Imprimatur Jo. Battely RR mo P. D no. Wil. Archiep. Cantuar. Ã Sacris Domesticis Ex Aedibus Lamb. Aug. 20. 1685. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF PETERBURGH WHEREIN The most remarkable Things concerning that Place from the First FOUNDATION thereof With other Passages of HISTORY not unworthy Publick View are represented BY SYMON GUNTON late Prebendary of that CHURCH Illustrated with Sculptures And set forth By Symon Patricl D. D. now Dean of the same LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in S. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVI THE PREFACE THe Author of this History was the better fitted for the Work he undertook because he was born at Peterburgh and there lived all his days a few years excepted whereby he had the advantage of being perfectly acquainted with many things about which he writes Particularly the Monuments in the Church broken down in the late Sacrilegious times whose Inscriptions when he was but a Boy as he himself writes in a Letter to Dr. Henshaw late Bishop of Peterburgh he both often read and also transcribed These he hath preserved and transmitted to Posterity as that learned Antiquary Sir William Dugdale hath also done Who in the Year 1641. fearing what shortly followed was at the pains and charge to take the Draughts as well as the Inscriptions of the Monuments in sundry Cathedral Churches of this Realm which soon after were demolished and of this Church among the rest By whose kindness they would have been communicated to the World if the Undertaker had come to the knowledge of them before he had received Subscriptions to his Proposals which were not high enough to bear the charge of them But the best Monuments the Records of the Church out of which a more compleat History might have been gathered are never to be recovered being torn in pieces or burnt by the more than Gothish Barbarity of those ignorant people who took upon them the glorious name of Reformers An account of which is given by a faithful hand in the conclusion of the Supplement to this Work One Book indeed and but one still remains which was happily redeemed from the fire by the then Chaunter of the Church Mr. Humfry Austin Who knowing the great value of it first hid it in February 1642. under a Seat in the Quire and when it was found by a Souldier on the 22 April 1643. when all the seats there were pulled down rescued it again by the offer of ten Shillings for that old Latine Bible as he called it after which he pretended to enquire The name of the Bible by the help of the ten Shillings preserved this pretious Treasure from the Flames whither it was going as Mr. Austin hath left upon Record in the beginning of the Book with a Copy of the Souldiers acknowledgment that he had given him satisfaction for it in these words I pray let this Scripture Book alone for he hath paid me for it and therefore I would desire you to let it alone By me Henry Topclyffe Souldier under Captain Cromwell Colonel Cromwell 's Son therefore I pray let it alone Vnto which goodly Warrant for its security the Fellow subscribed his name The Book I speak of is commonly called by the Name of SWAPHAM it being vulgarly believed to have been composed by Robert Swapham a Monk of this Church of Peterburgh But in truth is for the greatest and most antient part of its History the work of HUGO surnamed CANDIDUS or White an eminent Monk also of the same Church who himself in the very body of the Book gives an account both when he lived and that he was the Author of the History which now all passes under the Name of Swapham For speaking of the Reliques of the Church the principal of which was St. Oswald's right Arm super omne aurum pretiosum as his words are he saith that he himself saw it and kissed and handled it with his own hands when it was shown intire both in the flesh and skin to Alexander Bishop of Lincoln and to the whole Convent with many others 487 Years after the death of St. Oswald Now he was slain in the year 643 and therefore this was in the year 1130. From whence it appears that Mr. Selden is out in his account when he saith in his Preface to the Decem Scriptores fol. XLVI that this History of our Church vulgarly thought to be Robert Swapham's was written in the Reign of Henry the Third or thereabouts He should have said that then Robert Swapham lived as I shall show by and by he did but he who wrote the greatest and best part of the History lived in the Reign of Henry the First King Stephen and his Successor And therefore it might more truly have been said to have been written in the Reign of Henry the Second or thereabout unless his words be restrained to that particular part of the History which he hath occasion to mention which followed immediately upon the death of HUGO This is declared more plainly and fully in another place of the History viz. in the life of Abbot ERNULPHUS Where mention is made of two famous Sacrists of this Church Victricus and Remaldus The latter of which is said to have made a Brother of his a Monk when as yet he was but a child whose name was Hugo who always attended upon Remaldus and served him qui etiam hunc libellum collegit collectumque scripsit who also collected this little Book and having collected it put it in writing And then follows a description of him that in his childhood he fell into a disease which made him very weak For every Year and that often he vomited abundance of blood and once was brought so low by vomiting fifteen Basons full in one week that they utterly despaired of his life gave him extream Vnction and were called out of the Chapterhouse by Nicolaus then Keeper of the Infirmary to come and commend his Soul to God he being upon the point of departure But Egelbrithus a most holy man perswading them to go into the Church and beg his life of God who would not deny them one man as his words were they did so and he was miraculously restored as there is at large related And he lived a long time beloved by all the succeeding Abbots John Henry Martin William under whom he served the Church having all the business of the Monastery both withindoors and without committed to him till he came at last to the degree of Supprior first under Martin then under William de Watervile in whose time he dyed Remaldus his brother being then Prior. I have given the larger account of this man because he is mentioned in many Authors as an excellent person being known as our History adds in the neighbouring Monasteries nay famed far and near and no less loved than praised by all that were acquainted with him And had the name of Candidus or Albus in all likelyhood from his pale Complexion caused
