waldby was translated from Dublin 1395 and from Chichester to Yorke the yéere following ãâã Yorke 23. Robert Reade a Fryer preacher became Bishop of Carlioll 1396. by the Popes gift who notwihstanding ãâã one William Stirkland was elected lawfully bestowed ãâã place vpon him at the kings request In the ende of the ãâã yéere he was translated to Chichester 24. Roger Packinton 25. Henry Ware Doctor of Law 26. Iohn Kemp Bishop of Rochester translated ãâã 1422. and hence to London the same yéere afterwards to Yorke and Canterbury Sée Canterbury 27. Thomas Poldon first Bishop of Hereford was translated hence to Worceter 1426. Sée Worceter 28. Iohn Rickingale Doctor of Diuinity 29. Simon Sidenham Doctor of Law 30. Richard Praty 31. Adam Molins Doctor of Law and sometimes Clarke of the Councell being Bishop of Chichester had the kéeping of the priuy seale committed to him He was slaine at Portsmouth by Mariners suborned thereunto by Richard Duke of Yorke Iune 9. 1449. He gaue to the high Altar certaine rich clothes of crimosin veluet 32. Reginald Peacocke was borne in Wales brought vp in Oriall colledge in Oxford where he proceeded Doctor of Diuinity became Chaplayne vnto ãâã Duke of ãâã vncle and Protector of king Henry the sixt and was preferred by him vnto the Bishopricke of Saint Assaph from whence the yeere 1450. he was translated to Chichester He was a great defender of the doctrine of ãâã which he was constrained to recant at Paules crosse December 4. 1457. had his bookes burnt there before his face that notwithstanding he was depriued of his Bishopricke hauing a certaine pension assigned to maintaine him in an Abbey and soone after died 33. Iohn ãâã Doctor of Phisicke succéeded one of that name became Bishop of Lichfield the yeere 1496. It could not well be he although I finde somwhat to induce me to thinke so 34. Edward Story Doctor of Diuinity was consecrate Bishop of Carltoll October 14. 1468. sate there nine yeeres and was translated hether the yeere 1477. He built the new crosse in the market place 35. Richard ãâã was translated from Rochester 1504. and remooued hence to London 1506. See London 36. Robert Sherborne was translated from Saint Dauids 1508. He sate Bishop of Chichester 28. yeeres and died August 21. 1536. being 96 yeeres of age A man very wise often employed in Ambassages by king Henry the 7. a great housekeeper a great almes-man bestowed much money in ãâã his church and increased the number of the Ministers belonging thereunto 37. Richard Sampson Doctor of Law consecrate 1536. was translated to Lichfield 1543. March 12. See Lichfield 38. George Day Doctor of Diuinity consecrate 1543. was depriued October 10. 1551. restored by Quéen ãâã 1553. and died Aug. 2. 1556. 39. Iohn Scory Bacheler of Dininity was ãâã 1551. displaced by Queene Mary and afterwards ãâã by Queene Elizabeth vnto the Sée of Hereford 40. Iohn Christopherson Doctor of Diuinity ãâã of Trinity colledge in Cambridge and Deane of Norwich was appointed Bishop of Chichester by Quéene Mary some after the death of Day He was borne in Lancashire and brought vp in Saint Johns colledge in Cambridge Aman very learned whereof he hath left many testimonies behinde him He was depriued by acte of Parliament in the beginning of the happy raigne of our now Queene Elizabeth 41. William Barlow Doctor of Diuinity sometimes Bishop of Saint Dauids and after of Welles was ãâã Bishop of Chichester December 20. 1559. and sate ãâã about ten yéeres See Welles 42. Richard ãâã Doctor of Diuinity was consecrate May 20. 1570. and after translated to Salisbury 43. Thomas Bickley Doctor of Dininity ãâã of Merton colledge in Oxford was consecrate about the beginning of the yeere 1585. He was borne at Stow in Buckingham shire brought vp in Magdalene colledge where he was first Chorister then one of the Demies and lastly fellow In Quéene Maries time he was faine to forsake not onely his fellowship but the realme also Most part of her raigne he liued in Fraunce at Paris and Orleans In the beginning of her Maiesties raigne returning home he became ãâã vnto the Archbishop of Canterbury Matth. Parker by whose meanes he was preferred vnto the ãâã of Merton colledge Thomas Bentam Bishop of Lichfield his old acquaintance in Magdalene colledge and his ãâã in exile bestowed vpon him moreouer the Archdeacomy of Stafford and a Preuend in Lichfield Hauing gouerned the said colledge twenty yéeres he was called to the ãâã of Chichester where he sate 11. yéeres He died at Aldingburne Aprill 30. 1596. being well néere 90. yéeres of age and was honorably enterred in his Cathedrall Church of Chichester He bequeathed vnto Merton colledge in Oxford 100 l. to Magdalene colledge 40 l. and diuers other summes of money to diuers other good vses 44. Anthony Watson Deane of Bristow and one of her Maiesties chaplaines was consecrate the yeere 1596. The Bishopricke of Chichester is valued in the Queenes bookes at 677 l. 15 d. in the Popes bookes at 333. ducats The Bishops of Rochester SAint Augustine hauing laid some ãâã foundation of Christian religion at Canterbury for the farther propagation of the same thought good to crdaine Bishops vnto other cities neere adioyning and therefore in one ãâã consecrated two viz. ãâã to London and ãâã a Romaine to ãâã This was the yeere 604. About seuen yéeres after he was faine to flie the realme together with Melhtus Bishop of London as in his life you may ãâã more at large The yeere 622. he was translated to Canterbury See Canterbury 1. Iustus therefore was the first Bishop of Rochester 2. Romanus was the second Trauailing to Rome ãâã a message betwéene Iustus the Archbishop and Honorius ãâã Pope he was drowned by the way 3. Paulinus the first Archbishop of Yorke being forced thence by persecution was content to take charge of Rochester as in Yorke it shall be declared sate there thirteene yeeres and died October 10. 644. He was buried in the church of Saint Andrew which Echelbert the good king of ãâã ãâã from the ground 4. Ithamar was then made Bishop of Rochester an ãâã by birth and education yet nothing inferior either in life or learning vnto any of his predeccssors He was the first Bishop of our nation I meane the first Englishman 5. ãâã After his death the See continued long voyde 6. Putta at last was consecrate thereunto by ãâã Archb. of Canterbury He was a very good man but very simple and altogether vnexpert in worldly matters Waxing therfore soone weary of his Bishoprick he was halfe ãâã to leaue it when Edilred king of Mercia burning his church and city resolued and setled him in that determination So he went
occasion saith William Malmsbury and the rest of our Histories the Kings of England tooke a conceite that it was not safe for any Prince to enter Oxford in so much as euery one being loath to venture the tryall of it in himselfe it was euer auoyded by them till the time that King Henry the third prooued it altogether vaine by his owne experience In this place Didan by the intreaty of his daughter built a Monastery for Nunnes and appointed her the Abbesse It happened then obout the yéere of grace 847. in the time of King Egelred that certaine Danes flying into this Monastery to saue their liues from the bloody cruelty of the English pursuing them when otherwise they could not ãâã gotten out the Monastery was ãâã and they all burnt in the same But it was reedified shortly after by the said king and further enriched with diuers possessions This notwithstanding soone after it sell into wonderfull great decay so as no body caring to inhabite the same it was giuen by William the Conqneror vnto the Abbey of Abingdon for a Cell or remoouing house They not ãâã estéeming it were content that Roger Bishop of Salisbury their Ordinary should confirme it vnto one ãâã ãâã Chaplaine vnto king Henry the first a man wise learned and religious that tooke vpon him to place Regular ãâã in the same He did so the yéere 1110. became ãâã of this new or rather renewed Monastery himselfe tooke-other vnto him repayred in very good sort the ruinous ãâã and by the fauour of King Henry the first recouered ãâã it what lands soeuer had béene giuen heretofore vnto the Nunnes In this state then it continued vntill that ãâã Woolsey gotte licence to conuert it into a Colledge 1524. calling it by the name of the Cardinals Colledge ãâã leauing it vnperfect it pleased King Henry the eight of ãâã memory to giue it a foundation by the name of Collegium ãâã exfundatione Regis Henrici Octaui and moreuer made it the Sée of a new erected Cathedrall Church placing in it not onely a Bishop but also a Deane ãâã ãâã a ãâã and other officers besides 100. ãâã ãâã that he appointed to be maintained in the same of ãâã number my selfe some times was one 1. Robert King THis new erected Episcopall Sée was first established in the Abbey of Osney where Robert King the last Abbot of the same house and the first Bishop of Oxford had his Installation the yéere 1541. About fiue yéeres after to wit an 1546. it was remooued vnto Christchurch then commonly called the Cardinals colledge This Robert King being yet Abbot of Osney was consecrate a titulary Bishop by the name of Episcopus Roanensis which is a Sée in the Prouince of the Archbishopricke of Athens He was translated from this imaginary Bishopricke to Oxford the yéere 1541. as before is mensioned taken away by death December 4. 1557. and is entoombed on the North side of the East end of the quier in his owne church where is this Epitaphe to be seene Hic ãâã Robertus King S. Theologiae professor prioous Episcopus Oxon. quiobijt 4. die Decemb. 1557. 2. Hugh Curwyn HVgh Curwyn or Coren Doctor of Law first Archdeacon of Oxford and Deane of Hereford then Archbishop of Dublyn and Lord Chauncellor of Ireland was translated from thence to Oxford a place of lesse honor but more quiet October 14. 1567. Hauing sate there little more then a yeere he died at Swynbrooke néere to Burford and was buried in the parish church there Nouember 1. 1568. 3. Iohn Vnderhyll AFter his death the Bishopricke continued voyde many yéeres At last it pleased her Maiestie to bestow it vpon a chaplaine of her owne Iohn Vnderhyll doctor of diuinity and Rector of Lincolne colledge in Oxford He was consecrate thereunto in December 1589. died in the beginning of May 1592. and was buried in the middle of the quier of his Cathedrall church toward the vpper end This Bishoprick of Oxford is valued at 354 l 16 s 3 d. farthing The Bishops of Glocester OSrike king of Northumberland founded a Nunry in the city of ãâã about the yeere of our Lord 700. Kineburg Eadburg and Eua Quéenes of Mercia were Abbesses of this monastery one after another It was destroyed by the Danes and lay wasle vntill that Aldred Archbishop of Yorke began to reedifie the same about the yéere 1060. replenished it with monkes and erected from the very foundation that goodly church which is now the ãâã Sée of that Dioces Being giuen into the hands of king Henry the eight by Parliament it pleased him to alot the ãâã of it vnto the mayntenance of a Bishop a Deane sixe Prebendaries and other ministers 1. Iohn Wakeman Abbot of Teuksbury was the first Bishop of this new erection He prouided a toombe for his place of buriall at Teuksbury in the North side of a little chappell standing Southeast from the high altar Part of it yet ãâã But his body lyeth at Worthington where he died a house belonging vnto the Bishopricke of Glocester 2. Iohn Hooper Bishop of Worceter held Glocester in Commendam with Worceter by the licence of king Edward the sixt His life actions and Heroicall end are written at large by Master Foxe 3. Iames Brookes Doctor of Diuinity and Master of Baylioll colledge in Oxford succéeded him 4. Richard Cheyney Bacheler of Diuinity was consecrate April 19. 1562. He died the yéere 1578. Both he and his predecessor lye buried in one vault with Abbot Parker the ãâã Abbot His toombe standeth in a little chappell on the North side of the Presbytery almost ouer against the Bishops Sée 5. Iohn Bullingham Doctor of Diuinity was consecrate September 3. 1581. the Sée hauing beene voyd almost three yeeres He died about the 20. day of May. 1598. 6. Godfry Goldsborough Doctor of Diuinity and Archdeacon of Worceter was consecrate Nouemb. 19. 1598. The Bishopricke of Glocester is valued in the Queenes bookes at 315 l. 17 s. 2 d. The Bishops of Peterborough IN the middle of the riuer of ãâã which runneth by the south side ãâã Peterborough there is a whirlpoole of infinite depth that by reason of springs continually arising there in the coldest winter was yet neuer quite frozen ouer This place in ãâã time was called Medefwell and the towne adioyning taking name of it Medeswell ãâã or Medeshamstead Peada the sonne of Penda the first Christian king of Mercia began the foundation of a monastery there the yéere 656. but was taken away by the treachery of his wife before he could bring it to any perfection Wolpher his brother was so farre from endeuouring to finish this worke as being an obstinate Pagane he put to death ãâã and Ruffyn two of his owne sonnes for no other cause then this that they were Christians Afterwards notwithstanding it pleased God so to touch his heart as of a persecuting Saul ãâã became a good Paul and in token of his griefe and sorrow for his cruelty to his
drouen into a corner thereof Wales and Cornewall the rest of England was without any knowledge or ãâã of the Gospel vntill the comming of Saint Augustine And after him a great while the North parts of this Realme remained in the darknesse of their wonted ignorance till God tooking vpon them with the eye of his mercy gaue this occasion of their conuersion Edwyn king of ãâã was very desirous to marry Edilburge the sister of ãâã king of Kent She being not onely a Christian but a ãâã vertuous gentlewoman vtterly refused to match with him being a Pagan but signified that vpon condition he ãâã promise to become a Christian she would accept him for her husband He answered he could be very well content ãâã doo nothing in preiudice of her faith and to suffer that not ãâã her ãâã but her seruants and traine should practise what ãâã they would And ãâã withall that if vpon consideration and conference with wise men Christian Religion should séeme more holy and woorthier of God then his ãâã he would not refuse to embrace the same Upon these ãâã Edilburg was sent vnto him to be his Quéene And least by kéeping company with heathen people she and those that went with her might in time be ãâã with their Paganisme It was thought conuenient to send some ãâã and godly man with her that might not only instruct ãâã admonish them dayly but also minister the Sacraments vnto them yea and preach the Gospell vnto ãâã ãâã a ãâã man was made choise of whom they thought good to consecrate Archbishop of Yorke which was done by ãâã Archbishop of Canterbury the 21. day of July in the yéere of our Lord 625. or as some account 622. He mindfull ãâã his vocation as soone as he came into the Countrey laboured diligently to winne soules vnto Christ but without any profit at all a great while Regis ad exemplum totus componitur ãâã So long as the King remained obstinate little good was to be done with the rest of the people Him therefore he often exhorted to embrace Christ and preuailed at last so far with him as he promised to doo it if it might please God to send him victory against Guichelm King of the West Saxons that had conspired his death This victory being ãâã according to his desire He yet kept not promise but delayed the matter vnder pretence of perswading his Nobles first to be content therewith And longer still he would haue delayed it had not God by Paulinus put him in mind of a vision he had séene long since as Beda reporteth and it is this ãâã that raigned ouer the Northumbers next before him sought nothing more then the death of this Edwyn to whom indeede the Crowne of right appertayned He therefore flying from this enimy ranged vp and downe in many Countries and that in the most secrete manner hee might till at last hee came vnto Redwald King of the East Angles humbly ãâã him that he would saue his life by shielding him from ãâã his cruell enimy The king bid him welcome and promised to fulfill his request Notwithstanding which his promise being offered a great summe of money by Edilfrid to betray him and threatned with warre if he condiscended not vnto him he yéelded at last and determined to gratifie him therein though contrary to his word and faith giuen This resolution of the kings being vnderstood bya companion of Edwins he called him out of his bed late in the night told him how the world went and bid him thift for himselfe whereunto he answered couragiously that for his part he would not first breake with the king if the king esteemed so little of his honor as to sell it for money better it was for him to die by the appointment of him that he knew loued him though he loued money better then by the appointment of his deadly enimy whom by flying he well saw he could no longer auoid Hereupon his companion departed from him leauing him very pensiue sitting without doore vpon a stone Soone after he was gone Edwyn espied one comming toward him that he knew not who demaunding of him why he sate there at that time of the night other men being a sléepe What is that vnto you saith Edwyn whether I spend the night within doore or without Hereunto the other answered thinke not my friend that I am ignorant of thy sadnes and the cause of thy present griefe I know them very well But tell me quoth he what reward wouldest thou giue vnto him that should rid thée of all this care and trouble and perswade Redwald neither to ãâã thée ãâã nor to ãâã ãâã ãâã do it When he promised to do any thing in the ãâã that lay in his power to performe the other ãâã what ãâã he ãâã also promise thee the kingdome ãâã vnto ãâã and the ãâã of thine ãâã that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã that thou shalt be the mightiest king not onely of all thy ãâã but ãâã all the Saxons that euer were in this I ãâã Hereunto he answered in effect as before he would ãâã his best to requite so great a benefit Why then quoth the other and withall laid his hand vpon ãâã head when all these things shall come to passe and that thou shalt be ãâã a more excellent way to direct the course and maner of thy life then euer was imparted vnto any of thy predecessors Remember by this token of laying my hand on thy head to follow without delay the directions that shall be giuen ãâã This hauing said he vanished away to the great ãâã and astonishment of Edwyn who had not sate there long but his companion before mentioned came ãâã foorth ãâã him with great ioy and told him that Redwald by the perswasion of his Quéene had altered his determination and was resolued whatsoeuer came of it to stand to his word and to be true vnto him To make short God so ãâã his heart that he was not only content to ãâã Edwyn ãâã heretofore but also gathered suddenly a great army and ãâã in person against Edilfrid he ouer came and ãâã him in the ãâã whereby it came to passe that Edwyn with one consent of all his subiects was made king Now this vision saith ãâã God reuealed vnto ãâã the Archbishop who comming vnto the king Edwyn at a time when he chaunced to sit alone deliberating with himselfe what religion he were best to follow he stept vnto him and laying his right hand vpon his head asked him if he knew that token Presently the king forgetting all Princely maiesty ãâã downe trembling at poore ãâã ãâã and said he ãâã it very well in so much as hereafter he would follow his direction for matters of Religion in all things The king being thus woonne vnto Christ and hauing receiued his badge and cognisance by Baptisme the rest of the nobility first and then the ãâã gaue diligent eare vnto the Bishops preaching and were conuerted daily
