AFFAIRS OF CHURCH and STATE IN ENGLAND During the Life and Reign OF QUEEN MARY Heb. 11. 35 36 37. 35. Some of them were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better Resurrection 36. And others had triall of cruell mockings and scourgings yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment 37. They were stoned they were sawn asunder were tempted were slain with the sword they wandred about in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented c. Vell. Paterc Lib. 2. Hujus temporis fortunam ne deflere quidem quispiam satis dignè potuit nemo exprimere verbis potest Tantum Relligio potuit suadere malorum LONDON Printed for H. Twyford T. Dring J. Place and W. Palmer Anno 1660 The Parentage Birth and first Fortunes of the Princesse MARY The Eldest Daughter of K. Henry the Eighth before her comming to the CROWN With a brief Narrative of her Mother's Misfortunes from the first Agitating of the Divorce till the time of her Death and that which followed thereupon MARY the eldest Daughter of King Henry the Eighth and of Katherine his first wife daughter of Ferdinand and Issabella Kings of Spain was born at Greenwich on the 18 th day of February Anno 1516. Her Mother had before been married to Arthur Prince of Wales the elder Brother of King Henry but whether bedded by him or not more than as to some old Formalities of Court on the like occasions was not commonly known But he dying within few months after King Henry the Seventh the father of the deceased Prince was secretly dealt with by the Agents of the said Ferdinand and â—ssabella to proceed unto a second Marriage between Henry Duke of York his now onely son and their daughter Katherine To which King Henry readily condescendeth upon divers reasons partly to be assured of the assistance of the Kings of Spain against all practises of the French and partly that so great a Treasure as the Rents and Profits of the Princesse's Joynture might not be carried out of the Kingdom as needs must be if she should be married to a Prince of another Nation This being agreed on by the Parents of either side Pope Julius the 2 d. is sollicited for a Dispensation to the Grant whereof he willingly yielded knowing how necessary it was to the Peace of Christendom that those Kings should be united in the strictest Leagues of Love and Amity Which comming to the knowledge of the Princesse Katherine who understood her own condition better than her father or mother she caused those words vel forsan coâ—nitam to be inserted into the Bull or Dispensation and this she did for the preventing of all such disputes as might arise about the validity of the Marriage in case the consummation of it should be openly known though afterwards those words were used as the shrewdest Argument for the invalidating of the Marriage when it came in question And some such thing was thought to have prevailed with King Henry the seventh for deferring the advancement of Henry his second son to the Style Title and Dignity of Prince of Wales that he might first be well assued that no child was likely to be born of the former Marriage to whom that Title might more properly and of right belong The Dispensation being thus granted Prince Henry being then eleven years of age or thereabouts is solemnly contracted to the Princesse Katherine who must needs have a very great stock as well of Christian-Prudence as of Virgin-Modesty to wait the growing up of a Husband being then a child and one of whose affection to her when he should come to Man's estate she had no assurance and so it proved in the event For Henry had no sooner finished the fourteenth year of his age when either by the compunction of conscience the perswasion of some that wish'd him well or upon consideration of the disproportion of age which was then between them the Princesse being eight years the elder he resolved upon the breaking and annulling of the said Contract in which his Parents had engaged him To which end making his addresse to Doctor Richard Fox then Bishop of Winchester he openly renounceth the said Contract not by word onely but by the subscription of his name to a Legall Instrument containing the effect of that Renunciation his Resolution never to proceed any further in it and his Reasons for it Which Instrument he published in the presence of John Read a publick Notary the Bishop sitting then at Richmond as in Court or Consistory and witnessed unto by Miles Daâ—benâ—y Lord Chamberlain to King Henry the seventh and father of Henry Earl of Bridgwater Sir Charls Sommerset Banneret created afterwards Earl of Worcester Dr. Nicolas West after Bishop of Elâ— Dr. Thâ—mas Rowthall after Bishop of Durham and Sir Henry Mainiâ— The Instrument it self extant in the History of John Speed may be there consulted And in pursuance of this Act he waived the Consummation of the Marriage from one time to another till the death of his father which happened on the 22 of April An. 1509. he being then within two months of the age of eighteen years But being now come unto the Crown by the death of his father Reason of State prevailed so far beyond that of Conscience that he consented to the consummation of the Marriage which before he had solemnly renounced and did accordingly celebrate those unhappy Nuptialls the cause of so much trouble both to him and others on the second of June and caused her to be Crown'd with him on the 24 th of the same month This Marriage was blest within the year by the birth of a son whom the King caused to be Christned by the name of Henry and five years after with another who lived not long enough to receive his Baptism But Henry the first-born not living to be two months old the King remained childlesse till the birth of this daughter Mary the presumptive Heir of his Dominions committed in her Infancy to the care and charge of the Lady Margaret daughter of George Duke of Clarence and by the King in reference to her discent from the house of the Montacutes advanced unto the Style and Title of Countesse of Sarisbury An 1513. And herein it was thought that the Queen had a particular aim beyond that of the King and that she rather chose to commit her daughter to the care of that Lady than of any other in the Kingdom to the end that some affection growing to her by any of the Countesse's sons her daughter's Title to the Crown might be corroborated by the Interesse of the House of Clarence And so far her design succeeded that the Princesse Mary always carried such a dear affection to Reginald Pâ—le her second son best known by the name of Cardinal Pole in the following times that when she came unto the Crown she would have made choice of him for her husband before any other if the necessity of her affairs and
of his Dominions and caused the sentence of his Deprivation to be posted up at the Townes of Bruges Taurney and Dunkiâ—ke in Flanders at Bolloigne and Diepe in France and St. Andrewes in Scotland effâ—cting nothing by the unadviâ—edness of that desperate Counsell but that the King became more fixed in his Resolutions and more averse from all the thoughts of Reconciliation with the See of Rome The surrenderies of the former year cofirmed by Act of Parliament in the beginning of this drew after it the finall dissolution of all the rest none daring to oppose that violent Torrent which seemed to carry all before it but the Abbots of Colchester Reading and Glastenbury quarrelled for which they were severally condemned and executed under colour of denying the Kings Supremacy and their rich Abbeys seized upon as confiscations to the use of the King which brought him into such a suspition of separating from the Communion of the Church of Rome that for the better vindicating of his integrity as to the particulars he passed in the same Parliament the terrible Statute of the six Articles which drew so much good blood from his Protestant Subjects And being further doubtfull in himselfe what course to steere he marries at the same time with the Lady Ann sister unto the Duke of Cleve whom not long after he divorseth Advanceth his Great Minister Cromwell by whom he had made so much havock of Religious houâ—es in all parts of the Realm to the Earldome of Essex and sends him headlesse to his Grave within three moneths after takes to his bed the Lady Katharine Howard a Neece of Thomas Duke of Norfolk and in short time found cause enough to cut off her head not being either the richer in children by so many wives nor much improved in his Revenue by such horrible Rapines In the middest of which confusions he sets the wheele of Reformation once more going by moderating the extreme severity of the said Statute touching the six Articles abolishing the Superstitious usages accustomedly observed on St. Nicholas day and causing the English Bible of the Larger vollumne to be set up in all and every Parish Church within the Kingdome for such as were Religiously minded to Resort unto it The Prince had now but newly finished the first yeare of his age when a fit wife was thought of for him upon this occasion The Pope incensed against King Henry had not long since sententially deprived him of his Kingdom as before was said And having so done he made an offer of it to King James the fifth then King of the Scots the only Son of Margaret his eldest sister wife of James the fourth To whom he sent a Breve to this effect viz. That he would assist him against King Henry whom in his Consistory he had pronounced to be an Heretick a Scismatick a manifest Adulterer a publique Murtherer a committer of Sacriledge a Rebell and convict of Lesae Majestatis for that he had risen against his Lord and therefore that he had justly deprived him of his Kingdom and would dispose the same to him and other Princes so as they would assist him in the recovery of it This could not be so closely carried but that the King had notice of it who from thenceforth began to have a watchfull eye upon the Actions of his Nephew sometimes alluring him unto his party by offering him great hopes and favours and practising at other times to weaken and distract him by animating and maintaining his owne Subjects against him At last to set all right between them an enterview was appointed to be held at York proposed by Henry and condescended to by James But when the day appointed came the Scots King failed being deterred from making his appeareance there by some Popish Prelates who put into his head a fear of being detained a Prisoner as James the first had been by King Henry the fourth Upon this breach the King makes ready for a Warr sets out a manifest of the Reasons which induced him to it amongst which he insists especially on the neglect of performing that Homage which anciently had been done and still of Right ought to be done to the Kings of England In prosecuting of which Warr the Duke of Norfolk entred Scotland with an Army October 21. Anno 1542. waâ—ts and spoyles all the Country followed not long after by an Army of Scots consisting of 15000. men which in like manner entred England but were discomfited by the valour and good fortune of Sir Thomas Wharton and Sir William Mâ—sgrave with the help of some few Borderers only the Scots upon some discontent making little resistance In which fight besides many of the Scottish Nobility were taken eight hundred Prisoners of inferiour note twenty foure peeces of Ordinance some cart loadâ— of Armes and other booty On the 19 of December the Scottish Lords and other of the Principall Prisoners to the number of 20. or thereabouts were brought into London followed on the third day after with the newes of the death of King James and the birth of the young Queen his daughter This put King Henry on some thoughts of uniting the two Crowns in a firme and everlasting League by the Marriage of this infant Queen with his Son Prince Edward In pursuance whereof he sent for the inprisoned Lords feasted them royally at White Hall and dealt so effectually with them by himselfe and his Ministers that they all severally and joyntly engaged themselves to promote this Match Dismist into their own Country upon these promises and the leaving of Hostages they followed the Negotation with such care and diligence that on the 29th of June in the yeare ensuing notwithstanding the great opposition made against them by the Queen Dowager Cardâ—nall Beton and divers others who adhered to the Faction of France they brought the businesse at the last to this Conclusion viz. 1. That the Lords of Scotland shall have the Education of the Princess for a time yet so as it might be Lawfull for our King to send thitâ—er a Noble man and his wife with a Family under twenty Persons to waâ—te on her 2. That at ten yeares of Age she should be brought into England the contract being first finished by a Proxie in Scotland 3. That within two moneths after the date heâ—eof six Noble Scâ—ts should be given as Hostages for the performance of the Conditions on their Part And that if any of them dyed their number should be supâ—lyed 4. And furthermore it was agreed upon that the Realme of Scotland by that name should preserve it's Lawes and Rights and that Peace should be made for as long time as was desired the French being excluded But though these Capitulations thus agreed on were sent into â—ngland signed and â—ealed in the August following yet the Cardinall and his Party grew so strong that the whâ—le Treaty câ—me to nothing the Noble Men who had been Prâ—soners falsifying their Faith
then Ordinary Diligence so was he encourâ—ged thereunto by a very Liberal Exhibition which he received annually from the late King Henry But the King being dead his Exhibition and encouragments dyed also with him So that the Lamp of his life being destitute of the Oyl which fed it after it had been in a langâ—ishing condition all the rest of hâ—s King's Reign was this year unfortunately Extinguâ—shed unfortunately in regard that he dyed distrâ—cted to the great Greif of all that knew him and the no small sorrow of maâ—y who never saw him but onely in his painful and laboâ—ious Writings Wâ—ich Writâ—ngs being by him Presented to the hands of King Henry came aâ—terwards into â—he power of Sr. John Cheâ—k Schole-master and Secretary for the Lâ—tine tongue to the King now Reigning And though collâ—cted Principally for the uâ—e of the Crown yet on the death of the young King his Tuâ—our kept thâ—m to himself as long as he lived and left them at his death to Henry his Eldest Son Secretary to the Councel Established at Yoâ—k for the Nâ—râ—hern parts From Cheâ—k but not without some intermediate conveyances four of them came into the possession of William 〈◊〉 of Leicâ—sâ—e shiâ—e who having served his turn of them as well as he could in his dâ—scription of that County bestowed them as a most choise Rarity upon Oxford Library where the Oâ—â—ginals â—tâ—ll â—emain Out of this Treasury whilest it remained entire in the hands of Cheek the learned Campden was supplyed with much Excellent matter toward the making up of his description of the â—sles of Britain but not without all due acknowledgment to his Benefactour whom he both frequent citeâ—h and very highly commendeth for his pains and industry In the last place comes in Cardanus an eminent Philosopher born in Italy and one not easily over matched by the then supposed Matchless Scâ—liger having composed a Book Entituled â— De varietate Rerum with an Epistlâ— Dedicatory to King Edward the Sixth he came over this year into England to present it to him which gave him the Occasion of much conference with â—â—m In which he found â—uch dexterity in Him for Encountring many of his Paradoxes in natural Philosophy that he seemed to be astonished between Admiration and Delight and divulged his Abilities to be miraculâ—uâ— Some Passages of which discourse Cardanus hath left upon Record in these words ensuâ—ng Decimâ—â—m quintum adhuc agâ—bat Annum cum interrogobat Latine c. Being yet saith he but of the age of fifteen years he asked me in Latine in which tongue he utterred his mind no less eloquently and readily then I could do my self what my Bookâ— which I had dedicated unto him De varietate Rerum did contain I answered that in the first Chapter was shewed the cause of Comâ—ts or blazing-stars which hath been long sought for and hitherto scarce fully found What cause sayd he is that The concourâ—e or meeting of the light of the wandring Planets or stars To this thâ— King thus replyed again For as much said he as the motion of the stars keepeth not one course but is diverse and variable by continual Alteration how is it then that the cause of these Comets doth not quickly vâ—de or vanish or that the Comet doth not keep one certain and uniform course and motion with the said stars and Planets