Norton Wilmus de Sutton For such as we call nowe Iohn Norton and William Sutton and amongst the Gentlemen of Chesshyre euen to this day one is called after their maner Thomas a Bruerton another Iohn a Holcrost and suche like for Thomas Bruerton Iohn Holcrost c. as we here vse it Thus muche shortly of mine owne fantasie I thought not vnmeete to impart by occasion of the name of Norwood and now forward to my purpose againe Leedes in Latine of some Lodanum of others Ledanum Castrum RObert Creuequer was one of the eight that Iohn Fynes elected for his assistance in the defence of Douer Castle as we haue already shewed who taking for that cause the Manor of Leedes and vndertaking to finde fiue Warders therefore builded this Castle or at the least an other that stoode in the place For I haue read that Edward thē Prince of Wales and afterward the first King of that name being Wardein of the Fiue Portes and Constable of Douer in the life of Henrie the third his Father caused Henrie Cobham whose ministerie he vsed as substitute in bothe those offices to race the Castle that Robert Creuequer had erected bicause Creuequer that was then owner of it Heire to Robert was of the number of the Nobles that moued and mainteined warre against him Whiche whether it be true or no I will not affirme but yet I thinke it very likely bothe bicause Badlesmere a man of another name became Lord of Leedes shortly after as you shall anone sée and also for that the present woorke at Leedes pretendeth not the antiquitie of so many yeares as are passed since the age of the conquest But let vs leaue the building and goe in hand with the storie King Henrie the first hauing none other issue of his bodie then Maude first married to Henrie the Emperour whereof she was called the Empresse and after coupled to Geffray Plantaginet the Earle of Angeow fearing as it happened in déed that after his death trouble might arise in the Realme about the inheritance of the Crowne bycause she was by habitation a straunger and farre of so that she might want bothe force and friends to atchieue her right And for that also Stephan the Earle of Boloine his sisters sonne was then of greate estimation amongst the noble men and abiding within the Realme so that with great aduauntage he might offer her wrong he procured in full Parleament the assent of his Lordes and Commons that Maude and her heires shoulde succéede in the kingdome after him And to the ende that this limitation of his might be the more surely established he tooke the fidelitie and promise by othe bothe of his Clergie and Laytie and of the Earle of Boloine him selfe Howbeit immediatly after his decease Stephan being of the opinion that Si ius violandum est certe regnandi causa violandum est If breache of lawes a man shall vndertake He must them boldly break for kingdomes sake Inuaded the Crowne and by the aduice of William the Archebishop of Canterbury who had first of al giuen his fayth to Maude by the fauour of the common people whiche adheared vnto him and by the consent of the holy father of Rome whose will neuer wanteth to the furtheraunce of mischiefe he obtained it whiche neuerthelesse as William of Newborowe well noteth being gotten by patterne he held not past two yeres in peace but spent the residue of his whole reigne in dissention warre and bloudshed to the great offence of God the manifest iniurie of his owne cousine and the grieuous vexation of this countrie and people For soone after the beginning of his reigne sundry of the Noble men partely vpon remorse of their former promise made and partly for displeasure conceiued bycause he kepte not the othe taken at his Coronation made defection to Maude so soone as euer she made her challenge to the Crowne So that in the end after many calamities what by her owne power and their assistaunce she compelled him to fall to composition with her as in the storie at large it may be séene Nowe during those his troubles amongst other things that muche annoyed him and furthered the part of Maude his aduersarie it was vpon a time sounded by his euil willers in the eares of the cōmon sort that he was dead And therewithall soudenly diuers great men of her deuotion betooke them to their strong holdes and some others seised some of the Kings owne Castles to the behalfe of the Empresse Of whiche number was Robert the Earle of Gloucester and bastarde brother to Maude who entred this Castle of Leedes mynding to haue kept it But King Stephan vsed against him suche force and celeritie that he soone wrested it out of his fingers King Edwarde the seconde that for the loue of the two Spensers incurred the hatred of his wife and Nobilitie gaue this Castle in exchaunge for other landes to Bartilmew Badelesmere then Lorde Stewarde of his housholde and to his heires for euer who shortly after entering into that troublesome action in whiche Thomas the Duke of Lancaster with his complices maugre the King exiled the Spensers bothe loste the Kings fauour this Castle and his life also For whilste he was abroade in ayde of the Barons and had committed the custodie thereof to Thomas Colpeper and left not onely his chiefe treasure in money but also his wife and children within it for their securitie It chaunced that Isabell the Kings wife mynding a Pilgrimage towards Cāterbury and being ouertakē with might sent her Marshal to prepare for her lodging ther. But her officer was proudly denyed by the Captaine who sticked not to tell him that neyther the Quéene ne any other shoulde be lodged there without the commandement of his Lord the owner The Queene not thus aunswered came to the gate in person and required to be let in But the Captain most malepertly repulsed her also in so much that shee complained greauously to the king of the misdemenour and he forthwith leuied a power and personally sumoned and besieged the peice so straightly that in the end through want of rescue and victuall it was deliuered him Then tooke he Capitaine Colpeper and houng him vp The wife and children of the Lord Badelesmere he sent to the Towre of London The treasure and munition he seised to his owne vse and the Castle he committed to such as liked him But as the last acte of a Tragedie is alwayes more heauie sorowful thē the rest so calamitie woe increasing vpō him Badelesmere him self was the yere folowing in the company of the Duke of Lancaster and others discomfited at Borowbrig by the Kings armie and shortly after sent to Canterbury and beheaded I might here iustly take occasion to rip vp the causes of those great and tragicall troubles that grewe betwene this King his Nobilitie for Peter Gaueston these two Spensers the rather for that the common sort of