in great numbers It is said that for 36. daies together he neuer rested one moment but either instructed the people by preaching that flocked continually about him or else imparted Christ vnto them in Baptisme which he ministred in the open fieldes and riuers churches being not yet built King Edwyn against the time of his owne Baptisme had caused a little church to be erected of boords in the city of Yorke and dedicated the same to Saint Peter Afterward he layd the foundation of a very stately building round about the woodden church which he being taken away by vntimely death his successor ãâã finished Sedwall king of Wales and ãâã of Mercia or Mid-England came against this good king and God in his secret iudgement permitting the same ouerthrew him in the field and slue him The countrey by reason hereof being full of trouble Paulinus that saw he might not with safety abide any longer there sixe yeeres after his comming thither returned by water into Kent againe and there was intreated to take on him the gouernment of the See of Rochester then voyd He sate 13. yeeres and October 10. 644. was called away to receiue the glorious reward of his blessed labours 19. yeeres two moneths and 21. daies after his first consecration He was a man of a tall stature as Beda describeth him a little stooping blacke haired leane faced his nose thinne and hooked of a countenance both terrible and very reuerend He was buried after his death in his Cathedrall Church of Rochester 2. Cedda AFter the departure of Paulinus the Church of Yorke was twenty some say thirty yeeres without a Pastor by reason of the continuall warres and other troubles that happened by the persecution of Pagans ãâã ãâã Colonanus and Tuda succeeding one another in the Bishopricke of Lindisfarne gouerned all Northumberland as well as they could during the time of this troublesome vacacie At last Egfrid king of Northumberland appointed one Wilfrid vnto the Sée of Yorke sending him to Agelbert Bishop of Paris sometime of Winchester to ãâã ãâã of him where Wilfrid staying very long and not giuing any hope of spéedy returne the same ãâã ãâã ãâã a very holy man without all right vnto the same to thrust ãâã into the place due to Wilfrid Pauing carefully attended that charge not pertaining to him the space of thrée yéeres he was admonished by Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury ãâã he was not rightly and lawfully called to that Sée ãâã he presently forsooke it and was made by meanes of the same Theodorus Bishop of Lichfield 3. Wilfridus THis Wilfrid was borne in the North ãâã of meane parentage The time of his childhood he ãâã in his Fathers house being vntaught vntill he ãâã 14. yéeres of age at what time not sustayning the frowardnes of his stepmother he went abroad to séeke his fortune as they say And first he light vpon certaine Courtiers that had been beholding vnto his Father for diuers ãâã By ãâã he was presented vnto the Quéene as child for wit and beauty not vnfit to doo her seruice She by questioning ãâã the inclination of the boye that he was desirous to ãâã a scholler Therefore the sent him to one Cedda that of a Councellor and ãâã to the king had ãâã a Monke at Lindisfarne By him he was ãâã ãâã being very sharp witted profited wonderfully vnder him At that time there was a great contention in the Church about the obseruation of Easter whereof this youth being desirous to be fully informed determined to go to Rome and study there a while By meanes of Eanfled the Quéene ãâã and Ercombert king of kent he was furnished for this voyage and sent along with one or two other In the way he fell acquainted with ãâã Archbishop of Lyons who made very much of him stayed him with him a time to the great increase of his knowledge Continuing then no long time at Rome in his returne homeward he was ordered by the Archbishop of Lyons aforesaid who also adopted him to be his sonne He meant not to haue returned into his owne Countrey but that this Archbishop was taken from him being ãâã by ãâã the Quéene that had cruelly staine 9. other Bishops before Presently vpon his returne home king Egfrid gaue him a house and maintenance and many uoblemen admiting much his learning and eloquence bestowed diuers things vpoÌ him At last with great applause liking of all men he was chosen bishop sent into Fraunce where he was consecrate by 12. other Bishops for he refused to take consecration at the hands of the Scottish bishops that were counsed schisinatiques in not agreeing with the Church of Rome concerning the time and obseruation of Easter Beyond the Seas he stayed somewhat longer then he needed being delighted with the company of many learned men of that countrie and when he would haue returned by tempest of weather he was driuen into far countries where he wandred a long time Comming home and finding another man in his place he liued a while a priuate life In which meane space he was often inuited by ãâã king of Merce-land vnto the Bishopricke of Lichfield In the end Cedda being remooued as before is said he setled himselfe at Yarke and hosced Cedda to Lichfield Then the first thing he went about was to finish his cathedrall church left vnperfect by ãâã and since his departure very much decaied for the roofe was fallen and the walles in many places ruinous this his church I say he repaired and finished mending the walles couering it with leade glasing the windowes and moreouer beautified the same with many goodly ornaments He was so greatly beloued of all men for his gentlenesse ãâã and liberality as many men liuing but more at their death especially cleargie men would put their goods and children into his hands the one assuring themselues of a ãâã kéeper the other of a discréete and conscionable ãâã Hereby it came to passe that in short time he became exceeding rich hauing many seruitors to attend vpon him and great store of plate and other houshould ãâã very sumptuous The report whereof comming to the eares of Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury it put him in mind of the greatnesse of that dioces and the ability of the country to maintaine more Bishops Wherefore he went about to appoint two or thrée ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã VVilfride obstinately ãâã and the other ceased not to ãâã very earnestly he appealed vnto the Pope and went vnto him in person Some report I thinke vntruly that he went ãâã to perswade the Quéene to forsake her husband and ãâã take her selfe to a monastery and that the king being greatly displeased herewith first sought to diminish his authority by making more Bishops and afterward made diners ãâã vnto the Pope against him séeking to haue him ãâã Whosoeuer caused it certaine it is that to the ãâã he trauailed In passing of the sea he was driuen by a ãâã winde into Frizia and
ãâã there all winter preaching the gospell neuer hard of in that country before vnto the king and people whom before his Departure he conuerted vnto Christ. The Pope was then at the Counsell of ãâã where both by him and his counsell it was ordered that the ãâã of the ãâã of Yorke should not be altered without ãâã owne consent But Egfride the king so ãâã Theodores deuise as Wilfride at his returne ãâã he must either yéeld vnto it or forsake the country Herein me thinkes he was to blame Not induring to take a repulse in a matter he had trauailed so much in He rather chose to ãâã Bishopricke country and all and to liue in pouerty and ãâã He went into Sussex and there ãâã to ãâã the people of that country vnto the ãâã of Christ became their first Bishop and laid the foundations of a Cathedrall church the Sée being afterward remooued to Chichester Sée ãâã hereof in Chichester After ten yéeres banishment king Egfrid dying Alfrid that succéeded him sent for Wilfride and desired him to returne to his Sée of Yorke which he did But after fiue yéeres the king fell out with him and ãâã him to Rome againe There purging himselfe of all the accusations laid against him by the king he obtained the ãâã letters in fauour of him by meanes whereof and ãâã of many friends with much a doo at last he was restored ãâã more vnto his first charge in which after this his last ãâã he liued peaceably the space of sower yeeres and ãâã then being seuenty sixe yéeres of age October the ãâã the yéere 711. forty fiue yéeres after his first consecration He was buried in the monastery of Rippon which himselfe built many other things are at large reported of him by Beda lib. 5. cap. 20. Amongst the rest his Epitaphe there set downe I thought good to insert Wilfridus ãâã magnus requiescit corpore praesul Hane domino qui aulam ductus pietatis amore Fecit eximio ãâã nomine Petri Cui claues coeli Christus dedit arbiter orbis Atque auro ãâã ãâã ãâã ostro Quinetiam sublime crucis radiante metallo Hic posuit trophaeum nee non quatuor auro Scribi Euangelij praecepit in ordine libros Ac thecam è rutilo his condignam condidit auro Paschalis qui etiam solemnia tempora ãâã Catholiciad iustum correxit ãâã ãâã Quem statuere patres dubioque errore remoto Certa suae genti ostendit modermina ritus Inque locis ãâã monachorum examina crebra Colligit ac monitis cauit quae regula patrum Sedulus instituit multisque domique forisque Iactatus nimium per tempora longa periclis ãâã ternos postquam egit episcopos annos Transijt gaudens caelestia regna petiuit Dona Iesu Grex vt pastoris calle sequatur Sée more of this Wilfride in Theodore of Canterbury 4. Bosa AFter the first departure of Wilfrid from Yorke Theodore procéeding in his intended platforme diuided his Dioces into 4. placing one Eata at Hagustald whom afterward he remooued to Lindissarne another of his new erections appointing Tumbert to succéede him in the Prouince of the Pictes Trumwyn and lastly in the ancient Sée of York Bosa At the returne of Wilfrid ãâã was faine to giue place as also Iohn that had succéeded Eata dead in the mean time Wilfrid being expelled the second time they were both restored Before then the second restitution of Wilfrid Bosa died and Iohn succéeded him This Iohn Wilfrid would not displace ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the report of a very ãâã ãâã ãâã man He ãâã ten ãâã ãâã his ãâã and dying was the first Archbishop that was buried in ãâã 5. Iohn THis Iohn called afterward Saint Iohn of Beuerley was a gentleman borne of a very good house brought vp first vnder Hilda that ãâã Abbesse then vnder Theodore the first Archbishop of Canterbury who also preferred him to the Bishopricke of ãâã He alwaies had the reputation of a wonderfull holy man and Beda reporteth many miracles done by him lib. 5. cap. 2. 3. 4. 5. and 6. as the curing of diuers folkes desperately sicke by prayer opening the mouth of a dumb man c. which things either they were true or Beda was much to blame For he not onely liued in his time and Dioces But knew him and receiued the order of priesthood at his hand Waxing very old and hauing béene a Bishop now 33. yéeres 8. monethes and 13. daies with the consent of his Cleargy he resigned and procured another Wilfred his Chaplaine to be consecrate in his roome After which he liued priuately at Beuerley in the Colledge there built and founded by himselfe for Priests and dying the seuenth day of May the yéere 721. was buried in the Porch of the Church belonging to that Colledge In a ãâã held at London the yéere 1416. the foresaid day of his death was appointed to be kept holy day yéerly in memorial of him Amongst many priuileges granted by diuers kings vnto the Colledge of Beuerly for his sake it is remembred that King Athelstan made it a Sanctuary and placed a certaine chaire of stone in the church there vpon which he caused this inscription to be engrauen Haec sedea lapidea dicitur Freedstoole 1. ãâã Cathedra ad quam reus ãâã ãâã omnimodam habet ãâã This chaire of stone is called Fréedstoole that is the stoole of feéedome vnto which who so commeth hath all manner of security 6. Wilfridus 2. THe forefaid Wilfride sate 11. yéeres and died the yéere 731 7. Egbert AFter him sucéeded Egbert the brother of king Eadbert he sate 36. yeeres and died ann 767. This man byhis owne wisedome and the authority of his brother amended greatly the state of his Church and Sée He procured the Archepiscopall pall to be restored to his Church againe and erected a famous Library in Yorke which he stored plentifully with an infinite number of excellent bookes This Library is honorably meÌtioned by Flaccus Albinus or Alcuinus sometime kéeper of the same but then schoolemaster vnto Charles the great in an Epistle to the Church of England in these words Date ãâã eruditionis ãâã quales in patria mea Anglia per industriam magistrimei Egberti habui ãâã vobis aliquos expueris nostris vt excipiant inde necessaria reuehant in ãâã flores Britanniae non sit tantum in Eboraco hortus conclusus sed etiam in Turome emissiones Paradisi c. Neither was this man onely a fauorer of learning in other but himselfe also was very learned and writ many things a Catalogue whereof you may sée in Bale He was buried at Yorke by his brother the King in the Church Porch 8. Coena alias Albertus ALbert called by Florentius Coena sate after Egbertus 7. yéeres and died at Chester 9. Eanbaldus COEna yet liuing whether he resigned or tooke him to him for a Coadiutor it appeareth not Eanbald being an old man was
Bishop being troubled much in mind after the performance of that action and either amased with feare of what might happen after it or ouercome with gréefe and repentance of that he had done neuer could be mery after and so by conceit was cast into a disease whereof he died September 11. 