Whereunto I anâ—wered that it â—oved indeed but with a far swifter motion then the Planets by reaâ—on of the diversity of Aspects as we see in Christal and the Sun when a Rainbow rebounds on a Wall for a little change makes a great difference of the place The King rejoyned How can that be done without a subject as the Wall is the Subject to the Rainbow To which I answered That as in the Galaxia or Via lactea and in the Reflection of Lights when many are set near one another they do produce a certain Lucid and bright Mean Which Conference is thus shut up by that Learned Men That he began to favour Learning before he could know it and knew it before he could tell what use he had of it And then bemoans his short life in these words of the Poet Immodicâ—s brevis est Aetas rara Senectus Anno Reg. Edw. Sexti 7º Anno Dom. 1552 1553. SUch being the excellent Abilities of this hopeful Prince in Matters of Abstruser Learning there is no question to be made but that he was the Master of so much Perspicacity in his own Affairs as indeed he was which might produce both Love and Admiration in the Neighbouring Princes Yet such was the Rapacity of the Times and the Unfortunateness of his Condition that his Minority was abused to many Acts of Spoil and Rapine even to an high degree of Sacrilege to the raising of some and the enriching of others without any manner of improvement to his own Estate For notwithstanding the great and most inestimable Treasures which must needs come in by the spoil of so many Shrines and Images the sale of all the Lands belonging to Chanteries Colleges Free Chapels c. And the Dilapidating of the Patrimony of so many Bishopricks and Cathedral Churches he was not onely plunged in Debt but the Crown-Lands were much diminished and impaired since his coming to it Besides which spoils there were many other helps and some great ones too of keeping him both beforeâ—hand and full of Money had they been used to his Advantage The Lands of divers of the Halls and Companies in London were charged with Annual Pensions for the finding of such Lights Obits and Chantry-Priests as were founded by the Donours of them For the redeeming whereof they were constrained to pay the sum of Twenty Thousand Pounds to the use of the King by an Order from the Council-Table not long before the payment of the first Money for the sale of Boloign Anno 1550. And somewhat was also paid by the City to the King for the Purchase of the Borough of Southwark which they bought of him the next year But the main glut of Treasure was that of the four hundred thousand Crowns amounting in our Money to 133333 l. 13 s. 4 d. paid by the French King on the sâ—rrendry of the Town and Territory of 〈◊〉 before remembred Of which vast sum but small in reference to the loss of so great a strength no less then fourscore thousand pounds was laid up in the Tower the rest assigned to publick uses for the peace and safety of the Kingdom Not to say any thing of that great Yearly Profit which came in from the Mint after the entercourse settled betwixt Him and the King of Sweden and the decrying so much Base Money had begun to set the same on work Which great Advantages notwithstanding He is now found to be in Debt to the Bankers of Anâ—weâ—p elsewhere no less then 251000 l of English money Towards which the sending of his own Ambassadours into France and the entertainment of the
symitry which showed it selfe in all her features and what she carried on that side by that advantage was over-ballanced on the other by a pleasing sprightfulnesse which gained as much upon the hearts of all beholders It was conceived by those Great Critticks in the schooles of Beauty that love which seemed to threaten in the eyes of Queen Jane did only seem to sport it selfe in the eyes of Queen Ann that there was more Majesty in the Gaâ—b of Queen Jane Seimour and more lovelinesse in that of Queen Ann Bollen yet so that the Majesty of the one did excell in Lovelyness and that the Lovelinesse of the other did exceed In majesty Sir John Russell afterwards Earle of Bedford who had beheld both Queens in their greatest Glories did use to say that the richer Queen Jane was in clothes the fairer she appeared but that the other the richer she was apparrelled the worse she looked which showes that Queen Ann only trusted to the Beauties of Nature and that Queen Jane did sometimes help her selfe by externall Ornaments In a word she had in her all the Graces of Queen Ann but Governed if my conjecture doth not faile me with an evener and more constant temper or if you will she may be said to be equally made up of the two last Queens as having in her all the Attractions of Queen Ann but Regulated by the reservednesse of Queen Katharine also It is not to be thought that so many rare perâ—ections should be long concealed from the eye of the King or that love should not worke in him it's accustomed effects of desire and hope In the prosecution whereof he lay so open to discovery that the Queen couâ—d not chuse but take notice of it and intimated her suspitioâ—s to him as appeares by a letter of hers in the Scrinia Sacra Iâ— which she signifies unto him that by hastning her intended death he would be left at liberty both before God and man to follow his affection already setled on the Party for whose sake she was reduced unto that condition and whose name she could some while since have pointed to his Grace not being ignorant of her suspicions And it appeared by the event that she was not much mistaken in the Mark she aimed at For scarce had her lementable death which happened on the nineteenth of May prepared the way for the Legitimating of this new affection but on the morrow after the King was secretly married to Mistress Seimour and openly showed her as his Queen in the Whitsontide following A Marriage which made some alteration in the face of the Court in the advancing of her kindred and discountenancing the Dependants of the former Queen but otherwise produced no change in Affaires of State The King proceeded as before in suppressing Monasteries extinguishing the Popes Authority and â—ltering divers things in the face of the Câ—uâ—ch which tended to that Reformation which after followed For on the eighth of June began the Parliament in which here past an Act for tâ—e finall extinguishing of the Power of the Popes of Rome Cap. 10. And the next day a Convocation of the Bishops and Clergy managed by Sir Thomas Cromwell advanced about that time unto the Title of Lord Cromwell of Wimbledon and made his Majesties Viccar Generall of all Ecclesiast â—all Matâ—ers in the Realme of England By whose Authority a book was published after Mature debate and Deliberation under the name of Articles Devised by the Kings Highness in which mentioned â—ut three Sacraments that is to â—ay Baptisme Penâ—ance and the Lords Supper Besides which book there were some Acts agreed upon in the Convocation for diminishing the superflâ—ous number of Holy dayes especially of such as happened in the time of Harvest Sâ—gnified afterwards to the people in certain Injunctions published in the Kings name by the new Viccar Generall as the first fruits of his Authority In which it was ordained amongst other things that the Curates in every Parish Church should teach the People to say the Lords Prayer the Creed the Ave-Mary and the Ten Commandments in the English Tongue But that which seemed to make most for the Advantage of the new Queen and her Posterity if it please God to give her any was the unexpected death of the Duke of Richmond the Kings naturall Son begotten on the body of the Lady Talboiâ— So dearly cherished by his Father having then no lawful Issuâ—-male that in the sixth yeare of his Age An. 1525. he created him Earl of Nottingham and not long after Duke of Richmond and Sommerset preferred him to the Honourable office of Earle Marshall elected him into the Order of the Garter made him Lord Admirall of the Royall Navy in an expedition against France and finally Affianced him to Mary the daughter of Thomas Howard Duke of Norâ—olk the most â—owerfull Subject in the Kingdom Now were these all the favours intended to him The Crown it selfe being designed him by the King in default of Lawfull Issue to be procreated and begotten of his Royall Body For in the Act of the Succession which past in the Parliament of this year the Crown being first setled upon the Issue of this Queen with the remainder to the Kings issue lawfully begotten on any following wife whatsoever there past this clause in favour of the Duke of Richmond as it was then generally conceived that is to say That for lack of lawfull heires of the Kings body to be procreated or begotten as is afore limitted by this Act it should and might be lawfull for him to confer the same on any such Person or Persons in Possession and Remainder as should please his Highnesse and according to such Estate and after such manner â—orme fashion order and condition as should be expressed declared named and lâ—mitted in his said Letters Patents or by his last Will the Crown to be enjoyed by such person or persons so to be nominated and appointed in as large and ample manner as if such Person or Persons had been his Highnesse Lawfull Heires to the Imperiall Crown of this Realm And though it might please God as it after did to give the King some Lawfull Issue by this Queen yet took he so much care for this naturall son as to enable himselfe by another Clause in the said Act to advance any person or persons of his most Royall Blood by Letters Patents under the Great Seale to any Title Stile or Name of any Estate Dignity or Honour whatsoever it be and to give to them or any of them any Castles Honours Mannours Lands Tenements Liberties Franchiefes or other Hereditaments in â—ee simple or Fee â—tail or for terme of their lives or the life of any of them But all these expectations and Provisions were to no effect the Duke departing this life at the age of 17 yeares or thereabouts within few dayes after the ending of this Session that is to say on the 22th day of July Anno 1536. to the
made 〈◊〉 Purple silke and Gold garnished with the like girdle he is girt withall thereby showing him to be Duke of Cornwall by birth and not by Creation A cap of the same velvet thaâ—â—is 〈◊〉 is of furred with â—â—mines with Laces and a button and Tassells on the Crown thereof made of Venice Gold A Garland or a little Coronet of Gold to be put on his head together with his Cap. A long golden verge or Rod beâ—okening his Government A ring of Gold also to be put on the third finger of his left hand whereby he was â—o declare his Marriage made with equity and Justice But scarce were these provâ—sions ready but the Kings sicknesse brought a stop and his death shortly afâ—er put an end to those preparations the expectation of a Principality being therâ—by changed to the posâ—ession oâ— a Crown For the King having long lived a voluptuous life and indulgent too much unto his Pallate was gâ—owne so corpulent or rather so overâ—grownâ— with in unweildly burâ—hen of flesh that he was not able to go up staires from one roome to another but as hâ— was hoised up by an Engine Whâ—ch filling his body with â—oule and foggy humours and those humours falling into his leg in which 〈…〉 ancient and uncured â—ore they there began to settle to an inflamation 〈…〉 both waste his Spirits and increase his passions In thâ— mâ—ddest of 〈…〉 it was not his least care to provide for the safetâ— of his Sâ—n and preserve the succession of the Crown to his own Posterity At such time as he had married Queen Ann Bollen he procured hâ—s daughter Mary to be declared 〈◊〉 by Act of Parliament the like he also did by his daughter Elizabeth when he haâ— married Queen Jane Sâ—imour setling the Crown upon his issue by the said Queen Jane But having no other issue by her but Prince Edward only and none at all by any of his following wives he thought it a high point of Prâ—dence as indeed it was to establish the Succession with more stayes then one and not to let it rest on so weak a staffe as a childe of little more then nine yeares of age For which cause he procured an Act of Parliament in the 35th yeare of his Reign in which it is declared that in default of issue of the said Prince Edward the Crowne should be entailed to the Kings daughter the Lady Mary and the Heires of her body and for default thereof to the Kings daughter the Lady Elizabeth and the heires of her body and for lack of such issue to such as the King by his Letters Patents or his Last Will in Writing should Limit So that he had three children by three severall wives two of them borne of questionable Marriages yet all made capable by this Act of having their severall turnes in the succession as it after proved And though a threefold cord be not easily broken yet he obtained further power for disposing the Crown if their issue failed whereof being now sick and fearing his approaching end he resolved to make such use in laying down the State of the succession to the Crown Imperiall as was more agreeable to his private passions then the Rules of Justice which appeared plainly by his excluding of the whole Scottish Line descended from the Lady Margaret his eldest sister from all hopes thereof unlesse perhaps it may be said that the Scottish Line might be sufficiently provided for by the Marriage of the young Queen with the Prince his Son and that it was the Scotâ— own fault if the match should faile This care being over and the Succession setled by his Last Will and Testament bearing date the 28th of December being a full moneth before his death he began to entertaine some feares and Jealousies touching the safety of the Prince whom he should leave unto a factious and divided Court who were more like to serve their own turns by him then advance his interest His brother-in-Law the Duke of Suffolk in whom he most confided died not long before the kindred of Queen Jane were but new in Court of no Authority in themselves and such as had subsisted chiefly by the countenance which she had from him As they could contribute little to the defence of the Princes person and the preservation of his Rightâ— So there were some who had the Power and who could tell but that they also had the will to change the whole frame of his design and take the Government to themselves Amongst which there was none more feared then the Noble Lord Henry Earle of Surrey the eldest son of Thoâ—as Howard Duke of Norfolk strong in Alliance and Dependance of a Revenue not inferiour to some forreign Kings and that did derive his Pedigree from King Edward the first The Earle himselfe beheld in generall by the English as the chiefe Ornament of the Nation Highly esteemed for his Chivalry his Affability his learning and whatsoever other Graces might either make him amiable in the eyes of the people or formidable in the sight of a jealous impotent and way-ward Prince Against him therefore and his Father there were Crimes devised their persons put under an Arrest their Arraignment prosecuted at the Guild Hall in London where they both received the sentence of death which the Earle suffered on the Tower Hill on the 19. of January the old Duke being reserved by the Kings death which followed within nine dayes after for more happy times Which brings into my minde a sharp but shrewd Character of this King occurring in the writings of some but more common in the mouthes of many that is to say that be never spared woman in his lust nor man in his anger For proofe of which last it is observed that he brought unto the block two Queens two Noble Ladies one Cardinall declared of Dukes Marquisses Earles and the sons of Earles no fewer then twelve Lords and Knights eighteen of Abbots and Priors thirteen Monks and Religious Persons about seventy seven and many more of both Religions to a very great number So as it cannot be denied that he had too much as all great Monarchs must have somewhat of the Tyrant in him And yet I dare not say with Sir Walter Rawleigh That if all the patterns of a mercilesse Prince had been lost in the World they might have been found in this one King some of his Executions being justifiable by the very nature of their Crimes others to be imputed to the infelicity of the times in which he lived and may be ascribed unto Reasons of State the Exigences whereof are seldom squared by the Rule of Justice His Infirmity and the weaknesse which it brought upon him having confined him to his bed he had a great desire to receive the Sacrament and being perswaded to receive it in the easiest posture sitting or raised up in his bed he would by no meanes yield unto it but caused himselfe to be taken up placed in his chaire