by his frequent vomitings of blood as his Brother Remaldus was called Spiritualis our Book saith because he was a very little Man and ministred with much affection to the Elder Sacrist He is mentioned also by those Authors as a noble Writer and said to have left an accurate History of this Church of Peterburgh and praised by Leland as Vossius observes L. 2. de Histor Lat. C. 56. who calls him luculentus scriptor rerum gestarum and yet it is not agreed when he lived nor whether his History be any where remaining because few or none have read this Book called SWAPHAM with due care and observation Vossius saith HUGO flourished in the later end of the Reign of King John In which I have shown he was mistaken And Mr. Gunton himself the Writer of this present History makes a question in the end of Robert de Lyndsay's life whether Hugo's Book be not now lost though Leland he observes had seen and read it Which inclines me to think he principally relied upon what Walter of Witlesea hath written about this Church and did not think it necessary to read all the Book called Swapham for that would have informed him he was reading the very same HUGO whom Leland read Especially if he had compared Leland's Collections concerning this Monastery with the Book called Swapham as I have done whereby he would have found that they are word for word the same only abbreviated by Leland Who ends his Collectanea just where Hugo's life ended with the Deposition of William de Watervile and goes not one step further and therefore might well call them in the Title of them Collectanea ex libro Hugonis Monarchi Petroburgensis Our Book indeed now called Swapham proceeds further and carries on the History as far as to William de Hotot the Predecessor of John de Caleto In whose time or in Robert Sutton's not long after or in the Year 1271 which was the last of Henry 3. I suppose Robert Swapham dyed For in that year I find a Deed made by Henry Passenger de Quadering unto that Abbot and the Convent which is said to be done tempore Rob. de Swapham Who was then Celerarius of this Church and made a purchace of Robert the Father of that Henry for the benefit of the Celeraria of which he had the management Whom I take to have been only a Continuator of Hugo and but a little way neither having wrote no more than the History of Seven Abbots For it doth not appear that he was the Transcriber of all the Records which are in no good order put together at the end of the History unto which both Mr. Gunton and my self have had recourse for the perfecting of these Labours I have perused also a MS. Chronicle which that eminent lover of Learning Sir John Cotton did me the favour to lend me out of his renowned Library written as the Title bears per Johannem Abbatem Burgi Sancti Petri. What John this was is the doubt there being two of that name who may pretend unto it John de Says and John de Caleto The first of them it cannot be for ad An. 975. this Chronicle referrs the Reader to William of Malmsbury and to Henry Archdeacon of Huntingdon whom he mentions also both ad An. 1135. and 1153 where are these words Hic finit Chronica Henrici Huntingdon as ad An. 1153 there are these his finit Chron. Alredi Who all three lived about the same time the first of them in 1142 the second 1158 the third 1145 all of them after the death of John de Says And therefore I conclude it was written by John de Caleto who lived in the time of Henry 3. an hundred Year after them Vossius indeed makes this Johannes Burgensis to have lived in the time of Edward 3. about 1340 when there was no Abbot here of that name But he calls him Vir eruditus disertus and saith he is commended by Leland as one that had digested the Annals of England in good order Besides these two Johns there is no Abbot of that name but John of Deeping who died almost an hundred Year after that 1439 long after this Chronicon ends Which is the more likely to be John de Caleto's because there is no mention at all made when he died nor who was his Successor but only of the time when he was made Abbot After which the Annals were carried on in all probability by another hand who was better acquainted with the affairs of the Church of Spalding than with those of Peterburgh For he saith little of Peterburgh but gives a very large account from the forementioned period of all the Priors of Spalding who are spoken of in the preceding Part of the Annals very sparingly I might have been furnished with other Records out of the same Library which I sought after but could not find till it was too late that is till the Supplement to this History was grown so bigg that it could bear no further enlargement without great loss to the Undertaker June 20. 85. S. P. Beneuolo froute Ilumfridae Orme Petriburg ' Armig. Notitia frontis Lectiae Cath. ibid. posteritat conseruatur Ecclesiae Cathedralis Petroburgensis facies Occidentalis The West Prospect of the Cathedral Church of Peterborough The East-Prospect of the Cathedral Church of Peterborough The Old Altar-peice beaten down by the Souldiers in the great Rebellion THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF PETERBURGH WHEN this Realm of England was divided into an Heptarchy the Mercian Kingdom being one and the greatest of them all had the County of Northampton within its Dominion the Eastern part of which County being Moorish and Fenny was anciently inhabited by a People called the Gyrvii of the old Word Gyr which signified a Fen and for the conveniency and fertility of this place for its nearness both to the high and upland Countrey and the Fens it was thought meet for habitation The Village was at the first called by the name of Medeshamsted from a deep Pit or Gulf in the River of Nen called Medeswell which ancient Writers of the place affirm to have been of wonderful depth and so cold in the heat of Summer that no Swimmer was able to abide the cold thereof and yet in the Winter it was never known to be frozen Which Properties are now lost with the Well it self only Tradition hath preserved a dark memory thereof adventuring to say It is a little beneath the Bridge that is now standing But if this Well be lost there is another sunk with it into the Pit of Oblivion namely S. Laurence-Well of great fame in ancient days Dr. Hamm. Annot. in fol. 695. whither disposed people according to the Devotion of those times resorted haply for cure of Diseases which kind of Devotion was restrained by Oliver Sutton Bishop of Lincoln In what part Oliver Sutton was B. of Lincoln 1280. of the Monastery this Well was I find not it is probable
troubled for her After Supper she perused her Will and Inventory At her usual hour she went to Bed slept some part of the night and spent the rest in Prayer Her fatal day being come she arose to prepare her self for her last lying down when calling her servants together she read over her Will to them letting them know what Legacies she had bequeathed Then did she apparel her self after this manner In borrowed hair a Bourn having on her head a dressing of Lawn edged with bone-lace and above that a vail of the same bowed out with wire and her Cuffs suitable about her neck a Pomander chain and an Agnus Dei hanging at a black Ribband a Crucifix in her hand a pair of Beads at her girdle with a golden Cross at the end Her uppermost gown was of black Satin printed training upon the ground with long hanging sleeves trimmed with Akorn buttons of Jet and Pearl the sleeves over her arms being cut to give sight to a pair of purple Velvet underneath her Kirtle as her Gown was of black printed Satin her Boddies of Crimson Satin unlaced in the back the skirt being of Crimson Velvet her Stockins of Worsted watchet clocked and edged at the top with silver and under them a pair of white Her Shoes of Spanish Leather with the rough side outward Thus attired she came forth of her Chamber to the Commissioners who were ready in the passage to receive her and to accompany her to the Stage whereon she was to act the last scene of her life making as yet no show of sadness until Melvin her servant presenting himself on his knees bewailing not only hers but also his own misfortune that