1069. This is the report of W. Malmesbury others say namely Florentius Wigorne that he was so grieued with the comming in of a Nauy of the Danes as he prayed to God to take him out of this life that he might not sée the slaughter and spoyle which he thought they would make And that this griefe was the cause of his death He was more reuerenced afterward then while he liued a great deale No English man succéeded him in many yéeres after And the Normans being odious vnto the people they gladly reprehended all their actions comparing them with such English Bishops as they could remember made most fauorable report of them One thing also encreased his credite much Vrsus Earle of Worceter had built a Castle there to some preiudice of the monks in so much as the ditch of the said Castle empaired a little of the Church yard Aldred went vnto the Earle hauing before admonished him to right the wrong and hauing demaunded of him whether it were done by his appointment which he could not deny looking ãâã vpon ãâã he ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Vrse Haue thou Gods ãâã and mine and of all ãâã heads except thou ãâã away this castle and know thou assuredly that thy posterity shall not inherite the land ãâã inheritance of Saint Mary This his ãâã seemed to take effect for ãâã died ãâã after and Roger his sonne a very small time enioying his fathers honour lost the same and was saine to flye the realme for killing an officer of the kings Thus much for Aldred who after his death was buried in his owne church 25. Thomas THe king then appointed Thomas a Channon of Bayon to be his successor a Norman by birth but he was brought vp altogither in the schooles of the Saxons in Fraunce except a little time he spent in Spaine He was the sonne of a priest a married priest I take it and brother vnto Sampson Bishop of Worceter whose sonne Thomas succéeded afterwards this Thomas in this Sée of Yorke A man very learned gentle both in countenance and words of a very swéete and amiable behauiour chaste and which is not to be despised of a goodly personage being in his youth beautifull in his latter time well coloured and his haire both head and beard as white as snow At his first entrance he had some what to do with Lanfranke Archbishop of Canterbury vnto whom he would not make profession of obedienceÌ neuer as he alledged before that time required And indéed before the comming of William the Conqueror saith one the two Metropolitanes of England were not onely in authority dignity and office but also in number of suffragane Bishops ãâã But at this time saith he they of Canterbury ãâã the new king that Yorke ought to be subiect vnto their Sée and that it was for the good and safety of the king that the church thereof should be obedient principally vnto one for that otherwise one might set the crowne vpon one mans ãâã and the other doe as much for some body else This ãâã is more at large debated in Canterbury The ende for that time was that Thomas ouerborne by the Archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranke and the king who fauoured him was faine to appeale vnto Rome both of them being there in person before the Pope they fell as commonly it happeneth in like cases from the chiefe point into by matters and articling one against another What Thomas laide against Lanfranke I find not And all that Lanfranke had to say against him was that he was a priests son ãâã ãâã ãâã and that the king for his faithfull seruice had promised him a Bishopricke before his comming into England These were so great matters in the Popes iudgement as Thomas must be depriued of his ring and crosier and not restored to them but by the entreaty of Lanfranke As for the matter of Primacy he left it to the iudgment of the king and Bishops of England who forced Thomas to yeeld Comming then to Yorke he found that estate of his whole Dioces the city church especially most miserable The Danes before mentioned comming toward Yorke the Normans that held the castle thought good to burne certaine houses neere the castle least they might be a furtherance vnto the enemy This vngentle fire would not be entreated to stay iust where they would haue it but procéeding farther then his commission destroyed the monastery and church of Saint Peter and in fine the whole city Before the fire was out the Danes came and tooke both city and castle by force putting to the sword all the Normans they found there to the number of 3000 sauing none aliue but one William Mallet his wife children and a few other Soone after the destruction of this goodly city the king came into these parts with a puissant army against the Danes not ceasing to make all manner of spoile as if he had béene in the enemies countrey So betwéene the Danes and the Normans such hauocke was made as all the land from the great riuer of Humber vnto the riuer of Tine lay waste and not inhabited by any man for the space of nine yeeres after In the church of Yorke there were onely thrée Chanons left the rest being all either dead or fled away they had left vnto them neither house to put their heads in nor any good meanes how to line and maintaine themselues All these faults this industrious Bishop endeuoured to amend First he new couered and repaired his church as well as he might to serue the turne for a time But afterwards he pulled downe all the old building and erected from the very foundation a new to wit the Minster that now standeth His channons dispersed abroad he called home againe and tooke order they should be reasonably prouided for He built them a hall and a dorter and appointed one of them to be the Prouost and gouernour of the rest Also he bestowed certaine mannors and lands vpon them and caused other to be restored that had béen taken from them The church then hauing continued in this state a good while I know not by whose aduise the Archbishop thought good to diuide the land of Saint Peters church into Prebends and so to allot a particular portion vnto euery channon whereas before they liued together vpon the common charges of the church at one table much in like sort as fellowes of houses do now in the Uniuersities At the same time also he appointed a Deane a Treasurer and a chanter and also for the Chauncellorship it was founded of him before The church newly built by him he furnished with books and all kind of ornaments necessary
but his speciall care was to furnish the same and the rest of his Dioces with learned and honest men with whom he was woont continually to conferre and reason sometime with one and sometime with another partly for his owne exercise and partly to sée what was in them and to raise them vp to a diligence in increasing their knowledge Himselfe was very learned and writ diuers things both in prose and verse He was also a very good musition and could not onely sing but play very well vpon the organs and did set many songs Hauing crowned king Henry the first August 5. 1100. with the helpe of Maurice Bishop of London because Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury liued then in banishment the 18. of Nouember following being sunday he died at Rippon and was buried at Yorke in the Minster himselfe had built next vnto Aldred his predecessor 26. Gerard. AFter the death of Thomas Gerard nephew vnto Walkenlin Bishop of Winchester and Chauncellor of England vnder William the Conquerour and Rofus his sonne hauing beene Bishop of Heresord no long time he was elected vnto Yorke but obtayned not confirmation a great while For he refused to make profession of obedience vnto Canterbury till being commaunded by the Popes letters he performed the same He sate Archbishop seuen yéeres and almost sixe moneths and died suddenly in his garden at Southwell at a time when no body was with him He was a good benefactor vnto the Church of Yorke for he was a meanes vnto the king to bestow the Church of Laxton vpon the Chapter and himselfe hauing obtayued of him the Churches of Dryfield Kilne Pockington and Burgh he gaue them all likewise to the Chapter This notwithstanding after his death they would not suffer him bying so suddenly to be buried within their church hardly in the churchyard So he was laide at the entrance of the church porch But Thomas his successor not suffering such an indignity to be offered vnto an Archbishop remooued his bones into the Church afterward and caused them to be honorably intoombed He was a man of great learning and for eloquence admirable but somewhat too eager against married Priests whom by no meanes he could abide Bale chargeth him with forcery and coniuration because forsooth that after his death there was found in his chamber a volume of ãâã who writ of Astrology indéed but of coniuration nothing that euer I heard 27. Thomas 2. A Second Thomas succéeded a Chaplain of the kings nephew vnto the former Thomas and sonne vnto Sampson Bishop of Worceter Euen as his predecessor he was very loath to make his profession vnto Caterbury Being called vpon by Anselme the Archbishop He made many ãâã Wherefore Anselme lying very ãâã and perceiuing his end to be néere ãâã ãâã all the Bishops of England commanding them not to consecrate him before he had made his ãâã laying a terrible curse and ãâã vpon whosoeuer ãâã doo it The king after ãâã death ãâã the Bishop of Worceter whose sonne he was to consecrate him But he answered that he would not haue the curse of Father ãâã for any worldly good So in the end being perswaded to yéeld as other had done before him consecration was afforded vnto him and performed by his Father ãâã the foresaid Bishop of ãâã or as other report by the Bishop of London Iune 27. 1108. This man erected ãâã newe ãâã in his Church of Yorke he placed ãâã reguler at ãâã he ãâã ãâã ãâã parcels of land vnto the Colledge of ãâã and purchased of the king the like liberties priuileges for them that the ãâã of Yorke ãâã and ãâã ãâã He sate little aboue 5. yéeres and died I thinke I ãâã say ãâã Martyr Lying dangerously ãâã he was aduertised by the ãâã the nature of his disease to be such as if he vsed the company of a woman he neede not doubt of his ãâã ãâã otherwise nothing was to be looked for but death He ãâã rather to ãâã then to ãâã so high and sacred a calling with so soule and haynous an ãâã So he ended his life February 19. 1114. and was buried beside the former Thomas his vncle 28. Thurstan THomas the Archbishop being taken away as before I haue declared Thurstan a Cannon of Paules and the Kings Chaplaine was chosen to succéed him He when he could by no meanes obtaine consecration of Ralph Archbishop of Canterbury without making profession of subiection ãâã and forsooke the ãâã of his election Yet remembring himselfe at last he went to Rome to plead his cause before the Pope and obtained letters to the king and Archbishop of Canterbury in commendation of his cause These letters preuailing nothing with the Archbishop that would be wonne by no meanes and Thurstan continuing as obstinate in his resolution The Sée remained void along time At last it fell out that a Counsell was summoned to be held at ãâã Thurstan crauing leaue of the king to goe thither could not obtaine it before he had promised that he would not receiue consecration there Which promise notwithstanding so well he followed his businesse that before the comming ouer of other English Bishops to the Counsell he was a Bishop ready consecrate as well as they and that by the hand of the Pope himselfe So he and he only I thinke of all the Archbishops of York since the Conquest neuer made profession of subiection to the Metropoliticall See of Canterbury The King hearing of this dealing was very greatly offended with Thurstan and for bad him England Neither could the Pope méeting with the King at Gisors and intreating for him so pacifie his displeasure as that he would suffer him to returne After fiue yeeres banishment the Pope writ a very sharpe letter vnto the king signifying that he would excommunicate both him and the Archbishop of Canterbury also if Thurstan were any longer kept from his See and charge Hereupon he was called home and soone after reconciled vnto the King This man is much praysed first for his learning then for his great wisedome and discretion and lastly for his industry and diligence his care and painefulnesse in well gouerning the charge committed to him He was a very kinde man to his Cannons vnto whom amongst other things he affoorded this priuiledge that the yeerely profite of their prebends being deuided into thrée parts it should be lawfull for any Canon to bequeath two parts of the yéere next ensuing his death alotting the third vnto the Fabricke that is toward the reparation of the church This order he set downe not onely at Yorke but at Beuerley also at Southwell at Rippon and at Glocester all which were colledges founded by Archbishops of Yorke Moreouer it is to be remembred that he either founded a ãâã or renued and repaired eight monasteries In the latter end of his time to wit June 4. 1137. a lamentable chaunce befell his church and city By casuall fire Saint Peters church in Yorke Saint Maries without the walles a
ãâã all of his owne ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã were ãâã and the ãâã city ãâã ãâã Hauing continued in that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã from the time of his election and being a very ãâã ãâã he determined to forsake the ãâã and ãâã a ãâã ãâã Pontsract which he did ãâã his Bishopricke Ianuary 25. 1140. His cowle was ãâã warme vpon his back when death appointed him the vse of an other garment ãâã daies after his resignation he died viz. February 5. the yeere aforesaid 29. Henry Murdac VVIlliam Treasurer of Yorke a kinsman of king Stephens tooke then vpon ãâã the ãâã of that Sée A man very noble by birth and ãâã but much more noble in ãâã and ãâã manners ãâã obtained not onely election but ãâã also as ãâã ãâã vnto me he sent vnto Rome for his ãâã His ãâã there was not so good as he looked for By some ãâã many ãâã were taken against him whereby it came to passe not onely his sute was put of and staid for that ãâã but also processe awarded to admonish him to come thither in person to answere the accusations laied against him At his comming to Rome he found his aduersaries many ãâã mighty And amongst the rest it is remembred that Saint Bernard then liuing was very earnest against him ãâã the Pope had ãâã brought vp in the Abbey of Clareuall vnder Saint Bernard together with Henry Murdas whom Williams aduersaries had set vp to ãâã a suter for this Archbishopricke The Pope being thus caried away with the perswasion of his old acquintance and some shew of matter was content to ãâã William and to place Henry Murdac in his roome whom he caused to be consecrate presently and sent him home into England with his Pall. King Stephen hearing this newes was ãâã ãâã with the ãâã of ãâã ãâã which all men ãâã ãâã ãâã he ãâã vpon ãâã with the ãâã Archbishop ãâã ãâã him to ãâã ãâã ãâã vnto him in ãâã ãâã manner and when he denied easily tooke occasion of displeasure against him The townesmen of Yorke that loued William excéedingly for his gentlenesse and vertuous behauiour amongst them hearing how the king was affected refused to receiue ãâã into their city For this resistance he suspendeth the city which notwithstanding Eustach the kings sonne commaunded seruice to be said as at other times was accustomed By meanes hereof as also by reason that the kings officers were very terrible and heauy enemies vnto all that had laboured for the depriuation of William seditions and ãâã were daily raised in the city amongst which a certaine Archdeacon a friend of the Archbishoppes was slaine Two or thrée yéeres these stirs continued till at last the kings wrath by meanes being appeased Yorke men were content to receiue their Archbishop peaceably He gouerned very austerely the space of ten yeeres died October 14. 1153. at Sherborne and was buried in his Cathedrall church 3. Saint William VVIlliam immediately after his depriuation got him home into England and in great patience awaiting the pleasure of God betooke himselfe to the monastery of Winchester liuing much in the company of Henry the Bishop that did first consecrate him Now ye shall vnderstand that a little before the death of Henry Murdac ãâã the Pope his old companion and Saint Bernard the Master of them bothe for they had bene his scollers were taken out of this life William then was greatly animated by his friends to make complaint vnto Anastasius the uew Pope of the wrong heretofore done vnto him and prouoked by their importunity did so indeede trauailing to Rome in his owne person He had ãâã commenced his complaint when newes was brought that Henry Murdac also his old aduersary was departed this life Following then the aduise of Gregory a Cardinall a very pollitique and subtill fellow without any great sute he was restored vnto all his honours and had the pall deliuered vnto him He was returned into England ãâã ãâã which he kept ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Bishop of Winchester ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã church he was ãâã vpon the way by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the ãâã of ãâã who ãâã him ãâã into ãâã church and appealed vnto ãâã against him which he little estéemed but went forward notwithstanding All the rest of the cleargy and commonalty ãâã him with ãâã ioy ãâã Virg reporteth that passing ouer the riuer beyond ãâã ãâã the number of people that followed him to ãâã honour was so ãâã as the bridge being but a woden bridge brake euen inst as the Bishop was oner and throw them all into the water But the blessing and praier of this holy man he supposeth preuailed so much with God as they were all ãâã preserued from drowning Into his city he was honorably receiued and began a very ãâã and gentle gouernment shewing no token of gall or malice toward his ancient and most bitter cnimies but he was taken away by death before he could performe any great matter otherwise Soone after Whitsuntide he fell sicke as it séemed of a kinde of ague and within a day or two after departed this life The common report is that he was poysoned in the challice at masse But Newbrigensis ãâã this opinion at large li. 1. ãâã 26. Certaine it is that it was ãâã suspected to be so not only after his death but also while he yet liued in his ãâã times In so much as one of his chaplaines aduised him to ãâã some ãâã or ãâã ãâã poyson which he also did as one ãâã but other say he answered quod antidotum dioinum non adijceret humano that he would not adde the ãâã of the body vnto the preseruatiue of the soule becanse forsooth he had then lately receined the sacrament Howsoeuer it was he died very suddenly his teeth waxing very blacke a little before his death and not without some other notes and ãâã of poyson The time of his departure was June 8. 1154. After his death he was made a Saint and the day aforesaid June 8 appointed vnto the celebration of his memory Many miracles are said to haue beene wrought at his toombe in the Cashedrall church of Yorke Beleeue it that list I cannot to sayno more me thinkes the man whose depriuation Saint Barnard procured should not be worthy to be reputed a Saint or like to worke miracles 31. Roger. NO sooner was William dead but Robert the Deane and Osbert the Archdeacon laide plots for the election of Roger Archdeacon of Canterbury and procuring the Archbishop and the Popes Legate to become suters for him with much adoo they induced the Chapter to choose him He was consecrate by Anastasius the Pope about the end of the yéere 1154. This man is not gratious in our stories yet he is confessed to haue béene very learned well spoken passing wise and a great augmenter of the state of his Bishopricke both in reuenewes and buildings The reason is he fauoured not monkes by whom in a manner all our