said Church to have been deceived in that what he before had taught them and to be sorry for delivering such Doctrine to them But these men might pretend some Warrant from the King's Injunctions which they might conceive it neither fit nor safe to oppose and therefore that it was the wisest way to strike Sail betimes upon the shooting of the first Warning-Piece to bring them in But no man was so much before hand with Authority as one Doctour Glasier who as soon as the Fast of Lent was over and it was well he had the Patâ—ence to stay so long affirmed publickly in a Sermon at Saint Paul's Cross That The Lent was not ordained of God to be Fasted neither the Eating of Flesh to be forborn but that the same was a Politick Ordinance of men and might therefore be broken by men at their pleasures For which Doctrine as the Preacher was never questioned the Temper of the Times giving Incouragement enough to such Extravagancies so did it open such a Gap to Carnal Liberty that the King found it necessary to shut it up again by a Proclamation on the sixteenth of January commanding Abstinence from all Flesh for the Lent then following But there was something more then the Authority of a Minour King which drew on such a General Conformity to these Injunctions and thereby smoothed the way to those Alterations both in Doctrine and Worship which the Grandees of the Court and Church had began to fashion The Lord Protectour and his Party were more experienced in Affairs of State then to be told That All great Counsels tending to Innovation in the Publick Government especially where Religion is concerned therein are either to be back'd by Arms or otherwise prove destructive to the Undertakers For this cause he resolves to put himself into the Head of an Army as well for the security of His Person and the Preservation of his Party as for the carrying on of the Design against all Opponents And for the Raising of an Army there could not be a fairer Colour nor a more popular Pretence then a War in Scotland not to be made on any new emergent Quarrel which might be apt to breed suspicion in the Heads of the People but in Pursuit of the great Project of the King deceased for Uniting that Realm by the Marriage of their young Queen to His onely Son to the Crown of England On this pretense Levies are made in all parts of the Kingdom great store of Arms and Ammunition drawn together to advance the service considerable Numbers of Old Souldiers brought over from Bulloign and the Peeces which depended on it and good Provision made of Shipping to attend the Motions of the Army upon all occasions He entertained also certain Regiments of Walloons and Germanes not out of any great Opinion which he had of their Valour though otherwise of good Experience in the Wars but because they were conceived more likely to enforce Obedience if his Designs should meet with any Opposition then the Natural English But in the first place Care was taken that none of the neighbouring Princes should either hinder his Proceedings or assist the Enemy To which end Doctour Wotton the first Dean of Canterbury then Resident with the Queen Dowager of Hungary who at that time was Regent of the Estates of Flanders for Charls the Fifth was dispatched unto the Emperour's Court there to succeed in the place of Doctour Bonner Bishop of London who together with Sir Francis Bryan had formerly been â—ent Embassadours thâ—ther from King Henry the Eighth The Principal part of his Employment besides such matters as are incident to all Ambassadours was to divert the Emperour from concluding any League with France contrary to the Capitulations made between the Emperour and the King deceased but to deal with him above all things for declaring himself an Enemy to all of the Scotish Nation but such as should be Friends to the King of England And because some Remainders of Hostility did still remain between the English and the French notwithstanding the late peace made between the Crowns it was thought fit to sweeten and oblige that People by all the acts of Correspondence and friendly Neighbourhood In Order whereunto it was commanded by the King's Proclamation That Restitution should be made of such Ships and Goods which had been taken from the French since the Death of King Henry Which being done also by the French though far short in the value of such Reprisals as had been taken by the English there was good hope of coming to a better understanding of one another and that by this Cessation of Arms both Kings might come in short time to a further Agreement But that which seemed to give most satisfaction to the Court of France was the performance of a solemn Obsequie for King Francis the First who left this Life on the twenty second day of March and was Magnificently Interred amongst His Predecessours in the Monastery of Saint Dennis not far from Paris Whose Funerals were no sooner Solemnized in France but Order was given for a Dirige to be sung in all the Churches in London on the nineteenth of June as also in the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in the Quire whereof being hung with black a sumptuous Herse had been set up for the present Ceremony For the next day the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury assisted with Eight other of the Bishops all in their Rich Mitres and other their Pontificals did sing a Mass of Requiem the Funeral Sermon being preached by Doctour Ridley Lord Elect of Rochester who if he did his part therein as no doubt he did could not but magnifie the Prince for His Love to Learning Which was so great and eminent in Him that He was called by the French L' pere des Arts des Sciences and The Father of the Muses by some Writers of other Nations Which Attributes as He well deserved so did He Sympathize in that Affection as he did in many other things with King Henry the Eighth of whose Munificence for the Encouragements of Learning we have spoke before This great Solemnity being thus Honourably performed the Commissioners for the Visitation were dispatched to their several Circuits and the Army drawn from all parts to their Rendez-vous for the War with Scotland Of which two Actions that of the Visitation as the easiest and meeting with a People which had been long trained up in the Schole of Obedience was carried on without any shew of Opposition submitted to upon a very small Dispute even by some of those Bishops who were conceived most likely to have disturbed the business The first who declared his aversness to the King's Proceedings was Dr. Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who stomaching his being left out of the Lift of the Council appeared more cross to all their doings then other of his Order For which being brought before their Lordships and not giving them such satisfaction as they looked for from
with the suppression of such Bishopricks and Collegiate Churches as either lay â—urthest off or might best be spared In reference whereunto it was concluded in a Chapter held at Westminster by the Knights of the Garter That from thenceforth the said most noble Order of the Garter should be no longer entâ—tuled by the Name of St. George but that it should be called the Oâ—der of the Garter onely and that the Feast of the said Order should be celebrated upon Whitson-Eve Whitson-day and Whitson-Monday and not on St. George's day as before it was And to what end was this concluded and what else was to follow upon this Conclusion but the dissolving of the Free-Chapel of St. George in the Castle of Windsor and the transferring of the Order to the Chapel of King HENRY the Seventh in the Abbey of Westminster Which had undoubtedly been done and all the Lands thereof converted to some powerful Courtiers under pretence of laying them to the Crown if the King's Death which happened within four Moneths after had not prevented the Design and thereby respited that Ruin which was then intended The like preservation happened at the same time also in the Church of Durham as liberally endowed as the most and more amply priviledged then the best in the King's Dominions The Bishops hereof by Charter and long Prescription enjoyed and exercised all the Rights of a County Palatine in that large Tract of Ground which lyes between the Tees and the Tine best known in those Parts by the Name of the Bishoprick the Diocess containing also all Northumberland of which the Bishops and the Percies had the greatest shares No sooner was Bishop Tonstal committed to the Tower which was on the Twentieth of December 1551. but presently an Eye was cast upon his Possessions Which questionless had followed the same fortune with the rest of the Bishopricks if one more powerful then the rest had not preserved it from being parcelled out as the others were on a â—â—rong Confidence of getting it all unto himself The Family of the Percies was then reduced to such a point that it seemed to have been quite expired a Family which first came in with the Norman Conquerour by whom enriched with most of the forfeited Estates of Morchar Gospatrick and Waltheof the three last Earls of Northumberland of the Saxon Race But this Line ending in the latter times of King HENRY the First Josseline of Lorain descended from the Emperour CHARLES the Great and one of the younger Brothers of Adeliza the last Wife of the King enrich'd himself by Marriage with the Heir-General of this House upon condition that keeping to himself the Arms of his own Family he should assume the Name of Percy to remain always afterward unto his Posterity Advanced in that respect by the Power and Favour of John of Gaunt to the Rank and Title of the Earls of Northumberland at the Coronation of King Richard the Second They held the same with great Power and Honour the short interposing of the Marquess Mountacute excepted onely till toward the latter end of King Henry the Eighth At what time it happened that Henry Lord Peircy the sixth Earl of this House had incurred the heavy displeasure of that King First for an old affection to the Lady Ann Bollein when the King began first to be enamoured of her excellent Beauties and afterwards for denying to confess a Precontract to have been formerly made between them when the King now as weary of her as before he was fond was seeking some fair Pretences to divorce himself from her before she was to lose her Head He had no Children of his own and Thâ—mas his Brother and next Heir was to his greater grief attainted of Treason for being thought to have a chief hand iâ— the Northern Rebellion Anno 1536. In both respects he found himself at such a loss and the whole Family without hope of a Restitution to its antient splendour that to preserve himself from running into further danger he gave unto the King the greatest part of that fair Inheritance and dying not long after left his Titles also to the King 's disposing The Lands and Titles being thus fallen into the Crown continued undisposed of till the falling of the Duke of Somerset when Dudley Earl of Warwick having some projections in his Head beyond the greatness of a Subject advanced himself unto the Title of Duke of Northumberland not doubting but he should be able to possess himself in short time also of all the Landâ— of that Family which were then remaining in the Crown To which Estate the Bishoprick of Duâ—ham and all the Lands belonging to it could not but be beheld as a fair Addition if at the least it might be called an addition which was of more value then the Patrimony to which it was to have been added He had long Reigned without a Crown suffering the King for some years to enjoy that Title which was to be transferred if all Contrivances had held good upon one of his Sons whom He designed in Marriage to the eldest Daughter of the House of Suffolk And then how easie was it for him having a King of his own begetting a Queen of his own making the Lords of the Council at his beck and a Parliament to serve his turn for all occasions to incorporate both the Lands of the Peircies and the Patrimony of that Church into one Estate with all the Rights and Privileges of a County Palatine Count Palatine of Durham Prince Palatine of Northumberland or what else he pleased must be the least he could have aimed at in that happy Conjuncture happy to him had the Even been answerable unto his Projections but miserable enough to all the rest of the Kingdom who should not servilely submit to this Glorious Upstart Upon which Grounds as the Bishoprick of Durham was dissolved by Act of Parliament under pretence of patching up the King's Revenue so the greatest part of the Lands thereof had been kept together that they might serve for a Revenue to the future Palatine But all these Projects failing in the death of the King and his own Attaindure not long after the Peircies were restored by Queen Mary to their Lands and Honours as the Bishop was unto his Liberty and to most of his Lands it being almost impossible that such a fair Estate should fall into the hands of the Courtiers and no part of it be left sticking in those Glutinous Fingers For to begin the Year withall the King was taken with a very strong Cough in the Moneth of January which at last ended in a Consumption of the Lungs the Seeds of which Malignity were generally supposed to have been sown in the last Summer's Progress by some over-heatings of himself in his Sports and Exercises But they that looked more narrowly into the matter observed some kind of decayings in him from the time that Sir Robert Dudley the third Son of Northumberland was admitted into a place
Shrewsbury and Pembroke served as principal Mourners the Funeral Sermoâ— Preached by Doctour Day then shortly to be re-established in the See of Chichester And if the Dead â—e capable of any Felicity in this present Woald He might be said to have had a special part thereof in this particular viz. That as He had caused all Divine Offices to be Celebrated in the English Tongue according to the Reformation which was made in the time of His Life so the whole Service of the Day together with the Form of Burial and the Communion following on it were Officiated in the English Tongue according to the same Model on the Day of his Obsequies But whilest these things were Acting on the Câ—urch of Westminster Queen Mary held a more beneficial Obsequie for Him as She then imagined in the Tower of London where She caused a Solemn Dirige in the Latine Tongue to be Chanted in the Afternoon and the next Day a Mass of Requiem to be sung for the good of His Sonl At which both She and many of Her Ladies made their accustomed Offerings according to the Form and Manner of the Church of Kome Such was the Life and such the Death of this Excellent Prince whose Character I shall not borrow from any of our own English Writers who may be thought to have been byassed by their own Affections in speaking more or less of Him then He had deserved But I shall speak Him in the words of that Great Philosopher Hierome Cardanus an Italian born and who professing the Religion of the Church of Rome cannot be rationally accused of Partiality in his Character of Him There was in Him saith he a towardly Disposition and pregnancie apt to all Humane Literature as who being yet a Childe had the knowledg of divers Tongues First of the English His own Natural Tongue of the Latine also and of the French Neither was He ignorant as I hear of the Greek Italian and Spanish Tongues and of other Languages peradventure more In His own in the French and in the Latine Tongue singularly perfect and with the like facility apt to receive all other Neither was He ignorant in Logick in the Principles of Natural Philosophie or in Musick There was in Him lacking neither Humanity a Princely Gravity and Majesty for any kind of towardliness beseeming a Noble King Briefly it might seem A Miracle of Nature to behold the Excellent Wit and Forwardness that appeared in Him being yet but a Childe And this saith he I speak not Rhetorically to amplifie things or to make them more then Truth is nay the Truth is more then I do utter So He in reference to His Perâ—onal Abâ—lities and Qualifications And for the rest that is to say His Piety to Almighty God His Zeal to the Reformation of Religion His Care for the well-ordering of the Common-Wealth and other Qualities belonging to a Christian King so far as they could be found in such tender years I leave them to be gathered from the Passages of His Life as before lai'd down Remembring well that I am to play the Part of an Historian and not of a Panegyrist or Rhetorician As for the manner of His Death the same Philosopher leaves it under a suspicion of being like to fall upon Him by some dangerous Practise For whether He divined it by his ART in Astrologie having Calculated the Scheme of