at the Kings handes The King hearing the complaint ment to make correction of the fault but the Townesmen also had complained themselues to Godwine who determining vnaduisedly to defend his clients and seruauntes opposed himselfe violently against the King his Leige Lord and Maister To bee short the matter waxed within a while so hote betwéene them that either side for maintenance of their cause arraied and conducted a great armie into the field Godwine demaunded of the King that Eustace might be deliuered vnto him the King cōmaunded Godwine that armes laide aside hee would answere his disobedience by order of the Lawe and in the ende Godwine was banished the Realme by the sentence of the King and Nobilitie wherevpon hee and his Sonnes fled ouer the Sea and neuer ceassed to vnquiet the King and spoyle his subiects til they were reconciled to his fauour and restored to their auncient estate and dignitie This towne was so sore wasted with fire soone after the comming in of King William the Conquerour that it was wholly saue onely nine and twentie dwelling houses consumed and brought to ashes And in the time of King Edward the first also whiles two of the Popes Cardinales were here in the treatie of an attonement to be made betwéene England and Fraunce the Frenchemen landed at Douer in a right and burned a great part of the towne and some of the religious buildings So that in those times it was muche empayred by those misfortunes But nowe in our memorie what by decay of the hauen whiche King Henrie the eight to his great charge but that all in vayne sought to restore and what by the ouerthrowe of the religious houses and losse of Calaice it is brought in maner to miserable nakednesse and decaye whiche thing were the lesse to be pitied if it were not accompanyed with the ruine of the Castell it selfe the decay whereof is so much the more grieuous as the fame therof is with our ancient stories aboue al other most blasing glorious The Castell of Douer sayth Lidgate and Rosse was firste builded by Iulius Caesar the Romane Emperour in memorie of whome they of the Castell kept till this day certeine vessels of olde wine and salte whiche they affirme to be the remayne of suche prouision as he brought into it As touching the whiche if they be natural and not sophisticate I suppose them more likely to haue béene of that store whiche Hubert de Burghe layde in there of whome I shall haue cause to say more hereafter But as concerning the building bycause I finde not in Caesar his owne Commentaries mention of any fortification that he made within the Realme I thinke that the more credible reporte whiche ascribeth the foundation to Aruiragus a King of the Britons of whome Iuuenal the Poet hath mention saying to the Emperour Nero in this wise Regem aliquem capies aut de temone Britanno Excidet Aruiragus c. Some King thou shalt a captaine take or els from Bryttishe wayne Shall Aruiragus tumble downe And of whome others write that he founde suche fauour in the eye of Claudius the Emperour that he obtained his daughter to wife But whosoeuer were the authour of this Castell Mathewe Parise writeth that it was accounted in his time which was vnder the reigne of King Henry the third Clauis Repagulum totius Regni the very locke and key of the whole Realme of England And truly it séemeth to me by that which I haue read of King William the Conquerour that he also thought no lesse of it For at suche time as Harold being in Normandie with him whether of purpose or against his will I leaue as I finde it at large made a corporall othe to put him in possession of the Crowne after the death of King Edwarde It was one parcell of his othe that he should deliuer vnto him this castell and the Well within it The same King had no soner ouerthrowne Harolde in the fielde and reduced the Londoners to obedience but foorthwith he marched with his armie towarde Douer as to a place of greatest importaunce and spéede in that iourney as is already declared Not long after whiche time also when he had in his owne opinion peaceably established the gouernment of this Realme and was departed ouer into Normandie of purpose to commit the order of that countrie to Robert his sonne diuers of the shyre of Kent knowing right well howe muche it might annoy him to lose Douer conspired with Eustace the Earle of Boloine for the recouerie and surprise of the same And for the better atchieuing of their desire it was agréed that the Earle should crosse the seas in a night by them appointed at whiche time they woulde not faile with all their force to méete him and so ioyning handes soudainly assayle and enter it They met accordingly and marched by darke night toward the Castell well furnished with scaling ladders but by reason that the watch had discried them they not only fayled of that whiche they intended but also fell into that whiche they neuer feared for the Souldiours within the Castell to whome Odo the Bishop of Borieux and Hughe Mountfort which then were with the King in Normandie had committed the charge thereof kept them selues close and suffered the assaylants to approche the wall and then whiles they disorderly attempted to scale it they set wide open their gates and made a soudaine salie out of the péece and set vpon them with suche furie that they compelled Eustace with a fewe others to returne to his Shippe the reste of his companie béeing eyther slayne by the sworde destroyed by fall from the Clyffe or deuoured by the Sea. The same King also béeing worthely offended with the disobedience auarice and ambition of Odo his bastarde brother whome he had promoted to the Bishopricke of Borieux and to the Earldome of Kent for that he had not onely by rauine and extortion raked together greate masses of Golde and treasure whiche he caused to be grounde into fine pouder and filling therewith dyuers pottes and crockes had sounk them in the bottomes of Riuers intending therwithall to haue purchased the Papacie of Rome But also bycause he refused to render vnto him the Countie of Kent and was suspected for aspiring to the Crowne of this Realme consulted with Lanfranc the Archebishop of Canterburye and a professed enemie to Odo howe hée might safely and without offence to the Ecclesiasticall estate for that hée was a Bishoppe bothe conteyne that treasure within the Realme and also deteyne hys person from going into Italie whether warde he bothe addressed him selfe with all speede and gathered for his trayne great troupes of valiaunt and seruiceable men out of euerie quarter Lanfranc counseled the King to commit him to safe custodie and for his defence armed him with this pretie shift If it be layde to your charge quoth he that you haue layde violent handes vpon a sacred Bishop Say that you
this Towne committed to memorie I became of this minde that either the place was at the first of litle price and for the increase thereof indowed with Priuileges or if it had beene at any time estimable that it continued not long in the plight And truly whosoeuer shall consider eyther the Vniuersall vicissitude of the Sea in all places or the particular alteration and chaunge that in tymes passed and now presently it worketh on the coasts of this Realme he will easely assent that Townes bordering vpon the Sea and vpholded by the commoditie thereof may in short time decline to great decay and become in manner worthe nothing at all For as the water either floweth or forsaketh thē so must they of necessitie either flourish or fall flowing as it were ebbing with the Sea it selfe The necessitie of whiche thing is euery where so ineuitable that all the Popish ceremonies of espousing the Sea whiche the Venetians yearely vse on Saint Markes day by casting a Golden ring into the water cannot let but that the Sea continually by litle and litle withdraweth it selfe from their Citie and threatneth in time vtterly to forsake them Nowe therefore as I cannot fully shew what Hide hath béene in times passed must referre to each mans owne eye to beholde what it presently is So yet will I not pretermitte to declare out of other men such notes as I finde concerning the same From this Towne saith Henrie Huntingdon Earle Godwine and his Sonnes in the time of their exile fetched away diuers vessels lying at roade euen as they had at Rumney also whereof we shall haue place to speake more hereafter Before this Towne in the reigne of King Edward the first a great fléete of French men shewed themselues vpon the Sea of whiche one being furnished with two hundrethe