histories are written He was wont to say that Thurstan neuer did a worse deede then in erecting the Monastery of Fountney And that it may ãâã he faigned not this mislike you shall find in Newbridg lib. 3. cap. 5. That a certaine religious man comming vnto him when he lay vpon his death bed requested him to confirme certaine graunts made vnto their house to whom he answered you see my friend I am now vpon the point of death it is no time to dissemble I feare God and in regard thereof refraine to satisfie your request which I protest I can not doo with a good conscience A strange doctrine in those daies but being a wise man and learned he must néedes discerne that the monkes of his time were so farre swarued and degenerate from the holinesse of those first excellent men of the primitiue Church as they resembled rather any other kinde of people then those whom they pretended in profession to succeed These men the monkes I meane to be reuenged vpon him haue stamped vpon him two notable faults one that he preferred whipping boyes vnto the chiefe dignities of the Church wherein were it true no body can excuse him The other thing they lay to his charge is manifestly false They say he was miserably couetous and how doo they prooue it Because forsooth he left a certaine deale of ready money behind him Surely in my same made no haste to receiue consecration as knowing better how to sheare his shéepe then to feed them which he knew he might do without consecration as well as with it Seuen yéeres he held the Bishoprick after that sort and at length by the perswasion of his father desirous to haue his sonne néere about him as some say or perceiuing him vnfit to make a cleargy man as other say He resigned his interest in the church of Lincolne and got him to the court where he was made Lord Chanucellour of England and held that office about eight yéeres viz. vntill the yéere 1189. at what time his father died Many Bishoprickes at that time were void and had béene some of them a long time as Yorke now ten yeeres and Lincolne seuenteene King Richard therefore vnderstanding the people murmured and grudged much at these long vacations and knowing also it imported him to see his brother prouided for he thought to stop two gaps with one bush and at once to furnish Yorke with an Archbishop and his brother with a liuing So he writ his letters vnto the chapter of Yorke in his brothers behalfe who not without some difficulty elected him He was consecrate at Tours in Fraunce in the moneth of August 1191. Presently after his consecration comming ouer into England he was imprisoned by ãâã Bishop of Ely the Chauncellour being drawen from the very altar of Saint Martins church in ãâã but he was quickly set at liberty againe And the proude Chauncellour ãâã repented him of his rashnesse and folly being excommunicate for the same and otherwise hardly ynough vsed as you may see more at large in his life This man prooued a better Bishop then was expected gouerning his Prouince if not somewhat too stoutely according to the courage ãâã in a man of so high birth and nobility very well and ãâã He is praysed much for his temperance ãâã and ãâã both of conntenance and behauiour All the time of his brother ãâã expecting the wrong done vnto him by the Bishop of Ely he liued quietly without ãâã or complaint of any Betweene him and king Iohn who was his brother also there was much adoe In the second yeere of his raigne he commaunded the Sheriffe of Yorkeshire to seise vpon all the goods and lands of the Archbishop and his seisure to returne into the exchecquer which was done accordingly whereupon the said Archbishop excommunicated not onely the Sherisie that had done him this violence but all those in generall that were the authors of the same and that had béene any meanes to stirre vp the kings indignation against him The cause of this trouble is diuersly reported some say that he hindered the kings officers in gathering a kind of taxe through his ãâã others that he refused to saile into Norwandy with him when he went to make a marriage for his neice and to conclude a league with the French king Whether one of these were the cause or both or none I can not tell But certaine it is that one whole yéere his temporalities were detained from him his mooueable goods neuer restored and yet moreouer he was saine to pay a thousand pound sterling for his restitution This was a greater wound then that it might easily be cured Sixe or 7. yéeres after it brake out againe to wit an 1207. King Iohn then being at Winchester required such of the cleargy Nobility as were there present to consent that payment should be made vnto him of the thirtéenth shilling of all the mooueable goods in England This motion no man gainesaid but Geffrye the Archb. his brother After this whether it were he were guilty of some greater attempt or that he vnderstood his brother to be gréeuously offended with him for withstanding this his desire well perceiuing England was too hote for him secretly he auoyded the Realme excommunicating before his departure such of his iurisdiction as either had paied the said taxe or should hereafter pay it He liued then in banishment 5. yéeres euen vntill he was called to his long home by death which was the yéere 1213. So he continued Archbishop somewhat more then 21. yéeres 33. Walter Gray THe Sée was void after the death of Geffry the space of foure yéeres In the meane space Symon de Langton brother vnto Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury was elected by the Chapter of Yorke But king Iohn being lately become tributary vnto the church of Rome ãâã found meanes to Cassire and disanull that election If the old quarrell betwéene the Archbishop and him stucke yet some thing in his stomacke I maruell not but he alledged that he thought it dangerous and very inconuenient the whole Church of England should be ruled by two brethren one at Canterbury in the South an other at Yorke in the North. He laboured then very earnestly to haue Walter Gray his Counsellor remooued from Worceter to Yorke The channons there refused him for want of learning as they said but at last they were content to accept him in regard forsooth of his singular temperance and chastity they seemed to be perswaded that he had continued till that time a pure maide The matter was they durst do no other but yeeld and then thought good to make a vertue of necessity This man was first Bishop of Chester consecrate the yéere 1210. translated thence to Worceter 1214. and lastly the yéere 1216 to Yorke but vpon such conditions as I thinke he had béene better to haue staid at Worceter still The Pope would haue no lesse then 10000 l. for wresting him into the Archbishoprick
The king Queene eleuen other Bishops and many nobles being present He died August 27. 1285. hauing continued Archbishop scarcely 6. yeeres 38. Iohn Romano THe 28. of Nouember following viz. 1285. a cannon of Yorke was elected Archbishop and shortly after consecrate at Rome Because his father was a Romane borne he was called by the name of Iohn Romane This man was of base parentage but very learned He built the crosse I le on the North side of the church toward the pallace and a goodly steeple in the middle of the church all at his owne proper costs He built much in the hospitall of Saint Peter and with his owne hands laide the first stone of the great body of the church vpon the South side of the same He liued not to bring that noble worke to any perfection being taken away by death March 15. 1295. when he had continued in that Sée little more than 10 yéeres The yéere before he died he excommunicated Anthony Beake Bishop of Durham being one of the kings Councell and at that time beyond the seas in his seruice Whereat the king being highly displeased the Archbishop thought it his best course to put himselfe to his mercy He did so and was saine to ãâã the kings fauour with 4000. markes The indignation of a Prince is death saith the Wise man And likely ynough it is that the ãâã of his displeasure and the trouble that ensued it might soone cause some incurable disease that tooke him away He was buried in his Cathedrall church which with goodly building he had much augmented and beautified 39. Henry Newerk THe Deane of Yorke Henry de Newerk was then chosen Archbishop the seuenth day of May following He was consecrate at home in his owne church about a twelue moneth after to wit in the beginning of the yeere 1297. He had enioyed that honour but two yeeres when by death he was forced to leaue the same 40. Thomas de Corbridg AFter him succéeded Thomas de Corbridge Cannon of Yorke a great learned diuine He denied the king to haue the disposition of a certaine spirituall promotion that fell in his gift wherewith the king was so greatly displeased as he violently tooke from him three Baronies as one saith I thinke he meaneth Mannors appertaining of old vnto his See and detained them so long as this Archbishop liued which was indeede but a short time He sate in all but three yeeres seuen monethes and ten daies Whether it be that few mens minds are so great as to sustaine the burthen of a princes displeasure or that God which promiseth a reward of long life vnto those that ãâã honour vnto their superiors in his iust iudgement do soonest cut of such as are backward in this duety So surely it hath fallen out for the most part that those Bishops that haue presumed most in opposing themselues against their princes haue least time indured and euer quickly bene taken away whereof I could yeelde infinite examples This Thomas Corbridg died at Lanham the yeere 1303. and was buried at Southwell 41. William de Greenfield HE that then succéeded William de Greenfild was Canon of Yorke and Chauncellour of England vnder king Edward the first A great and wise councellor very eloquent and not vnlearned After his election he was faine to awaite the Popes pleasure two yéeres before he could obtaine consecration which at last he receiued of Pope Clement the fifth anno 1305. But it cost him 9500. markes beside the charge that he was at while he lay in the Popes court a suter By reason of these immoderate expenses he became so bare that at his first returne into England he was faine to make two collections amongst his cleargy in one yeere the first he called a beneuolence the second an aide He was a great fauourer of the templers euery where oppressed in those daies especially by the Pope Philip the french king When he had sate nine yéeres eleuen monethes and two daies he departed this ãâã at ãâã December 13. 1315. and was buried in his cathedrall church in the porch of Saint Nicholas 42. William de Melton SOne after Greenfields death before the end of the yéere 1315. William de Melton Prouost of Beuerly and Canon of Yorke was elected at the instance and earnest request of the king Edward the 2. With the Pope he found no more grace then his predecessor had done vnder two yéeres sute consecration coulde not be had It was at last affoorded him September 25. 1317. at Auinion Almost 23. yéeres hée gouerned the Sée of Yorke and that very woorthily attending diligently not onely the affaires and businesse of his church but also his owne priuate actions indeuoring by chastitie fasting prayer almesdaedes hospitalitie and vertuous behauior like a good pastor to teach and instruct as well by example of life as preaching and doctrine He was very good to his Tenaunts but carefull to preserue and rather to increase then any way to unpaire the state liberties and reuenues of his Church Yet was he not carelesse of the preferment of his seruants and kinred whom as occasion serued he pleasured and aduanced to very good places amongst the rest and by the Popes licence he purchased to a brothers sonne the Mannor of ãâã Kingsclere and Wentworth which till that time belonged to the Archbishops of Roan He bestowed great cost vpon the shryne of Saint William and finished the west part of the body of his church with the expences of 700. markes He enclosed also a place called the old ãâã at Yorke with a goodly wall He deceased Aprill 22. or as one deliuereth Aprill 5. 1. 340. at Cawood hauing sate 22. yéeres and almost 7. moneths in which time he had béene successiuely Treasurer and Chauncellor of England His body lieth buried néere the ãâã in Saint Peters Church 43. William de Zouche VVIlliam de la Souch Deane of Yorke succéeded He had much to doe with one William Kilsby that contended with him two whole yéeres for this Archbishopricke He was consecrate at last by Pope Clement the 6. at Auinion an ãâã The ãâã 1346. king Edward going into France left this man his ãâã heere The Scots taking aduantage of his absence came with a great armie into England At a place called Bewre Parke néere ãâã crosse they were mette by this Archbishop and diuers of our Nobilitie October 17. where our men so valtantly behaued themselues as the Scots were cuerthrowne two Earles 21. knights and an ãâã number of other slaine many also taken prisoners and amongst the rest Dauid le ãâã then king This Bishop a little before his death began the foundation of a Chappell on the south side of the church intending to be buried in the same but being taken away before it could be brought to any perfection he was laied before the altar of Saint Edmund the Confessor He died August 8. 1352. 44. Iohn Thursby THe yéere 1349. Iohn Thursby Bishop of Saint ãâã was translated
to Worceter and about the middle of October 1352. being then Chauncelor of England to Yorke He was brought vp in Oxford where he was very much esteemed for his learning being a great ãâã and a very good Canonist He writ diuers things both in English and Latine amongst the rest he published an exposition vpon the ten Commandements in his mother toong which he required all the Clergy men in his Dioces to read diligently vnto their parishioners That worke I haue and keepe as a ãâã worthy to be esteemed Diuinity books in the English toong were geason in those dates I pray God they be not now too common The yaere he was Cardinall of Saint Sabine by Pope Vrban the ãâã whom I homas Walsingham repeateth to haue ãâã an English man In the 10. yéere after his ãâã he began to build ãâã the quier of his Cathedrall church laying the first stone himselfe July 29. toward the charge of which work he presently laide downe 100. l. or as some report 500. l. and promised to contribute yéerely 200. markes or as others say 200. l. till it were ãâã which ãâã long as he liued he faithfully performed He bestowed great cost in beautifying the Lady chappell with images and pictures of excellent workmanship and ãâã the bodies of diuers of his predecessors that lay buried else where about the church caused them to be ãâã in the said chappell in very ãâã manner leauing a place for ãâã in the middle thereof where dying Nouember 6. 1373. at Thorp he was ãâã after solemnly enterred 45. Alexander Neuill VNto this Sée the Pope then appointed Alexander Neuill a Canon of Yorke a man greatly fauoured of king Richard the second which was his destruction Diuers of the nobility malecontent tooke armes against the king caused many whom they misliked to be condemned by parliament some to death some to prison c. Amongst the rest this Archbishop was accused to be one that abused the kings youth by flattery and with whispering tales inticed him against the nobility and for this cause he was condemned to perpetuall prison and appointed vnto the castell of Rochester there to be kept But he foreséeing the tempest that grew ãâã him fled out of the realme The Pope then Vrbane the ãâã whether in commiseration thinking to relieue him or else vsing it as a meanes to make his Archbishopricke voide ãâã he might bestow it translated him from Yorke vnto ãâã Andrewes in Scotland Howsoeuer it was meant sure it fell out to be a very bad exchaunge for his part Scotland at that time refused to acknowledge Vrbane for Pope and yeelded obedience to the Antipope By meanes whereof Vrbans ãâã was not of sufficient force to inuest him in Saint Andrewes and yet quite cut him of from Yorke at home Hereby it ãâã to passe that hauing the reuenues neither of the one nor the other for very want he was ãâã to become a parish priest and so liued thrae yeere at Louane euen vntill his death He was banished the yéere 1386. liued in ãâã almost fiue yeres died 1391. and was buried in the church of the Frier Carmelites there This man bestowed much cost in repayring the castle of Cawod building diuers towers and other edifices about the same 46. Thomas Arundell ALexander Neuill being thus displaced vnder presence of preferment to a new place The Pope tooke vpon him to bestow Yorke And least if he should aduance one to it not greatly preferred before the old incumbent might chaunce in time to recouer it from him againe He thought good to bestow it so as benefiting many he might procure so many aduersaries vnto Neuill whereof any one alone might hardly saeme able to withstand him but all these together he knew very well To this end as also to gaine the more in first fruits he called Thomas Arundell from Ely to Yorke translated the Bishops of Durham to Ely Bath to Durham Salisbury to Bath and gaue Salisbury to Iohn Waltham the kings chaplaine a man very gracious with him and keeper of his priuie seale This Thomas Arundell the yéere 1396 was remooued to Canterbury the first that ãâã was translated from Yorke ãâã While he was at Yorke he bestowed much in building vpon diuers of his houses and vnto the church he gaue besides many rich ornaments two great Basons of siluer and gilt two great Censers two other Basons of siluer and two Crewettes He gaue to the vse of the Uicars a siluer Cuppe of great waight and a Bowle of siluer very massiue and costly vnto the Canons Being yet Bishop of Ely he was Lord Chauncellor of England and so continued till the yéere 1396. at what time being remooued to Canterbury he gaue ouer immediately that office See more of him in Ely and Canterbury 47. Robert Waldby RObert Waldby Bishop of Chichester succéeded Thomas Arundell in Yorke Being yet a yoong man he followed Edward the blacke Prince into Fraunce where he continued long a student and profited so much as no man in the ãâã where he liued Tholous might be compared with him for all kinde of learning He was a good Linguist very well séene in Philosophie both naturall and morall in Phyficke and the Canon Law also very eloquent an excellent Preacher and estéemed so profound a Diuine ãâã he was thought méete to be the Professor of Diuinitie or doctor of the chaire in the said Uniuersitie For these his good gifts he was much fauoured of the blacke Prince first then of king Richard his sonne and by their fauour obtayned first a Bishopricke in Gascoigne as Bale reporteth but by another antiquity that I haue seene he was first Bishop of the Isle of Man and his Epitaph saith he was first Praesul ãâã From that first preferment whatsoeuer it was he was translated an 1387. to the Archbishopricke of Dublin in Ireland thence to Chichester 1395. and the yéere following became an Archbishop once more viz. of Yorke There he sate not fully three yéeres but he died May 29. 1397. and was buriet in Westminster almost in the middle of the chappell of Saint ãâã where an Epitaph is to be séene vpon his graue partly ãâã and otherwise not worth the reciting 48. Richard Scroope RIchard Scroope that succéeded Robet Waldby though a gentleman of great bloud being brother vnto William Scroope that was Earle of Wilshire and Treasurer of England vnder king Richard yet obtained not ãâã high promotion without desert in regard of many good ãâã in him For he was incomparably learned saith Thomas Walsingham of singular integrity for his life and conuersation and which is not altogether to be neglected of a goodly and amiable personage He was brought vp in Cambridge and procéeded there first Master of Arte then doctor of Law thence he trauelled throngh Fraunce into Italy and became an aduocate in the Popes Court vntill such time as he was preferred to the Bishopricke of Couentry Lichfield whereunto he was consecrate August 9. 1386 There he