His Nativity or apprehended it by the Course and Carriage of Business he made a dangerous Prediction when he fore-saw that the KING should shortly dye a violent Death and as he reporteth fled out of the Kingdom for fear of further danger which might follow on it Of any Publick Works of Piety in the Reign of this KING more then the Founding and Endowing of the Hospitals before-remembred I finde no mention in our Authours which cannot be affirmed of the Reign of any of His Predecessours since their first receiving of the Gospel But their Times were for building up and His unfortunate Reign was for pulling down Howsoever I finde His Name remembred amongst the Benefactours to the University of Oxford and by that Name required to be commemorated in all the Prayers before such Sermons as were Preached ordinarily by any of that Body in Saint Marie's Church or at Saint Paul's Cross or finally in the Spittle without Bishops-Gate on some solemn Festivals But possibly it is that his Beneficence did extend no further then either to the Confirmation of such Endowments as had been made unto that University by King Henry the Eight or to the excepting of all Colleges in that and the other University out of the Statute or Act of Parliament by which all Chantries Colleges and Free-Chapels were conferred upon Him The want of which Redemption in the Grant of the said Chantries Colleges Free-Chapels to King Henry the Eight strook such a Terrour unto the Students of both Universities that they could never think themselves secure till the Expiring of that Statute by the Death of the King notwithstanding a very Pious and Judicious Letter which had been written to the King in that behalf by Doctour Richard Cox then Dean of Christ-Church and Tâ—â—our to His Son Prince Edward But not to leave this Reign without the Testimony of some Work of Piety I cannot but remember the Foundation of the Hospital of Christ in Abindon as a Work not onely of this Time but the King 's own Act. A Guild or Brother-hood had been there founded in the Parish-Church of Saint Hellens during the Reign of King Henry the Sixth by the procurement of one Sir John Gollafrie a near Neighbouring Gentleman for Building and Repairing certain Bridges and High-waies about the Town as also for the Sustenance and Relief of thirteen poor People with two or more Priests for performing all Divine Offices unto those of the Brother-hood Which being brought within the Compass of the Act of Parliament by which all Chantries Colleges and Free-Chappels were conferred on the Crown the Lands hereof were seized on to the use of the King the Repairing of the Waies and Bridges turned upon the Town and the Poor left Destitute in a manner of all Relief In which Condition it remained till the last Year of the King when it was moved by Sir John Mason one of the Masters of Requests a Town-born Childe and one of the poorest mens Children in it to erect an Hospital in the same and to Endow it with such of the Lands belonging to the former Brother-hood as remained in the Crown and to charge it with the Services and Pious Uses which were before incumbent on the old Fraternity The Suitour was too powerfull to be denyed and the Work too Charitable in it self to be long demurr'd on so that he was easily made Master also of this Request Having obtained the King's Consent he caused a handsome Pile of Building to be Erected near the Church distributed into several Lodgings for the Use of the Poor and one convenient Common-Hall
and so Subscribed it with the rest Onely Sir James Hales one of the Justices of the Common-Pleas carried the Honour of a Resolute and Constant Man not onely from those of his own Rank but even from all the Lords of the Council and almost all the Peers of the Realm to boot who being a man observed to be both Religious and upright did very worthily refuse to Subscribe and was afterwards as unworthily requited by Queen Mary for it Yet notwithstanding all these Rubs the Project was driven on so fâ—st by the haâ—ty Duke that by the one and twentieth of June the Letters Patents were made ready to pass the Seal which was about a fortnight before the Death of the King During which Interval he had another Game to Pay which was the getting into his Power the Princess Mary whom of all others he most feared as the most likely Person to destroy his whole Contrivance For well he knew that if She stood upon Her Right as no doubt She would She was not onely sure of a strong Party in the Realm who still remained in good Affections to the Church of Rome but that Her Party heâ—e would be Backed and Countenanced by Her Alliances abâ—â—ad wâ—o câ—â—ld â—ot but Prefer and Support Her Interess against all Pretenders 〈◊〉 â—ust make sure of Her or else account all Void and Frâ—stiate which was done already Aâ—d that he might make sure of Her he so prevailed that Letters were directed to â—er in the King's Name from the Lords of the Couâ—cil Willing Her foâ—l wâ—â—h to resort to the Kâ—ng as well to be a comfort to Him in His 〈◊〉 as to see all Matters well Ordered about Him The Lady suspecting to 〈◊〉 Mischief addressed Her Self with all speâ—d to the 〈…〉 gâ—eaâ— Joy that either Her Company or Her Service shâ—uld be esteem'd Needfull to the King But as She was upon the way and 〈…〉 half a Daâ—'s Journey of the Court She received Advice both of the King 's desperate Estate and of the Duke's Designs against Her whereupon She 〈◊〉 in haâ—t to Her House at Hoveden where in a very short time She hâ—ard the Sad Nâ—ws of Her Brother's Death who dyed upon the sixth of July as before was saâ—d Which being the same day of the Moneth on which King Henryâ—ad â—ad taken off the Head of Sir Thomas More for his Adhesion to the Pope the Interess of Queen Katharine Dowager and the Princess Mary gave an occasion unto â—hose of the Râ—mish Party to look upon it as a Piece of Divine Retrâ—bution in taking away the 〈◊〉 of His onely Son on the same day also Two days the Death of the King was by Special Order kept so secret that it was known to very fâ—w about the Court. And it concerned them so to do partly in expectation of the coming of the Princess Mary whâ—m thâ—y knâ—w to be upon the way and partly to make sure of the City of London the Favour and Fidelity whereof was of great Importance for the carrying on of the Design But understanding by their Espiâ—ls that the Princess Mary was retired a Message was sent on Saturday the eighth of July to Sir George Barns the Lord Mayour of London requiring him in the Name of the Lords of the Council to give his Attendance at the Court and bring with him six of the Principal Aldermen six Merchants of the Staple and as many of the Company of Merchant-Adventurers No haste was wanting on their parts And coming at the time appointed they were privily informed by some of the Council but in the Name of all the rest that the King was dead and that He had Declared by His Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England subscribed by all the Lords of the Council and almost all the Peers of the Realm that His Cousin the Lady Jane Gray was to Succeed Him in the Crowns of England and Ireland as the most True Certain and Undoubted Heir of all His Dominions Which being signified unto them it was no hard matter to obtain their Consent to that which they were not able to deny And so upon a Promise of their best Assistance to Promote the Cause and to keep secret the King's Death untill further Order they were dismissed unto their Houses It is an Antient Custom of the Kings of England immediately on the Death of their Predecessours to provide their Lodgings in the Tower Taking possession as it were by that Royal Fortress of the rest of the Kingdom and from thence passing in a Solemn and Magnificent manner through the Principal Streets of London to their Coronation According to which Antient Custom the Lodgings in the Tower being fitted and prepared for the Queen's Reception the Lords of the Council passed over from Greenwich on Munday the tenth of the same Moneth A Letter had been brought the night before from the Princess Mary who had received Advertisement of Her Brother's Death notwithstanding all their Care and Diligence in labouring to conceal it from His nearest Servants which made them meet the earlier and in greater numbers to return an Answer thereunto The Princess knew Her own Right and the Wrong which was intended to Her both which She signified unto Them in these following words My LORDS WE Greet You well and have received sure Advertisement that Our Dearest Brother the King Our late Sovereign Lord is departed to God's Mercy Which News how wofull they be unto Our Heart He onely knoweth to whose Will and Pleasure We must and do humbly submit Vs and Our Wills But in this so lamentable a Case that is to wit after His Majestie 's Departure and Death concerning the Crown and Governance of this Realm of England with the Title of France and all things thereto belonging what hath been provided by Act of Parliament and the Testament and Last Will of Our Dearest Father besides other Circumstances Advancing Our Right You know the Realm and the whole World knoweth the Rolls and Records appear by the Authority of the King Our said Father and the King Our said Brother and the Subjects of this Realm So that We verily trust that there is no good true Subject that is can or would pretend to be ignorant thereof And of Our part We have of Our Selves caused and as God shall aid and strengthen Vs shall cause Our Right and Title in this behalf to be Published and Proclaimed accordingly And albeit this so Weighty a Matter seemeth strange that the Dying of Our said Brother upon Thursday at night last past We hitherto had no knowledge from You thereof yet We consider Your Wisdom and Prudence to be such that having eftsoons amongst You Debated Pondred and well Weighed this present Case with Our Estate Your Own Estate the Common-Wealth and all Our Honours We shall and may conceive Great Hope and Trust with much assurance in Your Loyalty and Service and therefore for the time interpret and take things not to the worst that Ye yet will like
Her Reign but of nine Days and no more Her Life not twice so many years as She Reigned days Such was the end of all the Projects of the two great Dukes for Her Advancement to the Crown and their own in Hers. To which as She was raised without any Blows so She might have been deposed without any Blows if the Ax had not been more cruel on the Scaffold then the Sword in the Field The Sword had never been unsheathed but when the Scaffold was once Erected and the Ax once sharpened there followed so many Executions after one another till the Death of that Queen that as Her Reign began in the Blood of those who took upon them the Puâ—suit of this Lady's Title so was it stained more fouly in the Blood of 〈◊〉 as were Maâ—tyred in all parts for Her Religion To the Relation of which 〈◊〉 Deaths and Martyrdoms and other the Calamities of that Tragical and unpâ—â—â—perous Reign we must next proceed The Parentage Birth and first Fortunes of the Princesse ELIZABETH The second Daughter of King Henry the Eighth before her coming to the CROWN With a true Narrative of the first Loves of King Henry the Eighth to Queen Anne Bollen The Reasons of his alienating of his first affections and the true causes of her woful and calamitous death ELIZABETH the youngest daughter of King Henry the 8th was born at Greenwich on the 7th of September being the Eve of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary 1533. begotten on the body of Queen Anne Bollen the eldest daughter of Thomas Bollen Earl of Wiltshire and of Elâ—zabeth his wife one of the daughters of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal of England The Family of the Bollens before this time neither great nor antient but highly raised in reputation by the marriage of the Lady Anne and the subsequent birth of Queen Elizabeth the first rise thereof comming out of the City in the person of Sir Geofrey Bollen Lord Mayor of London Anno 1457. which Geofrey being son of one Geofrey Bollen of Sulle in Norfolk was father of Sir William Bollen of Blickling in the said County who took to wife the Lady Margaret daughter and one of the heirs of Thomas Butler Earl of Ormond brother and heir of James Butler Earl of Wiltshire Of this marriage came Sir Thomas Bollen above mentioned imployed in several Embassies by King Henry the Eighth to whom he was Treasurer of the Houshold and by that name enrolled amongst the Knights of the Garter Anno 1523. advanced about two years after being the seventeenth of that King to the style and title of Viscount Rochfort and finally in reference to his mothers extraction created Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond 1529. But dying without issue male surviving the title of Ormond was restored to the next heir male of the Butlers in Ireland and that of Wiltshire given by King Edward the 6th to Sir William Paules being then great Master of the Houshold And as for that of Viscount Rochfort it lay dormant after his decease till the 6th of July Anno 1621. when conferred by King James on Henry Cary Lord Hunsâ—on the son of John and Grandchild of Henry Cary whom Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her Reign made Lord Cary of Hunsdon he being the son and heir of Sir William Cary one of the Esquires of the body to King Henry the 8th by the Lady Mary Bâ—llen his wife the youngest daughter and one of the Coheirs of the said Thomas Bollen Viscount Rochfort and Earl of Wiltshire Such being the estate of that Family which became afterwards so fortunate in the production of this Princess to the Realm of England we must in the next place enquire more particularly into the life and story of Queen Anne her Mother Who in her tender years attending on Mary the French Queen to the Court of France was by her Father after the return of the said Queen placed in the retinue of the Dutchess of Alanzone the beloved sister of King Francis where she not only learnt the language but made her self an exact Mistriss both of the Gaities and Garb of the great French Ladies She carried such a stock of natural graces as render'd her superlatively the most admired beauty in the Court of France and returned thence with all those advantages which the civilities of France could add to an English beauty For so it hapned that her Father being sent with Sir Anthony Brown Anno 1527. to take the oath of the French King to a solemn league not long before concluded betwixt the Crowns resolved to bring back his daughter with him to see what fortunes God would send her in the Court of England Where being Treasurer of the houshold it was no hard matter for him to prefer her to Queen Katherines service on whom she waited in the nature of a Maid of Honour which gave the King the opportunity of taking more than ordinary notice of her parts and person Nor was it long before the excellency of her beauty adorned with such a gracefulness of behaviour appeared before his eyes with so many charms that not able to resist the assaults of Love he gave himself over to be governed by those affections which he found himself unable to Master But he found no such easie task of it as he had done before in bringing Mrs Elizabeth Blunt and others to be the subjects of his lusts all his temptations being repelled by this vertuous Lady like arrows shot in vain at a rock of Adamants She was not to be told of the Kings loose love to several Ladies and knew that nothing could be gained by yielding unto such desires but contempt and infamy though for a while disguised and palliated by the plausible name and Courtly Title of a Princes Mistriss The humble and modest opposition of the Lady Gray to the inordinate affections of King Edward the 4th advanced her to his bed as a lawful wife which otherwise she had been possessed of by no better title than that of Jane Shore and his other Concubines By whose example Mistriss Bollâ—n is resolved to steer her courses and not to yield him any further favours than what the honour of a Lady and the modesty of a virgin might inoffensively permit to so great a King But so it chanced that before her coming back from the Court of France the King began to be touched in conscience about his marriage with the Queen upon occasion of some doubts which had been cast in the way both by the Ministers of the Emperour and the French King as touching the legitimation of his daughter Mary Which doubts being started at a time when he stood on no good terms with the Emperour and was upon the point of breaking with him was secretly fomented by such of the Court as had advanced the party of Francis and sought alwaies to alienate him from the friendship of Charles Amongst which none more forward than Cardinal Wolsie who