Souldiours set her men on land in the Hauen where they had no sooner pitched their foote but the Townesmen came vpon thē to the last man wherewith the residue were so afraide that foorthwith they hoysed vp saile and made no further attempt This Towne also was grieuously afflicted in the beginning of the Reigne of King Henrie the fourth in so muche as besides the furie of the pestilence whiche raged all ouer there were in one day two hundreth of the houses consumed by flame fiue of their ships with one hundreth men drowned at the Sea By whiche hurte the inhabitaunts were so wounded that they began to deuise howe they might abandone the place and builde them a Towne else where Wherevpon they had resolued also had not the King by his liberal Chartre which I haue séene vnder his scale released vnto them for fiue turnes next following onlesse the greater necessitie should in the meane time compell him to require it their seruice of fiue ships of one hundreth men and of v. garsons whiche they ought of duetie and at their owne charge without the helpe of any other member to finde him by the space of fiftéene dayes together Finally from this Towne to Boloigne which is taken to be the same that Caesar calleth Gessoriacum is the shortest cutte ouer the Sea betwéene England and Fraunce as some holde opinion Others thinke that to be the shortest passage which is from Douer to Calaice But if there be any man that preferreth not hast before his good spéede let him by mine aduise proue a third way I meane from Douer to Withsand for if Edmund Badhenham the penner of the Chronicles of Rochester lye not shamefully whiche thing you knowe how farre it is from a Monke then at suche time as King Henrie the second and Lewes the French King were after long warre reconciled to amitie Lewes came ouer to visite King Henrie and in his return homeward saluted saint Thomas of Canterbury made a princely offer at his tumbe and bicause he was very fearefull of the water asked of saint Thomas and obteined that neither he in that passage nor any other from thenceforth that crossed the Seas betwéen Douer and Withsand should suffer any manner of losse or shipwracke But of this Saint sauing your reuerence we shall haue fitte place to speake more largely hereafter and therefore let vs nowe leaue the Sea and looke toward Shipwey Shipwey or Shipweyham in the Recordes commonly Shipwey Crosse BEtwéene Hyde and Westhanger lieth Shipwey the place that was of auncient time honested with the Plées and assemblies of the Fiue Ports although at this day neither by good building extant it be much glorious nor by any common méeting greatly frequented I remember that I haue read in a book of Priuileges of the Fiue Portes that certeine principall pointes concerning the Port townes be determinable at Shipwey only And likely it is that the withdrawing of the triall of causes from thence to Douer Castle hathe brought decay and obscuritie vpon the place Of this place the whole Last of Shipwey conteining twelue Hundrethes at the first tooke and yet continueth the name At this place Prince Edward the Sonne to King Henrie the third exacted of the Barons of the v. Portes their othe of fidelitie to his Father against the mainteiners of the Barons warre And at this place only our Limenarcha or Lord Wardein of the Ports receaueth his oathe at his first entrie into the office Whether this were at any time a Harborow for ships as the Etymologie of the name giueth likelihoode of coniecture or no I dare neither affirme nor denie hauing neither read nor séen that may lead me to the one or the other only I remember that Robert Talbot a man of our time and which made a Commentarie vpon the Itinerarie of Antoninus Augustus is of the opinion that is was called Shipwey because it lay in the way to the Hauen where the ships were wont to ride And that hauen taketh he to be the same whiche of Ptolome is caled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nouus Portus of Antoninus Limanis of our Chroniclers Limene Mouthe and interpreted by Leland to betoken the mouthe of the riuer of Rother whiche nowe in our time openeth into the Sea at Rye but before at Winchelsey His coniecture is grounded partly as you sée vpon the Etymologie of the name partly vpon the consideration of some antiquities that be neare to the place and partly also vpon the report of the countrie people who holde fast the same opinion which they haue by tradition receaued from their Elders In déede the name bothe in Greeke and olde Englishe whiche followethe the Gréeke that is to say Limen and Limene Mouthe doth signifie a Hauen wherof the Town of Lymne adioyning and the whole Deanrie or limit of the Ecclesiastical iurisdiction in whiche it standeth for that also is called Lymne by likelyhoode tooke the name This Hauen saithe he stoode at the firste vnder a highe Rocke in the Parishe of Lymne vnder the whiche there was situate a strong Castle for the defence of the Porte the ruines of
The Monkes lothe to loose so beneficiall a stray at the first make some denyal but afterwarde being assured by all signes that he was the very Proprietarie they graunt him to take it with him The carpenter then taketh the horse by the heade and first assayeth to leade him out of the Churche but he woulde not stirre for him Then beateth he and striketh him but the Iade was so restie and fast nayled that he would not once remoue his foote from the piller At the laste he taketh off the Image thinking to haue carried it out by it self and then to haue led the horse after but that also cleaued so fast to the place that notwithstanding all that euer he and the Monkes also which at the length were contented for pities sake to helpe him coulde doe it woulde not be moued one inche from it So that in the ende partely of wearinesse in wrestling with it and partely by persuasion of the Monkes whiche were in loue with the Picture and made him beléeue that it was by God him selfe destinate to their house the Carpenter was contented for a péece of money to go his way and leaue the Roode behinde him Thus you sée the generation of this the great God of Boxley comparable I warrant you to the creation of that olde beastly Idol Priapus of whiche the Poet sayth Olim truncus eram ficulnus inutile lignum Cum faber incertus SCAMNVM FACERETNE PRIAPVM MALVIT ESSE DEVM Deus inde ego furum c. A Figtree blocke sometime I was A log vnmeete for vse Til Caruer doubting with him selfe WER T BEST MAKE PRIAPVS OR ELSE A BENCHE resolude at last To make a God of me Thencefoorth a God I am of birdes And theeues most drad you see But what I shall not néede to report howe leudely these Monkes to their owne enriching and the spoyle of Gods people abused this wooden God after they had thus gotten him bycause a great sorte be yet on liue that sawe the fraude openly detected at Paules Crosse and others maye reade it disclosed in bookes extant and commonly abroade Neyther will I labour to compare it throughout with the Troian Palladium whiche was a picture of woode that coulde shake a speare and rolle the eyes as liuely as this Roode did and whiche falling from heauen chose it self a place in the Temple as wisely as this Carpenters horse did and had otherwise so greate conuenience and agréement with this our Image that a man woulde easily beléeue the deuice had béene taken from thence But I will onely note for my purpose and the places sake that euen as they fansied that Troy was vpholden by that Image and that the taking of it awaye by Diomedes and Vlysses brought destruction by sentence of the Oracle vpon their Citie So