sate tenne yéeres and was translated to Yorke ãâã Nine yéeres he gouerned that Church landably and is commended as well for his owne priuate manners and behauiour as his publike gouernment His ãâã was vnhappy and very ãâã King Henry had lately deposed king Richard by whom this man was preferred and had cansed his brother the Earle of ãâã to be ãâã at Bristow Whether it were desire to reuenge these wrongs done to his friendes or some other respect I know not certaine it is that the yeere 1405. he ioined with the Earle of Nothumberland the Earle Marshall the Lord Bardolph and other in a conspiracy against king Henry The Earle of Westmerland and Iohn Duke of Lancaster the kings sonne were then in the North countrey when these men began to stirre and gathering what forces they could came against them But finding the other too strong for them they inquire of them in peaceable manner what their intent is in taking armes The Archbishoppe answered that he meant nothing but good vnto the King and the Realme as he would gladly certifie him if hee had secure and safe accesse vnto him And therewithall shewed a writing vnto them containing a reason of his dooing The ãâã of Westmerland hauing reade this wrting professed to allow of their enterprise and praysed it for honest and reasonable insomuch as meeting with the Archbishop at a Parley after a very fewe speeches they seemed to become friends shaking hands together and drinking to ech other in sight of both their armies The Archbishop now ãâã of nothing suffered his men to disperse themselues for a time But the Earle contrariwise waxed stronger and stronger and at last seeing himselfe well able to deale with the Archbishop came vpon him sodemly and arrested him little thinking of any such matter The king by this time was come northward as farre as Pomfret Thither the Archbishop and other prisoners arrested with him were also brought and caried with the king backe to Yorke againe or as other deliuer to Thorpe where Sir William Fulford a knight learned in the Lawe sitting on a high stage in the Hall condemned him to be beheaded Presently after iudgement giuen he was set vpon an ill fauored Iade his face toward the horse taile and caried with great scorne and shame to a ãâã hard by where his head lastly was striken off by a fellow that did his office very ill not being able to dispatch him with lesse then fiue strokes He was executed vpon ãâã being June 8. 1405. and buried in the east part of the new works of his Church of Yorke in which place as also the ãâã where he died certaine miracles are said to haue béene done and are ascribed vnto his holinesse It is deliuered also that the king was presently striken with a ãâã after his death He was the first Bishop that I ãâã put to death by order of Law No maruell if an execution so ãâã and extraordinary performed in so odious and ãâã a manner gaue occasion of many tales and rumours The Pope excommunicated the authors of his death but was easily intreated to absolue them againe 49. Henry Bowett THe space of two yéeres and a halfe the Sée was ãâã after the death of Richard Scroope the pope had ãâã placed in the same Robert Halam Chauncellor of the ãâã of Oxford But vnderstanding that the king was greatly displeased therewith he was content according to the kings desire to gratifie Henry Bowet then Bishop of Bath with this preferment and made Halam Bishop of Salisbury This Henry Bowet was a doctor of Law and first ãâã Cannon of Wels had trauailed much in Fraunce Italy and was preferred to Bath also at first by the king who fauored him much He was consecrated to that Church Nouember 16. 1401. and translated to Yorke December 1. 1406. About the yéere 1403. he was Treasurer of ãâã the space of one yéere He continued Archbishop almost 17. yéeres in which time viz. the yéere 1417. it hapned that ãâã Henry the 5. being absent ãâã in the conquest of ãâã the Scots came with a great power into the Realme and besieged Barwicke and the castle of ãâã This Bishop was then a very aged man and so impotent as he was able neither to goe nor ride yet would he néeds accompanie his countrimen that went against the Scots and caused his men to carrie him in a chaire that so at least by words and exhortation he might do his best though he were not able to fight nay not so much as to stande or go This man is saide to be the greatest housekeeper of any Archbishop that euer sate in Yorke before him For proofe whereof it is alleaged that he spent vsually in his house of Claret wine onely 80. tunnes He departed this life at Cawood October 20. 1423. and was buried in the east part of the Minster of Yorke by the altar of all Saints which himselfe built and furnished sumptuously with all things that might belong vnto it He built also the Hall in the castell of Cawood and the kitchin of the Mannor house of Oteley 50. Iohn Kemp. THe Pope of his owne absolute authority placed then in Yorke Richard ãâã Bishop of Lincolne Many statutes and lawes had beene made to represse this tyrannicall dealing of the Pope But his excommunications were such terrible bugs as men durst rather offend the lawes of their countrey then come within the compasse of his censures Yet the Deane and chapter of Yorke taking stomack vnto them vsed such aduantage as the lawe would affoorde them and by force kept out the new Archbishop from entring his church Much adoo there was betweene them The euent was that the Pope vnable to make good his gift was saine to returne ãâã to Lincolne againe and to translate Iohn Kempe Bishop of London a man better fauoured of the Deane and chapter to Yorke This Iohn Kempe was first Bishop of Rochester consecrate the yeere 1418. remooued thence to Chichester 1422. from Chichester to London the same yeere from London to Yorke 1425. when the Sée had beene void 2. yeeres At Yorke he continued almost 28. yeres and in his old age euen one yeere before his death was content to ãâã once more viz. to Canterbury The ãâã 1449. he was made Cardinall Sanctae Ruffinae and was twise Chauncellor of England See more of him in Canterbury 51. William Boothe HE that ãâã him William Boothe was sometime a student of the common lawe in Grayes Inne ãâã a sudden forsaking that course became Chauncellor of the Cathedrall church of Saint Paule in London July 9. 1447. he was consecrate Bishop of Couentry and Lichfield Hauing continued there sixe ãâã he was ãâã presently vpon the translation of Iohn Kempe vnto ãâã He sate ãâã 12. yéeres died at Southwel September 20. and was buried in the chappell of our Lady there nigh to the Archbishops pallace 1464. He bestowed much cost in repairing the pallace of Yorke In the latter
end of his time viz. the yéere 1464. ãâã Minster of Yorke was burnt I know not by what chance 52. George Neuell RIchard Neuell that great Earle of Warwicke that ãâã and pulled downe kings at his pleasure aduanced his brother George Neuell vnto great and high placss being ãâã but a very yoong man By his meanes he was consecrate Bishop of Exceter Nouember 25. 1455. at what time he was not fully 20. yéeres of age The yéere 1460. he was made Lord Chauncellour of England the yoongest Chauncelour I thinke that euer was either before or since his time In that office he continued till the yéere 1464. viz. vntill the mariage of king Edward the 4. In which action the king ãâã knowing he had giuen cause of offence vnto the Earle of Warwick for it was done whilest that Earle was ambassador in Fraunce and busie in a treatie for a match betweene the king and the French Quéenes sister He thought it necessarie to weaken him what he might and so first remooued this his brother from the office of Chauncelour and bestowed it vpon Robert Stillington Bishop of Bath Notwithstanding this alienation of the king from him the yéere 1466. ãâã obtained the Archbishopricke of yorke and held the same but with great trouble vntill his death The ãâã of the dishonour done to the Earle by that ãâã mariage sticking ãâã in his mind hauing peraduenture continual occasions of new greeses be made a ãâã with his brethren to pull downe king Edward that had raigned now almost 9. yeeres and to set vp king Henry the 6. againe who had ãâã in prison all that while This indeed they performed partly by the help of George Duke of Clarence king Edwards brother And it was the hap of this Archb. to take ãâã Edward prisoner at ãâã in Northhampton shire He carried him thence first to ãâã castell then to ãâã castell in yorke shire But being of too good a nature to be a good ãâã vsed him with such curtesie suffering him to walke abroad often to ãâã with a few ãâã to attend him as were it by the negligence or vnfaithfulnesse of those that had the charge of him I know not away he escaped being met vpon a plaine where he hunted by a troupe of his friends wasted by them into a place of safety ãâã halfe a yeere that K. Henry was restored to his crown ãâã ãâã Edward so handled that matter as comming suddenly to London entring that Bishops palace by aposterne gate ãâã surprised at once king Henry b the Archbishop that had not long before taken him They were both caried thence to the tower of London where that good king was soone after pitifully murthered But the Archbishop vpon the fourth of June following was set at liberty About a yeere after his inlargement he chaunced to be with the king a hunting at Windsor and vpon occasion of the sport they had seene there made relation vnto the king of some extraordinary kinde of game wherewith he was woont to solace himselfe at a house he had built and furnished very ãâã called the Moore in Hartfordshire The king seeming desirous to be partaker of this sport appointed a day when he would come thither to hunt and make merry with him Hereupon the Archbishop taking his leaue got him home and thinking to ãâã the king in the best manner it was possible for him he sent for much plate that he had bid during the warres ãâã his brethren and the king and borrowed also much of his friends The ãâã ãâã the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã brought into the ãâã the day ãâã his ãâã ãâã ãâã sent for the ãâã ãâã him all ãâã set a part to repaire presently vnto him being at ãâã As sone as he came he was arrested of treason all his plate money and other ãâã ãâã to the value of 20000 l. were seised vpon for the king and himselfe a long space after was kept prisoner at Calis and Guisnes during which time the king ãâã vnto himselfe the profits and temporalties of his Bishopricke Amongst other things then taken from him he had a ãâã of inestimable value by reason of many rich stones wherewith it was adorned that the king brake and made thereof a crowne for himselfe This calamity happened vnto him the yéere 1472. By intercession and intreaty of his friends with much ãâã he obtayned his liberty the yéere 1476. and a little while ãâã the same with griefe and anguish of minde as is thought died at Blithlaw comming from Yorke He was buried in the Minster there In this mans time Sixtus the fourth made the Bishop of Saint Andrewes Primate of all Scotland and appointed twelue Bishops to be vnder him that vntill that time were of the Prouince of Yorke The Archbishop ãâã it what he might But the Pope alledging it was very vnfit that such a ãâã should be the Metropolitane of Scotland as for the most part by reason of wars was an enemy vnto the same ouerruled it and would needes haue it so 53. Lawrence Boothe THe Bishop of Durham Lawrence Boothe halfe brother vnto William Boothe George Neuils predecessor succéeded them in the Sée of Yorke He was first Master of Penbrooke hall in Cambridge consecrate Bishop of Durham September 25. 1457. and twenty yéeres after vizthe yéere 1477 remooued to Yorke In August 1472. he was made Lord Chancellour and continned in that office two ãâã This man bought the mannor of Batersey of one Nicolas Stanley and built the house there all which he gaue vnto his Sée He died at Southwell the yéere 1480. when he ãâã ãâã Archbishop ãâã ãâã and nine ãâã and was buried ãâã his brother 54. Thomas Rotheram alias Scot. THomas Scot otherwise called Rotheram was borne at ãâã in ãâã and according to the manner of religious persons in old time would ãâã take his surname of the place where he was borne ãâã such education as the country could afford him being now ripe for the vniuersity and towardly was sent by his friends vnto Cambridge and was chosen fellow of kings colledge in which place he continued till he was called away by preferment King Edward whose Chaplaine he was procured him first the Prouostship of Beuerley made him keeper of his priuy Seale and then Bishop of Rochester the yeere 1467. Staying there scarce fower yeere he remooued to Lincolne anno 1471. The yeere 1474. he was made Lord Chauncellour and continued long in that office euen vntill the raigne of Richard the vsurper at what time or a little before he deliuered the great Seale vnto the ãâã and is blamed for committing it vnto her of whom he receiued it not and had no right to require it Being yet at Lincolne he bestowed great cost in building the goodly beautifull gate of the schooles at Cambridge the walkes on each side thereof and the new Library that is at the east side of that building which he caused to be done of his owne charge with some very
then so precisely distinguished as soone after This authority he abused very impudently not caring whom he offended so he might ãâã either the king or himselfe Many times when the king gaue commandement for the leuying of a certaine summe of mony amongst his subiects he would require of the commons twise so much whereat the king being very well content would laugh and say that ãâã was the onely man for his turne who cared not whom he displeased so he might please his Master It was impossible but he should be very odious both vnto the common people and nobility also And no maruaile if many complaints were made vnto the king of him against all which he shut his ãâã ãâã When therefore that way succeeded not some of those his discontent aduersaries determined to wreake their mallice vpon him by killing him They famed a message from the Bishop of London his old Master saying that he was very sick and ready to depart the world that he was wonderfull desirous to speake with him and to the end he might make the better spéede had sent him a barge to ãâã him vnto his house being then by the water side He suspecting no fraude went with them in great hast attended onely by his secretary and some one or two other they hauing him thus in their clutches caried him not to the appointed staires but rowed ãâã on say he what he would till they came vnto a ship prouided for him ready to set saile As seene as he perceiued how he was intrapped he cast away his ring or manuel seale and after his great scale whether the broad Seale of England or no I know not into the riuer least they might giue oportunity of forging false graunts and conueyances Then he fel to intreating and perswading but all to no purpose for they were determined he should dye They had appointed two ãâã to dispatch him either by knocking out his braines or tossing him a liue ãâã for doing whereof they were promised to haue his clothes These executioners could not agree vpon the diuision of this reward for his gowne was better woorth then all the rest of his apparell While they were reasoning vpon that point it pleased God to raise a terrible and fearefull tempest such as they looked euery minute to die themselues and therefore had no very good leasure to thinke of putting an other man to death Ranulf then omitting no opportunitie of his deliuerance like an other ãâã by the musicke of his eloquence seeketh to alay their malice and to diswade them from the execution of their bloudie determination laying diligently before them the danger that was like to ensue vnto them by so cruell a murther which could not be hid promising mountaines of golde if they saued his life and lastly wishing them to consider how God by raising this tempest had threatned to reuenge his death and had as it were set the image of his vengeance before their eies Whether it were the feare of God or of man or else the hope of reward that wrought with them of such effect were these his perswasions as first diuers of the companie refused to be pertakers of his murther one of them then stept foorth vowed to defend him to his power so as he would liue or die with him And at length his greatest enimies were so pacified as Gerald the author of this conspiracie was content to set him a land and to conduct him to his owne house But not trusting a reconciled foe assoone as he had so done he got him out of the realme and durst neuer come in England after So by one danger this man escaped another and might well say as Themistocles when banished his countrey he found better entertainment of his enimie the king of Persia then he could haue giuen himselfe at home Perijssem ãâã perijssem I had indeede béene vtterly vndone had I not béene vpon the point to be vndone Seene after his returne from this braue voyage to wit the yéere 1099. he was consecrate Bishop of Durham in the Cathedrall church of Saint Paule He was scarce warme in his seate when his master the king being slaine by the glance of an arrow as he was a hunting Henry his brother succéeded in the kingdome This prince not able to withstand the importunitie of his nobles and the innumerable complaints daily made against this our Bishop clapt him vp in the Tower But he so enchanted his kéepers with money and ãâã words as they were content to let him go and to runne away with him themselues Into Normandie he got him in the beginning of February 1101. and did neuer linne buzzing into the eares of Robert Duke of Normandy telling him the kingdome of England was his by right till he prouoked him to attempt the inuasion of this realme but to small purpose as in the Chronicles you may see more at large How long he liued in exile I finde not it seemeth not to be long for he had leisure to bring many great things to passe at home afterwards He raised the walles of the body of his church vnto the roofe he translated the reliques of Saint Cutbert into the new Church and bestowed a shryne vpon him he compassed the ãâã with a wall he caused a number of houses to be pulled downe that were neere the church and might haue béene either noisome vnto it or dangerous by fire hapning among them he continued diuers banks along the riuer of Were with great charge built the castell of Norham vpon a steepe hill neere the riuer of Tweede the hospitall of kepar the bridge of Frwgewallate and performed same other things woorthie commendations Hauing sate Bishop 29. yéeres or thereabouts he died September 5. 