some artifices used to illude that purpose had not changed her mind She had scarce liv'd to the third year of her age when she was promised in marriage to the Daulphine of France with a Portion of 333000 Crowns to be paid by her Father and as great a Joynture to be made by the French King Francis as ever had been made by any King of that Country And so far did the businesse seem to be acted in earnest that it was publickly agreed upon in the treaty for the Town of Tournay that the Espousals should be made within four months by the said two Kings in the name of their children in pursuance whereof as the French King sent many rich gifts to some leading men of the Court of England to gain their good liking to this League so he sent many costly Presents to the Princesse Mary the designed wife if Princes could be bound by such designations of the heir of France But war beginning to break out between the French and the Spaniards it was thought fit by Charles the fifth being then Emperour of Germany and King of Spain to court the favour of the English for the obtaining whereof his neernesse to Queen Katherine being sister to the Queen his Mother gave him no small hopes Upon this ground he makes a voyage into England is royally feasted by the King installed solemnly Knight of the Order of the Garter in the Castle of Windsor and there capitulates with the King amongst other things to take to wife his daughter Mary as soon as she should come to the years of marriage it was also then and there agreed that as soon as she was twelve years old the Emperour should send a proxie to make good the contract espouse her per verba de praesenti in the usual form that in the mean time the King of England should not give her in marriage unto any other that a dispensation should be procured from the Pope at the charge of both Princes in regard that the parties were within the second degree of consanguinity that within four months after the contract the Princesse should be sent to the Emperour's Court whether it were in Spain or Flanders at the sole charge of the King of England and married within four dayes after her comming thither in the face of the Church her portion limited to 400000 crowns if the King should have no issue male but to be inlarged to 600000 crowns more if the King should have any such issue male to succeed in the Kingdom A jointure of 50000 crowns per annum to be made by the Emperour the one part thereof to be laid in Flanders and the other in Spain and finally that if either of the said two Princes should break off this marriage he should forfeit 400000 crowns to the party injured And now who could have thought but that the Princesse Mary must have been this Emperour's wife or the wife rather of any Prince then one that was to be begotten by this Emperour on another woman though in conclusion so it hapned As long as Charles had any need of the assistance and friendship of England so long he seemed to go on really in the promised marriage and by all means must have the Princesse sent over presently to be declared Empresse and made Regent of Flanders But when he had taken the French King at the battel of Pavia sackt Rome and made the Pope his prisoner he then conceived himselfe in a condition of seeking for a wife elsewhere which might be presently ripe for marriage without such a tedious expectation as his tarrying for the Princesse Mary must needs have brought him And thereupon he shuts up a marriage with the Lady Issabell Infanta of Pâ—lugull and daughter to another of his Mother's â—isters For which being questioned by the King he layes the blame upon the importunity of his Council who could not patiently permit him to remain unmarried till the Princesse Mary came to age and who besides had caused a scruple to be started touching her illegitimation as being born by one that had been wife to his elder brother King Henry thereupon proceeds to a new treaty with the French to whom his friendship at the time of their King's captivity had been very useful which is by them as cheerfully excepted as by him it had been franckly offered She had before been promised to the Daulphin of Francâ— but now she is design'd for the second son then Duke of Orleance who afterwards by the death of his elder brother succeeded his father in the Crown But whilst they were upon this treaty the former question touching her legitimation was again revived by the Bishop of Tarbâ—e one of the Commissioners for the French which though it seem'd not strong enough to dissolve the treaty which the French were willing to conclude as their affairs then stood upon any conditions yet it occasioned many troubles in the Court of Engâ—and and almost all Christendome besides For now the doubt being started a second time and started now by such who could not well subsist without his friendship began to make a deep impression in the mind of the King and to call baâ—k such passages to his remembrance as otherwise would have been forgotten He now bethinks himselfe of the Protestation which he had made in the presence of Bishop Fox before remembred never to take the Lady Katherine for his wife looks on the death of his two sons as a punishment on him for proceeding in the marriage and casts a fear of many inconveniences or mischiefs rather which must inevitably befall this Kingdome if he should dye and leave no lawful issue to enjoy the Crown Hope of more children there was none and little pleasure to be taken in a conversation which the disproportion of their years and a greater inequality in their dispositions must render lesse agreeable every day then other In this perplexity of mind he consults his Confessor by whom he was advised to make known his griefs to Cardinal Wolsie on whose judgement he relied in most other matters which hapned so directly to the Cardinal's mind as if he had contrived the project The Emperour had lately cross'd him in his suit for the Popedome and since denied him the Archbish prick of Tâ—ledo with the promise whereof he had before bound him to his side And now the Cardinal resolves to take the opportunity of the King's distractions for perfecting his revenge against him In order whereunto as he had drawn the King to make peace with France and to conclude a marriage for his daughter with the Duke of Orleance so now he hopes to separate him from the bed of Katherine the Emperour's Aunt and marry him to Madam Rhinee the French Queens sister who afterwards was wife to the Duke of Ferrara About which time the picture of Madam Margaret the sister of King Francis first married to the Duke of Alanzon was brought amongst others into
Ricot in reference perhaps to his fatheâ—s suffering in the cause of her mother from whom descended Francis Lord Norris advanced by King James to the Honors of Viscount Tame and Earl of Berkshire by Letters Patens bearing date in January Anno 1620. After him on the 7th of April comes Sir Edward North created Baron of Charâ—eleg in the Country of Cambridge who having been Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations in the time of King Henry and raised himself a fair Estate by the fall of Abbyes was by the King made one of his Executors and nominated to be one of the great Councill of Estate in his Son's Minority Sir John Bâ—ugis brings up the rear who being descended from Sir John Chandois a right noble Banneret and from the Bottelers Lords of Sudley was made Lord Chandois of Sudley on the 8th of April whiâ—h goodly Mannor he had lately purchased of the Crown to which it was Escheated on the death of Sir Thomas Seymour Anno. 1549. the Title still enjoyed though but little else by the seventh Lord of this Name and Family most of the Lands being dismembred from the House by the unparallel'd Impudence to give it no worse name of his elder brother Some Bishops I find consecrated about this time also to make the stronger party for the Queen in the House of Peers no more Sees actually voided at that time to make Rome for others though many in a fair way to it of which more hereafter Hooper of Glocester commanded to attend the Lords of the Council on the 22 of August and committed prisoner not long after was outed of his Bishoprick immediately on the ending of the Parliament in which all Consecrations were declared to be void and null which had been made according to the Ordinall of King Edward the 6 th Into whose place succeeded James Brooks Doctor in Divinity sometimes Fellow of Corpus Christi and Master of Bâ—liol Colledge in Oxon employed not long after as a Delegat from the Pope of Rome in the proceedings against the Archbishop of Canterbury whom he condemned to the stake To Jaylor of whose death we have spoken before succeeded Doctor John White in the See of Lincoln first School-master and after Warden of the Colledge near Winchester to the Episcopall See whereof we shall find him translated Anno 1556. The Church of Rochester had been void ever since the removall of Doctor Story to the See of Chichester not suffered to return to his former Bishoprick though dispoiled of the later But it was now thought good to fill it and Maurice Griffin who for some years had been the Archdeacon is consecrated Bishop of it on the first of April One suffrage more was gained by the repealing of an Act of Parliament made in the last Session of King Edward for dissolving the Bishoprick of Durham till which time Doctor Cuthbert Tunstall though restored to his Liberty and possibly to a good part also of his Churches Partimony had neither Suffrage as a Peer in the House of Parliament not could act any thing as a Bishop in his own Jurisdiction And with these Consecrations and Creations I conclude this year An. Reg. Mar. 2º An. Dom. 1554 1555. THe next begins with the Arrivall of the Prince of Spain wafted to England with a Fleet of one hundred and sixty sail of Ships twenty of which were English purposely sent to be his Convoy in regard of the warrs not then expired betwixt the French and the Spaniards Landing at Southampton on the 19 th of July on which day of the month in the year foregoing the Queen had been solemnly proclaimed in London he went to Winchester with his whole Retinue on the 24 th where he was received by the Queen with a gallant Train of Lords and Ladies solemnly married the next day being the Festival of St. James the supposed Tutelary Saint of the Spanish Nation by the Bishop of Winchester at what time the Queen had passed the eight and thirtieth year of her age and the Prince was but newly entred on his twenty seventh As soon as the Marriage-Rites were celebrated Higueroa the Emperors Embassador presented to the King a Donation of the Kingdoms of Naples and Cicily which the Emperor his father had resigned unto him Which presently was signified and the Titles of the King and Queen Proclaimed by sound of Trumpet in this following Style PHILIP and MARY by the grace of the God King and Queen of England France Naples Jerusalem Ireland Defenders of the Faith Princes of Spain and Cicily Arch-Dukes of Austria Dukes of Millain Burgundy and Brabant Counts of Ausperge Flanders and Tirroll c. At the proclaiming of which Style which was performed in French Latine and English the King and Queen showed themselves hand in hand with two Swords born before them for the greater state or in regard of their distinct Capacity in the publick Government From VVinchester they removed to Basing and so to VVindsor where Philip on the 5 th of August was Installed Knight of the Garter into the fellowship whereof he had been chosen the year before From thence the Court removed to Richmond by land and so by water to Suffolk-place in the Burrough of Southwark and on the 12 th of the same month made a magnificent passage thorow the principal streets of the City of London with all the Pomps accustomed at a Coronation The Triumphs of which Entertainment had continued longer if the Court had not put on mourning for the death of the old Duke of Norfolk who left this life at Framingham Castle in the month of September to the great sorrow of the Queen who entirely loved him Philip thus gloriously received endeavoureth to sow his Grandure to make the English sensible of the benefits which they were to partake of by this Marriage and to engratiate himself with the Nobility and People in all generous ways To which end he caused great quantity of Bullion to be brought into England loaded in twenty Carts carrying amongst them twenty seven Chests each Chest containing a Yard and some inches in length conducted to the Tower on the second of October by certain Spaniards and English-men of his Majesties Guard And on the 29 th of January then next following ninety nine Horses and two Carts laden with Treasures of Gold and Silver brought out of Spain was conveyed through the City of the Tower of London under the conduct of Sir Thomas Grosham the Queens Merchant and others He prevailed also with the Queen for discharge of such Prisoners as stood committed in the Tower either for matter of Religion or on the account of Wyaâ—'s Rebellion or for engaging in the practice of the Duke of Northumberland And being gratified therein according unto his desire the Lord Chancellor the Bishop of Ely and certain others of the Councill were sent unto the Tower on the 18 th of January to see the same put in execution which was accordingly performed to the great joy
and chusing rather the Lord Kenneth Earle of Cassiles excepted to leave their Hostages to King Henries mercy then to put themselves into his Power Provoked therewith the King denounceth Warr against them and knowing that they depended chiefly upon the strength of France he peeceth with the Emperour Charles the fifth and Proclaimeth Warr against the French Following the Warr against both Kingdomes he causeth many in-roades to be made into Scotland wasting and harrasing that poor Country and with a Royall Army passeth over into France where he made himselfe Master of the strong Town of Bolloigne with the Forts about it into which he made his Royall entry Sep. 25. 1544. The rest of the Kings life spent in continuall Action against both Nations in which the Enemies had the worst though not without some losse to the English also the poore Scots paying so dearely for their breach of Faith that no yeare passed in which their Countrey was not wasted and their ships destroyed Toward the charges of which VVarres the King obtained a Grant in Parliament of all Chanteries Colledges Hospitalls and free Chappell 's with the Lands thereunto belonging to be united to the Crown But dying before he had took the benefit of it he lefâ— that part of the spoyle to such of his Ministers who had the Managing of Affaires in his Sons Minority In the mean tâ—me the Prince having attaiâ—ed unto the Age of six yeares was taken out of the hands oâ— his women and committed to the tuition of Mr. John Cheeke whom he afterwards Knighted and advanced him to the Provoâ—â—ship of Kings Colledge in Cambridge and Doctor Richard Cox whom afterwards he preferred to the Deanry of Westminster and made châ—efe Almoner These two being equall in Authority employed themselves to his advantage in their severall kindes Doctor Cox for knowledge of Divinity Philosophy and Gravity of Manners Mr. Cheeke for eloquence in the Greek and Latine Tongues Besides which two he had some others to instruct him in the Modern Languages and thrived so well amongst them all that in short time he perfectly spake the French tongue and was able to express himselfe significantly enough in the Italian Greek and Spanish And as for Latine he was such an early proficient in it that before he was eight yeares old he is said to have written the ensuing Letter to the King his Father seconding the same with another to the Earle of Hartford as he did that also with a third to the Queen Katharine Parre whom his Father had taken to wife July the 12th 1543. And though these Letters may be used as good evidences of his great proficiency with reference to the times in which he lived yet in our dayes in which either the wits of men are sooner ripe or the method of teaching more exact and facile they would be found to contain nothing which is more then ordinary Now his Letter to the King referring the Reader for the other two unto Fox and Fuller it beares date on the 27th day of September when he wanted just a fortnight of eight yeares old and is this that followeth PRINCE Edwards Epistle to the King September 27. 