he was to be a sad reporter to Scotland of her death then with some flux of tears she comforted him that he should shortly see the troubles of Mary Stuart have an end sending by him her commands to her Son and bidding him tell him that she had done nothing prejudicial to his Kingdom of Scotland Then addressing her self to the Commissioners she told them that she had certain requests to make to them viz. that a certain summ of money might be paid to one Curle her servant which Sir Amyas Pawlet had knowledge of That her servants might enjoy such Legacies as by her Will she had bequeathed unto them That they might be fairly used and safely sent into their own Country To the first Sir Aymas Pawlet gave his testimony and promise The rest were also promised and performed Yet said the Queen of Scots I have one request more to make that you would suffer my servants to be about me at my death to which the Commissioners returned a refusal the Earl of Kent saying that their presence would be a disturbance to her and besides he feared there would be some superstition practised in pressing to dip their handkerchiefs in her bloud My Lord said the Queen I will pass my word they shall do no such things Alas poor souls it will do them good to bid their Mistress farwell Your Mistriss meaning Queen Elizabeth being a Maiden Queen for womanhoods sake would not deny me this courtesie and I know she hath not so straitned your Commission but that you might grant me more than this if I were of a far meaner condition Whereupon the Commissioners consulted and granted her the nomination of six persons to be with her so she nominated four men Melvin her Apothecary her Chirurgeon and another old man And two women which used to lie in her Chamber After this she proceeded towards the great Hall in the Castle Melvin bearing up her train two Gentlemen of Sir Amyas Pawlets on each hand one and Mr. Andrews the Sheriff going before The Scaffold at the upper end of the Hall was two foot high and twelve foot broad hanged with black and she seemed to monnt it with as much willingness as ease and took her seat the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent standing on her right hand Mr. Andrews the Sheriff on her left and the two Executioners opposite before her Then was the Commission read by Beal Clerk of the Council which she seemed as little to regard as if it had not concerned her at all After the reading of the Commission Doctor Fletcher Dean of Peterburgh addressed an Exhortation to the Queen of Scots that she would consider her present condition and withal the vanity of her Religion which he besought her to renounce but she refused professing her readiness to die therein The Lords desiring her to joyn with them in prayers she also refused alledging the difference in their Religions and saying she would pray by her self But the Dean was by the Commissioners desired to pray which he did in these words Dr. Fletcher's Prayer O Most gracious God and merciful Father who according to the multitude of thy mercies dost so put away the sins of them that truly repent that thou remembrest them no more Open we beseech thee thine eyes of mercy and behold this Person appointed unto death whose eyes of understanding and spiritual light albeit thou hast hitherto shut up that the glorious beams of thy favour in Jesus Christ do not shine unto her but is possessed with blindness and ignorance of heavenly things a certain token of thy heavy displeasure if thy unspeakable mercy do not triumph against thy judgment yet O Lord our God impute not we beseech thee unto her those her offences which separate her from thy mercy and if it may stand with thine everlasting purpose and good pleasure O Lord grant unto us we beseech thee this mercy which is about thy throne that the eyes of her heart may be enlightned that she may understand and be converted unto thee and grant her also if it be thy blessed will the heavenly comfort of thy Holy Spirit that she may taste and see how gracious the Lord is Thou hast no pleasure good Lord in the death of a sinner and no man shall praise thy Name in the pit renew in her O Lord we most humbly beseech thy Majesty whatsoever is corrupt in her either by her own frailty or by the malice of the ghostly enemy visit her O Lord if it be thy good pleasure with thy saving health as thou didst the offender at the side of thy Cross with this consolation This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise say unto her soul as thou didst unto thy servant David I am thy salvation so shall thy mercy being more mighty be more magnified Grant these mercies O Lord to us thy servants to the increase of thy Kingdom and glory at this time And further O most merciful Father preserve we most humbly beseech thy Majesty in long and honourable peace and safety Elizabeth thy servant our most natural Soveraign Lady and Queen let them be ashamed and confounded O Lord that seek after her soul let them be turned backward and put to confusion that wish her evil And strengthen still Lord we pray thee
Lady 8. Scotish Gentlewomen Sr. Tho Cecil Sr. Tho. Mannors Sr. Edw. Mountague Sr. George Hastings Sr. Richard Knightly Sr. Andrew Nowell Sr. George Savel Sr. James Harrington Mr. John Mannors as a Knight 18. Scotish Gentlemen Divers Esquires with Gent. 2 Kings at Arms Garter Clarentius 5. Heralds at Arms. An hundred poor women The solemnity being setled the Prebends and the Quire which received them at the Church door sung an Antheme the Scotish all saving Mr. Melvin departed and would not tarry at Sermon or Ceremonies The Bishop of Lincoln preached Wickham out of that 39. Psalm 5 6 7 ver Lord let me know mine end c. Who shall gather them c. In the Prayer when he gave thanks for such as were translated out of this vale of misery he used these words Let us give thanks for the happy dissolution of the High and Mighty Princess Mary late Queen of Scotland and Dowager of France of whose life and death at this time I have not much to say because I was not acquainted with the one neither was I present at the other I will not enter into judgment further but because it hath been signified unto me that she trusted to be saved by the bloud of Christ we must hope well of her Salvation For as Father Luther was wont to say many one that liveth a Papist dieth a Protestant In the discourse of his Text he only dealt with general doctrine of the vanity of all flesh The Sermon ended the offering of the Chief Mourner and hatchments were received by the Bishop of Peterburgh and the offerings of the rest by the Dean which ended the mourners departed The Ceremony of burial was done by the Dean the Officers breaking their Staves and casting them into the vault upon the Coffin And so they departed to the Bishops house where was a great Feast appointed accordingly The concourse of people was of many thousands and after dinner the Nobles departed away every one towards his own home The Master of the Wardrobe paid to the Church for the breaking of the ground in the Quire and making the grave 10l And for the blacks of the Quire and Church 20l. When Cardinal Barbarini afterwards Pope Vrban 8. wrote his Poem upon this Queens death wherein he hath this Regalique tuum funus honore caret c. either he was ignorant of this her manner of interment or else he undervalued it as not suitable to her quality This relation was attested in a Church Register