1128. 31. Geoffry Rusus GEoffry surnamed Rufus Chauncellour of England was then preferred vnto the See of Durham in which he sat 13. yéeres and died ann 1141. 32. Will. de Sancta Barbara NExt after him succéeded William de Sancta Barbara Deane of Yorke a ãâã and very religious man He continued in this Sée 9. yéeres and died 1152. 33. Hugh Pusar HVgh Pusar Pudsey or de Putuaw for thus diuerfly I find him called Treasurer of Yorke and Archdeacon of Winchesier was elected vnto the Sée of Durham after the death of the foresaid William rather in respect of his nobility and greatnesse of bloud then of any speciall worthinesse otherwise For king Stephen was vncle vnto him He was very wise in ordering of temporall matters and ãâã he was not very learned woonderfull eloquent excéeding couetous and as cunning in gathering money as thirstie and desirous of it Henry Murdac Archbishop of Yorke not onely refused to consecrate him himselfe taking exceptions both against his ãâã of yéeres and lightnes of behauiour But also sent to Rome to haue a Caueat laid in against him there Eugenius was Pope at that time an old acquaintance of the Archbishops who both were brought vp at Clareual vnder S. Bernard But such was the
good hap of this new elect as a little before his arriuall there I meane at Rome Pope Eugenius was dead and seene after came certaine newes thither of the death of the Archbishop also Anastasius that succeeded Eugenius without much adoo affoorded him consecration Decemb. 30. 1153. He sate Bishop a long time almost 42. yéeres in which time he built diuers houses vpon his mannors out of the ground and bestowed much in repairing of the rest He builte a faire house at Derlington He founded the Priory of Finchall he bought Sadbury of king Richard the first and gaue it vnto his Sée He built the bridge of Eluet and the Galiley at the west end of his Cathedrall church in which he placed the bones of venerable Beda Lastly he built two hospitals one at Allerton an other called Sherburne at the East end of Durham To Sherburne he alotted liberall allowance for the maintenance of 65. poore Lasers and a certaine number of priests Neubrigenses ascribeth this good worke partly vnto other men whom he enforced to become benefactors vnto this foundation being loath to be at the whole charge himselfe At what time king Richard made prouision for his iorney into the Holy land he also tooke on him the crosse and vowed to be one of that companie The king vnderstanding that he had prepared a great masse of money to carry with him perswaded him to stay at home and to afford him his money which if he would do he promised to make him Earle of Northumberland The Bishop long since repenting the vow he had made quickly condiscended to this offer accepted the same The king hauing created him an Earle turned him about vnto the companie and laughing saide he had performed a woonderfull exploit for quoth he of an old Bishop I haue made a yoong Earle Now that he might haue some colourable ercuse of not performing his vow he caused the king to alledge that he might not be spared out of the realme in his absence And to make this the more probable giuing the king 1000. markes he perswaded him with golden Rhetoricke to make him chiefe Justice of England The like Rhetoricke it was that induced the Pope to dispence with his vow vnto which the excuses before alleaged made some way but could neuer haue effected the busines without that helpe At the returne of K Richard from Hierusalem he found him not so fauourable as he expected thinking that he grudged him his Earledome resigned the same into his hands After which notwithstanding he loaded him sore with many grieuous exactions well knowing the Bishops bagges to be notably ãâã for that he had offered him a great summe of mony for the redemption of his Earledome The king therefore being beyond the seas sent vnto him for this money as condiscending to his request But the old Fox well ynough ãâã his ãâã humbly besought him by letters either to affoord him the Earldome first or else to suffer him to enioy his money quietly Whereupon the king that knew how to vse him in his kinde writ letters vnto him full of reuerend and gratious speeches wishing him to bring vp his money to London and there to receiue the gouernment of the whole realme which he would commit vnto him and the Archbishoppe of Canterbury Being very ioyfull of this fauour toward London he comes about Shrouetyde thinking then to take his farewell of flesh he surffetted vpon the way at Doncaster and finding himselfe sicke returned home to Houeden where he died March 3. being the saturday in cleansing weeke He was 70. yeeres old at the time of his death yet would hardly beléeue his phisitions certifying him a little before he died in what danger he was An old Heremit named ãâã esteemed of many a very holy man had told him he should be blinde seuen yéeres before his death which said our stories Godricus meant the blindnesse of his minde and he vnderstanding him of the blindnesse of his bodily eies neuer cared to prouide for death assuring himselfe he had that seuen yéeres at least to come Being yet Treasurer of Yorke he begot thrée ãâã all sonnes the first borne of a gentlewoman of great blood became a soldier the second he made Archdeacon of Durham and loaded him with many other ãâã promotions which he enioying but one yéere after his fathers death was also taken away himselfe The third whom the old Bishop loued most tenderly of all by his fathers great suit and no lesse expence became Channcellor to the French king He was so vnhappy as to see that his best beloued sonne buried Himselfe departed this world as before is said in the beginning of Lent an 1195. 34. Philip of Poitiers KIng Henry the second fauoured much one Philip borne at Poitiers in Aquitaine for the long acceptable seruice he had done vnto him In reward whereof he besought him to preferre him vnto the Bishopricke of Durham then void The king well knowing he could not doo for him any other way better cheape commended him so effectually vnto the couent as they durst not but choose him He was elected December 30. 1195. The next yéere he was sent Embassador vnto the Pope together with William Longshamp that famous Bishop of Ely who died in the way to Rome-ward There to wit at Rome he was consecrate May 12. 1197. The yeere 1200. he went in pilgrimage to Saint Iames of Compostella He was a great hartner of king Iohn against the Pope aduising him euer to make no reckoning of his excommunications The Pope vnderstanding thereof excommunicated him also together with the king Being not yet absolued he died the yéere 1208. and was buried without the church by the hands of lay men because he stood excommunicate at the time of his death This Bishop by the licence of king Richard the first set vp a Mint at Durham and began to coine mony there the yéere 1196. 35. Richard de Marisco IT séemeth the Sée was long voide after the death of Philip. For Richard de Marisco Lord Chauncellor of England and Archdeacon of Northumberland an old courtier was thrust into this Sée by Gualo the Popes Legate and consecrate by the Archbishop of Yorke the yéere 1217. During the time of the vacacy I find that one Morgan prouost of Beuerley was elected vnto this Bishopricke He was bastard brother vnto king Iohn and begotten vpon the Lady of a knight called Sir Ralf ãâã or Blewet Exceptions were taken against him that he was a bastard and so by the Canons not capable of ecclesiasticall preferment without speciall dispensation which the Pope being loath to graunt aduised him to call himselfe Blewet and to alledge that he was borne in lawfull wedlocke promising vpon that condition to affoord him consecration But he answered that for any worldly preferment whatsoeuer he would not renounce his father or deny himselfe to be of the bloud royall So he lost his Bishoprick and for ought I find neuer attained other preferment
after This Richard was a very prodigall man and spent so liberally the goods of his church as the monks doubting he would vndoo them and himselfe also went about by course of law to stay him and force him to a moderation of expence But it fell out quite contrary to their expectation For he being wilfully set continued law with them appealing to Rome c. and continued his old course ãâã vntill his death The yéere 1226. in the beginning of Easter terme he rid vp to London with a troupe of Lawyers attending on him At Peterborough he was entertayned in the Abbey very honorably and going to bed there in very good health was found in the morning by his chamberlaines starke dead He deceased May the first leauing his church 40000. marks indebted A monke of Durham bestowed this ryming Epitaphe vpon him ãâã qui cupitis Est sedata sitis Qui populos regitis Quod mors immitis Vobis praepositis Quod sumvos eritis laudes pompasque ãâã si me pensare velitis memores super omnia sitis non parcit honore potitis similis fueram bene scitis ad me currendo venitis 36. Richard Poore THe king earnestly commended one Luke his Chaplaine vnto the Bishopricke of Durham now voide swearing vnto the monkes that were sent to craue a Congé d'lier they should haue no Bishop in 7. yéere after if they would not be content to elect him The couent thinking him vnwoorthy so high a preferment chose one William Scot Archdeacon of Worceter a graue learned man and the kings Chaplaine Howbeit the king offended that his desire was not satisfied refused in great displeasure to ratifie this election And vnderstanding that they sent vnto Rome to intreate the Pope to put him in possession of that Sée he sent likewise his Embassadors the Bishop of Lichfield and the Prior of Lanthony to crosse and hinder that designement which they easily performed within a yéere or two after they chose with the kings good liking Richard Poore Bishop of Salisbury a notable man He was first Deane of Salisburie consecrated Bishop of Chichester the yéere 1215. translated thence to Salisbury 1217. lastly to Durham 1228. Being Bishop of Chichester he purchased vnto that church Amport which he bought of the church of Winchester At ãâã he is famous for remoouing his Sée from old Salisbury to new Salisbury where he began the building of that stately church Sée more of him in Salisbury He founded a monasterie of Nunnes called the Charnell at Tharent in ãâã and gaue it vnto the Quéene who chose that for the place of her buriall He builded also a Hospitall for poore people néere the colledge of Uaulx in Salisburie Comming to Durham he had ynough to doe to pay the huge debt of 40000. markes that Richard de Marisco left the landes of his Sée bound for He was a man of rare learning in those times and of notable integritie for his life and conuersation A little before his death perceauing his end to draw neere he caused the people to be called together and going vp into the pulpit made a very godly spéech vnto them desiring them to marke well that his exhortation for he was now shortly to be taken from them The next day he did the like and bidding them farewell praied them if he had offended any to forgiue him and to pray for him The third day he sent for al his particular acquaintance called all his family and seruants before him and distributed vnto them presently by hand such summes of money as either he ought or was willing to bestow vpon them which done and hauing set euery thing in perfect order he tooke his leaue of his friends one after an other and then falling to his prayers when he came vnto these words saith M. Paris In pace ãâã ãâã dormiam requiescam he gaue vp the ghost He died Aprill 15. 1237. and was buried in the Nunnery of Tharent which he had founded 37. Nicholas de Farnham THomas Prior of Durham was chosen Bishop vpon the death of Poore Through the kings backwardnes and dislike that election was cassate and disannulled A long time the monkes had laboured this sute for their Prior and had spent much money in it At last ãâã they stroue against the streame they gaue it ouer the elect himselfe first yéelding Then chose they Nicholas de Fernham one greatly commended both for his manners and learning This man spent his yoonger yeeres in Oxford and hauing furnished himselfe there with the grounds of all good learning especially Logike and naturall Philosophie he ãâã beyond the seas and studied Phisicke at Paris and Bononia a great while Returning into his natiue countrey he gaue himselfe much vnto the study of Diuinitie profited therein so well as he was esteemed woorthie to be a Doctor By the counsell of Otto the Legate the Bishop of Carlile and other the king entertained this man into his seruice And first he was as it seemeth vnto me Esquire of his body then ãâã to the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã her instructer or directer in matters of ãâã and ãâã When he had now a long time béene a Courtier it hapned the Sée of Lichfield being voide the monkes of ãâã very carefull of choosing a sufficient man because they knew their doings woulde be sifted the yéere 1239. elected him whom they knew to be a man learned graue vertuous discréete very wise well spoken which maketh a man somewhat the more gratious tal of stature personable of a goodly presence He thanked them for their good will but considering with himselfe that his title to that Bishopricke was like to prooue litigious for the Chapter of Lichfield pretended a right to the election that time as also the great burthen and charge of the office pastorall refused in any sort to accept of the same The Chapter of Lichfield who had chosen their Deane hearing of this refusall by the exhortation of the same their Deane who resigned his right for their part also elected him Which notwithstanding he persisted in his former determination telling them that he felt the burthen already so heauy of a Benefice or two which he had as he was resolued neuer to accept any greater charge of soules So they were enforced to choose another Understanding within two yeeres after how the Couent of Durham with one consent had also chosen him for their Pastor he likewise refused and that more earnestly now then the last time adding vnto the former reasons this also that if he should accept of this place men would say how the hypocrite had refused a poore Bishopricke vnder colour of conscience to stay for a better In this minde he continued till Robert Grosthead that famous Bishop of Lincolne reprehended him sharpely for this his backwardnesse Séest thou not quoth he how the monks of Durham destitute of that comfort which a good pastor should yéeld them intreate thée with teares to affoord the