1545. LIterae Meae semper habeâ—t unum Argumentum Rex Nobilissime atque pater â—â—â—â—strissime id est in omnibus Epistolis ago tibi Gratias pro beneficentia tua Erga me Maxima si enim sâ—pius multo ad te literas Exararem nullo tamen quidem modo potui pervenire officio Literarum ad magnitudinem benignitatis tuae erga me Quis enim potuit compensare beneficia tua erga me Nimirum nullus qui non est tam magnus Rex ac Nobilis Princeps ac tu es cujusmodi ego non sum Quamobrem Pietas tua in me multo gratior est mihi quod facis mihi quae nullo modo compensare Possum sed tamen Adnitar Faciam quod in me est ut placeam Majestati atque Precabor Deum ut diu te servet in columem Vale Rex Nobilissime Majestati tuâ— Observantissimus Filius Halfeldiae Vicesimo Septimo Septemb. EDVARDUS PRINCEPS For a companion at his book or rather for a Proxie to bear the punishment of such errours as either through negligence or inadvertency were committed by him he had one Barnaby Fits Patrick the son if I conjecture aright of that Patrick whom I finde amongst the witnesses to King Henries last Will and Testâ—ment as also amongst those Legatees which are therein mentioned the King bequeathing him the Legacy of one hundred markes But whether I hit right or not most probable it is that he had a very easie substitution of it the harmlessenesse of the Princes nature the ingenuity of his disposition and his assiduity at his book freeing him for the most part from such corrections to which other children at the schoole are most commonly subject Yet if it sometimes happened as it seldome did that the servant suffered punishment for his Masters errors It is not easie to affirm whether Fits Patrick smarted more for the fault of the Prince or the Prince conceived more griefe for the smart of Fits Patrick Once I am certain that the Prince entertained such a reall Estimation of him that when he came unto the Crown he acquainted him by letter with the sufferings of the Duke of Sommerset instructed and maintained him for his travels in France endowed him with faire lands in Ireland his native Country and finally made him Baron of upper Ossery which Honourable Title he enjoyed till the time of his death in the latter end of Queen Elizabeths Reign at what time he dyed a zealous and Religious Protestant One thing I must not pretermit to shew the extraordinary piety of this hopefull Prince in the dayes of his childhood when being about to take down something which seemed to be above his Reach one of his fellowes proffeâ—ed him a Bossed-Plated Bible to stand upon and heighten him for taking that which he desired Which when he perceived to be a Bible with Holy indignation he reâ—uâ—ed it and sharply reprehended hâ—m that made the offer A stâ—ong assurance of that deare esteem and veneration in which he held that Sacred Book in his riper yeares Having attained the age of nine there were great prepaâ—atiâ—ns made for his sollemne investiture in the Principality of Wales together with the Earledomes of Chester and Flint as dependants on it Toward which Pomp I find a provision to be made of these Ornaments and Habiliments following thaâ— is to say first an Honourable Habit viz. A Robe of Purple Velvet having in it about eighâ—een ells more or lesse Garâ—iâ—â—ed about with a â—ringe of Gold and lined with Ermins A Sâ—rcot or inner Gown having in it about fourteen ells of Velvet of like colour Fringe and Furr Laces Buttons and Tassells as they call them Oâ—naments made of Purple Silk and Gold A Gâ—rdle of siâ—k to gâ—rd his inne Gowne A sword with a scabbard
in which he heard the greatest part of the Office till the Consecration and then Received the Blessed Sacrament on his knees as at other times saying withall as Sanders doth Relate the story That if he did not only cast himselfe upon the ground but even under it also he could not give unto the Sacrament the Honour which was due unto it The instant of his death approaching none of his Servants though thereunto desired by his Physitians durst acquaint him with it Till at last Sir Anthony Denny undertook that ungratefull office which the King entertaining with lesse impatience then was looked for from him gave order that Arch-Bishop Cramner should be presently sent for But the Arch-Bishop being then at his house in Croyden seven miles from Lambeth it was so long before he came that he found him speechlesse Howsoever applying himselfe to the Kings present condition and discoursing to him on this Point that Salvation was to be obtained only by Faith in Christ he desired the King that if he understood the effect of his words and believed the same he would signifie as much by some signe or other which the King did by ringing him gently by the hand and within short time after he gave up the Ghost when he had lived fifty five yeares seven moneths and six dayes over of which he had Reigned thirty seven yeares nine moneths and six dayes also Having brought King Henry to his death we must next see in what estate he left the Kingdome to his Son with reference to the condition of Affaâ—res both at home and abroad Abroad he left the Pope his most bitter enemy intent on all advantages for the recovery of the Power and Jurisdiction which had been exercised in England by his Predecessors and all the Princes of his Party in Germany Italy and elsewhere either in Action or Design concurring with him The Protestant Kings and Princes he had disobliged by repudiating the Lady Ann of Cleve and the precipitated death of Cromwell upon whose Power and favour with him they did most rely But nothing did moâ—e alienate their affections from him then the persecution raised at home upon the terrible Statute of the six Articles before remembered by which they saw themselves condemned and executed in the persons of those who suffered for the same Religion which themselves professed And as for the two great Kings of France and Spaine he had so carried himselfe between them that he was rather feared of both then beloved by either of them The Realms and Signeuries of Spaine excâ—pt Portugall only together with the Kingdomes of Naples Scicilie and Sardâ—nia and the Estates belonging to the House of Burgundy in the Belgick Provinces were all united in the Person of Chaâ—les the fifth to which he aâ—ded by his own proper Power and Valour the Dukedomes of Millain and Gulldress the Earldome of Zâ—tphen with the Estates of Grâ—iniâ—gen Vtrecht and Over-yssâ—ll And on the other side the French Kings were not only in the quiet possession of those goodly Territories Normandy Guienne and the rest which anciâ—ntly belonged to the Kings of England but lately had inpaâ—ronised themselves of the Dukedomes of Burgoine and Bretagne and the Earledome of Provence all meeting in the Person of King Francis the first Of which two great and puissant Princes the first being resolved to admit no equall and the second to acknowledge no superiour they endeavoured by all wayes and meanes immaginable to subdue each other whereby the Conqueror might attaine in time to the Empire of Europe It was therefore Kâ—ng Henries chiefest care as it was his interess to keep the scales to even between them that neither of them should preponderate or weigh down the other to the endangering of the rest of the Princes of Christendome Which he performed with so great constancy and courage as made him in effect the Arbitrer at all times between them So as it may be truely affirmed of him that he sate at the Helmne and Steered the great Affaires of Christendome to what point he pleased But then withall as his constant and continuall standing to thâ—s Maxime of State made him friend to neither so he was suspected of them both both having also their particular Animosities against his person and proceedings The Emperour irreconciliably incenst against him for the injury done unto his Aunt from whom he had caused himselfe to be divorced the French King no less highly enraged by the taking of Bâ—iloigne for which though the King had shuffled up a peace with France Prince Edward shall be called to a sober Reckoning when he least lookes for it To look to matters near at home we finde the Scots exasperated by his Annuall inrodes but more by his demanding the long neglected duty of Homage to be performed from that Kingdom to the Crown of England The Irish on the other side of the sea being kept under by strong hand but standing upon no good termes of affection with him the executing of the young Earle of Kildare and five of his Unckles at one time being fresh in memory and neither forgotten nor forgiven by the rest of the Clanns And as for England it self the People were generally divided into Schismes and Factions some being two stiff in their old Mumpsimus as others no lesse busie in their new Sumpsimus as he used to phrase it The Treasures of the Crown exhausted by prodigall gifts and his late chargeable Expedition against the French the Lands thereof charged with Rents and Pensions granted to Abbots Priors and all sorts of Religious Persons some of which remained payable and were paid accordingly till the time of King James and which was worst of all the Mony of the Realm so imposed and mixed that it could not pass for currant amongst Forreign Nations to the great dishonour of the Kingdome and the losse of the Merchant For though an infinite Masse of Jewels treasure in Plate and ready Mony and an incredible improvement of Revenue had acrued unto him by such an universell spoyle and dissolution of Religious Houses yet was he little or nothing the richer for it In so much that in the yeare 1543. being within lesse then seven yeares after the Generall suppression of Religious Houses he was faign to have recourse for moneyes to his Houses of Parliament by which he was supplied after an extraordinary manner the Clergy at the same time giving him a subsidy of 6. s. in the pound to be paid out of all their Spirituall Promotions poore stipendary Priests paying each 6. s. 8. d. to encrease the summe Which also was so soon consumed that the next yeare he prest his Subjects to a Benevolence for carrying on his Warr with France and Scotland and in the next obtained the Grant for all Chanteries Hospitalls Colledges and Free-Chappells within the Realm though he lived not to enjoy the benefit of it as before was said Most true it is that it was somewhat of the latest before he
Edward Wotton Doctour Wotton and Sir Richard Southwell Of which some shewed themselves against him upon former Grudges as the Earl of South-hampton some out of hope to share those Offices amongst them which he had ingrossed unto himself many because they loved to follow the strongest side few in regard of any Benefit which was like to Redound by it to the Common-Wealth the greatest part complaining that they had not their equal Dividend when the Lands of Chanteries Free-Chapels c. were given up for a Prey to the greater Courtiers but all of them disguising their private Ends under pretense of doing service to the Publick The Combination being thus made and the Lords of the Defection convented together at Ely-House in Holborn where the Earl then dwelt they sent for the Lord Mayour and Aldermen to come before them To whom it is declared by the Lord Chancellour Rich a man of Sommerset's own preferring in a long Oration in what dangers the Kingdom was involved by the mis-Government and Practices of the Lord Protectour against whom he objected also many Misdemeanours some frivolous some false and many of them of such a Nature as either were to be condemned in themselves or forgiven in him For in that Speech he charged him amongst other things with the loss of the King's Peeces in France and Scotland the sowing of Dissension betwixt the Nobility and the Commons Embezelling the Treasures of the King and inverting the Publick stock of the Kingdom to his private use It was Objected also That he was wholly acted by the Will of his Wife and therefore no fit man to command a Kingdom That he had interrupted the ordinary Course of Justice by keeping a Court of Requests in his own House in which he many times determined of mens Free-holds That he had demolished many Consecrated Places and Episcopal Houses to Erect a Palace for himself spending one hundred pounds per diem in superflous Buildings That by taking to himself the Title of Duke of Sommerset he declared plainly his aspiring to the Crown of this Realm and finally having so unnaturally laboured the Death of his Brother he was no longer to be trusted with the Life of the King And thereupon he desires or conjures them rather to joyn themselves unto the Lords who aimed at nothing in their Counsels but the Safety of the King the Honour of the Kingdom and the Preservation of the People in Peace and Happiness But these Designs could not so closely be contrived as not to come unto the Knowledg of the Lord Protectour who then remained at Hampton-Court with the rest of the Lords who seemed to continue firm unto him And on the same day on which this meeting was at London being the sixth day of October he causeth Proclamation to be made at the Court-Gates and afterwards in other places near adjoyning requiring all sorts of persons to come in for the defence of the King's Person whom he conveyed the same night unto Windsore-Castle with a strength of five hundred men or thereabouts too many for a Guard and too few for an Army From thence he writes his Letters to the Earl of Warwick to the rest of the Lords as also to the Lord Mayour and City of London of whom he demanded a supply of a thousand men for the present service of the King But that Proud City seldom true to the Royal Interess and secretly obsequious to every popular Pretender seemed more inclinable to gratifie the Lords in the like Demands then to comply with his Desires The News hereof being brought unto him and finding that Master Secretary Peter whom he had sent with a secret Message to the Lords in London returned not back unto the Court be presently flung up the Cards either for want of Courage to play out the Game or rather choosing willingly to lose the Set then venture the whole Stock of the Kingdom on it So that upon the first coming of some of the opposite Lords to Windsore he puts himself into their hands by whom on the fourteenth day of the same Moneth he is brought to London and committed Prisoner to the Tower pitied the less even by those that loved him because he had so tamely betrayed himself The Duke of Sommerset no longer to be called Protectour being thus laid up a Parliament beginneth as the other two had done before on the fourth of November In which there passed two Acts of especial consequence besides the Act for removing all Images out of the Church and calling in all Books of false and superstitious Worship before-remembred to the concernments of Religion The first declared to this Effect That Such form and manner of making and Consecrating Arch-Bishops and Bishopt Priests Deacons and other Ministers of the Church as by six Prelates and six other Learned Men of this Realm learned in God's Law by the King to be appointed and assigned or by the most number of thâ—m shall be devised for that purpose and set forth under the Great Seal before the First of April next coming shall be lawfully exercised and used and no other The number of the Bishops and the Learned Men which are appointed by this Act assure me that the King made choice of the very same whom he had formerly imployed in composing the Liturgie the Bishop of Chichester being left out by reason of his Refractoriness in not subscribing to the same And they accordingly applyed themselves unto the Work following therein the Rules of the Primitive Church as they are rather recapitulated then ordained in the fourth Councel of Carthage Anno 401. Which though but National in it self was generally both approved and received as to the Form of Consecrating Bishops and inferiour Ministers in all the Churches of the West Which Book being finished was made use of without further Authority till the year 1552. At what time being added to the second Liturgie it was approved of and confirmed as a part thereof by Act of Parliament An. 5. Edw. 6. cap. 1. And of this Book it is we finde mention in the 36th Article of Queen Elizabeth's Time In which it is Declared That Whosoever wâ—re Consecrated and Ordered according to the Rites thereof should be reputed and adjudged to be lawfully Consecrated and rightly Ordered Which Declaration of the Church was afterwards made good by Act of Parliament in the eighth year of that Queen in which the said Ordinal of the third of King EDVVARD the Sixth is confirmed and ratified The other of the said two Acts was For enabling the King to nominate Eight Bishops as many Temporal Lords and sixteen Members of the Lower House of Parliament for reviewing all such Canons and Constitutions as remained in force by Virtue of the Statute made in the 25th year of the late King HENRY and fitting them for the Vse of the Church in all Times succeeding According to which Act the King directed a Commission to Arch-Bishop Cranmer and the rest of the Persons whom he