by Dean Fletcher himself subscribing his name thereunto to which especially that of the Sermon we may give more credit than to Martin Mar-Prelate who to slander the Bishops of England with Popery in a railing Pamphlet which he entituled an Epistle charged the Bishop of Lincoln with praying at this solemnity That his Soul and the Souls of all the rest there present might be with the Soul of that unrepentant Papist departed Though the Bishop as became a charitable Christian might hope well of her Salvation yet who but Martin again would accuse him of being so credulous as to bind up his own Salvation in so confident an assurance of hers Shortly after this interment there was a table hanged up against the wall which contained this Inscription Maria Scotorum Regina Regis filia Regis Gallorum Vidua Reginae Angliae Agnata Haeres proxima Virtutibus Regiis animo Regio ornata jure Regio Frustra saepius implorato barbara tyrannica Crudelitate ornamentum nostri seculi lumen Vere Regium extinguitur Eodem nefario judicio Et Maria Scotorum Regina morte naturali omnes Superstites Reges plebeii facti morte civili mulctantur Novum inauditum tumuli genus in quo cum vivis Mortui includuntur hic extat Cum sacris enim Divae Mariae cineribus omnium Regum atque Principum vio latam atque prostratam Majestatem hic jacere scito Et quia tacitum Regale satis superque Reges sui Officii monet plura non addo Viator Which in English may be rendred thus Mary Queen of Scots daughter of a King Widow of the King of France Cousin and next heir to the Queen of England adorned with Royal vertues and a Royal mind the right of Princes being oftentimes in vain implored by barbarous and Tyrannical cruelty the ornament of our age and truly Royal light is extinguished By the same unrighteous judgment both Mary Queen of Scots with natural death and all surviving Kings now made common persons are punished with civil death A strange and unusual kind of monument this is wherein the living are included with the dead For with the sacred ashes of this blessed Mary know that the Majesty of all Kings and Princes lieth here violated and prostrate And because Regal secrecy doth enough and more admonish Kings of their duty Traveller I say no more This Table continued not long but was taken away and cast aside by whose hand or order I know not yet the Royal Ensigns of an Helmet Sword and Scutcheon remained to the year 1643. hanging high over the place of her burial yet did not their height secure them from the storms which then fell upon this Church and Monuments After that the body of this Queen had rested in this place the space of 25 years her Son King James being minded to remove it to Westminster wrote to the Church of Peterburgh as followeth JAMES R. Rich. Neile TRusty and well-beloved we greet you well for that we think it appertains to the duty we owe to our dearest Mother that like honour should be done to her Body and like Monument be extant of Her as to others Hers and our Progenitors have been used to be done and our selves have already performed to our dear Sister the late Queen Elizabeth we have commanded a memorial of her to be made in our Church of Westminster the place where the Kings and Queens of this Realm are usually interred And for that we think it inconvenient that the Monument and Her body should be in several places we have ordered that her said Body remaining now interred in that our Cathedral Church of Peterburgh shall be removed to Westminster to her said monument And have committed the care and charge of the said translation of her body from Peterburgh to Westminster to the Reverend Father in God our right trusty and well-beloved servant the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield bearer hereof to whom we require you or to such as he shall assign to deliver the Corps of our said dearest Mother the same being taken up in as decent and respectful manner as is fitting And for that there is a Pall now upon the Hearse over Her Grave which will be requisite to be used to cover Her said Body in the removing thereof which may perhaps be deemed as a Fee that should belong to the Church we have appointed the said Reverend Father to pay you a reasonable redemption
for the same which being done by him we require you that he may have the Pall to be used for the purpose aforesaid Given under our Signet at our Honour of Hampton Court the eight and twentieth day of Septemb. in the tenth year of our Reign of England France and Ireland and of Scotland the six and fortieth In obedience to this Letter the Body of the Queen of Scots was taken up the eleventh of October following in the year of our Lord 1612. and translated to Westminster where we shall leave Her and return to our succession of the Bishops of Peterburgh Howland having been Bishop here the space of 15 years died at Castor and was buried in his own Cathedral at the upper end of the Quire And there succeeded 49. THOMAS DOVE Who was Dean of Norwich and Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth who had so good esteem of him for his excellency in preaching reverend aspect and deportment that she was wont to call him The Dove with silver wings He entred upon his Bishoprick in the year 1600. and continued therein the space of 30 years During which time he was like S. Paul's Bishop a lover of Hospitality keeping a very free house and having always a numerous Family yet was he so careful of posterity that he left a fair estate to his Heirs He died upon the 30 of August 1630. in the 75 year of his age and lieth buried in the North cross Isle of the Church Over his body was erected a very comely Monument of a long quadrangular form having four corner pilasters supporting a fair Table of black Marble and within the pourtraiture of the Bishop lying in his Episcopal habit At the feet on the outside were these Inscriptions Si quaeras viator quo hospite glorietur elegans haec mortis domus ipsa prose loquetur ipsa pro illo quae ideo loqui didicit ut sciant illi qui eò ingratitudinis inhumaniter obriguerunt ut in manes in urnas saevire studeant non defuturam saxis linguam quae doceat de mortuis bene loqui Vindex hoc pium marmor sacros cineres tegit sanctiorem memoriam protegit Charissimum utrumque pignus redituri Domini Reverendissimi in Christo Patris Thomae Dove quem novit Waldenum Ecclesiasten doctissimum Nordovicum Decanum vigilantissimum haec ipsa Ecclesia Episcopum piissimum cui postquam trigint a annis magno cum honore praefuisset ad magnum illum animarum Episcopum transmigravit Bonus pastor translatus ab ovibus in terris ad Agnum in coelis quocum regnabit in secula Hoc me loqui voluit Gulielmus Dove Equ Aur. Optimi hujus patris filius natu-maximus honoris pietatis ergo Carmine non pous est sat sat praestabit abunde Si sat flere potest officiosus amor Vixt Epitaphium sibi Te sprevisse Poeta Quam facile poterit qui bene vixit Abi. Atque abeo durum est numeris aptare dolorem Atque aequo lachrymas currere posse pede Me muto tibi non poterunt monumenta deesse Vivum quem soboles tam numerosa refert Hoc addam Hic illa est senio argentata Columba Davidis coelos hinc petit ille suos Dixi Musa loquax tanto non apta dolori Si non flere satis nostra silere potest But this Monument was in the year 1643. levelled with the ground so that Bishop Dove's Epitaph in stead of Marble must now live in paper 50. WILLIAM PEIRSE Being Canon of Christs Church in Oxford and Dean of Peterburgh was made Bishop after the death of Dove and installed Nov. 14. A man of excellent parts both in Divinity and knowledge of the Laws very vigilant and active he was for the good both of the Ecclesiastical and Civil State and had he continued longer in this See he would have rectified many things then amiss But he was translated to the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells after two years presidency at Peterburgh 51. AVGVSTINE LINDSELL Was Dean of Lichfield and upon the translation of Peirse made Bishop of this Diocess being elected December 22. 