the towne of Boxley whiche stoode chiefly by the Abbay was through the discouerie and defacing of this Idol and another wrought by Cranmer and Cromwel according to the iust iudgement of God hastened to vtter decay and beggerie And nowe since I am falne into mention of that other Image whiche was honoured at this place I will not sticke to bestowe a fewe wordes for the detection thereof also as well for that it was as very an illusion as the former as also for that the vse of them was so lincked together that the one can not throughly be vnderstoode without the other for this was the order If you minded to haue benefit by the Roode of Grace you ought firste to be shryuen of one of the Monkes Then by lifting at this other Image whiche was vntruly of the common sorte called Sainct Grumbald for Sainct Rumwald you shoulde make proofe whether you were in cleane life as they called it or no and if you so founde your selfe then was your waye prepared and your offering acceptable before the Roode if not then it behoued you to be confessed of newe for it was to be thought that you had concealed somewhat from your ghostly Dad and therefore not yet worthy to be admitted Ad Sacra Eleusina Nowe that you may knowe howe this examination was to be made you must vnderstande that this Sainct Rumwald was a preatie shorte picture of a Boy Sainct standing in the same Churche of it selfe so small hollow and light that a childe of seuen yeares of age might easily lift it and therefore of no moment at all in the hands of suche persons as had offered frankly But by meane of a pyn of wood stricken through it into a poste whiche a false knaue standing behinde coulde put in and pull out at his pleasure it was to suche as offered faintly so fast and vnmoueable that no force of hande coulde once stirre it In so muche as many times it moued more laughter then deuotion to beholde a great lubber to lift at that in vayne whiche a young boy or wenche had easily taken vp before him I omit that chaste Virgines and honest marryed matrones went oftentimes away with blushing faces leauing without cause in the myndes of the lookers on suspicion of vncleane life and wanton behauiour for feare of whiche note and villanie women of all other stretched their purse strings and sought by liberall offering to make Sainct Rumwalds man their good friend and Maister But marke here I beséeche you their prettie policie in picking playne folkes purses It was in vaine as they persuaded to presume to the Roode without shrifte yea and money lost there also if you offer before you were in cleane life And therefore the matter was so handled that without trebble oblation that is to say first to the Confessour then to Sainct Rumwald and lastly to the Gracious Roode the poore Pilgrimes coulde not assure them selues of any good gayned by all their laboure No more then suche as goe to Parisgardein the Bell Sauage◠or some other suche common place to beholde Beare bayting Enterludes or Fence playe can account of any pleasant spectacle vnlesse they first paye one penny at the gate another at the entrie of the Scaffolde and the thirde for a quiet standing I my selfe can not coniecture what reason shoulde moue them to make this Sainct Rumwald the Touchstone of cleane life and innocencie vnlesse it be vpon occasion of a myracle that he did in making two holy Priestes to lift a greate stone easily whiche before diuers laye persons coulde not stirre with all their strength and abilitie Whiche thing as also his whole life and death to the ende that the tale shall want no part of due credite I will shortly recite as in the worke called Noua Legenda Angliae I finde reported A Pagan or vnchristened King of Northumberland had married a Christian woman daughter to Penda the King of Midle Englande who woulde not by any meanes be known carnally of her husband til such time as he had condescended to forsake Idolatrie and to become a Christian with her The husband with much to doe consented to
the condition and she not long after waxed great with chylde and as vpon a time they were ryding towarde their Father Kyng Penda she fell into trauayle of chylde byrthe and was deliuered by the waye in a faire medowe at Sutton of a man childe whiche so soone as he was come out of his mothers belly cried with a loude voice thrée seueral times Christianus sum Christianus sum Christianus sum I am a Christian I am a Christian I am a Christian And not ceassing thus made foorthwith plaine profession of his faith desired to be baptised chose his Godfathers named himselfe Rumwald and with his finger directed the standers by to fetche him a great hollowe stone that he would haue to be vsed for the Fonte herevpon sondrie of the Kings seruaunts assayed to haue brought the stone but it was so farre aboue al their strengthes that they could not once moue it when the Childe perceaued that he commaūded the two Priestes his appointed Godfathers to goe and bring it whiche they did foorthwith moste easily This done he was Baptised and within thrée dayes after hauing in the meane while discoursed cunningly sundrie misteries of Popishe religion and bequeathing his bodie to remaine at Sutton one yeare at Brackley two and at Buckingham for euer after his Spirit departed out of his bodie was by the hands of the Aungels conueied into heauen Mylton in Saxon Midetun so called of the situation for it lyeth in the midst betweene two places the termination of whose names be in tun also that is to say Newentun and Marstun EVen at suche time as King Alfred diuided this Shyre into Lathes and hundrethes the Towne of Midleton or Milton as we now call it by our common manner of contraction was in his owne hands therefore set foorth in our auncient Hystories by the name and title of Regia Villa de Midleton In whiche respect of like he gaue to the hundreth the name of the same Towne as of a place more eminent then any other within that precincte Kemsley Towne in the Parishe of this Midleton is the verie place wherein the time and reigne of the same King Alfred Hasten the Dane that so muche annoyed Fraunce arriued and fortified as we haue at ful disclosed in Apledore before This Towne continued of good estimation vntill the Reigne of King Edward the Confessour in whose dayes and during the displeasure betwéene him and Earle Godwine suche as were of the deuotion of the Earle at home burned the Kinges house at Midleton while he and his Sonnes abroad ransacked herried and spoiled the skirts and out sides of the whole shyre besides after whiche time I haue not read neither is it likely that the place was of any price or estimation Sedingbourne in Saxon Saetungburna that is the Hamlet along the Bourne or small Riuer One interpreteth it as if it were Seethingbourne Riuus Feruiens aut Bulliens but howe likely let others see FOr want of pertinent matter touching either the beginning increase or present estate of this place I am driuen to furnishe the roome with an impertinent Sermon that a Mytred Father of Rochester long since bestowed vpon his auditorie there In the time of King Henrie the third and after the death of Richard the Archebishop of Canterbury surnamed the great The Monkes of Christes Churche were determined to haue chosen for their Archebishop Ralfe Nouille the Bishop of Chichester and Chancellour to the King but Gregorie the Pope fearing that Ralfe would haue trauailed earnestly for release of the tribute whiche his innocent predecessour had gained by King Iohns submission for the storie sayeth that Nouille was a good man and true harted in his Countrie bare the Monkes in hand that