the Mass which was not to be Celebrated but upon an Altar The Fourth That the Altars were Erected for the Sacrifices of the Law which being now ceased the Form of the Altar was to cease together with them The Fifth That as Christ did Institute the Sacrament of his Body and Blood at a Table and not at an Altar as appeareth by the three Evangelists so it is not to be found that any of the Apostles did ever use an Altar in the Ministration And finally That it is declared in the Preface to the Book of Common-Prayer That If any Doubt arise in the Use and Practising of the said Book that then to appease all such Diversity the Matter shall be referred unto the Bishop of the Diocess who by his Discretion shall take Order for the quieting of it The Letter with these Reasons being brought to Ridley there was no time for him to dispute the Commands of the one or to examine the Validity and Strength of the other And thereupon proceeding shortly after to his first Visitation he gave out one Injunction amongst others to this Effect That Those Churches in his Diocess where the Altars do remain should conform themselves unto those other Churches which had taken them down and that instead of the multitude of their Altars they should set up one decent Table in every Church But this being done a question afterwards did arise about the Form of the Lords Board some using it in the Form of a Table and others in the Form of an Altar Which being referred unto the Determination of the Bishop he declared himself in favour of that Posture or Position of it which he conceived most likely to procure an Vniformity in all his Diocess and to be more agreeable to the King 's Godly Proceedings in abolishing divers vain and superstitious Opinions about the Mass out of the Hearts of the People Upon which Declaration or Determination he appointed the Form of a Right Table to be used in his Diocess and caused the Wall standing on the back side of the Altar in the Church of Saint Paul's to be broken down for an Example to the rest And being thus a leading Case to all the rest of the Kingdom it was followed either with a swifter or a slower Pase according as the Bishops in their several Diocesses or the Clergie in their several Parishes stood affected to it No Universal Change of Altars into Tables in all parts of the Realm till the Repealing of the First Liturgie in which the Priest is appointed To stand before the middest of the Altar in the Celebration and the establishing of the Second in which it is required That The Priest shall stand on the North side of the Table had put an end to the Dispute Nor indeed can it be supposed that all which is before affirmed of Bishop Ridley could be done at once or acted in so short a Space as the rest of this year which could not give him time enough to Warn Commence and carry on a Visitation admitting that the Inconveniency of the Season might have been dispensed with And therefore I should rather think that the Bishop having received His Majestie 's Order in the end of November might cause it to be put in Execution in the Churches of London and Issue out his Mandates to the rest of the Bishops and the Arch-Deacons of his own Diocess for doing the like iâ— other Places within the compass of their several and Respective Jurisdictions Which being done as in the way of Preparation his Visitation might proceed in the Spring next following and the whole Business be transacted in Form and Mâ—nner as before laid down And this may be beleived the rather because the changing of Altars into Tables is made by Holinshead a Diligent and Painfull Writer to be the Work of the next year as questionless it needs must be in all Parts of the Realm except London and Westminster and some of the Towns and Villages adjoyning to them But much less can I think that the Altar-wall in Saint Paul's Church was taken down by the Command of Bishop Ridley in the Evening of Saint Barnaby's Day this present year as is affirmed by John Stow. For then it must be done five Moneths before the coming out of the Order from the Lords of the Council Assuredly Bishop Ridley was the Master of too great a Judgment to run before Authority in a Business of such Weight and Moment And he had also a more high Esteem of the Blessed Sacrament then by any such unadvised and precipitate Action to render it less Venerable in the Eyes of the Common People Besides whereas the taking down of the said Altar Wall is said to have been done â—n the first Saint Barnâ—â—y's Day which was kept Holy with the Church that Circumstance is alone sufficient to give some Light to the Mistake The Liturgie whâ—ch appointed Saint Barnaby's Day to be kept for an Holy-Day was to be put in Execution in all parts of the Realm at the Feast of Whitsun-tide 1549 and had actually been Officiated in some Churches for some Weeks before So that the first Saint Barnaby's Day which was to be kept Holy by the Rules of that Liturgie must have been kept in that year also and consequently the taking down oâ— the said Altar-Wall being done â—n the Evening of that day must be supposed to have been done above ten Moneths before Bishop Ridley was Translâ—ted to the See of London Let therefore the keeping Holy of the first Saint Barnaby's Day be placed in the year 1549 the Issuing of the Order from the Lords of the Council in the year 1550 and the taking down of the Altar-Wall on the Evening of Saint Barnaby's Day in the year 1551. And then all Inconveniences and Contradictions will be taken away which otherwise cannot be avoided No change this year amongst the Peers of the Realm or Principal Officers of the Court but in the Death of Thomas Lord Wriothesly the first Earl of South-hampton of that Name aâ—d Family who died at Lincoln-Place in Holâ—born on the thirtieth day of July leaving his Son Henry to succeed him in his Lands and Honours A Man Unfortunate in his Relations to the two Great Persons of that Time deprived of the Great Seal by the Duke of Sommerset and removâ—d from his Place at the Council-Table by the Earl of Warwick having first served the Turns of the one in lifting him into the Saddle and of the other in dismounting him from that High Estate Nor finde I any great Change thiâ— year amongst the Bishops but that Doctour Nicholas Ridley Bishop of Rechester was Transloted to the See of London on the twelfth of April and Doctoâ—r John Pâ—ynet Consâ—crated Bishop of Rochester on the twenty sixth of June By which Account he must needs be the first Bishop which received Episcopal Consecration according to the Foâ—m of the English Ordinal as Farrars was the fiâ—st who was advanced
Noble Men Work the best Nevertheless We are not ignorant of Your Consultations to Vndo the Provisions made for Our Preferment nor of the Great Hands and Provisions forcible wherewith You be Assembled and Prepared by whom and to what end God and You know and Nature cannot but fear some Evil. But be it that some Consideration Politick or whatsoever thing else hath moved You thereto yet doubt ye not My Lords but We can take all these Your doings in Gratious Part being also Right-Ready to remit and fully Pardon the same and that to Eschew Bloodshed and Vengeance against all those that can or will intend the same trusting also assuredly that Ye will take and accept this Grace and Vertue in Good Part as appertaineth and that We shall not be Enforced to use the Service of other Our True Subjects and Friends which in this Our Just and Right Cause Goâ— in whom all Our affiance is shall send Vs. Wherefore My Lords We require You and charge you and every of You of Your Allegiance which You ow to God and Vs and to none other for Our Honour and the Surety of Our Person onely imploy Your Selves and forthwith upon receipt hereof cause Our Right and Title to the Crown and Governance of this Realm to be Proclaimed in Our City of London and other places as to your Wisdoms shall seem Good and as to this Case appertaineth not failing hereof as Our very Trust is in You. And this Our Letter Signed with Our Hand shall be your sufficient Warrant in that behalf Given under Our Signet at Our Mannour of Kenning-Hall the ninth of July 1553. This Letter seemed to give their Lordships no other trouble then the returning of an Answer For well they knew that She could do no less then put up Her Claim and they conceived that She was not in a condition for doing more Onely it was thought fit to let Her know what She was to trust to the better to prevent such Inconveniencies as might otherwise happen And to that end an Answer was presently dispatched under the Hands of the Archâ—Bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellour Goodrich Bishop of Ely the Dukes of Northhumberland and Suffâ—lk the Marquesses of Winchester and North-hampton the Earls of Arundel Shrewsbury Huntington Bedford and Pembroke the Lords Cobham and Darcie Sir Thomas Cheny Sir Robert Cotton Sir William Peter Sir William Cecil Sir John Cheek Sir John Mason Sir Edward North Sir Robert Bows The Tenour whereof was as followeth MADAM WE have received Your Letters the ninth of this Instant Declaring Your Supposed Title which You Judg Your Self to have to the Imperial Crown of this Realm and all the Dâ—minions thereunto belonging For Answer whereof this is to Advertise You that for as much as Our Sovereign Lady Queen Jane is after the Death of Our Sovereign Lord King Edward the Sixth a Prince of most Noble Memory Invested and Possessed with the just and Right Title in the Imperial Crown of this Realm not onely by Good Order of Old Antient Laws of this Realm but also by Our late Sovereign Lord's Letters Patents Signed with His Own Hand and Sealed with the Great Seal of England in presence of most part of the Nobles Counsellours Judges with divers others Grave and Sage Personages Assenting and Subscribing the same We must therefore as of most Bound Duty and Allegiance and Assent unto Her said Grace and to none other except we should which Faithfull Subjects cannot fall into grievous and unspeakable Enormities Wherefore We can no less do both for the quiet of the Realm and You also to advertise you that for as much as the Divorce made between the King of Famous Memory King Henry the Eighth and the Lady Katharine Your Mother was necessary to be had both by the Everlasting Laws of God and also by the Ecclesiastical Laws and the most part of the Noble and Learned Vniversities in Christenaâ—m and Confirmed also by the sundry Acts of Parliaments remaining yet in Force and thereby You justly made Illegitimate and Vn-heritable to the Crown Imperial of this Realm and the Rules and Dominions and Possessions of the same You will upon just consideration hereof and of divers other Causes Lawfull to be Alledged for the same and for the just Inheritance of the Right Line and Godly Order taken by the late King Our Sovereign Lord King Edward the Sixth and agreed upon by the Nobles and Greatest Personages aforesaid Surcease by any pretents to vex or molest any of Our Sovereign Lady Queen Jane Her Subjects from their True Faith and Allegiance due unto Her Grace assuring You that if you will for Respect shew Your Self Quiet and Obedient as You ought You shall find Vs all and several ready to do You any Service that We with Duty may and be glad with Your quietness to preserve the Common State of this Realm wherein You may be otherwise grievous Vs to Your Self and to them And thus We bid You most Heartily well to fare c. These Letters being thus dispatched and no further danger seeming to be feared on that side all things are put in Readiness against the coming of the Queen who the same day about three of the Clock in the Afternoon was brought by water to the Tower attended by a Noble Train of both Sexes from Durham House in the Strand where She had been entertained as a part of Dudley's Family ever since Her Marriage She could not be ignorant of that which had been done in Order unto Her Advancement to the Royal Throne and could not but conceive that Her being Conducted to the Tower in that Solemn manner did portend somewhat which looked toward a Coronation But still She hoped that either She should hear some Good News of the King's Recovery or of the Altering of His Purpose and that She might be suffered to enjoy those Divine Contentments which she had found in the Repose of a Studious Life But when She came into the presence of the two Dukes Her Father and Her Father-in-Law She observed their Behaviour towards Her to be very different from that which they had used before To put Her out of which Amazement it was signified to Her by the Duke of Northumberland That The King was Dead and that He had Declared Her for His next Successour in the Crown Imperial That This Declaration was Approved by all the Lords of the Council most of the Peers and all the Judges of the Land which they had Testified by the Subscription of their Names and all this Ratified and Confirmed by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England That The Lord Mayour the Aldermen and some of the Principal Citizens had been spoke withall by whom they were assured of the Fidelity of the rest of the City That There was nothing wanting but Her Gratefull Acceptance of the High Estate which God Almighty the Sovereign Disposer of all Crowns and Scepters never sufficiently to be thanked by Her for so great
rather add to His Afflictions then encrease that Quiet wherewith they had possessed their souls for the stroke of Death that He demanded a Lenitive which would put fire into the Wound and that it was to be feared Her Presence would rather weaken then strengthen Him that He ought to take courage from his Reason and derive constancy from his own heart that if his soul were not firm and setled She could not settle it by Her eyes nor confirm it by Her words that He should do well to remit this Interview to the other World that there indeed Friendships were happy and Unions undesolvable and that theirs would be Eternal if their souls carried nothing with them of Terrestrial which might hinder them from rejoycing All She could do was to give Him a Farewell out of a Window as He passed toward the place of His dissolution which He suffered on the Scaffold on Tower-Hill with much Christian meekness His Dead body being lai'd in a Car and His Head wrapped up in a Linen-cloth were carried to the Chapel within the Tower in the way to which they were to pass under the Window of the Lady Jane where She had given Him His Fare-well A Spectacle sufficient to disanimate a couragious Heart not armed with the Constancy and Resolution of so brave a Vertue The Spectacle endured by Her with the less Astonishment because She knew She was upon the point of meeting with Him in a better Conjuncture where they should never finde the like Intermission of their Joys and Happinesses It was once resolved on by the Court that She should dy on the same Scaffold with Her Husband but it was feared that being both pittied and beloved by the common People some suddain Commotion might be raised if She were publickly brought forth to Her Execution It was therefore held the safer course that a Scaffold should be erected for Her within the Verge of the Tower on which She might satisfie the greatest severity of the Law without any danger to the State Towards which being to be led by Sir John Gage who was then Constable of the Tower he desired Her to bestow some small Gift upon him to be kept as a Memorial of Her To gratifie which desire She gave him Her Table-Book in which She had written three Sentences in Greek Latine and English as She saw Her Husband's Body brought unto the Chapel which She besought him to accept as Her last Bequest The Greek to this effect That If His Executed Body should give Testimony against Her before men His most blessed Soul should give an eternal Proof of Her Innocence in the presence of God the Latine added that Humane Justice was against His Body but the Divine Mercy would be for His Soul and then concluded thus in English that If Her fault deserved Punishment Her Youth at least and Her Imprudence were worthy of Excuse and that God and Posterity would shew Her Favour Conducted by Feckman to the Scaffold She gave not much heed unto his Discourses but kept Her Eyes upon a Prayer-Book of Her own And being mounted on the Throne from which She was to receive a more excellent Crown then any which this vile Earth could give Her She addressed Her self in some few words to the standers by letting them know that Her Offence was not for having lay'd Her Hand upon the Crown but for not rejecting it