1632. and installed by Proxy Febr. 25. following He was a man of very great learning and gave sufficient evidence thereof to the Church by setting forth that excellent edition of Theophylact upon S. Paul's Epistles which work will make his name worth live be honoured among all learned Divines Foreign and Domestick In his time the Parsonage of Castor was annexed to the Bishoprick to be held in Commendam which was effected by W. Laud Archbishop of Canterbury as he left recorded in his Diary When he had been Bishop here the space of two years he was translated to Hereford and shortly after ended his life to the greatloss of the Church of England 52. FRANCIS d ee Was taken from his Deanry of Chichester and made Bishop here being elected April 9. 1634. and in May 28. following installed by Proxy He was a man of very pious life and affable behaviour After he had with much diligence and honesty meekness and hospitality gloriously shined in his Ecclesiastical Orb here the space of four years and six months he died much lamented October 8. 1638. bequeathing by his will towards the reparation of his Cathedral Church the summ of an hundred pounds and lieth buried in the upper part of the Quire near to his Episcopal Seat 53. JOHN TOWERS Being Dean of this Church ascended the other step and was made Bishop after the death of Dee being installed March. 8. 1638. He enjoyed his Bishoprick in peace a very little while for presently great dissensions arose betwixt the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland which occasioned the Bishops attendance upon the King both in the North at York and at London in time of Parliaments that which was convened April 13. 1640. and dissolved May 5. following the Convocation sitting by the Kings express Commission until May 29 wherein the new Canons were made and that also which began the same year November 3. and was of a far longer continuance On August 5. this year the great Commission for draining the Fenns began to be holden at Peterburgh the Commissioners sitting in the Bishops great Hall until the 11. of the same month the determinations therein being since known by the name of Peterburgh Law On the third of November following a new Parliament began to sit Bishop Towers according to his place giving attendance there In the year following arose great opposition against Bishops as to their Office and power in having Votes in Parliament insomuch that many of them apprehending their insecurity in attending upon the House much opposition meeting them in the way some of them to the number of twelve drew up a Protestation against all such Laws Orders Votes Resolutions and determinations as in themselves null and of none effect which in their absence from December 27. 1641. had passed or should afterwards pass during the time of their forced absence from
Chests of about three foot long a piece in each of which were the bones of a Man and of whom appeared by a Plate of Lead in each Chest whereon the name of the person was engraven in the one was Elfricus on the other Kynsius both which had been Arch-Bishops of York and being dead their bodies were interred in the Monastery of Peterburgh where formerly they had been Monks In those time Epitaphs and Inscriptions on the outside of Monuments were either not yet or not commonly used but a plate of Lead was put into the Coffin having the name of the deceased party and so it was done to Dunstane Arch-Bishop of Canterbury as Matthew Paris witnesseth Ad ann 1527. But Elfricus and Kynsius could not have their repositories so short from the beginning but it is probable they had a removal from under ground to lie above ground in this Wall so near the Altar their first places of Sepulture being not thought fit to contain them any longer The place of Elfricus burial I cannot tell but for Kynsius I have heard my Father who was well read in the Antiquities of this Church say that the Marble Monument now lying on the Northside of the Quire was his It bears the Portraicture of a shaven Monk lying on the top Beyond the Quire the most Eastern part of the Church is the New Building erected by Abbot Robert Kirton as hath been said The windows therein are fair and lately beautified with painted glass which contained no great matter worthy of recital save only the pictures of Saints largely expressed In the South end of this building lie many of the family of Ormes interred Sir Humfrey Orme Frances his Lady with their Children In the Wall adjoyning was placed a fair and comely Monument with their Statues which Monument was first erected upon the burial of a vertuous Gentlewoman of the same name born in Sommerset-shire whom Humfrey the eldest Son of Sir Humfrey had taken to Wife who though by her Marriage she changed not her name yet she did her Countrey and here died Under her Figure was written this Epitaph Mistake not Reader I thee crave This is an Altar not a Grave Where Fire rak't up in Ashes lies And Harts are made the sacrifice Till time and truth her worth and fame Revive her embers to a flame I cannot tell whether this Monument fared the worse for the Statues or the word Altar in the Epitaph but it was defaced And Sir Humfrey Orme his Lady and eldest Son lived to see the death of what was erected to continue their memories after death Near towards the midst of this building lieth interred the body of Frances Wife to Dr. John Cosin Dean of this Church who died not long after her Child-birth March 25. 1642. A Gentlewoman well deserving a Monument to perpetuate her name and memory for which purpose her honoured Husband made some progress in one upon the pavement with black and white Marble chequered but before it could be compleated on the Wall by a Statue or Inscription it was blasted by an Eastern wind The day of her burial was remarkable in this that whilst the Child a Daughter Christned Anne was at the Font to be Baptized the Mother lay by upon the Bier to be carried presently to her Grave A pretty accident if we may call it an accident fell out the day before It being the Eve of the Annunciation and none making the least question but that this Gentlewoman was in a fair way of recovery after her delivery and all things prepared for the Christening of the Child the Chanter whose Office it was to appoint the Anthems appointed to be sung that part of the Burial-Service Composed by Mr. Wilkinson I am the Resurrection c. Dean Cosin being then at Church and having the Anthem brought him asked the Chanter why he appointed this Anthem The Chanter replied It is a good Anthem and you have not yet heard it The next morning this Gentlewoman died and that day the same Anthem was sung again at her Burial Dean Cosin afterwards observed the Omen As you pass out of this building on the Northside of the Church there was lately a passage