he was rashe in woorde and presumptious in acte and therefore muche vnworthie of suche a dignitie Neuerthelesse bicause he would not séeme vtterly to infringe the libertie of their election he gaue them frée licence to take any other man besides him Wherevpon the Monkes agréed and chose one Iohn the Pryor of their owne house Now when this man should go to Rome as the manner was for to buie his confirmation Henrie then Bishop of Rochester addressed himselfe to accompanie him to his Ship and when they were come to this Towne the Bishop of Rochester stept into the Pulpit like a pretie man and gaue the Auditorie a clerkly collation and Preachement after many other thinges he braste foorth into great ioye as a man that had béene rapt into the third Heuen and said Reioice in the Lord my brethren all and knowe ye assuredly that now of late in one day there departed out of purgatorie Richard sometime King of England Stephan Langton the Archebishop of Canterbury and a Chaplein of his to goe to to the diuine Maiestie And in that day thereissued no moe but these three out of the place of paines and feare not to giue full and assured faith to these my woordes for this thing hathe beene now the third time reuealed vnto me and to another man that so plainly as from mine owne minde all suspicion of doubt is farre remoued These fewe words I haue in manner translated out of Thomas Rudburne and Mathewe of Westminster to the end that you might sée with what wholesome and comfortable bread the preaching Prelates of that time fedde their Auditories and that you might hereby consider that Si lux sit tenebrae If the Bishops the great torches of that time were thus dimme Ipsae tenebrae quantae What light was to be looked for at the litle candels the soule Priestes and séely Syr Iohns Beléeue me if his Fatherhood had not plainly confessed that he came to the knowledge of this matter by reuelatiō I would easily haue beléeued that he had béene with Anchises in Hell as Aeneas sometime was where he learned what soules should come next to life and where he hard the liuelyest description of Poetical or Popish Purgatorie for all is one that is any where to be found Whiche to the end that you may sée what agréement there is betwéene the olde and the newe Romanes touching this article of religion I will shewe it you in a fewe of Virgils owne verses Quin supremo cum lumine vita reliquit Non tamen omne malum miseris nec funditus omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes penitusque necesse est Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris Ergo exercentur paenis veterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt Aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad ventos alijs sub gurgite vasto Infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni Quisque suos patimur manes Exinde per amplum Mittimur Elysium pauci laeta arua tenemus Donec longa dies perfecto temporis orbe Concretam exemit labem purumque reliquit Aetherium sensum atque aurai simplicis ignem Whiche Thomas Phaer translated after this manner Moreouer when their end of life and light doth them forsake Yet
which was wont to be commonly said Vnicum Arbustum non alit duos Erythacos For in déede one whole Citie nay rather one whole Shyre and Countrie could hardly suffice the pride and ambitious auarice of such two Religious Synagogues The which as in all places they agréeed to enrich them selues by the spoyle of the Laitie So in no place they agréed one with another But eche séeking euerie where and by all wayes to aduaunce them selues they moued continuall and that moste fierâ— and deadly warre for landes priuileges reliques and suche like vaine worldly préeminences In so muche as he that will obserue it shall finde that vniuersally the Chronicles of their owne houses conteine for the moste parte nothing else but suing for exemptions procuring of reliques strugling for offices wrangling for consecrations pleading for landes and possessions For proofe wherof I might iustly alledge inumerable brawles stirred betwéen the Religious houses of this Citie wrastling sometime with the Kings sometime with the Archbishops oftentimes the one with the other â—l which be at large set forth by Thomas Spot the Chroniâ—ler of S. Augustins But for asmuch as I my self delighâ— litle in that kind of rehersal do think that other men for the more part of the wiser sort be sufficiently persuaded of these their follies I wil lightly passe theÌ„ ouer labor more â—argely in some other thing And bycause that the Monasâ—erie or Priorie of Christes Churche was of the more fame I will first begin with it After that Augustine the Monke whiche was sent from Rome had found suche fauour in the sight of King Ethelbert that he might fréely Preache the Gospell in his Countrie he chose for assembly and prayer an olde Churche in the East part of this Citie whiche was long time before builded by the Romanes and he made therof by licence of the King a Churche for himselfe and his successours dedicating the same to the name of our Sauiour Christ whereof it was called afterward Christes Churche After his death Laurence his successor brought Monkes into the house the head whereof was called a Pryor whiche woord howsoeuer it soundethe was in déede but the name of a second officer bicause the Bishop himselfe was accompted the very Abbat For in olde time the Bishops were for the moste part chosen out of suche Monasteries and therefore moste commonly had their Palaces adioyning and gouerned as Abbats there by meanes whereof it came to passe that suche Abbies were not only muche amplified in wealth and possessions but also by fauour of the Bishoppes their good Abbates ouerloked all their neere neighbours as hereafter in further course shall better appeare I finde not that any great coste was done vpâ—n this Churche till Lanfrancs dayes who not only buided it almoste wholy of newe and placed Benedictâ— Monkes therein the number of whiche hee aduaunced from thirtie to one hundreth and fourtie but also erected certaine Hospitals whiche hee endowed with one hundreth and fourtie poundes by yere and repaired the walles of the Citie it selfe And here by the way it is to be noted out of Mathewe Westminster that there were Monkes in this house euer since the time of Laurence the second Archebishop although some reporte that Elfricus was the first that expulsed the Seculer Priestes and brought the Monkes in place Not long after Lanfrancs time succéeded William Corboile during whose gouernment this lately aduaunced building was blasted with flame but he soone after reedified it of his owne purse and dedicated it with great pompe and solemnitie in the presence of the King and his Nobles After him followed Theobaldus whome Pope Innocent the second honoured with the title of Legatus natus and then commeth Thomas Becket the fift in order after Lanfranc by whose life death and burial the estimation of this Church was aduaunced beyond all reason measure and wonder For not withstanding that it had beene before that time honoured with the arme of S. Bartholmew a Relique that King Canutus gaue with the preseÌ„ce of Augustine that brought in Religion with the buriall of eight Kentishe Kings that succéeded Wightred and of a great number of Archebishops after the time of Cuthbert Likewise afterward with the famous asseÌ„bly at the homage done by the Scottishe King William to King Henrie the second and at the Coronation of King Iohn with the seueral Mariages also of King Henrie the third and King Edward the first and finally with the interrements of that Noble Edward