with sufficient Constancy That She had less erred through Ambition then out of Respect and Reverence to Her Parents acknowledging nevertheless that Her Respect was to be accounted as a Crime and such Reverence to deserve a Punishment That She would willingly admit of Death so to give satisfaction to the injured State that by Obedience to the Laws She might voluntarily take off the Scandal which She had given by Her constrained Obedience to Her Friends and Kindred concluding finally that She had justly deserved this Punishment for being made the instrument thugh the unwâ—lliâ—g Instrument of another's Ambition and should leave behind Her an Examplâ— that Innâ—â—ence excuseth not great Mâ—sdeeds if they any way tenâ— to the Destruction of the Commonâ—Wealth Which said and desiring the people to recommend Her in their Prayers to the mercies of God She caused Her self to be disrobed by some of Her Women who with wâ—â— Eyes and heavy Hearts performed that Office which was to Her no more unwelcome then if it had been nothing but the preparation to the Death of Sleep and not unto the Sleep of Death And being now â—eady for the Blâ—ck with the same clear and untroubled Countenance wherewith She had acted all the rest of Her Tragedy She said aloud the Psalm of Miseâ—ere mei â—eus in the English Tongue and so submitted Her pure Neck to the Exâ—cutioner Touching the Bonds Recognâ—scances Grants Conveyances and other Lâ—gal Instruments which â—ad been made in the short Reign of this Queen a doubt was raâ—sed amongâ—â— our Lawyers whither they were good and valid in the Law or not The Reason of which Scruple was because that Interval of time which passed between the Death of King Edward on the sixth of July and the Proclaiming of Queen Mary in all Parts of thâ— Realm was in the Law to be esteemed as a part of Her Reign without any notice to be taken of the interposing of the Lady Jane in the fiâ—st year of whose Reign the said Bonds Recogniscances Grants c. had their several Dates And thereupon it was Enacted in the following Parliament That all Statutes Recogniscances and other Writings whatsoever knoledged or made by or to any Person or Persons Bodies Politick or Corporate being the Queen's Subjects since the sixth day of July last past untill the fiâ—st day of August then next following under the Name of the Reign of any other Person then under the Namâ— of the said â—ueen's Majesty with the Stile appropriated or united to Her Majestie 's Imperial Crown shall be as good and â—ffectual in the Law to all intents purposes coâ—structions and meanings as if upon the mâ—king thereof the Name of the said Queen Mary with Her Stileâ—appropâ—â—ated had been fully and plainly expressed in the same Wâ—â—h a Proviso notwithstanding that all Grants Letters Patents and Commissions made by the said Lady Jane to any Person or Persons whatsoever should be reputed void and of none â—ffâ—ct Whâ—ch Proviso seems to have been added not onâ—ly for the making void of all such Grants of the Crown-Lands as had passed in the Name of the said Queen Jane if any such Grants were ever made but for invalidating the Commiâ—â—â—on granted to the Duke of Northumberland for raising Arms in Her behalf The pleading whereof though it could not be allowed for his Indâ—mnity when he stood at the Bar might possibly have raised some Reproach or Trouble to his Peers and Judges if the Integrity of their Proceedings had been called in Question Such was the end of the short Life but far shorter Reign of the Lady Jane
Senior Fellow sufficiently known to be of Popish inclinations though for the saving of his place he had conformed as others did to the present time No sooner was he in this power but he retrives some old superstitious hymns which formerly had been sung on several Festivals in the times of Popery prohibiting the use of such as had been introduced by Gervase the late Warden there This gave incouragement and opportunity to the Popish party to insult over the rest especially over all those of the younger sort who had not been trained up in their Popish principles so that it seemed a penal matter to be thought a Protestant Notice whereof being given to Archbishop Parker the Ordinary Visitour of that College in the Right of his See he summoneth Hall on the 20th of May to appear before him and caused the Citation to be fastned to the Gate of the College But his authority in that case was so little regarded that the seal of the Citation was torn off by some of that party Hereupon followed a solemn visitation of the College by the said Archbishop The result whereof was briefly this that all were generally examined Man confirmed Warden Hall justly expelled his party publickly admonished the young scholars relieved the Papists curbed and suppressed and Protestants countenanced and incouraged in the whole University But this was only the Essay of those greater commotions which were to have insued upon it though withall it proved a prognostick of their ill success which constantly attended the designs of the Romish faction For presently on the neck of this a far more dangerous conspiracy declared it self in some chief Leaders of that party The present sitting of the Council the practices of some forein Ministers and the Queens countenancing the French Hugoâ—ots then being in Arms against their King might serve both as encouragements and exasperations to put that party upon dangerous and destructive projects And it is possible enough that somewhat might be aimed at by them in favour of the Title of the Queen of Scots or of some other of the Race of King Henry the 7th by Margaret his eldest daughter married to James the 4th of Scotland which may the rather be supposed because I find the Lady Margaret Countess of Lenox daughter of the said Queen Margaret by her second husband and mother of Henry Lord Dâ—rnley who was after married to Queen Mary of Scotland to have been confined unto her House with the Earl her husband upon suspition of some practice against the Queen Certain it is that many strange whispers were abroad and no small hopes conceived by those of the Popish faction for suppressing the Protestants in all parts of the Kingdom and setting up their own Religion as in former times a matter neither to be entertained without strong temptations nor compassed without stronger forces than they could raise amongst themselves but by intelligence supply from some forein Princes On which account amongst some others which were found to be of the Plot Arthur Pole granchild of Margaret Countess of Salisbury by Geofry her third son the younger brother unto Reâ—gnald Pole the late Cardinal Legat was apprehended and arraigned together with his brother Geofry Fortescue who had married his sister divers others The substance of their Chaâ—ge as it is generally in all Treasons was a design of levying war against the Queen and otherwise entertaining many dangerous counsels against the peace and safety of her Dominions with a particular intention of advancing the Queen of Scots to the Crown of England and Polâ— himself unto the Title of Duke of Clarence All which they confessed upon the Indictment and did all receive the sentence of death but were all afterwards pardoned by the Queens great clemency out of that great respect which she carried to their Royal extraction And yet it may be possible that there was something in it of State-craft as well as clemency which might induce the Queen to spare them from the stroke of the Ax which was to keep them for a ballance to the House of Suffolk of whom she now began to conceive some jealousies The Lady Katharine Gray one of the younger daughters of Henry Duke of Suffolk and sister to the late Queen Jane had been marryed to the Lord Henry Herbert son and heir to the Earl of Pembrock at such time as the said Queen Jane was married to the Lord Guilford Dudley at Durham-House But the old Earl seasonably apprehending how unsafe it was to marry into that Family which had given so much trouble to the Queen took the advantage of the time and found some means to procure a sentence of Divorce almost upon the very insâ—ant of the Consummation And knowing how well Queen Maâ—yâ—â—ood â—â—ood affected to the Earl of Shrewsbury he presently clapt up a marriage for his son with another Katherine one of the daughters of that Earl who dying about the begining of the Reign of this Queen he married him as â—peedily to Mary Sâ—dâ—ey the daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and of Mary his wife one of the daughters of John Dudley the late Duke of Northumberland in which last marriage he as much endeavoured to ingratiate himself with Sir Robert Dâ—dleâ— who at that time began to grow Lord Paramount in all Court-favours as by the first Match to insinuate into old Duke Dudley who did then predominate In the mean time the Lady Katherine Gray languisheth long under the disgrace of this rejection none daring to make any particular addresses to her for fear of being involved in the like calamities as had befallen her father and the rest of that Family But at the last the young Earl of Hertford contracts himself privately unto her and having consummated the marriage with her gets leave to travail into France But long he had not left the Kingdom when the Lady was found to be with child being imprisoned in the Tower she makes known her marriage till then kept secret by agreement the Earl is thereupon called home and standing honestly to the Marriage for which he could produce no sufficient witnesse is committed prisoner also The Queen exceeding jealous of all Competitors refers the cognisance of the cause to the Archbishop of Canterbury and some other Delegates by whom a certain time is set for the bringing in of Witnesses to prove the Marriage and on default thereof a sentence of unlawful copulation is pronounced against them during which troubles and disquiets the Lady is delivered of the Lord Edward Seâ—mer her eldest son in the Tower of London and conceived after of another by some sâ—oln meetings which she had with the Earl her husband their Keepers on both sides being corrupted to give way unto it Which practice so incensed the Queen that hurried on with jealousie and transported with passion she caused a fine of five thousand pounds to be set upon him in the Star-chamber and kept him close prisoner for the space of nine years at the
Anno 1552. as also of the Review thereof by the Bishops and Clergy assembled in their Convocation under Queen Elizabeth Anno 1562. which being compared with one another will appear most plainly neither to be altogether the same nor yet much different the later being rather an explication of the former where the former seemed to be obscure or not expressed in such full and significant tearms as they after were than differing from them in such points wherein they dissented from the Romanists and some modern Hereticks But what these differences were both for weight and number the Reader may observe by seeing the Articles laid before him in their several Columns as hereafter followeth wherein the variations are presented in a different character or otherwise marked out by their several figures in the line and margin Which was first done with reference to some Annotations intended once upon the same for shewing the reason of those Additions Substractions and other alterations which were thought necessary to be made to and in King Edward's Book by the Bishops and Clergy in their Convocation Anno 1562. But that design being laid aside as not so compatible with the nature of our present History the Articles shall be laid down plainly as they are in themselves leaving the further consideration of the differences which occur between them to the Reader 's care Articles agreed upon by the Bishops and other learned men 1 in the Convocation held at London in the year 1552. for the avoiding of Diversitities of Opinions and stablishing consent touching true Religion Published by the Kings Authority Articles agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London in the year 1562. for the avoiding of Diversities of Opinions and stablishing consent tonching true Religion Publish'd by the Queens Authority I. Of Faith in the holy Trinity THere is but one living and true God everlasting without body parts or passions of infinite power wisdom and goodness the Maker and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible And in Unity of this Godhead there are three Persons one Substance Power and Eternity the Father the Son and the holy Ghost I. Of Faith in the holy Trinity THere is but one living and true God Everlasting without body parts or passions of infinite power wisdom and goodness the Maker and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible And in Unity of this Godhead there be three Persons of one Substance Power and Eternity the Father the Son and the holy Ghost II. The Word of God made very Man The Son which is the Word of the Father took mans nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin of her substance So that two whole and perfect Natures that is to say the 2 Godhead Manhood were joyn'd together in one Person never to be divided whereof is one Christ very God and very Man who truly suffered was crucified dead and buried to reconcile his Father to us and to be a sacrifice not onely for original guilt but also for actual sins of men II. Of the Word or Son of God which was made very Man The Son which is the Word of the Father begotten from everlasting of the Father the very and eternal God of one Substance with the Father 2 took Man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin c. III. Of the going down of Christ into Hell As Christ dyed for us and was buried so also is it to be believed that he went down into Hell 3 For his Body lay in the Grave till his Resurrection but his Soul being separate from his Body remained with the Spirits which were detained in prison that is to say in Hell and there preached unto them as witnesseth that place of Peter III. Of the going down of Christ into Hell As Christ dyed for us and was buried so also it is to be believed that he went down into Hell IV. The Resurrection of Christ. Christ did truly rise again from death and took again his Body with flesh bones and all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature wherewith he ascended into heaven and there fitteâ—h till he return to judg all men at the last day IV. Of the Resurrection of Christ. Christ did truly rise again from death and took again his Body with flesh bones c. 5 V. Of the holy Ghost The holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son is of one Substance Majesty and Glory with the Father and the Son very and eternal God V. The Doctrine of the holy Scripture is sufficient to salvation Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby although sometimes it may be admitted 6 by Gods faithful people as pious and conducing unto order and decency yet is not to be required of any man that it should be 7 believed as an Article of the faith or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation VI. Of the sufficiency of the holy Scriptures for salvation Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought necessary or requisite to salvation In the name of the holy Scripture 7 we do understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church that is to say Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1st of Samuel 2d of Samuel c. And the other Books as Hierom saith the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners but yet doth it not apply them to establish any Doctrine such are these following The 3d. of Esdras The 4th of Esdras The Book of Tobias The Book of Judeth The rest of the Book of Hester The Book of Wisdom c. All the Books of the New Testament as they are commonly received we do receive and account them Canonical VI. The Old Testament is not to be rejected The Old Testament is not to be rejected as if it were contrary to the New but to be retained Forasmuch as in the Old Testament as in the New everlasting life is offered to Mankind by Christ who is the onely Mediatior betwixt God and Man being both God and Man Wherefore they are not to be heard who feign that the old Fathers did look onely â—or transitory Promises VII Of the Old Testament The Old Testament is not contraâ—y to the New for both in the Oâ—d and the New Testament Everlasting life is offered Mankind by Christ c. 8 Although the Law given from Gâ—d by Moses as touching Ceremonies and Rites do not bind Christian men nor the Civil Precepts theâ—eof ought of necâ—ssiâ—y to be received in any Commonwealth yet notwithstanding no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the