into the now demolished Ladies Chappel in which passage was a little Chappel on the right hand Archt over with Stone having a fair East-window and on the Northside little windows looking into the Ladies Chappel Over head were two Chambers which common tradition hath told to have been the habitation of a devout Lady called Agnes or Dame Agnes out of whose Lodging-Chamber there was a hole made a-skew in the window walled up having its prospect just upon the Altar in the Ladies Chappel and no more It seems she was devout in her generation that she chose this place for her retirement and was desirous that her eyes as well as ears might wait upon her publick Devotions I could never yet see any Record to inform me who this Dame Agnes was And surely this Church owes the world a better account of her than I can give in regard she was a great Benefactoress to it giving that which at this day is commonly known by the Name of Dame Agnes Wood not far from Peterburgh Over against this on the left hand was a little Chappel but what or whose we cannot say In the Ladies Chappel were many fair Gravestones but few Inscriptions only these Hic jacet Helena nomine English quondam uxor Willielmi Gunton quae obiit 9 Octobris 1613. Near unto this was buried Simon English who was of great esteem in his generation for a School-Master under whom the late famous and learned Antiquary Sir Robert Cotton and many others of his time and quality received education The Inscription in Brass upon his Monument was this Simoni English Archididascalo Petriburgi celeberrimo Epiphaniae die Anno Domini 1592. mortuo Discipulus Thomas Green Hieronymi filius Gratitudinis ergo posuit The Eastern window of this Ladies Chappel was the fairest and goodliest in all the Church scarce a fairer in any other Cathedral It was adorned with painted glass containing many stories amongst the rest of Julian the Apostate and these two Verses Cuspide Mercurii Julianus Apostata caesus Vincis ait vincis heu Nazarene potens At the West end of this Chappel were two small Chappels of wooden inclosure in one of which the Northern anciently the Chappel of S. John the Baptist are interred the bodies of Christopher Swinscoe Gent. and Alice his Wife their Monument of Marble is still extant but the Inscription lost This Alice was a good Benefactoress to the poor of the Town In this Chappel I have often seen a Stone in the pavement hollowed like a shallow Platter which tradition hath said to have been so worn by the frequent kneeling of a devout person thereon which might be it being at that end which was next to the Ladies Chappel But now that stone is gone In a Pillar near was a pretty small
Lusgerg Ethelhuniglond Barchanig Which were places not very far from Medeshamstede it appears by several Charters which still remain upon Record in the Book called Swapham Where I find fol. CXXX XXXI that in the time of this Cutbald the glorious King of the Mercians Ethelredus or Adilredus for he is called by both names came to visit the servants of God in this Monastery of Medeshamstede and to obtain their prayers for the relief of his Soul and out of a desire of Eternal life as the words of his Charter are gave to the Friers there all that land called Leugtricdun triginta manentes habentem Not long after which one of the Friers coming to this King upon a certain occasion he took a glebe from the forementioned Land and put it super codicem Evangeliorum upon the Book of the Gospels in confirmation and for a testimony of the aforesaid donation Unto which these witnesses were present Sexulfus Episcopus Merciorum Wecca and Berhthun Monachi Hostryga ipsius Regis Regina Henfric Eadfric principes Regis Adilredi that none might dare to attempt any thing against this donation of the King qui sibi divinam donationem adesse optaret in futura vita Amen Which Leugtricdun I have reason to think was an Appendix to one of the above named places The first of which Bredun was given to this Church of Medeshamstede by Friduricus one of King Adilred's Noble Men by a Charter bearing this Title Fridurici principis de Bredun ad Medeshamstede ' In which he saith that the number of Christians increasing and multiplying he had given to the family of St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles inhabiting the Monastery of Medeshamstede terram cui vocabulum est Bredun viginti manentium cum omnibus ad eam pertinentibus Which was done in the presence and with the consent of Saxulph ejusdem gentis Episc and of the above-named King Adilredus For this end and purpose that they should found Oratorium in eadem praefata terra and there constitute a Priest for the teaching and Baptizing of the people Which upon due deliberation they undertook and chose one of their own number whose name was Hedda a man endued with admirable Wisdom and all manner of Virtues whom they made Abbot of Bredun with this condition that he should acknowledge himself to be a member of the Fraternity of Medeshamstede So it runs in the Charter whose words are these Et unum ex semetipsis nomine Hedda Presbyterum mirabili sapientia in omni virtutum genere praeditum summo libramine eligerunt eumque in loco praefato Abbatem constituerunt ea tamen conditione interposita ut se unum de eorum Fraternitatis membris esse noverit ' And the same Religious Prince Friduricus finding that this Venerable Abbot Hedda most diligently fed the people committed to his charge with the food of divine Preaching added another benefaction in a distinct Charter whose title is de Repinges ad Medeshamstede Wherein he gives to the aforesaid Abbot Hedda XXXI manentium terram quae vulgo vocitatur Hrepingas which is another of those places above mentioned This he did in the presence of King Adilredus and of Saxulph the Bishop of that Country who joyning their hands with his cespitunculam communiter praedictae terrae Sacrosanctae evangeliorum codici simul omnis coram multitudine populi imposuerunt and so subscribed this Deed with their own hands And afterward this Honourable Abbot Hedda as the Book calls him fol. CXXXIII and the Prior of the Monastery of Bredun obtained from King Adilred other Land which had quindecim Manentes 15 Tenents or Housekeepers as we now speak called by the name of Cedenanhac another of the places depending on Medeshamstede for fifty Shillings that is for Bedding and other Goods of that value which are thus specified in the Deed. Id est duodecim lectorum stramenta utpote culcita plumacia ornata capitalia simul cum sindonibus lenis quemadmodum in Britannia habere mos est nec non servum cum ancilla fibulam auream cum quatuor ex auro massiunculis arte aurificis compositis duos caballos cum cannis duabus pro praefata terra pretium dedit I have not room to examine the meaning of every word in this Deed some of which I no where meet withal but here which concludes as the former did that this price being paid the King in his Bedchamber at his own Town called Tomtun took a little clod of earth from the aforesaid Land with his own hands and laid it upon the Sacred Volume of the Gospels his Queen and Saxalph joyning their hands with his that none might dare to violate this grant The same Hedda if I mistake not was Abbot also of other two places before mentioned called Wermundshey and Wokinges for I find a Bull of Pope Constantine's about the Episcopal Jurisdiction over these places fol. LXXXVI directed unto him which I have