called commonly the Blacke Prince of King Henrie the fourth yet the death of this one man not martyred as they feigne for the cause only and not the death maketh a Martyr but murdered in his Churche brought therevnto more accesse of estimation and reuerence then all that euer was done before or since For after his death by reason that the Pope had canonized his soule in Heauen and that Stephan Langton had made a Golden shrine for his body on earth and commaunded the Annuall day of his departure to bee kept solemne not only the Lay Common sort of people but Bishops Noble men and Princes as well of this Realme as of forreigne partes resorted on Pilgrimage to his tumbe flocked to his Iubile for remission In so muche that euery man offering according to his abilitie and thronging to see handle and kisse euen the vilest partes of his Reliques the Churche became so riche in Iewels and ornaments that it might compare with Midas or Craesus and so famous and renowmed euery piller resounding Saint Thomas his miracles praiers and pardons that now the name of Christ was cleane forgotten and the place was commonly called Saint Thomas Churche of Canterbury I passe ouer the stately buildings and monuments I meane Churches Chapels and Oratories raised to his name the lewde bookes of his lyfe and iestes written by foure sundrie persons to his praise The blasphemous Hymnes and collectes deuised by churchemen for his seruice and sundrie suche other thinges whiche as they were at the first inuenâ—â— to strike into the heades of all hearers and beholders more then wonderfull opinion of deuotion and holynes So now the trueth being tried out and the matter well and indifferently weighed they ought to worke with all men an vtter detestation both of his and all their hypocrisie and wickednesse For as touching himself to omitte that which truely might be spoken in dispraise of the former part of his lyfe and to beginne with the very matter it selfe whervpon his death ensued it is euident bothe by the testimonie of Mathewe Paris a very good Chronicler that liued vnder King Henrie the third and by the foure Pseudo Euangelistes themselues that wrote his Iestes that the chiâ—fe cause of the Kings displeasure towardes him grew vpon occasion that he opposed himself against his Prince Gods lawfull and Supreame minister on earth in maintenance of a moste vile and wicked murther The matter stoode thus Within a fewe of
was the firste that sate in the chaire who was afterwarde translated to Canterbury and of whome they reporte this for a singular myracle That when his body many yeares after the interrement was to be remoued it yealded a most pleasaunt sauour in the senses of all that were present Whiche thing howe meruailous it was when they had after the common manner then vsed before his buriall enbaulmed his body with moste precious delectable and odoriferous spices I dare make any man Iudge if he be not more then a pore blinde Papist giuen ouer to beléeue al manner be they neuer so grosse and beastly illusions In the whole race of the Bishops succéeding Iustus in this Sée thrée amongst others be read of moste notable Paulinus Gundulphus and Gilbertus of which the first after his death was there honoured for a Saint The second was in his life the best benefactor that euer their Churche found The third was so hatefull iniurious to the Monkes that they neither estéemed him while he was on liue nor wailed him at all after that he was dead But of all these we shall haue place to speake more largely when we shall come to the Churche and Monasterie In the meane time therfore it shal be fitte to shewe with what cowrage this churche vpheld her rightes and priuileges not only agaynst the Monkes of Canterbury which laboured much to bringe it vnder but also against the Sée of the Archbishops it self which was for the most parte the chiefe patrone promoseâ— â—f it In the reigne of Kyng Henry the third and after the deathe of Benedicte the Bishop of Rochester the Monks made choise of one Henrie Sanford that greate Clearke which afterward preached at Sedingburne whearof when the Monks of Christes Church had gotten vnderstandinge they resisted the election challenginge that the pastorall staffe or crosyer of Rochester ought of verie right to be brought to their house after the decease of the Bishop and that the election ought to be made in their Chapiter The Monkes of Rochester mainteined their owne choise and so the matter waxing warme betwéen them it was at the length referred to the determination of the Archebishope he againe posted it ouer to certaine delegates who hearing the parties and weighing the proofes gaue sentence with the monks of Rochester and yet loste as they thought good loue and amitie among them But as the Poet saith Male sarta gratia nequicquam coit rescinditur Fauour that is euill peeced will not ioyne close but falleth a sunder againe And therefore this their opinion fayled them that their cure was but patched for soone after the sore brake out of newe and the Canterbury Monkes reuiued their displeasure with suche a heate that Hubert of Borrow the chief Iustice of the Realme was driuen to come into the Chapter house to coole it and to woorke a second reconciliation betwéene them Neither yet for all that as it may séeme was that flame clene extinguished For not long after the Monkes of Christes Church séeing that they themselues could not preuaile intituled their Archebishop Edmund with whom also the Rochester Monks waged law at Rome before the holy Father as touching the election of one Richard Wendene or Wendeouer whom they would haue had to Bishop by the space of thrée whole yeares together and at the length eyther thorow the equitie of their cause or the weight of their purse ouerthrewe him vpon Saint Cuthberts day in ioye whereof they returned home withall hast and enacted in their Chapter house that from thencefoorth for euer Saint Cuthbertes feast as a Tropheum of their victorie should be holden double bothe in their Churche and Kitchin. And not thus only but otherwise also hath the Sée at Rochester well holden her owne for during the whole successioÌ„ of thréescore and thrée Bishops which in right lyne haue followed Iustus she hathe continually mainteined her Chaire at this one place whereas in moste partes of the Realme besides the Sées of the Bishops haue suffred sundrie translations by reason that in the Conquerours time order was taken that suche Bishops as before had their Churches in CouÌ„trie townes and Villages should foorthwith remoue from thence foorth remaine in walled Townes and Cities whiche ordinance could not by any meanes touche Rochester that was a walled Citie long time before King Williams gouernment But now to the end the I may pursue the order that I haue prescribed I will set foorth a Catalogue of the Bishops of Rochester by name referring recitall of their actes and doings to their peculiar and proper places as I haue in Canterbury before Iustus Romanus Paulinus Ithamarus Damianus Putta Cuichelmus Gibmandus Tobias Aldulphus Duime or Duno Eardulphus Diora Permundus alias Wermundus Beornmodus After him these be inserted in a Catalogue that is before the Chronicle of Rochester Tathnodus Batenodus Guthwulfus Swithulfus Buiricus Chuelmundus and Kyneferdus Burhricus Alstanus Godwinus Godwinus the second Siwardus Before and at the tyme of the Conquest Arnostus 1077. Gundulphus 1108. Radulphus 1114. Aernulphus Ioannes After whome in the former Catalogue one other Ioannes followeth Ascelimus or Anselimus and hitherto they were all Monkes Guelterus Gualeramus Gilebertus Glanuille Benedictus Henricus Richardus Wendene or Wendeouer 1250 Laurentius de Sancto Martino Gualterus de Merton Chancellour of England Ioannes de Bradfield Thomas de Inglethorp 1291 Thomas de Wuldham Hamo de Heth. Ioannes de Sepey Wilmus Witlesey Thomas Trelege Thomas Brynton or Braton Richardus Barnet elected and not consecrated Willelmus de Botelesham Ioannes de Botelesham elected only Ghelyndon elected only Richardus Young he made the windowes at Frendsbury and there it is to be seene in picture 1418. Ioannes Kempe Ioannes Langdon Thomas Broune Willielmus Wellis Ioannes Lowe Richardus Peckam Elected only Thomas Rotheram Ioannes Alcocke Ioannes Russel Eadmundus Audeley Thomas Sauage Richardus Fitz Iames. 