at Durham about 11. yeeres he died the yeere 1494. 53. Richard Fox RIchard Fox was consecrate Bishop of Exceter an 1486. translated to Bathe and Welles 1491. thence to Durham 1494 and lastly 1502 to Winchester He chaunged the hall of the castle of Durham from better to woorse where there were two seats of regality he made but one Sée more of him in Winchester 54. William Seuerus I Haue heard reported that this man was borne at Shinkley and the son of a poore man there a Syueyer or Syuemaker by his occupation and thence tooke his surname He was first Bishop of Carlile translated to Durham 1502. and enioying that preferment onely two yéeres or there about died an 1505. 55. Christopher Bambridge AFter the death of Bishop Seuere it séemes the Sée was void two yéeres Christopher Bambridge obtayned consecration thereunto the yéere 1507. sate there but one yéere and was remooued to Yorke Sée more of him in Yorke 56. Thomas Ruthall THomas Ruthall was borne at Cicester in Gloucestershire and brought vp in Cambridge where he proceeded Doctor of Law He was preferred to the Bishopricke of Durham by King Henry the seuenth after whose death he was made one of the Priuy Counsell vnto the yoong king Henry the 8. who estéemed greatly of him for his wisedome and learning and imployed him often in Embassages and other businesses of importance Amongst the rest it pleased the king one time to require him to set downe his iudgement in writing concerning the estate of his kingdome in generall and particularly to informe him in certaine things by him specified This discourse the Bishop writ very carefully and caused it to be bound in Uelime guilt and otherwise adorned in the best maner Now you shall vnderstand how that it chaunced him about the same time to set downe a note of his owne priuate estate containing an inuentory not onely of his vtenstles and houshold stuffe in euery of his houses with their value but also of his monyes either owing vnto him or deniers contans ready in his coffers which amounted vnto an infinite treasure no lesse then 100000. l. This account was written in a paper booke of the same fashion and binding that the other was which he had prouided for the king whereby it happened that the king sending Cardinall Wolsey for the other draught that he had so long hefore required of him the Bishop mistaking deliuered that which contained the report of his owne wealth and priuate state This the Cardinall soone espying and willing to doo the Bishop a displeasure for there had béen long and great emulation betwéene them deliuered it as he had receiued it vnto the king shewing how the Bishop had happily mistalien himselfe For now quoth he you see where you may at any time commaund a great masse of money if you néede it As soone as the Bishop vnderstood his owne error the conceite thereof touched him so néere as within a very short time after he died In his time the parish Church of Cicester was built for the greatest part And he promised to contribut much thereunto but preuented by death performed nothing Anne ãâã his aunt by the mothers side gaue 100. markes toward that worke The Bishop himselfe built the third part of the bridge ouer the Riuer of ãâã toward the South He also raised from the foundation the goodly dining chamber at Aukland and dying before it might be finished tooke order with one Stranguidge that was his Administrator to perfect it He deceased at London the yeere 1523. and lyeth buried at Westminster almost ouer against the the monument of king Henry the third in a very seemely toombe vpon which are these words to be read Hic iacet Tho. Ruthall Episcopus ãâã Regis ãâã Secretarius qui obijt 1524. 57. Thomas Woolsey IMmediately after the death of Bishop Ruthall Cardinall Woolsey resigning Bathe which he held in Commendam with Yorke tooke Durham in steed thereof and held the same about the space of seuen yeeres In the later end of the yeere 1529. he gaue it ouer to haue Winchester which he held little more then one yéere and died Nouember 29. 1530. Sée more of him in Yorke 58. Cutbert Tnnstall IN the Sée of Durham a notable man succéeded him and one no lesse famous for his vertues then the other for his fortune ãâã ãâã Bishop of London He was borne at Hatchford in Richmond shire and was the base son of one Tunstall a gentleman of a very auncient house It is reported that their first auncestor attended William Conqueror ãâã his Barbor and being raised by him ãâã ãâã ãâã fortune in memory of his former estate tooke for his armes S. 3. combes A. But I take this for a fable The speciall vse of armes is to expresse vnto posterity the vertues of such as are raised vnto gentry and not to remember any thing that may be to the disgrace of the bearer and make him lesse honorable Were the first of this race as he is supposed because he was not aduaunced for being a Barbor but for his faithfull and loyall seruice such armes should rather haue béene giuen him as might haue registred that vertue then twighted him with the basenes of his first trade and manner of life Rather therefore should I gesse some other occasion of these armes which as they were born by him may haue many very honorable significations But to leaue his armes speak of himselfe He was a very rare and admirable man in whom I thinke no man will blame or reprehend any thing but his religion There was scarce any kind of good learning in which he was not excellent A very good Grecian well seene in the Hebrew toong a very eloquent Khetorician a passing skilfull Mathematician famous especially for Arithmetike whereof he writ a worke much estéemed a great lawier in that faculty he proceeded Doctor and a profound Diuine as diuers his workes yet extant doo very well testify But his greatest commendation of al is that which I find giuen him by Bale out of ãâã Thomas Moore that as there was no man more adorned with knowledge and good literature no man more seuere and of greater integrity for his life and manners so there was no man a more swéete and pleasant companion with whom a ãâã would rather choose to conuerse In regard of these manifold good parts the Archbishop of Canterbury William Warham not onely made him his vicar generall but also commended him so effectually vnto the king as he thought good to employ him in many ãâã of great waight and diuers temporall offices of no lesse trust He was first Master of the Rolles then as I find recorded kéeper of the ãâã Seals made Bishop of London the yéere 1521. and translated to Durham March 25. 1530. Being yet at London he bestowed much mony ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Library in Cambridge with good bookes both written and printed He built from ãâã ground a most beautifull porch or
gatehouse with a chappell annexed thereunto of faire stone in the castle of Durham added to the said castle certaine gates with iron barres and portcullices supported with strong walles on each side He brought water thither with a conduit whereas before time it was serued with well-water He made the gatehouse at Alnewike and built the Tolboothe in the market of Durham all of stone with diuers edifices neere the hinder part of the said Tolboothe which he gaue also to the city of Durham Lastly he repaired with great charge the third part of Tyne bridge Hauing continued in this Sée the space of one and twenty yéeres with great honour December 20. 1551. he was committed vnto the Tower of London and remained prisoner there all the rest of the raigne of king Edward viz. ninetéene moneths In which time amongst many other horrible sacrileges whereunto the nonage of the king gaue oportunity meanes was found that the Bishopricke of Durham should be dissolued by act of Parliament This morsell was ready dished and in certaine hope already swallowed when it pleased God to punish the deuouring couetousnesse of those times by taking away that admirable yong prince king Edward Quéene Mary that succéeded tooke this bit from the trencher of those rauening Atheists by like authority the first yéere of her raigne restored it vnto the former estate that old Bishop both to his liberty the possession of the same Quéene Mary dying for his contumacy disobedience vnto her Maiesty that now raigneth long may she he was iustly depriued of his Bishoprick in the moneth of July 1559. He was then committed vnto the custody of the Archbishop of Canterbury who entertained him most kindly and seemed very glad of his company But he enioyed it a very litle while For within fower monethes after his depriuation viz. Nouember 18. following being eighty fiue yéeres of age he departed this life at Lambhith where he was first consecrate almost forty yeres before His body was buried in the Chauncell of the parish church there and couered with a faire marble stone vpon which is ãâã this Epithaphe written by Doctor Haddon Anglia Cutbertum Tunstallnm ãâã requirit Cuius summa domi laus erat atque foris Rhetor Arithmeticus iuris consultus aequis Legatusque fuit ãâã praesul erat Annorum satur magnorum ãâã honorum Vertitur in cineres aureus iste senex Iames Pilkinton MArch 2. 1560. Iames Pilkinton Batcheler of diuinity lately come from beyond the seas where he liued all Quéene Maries time was consecrate Bishop and continued in the same Sée about 16. yeres He died an 1576. and lieth entoombed in his owne church before the high altar West from Bishop Beaumont 60. Richard Barnes RIchard Barnes was brought vp in Brasenose colledge in in Oxford first consecrate Bishop Suffragan of Nottingham preferred to Carlile the yéere 1570. and the yeere 1577. translated to Durham where he sate Bishop about 11. yeres 61. Matthew Hutton AFter the death of Bishop Barnes the Sée was void almost two yéeres The yéere 1589. Matthew Hutton doctor of diuinity and Deane of Yorke in which place he had continued 21. yéeres was preferred thereunto He held the same about fiue yéeres and in the ende of the yeere 1594. was translated to Yorke where he yet liueth 62. Tobias Matthew OF him that presently succéeded Tobias Matthew I will say no more but what remayneth in publike records that being doctor of diuinity by many steps of preferment as namely the Archdeaconry of Bathe the Presidentship of Saint Johns colledge in Oxford a Canonry first then the Deanry of Christchurch there and lastly the Deanry of Durham he ascended at last vnto this place which men say he vseth as honorably as he obtayned the same worthily My resolution of onely mentioning those that either themselues or in their posterity yet liue I hold the more willingly in him because it is well knowen to so many as know me I am greatly bonnd vnto him and may be déemed partiall He was consecrate in March 1594. long and happily may he liue in that or such other honorable place as his vertues do deserue This Bishopricke in the Queenes bookes is valued at 1821 l. 17 d. farthing and in the Popes bookes at 9000. ducats Carlile THE City of Carlile called by the Romanes and old Britons Luguballia by Nennius Caer Lualid by the Saxons as Beda writeth Luell by our Chronicles as Roger Houeden and others Carlwel by vs now a daies Carleolum Carlile and Carlioll a city no doubt of great antiquity was wasted and in a manner vtterly destroyed by the Danes about the yéere of our Lord 900. The yéere 1090. it happened the king of England William Rufus to passe that way into Scotland He considering the naturall strenght of the place the pleasantnes of the seat the sertility of the soyle and the necessity of a fortification for defence of the countrey thereabout thought good to ãâã it and according to this determination about thrée yéeres after not onely raysed againe the wals then flat to the ground in so much as great trées grew in the ruines of them but also bestowed the building of a faire and strong castle in the same and then enpeopled it at first with Dutchmen whom soone after he remooued into Wales and afterwards with English men of the South parts he affoording many great and singular priuiledges vnto them The gouernment of this new erected city as it should séeme was committed vnto a certaine Norman Priest named Walter that came into England with the Conqueror This man being very rich began to build in Carlile a goodly church in the honor of the blessed Uirgin intending to bestow vpon it such possessions as God had endowed him withall for the maintenance of either Prebendaries or some other kinde of religious persons in the same But being taken away by death besore the accomplishment of this so good a purpose Adelwald or ãâã the first Prior of Saint Oswald in Nostlis and Confesser vnto king Henry the first that then raigned perswaded the said king to employ the land and reuenewes that Walter left behinde him in the foundation of a colledge not of Prebendaries but of Regular Cannons to be annexed vnto the church of our Lady before named He did so and moreouer bestowed vpon the said colledge sixe churches with their chappels to be impropriated vnto the same vse to wit Newcastle Newburne Warkeware Robery Wichingham and Corbridge Of this colledge or monastery thus founded and endowed he appointed the said Adelwald his Confessor to be Pryor Now you shall vnderstand that not onely the iurisdiction spirituall but the renewes and temporalties also of the City of Carlile and all the countrey round about within fiftéene miles belonged in former times vnto the Bishops of ãâã by the gift of Egfrid king of Northumberland who bestowed all that territory vpon Saint Cutbert the yéere 679. But the Bishops of that Sée being
drouen from place to place by the Danes at what time Carlile was destroyed moreouer all that countrey so wasted as hardly a man was to be found in many miles compasse except here there a few of the Irish. The Archdeacon of Richmond by litle little encroched vpon the iurisdiction of all Cumberland Westmerland and Tiuidate or Aluedale now a long time neglected by the Bishops of ãâã that in this meane space had seated themselues at Durham It happened therefore somtime after the foundation of this colledge that Thurstan Archbishop of Yorke visiting this part of his Prouince séeing the beauty of the church of Carlile considering how fit it were to be the Sée of a Bishop knowing how little right the Archdeacon of Richmond had vnto the iurisdiction of all those countries yea being willing also peraduenture to haue a Suffragan the more within his Prouince thought good to endeuour the erection of a Bishopricke there The king fauouring much his owne foundation easily condiscended to grace the same with an Episcopall Sée which being established there by the Pope licence was giuen to the Channons to elect for their Bishop whom they list and Cumberland Westmerland with Aluedale appointed to be his Dioces The Bishops of Carlile 1. A Delwald whom most of our writers call Athelwulph the Prior aboue named with one consent of his Cannons was chosen for the first Bishop of this new Cathedrall Church and consecrate at Yorke by his Metropolitane the yéere 1133. How long he held it or when he died I find not 2. Barnard succéeded him It séemeth he died about the yéere 1186. For Roger Houeden reporteth that king Henry the second comming to Carlile at that time procured one ãâã de Leedes to be elected Bishop and when he vpon what consideration I know not refused to accept the place the king offered him 300. markes of yéerely reuenew for the increase of his liuing there to witte the Churches of Banburge and Scarthburge with the Chappell of Lickhill and two mannours of his owne néere Carlile This notwithstanding he persisted still in his refusall 3. Hugh the third Bishop died the yéere 1223. 4. Walter Malclerke the yéere 1223. was consecrate vnto the Bishopricke of Carlile which he acknowledged to haue obtained by euill and corrupt meanes and therefore resigned the same mooued in conscience so to doo as he alledged June 29. 1246. tooke on him the habite of a Frier preacher at Oxford in which he continued till his death Being Treasurer of England vnder king Henry the third the king vpon a sodaine not onely displaced him from that office but reuoked certaine graunts made vnto him heretofore and charged him with the debt of 100. l. which he acknowledged not For redresse of these wrongs as he tooke them he determined to trauaile to Rome but was staied at the waters side by the kings officers whom Roger Bishop of London excommunicated for the same and riding presently to Worceter where the Court lay renued that excommunication in the Kings presence How he thriued with these businesses afterward I find not But likely ynough it is that these troubles rather made him weary of the world then any such scruple induce him to leaue his Bishopricke He died October 28. 1248. 5. Syluester was elected the yeere 1246. but not consecrate till February 5. 1247. A while he refused to accept of the election alleadging his owne vnworthinesse but at last vpon better deliberation yéelded He was one of them that ioyned with Boniface the Archbishop and Ethelmaire the elect of Winchester in their request to the king that remembring his promise often made hereafter he would not impeach the liberty of elections by interposing his armed requests c. of which matter see more in ãâã of Canterbury The King acknowledged he had indéede offended that way and that especially quoth he in making meanes for you your selucs that therefore of all other should least find fault with it To this man particularly he vsed these words Ette Syluester ãâã qui ãâã Lambeus ãâã ãâã meorum clericulus ãâã qualiter ãâã multis Theologis ãâã reuerendis te in ãâã sublimani c. I remember saith he how I eralted thée Syluester of Carlile vnto a Bishopricke hauing hankered a long time about the Chauncery and being a petty Chaplame to my Chaplaines preferring thee before many graue and reuerend Diuines c. His conclusion was that if they would giue ouer their places which they had obtained by so vndue meanes he would hereafter forbeare to commend any so vnworthy This was the yéere ãâã The yeere following May the ãâã this Bishop riding a horse somwhat too lusty for him was cast and so brused with the fall as he died by and by to wit May 13. 1254. 6 Thomas ãâã or de Veteri ponte a gentleman of the house of the Viponts that about this time were Lords of Westmerland was chosen soone after ãâã death notwithstanding that the king made ãâã request in the behalfe of one Iohn a counceller of his that was Prior of Newborough Hauing enioyed this preferment litle more then one yeere he died in the beginning of October 1256. 7 Robert de ãâã Chaplaine vnto the Quéene was consecrate by the Bishops of Bathe and Salisbury at Bermondsey beside London Aprill 10. 1258. and sate fowerteene yeeres 8. Ralf a Canon of ãâã ãâã 1272. sate ãâã yéeres 9. Iohn de Halton a Canon of Carlile consecrate 1288. sate thirty two yéeres 10. Iohn de Rosse Doctor of Law thrust into this Bishoprick by the Pope without any election was consecrate 1318 and sate thirtéene yéeres 11. Iohn de Kirkby Canon of Carlile and orderly elected there was consecrate 1332. and sate twenty yeeres 12. Gilbert de Welton Doctor of Law made Bishop by the Pope was consecrate 1353. and sate ten yéeres 13. Thomas de Appleby Canon of Carlile elected there was glad to ãâã the Popes approbation at Rome and then was consecrate 1363. He sate thirty thrée yéeres and died December 5. 1395. 14. Robert Reade a Frier preacher was consecrate at the commaundement of the Pope the request of king Richard the second 1396. notwithstanding that William Stirkland was chosen by the Chapter Hauing sate scarcely one yéere he was translated to Chichester 15. Thomas Merkes a monke of Westminster was likewise thrust into this Bishopricke by the Pope at the Kings request and consecrate 1397. Amongst many vnworthily preferred to Bishoprickes in those daies he vndoubtedly was a man well deseruing that honor for he was both learned and wise but principally to be commended first for his constant and vnmooueable ãâã vnto his Patrone and preferrer king Richard then for his excellent courage in professing the same when he might safely yea honestly ãâã haue concealed his affection Some other there were of that Nobility that remembring their duty alleageance when al the world beside forsooke this vnfortunate Prince followed him with their best assistance