not room to set down at large but only note that they are both said there to be found in nomine beati Petri Apostoli in the name of St. Peter Which makes it probable they were those belonging to this Church under the Government of this great man Hedda Whom I take to have been the Author of the Relation above named concerning the first plantation of Christianity in these parts of England and the next Bishop that succeeded Sexulf in the See of Litchfield who built that Church as I have already said and dyed DCCXXI When Cutbaldus dyed I am not able to affirm certainly but it was between the year DCCIX and DCCXVI For he was alive in the former of those years I gather from hence that Hugo saith Wilfrid dyed in his time at his Mannor of Owndle c. his words are In hujus Abbatis id est Cuthbaldi tempore Sanctus Wilfridus Episcopus in possessione ipsius Monasterii ad Vndalum transivit ad Dominum Ministeriis fratrum deportatus est ad suum proprium Monasterium in Rypun Now Wilfrid the first of that name who was Archbishop of York dyed An. DCCIX as I find in the Chron. Johannis Abbatis With whom agrees Tho. Stubbs Chron. Eccles Eborac whose words are to be corrected out of our Hugo commonly called Swapham for he speaking of the death of Wilfrid sayes Defunctus est in Monasterio suo apud Vndalum quod est juxta Stamford inde Ministerio fratrum delegatus in Monasterio suo apud Riponum est sepultus An. Domini DCCIX Where he calls Owndle Wilfrid's Monastery which it appears by all our Records was as Hugo only calls it part of the possession of the Monastery of Medeshamstede But as Cuthbald was then alive so it is certain he was dead before the year DCCXVI when as Mr. G. observes out of Ingulphus the Charter of King Ethelbald for the founding of Croyland Abbey was signed by Egbaldus Abbot of Medeshamstede EGBALDVS Concerning whom and the three next Abbots
in a little Charter Ibid. pag. CXXII containing the Names of all the Lands and Possessions of the Church which was recorded for the honour of their Benefactors whose names are written in the Book of Life c. Among which it is said Askill filius Toke dedit Walcote super Humbram dum adhuc viveret post obitum illius fratrum ejus sc Scirici Siworthi dedit Brand Abbas frater eorum eidem Ecclesiae Sancti Petri Muskam c. And in the Charter of Edward the Confessor confirming this benefaction it is said that Askil or Askitill gave this Land upon occasion of a journey which he undertook to Rome Askitillus Romam pergens dedit Sancto Petro Ecclesiae suae de Burch septem carrucatas terrae in Walcote duabus bovatis minus in Alcheburn unam Carrucatam totam Ecclesiam in Normandy unam Carrucatam quae sunt super fluvium Humbre William the Conqueror in his confirmation Ibid. pag. CIX petente Abbate Brand saith the same concerning the number of Plough-Lands in that place held by the Monastery sub Rege Edwardo Most of which it should seem by a trial which John Deeping Abbot of this Church had about the Lands in those Towns in the 13th year of Hen. 4. were part of the possessions of the Abby from its foundation and being alienated perhaps were again restored or redeemed by Brand and his Brethren before mentioned For that Abbot then before the Kings Judges at Westminster Ibid. pag. CCCLII. declaring how he was destrained by the Servants of Thomas de Lancaster the Kings Son pretending that he held a Mannor of his in Holderness and ought to do him homage and suit at Court for six Carrucatae of Land in Walcote juxta Humbr and one in Normanby which they said he held of the aforesaid Thomas alledged against all this that Wolferus King of the Mercians long before the Conquest gave and granted by his Charter which he there produced and laid before them to God and the blessed Apostle St. Peter and the servants of God in Medhamstede which is now called by another name Peterburgh in puram perpetuam eleemosynam praedictas sex Carucatas terrae cum pertinentibus in Walcote juxta Humbr praedictam unam carucatam terrae cum pertin in Normanby in Lincoln c. Of which Land he and his Predecessor were seised and held as parcel of the first foundation of the Abby from the King and not from the aforesaid Thomas of whom he held no Land at all nor owed him any service c. And accordingly it was adjudged for the Abbot This Estate was in danger to be lost again after the Conquest being got into the hands of Yvo Talbois but restored by him to the Monks as I shall observe in my Remarks upon the next Abbot Turoldus The Character which Ingulphus Pag. 70. Edit Oxon. gives of Abbot Brand is that he was a very Religious person and as he had heard from his Predecessor and many others very much addicted unto Alms-deeds wherewith he relieved the poor and in short adorned with all Vertues They that have a mind may in the same Author find the form and manner after which this Abbot made Hereward a Knight which was a thing forbidden afterward in the Synod of London held under Anselm as Eadmerus informs us p. 68. Where Mr. Selden calls this Abbot Brand Coenobiarcha Edmundoburgensis Spicileg ad Eadmerum p. 207. N. 5. not attending I suppose to those words of Ingulphus where he mentions Abbatem Burgi the Uncle of Hereward which he construes as if he spake of the Abbot of St. Edmundburgh There is mention of Brand as witness to a Charter of William the Conqueror in the second year of his Reign 1068. wherein he setled the Collegiat Church of St. Martins le Grand in the City of London indowed by Ingelricus and Girardus his Brother out of their own Revenues as may be seen in the third Tome of the Monasticon Anglicanum De Eccles Collegiatis p. 26. But the next year after he dyed as not only Hugo but John Abbot of this Church tells us in his Chronicon Where An. MLXIX having spoken of the death of Aldredus Archbishop of York he adds Obiit etiam Brando Abbas Burgi Patruus dicti Herewardi de Wake ex Regis collatione successit Turoldus Brando dedit pro Fyskyrton XX. marcas auri alias XX. pro Quametis pro ibidem ..... VIII. marc auri Our Writings also mention his redeeming Burleigh as well as the forenamed places which shows how studious he was of the prosperity of this place Where he dyed 2. Kaland Decembris saith Hugo agreeable to the Kalander which saith 30. Novemb. Depositio Brandonis Will de Waterville Abbatum c. TVROLDVS Or THVROLDVS as he is called in a Chater of King Henry the First was no sooner setled in the Monastery but all manner of evils as Hugo's words are came to it For that very year 1069 the Danes returned to infest England under the conduct of Suenus Abbot John saith the Sons of Swane their King with a very great Army Part of which under Osbern came to Eli and was presently re-inforced by Hereward de Wake and his associates who came and joyned with them He was a very great man called by one of our best Historians vir Serenissimus Walsingham who at his return out of Flanders where he had been for a while hearing how much his Family and Kindred had suffered by the Normans and finding Ivo Talbois the Conqueror's Sisters Son possessed of his Estate the Conqueror having given Ivo large possessions in Holland was extreamly inraged thereat and resolved by force of Arms to recover his own though with the havock and spoil of other people I cannot say that this place felt the first effects of his fury but here he discharged it after a most terrible manner as Hugo relates the story For he it was that invited and incited also Osbern and his Danes to go and plunder this Abby where he heard the Abbot his Uncle was dead and the place filled with a Norman whom he accounted an intruder and he a very severe man who lay then with some Souldiers at Stamford They came therefore with great speed though not so hastily but the Monks of Burgh had some notice so that the Sacrist called Ywarus by the Counsel of the Monks carried away all that he could viz. the Texts of the Gospel with the Chesibles Copes and Albes c. and went with them to the Abbot Turoldus at Stamford The very same morning came Hereward and his company in Boats against whom the Monks maintained the Close so stoutly as is observed out of him by Mr. G. that he had no way but to set fire to the Houses near the Gate by which means his Forces entred and burnt all the Offices of the Monastery and the whole Town except the Church and one House The Monks therefore