1504. Ioannes Fisher Ioannes Hylsey 1539. Nicholaus Hethe 1544. Henricus Holbeache 1547. Nicholaus Rydley 1549. Ioannes Ponet 1550. Ioannes Skorey Mauritius Griffin 1559. Eadmundus Allen. Elected only 1559. Eadmundus Gest 1571. Eadmundus Freake And thus much shortly being said touching the Sée Bishops of Rochester in generalitie it followeth that I enter into the particular description of the Diocesse wherein I meane to follow the order that I haue takeÌ„ in Canterbury before Namely to begin at the Northeast corner and from thence first descending along the bankes of Medwey and then passing by the Frontiers of Sussex and Surrey and lastly returning by the Thamise shore to the same point to enuiron the whole Bishoprick whiche done I will peruse what it conteineth in the inner partes also and then betake me to rest Gillingham EVen at our first entrie into the Diocesse of Rochester on the Northeast part thereof the Harborowe of the Nauie Royall at Gillingham presenteth it selfe vnto vs a thing of al other most worthie the first place
aureis alijs signaculis sacris in Anglia firmari solitam in cerae impressionem mutant modumque scribendi anglicum reijciunt The Normans doe chaunge the making of writinges which were woont to be firmed in Englande with Crosses of golde and other holie signes into the printing with wax and they reiect also the manner of the English writing Howbeit this was not done all at once but it incresed came forward by certen steps degrées so the first and for a season the King onely or a few other of the Nobilitie besides him vsed to seale Then the Noble men for the most parte and noâ—e other whiche thinge a man may sée in the Hystorie of Battell Abbie where Richard Lucy chiefe Iustice of Englande in the time of King Henrie the second is reported to haue blamed a meane subiect for that he vsed a priuate seale when as that perteined as he saide to the King and Nobilitie onely At which time also as Iohn Rosse noteth it they vsed to ingraue in their seales their owne pictures and counterfeits couered with a longe coate ouer their armours But after this the Gentlemen of the better sort tooke vp the fashion and because they were not all warriours they made seales of their seueral cotes or shéelds of armes for difference sake as the same author reporteth At the length about the time of King Edwarde the third Seales became very common so that not onely suche as bare armes vsed to seale but other men also fashioned to them selues signetes of their owne deuise some taking the letres of their owne names some flowers some knots flowrishes some birds or beastes and some other things as we now yet dailye beholde in vse I am not ignoraunt that some other manner of sealings besides these hath béene hearde of amongst vs as namely that of King Edward the third by which he gaue To Norman the Hunter the hop and the hop towne withe all the boundes vp side downe And in wittnes that yt was soothe He bi tt the wax withe his fong toothe And that of Alberie de veer also conteining the donation of Hatfield to the which he affixed a short black hafted knife like vnto an olde halpeny whitle in stead of a seale and such others of which happely I haue séene some heard of moe But all that notwithstanding if any man shall thinke that these were receiued in common vse and custome and that they were not rather the deuises and pleasures of a few singular persons he is no lesse deceaued then such as déeme euery Chartre and writing that hath no seale annexed to be as ancient as the Conquest wheras indeede sealing was not commonly vsed tyl the time of King Edward the third as I haue alreadie tolde you Thus farre by occasion of this olde Chartre I am straied from the hystorie of Halling of which I fynde none other report in wryting saue that in the reigne of king Henrie the second Richard the Archbishop of Canterburie and imediat successour to Thomas the Archtraytour of this Realme ended his lyfe in the mansion house there which then was and yet continueth parcell of the possessions of the See of Rochester The circumstaunce and cause of which his death and departure I wyll reserue tyll I come to Wrotham where I shall haue iust occasion to discouer it ¶ Ailesforde or Eilesforde called in some Saxon copies Egelesford that is the Foorde of passage ouer the Riuer Egle or Eyle In others Angelesford which is the passage of the Angles or Englishe men It is falsly tearmed of some Alencester Allepord Aelstrea by deprauation of the writers of the sundrie copies as I suspect and not otherwise WIthin a few yeares after the arriuall of the Saxons the Britons perceiuing that Vortiger their Kinge was withdrawne by his wyfe from them and drawne to the parte of their enemies made election of Vortimer his sonne for their Lorde and leader by whose manhood and prowesse they in short time so preuailed against the Saxons that sleying Horsa one of the Chieftaines in an encounter geuen at this place discomfiting the residue they firste chased them from hence as farre as Tanet in memorie of whiche flight happely this place was called Anglesford that is the passagâ— of the Angles or Saxons and after that compelled them to forsake the land to take shipping toward their countrie and to seeke a new supplie And truly had not the vntimely death of Kinge Voâ—timer immediately succéeded it was to be hoped that they should neuer haue returned But the want of that one man both quayled the courage of the Britons gaue new matter of stomack to the Saxons to repaire their forces and brought vpon this Realme an alteration of the whole Estate and Gouernment There landed within the Realme in the time of Alfred two great swarmes of Danish Pyrates wherof the one arriued neare Winchelsey with two hundreth and fiftie sayle of Shippes and passing along that Riuer fortified at Apledore as we haue shewed before The other entred the Thamise in a fléete of eighty saile wherof parte encamped themselues at Midleton on the other syde of Kent and part in Essex ouer against them These latter King Alfred pursued and pressed them so hardly that they gaue him both othes hostages to depart the Realme and neuer after to vnquiet it That done he marched with his army against those other also And because hee vnderstoode that they had diuided themselues and spoyled the Countrie in sundrie partes at once he lykewise diuided his army intending the rather by that meane to méete with them in some one place or other which when they harde of and perceiued that they were vnméete to incounter him in the face they determined to passe ouer the Thamise and to ioyne with their countremen in Essex of whose discomfiture they had as yet receiued no tideings But when they came at a place in this parish called both now and aunciently Fernham that is the ferny Towne or dwelling one part of the Kings power couragiously charged them and finding them geuen to flight folowed the chase vppon them so fercely that they were compelled to take the Thamise without Boat or Bridge in which passage there were a great number of theÌ„ drowned the residue hauing inough to doe to saue their owne liues and to conuey ouer their Capitaine that had receiued a deadlye wounde No lesse notable was that other chase wherein many yeares after Edmond Ironside most fiercely pursued the Danes from Otforde to this towne in whiche also as some write he had geuen them an irreparable ouerthrow had he not by fraudulent and trayterous persuasion of one Edric then Duke of Mercia or midle England and in the Saxon speach surnamed for his couetousnesse Streona that is to say the Getter or gatherer withdrawne his foote spared to follow them No doubte but that it is many times a part of good wisdome and warlyke policie