euen til that time of his captiuity This man nothing regarding the danger might ensue not onely refused to forsake him when he had forsaken himself but desided him his cause the best he could when he might well perceaue his indeuor might hurt himselfe much without any possibility of helping the other When the ãâã and vnstable multitude not contented that king Richard had resigned his crowne to saue the head that ware it and their darling Henry ãâã fourth seated himselfe in his royall throne importuned the Parliament assembled to procéed yet farther against him ãâã no doubt that to make all sure his life might be taken from him This worthy and memorable Prelate stepping forth doubted not to tell them that there was none amongst them méete to giue iudgement vpon so noble a Prince as King Richard was whom they had taken for their Soueraigne and leige Lord by the space of 22. yéeres and more And procéeding further I assure you quoth he I report his words as I find them in our Chronicles there is not so ranke a traytor nor so errant a théefe nor yet so cruell a murtherer apprehended or detained in prison for his offence but he shall be brought before the Justice to heare iudgement and will you proceede to the iudgement of an annoynted King hearing neither his answere nor excuse I say and will auouch that the Duke of Lancaster whom ye call King hath more trespassed to king Richard and his Realme then king Richard hath done either to him or vs For it is manifest and well knowen that the Duke was banished the Realme by King Richard and his counsell and by the iudgement of his owne Father for the space of 10. yéeres for what cause ye remember well ynough This notwithstanding without licence of R. R. he is returned againe into the realme that is worse hath taken vpon him the name title and ãâã of R. And therfore I say that you haue done manifest wrong to procéed against R. Richard in any sort without calling him openly to his answere and defence This spéech scarcely ended he was attached by the Earle Marshall and for a time committed to ward in the Abbey of Saint Albones Continuing yet his loyall affection vnto his distressed Master soone after his inlargement he ioyned with the Hollands and other in a conspiracy against King Henry which being bewrayed to the destruction of all the rest he onely was pardoned peraduenture in regard of his calling for it had neuer beene séene hitherto that any Bishop was put to death by order of ãâã peraduenture in some kinde of fauour and admiration of his faithfull constancy for vertue will be honored euen of her enemies peraduenture also to this ende that by forcing him to liue miserably they might lay a punishment vpon him more ãâã ãâã death which they well saw he despised The Pope who seldome denied the king any request that he might affoord good cheape was easily intreated to translate forsooth this good Bishop from the Sée ãâã Carlile that yéelded him honorable maintenance vnto Samos in Greece whereof he knew he should neuer receiue one ãâã profit He was so happy as neither to take benefit of the gift of his enimy nor to be hurt by the masked malice of his counterfeit friend Disdaining as it were to take his life by his gift that tooke away from his Master both life and kingdome he died shortly after his deliuerance so deluding also the mockery of his translation whereby things so falling out he was nothing damnisted 16. William de Stirkland before mentioned was appointed his successor by the Pope at the request of king Henry and consecrate at Cawood by the Archbishop of Yorke August 24. 1400. He died August 30. 1419. 17. Roger Whelpdale Doctor of Diuinity was elected by the Chapter and consecrate at London by the Bishop of Winchester the yéere 1419. He was brought vp in Balioll colledge in Oxford Writ much in Logike Philosophy Diuinity in which as also the Mathematikes and other good learning he was very well séene died in his house at London February 4. 1422. and was buried there in the cathedrall church of Saint Paule His workes I heare remaine yet to be séene in Baylioll colledge library 18. William Barrow Bishop of Bangor was traslated to Carlile 1423. died at Rose castle September 4. 1429. and was buried at Carlile 19. Marmaduke Lumley was chosen by the Chapter consecrate 1430. and hauing sate twenty yéeres was translated to Lincolne 20. Nicolas Close consecrate 1450. sate two yéeres and was remoued to Lichfield 21. William Percy sonne to the Earle of Northumberland was consecrate 1452. and sate ten yéeres 22. Iohn Kyngscote Doctor of the Canon Law was consecrate 1462. and sate onely one yéere 23. Richard Scroope consecrate at Yorke by George Neuill Bishop of Exceter June 24. 1464. sate fower yeeres 24. Edward Storey Doctor of Diuinity consecrate at Westminster by the foresaid George Neuill now Archbishop of Yorke October 14. 1468. sate nine yéeres and was translated to Chichester 25. Richard Prior of Durham consecrate at the Popes commaundement without any election by the hands of his predecessor and sate 18. yeeres 26. William Seuer Abbot of Saint Maryes in Yorke consecrate 1496. was translated to Durham the yeere 1503. 27. Roger Layburne Doctor of Diuinity a gentleman of a very auncient house borne neere Carlile was consecrated in September 1503. and sate there eight yéeres 28. Iohn Penny Doctor of Law consecrate 1511. sate 9. yéeres 29. Iohn Kite a Londoner borne and somtimes the kings Ambassador into Spaine was first consecrate an Archbishop of a Sée in Greece and then made Bishop of Carlile the yéere 1520. He died June 19. 1537. was buried at Stepney beside London in the middle of the Chancell toward the North side where is to be seene a rude Epitaphe vpon the marble that couereth him 30. Robert Aldrich Doctor of Diuinity and Prouost of Kings Colledge in Cambridge was elected Bishop of Carlile July 18. 1537. and soone after consecrate He died at Horne-castle March 5. 1555. 31. Owen Oglethorp Doctor of Diuinity and President of Magdalene colledge in Oxford a gentleman well borne was consecrate 1556. He was so happy as to set the crowne of this realme vpon the head of her Maiesty that now doth long and happily may shee possesse the same He was depriued with diuers other Bishops for withstanding her Maiesties proceedings the yeere 1559. and soone ãâã died suddenly 32. Iohn Best Doctor of Diuinity was consecrate March 2. 1561 died May 22. 1570. and was buried at Carlile 33. Richard Barnes Bishop of Nottingham Suffragan vnto the Archbishop of Yorke was translated to Carlile July 23. 1570. ãâã the yéere 1577. was ãâã thence to Durham 34. Iohn Mey Doctor of ãâã Master of ãâã Hall in Cambridge was consecrate by Iohn Elmer Bishop of London ãâã thereunto by the Archbishop of Yorke September 29. an 1577. He died in the moneth of April ãâã 1598. 35. Henry Robinson Doctor of Diuinity ãâã of Quéenes colledge in Oxford was consecrate before the ende of the same yéere Carlile paide for first fruits to the Pope 1000. ducats and is now valued to the Queene in 531 l. 4 s. 11 d. ob The Bishops of Chester IN the City of Chester there was of old a Nunry the Church whereof first built by that famous Earle Leofricus and dedicated vnto Saint Werburg being now become very ruinous Hugh Lupus the first Earle of Chester after the Conquest repaired the same the yéere 1094. and by the perswasion of Saint Anselme whom being dangerously sicke he had sent for into Normandy to be his ghostly father replenished it with monkes About the same time or a little before to wit the yéere 1075. Peter Bishop of Lichfield remooued his See thither But his next successor Robert de Lymesey forsaking Chester made choice of Couentry whence not long after the succéeding Bishops returned againe to Lichfield King Henry the eight restored vnto this City that honor and conuerting the Monastery aforesaid into a Cathedrall Church erected a new Bishopricke there appointed the Counties of Chester Lancaster and Richmond to be the Dioces of this new Sée and the same to be estéemed in the Prouince of the Archbishop of Yorke 1. Iohn Byrd THe first Bishop of Chester was Iohn Byrd borne in Couentry and brought vp in Oxford Being Doctor of Diuinity and Prouinciall of the ãâã he was preferred by King Henry the eight to the Bishopricke of Ossery in Ireland From thence soone after he was remooued first to Bangor and lastly vnto Chester Certaine Sermons preached before the King against the Popes Supremacy were the occasion of his aduauncement In Queene ãâã daies he was depriued for being maried 2. Iohn Coates BIshop Coates succéeded him His Christen name I take it was Iohn For certaine I can not affirme it He died soone after his preferment in Quéene Maries daies 3. Cutbert Scot. SHe then preferred vnto this Sée one Cutbert Scot who sitting not past two or thrée yéeres in the beginning of the happy raigne of her Maiesty that now is was displaced and for his disobedience committed to the Fléete Thence I know not by what meanes escaping he fled to ãâã and there died 4. William Downham VVIlliam Downham was Chaplaine vnto her Maiesty before her comming to the Crowne and being preferred by her vnto this Sée continued in the same about twenty yéeres 5. William Chaderton VVIiliam Chaderton Doctor of Diuinity succéeded and was translated to Lincolne the yéere 1595. 6. Hugh Billet HVgh Billet Doctor of Diuinity and Bishop of Bangor sate not fully one yéere He died about Whitsontide ann 1596. 7. Richard Vaughan RIchard Vaughan Doctor of Duinity succéeded Bishop Billet in both those places being translated hither in June 1597. He yet liueth This Bishopricke is valued at 420 l. 20 d. FINIS
within my determined bounds and send the Reader that is desirous to heare more of him vnto other histories He was borne in Somersetshire of good parentage his fathers name was Herstan his mothers Kinedeid He was brought vp for the most part in the Abbey of Glastonbury where beside other good learning he was also taught to sing play vpon iustruments to paint and carue in all which he prooued very excellent From thence he went vnto Athelm Archbishop of Canterburie his vncle who commended him vnto the king And he partly in regard of the manifold good parts he sawe in him partly also for that he was néere of kinne vnto him made very much of him So he liued in the court a while till for a certaine miracle as the monks call it which was then imputed to coniuration with much disgrace he was driuen out of the court After this he betooke himselfe vnto the seruice of Elphege Bishop of Winchester another vncle of his who perswaded him continually to become a monke He could not heare of that side in any wise till vpon a time falling dangerously sicke and thinking his disease a plague sent of God for his backwardnesse in that holy course whereto his vncle directed him in great hast professed himselfe a monke This done hauing recouered his health he went to his first nurse Glastonbury leading there in outward shew at least an excéeding straite life King Edward hearing great fame of his holinesse sent for him vnto the court where he liued in very diuers reputation sometimes iudged too familar with faire women sometimes accounted a coniurer but for the most part admired as a most holy and vertuous man Under two princes Edmund and Eldred with whom he was most gracious he ruled all things at his pleasure Edwyn the sonne of king Edmund that succéeded Eldred could in no wise brooke him Some say it was because Dunstan was forward in reprehending the kings vices as namely that when the king rising from the feast of his coronation went immediately to his chamber where a certaine beautifull concubine attended his comming Dunstan that had gotten some inkling of the businesse he went about followed him boldly and forced him not onely to leaue that enterprise for that time but also to forsweare the companie of that woman But the vndoubted ground of this dislike was this Dunstan had so bewitched the former kings with the loue of monkery as they not onely tooke violently from married priestes their liuings to erect monasteries but also spent very lauishly of their owne treasures which they should rather haue imploied in resisting the common enimy both of God and their country the Dane King Edwyn perceiuing all the wealth of the land to be crept into monasteries not onely refrained to bestow more vpon them but recalled diuers of those prodigall gifts his predecessors had made and when the monks refused to render them at his demaund he became a very bitter persecutor of them and their patrons Dunstan therefore séeing nothing before him at home but danger and continuall disgrace got him away into France and there liued in banishment the space of a yéere In the meane time king Edwyn by the rebellion of his subiects at the instigation it is likely of our monks and their fauourers was depriued both of his life and kingdome Edgar that succéeded warned by his brothers example was content to curry fauour with them and to that purpose restored whatsoeuer was taken from them and not onely called home Dunstan but promoted him first vnto the Bishoprick of Worcester soone after of London and lastly hauing béene but two yéeres at London to the Archbishopricke of Canterbury In that place he continued 27. yéeres applying all his endeuours to the enriching of monks and monasteries inhabited by them persecuting and hunting maried priests euery where out of their liuing He died at last May 19. 988. and was long after canonised a Saint 24. Ethelgar AFter Dunstan succéeded Aethelgar abbot first of the new abbey of Winchester then Bishop of Seolsey and lastly made Archbishop of Canterburie 989. He continued in that See onely one yéere and thrée monethes Dying then he was buried in his owne church 25. Siricius SIricius of a monke of Glastonbury was made abbot of Saint Augustine in Canterbury by Dunstan and by his meanes preferred to the Bishopricke of Winchester as one saith but it was the Bishop of Wiltshire or Wilton Ethelgar being dead he became Archbishop the yéere 989. He is blamed much in our histories for perswading to buy peace of the Danes with 10000. l. He sate sower yéeres died 993. and was buried at Canterbury 26. Aluricius alias Alfricus ALuricius was also brought vp at Glastonbury and succéeded Siricius first at Wilton in the Bishopricke there then at Canterbury He died ann 1006. and was buried first at Abingdon but was afterward remooued to Canterbury 27. Elphege ELphege was borne of great parentage and spent his yoonger yéeres in the monasterie of Hirst where he first entred into religion Departing thence he gaue himselfe to a very strait kinde of life at Bathe and was so much admired for the same the rather because he was a gentleman of great linage as many went about to imitate him and ioyning themselues to him made him their gouernour by the name of an abbot Hauing liued so a certaine space he was called to the Bishopricke of Winchester the yéere 984. There he continued twelue yeeres and the yéere 1006. was remooued to Canterbury He was a man of woonderfnll abstinence neuer eating drinking or sleeping more then necessitie compelled him spending his time altogether either in praier study or other necessary businesse So that what with preaching and example of holy life he conuerted many vnto Christ. The yéere 1012. it happened the Danes to be disappointed of certaine tribute which they claimed as due vnto them For want whereof they spoiled and burnt the citie and church of Canterbury The monks and people thereof men women and children they tithed putting nine to the sword and letting go a tenth onely So for 804. that were suffered to escape 7236. went to the pot As for the Archbishop they kept him in prison seuen monethes and at last put him to death at Gréenwich The vengeance of God suffered not these cruell hell-hounds to escape vnpunished By sundry kindes of misfortune they were little and little in a manner all consumed very shortly after The body of Elphege was first buried in Saint Paules church in London afterward carried to Canterbury by the commandement of king Knute and there enterred He was made a Saint and allowed the 19. day of Aprill for celebration of his memorie 28. Liunig alias Lifwing LIunig surnamed Elstan was first Bishop of Wels and translated to Canterbury soone after the death of Elphege His time was very troublesome by reason of the continuall inuasion of the Danes Besides many other calamities he endured seuen monethes imprisonment at their hands from