jacet inter terram Thome Speciarii terram Agnetis quondam uxoris Henrici in cultura que jacet inter boscum de Westwoode Capellam Sancti Botulphi pro quadam placia pertinente ad ortum Eleemosynarie Burgi super q. cancellum capellae Sancti Johannis Bapt. constructum est c. Which Chapel also of St. John Baptist seems to be distinct from the Church of that name Swapham doth not tell us when he dyed But the often mentioned Chron. of John Abbot saith An. MCC obiit Andreas Abbas Burgi cui successit Acharius Sancti Albani So he governed not about 5. but about seven year His memory was celebrated on the twenty first of February when I find in the Kalander was Depositio Domini Andreae Abbatis ACHARIVS As King John gave the Abbey of Burgh to this Prior of St. Albans so in the same year he gave the Abbey of Ramsey to the Prior of Burgh They are the words of Rog. Hoveden Ad An. 1200. p. 802. in that place where he calls this Abbot Zacharias as Mr. G. observes But he did not put him in presently upon the death of Andreas for Swapham tells us he received the Abbey in Rogation week and found it so bare of all manner of Provisions that there was not food enough for one day The reason was the Archbishop of St. Andrews in Scotland to whom the King had given the custody of the Abbey while it was void had left nothing but carried all that he could away with him Notwithstanding which this good man in a short time was able to furnish the place not merely with necessaries but superfluities For besides a great many rich vestments he gave to the Church Silver Basins for the great Altar with a case of Gold and Silver set with pretious stones opere pulcherrimo subtilissimo for the Arm of St. Oswald A yearly Rent also to the Refectory and the Pittancia to the former of which he gave likewise two excellent Cups de Mazaro with great Silver feet richly gilt and Covers to them one of which had the three Kings offering their gifts to our Saviour in the bottom of it He gave moreover to the said Refectory Nine great drinking Cups de Mazaro and four Table Knives with Ivory hafts He assigned Thurleby also to the Chamberlain from whence saith Swapham we have XII Coverlids of St. Alban and as many Coats He assigned also to the Chamber the house which Richard Crookman offered to St. Peter when he was made a Monk which yielded the yearly Rent of a Noble And when the Celleraria upon a time wanted Provision he fed the whole Convent from the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul to the Feast of St. Andrew at his own charge And caused the Mill of Athelwalton to be repaired the Land to be ploughed and Sown and the Corn gathered which he caused to be brought into the Cellerary And out of his pitty to the infirm Monks who had no where to take the comfort of the air he gave them of his own accord without asking a part of his Vineyard where Rich. de Scoter afterwards planted a garden He also bought houses hard by St. Pauls London which cost him above two hundred and fifty Marks and in several of the Mannors belonging to the Church caused Halls Chambers and other edifices to be built as the Hall at Scottere the Hall at Fiskertune and divers other places which Swapham mentions He gave two hundred Marks to King John for his Charter of Liberties which is still remaining and discharged the house of above a thousand Marks in the Exchequer He recovered the Mannor of Walcote from Peter Son of Radulphus who had held it long and got many confirmations of it from the Kings of England as well as the Marsh between Singlesholt and Croyland mentioned by Mr. G. from which he received yearly by the consent and agreement of the Abbot of Croyland four Stone of Wax which he appointed to be imployed for Wax-Candles on the Feasts of the Saints of this Church They that have a mind may read the whole story of this recovery in the continuation of the History of Crowland lately put out at Oxford with Ingulphus c. P. 471 472. which tells us it was in the year 1202. not long after he came to the Abbotship But though the King himself then after many meetings and treaties and great expences made a final end as they speak yet the controversie was renewed again not long after as shall be shewed in its place His Constitution wherein with the consent of the Brethren he orders how the four Stone of Wax should be yearly spent is as follows That it should be delivered to the Keeper of the Altar of St. Mary who was to take care that in each of the 3. Festivals of St. Peter one Wax Candle of five pound weight should burn continually before the great Altar from the beginning of the first Vespers till after the completorium of the Festival In like manner in the four Festivals of St. Mary and in those of St. Oswald St. Kyneberge St. Kyneswithe and St. Tibbe What remained of the four Stone of Wax and was left after the completorium of those Festivals he was to take care should be spent every day ad missam Sanctae Mariae There is another agreement between him and the Abbot of Crowland which I find at the very end of the Book called Swapham whose title is this De bunda de Fynfet Be it knowen to all that be olyve and to all that shall come here after that the Bounde of Fynfete which is made mention of in the Fyne betwix Akary Abbot of Peterburgh and his Covent and Henry Abbot of Croyland and his Covent it is set in an Angyl besyde a Plot that is called now a days Nomansland betwix the waters of Weland and of Nene Wich water of Nene hath its course directly from thence until Croyland-Brig after the cours of water be the wich men rowe from Croyland unto Dowesdale on the South syde of a Crosse set there And the water of Weland hath his cours directly from Croyland Brig unto Nomansland Hyrum by a water called Twandam Dyke And there the water of Weland fallyth into Nene And the seid Hyrum is set at a barre and an Old Welow anens the Dyke by the wich men go to a place called Tutlakisland He bought Land at Stowe near Simpringham where Abbot Robert afterward built houses and the custom being that the Abbot should have the Auxilia Sancti Michaelis before mentioned from Alwallon and Flettune viz. twenty Mark he gave 15. to the Convent and left only 5. to his Successors which Abbot Robert also assigned to the Convent This goodness therefore of his saith Swapham deserves to be had in everlasting remembrance and yet it would be tedious to tell the persecutions he endured Which were exceeding great from a hard King and from untamed Tyrants from Forresters and other