not to pursue ouer fiercely thine enemie that hath already tourned his back towardes thée least thou compell him to make vertue of that necessitie and he turning his face againe put thee in d unger to be ouercome thy selfe which before haddest in thine owne hande assuraunce to ouerthrowe him In which behalfe it was well sayde of one Hosti fugienti pons aureus faciendus If thine enemie will flye make him a bridge of Golde Neuerthelesse for as much as this aduice procéeded not from Eadric of any care that he had to preserue King Edmonds power out of perill but rather of feare least the whole army of Canutus should be ouerrunne and destroyed he is iustly taxed for this and other his treasons by our auncient historians who also make report of the worthy rewarde that in the ende he receiued for all his trecherie For this was hee as William Malmsb writeth though some others ascribe it to his sonne that afterwardes when these two Kings had by composition diuided the Realme betwene them most villanously murthered King Edmonde at Oxford and was therfore done to death by King Canutus who in that one act shewed singular argumeÌ„ts both of rare iustice and of a right noble harte Of iustice for that he would not winke at the faulte of him by whose meanes hee obteyned the Monarchie of the whole Realme of great Nobilitie of minde in that he plainly declared himselfe to estéeme more of his owne honour then of another mans Crowne and Scepter to haue digested quietly that impatiencie of a partener in kingdome which great Alexander thought as intollerable as two sunnes in the world at once and which Romulus could in no wise brooke since he woulde not suffer one kingdome to content him and Remus whom one belly had conteyned before There was sometime at Eilefford a house of Carmelite Friers of the time of the foundation or name of the founder whereof I haue not yet learned any thing Mallinge in Saxon Mealing of Mealuing that is the Lowe place flourishing with meale or Corne for so it is euery where accoÌ„pted THis Towne the name whereof hauing his termination in ing betokeneth plainely that it is situate along the water euen as Yalding Berming Halling and others thereby was first giuen to Burhricus the Bishop of Rochester by King Edmund the Brother of Athelstane vnder the name of thrée Plough landes in Mealinges About one hundreth and fiftie yeares after whiche time Gundulphus a successour in that See as you haue read before hauing amplified the buildings and multiplied that number of the Monkes in his owne Citie raised an Abbay of women here also which being dedicate to the name of the Blessed Virgin during all his life he gouerned himself and lying at the point of death he commended to the charge of one Auice a chosen woman to whome notwithstanding he would not deliuer the Pastorall staffe before she had promised Canonicall Obedience fidelitie and subiection to the Sée of Rochester and protested by othe that there should neither Abbasse nor Nonne be from thenceforthe receaued into the house without the consent and priuitie of him and his successours Now whether this Rus propinquum and politique prouision were made of a blinde zeale that the man had to aduaunce superstition or of a vain glorie to increase authoritie in his succession or els of a foresight that the Monkes whiche were for the moste part called Monachi of Sole liuing by the same rule that Montes haue their name of remouing might haue a conuenient place to resort vnto and where they might Caute at the least quenche the heates kindled of their good cheare and idlenesse God knoweth and I wil not iudge But well I wote that this was a very common practise in Papistrie for as Saint Augustines had Sepulchres Saint Albans Sopewell Shene Sion the Knightes of the Rodes the Nonnes of Clerkenwel all adioyning or subiect to suche obedience so Sempringham and some other of that sort had both Male and Female within one house and wall togeather the world being in the meane while borne in hand that they were no men but Images as Phryne said sometime of Xenocrates This house was valued in the Recordes at two hundreth and eightéene pounds of yerely reuenewe Tunbridge called of Mat. Par. Thâ—â—ebrugge corruptly for tonebrycge that is the Bridge ouer Tone but if it be truly written tunbrycge theÌ„ it signifieth the towne of Bridges as in deed it hath many ALthough I find no mention of Tunbridge in that copie of Domesdaye booke whiche I haue séene concerning the description of this Shyre yet read I in history that there was a castle at Tunbridge sone after the conqueste if not euen at the same time when that booke was compiled For omitting that which Hector Boetius writeth concerning a battell at Tunbridge wherin the Conquerour as he saith should preuaile against Harold bicause it is euidently false and vntrue vnlesse he mean it of the continuance of the chase after the fight euen to Tunbridge I haue read that at suche time as Odo ioyning with others of the Nobilitie made defection from William Rufus to Robert his elder brother the King besieged at Tunbridge one Gilbert then kéeper of the Castle and compelled him to yéelde it Happely this Odo being the Kings Vncle and of great authoritie within the Shyre as we haue before shewed had erected this Castle giuen the charge to Gilbert but howsoeuer that were certaine it is that the Castle was long time holdeÌ„ of the Archbishops of Canterbury and continued many yeares togeather in the possession of the Earles of Clare afterwards called of Gloucester For in the dayes of King Henrie the second Thomas the Archbishop required homage of Roger then Earle of Gloucester for his Castle of Tunbridge who knowing the King to be halfe angrie with the Archebishop and wholly on his owne side shaped him a short answere affirming stoutly that it was none of his but the Kings owne as a Lay Fée Falcasius a hyred Souldiour that was enterteined by King Iohn during the warres with his Nobilitie toke by force this Castle from the Earle of Gloucester and kept it for a season to the Kings behoofe King Henrie the third also after the death of Gilbert the Earle of Gloucester scised the Wardship of his Heire and committed the custody of this Castle to Hubert of Burghe But Richard the Archebishop surnamed the great being offended therat came to the King in great haste and made his claime by reason that the Earle Gilbert died in his homage the King gaue answer that the whole Earledome was holden of him that hee might lawfully committe the custodie of the Landes to whome soeuer it liked himselfe Hereat the Bishop waxed warme and tolde the King plainly that since he could not haue right within the Realme he would not spare to séeke it abrode forthwith hasted him to the holy Father at Rome where he